His Eminence Al-Sayyid Al-Hakeem meets with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations

His Eminence Al-Sayyid Al-Hakeem meets with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
2020/02/19

His Eminence Grand Ayatollah Sayyid Mohammed Saeed Al-Hakeem, on 15 February 2020, received representative of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the UN in Iraq, Dr. Salah Al-Haaj Hasan and his team.

Dr. Salah Al-Haaj Hasan presented a report on the projects undertaken by FAO, consisting of ways in which agriculture can be improved in rural and semi-urban areas in Iraq, in order to ensure food provision for Iraq and a decent life for farmers.

Day Questions

How do you see the relations of the Islamic world with the west?

Presumably, there should be a review of the backgrounds of the past positions and start a new era of relations and sensible dialogue that reserve the legitimate rights and participate in world peace and security away from any extremism and transcendence that used to govern the relations in the past. We encourage Muslims to present the real Islam and its humane concepts without adopting the attitudes of the Muslim rulers of the past centuries, since those rulers – in general – were like all rulers who care about their own welfare and did not mind using Islam and distorting its image to protect their rule. We can see the true Islam clearly in the biography of the Prophet and the Imams (peace be upon them) through the many incidents in history. Imam Ali (peace be upon him) refused to use force with those who refused his authority, although he was the legitimate leader, and gave them the chance to express their peaceful opposition. In all his wars, he was not the one to start the fight. We see the same in the life of Imam Hussain (peace be upon him). Although he rose to reform, he did not start the fight with the Umayyad army sent by the ruler of Kufa, Ibn Ziyad. He insisted that he will not be the one to start the fight. Indeed, it was the Umayyad army that started the fight against him.

If I am in a Shia area and the Adhan is raised, does this suffice for me and can I consider it that time of prayer? Or is it better for me to wait for a few minutes as a precaution?

It is permissible to depend in determining the time of the prayers on the adhan of someone reliable and knowing. So it is permissible to rely on the adhan for Dhuhr and Maghrib. In determining the time for the Morning Prayer one should act on precaution in delaying the prayer until he is sure that the Fajr time has entered.