Hawzah News Agency- Hojatoleslam Esmailzadeh, director of the Mazandaran Seminary, made the remarks while addressing Russian-language students at the Mohammadieh Seminary in Qaem Shahr. The event was attended by the seminary's custodian, provincial deputies, professors, and students.
Three Spheres of Planning
Esmailzadeh stressed the need to transform seminary management approaches while paying simultaneous attention to internal seminary capacities, social issues, and international opportunities.
He outlined three spheres of planning: intra-seminary, regional and provincial, and international.
In the first sphere, he said, subjects such as education, purification and ethics, Quran, jurisprudence, and philosophy receive attention. In the second, the seminary must understand the cultural and social issues, harms, and challenges of its surrounding society and engage with them responsibly.
"The seminary must not remain confined in its own closed space and neglect what is happening in the surrounding society," he said, noting that the Mazandaran Seminary is actively involved in examining the province's major issues.
Targeted International Engagement
On the international sphere, Esmailzadeh said proposals have been made to divide the international activities of provincial seminaries in a targeted manner according to each region's opportunities, since entering all spheres simultaneously without prioritization reduces the possibility of achieving effective results.
He noted that when planning began to develop ties with Russian-speaking and some Persian-speaking countries, it became clear that the Mazandaran Seminary had no student with sufficient Russian proficiency to hold conversations. This led to efforts to identify educational capacities and secure specialized instructors.
The path began at the Nouri Seminary in Sari, he said, and is now expanding foreign language training in the province's seminaries.
Language Alone Is Not Enough
Esmailzadeh emphasized that knowing a foreign language alone is not sufficient for effective international activity. A seminary student must also be familiar with cultural requirements, international relations, and the necessities of effective communication with audiences.
He highlighted the role of cultural diplomacy as one of the most important tools for cultural influence and confronting soft warfare. He cited South Korea's experience, saying targeted investment in cultural products, cinema, music, and media can expand a country's cultural influence globally.
"We possess great scientific, cultural, and historical assets," he said, "but to properly introduce these capacities to the world, we need more serious planning in producing cultural and media works and training specialized personnel."
Najaf and Historical Ties
Esmailzadeh pointed to Iraq and the city of Najaf as a focus for developing the Mazandaran Seminary's scientific and cultural relations. He noted that the presence of prominent Mazandarani scholars in the history of the Najaf seminary provides valuable capacity for expanding academic and cultural exchanges.
He cited the scholarly status of scholars such as Sharif al-Ulama Mazandarani in the history of Usul science and stressed the need to further introduce prominent seminary figures from Mazandaran. Using this scientific heritage, he said, ties can be strengthened with scholars and academic and cultural institutions in Najaf, and this capacity can be used to design joint scientific and cultural events.
Promoting Good Over Confronting Harm
Esmailzadeh stressed that the main orientation of the seminary's cultural programs must be based on expanding good and strengthening religious and social values. In confronting cultural and social issues, he said, it is not enough to identify harms — programs must also promote correct alternatives and strengthen desirable behavior.
He pointed to the province's cultural and tourism capacities, saying religious and cultural institutions must step forward with plans to introduce and implement models compatible with Islamic culture. He described a proposed Islamic tourism project in Mazandaran as an opportunity to link cultural activities with creating sustainable revenue sources for the seminary.
Citing a narration from Imam Ali (PBUH) on confronting social issues, Esmailzadeh stressed the necessity of repelling wrong through expanding good. If this approach is adopted as a strategy in the country's cultural structure, he said, many social problems and challenges can be resolved through planning, sustained follow-up, and commitment.
He noted that achieving these goals requires training capable human resources, a strategic vision, continuity of programs, and use of the scientific, cultural, and international capacities of seminaries.
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