In a meeting with the chairman of People’s Consultative Assembly of the Republic of Indonesia and his accompanying delegation held in Imam Sajjad (ʿa) seminary school, Ayatollah Makarem Shirazi said: “your visit to the city of Qom has created a good opportunity for dialog and discussion. We consider Indonesia a great Muslim country and have great respect for you and all Indonesian people”.
He then added: “Indonesian Muslims are moderate, but the danger of Takfir threatens all Muslims and the entire world”.
His eminence also stated: “We have extensively studied Takfirism and its origins. We have proven, based on more than eighty compelling pieces of evidence that Takfirism has originated from Wahhabism. In order to eliminate this danger, all Muslims must j o i n hands and be united against Takfiris”.
He added: “A congress was held in Chechnya in which numerous Sunni scholars took part and unanimously declared that Wahhabism is not one of the Muslim schools. There might be some Wahhabis who do not approve of the Takfiri ideology and denounce it; these people we do not have any quarrel with. I have written a book entitled “Wahhabism at the Crossroad” in which I have distinguished between Wahhabism and Takfirism. However, what is being promoted by Wahhabis today is Takfiri Wahhabism.”
Ayatollah Makarem Shirazi further noted: “Today, Indonesia enjoys a state of security and peace. Thus, our brothers in Indonesia must be vigilant not to allow the Takfiri groups to infiltrate their country and spread war and insecurity there”.
His eminence also stated: “one of the fundamental goals of these groups is to fight Shia school and tarnish its image. This is why they spread such lies about Shia school as they have distorted the Quran etc. The truth, however, is far from such heinous allegations and you can see it clearly in Iran”.
He then added: “Today, Shias are at the forefront of the combat against Takfirism. Just a few years ago a large number of Muslim scholars from eighty different Muslim countries attended two congresses which were held in Iran against Takfirism. This indicates that Shia school is now the flag-bearer of the fight against Takfirism”.
Ayatollah Makarem Shirazi continued: “I advise that you maintain a friendly relationship with Iran. A while ago I wrote a letter to the grand Mufti of Indonesia, just like the ones I wrote to the Shaykh of Al-Azhar and the Pope. However, he did not answer my friendly letter, while the Shaykh of Al-Azhar and the Pope replied to my letter kindly and respectfully”.
His eminence stated: “of course I considered it natural, due to the mischief spread by our common enemies; however, the closer the two Muslim countries are the more powerful they will be in eliminating these problems”.
He also said: “Once a number of French journalists came to Iran and they also came here to have a meeting with me. I asked them about the conditions of Iran. They said that the things they saw with their own eyes in Iran were drastically different from what they had been fed by the western media.
This shows that visiting one another’s country and having direct talks can eliminate the problems and create friendly relations between our countries. I would also like to emphasize, once again, that we are ready for any kind of cooperation with our Muslim brothers in Indonesia”.
