A 3-day ceremony (July 31 – August 2) marked 60 years since Christians began to pay regular yearly visits to the Saint Thaddeus Monastery or Ghara Kelisa – Literally “The Black Church” – in West Azerbaijan province, northwestern Iran. The following is an excerpt of a report on the event by the online edition of Alik Newspaper available at alikonline.ir.
Between 6,000 and 7,000 people took part in the three-day event which is organized annually by Azerbaijan Armenian Caliphate Council. Pilgrims and tourists from around the country attended the ceremony at the church complex run by the Cultural Heritage Organization.
Saint Thaddeus Monastery – Ghara Kelisa – Location Map
The panel organizing the event had set up a tent town nearby to accommodate the visitors during their three-day stay in the province. Organization of a photo exhibition and artistic programs on the sidelines of the event made it more attractive, particularly for the youth.
On August 1, Chaldoran Governor Karim Hosseinzadeh and a number of provincial officials visited the site of the ceremony and held talks with Grigor Chiftchian, the Bishop of Armenians in Western Iran.
In a speech, the Armenian bishop said the signal these yearly visits send to the world is that followers of the Muslim and Christian faiths are living side by side in peace in Iran. “Don’t act contrary to what your conscience orders you to do. Like in the past, we can have peaceful coexistence. That is what we are doing now in the Islamic Republic of Iran. Countries are not meant to be exclusively inhabited by followers of a single faith,” he said.
“Let’s respect each other’s religious differences. Let’s join hands to turn up the heat on terrorism, murder, massacre and destruction.” – Bishop Chiftchian
The bishop went on to say, “Let’s practice patience in accommodating those who hold opposing views. Let’s respect each other’s religious differences. Let’s join hands to turn up the heat on terrorism, murder, massacre and destruction. Thanks to the support the Islamic Republic of Iran has lent to the Saint Thaddeus Monastery, it is now back on its feet. I would like to thank all state officials including the Supreme Leader, the president and the governor for their backing.”
At the close of the ceremony, the torch of the Armenian games, which are to open in Tabriz on August 14, was lit by Bishop Chiftchian before it began its journey to the capital of East Azerbaijan Province.
Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister for Arab and African Affairs Hossein Amir-Abdollahian said on Friday that over the past eight years, Maliki made all efforts to establish a united, secure, developed and free Iraq and he is now an asset in new Iraq.
Maliki stepped down on Thursday to make way for Prime Minister-designate Haider al-Abadi, saying his decision to give up the position to Abadi shows his desire to “safeguard the high interests of the country.”
Amir-Abdollahian said Iran strongly supports Iraq’s new government in its fight against terrorism.
He also gave a positive assessment of Maliki’s contribution to the development of strategic relations between Tehran and Baghdad during his tenure.
Iraq has been fighting ISIL Takfiri terrorists since they took control of the city of Mosul on June 10. Tribal fighters have joined the Iraqi army in the battle against the terrorists.
The ISIL Takfiri terrorists have been committing heinous crimes in the captured areas across Iraq, including the mass execution of civilians and security forces.
The United Nations refugee agency said on Thursday that tens of thousands of Izadi Kurds in Iraq have fled the ISIL-fueled violence in their homeland and sought refuge in northern Syria.
Thousands of Izadi Kurds have reportedly been killed or displaced since the ISIL terrorists attacked the mountainous Sinjar region in northern Iraq in early August.
“If a general agreement is reached on different issues in the nuclear talks, we still need more time to negotiate the details. Therefore, it is unlikely that we will reach a final deal earlier than the four-month deadline of the talks,” Zarif said on Friday.
He said that Iran and the P5+1 group have made overall progress in the course of nuclear negotiations over the past seven months, adding, however, that the six countries have taken a more “cautious” approach to the talks.
“From the very beginning, we have been of the contention that if there is a strong willpower on the side of the West, nuclear negotiations can bear fruit very soon,” he added.
Iran and the five permanent members of the UN Security Council – the US, France, Britain, Russia and China – plus Germany have been holding talks to sort out their differences and achieve a final deal that would end the decade-old dispute over Iran’s nuclear energy program.
They sealed an interim deal in Geneva, Switzerland, on November 23, 2013. The deal came into force in January and expired six months later.
In July, the two sides agreed on the extension of their discussions until November 24 in an effort to achieve a permanent nuclear deal.
Iran’s Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Marzieh Afkham said earlier this month that the two sides will meet ahead of this September’s UN General Assembly meeting in New York.
Ayatollah Khamenei made the remarks during a meeting with Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif and Iranian ambassadors and foreign envoys in Tehran on Wednesday.
“Relations with the U.S. and negotiations with this country, except in certain cases, not only have no value for the Islamic Republic, but are harmful,” the Leader stated, adding no wise person seeks something which is of no value.
The Leader said some believe that “if we sit on the negotiating table with the Americans, many problems will be resolved,” but the negotiations that have been held since last year have proved the opposite.
There were no relations between Iranian and U.S. officials in the past, but last year it was agreed that both countries’ officials would hold talks up to the level of foreign ministers due to the sensitivity of the nuclear issue, and during this time no benefit was gained, and even the tone of U.S. officials became “harsher and more offensive,” the Leader said.
He went on to say that the U.S. did not lessen its enmity and even tightened the sanctions imposed on Iran.
But Ayatollah Khamenei also stated that the nuclear talks the foreign minister and his negotiating team have started will continue.
As long as the U.S. government and Congress continue making hostile remarks about Iran, there is no reason for direct interaction with them, he said.
The Leader also confirmed President Hassan Rouhani’s remarks on Monday, in which he said Iran is seeking interactions with the entire world.
“There are only two exceptions, the Zionist regime and the United States,” he stated.
Ayatollah Khamenei also likened diplomacy to a battlefield, saying if one does not begin the task with serious determination, he will eventually be defeated.
He pointed to the world’s animosity toward the U.S. due to its complicity with the Israelis, saying the entire world knows that the U.S. is complicit in the Zionist regime’s war crimes and acts of genocide in the Gaza Strip.
He cited “diplomatic cleverness and professionalism”, “flexibility at the proper time”, “impenetrability at the necessary time” and “sincere and deep commitment to goals” as the cornerstones of successful diplomacy.
The Leader also said that he agrees with the Palestinians, who say the Zionist regime should pay them reparations for its crimes, which should include the lifting of the blockade of the Gaza Strip.
In a month-long war against the besieged Gaza Strip, over 1950 people have been killed and thousands injured. About half a million people have also been made homeless as a result of the war.
Commenting on the situation in Iraq, he expressed hope that with the naming of a new prime minister-designate, the country’s problems will be resolved and a government can be formed which will teach a good lesson to those who are trying to create a crisis in the country.
On Monday, Iraqi President Fouad Masoum asked Haidar al-Abadi, a Shia coalition’s nominee for the post of prime minister, to form a new government.
Iraq’s National Alliance parliamentary bloc has nominated al-Abadi for the post of prime minister to replace Nouri al-Maliki.
The Mehr Theater Group led by director Amir-Reza Kuhestani will stage Russian playwright Anton Chekhov’s “Ivanov”.
Mohammad-Hassan Majuni, Negar Javaherian and Saeid Changizian will be among the cast of the play.
The Papatiha Theater Troupe will premiere “Second like Year” at the festival, which will be held from August 14 to 31.
Hossein Abadi, Maryam Heidari, Tina Yunestabar and Sahar Saba will star in the play, which will be directed by Hamid Purazari.
Each year, the festival gathers 35 to 40 individuals and companies whose creations are marked by formal independence, innovative character and artistic ambition.
“I congratulate you on winning the world’s topmost award in the field of mathematics,” said President Hassan Rouhani in a message published on Wednesday.
“Today, Iranians can justly feel proud that the first woman to win the Fields Medal is their fellow citizen. Yes, the most competent should verily sit at the highest position and enjoy respect. On behalf of the Iranian nation, I value your scientific endeavors,” Rouhani said, adding all Iranians across the world are seen as the county’s national asset.
The award recognizes Mirzakhani’s sophisticated and highly original contributions to the fields of geometry and dynamical systems, particularly in understanding the symmetry of curved surfaces, such as spheres, the surfaces of doughnuts and of hyperbolic objects.
Although her work is considered “pure mathematics” and is mostly theoretical, it has implications for physics and quantum field theory.
Mirzakhani became known to the international math scene as a teenager, winning gold medals at both the 1994 and 1995 International Math Olympiads.
After earning her bachelor’s degree from Tehran’s Sharif University of Technology in 1999, she began work on her doctorate at Harvard University under the guidance of Fields Medal recipient Curtis McMullen.
She possesses a remarkable fluency in a diverse range of mathematical techniques and disparate mathematical cultures, including algebra, calculus, complex analysis and hyperbolic geometry. By borrowing principles from several fields, she has brought a new level of understanding to an area of mathematics called low dimensional topology, according to Stanford University website.
From 2004 to 2008, she was a Clay Mathematics Institute Research Fellow and an assistant professor at Princeton University. In 2008, she became a professor of mathematics at Stanford.
Iranian woman Maryam Mirzakhani wins Nobel Prize of mathematics
The Iranian woman, Maryam Mirzakhani, a Harvard educated mathematician and professor at Stanford University in California, has been awarded the 2014 Fields Medal in recognition of her contributions to the understanding of the symmetry of curved surfaces.
Officially known as the International Medal for Outstanding Discoveries in Mathematics, the Fields Medal was presented to Mirzakhani, one of four candidates, by the International Mathematical Union on August 13 at the International Congress of Mathematicians (ICM), held this year in Seoul, South Korea.
In a statement, the ICM announced that fluent in a remarkably diverse range of mathematical techniques and disparate mathematical cultures, Mirzakhani embodies a rare combination of superb technical ability, bold ambition, far-reaching vision, and deep curiosity.
“This is a great honor. I will be happy if it encourages young female scientists and mathematicians,” Mirzakhani said. “I am sure there will be many more women winning this kind of award in coming years.”
Born in 1977 in Tehran, Mirzakhani got her bachelor’s in math from Iran’s prestigious Sharif University of Technology in 1999 and received her master’s and PhD degrees from Harvard University in the United States in 2004.
She has also won the Blumenthal Award for the Advancement of Research in Pure Mathematics and the Satter Prize of the American Mathematical Society.
She became full professor of Mathematics at the age of 31 in 2008 at Stanford University, where she is currently working.
Her research interests mainly include hyperbolic geometry, Teichmüller theory, ergodic theory, and symplectic geometry.
The Fields Medal, officially known as International Medal for Outstanding Discoveries in Mathematics, is a prize awarded to two, three, or four mathematicians not over 40 years of age at each International Congress of the International Mathematical Union (IMU), a meeting that takes place every four years. The Fields Medal is often viewed as the greatest honor a mathematician can receive. The Fields Medal and the Abel Prize have often been described as the “Mathematician’s Nobel Prize” (but different at least for the age restriction). – Wikipedia.org
The fatal shooting of 18-year-old Michael Brown by an officer on Saturday in Ferguson– a predominantly black suburb a few miles north of downtown St. Louis County — has sparked large protests, clashes and looting across the county. After two nights of violent protests, President Barack Obama called the fatal shooting a tragedy and urged Tuesday for a thoughtful response. “I know the events of the past few days have prompted strong passions, but … I urge everyone in Ferguson, Missouri, and across the country, to remember this young man through reflection and understanding,” Obama said in a statement. Police officers, some in military-style uniforms, some carrying high-powered rifles and wearing balaclavas, fired teargas, rubber bullets and wooden baton rounds into the crowds, The Guardian reported Wednesday. “We have a right to assemble, a right to freedom,” said Paul Muhammad, a protestor. “But here we are facing what looks like a military imposing martial law. It is not acceptable.” The Police Department in the city of Ferguson refuses to reveal the name of the officer responsible for Brown’s death, citing threats to his safety. Amidst the current unrest, a second police-involved shooting was reported overnight in Ferguson. About 1:00 AM on Wednesday, multiple shots were fired and four or five armed individuals were seen, wearing ski masks, running near the intersection of Chambers Road and Sheffingdel Court in Ferguson, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, reported. Police responded to the shootings and shot and injured one of the suspects. The man was in critical condition in hospital, a police spokesman said. This is while a woman was shot in the head with a projectile about 12:20 AM in a drive-by shooting. Police said they were looking for four or five men. The woman was shot once and is expected to survive. The Federal Aviation Administration approved a no-fly zone over Ferguson after police said one of their helicopters came under fire on “three or four occasions.” The no-fly zone is expected to remain in place until Monday. Rev Al Sharpton, veteran civil rights leader and TV host, appeared alongside Brown’s parents on Tuesday to appeal for calm after two nights of protest in which about 50 people were arrested. Vigils are being planned across the US for Thursday night in response to recent incidents of police brutality – including the death of Michael Brown. Organizers say the vigils are part of the National Moment of Silence (#NMOS14), and that ceremonies will be held in more than 50 cities across 30 states. Brown’s death has invoked the outrage after the 2012 racially-charged shooting of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin by a Florida neighborhood watch organizer who was later acquitted of murder charges. The incident has once again raised questions about excessive police force when confronting black suspects.
#Michael Brown, #Ferguson police, #violence against blacks
President Rouhani said in an address to an economic conference in the Iranian capital, Tehran, on Tuesday that Iran is serious and determined in the nuclear negotiations, but the world needs to know that the opportunity offered by the Islamic Republic is not everlasting.
The Iranian president also stated that a final nuclear deal over Iran’s nuclear energy program would serve the interests of all parties.
Also commenting on the US-led sanctions on the Islamic Republic, Rouhani said Iran has taken major steps to counter the bans. “We have weakened the sanctions… the lifting of the sanctions is in the interest of everyone.”
Iran and the five permanent members of the UN Security Council – the United States, France, Britain, Russia and China – plus Germany agreed on the extension of nuclear talks until November 24 with a view to achieving a permanent deal that would end the decade-old dispute over Iran’s nuclear energy program.
The two sides sealed an interim deal in Geneva, Switzerland, on November 23, 2013, for a six-month period. The deal, which took effect on January 20, expired on July 20.
Under the deal, dubbed the Geneva Joint Plan of Action, the six countries undertook to provide Iran with some sanctions relief in exchange for Iran agreeing to limit certain aspects of its nuclear activities.
Mohsen Esmaili is a jurist and a member of the Guardian
Mohsen Esmaili (Ph.D.) is a jurist and a member of the Guardian Council. Regardless of partisan orientation, he is viewed as an objective writer and critic by the country’s media. A 203rd issue of Panjereh (Window) Weekly has published an op-ed by Dr. Esmaili as to why Imam Ali, the first Shiite Imam and Prophet Muhammad’s son-in-law, was martyred. The publication of the original article – an analysis of a chapter in the history of Islam – was meant to coincide with the anniversary of the martyrdom of Imam Ali (PBUH). A translated version of the article in question is bound to help the readers develop a better understanding of the underlying reasons behind the emergence of the Taliban and extremist groupings such as ISIL (the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant). It should be noted that ossification, fanaticism and irrationalism are not limited to Islam; they can be found among followers of other faiths, even among seculars, too. The following article is in fact a review of the opinions Martyr Motaharri held as to why Imam Ali was killed:
The martyrdom of the Commander of the Faithful, Imam Ali (PBUH) is one of the most tragic incidents in the history of mankind. He was and still is a legend, not just to Shiites and Muslims, but to all those who seek justice, morality and the Truth. That is why all edified souls mourn his loss. And the question remains as to why he was killed so cowardly.
The martyrdom of Imam Ali (PBUH) can be looked at from two different angles. First, who killed him and how? How was the stage set for his assassination? And what was the fallout of his assassination? Second, why did that assassin commit this inhumane crime? Although narrative history is useful, you should never end your quest for the truth about the past when you come up with answers to the first set of questions. In addition to answers as to who committed this tragic crime, you should explore why such a crime was committed. Only when the second question is answered can one make sure it is not repeated. Besides, research as such renders the martyrdom of Imam Ali, just like his life, into a lesson that deserves to be further explored.
A prominent thinker who has explored this issue is Martyr Morteza Motaharri. The present article is designed to take a look at his findings in this regard. Martyr Motaharri looks at this issue in the context of Islam and the Requirements of the Time. When someone asks, “Who killed Imam Ali?” the answer is Abd al-Rahman ibn Muljam. But when the question changes into what killed Imam Ali, the answer is ossification and fanaticism.
What has been reiterated in different books by Martyr Motaharri is that ossification poses the gravest threat to Islamic society and Muslim line of thinking. On several occasions he has warned about ossification. He believed that the Khawarij (a splinter group whose members initially supported Imam Ali, but later turned their back on the son-in-law of the Prophet) and the killers of the first Shiite Imam were only the tip of the iceberg. What is more important is the fact that the mentality of such individuals has always existed and continues to exist today.
In a book titled “Things about Ali that Attract and Repel” Martyr Motaharri writes, “From a religious perspective, breaking away is out of the question in the modern world, because the stage is not set for it today. But what Khawarij did can provide food for thought for us today. Although the offshoot of Islam they created is now history, the spirit of what they did lives on and is now part of the personality of many of us.”
What do ossification and the tendency to break away mean? What are their symptoms? And what constitutes an example of such mentality? Why are they so dangerous? Why should one always pay attention to them? And what are the ways of countering them? What comes below is an attempt to find answers to those questions in the books of a thinker the late Imam described as “always good”.
Tendency to break away draws a line between rationalism and religiosity
Martyr Morteza Motaharri
Martyr Motaharri believed that ossification and fanaticism were to blame for a tragedy as big as the assassination of Imam Ali in the altar. This is the danger that always threatens the humanity. To develop a better understanding of this threat, one should bear in mind that rationalism and religiosity are the two wings a person or a community needs as they fly toward prosperity.
Evidently, flight is impossible with a single wing. Elimination of religion from human life under the guise of wisdom amounts to treason and sinks humans to the nadir of misery. Examples of such misery are in evidence in the West today. To hide behind religiosity to ignore wisdom is bound to have terrible consequences. No doubt, recourse to the outward appearance of religion without paying heed to thinking will have more catastrophic consequences. In religious contexts too, rationalism takes priority and the religiosity of individuals is gauged on the basis of their wisdom.
Those who hide behind religion to deny the fundamentals of wisdom have not only not developed any insight into religion, but are painting an ugly picture of the Muslim faith, which is a divine boon, and thus prevent individuals from turning to religion. Is this not treason? They have stopped their search for the truth at the outermost layer of religion and are thus acting against faith. Khawarij were the epitome of individuals with such mentality. In this regard, Ibn Abi-Hadid says, “If you wish to understand the meaning of ossification and ignorance, pay attention to the fact that when they [Khawarij] decided to do it [kill Imam Ali], they deliberately chose the 19th of Ramadan, and said because they wanted to do good, it was much better to do it on a religiously important night so that they could be awarded by God.”
So Martyr Motaharri concludes that drawing a line between wisdom and religion is a pillar of the breakaway tendency, and warns that today such distinction is pretty much alive and as dangerous as ever. He further says, “Although the ideology of the splinter group did not last long, the mentality they cherished has been there in all Islamic periods. Today some contemporary intellectuals of the Muslim world have incorporated a modern version of such mentality into philosophy.”
Martyr Motaharri believes that Akhbari Shiites [who reject the use of reasoning in deriving verdicts] follow a similar line of thinking. “These two groups are very much like each other.”
Taking wisdom and reasoning away from religious instructions is like taking the soul away from human body. That is exactly what the Church did and today all faiths, including Islam, are paying a price for it. That is why the Koran and other religious texts lay much emphasis on reasoning and wisdom. Mohammad Reza Hamiki, a contemporary scholar, has put forth the theory of “Religious Goals, Religious Decree” to advise the faithful against becoming content with the outward appearance of religion. When caught in this snare, religious requirements which usually surface with the passage of time, turn into a force against the faith itself and fall into the hands of those who accuse Islam of inefficiency. That is an unforgivable sin to commit.
Signs and Consequences of the Breakaway Faith
It was mentioned that in the eyes of Martyr Motaharri what led to the martyrdom of Imam Ali (PBUH) was the fact that his fanatic, ossified killers drew a line between reasoning and religion. They were so fixated on the outward appearance of the faith that they believed those who committed cardinal sins were apostates. That is exactly what rendered their mentality more dangerous.
In his book, Martyr Motaharri said that the threat of hiding behind religion to reject reasoning still exists and has reared its ugly head several times since the emergence of Islam. He identified Khawarij as:
1. People who were diligent and steadfast in sticking to their ideology
2. Religious people who kept vigils and did not care about the material world
3. Ignorant people who were unable to tell right from wrong and misinterpreted things
4. Narrow-minded people who believed they were the only true Muslims in the world and alleged that others either misunderstood things or did not understand them at all and deserved to be tossed in hell.
Bringing these dangerous qualities together poses two serious threats to society. Imam Ali issued the following warning to Khawarij; “You are amongst the worst people. You are like arrows Satan uses against his targets and thus leads people astray and makes them doubtful.”
What are these two grave threats?
By putting aside tolerance and reasoning, Khawarij turn into tools in the hands of the powerful individuals. In other words, what makes the ignorance of these people doubly grave is that they might become playthings in the hands of the powerful and thus interfere with efforts to serve Islamic interests. Faithless hypocrites usually incite ignorant religious individuals against the Islamic community. In fact they turn into a sword in their hands and an arrow in their bows.
Their ignorance caused a certain victory of Imam Ali in the Battle of Siffin to be replaced by truce and his acceptance of arbitration which in turn resulted in the ouster of Imam Ali. Still, they later accused him of bowing to pressures to accept arbitration and assassinated him.
A second threat which the Nahj al-Balagha mentions is confusion among the public. That Khawarij capitalize on religious themes and implement the superficial aspects of the faith leads the public astray, consequently any effort to combat them becomes an uphill battle. Imam Ali (PBUH) likens their mentality to rabies and says, “In light of the fact that they keep a misleading appearance, no one other than me dares gouge their eyes.” (Nahj al-Balagha, 94)
Of all problems Imam Ali had to wrestle with Martyr Motaharri described Khawarij as the biggest. And Imam Ali so proudly says, “I was the only one who spotted the threat Khawarij posed. That they maintained a religious appearance and kept praying and were firm in their beliefs did nothing to keep the reality hidden from my eyes. It was me who realized if they gained power they would spread ossification, irrationalism and factionalism in the world and thus break the back of the Muslim faith. The Prophet has said, ‘Two groups really bothered me: irresponsible learned men and pious fools.’”…
