Dean of al-Mustafa International University:
Foreign seminarians have left their countries, homes and migrated to Iran to study Islam
Ayatollah Abbasi said, “Today, your enamoured hearts are so eager to fly to the kingdom of knowledge that you have left your familiar homes and abodes and have migrated.”
RNA – Marking the beginning of the new academic year at al-Mustafa International University, Hujjat al-Islam Dr. Ali Abbasi, the dean of this university, issued a statement.
al-Mustafa International University is an international academic, Islamic and university-style seminary institute in Qom for non-Iranian students which was established in 1979. It has international branches and affiliate schools.
Classes began on Saturday, September 14th.
Hujjat al-Islam Abbasi’s statement is as follows:
In the Name of God, the Most Beneficent, the Most Merciful
“Be wary of God and God will teach you” [The Holy Qur’an 2:282]
Honourable scholars of al-Mustafa International University, dear brothers and sisters,
With good health and salutations and wishes for divine grace and blessings to you in the arena of education, I present a few reminders regarding the process of education on the eve of the new school year to you.
1) The change from divine traditions is dominant over existence. In the opportunity of life that they have been given, everyone can benefit from innate reason and revealed narrations to attain eternity for himself in such a way as to attain eternal bliss and accession to the station of “the abode of truthfulness with an omnipotent King” [The Holy Quran 54:55]. Practical Godwariness and abstinence from matters held unlawful by God expose the hearts of mankind to divine light so that they illuminate with perfect manifestation. One transverses the path of which the provisions of it are Godwariness and intuitive knowledge which is strengthened with righteous action.
Undoubtedly, the opportunity of youth is an exceptional opportunity where the conditions of change are more available and where opportunities to benefit from divine scents are greater. For this reason, the time of one’s youth must be considered as a season of the blossoming and nourishing of one’s life and soul and it must be made use of completely as it is an unmatched and unrepeated opportunity like that of a quickly passing cloud.
Today, your enamoured hearts are so eager to fly to the kingdom of knowledge that you have left your familiar homes and abodes and have migrated. Of course, this is the first step in the knowledge and assets of the educated souls and minds that must be intertwined with purification because education without purification and purification without education is not effective.
2) The students of the revolutionary seminaries who favour the discourse of the Islamic Revolution and the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution [Ayatollah Khamenei] must strive in the field of knowledge and action to advance and expand spirituality and justice for all of humankind, especially for their compatriots, and combine “academic endeavours” with a social mission.
3) Theorizing in all spheres and domains must be considered as a long-term goal and our education and research must build people who are knowledgable, skilled, have deep knowledge about religion and who can understand the needs of human societies and present solutions to these problems. Ijtihad is pervasive in all spheres that shape the academic identity of al-Mustafa al-International University.
4) Just as education is intertwined with nurturing, education without purification will not be effective. It must be combined with research to achieve an objective beyond mere education and through science and research, the capacity to benefit from knowledge will be provided for themselves and others. Utilizing the scientific method of jurisprudence and ijtihad, such as fiqh al-jawahari, can also encompass new realms and provide for the new and emerging needs of humanity with scientific and practical answers based on revealed foundations and teachings. There is no doubt that the maneuverability and dynamics of Islamic jurisprudence as a philosophy and way of life depend solely on the use of structured scientific methods that have been obtained and developed over more than a thousand years. By relying on the authentic method of ijtihad, not only can the boundaries of the knowledge of jurisprudence be expanded, but also the presence of religion can be extended to various individual and social spheres of humanity.
5) Today, the humanities and social sciences are based on presuppositions and principles that are rooted in the particular global studies and anthropology of the new era. In order to achieve scientific authority in this field, it is necessary for al-Mustafa International University to identify and formulate solid principles and foundations that can underpin the formation of the humanities in the discourse of the Islamic Revolution.
6) As has been repeatedly explained by the two Imams of the Islamic Revolution, this revolution seeks to recreate and reconstruct the Islamic socio-cultural model based on the civilizational approach in the contemporary world. In the Second Step of the Islamic Revolution, we have the duty to theorize and produce thought with this civilizational ideal.
7) al-Mustafa International University must be recognized as a centre with universal authority in the discourse of rationality, spirituality and justice. The achievement of such scientific authority is one of the missions and duties of the Islamic Seminaries, including al-Mustafa International University, in the international and discursive arena. This important “research-based teaching” is possible only in the light of scientific richness and depth and observance of all indicators and criteria at all stages of education. This approach must be taken into account at all levels of decision-making until a decision is made and implemented.
In conclusion, I once again offer my congratulations on the beginning of the new academic year to all those active in the field of education and the purification, including the students, erudite scholars, teachers and administrators and all the seekers of the truth and of the knowledge of the Quran and Ahl al-Bayt in al-Mustafa International University throughout the world. I ask the Most-Munificent God to grant a year full of ever-increasing happiness and grace to all of you dear ones and as in the past, I thank and I offer my appreciation to you for your sincere and selfless efforts.
“...their concluding call, ‘All praise belongs to God, the Lord of all the worlds’” [The Holy Qur’an 10:10]
Ali Abbasi
September 2019
Rasa News Agency
112/975