15 Million pilgrims visit Qom annually
2010/03/17 IQNA
Some 15 million pilgrims visit the holy city of Qom every year, governor general of Qom Province said.
Speaking at the “Morning of Revolution” program aired on TV’s Channel 3, Mohammad Hossein Musapur said that the holy city has been a hub for fostering the culture of Ahl-ul-Bayt (a.s.) for 13 centuries.
Hazrat Fatemeh Masumeh (s.a.), the daughter of the seventh Shia Imam, Imam Musa Kasim (a.s.), passed away and was buried in Qom in 201 Hijri (816 C.E.) while traveling to visit her brother Imam Reza (a.s.) in Khorasan. The city has been a pilgrimage destination ever since.
“It has also been a scientific center in the Islamic world in the past 80 years, since the establishment of Qom Seminary School,” Mr. Musapur said, adding that currently some 60,000 Iranian and 10,000 expatriate students are studying religious sciences in the holy city.
Stressing the importance of Qom, he noted that the movement leading to the Islamic Revolution also originated in the holy city.
Qom lies 156 kilometers southwest of Tehran.
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