Referring to a tradition by the infallible Imams (a) in the opening of his new Fiqh course at the beginning of the new academic year in the A’zam Mosque in Qom, Ayatollah Makarem Shirazi emphasized the significance of being up-to-date.
Stating that Islam, the Prophet (s), and the Ahl-al-Bait (a), have never been so heavily under assault as they are today, he said: “today the enemies consider Islam as an obstacle and an impediment to their illegitimate desires and interests and this is why they are attacking anything related to this divine religion.”
Calling the religious scholars the guardians and the defenders of Islam, his eminence continued: “religious scholars must prepare themselves to defend Islam and they must remember that the Islamic teachings and culture are so rich and powerful that they can withstand most vehement attacks and still come out victorious and the most obvious evidence as to this claim is the fact that Islam is spreading in the world despite all the assaults that are being leveled at it”.
Stating that the religious scholars must be strongly determined in fulfilling their duty and must also be up-to-date, Ayatollah Makarem Shirazi stated: “the Islamic scholars and students must be up-to-date and they must also study very well while having the current needs of the society in mind, so as to be prepared for the duty that they are about to fulfill”.
He referred to scientific debates as one of the traditions of the Islamic seminaries and continued: “in order to cultivate a deep and profound understanding of the religious sciences, you must not forget to study hard and have scientific debates and must not restrict yourselves to what your teachers present; you must also do all this sincerely for Allah’s satisfaction, for Allah helps those who work sincerely in His cause; if the Islamic students perform Wudhu before attending their classes, it will increase the sincerity in their hearts and so they will be more successful in their studies”.
In another part of his speech, his eminence referred to this year’s Hajj season as being different from the Hajj of the past years, and stated: “This year’s Hajj must be characterized by the unity of all Muslims and everyone must refrain from taking actions that would create discord between Muslims, for the Takfiris are threatening all Muslims now”.
He also noted: “it makes no difference to the Takfiris whether they kill Sunnis, Shiites, Christians or Zoroastrians; regretfully, the West is also helping these Takfiris; some states like Israel clearly state that they have no intention of obliterating the ISIL as they are killing Muslims whom they consider their enemies”.
His eminence further noted: “other states such as the US and Turkey are practically supporting these Takfiri terrorists; therefore, considering the dangers of such an enemy with such dangerous supporters it is essential that Muslims be more united than ever and realize that these enemies show mercy to no one”.
He also stated: “everyone must refrain from taking actions that would create discord, hatred and animosity among Muslims and they must all make every effort in the promotion of unity so that, God willing, they could withstand and repel the enemies of Islam”.
