Qom Friday Prayers’ Leader:

Are freedom and democracy just justifications to insult the sanctities of Muslims?

Rasa – The Friday Prayer leader of Qom, Ayatollah Sayyed Hashem Hoseyni-Bushehri, explained this weeks’ current events to the believers gathered at the Holy Shrine of Lady Fatimah al-Ma’sumah. He condemned the publication of cartoons insulting the Prophet Muhammad (S) and questioned the West’s hypocritical claims of freedom of speech and also touched on the events in Bahrain and Yemen.

News ID: 2046

Date: 23 January 2015 - 20:36

RNA – Referring to the Takfiri tendency to destroy others’ places of worship, His Eminence emphasized that disrespecting others’ holy sites is a very severe concern and that if anyone violates the holy places of Muslims, he cannot be considered a Muslim. “Man must socialize in a respectful manner. Imam Ali (A) has said: ‘Associate with people in such a way that when you have passed away they will cry for you,’” he explained.

Ayatollah Bushehri also spoke of the problem of poverty in society, and stated that in narrations that if people pay their alms [zakah], there would be no poor Muslims. The existence of poor people indicates that many people will be held accountable on the Day of Judgement.

Speaking on the current effecting the Muslim world, Ayatollah Bushehri condemned the French magazine Charlie Hebdo’s publication of cartoons insulting the beloved prophet of Islam. He said that today due to the insults toward the Prophet Muhammad (S), we have witnessed demonstrations of millions of Muslims around the world, but the most painful of offences, is the support of some of the Western leaders and some other insignificant people for this disgusting act.

He reminded the believers that this recent chain of insults against the Prophet Muhammad (S) is reminiscent of the insults made by Salman Rushdie and the burning of copies of the Holy Quran [in the United States]. “The publication of the French cartoons shows that the West’s power is weakening. With certainty, it can be said that the West cannot stand against the logic of Islam, and this is a sign of their weakness.”

His Eminence stated that the West uses the pretext of freedom to insult Muslims, saying: “If the West claims to have freedom then why is it that when Muslim girls are studying in European countries, they are barred from wearing a hijab. Is this not contrary to the their claim of freedom? Or are freedom and democracy just justifications to insult the sanctities of Muslims?”

Referring to the Iranian Foreign Minister, Mohammad-Javad Zarif, walking with the American Secretary of State, John Kerry, Ayatollah Bushehri emphasized: “Why would [Zarif] walk with the greatest enemy of the sacred Islamic Republic and talk intimately with him [Kerry] and let it be been by the people?! Intimacy with the country which regularly threatens [us] by placing options on the table is wrong.”

Referring to recent events in Yemen and Bahrain, Ayatollah Bushehri stated: “The Yemeni government should not allow foreign interference in its internal affairs and the government of Bahrain also know that with the trial of Shaykh Ali Salman will not achieve anything. By the grace of God, the Bahraini peoples’ revolution will be victorious.”

At the end of his speech, the revered scholar condemned the recent Zionist attack on the Islamic Resistance Forces [Hezbollah] in the Israeli-occupied Syrian Golan Heights, saying: “By martyring the Hezbollah soldiers and the brave Iranian commander, the usurping Israeli regime will not achieve their aims and the Islamic community will proceed to destroy Israel.”

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