German Religious Scholar:

The West not familiar with Shi’a jurisprudence

Rasa – Dr. Johannes Niehoff-Panagiotidis, the chair of Byzantine Studies at the Free University of Berlin, said, “Unfortunately, with so much propagation on Takfirism and Salafism in the world’s media, the west is not familiar with Shi’a jurisdiction and clerics must work hard to change this situation.”

News ID: 423966

Date: 29 September 2016 - 14:20

RNA – In the opening ceremony for the new academic year held at the University of Religions and Denominations in Qom, Iran, Dr. Johannes Niehoff-Panagiotidis stated, “I’m very pleased to have visited this university and further become familiar with its ongoing activities. It’s such an honour for me to have really known more about Islam, especially Shi’ism.”

He went on, “With all the existing potentials in the West for people to further their knowledge on divine religions, sadly the people there don’t know much about Shi’a Islam and its jurisprudence, and therefore anyone who wants to convert to Islam is likely to convert to extreme and radical sects.”

The German Islamic scholar added, “The establishment of the University of Religions and Denominations was a great step taken by the Islamic Republic of Iran in order to better introduce true Islam to the whole world in addition to familiarizing Iranians with other divine religions. I’m pleased to have learned more about Islam and Islamic sects personally and I can now serve as a person who informs non-Muslims on the truth of Islam.”

“It’s an obligation for Shi’a clerics to introduce Western nations to genuine Islam and Shi’ism, the West must know that Islam does not equal violence and the move to inform people about the genuine Islam has to start now,” Dr. Niehoff-Panagiotidis said.

The professor of history at the Free University of Berlin added, “Holding joint meetings between Iranian and German universities as well as discussions and courses on Shi’ism and Islamic sciences could help realize this objective,”

“Sadly, citizens of Western countries think of Islam as Salafism and Wahhabism which are false doctrines, it’s your job as Islamic students to change the West’s attitude towards Islam,” Dr. Niehoff-Panagiotidis concluded addressing students in the university.

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