Liberal Islam, extremist Islam, both harmful: Ayatollah Ramazani

AhlulBayt News Agency (ABNA): The Secretary-General of the AhlulBayt (a.s.) World Assembly said, “Like the two edges of a sword, liberal Islam and extremist Islam, destroy the teachings and concepts of pure Muhammadan Islam.”

During his visit to Lebanon, Ayatollah Reza Ramazani, Secretary-General of the AhlulBayt (a.s.) World Assembly, met with members of the Lebanese Muslim Ulama Association at the Association’s headquarter in Beirut.

After the speech of Sheikh Ghazi Honaynah, the head of the Lebanese Muslim Ulama Association, while appreciating the presence of the scholars of this community and welcoming the delegation of the AhlulBayt (a.s.) World Assembly, Ayatollah Ramazani stated, “This true cohesion and unity is one of the tenets of belief, and it is not a temporary tactic to be limited. Therefore, all meetings, sessions and communications are from your heart’s belief.”

“The condition for membership in the Muslim Ulama Association is to follow the Velayat, which is a rare case for me, and originates from the spirit of Resistance among the members of this Association. This condition can be a model for others to follow this alliance. This unity will give authority and strength of the Muslims to the Association. Wherever the government has been in contact with the Ulama, it has been successful, otherwise, it loses its legitimacy. There are two misconceptions about Islam that are promoted by some intellectuals, as well as by some extremists. One is secularism, and the trivialization of religion, and the other is extremism,” he continued.

“Secularism seeks to introduce liberal Islam. As we know, Islam is based on the five principles of man’s relationship with God, man’s relationship with himself, man’s relationship with man and man’s relationship with the Velayat. Liberal Islam defines Islam only in terms of man’s relationship with God, and man’s relationship with himself. While it rejects man’s relation to man, man’s relation to other nations, and man’s relation to the Velayat. In a hadith, Imam Baqer (a.s.) said, “Islam is based on the five pillars of prayer, fasting, zakat, Hajj and Velayat”. If we pay attention, prayer is man’s relationship with God, fasting is man’s relationship with himself, zakat is man’s relationship with man, Hajj is man’s relationship with the international community, and Velayat is man’s relationship with Velayat,” added the Secretary-General of the AhlulBayt (a.s.) World Assembly.

“This type of Islam wants man to only fast and pray and compel him to be in a corner of solitude in society. Liberal Islam does not believe in issues such as zakat, Hajj, and Velayat, which compel man to participate in society. In fact, with the integration of Islam by liberalism, the West is trying to create a deviation in Islam. The “Integration” is the integration of misconceptions in Islam,” stated Ayatollah Ramazani, referring to the characteristics of liberal Islam.

“Intellectuals interpret secular and liberal Islam as a religion of mercy. While in the face of arrogance and oppression, the resistance is necessary. Another deviant version of Islam is extremist Islam, which promotes Islamophobia. Like two edges of a sword, liberal Islam and extremist Islam destroy the teachings and concepts of pure Muhammadan Islam. According to verses and hadiths, we conclude that Islam of mercy and Islam of resistance can be effective only together. Islam of mercy without resistance leads to liberal Islam, and the result of Islam of resistance without mercy is extremist Islam that leads to ISIL, al-Qaeda and other extremist groups,” he continued.

“Here, I invite you, nobles and Ulama, to teach the Fiqh al-Moqavema (Jurisprudence of Resistance) to today’s generations. Thanks to Imam Khomeini and his worthy student Imam Khamenei, the jurisprudence of the resistance has shown itself well in these four decades. In fact, Sayed Al-Moqavema implemented the jurisprudence of the resistance on the Resistance front and achieved important victories. I hope that in this golden opportunity available to the Ulama, we will be able to introduce the religion of Muhammadan Islam to the world. Martyr Motahari said, “I saw Imam Khomeini in Neauphle-le-Château while he believed in his God, his purpose, his path, and his Ummah”. In fact, his trust in God, his goal, his path, and his Ummah, led to the victory of the glorious Islamic Revolution,” stated the Secretary-General of the AhlulBayt (a.s.) World Assembly in the end, addressing the members of the Lebanese Muslim Ulema Association.

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