‘A part of our belief system’: Why Muslims in Kashmir and across India are mourning Khamenei

In the early hours of Sunday, the Kashmir Valley was engulfed in grief.

As news of the Iranian Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei being killed on February 28 in a large-scale air attack by the United States and Israel was confirmed, residents took to the streets.

In Srinagar and other major towns of the Valley, thousands of Shia Muslim mourners came out on the roads, carrying posters of the slain leader. Many of them wept and beat their chests in mourning. The largest congregation of mourners – men, women and children – gathered around the historic Lal Chowk area in the Srinagar city centre.

Over the last six years, the Valley has rarely seen people flooding the streets in a spontaneous expression of grief. Since Jammu and Kashmir’s special status and statehood was removed in August, 2019, the space for public protests and gatherings has been severely limited.

Most Muslims in Jammu and Kashmir belong to the Sunni sect but Khamenei’s killing did not evoke emotional outbursts from Shias alone. In fact, one of the first prominent voices to condemn his killing in the Valley was Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, Kashmir’s chief cleric and a separatist leader.

Mirwaiz heads the Muttahida Majlis-e-Ulema, a conglomerate of religious bodies from various schools of Islamic thought in Jammu and Kashmir. He called for a complete strike in “solidarity against this killing and the continued aggression in the region”.

The mourning was not restricted to Kashmir. The killing of the Iranian Supreme Leader has also evoked public protests from across the country including Uttar Pradesh, Bengaluru and Mumbai.

In Lucknow, the Shia community's leaders called for a three-day mourning and protest marches against the assassination of Khamenei. While the markets and shops were closed on Sunday as a mark of protest, the mourning continued for several days, with protesters also burning down effigies of US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

This is because Ali Khamenei was not only a political figure: he was one of the most senior figures in the religious hierarchy of Shia Muslims. His edicts and instructions shaped the faith of millions around the globe.

‘A part of our belief system’

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei served as the Supreme Leader of Iran for 36 years and six months – the longest-serving head of state in West Asia. The 86-year-old was also the commander-in-chief of the Iranian Armed Forces.

Khamenei was an ayatollah. Scholars who have spent decades in intense theological training and gaining religious knowledge and can authoritatively interpret the religious law in Islam are called mujtahid. A mujtahid who possesses highly advanced knowledge of Islamic law and religion is given the rank of an ayatollah, which means sign of god.

Under the Shia doctrine, believers have to choose a mujtahid whose edicts they have to follow or emulate.

Once chosen, this cleric is known as marja al-taqlid, or source of emulation.

“For example, if there are issues for which we do not find solutions in the Quran and Hadith [a collection of traditions containing sayings of the prophet Muhammad], we turned to him [Khamenei],” explained a follower of Shia Islam in Srinagar, who asked not to be identified. “He was not just a political figure. He was a part of our belief system.”

Khamenei was one of the main mujtahids of Shia Muslims. “The other important religious authority is Ayatollah Sistani of Iraq,” he said.

In Pakistan, India, including the Muslim-majority Kashmir and mountainous region of Ladakh, most of the Shias followed Khamenei for religious matters and interpretation, this person said.

“For the West, he may be a leader who wielded an overwhelming political authority in Iran but as a religious figure, his influence and guidance cut across the borders,” the Shia Muslim from Srinagar said.

This is one of the reasons why Khamenei’s posters and flags are an everyday sight in many parts of Kashmir Valley – and not only in public spaces. His photographs decorate the walls of many houses, offices and shops belonging to Shia Muslims. During Muharram processions, which have been attended by the Lieutenant Governor as well as senior administrative officials in solidarity, Khamenei’s presence on flags and posters is common.

The last stand

But religion is not the only explanation for the reaction to Khamenei’s assassination among Muslims.

Khamenei’s defiant stand on Palestine earned him followers across India. His position stood in contrast to those taken by the region’s Arab rulers, whose countries are viewed as client states of the US, .

“For Shias, he was a religious and spiritual guide,” said Rehana, a postgraduate student in Srinagar. “But for a Sunni like me, he was someone who refused to succumb to western pressure and always stood behind the oppressed Muslims of Palestine.”

Rehana said that since Khamenei’s killing, she had been frequently uploading reels of his sermons on her social media accounts. “Every Muslim, irrespective of school of thought, feels his loss,” she said.

That also explains why Sunni Muslims across India have taken part in protests against his killing.

Kashmir, which has a long history of reacting to the events shaping up in the wider Muslim world, has long historical ties to Iran. A region which has been in the grip of violence for decades, Kashmiris have long craved for the attention and support of Muslim powers. They have not forgotten that Khamenei was one of the few Muslim leaders in the world to consistently speak about their rights.

In the aftermath of total communication blackout and restrictions imposed by authorities across Jammu and Kashmir in the wake of the August 5, 2019, abrogation of the provision of the Constitution that gave the territory a special status, Khamenei had appealed to the Indian government to “adopt a just policy towards the noble people of Kashmir and prevent the oppression & bullying of Muslims in this region.”

Khamenei had spoken against the violence on Indian Muslims. During the 2020 Delhi riots, Khamenei had issued a statement over what he described as the “massacre of Muslims in India”. At that time, he had urged the India government to “confront extremist Hindus & their parties & stop the massacre of Muslims in order to prevent India’s isolation from the world of Islam”.