Abbas Tabrizian
{{short description|Iranian Shia cleric}}
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| nationality = Iranian
| alma_mater = Hawza Najaf
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Abbas Tabrizian ({{langx|fa|عباس تبریزیان}}) is an Iranian Shia cleric and quack{{cite journal|first=Kiarash|last=Aramesh|journal=Archives of Iranian Medicine|title=Science and Pseudoscience in Traditional Iranian Medicine|publisher=Iranian Academy of Medical Sciences|date=July 2018|volume=21|number=7|pages=315–323|pmid=30041531}} who rejects academic medicine.
According to Al-Monitor, he is regarded as "a figure of ridicule" to most Iranians.
Early life and education
Tabrizian was born in Najaf, Iraq.{{citation|title=A cleric's cure for coronavirus becomes butt of jokes in Iran|url=https://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2020/03/bizarre-cures-for-coronavirus-in-iran.html|first=Rohollah|last=Faghihi|date=10 March 2020|access-date=20 March 2020|work=Al-Monitor}} He studied at Hawza Najaf, the seminary located in his city of birth.
Practices
Tabrizian describes immunisation as "promoted by the colonialist medicine". He offers a service referred to as "Islamic Medicine", which is designated as a threat to the public health by Iran's ministry of health.{{citation|url=https://en.radiozamaneh.com/28702/|title=Iran's Health Officials Raise Alarm over Islamic Medicine|publisher=Radio Zamaneh|date=26 September 2017|access-date=27 January 2020}} He maintains that Islamic narrations can help cure any disease and by adopting a "true Islamic lifestyle", people would never need medical treatment.{{citation|url=http://en.hawzahnews.com/news/340213/Islamic-Medicine-cures-every-disease|title=Islamic Medicine cures every disease|publisher=Hawzah News|date=21 April 2016|access-date=27 January 2020}} Tabrizian also instructs the presumed diagnoses to his followers,{{cite journal|first=Aliya|last=Fatima Mirza|url=http://jtim.tums.ac.ir/index.php/jtim/article/view/161|journal=Traditional and Integrative Medicine|title=A Review on the Chemical versus Alternative Treatments of Leukemia|publisher=Tehran University of Medical Sciences|date=2018|volume=3|number=3|pages=147–161|eissn=2476-5112}} including recommendations for "womb preparation" and "treatment of brain debility", alongside medications such as "nerve strengthener" and "blood detoxifier". He operates a popular online shop, selling those drugs.{{cite news|title=Quackery in Iran: Desperate Iranians are getting bad medical advice|url= https://www.economist.com/middle-east-and-africa/2020/04/18/desperate-iranians-are-getting-bad-medical-advice|newspaper=The Economist|date=18 April 2020|access-date=11 February 2021}}
In January 2020, a video of his book burning ceremony went viral on social media, in which he set a copy of Harrison's Principles of Internal Medicine on fire with lighter. Iranian officials and authorities of Shia seminaries condemned the act.{{citation|url=https://en.radiofarda.com/a/burning-medical-book-by-advocate-of-islamic-medicine-causes-outrage-in-iran/30396427.html|title=Burning Medical Book By Advocate of 'Islamic Medicine" Causes Outrage In Iran|publisher=Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty|date=25 January 2020|access-date=27 January 2020}}{{citation|first=Najmeh|last=Bozorgmehr|url=https://www.ft.com/content/8c1ce774-c0af-4f48-b585-4edb92e12ad9|title=Rise in Iranian traditional medicine as Covid crisis grows|work=The Financial Times |date=26 December 2020|access-date=11 February 2021}}
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Tabrizian was among those who offered advice with no scientific basis.{{citation|first=Jon|last=Gambrell|title=Virus outbreak in Iran sickens hundreds, including leaders|url=https://apnews.com/article/sports-general-iran-united-states-united-arab-emirates-virus-outbreak-256ccda7a310f6ea498aee047a5a828c|work=Associated Press|date=28 February 2020|access-date=11 February 2021}} He became a butt of jokes in Iran in March 2020, after he suggested applying violet oil to the anus as a cure for COVID-19. A month later, Iran's health ministry warned against "engaging in the darkness of superstition and ignorance" and police raided warehouses of Tabrizian. In February 2021, he again hit the headlines after claiming that people who have received the vaccination for the illness have become homosexuals, and urged people to stay away from them.{{Citation|first=Benjamin|last=Weinthal|date=8 February 2021|title=Iran cleric: People who are vaccinated for COVID have 'become homosexuals'|url=https://www.jpost.com/middle-east/iran-news/iran-cleric-people-who-are-vaccinated-for-covid-have-become-homosexuals-658173|access-date=11 February 2021|website=The Jerusalem Post}}
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20160826031214/http://abbastabrizian.ir/ Official website] (archived)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tabrizian, Abbas}}
Category:Year of birth uncertain
Category:Iranian conspiracy theorists
Category:Iranian anti-vaccination activists
Category:Alternative detoxification promoters
Category:Iraqi emigrants to Iran
Category:Religious leaders from Tabriz
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