RNA – Speaking in Islamabad, Pakistan, Hujjat al-Islam Mohsen Najafi, the representative of Grand Ayatollah Sayyid Ali al-Sistani, told reporters that the Ayatollah al-Sistani’s 2014 “obligatory jihad” fatwa changed the course of history in Iraq and the Middle East.
In June 2014, Ayatollah al-Sistani called on all Iraqi citizens to defend “the country, its people, the honour of its citizens, and its sacred sites against the threats posed by the Daesh Takfiri terrorist group.”
“When the enemies were drafting various plans for Iraq, they did not expect that a sayyid in Najaf would defeat their plans with a fatwa,” the Pakistani Shi’ah cleric added.
Hujjat al-Islam Najafi said, “This fatwa has changed the world’s view of Najaf and even those who are studying in this city are also more respected in the world than ever before.”
Referring to the fifth international “Nasim-e Karbala” or Breeze of Karbala Conference, which was held by the Holy Shrines of Imam al-Husayn and Hadhrat Abbas in the various cities of Pakistan, he said, “The various classes and ethnic groups of Pakistan, especially the Sunnis, participated actively in the Breeze of Karbala Conference. This conference was a great opportunity to meet the scholars and various personalities, and we also consider this precious opportunity as an advantage.”
The representative of Ayatollah al-Sistani stated, “Many of those who participated in this conference visited the flags of Imam al-Husayn and Hadhrat Abbas as they believed that this pilgrimage and consecration is equivalent as a making a pilgrimage to the holy shrine of the Master of the Martyrs and his great brother in Karbala.”
It is noteworthy that around 20,000 Pakistani Shi’ahs and hundreds of Sunnis participated in the 5th Breeze of Karbala Conference to honour the flag of Imam al-Husayn and they saw this as a pilgrimage to Karbala.
The conference was held for two weeks by the Holy Shrines of Imam al-Husayn and Hadhrat Abbas by a number of Iraqi scholars and scholars in various Pakistani cities.
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