Hojjat al-Islam Navvab Stresses Need to Identify And Meet the Cultural Needs of Umrah Pilgrims

According to the Hajj Information Base, Hojjat al-Islam Seyed Abdolfattah Navvab, who spoke among the third group of agents of the Supreme Leader's mission to Mecca and Medina, visited the land of revelation and described serving the Hajj pilgrims as a special success that God has bestowed on them.

Stating that God appointed two prophets, Hazrat Ibrahim and Hazrat Ismail (peace be upon them) to serve the pilgrims of the Holy House, Hojjat al-Islam Navvab pointed to verse 125 of Surah Al-Baqarah, "And we took a covenant from Ibrahim and Ismail that: Cleanse my house for those who perform circumambulation, and those who bow in prostration (praying) and added: This service is so important that God says to these prophets: Clean and prepare the house for pilgrims."

He described the service to the guests of God as a factor of growth and excellence and emphasized the intention of closeness in this journey and serving the pilgrims of the Holy Shrine, and said, "In case of neglect and not having the intention of closeness, no result will be achieved."

Hojjat al-Islam Navvab also reminded the importance of sincerity in doing things and clarified, "It is important to be both a servant and pure, when a person assumes the color of God, nothing is valuable to him anymore, as Imam Ali (AS) says: "I am sincere. Whoever makes the intention pure, stays away from evil."

The Supreme Leader's representative in Hajj and Pilgrimage Affairs continued by citing a hadith from the Commander of the Faithful and considered sincerity as the factor of saving people and advised those present to seek help and assistance from the most High in Mecca and Medina in order to fulfill the responsibility they have undertaken.

"God doesn't look at the title and position of people, but he pays attention to the pure intention of serving and sincerity of people," he added.

In another part of his speech, Hojjat al-Islam Navvab emphasized the need to identify and meet the cultural needs of Umrah pilgrims and to justify pilgrims' behavior in traveling to the Land of Revelation, and considering the changes in Saudi Arabia's way of dealing with pilgrims in the recent years, there has been a request from the clergyman and the caravan manager to pay attention to this matter, so that the pilgrims can go on pilgrimage and perform their religious activities and rituals without worry and calmly while observing the new regulations.

He advised the officials of the Supreme Representative offices in Mecca and Medina to be more mindful of the rules and rituals and behave responsibly in interacting with the pilgrims while observing humility and friendship.

Hojjat al-Islam Navvab pointed out that while visiting hotels, while having a face-to-face conversation with the pilgrims, you can hear their content and points of view, he considered it necessary to respect the rights of the pilgrims and examples of this in the Hajj of the past years.

He also asked the cultural assistant of the mission to pay attention to the needs of the cultural servants so that they can provide better services to the pilgrims in this spiritual journey, and added that "the caravans' clergy should explain Islamic teachings, especially in the field of Jihad and lifestyle. They should pay attention to Islam, which is emphasized by the Supreme Leader, and convey these points to the pilgrims in an attractive and effective way, so that they return to the country with a valuable treasure from this trip."

He said that speakers should pay attention to the use of artistic methods in expressing the enmity of the arrogant with the Islamic world and the situation of Muslims in the occupied territories of Palestine and Lebanon and pray for the victory of the people of Palestine and Lebanon.

Holding a program to read the Qur'an for a group in Masjid al-Haram and Masjid al-Nabi, especially for the commemoration of the martyrs whose families and relatives are present in the caravan, and encouraging pilgrims to recite the prayers of the Sajjadiyya, especially the 20th prayer of Makarem al-Akhlaq, the 24th prayer for parents, and the 25th prayer for children, among other points. He advised the attendees and stressed the need for empathy between the cultural servants and the caravan manager.

He mentioned need identification, planning and good execution as three important and important points in the direction of guiding and developing the pilgrims and asked the attendees to compile their experiences in this trip so that these experiences can be collected and engraved and modified as a map and be used as a light for future generations.

According to this report, in this meeting, Hojjat al-Islam Seyyed Hussain Rukn al-Dini, Vice President for Culture, and Mohammad Hossein Khoshnevis, Vice President for Development of Management and Resources, and a number of leaders of the Supreme Leader's delegation also participated in this meeting. It was emphasized and pointed to some solutions to provide better services to Umrah pilgrims in Iran.