Website of the Office of Grand Ayatullah Saanei :: Meeting with some professors of the American University’s School of International Service in International Peace and Conflict Resolution
Meeting with some professors of the American University’s School of International Service in International Peace and Conflict Resolution
“All those who serve humanity are loved by God.”
Grand Ayatollah Saanei, in a meeting with some professors of the American University’s School of International Service in International Peace and Conflict Resolution in Washington DC and some of the authorities of the Peace Building and Development Institute of the US, stated, “The attempt and movement of all prophets and messengers of God has been towards the establishment of the very fact that what God sends down as religion is merely Islam and Islam means surrendering yourself to the truth and justice.”
His Honor added, “Any good, virtuous, and righteous deed by any person is valued and admired by God as based on the script of the Holy Qurran God the Almighty will give everyone good quid pro quos irrespective of who they are, that is, all those who serve humanity are loved by God.”
This great religious authority continued, “We must bear in mind that all divine religions are based on kindness and friendship of human beings towards one another and this fact must be the focus of attention of all scholars and thinkers of the world.”
Stating that the human rights and democracy which are accepted and approved by Islam are ones which are based on people and governors’ reciprocal kindness and friendship towards each other His Eminence added, “the most perfect human rights and democracy are ones whereby people are obliged to like and respect their governors while it is also necessary that the governors act in such a way that people may like and respect them, and if they do not do so, they will have disobeyed God’s order.” Grand Ayatollah Saanei added, “With this kindness, respect and friendship, people can lead their affairs and this is more vital than merely voting for their governors. People are obliged to like their governors and governors are obliged to act in such a way that people may like them, and if governors do a minimal injustice in this regard, they will have committed the most cardinal sin.”
Quoting a part of Imam Sajjad (PBUH)’s words in Amin-Ullah supplication where He says, “Oh, Allah! Make me… loved on Your Earth and in Your skies,” His Honor declared, “If we are looking for others’ kindness and friendship towards us, others should feel secure with us and we should neither oppress human beings nor be cruel to animals and even the environment.”
In another part of His speech, Grand Ayatollah Saanei stated, “In my view, human race, geography, nationality, and religion do not prevent human beings from achieving their rights, and form an Islamic and Qurranic view, there is only one group of human beings who are deprived of some rights, and that is the group of unbelievers, by which we do not mean non-Muslims but those who know that Islam is a true religion but still antagonistically stand against it and treat it sacrilegiously.”
At the end, His honor added, “The cause of all wars and conflicts is oppression, injustice, and discrimination, and when we consider justice as the foundation for human rights, and take friendship and kindness as the foundation for the affairs of ruling systems, this will lead to the establishment of peace, and the foundation of Islam is also peace and justice.” Date: 2008/09/28 Views: 7544