A renowned Iraqi source of emulation called for keeping the doors of mosques and shrines open in accordance with hygiene guidelines and stated, “It’s not acceptable for places of entertainment and commercial centres to be open and the houses of God to remain closed.” RNA – Ayatollah Sayyid Muhammad-Taqi al-Modarresi, a renowned Iraqi source of emulation, issued the following statement on the occasion of the Day of Arafah and Eid al-Adha:
In the Name of God, the Most Beneficent, the Most Merciful
We are approaching the Day of Arafah, one of the most important days of the year, as well as Eid al-Adha, which is the day of divine mercy and forgiveness and the answer to supplications. In these blessed and great days, we ask God to ward off tribulation from us. This is a great occasion, and if we do not enjoy its virtue, we will not have such a virtue until the next month of Ramadhan.
Believers, brothers and sisters, seize this golden opportunity. Due to the special circumstances of this year and the suspension of Hajj ceremonies, as well as the deprivation of many from making the pilgrimage to [the Holy Shrine of] Aba Abdullah al-Husayn, as well as quarantines and social distancing that have limited the possibility of holding ceremonies in mosques and holy shrines, let us consider our houses as houses of remembrance.
As God Almighty says: “In houses God has allowed to be raised and wherein His Name is celebrated; He is glorified therein, morning and evening, by men whom neither trade nor bargaining distracts from the remembrance of God and the maintenance of prayer and the giving of zakat. They are fearful of a day wherein the hearts and the sights will be transformed” [Quran 24:36-37].
Just as the Holy Prophet Muhammad said, “The earth has been made for me a place of prostration and a means of purification,” let each of us pray and supplicate for three days at home and with our families and ask God to ward off this tribulation from us and grant us goodness and blessings from His grace.
I call on the authorities to keep the doors of mosques and shrines open these days by observing hygienic guidelines because it is not acceptable for places of entertainment and commercial centres to be open and the houses of God to remain closed. As Muslims, we draw all our strength and hope from prayer and intercourse. God Almighty says: “Your Lord has said, ‘Call Me, and I will hear you!’ Indeed those who are disdainful of My worship will enter hell in utter humiliation” [Quran 40:60].
Did not God distance the tribulation from the people of Jonah when they repented and returned to Him? And He said: “Why has there not been any town that might believe, so that its belief might benefit it, except the people of Jonah? When they believed, We removed from them the punishment of disgrace in the life of this world, and We provided for them for a while” [10:98].
“Oh God! Have I not conveyed (the message)? Oh God, I bear witness! And You are the One from whom help is sought and complaints are made and in You we trust in the times of difficulty.”
Muhammad-Taqi al-Modarresi
6 Dhu al-Hijjah 1441 AH
27 July, 2020 CE
Rasa News Agency
112/974