Rasa News Agency reports – Ayatollah Sayyed Hashem Hoseyni-Bushehri, the director of the Islamic Seminaries across Iran, delivered a sermon at a ceremony where he presided over a ceremony bestowing the turban and the holy clerical uniform on 15 new clerics of the Islamic Seminary of Marand, East Azerbaijan province. He discussed the heavy social duties facing seminarians.
He emphasized that seminarians are the soldiers of the Ahlul-Bayt (A) and that it is very important that the seminarians think and act in the manner prescribed by Islamic teachings in order to properly promote the divine message of Islam to society. Ayatollah Bushehri explained that being a cleric alone and a person of knowledge is not enough – seminarians must engage with society in order to invite the people to Islam with their acts and deeds.
Ayatollah Bushehri explained that seminarians cannot remain in their homes as they have social as well as religious duties: “Such a person is not a [true] seminarian.” A seminarian must partake in the joy and sadness of society and propagate the message of Islam among the people. He stated that they should not be worried about this duty as “Imam Ali ar-Ridha (A) has promised that he guarantees the success of the work of seminarians and preachers of Islam.”
Students should not spend their time in idleness, as society and mosques and people need them. Today, more than ever before, the Muslim community is in need of educated, refined and capable clergy. The Islamic Seminaries must help train seminarians so that they can be successful in the field of propagation. “An Islamic scholar must be sincere, and with God’s help, they can have the largest possible effect on society. Seeing a practicing cleric attracts people to Islam,” Ayatollah Bushehri explained.
He also added that due to the arrogance directed against the Islamic Revolution, it is the duty of the clergy, seminarians and the Islamic Seminary to be responsive to any questions posed by the people.
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