The closing ceremony of the festival of Imam Al-Baqer (peace be upon him)

The closing ceremony of the second edition of the cultural festival of Imam Al-Baqer (peace be upon him) held by the Al-Abbas's (p) holy shrine under the slogan "Imam Al-Baqer (peace be upon him) the truth and truthfulness speaker" in conjunction with the anniversary of the tragedy of the demolition of the tombs of Baqi' Imams (peace be upon them), was held on the afternoon of Friday 10th Shawwal 1437 AH corresponding to the 15th July, 2016 in the conferences' Hall of Imam Al-Hassan (peace be upon him) at the Al-Abbas's (p) holy shrine.

The closing ceremony began with the recitation of verses from the Holy Quran by the international reader Sayed Haydar Gelokhan and reading Al-Fatiha in memory of the martyrs of Iraq, followed by the word of the General Secretariat of the Al-Abbas's (p) holy shrine delivered by its Secretary-General Engineer Mohamad Al-Asheqar.

Then came the word of the preparatory committee of the festival delivered by Sayed 'Aqeel Abd Al-Hussayn Al-Yassiri, in which he stated: "we renew to all of you the expressions of welcome within the sanctity of the shrine of Aba Al-Fadl Al-Abbas (peace be upon him), in the second day of this blessed festival that comes in conjunction with the anniversary of the Baqi' tragedy; the demolition of the tombs of Imams (peace be upon them) to highlight this crime, and to show to the whole world the sufferings of Ahl Al-Bayt (peace be upon them), including Baqi' Imams (peace be upon them), through spotlighting the life of one of the Imams of Baqi' cemetery as a whole school that fights extremism and murdering and the violation of norms and human values..."

Concluding his word by expressing the thanks and gratitude first to the martyrs of the security forces and popular mobilization who have quenched with their blood the land of the beloved homeland to protect it from the clutches of the ISIL's gangs, as without their sacrifices, such events could not be held. The thanks goes also to all those who have participated in this festival, such as the Iraqi university professors and the guests coming from abroad, the researchers and teachers participating in the media workshop, the brothers in the Institute of the Holy Quran, the dear poets, the brothers from the media satellite channels and news agencies, local radios, newspapers and magazines for their coverage of the events of this festival.

And all the thanks and appreciation are to his Eminence the High Responsible of the Al-Abbas's (p) holy shrine Sayed Ahmed Al-Safi, and also to the Secretary-General of the Al-Abbas's (p) holy shrine, the Deputy Secretary-General and to the board members for their efforts for the success of this festival.

And all thanks go to all the officials, staff and servants of the different departments of the holy shrine for their combined efforts for the success of this blessed festival."

And to read the recommendations, please click here.

The ceremony was concluded by the distribution of the prizes to the winners in the competition of the best author about Imam Al-Baqer (peace be upon him), then paying tribute to the professors, journalists and TV channels participating in the broadcast of the festival events.