Buya Yahya: Zionist Israel Is Humanity's Common Enemy, and Those Who Attack It Should Be Supported
REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, Cirebon — The charismatic Muslim scholar from Cirebon, West Java, Yahya Zainul Ma’rif, or popularly known as Buya Yahya, says it is not always appropriate to dwell on Sunni–Shia differences in the joint struggle to defend Palestine. He argues that the Islamic Republic of Iran has long been at the forefront of defending Palestine, which is occupied by Zionist Israel.
Therefore Buya Yahya judges that Iran, which is currently at war with the Zionist Israel and the United States (US), deserves to be defended and supported. ‘Today it is not the time for us to talk about that (Sunni–Shia),’ Buya Yahya said on his Instagram account, buyayahya_albahjah, Thursday (5 March 2026).
Buya Yahya’s statement concerns the question: ‘Is it permissible to support Iran in attacking Israel?’ The leader of the Al-Bahjah pesantren reiterated that whoever the person is, and from whatever country they come from, as long as they have a mission to defend Palestine from Zionist Israeli occupation, they should be supported and defended.
‘Whoever attacks Israel, we must support… Will someone come from Iran, or someone from England, or perhaps from China? If it is to destroy injustice against humanity, they are world fighters,’ Buya Yahya said.
He urged humanity not to be late in acknowledging that Zionist Israel is the enemy of human civilisation today. Not only an enemy to Muslims, but a common enemy of mankind in the world. ‘We have already been late in jointly recognising that Israel is our common enemy. And it has tainted humanity,’ Buya Yahya said.
The aggression and attacks by Zionist–US against Iran on Saturday (28 February 2026) became open warfare in the Middle East region. The attack ended with the martyrdom of Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, along with his wife, child, son-in-law, and granddaughter. Several senior military officers and important Iranian officials also fell in that brutal attack.
Iran then retaliated by deploying drones and various types of high-explosive missiles. The territory of Israeli occupation in Palestine became the main target of Iran’s retaliatory missiles.
The Iranian military also defended itself by attacking plentiful US military bases in Gulf Arab states such as the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Bahrain, Qatar, Kuwait, up to Saudi Arabia and Jordan. Iran’s retaliatory strikes escalated the war to a larger scale to the present.
However, Iran’s attack triggered controversy in Indonesia. Because a number of narratives emerged about Iran’s role being unworthy of defence because the country is Shia. A doctrine deemed heretical from Islam by some who claim to be Sunni. The death of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was even framed as not proper to call a martyr due to his Shia faith.
The lengthy uproar across various social media platforms aimed to defend Sunni-majority Arab countries from Iran’s attack. In fact, Iran intended to attack US bases located in the Gulf region as retaliation.
Diverse posts on social media also accused Iran of never having defended the Palestinian people against Zionist Israel. In fact, the hardline Palestinian cause, through several armed factions in Gaza, recognises Iran’s role, including Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, in defending Palestine.
Moreover, the Islamic Republic of Iran is said to have helped arm and develop rockets for Hamas’s al-Qassam Brigades. Those weapons have long been used by Hamas to strike Zionist Israel in its territory.