ME extremist groups trapped by misunderstanding religion

Hujjat-ul-Islam Ahmad Moballeghi, Iranian scholar and director of the University of Islamic Denominations, attended the international conference on “Religious Minorities” in Tokyo, Japan, saying that expansion of prejudiced views against Islam will lead to stern, sometimes violent approaches, reported Taqrib News Agency (TNA).

He stressed necessity of knowing a careful framework for “relation of identity and religion” and “definition of socio-religious identity” as a necessity for knowledge.

The cleric noted that a major issue of Muslims in lack of a general Islamic identity and said a religious identity without Islamic nature is prone to take sectarian hue.

He warned to confine a religious identity to a particular denomination is the first spark of sectarianism.

Professor of Qom Seminary noted,” Followers of each denomination should try to find an Islamic identity besides their original religious identity and that happens when all Islamic denominations should struggle for achieving both religious and Islamic identity.” Adding that gaining such common Islamic identity will channel all religious identities in a positive channel for convergence and cooperation.

Iranian cleric defined an Islamic nation as a moral and ascended society warning that to create such a community is beneficial for the whole human society.

Hujjat-ul-Islam Moballeghi noted that a religious society should not exist merely as a name and formation of a great religious community, Abrahamic nation including all holy religions, is approved by Islam.

Senior Iranian scholar stated that holy Qur’an include verses on mosques same way that it includes verses on churches and other holy sites.

KD