Ayatollah Hasan Akhtari calls for unity among Muslims

Islamabad
A senior Iranian leader, Ayatollah Hasan Akhtari, Thursday said evil forces were not the enemy of a single school of Islamic thought but of the entire over 1.5 billion Muslims and this underscored the need for unity in their ranks.
He said Iran was with Pakistan on the issue of Kashmir and had helped Kashmiris during last year floods, as it supported Pakistani brothers.
Speaking to Ahlul Bait Assembly function here, the head of Iran’s Ahlul Bait Assembly Ayatollah Akhtari, who played an important role in the Islamic Revolution under the leadership of late Syed Imam Khomeni, said it was a blessing that Iran and Pakistan were locked in brotherhood and friendship.
He pointed out, “Our enemy is not against any single sect but entire over 1.5 billion Muslim world and this shows how important it is for all of us to forge unity to foil anti-Islam conspiracies”.
Akhtari noted that former US diplomat Hinery Kissenger once told the then president Bush that how important it was to sow seeds of differences between Sunni and Shia Muslims in order to subjugate them.
Ayatollah Akhtari maintained Rehbar e Inqilab attached great importance to Iran’s relations with Pakistan and wanted closer contacts between the governments and people of the two Islamic republics. “Petty differences are not as such that should make us two different Ummahs,” he remarked.
He noted there was nothing Islamic in setting people on fire and killing them and questioned had the Prophet Hazrat Mohammad (Peace Be Upon Him) ever allowed massacre of Christians and Jews during his divine life.
Akhtari went on to ask had the Khulfa e Rashideen during their massive victories ever let bloodletting and said certainly not.
“Are the Muslims so helpless that any person can raise a flag and becomes their caliph? Iran and Pakistan with unity can become a major force and this will ultimately happen God willing,” he asserted.
Former parliamentarian and Milli Yakjehti Council President Sahibzada Abual Khair Muhammad Zubair said the enemies of Islam could only be defeated through unity among Muslims.
He said in this connection, Iran had been playing a very important role and during his visits to the Islamic Republic to attend various events, he had witnessed fantastic demonstration of unity there.
Leading scholars, intellectuals, including Allala Sajid Naqvi, Allama Iftikhar Naqvi, Sheikh Mohsin Najafi and Saqib Akbar were present on the occasion.