Indian scholar stresses Islamic unity as key to countering division

Hujjat-ul-Islam Zameer Abbas Zahedi Ali Jafari, a scholar from Mumbai, said young people in Africa, India and European countries are increasingly viewing global developments through the broader lens of justice and resistance rather than sectarian affiliation.

“Today, young people say there are only two camps: the camp of Hussein followers and the camp of Yazid followers,” he said, referring to the battle between truth and falsehood. “Anyone standing with Iran and Gaza is on the side of Hussein, while those standing against this movement are on the side of Yazid.”

The Indian scholar said interest in Karbala and the principles associated with Imam Hussein has also grown among non-Muslims, including Hindus, who are seeking to understand how Iran has been able to resist pressure from global powers without surrendering.

He identified division and misinformation as the main challenges facing the Muslim world, saying powerful media campaigns funded by adversaries seek to deepen differences and create confusion.

Zahedi said the answer lies in what he described as “jihad of clarification,” calling on Muslim scholars and intellectuals to address misconceptions through clear and rational explanations.

“Our duty is to clarify doubts in a transparent and rational manner,” he said. “The enemy seeks to mislead people by creating ambiguity, so our duty is to bring clarity and convey the truth to the world.”

He argued that the Islamic Republic of Iran’s discourse has crossed geographical boundaries and increasingly become associated with justice-seeking among young people worldwide, particularly around the issues of resistance and Palestine.

Recalling his visits to different parts of India following the martyrdom of the Leader of Islamic Revolution, Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei, Zahedi said that around 95 percent of Indian Muslims sympathize with him.

He said images of the Iranian Leader could even be seen in small shops, adding that the support was not confined to India’s Shia community and that prominent Sunni scholars had also referred to him as their leader.