Dean of al-Mustafa International University:‎

Foreign seminarians have left their countries, homes and migrated to Iran to study ‎Islam

News ID: 447027

Date: 16 September 2019 - 08:25

Ayatollah Abbasi said, “Today, your enamoured hearts are so eager to fly to the ‎kingdom of knowledge that you have left your familiar homes and abodes and have ‎migrated.”‎

RNA – Marking the beginning of the new academic year at al-Mustafa International ‎University, Hujjat al-Islam Dr. Ali Abbasi, the dean of this university, issued a ‎statement.‎

al-Mustafa International University is an international academic, Islamic and university-‎style seminary institute in Qom for non-Iranian students which was established in 1979. ‎It has international branches and affiliate schools. ‎

Classes began on Saturday, September 14th. ‎

Hujjat al-Islam Abbasi’s statement is as follows:‎

In the Name of God, the Most Beneficent, the Most Merciful ‎

‎“Be wary of God and God will teach you” [The Holy Qur’an 2:282] ‎

Honourable scholars of al-Mustafa International University, dear brothers and sisters,‎

With good health and salutations and wishes for divine grace and blessings to you in ‎the arena of education, I present a few reminders regarding the process of education ‎on the eve of the new school year to you.‎

‎1) The change from divine traditions is dominant over existence. In the opportunity of ‎life that they have been given, everyone can benefit from innate reason and revealed ‎narrations to attain eternity for himself in such a way as to attain eternal bliss and ‎accession to the station of “the abode of truthfulness with an omnipotent King” ‎‎[The Holy Quran ‎54:55]. Practical Godwariness and abstinence from matters held ‎unlawful by God expose the hearts of mankind to divine light so that they illuminate ‎with perfect manifestation. One transverses the path of which the provisions of it are ‎Godwariness and intuitive knowledge which is strengthened with righteous action. ‎

Undoubtedly, the opportunity of youth is an exceptional opportunity where the ‎conditions of change are more available and where opportunities to benefit from divine ‎scents are greater. For this reason, the time of one’s youth must be considered as a ‎season of the blossoming and nourishing of one’s life and soul and it must be made use ‎of completely as it is an unmatched and unrepeated opportunity like that of a quickly ‎passing cloud. ‎

Today, your enamoured hearts are so eager to fly to the kingdom of knowledge that ‎you have left your familiar homes and abodes and have migrated. Of course, this is the ‎first step in the knowledge and assets of the educated souls and minds that must be ‎intertwined with purification because education without purification and purification ‎without education is not effective. ‎

‎2) The students of the revolutionary seminaries who favour the discourse of the Islamic ‎Revolution and the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution [Ayatollah Khamenei] ‎must strive in the field of knowledge and action to advance and expand spirituality and ‎justice for all of humankind, especially for their compatriots, and combine “academic ‎endeavours” with a social mission.‎

‎3) Theorizing in all spheres and domains must be considered as a long-term goal and ‎our education and research must build people who are knowledgable, skilled, have deep ‎knowledge about religion and who can understand the needs of human societies and ‎present solutions to these problems. Ijtihad is pervasive in all spheres that shape the ‎academic identity of al-Mustafa al-International University.‎

‎4) Just as education is intertwined with nurturing, education without purification will ‎not be effective. It must be combined with research to achieve an objective beyond ‎mere education and through science and research, the capacity to benefit from ‎knowledge will be provided for themselves and others. Utilizing the scientific method of ‎jurisprudence and ijtihad, such as fiqh al-jawahari, can also encompass new realms and ‎provide for the new and emerging needs of humanity with scientific and practical ‎answers based on revealed foundations and teachings. There is no doubt that the ‎maneuverability and dynamics of Islamic jurisprudence as a philosophy and way of life ‎depend solely on the use of structured scientific methods that have been obtained and ‎developed over more than a thousand years. By relying on the authentic method of ‎ijtihad, not only can the boundaries of the knowledge of jurisprudence be expanded, ‎but also the presence of religion can be extended to various individual and social ‎spheres of humanity. ‎

‎5) Today, the humanities and social sciences are based on presuppositions and ‎principles that are rooted in the particular global studies and anthropology of the new ‎era. In order to achieve scientific authority in this field, it is necessary for al-Mustafa ‎International University to identify and formulate solid principles and foundations that ‎can underpin the formation of the humanities in the discourse of the Islamic Revolution.‎

‎6) As has been repeatedly explained by the two Imams of the Islamic Revolution, this ‎revolution seeks to recreate and reconstruct the Islamic socio-cultural model based on ‎the civilizational approach in the contemporary world. In the Second Step of the ‎Islamic Revolution, we have the duty to theorize and produce thought with this ‎civilizational ideal.‎

‎7) al-Mustafa International University must be recognized as a centre with universal ‎authority in the discourse of rationality, spirituality and justice. The achievement of ‎such scientific authority is one of the missions and duties of the Islamic Seminaries, ‎including al-Mustafa International University, in the international and discursive arena. ‎This important “research-based teaching” is possible only in the light of scientific ‎richness and depth and observance of all indicators and criteria at all stages of ‎education. This approach must be taken into account at all levels of decision-making ‎until a decision is made and implemented. ‎

In conclusion, I once again offer my congratulations on the beginning of the new ‎academic year to all those active in the field of education and the purification, including ‎the students, erudite‏ ‏scholars, teachers and administrators and all the seekers of the ‎truth and of the knowledge of the Quran and Ahl al-Bayt in al-Mustafa International ‎University throughout the world. I ask the Most-Munificent God to grant a year full of ‎ever-increasing happiness and grace to all of you dear ones and as in the past, I thank ‎and I offer my appreciation to you for your sincere and selfless efforts.‎

‎“...their concluding call, ‘All praise belongs to God, the Lord of all the worlds’” [The ‎Holy Qur’an 10:10]‎

Ali Abbasi
September 2019‎

Rasa News Agency

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