The Preacher of the Indian city of Lucknow Sayed Hameed Al-Hassan: Al-Abbas's (p) Holy Shrine with its setting up of the Festival of the Commander of the faithful (p) broke barriers and shortened the distances for lovers and followers of Ahl al-Bayt (peace be upon them)

"Lovers and followers of the Ahl al-Bayt (peace be upon them) in the city of Lucknow appreciate and thank the Al-Abbas's (p) holy shrine, to set up this blessed festival because they consider it one of the intermediaries between them and the holy shrines in Iraq, since most of them did not yet have the honour to visit these sacred sanctuaries."

This is what explained the dean of the Nadhemiyah school -which is one the largest, most important and oldest schools and religious Hawza in the city of Lucknow- Sayed Hameed Al-Hassan in his speech at the opening ceremony of the second edition of the annual international cultural festival of the Commander of the faithful (peace be upon him) held in the afternoon of the13 Rajab 1435 AH corresponding to 13 May 2014, in the hussaynyat Imam Bara in the mentioned city.

He added: "Talking about Imam Ali (peace be upon him) and his blessed biography, as well as the practice of any rite held by the followers and lovers of Ahl al-Bayt (peace be upon them) that would strengthen the correlation with the Imams (peace be upon them), will leave without a doubt a clear imprint reflected positively in the hearts and souls of the lovers of imams (peace be upon them), therefore there was a great feedback from the previous edition of this festival, with positive results and pleasant reactions from most of the communities that live in the city of Lucknow, especially that the personality of the Commander of the faithful (peace be upon him) is not limited to a certain category or class without the other, and this was translated in their attendance and participation in most of the activities of this festival. "

Noting "This good initiative of the Al-Abbas's (p) Holy Shrine established the nucleus of a larger project, as the holy shrine started alone last year, and now it gathers all the holy shrines in Iraq under the flag of Aba Al-Fadl Al-Abbas (peace be upon him), to commemorate the birth of his father, Ali Ibnu Abi Talib (peace be upon them), which is a blessed step that neared long distances in order to connect with Ahl Al-Bayt (peace be upon them). "

He concluded his speech saying: "I welcome the delegations of the holy shrines and sacred sanctuaries in Iraq as well as the respectful scholars who came to the city of Lucknow, which is well known by its loving history of Ahl Al-Bayt (peace be upon them), thanking this precious gesture expressing devotion and loyalty towards our Imams (peace be upon them)."