Representative of Mazandaran in the Assembly of Experts:‎

Mourning ceremonies must institutionalize the culture of fighting against oppression

Rasa – Ayatollah Tavakol said that one of the functions of the Muharram lectures and the ‎mourning ceremonies is the institutionalization of the culture of fighting against oppression ‎and the arrogant powers.‎

News ID: 439591

Date: 17 September 2018 - 23:30

RNA – In an exclusive interview with Rasa News Agency, Ayatollah Sayyed Rahim Tavakol ‎said that one of the functions of the lectures and mourning ceremonies of the solemn month ‎of Muharram are to institutionalize the culture of fighting against oppression and the arrogant ‎powers of the world and said, “One lecture or mourning ceremony cannot go beyond the ‎framework of the goals of Imam al-Husayn and merely deal with the aspect of mourning.”‎

The representative of the people of Mazandaran in the Assembly of Experts said that one of ‎the characteristics of the uprising of Imam al-Husayn was the struggle against oppression ‎and the command of Enjoining the Good and Forbidding the Wrong and said, “If [a preacher] ‎considers the mourning ceremony which he conducts to be adherent to the message of ‎Imam al-Husayn, he must understand the Imam’s uprising well and know the purpose that ‎Imam al-Husayn carried out his uprising for so that he can continue along his path.”‎

Ayatollah Tavakol added that mourning ceremonies which are secular and don’t discuss any ‎of the issues of the day aren’t related to the message of Imam al-Husayn and don’t follow ‎his path but rather, the lecturers have taken the path of their own desires.

The revered teacher in the Islamic Seminary of Qom stressed upon the damages caused by ‎the secularized mourning ceremonies and lectures and said, “Along with the oppression, ‎silence in the face of oppression and following the path of falsehood are among the harms ‎which result from secularized mourning ceremonies and lectures. The youth attend these ‎mourning ceremonies and are deceived by their outer appearance and after a while, they are ‎alienated from the issues of the day of society and are also indifferent to the cries and the ‎groans of the oppressed of the world.”‎

His Eminence arguing that the lack of secularism in the lectures and mourning ceremonies will ‎strengthen the morality of the revolutionary people and said, “When people enter the ‎mourning ceremonies wherein the issues facing society are raised and wherein revolutionary ‎positions are taken, without doubt, they find that Imam al-Husayn is the manifestation of ‎the slogan ‘hayhat minna al-dhillah’ [‘we will never be humiliated’] and they won’t remain ‎silent in the face of the oppression of the oppressors and the arrogant powers of the world ‎and they won’t be indifferent to the groans and cries of the oppressed.”‎

Ayatollah Tavakol added, “Our Islamic Revolution is fundamentally based on Ashura because ‎this revolution was established so that the people wouldn’t be associated with the ‎oppressors and tyrants and by standing alongside Imam al-Husayn, they wouldn’t surrender ‎to their oppression.”‎

The month of Muharram commemorates the martyrdom of Imam al-Husayn, the son of the ‎cousin and son-in-law of the Prophet Muhammad, Ali ibn Abi Talib, at the battle of Karbala in ‎‎680 CE. The tyrant Yazid had declared himself ruler of the Islamic caliphate and ordered ‎allegiance from Imam al-Husayn, who rose against those who acted falsely in the name of ‎Islam. He refused to legitimize the unjust rule of a tyrant.‎

Rasa News Agency

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