Abdolhamid Ismaeelzahi ( fa, عبدالحمید اسماعیل‌زهی) is an

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

ian

Sunni Sunni Islam () is the largest branch of Islam, followed by 85–90% of the world's Muslims. Its name comes from the word '' Sunnah'', referring to the tradition of Muhammad. The differences between Sunni and Shia Muslims arose from a disagr ...

Muslim Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...

cleric who is regarded as a "spiritual leader for Iran’s Sunni Muslim population", according to

Reuters Reuters ( ) is a news agency owned by Thomson Reuters Corporation. It employs around 2,500 journalists and 600 photojournalists in about 200 locations worldwide. Reuters is one of the largest news agencies in the world. The agency was estab ...

. Ismaeelzahi, a

Baloch Baloch, also spelled Baloch, Beluch and in other ways, may refer to: * Baloch people, an ethnic group of Pakistan, Iran and Afghanistan * Baluch, a small itinerant community of Afghanistan * Balouch, Azad Kashmir, a town in Pakistan * Baloch (s ...

, enjoys support of the overwhelming majority of

Baloch people The Baloch or Baluch ( bal, بلۏچ, Balòc) are an Iranian peoples, Iranian people who live mainly in the Balochistan region, located at the southeasternmost edge of the Iranian plateau, encompassing the countries of Pakistan, Iran, and Afgh ...

in Iran, who hail him as their '' Molavi''. He is the imam of the Makki Mosque in Zahedan and the director of the

Jamiah Darul Uloom Zahedan Jamiah Darul Uloom Zahedan (Persian: دارالعلوم زاهدان) is the largest and highest seat of Deobandis in Iran. The Jamiah was founded by Abdolazeez, son of Mojahid Sheikh Abdollah. The Jamiah started its education activities in 197 ...

, the main seminary in the city.

Views

Ismaeelzahi is a vocal critic of the status of

freedom of religion in Iran Freedom is understood as either having the ability to act or change without constraint or to possess the power and resources to fulfill one's purposes unhindered. Freedom is often associated with liberty and autonomy in the sense of "giving on ...

and an advocate of

nonviolence Nonviolence is the personal practice of not causing harm to others under any condition. It may come from the belief that hurting people, animals and/or the environment is unnecessary to achieve an outcome and it may refer to a general philosoph ...

. He has stated that

capital punishment Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty, is the state-sanctioned practice of deliberately killing a person as a punishment for an actual or supposed crime, usually following an authorized, rule-governed process to conclude that t ...

is "not suitable" and should be "used only when there are no other alternatives". On 2 August 2017, he sent a letter to

Ali Khamenei Sayyid Ali Hosseini Khamenei ( fa, سید علی حسینی خامنه‌ای, ; born 19 April 1939) is a Twelver Shia ''marja and the second and current Supreme Leader of Iran, in office since 1989. He was previously the third president o ...

addressing concerns over the "issue of

religious discrimination Religious discrimination is treating a person or group differently because of the particular beliefs which they hold about a religion. This includes instances when adherents of different religions, denominations or non-religions are treated u ...

in Iran", which was publicly replied to.

Relations with Taliban

He traveled to

Chabahar Chābahār ( fa, چابهار, bal, چھبار, čahbàr; ; formerly ''Bandar Beheshtī'') is the capital city of Chabahar County, Sistan and Baluchestan Province, Iran. It is a free port (free-trade zone) situated on the coast of the Gulf of ...

on November 25, 2013, and told the directors of religious schools in Sistan and Baluchistan: "All these groups are not takfiris. For example, the

Taliban The Taliban (; ps, طالبان, ṭālibān, lit=students or 'seekers'), which also refers to itself by its state (polity), state name, the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a Deobandi Islamic fundamentalism, Islamic fundamentalist, m ...

group is not

takfiri ''Takfiri'' ( ar, تَكْفِيرِيّ, ' lit. "excommunicational") is an Arabic and Islamic term denoting a Muslim who excommunicates one of his/her coreligionists, i.e. who accuses another Muslim of being an apostate. Since according to t ...

. The differences that we have with the method of their functions will remain, but this group is not takfiri." In 2018, Ismaeelzahi issued a statement and considered the signing of the peace agreement between the "Afghan Taliban Movement" and the "American Government" as "a great success of the present era" and an example of "the victory of right over wrong". In August 2021, Ismaeelzahi said about the Taliban that the vast advances of the Taliban in Afghanistan are the result of God's help and the people's support for them, and the goal of the Taliban is to implement the Islamic law and the way of the Prophet and the decree of God.

Travel restrictions

Ismaeelzahi is under alleged travel restrictions imposed by the establishment. In July 2014, he was barred from leaving the country. In 2017, it was reported that the restriction was intensified, barring him from any travel except to

Tehran Tehran (; fa, تهران ) is the largest city in Tehran Province and the capital of Iran. With a population of around 9 million in the city and around 16 million in the larger metropolitan area of Greater Tehran, Tehran is the most popul ...

. However, in December 2018, he was allowed to visit Muscat,

Oman Oman ( ; ar, عُمَان ' ), officially the Sultanate of Oman ( ar, سلْطنةُ عُمان ), is an Arabian country located in southwestern Asia. It is situated on the southeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula, and spans the mouth of t ...

to meet the Iranian Baluch minority living there.

Accolades

Defenders of Human Rights Center The Defenders of Human Rights Center is an Iranian human rights organization. Organization Based in Tehran, the organization was founded in 2001 and has been active in defending rights of women, political prisoners and minorities in Iran. Several ...

's Activist of the Year (2013)

References

External links

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Official Instagram
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ismaeelzahi, Abdolhamid 1947 births Living people Deobandis Hanafi fiqh scholars International Union of Muslim Scholars members Iranian activists Iranian Islamic religious leaders Iranian Sunni Muslims Nonviolence advocates People from Zahedan 20th-century Muslim theologians 21st-century Muslim theologians