Prof. Stresses Need for Universal Disassociation from Israel, US Regimes

IQNA – A prominent Iranian professor says this year’s Hajj pilgrimage is an opportunity to express disassociation from the Israeli-American crimes against people of Gaza.

Professor Mohammad Ali Azarshab, a professor of Arabic Language and Literature at the University of Tehran, made the statement while addressing the “Hajj, Quran-centrism, And Sympathy with Gaza” webinar, which was organized by the International Quran News Agency (IQNA) on Monday, June 10.

“Firstly, we need to understand the comprehensive meaning of ‘disavowal’. Secondly, this concept should not be confined to the Hajj,” he said.

It’s commendable that on the Hajj days and Eid al-Adha, the entire Islamic world is moving towards declaring their disassociation from polytheists, he said.

“Today, declaring disavowal doesn’t merely mean stating our disassociation, but it also involves condemning them and expressing our opposition,” he said as the Israeli regime’s attacks on Gaza since October last year have killed more than 37,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children.

“One of the objectives of the Hajj is to promote unity,” he highlighted elsewhere, adding, “The concept of monotheism is evident in Hajj.” The entire Hajj ritual revolves around monotheism, but alongside monotheism, there’s a focus on unity, he said.

“Hajj serves as a call for unity across the globe, and if the Islamic world overlooks this and people do not strive for unity, situations similar to Gaza may arise in other parts of the Islamic world,” Azarshab said.

The situation in Gaza has highlighted the “pressing” need for unity, he noted.

Hajj has the potential to foster this unity as pilgrims, representing a portion of the Islamic world, should participate in Hajj in such a way that religious, tribal, ethnic, and regional differences are set aside, and pilgrims understand and respect each other, he said while citing verse 13 of Surah Hujarat: “We made you into nations and tribes that you might know one another.”

Courtesy of IQNA