LIVE - The Pope's Visit to Iraq is a Big Deal. Here's Why

17 Bekeken· 24/03/25

Sayed Mahdi Modarresi
abonnees

'The Lost Testament, What Christians Don't Know About Christ' is a book that I wrote following my own visit to the Vatican: https://www.amazon.com/gp/prod....uct/B01K91RROG/ref=d

Watch this video on why Jesus is so important for Shia Muslims: https://youtu.be/1qGghXexS3M

Read about the first ever meeting between the Pope and a Shia Grand Ayatollah: 'When the Pope Met the Grand Ayatollah, History Was Made' https://www.huffingtonpost.co.....uk/sayed-mahdi-almod

Time stamps:

3:00 Why Najaf is so important?
6:56 Why the Ayatollah?
12:37 Imam Ali
14:42 The Shi’a
15:32 Our debt to Ayatollah Sistani

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Transcript

[0:14]foreign [Music] may god's peace and blessings be upon the holy prophet

[0:45]of islam muhammad and his purified family may god's blessings be upon

[0:54]all of his prophets and apostles today's discussion will be around the

[1:02]historic meeting between the pope and the highest religious authority in iraq

[1:13]leader to hundreds of millions of shia muslims and i just thought

[1:19]that we would do a live show to talk about the significance

[1:21]of this event the importance of it and what it actually means

[1:27]for literally billions of people around the world it is a very

[1:34]important meeting and perhaps it's not for the reasons that you think

[1:41]there are other reasons that are often overlooked and that's what i

[1:46]want to talk about uh in this session god willing so let's

[1:55]get started with the discussion and then i'll try and take some

[2:00]questions if we have time uh in the end at the end

[2:04]of this session so in the name of god the compassionate the

[2:09]merciful a few hours ago pope francis the highest christian of religious

[2:17]authority and spiritual leader to over 1.3 billion baptized catholics landed in

[2:25]iraq not only is the pontiff visiting a country most people associate

[2:31]with war and terrorism but perhaps the most surprising thing he will

[2:36]do whilst there is his visit to grand ayatollah sistani who is

[2:43]the highest religious authority for shia muslims in the world now this

[2:51]visit raises a lot of questions most notably why is this meeting

[2:55]in particular such a big deal who are shia muslims and why

[3:01]is the holy city of najaf so significant now let's start with

[3:07]that last question and in order to understand the significance of najef

[3:12]we need to talk about the significance of the vatican strange right

[3:18]bear with me for a minute you see most people can be

[3:24]forgiven for forgetting that the vatican is the site of the burial

[3:30]of a personality that we don't talk about nearly as often as

[3:35]we should saint peter's basilica houses the tomb of the apostle peter

[3:39]also known as simon the son of jonah the catholic church recognizes

[3:46]peter as the first pope and quote vicar of christ meaning his

[3:53]successor now the shia recognized peter as the cousin and more importantly

[3:59]christ-appointed heir matthew 16 quotes jesus as saying i tell you that

[4:06]you are peter you are my rock according to some translations and

[4:12]on this rock i will build my church and the gates of

[4:17]hell will not overcome it i will give you the keys of

[4:21]the kingdom of heaven whatever you bind on earth will be bound

[4:25]in heaven whatever you loosen on earth will be loosened in heaven

[4:29]these are the words of jesus christ to peter shias will be

[4:36]reminded of the prophet statement ali and maula which are the words

[4:43]of the holy prophet of islam as he appointed his successor imam

[4:52]ali in john 21 15 again in the bible jesus is also

[4:55]quoted to have instructed peter simon to quote unquote feed my sheep

[5:02]tend my lamb and look after my flock which is taken to

[5:07]mean that he was bestowed the highest authority in christianity at least

[5:12]in the catholic church now the symbolism here cannot be overstated the

[5:18]pontiff departs the vatican where the vicar of christ is buried to

[5:23]visit the ancient city of najaf where the vicar of muhammad was

[5:30]buried what makes najaf so special isn't the islamic seminary as important

[5:34]as that is but that it's the site of the majestic mausoleum

[5:38]of imam ali appointed heir and successor of the prophet of islam

[5:45]to us the papal visit highlights the historical link between peter on

[5:51]the one hand and imam ali on the other one prophetic successor

[5:58]with another najaf is also significant for a number of other reasons

[6:02]that many people don't know about it is also where prophets adam

[6:06]and noah are buried it is where moses saw the burning bush

[6:10]and where god spoke to moses for the first time appointing him

[6:16]as his prophet critically however what makes it so incredibly important is

[6:22]that according to shia muslims the promised messiah known as the mahdi

[6:27]is prophesied to live there when he reappears at the end of

[6:34]times the one whose lineage goes back to both the prophet muhammad

[6:36]peace and blessings be upon him and his family and you guessed

[6:41]it coincidentally to saint peter once again history goes full circle and

[6:49]divine justice is established via the two blessed chains of sainthood and

[6:54]beatitude now theology aside what makes this visit historic is the fact

[7:02]that the pope will visit the humble home of the grand ayatollah

[7:06]now i want you to think about this word which i'm sure

[7:11]even even if you're a non-muslim you've heard it before for decades

[7:17]the title ayatollah was used as a pejorative and with contempt towards

[7:22]the entire shia faith particularly by officials and institutions adopting the saudi

[7:29]regime's narrative what does it actually mean it's a title given to

[7:34]religious figures when they reach a certain level of scholarship this is

[7:37]not a political designation but a scholastic and religious appellation in doing

[7:45]so and with the pope visiting the home of the grand ayatollah

[7:48]world media will capture the serene spiritual atmosphere of the holy city

[7:55]as well as the humble lifestyle of the ayatollah and his modesty

[8:02]the kind of modesty that is unparalleled in the entire world because

[8:07]while ayatollah sistani is the spiritual leader of over 200 million people

[8:12]across the globe and can amass a personal fortune in the hundreds

[8:18]of billions of dollars this shia religious authority like all of his

[8:25]predecessors lives in a tiny old mud brick shack located in an

[8:28]alleyway of the old city of najef quite the contrast from the

[8:34]golden thrones bejeweled crowns and dazzling pomposity of other leaders of the

[8:40]world's great religions the pope will get to meet a descendant of

[8:44]abraham who resembles the patriarch of judaism christianity and islam better than

[8:52]anyone else he's ever met before a man who carries their legacy

[9:01]like no other religious leader has the world will get to witness

[9:04]how the ayatollah lives like the poorest people despite his influence and

[9:10]global reach where his mere dismay or the hint of displeasure can

[9:17]bring down entire governments as it did in 2019 most recently where

[9:23]the prime minister and his entire cabinet resigned when the representative of

[9:28]the grand ayatollah hinted that it should in a recent meeting with

[9:35]the grand ayatollah he told us i've had the pleasure of seeing

[9:40]him many times but in this particular meeting the 40 square meter

[9:45]house that he lives in just think about that for a moment

[9:51]400 square foot tiny old home that he uses as his personal

[9:58]dwelling he said that this house is in fact an endowment for

[10:03]people who don't own a house and they must satisfy certain conditions

[10:08]to be able to live in it he said that he had

[10:14]thus instructed his children that they are not to inherit the house

[10:19]after his death and while we in the shia world are used

[10:24]to this level of asceticism others cannot fathom how someone who yields

[10:29]so much power and controls vast sums of money can be so

[10:35]detached from personal comforts what you need to understand is that ayatollah

[10:42]sistani sees himself as a small student of imam ali this my

[10:49]dear viewers is the single most important message in the pope's visit

[10:55]to the holy city of najef that is great as ayatollah sistani

[11:02]is as unparalleled as he is as incredibly humble as he is

[11:05]as accessible as he is he is a reflection of the legend

[11:15]of ali that inspires our leaders with such modesty and self-discipline it

[11:19]was his life meaning that of ali that taught us that true

[11:25]love can only be acquired when one genuinely cares for others such

[11:29]that he experiences the life of the poorest and most marginalized people

[11:35]imam ali whose grave blesses najef and his shrine is the center

[11:43]of this holy city was an ascetic just like his brothers jesus

[11:49]and moses but unlike those prophets ali was a leader of 50

[11:55]present-day nations from northern libya to eastern afghanistan yet despite his expansive

[12:02]and powerful empire lived in such extreme austerity that baffles people to

[12:09]this day and has garnered the kind of devotion that over a

[12:14]billion muslims as well as many non-muslims revere him for he had

[12:19]no bodyguards and despised the idea of an entourage he had only

[12:25]one article of clothing and stitched his own shoes when he moved

[12:30]to this very same city of najaf imam ali refused to step

[12:34]into the palaces of his predecessors and instead lived in a mud

[12:40]house he built with his own bare hands his food was so

[12:45]stale and simple that his guests often appeal to his children to

[12:49]show mercy to their father by adding some oil to the rock-hard

[12:55]barley bread that was his only meal his ethos was to live

[13:00]at the same standard as his poorest citizens and was so accessible

[13:06]that a jew once came to the city and asked about him

[13:11]and was told that he could find him digging wells for the

[13:15]public imagine the emperor the king the leader is out there digging

[13:20]wells with his own bare hands so that strangers passing by would

[13:25]have access to water in those barren lands so this jewish man

[13:30]searches for ali and when he sees him he notices that imam

[13:36]ali was resting under a palm tree all alone taking a rest

[13:41]from the laborious task he looked at ali and he said to

[13:46]him your justice makes you safe as he had no fear of

[13:56]being assassinated let us pray my dear brothers and sisters muslim and

[14:01]christian that this visit makes world leaders across the globe recognize let

[14:11]them come to learn about this unparalleled personality this great individual this

[14:20]towering giant of morality and ethics and of justice and the person

[14:28]who showed no weakness whatsoever in the face of tyrants who oppressed

[14:35]others let the world come to recognize ali so that we too

[14:39]can learn from his legend and apply his teachings let world leaders

[14:44]realize as does the vatican that the shia are a major global

[14:49]community that must not only be recognized but respected it is this

[14:55]very community that defended the christian minority in iraq when isis unleashed

[15:01]its poisonous fangs it is the same community that has insisted on

[15:05]equal rights for all iraqis irrespective of faith or ethnicity it is

[15:12]these same people that contribute to their respective communities across the globe

[15:17]as immigrants as citizens and as religious leaders it is high time

[15:23]we are treated not as a small sect or a political entity

[15:27]but as a worldwide community devoted to peace and justice the fact

[15:33]that iraq is a democracy that awards all of its citizens equal

[15:39]rights is because of the shia who represent the majority but more

[15:42]importantly it is thanks to the shia religious authority that ensured minorities

[15:47]do not feel disenfranchised by their government despite the fact that christians

[15:53]played a part in the saddam regime for example tariq aziz saddam's

[16:00]vice president was a christian while the shia was saddam's number one

[16:06]victims yet that did not mean that we would hold all christians

[16:09]responsible for the crimes of the baath party far from it it

[16:15]was the shia religious leaders that stipulated that such religious minorities as

[16:22]christians are to be protected and that we would lay our lives

[16:25]for their safety if we had to we strive to adhere to

[16:30]the statement the timeless declaration of imam ali who upon appointing a

[16:35]new governor to egypt told him people are either your brothers in

[16:40]faith or your counterparts in creation these eternal words could only stem

[16:47]from a true vice gerund of god like ali this is why

[16:53]any christian who has come into contact with his legend cannot help

[16:57]but fall in love with him as the famous lebanese christian author

[17:02]and poet don't say that it's only the shia that adore and

[17:18]love ali anyone with the slightest hint of decency can't help but

[17:24]fall in love with him he is the pride of history not

[17:36]just a group of people love has flourished in this christian man

[17:46]he says to the point where he is absolutely in awe and

[17:50]in love with ali [Music] i am someone he says that loves

[18:02]bravery i love these great virtues i love justice i love good

[18:16]morals if ali was not a prophet then he had prophetic morals

[18:20]and ethics [Music] you should bear witness o earth you must settle

[18:41]and bow down for i have called the name of ali let

[18:49]us pray that the world recognizes ali and the world learns from

[18:54]the example of ali unparalleled personality in all of history after god's

[19:00]prophets man a man whose justice was awarded to all irrespective of

[19:07]faith ethnicity religion none of those things acted as an impediment for

[19:15]ali's justice to be fulfilled and implemented and there are many examples

[19:20]of him coming to the defense of christians and jews let alone

[19:24]muslims and others while he was the leader unlike some of his

[19:29]predecessors like muawiyah and other who sought out christians and killed christian

[19:37]monks because they were christian but not ali let us get to

[19:42]know him that is my invitation and that i believe is one

[19:46]of the most important messages in the historic meeting that is about

[19:52]to take place between the pope and grand ayatollah sayyid ali sistani

[20:00]may allah bless them bless all those who work towards peace reconciliation

[20:05]and those who try to stem violence and bloodshed and carnage from

[20:11]this world and finally i hope and deeply believe that this meeting

[20:21]will act as a catalyst to ensure that peace is fulfilled in

[20:28]iraq as well as other countries around the world because at the

[20:32]very least it'll bring together these two communities who share so much

[20:36]as i said earlier there's a great deal that we share between

[20:42]christians and shia muslims you'll find some links to articles and books

[20:49]and videos in the description of this particular video that i encourage

[20:55]you to uh explore and to learn about because there's a lot

[20:57]to explore there's a lot to learn there's a lot that we

[21:01]can share amongst us may god bless you all may god bless

[21:06]our noble and pious and righteous and godly religious leaders

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