Dr. Ayat Peyman, Secretary General of the World Assembly of Shia Studies and Secretary of the Council of Religious Scholars of the Country:
We adhere to the policy of unity (wahdat) and proximation (taqrib) in the Islamic system, but we have different views on this important category with the trustees of The World Forum for Proximity of Islamic Schools of Thought
In our view, Wahdat only means not insulting the faith and sanctity of the followers of other religions and avoiding insults and curses at gatherings and in the media, and Taqrib only means emphasising the common beliefs, jurisprudence and ethics and not fomenting the differences we have on these three issues,
We accept Wahdat and Taqrib to this extent and not more than that. Because more than that leads to retreat from the correct and appropriate positions of the Shia, to the concealment of historical facts, to the deviation from the truths of the Shia’s beliefs and the distortion of history, and it leads to the continuation of the oppression and violation of the right of the Ahl al-Bayt, peace be upon them,
We do not accept the concealment of facts and the unjustified flattery that is carried out under the pretext of wahdat. We consider the current routine of unity and taqrib fruitless, as it creates audacity towards doing untruth and provides opportunities for Takfiri and terrorist groups of reprehensible Wahhabism, as well as the excessive arrogance of the Muftis, who are hostile to the oppressed Shiites,
Wahdat and Taqrib are the effective and rational unity achieved by great Shia scholars like Sharaf al-Din, Allameh Amini, Seyyed Hossein Boroujerdi and Imam Musa Sadr.
They have left an impact on the Shia and Sunni world without giving up resistance and effort and without deviating from Shiism.
They have clarified the facts and changed the opinions of personalities such as Sheikh Shaltut and his fatwas, and they have been able to include Shia jurisprudential books in the texts and textbooks of Al-Azhar Egypt, or the late Seyyed Abdul Hossein Sharaf al-Din should stand as Imam in Masjid al-Haram,
But today, the flow of Wahdat and Taqrib is one-sided, and with huge expenditures from the funds of the Imam of the Age (A.J.) and the coffers of the Shiite nation for more than forty years, it has been spent to give disproportionate privileges to the extremist followers of other religions. And indeed, the extremist anti-Shiite tendencies are unintentionally reinforced by both the Wahhabi rulers of the Arab countries and our Shiite rulers. This has caused damage to the existence and status of Shia in Iran and the world over four decades. The bad sign of this is the disturbance of the population balance in the border areas far and wide in Iran, which has spread to the central provinces and revealed the danger of a population crisis,
The current policies of Wahdat and Taqrib have shortened the process of de-Shia in Iran and seriously jeopardised the future of the Shia nation in Iran. Many professors and scholars in Howzah believe that in order to preserve Shia Iran today, it is urgent to reform and adjust the system of the two institutions that are responsible for the costs and hold fruitless conferences and low-yield activities for Taqrib, and it is necessary to adopt an approach that meets the requirements of the time policy of Wahdat and Taqrib,
The World Assembly of Shiite Studies, which is composed of thinkers and scientific elites, professors and researchers of Howzah, universities and scientific departments, follows the generality and summaries of the policies of Wahdat and Taqrib and the menu of the Imam and the leadership, reserving for itself and any independent scientific and religious organisation the right to think and criticise freely and protest against erroneous intellectual and ideological processes and actions,
It is hoped that the custodians of Wahdat and Taqrib will hear other voices in the Howzah and the Universities and form genuine spaces for thought and criticism with sympathetic and critical seminarians and academics and not insist on the unacceptable trend of the past four decades and not block the path to change and improvement.
Dr. Ayat Peyman
