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Imam Ridha Flag, Gift to Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah |
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Written by Hakam Amhaz
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Friday, 21 March 2008 |
In an unprecedented event, a delegate from Imam Ali Bin Mussa Al-Rida (pbuh)
shrine panel in the Holy city of Mashhad in the Islamic Republic of Iran hands
over to Hezbollah Secretary General Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah Imam Rida's Flag
raised on the Holy shrine.
This flag has an exceptional story.
The idea first came when an Iranian press delegation visited the Kheyam and Bint
Jbeil villages in the aftermath of July victory in 2006. The delegation returned
home and submitted a request to offer the flag raised on the shrine of Imam Ali
Ibn Moussa al-Ridha (AS), the eighth infallible Imam of prophet Mohammad's (pbuh)
household, as a tribute for Hezbollah's achievements.
"They told me the request would be denied since such thing hasn't happened
before, but we insisted on filing the request to Hazrat Imam Ridha's panel. On
the eve of Imam Ridha's (pbuh) martyrdom anniversary, Ayatollah Sheikh Waez
Tabassi, the panel's chief and representative of Imam Sayyed Ali Khamenei in the
holy shrine, approved our request", Mohsen Khozei, the representative of the
Imam Ridha shrine panel, told Al-Manar TV.
It's striking that the flag wasn't made for such purpose; it was raised before
the request. What's more attracting in the story is that all flags raised on the
holy shrine before included the Divine Hadith: "There is no God but Allah is My
shelter and he who enters My shelter shall be immune from My chastisement".
However, without previous planning, the following Koranic Verse was written:
"Help from Allah and a victory near at hand" [Holy Quran, 61:13]. Usually, flags are put
in a special warehouse in the holy shrine; they had never ever been given to
people.
"When we got the flag, we visited the shrine of Sayyeda Massoumeh, sister of
Imam Ridha in the holy city of Qom, the Jamkaran mosque, the Sayyeda Rukaya
shrine and the (Heads) in Syria where the flag was warmly welcomed", Khozei
said. "Later on, we started our visit to Lebanon. People in Bint Jbeil and
Kheyam villages enthusiastically welcomed the flag. We visited the house of
Martyr Ali Monif Ashmar and his brother martyr Mohammad. We also visited martyr
Imad Moghniyeh's family and the martyrs' cemetery", he added.
The delegation presented the flag to Hezbollah deputy secretary general Sheikh
Naim Kassem who in turn offered Hezbollah's flag to Imam Ridha (pbuh) holy
shrine. "We appreciate the hardship of traveling from the holy city of Mashhad
to Lebanon holding a flag from the Imam Ridha (pbuh) shrine", Sheikh Kassem said.
"For us, it's a very nice and generous gesture. It also has a positive effect on
the morale of the fighters and the faithful," he added.
The delegate is to visit Hezbollah's former secretary general Sayyed Abbas
Moussawi's mausoleum in Nabi Shiet (in the Bekaa region) where a celebration
would be held to welcome the flag.
The final destination of the flag will be in the hands of Hezbollah's Secretary
General Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah who is also Imam Ridha's grandson.
Source: Al Manar
Comments posted are the sole opinion of the author and may not necessarily reflect the opinions of AIM. |
