The following is an interview with Dr. Mostafa Jafar Tayari, President of the University of Religions and Denominations, conducted during the funeral ceremony of the martyred leader, Ayatollah Khamenei, in Qom.<\/p>\n
– From the perspective of the martyred leader, what role do unity and<\/strong> Proximity of Islamic Denominations play in the interactions of the Islamic world<\/strong>?<\/strong><\/p>\n According to the intellectual framework of the martyred leader, unity and Proximity of Islamic Denominations are regarded as two key and complementary strategies in the sphere of interactions within the Islamic world. Nevertheless, each has its own distinct definition and function. He always emphasized that unity does not mean ignoring boundaries; rather, it means focusing on the great shared religious principles in order to confront the conspiracies of enemies and neutralize their divisive efforts.<\/p>\n Islamic unity has a political and social approach and seeks to realize the single Muslim Ummah and strengthen a united front against external threats and the front of global arrogance.<\/p>\n Proximity of Islamic Denominations is considered a scholarly and theoretical approach in which religious scholars, while fully preserving their own doctrinal foundations, engage in dialogue so that misunderstandings may be removed, the boundaries of mutual respect reinforced, and the ground prepared for intellectual synergy.<\/p>\n The wise leader of the Revolution institutionalized and gave concrete form to this strategic vision by establishing the World Forum for Proximity of Islamic Denominations in 1990.<\/p>\n – What was the most important recommendation of the martyred leader to the youth regarding the preservation of unity<\/strong>?<\/strong><\/p>\n Reliance on commonalities and avoidance of all forms of division is fundamental in his thought. He constantly warned that enemies seek to exaggerate minor differences; therefore, vigilant youth must stand firmly against this enemy plot with deep insight and, by focusing on shared goals, safeguard the unity of the Islamic world.<\/p>\n Based on the statements of the martyred leader, his recommendations to the younger generation regarding the vital issue of unity can be explained and categorized into four fundamental and strategic axes.<\/p>\n First is strengthening unity as an impregnable fortress. He regarded unity not as a temporary solution, but as a foundational and vital principle for the survival of the system. His direct emphasis was that national solidarity is the key to passing through historical turning points and overcoming every threat. In his words: \u201cDear youth, preserve your unity, for a united nation will prevail over any enemy.\u201d<\/p>\n Second is enhancing insight in the face of the architecture of enemy conspiracies. The martyred leader emphasized two essential duties: one, constant vigilance and awareness regarding the enemy\u2019s plans to create division; and the other, overcoming media deception designed to destroy the religious and national identity of the youth.<\/p>\n Third was focusing on commonalities and avoiding false disputes. He stated clearly that unity never means homogenizing beliefs or ignoring differences in tastes and perspectives; rather, it is the art of moving beyond futile and exaggerated disagreements.<\/p>\n In this regard, his key recommendations were to avoid discord as the main factor in the decline of internal strength, to refrain from empty political polarization, to ignore superficial differences that only benefit the enemy, and to rely on shared religious principles, especially the Holy Qur\u2019an and the Prophetic tradition, as the firmest bonds of unity.<\/p>\n Fourth is the pioneering and hope-inspiring role of the youth. In his view, the youth are the driving force of progress and the source of the Revolution\u2019s hope. This influential group must rely on its energy, initiative, and forward-looking vision to stand in the line of the guardians of unity and play a role in society as promoters and strengtheners of this cohesion.<\/p>\n – With regard to Ayatollah Khamenei\u2019s thought on the arenas of unity, please explain.<\/strong><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n The first level includes solidarity between the Shi\u2018a and Sunni Islamic schools, with emphasis on shared doctrinal principles and avoidance of fueling sectarian differences, as well as the cohesion of Iran\u2019s ethnic groups as a historical and cultural asset, free from any discrimination and centered on a shared national identity.<\/p>\n The second level is dialogue among the followers of the Abrahamic religions. In this sphere, unity is defined on the basis of monotheistic commonalities among Islam, Christianity, and Judaism, with the aim of peaceful coexistence and constructive interaction within a framework of mutual respect for one another\u2019s sacred values.<\/p>\n The third level is a broad human coalition. This level rests on two key principles: first, the unity of followers of various religions in defense of fundamental human rights, justice, and human dignity, without religious or racial discrimination; and second, the alliance against domination and occupation, which includes all free peoples of the world.<\/p>\n The fourth level is ideal and global unity. It is the global union of human beings around shared human values such as justice, freedom, dignity, and solidarity in the face of common suffering. In this sense, the unity of the oppressed in all parts of the world is regarded as a spontaneous force against exploitative and oppressive systems. Likewise, the convergence of the front of truth against the front of falsehood ultimately summarizes all these arenas in one comprehensive ideal: steadfastness in the path of truth, justice, and humanity.<\/p>\n The martyred leader of the Revolution was not only a herald of unity, but through his eloquent speech and fluent pen, he explained on many occasions throughout his blessed life the nature of unity, its importance, its necessity, its prerequisites, the way to realize it, its challenges, its harms, and the ways to overcome them. In practice as well, through his wise conduct, he guided the people toward unity and, at the forefront of the people, bore the banner of unity and led his followers.<\/p>\n A few days before his martyrdom, the martyred leader called on the people to preserve cohesion and referred to this cohesion as a sacred union. In the end, our beloved leader was martyred while guiding and bearing the banner of unity, on the path of clarifying and safeguarding that sacred union.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The following is an interview with Dr. Mostafa Jafar Tayari, President of the University of Religions and Denominations, conducted during the funeral ceremony of the martyred leader, Ayatollah Khamenei, in Qom. – From the perspective of the martyred leader, what role do unity and Proximity of Islamic Denominations play in the interactions of the Islamic […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":65,"featured_media":133039,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false},"tags":[],"faculties":[],"news-category":[],"class_list":["post-133120","news","type-news","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/urd.ac.ir\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/133120","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/urd.ac.ir\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/urd.ac.ir\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/news"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/urd.ac.ir\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/65"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/urd.ac.ir\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=133120"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/urd.ac.ir\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/133039"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/urd.ac.ir\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=133120"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/urd.ac.ir\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=133120"},{"taxonomy":"faculties","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/urd.ac.ir\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/faculties?post=133120"},{"taxonomy":"news-category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/urd.ac.ir\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news-category?post=133120"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}