A London university Islamic society has been been engulfed in controversy after publicly celebrating the life of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei following his death in joint US-Israeli strikes, urging Shia Muslims in the West to remain “aware and ready.”

The Ahlul-Bayt Islamic Society at University College London posted tributes to the Supreme Leader on Instagram, with the society’s mental health team writing that his killing represented an “unimaginable loss for the entire Ummah” — the Arabic term for the global Muslim community — accompanied by a broken heart emoji.

The group put out an extensive statement declaring “we express our sincere condolences on the martyrdom of our beloved”, and telling followers to “not allow the enemies of justice to rejoice over Muslim blood.”

The man they mourned had presided over decades of systematic human rights abuses, the torture, rape and slaughter of thousands of Iranian citizens, the suppression of women’s rights and the financing of terrorist organisations across the Middle East. President Trump called him “one of the most evil people in history” as he confirmed the Supreme Leader’s death.

‘A disgrace’

The Daily Mail reported on how former Home Secretary Suella Braverman took the matter to Parliament, where she delivered a pointed condemnation. “Disgracefully the pro-Ayatollah student society plans to host a commemorative event in name of the ‘fallen’ on the campus of University College London, i.e. in support of those who supported the brutal IRGC regime,” she said.

“This is utterly wrong, that taxpayer-funded university resource is being used to propagate the murderous ideology of the Tehran regime which has attacked UK bases and with whom we are effectively at war.”

UCL student and author Dov Forman said the posts went far beyond acceptable campus expression. “A UCL student society publicly mourning Ayatollah Khamenei and urging Shia in the West to stay ‘aware and ready’. On a UK campus. Universities cannot keep pretending this is just ‘student expression,'” he said.

Society hits back

Facing a tide of criticism, the society sought to reframe the debate by drawing a parallel between Khamenei’s standing among Shia Muslims and the role of the Pope in Catholicism.

In a post on Monday, they wrote: “For millions of Shia Muslims worldwide, Ayatollah Khamenei occupies a role broadly analogous to that of the Pope within Catholicism. A supreme religious authority whose death or targeting is experienced not merely as a political event, but as a profound communal and spiritual shock.”

The group maintained that its tribute amounted to neither “incitement, endorsement of violence, or unlawful mobilisation”, insisting that paying respects to the Iranian leader fell within the bounds of “lawful expression” under freedom of expression and academic freedom.

The Express has reached out to UCL’s Islamic Society for comment.