Iran Press/ Iran news: Christopher Clohessy is a Roman Catholic priest and professor of Shiite studies in Rome, Italy. He is a teacher of Islamic courses and has done extensive studies on the history of Shiism. Clohessy is currently a faculty member who lectures on Shia Islamic studies, the Qur'an, and Islamic ethics. He is the author of three books "Fatima, Daughter of Muhammad" in 2009, "Half of my Heart: The Narratives" by Zaynab (AS) in 2018, and "Angels Hastening: The Karbala Dreams" in 2021.
Christopher Clohessy Lecturer in Shi'i Islam
By writing these three works, Christopher Clohessy, a Christian writer and researcher, sought to open a way to improve the relationship between Christians and Muslims. As he was working in the Muslim city of Cape Town in South Africa, he thought to himself that it is necessary for non-Muslims to have a comprehensive and scientific understanding of Islam. Therefore, in Cairo and Rome, he studied Islamic theology and also spent a short course on Shia studies, and this made him according to his narration - "strongly attracted to Hussain bin Ali (AS) and the incident of Karbala" and found out Fatima (SA), Hazrat Zaynab (SA) and Imam Hussain (AS) are "the global model of defending justice" and "examples of pure truth".
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While recognizing the greatness of Lady Zaynab's personality, Christopher Clohessy points to his presence in the Karbala incident and writes: "Zaynab's presence in Karbala and her interventions on the battlefield and beside it, her brave stand against the great oppressor of her time, Yazid, were more than telling the truth in front of the ruling power of her time.
This approach of Lady Zaynab was a "decisive frankness". The truths she spoke were not about herself, but she sought to reveal the truth. "If you seek peace, You must move on the path of justice"; In other words, the realization of justice is not possible unless all people know the truth and express it, and Lady Zaynab (SA) was a perfect example of truth-seeking.
Christopher Clohessy: "Lady Zaynab was a perfect example of truth-seeking
Clohessy emphasizes that anyone who wants to study Imam Hussain must first study Lady Fatima (SA). This professor of Shia studies in Rome says: "Many events happened in the life of Lady Fatima (SA), which highlights her character, including her innocence as the daughter of Holy Prophet Muhammad, the usurpation of her inheritance, the attack on her house, and the deprivation of her husband from the right of the caliphate. It happened after the holy Prophet passed away and it brought a lot of pain and suffering to Lady Fatima. However, her courage in defending her right and standing up against oppression is a characteristic of Fatimah (SA). The same characteristic was inherited by her daughter Zaynab (SA) as she stood bravely against the difficult events of the Karbala incident.
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All the narrations and stories about Fatima and Zaynab in Islamic books show what a special place Islam holds for women. Christopher Clohessy, this Christian researcher, by introducing Fatima (SA) as a true symbol for Muslim and non-Muslim women, believes: "There are many similarities between Shiite Islam and Catholic Christianity; also, there is a similarity between Jesus Christ (AS) and Imam Hussain (AS) as they both were martyrs for the path of justice. In addition, there are many similarities between Fatima (SA) and Maryam (SA).
Inside of Imam Hussain holy shrine
Christopher Clohessy believes that there is a clear parallel between Imam Hussain (AS) and Lady Fatima (SA) in Islam and the personality of Jesus Christ (AS) and Lady Maryam (AS) in Christianity. Christopher Clohessy emphasizes that Lady Fatimah (SA) and her son Hussain (AS) are very interesting characters, especially for Catholic Christians, and he will continue to write about these topics to introduce them to a wider range of English-speaking and not necessarily Muslim readers.
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What gave this Italian researcher the means to write a book introducing Hazrat Zahra (PBUH); According to him, was an incident that happened to him while he was writing his doctoral thesis on the topic of Imam Hussain (AS). Clohessy states that: "As a Christian cleric, I was doing a study on the life and moral life of Imam Hussein, which was similar to the characteristics of the life of Jesus Christ. Therefore, I decided to write my Ph.D. research about Imam Hussain (AS) as a "global model of defending justice" from the perspective of a non-Muslim. 219
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