RNA – In a meeting with students from Germany’s University of Hannover in Qom’s Grand Mosque, Ayatollah Sayyed Mohammad-Javad Alavi-Boroujerdi discussed the place of religion and the role of the clergy in the Islamic community and the Islamic Republic and said, “Among the people of Iran, religion doesn’t have a ceremonial position but rather the lofty status of religion and the clergy has existed in the beliefs of the people of this country throughout Islamic history and even before Islam. The most important reason for this is that the people’s lives are based on religious values.”
The renowned Iranian cleric said that a historic example of this is the edict forbidding the consumption of tobacco issued by Shi’ah religious authority, Grand Ayatollah Mirza Shirazi, in 1891. At the time, Iranians consumed tobacco products but with this edict, all the people, even the courtiers, adhered to the edict of this source of emulation and destroyed their water pipes.
“This is an example of the power and status of the Shi’ah clergy,” he said.
Ayatollah Alavi-Boroujerdi said, “If we want to understand the position of the clergy, we must investigate. They have the most important position among Shi’ahs and the basis of the formation of the Islamic Revolution is also in these beliefs of the Iranian people and this is due to the clergy.”
He said that currently, Iran’s Islamic system of government is based and managed on the basis of Islamic beliefs and religious principles and noted that another example of this power and status is the Iran-Iraq War and added, “Many foreign and regional countries provided a large amount of financial, intelligence and logistical help support to Iraq in the [Ba’athist regime’s war against Iran’s nascent] revolution and the no one condemned these countries’ support in the United Nations.”
His Eminence added that the enemies used weapons of mass destruction against the oppressed people of Iran many times but the world only stood by and it was the peoples’ religious beliefs which advanced the Islamic Revolution and the system and the people demonstrated that through their reliance on God, they can do anything.
Ayatollah Alavi-Boroujerdi explained that religiosity in Iran and religiosity in Christianity and in the church is different and the reason for this is the influence of the Shi’ah religious authorities among the people of Iran from the past until the present and added, “The regimes which seek to confront the Iranian government are aimed at removing the lofty position of the Islamic Seminaries and all of their plots have been applied in pursuit of this goal.”
He said that the perspective of religion in Iran and other countries is given a special position and is even a specific topic for study and said, “The event of Ashura is an example of religious belief which has been converted into the religious culture among the Iranian people.”
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