SHAFAQNA (Shia International News Association) – www.abna.ir
Introduction
The followers of Ahlulbayt (as) and their holy Imams alike have been oppressed throughout the history from the dark era of Umayyad caliphs up to the age of Abbasids, and from Abbasids to middle ages, and afterward up to the present time.
The roots of this oppression and even its further intensification may be sought in the ignorance of Shiite Muslims about each other and unawareness of global communities of such oppressions against Shiites. A large portion of mass media and communication tools is in the hands of rulers and arrogant powers who are fighting in the opposing front against pure Mohammedan Islam.
In the Islamic Republic of Iran, too, despite existence of many news agencies, newspapers and websites, there was always a tangible necessity for a specialized news agency to work specifically for broadcasting the news of Shiah world and followers of Ahlulbayt worldwide.
Authorities of the Ahlulbayt World Assembly during the tenure of present Secretary General Hujjatul-Islam Mohammad Hasan Akhtari well recognized the sensitivity of the condition. To fill the gap, they embarked on launching a three-language electronic news agency, which was then gradually and logically developed. By the grace of Almighty Allah and blessings of holy Ahlulbayt (as), it is now turned into an active seven-language news agency with competent editorial staff in Iran and some other countries.
History
1- Basic Period (Shianews)
ABNA of today has evolved into a major analytical and informative website from its primitive simple form which was known as Shianews.
Shianews started its activities on March 15th, 2005 in three languages (Arabic, English, and Persian). Administrators of Shianews were some staff members of Department of International Affairs at the Ahlulbayt World Assembly.
2- Second Period (Akhbare Shiayan or News of Shiites)
In summer 2006, a new management team took the responsibility of the website and introduced a new structure for it. At this period, more domains were introduced for the website.
3- Third Period (Ahlulbayt News Agency or ABNA)
After the second period, the website received the attention of Shiites worldwide and turned out to be a well-known news website. At this stage, a necessity was felt for converting the website into an official news agency. Thus, the new phase was started in August 2007 and its title was changed into AhlulBayt News Agency (www.abna.ir).
Defending Shiah While Adhering To Islamic Unity
As mentioned earlier, ABNA has been established to defend the followers of Ahlulbayt (as) against oppressions in the arena of broadcasting news; however, it has always emphasized the main Islamic ideals and principles. Among the most important principles observed by ABNA is showing respect for followers of other schools of thought and struggling for promotion of unity among Muslims worldwide.
Languages
ABNA is already working in 14 languages including English, Arabic, Farsi, Spanish, German, Russian, French, Chinese, Malay, Indonesian, Turkish (Azeri), Turkish (Istanbul), Bengali and Urdu.
Swahili, Hindi and Hausa are other languages to be added in future.
Green Pages
Further to broadcasting news as its primary mission, ABNA also presents to its readers a cultural section titled as Green Pages, examples of which are as follows:
About the Oneness of God / Quranic Discussions / Life Histories of the Holy Prophet of Islam and his Household (AhlulBayt) / Noble Sayings (Hadiths) / Shoulder to Shoulder with Wilayat (sayings of the late Ayatollah Khomeini and Ayatollah Khamenei) / Notes / Articles / Lectures / Interviews / Why I Embraced Shiism? / Reports / Memoirs / Servants of Ahlulbayt (life histories of great Islamic Ulama and scholars) / Mahdism / Hijab and Beauty / Health / Security / Globalization / Wahhabism / Zionism / Know more about Sins / Religions, Faiths and Schools of Thought / Poetry & Literature / Miscellaneous / Religious SMS
Contact Abna
Head Office (Tel. No.) (+98 251) 2131323
Head Office (Fax No.) (+98 251) 2131258
Editor-in-Chief (Mobile No.) (+98 912) 151 2263
Email: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
Postal Address:
Ahlulbayt News Agency (ABNA )
The Ahlulbayt World Assembly, 6th St., Jomhouri Eslami Blvd. Qom, I.R.IRAN
