Nader Hashemi, who heads the Center for Middle East Studies at the University of Denver in the US, said Asri’s warning that Shia Islam was against the principles of democracy “reveals his colossal ignorance of Shia political thought”.
“Perhaps if Asri spent less time reading and regurgitating Wahhabi propaganda and actually studied the topics he is commenting on, he would cease to embarrass himself in the court of public opinion. One can only hope that this might be the case,” Hashemi told FMT, referring to the Wahhabi doctrine followed in Saudi Arabia.
Asri came under fire from academics and rights activists last week for saying that Shia Muslims were a threat to Malaysia’s national security.
This comes after he attacked missing Perlis activist Amri Che Mat for following Shia teachings, which Islamic authorities in Malaysia consider as “deviant”.
Amri’s wife Norhayati Ariffin had earlier told a Human Rights Commission inquiry into her husband’s disappearance that she suspected Asri’s officers of having played a role in his alleged abduction.
Asri has denied having anything to do with Amri’s disappearance, but admitted questioning him for leaning towards Shia Islam.
Asri then said that Amri’s welfare outfit Perlis Hope could be advocating a theocracy, or “mullah state”, saying this was the ultimate goal of Shia Islam.
He said the 1979 Iranian revolution, the popular uprising led by Ayatullah Khomeini which overthrew the powerful Shah dynasty, promoted ideas that undermined democracy.
“If you don’t accept a country ruled by the ulama, you must also oppose Shia belief because it will lead to the establishment of an undemocratic country,” Asri told rights activists who criticised him.
Hashemi said Shia Muslims including clerics in Iran had been at the forefront of opposition against rule by clergy.
He gave as an example the opposition among senior Iranian Shia leaders to Velayat-e Faqih (Rule of the Islamic Jurist), a political theory developed by Khomeini in post-revolution Iran.
Hashemi said similar opposition was also seen among Iraqi Shias.
“In Iraq today, Ayatullah Ali Sistani, the most prestigious and influential Shia theologian, opposes rule by the ulama. His view is the mainstream view within Shia Islam, a fact that anyone with an iota of familiarity with the topic would immediately recognise,” he added.
Shia Islam is predominant in Iraq, Iran, Kuwait, Bahrain, Lebanon and several parts of Saudi Arabia and Yemen.
In 1996, Malaysia’s National Fatwa Council issued an edict branding Shia Muslims as deviant. For many years now, mosques across Selangor recite a prayer during the Friday congregation, condemning Shias and sects other than Sunni Islam as deviant.