WHEN THE BOMBS FALL, THE SECTARIAN ULEMA SPEAKS.

By Salim Mohammed Badat

There is something deeply disturbing, no, revealing, about what has just happened.

At a moment when the Muslim world is convulsed by war and imperial aggression; when the region is being reshaped by American power and Zionist violence; when lines are being drawn not by theology but by blood, this is the moment certain Islamic sectarian ulema choose to issue letters warning the Ummah of the dangers of the Shias. 

Not warnings against empire. Not condemnations of Zionism. Not calls for unity against aggression. But instructions on who you are not allowed to support Iran.

Why is your hostility toward Iran stronger than your hostility toward the Zionist entity? Why is your language toward Israel cautious and restrained, while your attacks on Iran are expansive, obsessive, and relentless? 

Why does America appear in your writing as a passing reference, yet Iran dominates your anger? This is not theology. This is political alignment dressed in religious language.

So let me address you directly, the same voices that never tire of anti-Shia rhetoric.

What have you sacrificed? What have you sacrificed for the oppressed? What have you sacrificed for the people of Palestine? What have you sacrificed for the marginalised in South Africa or anywhere else in the world? Answer honestly.

You sit comfortably in your homes. And from that comfort, you pass judgment, often venomous, on a people who have paid a real price.

Meanwhile, Iran has sacrificed the security of its people, the lives of its leaders, the safety of its children, and the blood of its sons and daughters. It has endured decades of sanctions, assassinations, isolation, and unrelenting pressure. It has paid financially, logistically, militarily, and emotionally, for Sunni Palestine. And you?

What were you busy with while others were burying their dead? You were trained in endless years in institutes disconnected from struggle? Is that what you call sacrifice?

Have you sacrificed blood? Have you sacrificed tears? Have you buried your children the way others have? For more than forty years, Iran has paid a cost you cannot even begin to comprehend, while you issued sermons from safety.

Here is the truth they cannot stomach:

Iran, yes, a Shia state, has paid in blood, sanctions, assassinations, and relentless pressure for the Palestinian cause.

They trained.They funded. They armed.

They stood when others issued statements.

And not for a Shia Palestine, but for a Sunni Palestinian people. While these armchair critics have done nothing but warn the Ummah about each other.

From what position of moral authority do they judge? From what ledger of sacrifice?

And this brings us to the unavoidable question. Were you not the same type of scholars who were silent during apartheid South Africa?

When Black people were dispossessed, brutalised, and dehumanised, where were you? Did you stand with the oppressed, or did you accept the status quo because it benefitted you.  Did not your congregation say that under apartheid, Islam was saved ? 

Remember the coloniser does not fear a Muslim who prays; he fears a Muslim who understands his dignity, purpose, and responsibility.

Iqbal believed the British had learned that if Muslims were given religious space but stripped of power, justice, and sovereignty, many would be happy and not resist. Because justice has never been central to how you think.

Among anti-colonial Muslims in India particularly politically conscious scholars and activists, the central accusation was that certain ulama demanded obedience, patience, and strict ritual conformity from the masses while simultaneously submitting to British authority, legitimising colonial rule, and declaring resistance impermissible. 

This posture was widely viewed as a form of selective fiqh that prioritised compliance over justice, weaponised quietism to suppress dissent, and ultimately masked political betrayal behind the language of piety.

Let me articulate what many of you whisper but refuse to declare openly.

Some among you believe Israel is better than Iran. Admit it. That Zionists who massacre Muslims are preferable to Shias who resist empire.

If that is your belief, then say it. Say it clearly. Say it publicly. Stop hiding behind scholarly language and selective quotations. Let the Ummah see you as you truly are. Allah will expose what you conceal regardless.

Here is the truth you need to hear. Iran does not care about you. You are not part of their calculations. You are not part of their strategic thinking. You are not even on their moral horizon. You are insignificant because you contributed nothing. Your condemnation or acceptance is irrelevant and the dua made from comfort while others bleed, is insignificant.

So if you have nothing good to say, say nothing. History does not remember those who criticised from safety. It remembers those who stood with the oppressed when it was costly.

To the Ummah especially South Africa I am speaking to you directly now. Break free from this toxic narrative you have been fed for decades.

There is no excuse for ignorance anymore. None. The information is there. The masks are falling. The lines are no longer even blurred, they are disappearing.

Allah’s first command was not “follow”.

It was “Iqra”, read. If you were ignorant before and like a sheep relied on others to think for you, perhaps that was understandable. But now? What excuse remains? Read. Think. Connect the dots.

This war is not only destroying cities. It is exposing hearts. And many so called ulema are being exposed completely.