On the morning of Tuesday, March 30, 2021, the Secretary-General of the AhlulBayt (a.s.) World Assembly met the staff and researchers of the office for Cultural Affairs of the Assembly in Qom.
“I hope we will appreciate the remaining days of the month of Sha’ban for prayers to God and recitation the supplications of Sha’banieh,” said Ayatollah “Reza Ramazani”, offering his congratulations for the Solar Hijri New Year and eves of Sha’aban.
“Prayer paves the way for walking (in the path of God). In this month (the month of Sha’ban), we must ask God to remove the veils of darkness and the veils of light from us. The veils of darkness are vices and selfishness, and the veil of light is knowledge and servitude. Sometimes the man is bound by his knowledge and relies on it and trusts it. Therefore, we must rely on divine grace. Sha’banieh supplication has many points. We ask God to forgive and transform us. We need the conditions. God changes hearts (مُقلّبَ القلوبِ),” he added, saying that Sha’banieh supplication gives hope to human beings.
“Throughout history, there have been two arrogant and the oppressed currents, and these currents continue today. The arrogant front has an evil origin because Satan was arrogant against God. The prophets and Imams (a.s.) have been to counter this current. Today, the United States has an arrogant temperament and seeks to dominate the world. Imam Khomeini (r.a.) in the middle of Sha’ban, congratulated the birthday of Imam Zaman (a.s.) to all the oppressed. Because the oppressed include Muslims,” said the Secretary-General of the AhlulBayt (a.s.) World Assembly in another part of his speech about the importance of the Velayat.
“The divine will is for the oppressed and the righteous to inherit the earth. The school of AhlulBayt (a.s.) is under Allah’s Velayat and seeks to organize the oppressed current. Guidance is an important issue. God does not give guidance to anyone. In the system of creation and legislation, God has sent prophets with books to guide mankind,” added Ayatollah Ramazani.
“Prophets and Imams have been sent (by God) to guide mankind. The greatest honor of AhlulBayt (a.s.) World Assembly is to be one of the agents of guidance and to move in a direction that pleases the innate nature of man. Therefore, the Assembly must have scientific and spiritual authority, and this is an important issue. Because part of the mission of the prophets, teaching, and guidance, has been entrusted to the Assembly,” he said, speaking about the duties of the Assembly.
“We must understand that we have been given an important position and duty because we are the servants of the school and the followers of the AhlulBayt (a.s.), and this golden Tawfiq and opportunity is unique,” emphasized the representative of the people of Gilan Province in the Assembly of Leadership Experts.
“We must train our joints, intellect, and soul. The higher we go, the greater our need for refinement and education will be, and we realize that we are small before God and only He is great. Therefore, God and the AhlulBayt (a.s.) must appear great in the eyes of man. We must know what a great position we have been given to teach the culture of the AhlulBayt (a.s.) to the world. The workplace should be a place of training. Tawakkul (trust in God), Tawassul (recourse in AhlulBayt) and planning should be in our work and we should have planning and vision in planning,” stated Secretary-General of the AhlulBayt (a.s.) World Assembly, addressing the staff of the Assembly.
“The year 1400 (solar Hijri) will be a busy year for us. We should not be satisfied with the activities we have done. We need to look at the prospect and there is a long path to be taken still. Therefore, the staff must rethink and redefine their (performance) and show initiative and innovation,” he said, appreciating the activities of various sections of the assembly last year.
“By repeating the word “change”, change does not happen. To change, we must write a plan. Having a vision means that the path must be clear. Therefore, the staff must be motivated and our vision must be international,” continued Ayatollah Ramazani, saying that in 1400 we will work for change based on the new structure.
The Secretary-General of the AhlulBayt (a.s.) World Assembly described the expectations from different sections of the Assembly in the coming year as follows: having an international outlook and working internationally in ABNA News Agency, recognition of necessities, recognition accurate entries by researchers in Wiki Shia, addressing lifestyle issues and the field of youth and women by Thaqalayn Network, paying attention to training new staff by AhlulBayt (a.s.) University, and organizing the local offices of the Assembly and the affairs of the missionaries by the deputy for international affairs of the Assembly.
“The traditional pulpit (Minbar) and in-person communication are effective, and I advocate this, but things have to go beyond the traditional form. Today, cyberspace has become a part of people’s lives and it affects their lives, and it is necessary for us to work more in the field of cyberspace,” he also stated.
“Cyberspace, on the one hand, has created the best and unique opportunity. On the other hand, it has created an unprecedented dangerous threat. Therefore, we must hold training courses in this field and proceed with planning,” added the Secretary-General of the AhlulBayt (a.s.) World Assembly, stating that cyberspace has affected the real life of human beings.
“In the new structure of the Assembly, a general administration has been considered for cyberspace, and experts have spent hours for this plan,” he said, stating that the AhlulBayt (a.s.) World Assembly should have the production of thought.
“We need to focus on the outlets and improve them in terms of quantity and quality. If now ABNA News Agency publishes 100 news per day, it should publish 500 news per day by attracting volunteer reporters and other methods. We must be up-to-date and move forward with innovation,” Ayatollah Ramazani also said.
“In the year 1400, I have high expectations from myself and each one of you. In the new year, field studies must become operational. Also, operational cases should be bolder than case studies,” he emphasized.
“Different sections should be aware of each other’s activities. Empathy, synergy, and cooperation must be present in the Assembly. Change, is not conceptualization, it is transformation, and the Assembly must be on this path,” concluded the Secretary-General of the AhlulBayt (a.s.) World Assembly in the end.
It should be mentioned that at the beginning of the meeting, Deputy Secretary-General and Deputy of Cultural Affairs of the AhlulBayt (a.s.) World Assembly, Hojat al-Islam “Ahmad Ahmadi Tabar”, presented a report on last year’s activities of the Cultural Deputy.
According to him, the following were parts of the activities of the Cultural Deputy of the AhlulBayt (a.s.) World Assembly of the last year: Publishing 180 volumes of books, holding the international conference of Hazrat Abu Talib (a.s.), launching Rahnama website and portal in more than 40 languages, producing software to introduce the works of the assembly in 5 languages, launching a digital library, organizing missionaries and native staffs in Africa and the Indian subcontinent, organizing and providing training to talented missionaries, study activities, creating a calendar including Shiites’ occasions, and presenting new designs for the Wiki Shia encyclopedia.
Ahmadi Tabar also announced the establishment of the General Directorate of Cyberspace and the General Directorate of Education in the Cultural Deputy of the Assembly for the new year.
To see the pictures of the meeting of Ayatollah Ramazani with the staff of the Cultural Deputy of the AhlulBayt (a.s.) World Assembly, click here.