RNA – The seventh international pre-conference on Tourism and Spirituality with the approach of “Tourism and Spirituality in Religion” was held al-Mustafa Open University in Qom.
At the meeting, Hujjat al-Islam Dr. Mahdi Hoseyni, the head of al-Mustafa Open University, while appreciating the deputy of research and the educational department of Cultural Management, emphasized that the study of tourism and spirituality was a new subject, which was based on the religious recommendations, especially the religion of Islam, because in the Holy Quran, God Almighty frequently refers to the issue of ‘travelling over the land’ and asks mankind to traverse this path by thinking and contemplation, and naturally, if tourism involves contemplation and thought, it will lead to spirituality.”
He referred to the activities of al-Mustafa Open University and said, “al-Mustafa Open University has formed an academic and educational department for cultural management and one of the goals of this department is to provide the necessary training to interested people in all countries.”
Dr. Hoseyni added that at master’s level, al-Mustafa Open University teaches cultural management, which has eight sub-categories, including Islamic tourism. Plans to provide a PhD degree in this field are also provided and will be done after the Ministry of Science, Research and Technology has issued a permit.
He said that al-Mustafa Open University’s long-term courses in the associate’s, undergraduate, master’s and doctoral levels are held in seven languages, Arabic, Persian, English, Urdu, Azeri, Turkish, and French and the most popular languages is Arabic. For the short-term courses, five other languages have been added to the above languages.
Dr. Hoseyni emphasized that approximately 3,000 people are being taught in the Persian language because the Persian language is an important tool in the field of spiritual tourism.
Dr. Imani, the academic director of the International Conference on Tourism and Spirituality, also said that the present meeting at al-Mustafa Open University is the seventh pre-conference on “Tourism and Spirituality” and said, “The issue of tourism and spirituality in the current environment of the country is an important issue because with the welcoming of some of the industry of tourism, we [the experts of the conference] can specify a path that tourism is in line with the values of the country.”
Dr. Peyman, the chairman of the conference’s executive committee, also offered his appreciation for the participation and welcoming of the academic institutes of the Islamic in regard to the subject of Islamic tourism and emphasized that the conference “Tourism and Spirituality” could have a very effective role in introducing Iran and Shi’ism, as well as fighting the negative propaganda of the enemies in this regard.
The topics discussed at the Tourism and Spirituality conference were presented by experts and included:
“Travel and Spirituality in Pre-Islamic Religions” by Dr. Mahdieh Shahrabi
“Pilgrimage and Tourism in Religions” by Dr. Mohammadi
“The Function of Travel and Escape from the Environment of Spirituality in the Realization of Mystical Perfection” by Dr. Imani
It is worth noting that today’s meeting, the seventh academic pre-conference of the third international conference on Tourism and Spirituality. The first round of this conference was held in 2015 and the second round was held in 2016 with the support of the University of Science and Culture in Tehran.
The third session of the conference will be held in cooperation with the World Shi’ah Studies Assembly, Jami’at al-Murtadha, the Ahlul-Bayt World Assembly, the Cultural Organization of Qom Province and al-Mustafa International University.
The topics of the third conference on Tourism and Spirituality will include:
“Spirituality: A Way Toward the Realization of Sustainable Tourism,” “Philosophical Foundations and Human Excellence in Tourism,” “The Foundations of Psychology and Spiritual Health in Tourism,” “The Foundations of Sociology and Social Interaction in Tourism,” The Basics of Aesthetics, Culture, Art and Architecture in Tourism” and “The Fundamentals of Planning, Economics and Management in Tourism.”
Rasa News Agency
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