Friday evening, it was the 31stof May; the cultural committee hosted a meeting of guests from Turkey. Mr. Musa Ada, Bayram Touran and Rajab Sarihan were among this gathering of significance. They responded to our reporters and answered their queries as following:
Question: Please introduce yourself?
I am Musa Ada from Turkey; I was born in 1990 and acquired my seminary educations and qualification in the city of ad-durar. I am currently studying at the seminary in the holy Iranian city of Qom. Demographically, the half of population of ad-durar is formed of Shia Muslims while remaining 50 percent are Sunni Muslims.
My name is Rajab Sarihan and I am a clergyman from Turkey and the manger of 'Bab al-Hawaej' tourist and pilgrimage' company.
Question: How do you currently assess the role of unique personality of Imam Khomeini and his dynamic thought in victory of the Islamic Revolution?
Musa Ada: We visited Iran in 1974 and the Islamic Revolution of Iran was continuing its legal struggle during those periods without any weapons.
Meanwhile, Imam is well-known among all sects across Turkey and is widely recognized for his spiritual combat with the self and this great leader of the Muslim world brought great dignity and self-esteem for the Shia Muslims. All perspectives of dynamic thought of great Imam became soon popular among the public and religious circles.
Imam also preached that the religion and politics are inseparable and go altogether. This ideal was soon welcomed and adopted by clerics and religious figures. The idea was put forward by Imam at a time when the clerics preferred to perform their religious duties and had withdrawn from politics overall.
Bayram Touran: Some Sunni Muslims across Turkey converted to Shias because of Imam's spirit and his untiring struggle against imperialistic and colonial powers. Some Sunni lecturers and professor used to preach Imam's thought in the academic institutes and universities despite all restrictions imposed by the security forces.
More than two million Shia Muslims and around twenty million members of Alawi community, a branch of Shia Islam, live an amicable life along Sunnis in Turkey.
Question: To what extent the clergymen and clerics have played role in raising awareness and Islamic awakening across the Muslim world?
Bayram Touran: This role has been decisive. For an instance, it was Imam's dynamic though that has attracted and drawn us to this arena. We owe our personality to great Imam and fruit and outcome of his ideals in this strategic region.
Question: What are your views about unity among Shia and Sunni Muslims? Are Salafis and Wahhabi extremists are hindering this unity of great importance? How can we accelerate the process of unity among the Islamic sects in accordance with the Imam guidelines?
Bayram Touran: Imam Khomeini the great leader of the Muslim world emphasized through his books and speeches that this unity closely forms main axis of Islam.
This was not just simple issue of Sunni and Shia. Some hostile groups was funding to spread the divide between these two important sects of the Muslim world.. Imam overcame these divisions by giving great significance to the issue of Palestine and this cemented unity between the Sunni and Shia Muslims.
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