Shia Cleric Offers Friday Prayer with Sunnis in India

As a step towards bridging gap between Shias and Sunnis and sending out a message of a common Muslim platform, director of Hajj and Pilgrimage Research Center of Iran offered Friday prayer with Sunnis at Lucknow mosque.

Iranian Shia cleric Mahdi Alizadeh Mousavi, director of Hajj and Pilgrimage Research Center of Iran, offered joint Jumah namaz (Friday prayers) at Lucknow’s historic Masjid Teela Shah Peer Mohammad -popularly called Teele wali Masjid in Lucknow on Friday.

While the mosque is under Sunni management, the prayer was also led by Maulana Qari Mannan-son of the current Imam of the mosque- Maulana Fazlul Mannan. Along with Sheikh Mahdi was also present Maulana Kalbe Sadiq, senior vice president of All India Muslim Personal Law Board and others from the Shia community, offering prayers together with Sunni brethren in the jam-packed mosque.

In his address post the prayer, Sheikh Mahdi said that it was important for Shias and Sunnis to come together to fight radical ideologies who want to mar any attempts of unity.”

Clerics and people for both Iran and India should form a joint committee to foster unity and support and initiate such joint efforts,” he said. “The Quran does not demarcate amongst us as Shias or Sunnis, and so we need to do the same,” he added.

source:timesofindia