Leader of Newly Founded ‘Yaseen’ Party is Hojjat al-Islam Residing in Iran Who Will Come to Sweden

Interview with the Founder and Spokesperson of the ‘Yaseen’ Party:

Leader of Newly Founded ‘Yaseen’ Party is Hojjat al-Islam Residing in Iran Who Will Come to Sweden

Yesterday, Stockholmian was the only and first Persian-language media outlet that published the news of the establishment of the first party of Muslims in Sweden. News that was expected to attract significant attention, and it did just that.

Now more information regarding this party has been made available to the public through an interview conducted with Mahdi Hosseini.

Stockholmian has translated the interview with Mahdi Hosseini, the Iranian-born founder and spokesperson of the ‘Yaseen’ party with ‘Sam Net’ in its entirety to Persian, which is presented below for Stockholmian readers.

Who is the Leader of the Yaseen Party?

– The leader of the party is an Imam, a Hojjat al-Islam whose name is Zahir Eslami-Qaraati. He lives in Tehran but we are trying to bring him to Sweden. He is educated in agriculture. I met him in 2005 when he came to Malmö as part of the Shi’a association ‘Venskapa Centrum,’ which I also occasionally attend, for example during the month of Ramadan. He gave a lecture there. He seemed to me like a peace-seeker who is able to highlight the peaceful aspects of Islam. I think this is necessary in Sweden.

Please provide some background about yourself

– I am originally Iranian and came to Sweden 30 years ago. Currently I am on parental leave and looking for work.

You mentioned that you plan to bring the Hojjat al-Islam to Sweden. How will you do that?

– Through a work visa. First, he will work in our religious organization as an imam, and alongside that he will be based in the Riksdag (Swedish Parliament) and so forth. Unfortunately, recently we received a negative response from the immigration authority, but we will submit a new application.

So your goal is to enter the Riksdag (Swedish Parliament)?

– Yes.

What do you want to do in politics?

– In our view, the current integration policy carried out by traditional parties is not working. Sometimes you need to reconcile people and youth with religion. The current policy causes more harm to immigrants from Eastern countries. Among the specific things we want to do is, for example, instead of paying long-term benefits to companies, put pressure on them to hire more people. For example, one can reduce the retirement age to 55 years so that more jobs become available. Regarding the role of religion, we are negotiating with Sunni organizations to create a coalition. The goal is to create educational programs for young people so that imams can teach them what is forbidden. That forbidden acts are not just eating pork but also embezzling others’ property, disrespecting others and similar things are also forbidden acts. Regarding immigration policy, our proposal is that anyone who is a refugee, regardless of economic and political reasons, is welcome to Sweden. We also want people who commit serious crimes to be deported from Sweden and have their citizenship revoked.

As it appears, you have submitted the party registration application to the election authority. Have you collected the required 1,500 signatures?

– We are in the process of collecting them. Currently we have collected over 450 signatures. We mostly collect signatures on the street, for example in

. We do not want to mix religion with politics. I hope we can receive government subsidies so that we have an independent place for the party and don’t have to gather in the mosque as we do today.

What is your position regarding the Iranian government/country?

– I do not hold a negative position toward Iran. After Khomeini, Iran has been opening up and progressing. Iran under the current president is flourishing socially. I hope he continues to advance Iran.

However, the Western world has a critical view of the Iranian regime. For example, Iran implements capital punishment for homosexuals. What is your view on this?

– I oppose it. One should consider what causes a person to be this way – sometimes it is the law of nature, sometimes there are other reasons. In my view, homosexuals are not unclean. Accepting or not accepting homosexuality is a decision each person makes for themselves, but in any case they should not be executed. It is God who created all of us. God gives life and God takes life.

Do you have any contact with the Imam Ali Center?

– No, as a party we have no contact with the Imam Ali Center.

The Imam Ali Center in 2012 sought to restrict freedom of speech so that Prophet Muhammad could not be insulted. Do you support this request?

– In my view, all religions should be respected. It is good if people are tolerant with Muslims. Some things create stereotypical perceptions. If I am Muslim and my Prophet is called a pedophile, I would take it as a personal insult. If you respect people, you should not humiliate them and their symbols. And this is what we want to stop.

As a party?

– Yes.

Lars Vilks (Swedish atheist artist) depicted the Islamic Prophet as a stray dog. In your view, should he be punished?

– As I said, this is an insult. He should be imprisoned and fined for trampling on people’s feelings; he insulted a billion Muslims. Lars Vilks insulted me and every Muslim. But execution, no. It is God who gives life and takes life.

A personal question – Would you shake hands with a woman?

– (laughs) Yes, of course I would. Why wouldn’t I?

Are you an Islamic party?

– We are not an Islamic party, but we are Muslims. However, we want to include other religions as well.

Do you think this is possible given that the party leader is an imam?

– Yes, why not. That is exactly why we chose a Hojjat al-Islam as party leader, to show that it is possible. He will reach parliamentary representation to show that it is possible.

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The interview conducted with Mahdi Hosseini promises an even more thrilling and certainly more fateful election in September 2018. Will an Iranian Hojjat al-Islam from September next year lean back on a seat in the Riksdag (Swedish Parliament)? In Swedish democracy, if the newly founded ‘Yaseen’ party obtains at least 4 percent of the votes of voters, such an occurrence would be completely possible.

Another question is whether the views of the founder and spokesperson of the Yaseen party in Sweden, for example regarding the rights of homosexuals, insults to the Prophet, or shaking hands with women, align with the views of Hojjat al-Islam Zahir Eslami-Qaraati, the party leader residing in Iran, and whether he fundamentally supports the statements of the party’s founder and spokesperson regarding the above matters, which violation of any of them in Iran is considered an unforgivable crime?

What is certain is that Hojjat al-Islam Zahir Eslami-Qaraati must be prepared to answer all these questions and hundreds of other questions that will be raised by the media of an open and free society, should he enter Sweden.

Source: Stockholmian