32nd Islamic Unity Conference Kicks Off in Tehran
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani was the keynote speaker of the opening ceremony.
Secretary General of the World Forum for Proximity of Islamic Schools of Thought (WFPIST) Ayatollah Mohsen Araki, Lebanese Hezbollah Resistance Movement’s second-in-command, Sheikh Naim Qassem, Syria Grand Mufti Sheikh Ahmed Badreddin Hassoun, and former Iraqi prime minister Nouri al-Maliki are also among the speakers of the first day of the conference.
More than 350 guests from 100 countries are present at the gathering, which will run for three days.
The motto of this year’s conference is “Quds, the Axis of Muslim Unity”.
It is annually organized by the WFPIST on the occasion of the birth anniversary of Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon Him) and the Islamic Unity Week in an effort to lay the ground for stronger unity and solidarity among Muslims and provide appropriate solutions for their problems.
The 17th day of the month of Rabi al-Awwal in the lunar Hijri calendar 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.
Late founder of the Islamic Revolution Imam Khomeini (RA) declared the occasion as the Islamic Unity Week back in the 1980s.
http://iqna.ir/fa/news/3766164
