Hawzah News Agency- Speaking at a press conference on Tuesday, Hojatoleslam Saleh, Deputy Cultural and Educational Officer of Al-Mustafa and Chairman of the festival’s Policy Council, outlined the goals and achievements of the event. He described the festival as “a unique gathering of nationalities, disciplines, and cultures that serves as a center for unity and friendship with the teachings of the Ahl al-Bayt (AS).”
Wide Participation and Global Reach
According to the organizers, more than 688 participants—378 men and 310 women—from inside Iran have already registered, with numbers expected to rise before the close of registration. In the previous edition, around 19,000 participants from Iran and 2,369 from international centers took part, underscoring the festival’s growing capacity and global reach.
This year’s festival will be held both in-person and online, covering more than 20 units inside Iran, including Qom, Mashhad, Isfahan, Tehran, Tabriz, and Gorgan, as well as centers abroad.
Expanding Disciplines and Special Focus
Highlighting the qualitative and quantitative expansion of the program, Hojatoleslam Saleh announced that 31 disciplines have been introduced in two categories—oral (skill-based) and written (educational). The competition will take place in two stages, with preliminaries in late October and finals in late December.
Special attention has been given to the teachings of Nahj al-Balagha and Sahifa al-Sajjadiyya. Seven categories have been dedicated to each of these works, alongside memorization of selected Quranic subjects, supplications, and pilgrimages. New categories also include Quranic-Hadith sermons in Persian, Arabic, English, and Urdu.
The designated theme for this year’s sermons is “Jihad and Resistance,” reflecting one of the central priorities of the contemporary Islamic world.
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