RNA – Speaking during his jurisprudence class which was held at Qom’s Grand Mosque, Grand Ayatollah Naser Makarem-Shirazi referred to the beginning of the Days of Fatimiyah, which commemorate the martyrdom of Lady Fatimah al-Zahra, and said, “The Days of Fatimiyah should be held with magnificence and glory but the participants mustn’t act in a way which creates differences among Muslims at a time when the enemies have sought to divide Muslims. The [United States] has put seven Islamic countries under pressure and didn’t distinguish between Sunnis and Shi’ahs.”
The revered source of emulation said that during the Days of Fatimiyah, we shouldn’t engage in provocative acts and said, “We must explain the issues without provocation and not say anything which damages the unity of Muslims. I hope that the people pay attention to the situations where Muslim unity in regard to the enemies is necessary and don’t disturb this unity.”
He stated that 22 Bahman celebrates the anniversary of the victory of the Islamic Revolution and invited the public to attend the massive rallies held on this day and added, “This year, the rallies should be held with more glory and greater reverberation than ever before. The reason for this is that the enemies are continuously threatening us.”
Ayatollah Makarem-Shirazi said that the enemies threaten Iran to see what impact they can have on the Iranian people and if they see that the people have become weak due to their threats, they will realize that there are weaknesses in these areas and engage in further threats and pressure against Iran’s Islamic system of government.
His Eminence added that if the enemies see that their threats and pressures have backfired and the Iranian people participate with even greater enthusiasm and solidarity, they will understand that they have chosen the wrong method and their threats and pressure on the people would have been counterproductive.
He added, “Day by day, we are more skeptical of Western democracy.”
In regard to the recent election campaign in the US, the Iranian scholar said, “During the US election campaign last year, we witnessed bad relations, insults and accusations between the two candidates and there was no morality.”
Ayatollah Makarem-Shirazi added that the result of the election was that non-resourceful individuals were elected. “Weren’t there any other suitable candidates among the American people?” he said.
The teacher in the Islamic Seminary of Qom wondered how a country can detain and handcuff five-year-old children at an airport. “Where else in the world is there such a problem with compression? This is the result of Western democracy,” he stressed.
Ayatollah Makarem-Shirazi said that we hope that Iran doesn’t follow the Western form of democracy and our candidates don’t trade accusations against each other, lie or make unwarranted promises and said, “We must choose a candidate based on the criteria of resourcefulness, management, faith and understanding rather than electing someone based on who is a member of a certain party or group.”
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