According to Ahlul Bayt News Agency – ABNA - Hujjat al-Islam "Mohammad Hasan Akhtari", the Ahlul Bayt World Assembly's Secretary-General delivered a speech before Tehran Friday Prayers' Sermons, speaking about the goals and services of the Assembly.
He spoke about the Assembly's background and said, "Today is the 26th anniversary of the foundation of the Assembly. 26 years ago prominent figures, scholars, and political and cultural figures gathered together from all around the world to hold a conference and then the foundation of the Assembly was proposed".
"The Assembly is an independent, non-governmental institution and great Islamic figures are among its members. There are about 700 members from around the world. Also 140 countries are in touch with it. It is our purpose to take members who are experts at their fields." He added.
Speaking about the history of Shia Islam, saying that enemies of Ahlul Bayt and Shia Islam seek to propagate that it has been created in Iran, he stated, "during history, Shiite were put under question. However, I must say that Shia Islam has existed since the dawn of Islam. Since Imam Ali's time, when he fought side by side the Holy Prophet the Shiites began to sparkle and later in Karbala and Ashura they shined. In Imam Jafar Sadiq's time, Shiite Islam was in full bloom".
"Intellectually and literally speaking, Shiite Islam was formed in Holy Prophet's time. He addressed Imam Ali and said: I swear to God, your followers will succeed. Oh Ali, your followers will enter the doomsday satisfied and smiling, while your enemies will be furious and frustrated. Today there are about 350 million Shiites around the world" he continued.
"Since past centuries, many groups, especially England, have tried to oppose the Shiites. The formed deviant ideologies such as Wahabism and Baha'i Faith. Forming groups such as Taliban, Al-Qaeda, and ISIS they seek to oppose Muslims and Shiite Islam. Unfortunately some countries in the region have fallen into their traps" he added.
He then clarified, "it is our duty to keep unity among Islamic Ummah and to protect our own faith. The Ahlul Bayt World Assembly is moving forward based on Imam Khomeini and Imam Khamenei's ideas and thoughts which stress on Unity and interaction among all Muslims. Thus, so far, we have published about 2000 books in 57 languages."