Iranian Ayatollah Issues Fatwa Declaring Trump and Netanyahu ‘Enemies of God’ Following ConflictEmmitt Barry
A top Shi’a Muslim cleric in Iran has issued a religious ruling, or fatwa, labeling former U.S. President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as “enemies of God” — a serious accusation in Islamic law that justifies deadly punishment.
The ruling, made by Grand Ayatollah Naser Makarem Shirazi, followed formal inquiries submitted by followers asking how Muslims should respond to threats made against Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and senior Shi’a clerics by Western leaders.
Shirazi’s fatwa, published Sunday, declared that “any person or regime that threatens the Leader or Marja [top religious clerics] is considered a mohareb” — a term that translates to “one who wages war against God.”
Under Iranian law, moharebs are subject to capital punishment, including execution, crucifixion, or exile.
Shirazi stated that “any cooperation or support for such enemies by Muslims or Islamic governments is haram [forbidden],” and urged Muslims globally to “make these enemies regret their actions,” promising spiritual rewards for any who suffer loss in doing so.
The ruling came in response to threats reportedly made by Trump and Netanyahu during and after the “12-Day War,” in which Israeli and U.S. strikes significantly damaged Iran’s nuclear infrastructure.
British-Iranian analyst Niyak Ghorbani condemned the fatwa as a dangerous escalation, calling it “a state-endorsed incitement to global terrorism.” Posting on social media, he warned that “the Islamic Republic is preparing for global violence in the name of religion.” His comments echoed longstanding concerns about Iran’s history of using religious decrees as political weapons — including the 1989 fatwa against author Salman Rushdie, which resulted in decades of hiding and multiple assassination attempts, most recently in 2023.
Shirazi’s fatwa was not an isolated opinion. Two additional top Iranian clerics, Grand Ayatollah Nouri Hamedani and Grand Ayatollah Ali Akbar Hosseini Haeri, issued near-identical rulings, stating that any threat or insult against Khamenei constitutes an attack “on the essence of Islam.” All three rulings used the term mohareb, signaling theological consensus among Iran’s highest Shi’a authorities.
The issuing of these fatwas appears to mark a shift from internal to international targets, as Iran’s religious leadership seeks to galvanize the global Muslim community against perceived threats from the West.
The invocations of jihad and references to the Mahdi — a messianic figure in Shi’a Islam — underscore the religious gravity and apocalyptic tone of the declarations.
The Islamic Republic of Iran is the only Shi’a theocratic state governed by the revolutionary ideology of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, which centers on the belief in the return of the Twelfth Imam, or Mahdi.
This belief, deeply rooted in Twelver Shi’ism, holds that the Mahdi will return to bring justice and establish a perfect Islamic government. Khomeini developed the doctrine of velayat-e faqih (guardianship of the Islamic jurist) to justify the rule of clerics as stewards in the Mahdi’s absence. While not universally accepted among Shi’a scholars, this doctrine has been aggressively promoted by Iran to position its Supreme Leader as the ultimate religious authority within Shi’ism, both domestically and abroad.
The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) plays a central role in advancing this revolutionary ideology, not just militarily but through ideological indoctrination. Under Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, Mahdism evolved from a passive hope into an activist doctrine requiring believers to prepare the world for the Mahdi’s return by establishing Islamic governance and civilization. The IRGC, especially its Quds Force, is instrumental in exporting Iran’s ideology through military operations, propaganda, and the support of proxy groups like Hezbollah, the Houthis, and Hamas. Iran views Syria and Iraq as battlegrounds tied to end-time prophecy, using instability in those nations to push for the Mahdi’s appearance.
Central to this theology is the belief that Israel must be destroyed for the Mahdi to return, which has turned the annihilation of the Jewish state into a religious imperative for the Iranian regime. This belief unites Iran with Sunni extremist groups like Hamas despite doctrinal differences. The October 7, 2023 Hamas attack, named “Al-Aqsa Flood,” echoes apocalyptic prophecies of a bloodbath before the Mahdi’s arrival. For Iran, eliminating Israel is not merely a political goal but a theological one—explaining why Israel perceives Iran as an existential threat and takes its leaders’ genocidal rhetoric seriously.
