Address Zahedan, Sistan and Baluchestan Province, Iran Similar University of Sistan & Baluchest, مسجد و کتابخانه حضرت زی, Jameh Mosque of Zahedan, Bank Mehr, Al Mahdi Mosque | ||
The Makki Mosque or Grand Makki Mosque in Zahedan was established in 1971 and is located in the center of Zahedan, the capital of the province Sistan-Baluchistan in southeast Iran.
Contents
- Leadership
- Criticism of the Central Government in Tehran
- Links to Terrorism
- Taliban
- The Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan
- The Islamic Jihad Union
- al Qaida
- References
The founder of the mosque was Maulana Abd al-Aziz Mullahzada who until his dead in 1987 the most important Sunni religious authority of the Baluch in Sistan-Baluchistan in Iran. The Makki Mosque was founded as part of the Jamiat Darul Uloom seminary which is located next to the Makki mosque. The Darul Uloom is part of the Deobandi School and is close to the Taliban in Afghanistan and Pakistan.
The Darul Uloom in Zahedan is the center for the Sunni Baluch people who live in eastern Iran. From its founding in the early 1970s has become the center of a network of thousands of mosques in the region, 120 Deobandi madrasas and about seventy seminaries of which forty are under direct leadership of the Zahedan-based Darul Uloom.
For years the mosque was overcrowded with a large numbers of worshippers and it space was inadequate for everyone to be able to pray inside the mosque. Often prayers had to be offered on the nearby streets. An expansion project was started which made the Makki mosque the largest Sunni mosque in Iran after completion. In 2010 the old mosque building with its two minarets had to be demolished to make room for the new 50,000 square meters mosque with four minarets.
Annual gatherings and conferences in the Makki mosque attract large numbers of Deobandi and other Sunni scholars from Iran and neighboring countries like Afghanistan and Pakistan.These gatherings and conferences have often prominent Deobandi speakers like the president of the Darul'Uloom in Karachi and speakers linked to the Tablighi Jamaat.
Leadership
The founder of the Makki mosque Maulana Abd-al-Aziz Mullahzada (1916–1987) was a well respected Deobandi scholar and was the leader of the Baluch Shahbakhsh tribe. He was the major propenent of the spread of the Deobandi thought in Sistan-Baluchistan. His influence kept growing and after being acknowledged as the religious authority of the Baluch people his religious authority spread over all the Sunni communities in Iran.
After the death of Abd-al-Aziz Mullahzada in 1987, his son Maulavi Abdul Hamid took over the reins of the Darul Uloom and was honored with the title Sheikh ul-Islam of Zahedan.
Criticism of the Central Government in Tehran
Maulavi Abdul Hamid is a frequent critic of the central government in Tehran. He criticize them for poor management. He also demands more Sunni representation in running the country. Abdul Hamid always has to balance his criticism as the Iranian government is funding the Sunni mosques and madrassas in the country.
Links to Terrorism
Zahedan is a well known hub for terrorist organizations and their facilitators. The Makki mosque itself is linked to multiple terrorist organization including the Taliban, al-Qa'ida, the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, Islamic Jihad Union and the Jundallah.
Taliban
After the Taliban was driven out of power by the Coalition in late 2001 early 2002 many Afghan Taliban crossed the Iranian border and took shelter in Sistan-Baluchistan. The Makki mosque opened its doors to their Afghan brethren who are ideologically close to the Deobandi School. Taliban members were allowed by the Iranian government and security forces to stay at the premises of the Makki mosque and seminary.
In May 2012 a member of the Taliban's Quetta Shura set up an official office in Zahedan. Apparently the office "is intended to allow Iran to coordinate with the Taliban against the U.S."
The Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan
The Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU) has repeatedly used the Makki mosque for meeting and to shuttle fighters from and to Afghanistan and Pakistan. Iran is often described as a transit point for jihadists traveling in and out of Pakistan. Iran is allowing IMU recruiters and facilitators to operate in the Sunni Makki Mosque in Zahedan.
The Islamic Jihad Union
The Makki Mosque still is a meeting point for European volunteers seeking to enter Pakistan. In the Makki mosque four members of the Sauerland Group were received by the Uzbek Gafur Salimov, a former IMU logistics officer facilitating the travel of Islamic Jihad Union (IJU) volunteers to Pakistan and a central figure in the organization. Two of the four Adem Yilmaz and Fritz Gelowicz traveled from Germany through Turkey to Zahedan and from there to the Tribal Areas in Pakistan. From Zahedan Gafur Salimov sends volunteers to the IJU training camps near Mir Ali in Pakistan.
al-Qa'ida
Zahedan is a well-known hub of al-Qa'ida. Al-Qa'ida has an established presence in the Makki mosque too. Before his May 2011 suicide at Guantánamo, an Afghan al-Qa'ida member Inayatullah admitted that he was al-Qa'ida’s emir in Zahedan, from where he delivered recruits to senior al Qaeda leaders in Pakistan. Another al-Qa'ida facilitator based in Iran, Yassin al-Suri, is known to operate inside Zahedan.