Archive for category: News

At a ceremony marking the new academic year at al-Mustafa International University, Ayatollah Nouri-Hamadani criticized the Saudi authorities on their negligence in regard to protecting the lives of Hajj pilgrims and stressed that the incident showed the House of Saud is unable to manage the Two Holy Mosques.

Grand Ayatollah Hoseyn Nouri-Hamadani spoke today at a ceremony marking the beginning of the new academic at al-Mustafa International University’s Imam Khomeini Specialized University in Qom.

Speaking to staff and students at this university for non-Iranian seminarians, the source of emulation stated that the present-day Shi’a seminaries are an extension of the schools of the Prophet Muhammad and Imam Ja’far al-Sadiq and in the spirit of their schools, Islamic sciences are taught and researched in our modern era.

His Eminence suggested three basic points in the field of religious education. Noting the importance of studying law and jurisprudence, he said that in the Holy Quran, God encourages people toward gaining a “profound understanding” in religion because if nobody becomes a jurisprudent in the Islamic community, they cannot have a significant impact on the world.

Ayatollah Nouri-Hamadani said that a jurisprudent is someone who has expertise in ten areas: knowledge in the fields of theology and philosophy, religion, morality, economics, civics, culture, politics, government, justice and jihad.

The revered source of emulation explained the importance of the issue of cultural education, which is recognized as a priority in the Islamic world, and said: “In regard to the important issue of Wilayat al-Faqih (Guardianship of the Jurisprudent), we still have not a reached strong and consistent opinion and there is room for further investigation in regard to this very important issue by jurisprudents.

” He said that the late Imam Ruhollah Khomeini was able to have a phenomenal impact on the world because he was a jurist, a philosopher and a politician and if jurisprudence was not established in his being, he would not be able to revive Islam.

In regard to the issue of religious education, Ayatollah Nouri-Hamadani stressed that another important issue is the seminarians’ recognition of the current era. Never before in history, has there been such of blasphemy, hypocrisy and injustice as there in the world today. “This issue is completely relevant to the students’ mission,” he added.

In another part of his lecture, His Eminence stated that Zionism is main enemy of humanity and Islam, saying: “Today, Zionists are trying to destroy religion and morality in the world in order to extend their evil domination throughout the world.”

The revered scholar stated that distortion and misinterpretation of religion are other problems facing Islam, such that today, some consider Islam to be a religion limited to 1,400 years ago because of its outward appearance and target the religion with slurs and involve themselves in creating divisiveness among Muslims.

Ayatollah Makarem-Shirazi emphasized that we must constantly monitor the enemies, adding that one of the most important issues today is the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) and warned that we must be vigilant in this area, lest the enemies use it against us.

The source of emulation also expressed regret over the tragic crane incident that killed a number of Hajj pilgrims in Makkah. He blamed the Saudi negligence as the cause of the crane collapse and condemned their disregard for the pilgrims’ safety. He also said this incident showed that the House of Saud is weak and cannot appropriately manage the Two Holy Mosques.

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The Al-Islam Student Association (AISA) at the University of Arkansas recently collected 171 pints of blood in a blood drive that took place on Sept. 8-9 in honor of the victims who died in the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

“Both days we held the blood drive, the Community Blood Center of the Ozarks had to work extra hard because we had an overflow of students,” said Naseer Naseem, president of the AISA.

The student organization raised 77 pints of blood the first day and 94 pints the second day, Naseem said.

This is the fifth year the AISA has organized the blood drive, and members have collected more than 600 pints over the years, Naseem noted.

The blood drive is part of the Muslims for Life national campaign, which has raised around 40,000 pints in the last four years, Naseem added. That amount can save around 118,000 lives, according to the Muslims for Life website.

The blood drive is sponsored to show that despite differences in religion, ethnicity and nationality, students can give back to the community and save lives, Naseem said.

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Several Egyptian religious figures joined a growing number of Muslim world elites and politicians demanding the change of authority in charge of running Hajj rituals from Riyadh to a collection of Muslim states after the Friday night’s crane crash at the Grand Mosque in the holy city of Mecca killed and wounded hundreds of pilgrims.

“Many mistakes have been made during the Hajj ceremony in recent decades and the bloody Friday incident was not the first case and will not be the last either; therefore, unless a revolution doesn’t take place in the administration and management of the Hajj ceremony in Saudi Arabia, we will witness such incidents in future too,” Sheikh Salman Mohammad, the advisor of Egypt’s ministry of endowment said on Thursday.

Also Ashraf Fahmi, a professor at Egypt’s al-Azhar university, said that Saudi Arabia should admit its mistakes in handling the Hajj ceremony and take serious measures to correct the way it administers the ceremony.

Storms were lashing the Saudi city of Mecca when strong winds reportedly brought down the crane that was part of construction works.

Tons of rubble and debris crashed to the ground on top of scores of people gathering in the mosque for 6:30 prayers when a section of the crane crashed through the roof.

At least 107 people were killed and 238 more were injured when the crane collapsed on to the Grand Mosque during storms.

The crane which crashed through the ceiling of the Grand Mosque of Mecca, killing over a hundred pilgrims, operated for a company owned by Saudi Prince Muhammad Bin Salman, Arab media disclosed on Saturday.

Meantime, other media sources claimed that the crane belongs to a German crane company operated by the Bin Laden family’s consortium, who are heading the expansion of the Holy Mosque.

In relevant remarks on Monday, Iranian Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani blamed the Saudi administration’ negligence as the main cause of the Friday deadly crane collapse in Mecca.

“The Saudi government should have made the necessary preparations to safeguard the lives of the pilgrims,” Larijani said in a message of condolence to the bereaved families of the victims.

He regretted that the Hajj rituals coincided with this sad incident, and asked Saudi officials to immediately probe into the case.

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