Speech of Dr. Soroush in the center of Ahl el Bayt Geneva

On October 22, the Ahl al-Bayt Center in Geneva hosted an event with the presence of a very special guest, Prof. Abdolkarim Soroush.

Prof. Soroush delivered a speech in honor of the Prophet’s (saws) birthday titled:” The Prophet and the prophetic accomplishment”.

Dr. Soroush’s speech can be summarized as follows: The Prophet (saws) said “I have come to fulfil the ethics (morality), instead of telling you how you should build your world (development, prosperity, technology).

The Prophet also stated “you are like butterflies that I scatter from the fire”.

Rumi, the famous Persian poet, described the Prophet’s compassion as follows: « I am more compassionate than you ». In short: Prophets were not sent for worldly salvation! They came for the happiness of the Hereafter and the completion of moral virtues.

The second message of the speech was that a “maximalist” view of religion, meaning that we want religion for both worldly and otherworldly happiness, leads to an “overweight” religion and can mislead us from the essence of the message.

While a minimalist view of religion, which is for the happiness of the Hereafter, helps the soul to shine and the emergence of virtues in the human soul.