Shia Quranic Charter Unveiled in Qom

IQNA – The “Shia Quranic Charter” was unveiled in a ceremony in the holy city of Qom on Monday.

Ayatollah Ali Reza Aarafi, the director of Iran’s Seminaries, Ayatollah Seyed Iftikhar Naqvi from Pakistan, Hojat-ol-Islam Mohammad Hassan Zamani, the head of the Quran and Orientalists Association, Mohammad Sadiq Yousefi Moghadam, the head of the Quran Culture and Education Research Institute, and a group of other Quranic researchers and scholars attended the ceremony.

Hojat-ol-Islam Mohammad Ali Rezaei Esfahani, head of the Quranic Studies Association of the Seminary, said at the ceremony that the purpose of producing the Quranic Charter, given the doubts and questions raised about a so-called “Shia Quran”, is to publish a definitive document about the Quran from the Qom Seminary and Shia authorities to be presented to the world.

He said the Quranic Studies Association of the Seminary in cooperation with the Quran and Orientalists Association produced a document on this subject entitled the Charter of the Quran from the Perspective of Twelver Shia Islam.

“The initial review of this charter was conducted at a meeting of the directors of the Quranic centers of Qom, attended by representatives and officials of 60 Quranic institutions and centers, and then it was approved by some of the most important authorities and scholars of the seminaries, he noted.

This charter has been approved by Grand Ayatollah Nasser Makarem Shirazi, Grand Ayatollah Sobhani, Ayatollah Hosseini Bushehri, Ayatollah Aarafi, the head of Al-Mustafa International University, Allama Iftikhar Naqvi, and some other figures, and they expressed some points about it, Rezaei Esfahani stated, adding that Ayatollah Aarafi has emphasized that the documents of this charter should be published in the form of a pamphlet and a book, and this work was also published.

He added, “This book contains the handwriting of all the authorities and scholars who have approved the charter, and the Al-Mustafa International University also intends to translate and publish this charter.”

Rezaei Esfahani went on to say that this work requires measures such as information dissemination through various media, especially Quranic media, and said.

“At the international level, it is also necessary for the Vice-President of the Al-Mustafa International University and the Vice-President of the Seminary to introduce this charter in the international arena so that it can be a model for other charters. An Imamate Charter is also needed and must be compiled.”

Part of the Shia Quranic Charter states: “The Holy Quran is the last heavenly book, the words and meanings of which were revealed by God Almighty through the trustworthy angel Gabriel to the last divine prophet, Prophet Muhammad (PBUH). The Quran has 114 chapters that have been transmitted in Tawatur from the Prophet (PBUH) to generations of Muslims, and no distortion or alteration has been made in its text. The Quran is a universal and eternal book that has been challenged (faced Tahaddi), and interpretation of the Quran based on opinion is forbidden.

The Mutawatir (mass reported) reading of the Quran, which is in accordance with the recitation of the general Muslims, is valid. The Holy Quran is the basic law of Islam and is comprehensive and the main reference in Islamic and human laws, beliefs, ethics, and sciences, and anything contrary to it is rejected.

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