Hawzah News Agency (Qom, Iran) - The director of the Islamic Seminaries of Iran said that the culture of defence and Islamic jihad has specific rational and jurisprudential foundations.
The First National Conference of the Flagbearers of the Islamic Revolution and Pioneers of the Sacred Defence, celebrating the seminarians and clerics of the Sacred Defence [Iran-Iraq War, was held at the al-Ghadir Conference Hall of the Islamic Propagation Office in Qom on June 9th.
Speaking at the conference Ayatollah Alireza Arafi, the director of the Islamic Seminaries of Iran, said that the holding of this conference is a declaration of humility to the pioneers of the Islamic Revolution and the Sacred Defence and said, “The clerics who have progressed to the frontier of martyrdom in the field of Islam and the Islamic Revolution and are attending this meeting today have a very high status for us.”
Referring to parts of Imam Khomeyni’s clerical charter, His Eminence further added, “In fact, the Sacred Defence was the miracle of our era. It’s not an exaggeration to say that if there was no Sacred Defence, then all the great jihadi capacities would not have emerged in our nation.”
He said that the Sacred Defence was an example of Badr, Khaybar, Hunayn and Ashura and added, “The Islamic Revolution was not a constitutional or an oil movement but rather it originated in Badr, Khaybar, Hunayn and Ashura. The connection of the Islamic Revolution and the Sacred Defence to the previous movements of the clergy and Muslim nations shouldn’t be neglected but within the framework of Islamic Revolution and Sacred Defence, anything beyond all previous periods will be evaluated.”
Ayatollah Arafi stated that the clergy, warriors, army, IRGC and Basij created a great epic and added, “The Sacred Defence created a great transformation in the laws and rules governing the world today to the extent that today the extension of this movement is witnessed in Palestine, Syria, Iraq, Yemen and Lebanon.”
In another part of his speech, the member of the Society of Seminary Teachers of Qom stated, “Jihad and defence in Islam have a clear, precise and rational logic. After the Islamic Revolution, the conspirators tried to bring about evil movements and false and incorrect revolutions in order to tarnish the reputation of true jihad, just as they did for the Taliban, Daesh, al-Qaedah and the like.”
He emphasized that divine command is at the head of the Islamic jihad and said, “In the Sacred Defence, goals are very important. For this reason, the purpose or defence of the honour and identity of the Islamic community or the opening of a horizon for the world of humanity is for divine life and its soldiers are soldiers of the Battles of Badr and Karbala as well.”
Ayatollah Arafi stressed that the holy jihad has a rational and jurisprudential logic and said, “When Ayatollah al-Sistani presented a statement for the Popular Mobilization Forces, we saw that it was full of the principles of jurisprudence and ethics and the pioneer of this new model was our Imam and our ummah, through which we were able to revive the correct logic of Islamic jihad.”
He said, “Today, arrogant powers must know that the logic of jihad in Islam isn’t the logic of fear and disbelief but at the same time our logic is not Daeshism – this is the discourse of the Islamic Revolution. They must know that we aren’t Daeshi and we act with logic and rationality but at the same time, we are on the stage.”