RNA – In his Friday prayer sermon to a large and fervent crowd of believers in Qom’s Quds Prayer Hall, Ayatollah Seyyed Hashem Hoseyni-Bushehri referred to the death anniversary of the Prophet Muhammad and the martyrdom anniversaries of Imam Hasan al-Mujtaba and Imam Ali al-Ridha and said, “The Prophet spent 23 years of his blessed life guiding society.”
The member of the Supreme Council of the Seminary added, “The best introduction of the Prophet of Islam are the verses of the Holy Quran. The Prophet was sent by God to invite people to the divine path and to be the bearer of glad tidings and a warner. The life of a society depends on the acceptance of the invitation of God and the Prophet and if a society wants to have the spirit of life, it must respond to God and His Messenger.”
Referring to a narration of the Prophet where he described Imam al-Hasan, he continued, “The Prophet said that if reason was to be embodied in one human being, it would have been embodied in Imam al-Hasan. The whole existence of Imam al-Hasan was intellect and insight; He was a model of a human beings in the personal and social dimensions, a model of forbearance and patience and softened everyone’s hearts with his love and kindness. Imam al-Ridha is also a scholar of the Family of Muhammad and we must be grateful for his existence.”
Ayatollah Hoseyni-Bushehri referred to last week’s epic Arba’in pilgrimage by the lovers of Imam al-Husayn to his grave in the Iraqi holy city of Karbala and said, “Arba’in is a magnificent symbol of the power and majesty of the Islamic ummah and is considered to be the largest pilgrimage in the world. Arba’in was held with the utmost sympathy and sacrifice and was the embodiment of the unity and companionship of the lovers of Ahlul-Bayt and we thank the Iraqi military, law enforcement, authorities, government and people and the Popular Mobilization Forces.”
The member of the board of directors of the Assembly of Experts conveyed his condolences on the 7.3 magnitude earthquake which struck the border region between Iraq and Iran on the night of November 12th and the deaths of fellow countrymen in the incident.
“More than 430 people have died in this tragedy and more than 8,000 have been wounded and injured. The people have acted in a very beautiful manner and many people did everything in their power to rescue people by hand and now, the rescue phase is now almost finished and the next important phase of work is providing shelter for the affected people. Unfortunately, still some of those affected by the earthquake are spending their nights in the cold weather without any shelter,” he explained.
Ayatollah Hoseyni-Bushehri pointed out, “Our religious efforts require that we use all of our abilities to assist the victims of the earthquake as soon as possible. We must not leave the people of Kermanshah alone and the city of Qom must also be a model in this regard. The rest camps which served the pilgrims during the Arba’in pilgrimage must be mobilized to serve the people of Kermanshah. The victims need tents, clothes, blankets, food and plastic tarps [to protect then people] from the rain.”
Speaking on the occasion of National Basij Week in Iran, the member of the Society of Seminary Teachers of Qom added, “The Basij is a tree of goodness, which is the source of the dignity of the Islamic Revolution. The Basij is the manifestation of the sacred unity, awareness and glory of the nation. Imam Khomeyni demonstrated a fascinating initiative and the culture of society should be mobilized.”
Referring to the developments in the region and the resignation of Sa’ad al-Hariri as the Prime Minister of Lebanon, he added, “This was a abominable act and it would not happen anywhere in the world where a country would detain another country’s prime minister and force him to resign. The Saudis have made an abominable and reckless move against the people and government of Lebanon.”
Ayatollah Hoseyni-Bushehri said, “The day when Sa’ad al-Hariri accepted his duties as the prime minister, the Saudis expected that he would form a government in Lebanon that would isolate Hezbollah but contrary to their expectations, Hezbollah has played an important role in the government and in ending the crisis in Syria.”