Ayatollah Taskhiri unique example of proximity of Islamic Schools of Thought: Navvab

News Conferences & Exhibitions Joint Conferences News of the Members of the Supreme Council

Wednesday, 10 May 2023

The Secretary of the Supreme Council of the AhlulBayt (a.s.) World Assembly stated, “The foremost point that the late Ayatollah Taskhiri observed in approaching Islamic schools of thought was that he was always honest, and he was never a hypocrite or a deceiver. He was polite in conversation, and his words were effective.”

ABWA Official Website – The 4^th seminar of “Flag bearers of the Islamic peace and unity” with the theme “Life, opinions, and thoughts of the late Ayatollah Mohammad Ali Taskhiri” was held on Wednesday morning, May 10, 2023, at the Institute for Humanities and Cultural Studies.

In this seminar, the Secretary of the Supreme Council of the AhlulBayt (a.s.) World Assembly stated, “It is difficult for me to speak of the great teacher to whom I am indebted, and from whom I learned much during my fifty years of acquaintance.”

Hojat al-Islam Sayed Abolhasan Navvab continued, “Ayatollah Taskhiri was one of the great pioneers in the approximation between Islamic schools of thought, and his characteristics became clear to me during my frequent trips with him. This great figure is not known yet because we are contemporary with him. Ayatollah Taskhiri caused Salman Rushdie’s books to be banned in more than 50 countries. This was the outstanding work of Ayatollah Taskhiri. Therefore, without a doubt, he was one of the most prominent figures in the field of approximation between Islamic schools of thought in the current century of the world.”

“I was traveling with him on almost 30 trips, eight of which were to Egypt. Morality was the epicenter of Ayatollah Taskhiri’s behavior in the approximation between Islamic schools of thought. Those who consider others as enemies cannot change their inner selves by pretending and starting a dialogue with the other party. A person should be able to talk to the other party wholeheartedly,” he said.

“Twice I had the privilege of meeting the former Pope and the current Pope in private sessions. If one wants to dialogue with such figures, one must feel that they are also spiritual. It is not correct to consider a person like the Pope as an enemy of Islam and the Quran in my mind and to dialogue with him only according to expediency. Such a dialogue has neither depth nor charm nor efficiency. In that meeting, the Pope confessed to me, “We do not forget that during the Crusades, we Christians used to threaten Muslim children with swords to become Christians or we would behead them”,” stated the president of the University of Religions and Denominations.

“The foremost point that the late Ayatollah Taskhiri observed in approaching Islamic schools of thought was that he was always honest, and he was never a hypocrite or a deceiver. He was polite in conversation, and his words were effective. The deceased mastered the intellectual foundations of the audience with whom he had a dialogue. He wrote more than 100 pages of comments and explanations on the five-volume book “Al-Mawaqif”, which is very valuable. He was a tireless person and had positive and constructive interactions. The deceased, while suffering from illness, never left the scene,” he stated.

“Mr. Taskhiri was very patient. In every conference we attended, Harith Al-Zari, who was one of the fugitive members of the Baath Party after the fall of Saddam, also participated and gave interviews against the Islamic Republic. On the sidelines of one of these conferences, Mr. Taskhiri greeted him, and he answered, and they respectfully passed by each other. I never saw the late Ayatollah Taskhiri deal badly with his worst enemies. He was firmly committed to his goals. The youngest person who could receive Martyr Ayatollah Sadr’s thoughts was Ayatollah Taskhiri. Deep knowledge, understanding, and intelligence made Ayatollah Taskhiri a unique role model in the field of proximity between Islamic schools of thought,” said the Secretary of the Supreme Council of the AhlulBayt (a.s.) World Assembly in the end.

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AhlulBayt (a_s_) World Assembly Ayatollah Taskhiri Navvab proximity of Islamic Schools of Thought Supreme Council