RNA – Speaking during a meeting with members of Secretariat of the Association of Members of the Mosques of Qom, Ayatollah Mohammad-Taqi Mesbah-Yazdi, spoke of the role of mosques in society, explaining that we understand from the Holy Quran that Islam is centred on God and worship but also, Islam discusses commerce and even during the time of the Prophet Muhammad, some did not like the influence of religion in what they saw as their worldly affairs and this was the same as separation of religion from the affairs of the world and society.
The revered professor in the Islamic Seminary of Qom explained that the separation of religion and the world would led to both of them going astray, saying: “On the one hand, monotheism, worship of God would turn into idolatry and on the other hand transactions would turn into usury, bribes, corruption and other vices.”
Ayatollah Mesbah-Yazdi noted that throughout history, Islam has seen visionary efforts by some scholars who sought to reform the corruption caused by the separation of religion and state, including Nasiruddin al-Tusi, who with divine wisdom, was able to fight both the Abbasids and the Mongols and laid the groundwork for divine rule.
His Eminence said that all these efforts at reform, Imam Khomeini was ordained to carry out this work and should be thankful for the blessing of an Islamic government, which no other people had before.
He pointed out that once religion is marginalized in society, the clerical establishment will “go to zero,” and the only thing that will remain of this establishment for Shi’as and the clergy will be they marja’iyyah (clerical authority) and other organizations required to manage the religious community will be disbanded and mosques will have no relations with each other. “That which we have now, is thanks to the blessings of the Islamic Revolution,” he said.
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