Hawzah News Agency (Taybad, Iran) – The first special meeting on issue of proximity of Islamic sects was held in Taybad city, in the Iranian province of Khorasan Razavi on Saturday, December 10, in which several religious scholars as well as Friday prayer leaders from both Shia and Sunni sects participated; the topic of the meeting was to discuss the origins of Takfirism and the role of Islamic scholars in fighting Takfiri thoughts.

At the beginning of the meeting, Hujjat al-Islam Alipour, head of the Islamic Propagations Office in Taybad city, stated the purpose of holding such meeting as utilizing the intellectual capacities and high social stature of scholars from both Shia and Sunni Islam in order to tackle the present social and cultural challenges in the region; he further reiterated that holding joint meetings between Shia and Sunni scholars could help develop the proximity and unity among religious sects and boost scientific cooperation  between Sunni and Shia figures,”

Elsewhere in his remarks, the Head of the Islamic Propagations Office in Taybad city spoke on the origins of Takfirism, the holy Quran’s view regarding the issue of excommunication, Quranic verses on the necessary conditions for excommunication and also the fact that killing innocent people is strictly forbidden according to the Quranic verses, he also highlighted the importance of unity among Muslim Ummah.

He further added, “The takfiri movement today freely engages in killing Muslim brothers by chanting religious slogans; this is considered as a new phenomenon which needs to be fully recognized and it can be resolved on the condition that Shia and Sunni Muslims unite,”

At the end of the meeting, Molavi Alireza Yaghoubi, a Sunni Friday Prayer Leader in the Iranian city of Samangan, Quchan also said, “The greatest threat in the Islamic world today is the danger of Takfirism, in current situation our scholars must stand against such threats and fight them,”

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