The rector of al-Mustafa International University continued, “At a time when division is emphasized and groups are trying to stir up conflicts, it’s thanks to the people who planned this important issue, namely cultural dialogue between Iran and the Arab world, with the vision of a modern Islamic civilization because, along with the formal communication between Iran and our brotherly countries, strengthening entry into this dialogue and cultural and scientific diplomacy is a necessity.”
He emphasized that the colonial powers have imposed a “new civilization” on the Islamic world that differs from the common intellectual foundations of the people of the region. This has led to serious alienation with the former civilization in the region because of the imposition of humanism against theism, a profit-oriented and individualistic ideology as well as the separation of religion from the public realm.
Hujjat al-Islam Abbasi added, “All these features of the new civilization are different from the civilization that existed previously. The bitter product of the new civilization for the world is colonialism and one cannot separate colonial history from the history of modern civilization and is still has an effect today. This phenomenon is observed all over the world, including in our region.”
His Eminence argued that the creation of division is one of the negative effects of the new civilization and said, “The colonial masters attempted to separate the components of the Islamic civilization by creating false identities and they created contradictory identities for the Arab, Turkish, and Iranian ethnicities which caused large components to become small in comparison to each other and today, we are still witnessing such cultural action.”
He continued, “For two centuries, there has been some awakening among Muslims to return to civilized identity and scholars have understood this pain and tried to bring the Muslim nations back to their former civilization. The Islamic Revolution of Iran is a turning point in rebuilding Islamic civilization in accordance with the needs of the time.”
Hujjat al-Islam Abbasi explained that the reconstruction and revival of Islamic civilization is the most important goal of the Islamic Revolution and added, “The unity of the Muslim nations is the foundation of Islamic civilization. Scientific progress is the foundation for the creation of a new civilization and despite four decades of pressure and sanctions, we have witnessed that Iran has enjoyed scientific progress and growth due to this civilization.”
The Iranian scholar also referred to efforts to create division in the Muslim world and said, “The Takfiri conspiracy isn’t a small conspiracy and they assumed that they could ensnare the Islamic world for dozens of years and that this would have many negative consequences for the region. However, we have not been completely freed from the Takfiri conspiracy and it’s still being pursued in the Muslim world in order to fuel pessimism.”
Hujjat al-Islam Abbasi added, “The Takfiri ideology is a major obstacle to the creation of a new Islamic civilization because an ideology which doesn’t tolerate its Muslim brothers and sisters can’t build civilization with a global approach but rather, the condition for the creation of civilization is the emphasis on human values. How can one who can’t tolerate the followers of his own religion claim to be the creator of a civilization?”