Readers of “Bitter Winter” have been introduced to the Ahmadi Religion of Peace and Light (AROPL), a Shia-derivative new religious movement not to be confused with the Sunni-derivative Ahmadiyya Community that is heavily persecuted in Pakistan. AROPL originated from the teachings in Iraq of Ahmad al-Hassan, whom devotees regard as the Yamani, a John-the-Baptist-like character who paved the way for the appearance of the Imam al-Mahdi, the eschatological figure who will restore a Divine Just State in the end times. The AROPL identifies the Qaim, “The Riser of the Family of Mohammed,” the end-times character who leads the actual rise for Imam Mahdi for the establishment of the Divine Just State, with Abdullah Hashem Aba Al-Sadiq, a college-educated American citizen with an Egyptian father and an American mother. He is also the second in a list of twelve Mahdis (Ahmad al-Hassan being the first), and the AROPL believes he is mentioned in the will of Prophet Mohammed, a document accepted as authentic in Shiite sources.Egypt plays an important role in AROPL as a land mentioned in prophecies dating back to Prophet Muhammad and that once had an advanced monotheistic religion, although it later became corrupted. In 2012, even before Abdullah Hashem revealed himself as the second Mahdi in 2015, he and his followers had gathered in Egypt and had established there the first Shia-inspired school in the country.
This was the Egypt of President Mohammed Morsi, a representative of the conservative Muslim Brotherhood, who had come to power after the January Revolution of 2011 against President Mubarak. The Muslim Brotherhood is notorious for its anti-Shia policies, and their regime created a climate of suspicion and violence against the Shiites. On June 23, 2013, in what became known as the Abu Musallam incident, a mob of 3,000 radical Sunni Muslims attacked a gathering of Shiites, killing Shia leader Hassan Shehata and some of his followers.
It is not surprising that as a consequence of this climate the Shia-derivative AROPL was also harassed, and its community had to repeatedly relocate to escape neighbors’ hostility. Things became worse after a popular TV talk show called “Al-Ashera Masa’an”, hosted by Wael Al-Ibrashy, gave a platform to radical Sunni preachers who disclosed the school’s location, incited to violence against it, and called for governmental repression. The school, located in an apartment in Haroun Street in Doqqi, Cairo, was raided by the police on November 16, 2012, while AROPL believers were gathered for prayer.
The police confiscated the belonging of both men and women and divided the believers into two groups, one of Egyptian nationals and one of foreigners. Non-Egyptians were interrogated at length about the reasons they were in the country. Six foreigners, charged with violating residency regulations, and two Egyptians were arrested. On November 18, the foreigners were deported, despite protests by human rights organizations….
