Philosophy of AhlulBayt (a.s.) World Assembly establishment, management of Shia communities in the world: Farmanian
The Deputy for Scientific and Cultural Affairs of the AhlulBayt (a.s.) World Assembly stated, “The main philosophy and purpose of establishing the AhlulBayt (a.s.) World Assembly is to create a center for the management of Shia activities in different fields in the world.”
The 7th General Assembly of the AhlulBayt (a.s.) World Assembly will be held from September 1 to 3, 2022, with the presence of Iranian and non-Iranian guests in the Iran International Conference Center in Tehran.
On the eve of the 7th General Assembly of the AhlulBayt (a.s.) World Assembly, ABNA reporter interviewed Hojat al-Islam Frmanian, the Deputy for Scientific and Cultural Affairs of the AhlulBayt (a.s.) World Assembly.
In this interview, Hojat al-Islam Dr. Mahdi Farmanian explained about the philosophy and objectives of establishing the AhlulBayt (a.s.) World Assembly, as well as the activities of the Department for the Scientific and Cultural Affairs of the AhlulBayt (a.s.) World Assembly in the 7th General Assembly.
The full text of the interview with Hojat al-Islam Dr. Farmanian is as follows:
ABNA reporter: What are the philosophy and objectives of establishing the AhlulBayt (a.s.) World Assembly?
Farmanian: The main philosophy and purpose of establishing the AhlulBayt (a.s.) World Assembly was to create a center for the management of Shiite activities in various fields in the world. For example, what is the situation of Shiites, what actions are they taking, what problems do they have, and what should be done to solve the problems of Shiites in various cultural, educational, social, political and economic fields. Therefore, the departments and structure of the AhlulBayt (a.s.) World Assembly have been formed based on the needs and necessities. For example, the goal of the Department for the Economic Affairs of the Assembly is to improve the economic situation of Shiites in the world. Also, the philosophy of establishing the Department for Cultural Affairs of the Assembly is to publish the AhlulBayt (a.s.) teachings for Shiites.
Therefore, the main philosophy of the establishment of the AhlulBayt (a.s.) World Assembly is the management of the major affairs of the Shiite communities in the world. To achieve this goal, we need the management of the political issues in the world. From the Shiites of Iraq, Bahrain, Pakistan, India, to other communities where the Shiites are minorities, they have their own problems. For example, they are not familiar with the AhlulBayt (a.s.) teachings, they do not have a cleric or a mosque, they have problems in teaching children and teaching Islamic topics, etc. Dealing with the situation of Shiites in different regions is the mission of the AhlulBayt (a.s.) World Assembly.
ABNA reporter: In your opinion, what are the ways to strengthen the General Assembly of the AhlulBayt (a.s.) World Assembly?
Farmanian: We have to entrust some issues to the General Assembly. The members of the Supreme Council or the Board of Trustees must be chosen and appointed by the General Assembly. It means that the members of the Supreme Council need to feel that the General Assembly has chosen them. The Secretary-General should also be elected by the vote of the General Assembly, or by the Supreme Council or the Board of Trustees.
The annual financial balance of the AhlulBayt (a.s.) World Assembly of should be discussed and voted on in the General Assembly, and the members of the General Assembly should be asked whether they accept the balance sheet or not.
If everything is left to the General Assembly, we can hold General Assembly conferences without spending money. We can even charge a membership fee.
In my opinion, local assemblies should be formed based on elections, the output of which will be the Assembly of a country. On the other hand, we should have a regional assembly based on elections, the result of which will be a world federation. For example, the Shiites of Bangladesh vote for six people as representatives of their country and these six representatives choose the members of the regional assembly. The members of the regional assembly vote and elect a person as a member of the General Assembly of the AhlulBayt (a.s.) World Assembly. Then the members of the General Assembly vote for the Board of Trustees and the Supreme Council or elect the Secretary-General. That is, the person who votes, directly or indirectly, feels that he has a role in the appointment of the Secretary-General.
ABNA reporter: Please describe the activities of the Department for the Scientific and Cultural Affairs of the Assembly for this year’s conference.
Farmanian: This year, this department organized and presented the content of three commissions, Communications and Networking, Local Assemblies and Missionaries, and Cyberspace. In the Commission of Local Assemblies and Missionaries, we have had a good interaction with the Department for International Affairs.
Also, the Department for Cultural Affairs organizes the exhibition of the 7th General Assembly. The exhibition has 31 booths and will be held on the second floor of the conference hall.
Some international institutions, such as Astan Quds Razavi, Al-Mustafa (p.b.u.h) International University, and the World Forum for Proximity of Islamic Schools of Thought, will have booths in the exhibition. Also, the medical sciences universities of Iran from Tehran University and Shahid Beheshti University presents the medical activities and achievements of the country in their booths. In this exhibition, knowledge-based organizations of Islamic Azad University will present knowledge-based achievements. The cyberspace has an outstanding booth. Also, we will have a Quranic exhibition where Quranic activities will be presented.
The AhlulBayt (a.s.) World Assembly will have several booths to introduce its works and products. The Department for Scientific and Cultural Affairs, WikiShia and the Department for Cyberspace will have large booths at the exhibition.
In the closing ceremony, the proceedings and works of the Conference “Hazrat Abu Talib” will be unveiled in 21 volumes. In the book “Mirror of Works” the portfolio of works translated by the Assembly is presented. The book “Assembly Companions” is a memoir of 128 deceased members of the Assembly. The above works will be unveiled in the 7th General Assembly.
A book titled “Challenges of Assembly activities in 30 years” that we have prepared for the change approach of the Assembly, will not be unveiled, but will be presented to certain people.
ABNA reporter: Ayatollah Ramazani is seeking to implement the change approach in the new era. What are the innovations Department for Scientific and Cultural Affairs in the 7th General Assembly that were unprecedented in previous assemblies?
Farmanian: Of course, I was not present in the previous general assemblies. At least, this department was only responsible for holding the exhibition, and no serious content was prepared for the commissions. But in this course, it has prepared scientific and solid content for the commissions, which has been worked on for hours.
In the final statement, the commissions will define some specific operational tasks. Duties will be defined for the Assembly and duties for the members of the General Assembly to perform in the next four years. This work did not exist in the previous general assemblies in a detailed and operational way.
A series of content works have been carried out, such as the unveiling of the works of the Hazrat Abu Talib Conference, the books “Mirror of Works”, “Assembly Companions” and scientific works that were unprecedented in previous periods. The exhibition will also be held in a more technical and detailed manner, and new organizations have been invited to participate in it, which was not the case in previous years.
ABNA reporter: Is the Department for Scientific and Cultural Affairs involved in preparing the cultural package for guests?
Farmanian: We have prepared a cultural package. The cultural package is not heavy in terms of quantity, but it contains contents that exist in the virtual space, which we offer to the guests by providing the email address, website address or QR Code, or other methods.
Guests are given a card that has a QR Code to go to a website where all of our products are available for them to download. Of course, we are looking to give the guests a flash memory that contains 813 books of the Assembly or give an address to receive the books.
We also got a free four-year subscription from the Noor Computer Research Center of Islamic Sciences for guests, with which they can access hundreds of software.
ABNA: Thank you for your time.
The Deputy for Scientific and Cultural Affairs of the AhlulBayt (a.s.) World Assembly stated, “The main philosophy and purpose of establishing the AhlulBayt (a.s.) World Assembly is to create a center for the management of Shia activities in different fields in the world.”
The 7th General Assembly of the AhlulBayt (a.s.) World Assembly will be held from September 1 to 3, 2022, with the presence of Iranian and non-Iranian guests in the Iran International Conference Center in Tehran.
On the eve of the 7th General Assembly of the AhlulBayt (a.s.) World Assembly, ABNA reporter interviewed Hojat al-Islam Frmanian, the Deputy for Scientific and Cultural Affairs of the AhlulBayt (a.s.) World Assembly.
In this interview, Hojat al-Islam Dr. Mahdi Farmanian explained about the philosophy and objectives of establishing the AhlulBayt (a.s.) World Assembly, as well as the activities of the Department for the Scientific and Cultural Affairs of the AhlulBayt (a.s.) World Assembly in the 7th General Assembly.
The full text of the interview with Hojat al-Islam Dr. Farmanian is as follows:
ABNA reporter: What are the philosophy and objectives of establishing the AhlulBayt (a.s.) World Assembly?
Farmanian: The main philosophy and purpose of establishing the AhlulBayt (a.s.) World Assembly was to create a center for the management of Shiite activities in various fields in the world. For example, what is the situation of Shiites, what actions are they taking, what problems do they have, and what should be done to solve the problems of Shiites in various cultural, educational, social, political and economic fields. Therefore, the departments and structure of the AhlulBayt (a.s.) World Assembly have been formed based on the needs and necessities. For example, the goal of the Department for the Economic Affairs of the Assembly is to improve the economic situation of Shiites in the world. Also, the philosophy of establishing the Department for Cultural Affairs of the Assembly is to publish the AhlulBayt (a.s.) teachings for Shiites.
Therefore, the main philosophy of the establishment of the AhlulBayt (a.s.) World Assembly is the management of the major affairs of the Shiite communities in the world. To achieve this goal, we need the management of the political issues in the world. From the Shiites of Iraq, Bahrain, Pakistan, India, to other communities where the Shiites are minorities, they have their own problems. For example, they are not familiar with the AhlulBayt (a.s.) teachings, they do not have a cleric or a mosque, they have problems in teaching children and teaching Islamic topics, etc. Dealing with the situation of Shiites in different regions is the mission of the AhlulBayt (a.s.) World Assembly.
ABNA reporter: In your opinion, what are the ways to strengthen the General Assembly of the AhlulBayt (a.s.) World Assembly?
Farmanian: We have to entrust some issues to the General Assembly. The members of the Supreme Council or the Board of Trustees must be chosen and appointed by the General Assembly. It means that the members of the Supreme Council need to feel that the General Assembly has chosen them. The Secretary-General should also be elected by the vote of the General Assembly, or by the Supreme Council or the Board of Trustees.
The annual financial balance of the AhlulBayt (a.s.) World Assembly of should be discussed and voted on in the General Assembly, and the members of the General Assembly should be asked whether they accept the balance sheet or not.
If everything is left to the General Assembly, we can hold General Assembly conferences without spending money. We can even charge a membership fee.
In my opinion, local assemblies should be formed based on elections, the output of which will be the Assembly of a country. On the other hand, we should have a regional assembly based on elections, the result of which will be a world federation. For example, the Shiites of Bangladesh vote for six people as representatives of their country and these six representatives choose the members of the regional assembly. The members of the regional assembly vote and elect a person as a member of the General Assembly of the AhlulBayt (a.s.) World Assembly. Then the members of the General Assembly vote for the Board of Trustees and the Supreme Council or elect the Secretary-General. That is, the person who votes, directly or indirectly, feels that he has a role in the appointment of the Secretary-General.
ABNA reporter: Please describe the activities of the Department for the Scientific and Cultural Affairs of the Assembly for this year’s conference.
Farmanian: This year, this department organized and presented the content of three commissions, Communications and Networking, Local Assemblies and Missionaries, and Cyberspace. In the Commission of Local Assemblies and Missionaries, we have had a good interaction with the Department for International Affairs.
Also, the Department for Cultural Affairs organizes the exhibition of the 7th General Assembly. The exhibition has 31 booths and will be held on the second floor of the conference hall.
Some international institutions, such as Astan Quds Razavi, Al-Mustafa (p.b.u.h) International University, and the World Forum for Proximity of Islamic Schools of Thought, will have booths in the exhibition. Also, the medical sciences universities of Iran from Tehran University and Shahid Beheshti University presents the medical activities and achievements of the country in their booths. In this exhibition, knowledge-based organizations of Islamic Azad University will present knowledge-based achievements. The cyberspace has an outstanding booth. Also, we will have a Quranic exhibition where Quranic activities will be presented.
The AhlulBayt (a.s.) World Assembly will have several booths to introduce its works and products. The Department for Scientific and Cultural Affairs, WikiShia and the Department for Cyberspace will have large booths at the exhibition.
In the closing ceremony, the proceedings and works of the Conference “Hazrat Abu Talib” will be unveiled in 21 volumes. In the book “Mirror of Works” the portfolio of works translated by the Assembly is presented. The book “Assembly Companions” is a memoir of 128 deceased members of the Assembly. The above works will be unveiled in the 7th General Assembly.
A book titled “Challenges of Assembly activities in 30 years” that we have prepared for the change approach of the Assembly, will not be unveiled, but will be presented to certain people.
ABNA reporter: Ayatollah Ramazani is seeking to implement the change approach in the new era. What are the innovations Department for Scientific and Cultural Affairs in the 7th General Assembly that were unprecedented in previous assemblies?
Farmanian: Of course, I was not present in the previous general assemblies. At least, this department was only responsible for holding the exhibition, and no serious content was prepared for the commissions. But in this course, it has prepared scientific and solid content for the commissions, which has been worked on for hours.
In the final statement, the commissions will define some specific operational tasks. Duties will be defined for the Assembly and duties for the members of the General Assembly to perform in the next four years. This work did not exist in the previous general assemblies in a detailed and operational way.
A series of content works have been carried out, such as the unveiling of the works of the Hazrat Abu Talib Conference, the books “Mirror of Works”, “Assembly Companions” and scientific works that were unprecedented in previous periods. The exhibition will also be held in a more technical and detailed manner, and new organizations have been invited to participate in it, which was not the case in previous years.
ABNA reporter: Is the Department for Scientific and Cultural Affairs involved in preparing the cultural package for guests?
Farmanian: We have prepared a cultural package. The cultural package is not heavy in terms of quantity, but it contains contents that exist in the virtual space, which we offer to the guests by providing the email address, website address or QR Code, or other methods.
Guests are given a card that has a QR Code to go to a website where all of our products are available for them to download. Of course, we are looking to give the guests a flash memory that contains 813 books of the Assembly or give an address to receive the books.
We also got a free four-year subscription from the Noor Computer Research Center of Islamic Sciences for guests, with which they can access hundreds of software.
ABNA: Thank you for your time.