RNA - Grand Ayatollah Sayyid Ali al-Sistani, has issued a statement following Thursday’s tragedy in Mina, near the holy city of Makkah, where about 2,000 Hajj pilgrims were killed or injured in a stampede en route to the Stoning of the Devil ritual.
The text of the message is as follows:
In the name of God, the Most Beneficent, the Most Merciful
“Indeed we belong to God and to Him do we indeed return” [Holy Quran 2:156]
According to the latest reports, [Thursday’s] tragedy in Mina that led to the death, loss or wounding of many pilgrims to the House of God, including hundreds of Iranians pilgrims, and caused great pain and sorrow.
We offer our condolences on this great tragedy to the Guardian of Our Time [Imam al-Mahdi] and to the bereaved families who have lost their loved ones in this tragic incident. We ask God Almighty to bestow his forgiveness and mercy on the souls of the victims and to quickly heal the wounded.
It is hoped that the implementation of appropriate measures in the future will prevent the repetition of such bitter and sorrowful incidents.
There is no might nor power except in God, the All-Exalted, the All-Supreme.
Sayyid Ali al-Sistani
September 25, 2015
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