16 March 2010

Khamenei gets his fingers burnt after issuing fatwa against fire celebrations

According to CNN Khamenei has attempted to stamp out an annual event celebrating the last days of winter and the Persian.

On Sunday he urged Iranians to dismiss the ancient practice of fire jumping and feasting on Chaharshanbe Soori, a festival held on the eve of the last Wednesday before (that is to say tonight!) . The festivities have no basis in Islam, and can cause "harm and corruption," Khamenei said in a statement published by Iranian news sites. "It is appropriate to avoid it," he said.

The celebrations lead up to Norooz, the holiday that marks the first day of spring and the Persian new year. The new year festivities are ancient and date back to times when Zoroastrianism was the dominant religion of Persia.

Norooz itself is the biggest celebration in the Persian calendar. Nothing that the fanatics in charge of the country in the past 30 years will curb celebrations. Most Iranians are Persians first, Persians second and Persians third. No Islamic lunatic is going to take that away from them.

The Guardian is live blogging events in Iran. Needless to say the fatwa has been unheeded...

2 comments:

SnoopyTheGoon said...

Ditto. Unfortunately, meanwhile the lunatics are sitting pretty tight.

jams o donnell said...

I would like to think so but as Snoopy says, they are sitting too tight... for the moment