Hujjat al-Islam wa al-Muslimin Seyyed Ebrahim Raeisi, in special news talk program, which went directly on the antenna of the Channel 2 of National Broadcasting, on the occasion of the Karamat Ten-Day Celebrations, highlighting the high number of pilgrims of the Quds Razavi Court said, “Every year, the number of pilgrims of the Razavi Holy Shrine is rising and now, on average, over 28 million pilgrims per year attend the Holy Shrine.”
He further referred to the necessity of providing suitable accommodation for low-income pilgrims of Imam Reza (A.S.) and expressed, “From the beginning of taking responsibility in Astan Quds Razavi, the issue of providing suitable accommodation for low-income pilgrims has been our concern. Accommodation at the camp degrades the dignity of the pilgrim and the guests of Imam Reza (A.S.), hence, Astan Quds Razavi has tried to considerably reduce the accommodation problems for low-income pilgrims with the construction of Razavi Pilgrim City and Razavi Pilgrim House.”
“In the first quarter of my presence in Astan Quds Razavi, the construction of Razavi Pilgrim City began, and after a year the first phase was exploited and today it is used by first-time pilgrims of Imam Reza (A.S.),” he added.
“Today, the first phase of the Razavi Pilgrim House located at 2 km from the Holy Shrine was inaugurated, this phase has the capacity to accommodate about 1,500 pilgrims and we are trying to get the second phase ready up to the end of this year or early next year.”
Astan Quds Razavi Is by No Means Competing with the Private Sector
“Astan Quds Razavi has no competition with the private sector, currently, about 50 hotel apartments and private guest houses around the Holy Shrine in order to accommodate the first-time pilgrims are rented by Astan Quds,” he emphasized, saying that Astan Quds Razavi would not be a private sector’s rival in any way.
“The construction of pilgrim city and pilgrim house in order to complete the infrastructure needed in the holy city of Mashhad for appropriate accommodation of pilgrims, and given the increasing number of pilgrims was felt in Mashhad,” he stated.
Stating that Razavi pilgrim city is now completely free of charge to first-time pilgrims he said, “The costs associated with the attendance of first-time pilgrims are provided from the endowments and public contributions in the form of the vow; and with the initiation of the program many pioneered to participate in this generous act.”
Attendance of More than 700,000 First-Time Pilgrims to Holy Shrine
Highlighting the implementation of the project “Mehr Derakhshan Razavi” in Astan Quds in order to provide the conditions for the first-time pilgrims of Imam Reza (A.S.) he asserted, “Since the beginning of this project, more than 700,000 first-time pilgrims, who due to financial difficulties have not succeeded to visit the Razavi Holy Shrine were able to enjoy their attendance. On average, a thousand first-time pilgrims per day had success to visit the Holy Shrine and they were the guests of Astan Quds for three days.”
In another part of his remarks, he pointed to the utilization of cyberspace and new technologies in the fair distribution of the invitations to Hazrat Guesthouse and expressed, “A software is designed to enable pilgrims to enjoy the blessed food through entering the national code and sortition, furthermore, invitations will continue to be distributed at train stations, passenger terminals, airports and roads.”
Development of Servant, Service and the Served Concepts
In another part of his speech, the Grand Custodian of Astan Quds Razavi pointed out the development plan for serving the deprived throughout the country and added, “The desire to serve the Astan Quds is increasing, different people of different ethnicities, dialects and with different education are eager to serve this illuminated establishment; we do not define the servant only in the Holy Shrine and we believe that many enthusiasts of service to Imam Reza (A.S.) can be servants through serving the people especially the poor and the needy.”
Stating that more than 50 types of services in the project “Servant, Service and the Served” are defined, he said, “For instance, a physician who works in the city, for a few days a year can serve the Razavi Shrine and stay the remainder in their city to serve the needy.”
“Astan Quds Razavi’s representative offices, with the mission of identifying the first-time pilgrims and providing the conditions of attendance, striving to eliminate deprivation, the cultural mission and the development of the concept of servant assistantship have been formed,” he stated, referring to the establishment of Astan Quds Razavi‘s representative offices in different provinces of the country.
Astan Quds Razavi Economic Companies
“We are looking for economic organizing of Astan Quds Razavi and we may hand over some of these companies in the future, of course, as long as the companies have not reached the proper conditions, the transfer will not happen,” he said, highlighting the activities of the Astan Quds Razavi.
“All orientations of Astan Quds Razavi are with the aim of knocking out the problems of the people; the basis of the activities of this establishment is founded on endowment and vow and thankfully, with the trust of people in the last two years, the vows of Astan Quds Razavi have increased, through which many welfare and cultural services are being implemented,” he also commented on the economic activities of Astan Quds Razavi.
“Astan Quds Razavi has various companies and we intend the continuation of all these companies. In order to move in the direction of financial discipline over the past two years, the assemblies of Astan Quds Razavi’s companies have been held regularly, during this period, in addition to improving the quality of the production, we had the total increase of 24% in export. On the other hand, financial audits have been sought to be pursued outside the organizations,” he enunciated.
Astan Quds Razavi is the Most Popular Institution in the Islamic Society
Hujjat al-Islam wa al-Muslimin Raeisi, mentioned Astan Quds Razavi as the most popular institution in the current Islamic society and expressed, “The basis of the income of the establishment is public contributions in the form of vows and endowment and the servants are different classes of people, and its officials are also the people.
Answering a question on the policy of Astan Quds Razavi regarding the high elevation of the Holy Shrine surrounding buildings he said, “These elevations around the Razavi Shrine are by no means desirable and bring about serious problems for the religious and historical texture and also pilgrims and neighbors. Fortunately, we are in agreement with the municipality of Mashhad in this regard and we have asked all the executive departments to handle the situation.”
In the final section of his speech, he pointed to the issue of the foundation of Razavi interest-free-loan bank and stated, “By consulting the experts of the Central Bank and the economists, various aspects of the bank were investigated. The move seeks to set up a real non-interest bank.”
“All the measures to found the bank have been carried out by Astan Quds Razavi and we have been waiting for a license from the Central Bank for about a year,” he added.
Sunday 22 December 2024
