You might have read a report recently that goes something like this, “Iran is seeking the means to build an atomic bomb or some military nuclear device.” As a Shia Muslim and American Citizen myself, I find this talk disturbing and quite impossible actually. Such news articles casually, maybe even facetiously, include some disclaimer like, “Iran denies any interest in possessing nuclear weapons and says its atomic program is for peaceful purposes only.” What is missing in every single report we’ve ever read on the subject is this: The possession of a military nuclear device in the Islamic Republic of Iran is against the law.
On ideological grounds, a public and categorical religious decree (fatwa) against the development, production, stockpiling and use of nuclear weapons has been issued by Ali Khamenei, the supreme leader of the Islamic Republic along with other clerics… many years ago! This ruling still stands – and will so stand as long as we live. [emphasis by author]
Every Muslim around the world who seeks religious advice can do so through an informational channel known as “Madh’hab.” My own personal fatwa (because I raised the important question) regarding Red Wine Vinegar came to me from Ayatollah Seyed Ali Hoseyni Khāmene’I himself, through his informational channel-- since it is his decrees I currently abide by [every devout Shia Muslim must follow a scholar and chooses among some 35 or so available today].
Like devout Jews who follow Koshur dietary law, Muslims follow the dietary law of Halal. This recent decree was stated to me essentially like this: “it is Halal to consume Red Wine Vinegar so long as the seminal intent is to produce vinegar and no portion thereof for alcoholic beverages.” Alcohol is against the law in Islam and in Iran.
The ability to use peaceful nuclear energy comes along with it an innate ability to convert it into a weapon. That is automatic… just like all vinegar is alcohol at some point in its production. We simply cannot have one without the other.
As long as I remain a devout Muslim, I will never consume alcholol; as long as Iran remains a true Islamic Republic, it would never build a weapon that could destroy innocent life. Our Prophet Mohammad (pbuh) never took an innocent life – nor shall any sincere Muslim President or Peasant.
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