AhlulBayt News Agency (ABNA): The representative of Leader of the Islamic Revolution in Hajj and pilgrimage affairs, Hojat-ol-Islam Seyed Abdol Fattah Navab, met with a number of senior clerics in the holy city of Qom ahead of the Hajj season.
He met with grand Ayatollahs Abdollah Javadi Amoli, Lotfollah Safi Golpaygani, and Jafar Sobhani.
The senior clerics in the meetings underlined the great potentials of Hajj for promoting the message of Islam.
Ayatollah Javadi Amoli highlighted the status of Hajj in view of Islam and said the message of Islam and Islamic teachings in Hajj.
Ayatollah Safi Golpaygani i called for efforts to prepare the ground for pilgrims to make the most of the spiritual journey.
Ayatollah Sobhani stressed the need for clerics accompanying pilgrims in Hajj to made sure that the pilgrims properly perform the rituals.
Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei appointed his new representative in Hajj and pilgrimage affairs early last month.
Hojat-ol-Islam Seyed Abdol Fattah Navab replaced Hojat-ol-Islam Seyed Ali Qaziaskar, who had served in the post since 2010.
Iran sent 86,000 pilgrims to Saudi Arabia for Hajj in 2018. In 2017 some 85,000 Iranians made the pilgrimage.
A year earlier, more than 1.8 million pilgrims attended Hajj but Iranians stayed at home after tensions between Riyadh and Tehran boiled over following a deadly crush of people during the 2015 pilgrimage.
On September 24, 2015, thousands of people lost their lives in the deadly crush after Saudi authorities blocked a road in Mina during a ritual, forcing large crowds of pilgrims to collide.
The crush was the deadliest incident in the history of the pilgrimage. According to an Associated Press count based on official statements from the 36 countries that lost citizens in the disaster, more than 2,400 pilgrims were killed in the incident.
Saudi Arabia claims nearly 770 people were killed, but officials at Iran’s Hajj and Pilgrimage Organization say about 4,700 people, including over 460 Iranian pilgrims, lost their lives.
......................................................
End/ 257
source : IQNA
Saturday
8 June 2019
3:40:00 PM
948267
The representative of Leader of the Islamic Revolution in Hajj and pilgrimage affairs, Hojat-ol-Islam Seyed Abdol Fattah Navab, met with a number of senior clerics in the holy city of Qom ahead of the Hajj season.