Professor of Islamic Studies at Birmingham University Meets Grand Ayatollah Shirazi

On فوریه 16, 2019

On February 9, 2019, a professor of Islamic studies at Chester University, Oliver Scharbrodt visited the Grand Shia Islamic Jurist Ayatollah Shirazi at his House in the holy City of Qom in Iran. Mr. Scharbrodt embraced Shia Islam after studies into the culture of AhlulBayt (peace be upon them) and the history of Islam.

In this meeting, Mr. Scharbrodt expressed high respects for the late Grand Ayatollah Sayed Mohammad Shirazi, and wondered why such great characters are rather unknown in the west. The Grand Jurist replied, there are many other phenomenal characters who are still unknown to the world. They are like the treasures that are hidden in the earth and it is the job of scholars to introduce them to the world.

This Shia convert then asked the Grand Jurist about the reason behind his efforts for the globalization of Imam Hussain’s sacrifice, and the Grand Ayatollah Shirazi answered:

“Imam Hussain is an exception to the sense that the Prophet of Islam has said about him: Hussain is from me and I am from Hussain. Most of messengers were murdered, but none of them had a progeny to revive their legacies as done by Imam Hussain (peace be upon him). The reason the Prophet of Islam remained in history is because of the sacrifice of his grandson, Imam Hussain (peace be upon him). So by our commemoration of Imam Hussain, we do in fact enliven the whole religion of Islam.”

Further in this meeting, the Grand Jurist suggested the western university professor to read the book of Nahj Al-Balagha and then he reflected on some social and political clues from this precious book and mentioned some illuminating facts about the model government of Imam Ali (peace be upon him).

The Grand Jurist then hinted:

“There are many political, economic, and social methods which we can extract from the life of Imam Ali (peace be upon him). We all have this responsibility to present these methods to the world and invite everyone to learn about the character of Imam Ali (peace be upon him).”