Hussein al-Shirazi was born in Karbala, to Sadiq al-Shirazi, a Shia marja', and Siddiqa Thabit, the daughter of Muhammad Thabit, a cleric and orator. A year after his birth, his family were exiled from Iraq, and settled in Kuwait. Ten years later, they migrated to Iran, and settled in Qom.
Al-Shirazi began his religious education at an early stage, and studied under his uncle, Grand Ayatollah Sayyid Muhammad al-Shirazi, and his father. He also studied under Grand Ayatollah Sayyid Muhammad-Sadiq al-Rohani.[1]
Hussein al-Shirazi was forcefully arrested by police in Qom on March 6, 2018.[3] The reasons for his arrest was because he was critical of Velayat Faqih and Iranian Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei in a lecture he gave in Qom. In his lecture, he compared Khamenei to the Pharaoh of Egypt.[4]
His arrest sparked outrage from the followers of his father, and as a result of this it led to protests in London, Kuwait and Iraq.[5] In London, protestors–linked to the controversial cleric, Yasser al-Habib–managed to climb onto the balcony of the Iranian Embassy, waving their flags and chanting anti-Khamenei and Islamic Republic slogans.[6][7] The protestors who climbed the balcony and replaced the flag of Iran with the blue flag of al-Habib's organisation (Servants of Imam Mahdi), were arrested. Nobody was hurt during the protests in the embassy.[8][9]
Iranian Ambassador to United Kingdom, Hamid Baeidinejad tweeted that the assailants belonged to the "Shirazi Cult", and that the staff in the embassy were well and not harmed.[8]
