A report of the Netherlands’ local AhlulBayt (a.s.) Assembly
The head of the local AhlulBayt (a.s.) Assembly of the Netherlands stated, “When I came to the Netherlands, the ceremonies, and programs for AhlulBayt (a.s.) were held scarcely, and ten to fifteen Shiites would gather in a house and mourn for AhlulBayt (a.s.). But today, with the blessing of AhlulBayt (a.s.), religious ceremonies are held not only in every city but also in every European village.”
ABWA Official Website – The Netherlands is a country in Western Europe, and Muslims make up about 800,000 of the country’s population of about 16 million.
With a population of about 200,000, Shiites in the Netherlands make up 25% of the total number of Muslims in the country, most of them are of non-Dutch origin, from various Iranian, Iraqi, Afghan, Turkish, and Pakistani origins.
Haj Haider Kashi is the head of the local AhlulBayt (a.s.) Assembly of the Netherlands, who attended the 7th General Assembly of the AhlulBayt (a.s.) World Assembly which was held last September.
Of Iranian descent, he spent his childhood and adolescence in Najaf, Iraq. He grew up in a religious and fighting family.
ABNA News Agency conducted a detailed interview with Haj Haider Kashi about his life and activities in the Netherlands.
The full text of the interview is as follows:
ABNA – First of all, please introduce yourself.
Haj Haider Kashi – My name is Haider Kashi. I am originally from Iran, and I was born in Najaf in 1970. My father was from Tabriz and my mother was from Mashhad.
ABNA – Do you speak Azeri?
Haj Haider Kashi – I understand Azari, but I can't speak it well.
ABNA – Please tell us about your late father and brothers who were martyred by the Baathists.
Haj Haider Kashi – My father, Abdulzahra Kashi, was a well-known merchant in Najaf and used to refer to the offices of Maraje’ (sources of emulation) and ulama. My late father had a close relationship with the Maraje’ and ulama of Najaf. My grandfather also had a direct relationship with Ayatollah Mohsen Hakim, ulama, and Maraje’ of Najaf.
My father was one of the most famous merchants in Najaf. So that now, even four decades after his execution by the Baathists, the original residents of Najaf still know him and my brothers.
He was one of the trustees of the late Imam Khomeini (r.a.), who helped seminaries a lot.
Ayatollah Golpayegani, Ayatollah Sayed Mahmoud Shahroudi, Ayatollah Sayed Abdullah Shirazi, and many other Maraje’ and ulama knew my father. Due to his connection and closeness with the ulama and the seminary, he was always under the supervision and watch of the Ba’athists, and therefore, our family members faced serious problems.
We were 9 brothers and 5 sisters. My father and seven of my brothers were executed by the Baathist forces. My brothers Ali, Hossein, Abbas, Rasool, Kazem, Mohammad Reza, and Baqer were martyred on the charge of collaborating with Iran and Hizb al-Dawa (the Islamic Dawa Party), and activities against the Ba’ath regime. Now two of my brothers live in Iran and I live in the Netherlands.
Two of my brothers were among the armed opponents of the Baathist regime and carried out military operations in 1980 and 1979. Abbas Abdulzahra Kashi was a student who studied at Mosul University. Together with three of his classmates, he assassinated the head of the Mosul Security Organization. The Ba’athist man did not die but was completely paralyzed and finally died a few years ago. My brother Abbas and his friends who collaborated with him were executed.
At the beginning of the imposed war (the 8-year war between Iraq and Iran), in order to prevent my brother Kazem from going to war with Iran, my father sent him to Syria along with Haj Agha Javad, another of my brothers who currently lives in Qom. Kazem was one of the conscripts and the Baathists had called him for military service. Javad’s military service was over, but the Baathists had called again for him to join the Ba’ath’s army forces in the imposed war. Kazem, who cooperated with Hizb al-Dawa (the Islamic Dawa Party), came to Iraq from Syria and blew up one of the ministries in Baghdad. But on his way back to Syria, he was detected at the border and then executed.
In addition to Abbas and Kazem, who were executed, the Ba’athist forces also arrested the rest of my brothers and executed and martyred them. The Ba’athists only handed over the bodies of my father and brother Abbas, and so far, we have not found the remains of my other brothers. It is not clear whether their bodies were buried in mass graves or dissolved in acid.
ABNA – You said that your late father was a businessman. What did he trade?
Haj Haider Kashi – My father bought and sold wheat, rice, and flour in Najaf and had a big silo. He also owned a flour factory and mill near the shrine, which today has been converted into a hotel.
ABNA – When were you expelled from Iraq?
Haj Haider Kashi – After the martyrdom of two of my brothers, the Ba’ath regime imprisoned my brothers and my father, and in 1981, we were transferred from Najaf to Karbala prison, along with my mother, sisters, wives of my two brothers, and their children. We were imprisoned there for forty-three days, and then they took us to the border of Qasr Shirin (Iran) and released us with other families to enter Iran.
The place where the Ba’athists disembarked us was full of landmines! To reach the Iran’s border, we walked for 19 hours. My mother was the head of the family and gathered us around her. At that time, I was 12, and my little brother was 11 years old.
The path we walked was too long for us and my mother struggled a lot. Until the days when Saddam’s regime was overthrown, my mother did not know that her children had been executed, and we did not tell her either.
ABNA – Is she alive now?
Haj Haider Kashi – No. She passed away 9 years ago and was buried in the Dar al-Rahmah cemetery in the holy shrine of Abdulazim Hassani (a.s.). She died on the eve of Ramadan. At that time, I had come to Iran from the Netherlands to visit my family and relatives, so when she passed away, I was with her.
During her life, my mother suffered a lot. She was an exemplary woman. She did not put down the rosary and the Quran for a moment and was constantly praying.
ABNA – After you were expelled from Iraq, what happened to your father's property in the country?
Haj Haider Kashi – All our property was confiscated! The Ba’athists did not even let us take our personal clothes to use in the prison and on Iran’s border. They told us not to touch anything, and the Baath regime confiscated everything!
ABNA – After the fall of the Ba’ath regime, did you take any action to get your property back?
Haj Haider Kashi – Yes, we acted and by God’s grace we took over the real estate, the house, and the factory. But we did not get any of the movable property. However, what is important is the souls of the martyrs who did not return.
ABNA – Can you please tell us about your education?
Haj Haider Kashi – I studied in Iraq until the third grade of middle school, and after immigrating to Iran, I studied at Imam Ali (a.s.) seminary in Mashhad for four years. We entered Iran in 1981. I was in Mashhad Seminary until 1985. The Imam Ali (a.s.) seminary was under the supervision of Ayatollah Khoei. In Mashhad, I studied under Sheikh Hossein Sibawayh, a prominent alem from Najaf. At that time, I was the manager of the library of Imam Ali (a.s.) Seminary.
After four years of studying at the seminary, I started goldsmithing with our brother-in-law Sayed Baqer Musawi in Tehran. At this time, my family was in Mashhad, but because I had to manage the family, I immigrated to Tehran.
In Tehran, in addition to goldsmithing, I continued my studies at Shahid Sadr Seminary, until I immigrated to the Netherlands in 1999.
ABNA – Why did you immigrate to the Netherlands?
Haj Haider Kashi – Because my family members from both parents had Iranian birth certificates, but one of my brothers and I did not have birth certificates. I tried for two years, but I failed to get a birth certificate.
ABNA – Please explain your activities in the Netherlands for AhlulBayt (a.s.).
Haj Haider Kashi – On February 8, 1999, I entered the Netherlands and from the first day of my arrival in the country, in the refugee camp, I organized a ceremony for the AhlulBayt (a.s.). I was settled in a camp for refugees and immigrants in the city of Haarlem near Amsterdam. The living conditions in the camp were very difficult. More than eight hundred people were living in that camp.
One month after I arrived in the Netherlands, the month of Muharram began. Our camp did not have a cleric or maddah (AhlulBayt eulogist), and the number of Shiites was small. There were no CDs at that time. Therefore, I called my brother and asked him to send me some cassette tapes of mourning ceremonies and religious lectures. He sent some cassette tapes by DHL express mail.
In the camp, a large room was dedicated to the worship of Muslims, Christians, etc. We wanted to get permission from the camp authorities to hold a mourning ceremony for AhlulBayt (a.s.) there. But they did not allow it at first. We told them that we would hold the mourning ceremonies there at times when others are not using that great room.
Finally, they agreed to our request. We wanted to cook for the ceremony in the camp kitchen. But the authorities said that they will only allow us to cook food for the ceremony if the cooking is for all immigrants and not only for followers of a certain religion. We could not afford to prepare food for at least 800 people. Therefore, we consulted with a friend who lives in that city. He introduced three Shiites who lived near the camp. We cooked food at their houses every day and distributed it to the mourners after the ceremony. Interestingly, the Shiites who lived nearby came to our ceremony. Because in the Netherlands, no mourning ceremony was held in the month of Muharram, and if it was held, it was very limited and weak. Therefore, the ceremony we held was considered the first mourning program in that city. On the second day of Muharram, eighty residents and Shiites who lived in that city attended a mourning ceremony, and our program continued until the Day of Ashura.
During the ceremony, we had problems with Wahhabis from Morocco, Algeria, and Egypt. They were mischievous, but they did not achieve their goal, and we could hold the mourning ceremony well.
After I got out of the camp, I settled in The Hague, the political capital of the Netherlands. In the second year of living in the city, I saw some Iraqis holding a very brief ceremony for three nights in the first ten days of Muharram. After the Muharram ceremony, the Iraqi Shiites living in the city did not organize Shiite ceremonies such as the Kumayl supplications, etc., until the next year, because there were no facilities, and holding a ceremony in Europe is very difficult and expensive. I had lived in Iran, and I had grown up in AhlulBayt (a.s.) ceremonies, therefore, it was not acceptable for me to hold a ceremony with a small number of people.
At the same time, I asked the Iraqi Shiites if there is a place where we can plan for the next years to recite Kumayl dua there at least every week. They replied that there is a small mosque called Chahrdah Ma’soum (Fourteen Infallibles) mosque which belongs to Turkish Shiites. We went there with a group of Iraqi Shiites and met Sheikh Mohammad Algun, the imam of the mosque. He is a member of the General Assembly of the AhlulBayt (a.s.) World Assembly, and one of the active clerics of the Netherlands. The Shiites came only to pray the noon and evening, and the Maghrib and Isha prayers, and they did not have special ceremonies on religious occasions, except on the days of Muharram, when they held brief mourning ceremonies. Of course, at that time, ceremonies for AhlulBayt (a.s.) were held very poorly in Europe in general, and there was no program in European countries except for England and Sweden.
We got permission from Sheikh Mohammad Algun, the imam and manager of the mosque, to hold Kumayl dua there on Thursday nights. Since then, four of us would gather to recite the dua Kumayl, and myself and one of the Iranians, who was a Quran reciter and a student, recited the dua. For a while, we only recited Kamil dua in the mosque. Until we were able to hold a ceremony on one of the occasions, I think it was the birth anniversary of Lady Zahra (a.s.), by inviting an Iranian maddah (AhlulBayt eulogist) living in the Netherlands and a preacher living from Germany. Even though we did not have a maddah or a preacher in Arabic, the reception of the people was very good. On other occasions, we brought television and video to the mosque and listened to the speeches of Sheikh Ahmad Waeli.
ABNA – You said that at that time, apart from England and Sweden, in other European countries, no ceremony was held for AhlulBayt (a.s.). Can it be claimed that at that time there were many Shiites in European countries, but there was no one to gather the Shiites together?
Haj Haider Kashi – Yes, there was no one to gather the Shiites around him to hold the ceremonies for AhlulBayt (a.s.). In European countries, there were many Shiites from Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan, etc. as immigrants, students, merchants, and other guilds. There were also many Turkish Shiites there. But at that time, the Shiites had restrictions on holding religious programs, although the problem was resolved later. Sheikh Mohammad Algun and Sheikh Esrafil diligently worked in propagating and promoting Islamic Ma’aref for Turkish Shiites. Also, Sheikh Hamzah, one of the Turkish clerics, did a lot of fundamental work for the Turkish Shiites living in the Netherlands.
There were no Arab clerics in The Hague, but there were in other Dutch cities. After holding the ceremony on the anniversary of the birth of Lady Zahra (a.s.), we continued our efforts and could regularly hold ceremonies on the anniversaries of the martyrdoms and the birthdays of Imams (a.s.) in Chahrdah Ma’soum (Fourteen Infallibles) mosque.
ABNA – How did you inform the Shiites and invite them to the ceremonies in the mosque?
Haj Haider Kashi – At that time, there were no cellphone and social networks. Therefore, we printed and copied the invitation letter and delivered it to the people. In the next step, we took the home address and phone number of the participants. At that time, the cellphone was new and cost a lot. I called every single Shiite in the city of The Hague, which cost me about 500 guilders, equivalent to 250 euros, per month. I was a refugee and single, I didn’t have a steady job and it was hard for me to finance it. But I would cover the cost in any way. I worked very hard, and I personally paid a lot of money. By holding ceremonies on the anniversaries of the martyrdoms and birthdays of Imams (a.s.), by the grace of God, we were recognized and introduced.
Over time, the reception increased so much that the Chahrdah Ma’soum (Fourteen Infallibles) mosque did not have enough space. Because in the month of Muharram, the Turks had ceremonies, and therefore this mosque was small for all Shiites. Therefore, we tried to rent a large hall for the ceremonies. With follow-ups, we found a hall, but it was very expensive to rent, and they demanded 15,000 guilders for ten nights. My friends said that the cost of the hall is too high, and they cannot afford the amount. Of course, it was too expensive because the Iraqis were refugees in the Netherlands and did not have a suitable job to cover the expenses of the ceremony. I insisted and rented the hall. I told myself that I will work days and nights to pay rent. Therefore, in 2000, we held the first mourning ceremony for Imam Hussain (a.s.) under the title of Mawkeb and Hey’at in an 800 m2 hall in The Hague. The reception of the Shiites was so great that they came to the ceremony from the cities of other countries such as Belgium and from the borders of Germany because these countries are very close to the Netherlands.
In The Hague, there is a large Hosseiniyah named Mahfel-e Ali belonging to Pakistanis, which was headed by a cleric named Syed Mohammad Reza. After Muharram, he suggested that since the Chahrdah Ma’soum (Fourteen Infallibles) mosque is small, we could hold religious ceremonies in their Hosseiniyah. Pakistanis used Mahfel-e Ali Grand Hosseiniyah less. The area of this Hosseiniyah was four times larger than the Chahrdah Ma’soum mosque. In Mahfel-e Ali Hosseiniyah, we held regular and big ceremonies and got to know Pakistani clerics. We also invited preachers and speakers from other countries. By the grace of God, I have organized ceremonies for AhlulBayt (a.s.) since I arrived in the Netherlands, and it has not stopped until today. More than three thousand people attend the ceremonies on Muharram nights.
Over time, the programs, and ceremonies for AhlulBayt (a.s.) were organized and developed in a bigger way. Before I was elected as the representative of the AhlulBayt (a.s.) World Assembly in the Netherlands, we bought a very big place for Iraqi Shiites. Through the mediation of Hojat al-Islam Kashmiri, Ayatollah Sistani’s representative in Europe, a fund was provided by a founder from Kuwait, and with that, we bought a large building in the center and most important area of The Hague, with an area of 3750 m2, which operates under the name of Al-Kowsar Institute. I had the honor of buying this building for the Iraqis, and I was responsible for the executive and follow-up affairs. This building, which used to be a reception hall and has now become an Islamic center, has four 800 m2 halls and two 150 m2 apartments.
After 2017, I am serving the Shiites as a representative of the AhlulBayt (a.s.) World Assembly in the Netherlands and Hojat al-Islam Akhtari also honored me to represent the Ashura International Foundation in the Netherlands.
ABNA – You said that “holding ceremonies for AhlulBayt (a.s.) in European countries are facing a series of problems”. Please explain these problems.
Haj Haider Kashi – Funding the ceremonies is very difficult. In the month of Muharram, the hall we rent for ten to thirteen days costs about 15,000 euros. Also, the cost of preparing food and feeding people every night of Muharram is at least 1500 euros. Because many people participate in the ceremony. On the other hand, the gift for maddah and the preacher, as well as covering the hall in black, have costs. Funding the ceremony is associated with many problems, and the cost of holding ceremonies in Muharram ranges from 40,000 to 48,000 euros.
On the other hand, holding ceremonies in an open environment and outside the hall also has its own problems. Since the year 2000, together with our Pakistani and Afghan brothers, we have held the Day of Ashura procession in the city of The Hague, attended by more than six thousand people, which is a great reception. Holding a procession on the Day of Ashura requires special follow-ups and approvals, which we must obtain from the police and the mayor of the city. We have been able to hold this program regularly every year. Also, in political, social, religious, and international events related to the Islamic world, we get permission and launch many marches. In addition to the World Quds Day march, every year we organize several marches in support of the people of oppressed countries.
ABNA – Do the Dutch authorities agree to hold processions and religious ceremonies? Have you encountered any problems yet?
Haj Haider Kashi – By God’s grace, we have not faced any problems. As we are messengers of AhlulBayt (a.s.) school, we respect and observe the laws of the Netherlands. Because observing the law is one of the recommendations of the Maraje’ (sources of emulation) and AhlulBayt (a.s.) school. So far, we have been able to organize the programs efficiently by following the rules, and the Dutch authorities have a good attitude towards the Shiites and the AhlulBayt (a.s.) school. We never act against the law. Therefore, the authorities of the police and the municipality of The Hague have not had a problem with us, because we hold religious ceremonies within the framework of the law.
ABNA – Are the costs of religious programs funded by people or by institutions and Maraje’ (sources of emulation)?
Haj Haider Kashi – It is often provided by the people themselves. Institutions and Maraje’ (sources of emulation) help very little, and some years they don’t help at all. Funds are not taken from somewhere else, but people fund the ceremonies themselves. For several years, I have paid the deficit, which was very heavy, because I am the one who organize the ceremonies. God provides sustenance, and the good and blessings of our lives are from AhlulBayt (a.s.). Friends know that some years I sold my car and my wife’s gold to finance the ceremonies. Of course, if we did not sacrifice, we would not have reached here.
Now the people themselves have started working, and they help a lot in holding religious ceremonies and programs. At first, I was responsible for most of the follow-ups. But now the youth don’t let me do anything. I used to shop and cook by myself for the ceremonies, and no one would come to help. In the past, I used to decorate the mosque and Hosseiniyah on the birthdays of the Imams (a.s.), and my friends would come later and start working. Now whenever I want to do something even small, the youth does not allow me and say that they do it themselves.
ABNA – Don’t Wahhabis and Salafis make trouble in holding religious programs?
Haj Haider Kashi – There are problems, but the Dutch government knows that our work is legal. We do not do anything illegal and operate within the law. Therefore, the government supports us. In the Netherlands, there is freedom of speech and religion, and we have taken advantage of this space and opportunity. The government also does not allow Wahhabis or Salafis to create problems for us. Sometimes they bother and make trouble, but we take legal action, and the law confronts them.
ABNA – How many mosques and Islamic centers are there in the Netherlands? Does the Dutch government tax mosques and Islamic centers?
Haj Haider Kashi – Now there are many mosques and Islamic centers in the Netherlands. When I arrived in the Netherlands, there were only two mosques as well as a Hosseiniyah – “Mahfel-e Ali” in the city of The Hague, and a mosque for Turks in another city of the country. But today, Shiites have about 15 centers, Hosseiniyah, and Islamic centers in the Netherlands, most of which are Islamic centers. There are four mosques in the Netherlands, one in Rotterdam, and two in The Hague, one of which belongs to the Turk brothers.
Regarding taxes, the government does not charge mosques and Islamic centers. Rather, we have set up a system in the Dutch tax office for those who deposit money to the account of our institution, the representative office of the AhlulBayt (a.s.) World Assembly in the Netherlands, and they can get a discount in paying taxes at the beginning of the year, and this is a tax incentive for people who donate to charities.
It was a difficult process, but we succeeded. Because this system is not given to everyone, and it must be proven and registered according to the law. We do charity and religious work. We used Dutch law, and we got this system from the tax office. Then we announced that anyone who deposits an amount into our institution’s account will get a tax discount at the beginning of the year.
ABNA – Please explain your special activities in the Netherlands.
Haj Haider Kashi – We organized a program in the Netherlands that had not been implemented in the whole of Europe before. When Ayatollah Ramazani was the head tor of the Hamburg Islamic Center, he invited a group of astronomy experts from the seminary to Germany. The group spent more than two years surveying the sky of Europe with a telescope until they could accurately extract the Sharia times of Europe. Because in Europe, we have a problem determining Sharia times in Europe, and every year from May 22 to July 22, there is no Fajr Sadiq (the minutes after the night when a bright light is spread on the horizon. Fajr is the beginning of the time of morning prayer and is the best time for performing it. Some Islamic practical rulings such as fasting are related to this time of the day. WikiShia)
During this time, northern Europe is either night or day, and southern Europe from the Netherlands and Germany to the lower latitude circles will see gray nights for two months. So that the nights are half-light and there is no Fajr Sadiq. Because of this problem, in the city of The Hague, the azan (call to prayer) time of an Islamic center was an hour and a half different from another center! The group commissioned by Ayatollah Ramazani could scientifically and accurately prepare Sharia times for Europe. The Islamic Center of Hamburg distributed these religious times among the Islamic centers of Europe, which were not well received. They jurisprudentially cast doubts.
Therefore, I invited the officials of the Islamic centers and clerics of the Netherlands along with Hojat al-Islam Sayed Suleiman Mousavifar from the Hamburg Islamic Center and two elite students of Delft University to attend a seminar in this regard. Mr. Mousavifar was an expert and mastered the basics of religious times. We gave him time to explain about the scientific and technical works of the Sharia times of Europe, which he had studied for two years. The Delft University students also gave a detailed explanation about Sharia times. All the audience and officials of the centers and clerics fully approved the results of the study and seminar and confirmed the accuracy of Sharia times, and dignitaries who were not present at the seminar called and confirmed them too.
Then, we printed and distributed the religious times prepared by the Islamic Center of Hamburg in leaflets, along with the logo of the Islamic Centers of the Netherlands. The officials of the Islamic centers who were not present sent the logos of their respective centers and said, “With this list of Sharia times, our Sharia responsibility was removed, and we were assured.”
During his visit to the Netherlands, Ayatollah Ramazani stated in this regard, “In Germany, we could not convince the Islamic centers (to accept these Sharia times), but you did a great service.
ABNA – Last year there was a sedition against the Quran in the Netherlands. Please explain about it.
Haj Haider Kashi – There is a radical group in the Netherlands that is anti-Islam and Muslims, and every year they make an anti-Islamic movement. Sometimes they put a pig’s head in front of mosques or Islamic centers. Several times they tried to burn the Quran, but they could not, and the Dutch government did not give them permission to do so. Recently, when this anti-Islamic group gathered in the important city of Rotterdam and wanted to burn the Quran, police intervened and arrested their leader. In response, a group of Dutch Muslims gathered and there was a possibility of conflict, but the police prevented the clash by arresting their leader. The mentioned group is not free to do many activities in the Netherlands, but they can in Germany and Sweden.
In this regard, we consulted a lawyer, and we intend to file a lawsuit against this anti-Islamic group, as we have such a right. The situation and conditions of the Netherlands for Muslims are better than other European countries. The Dutch authorities did not allow those who burned the Quran in Sweden and wanted to repeat it in the Netherlands, to enter the country, and they are prohibited to enter the country. We seek to prevent them from entering the EU.
This anti-Islamic group is causing a religious war in the Netherlands with its actions, and these activities violate the laws of European countries. In European countries, Muslims have a large population, and if some people want to provoke Muslims by doing anti-Islam activities, problems will arise, and the Dutch authorities are aware of this and understand it. In the recent sedition, which was not welcomed, unfortunately, one of the extremist and anti-Islam representatives of the Dutch parliament was present. They did some publicity about the gathering, and videos were broadcast in other countries, but they were not well received in the Dutch media.
ABNA – If you have any suggestion, please add it in the end.
Haj Haider Kashi – So far, a lot has been done in Europe. When I came to the Netherlands, the ceremonies, and programs for AhlulBayt (a.s.) were held scarcely, and ten to fifteen Shiites would gather in a house and mourn for AhlulBayt (a.s.). But today, with the blessing of AhlulBayt (a.s.), religious ceremonies are held not only in every city but also in every European village. The same is true for the United States and Australia. This was not the case before, and today the situation is very different. I feel that with the development and expansion of mourning for AhlulBayt (a.s.), the phrase “Every day is the Day of Ashura, and every land is the land of Karbala” is realized, and this is also the rule.
In recent years, Shiites from Belgium and Germany used to come to our mourning ceremonies. But now in every city and village, by renting a hall, twenty to thirty Shiites gather and mourn for the AhlulBayt (a.s.). Everywhere in Europe where Shiites live, programs and ceremonies are held for AhlulBayt (a.s.), and this is considered one of the blessings of Shiite migration.
In the end, it is worth saying that I served the AhlulBayt (a.s.) along with the business. My migration to the Netherlands and the movement I started in this country spread to other European countries. In such a way that Shiites have established Hey’at, Mowkeb, and Islamic institutions in cities all over Europe, while there was no such thing before. Before 2007, there were no Islamic centers in Europe, except in Sweden and England. But by God’s grace, today Islamic centers, Hosseiniyahs, and mosques have been developed and expanded in every city and village.
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The head of the local AhlulBayt (a.s.) Assembly of the Netherlands stated, “When I came to the Netherlands, the ceremonies, and programs for AhlulBayt (a.s.) were held scarcely, and ten to fifteen Shiites would gather in a house and mourn for AhlulBayt (a.s.). But today, with the blessing of AhlulBayt (a.s.), religious ceremonies are held not only in every city but also in every European village.”
ABWA Official Website – The Netherlands is a country in Western Europe, and Muslims make up about 800,000 of the country’s population of about 16 million.
With a population of about 200,000, Shiites in the Netherlands make up 25% of the total number of Muslims in the country, most of them are of non-Dutch origin, from various Iranian, Iraqi, Afghan, Turkish, and Pakistani origins.
Haj Haider Kashi is the head of the local AhlulBayt (a.s.) Assembly of the Netherlands, who attended the 7th General Assembly of the AhlulBayt (a.s.) World Assembly which was held last September.
Of Iranian descent, he spent his childhood and adolescence in Najaf, Iraq. He grew up in a religious and fighting family.
ABNA News Agency conducted a detailed interview with Haj Haider Kashi about his life and activities in the Netherlands.
The full text of the interview is as follows:
ABNA – First of all, please introduce yourself.
Haj Haider Kashi – My name is Haider Kashi. I am originally from Iran, and I was born in Najaf in 1970. My father was from Tabriz and my mother was from Mashhad.
ABNA – Do you speak Azeri?
Haj Haider Kashi – I understand Azari, but I can't speak it well.
ABNA – Please tell us about your late father and brothers who were martyred by the Baathists.
Haj Haider Kashi – My father, Abdulzahra Kashi, was a well-known merchant in Najaf and used to refer to the offices of Maraje’ (sources of emulation) and ulama. My late father had a close relationship with the Maraje’ and ulama of Najaf. My grandfather also had a direct relationship with Ayatollah Mohsen Hakim, ulama, and Maraje’ of Najaf.
My father was one of the most famous merchants in Najaf. So that now, even four decades after his execution by the Baathists, the original residents of Najaf still know him and my brothers.
He was one of the trustees of the late Imam Khomeini (r.a.), who helped seminaries a lot.
Ayatollah Golpayegani, Ayatollah Sayed Mahmoud Shahroudi, Ayatollah Sayed Abdullah Shirazi, and many other Maraje’ and ulama knew my father. Due to his connection and closeness with the ulama and the seminary, he was always under the supervision and watch of the Ba’athists, and therefore, our family members faced serious problems.
We were 9 brothers and 5 sisters. My father and seven of my brothers were executed by the Baathist forces. My brothers Ali, Hossein, Abbas, Rasool, Kazem, Mohammad Reza, and Baqer were martyred on the charge of collaborating with Iran and Hizb al-Dawa (the Islamic Dawa Party), and activities against the Ba’ath regime. Now two of my brothers live in Iran and I live in the Netherlands.
Two of my brothers were among the armed opponents of the Baathist regime and carried out military operations in 1980 and 1979. Abbas Abdulzahra Kashi was a student who studied at Mosul University. Together with three of his classmates, he assassinated the head of the Mosul Security Organization. The Ba’athist man did not die but was completely paralyzed and finally died a few years ago. My brother Abbas and his friends who collaborated with him were executed.
At the beginning of the imposed war (the 8-year war between Iraq and Iran), in order to prevent my brother Kazem from going to war with Iran, my father sent him to Syria along with Haj Agha Javad, another of my brothers who currently lives in Qom. Kazem was one of the conscripts and the Baathists had called him for military service. Javad’s military service was over, but the Baathists had called again for him to join the Ba’ath’s army forces in the imposed war. Kazem, who cooperated with Hizb al-Dawa (the Islamic Dawa Party), came to Iraq from Syria and blew up one of the ministries in Baghdad. But on his way back to Syria, he was detected at the border and then executed.
In addition to Abbas and Kazem, who were executed, the Ba’athist forces also arrested the rest of my brothers and executed and martyred them. The Ba’athists only handed over the bodies of my father and brother Abbas, and so far, we have not found the remains of my other brothers. It is not clear whether their bodies were buried in mass graves or dissolved in acid.
ABNA – You said that your late father was a businessman. What did he trade?
Haj Haider Kashi – My father bought and sold wheat, rice, and flour in Najaf and had a big silo. He also owned a flour factory and mill near the shrine, which today has been converted into a hotel.
ABNA – When were you expelled from Iraq?
Haj Haider Kashi – After the martyrdom of two of my brothers, the Ba’ath regime imprisoned my brothers and my father, and in 1981, we were transferred from Najaf to Karbala prison, along with my mother, sisters, wives of my two brothers, and their children. We were imprisoned there for forty-three days, and then they took us to the border of Qasr Shirin (Iran) and released us with other families to enter Iran.
The place where the Ba’athists disembarked us was full of landmines! To reach the Iran’s border, we walked for 19 hours. My mother was the head of the family and gathered us around her. At that time, I was 12, and my little brother was 11 years old.
The path we walked was too long for us and my mother struggled a lot. Until the days when Saddam’s regime was overthrown, my mother did not know that her children had been executed, and we did not tell her either.
ABNA – Is she alive now?
Haj Haider Kashi – No. She passed away 9 years ago and was buried in the Dar al-Rahmah cemetery in the holy shrine of Abdulazim Hassani (a.s.). She died on the eve of Ramadan. At that time, I had come to Iran from the Netherlands to visit my family and relatives, so when she passed away, I was with her.
During her life, my mother suffered a lot. She was an exemplary woman. She did not put down the rosary and the Quran for a moment and was constantly praying.
ABNA – After you were expelled from Iraq, what happened to your father's property in the country?
Haj Haider Kashi – All our property was confiscated! The Ba’athists did not even let us take our personal clothes to use in the prison and on Iran’s border. They told us not to touch anything, and the Baath regime confiscated everything!
ABNA – After the fall of the Ba’ath regime, did you take any action to get your property back?
Haj Haider Kashi – Yes, we acted and by God’s grace we took over the real estate, the house, and the factory. But we did not get any of the movable property. However, what is important is the souls of the martyrs who did not return.
ABNA – Can you please tell us about your education?
Haj Haider Kashi – I studied in Iraq until the third grade of middle school, and after immigrating to Iran, I studied at Imam Ali (a.s.) seminary in Mashhad for four years. We entered Iran in 1981. I was in Mashhad Seminary until 1985. The Imam Ali (a.s.) seminary was under the supervision of Ayatollah Khoei. In Mashhad, I studied under Sheikh Hossein Sibawayh, a prominent alem from Najaf. At that time, I was the manager of the library of Imam Ali (a.s.) Seminary.
After four years of studying at the seminary, I started goldsmithing with our brother-in-law Sayed Baqer Musawi in Tehran. At this time, my family was in Mashhad, but because I had to manage the family, I immigrated to Tehran.
In Tehran, in addition to goldsmithing, I continued my studies at Shahid Sadr Seminary, until I immigrated to the Netherlands in 1999.
ABNA – Why did you immigrate to the Netherlands?
Haj Haider Kashi – Because my family members from both parents had Iranian birth certificates, but one of my brothers and I did not have birth certificates. I tried for two years, but I failed to get a birth certificate.
ABNA – Please explain your activities in the Netherlands for AhlulBayt (a.s.).
Haj Haider Kashi – On February 8, 1999, I entered the Netherlands and from the first day of my arrival in the country, in the refugee camp, I organized a ceremony for the AhlulBayt (a.s.). I was settled in a camp for refugees and immigrants in the city of Haarlem near Amsterdam. The living conditions in the camp were very difficult. More than eight hundred people were living in that camp.
One month after I arrived in the Netherlands, the month of Muharram began. Our camp did not have a cleric or maddah (AhlulBayt eulogist), and the number of Shiites was small. There were no CDs at that time. Therefore, I called my brother and asked him to send me some cassette tapes of mourning ceremonies and religious lectures. He sent some cassette tapes by DHL express mail.
In the camp, a large room was dedicated to the worship of Muslims, Christians, etc. We wanted to get permission from the camp authorities to hold a mourning ceremony for AhlulBayt (a.s.) there. But they did not allow it at first. We told them that we would hold the mourning ceremonies there at times when others are not using that great room.
Finally, they agreed to our request. We wanted to cook for the ceremony in the camp kitchen. But the authorities said that they will only allow us to cook food for the ceremony if the cooking is for all immigrants and not only for followers of a certain religion. We could not afford to prepare food for at least 800 people. Therefore, we consulted with a friend who lives in that city. He introduced three Shiites who lived near the camp. We cooked food at their houses every day and distributed it to the mourners after the ceremony. Interestingly, the Shiites who lived nearby came to our ceremony. Because in the Netherlands, no mourning ceremony was held in the month of Muharram, and if it was held, it was very limited and weak. Therefore, the ceremony we held was considered the first mourning program in that city. On the second day of Muharram, eighty residents and Shiites who lived in that city attended a mourning ceremony, and our program continued until the Day of Ashura.
During the ceremony, we had problems with Wahhabis from Morocco, Algeria, and Egypt. They were mischievous, but they did not achieve their goal, and we could hold the mourning ceremony well.
After I got out of the camp, I settled in The Hague, the political capital of the Netherlands. In the second year of living in the city, I saw some Iraqis holding a very brief ceremony for three nights in the first ten days of Muharram. After the Muharram ceremony, the Iraqi Shiites living in the city did not organize Shiite ceremonies such as the Kumayl supplications, etc., until the next year, because there were no facilities, and holding a ceremony in Europe is very difficult and expensive. I had lived in Iran, and I had grown up in AhlulBayt (a.s.) ceremonies, therefore, it was not acceptable for me to hold a ceremony with a small number of people.
At the same time, I asked the Iraqi Shiites if there is a place where we can plan for the next years to recite Kumayl dua there at least every week. They replied that there is a small mosque called Chahrdah Ma’soum (Fourteen Infallibles) mosque which belongs to Turkish Shiites. We went there with a group of Iraqi Shiites and met Sheikh Mohammad Algun, the imam of the mosque. He is a member of the General Assembly of the AhlulBayt (a.s.) World Assembly, and one of the active clerics of the Netherlands. The Shiites came only to pray the noon and evening, and the Maghrib and Isha prayers, and they did not have special ceremonies on religious occasions, except on the days of Muharram, when they held brief mourning ceremonies. Of course, at that time, ceremonies for AhlulBayt (a.s.) were held very poorly in Europe in general, and there was no program in European countries except for England and Sweden.
We got permission from Sheikh Mohammad Algun, the imam and manager of the mosque, to hold Kumayl dua there on Thursday nights. Since then, four of us would gather to recite the dua Kumayl, and myself and one of the Iranians, who was a Quran reciter and a student, recited the dua. For a while, we only recited Kamil dua in the mosque. Until we were able to hold a ceremony on one of the occasions, I think it was the birth anniversary of Lady Zahra (a.s.), by inviting an Iranian maddah (AhlulBayt eulogist) living in the Netherlands and a preacher living from Germany. Even though we did not have a maddah or a preacher in Arabic, the reception of the people was very good. On other occasions, we brought television and video to the mosque and listened to the speeches of Sheikh Ahmad Waeli.
ABNA – You said that at that time, apart from England and Sweden, in other European countries, no ceremony was held for AhlulBayt (a.s.). Can it be claimed that at that time there were many Shiites in European countries, but there was no one to gather the Shiites together?
Haj Haider Kashi – Yes, there was no one to gather the Shiites around him to hold the ceremonies for AhlulBayt (a.s.). In European countries, there were many Shiites from Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan, etc. as immigrants, students, merchants, and other guilds. There were also many Turkish Shiites there. But at that time, the Shiites had restrictions on holding religious programs, although the problem was resolved later. Sheikh Mohammad Algun and Sheikh Esrafil diligently worked in propagating and promoting Islamic Ma’aref for Turkish Shiites. Also, Sheikh Hamzah, one of the Turkish clerics, did a lot of fundamental work for the Turkish Shiites living in the Netherlands.
There were no Arab clerics in The Hague, but there were in other Dutch cities. After holding the ceremony on the anniversary of the birth of Lady Zahra (a.s.), we continued our efforts and could regularly hold ceremonies on the anniversaries of the martyrdoms and the birthdays of Imams (a.s.) in Chahrdah Ma’soum (Fourteen Infallibles) mosque.
ABNA – How did you inform the Shiites and invite them to the ceremonies in the mosque?
Haj Haider Kashi – At that time, there were no cellphone and social networks. Therefore, we printed and copied the invitation letter and delivered it to the people. In the next step, we took the home address and phone number of the participants. At that time, the cellphone was new and cost a lot. I called every single Shiite in the city of The Hague, which cost me about 500 guilders, equivalent to 250 euros, per month. I was a refugee and single, I didn’t have a steady job and it was hard for me to finance it. But I would cover the cost in any way. I worked very hard, and I personally paid a lot of money. By holding ceremonies on the anniversaries of the martyrdoms and birthdays of Imams (a.s.), by the grace of God, we were recognized and introduced.
Over time, the reception increased so much that the Chahrdah Ma’soum (Fourteen Infallibles) mosque did not have enough space. Because in the month of Muharram, the Turks had ceremonies, and therefore this mosque was small for all Shiites. Therefore, we tried to rent a large hall for the ceremonies. With follow-ups, we found a hall, but it was very expensive to rent, and they demanded 15,000 guilders for ten nights. My friends said that the cost of the hall is too high, and they cannot afford the amount. Of course, it was too expensive because the Iraqis were refugees in the Netherlands and did not have a suitable job to cover the expenses of the ceremony. I insisted and rented the hall. I told myself that I will work days and nights to pay rent. Therefore, in 2000, we held the first mourning ceremony for Imam Hussain (a.s.) under the title of Mawkeb and Hey’at in an 800 m2 hall in The Hague. The reception of the Shiites was so great that they came to the ceremony from the cities of other countries such as Belgium and from the borders of Germany because these countries are very close to the Netherlands.
In The Hague, there is a large Hosseiniyah named Mahfel-e Ali belonging to Pakistanis, which was headed by a cleric named Syed Mohammad Reza. After Muharram, he suggested that since the Chahrdah Ma’soum (Fourteen Infallibles) mosque is small, we could hold religious ceremonies in their Hosseiniyah. Pakistanis used Mahfel-e Ali Grand Hosseiniyah less. The area of this Hosseiniyah was four times larger than the Chahrdah Ma’soum mosque. In Mahfel-e Ali Hosseiniyah, we held regular and big ceremonies and got to know Pakistani clerics. We also invited preachers and speakers from other countries. By the grace of God, I have organized ceremonies for AhlulBayt (a.s.) since I arrived in the Netherlands, and it has not stopped until today. More than three thousand people attend the ceremonies on Muharram nights.
Over time, the programs, and ceremonies for AhlulBayt (a.s.) were organized and developed in a bigger way. Before I was elected as the representative of the AhlulBayt (a.s.) World Assembly in the Netherlands, we bought a very big place for Iraqi Shiites. Through the mediation of Hojat al-Islam Kashmiri, Ayatollah Sistani’s representative in Europe, a fund was provided by a founder from Kuwait, and with that, we bought a large building in the center and most important area of The Hague, with an area of 3750 m2, which operates under the name of Al-Kowsar Institute. I had the honor of buying this building for the Iraqis, and I was responsible for the executive and follow-up affairs. This building, which used to be a reception hall and has now become an Islamic center, has four 800 m2 halls and two 150 m2 apartments.
After 2017, I am serving the Shiites as a representative of the AhlulBayt (a.s.) World Assembly in the Netherlands and Hojat al-Islam Akhtari also honored me to represent the Ashura International Foundation in the Netherlands.
ABNA – You said that “holding ceremonies for AhlulBayt (a.s.) in European countries are facing a series of problems”. Please explain these problems.
Haj Haider Kashi – Funding the ceremonies is very difficult. In the month of Muharram, the hall we rent for ten to thirteen days costs about 15,000 euros. Also, the cost of preparing food and feeding people every night of Muharram is at least 1500 euros. Because many people participate in the ceremony. On the other hand, the gift for maddah and the preacher, as well as covering the hall in black, have costs. Funding the ceremony is associated with many problems, and the cost of holding ceremonies in Muharram ranges from 40,000 to 48,000 euros.
On the other hand, holding ceremonies in an open environment and outside the hall also has its own problems. Since the year 2000, together with our Pakistani and Afghan brothers, we have held the Day of Ashura procession in the city of The Hague, attended by more than six thousand people, which is a great reception. Holding a procession on the Day of Ashura requires special follow-ups and approvals, which we must obtain from the police and the mayor of the city. We have been able to hold this program regularly every year. Also, in political, social, religious, and international events related to the Islamic world, we get permission and launch many marches. In addition to the World Quds Day march, every year we organize several marches in support of the people of oppressed countries.
ABNA – Do the Dutch authorities agree to hold processions and religious ceremonies? Have you encountered any problems yet?
Haj Haider Kashi – By God’s grace, we have not faced any problems. As we are messengers of AhlulBayt (a.s.) school, we respect and observe the laws of the Netherlands. Because observing the law is one of the recommendations of the Maraje’ (sources of emulation) and AhlulBayt (a.s.) school. So far, we have been able to organize the programs efficiently by following the rules, and the Dutch authorities have a good attitude towards the Shiites and the AhlulBayt (a.s.) school. We never act against the law. Therefore, the authorities of the police and the municipality of The Hague have not had a problem with us, because we hold religious ceremonies within the framework of the law.
ABNA – Are the costs of religious programs funded by people or by institutions and Maraje’ (sources of emulation)?
Haj Haider Kashi – It is often provided by the people themselves. Institutions and Maraje’ (sources of emulation) help very little, and some years they don’t help at all. Funds are not taken from somewhere else, but people fund the ceremonies themselves. For several years, I have paid the deficit, which was very heavy, because I am the one who organize the ceremonies. God provides sustenance, and the good and blessings of our lives are from AhlulBayt (a.s.). Friends know that some years I sold my car and my wife’s gold to finance the ceremonies. Of course, if we did not sacrifice, we would not have reached here.
Now the people themselves have started working, and they help a lot in holding religious ceremonies and programs. At first, I was responsible for most of the follow-ups. But now the youth don’t let me do anything. I used to shop and cook by myself for the ceremonies, and no one would come to help. In the past, I used to decorate the mosque and Hosseiniyah on the birthdays of the Imams (a.s.), and my friends would come later and start working. Now whenever I want to do something even small, the youth does not allow me and say that they do it themselves.
ABNA – Don’t Wahhabis and Salafis make trouble in holding religious programs?
Haj Haider Kashi – There are problems, but the Dutch government knows that our work is legal. We do not do anything illegal and operate within the law. Therefore, the government supports us. In the Netherlands, there is freedom of speech and religion, and we have taken advantage of this space and opportunity. The government also does not allow Wahhabis or Salafis to create problems for us. Sometimes they bother and make trouble, but we take legal action, and the law confronts them.
ABNA – How many mosques and Islamic centers are there in the Netherlands? Does the Dutch government tax mosques and Islamic centers?
Haj Haider Kashi – Now there are many mosques and Islamic centers in the Netherlands. When I arrived in the Netherlands, there were only two mosques as well as a Hosseiniyah – “Mahfel-e Ali” in the city of The Hague, and a mosque for Turks in another city of the country. But today, Shiites have about 15 centers, Hosseiniyah, and Islamic centers in the Netherlands, most of which are Islamic centers. There are four mosques in the Netherlands, one in Rotterdam, and two in The Hague, one of which belongs to the Turk brothers.
Regarding taxes, the government does not charge mosques and Islamic centers. Rather, we have set up a system in the Dutch tax office for those who deposit money to the account of our institution, the representative office of the AhlulBayt (a.s.) World Assembly in the Netherlands, and they can get a discount in paying taxes at the beginning of the year, and this is a tax incentive for people who donate to charities.
It was a difficult process, but we succeeded. Because this system is not given to everyone, and it must be proven and registered according to the law. We do charity and religious work. We used Dutch law, and we got this system from the tax office. Then we announced that anyone who deposits an amount into our institution’s account will get a tax discount at the beginning of the year.
ABNA – Please explain your special activities in the Netherlands.
Haj Haider Kashi – We organized a program in the Netherlands that had not been implemented in the whole of Europe before. When Ayatollah Ramazani was the head tor of the Hamburg Islamic Center, he invited a group of astronomy experts from the seminary to Germany. The group spent more than two years surveying the sky of Europe with a telescope until they could accurately extract the Sharia times of Europe. Because in Europe, we have a problem determining Sharia times in Europe, and every year from May 22 to July 22, there is no Fajr Sadiq (the minutes after the night when a bright light is spread on the horizon. Fajr is the beginning of the time of morning prayer and is the best time for performing it. Some Islamic practical rulings such as fasting are related to this time of the day. WikiShia)
During this time, northern Europe is either night or day, and southern Europe from the Netherlands and Germany to the lower latitude circles will see gray nights for two months. So that the nights are half-light and there is no Fajr Sadiq. Because of this problem, in the city of The Hague, the azan (call to prayer) time of an Islamic center was an hour and a half different from another center! The group commissioned by Ayatollah Ramazani could scientifically and accurately prepare Sharia times for Europe. The Islamic Center of Hamburg distributed these religious times among the Islamic centers of Europe, which were not well received. They jurisprudentially cast doubts.
Therefore, I invited the officials of the Islamic centers and clerics of the Netherlands along with Hojat al-Islam Sayed Suleiman Mousavifar from the Hamburg Islamic Center and two elite students of Delft University to attend a seminar in this regard. Mr. Mousavifar was an expert and mastered the basics of religious times. We gave him time to explain about the scientific and technical works of the Sharia times of Europe, which he had studied for two years. The Delft University students also gave a detailed explanation about Sharia times. All the audience and officials of the centers and clerics fully approved the results of the study and seminar and confirmed the accuracy of Sharia times, and dignitaries who were not present at the seminar called and confirmed them too.
Then, we printed and distributed the religious times prepared by the Islamic Center of Hamburg in leaflets, along with the logo of the Islamic Centers of the Netherlands. The officials of the Islamic centers who were not present sent the logos of their respective centers and said, “With this list of Sharia times, our Sharia responsibility was removed, and we were assured.”
During his visit to the Netherlands, Ayatollah Ramazani stated in this regard, “In Germany, we could not convince the Islamic centers (to accept these Sharia times), but you did a great service.
ABNA – Last year there was a sedition against the Quran in the Netherlands. Please explain about it.
Haj Haider Kashi – There is a radical group in the Netherlands that is anti-Islam and Muslims, and every year they make an anti-Islamic movement. Sometimes they put a pig’s head in front of mosques or Islamic centers. Several times they tried to burn the Quran, but they could not, and the Dutch government did not give them permission to do so. Recently, when this anti-Islamic group gathered in the important city of Rotterdam and wanted to burn the Quran, police intervened and arrested their leader. In response, a group of Dutch Muslims gathered and there was a possibility of conflict, but the police prevented the clash by arresting their leader. The mentioned group is not free to do many activities in the Netherlands, but they can in Germany and Sweden.
In this regard, we consulted a lawyer, and we intend to file a lawsuit against this anti-Islamic group, as we have such a right. The situation and conditions of the Netherlands for Muslims are better than other European countries. The Dutch authorities did not allow those who burned the Quran in Sweden and wanted to repeat it in the Netherlands, to enter the country, and they are prohibited to enter the country. We seek to prevent them from entering the EU.
This anti-Islamic group is causing a religious war in the Netherlands with its actions, and these activities violate the laws of European countries. In European countries, Muslims have a large population, and if some people want to provoke Muslims by doing anti-Islam activities, problems will arise, and the Dutch authorities are aware of this and understand it. In the recent sedition, which was not welcomed, unfortunately, one of the extremist and anti-Islam representatives of the Dutch parliament was present. They did some publicity about the gathering, and videos were broadcast in other countries, but they were not well received in the Dutch media.
ABNA – If you have any suggestion, please add it in the end.
Haj Haider Kashi – So far, a lot has been done in Europe. When I came to the Netherlands, the ceremonies, and programs for AhlulBayt (a.s.) were held scarcely, and ten to fifteen Shiites would gather in a house and mourn for AhlulBayt (a.s.). But today, with the blessing of AhlulBayt (a.s.), religious ceremonies are held not only in every city but also in every European village. The same is true for the United States and Australia. This was not the case before, and today the situation is very different. I feel that with the development and expansion of mourning for AhlulBayt (a.s.), the phrase “Every day is the Day of Ashura, and every land is the land of Karbala” is realized, and this is also the rule.
In recent years, Shiites from Belgium and Germany used to come to our mourning ceremonies. But now in every city and village, by renting a hall, twenty to thirty Shiites gather and mourn for the AhlulBayt (a.s.). Everywhere in Europe where Shiites live, programs and ceremonies are held for AhlulBayt (a.s.), and this is considered one of the blessings of Shiite migration.
In the end, it is worth saying that I served the AhlulBayt (a.s.) along with the business. My migration to the Netherlands and the movement I started in this country spread to other European countries. In such a way that Shiites have established Hey’at, Mowkeb, and Islamic institutions in cities all over Europe, while there was no such thing before. Before 2007, there were no Islamic centers in Europe, except in Sweden and England. But by God’s grace, today Islamic centers, Hosseiniyahs, and mosques have been developed and expanded in every city and village.
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