Cleric calls Muslim world for a “show of solidarity” during Hajj pilgrimage

The Secretary General of World Forum for Proximity of Islamic Schools of Thought has addressed the Muslim scholars across the globe to emphasize their solidarity during the Hajj rituals.

The message by Dr Hamid Shahriari comes as Israel’s genocidal war against the Gaza Strip is in its eighth months leaving behind more than 36,000 civilians dead, most of them women and children.

Following is the full text of the message by Hujjat-ul-Islam Shahriari calling “coordination and solidarity” as the “greatest maneuver of unity” in face of the enemies of Islam.

Hajj of Disavowal

A Message to the Scholars of the Islamic World

In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful

All praise is due to Allah, whose praise spreads throughout His creation, whose forces are victorious, and whose majesty is exalted.

All praise is due to Allah, who has donned glory and pride, chosen them for Himself, and made them a sanctuary and a prohibition for others, selecting them for His majesty and cursing anyone who contends with Him in these attributes.

We bear witness that Muhammad is His servant and His Messenger, who called for obedience to Him and overcame His enemies through jihad for His religion, undeterred by those who gathered to deny him or sought to extinguish his light.

Allah has prescribed Hajj for strengthening and bringing people closer to religion, and jihad as a source of pride for Islam. Yes, Hajj is akin to jihad, as Imam Ali ibn Abi Talib (peace be upon him) said: "Hajj is all of jihad for the weak." (Nahj al-Balagha, Wisdom 136)

Scholars and Notables of the Islamic World:

We stand on the threshold of the Hajj season, with thousands of our brothers, sisters, fathers, mothers, youths, and children having been martyred under the oppression of the most heinous criminals in human history.

The brutality and crimes of the Zionist regime over the past seven months have been so widespread and inhumane that they have shaken the conscience of humanity worldwide. We are also witnessing the cries of protest from American and European students and youths standing in solidarity with the oppressed Palestinian people.

Under these unprecedented circumstances, a large number of the Islamic Ummah is heading to the land of revelation to perform the pilgrimage.

We, the scholars and elites of the Islamic world, with all our doctrinal, ideological, and sometimes political diversity, are responsible for defending the lives, property, and dignity of the Islamic Ummah, and we are fully united in this responsibility.

The world is currently experiencing unprecedented conditions in the contemporary history of the Islamic Ummah. On one hand, the occupying Zionist regime is living through the most isolated period of its fabricated existence over these past seven months due to its brutal acts. Global public opinion is supporting the oppressed Palestinian people like never before and condemning the crimes of this usurping regime. On the other hand, we are witnessing serious divisions in the front of arrogance, which seem to be deepening further.

In such conditions, we stand on the verge of the Hajj season, with a large number of Muslims heading to the land of Hijaz, the meeting place of Allah's Prophets - to establish justice among the people (Al-Hadid, 25).

We, the scholars of the Islamic world, must seize this extraordinary opportunity in these extremely critical global circumstances to enlighten the pilgrims about the philosophy of Hajj and its unique role in Islamic unity and disavowal of the polytheists - especially those disbelievers who have been desecrating the sanctities of the Islamic Ummah with their brutal behaviors and have intensified these violations in an unprecedented manner in recent months.

Hajj is truly a concept beyond regional boundaries and is universal for the Islamic Ummah. As mentioned in the Holy Quran, Allah commanded Ibrahim (peace be upon him) to call all people, not just the believers, to Hajj: "And proclaim to the people the Hajj pilgrimage" (Al-Hajj, 27). The grand rituals of Hajj can serve as the greatest media outlet for Islam to convey the message of this blessed enlightening religion to the world, especially in circumstances like now, where the entire world is watching the most oppressed and deprived human community in the world, i.e., the true inhabitants and owners of the occupied land of Palestine.

It is our duty to disavow the front of disbelief and global arrogance, as Ibrahim set an example for us: "Indeed, there has been an excellent example for you in Ibrahim and those with him, when they said to their people, 'Indeed, we are disassociated from you and from whatever you worship other than Allah. We have denied you, and there has appeared between us and you hostility and hatred forever until you believe in Allah alone.'" (Al-Mumtahanah, 4).

Moreover, Hajj is also a practice of unity and solidarity. In it, the pilgrims practice unity and spend days in harmony and synchronization with each other, demonstrating their resilience and resistance: "Allah made the Kaaba, the Sacred House, a sanctuary for the people" (Al-Ma'idah, 97).

This coordination and solidarity are the greatest maneuver of unity that can comfort the hearts of believers and terrify the enemies of Islam. Through this maneuver of unity, the believers simultaneously show their strength and urge the elites of rulers and their governments towards more Islamic solidarity, making it an obligation upon them.

Scholars and Notables of the Islamic World:

Although the Islamic countries are now in an Islamic awakening and are highly sensitive to any kind of appeasement or normalization with the Zionist regime, the reality is that the front of disbelief and arrogance still does not give up and tries to create new schemes and seditions. Therefore, we must not retreat as long as there are risks of this kind, and we must remind ourselves, the Islamic Ummah, and the Islamic countries that: "Allah does not forbid you from those who do not fight you because of religion and do not expel you from your homes - from being righteous toward them and acting justly toward them. Indeed, Allah loves those who act justly" (Al-Mumtahanah, 8).

Of course, Zionism carries out its plans through conspiracies and vicious schemes, using intermediaries. For years, it has been using its allies and Western supporters to carry out its conspiracies through their intermediaries. Therefore, we, the scholars of Islam, must look at these complex deceptions with insight and always keep the teachings of divine revelation in front of us: anyone who allies with the enemies of Islam and the criminals against Gaza or their supporters will undoubtedly be one of them: "O you who have believed, do not take the Jews and the Christians as allies. They are [in fact] allies of one another. And whoever is an ally to them among you - then indeed, he is [one] of them. Indeed, Allah guides not the wrongdoing people" (Al-Ma'idah, 51).