RNA – Speaking at the first meeting of the Charter of Clerics at the Dar al-Shifa Seminary in Qom, Ayatollah Mohammad Yazdi, the head of the Society of Seminary Teachers of Qom, said, “The words of the late Imam [Khomeyni] and the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution [Ayatollah Sayyed Ali Khamenei] are always the green lights of the path of seminary students, and of course, it is necessary that these meetings are repeated so that the subtleties of his speeches can be better identified.”
The jurist on the Guardian Council added, “The question that is sometimes raised is over the meaning of the term ‘clergy’ and the fact that it has a comprehensive meaning, which includes all the classes from the first category of the sources of emulation, to the teachers, to the students, and to the missionaries and promoters, and all who wear the clerical clothes – what role and duty do they have? It must be seen with what basis the clergy class was created for and what is considered as an independent society.”
He said, “The answer to the question is that the continuation of Imamate, who’s duty it is to protect the prophecy. After the [occultation of Imam al-Mahdi] the Shi’ah clergy assumed responsibility for the duties of the Imams. The duties of the Imams were, firstly, the protection of the religion of God [Islam], the collection of knowledge, beliefs, rulings, issues, ethics and lifestyle and being the children of Adam.”
Ayatollah Yazdi stated that among the duties of the Ahlul-Bayt are the elimination of innovations and interferences that some non-religious people insert into religion, such as saying that self-flagellation is a part of religion and whoever engages in self-flagellation, has left the religion. With such a person, whatever is said to him, he does not accept it, but the clergy has a duty to say that such actions and actions like it are a detriment to religion in the current era.
The revered teacher in the Islamic Seminary of Qom pointing out that some believe hijab does not have in place in religion today and added, “It is also the duty of the clergy to promote what is religious and not allow that which isn’t from Islam, although some individuals are not pleased with this.”
He reminded, “When the Islamic Revolution occurred, the enemies propagated so much against the Islamic Seminary of Qom that we believed that the best cleric was the one who went calmly to the mosque and returned and did an istikharah but Imam Khomeyni emphasized that this was not the case and the clergy must understand the issues and take the opportunities.”
Ayatollah Yazdi noted that even when the uprising at the Feyziyeh Seminary occurred, Imam Khomeyni said that “this is just the beginning” and when he was exiled, he said “if I were to go from the airport to airport, I would say the same words and do the same actions.”
On June 3, 1963 on the day of Ashura, the late Imam delivered a speech at the school denouncing the Shah, Mohammad-Reza Pahlavi, and was arrested as a result.
In conclusion, the Iranian cleric pointed out that today we are in a position where Wilayat al-Faqih is sitting in the seat of government and noted, “Today, some individuals still haven’t understood the depth of this system and many of our successes have been achieved in the light of this issue and we must thank God for this blessing and try to protect it.”
Rasa News Agency
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