The Meeting between Ayatollah Sistani & Pope Francis | Sayed Ali Abbas Razawi & Sh Mohammed Al-Hilli

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Noor Islamic Education
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Saturday 6th March is the date for the historic visit by Pope Francis to the house of Grand Ayatollah Sistani in Najaf. What does this meeting mean, and what are the future implications? Sayed Ali Abbas Razawi and Sheikh Mohammed Al-Hilli present

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[0:00][Music] in the name of allah the most compassionate the most merciful

[0:08]on saturday the 6th of march 2021 the world will witness a

[0:15]truly historic meeting dismissing all the concerns related to the spread of

[0:21]the pandemic in iraq pope francis who is the head of the

[0:24]catholic church and the sovereign of the vatican city-state will visit the

[0:30]most senior cleric in shia islam grand ayatollah said ali sistani in

[0:36]the iraqi city of najaf widely referred to as one of the

[0:41]most historic meetings between these major leaders of world's main religions the

[0:46]event is part of pope francis's first trip to iraq and in

[0:51]fact his first international trip since february last year it has and

[0:57]will certainly continue to catch the world's attention the meeting of pope

[1:02]francis with ayatullah's istani was certainly not spontaneous but perhaps years in

[1:07]the making shia scholars have over the years previously visited the vatican

[1:12]and met the pontiff in different occasions however on this instance it

[1:18]marks the very first time that the leader of the catholic christian

[1:23]church will visit the house of the highest-ranking shia muslim scholar due

[1:28]to its importance and historic significance much of the arrangements for the

[1:33]40-minute meeting on saturday between the two leaders have been meticulously planned

[1:40]for example upon reaching najef biplane the pope will head straight towards

[1:47]the rented house of ayatollah sistani which is a few meters away

[1:50]from the beautiful shrine of imam alibna abi talib peace be upon

[1:53]him once inside the pope will remove his shoes before entering the

[1:59]room of the grand dayatullah due to his health and the fracturing

[2:04]of his thigh last year the shia leader is usually seated when

[2:11]welcoming visitors however on this occasion he will stand to greet pope

[2:14]francis at the door and walk him to an l-shaped blue sofa

[2:19]inviting him to take a seat they will then exchange greetings of

[2:24]peace and gifts may be also presented in many occasions that i

[2:30]have been blessed to meet his eminence ayatullah sistani i have indeed

[2:34]noticed his extensive humility as well as dedication towards spreading peace love

[2:41]and coexistence amongst humanity the hard work of pope francis in dialogue

[2:46]as well as reform together with his humility is also worthy of

[2:52]praise the meeting between these two leaders will emphasize the importance of

[2:59]spreading love and peace worldwide indeed pope francis will likely also commend

[3:05]the tremendously pivotal role and wise actions by ayatollah sistani for many

[3:11]years in defending iraq as well as humanity from sectarianism terrorism as

[3:16]well as violence in particular the emphasis made by ayatollah sistani for

[3:21]the need to protect the minorities and ensure their rights such as

[3:25]his demands for this to be in the iraqi constitution must certainly

[3:30]not be forgotten for example he made repeated statements for the protection

[3:35]of the yazidi minority community in iraq against daesh and others by

[3:43]stating that they are our own brothers and sisters as well as

[3:46]our responsibility to protect something that made the supreme leader of the

[3:52]yazidis by the name of dawud ibn sulaiman call ayatollah sistani their

[3:58]father and praise him and his achievements in a letter sent in

[4:04]december 2020.

[4:03]similarly ayatollah sistani has repeatedly emphasized respect and protection for the christian

[4:10]minorities in iraq as well as preservation of their places of worship

[4:15]and their complete rights as iraqi citizens indeed it is important to

[4:22]note that such dedication towards civil peace and coexistence are at the

[4:27]very essence of islamic teachings based on the glorious life of the

[4:31]holy prophet muhammad peace and blessings be upon him and that of

[4:34]his holy progeny the shia religious clerical establishment known as the marja

[4:39]has and continues to strive to uphold principles of peaceful coexistence tolerance

[4:44]and preservation of life it was of course imam ali peace be

[4:49]upon him who famously said in this regard people are of two

[4:53]kinds either your brothers in faith or equals in humanity this meeting

[4:59]will also send a powerful message of peace love and mercy and

[5:02]will indeed give rise to better relations between christian catholic leaders and

[5:08]muslim shia scholars and their counterparts across the world it will also

[5:11]be a message of the importance of faith since two major faith

[5:17]leaders revered by hundreds of millions across the globe have come together

[5:22]to advocate and enhance peace and harmony strongly challenging the negative and

[5:28]stereotypical depiction of religion as one that causes violence at the same

[5:32]time the meeting of ayatullah sistani and the pope will encourage people

[5:37]around the globe to hold and support interfaith dialogue and the coming

[5:41]together sharing experiences and learning to spread peace and love amongst each

[5:50]other indeed the challenges are quite many and there are those who

[5:54]will seek continuously to hijack the faith and espouse hate but such

[5:57]meetings will send a powerful message they cannot and will not win

[6:03]and that peace will prevail god willing the holy quran in chapter

[6:10]5 verse 82 beautifully states surely you will find the nearest of

[6:14]them in affection to the faithful to be those who say we

[6:19]are christians that is because there are priests and monks among them

[6:25]and because they are not arrogant we pray to god the almighty

[6:31]for the success of this historic meeting and the positive as well

[6:36]as fruitful outcomes for humanity in lodge on saturday a very historic

[6:45]event is about to take place one that will redefine christian muslim

[6:49]relations and more importantly in this case catholic and shia muslim relations

[7:00]two figures are coming together who are arguably the most influential religious

[7:04]leaders in the world as the pope leaves on friday for iraq

[7:11]this will begin a new chapter in relations in inter religious dialogue

[7:18]and at the same time will have a huge knock-on effect in

[7:22]intra-religious dialogue now what makes this particular meeting unique and historic though

[7:30]the pope has been traveling across the world meeting muslim leaders that

[7:39]he's meeting ashi authority and at the same time the shia authority

[7:43]is directly responsible for eighty percent of the shia world due to

[7:50]the theological position of leadership within the shia interpretation of islam what

[7:57]do you find is that ayatollah said holds a particular reverence and

[8:04]has the largest following within islam today his political social and religious

[8:11]power research that he demands and commands influences the lives of numerous

[8:19]shia muslims not just in iraq but across the world is the

[8:28]lives of maybe 300 to 350 million shares across the world who

[8:34]influences who he guides and who look for him in terms of

[8:39]their spiritual political and social well-being now what you're seeing today is

[8:49]the coming together of two individuals who from the very beginning of

[8:55]islam the only example similar examples you have is the eighth imam

[9:01]imam aliyah and his conversation with leaders of the christian world and

[9:05]then prior to that you have documents which were written by the

[9:08]prophet and the christian community now why is this meeting also important

[9:14]in a practical or on a practical level what you find is

[9:19]that this meeting will enhance a number of things firstly it will

[9:22]empower those moderate voices of the muslim world who want peace who

[9:26]want harmony want to live in unity who want people just to

[9:33]get along the second thing this will do is it will open

[9:36]up a new intellectual dimension for research for collaborative works for reading

[9:45]and for education in general but thirdly and more importantly if god

[9:52]forbid in the future there are there are weak leaders or weak

[9:57]leadership from both sides be they christian and muslim this meeting will

[10:02]be almost an informal document to emphasize the fact that there was

[10:08]a time where these two religions and its leaders did come to

[10:14]meet so as we begin to go forward and in the next

[10:16]couple of days as this meeting happens and its consequences are felt

[10:22]across the world it is a moment to rejoice in the history

[10:26]of these two religions as two leaders of this caliber come together

[10:30]in najef so really my final point is this nejif is also

[10:35]very historic it is the oldest theological seminary muslim theological seminary in

[10:43]the world parallel to it one finds that when sheikhoutai for laid

[10:47]the foundations for najif and seminary al-azhar's foundations were also laid the

[10:54]difference was that at this stage al-azhar under the father mural it

[11:02]wasn't until a number of centuries later where it then became the

[11:06]source and the capital of sunni intellectual and spiritual learning njf itself

[11:15]is historic not only does it encompass the classical area which was

[11:22]known as babylon important for the abrahamic faiths be they jewish christian

[11:29]or muslim but at the same time it is officially the oldest

[11:32]islamic seminary in the world so there are multiple one would say

[11:38]historical points are to be raised but i do believe as to

[11:45]my colleagues that it is a moment of history and a moment

[11:49]of great pride for faith and humanity thank you you

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