Subject

The Role of Religious Authorities for

Building the Contemporary Society

DR.Talal Faeq Al-Kamali

Peace and Mercy and blessings of God on you.
Good morning..
Its not coincidence that i have commenced my speech with the word Salam which mean Peace.

It is the call of Islam which contain the message of reconstruction and revival of earth peacefully, as well as
developing and empowering human beings in the way that guarantees the rights of all creations. Because it
is not possible in any way to achieve this without revealing and spreading peace.
Today we are in dire need to build for peace a edifice in our minds ,in our hearts and in our souls ,and then
exchange it as a behaviour with others ,Who agreed with us in the vision or disagreed .
And because peace is the main source of a free and dignified life and its sustainability ,one of its
prerequisites was the realisation of truth, the establishment of love and this is confirmed by Islam in its
vision that frames human behaviour as a social being.
And then the supreme religious authority which hold his position after the occultation of our 12th leader
until now always emphasized to establish peace as a principle of the life .
And just as everyone knows that the Shiite Supreme Religious Authority who is Sayyed Ali al Sistani at the
present time is chosen through criteria and mechanism and legal procedure ,the most important of which
are knowledge, faith , piety and organisation of the matter of nation and solvation of the crises and other
criterias , all of which are derived from the values and principles of Islamic Sharia.
Respected Participants
After the fall of the previous dictatorial regime in 2003 and the vote of the Iraqi people to adopt A new
constitution which regulate their political and social life ,among it provisions was that the head of the shiite
endowment authority which was chosen by the supreme Shia authority known as Sayyed Ali Sistani who
nominees the general secretaries of the holy shrines which are shrines of the Imams of Muslim and there
ideological leaders.
And among these holy shrines Imam Hussain Holy Shrine which is honour to have the shrine of
revolutionary Imam Hossain who martyred in the way of peace and for the realisation of truth and
administration of justice. that’s why I have chosen holy shrine of imam Hussain to be a model of my speech.
In light of what was presented I would like to point out that the selection and designation of the general
secretaries of the holy shrines is accordance with professionalism,and with ethical and religious standards
determined by the supreme religious authority and based on this we can say that these general secretaries
are the eyes of supreme religious authority and his working hands in performing its religious
responsibilities and among the most important religious responsibilities is the building and developing our
society and upgrading it spiritually, morally and
educationally.
However the administrative and professional gap left by some institutions of successive governments
forced Administrations of these Shrines to expand their movement and workspace in a manner that they
reserves their religious identity and function on one hand and is consistent with their intellectual
orientations which focused on the issue of humanity on the other hand as a method adopted from Islamic
basis and rules and also religious authorities adopted these scientific methods.
Under the guidance of supreme religious authority the administration of the holy shrines had a wider
presences during this period As they adopted the educational ,health ,environmental industrial and
agricultural intellectual and developmental issues.And caring for the poor people and orphans and by
employing many citizens to prevent unemployment and also issues related to children and women and
also the issue of displaced persons due to terror in my country.
Based on the above mentioned these department set out through social institutions and religious centres
to develop the individuals and society until they became an example to be followed.
we present to you some of the achievements of imam Hussain holy shrines as a model as follow
 Education

Number of beneficiary Number of

children kindergartens
From 2011
10,265 21 Kindergartens to date
Number of beneficiary Number of schools
children
From 2014
2986 5 Elementary schools to date
Number of beneficiary Number of schools
children
From 2016
616 2 High schools to date

Total beneficiary Total financial donations for students

students
13,867 IQD 477,578,000
 University Education
Number of Number
Student Financial Aid Amount of
beneficiary
students colleges
Al-Warith From
6
7,319,305,646 IQD 10,419 University 2017 to
date
Number
Number of
Student Financial Aid Amount of
beneficiary From
colleges
students Al-Zahraa 2019 to
7,319,305,646 IQD 2526 (females) 3 University date

Total amount of Total number of

financial aid beneficiary students
11,466,255,646 IQD
12,945

1,823,000,000 IQD Financial 9,643,255,646 IQD Amount reduced from

grants tuition fees
 Community Service (Maintenance Services for Public Schools)

Number of qualified
schools
School maintenance and From 2018
50 rehabilitation to date
number of desks
From 2017
1000 Maintenance of school desks to date
 Child Care and Development
Number of beneficiary
children Number of festivals
35,000 6 Al-Husseini Al-Sagheer Festival
(for children)
Number of beneficiary
children Number of books
Karbala International Children's
60,000 5000 Fair
Number of beneficiary
children Number of activities

10,000 5 Kindergarten Activities

Number of beneficiary Number of issues
children Al-Husseini Al-Sagheer
151
4,205,000 Magazine (for children)
 Orphans and Families of Martyred Security Forces

Students of Al- Students of Awlad Students of Sayyid Ali Al- Students of Sayyeda
Warith School Muslim School Asghar School Ruqayya School
443 670 orphans 690 orphans
school students 352 orphans
Number of
Total amount of grants
grants
Financial grants for the martyred and
5,831,679,000 IQD 2621 wounded security forces
Number of
Total amount of grants grants

1,781,793,500 IQD 485 Treating wounded security forces

Number of
Total amount of grants grants
Subsidies for building and renovating
1,876,613,750 IQD 3216 houses of martyred forces
Number of
Total amount of grants
grants
Subsidies for the victims of terrorism
1,131,141,000 IQD 219 and accidents
11,050,577,250 IQD Total amount of
financial donation
 Care for Autistic Children

Number of Centers
From
Autism Care Institutes 2016 to
12 (Karbala – Najaf – Diwaniyah – Muthanna date
– Wasit – Maysan – Dhi Qar – Basra)

Number of Children Treated Current Number of Children

480 663

Total exemptions and discounts for needy families

and orphans per month

15, 375, 000 IQD / Monthly

 Medical Services (from 2010 until now)
Total financial grants Number of
Name of Foundation
(medical aid) Beneficiaries No.

17,000,000,000 4,200,000 Imam Zain Al-Abiden Hospital 1

Warith International Foundation for 2

7,800,000,000 36.000
Oncology
Sayeda Zainab Al-Kubra Eye Surgical 3
601,175,000 648,737
Center
13,200,000,000 1,879,234 Safeer Al-Hussain Surgical Hospital 4

1,500,000,000 83,233 Salamtak Charitable Center 5

Imam Hussein Specialized Center for the 6

71,500,000 222,312
Deaf
750,000,000 10,200 Al-Warith Charitable Dialysis Center 7

14,300,000,000 563,217 Al-Shifaa Center / Covid 8

55,222,675,000 IQD 12,423,097 Total

 Medical Services
Surgical procedures / Special, complex and specialized treatments
No. of Treatment
Coronavirus treatment centers in 15 Iraqi provinces: Treatments
523000 Total Number of Surgeries
Karbala 18 Bone Marrow Transplant
Najaf 41 Kidney Transplant
Baghdad 900 Cornea
Nineveh 1000 Joint Replacement (Knee and Pelvis)
Anbar 1250 Open Heart
Kirkuk 300 Scoliosis
Mosul 291 Complex surgery for oncology
Babylon 68858 General and urological surgeries
Diyala 16590 Eye surgeries and posterior vitreous
Al-Qadisiyah detachment surgeries
19900 Radiotherapy sessions with various
Wasit
techniques, including:
Al-Muthanna 120 brachytherapy treatment
Al-Basra 430 Gamma Camera Examinations
Maysan 180 PET Scans
Dhi Qar 632878 Total
 Community Service (Coronavirus Pandemic)

Number of face masks

produced
Face masks production during the From 2020
1,050,000 Coronavirus pandemic to date
Number of treatment
centers
Construction of private hospitals to treat From 2020
15 Coronavirus patients to date

Number of devices
From 2020
10 Manufacture of electronic sterilization devices to date
 IDPs Housing

Number of IDP Beneficiaries

From
7,112 Imam Hassan City for Pilgrims 2014 to
date
Number of IDP Beneficiaries
From
1,240 Emigrant Al-Zahraa City for Pilgrims 2014 to
date

Total Number of IDPs

8,352
 Community Service (Water Projects)

Number of plants
From 2015
60 Establishing desalination to date
plants
Amount of water filtered annually

From 2016
110,000,000 liters Providing potable water to remote areas to date
Number of Ice blocks
produced annually
From 2017
200,000 Ice Production Plant (blocks) to date
Amount of ice produced
annually
Ice Production Plant From 2017
3,250 TON (Cubes)
to date
 Community Service (Pilgrims’ Cities)
Number of
beneficiaries

23,170,478 Imam Hussein City for From 2016

to date
Pilgrims
Number of
Total number beneficiaries
From 2016
of 1,545.257 Imam Hassan City for Pilgrims to date
Number of
beneficiaries beneficiaries
from 14,639,954 Sayyed al-Awsyia City for Pilgrims
From 2016
to date
pilgrims’ Number of
cities - beneficiaries
From 2014
64,968,396 2440 Al-Zahraa City for Pilgrims Until 2017
Number of
beneficiaries
Sayed Al-Shuhada Service From 2012
25,610,267 Complex to date
 Human Development and Intellectuals Affairs

Number of beneficiaries Number of Activities held

From
989,140 3,316 Training and Skills Development
2011 to
date

Intellectual and Religious Authority

Beneficiaries of electronic library Library Goers / annually Books and Publications Printed
From
30,000 18,000 1,122,000 2006 to
date
Scientific symposia and cultural conferences Conferences / Annually Copying service for researchers / annually

International
50 Scientific Conference 100,000 papers
Providing guidance to pilgrims annually Tribal educational Symposia Conducting marriage contracts annually

36,000 beneficiaries 100 1000

 Agricultural Development
Production Total number for
quantity per year palms cultivated area
Fadak Date Palm From
20 tons 30,000 300 hectares
Plantation 2015
to date
cultivated area
From
250 hectares Imam Hussein Agricultural City 2009
Number of to date
greenhouses cultivated area
500,000 square Since
1000 meters
Protected Agriculture Project 2009
to date
cultivated area
Abi Al-Ahrar City for Fodder Crops
From
1374 hectares 2012
to date
cultivated area
Sayed Al-Shuhada City for Wheat and Barley From
5250 hectares Production 2018
to date
 Community Service (Transportation and Catering)

Number of meals provided

From 2005
35,000,000 Providing free meals for pilgrims to date
Number of passengers / Number of
annually vehicles Providing free transportation From 2005
701,280 1,948 services for the pilgrims to date
 Community Service (Public Services)
Number of meals provided
From
35,000,000 Free meals provided to pilgrims 2005 to
date
Number of passengers / Annually Number of vehicles
From
701,280 1,948 Free transportation for pilgrims 2005 to
date
Number of volunteers / Annually
Number of volunteers serving From
25,000 pilgrims
2005 to
date

Number of employees serving From

14,039 pilgrims
2004 to
date
Special Needs Programs Artistic Activities Scouting activities
From
1,700 beneficiaries 7,000 youths 15,500 youths 2006 to
date
Conclusion
Distinguished participants
in the light of the data that we have mentioned above we draw the attention of the attendees and
observers to the fact that the supreme religious authority has shed light on the important issues concern
with the development of human beings as God’s successors in his land and responsible for its
reconstruction, management and organisation of the life in order to achieve the purpose of his presence
in it ,this is the approach and responsibility of supreme religious authority and this is the same approach
and responsibility of Islam.
The United Nations in the year 1990 focused on the importance of these issues, particularly in the
education and health issues and the level of per capita income and prepared the first development report
presented by Pakistani economist mahboob al haq and an Indian economist professor Amartya sen and
consider this among the indicators that pointed out in the developing countries.
the purpose of our emphasise at the beginning of our conversation on the importance of Man and his
empowerment On the earth and its reconstruction is to reach that the basis of Islamic Sharia and religious
authority do not intersect with absolute intellect and with pure logical thinking of human.
So we find among the rules of the principles of jurisprudence on which the religious authority rely and it’s
the rule of Sharia and intellectual approbation which says that whatever approbate by intellect Sharia also
approbate it and whatever is heinous by intellect it heinous by Sharia.
and the credibility of the this rule is compatibility of the approval of religious authorities with the
development reports of the United nations and their emphasize on the issues of health education and
level of per captia income and securing the future of next generations in all fields of life .All of this is the
result of universal heavenly vision . same like all other religions have this vision including Christianity
because the legislator is the same and because of the unity of religious rule and regulation which agreed
on that, their capital is human by bringing benefit to him and preventing harms from him.
This is my speech and peace and mercy for all.
thanks for your nice attention.
Thanks and good luck to all