International Director of Ayatollah Sistani’s Office:

Sunnis and Shi’ahs are free to spread their ideas in Georgia

Rasa – Hujjat al-Islam Dehsorkhi said that in Georgia, all religions, including both Sunni and Shi’ah Muslims, all enjoy a role and citizens of all religions and beliefs are free to speak and propagate their religions.

News ID: 426777

Date: 26 January 2017 - 08:46

RNA – A group of Sunni scholars from Georgia met with Grand Ayatollah Naser Makarem-Shirazi at his office in Qom on Monday.

In regard to this meeting, Hujjat al-Islam Sayyed Sadeq Dehsorkhi, the head of the international section at Grand Ayatollah Sayyid al-Sistani’s office in Qom, said the Georgian scholars were invited to the office of Ayatollah al-Sistani in Qom to meet for dialogue with scholars and Shi’ah religious authorities in Qom, including Ayatollah Makarem-Shirazi, due to the recommendation of Hujjat al-Islam Sayyid Jawad al-Shahristani, the representative of Ayatollah al-Sistani in Iran.

He added that he has visited the small Caucasian country many times and noticed that while Georgia is a country with a Christian majority and the government is controlled by the Georgian Orthodox Christian majority, many Muslims, both Sunnis and Shi’ahs, have a good life in the country.

Hujjat al-Islam Dehsorkhi stating that the interaction between Shi’ahs and Sunnis and even non-Muslims in this country is exemplary and added that the atmosphere in Georgia is similar to Lebanon, where many different religions and sects live together without any tension and dissension and have good relations with each other.

His Eminence stated that it’s interesting that the Georgian government doesn’t distinguish between Muslims and non-Muslims in regard to various issues and also funds cultural and political organizations and all enjoy a role in the affairs of the country. Also, citizens of all religions and beliefs are free to speak and propagate their religion in Georgia.

Hujjat al-Islam Dehsorkhi said that there are many Shi’ahs in Georgia and they hold religious ceremonies, including mourning ceremonies in Muharram, in a serious manner and added, “During various religious holidays throughout the year, especially during the month of Muharram, there is a wonderful spiritual atmosphere in the country among Muslims in such a way that last year, we attended a ceremony where meals were distributed for 10,000 people in the name of Imam Husayn.”

In conclusion, he expressed satisfaction with the lack of the influence of Wahhabism and Salafism in the country and said that given that Chechnya, which neighbours Georgia, suffers from the effects of the dangerous Salafi ideology, the Georgian government is strongly opposed to this group and in doesn’t provide any facilities to spread the Wahhabi or Salafi ideology in their country.

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