A Google AI Summary of the issue on Aug 14, 2025 = 20th of Av, 5785:
Iran is currently facing a severe water crisis, marked by prolonged drought and record low dam levels. This crisis is exacerbated by a combination of factors including climate change, decades of mismanagement, and increasing demand. The situation is particularly dire in Tehran, where dam reservoirs are critically low, and in other regions where agriculture and rural communities are struggling to access water.
-
Drought:
Iran is experiencing its fifth consecutive year of drought, with rainfall significantly below average and high evaporation rates.
-
Climate Change:
Rising temperatures and changing precipitation patterns are intensifying the drought and leading to increased desertification.
-
Inefficient irrigation practices, over-extraction of groundwater, and lack of investment in infrastructure have contributed to the crisis.
-
Dam Levels:
Reservoirs feeding major cities like Tehran are at critically low levels, with some dams at historic lows.
-
Agriculture:
A large percentage of Iran’s water is used for agriculture, often inefficiently, putting further strain on resources.
-
Urban Water Supply:
Major cities like Tehran are facing severe water shortages, with reduced water pressure and rationing implemented.
-
Social Impact:
Water scarcity is causing social unrest, with protests erupting in some areas over water shortages.
-
Increased Desertification:
The lack of water is leading to the expansion of deserts and increased dust storms.
-
Food Insecurity:
Water shortages are impacting agricultural production, potentially leading to food shortages.
-
Economic Losses:
Water scarcity is impacting industries like steel and petrochemicals, leading to production cuts and financial losses.
Before the October 7th / Shmini Atzeret Massacre Hashem Brought Some Major Disasters on Our Enemies in Lebanon & Syria
Some prominent rabbis instead of thanking Hashem for helping us out, were whining over the suffering of our enemies and praying for their disasters to stop. Instead they should understand that this is a desired outcome. To quote from Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan’s “Living Torah” translation to the Biblical book, Deuteronomy (Dvarim) chapter 7
| 7:15 | God will take all sickness from you. He will not allow any of the terrible Egyptian afflictions that you experienced to affect you; instead, He will direct them against all your enemies. |
| 7:16 | When you consume all the nations that God your Lord is giving you, do not show them any pity. Do not worship their gods, since this will be a deadly trap for you. |
Similarly it says in the Biblical book, Exodus (Shmot) chapter 23
| 23:22 | But if you obey him and do all that I say, then I will hate your enemies and attack your foes. |
Iran is attempting to Destroy Israel, But Why Define the Shiite Muslims of Iran as Avoda Zara Worshipers? Didn’t Rambam Contend All Muslims are Monotheists?
Rambam himself admits in theory one could be a Monotheist but nevertheless be a worshiper of Avoda Zara. Regarding Rambam’s opinion regarding Islam in particular, I will quote from the post: Rav Menashe by Mistake Was Liable for the Sin of Idolatry (Sanhedrin 64a). Rambam in his Letter to Ovadiah the Convert Tries to Explain Why the Muslims are Different. At least 5 Major Rabbis Don’t Accept Rambam’s Leniency.
The following is a translation of Rambam’s Letter to R. Ovadiah the Convert (Responsa of the Rambam, Siman 448) regarding this issue.
“And so, these Yishmaelites today, all of them—children and women included—have eradicated idolatry from their mouths, and their error and foolishness lie in other matters, which cannot be written down due to the transgressors and evildoers among Israel. However, regarding the unity of G-d, may He be exalted, they have no error whatsoever. In truth, the Yishmaelites previously had three types of idolatry in those places: Peor, Marculis, and Kemosh. They themselves admit to these things today and refer to them by names in the Arabic language. The worship of Peor involves exposing oneself before it or placing one’s head down and raising one’s private parts toward it, as these Yishmaelites do today in their prayers. The worship of Marculis involves throwing stones, and the worship of Kemosh involves shaving the head and not wearing sewn garments. All these matters are well-known and explicit among us from before the establishment of the Yishmaelite religion. However, the Yishmaelites today say that we shave our heads and do not wear sewn garments during prayer in order to humble ourselves before G-d, may He be exalted, and to remember how a person will stand when rising from the grave. As for throwing stones, they say, ‘We throw them at the devil to confound him.’ Others among their scholars provide a reason, saying, ‘There were idols there, and we throw stones in the place of the idols, as if to say we do not believe in the idols that were there, and we throw stones at them as a form of contempt.’ Others say it is merely a custom. In summary, even though the origin of these practices is rooted in idolatry, there is no one in the world who throws those stones, bows in that place, or performs any of these actions for the sake of idolatry, neither with their mouth nor in their heart, but rather their hearts are devoted to heaven.”
- The uncensored Kuzari as brought down in the textual edition of Rashbatz in Keshet Umagen
- Yad Rama, Sanhedrin 60b
- Ibn Ezra to Daniel 11 verse 30
- Ri Migash (the sages of Spain) quoted by Meiri to Avoda Zara 57a
- Rav Nachshon Gaon quoted by Sefer HaEshkol (Albek) Hilchot Yayin Nesech, page 150b
But Didn’t Rabbi Yosef Karo in his Beit Yosef Commentary (Tur, Yoreh Deah, Chapter 124) Side With Rambam that the Muslims Do Not Worship Avoda Zara?
Magid Meisharim, to Bechukotai, the 28th of Iyar implies that Rabbi Karo probably changed his mind about this. See the post: Yabia Omer Used This Incident As Proof That You May Not Visit Churches – In Reality the Incident Was Referring to a Sufi Muslim Tekke
The Holy Ohr Hachaim’s Position
Ohr Hachaim Hakadosh (Rabbi Chaim Ben Atar) in his book “Pri To’ar”, Yoreh Deah chapter 19 comment 10 was not sure whether Rambam hid a very negative detail about the faith of the Muslims. This came up for discussion when there were Muslims who demanded from Jewish slaughterers to say in Arabic the equivalent of “El Kabir” right before slaughtering animals. Ohr Hachaim was not sure whether the intention of the Arabic expression was also to associate the prophecy of the man they consider a prophet with the Creator of the world; but in any case Ohr Hachaim held that some Muslims in his time were blurring the lines between G-d and their prophet and were guilty of Idolatry. See also Pri Megadim, Mishbatzot Zahav, Y.D. 19:4 who seems to approve of what the Ohr Hachaim had to say on this issue.
The Certificate of Kashrut for Islam as Being Clean from the Sin of Idolatry Has Expired if it ever existed at all at Some Point in History!
The Mufti of Jerusalem Hajj Amin Al Husseini besides actively helping Hitler to massacre Jews in Iraq during World War II also issued an Islamic religious ruling (Fatwa) defining the idol worshiping Alawites as Muslims. To quote a Wikipedia entry on Alawites: An important component of Alawism is the belief in the transfer of souls, rejected by orthodox Islamic scholars of both the Twelver Shia and Sunni conviction,[27] leading to the Alawites being considered heretics by classical theologians of Sunni and Shia Islam. A lone 1932 fatwa by Hajj Amin al-Husseini recognizing them as Muslims has been seen as based on immediate political, anticolonial considerations.
Alawites
Quote from http://thepolitic.org/born-from-the-stars-the-alawites-in-syria/
The Alawi are a small and controversial sect of Shia Islam to which the Assad family belongs. This sect rejects the call to prayer and the pilgrimage to Mecca, two practices most Muslims consider pillars of Islam. Additionally, Alawi contains elements of Zoroastrianism (an originally Iranian religion that incorporates teachings of the Prophet Zoroaster) and Christianity. The foundation of Alawi Islam is that every human was once a star and thus each person is a part of nature. Although the Alawites believe in the Islamic God … they worship the sun and the moon because they see themselves as one with nature.
The Muslim Alawite Sect of Syria that is Connected to Syrian Dictator Assad (even though Assad Seems to Be a Secularist) Are Idol Worshipers Without Question
First a quote from Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alawites about them.
Beliefs
Alawites have been described as “secretive” and their beliefs have been described as “secret” (Yaron Friedman, for example, in his scholarly work on the sect, has written that the Alawi religious material quoted in his book came only from “public libraries and printed books” since the “sacred writings” of the Alawi “are kept secret”; some tenets of the faith are kept secret from most Alawi and known only to a select few, they have therefore been described as a mystical sect.
Alawite beliefs have never been confirmed by their modern religious authorities. Alawites tend to conceal their beliefs (taqiyya) due to historical persecution.
Theology and practices
Alawis are self-described Shia Muslims, and have been called Shia by other sources including the highly influential Lebanese Shia cleric Musa al-Sadr of Lebanon, and Iranian religious and political leader Ruhollah Khomeini. Although Alawites consider themselves to be Muslims, Sunni Muslims generally dispute this due to theological differences. However, The Sunni Grand Mufti of Jerusalem Hajj Amin al-Husseini issued a fatwa recognizing them as part of the Muslim community in the interest of Arab nationalism.
I will also add that the Alawites are also Trinity worshipers, but their Trinity is different than the Catholic Trinity.
Even if We Disregard the Alawite Issue, Shiite Muslims Have an Additional Avoda Zara Problem because they pray to Dead Muslim Saints
To quote from: When Is It Permitted to Bow to Men and When Is Bowing Considered Forbidden Intermediary Worship , According to Rabbeinu Nissim
Tawassul – The Doctrine Used by Shiites and Some Sunni Muslims to Justify Praying to Intermediaries
One should note that out of the testimony of one Muslim group against the other, it emerges that not only much of the Sufi sect uses intermediaries, but there are others too.
The sect of the Wahhabis who rule Saudi Arabia accuse other Orthodox Sunni Groups as well as Shiite Islam of worshiping the Creator through intermediaries. That is to say making requests to dead saints of the religion. They accuse orthodox Sunnis of committing shirk (polytheism) when asking the Creator for something using an intermediary, such as, a pious human being in his grave.
When a Muslim visits the Prophet M—–’s grave and calls on the Prophet, “Oh Prophet,” (Ya Rasulullah), the Wahhabis accuse such a person of worshiping the Prophet. The Wahhabis believe that such people are worshiping creation alongside the Creator, and are therefore guilty of polytheism – attributing partners in worship of the Divine.
Shiites in addition to direct prayer to the Creator, seek the blessings and intercession of Imam Ali and other Shia Imams in intercessory prayers.
What Justification Was Used By the Author to Study Non-Jewish Sources to Determine the Status of Muslims
Dvarim {Deuteronomy} 18:9 “When you have come to the land that G-d your L-rd is giving you, you shall not learn to do like the abominations of those nations”.
Rashi comments: you shall not learn to do [like the abominations of those nations]: But you learn [their practices] to understand [them] and to teach [them], i.e. to understand how degenerate their actions are, and to teach your children, “Do not do such and such, because this is a heathen custom!” – [Sifrei ; San. 68a]
Scholars should also see Brachot 18b as an answer for someone trying to defend the practice of the Shiites.
According to Rambam’s own standards if a significant minority of Muslims are proven to be Idol Worshipers this ruins the status of all Muslims.
For an in-depth discussion of this issue, I refer the reader that understands Hebrew to the article
הסרת המסגדים בהר הבית על ידי ממשלת ישראל
For those who do not have good command of Hebrew, I suggest the following posts:
-
Audio: Menachem Gottlieb Discusses New Realities Affecting Rambam’s Ruling on Islam and Avoda Zara
-
Menachem Gottlieb’s Audio Shiur on Rambam, Islam, and Avoda Zara
-
Muslim Idolatry Trees – Do They Interfere With Davening Mincha on the Temple Mount?
-
On the Issue of Kiddush Hashem – Accepting the Yishmaelite Religion is Like Accepting Idolatry
Regarding the Downfall of the Wicked, see:
-
Rejoicing Upon the Downfall of Egyptian & Modern Enemies, Audio by Menachem Gottlieb
-
Are Chinese Atheists Who Persecute Judaism and Threaten Israel, Bad People?
- Rashi on Numbers (Bamidbar) 21:1 explains that the nation of Israel prayed for the downfall of their enemy.
Article by Shlomo Moshe Scheinman – author of the article on Argaman in Techumin, Vol. 26.