Third Anniversary of the Demise of Late Grand Ayatollah Fazel Lankarani Held in Mashad

(Jamhouri Islami Newspaper 22/May/2010)

The third anniversary of the demise of the great Shiite religious authority Grand Ayatollah Fazel Lankarani was held in his office in Mashad in the attendance of the trustee of Astan Qods Razavi Ayatollah Tabasi, Mashhad's prayer leader, Ayatollah Khalkhali, Ayatollah Mortazavi, Ayatollah Ashrafi, Ayatollah Reza Zadeh and several hundred Mashhad seminary professors, government officials and staffers of organizations and people from various strata of society.

In this ceremony which was blessed with the recitation of the Quran, Hujjatul-Islam Fazel Kadkani delivered a speech. Having elaborated on the significance of knowledge and superiority of the learned, he said, "One of the characteristics of grand Ayatollah Fazel Lankarani was to express great love for the pure family of the Holy Prophet especially Fatima Zahra (a.s.).  The late Ayatollah wanted the day of the martyrdom of Hazrat Zahra to be turned into another Ashura. Thanks are due to Allah, this year we witnessed that late Grand Ayatollah Fazel's dream has been actualized. In spite of being weak and suffering from different health problems, he used to attend the ceremonies that were held to commemorate the martyrdom of Hazrat Zahra. Late grand Ayatollah Fazel Lankarani (may his soul rest in peace) rendered great services to the Islamic seminaries. He trained thousands of students and jurists and authored many works."

Fazel Kadkani added, "Grand Ayatollah Fazel Lankarani was under the blessed attention of God. He was a prolific writer amongst the contemporary jurists. He is one of the jurists who trained many students. Many teachers who are teaching in the seminaries are his students. He was also known for his political and revolutionary stances. His statements and the positions which he adopted in the critical junctures of the revolution will never be forgotten. He was one of the greatest spiritual and moral icons amongst the jurists."

"According to a tradition "when God wants a servant to be benefited from His benevolence, He will prepare the means", God prepared the means for success for this great religious authority. Indeed, he was so useful a Marja for the school of the Ahlalbayt (a.s.).

"The people of Iran do not forget his position about Salman Rushdi, the apostate. He emphasized on implementation of Imam Khomeini's verdict. We remember that some individuals were trying to weaken the Imam's decisive stance but grand Ayatollah Fazel Lankarani opposed it. Also our dear people do not forget his stance about the prayer leader of Masjid al-Nabi who insulted the Commander of the Faithful and Shia. The late Ayatollah announced that it was not permissible for Muslims to follow him. As a result of his verdict,  the amir of Medina was forced to deprive the said person from leadership of prayers for two years," he added.

Finally, Fazel Kadkani expressed thanks to the people of Mashad and Ulama of Mashad seminary. "Praise belongs to Allah, we are glad to see that the late Marj'a office is still open and the great services which he rendered are still continuing in and out of Iran. Thanks are due to Allah that Grand Ayatollah Fazel Lankarani's son, Ayatollah Sheikh Jawad Lankarani, his noble successor and a competent jurist of the time, is one of the brilliant lecturers in the Islamic seminary. His postgraduate lectures in jurisprudence and its principles have given special warmth to the seminary.