Ayatollah Tavakkol emphasized that one must recognize the objectives of Imam al-Husayn from his uprising and said, “Rather, man must know his time well and fight against the Shimrs and Yazids of his time.” RNA – Speaking at a mourning ceremony on Tasu’a, the ninth night of Muharram, at the office of Grand Ayatollah Naser Makarem-Shirazi in Qom, Ayatollah Sayyed Rahim Tavakkol explored the factors that keep humans away from God Almighty.
The representative of the people of Mazandaran province in the Assembly of Experts stated that man has a nafs al-lawwamah (self-accusing soul) and a nafs al-ammarah (commanding soul) and these two souls are fighting each other and stated, “If a person reinforces his nafs al-lawwamah, he will have a spiritual dimension and his position near the divine portal will be greater than that of the archangels. But if one’s nafs al-lawwamah and lust overwhelms him, he will be worse than the quadruped animals.”
He examined the root cause of human sins and said, “Ignorance of God, weakness in the beliefs and the punishments of the hereafter and wicked traits are the roots of all sins. The people must repent for their sins and seek to eradicate and eliminate the causes of sin.”
Referring to the verses of the Holy Quran concerning divine tests, Ayatollah Tavakkol stated, “In verses two and three of Surah al-Ankabut, God says, ‘Do the people suppose that they will be let off because they say, “We have faith,” and they will not be tested? Certainly We tested those who were before them. So God shall surely ascertain those who are truthful, and He shall surely ascertain the liars.’”
His Eminence explained the messages of these verses and said, “God doesn’t pay attention to the words and slogans of man but rather the performance and behaviour of man constitute the criterion of closeness to God. Therefore, the scope of the slogan is widespread but few people adhere to it.”
He stated that all the events of history are repeated at all times and added, “Crying and mourning for Imam al-Husayn is a very admirable act but one must recognize the objectives of the Master of the Martyrs [Imam al-Husayn] from his uprising. Therefore, one must not always remain in history from 1400 years ago. Rather, man must know his time well and fight against the Shimrs and Yazids of his time.”
Ayatollah Tavakkol said that the enemies want to distract people from the issues of the day and stressed, “The enemies want people to ignore the issues and events in the society of the present era and to be inattentive toward them and consider them as unimportant and to keep people in history and in the past.”
He stated that man must know the criteria of truth and follow the truthful and added, “Imam Khomeyni fought with the Yazid of his time – the Pahlavi regime – and Ayatollah Khamenei also resisted against the seditionists and their leaders.”
Rasa News Agency
112/975