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"Shi&#39;ite leaders have called a meeting to discuss the Religious Endowment Ministry&#39;s decision to close Al-Hussein tomb in Egypt, from Thursday until Saturday, to prevent Shi&#39;ite rituals on the day of Ashura, the anniversary of the killing of Al-Hussein, Prophet Muhammad&#39;s grandson, during the Karbala battle in Iraq.&nbsp;Undersecretary for the Endowment Ministry Mohamed Abdel Razek said the ministry rejects violent rituals by Shi&#39;ites on that day.&nbsp;Shi&#39;ite sources said sect leaders had met with human rights activists previously and agreed to go to international rights organizations where they would file complaints against the Endowment Ministry.&nbsp;The Ahl al-Bayt World Assembly leader in Tehran, al-Taher al-Hashemy, described the ministry&#39;s decision as an unjustified attack against Shi&#39;ites in Egypt to please the Wahhabi movement.&nbsp;Muqtada al-Sadr, the Shi&#39;ite leader in Iraq, attacked the ministry&#39;s decision saying it resembles the closure of Bayt al-Maqdis for Muslims and describing the decision as dictatorial.&nbsp;Sadr called on Al-Azhar to refute the decision, adding that the Egyptian government cannot decide whether or not the Shi&#39;ite rituals on Ashura are Islamic.&nbsp;Al-Kawthar Shi&#39;ite Coalition member Mokhtar al-Radwa condemned the decision, nonetheless pointing out that the coalition also rejects Iranian and Iraqi interference in Egypt&#39;s internal affairs despite the injustices being placed on the sect.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm&nbsp;"
<https://cloudflare.egyptindependent.com/shi-ite-leaders-meet-over-al-hussein-tomb-closure-ashura/>