The Supreme Islamic Shari'ah Council affirmed that "the state, with all its institutions, seems to be on a forced vacation at a time when the Lebanese citizen is searching for a livelihood in a society plagued by unemployment and the disappearance of job opportunities, while the pillars of educational institutions are collapsing." According to the final statement, the council expressed "great concern and interest regarding the phenomenon of vacuum in constitutional institutions and their erosion and paralysis in an unprecedented manner" following its regular meeting chaired by the Grand Mufti of the Lebanese Republic, Sheikh Abdul Latif Deryan, at the Dar al-Fatwa.
The statement added, "From the presidency of the republic to the government, which is limited to conducting business, to the army leadership and the central bank governance, and the disruption of judicial investigations (with the port explosion as a case in point), it seems as if the Lebanese state, with all its institutions, has entered a forced vacation while the Lebanese citizen seeks a livelihood in a society marked by unemployment and the disappearance of job opportunities, accompanied by the breakdown of educational institutions."
The council emphasized in its statement that "the lost solution exists in the dark halls of Lebanon, characterized by narrow-mindedness, prejudice, and self-interests. A solution cannot be found elsewhere than in the place where it exists. Foreign assistance is not enough. There must be a united national internal will. This is what Lebanon lacks and what it is deprived of. The Council calls for urgent action to recognize this and work on it to help Lebanon emerge from the dark tunnel of prolonged suffering. Lebanon has been wronged for too long, and it has also wronged itself for too long. It is time for it to emerge from oppression and darkness into the light of truth and national life, entrusted with its national unity and the message of its shared existence."
