Secretary of the Society of Teachers Opposes Concerts in Qom

The holding of a music concert in the city of Qom, which has sparked multiple reactions from the clergy of this city, has now entered a new phase. On Sunday, October 3, the Secretary of the Society of Teachers of Qom Seminary, Mohammad Yazdi, protested against the concert in Qom, stating that "most" programs of the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance under President Hassan Rouhani "contain immoralities." He severely criticized Ali Jannati, the Minister of Culture and Islamic Guidance, urging him to change his policies and not to interfere in jurisprudential matters. In another part of his speech, Yazdi addressed Hassan Rouhani, saying, "Your clerical and Islamic honor requires that if you hear and see such things, you cannot tolerate them." Previously, Hassan Rouhani had asked the Minister of Culture to stand firm against those who obstruct concerts in the city of Mashhad, stating, "Whenever a concert is to be held, a legislative assembly immediately convenes. I do not know if we have only one place in our country, and that is the Islamic Consultative Assembly; anyone who wakes up in the morning finds a podium and thinks they can legislate. Our minister should not comply." The head of the Society of Teachers of Qom Seminary mentioned that if he had not seen the concert film, he might not have made such a decision, and his strong reaction was primarily due to seeing what he described as the indecent images from the concert. Meanwhile, Abbas Danesh, the director of the Culture and Islamic Guidance in Qom, responded to the clergy's protests by stating that the program held on Tuesday night was not a concert under any title but rather a few revolutionary anthems related to the Sacred Defense and the culture of sacrifice. Yazdi demanded that the director of Culture and Islamic Guidance in Qom resign and leave the city. On the other hand, representatives from Qom province issued a statement condemning the holding of the music concert in the center of the province and called for action against the provincial director of culture. Mohammad Javad Akbarin, a religious researcher residing in France, believes that the main reason for the recent stances against this concert is a personal vendetta against the provincial director of Culture and Islamic Guidance: "The director of Culture in Qom is someone who has been a director in other provinces for years; Hojjat al-Islam Danesh is an experienced person. Some of the pressures exerted on him by Yazdi and his friends were to control a series of cultural programs in Qom, which he did not accept. In the case of music, he declared that we do not listen to people's opinions and only follow the leadership. He has not shown a friendly face to some of these gentlemen and is currently holding a fashion exhibition in Qom. All these issues, his management style and independence, have offended Yazdi and his friends, and they have used this incident as an excuse to settle scores with him." Additionally, Ayatollah Saeedi, the custodian of the Hazrat Masoumeh Shrine in Qom, introduced Qom as the city of the Ahl al-Bayt (AS) on Sunday, stating: "The holy city of Qom is significant because it is mentioned in traditions as the shrine of the Ahl al-Bayt (AS). It is said that cities do not differ from each other, and whatever is permissible in other cities is also permissible in Qom. We must tell them that not every permissible thing is permissible everywhere; why do you not understand this?" Hassan Yousofi Ashkouri, a religious researcher residing in Germany, believes that there is no sacred matter in Islam, and only the essence of God is sacred: "The first point is that there is fundamentally no concept of 'sacred matter' in the mind and language of Islam and Muslims, and in religious texts like the Quran, we do not have anything called 'sacred matter.' This term 'sacred' has entered Islam under the influence of Christian literature, especially in contemporary Islam. The second point is that a famous narration from Islamic jurists quotes the Prophet of Islam saying, 'What is permissible by Muhammad is permissible until the Day of Resurrection, and what is forbidden by Muhammad is forbidden until the Day of Resurrection' – although I do not accept this in the way it is currently understood – but in any case, according to the jurists' view, what is permissible is always permissible, and what is forbidden is always forbidden. We do not have sacred matters, sacred places, sacred persons, or sacred locations. Whether it is a mosque, Kaaba, Imamzadeh, the Prophet's house, or the Prophet's grave, we do not have sacred matters." The Society of Teachers of Qom Seminary issued a statement on Saturday threatening the government regarding the potential backlash from what they referred to as 'religious people' against the holding of concerts in Iran and warned of 'irreparable material and spiritual damages.'