National Agenda with savage-el; "and a child shall lead them"...

Address of Grand Ayatollah Mohammad Taqi al-Modarresi

CEREMONY FOR THE SIGNING OF THE JOINT DECLARATION OF RELIGIOUS LEADERS AGAINST SLAVERY

Casina Pio IV, Tuesday, 2 December 2014

In the name of God, the Gracious, the Merciful

“O mankind! Lo! We have created you from male and female, and have made you nations and tribes that ye may know one another. Lo! the noblest of you, in the sight of God, is the best in conduct. Lo! God is Knower, Aware.”

Peace be upon Adam and Noah?. Peace be upon Abraham and Ishmael. Peace be upon Isaac and Jacob. Peace be upon Moses and Jesus. Peace be upon Mohammad; God’s Messenger, and upon his immaculate progeny. Peace be upon the Prophets of God and His? righteous servants.

Dear religious leaders and heads of denominations, I greet you with the salutation of Islam; Salam!

God created creatures and embedded within their conscience the intellect, inscribed with His glorious names and blessed words, thus providing them with a roadmap to their perfection and happiness. For God is the Beneficent and Merciful. He, therefore, planted the seeds of mercy within our souls. God is the Invulnerable and the Honorable, so there exists a yearning for honor in all of us. God is Great and Lofty, and every human seeks greatness and perfection.

But perhaps the greatest of all divine blessings upon us is dignity, for He was the one who dignified the children of Adam. From dignity emerges freedom, and from freedom originates every virtue.

God, then placed the burden of carrying His words and his names upon righteous men and women, who are appointed as messengers and godly preachers, to remind humankind of the names reflected within them. We, the leaders of the world’s religions and scholars of the faiths, carry a tremendous burden and a great responsibly; to deliver to humankind the injunction that they must revert back to their conscience