The Mahdi Servants Union ( ar, إتحاد خدام المهدي), previously Khoddam Al-Mahdi Organization ( ar, هيئة خدام المهدي, lit=The Servants of

al-Mahdi Abū ʿAbd Allāh Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd Allāh al-Manṣūr ( ar, أبو عبد الله محمد بن عبد الله المنصور; 744 or 745 – 785), better known by his regnal name Al-Mahdī (, "He who is guided by God"), was the third Abb ...

) is a

Twelver Shia Twelver Shīʿīsm ( ar, ٱثْنَا عَشَرِيَّة; '), also known as Imāmīyyah ( ar, إِمَامِيَّة), is the largest branch of Shīʿa Islam, comprising about 85 percent of all Shīʿa Muslims. The term ''Twelver'' refers t ...

religious group based in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

, England, led by Kuwaiti cleric

Yasser Al-Habib Sheikh Yasser al-Habib ( ar, ياسر الحبيب born 20 January 1979) is a Kuwaiti Twelver Shia scholar, and the head of the London-based Khoddam Al-Mahdi Organization, as well as Al-Muhassin mosque in Fulmer, Buckinghamshire, and the writer ...

Positions

The group's leader

is considered to be at " radical right-wing" of Kuwaiti spectrum. He is hostile towards the

Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran The Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran ( fa, نظام جمهوری اسلامی ایران, Neẓām-e jomhūrī-e eslāmi-e Irān, known simply as ''Neẓām'' ( fa, نظام, lit=the system) among its supporters) is the ruling state a ...

and has questioned the religious credentials of

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 ...

, Iran's Supreme Leader. Al-Habib has also denounced Lebanese

Mohammad Hussein Fadlallah Grand Ayatollah Muhammad Husayn Fadlallah (also Sayyed Muhammad Hussein Fadl-Allāh; ar, محمد حسين فضل الله; 16 November 1935 – 4 July 2010) was a prominent twelver Shia cleric from a Lebanese family. Born in Najaf, Iraq, ...

as a "'' mubtadi'' (innovator n religion". Among the few Shia figures the group approves is

Sadiq al-Shirazi Grand Ayatollah Sayyid Sadiq al-Husayni al-Shirazi ( ar, صادق الحسيني الشيرازي; fa, سید صادق حسینی شیرازی; born August 20, 1942) is an Iraqi-Iranian Shia marja'. He hails from an influential transnational c ...

. Al-Habib had studied under Mohammed Ridha al-Shirazi while he was in Qom and is son-in-law of

Mujtaba al-Shirazi Ayatollah Sayyid Mujtaba al-Husayni al-Shirazi. ( ar, مجتبى الحسيني الشيرازي; fa, ; b. ِ6 August 1943) is an Iraq-Iranian Shia jurist. Early life and education al-Shirazi was born to Mirza Mahdi al-Shirazi and Halima al ...

. He is thus regarded a partisan of al-Shirazi network (''shiraziyyin'') in Europe. Members of the group follow

as their

Marja' Marji ( ar, مرجع, transliteration: ''marjiʿ''; plural: ''marājiʿ''), literally meaning "source to follow" or "religious reference", is a title given to the highest level of Twelver Shia authority, a Grand Ayatollah with the authority giv ...

(religious source of emulation). The group has been called anti-Sunni, as it advocates for insulting

Umar ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb ( ar, عمر بن الخطاب, also spelled Omar, ) was the second Rashidun caliph, ruling from August 634 until his assassination in 644. He succeeded Abu Bakr () as the second caliph of the Rashidun Caliphate o ...

and

Aishah Aisha ( ar, , translit=ʿĀʾisha bint Abī Bakr; , also , ; ) was Muhammad's third and youngest wife. In Islamic writings, her name is thus often prefixed by the title "Mother of the Believers" ( ar, links=no, , ʾumm al- muʾminīn), referr ...

, a companion and a

wife A wife (plural, : wives) is a female in a marital relationship. A woman who has separated from her partner continues to be a wife until the marriage is legally Dissolution (law), dissolved with a divorce judgement. On the death of her partner, ...

of the Prophet.

Activities

The group operates a satellite television named Fadak. In 2013, they purchased the site of a former church for £1.2 million and founded Al-Muhassin Mosque in

Fulmer Fulmer is a village and civil parish in south Buckinghamshire, England. The village has along most of its northern border a narrow green buffer from Gerrards Cross and is heavily wooded adjoining neighbouring villages of Iver Heath and Wexham. ...

Buckinghamshire Buckinghamshire (), abbreviated Bucks, is a ceremonial county in South East England that borders Greater London to the south-east, Berkshire to the south, Oxfordshire to the west, Northamptonshire to the north, Bedfordshire to the north-ea ...

. On 10 March 2018, four members of the group climbed on to a first-floor balcony of the

Embassy of Iran, London The Embassy of Iran in London is the diplomatic mission of Iran in the United Kingdom. It is located in a terrace overlooking Hyde Park in South Kensington, Westminster, London, next to the embassy of Ethiopia. Iran also maintains a Consular Se ...

, replacing the

flag of Iran The national flag of the Iran, Islamic Republic of Iran ( fa, پرچم ایران, Parčam-e Irân, ), also known as the Tricolour, tricolor ( fa, پرچم سه‌رنگ ایران, Parčam-e se rang-e Irân, link=no, ), is a tricolour (flag ...

with that of their own group, in protest to arrest of

Hussein al-Shirazi Ayatollah Sayyid Hussein al-Husayni al-Shirazi (; fa, ; ) is an Iraqi-Iranian Twelver Shia cleric. He is a son of Grand Ayatollah Sadiq al-Shirazi. He is currently the head of his father's office and is residing in Qom, Iran. Early life and e ...

. They were arrested by the

Metropolitan Police The Metropolitan Police Service (MPS), formerly and still commonly known as the Metropolitan Police (and informally as the Met Police, the Met, Scotland Yard, or the Yard), is the territorial police force responsible for law enforcement and ...

. The group was behind production of the feature film ''

The Lady of Heaven ''The Lady of Heaven'' is a 2021 historical drama film written by the Twelver Shia cleric Yasser Al-Habib, the spiritual leader and founder of The Mahdi Servants Union as well as Fadak TV. Produced by Enlightened Kingdom, the film is the first ...

'' (2021), with a reported budget of $15 million. On 4 August 2022, members of this group carrying religious banners and flags protested at the Embassy of Azerbaijan in London. Members of the organization climbed on the balcony with the ladder, replaced

flag of Azerbaijan The national flag of Azerbaijan ( az, Azərbaycan bayrağı), often referred to in Azerbaijani as ( en, Tricolour flag), is a horizontal tricolour that features three equally sized bars of bright blue, red, and green; a white crescent; and ...

with their own flag, and shouted religious slogans. After this event, British police arrested eight organization members.

Legal character

Khodam Al Mahdi Organisation (KMO) was founded on 23 February 2010 and subsequently registered as a

charity Charity may refer to: Giving * Charitable organization or charity, a non-profit organization whose primary objectives are philanthropy and social well-being of persons * Charity (practice), the practice of being benevolent, giving and sharing * Ch ...

by the

Charity Commission for England and Wales , type = Non-ministerial government department , seal = , seal_caption = , logo = Charity Commission for England and Wales logo.svg , logo_caption = , formed = , preceding1 = , d ...

on 21 July 2010. It was co-directed by four people, namely Adel Salah, Ali Shubber, Mohamed Salah and Yassir Fowjian, all British citizens. The charity was legally dissolved on 10 April 2012 at the

Companies House Companies House is the executive agency of the company registrars of the United Kingdom, falling under the remit of the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy. All forms of companies (as permitted by the Companies Act) are i ...

but remained active afterwards, continuing to raised money in the charity's name and buying a property. After Charity Commission became aware of this, it launched a statutory inquiry into the organization and on 7 April 2014 removed KMO from the list. During its three years of legal existence from 2010 to 2012, the KMO had all filed financial documents declaring that its income and expenditure were both exactly £25,000. On 8 November 2017, a

private company limited by shares A private company limited by shares is a class of private limited company incorporated under the laws of England and Wales, Northern Ireland, Scotland, certain Commonwealth countries, and the Republic of Ireland. It has shareholders with limit ...

named Khoddam Al Mahdi Organisation Ltd. was incorporated. The

dormant company A dormant company is a company that carries out no business activities in the given period of time. Dormant companies do not engage in buying/selling for profit, not carrying on business or profession, providing services, earning interest, managi ...

was wholly owned by Thamer Jundi Jassam, a Swedish citizen, who also served as its director. It was officially dissolved on 16 April 2019 via compulsory strike-off.

References

External links

* {{official website, https://msu.global/ Islamic organizations established in 2004 Islamic organisations based in the United Kingdom Shia organizations Religious organisations based in London Anti-Sunnism