Dearborn Heights, Michigan Shi'ite Imam Mohammad Ali Elahi praises Iranian Supreme Leader Khamenei's defiance of President Trump, adds: for people of dignity, death for a higher purpose is as beautiful as a necklace on a beautiful girl;
During a Muharram commemoration at the Shi'ite Islamic House of Wisdom in Dearborn Heights, Michigan, on June 27, 2025 Imam Mohammad Ali Elahi quoted Imam Hussein, whose death is commemorated during Muharram, saying: "I reject humiliation – even if the price is the sword – I don't care."
Elahi added that Imam Hussein had equated death for a higher purpose to the beauty of a necklace on a beautiful girl. He asserted that only the Shi'ites had supported the suffering people in Gaza over the past two years. Elahi also claimed that Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei responded to President Trump's demand that Iran surrender in the same spirit shown by Imam Hussein, and he added that Trump likely didn't know the word "surrender" doesn't exist in Imam Hussein's dictionary.
On June 30, 2025, Sunni Michigan Islamic scholar Dr. Achmat Salie was invited to speak at the Muharram commemoration by Elahi. Salie is a professor and program developer at the University of Detroit Mercy, and created Islamic Studies programs at Oakland University and University of Detroit Mercy. He is a board member of the Michigan Coalition for Human Rights.