Sayyid Afdhal al-Shami:

Saudi excuses about Mina stampede not acceptable

Rasa – A representative of Ayatollah al-Sistani has pointed out that the Saudi claims that the Mina tragedy was caused by overcrowding and disorder among the Hajj pilgrims has rejected.

News ID: 3423

Date: 01 October 2015 - 18:03

RNA – In an exclusive interview with Rasa News Agency, Sayyid Afdhal al-Shami, a representative of Ayatollah Sayyid Ali al-Sistani, referred to the events of the Ghadir and Ashura, saying they are two of the most important events in Islamic world and that the general public, especially Islamic scholars, must give them their due importance.

“Understanding the concept of guardianship provides a solid shelter for the Muslim community to prevent them from falling into deviancy,” he stressed.

The Secretary-General of Karbala’s Holy Shrine of Imam al-Husayn said that he considered it necessary to hold conferences like the International Conference on Guardianship, which is being held in the southwestern Iranian city of Ahvaz, saying that we hope to see more of such conferences held in the future.

Sayyid al-Shami expressed his appreciation for those involved in organizing this conference which was held with the participation of scholars and personalities from several Islamic countries and stated that the stampede which occurred in Mina was a great tragedy for the Islamic ummah.

The representative of Ayatollah al-Sistani said that the incident in Mina, which led to the deaths of over 4,000 Hajj pilgrims, has caused astonishment and confusion among the House of Saud, and their claims that overcrowding and disorder among the pilgrims caused the stampede has been rejected.

Sayyid al-Shami said that every year millions of pilgrims travel to Iraq for religious ceremonies, but even though Iraq has poor facilities, we have not witnessed such incidents there.

The Arba’in procession has attracted over 20 million pilgrims to Karbala in recent years.

In conclusion, His Eminence prayed to God Almighty to protect the Islamic ummah from further war and bloodshed.

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