Hawzah News Agency- In a meeting with the members of Lady Masuma Arbaeen caravan in Qom on Monday November 7, Grand Ayatollah Makarem Shirazi, a senior Shia cleric, stated, “Arbaeen pilgrimage serves as a passionate, deep-rooted and effective Islamic tradition, especially for Shia Muslims; Those who observe Arbaeen rituals from outside the circle of Islam consider it to be a great manifestation of Islamic glory and unity and those who are actually involved in organizing the events and personally take part in the pilgrimage consider it to be a Shiite gathering; both such views are good for the sake of Islam and projecting its significance,”

The Shia source of emulation went on, “’this great tradition of Arbaeen pilgrimage demands the organizers to provide both social and cultural services to the pilgrims, it is important to provide social services for the pilgrims, but cultural affairs during Arbaeen are of much more significance and that’s exactly why we need to develop cultural services provided for pilgrims,”

“Imam Hussain (a.s) belongs to the whole world, therefore it is likely to see people from different cultural and religious backgrounds take part in Arbaeen pilgrimage and its massive gatherings, so it is our duty as Muslims to treat the followers of other faiths respectfully and observe their sanctities,” Grand Ayatollah Makarem added.

 In conclusion he added, “Observing the sanctities of Sunni Muslims is another major issue which needs to be addressed regarding Arbaeen pilgrimage; If we as Shias observe their sanctities it would deepen the sympathy and unity among the Muslim community more than ever before, “

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