Ayatollah Nouri-Hamadani: Shia Imams stressed to followers to pray in Sunni mosques

Ayatollah Nouri-Hamadani explained that the Pure Imams always stressed to their Shi’ah [followers] that they should pray in Sunni mosques and communicate with them and participate in their gatherings and be present at their funerals. “Thus, Shi’ites and Sunnis form one school of thought,” a Rasa News report quoted Ayatollah Nouri Hamedani on Monday.

The ayatollah made the remarks in a meeting with a number of seminary officials in the holy city of Qom adding that disunity leads to “weakness among Muslims” and allows the enemy to “exploit” them.

Ayatollah Nouri-Hamadani stressed that the lofty culture of Islam calls for unity and harmony, saying that Muslims should continue to strengthen cohesion among their various sects as it leads to the strengthening of the Islamic religion. Thus, the prevalence of differences and sectarianism among Muslims makes it easier for the enemies to exploit them.”

In other part of his speech his eminence said that unity is one of the most important factors for the pride of Muslims. “One of the first actions undertaken by the Prophet Muhammad was to promote unity among Muslims and he did not differentiate between blacks and whites [races] or between Arab and non-Arabs.”

He pointed to the existence of the many verses and narrations in this regard, including one verse which states: “Hold fast, all together, by the rope which God (stretches out for you), and be not divided among yourselves…” [3:103]. Hadith al-Thaqalayn also refers to this “rope of God.”

Ayatollah Nouri-Hamadani emphasized that the rope of God refers to the Ahlul-Bayt and that we must hold firm to this rope so that we do not go astray and split into sects. He noted that “there is no doubt that differences between Muslims lead to weakness.”

“Today, the enemy is trying to sow discord and driving a wedge between Muslims. For this reason, they created a lot of sectarian groups and extremist factions such as ISIL, the Taliban and Salafist groups,” the revered source of emulation stated.

He stressed that oil money used to strike at Muslims, saying: “The enemies have resorted to pumping money into some countries to expand the divide between Muslims. Saudi Arabia is ready to cover the expenses of the Zionists’ war on the Gaza Strip.”

In conclusion, Ayatollah Nouri-Hamadani explained that the Prophet Muhammad repeatedly warned against creating discord among Muslims, adding: “Do not [claim] be a nation ready for martyrdom unless you have strong hearts, while you weaken the faith of the people who adhere to their material desires and abandon their spiritual needs.”