In a message issued by Grand Ayatollah Sayyid Muhammad-Sa’id al-Hakim and delivered to the 31st Conference of Preachers in Najaf through his representative and son, Hujjat al-Islam Sayyid Alauddin al-Hakim, the Najaf-based source of emulation stressed upon the necessity of remembering the crimes of the dictatorial Ba’athist regime of Saddam Husayn against the mourning ceremonies held by Iraq’s Shi’a majority in remembrance of Imam al-Husayn, the grandson of the Prophet Muhammad, who was killed in the desert of Karbala in 680 CE.
The revered Iraqi scholar said preachers should always recount the crimes committed by Saddam’s dictatorial regime against Shi’as, in particular, the former regimes’ prevention of Shi’as from holding mourning ceremonies and the killing of scholars and Iraqi citizens.
“The former Ba’athist dictatorship has partnered with Takfiri groups to target Shi’a mourning ceremonies,” he said.
Ayatollah al-Hakim added since the 2003 American invasion until today, the people of Iraq, especially the Shi’as, have faced severe terrorist attacks and there have been many martyrs and wounded from among them.
His Eminence said that without the grace of God, Iraq would be moving toward destruction but the landmark June 2014 fatwa issued by Grand Ayatollah Sayyid Ali al-Sistani in which the renowned Shi’a source of emulation called on “all able-bodied Iraqis” to defend the country, its people, the honour of its citizens, and its sacred places after the capture of Mosul by Daesh forces, and the response by the Iraqi nation had an important effect in repelling terrorist attacks and protected the country from danger posed by these forces.
“We call on the preachers to propagate Islam in this method,” he said.
He called for unity among Iraqi officials and we want the authorities to achieve unity and not to hesitate and spare no effort to serve the citizens of Iraq and added, “Solving the refugee problem and utilizing the experiences of other countries in this regard can lead to a solution to the source of the issue and reduce the refugee problem.”
In conclusion, Ayatollah al-Hakim said that preachers must familiarize the believers with the importance of the tragedy of Ashura and learn from it and added, “By explaining the oppression against the Ahlul-Bayt, especially the ‘Master of the Martyrs,’ Imam al-Husayn, and the atrocities that were committed against them is the most important of their duties.”