According to the Public Relations Office of Ayatollah Araki, Dr. Souqandi, the Honorable Director General of Culture and Islamic Guidance of Qom Province, along with his accompanying delegation, visited Ayatollah Araki’s office late this morning, on the 24th of Azar, and met and held discussions with him.
Qom Must Take the Lead in Cultural Production and Cultural Development
Ayatollah Araki called for a stronger and more effective role for Qom in the field of cultural production and cultural development at the national level.
During his meeting with the Director General of Culture and Islamic Guidance of Qom Province, he stated that Qom, considering its vast capacities and potential, deserves greater attention from officials, and emphasized the need for a serious assessment of challenges in this area.
He added that scholars in the fields of culture, jurisprudence of culture, and art have much to contribute, and that these discussions must be explained and presented in a systematic and organized manner.
Referring to micro-level jurisprudence and macro-level jurisprudence, he noted that individual jurisprudence is distinct from the jurisprudence of governing society, and that this distinction requires greater attention from thinkers and researchers.
Ayatollah Araki then urged the cultural authorities of Qom to open the door to broader research in the field of the jurisprudence of culture and knowledge production, so that clarification of these issues at the national level may be accelerated.
Emphasizing that the Department of Culture and Islamic Guidance in Qom should be at the forefront of cultural development and production, he stressed that planning should be carried out in such a way that all cultural offices across the country benefit from and draw upon Qom’s cultural outputs.
He further noted that one of the important social issues in every era is creating enthusiasm among the people for religion and attention to concepts such as lawful recreation, adding that explaining these concepts and preparing the ground for them could be among the priority programs of the Qom Department of Culture and Islamic Guidance.
In conclusion, Ayatollah Araki introduced the Islamic Thought Assembly (Majma‘ al-Fikr al-Islami) as the oldest research center in Qom established after the Islamic Revolution, stating that significant research works and encyclopedias have been produced there, including solid programs aimed at solving certain problems such as monetary and currency issues and reforming the banking system. He expressed hope that the publication and explanation of these studies at the national level would be properly planned.
