Umrah Draw for Iranian Academics Held in Tehran

IQNA – The draw ceremony for selecting Iranian academics applying to take the Umrah pilgrimage was held at the University of Tehran on Sunday.

The names of 8,000 academics who will travel to the Land of Revelation was determined at the ceremony. 

Those selected were informed of this good news via text message.

At the beginning of the ceremony, a speech by Leader of the Islamci Revolution Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei regarding Umrah and Hajj was broadcast, and then Hojat-ol-Islam Seyed Mohammad Taheri, head of the Headquarters of Umrah and Holy Shrines Pilgrimage for Academics, welcomed the students.

“I am grateful to God that I have been given the blessing of serving the pilgrims of the House of God, he said.

“This journey is one of the sweetest and most impactful journeys that can be provided to a human being. A journey to the Land of Revelation, which illuminates the light of faith in the heart and removes sadness from the hearts of suffering people. Blessed are those who are granted the journey to the Prophet’s (PBUH) shrine and the safe sanctuary of God.”

Hojat-ol-Islam Taheri added, “The enthusiasm of you, university students, for this trip is indescribable. I am sure that if the financial means were available, most university students would have registered. In this period, 15 times the capacity of 8,000 academic Umrah students have registered, which shows the enthusiasm of students for the pilgrimage to (Mecca and Medina).”

He urged the academics who will be taking this trip to be the representatives of all Iranian students in the pilgrimage.

He noted that 122,000 academics registered for this journey, of which 8,000 will be selected, and the first batch of pilgrims will leave for the Land of Revelation on November 16, and the last one will leave on December 18.

Hojat-ol-Islam Abdul Fattah Navab, the representative of the Leader in Hajj and Pilgrimage Affairs, also addressed the ceremony. He considered improving motivation, studying, thinking, and taking lessons to be the most important things that students performing Umrah must do to benefit from the blessings of Umrah.

Umrah is a Mustahab (recommended but not obligatory) pilgrimage to Mecca which Muslims can take at any time of the year, unlike the Hajj pilgrimage that is obligatory for every able-bodied and financially able Muslim once in their lifetime and can be performed only in the first days of the lunar Hijri month of Dhul Hajja.

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