Representative of West Azerbaijan in the Assembly of Experts: ‎

Revolutionary mourning ceremonies directs society towards the ideals of the Islamic ‎Revolution

Rasa – Hujjat al-Islam Mojtahed-Shabestari said the mourning ceremonies that are based on ‎the goals of the uprising of Karbala, can lead society towards the ideals of the Islamic ‎Revolution by explaining the truth of the movement of Imam al-Husayn.‎

News ID: 440668

Date: 24 September 2018 - 20:32

RNA – In an exclusive interview with Rasa News Agency, Hujjat al-Islam Javad Mojtahed-‎Shabestari, a representative of the people of West Azerbaijan province in the Assembly of ‎Experts, explained that balanced mourning ceremonies cannot be secular and said, “If a ‎mourning ceremony wants to move towards the goals of Imam al-Husayn and follow him, it ‎cannot have a tendency toward secularism.”‎

Emphasizing that a mourning ceremony that seeks to fulfill the goals of Imam al-Husayn ‎cannot be indifferent to the issues of the day faced by society and the world and added, ‎‎“We must suppose that if Imam al-Husayn was present at this time, would he be indifferent ‎to this world and the issues that are going on and not rise to justice for the oppressed ‎people of Palestine and Yemen? Obviously, he never kept silent about these things.”‎

Referring to the fact that according to religious orders, a true Muslim mustn’t be indifferent to ‎defending the oppressed, stated, “A speaker who considers his mourning ceremony to be ‎attributed to Imam al-Husayn, must explain the goals of Imam al-Husayn and explain the ‎uprising of Ashura to society.”‎

Hujjat al-Islam Mojtahed-Shabestari stating that one of the goals of Imam al-Husayn was to ‎enjoin the good and forbid the wrong, he said, “Basically, enjoining the good and forbidding ‎the wrong means that we mustn’t be indifferent to the problems surrounding us and remain ‎silent. The meaning of enjoining the good is that a Muslim must react to what is going on in ‎his own society and other societies.”‎

The teacher in the Islamic Seminary argued that there must not be secular mourning ‎ceremonies in an Islamic society and noted, “Unfortunately, there may be mourning ‎ceremonies that are not responsive to the problems of our society and other societies and ‎remain indifferent in the face of oppression and the defence of the oppressed and only talk ‎about the tragedy of Ashura. The work of these mourning ceremonies will certainly not gain ‎the satisfaction of God and the Ahlul-Bayt.” ‎

He stated, “A balanced Islamic mourning ceremony must adapt the dimensions of the ‎uprising of Ashura to the problems of today and take the uprising of Ashura as a model in ‎order to combat oppression and the arrogant powers of the world.”‎

Hujjat al-Islam Mojtahed-Shabestari referred to the damages caused by secular mourning ‎ceremonies and said, “Such mourning ceremonies sometimes cause some people who don’t ‎have the necessary knowledge to have incorrect interpretations of the uprising of Imam al-‎Husayn and describe religion only in the realm of the individual and defective relationship with ‎God and cannot explain the relationship between religion, society and politics.”‎

In conclusion, he said, "In contrast, the mourning ceremonies which are revolutionary and ‎based on the objectives of the uprising of Ashura, can guide society towards the ideals of ‎the Islamic Revolution by explaining the truth of the movement of Imam al-Husayn.”‎

Rasa News Agency

112/974‎