Report on Islamic Seminaries during Coronavirus suspension

Rasa News Agency has compiled a report on the situation facing the Islamic Seminaries in Qom during the temporary suspension of the country’s education system caused by the spread of the Coronavirus in Iran.

News ID: 449389

Date: 03 March 2020 - 09:42

RNA – Due to the outbreak of COVID-19 (Coronavirus) in Iran, many schools, universities and Islamic Seminaries have been suspended or partially suspended since February 22nd, following the repeated recommendations by the Ministry of Health and Medical Education in various parts of the country.

Due to the hygienic recommendations of not meeting and gathering and the necessity of not holding various meetings, the Islamic Seminaries have stated in various announcements that classes won’t be held until the situation is normalized.

This issue sometimes brings to mind that the teachers and seminarians have simply cancelled their classes and studies and engaged in other matters, forgetting the academic arguments that this is never true because the seminarians and the scholars of the Islamic Seminaries are never distant from gaining knowledge and research. Also, many students have gone to the hospitals to help with sick and some in other cities are providing social services and assisting earthquake victims.

Hujjat al-Islam Mokhtari, a member of the office of Ayatollah Sayyed Mohammad-Reza Modarresi-Yazdi, a member of the Guardian Council of Jurists, told Rasa News Agency, “We have provided all the necessary infrastructure to hold classes online.”

He added, “We are fully prepared to hold online classes and we are only waiting for Ayatollah Modarresi-Yazdi’s approval and recommendations. Once approved, lessons will be resumed online.”

Ayatollah Abolqasem Alidoust is also conducting his dars al-kharij (post-graduate classes) on jurisprudence and its principles online. The audio recording of the lessons and the documents are uploaded to the teacher’s website or channel on the social messaging app, Eitaa, on the same day.

The teacher also prayed for the health of the entire Iranian nation, saying, “May God protect the great Islamic Iran, the holy city of Qom and the Islamic Seminaries from various evils.”

Hujjat al-Islam Sayyed Sajjad Izadi, a teacher in both the seminary and university system and a teacher of dars al-kharij in political jurisprudence and Wilayat al-Faqih (Guardianship of the Jurisprudent) also advised seminarians to pursue the topics which they need to catch up in, “These holidays are the best time for research.”

It is worth noting Hujjat al-Islam Izadi has been completing and compiling his dars al-kharij and has announced that he will resume his classes after the situation normalizes.

Also, classes at various campuses of al-Mustafa International University, a group of seminaries for non-Iranian students, have also been suspended and classes are being held using video conferencing software and teachers are also sending voice recordings and files via Eitaa.

Rasa News Agency

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