Cairo: Several Egyptian Sunni Muslim clerics this week sounded the alarm on alleged bids by Shiite Iran to spread Shiism, a creed of Islam, in the Sunni-majority countries, including Egypt.

“Propagation of Shiism means spreading rifts and divisions,” said Shaikh Ali Juma, Egypt’s state-appointed mufti, echoing worries on efforts to promote Shiism.

“We advise the wise people among the Shiites against the misplaced propagation of Shiism, which will cause instability and threaten social security,” Juma said in a lecture at a week-long forum hosted by the Islamic Research centre, an influential arm of the prestigious Sunni institution Al Azhar.

Ties between Cairo and Tehran have mostly been soured since 1980 following the Islamic Revolution in Iran and Egypt’s peace treaty with Israel.

During those years, Shiites in Egypt were often a target of security crackdowns.

However, the election of the Muslim Brotherhood’s Mohammad Mursi in June as Egypt’s first Islamist president and his ground-breaking visit to Iran in August signalled a thaw in relations.

Several political and media delegations from Egypt have visited Tehran in recent months at an invitation of Iranian authorities.

“Authorities at Cairo airport have seized large quantities of books on Shiism in the past few months,” said Mohammad Emara, an Islamist Egyptian writer.

“A quick look at the content of these books will show that the Shiites dream again of reviving Shiism in Egypt,” he told the forum in Cairo.

Shiism was introduced into Egypt in the 10th century when Fatimides, descendants of Fatima who was the granddaughter of the Prophet Mohammad (PBUH), came to rule the country for around two centuries.

Long years after the end of the Fatimide rule, Sunni Egyptians keep alive traditions inherited from the Fatimide era such as commemorating saintly Muslims’ birthdays and celebrating the advent of Ramadan with colourful lanterns.

There are no official figures as to how many Shiites are in Egypt. However, they are estimated at more than two million, including around 800,000 Iraqis who fled to Egypt in the wake of the US-led invasion of their country.

Shiites are still not allowed to build their mosques in Egypt and are often perceived as heretics.

Egyptian Shiites dismiss claims that they are disseminating Shiism.

“We are not seeking to spread the Shiite doctrine. All what we want is to be allowed to hold our religious festivals freely and easily,” said Mohammad Al Dreeni, a Shiite activist.

He denied that Iran is planning to promote Shiism in Egypt.

“Iran is reaching out to Egypt to boost Islamic unity in the face of Zionist [Israeli] and US conspiracies,” he added.

“We have called for Al Azhar to supervise Shiites’ activities and [establish for themselves] that we do not want to cause religious disunity.”

Egypt’s ultra-conservative Salafists, who have emerged as a strong bloc in Egypt following a revolt that deposed Hosni Mubarak more than a year ago, have urged Al Azhar to block the alleged Iranian plot to spread Shiism in the country.