RNA – Speaking at a seminar on Islam and international human rights at Qom’s Imam Khomeini Specialized University, a branch of al-Mustafa International University, Ayatollah Ali-Reza Arafi, said the Islamic seminaries have a heavy responsibility to discuss the issue of human rights because human rights in Islam are rooted in divine thought and belief and Islamic offers a discourse in regard to humanity which is comprehensive, balanced and beyond the material realm.
The head of al-Mustafa International University explained that seminarians have a duty to expand and develop the boundaries of knowledge in the fields of philosophy, theology, history and jurisprudence to the edge of these fields and to enter into new fields, especially in the jurisprudence of the Ahlul-Bayt.
“When we can achieve a comprehensive Islamic theory in regard to the field of human rights, we can reach new borders and issue statements which are in accordance with the needs of the current era. Islamic knowledge is based on this original methodology and has become widespread,” the director of Seminaries across Iran said.
Ayatollah Arafi explained that the responsibility of the Islamic Seminary is to address the current needs of humankind in the light of the authentic heritage and theological and legal resources and added that Iran claims to be moving toward reviving Islamic civilization and this this movement requires the development of Islamic sciences.
He stated that the scholars and intellectuals of the Islamic world must act on issues, such as human rights, in an active and conscious manner. “Time has come that we should avoid taking passive stance in regard to world affairs and present such issues with a divine perspective and on the basis of our ideas and theories in regard to new issues and human rights and explain the discourse of pure Islam from the basis of jurisprudence and philosophy,” he said.
The member of the Society of Seminary Teachers of Qom added that some of the events taking place today in the Islamic world are due to narrow thinking among Muslims and the formation of Takfiri groups, waves of terror and the growth of religious violence throughout the world which are sponsored by Western governments, despite their contradictory claims that they support human rights.
“Such governments also have engaged in unilateral behaviour, state terrorism, innumerable wars and occupation in both Muslim and non-Muslim countries despite adopting the Universal Declaration of Human Rights,” Ayatollah Arafi said.
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