Seminar with Professor Seyed Mostafa Mohaghegh Damad: Need to establish Hawzah in the Western Society

The students and staff of Al-Mahdi Institute had a seminar on Thursday, 21^st March 2013 with Ayatollah Professor Syed Mohagegh Damad, who had come to present a paper in the “Fiqhi” workshop on Fasting.

Ayatollah Seyed Mostafa Mohaghegh Damad is an Iranian Shia Cleric and Reformist who has been called “a leading instructor” in Iran’s Seminary City of Qom. After a short introduction by Shaykh Ali-reza Bhojani, Ayatollah Professor Seyed Mostafa Mohagegh Damad was requested to open the discussion with a short speech. He shared his family’s historical involvement as initiators of Hawzeh Ilmiyah in Qom.

He spoke on the need of a Hawza in the Western Society, and expressed how the students of Al-Mahdi Institute were fortunate to be able to gain Islamic Knowledge in the West where they are free to ask questions and think critically and comprehensively under the guidance of scholars such as Sheikh Arif Abdulhussain, Dr. Fanaei and others.

The discussion was then opened to the students and staff. Most of the questions posed were based on the topic of ‘Marja’iyah’ and the importance of understanding the way it ought to function in this era.