In the name of Allah, the All-beneficent, the All-merciful.

Almighty Allah (s.w.t.) said in His Noble Book: “Allah will raise in rank those of you who have faith and those who have been given knowledge”.

Imam Jafar Al-Sadiq (a.s.) said: A narrator of our Hadith, through which he joins the hearts of our lovers, is greater in virtue than thousand worshippers”.

As Salamo Alaykum wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuhu.

I extend my heartfelt gratitude to the honorable authorities of the Holy Shrine of Imam Hussain (peace be upon him) and The Allama Hilli (r.a.) Centre, as well as other centers and institutes which were responsible for organizing this great seminar; and I also express my humble regards for those who took part in this seminar and the honorable personalities that attended this glorious session and helped the magnanimity of this program increase multiple times.

I am here to honor the conference held to commemorate the inspirational personality of the “Pride of Shia Community” and the renowned narrator of the narrations of the Infallible Leaders (a.s.), and the bearer of the teachings of Quran and the Holy Progeny (peace be upon them).
 

To acknowledge the effects of such geniuses of humanity, to remember them and recollect their efforts, and to accept them as role-models, is the tradition of Quran and a divine practice. The names of these men of religion and guidance, and the servants of humanity, must never be forgotten. We must continuously take lessons from their life and learn from their school of thought and vision.
 

One of the greats of the international school of knowledge, wisdom and guidance – who is inarguably one of the greatest prides of the Shia community and a true follower of the Infallible Leader, peace be upon them, and a manifestation of Islamic etiquettes – is the great scholar and head of community, Allama Hilli (may Allah elevate his noble status).
 

Allama Hilli (r.a.) - who was one of the geniuses of human intellect, for both the rational and traditional sciences - was a high ranked and unmatchable scholar. Tazkirat Al-fuqaha, Muntaha al-Matlab fi Tahqeeq al-Mazhab, Kashf al-Maqal fi Ma’rifati al-Rijal, Kashf al-Murad, Nahj al-Haq, Al-Durr al-Nazeed, minhaj al-Karamah, Izaah al-Maqasid, and other books that are mentioned by Turaihi, “I have seen five hundred volumes of books in the writing of Allama himself”, are nothing but the works of the pure thoughts and enlightening thoughts of this great cleric. Just the book “Alfain” in which he has presented one thousand proofs on the Imamate of Amir al-Momineen, Ali bin Abi Talib (a.s.), and one thousand satisfactory proofs in response to the objections raised against it, is among the glories of Shia community and is referred by scholars regularly.  

On the other hand, in the eighth century Hijri, when the seminary of Madrasa of Sayyar Sultani was founded on the order of AlJaitu, and this seminary was acting with the help of the army of Sultan Mohammad Khudabandeh, where the classes used to be held under tents and camps, and great scholars and clerics, used to benefit from the knowledge of senior clerics such as Sheikh Nizam al-Deen Abdul Malik, Noor al-Deen Tastari, Uzd al-Deen Aawaji and Sayyid Burhan al-Deen Abdi. These schools were running under the supervision and educational leadership of Allama Hilli (r.a.). Indeed, it can be rightly said: “Allama Hilli was one of the greatest miracles of Ahlul Bayt’s (a.s.) school of thought”.

At the end, I would like to quote the statement of a scholar who described the greatness of Allama Hilli’s position of knowledge in these words: “Indeed it must be said that after the Infallible Leaders, peace be upon them, a cleric greater than Allama Hilli (r.a.) has not arrived for Shis”.

Allama (r.a.) should be compared in Fiqh (Jurisprudence) with Sayyid Murtada (r.a.) and Sheikh Tusi (r.a.), and in scholastic theology with Khwaja Nasir al-Deen Tusi (r.a.), and in Mathematics with the likes of Abu Rehan Biruni, and in intellectual researches with Aristotle and in every knowledge, with the greatest of that knowledge. Hence, doubtlessly, he is the biggest Islamic cleric among Sunnis and Shias; though he was prominent for Fiqh but his expertise was no less than Fiqh in other sciences as well. He is one of the prides of Arab and the glories of Islamic nation.

I personally feel that organizing such conferences for the commemoration of personalities like Allama Hilli (r.a.) is very important and highly beneficial. Once again, I would like to express my gratitude for the organizers of this conference and the clerics, scholars, honorable writers, who helped in this conference, held for us to know more about Allama (r.a.).
 

May Allah (s.w.t.) regard as us all among the true followers of the great school of Wilayah and Imamate, and direct the attention of the Guardian of our time, Imam Mahdi (a.t.f.s.), towards us, and guide us towards the deeds that shall please his holiness (peace be upon him).

Was Salaamo Alaykum wa Rehmatullahi wa Barakatuhu.

4^th Jamadi al-Thani, 1440 Hijri.

Lotfullah Saafi.