Iran rejects claims over substitution of Karbala for Mecca

EghtesadOnline: Iranian Embassy in Kuwait has refused the unfounded reports made and spread by certain Arab media that the Iranian pilgrims are to substitute the pilgrimage to the holy city of Karbala for the Hajj rituals.

News ID: ۷۳۶۸۶۱

13 September 2016

In a statement, the Iranian Embassy has rejected those claims made by the Arab media affiliated to the Saudi rulers.

'No Fatwa, has ever been made about substitution of the pilgrimage to Imam Hussein (AS) shrine in Karbala for doing the Hajj rituals in Mecca. Such a claim is a mere lie,' the statement has stressed.

Due to the Saudi hostility towards Iran, derived from the Mina tragedy last year, certain Arab media have claimed that over one million of the Iranian pilgrims would head to Karbala in Iraq as a Fatwa has ordered them to do so in order to replace the pilgrimage to Karbala with that of to Mecca, according to IRNA.

According to Islamic teachings, making a pilgrimage to Imam Hussein (AS) shrine in the Day of Arafah is considered as a good deed.

Day of Arafah is the second day after the annual Hajj pilgrimage starts. It is also the day after Eid-al-Adha, Muslims' feast of sacrifice and worshipping.

Over 5,000 pilgrims, including 461 Iranians, were killed in a deadly stampede occurred in Mina on September 24, last year, due to the mismanagement of the Saudi rulers to handle the Hajj rituals. After the tragic incident, Iran said Saudi Arabia must provide due security for all pilgrims, including the Iranians, while they are in that country in Hajj season but the Saudi rulers refused to guarantee the pilgrims safety and consequently, deprived Iranians of performing their annual Hajj rituals this year which is a right for any Muslim.