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Sheikh Muhammad Jawad Fazel Lankarani: Unity does not mean abandoning your beliefs.
Ofogh Weekly, No.115, Monday 10 July 2006
News Group – A gathering attended by preachers from the cultural department of the office of Grand Ayatollah Fazel Lankarani was held at his office.
Sheikh Muhammad Jawad Fazel Lankarani underlined the importance of mourning for Hazrat Fatimah. Addressing the gathering, he said: "Observing the anniversary of the martyrdom of Hazrat Fatima, daughter of the Holy Prophet of Islam (pbuh) has long been stressed and emphasized upon by great religious scholars and the faithful but when they came to know that some individuals were trying to deny Hazrat Fatima's sufferings and the injustice committed against her, they began to pay further attention to the issue.
"Some five or six years back an article titled "Hazrat Fatima (a.s.) from Birth to Martyrdom Legend" was published in Zahedan province. They wanted to say many a lot of things with the implications of the term "martyrdom legend.
"In my opinion, these people began with Fatima (a.s.) and wanted to go down to Ashura to say that Yazid had performed Ijtehad and Imam Husain (a.s.) had rebelled against the Islamic government so Yazid as the ruler had to kill him to stop the rebellion!! They wanted to modify the Ashura incident and justify Yazid's act of killing the Holy Prophet's grandson and his children as such". Sheikh Jawad Fazel Lankarani cautioned the gathering of seminarian preachers about such moves and stressed on the necessity of combating against them.
"The integrity and existence of Shia religion are linked to respecting these symbols", he said. "Shia's perpetuity is guaranteed with greater and more zealous participation of people in Ashura and Fatimiya occasions."
He further added, "There are issues to be explained, one of them is the shortness of Hazrat Fatima's life and the other is her burial. The Sunnis admit that Umar and Abu Bakr were not present when she was buried at night".
He reiterated: "Such issues and the injustice that she suffered must be explained to the people so that they may know who the unjust and the oppressors are. The Infallible Imams (a.s.) advised that her sufferings be spoken of and remembered. We as preachers should speak to the people about the virtues of Hazrat Zahra as the guardian of Wilayat, the beloved of the Holy Prophet and narrator of her father's traditions. We should look at the Fatimiya days as a duty and as respecting the symbols of religion. If we do not fulfill our duties, we will be held responsible".
Sheikh Jawad Fazel Lankarani stressed on the necessity of safeguarding and strengthening the Shia-Sunni unity. He mentioned that great Shia scholars such as Ayatollah al-Uzma Boroujardi, Imam Khomeini, the Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and Shia jurisprudents emphasized on the necessity of unity. However, unity does not at all mean abandoning your beliefs. Rather, it means that we should rely on common principles against our common enemies. That does not mean we should desist from celebrating the Fatimiyah occasion, or the Ashura event or stop believing in Mahadism (Messianism). It is necessary to maintain unity on basic and crucial issues because, if our unity is damaged, it would, to the happiness of the Zionism and Israel, result in the destruction of both Shia and Sunni. The enemies say they are planning for the days when there would be no news from Makkah and Medina.
At the end, Sheikh Jawad Fazel Lankarani advised the preachers to act in such a way among the people that their actions should reflect divine attributes to them. "A Muballegh (religious preacher) should teach people monotheism with his acts and words." He said. "He should know who he is talking for; he should talk for God's sake only. If monotheism is ingrained in us, then it will make our words and efforts be effective on others."