In the Middle East, Africa, and Europe, prominent Muslims have spoken out recently against the persecution of the Baha’is in Iran, denouncing the religious intolerance that is the motivating force behind the oppression of that country’s largest religious minority. Inspired in part by Iranian Ayatollah Abdol-Hamid Masoumi-Tehrani, who recently issued a call asking specifically for “coexistence” with Baha’is, Ayatollah al-Faqih Seyyed Hussein Ismail al-Sadr, the most senior Shi’a cleric in Baghdad, Iraq; the Muslim Judicial Council of South Africa; and Dr. Ghaleb Bencheikh, Chair of Religions for Peace in France, have all praised Ayatollah Tehrani’s action as both principled and courageous, endorsing his appeal for a fresh discourse on the shared values among different religions as part of an effort to promote harmonious coexistence. To read more, visit: http://news.bahai.org/story/1009
