Sayyid Hussein Alamdar does Islam and the West a great favor: translating the works of Islamic clerics into English for the benefit of people who do not understand either Arabic or Persian. Surely, he is a man with a divine mission.
He recently translated the letters of Grand Ayatollah Sayyid Ali Khamenei, the Supreme Leader of I.R. Iran, and compiled into a book titled “Letters to the Western Youths – Including a Masterpiece of Cultural Reflections from the Land of Glory and Beauties-I.R. Iran” (AuthorHouse, 2017).
How significant is Alamdar’s recent translation work? “Letters to the Western Youths” contains two letters written by Imam Khamenei in the aftermath of the November 2015 Paris attacks. The image of Islam has long been tarnished by the acts of terrorists who, in the eyes of the Grand Ayatollah, do not represent true Islam.
In his two momentous letters, he condemns terrorism and explains why it is a tragedy for the whole world. He sees terrorists as agents of Islam’s enemies whose agenda is to damage the reputation of Islam. Imam Khamenei invites non-Muslims to seek meaningful dialogue with Muslims across the world and also exhorts them to study the Islamic religion from the original sources, such as the Quran and Prophet Muhammad’s authentic traditions.
The silence of many Muslims, the ignorance of non-Muslims, and the misrepresentation of Islam by the Western media, which only bring in more violence and promote misunderstanding, could have prompted the Grand Ayatollah to pen those letters. In him, the readers and the world, in general, see a wise leader who loves and works for peace.
The cleric’s message of peace to the world would be lost without Alamdar’s excellent translation skills, but readers should know that it is his devotion to Islam that motivates Alamdar to translate the letters, plus many other religious works, from Persian into English. After all, he is a man with a divine mission.
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