Hojjat Al-Islam Navvab: Cultural Programs Are Held for Both Shia and Sunni Pilgrims

According to the Hajj Information Base, the analysis and pathology meeting of the cultural programs of the delegation of the Supreme Leader in Hajj 1403, on Thursday morning (Khordad 31) was held with the presence of a number of cultural officials of the delegation, scholars and members of the Sunni Council in the meeting hall of the "Al Balad Al Tayib" hotel in the city of Mecca.

Hojjat al-Islam Navvab while speaking at this meeting, thanked and appreciated the actions of the Sunni caravans in implementing the program of disavowal of pagans and Arafah Day this year and said that the implementation of cultural programs for the Shia and Sunni caravans is uniform and it is done in all the circles, including intimacy session with Holy Qur'an, Marefet, and narration sessions are held for all pilgrims. "Considering the good reception of the narration program that was implemented this year in Shia caravans, this program should also be implemented with the use of Sunni clerics who are good at speaking."

He further pointed out that the cultural liaisons of the representatives of the Supreme Leader's delegation are in different regions, and suggested that in the coming years, with the aim of ease of travel and accessibility, they should be stationed in hotels for Iranian pilgrims, reciter, speaker and eulogists which will actually be the intermediary headquarters needs to be organized.

The head of Iranian pilgrims pointed out that the reciters were very active in this year's Hajj, and said that in addition to performing the cultural programs, the reciters also recited the end of the Holy Qur'an in the narration sessions.

While emphasizing the necessity of permanence and safeguarding the achievements of Hajj, Hojjat al-Islam Navvab said that the clerics, officials and cultural politicians of the mission should try to encourage the pilgrims to read the prayer "Makaram al-Akhlaq" (the 20th prayer of the Sajjadiyyah) which is full of concepts and is valuable epistemological, mystical and moral, encourage, that this prayer is very inspiring.

In another part of his speech, the head of Iranian pilgrims complained about the way of interacting with Iranian pilgrims in this year's Hajj, including the timing for stone-throwing and the dismantling of Iranian pilgrims' guide signs on the stone-throwing routes,.

He said that this kind of behavior and the way of interaction caused this year's death toll to reach 6 people in stone-throwing route despite the fact that the death toll last year was only one person on the stone-throwing route, adding that this type of action can be considered one of the weak points of the host country.

The Supreme Leader's representative Hajj and Pilgrimage Affairs continued to mention the holding of the 14th term of the presidential election, and said: So far, 10 meetings on the issue of the election have been held with the presence of the Iranian Consul General in Jeddah, and if the Saudi government agrees to hold elections in Medina and Mecca hotels, we will soon have about 80 to 90 voting branches, but if there is no agreement in this regard, the elections will be held only at the Iranian consulate in Jeddah, in which case, if possible, the convoys should consider buses to send pilgrims to the consulate.

The head of the Iranian pilgrims emphasized that if Saudi Arabia agrees to hold elections, this issue will be a win-win issue for us and the host country, which shows the extent of the host country's service to the guests of God.

In the end, Hojjat al-Islam Navvab pointed out the problems related to the hotels where Iranian pilgrims stay in Medina, and said, "In Medina, the hotels are few and somewhat dilapidated, and some countries even have only two days for their pilgrims to stay in Medina."

It will be recalled that at the beginning of this meeting, several cultural officials of the Supreme Leader's office and members of the Sunni Council expressed some points about the cultural programs of the Supreme Leader's mission during this year's Hajj.

Hojjat al-Islam Seyed Hossein Roknuddini, the cultural deputy of the delegation of the Supreme Leader, said at the beginning of this meeting that all cultural programs of the mission have been held with special order and without interruption and with empathy, and the goals of these programs have been partially achieved.

Maulvi Mohammad Is'haq Madani also considered Iran's Islamic Revolution as a blessing for Sunnis and Shiites and all religions of the world, and said that the mission of the Supreme Leader has paid special attention to Sunnis from the very beginning.

Hojjat al-Islam Mansour Mazaheri also stated that circumambulation and effort in the upper floors of Masjid al-Haram, leaving Mina at night for the disabled, and the delay in the feast of sacrifice for some pilgrims, and the lack of guides on the first day of stone-throwing, were among the concerns of Iranian pilgrims in Hajj 1403.

Sheikh Khalil Afra, one of the members of the Sunni Council, also pointed to the freedoms for the Sunnis during the mission of the Supreme Leader, and said, "This freedom is one of the achievements of the revolution and one of the priorities of the Supreme Leader of the Revolution."

Hojjat al-Islam Hadi Akbari, the director of Sunni affairs of the mission of the Supreme Leader, also considered the coordination among the members of the mission to carry out cultural activities, increasing the scientific and cognitive ability of cultural servants and focusing on the accommodation of Sunni pilgrims among the strengths of this year's programs, and the interference of the programs of intimacy programs with Quran and lack of manpower and non-implementation of narration sessions for Sunnis were mentioned as weak points.