Al-Sadr issues a strongly worded warning to the Najaf administration: We will not stand idly by in the face of transgressions.
Al-Sadr issues a strongly worded warning to the Najaf administration: We will not stand idly by in the face of transgressions.
2026-09-18
Shafaq News – Najaf
The leader of the Shiite national movement, Muqtada al-Sadr, issued a strongly worded warning on Friday to the local administration in Najaf Governorate, following the incident of pork being sold in the markets of the holy city, an event that sparked widespread controversy in the community.
In his handwritten Friday sermon, Al-Sadr said: “We will not stand idly by if the local government turns a blind eye to these transgressions. Whoever does not respect Najaf and its reputation, we will not respect him, and this is inevitable.”
Al-Sadr called on all merchants in Iraq to “become learned,” citing the saying: “(The merchant is a sinner until he becomes learned),” urging “those who are not committed to repentance.”
He added, “This is exactly what we call for in terms of reform (uprooting and removing), even if some claim to be connected to us. Do not let Satan take hold of you and make you forget the remembrance of God and obedience to Him. Peace be upon you.”
On September 9, security forces arrested a butcher who was hunting wild boars and selling them to citizens as “minced meat”.
A security source explained to Shafaq News Agency at the time that an intelligence security team arrested the owner of a butcher shop who was hunting wild boars in the Al-Hurriya district of Kufa and selling them to citizens as “minced meat” in the central area of Najaf city.
Following the incident, the leader of the Shiite National Movement, Muqtada al-Sadr, called for stricter control over the markets of Najaf Governorate, saying in a post on social media, “Najaf is the capital of Shiism in the whole world… and there is no doubt about that. Hence, no actions should be taken that offend this holy city… and we specifically mention the market and what is happening in it in terms of legal and health violations.”
On Monday, September 14, the Najaf Criminal Court issued a ten-year prison sentence against a man convicted of selling pork in the province, whose case had stirred public opinion in recent days, according to a judicial source.
shafaq.com
