Interfaith Dialogue Meeting Wraps Up in Mashhad
The Scientific and Cultural Organization of Imam Reza holy shrine has held the closing ceremony of the first preliminary meeting of Imam Reza International Gathering and Interfaith Dialogue in the holy shrine on the verge of Imam Reza’s birth anniversary.
“Gatherings like this demonstrate the unity among different faiths in Iran,” said Eddie Daniel, representative of the Assyrian Church of the East.
Speaking at the start of a ceremony in Quds Hall on June 9 with representatives of other faiths in attendance, Daniel noted: “This gathering is in line with the series of dialogues conducted during the holy Prophet (PBUH) and Imam Ali’s era at the dawn of Islam, which had been aimed at ironing out differences and interacting with other faiths.”
The Church of the East representative stressed that devils, not humans, had been the subject of war and conflict, saying: “The Almighty God has opened doors of dialogue for us to sit and talk.”
Elsewhere, the secretary of Supreme Council of the Cultural Revolution, Hojat-ol-Islam Seyyed Saeedreza Ameli asserted: “Imam Reza would always investigate scientific matters via dialogue and clarify them to people. He would resort to reason and dialogue to resolve many issues with other faiths during his lifetime.”
Hojat-ol-Islam Ameli also referred to Imam Reza’s global mindset, maintaining: “He had a profound understanding of the holy Prophet’s teachings and a perfect grasp of all preceding religions. Therefore, we need to adopt such a global outlook to deal with pressing world issues”.
Elsewhere in the meeting, Dr Ahad Faramarz Gharamaleki, head of Islamic Research Foundation, called interfaith dialogue as one of the blessings of 1979 Islamic Revolution, and Iran as the center of interfaith activities in the past 40 years.
“Imam Reza is the paragon of methodical dialogue with different faiths; therefore, the holy shrine took the initiative to hold the first International Conference for Interfaith Dialogue in 2018,” said Gharamaleki.
He also talked about four scientific sessions underway about interfaith dialogue as far as Islamic Republic’s 40-year experience and Imam Reza’s life and conduct were concerned.
Head of Islamic Research Foundation concluded that the organization would hold 30 preliminary meetings in Iran and other countries before the main gathering in 2023.
Source: Astan Quds Razavi
