In the wake of the Arab opposition to Hizbullah, led by Saudi Arabia and Egypt, the conservative Iranian daily Jomhouri-ye Eslami, which is close to the Iranian ayatollahs and to the religious seminaries of the city of Qom, published a scathing editorial blasting the heads of Saudi Arabia and Egypt, as well as the head muftis. The paper accused these muftis of betraying Islam by serving the pro-Western Sunni Arab kings, as well as the U.S. and the Western infidels.

The following are excerpts from the Jomhouri-ye Eslami editorial, titled "The Preachers of the Imperialists": [1]

The Failure of the American and Zionist Regimes Led Them to Opt for a Military Attack

"In the past year or two, there have been huge allocations [of funds] from the hidden circle that is operating the new takfir groups and Al-Qaeda, to create factionalism amongst the Lebanese public by leveling new accusations against Hizbullah in Lebanon.

"The aim [of this operation was] to entangle Lebanon in a Shi'ite-Sunni war, so as to obscure the anti-Zionist and anti-American jihadist movement of Hizbullah-Lebanon, so that America and Israel would thus be able to stick a knife in the back of Hizbullah-Lebanon...

"The leaders of Hizbullah-Lebanon saw things as they were, and did not allow the instigators of discord and the sowers of factionalism to achieve their goal and did not let them do what they wanted. This failure led America and the Zionist regime to choose [the option of] military attack... America and the Zionist regime intended to use tools such as treating Shi'ites and Sunnis differently, tribal division, and creating conflict between the heads of Arab states and Hizbullah...

"The Zionist regime received full cooperation from the following individuals and centers, and attacked Lebanon with the aim of destroying Hizbullah, or at least disarming it: The reactionary Arab leaders; the Arab forums; the U.N.; the international forums that claim to defend human rights; the religious centers and the fatwas issued by the Arab reaction; the groups that claim to struggle against America in the Arab world, including Al-Qaeda and the takfir groups.

"This was precisely the reason why, after the beginning of the military attack by the Zionist regime on Hizbullah in Lebanon, not only did the silence of death fall upon the heads of the Arab reaction, but in addition, the secret agreement that some of them had made - with the prime minister of the plundering and criminal Zionist regime for the sake of carrying out this crime - was exposed.

"Also, the Arab forums fell ill with the same sickness from which the U.N. suffers. The U.N. has now become dead, and there remains only a name and a corpse. This affair also exposed the international circles that claim, in their craftiness, [to defend] human rights...

"The groups that claim [to be carrying out] the struggle against America earned reputation and fame in the Arab and Islamic world under an Islamic guise. But they also chose the [path of] indifference in the face of the most heroic struggle against America and the Zionist regime. They refrain even from making a [noncommittal] statement on the subject. The muftis of the courts of Saudi Arabia and Egypt have carried out the most shameful act of all. Sheikh Abdallah ibn Jabarin, the greatest Wahhabi mufti in the Saudi court, issued a fatwa forbidding providing help to Hizbullah, and called them 'rafidin.' [2] He even prohibited praying for those who take their souls in their hands and defend Islam and the Muslims."

The Court-Paid Muftis Have Crossed the Line

"Also, Sheikh Muhammad Sayyid Tantawi, the mufti of Al-Azhar, who is known for his blind obedience to the pharaoh of Egypt, [3] has joined the Wahhabi mufti of the Saudi court and declared that Hizbullah's resistance is an adventurous act, that Hassan Nasrallah is a megalomaniac, and that he wants to imitate Salah Al-Din Al-Ayyubi. [4] He admitted that he had, as always, taken the line of the pharaoh of Egypt, and that he was proud of this line - which is coordinated also with the [royal] courts of Saudi Arabia and Jordan.

"By this deed, the court-paid muftis have crossed the line. These servants of the Saudi court and of the pharaoh of Egypt, with their anti-Islamic and anti-popular fatwas, have served well America, which stands at the head of the 'global arrogance.' Their fate is even blacker than [that of] the preachers of the kings who have a black record in Islamic history; they have now become the preachers of the arrogant [i.e. of the U.S. and the West]. With their anti-Islamic fatwas, they have not only taken a stand against Islam but they have also taken a stand against the entire Muslim and Arab public."

Hassan Nasrallah is the Leading Figure in the Arab World Today

"Hassan Nasrallah, the man against whom the two muftis of the [royal] courts have ruled, is today the leading figure of the Arab world... The Muslim Brotherhood of Egypt, the most prominent cleric in the Arab world, [Sheikh Yousef Al-]Qaradhawi, and many of the great clerics in the Islamic and Arab world are proud of Hassan Nasrallah and have declared their support for him.

"How miserable are these black-faces, who have polluted the holy seat of the clerics and of the muftis with the mark of disgrace of blind obedience to the heads of the Arab reaction. They have bought themselves a bad name in this world, and torment in the world to come.

"Eternal disgrace on the Arab reactionaries who, with their silence during the most sensitive historical period of the Muslim wars against the infidels and the arrogant, have stamped on their foreheads the stamp of the most filthy dependence.

"An eternal curse on the muftis of the Saudi court and of the pharaoh of Egypt, who, with their made-to-order fatwas, have been promoted from the most disgraceful title of preachers of the kings to the most filthy title of preachers of the arrogant... [i.e. the U.S.].

"Congratulations to Hassan Nasrallah, who has, with his unique leadership, succeeded in standing against all the [forces of] unbelief. With two weeks of resistance by Hizbullah-Lebanon... he has succeeded in humiliating the Zionists and in writing in the pages of history the most golden days of Islamic and Muslim honor."