The closing ceremony of the Media-Literary Festival of the International Conference of Hazrat Abu Talib (a.s.), Supporter of the Prophet (p.b.u.h), was held on Sunday evening, March 9, 2021, in the Kowsar Conference Hall of Islamic Propagation Office of Qom Province.
The ceremony was held with the performance of “Sayed Muhammad Javad Sharafat", a prominent poet of Qom, and with the presence of a group of poets and writers from different cities, and with programs such as poetry readings, literary prose and notes, as well as the performance of anthem by Raya Al-Huda.
* Participation of 108 works in Hazrat Abu Talib (a.s.) Media-Literary Festival
This conference is a blessed program by the AhlulBayt (a.s.) World Assembly to free Hazrat Abu Talib (a.s.) from oppression, and one of the parts of this conference is the “Hazrat Abu Talib (a.s.) Media-Literary Festival”, stated Hojat al-Islam “Ali Esfandiar”, the secretary of Hazrat Abu Talib (a.s.) Media-Literary Festival, at the beginning of the program, referring to the holding of the international conference of Hazrat Abu Talib (a.s.), Supporter of the Great Prophet (p.b.u.h).
“After announcing the call for Hazrat Abu Talib (a.s.) Media-Literary Festival, we witnessed the expression of devotion of poets and writers to Hazrat Abu Talib (a.s.) and from adolescence to old age, they wrote poems about this figure and wrote literary prose and notes. After the call, 180 works were submitted to the festival. Among them, there were 33 poems in Persian, 4 poems in Arabic, 4 poems in Turkish, one poem in Tamil, 25 literary notes, 19 literary prose, 15 minimal, and five literary reports,” he added.
“At the festival, there was initially no intention of not giving awards. Rather, it was decided to give all the participants in the festival the copyright, which was the first idea at the festival. However, according to the works submitted to the festival, we decided to judge the works and award the selected works. Therefore, works without names were presented to the judges. In the end, the judges selected 15 of the 108 works which were submitted to the festival as selected works. These selected works will be published in the form of book after editing,” stated the secretary of Hazrat Abu Talib (a.s.) Media Literature Festival.
“Writing has a religious aspect and believers should write. With the limitations of Covid-19, the importance of authorship has become even clearer,” he mentioned.
* The need for direct and indirect defense of the character of Hazrat Abu Talib (a.s.)
Referring to the position of Hazrat Abu Talib (a.s.) for the Holy Prophet, Hojat al-Islam “Hamid Reza Mahdavi Arfa”, the chairman of the National Assembly of Cultural and Propagation Centers of the Islamic Propagation Office of the country, stated in this program, “After the demise of Hazrat Abu Talib (a.s.), the Prophet (p.b.u.h) said, “He raised me as a child and supported me in my adulthood, may God give him the best reward”.”
“There are many narrations about the faith of Hazrat Abu Talib (a.s.) and according to the narrations, in the Judgment Day with the light of Hazrat Abu Talib (a.s.), all other lights will not be seen except the light of 14 infallibles. Imam Ali (a.s.) said, “With the intercession of my father, all sinners (can) enter Paradise.” This infallible Imam said in response to one of the enemies, “How can my father be in hell when his son (Imam Ali) is distributer of the hell and paradise (Qasim al-Nar wa al-Jannah)”,” he added.
“The tradition of Islam is to introduce Imam Ali (a.s.) and express his virtues. 300 verses of the Quran are about this infallible Imam. The only person who was in the cave of Harra with the Prophet (p.b.u.h) was Imam Ali (a.s.). He saw the light of revelation and heard the voice of Gabriel in the cave of Harra. The first person who believed in the Prophet (p.b.u.h) was Imam Ali (a.s.),” Mehdi Arfa stated, considering the purpose of the attacks on Hazrat Abu Talib (a.s.), is hitting Imam Ali (a.s.).
“To hit Imam Ali (a.s.), those who hated this infallible Imam said that Imam Ali’s father was not Mowahed (monotheist), and he didn’t end in goodness. This is while Imam Ali (a.s.) was “all of Islam” and whoever recites a poem about his father, Hazrat Abu Talib (a.s.), has defended all of Islam. The talents and art of artists should be used to introduce a character like Hazrat Abu Talib (a.s.) who is unknown after fourteen centuries,” he added.
“Hazrat Abu Talib (a.s.), like the companions of the cave (Seven Sleepers), kept his faith hidden. This figure can be defended in two ways, directly and indirectly. The indirect defense method is more effective. Therefore, we have to introduce his son correctly by studying Nahj al-Balagha,” continued Mahdavi Arfa.
“Efforts should be made to introduce Imam Ali (a.s.), and whoever steps on this path becomes dear. When Sayyid Razi began writing the book Nahj al-Balaghah, he wrote, “I know that one day this book will conquer the whole world.” Now we can see the evidence that Sayed Razi’s wish has been fulfilled,” he mentioned.
* The importance of the poem of Hazrat Abu Talib (a.s.)
“According to the narrations, Imam Ali (a.s.) was interested in reciting the poetry of Hazrat Abu Talib (AS) in his presence and made sure that others learn the poems of Hazrat Abu Talib (a.s.),” stated Hojat al-Islam “Javad Mohaddesi”, a seminary researcher and writer following in the ceremony, referring to the value of paying attention to the poems of Hazrat Abu Talib (a.s.).
“Hazrat Abu Talib (a.s.) was a poet and wrote poetry. Imam Ali (a.s.) wanted the poetry of Hazrat Abu Talib (a.s.) to be recited and this is a lesson for us not to let good poems be forgotten. If a poem is compiled, it will last. Children can learn poems based on their interest in melodic poems, and poems that are learned as children are not forgotten,” he continued.
“Valuable and faithful poets should be appreciated and not every poet. We should not mention poets who have problems with religion and (Islamic) revolution (of Iran)” Mohaddesi added.
“Many prominent Persian poets also have the prefix “Hakim” (like Hakim Ferdousi) and their poems have a lot to say and have great scientific and cultural support,” he stated, considering the poetry of Hazrat Abu Talib (a.s.) has a lot of content and knowledge.
* The winners of Hazrat Abu Talib (a.s.) Media-Literature Festival
Awarding prizes to the winners of Hazrat Abu Talib (a.s.) Media-Literary Festival was the final part of the closing ceremony of the festival. In the notes section, Hojat al-Islam Mahdi Ameri, Hojat al-Islam Saeed Ahmadi and Hojat al-Islam Sayed Milad Hosseini won the first, second and third ranks, respectively. In this section, Muhammad Asghari Marjanloo, and Fatemeh Ibn Ali deserved praise. In the literary prose section, Mahdi Jahandar, Mostafa Tawfiqi and Hojat al-Islam Ali Esfandiar won first, second and third place, respectively. Hojat al-Islam Hossein Mojahed and Hojat al-Islam Sayed Mostafa Daryabari also won the first and second ranks in the minimal category. The winners of the classical poetry section were Zahra Sepahkar, Ali Soleimian, Arash Pouralizadeh, and Amir Rasouli, and Mojtaba Safdari was selected in the Free Verse section. Muhammad Ezam was also praised for composing poetry in Tamil, and Erfan Aalampuri for writing literary prose in Hindi.
