Cleric Calls for Boosting Islamic Unity
Address Friday prayers worshippers in Tehran, Ayatollah Mohsen Araki, secretary general of the World Forum for Proximity of Islamic Schools of Thought (WFPIST), congratulated the Muslim Ummah on the birthday anniversary of the Holy Prophet (PBUH) and the beginning of the Islamic Unity Week.
He referred to a Hadith from Prophet Muhammad (PBUH), saying the Islamic Ummah gets united and brotherhood prevails among Muslims when they follow the teachings of Ahl-ul-Bayt (AS).
The cleric also said if Muslim governments seek a solution to their economic and political problems, they ought to underline Islamic unity.
The WFPIST will organize the 31st edition of the International Islamic Unity in Tehran on December 5-7.
The annual event marks the Islamic Unity Week.
The 17th day of the month of Rabi al-Awwal in the lunar Hijri calendar, which falls on December 6 this year, is believed by Shia Muslims to mark the birth anniversary of Prophet Mohammad (PBUH), while Sunni Muslims regard the 12th day of the month as the birthday of the last prophet.
The interval between the two dates is celebrated every year as the Islamic Unity Week.
Imam Khomeini (RA) declared the occasion as the Islamic Unity Week back in the 1980s.
