His Eminence, Grand Ayatollah al-Hakeem, receives the Swedish Ambassador to the OIC and Calls the International Community to Block the Sources of Terrorism and Extremism

His Eminence, Grand Ayatollah al-Hakeem, receives the Swedish Ambassador to the OIC and Calls the International Community to Block the Sources of Terrorism and Extremism
2019/04/27

His Eminence Grand Ayatollah Sayyid Mohammed Saeed al-Hakeem received Mr. Joachim Bergstrom, the Swedish Ambassador to the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) on 27 April 2019.

During the meeting, His Eminence called the international community towards a serious attempt to blocking the sources of terrorism and extremism, in all its types and manners, and to eliminate this cancerous illness from its roots, and not to ignore it. It has created much misery and tragedy in different societies and is spreading its culture, as well as distorting the true image of Islam, which the Holy Quran and the Holy Infallibles (peace be upon them) deliver.

His Eminence indicated the importance of the international community giving due regard to noble ethical traits, which will lead to participating in forming good societies and families.

His Eminence also mentioned the role of Marji'iyya, which requires of its followers to follow the laws of the land, to be truthful, responsible, sincere and to abstain from creating hardships. The Marji'iyya emphasizes the peaceful coexistence and respect for others, whatever ethnicity or creed they may have.

Mr. Bergstrom thanked His Eminence, appreciated his warm welcome. He also expressed his appreciation of the role of Marji'iyya in bringing about peace and easing religious tension in the region.

Day Questions

Is the act of emulation (taqlīd) obligatory? If yes, then kindly give me a reference from the Quran.

Taqlīd is an obligation based on intellect. Muslims are required to implement the laws of the Islamic religion, and they cannot be known in details and in a correct way except by referring to the people of expertise, who are the religious scholars, and relying on them in their findings that they concluded by research and study. The proof of this concept from the Holy Quran is when Almighty Allah said: “And the believers should not all go out to fight. Of every troop of them, a party only should go forth, that they (who are left behind) may gain sound knowledge in religion, and that they may warn their folk when they return to them, so that they may beware.”(Quran, 122:9).

Can you please explain why some people perform the Dhuhr prayer as a precautionary measure after performing the Friday prayer?

The verdicts of the religious jurists differ in considering the Friday prayer to replace the Dhuhr prayer on Fridays in the current time, i.e. the time of the occultation of Imam Mahdi (peace be upon him). So the mentioned precaution is to make sure that the individual fulfills the obligation in accordance to the verdicts of all jurists. His Eminence's verdict is that the Friday prayer suffices, without the need to also perform the Dhuhr prayer.

If a woman was pregnant for 10-15 days and she had an abortion, then will she be required to pay kaffarah, and how much?

It is obligatory to pay the kaffarah for committing abortion. It is the same as the kaffarah of deliberately taking the life of an adult, which is freeing a slave, feeding sixty needy believers, and fasting for two consecutive months.

I am a 22-year-old male who lives at home and goes to university. I dearly love my parents and financially support them as much as I can. However, my father doesn’t give me any privacy. He shows no trust in me and most of the time doesn’t allow me to go and do the things I want to do. Alhamdulillah, I observe my religion in a strict way, and I haven’t committed any act that would warrant my father to act so distrustfully. My friends are also religious Shia Muslims. My questions are as follows: (1) Even though I am 22 years old, is my father still allowed to not let me leave the house and go out with my friends or run errands? (2) Even though I’m an adult, is it permissible for my father to invade my privacy? (3) Is my father permitted to forcefully make me attend non-religious events?

The relationship between a father and his son should be based on mutual respect and love, since the father usually cares about his son and tries to raise him righteously. It is natural that the father watches his son’s behavior and tries to learn about his friends in order to protect him from making mistakes. The son should understand this and appreciate it. With the development of more trust between the two, the following and control decreases gradually when the father sees the good behavior of his son. If the father askes his son to do what does not correspond to the rulings of the Sharia, the son is not obligated to follow him although it is obligatory for the son to deal with his parents with good manners and respect.