Islamic World Encyclopedia to Be Published in 50 Volumes

Iran (Ahlul Bayt News Agency) - Head of the cultural commission of the Majlis (parliament), said the Islamic World Encyclopedia would be published in 50 volumes upon completion.  Dr Gholam Ali Haddad Adel added that the Islamic World Encyclopedia Institute, which is in charge of compiling the great work, was established by the Supreme Leader 28 years ago. “By now, 15 volumes of the encyclopedia have been completed covering 13000 pages.”  Haddad Adel was speaking on Thursday, October 6, at a ceremony held at Dar-ul-Hadith Institute in Qom to mark the release of two encyclopedic works: Ma’arif-ul-Kitab and the Quran and Hadith Encyclopedia.  He called the current era in Iran as an era of encyclopedias and said, “So far, over 200 encyclopedias in different fields have been published or are being compiled. All of these are among the blessings of the Islamic Republic of Iran.”  Referring to the compilation of the Quran and Hadith Encyclopedia, he said, “By compiling this work, which is a step towards reviving the Ahl-ul-Bayt’s (AS) teachings, the seminary has demonstrated its loyalty to the late Imam Khomeini (RA) and the Revolution.”  Head of the cultural commission of the Majlis also highlighted the significant efforts of great sources of emulation such as grand Ayatollah Mar’ashi Najafi and Allameh Amini, and especially Allameh Majlesi in collecting Hadiths. “Allameh Majlesi established an institute and employed tens of researchers to collect thousands of Hadiths in the book Bihar-ul-Anwar.”  He called on preachers and orators to use such great works in order to convey religious teachings to people and said, “Religious speeches should be based on the Quran and Hadiths, and if this happens many of the worries will no longer exist.”  Dr Haddad Adel also urged religious sciences researchers to use the new technologies for spreading the teachings of Ahl-ul-Bayt (AS).  “Every measure taken to collect and promote the Hadiths of Ahl-ul-Bayt (AS) is a step towards stabilizing Shia and Islamic identity,” he went on to say./129