Imam Ali’s (a.s.) name, conduct mixed with our souls: Argentinian Muslim

News Europe and America

Monday, 03 July 2023

Roxana Elizabeth, an Argentinian Muslim, stated, “I thank God for bringing us to this world contemporaneous with the Islamic Republic of Iran and introducing people like Imam Khomeini (r.a.) to us.”

ABWA Official Website – On the eve of the auspicious Eid al-Ghadir, ABNA News Agency interviewed an Argentinian Shiite lady, who has spent most of her life serving the AhlulBayt (a.s.) school. The following are parts of this interview.

Introducing herself, she said, “My name is Roxana Elizabeth Asa’ad and I have chosen the Islamic name of Masoumeh. I am originally from Lebanon; I was born there but grew up in Argentina. I am married and by the grace of God, I have three daughters. We are currently living in Qom and all my family members are studying seminary courses. I thank God that my children are raised in Islamic Iran. I studied Sociology at the University of Buenos Aires, and then completed Fiqh and Usul at the master’s level at Al-Zahra University (a.s.) in Qom and Bint Al-Huda Complex (under the auspices of Al-Mustafa (p.b.u.h) International University).”

About her marriage and her husband, who is a convert from Christianity to Islam, she said, “My husband, Mr. Santiago Paz, who was originally a Christian priest, after a period of research, converted to Islam and is now known as Sheikh Abdulkarim Paz. When I was single, because of wearing hijab, people used to tell me, “No man will marry you, because this is not an Islamic country.” This made me think deeply. But then I made up my mind and said to myself with strength, “Hijab is God’s command and ruling, and God must have considered the interests and benefits of His servants.” Therefore, I appealed to the AhlulBayt (a.s.), and I intended to never give up on wearing the hijab. I asked God to bless me with a like-minded husband. This wish of mine was answered, thank God, and today my husband, Hojat al-Islam Sheikh Abdulkarim Paz, is engaged in religious activities as a missionary of Islam in the countries of the region, and as a Friday prayer leader of Shiites in Buenos Aires, Argentina.”

How to teach the culture of the Hijab in Argentina?

On teaching hijab culture to her daughters in Argentina, she said, “It was not an easy task. But anyway, it was our duty to take the necessary measures regarding this important issue. Our first daughter is named Fatimah. I remember when she reached the age of Sharia maturity, we celebrated for her at Al-Tawheed Mosque and introduced her to the people that from now on she wants to attend the mosque with hijab. We wanted to motivate her so that when he goes to school, she values being different from others. In short, when Fatima went to school, we held a party and invited her classmates to explain to them what our religion is. We also talked to them about Islam, hijab, prayer, and fasting. For our second daughter, Maryam, it was much easier. Because we had experience and to some extent, the way was paved. Therefore, we had a big celebration and honored her and her hijab in front of the guests. For our third daughter, Noor Zahra, we celebrated differently than before. While holding the worship celebration, we gave headscarves to all the children. At the beginning of the celebration, none of the girls wore a headscarf, but after the ceremony, all of them left the celebration wearing a hijab. Sometimes during the worship celebration, some people would ask me, “Why do you force children to wear hijab at such a young age and don’t let them decide for themselves?”

“Unfortunately, some people think that parents have no role in their child’s choice. While this is very wrong. Because it is the parents who convey faith and spirituality to their children. A Jewish psychologist in Argentina wrote in his book, “Children should choose their path of life when they grow up.” Well, if they have already learned, they know the way, but if not, where should they learn this knowledge from? We read in hadiths that if parents do not take responsibility for raising their children, society will raise them. Before, parents were worried about their children’s affairs outside the house. But this matter is not so relevant anymore. Because everything can enter homes through virtual space and the Internet, and in short, compared to before, the task of upbringing children has become very difficult,” she added.

In response to a question about how she coped with wearing hijab as a girl in a non-Muslim country, she said, “Well, as you mentioned, I was a girl growing up in Argentina. At first, I was unaware of the hijab, and due to the extensive Western propaganda, all the news about it was negative. One of the types of negative propaganda was that they said, “Hijab is for those who live in Islamic countries, for those who don’t go to school or university, but they live in the old times, not the present era!” To be honest, this propaganda model influenced me at first. I thought, “It is true that I am a Muslim, but I do not live in the past! and in the modern age, there is no longer any need for hijab, and covering has only been for the advent time of Islam.” In short, negative propaganda had its effects on people’s minds. One day I said to myself, “According to historical evidence, women’s covering has been important for Christianity and Judaism, which were pre-Islamic religions. Let alone for Islam, which we believe is the last divine religion, and the commands of the Quran are not only a beacon for our time, but for all ages.” Finally, by the grace of God, the preaching activities of clerics who came from Iran to Argentina, researching and studying sources such as the books of martyr Ayatollah Motahari, and communicating and talking with Hijabi women who lived in the region, caused the formation and stabilization of the hijab in our minds.”

Al-Ghadir is an important Eid, which is important not only for Shiites but for all Muslims

Regarding the great Eid al-Ghadir Khumm and her love for Imam Ali (a.s.), she said, “Eid al-Ghadir is an important Eid, which is important not only for Shiites but for all Muslims. The Holy Quran addresses the Prophet (p.b.u.h), “يَا أَيُّهَا الرَّسُولُ بَلِّغْ مَا أُنْزِلَ إِلَيْكَ مِنْ رَبِّكَ ۖ وَ إِنْ لَمْ تَفْعَلْ فَمَا بَلَّغْتَ رِسَالَتَهُ” (O Messenger! Make known that which hath been revealed unto thee from thy Lord, for if thou do it not, thou wilt not have conveyed His message) (Holy Quran, Surah: Al-Ma'idah, Verse: 67). That is, if he did not announce Ghadr’s message, it would be as if he did not complete his mission. Before the victory of the Iranian Islamic Revolution, I had no knowledge of Islam and Shia in Argentina. I was about 13 or 14 years old when I asked my family and others about the difference between Sunni and Shia. Unfortunately, my family did not have enough information about it either, and they used to say, “This is a political problem, and we will not interfere.” After a while, when Eid al-Ghadir arrived, after a lot of research I had done, I concluded that the difference between Shia and Sunni is not only political but also it is a matter of belief. I understood that Ghadir was the order of God and the Prophet (p.b.u.h). This matter caused my love and devotion to Imam Ali (a.s.) to increase, and I attach more importance to the promotion of Eid al-Ghadir Kham. In my opinion, Ghadir Eid is more important than Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha. Because it has belief dimensions, and if we don’t accept this issue, it’s like not being Muslim at all.”

“When Al-Tawheed Mosque was established, one of our essential requirements was religious texts in Spanish, which unfortunately we had few available. Therefore, we worked hard to provide these texts. The subject of one of the first books we translated was Wilayah of Imam Ali (a.s.), which took until around Eid al-Ghadir of that year. Until then, we officially had two big Eids, one is Eid al-Fitr and the other is Eid al-Adha. The translation of this book made our information about the Ghadir issue increase a lot. By doing this, we both encouraged ourselves and encouraged others to pay attention to Ghadir,” she said about his first acquaintance with Ghadir and celebration on this Eid.

“By the grace of God, we had the success to organize very good and attractive programs to celebrate Eid al-Ghadir and other Islamic occasions. The center of our activities in Argentina is the Grand Mosque of Al-Tawheed which was opened in 1983 with the support of the Embassy of the Islamic Republic of Iran for the Shiites of Buenos Aires. Al-Tawheed, which is located in the Floresta neighborhood, is the oldest mosque in Argentina. This mosque, with its very simple building, has become an important center and base for Muslims and Shiites today,” Roxana Elizabeth (Masoumah) Asa’ad added, regarding the holding of celebrations on Eid al-Ghadir for Muslims, when she lived in Argentina.

Activities in Grand Mosque of Al-Tawheed, Buenos Aires

“Our activities in this mosque were not only holding celebrations on Islamic occasions, but we held many programs. Among these activities were the holding of several gatherings with the presence of male and female speakers to enlighten and explain Islam, the formation of student song groups, theater groups, painting, performing various competitions, etc., especially on Saturdays because it was off. On the occasions of Eid al-Ghadir and the birth of Imam Ali (a.s.), we would always make plans, the ladies would decorate the mosque, and provide the preparations for the reception of the guests. In this ceremony, we invited all people, from any religion and belief. Even Sunnis and Christians were invited to them. It was interesting to me that the Sunni brothers did not participate in the celebrations just as listeners and audiences, but they gave speeches and expressed their love for Imam Ali (a.s.). Sunnis always praised Imam Ali (a.s.) and underlined the role of his character in maintaining Islamic unity. Because the Sunnis admit that the Imam is the caliph (of course after their caliphs themselves), and they believe that all the AhlulBayt (a.s.) are leaders and role models, and this is a very important matter,” Mrs. Asa’ad said on her religious activities in Grand Mosque of Al-Tawheed in Buenos Aires.

“In general, for the propagation of Islam, we start by stating the generalities, theological issues, and beliefs. Once, I was giving a lecture at one of the universities in Argentina, and I wanted to introduce Islam. I started with the five principles of Islam, and after explaining Monotheism and Prophethood, I reached the principles of Justice and Imamate. At this moment, one of the students stood up in protest and sadly said, “Why do you introduce the principles of Islam in this way?! There are no more than three principles. Imamate and Justice are not among the principles of religion.” Knowing that he is a Sunni, I therefore said, “Yes! Among the total principles of religion, three principles are common between Shia and Sunni, and two principles are accepted only by Shia. Of course, at the moment, I am the speaker of the ceremony, and I am a Shiite myself, and naturally, I introduce the principles of my beliefs. Whenever you were the speaker of the program, you can present yours.” Although this student was very upset at first, after the lecture, he came to me and we had a conversation, and since then, we have been in contact via email,” she said on how she starts propagating Islam.

“When the students come to visit Al-Tawheed Mosque, most of them ask what the difference between Shia and Sunni is. In response to this question, we say, “We are all Muslims, and we are equal in worshiping God. Our Qiblah, Prophet, and Quran are common. However, we have a fundamental difference in one of the principles of belief. This way of answering helps to soften the way non-Muslims look at the differences between Shiites and Sunnis,” she added.

How we introduce Imam Ali (a.s.) to people

Regarding the way of introducing the character of Imam Ali (a.s.) to a non-Muslim in Argentina, she said, “I must say that our method and content differ depending on the type of audience. For example, if our audience is political people or parties, we use the advice of Imam Ali (a.s.) to Malik Ashtar, which is mentioned in Nahj al-Balaghah, and if our audience is families and the general public, we use the letter no. 31 of Nahj al-Balaghah. Because in that letter, in addition to expressing monotheism, God’s greatness, divine attributes, the purpose of creation, resurrection, etc., Imam mentions the most important needs of human material and spiritual life as enduring hardships to achieve the truth, patience and perseverance, striving to achieve eternal spiritual perfections, the necessity of almsgiving and charity, avoiding of greed, haste in upbringing children, methods of raising children, trust, studying history, social relations, etc. In short, according to each individual and group, we introduce one of the Imam’s personality dimensions. Because in my opinion, we need to model all the moments of this great man’s life.”

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