Ebrahim Raeisi made the remarks in the interfaith meeting which was held in the National Mosque of Uganda on Wednesday with the presence and speech of Sheikh Shaban Ramadan, Mufti of Uganda, Kaziimba Mugalu, Archbishop of Uganda Christians, and Ms Lukia Nakadama, Deputy Prime Minister of Uganda.

He described the mosque as the most important manifestation of human servitude to God and said, “Explaining religious teachings, paying attention to the problems of Muslims and trying to solve these problems and social reform are among the most important functions of mosques.”

In the meeting, which was held in the presence of members of the Cultural Council of the National Mosque of Uganda, as well as a large number of worshipers, the President pointed out the significant presence of young people in this mosque and added, “What protects our youth and people today from the cultural invasion of enemies is this presence in mosques and paying attention to spirituality in the framework of trying to preserve religious identity.”

Raeisi stated that if everyone does their work with respect to God, human societies will witness the least social damage, and added, “70 years of oppression of the Palestinian people, plundering wealth and enslaving the people of Africa, oppression of people of Afghanistan and Iraq, dissension and promotion of extremism and implementation of separatist policies in different parts of the world are all products of politics without spirituality and attention to God.”

Pointing out that the followers of divine religions know very well that divine prophets never allowed the oppression of anyone, the President clarified, “Today, despite the intensification of the attack on cultures and subcultures, we are witnessing a greater interest in spirituality, especially among young people, and this is very valuable.”

In another part of his speech, Raeisi described the promotion of unity and cohesion as one of the other important functions of mosques and the recommendations of Abrahamic religions and noted, “The collective activities of intellectuals in this mosque in the form of a cultural council in order to promote unity and cohesion and resolve many disagreements is valuable and worthy of appreciation.”

The President added, “The Leader of the Islamic Revolution always calls us to unity and cohesion and emphasises that any action against unity is a move towards the enemy’s strategy.”

Fighting poverty, corruption and discrimination were other issues emphasised by Raeisi as the common points of Abrahamic religions and said, “Today, the institution of the family has been threatened by the promotion of homosexuality, which is one of the ugliest perversions and hated by all the divine and Abrahamic religions, while attention to the family and family formation is one of the points of commonality among the Abrahamic religions.”

Pointing out that the Islamic Republic of Iran, despite all the pressures and sanctions, has a determined will to progress and today it was able to defeat the sanctions and introduce itself to the world as an advanced and technological country, he said, “I hope that my trip to Uganda and two other countries of the African continent will lead to the development of economic and cultural relations between the Islamic Republic of Iran and the countries of the African continent and mutual protection of our interests.”

DAY/President.ir