Egypt: Growing Interest in Shi’ism Following Allameh Shehata’s Martyrdom

Egyptians have become more interested in Shia Islam following the martyrdom of Allameh Hassan Shehata, Buratha news agency reports.

The country’s bookstores are seeing a significant rise in selling Shia books just days after Allameh Shehata and four other Shi’ites were killed by extremist Takfiri mobs.

Mohammad Sayyid Subhi, a book seller in Cairo, says university scholars, students, and ordinary people are buying Shia books to know more about this Islamic school of thought.

Sayyid Mukhtar Al-Sherbini, owner of a bookstore in Nasr Street of Cairo, agrees. “Today, I saw an unprecedented number of people coming to buy Shia books. Seeing such an enthusiasm, we intend to make a trip to Iraq and bring in books about Jafari Shia School.”

Mustafa Tharwat, director of Al-Sayyida Library in Egypt’s Capital, says the recent massacre of Shia Muslims by radial Salafis has caused many to reject what the extremists say about Shi’ites.

Prominent Egyptian Shia cleric, Sheikh Hassan Shehata, and three of his devotees were killed in a brutal attack carried out by Takfiri extremists in Giza Province near Cairo.

The attack was carried out on Sunday, June 23, when a crowd of several hundred assailants attacked Sheikh Shehata’s home and then set it on fire at the village of Abu Mussalam.

Brutal scenes of the crime were posted on the internet late Sunday, showing men dragging Sheikh Shehata’s bloody body on the street and beating him as the Sheikh chanted “Allahu Akbar [God is Great].”