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Summary. Shiism is something of a mystery in the Western world. Security and intelligence communities are often confused about how to identify the types of schools within Islam. In response to the recent German banning of Hezbollah, the international Iranian proxy, we try to identify and illustrate the expansion of Shia ideology and provide a short description of it.
Germany has just banned the ideological movement of Hezbollah, the Shia international instrument related to Iran. Although it has been identified by the European Union as a terrorist organization since 2013, until now Germany has considered Hezbollah to be part of an ideological practice that is subject to freedom of faith. Meanwhile, as Spain still haven’t giving any step yet, it’s being their last feudal heaven in Europe, Shia are increasing their activities without any restrictions. Even though the Spanish Islamic Council has refused to include Shia within its definition of the Islamic faith, the Spanish government forced their inclusion by law in 2011. Thereafter they began a large investment in Spain, where today they have a large school in a populated area in Madrid, where they grant selective scholarships to non-Shia children focused on conversion, indoctrination, and recruitment.
Shiism, or Chiism, is the religious ideology adopted by the Islamic Republic of Iran. It is a self-identified sect within Islam. Although Shiism is often compared to Christian Protestantism, Shia would reject this comparison. As Christian Protestants proposed their reforms against the dominant oligarchy, Shia consider themselves to represent the genuine Islamic faith, and others as “Protestants,” as they claim to belong to the second grandson of the Prophet Mohammed. So diplomats and others who deal with protocol should exercise caution with this comparison; if in speaking to a Sunni Muslim Shia are referred to as Protestants, the label would be welcomed, but using this label when speaking to a Shia would be highly offensive. This is a capital distinction, as the main Islamic oligarchy declines to include Shia under the same Islamic umbrella and considers them as “Protestants.”
Shia claim to represent 10 percent of all Muslim believers globally. Among Shia there are also several distinct groups and ideologies, but the dominant group is the Imamía, which may comprise around 90 percent of the total Shia in their main homeland, Iran.
The primary doctrine of Imamía Shia, along with other myths, is based on the sanctification of twelve disciples of the Prophet Mohammed. They are the descendants of the Prophet’s second grandson, Hussein, their most important saint. But the last of the saints is a mysterious or mythic one. Shia claim to have lost him, as he disappeared in a well in Baghdad, the capital city of Iraq, around the year 940 AC. Known under the name of Saint Mehdi (Imam Mehdi), he is also known under many other nicknames: the disappeared, awaited, savior, redeemer, rescuer, and others. According to Shia doctrine, he is the twelfth grandson of the grandson of the Prophet, which means that he is fourteenth in the line of succession. He is believed to be the savior of the world, awaiting his return to reestablish justice, end human atrocities, and prepare for the return of Christ the Savior.
The idea of the savior is a common myth in many ideologies, not only in monotheism but also in many other pagan doctrines, and known even in Greece mythology. People await the appearance of a savior who is disgusted by the chaos, injustice, and atrocities introduced by humans and will impose justice and reestablish order on earth.
Although no other religious doctrine promotes or imposes injustice, disorder, atrocities, or bloodshed to accelerate or urge the reappearance of their savior, Shiism does so.
The doctrine of Shiism, which controls political power today in Iran, is divided into two parts. The first is patriarchal power, whereby there is the patriarch of the state—the political head of state, the president of the Republic of Iran—who is democratically elected by the people, but above him there is the supreme leader of the republic. His power belongs neither to the people or to God, as we may understand it, but he holds power in representation of the mythic Saint Mehdi (Imam Mehdi), who has been missed for twelve centuries. Therefore the Islamic Republic of Iran does not hold power from God, the omnipotent god of the universe, but from a mythic, disappeared saith. Imam Mehdi is referred to as A.J, which means, in Arabic, “God Accelerates his Reappearance or Return.”
The second question, which is our point of interest, is the political doctrine of the Islamic Republic of Iran. It is focused and has as its object the diffusion of madness, bloodshed, chaos, and worldwide disorder, not as a tactical instrument but as a final object to urge the reappearance of the awaited savior.
A relevant example of this purpose is what Shia insist upon as ongoing menace to the Islamic holy temple, known as the grid, Ka’ba, in Arabic. In the Islamic faith, the destruction of the Ka’ba is understood to be one of the eminent signals of the end of the world. So, Shia always focus their eyes on this destruction, which may accelerate the reappearance of their expected savior. Therefore, pro-Iranian Huthi militias in Yemen have performed several airstrikes toward that temple since 2014; these have been intercepted by Saudi air forces and have forced Saudi Arabia to bring the conflict to the UN Security Council aiming to find a solution.
From the dominance of Shiism within Iran beginning in 1979 until today, Iran has been engaged in continuous wars and conflicts. This began with the US embassy incursion and hostage taking in 1979 and continued with the war with Iraq (1980–1988), continuous destabilization by Iraq and current de facto colonization of Iraq, and proxy incursions in Lebanon and Syria. Overall Iran is looking toward a confrontation with Israel, as the fall of Israel and a second Jewish captivity represents one of the Shia myths of the end of the world.
Elsewhere, the Shia have embarked on recent tactical landings in the north of Africa—in Tunisia, where they have the biggest Iranian embassy, and then in Algeria, where a suburb is intended to be used later as human hostages in advance of an incursion into the south of Europe (Spain and Italy). As always, the sole object is to propagate disorder, chaos, and bloodshed to accelerate the reappearance of the Shia savior. Furthermore, in the US, where Shia have very specific and tactical concentrations in New York and Michigan, specifically in Detroit, the headquarters of the American Shiism Council, the power is held by Hezbollah, Lebanon’s tactical branch of Iran in the world. Shia also have strong representation in South America, especially in Ecuador and Peru, where since 2015 thousands of students have been provided each year with grants to study in Iran.
Attention also must be paid to the geographic area to the east and north of Iran, where it borders Afghanistan and many other ex-Soviet republics. Iran has no geopolitical interest in these areas or in Southeast Asia. Because to Shia the propagation of injustice and bloodshed between pagan nations is not considered injustice, thereof they only target monotheists, Muslims, and Christians.
