RNA – Speaking to a group of seminary students at the Islamic Seminary of Hamadan, Ayatollah Sayyed Mohammad Gharavi, a member of the Supreme Council of the Islamic Seminaries of Iran, referred to the growth and advancement of the Islamic seminaries since the 1979 Islamic Revolution and said, “After the Islamic Revolution, the seminaries have witnessed impressive growth.”
The senior Iranian cleric congratulated the students on the victory of the Islamic Revolution and on Ayyam al-Fatimiyyah, the twenty day period marking the martyrdom of Lady Fatimah al-Zahra, saying, “In order for the Islamic Seminaries to grow and reach excellence, they must observe the problems of the day among society and to plan accordingly.”
He added that in the years preceding the Islamic Revolution, the country had only a “oil status,” which was why it was frequently attacked by the enemies and foreigners.
Pointing to the remarkable progress made by Iran after the Islamic Revolution, Ayatollah Gharavi noted, “After the revolution, Islamic Iran not only achieved independence, but also became an influential regional power.”
The member of the Society of Seminary Teachers of Qom stated, “One of the characteristics of a God-fearing scholar is that he has always seen himself before God and establishes his actions according to the pleasure of God.”
Referring to the words of Imam Ali in the importance of the position of knowledge and scholars, he added, “Gaining knowledge is better than accumulating wealth because knowledge has status in this world and in the hereafter but wealth will end in this world.”
Ayatollah Gharavi has argued that the acquisition of knowledge requires support and this support will be piety which can be benefited from the truth of knowledge.
In conclusion, he said, “The light of knowledge is very different from the acquisition of knowledge because the light of knowledge flows only from a pure heart and we must always endeavour to decorate ourselves with virtue and the light of knowledge.”
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