Shia emphasizes spirituality along with rationality and responsibility: Ayatollah Ramazani

News News of Secretary General

Thursday, 19 January 2023

In a meeting with Archbishop Andria, the Secretary General of the AhlulBayt (a.s.) World Assembly stated, “In today’s world, we are witnessing that, unfortunately, fake, fabricated and deviant spirituality has been created. What is emphasized by Shia is spirituality along with rationality and responsibility.”

ABWA Official Website – In the meeting with His Eminence Archbishop Andrea, while expressing his satisfaction at being in Georgia, the Secretary General of the AhlulBayt (a.s.) World Assembly pointed to the unity between religions and the commonalities between them and said, “Basically, the root of all religions is one thing, that is, calling humanity to the absolute truth. Because the messengers of all divine religions benefited from the same source and grace. Therefore, it is obligatory to respect them both from the point of view of reason and from the point of view of religion.”

Referring to the commonalities between Shia and Orthodox Christianity, Ayatollah Ramazani added, “The first major commonality is their concern for true spirituality. In today’s world, we are witnessing that, unfortunately, fake, fabricated and deviant spirituality has been created. What is emphasized by Shia is spirituality along with rationality and responsibility. We believe that with the development of this important matter, the way will be paved for the realization of a just world centered on justice.”

“Of course, there is also a kind of spirituality in the West, which mostly struggles with accepting responsibility or evade it. The meaning of responsibility is that man is responsible for the divine orders; on the other hand, he is responsible for himself; and eventually, he is responsible for other people according to divine orders. Therefore, we believe that the teachings of the Immaculate Imams (a.s.) regarding responsibility have several aspects: The first is about the relationship with self, the second is the relationship with others, that is, the feeling of sympathy, and the third is the relationship with God,” noted the Secretary General of the AhlulBayt (a.s.) World Assembly.

Referring to the importance of responsibility in Islam, Ayatollah Ramazani stated, “The responsibility is so important in Islam that the Prophet Muhammad (p.b.u.h) said that if someone sleeps while does not think of reforming human affairs, he is not a true Muslim. Therefore, there are ostensible Muslims and true Muslims. A true Muslim is someone whose behavior and actions are responsible and based on God’s orders. Prophet Muhammad (p.b.u.h) even said that if a non-Muslim asks for help from a Muslim, and that Muslim can but does not help, is not a true Muslim. Therefore, this matter is of special importance in the teachings of Prophet Muhammad (p.b.u.h).”

“Today, unfortunately, some people in power who oppress people in the name of human rights. It seems that religious leaders can be effective and play a role in this matter, both in terms of disclosure and its correction for the benefit of all humanity,” continued the Secretary General of the AhlulBayt (a.s.) World Assembly.

“We must prevent the followers of religions from distancing themselves from Sharia (here means divine orders of religions),” he stated, “Another important commonality between Shia Islam and Orthodox Christianity is the attention to Sharia issues and dos and don’ts. Distance from Sharia and ideology is actually distance from divine commands and separation from God.”

In another part of his speech, while referring to atheism and irreligion that is being spread and promoted today, Ayatollah Ramazani stated, “In today’s world, atheism has been realized under liberalism. That’s why the government of the Islamic Republic of Iran strongly resists it, and we never allow it to enter the Islamic Republic of Iran. In fact, according to the AhlulBayt (a.s.) school, there is a stand against the Ultra-neocolonialism, which seeks to infiltrate societies through beautiful and seductive words and expressions.”

In this meeting, Ayatollah Ramazani congratulated the 90^th birth anniversary of the archbishop and the 45^th anniversary of his activity and expressed his hope that due to the commonalities between the Shia and the Orthodox Church, relations will be expanded in the future in various areas, especially in religious issues.

While expressing his satisfaction with the presence of the Secretary General of the AhlulBayt (a.s.) World Assembly in Georgia and meeting with him, Archbishop Andrea first pointed out the importance of historical and long-standing relations between the two countries of Iran and Georgia. He also expressed his gratitude and appreciation for the policies of the Islamic Republic of Iran to respect the territorial integrity of Georgia, especially at the time of Russia’s attack on this country and the role played by Iranian ambassadors in this regard.

In the following, he also discussed the importance of responsibility in Christianity, and while pointing out the importance of meditation in both the physical and spiritual dimensions of man, he expressed dissatisfaction with the decreasing sense of responsibility of humans towards God.

Referring to the two main commandments of Jesus Christ, that is, friendship with and love for God and people, Archbishop Andrea noted, “Unfortunately, in today’s world, some people tend towards atheism and irreligion. This has reduced the responsibility of humans towards God. Unaware of the fact that in the hereafter, the fate of humans is in the hands of God. Humans can always justify their actions. As servants of religion, we may commit mistakes and sins. But the difference is that we know that we are committing a sin, while the irreligious and atheists do not know that they are committing a sin.”

While pointing to the negative effects of the ideology of the atheistic and communist system of the Soviet Union, he said, “You are lucky that your country did not experience the communist regime. That’s why you were able to convey divine teachings and guidance easily to your community. But unfortunately, after enduring the negative effects of the communist regime during the Soviet Union, our society today has witnessed the emergence and implementation of a new atheism, which is always imposed on us under the guise of human rights.”

It should be mentioned that in his 45 years of activity, the archbishop has always tried to somehow guide the society in the right direction and inform the Georgian society about the dangers and destructive threats and atheistic ideology, communism and new atheism.

It is also worth mentioning that in this meeting, the following people were also present: Dr. Adib, Ambassador of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Dr. Rashed, Deputy for International Affairs of the Assembly, Mr. Mehri, Honorable Cultural Advisor of Iran to Georgia, Hojat al-Islam Zare, the head of the Propagation Center of the Islamic Culture and Communication Organization, Mr. Yousefzadeh, representative of the Al-Mustafa (p.b.u.h) international University, and Sadeqian, Head of the office of the Commonwealth countries. /345/

AhlulBayt (a_s_) World Assembly Ayatollah Ramazani Shia Shiite