Recently, threats and pressures on Gonabadi Dervishes and violations of their rights has intensified by Basij militia and extremist religious groups with the aim of closing mystic religious ceremonies of the Dervishes in the city of Nayriz, situated in Fars province, Iran.
According to Majzooban Noor, over recent days new efforts by extremist religious groups in order to put more pressure on Dervishes has begun following the Friday prayer leader’s recent speech in the city.
According to a number of reports, the Friday prayer leader of Nayriz has repeatedly vilified the Dervishes’ faith and expressed concern about the youth beliefs and attitudes towards Sufism and Islamic mysticism.
It is worth mentioning that, despite these efforts, Dervishes endured harassment and their prayer meetings are routinely held and even the recent pressure has made Dervishes to hold their mystic religious ceremonies with greater consistency.