Hegemonic powers opposed to "Powerful Islam" not a secular one: Imam Khamenei

(AhlulBayt News Agency) - Ayatollah Khamenei, The leader of the Islamic Revolution said that enemies of Islamic nations have no hostility towards a “secular” version of Islam, based on which religion has no role in sociopolitical affairs.

Leader of the Islamic Revolution has told a meeting mosques have provided the system with a center for social and cultural mobilization of the public vis-à-vis the cultural invasion by the West.

Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei received and addressed Tehran’s mosque prayer imams on the occasion of anniversary of International Day of Mosque (August 20) on Sunday about the important place of mosques in shaping social and cultural dynamism of the society; “mosque is the core of cultural resistance and a bedrock of social activity focused on improving public insights into the workings of the system; it is a venue for the congregation of Muslims to exchange and share opinions, planning of social movements, and mobilization of cultural resistance,” said the Leader, “mosque had been an important center and a pillar of Islam’s progress during history as it provided a pillar as well for Islamic Revolution in mobilization of the masses, along with inculcating in them the teachings of the Revolution and Islam.”

Leader of the Islamic Revolution believed that for a general evaluation of the current issues, a grand cultural scheme should help the authorities analyze the general trend and attitudes in the masses, where mosques would provide invaluable opportunities; “International Day of Mosque was an initiative of the Islamic Republic of Iran during an Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) (formerly Organization of the Islamic Conference) meeting when the Zionist regime had been violating the sanctity of the Al-Aqsa Mosque; the initiative became a focal point of winning public as well as international attentions to mosques as having huge potentials in the social life of the Muslims,” he told the meeting.

“Mosque was an institution and Islam’s solution at the nascent years of the religion, to bring the people to a congregation of worshippers; since then, mosques had been a center of great social, political and if the situation demanded, military decisions,” Ayatollah Khamenei provided a brief history of the mosque, “as such, a prayer imam has critical position in mosques and pillar of the mosque, and he should not underestimate his job as acting as leading prayers, otherwise, it would be unfair about mosques and their functions in an Islamic society,” he recommended. “Imams should provide cogent responses to questions and issues brought forth by inquisitive young generation of today in a manner to attract the young people to this Islamic core.”

Ayatollah Khamenei also believed that without mosques, cultural invasion would have been even stronger and succeeded in targeting the very piety of the community; “despite all plots, now, our young generation are far more interested in the issues than their counterparts four decades ago. This is an achievement by the Revolution which provided material for the youth on which to reflect upon their social problems; mosques provided the community with a strong shield against cultural invasion,” he emphasized.

He then turned to imams themselves and their accurate methods of running of a mosque; “direct eye contact with people is critical to success of any attempt to teach public ideals of the religion than any other modes and media; the imam should not be merely a leader of prayers; this view is propagated by a secular body of population which is doing injustice for mosques,” the leader detested. “A secular Islam which restricts religion in individual sphere and bans it from action in social life is no longer subject to opposition by imperialism; what they are angry about and actively fight is a strong political Islam which mobilizes the public in the road to their this and afterworld salvation,” he concluded.



/257