“Muslims should hold relationship in light of Vadud”, Iranian cleric

Ayatollah “Seyed Mostafa Mohaghegh Damad”, Head of the Islamic Studies Department of the Academy of Sciences, in his speech at the webinar of 37th International Islamic Unity Conference noted that divine religions want to train man based on knowledge of existence, reported Taghrib News Agency (TNA).

“Man is trained based on divine world view and pins hope on divine love; whereas, socially, man is regarded along with other creatures, being part of endless sea of creation and by no means takes it as a vehicle for physical joy”, he said.

“Defining world on the axis of unity of existence will have extensive training and moral consequences. Such an interpretation is equal in sense to the famous saying that “Human beings are members of a whole”, Iranian cleric continued.

He pointed out that divine knowledge and human and social ethics are fully mixed with each other in Holy Quran’s verses and added: “God Almighty gives ethical instructions to man to acquire knowledge, while doing good for the relatives, the poor, and the far and near neighbors.”

“It’s worth emphasizing that holy Quran considers Islam’s prophet as the one who carries book and Hikmat (Wisdom). Quran also refers to Ibrahim as father of the monotheistic religions”, Mohaghegh noted.

“These rules are among rules that God has revealed to mankind. Holy Quran has explicitly said, “This is part of the wisdom which your Lord has revealed to you ˹O Prophet˺.” These are among affairs within classification of Hikmat (Wisdom) for man, who has the mission to teach Hikmat and book of existence”, he said.

Mohaghegh emphasized that these rules and ethical orders are Hikmat, revealed to mankind by God, who tells man not to worship anything/anybody other than God and added: “Hikmat means a group of principles that irrespective of Sharia guidelines, dominate sense.”

He mentioned the word “Mavedat” (Friendship) and noted: “in Islamic Gnostics, Mavedat represents a good name of God. One of the names of God is “Vadud”. That word in Quran refers to God.”

“Vadud is the superlative adjective, derived from the word “Vad”. Vadud is a feature of God Almighty, who has created `Vad’ (Friendship) in us. We should hold relationship bond in light of `Vadud.’ This is an essence of proximity and friendship of followers of all religions”, Ayatollah Seyed Mostafa Mohaghegh Damad concluded.

World Forum for Proximity of Islamic Schools of Thought holds the annual Islamic Unity Conference at the week concurrent with the birth anniversary of Prophet Mohammad (PBUH) and Muslim scholars, thinkers as well as religious and political figures from across the globe discuss the latest issues in the world of Islam at the different sections of the meeting.