For introducing Islam, there is a suitable ground in Italy: Torkian
A missionary lady in Italy said, “In Italy, we are trying to strengthen our activities by holding conferences, gatherings of Shiites and Muslims.”
Born to an Iranian father and an Italian mother, Dr. Hanieh Torkian is a religious and cultural activist in Italy who has lived in Italy since the age of five.
After receiving her high school diploma, Ms. Torkian traveled to the Islamic Republic of Iran to study seminary sciences, and studied at Al-Zahra (a.s.) University for Seminary Studies and Al-Mustafa (a.s.) International University in Qom, and obtained a PhD in Islamic Studies.
Currently, she is active in two cultural centers named Danaei House for International Studies and Monji Montazer Cultural Center in Italy, most of whose audience are non-Muslims of the country.
She was one of the participants in the 7th General Assembly of the AhlulBayt (a.s.) World Assembly, which was held in Tehran in September 2022.
On the sidelines of the conference, ABNA News Agency interviewed this preacher and educated lady.
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By: Wajihe Sadat Hosseini
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ABNA: While welcoming and appreciating you for your time, please explain about your most outstanding areas of activity in Italy.
In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful. Most of our activities are in the scientific, cultural and media fields. That is, we hold scientific and cultural conferences through the cooperation of Danaei House for International Studies and Monji Montazer Cultural Center with other associations in Italy. We are also active in writing articles and providing correct information about world events - especially events in West Asia.
On the other hand, we have organized courses to explain about Islamic teachings.
I am mostly active in translating books about Islamic teachings and interfaith dialogues. I wrote a book on the comparison of the character of Lady Maryam in the Quran, the Bible, and hadiths.
ABNA: What centers and institutions are you most associated with in Italy and what are your most important executive plans in this regard?
Currently, I am engaged in cultural activities in Italy and have various collaborations with other cultural institutions. I also cooperate with non-Islamic cultural institutions, and our main audience is mostly non-Muslims. Therefore, we try to cooperate and talk with them on common issues, including family values and supporting human values, such as fighting (Global) Arrogance, and we organize conferences in this regard.
Among my activities are writing articles and preparing real news stories on the Islamic world and the Middle East. My colleagues and I seek to offer a correct presentation of Islam as a religion of peace and justice, and we work with non-Muslims to promote human values in matters of family and social justice.
ABNA: Different media outlets in the world present an unrealistic image of Muslims. So that many Europeans consider Muslims as terrorists. In your opinion, what measures should be taken against this media attack, and what is the duty of a Muslim missionary in such a situation?
Unfortunately, the media and propaganda machine of the West is powerful and no matter how hard we try, we are not able to compete with them. In fact, all the media, including internet and television, are at the disposal of the Arrogant Front and the Western countries, and they introduce Islam in any way they want.
On the other hand, unfortunately, the Muslims neglected, and instead of uniting together, we operate separately. Of course, I admit that it is very difficult to compete with foreign media. But we also neglected (our duties). The media of Resistance Front should unite with each other so that we can present Islam correctly.
In Italy, fortunately, the situation is not as bad as other western countries, and we can introduce Islam to the people. But in my opinion, it depends on us how to use these opportunities.
In Italy, we are trying to strengthen our activities by holding conferences, gatherings of Shiites and Muslims. To strengthen our activities, we need the cooperation and support of cultural institutions to provide us with more facilities based on our needs so that we can perform more activities.
ABNA: How much connection and cooperation do you have with seminary institutions active in the international field, such as Al-Zahra (a.s.) University for Seminary Studies, and how do you evaluate their activities?
Currently, I do not directly and continuously cooperate with Al-Zahra (a.s.) University, and in some cases I have cooperated with this international University. In the summer, this University organizes tours to introduce Islam and Shiism for clergy. Previously, we brought some foreign guests to visit this scientific center in Qom, and such an independent educational and religious institution especially established for women, was interesting for them.
ABNA: Given that you are in contact with non-Muslims in Italy, what books do your audiences want now?
There are now many books on beliefs and ethics. But we need books that are written about today’s issues, such as view of Islam on the family and strengthening family values. Italians are also interested in political issues and want to read about Iran’s policies, as a country that is a role model in the fight against (global) arrogance.
Also, they are seeking books on historical, political and social issues of Iran. Some of my audience asked me to introduce them books regarding Iran’s political system and Velayat-e Faqih. Of course, some articles have been translated in this regard, but it is not as comprehensive as a book.
ABNA: From your point of view, what activities should a missionary prioritize in the cyberspace, and what solutions should he or she consider to get rid of the many censorships of social networks, which are dominated by the West?
Today, cyberspace is very important. Just as Iran could establish an independent country with its own politics and system in a real space, we should be able to achieve this independence in the cyberspace. In fact, today the cyberspace is entirely dominated by the enemy. So that if you want to talk, you will face their limitations and they will easily remove you, and they do not allow you to comment on topics that are against their policies.
Given the experiences Iran has gained independently in the real world, it can create an independent arena in the cyberspace as well; a virtual space where all the free people of the world, including Muslims, Shiites and even non-Muslims, can exchange ideas with each other. Today, cyberspace is very influential on young people.
In Italy, young people left Facebook as they got tired of restrictions and lack of freedom of expression there. Any content that was against Facebook’s policy, including Islamic, humanitarian, opposition to homosexuality or highlighting figures such as Martyr General Soleimani, all related posts were deleted. Therefore, many users left Facebook and turned to other social networks such as Tik Tok or VK, which is made in Russia and is similar to Facebook. In the same way, we should also provide an independent and clean cyberspace for our youth so that they have real freedom there. Therefore, we need indigenous social networks. Currently, although there are a few indigenous messengers, many people, including officials, use foreign messengers.
We must strengthen our messengers in such a way that users outside Iran can also use it. As today an assembly has been established in the name of AhlulBayt (a.s.) in real world, an assembly can be established in virtual environment as well.
ABNA: How do you propagate Islam in Italy in the anti-Islamic atmosphere of the West?
As a missionary, I never just seek to make a person to convert a person to Islam, my main goal is rather to try to work on our commonalities with other human beings. In Italy, many people do not intend to convert to Islam, but they are interested in Islam, Iran and the Resistance Axis, and they support Iran’s anti-arrogance role and its fight against terrorism.
We are in contact with all people, whether Muslim or non-Muslim, and our activities revolve around human commonalities. This cooperation will make them know real Islam and the Iran and know that the western media’s definition of Iran and Islam is wrong and biased.
ABNA: As an international missionary, what methods do you suggest to promote the hijab culture and how do you explain the hijab law in Iran to your non-Muslim audience?
In some cases, the problems that have arisen in our country regarding the Islamic hijab, we are the main ones to blame. Because culturally, few measures have been taken for hijab, and many methods of inviting to hijab have been inappropriate.
Outside of Iran, when I want to talk about the necessity of hijab in Iran and prove it, I say that there is no place in the world that does not have a dress code. Even in Italy there are restrictions on what to wear in all regions. In general, there are laws in this field in all countries of the world.
In Iran, Islamic government is based on Islamic teachings, and laws are based on Islamic Sharia. In Italy, the dress code has a legal basis and these laws have been proposed by humans. Whereas the Islamic government and our laws are based on Islamic jurisprudence, the source of which is God, and who better than God can make laws for humans?
God is more aware of man’s needs than himself. In the West, the main source of laws is humanistic, and in a simple comparison, it is obvious that the law whose source is God is superior to the law whose source is man. If we explain the hijab to young people in this way and say that there are rules and restrictions everywhere in the world, and absolute freedom does not exist either in the virtual space or in the dress code, we will provide the best argument for them.
ABNA: What is your expectation from institutions active in the cultural and international fields, including the AhlulBayt (a.s.) World Assembly?
Our first expectation is that the relevant institutions in the international propagation of Islam will provide proper plan and make a correct assessment of the needs and capacities of Muslims in different countries, and then, after this evaluation, provide the necessary facilities to different institutions in a way that leads to results.
What I mean is that the activities should not be report-oriented. Rather, this planning and provision of facilities should lead to a tangible and desired result. From my point of view, planning and evaluation along with the provision of suitable facilities is necessary for the Shiite community in Iran and abroad.
ABNA: Thank you for giving us the opportunity to have this conversation despite the busy schedule of the 7th General Assembly of the AhlulBayt (a.s.) World Assembly.
A missionary lady in Italy said, “In Italy, we are trying to strengthen our activities by holding conferences, gatherings of Shiites and Muslims.”
Born to an Iranian father and an Italian mother, Dr. Hanieh Torkian is a religious and cultural activist in Italy who has lived in Italy since the age of five.
After receiving her high school diploma, Ms. Torkian traveled to the Islamic Republic of Iran to study seminary sciences, and studied at Al-Zahra (a.s.) University for Seminary Studies and Al-Mustafa (a.s.) International University in Qom, and obtained a PhD in Islamic Studies.
Currently, she is active in two cultural centers named Danaei House for International Studies and Monji Montazer Cultural Center in Italy, most of whose audience are non-Muslims of the country.
She was one of the participants in the 7th General Assembly of the AhlulBayt (a.s.) World Assembly, which was held in Tehran in September 2022.
On the sidelines of the conference, ABNA News Agency interviewed this preacher and educated lady.
ـــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــ
By: Wajihe Sadat Hosseini
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ABNA: While welcoming and appreciating you for your time, please explain about your most outstanding areas of activity in Italy.
In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful. Most of our activities are in the scientific, cultural and media fields. That is, we hold scientific and cultural conferences through the cooperation of Danaei House for International Studies and Monji Montazer Cultural Center with other associations in Italy. We are also active in writing articles and providing correct information about world events - especially events in West Asia.
On the other hand, we have organized courses to explain about Islamic teachings.
I am mostly active in translating books about Islamic teachings and interfaith dialogues. I wrote a book on the comparison of the character of Lady Maryam in the Quran, the Bible, and hadiths.
ABNA: What centers and institutions are you most associated with in Italy and what are your most important executive plans in this regard?
Currently, I am engaged in cultural activities in Italy and have various collaborations with other cultural institutions. I also cooperate with non-Islamic cultural institutions, and our main audience is mostly non-Muslims. Therefore, we try to cooperate and talk with them on common issues, including family values and supporting human values, such as fighting (Global) Arrogance, and we organize conferences in this regard.
Among my activities are writing articles and preparing real news stories on the Islamic world and the Middle East. My colleagues and I seek to offer a correct presentation of Islam as a religion of peace and justice, and we work with non-Muslims to promote human values in matters of family and social justice.
ABNA: Different media outlets in the world present an unrealistic image of Muslims. So that many Europeans consider Muslims as terrorists. In your opinion, what measures should be taken against this media attack, and what is the duty of a Muslim missionary in such a situation?
Unfortunately, the media and propaganda machine of the West is powerful and no matter how hard we try, we are not able to compete with them. In fact, all the media, including internet and television, are at the disposal of the Arrogant Front and the Western countries, and they introduce Islam in any way they want.
On the other hand, unfortunately, the Muslims neglected, and instead of uniting together, we operate separately. Of course, I admit that it is very difficult to compete with foreign media. But we also neglected (our duties). The media of Resistance Front should unite with each other so that we can present Islam correctly.
In Italy, fortunately, the situation is not as bad as other western countries, and we can introduce Islam to the people. But in my opinion, it depends on us how to use these opportunities.
In Italy, we are trying to strengthen our activities by holding conferences, gatherings of Shiites and Muslims. To strengthen our activities, we need the cooperation and support of cultural institutions to provide us with more facilities based on our needs so that we can perform more activities.
ABNA: How much connection and cooperation do you have with seminary institutions active in the international field, such as Al-Zahra (a.s.) University for Seminary Studies, and how do you evaluate their activities?
Currently, I do not directly and continuously cooperate with Al-Zahra (a.s.) University, and in some cases I have cooperated with this international University. In the summer, this University organizes tours to introduce Islam and Shiism for clergy. Previously, we brought some foreign guests to visit this scientific center in Qom, and such an independent educational and religious institution especially established for women, was interesting for them.
ABNA: Given that you are in contact with non-Muslims in Italy, what books do your audiences want now?
There are now many books on beliefs and ethics. But we need books that are written about today’s issues, such as view of Islam on the family and strengthening family values. Italians are also interested in political issues and want to read about Iran’s policies, as a country that is a role model in the fight against (global) arrogance.
Also, they are seeking books on historical, political and social issues of Iran. Some of my audience asked me to introduce them books regarding Iran’s political system and Velayat-e Faqih. Of course, some articles have been translated in this regard, but it is not as comprehensive as a book.
ABNA: From your point of view, what activities should a missionary prioritize in the cyberspace, and what solutions should he or she consider to get rid of the many censorships of social networks, which are dominated by the West?
Today, cyberspace is very important. Just as Iran could establish an independent country with its own politics and system in a real space, we should be able to achieve this independence in the cyberspace. In fact, today the cyberspace is entirely dominated by the enemy. So that if you want to talk, you will face their limitations and they will easily remove you, and they do not allow you to comment on topics that are against their policies.
Given the experiences Iran has gained independently in the real world, it can create an independent arena in the cyberspace as well; a virtual space where all the free people of the world, including Muslims, Shiites and even non-Muslims, can exchange ideas with each other. Today, cyberspace is very influential on young people.
In Italy, young people left Facebook as they got tired of restrictions and lack of freedom of expression there. Any content that was against Facebook’s policy, including Islamic, humanitarian, opposition to homosexuality or highlighting figures such as Martyr General Soleimani, all related posts were deleted. Therefore, many users left Facebook and turned to other social networks such as Tik Tok or VK, which is made in Russia and is similar to Facebook. In the same way, we should also provide an independent and clean cyberspace for our youth so that they have real freedom there. Therefore, we need indigenous social networks. Currently, although there are a few indigenous messengers, many people, including officials, use foreign messengers.
We must strengthen our messengers in such a way that users outside Iran can also use it. As today an assembly has been established in the name of AhlulBayt (a.s.) in real world, an assembly can be established in virtual environment as well.
ABNA: How do you propagate Islam in Italy in the anti-Islamic atmosphere of the West?
As a missionary, I never just seek to make a person to convert a person to Islam, my main goal is rather to try to work on our commonalities with other human beings. In Italy, many people do not intend to convert to Islam, but they are interested in Islam, Iran and the Resistance Axis, and they support Iran’s anti-arrogance role and its fight against terrorism.
We are in contact with all people, whether Muslim or non-Muslim, and our activities revolve around human commonalities. This cooperation will make them know real Islam and the Iran and know that the western media’s definition of Iran and Islam is wrong and biased.
ABNA: As an international missionary, what methods do you suggest to promote the hijab culture and how do you explain the hijab law in Iran to your non-Muslim audience?
In some cases, the problems that have arisen in our country regarding the Islamic hijab, we are the main ones to blame. Because culturally, few measures have been taken for hijab, and many methods of inviting to hijab have been inappropriate.
Outside of Iran, when I want to talk about the necessity of hijab in Iran and prove it, I say that there is no place in the world that does not have a dress code. Even in Italy there are restrictions on what to wear in all regions. In general, there are laws in this field in all countries of the world.
In Iran, Islamic government is based on Islamic teachings, and laws are based on Islamic Sharia. In Italy, the dress code has a legal basis and these laws have been proposed by humans. Whereas the Islamic government and our laws are based on Islamic jurisprudence, the source of which is God, and who better than God can make laws for humans?
God is more aware of man’s needs than himself. In the West, the main source of laws is humanistic, and in a simple comparison, it is obvious that the law whose source is God is superior to the law whose source is man. If we explain the hijab to young people in this way and say that there are rules and restrictions everywhere in the world, and absolute freedom does not exist either in the virtual space or in the dress code, we will provide the best argument for them.
ABNA: What is your expectation from institutions active in the cultural and international fields, including the AhlulBayt (a.s.) World Assembly?
Our first expectation is that the relevant institutions in the international propagation of Islam will provide proper plan and make a correct assessment of the needs and capacities of Muslims in different countries, and then, after this evaluation, provide the necessary facilities to different institutions in a way that leads to results.
What I mean is that the activities should not be report-oriented. Rather, this planning and provision of facilities should lead to a tangible and desired result. From my point of view, planning and evaluation along with the provision of suitable facilities is necessary for the Shiite community in Iran and abroad.
ABNA: Thank you for giving us the opportunity to have this conversation despite the busy schedule of the 7th General Assembly of the AhlulBayt (a.s.) World Assembly.