The opening ceremony of the ninth annual cultural festival of safety in the province of Diwaniya.

The ninth annual cultural festival of safety in the province of Diwaniya was launched on Monday 18th of Sha'baan 1438 AH corresponding to the 15th of May 2017, held by the cultural foundation of Imam as-Sadeq (peace be upon him) in cooperation with the holy shrines of Imam Ali, of Imam al-Hussayn and of Imam al-Kadhem and Imam al-Jawad and of al-Abbas (peace be upon all of them) under the slogan: "The way of meeting and seeing in the gathering of the vowed hearts" with the participation of delegations, Hawza researchers and academics in the Mahdawi matter from inside and outside Iraq. This festival will last for four days to celebrate the birth anniversary of the awaited Imam al-Mahdi (may Allah hasten his holy reappearance).

The opening ceremony of the festival, which was held with the presence of the Senior Official of the al-Abbas's (p) holy shrine and the secretaries of the two holy shrines of Imam al-Hussayn and of al-Abbas (peace be upon both of them) and a number of officials of the holy shrines, in addition to a wide collection of religious, cultural and academic figures, has begun by the recitation of verses from the Holy Quran and reading Al-Fatihah in memory of the martyrs of Iraq, followed by the word of the organizing foundation of the festival, which was delivered by Sheikh 'Aqeel Ali Al-Zubaidi.

Followed by the word of the al-Abbas's (p) holy shrine delivered by its Senior Official; His eminence Sayed Ahmad al-Safi in which he said: "The believers should understand the faith of Ahl al-Bayt (peace be upon them) in proper and firm way, so they do not fall into the traps of the devils of mankind whose speciality is seducing them and making them away from their belief..."

Then Sheikh Abd al-Hamid al-Nashmi from al-Ahsa has delivered a word on behalf of the participating delegations, starting it by presenting the congratulations on the auspicious birth anniversary of the awaited Imam (may Allah hasten his holy reappearance).

There was also the word of the Director of the Iraqi Media Center in Washington, the writer and academic Professor Nizar Haidar in which he explained: "To be a supporter of the Imam (may Allah hasten his holy reappearance) means to be always ready, meaning that we must succeed in every test and exam and sufferance, most importantly to do good that is associated with faith, as the believer gets higher with the exams and the good acts thanks to the empowerment of the Almighty God. Therefore, the most important thing to which we should be patient is to succeed to establish justice."

During the opening ceremony, a number of poets have also delivered their poems from popular and classical Arabic poesy to highlight the virtues of Imam al-Mahdi (may Allah hasten his holy reappearance), and they has also chanted poems about Iraq and the sacrifices of its heroes. The attendees have headed at the end of the opening ceremony to the opening of the Book Fair and Photo exhibition that have included the pavilions of the holy shrines.