RNA – Speaking at a ceremony inaugurating the Hazrat Zahra Mosque in Qom’s Shahrak-e Jehad neighbourhood, Ayatollah Ali-Reza Arafi, the director of the Islamic Seminaries of Iran, honoured Sacred Defense Week, which is an annual commemoration of the 1980-1988 Iran-Iraq War, and said, “The brave nation of Iran created an epic during the eight years of the Sacred Defence, which protected the Islamic Revolution from the enemies.”
The senior Iranian scholar emphasized that the memory of the Iran-Iraq War should be kept alive and added that the experiences and issues of the war should be applied to other courses and explained that in some countries, such as Russia, there is a World War II museum that is visited by thousands of students every day and on a regular basis and the museum preserves the memory of those who fought for their homeland.
He stated the Iran’s Sacred Defense was not only for the country and the people but rather, it was for the Islamic Revolution and for Islam. “More than 200,000 people were martyred and 500,000 veterans protected the country in order to revive Islam and this is certainly an important issue,” he said.
Ayatollah Arafi added that our children need to know of this proud history and especially those who live in Qom must commemorate the Iran-Iraq War as Qom is the bastion of Islam and the source of the Islamic Revolution and has influence throughout the world.
“Thousands of people were trained in Qom and around the world, preachers are engaged in spreading the values of Islam and the message of the Ahlul-Bayt, which is an honour,” he said.
The member of the Supreme Council of Seminaries explained that the light of Qom is projected throughout Iran and throughout the world and added that the Sacred Defense has also played a lofty role in the dissemination of Islamic teachings throughout the world and today tens of thousands of people from around the world are present in Qom.
Ayatollah Arafi stressed that the younger generation must understand the Islamic Revolution and the Sacred Defense and continue its message. The message of Sacred Defense Week to the people and to the youth is that they must appreciate the legacy and know history.
“The Sacred Defense established Iran, with its brave people and courageous leader, as an island of security and authority in a turbulent region,” he said.
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