In the Name of Allah, the Most Beneficent, the Most Merciful

{They want to extinguish the light of Allah with their mouths, but Allah refuses except to perfect His light, although the disbelievers dislike it.} Holy Quran 9:32

The sinful hands have reached out this morning to commit a shameful and terrible crime, which is targeting the holy shrine of Imam Ali al-Hadi and Imam Hasan al-Askari, peace be upon them, and blowing up its blessed dome, which led to the collapse of a large part of it and the occurrence of other serious damage.

The words fall short of condemning this heinous crime that the terrorists intended to cause strife among the Iraqi people to allow them to reach their sinister goals.

Today more than ever, the Iraqi government is called upon to assume its full responsibilities in stopping the series of criminal acts that target the holy sites, and if its security forces are unable to provide the necessary protection, then the believers are able to do so with the help of Allah the Almighty.

As we condole the Imam of Our Time, may Allah hasten his reappearance, for this great calamity, we announce public mourning for seven days, and we call on the believers to express –in peaceful ways – their condemnation of the violation of the holy sites. Everyone living in a state of shock and tragedy of the horrific crime should not to be dragged into committing acts that would only please the enemies, namely, the sectarian strife, which they have long attempted to push Iraq into its furnace.

There is no power but in God the High, the Great. And those who have wronged are going to know to what [kind of] return they will be returned.

Office of Grand Ayatollah Sistani

Najaf, Iraq                 

Muharram 23, 1427 AH (2006)