Foreign preachers at Iran Qur’anic expo seek to promote Islamic culture worldwide
The international section of the 30th Tehran International Qur’an Exhibition is hosting Qur’anic experts from various countries around the world.
The expo is currently underway in the Iranian capital Tehran. The annual exhibition, which is held during the holy month of Ramadan, kicked off on April 1 and will continue until April 15.
The expo’s international section was launched to make visitors familiar with Qur’anic activities in the international arena.
Al-Mustafa International University runs the event’s international section. It is an international academic, Islamic and university-style seminary in the Iranian city of Qom that was established in 1979. It has international branches and affiliate schools.
The institute seeks to promote Islamic sciences, educate religious scholars and disseminate Islamic thought. It provides services in various fields of Islamic and human sciences.
Sadeq Dehqan
Staff Writer
The students of this institute are mainly selected from countries with Muslim communities.
Num Patan from Thailand is one of the students of the institute. In the Thai pavilion, the 44-year-old told Iran Daily about Qur’anic and Islamic activities in his country in the holy month of Ramadan.
“Although Thailand is not an Islamic country, Muslims are the biggest religious minority in the country and account for almost 10 percent of its population. Although Muslims are scattered in Thailand, most Muslims live in the south in the areas bordering Malaysia,” he said.
Num said he lives with a Muslim family in a small town near Bangkok. He said he has been interested in religious teachings since childhood. The student said he is a Shia Muslim and has come to Iran to boost his knowledge about Shia Islam.
“I became interested in Shia Islam because of good and moral characteristics of Imam Ali (the first Shia Imam),” he said.
He said Al-Mustafa International University is a center of Islamic sciences for foreign seminary students, adding that most of them are students from African and southeast Asian countries.
“I have been studying in Iran for nearly 20 years. Presently, I am completing the final stages of my doctorate in the field of interpretation of Qur’anic sciences. Students in this center are dispatched to their hometowns or other places as ambassadors of Islamic culture and education to disseminate religious sciences. After completing my education I will return to my country and set up a department at the Thai University for teaching religious sciences. Recently, scholars and clerics who have studied in Iran published a translated copy of the Qur’an in the Thai language, which will help promote the teachings of the holy book,” he said.
Mohammad Ouedraogo is a Qur’anic preacher from Burkina Faso who has been studying in the field of interpretation of the Qur’an. He said his country has a population of 22 million, 70 percent of whom are Muslim.
“Our country is not ruled on the basis of religious foundations,” he said. But everyone with any religion and belief is free to propagate their religious ideas, and no one has the right to stop them. Muslims constitute the main population of the country. Hence, a spiritual atmosphere prevails there in the month of Ramadan. During this month, people participate in sessions related to the interpretation of the Qur’an and help the needy.”
“I have learned many things in Iran. This is the first time that I am taking part in this Qur’anic exhibition. Attending this exhibition was a very good experience for me to familiarize myself with Qur’anic activities,” he added. Sana Sidi was another Qur’anic student in the pavilion of Burkina Faso who told Iran Daily about his presence at the expo.
“I taught Qur’anic sciences in my country for two years,” he said. “I came to Iran to complete a master’s degree in the Qur’anic field and plan to return to my country next year and continue to teach interpretation of the Qur’an and disseminate Islamic culture. I also want to make more people familiar with different aspects of Islam and the Qur’an.”
The 30th Tehran International Qur’an Exhibition is showcasing paintings, verses and teachings of the Holy Qur’an, as well as calligraphy and illumination artworks. More than 20 countries are presenting their works.
Rare manuscripts and books related to the Qur’an as well as interpretations of the holy book are also showcased. Publishers from several countries have brought their newly-printed copies of the Qur’an.
The expo is the most significant exhibition of its kind in the Muslim world, which also hosts world-renowned Qur’an reciters.
It is organized annually by the Iranian Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance during Ramadan, with the aim of promoting Qur’anic concepts and developing Qur’anic activities.