Hawzah News Agency- a conference titled ‘Ghadir to Ashura’ centered on the views of religious thinkers was held on Tuesday, July 26 near the Holy Shrine of Imam Reza (PBUH) in the Iranian city of Mashhad.

At the beginning of the conference, Amir Mehdi Hakimi, the managing director of Astan Quds Razavi Institute for Artistic Creations delivered a speech in which he said, “Love for Ahl al-Bayt (PBUT) is present in the heart of all human beings, therefore, artists, poets and writers, with their expertise and art, should spread the teachings of Ahl al-Bayt (PBUT)."

“I am very pleased to host artists and writers from different countries, who have depicted their love for the commander of Faithful Imam Ali (PBUH) through their art works.” Hakimi added.

Later on Hujjat al-Islam Mohammad Reza Zaeri, the secretary of the 6th Ghadir International Conference said, "In the history of mankind, no person has been honored as much as Imam Ali (PBUH), so it is not surprising to see that he is the most praised character of all."

“The Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) said, 'Any person who writes virtue in the position of Commander of the faithful (PBUH), as long as that paper remains, the angels will ask for forgiveness for that person." he added.

Hujjat al-Islam Zaeri continued, “A Lebanese Christian writer says that I never wished to be in a caravan except the one that came from Medina to Karbala. Also, I never wished to shoot arrows at anyone except to be in the army of Imam Hussein (PBUH) and shoot arrows at the Yazidis.”

“Another point to consider is that Ghadir Khumm manifests Imam Ali (PBUH) does not only belong to Shia Muslims, rather all the people of the world can enjoy his divine character.”

In another part of this ceremony, Elena Lavyan, a Jewish university professor and poet made some remarks on the characteristics of Imam Ali (PBUH) and said,” There is much to be said about the characteristics of Amir al-Momenin (PBUH) that it is not possible to express them all in one speech, but in one sentence I will say Imam Ali (PBUH) has a distinct feature that separates him from all other human beings, that is, he is an innocent person, and also his human aspects are considered in the highest way.”

Palestinian poet Saleh Hawari was another speaker at the event who pointed out that Ghadir Khumm is an influential event in the Islamic world and emphasized, “The Prophet of Islam (PBUH) specified the duty of succession in his last Hajj, and there is no doubt about this for Muslims, therefore Ghadir can be considered as the measure of authenticity for Shia faith. Ghadir also shows the oppression of the Shia, how they have become a victim of the evil intentions of some people. There is a lot to be said about the attributes of Imam Ali (PBUH) and I think the Ghadir Conference can be a very important event in this regard.”

Several other notable artists and poets present in the meeting expressed their poems about Imam Ali(PBUH) and his characteristics.