RNA – Speaking at a press conference entitled “Recognizing Takfirism and the Takfiri Ideology” in Qom, Hujjat al-Islam Mohammad-Hoseyn Mokhtari, the president of the Institute for Proximity Studies, said that extremist interpretations of Islam are a factor in the movements against religious teachings and added that the Islamic world is facing a disaster which has taken extremist perspectives and misinterpreted religious texts, including the Quran and sayings of the Prophet Muhammad.
“This movement is against the divine teachings and the result of this is nothing but a split between the sections of Islamic society which is a perversion of the true face of Islam and the Prophet Muhammad,” he said.
The Iranian scholar said that the Takfiri phenomenon was created by the imperial powers and said: “Today, we are experiencing a tragedy created by a few extremist groups which were created and backed by the imperial powers to operate within the soul of Islam. Every day, we read and witness the tragedies committed by this inhumane and irreligious movement.”
Hujjat al-Islam Mokhtari explained the influence that these Takfiri groups have on young people, saying that some young people are brainwashed by these groups and travel to countries such as Syria and Iraq to create sedition. “We should identify what causes this section of society to be drawn to this path, how to combat this kind of thinking and the strategies and effective tools to defend the [true] Islam of the Prophet Muhammad,” he said.
The president of the Institute for Proximity Studies said that one of the missions of this institute is understanding the origins and dangers of Takfiri terrorist groups and noted that they have held field studies in regard to the emergence of these kinds of extremist thoughts, beliefs, groups and dangers at different levels in the Islamic world.
He added that the aim of this is to create dialogue among sects and intellectual and religious movements within the Islamic world.
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