Deputy Chairman of the Higher Islamic Shiite Council, Sheikh Ali al-Khatib, addressed a message on the occasion of the Prophet Muhammad's birthday, emphasizing that "the Lebanese problem boils down to two points: the blind submission to the new jahiliyya culture that has frozen our minds from thinking and made us prisoners of sectarian fear, dividing Lebanon into Christian Lebanon and Muslim Lebanon, and then further dividing Lebanon's sects into Lebanon's denominations according to the whims and interests of the West that manages the game from behind the scenes represented by sectarian leaders and parties whose interests and existence are tied to what is called the sectarian system."
Al-Khatib questioned: "Who cares about public sector employees? Who is concerned with opening schools? Who pays attention to the needs of the academic year? Who puts a stop to the greed of school owners and their dollar-denominated fees? Who looks after the patients and their need for medicines and healthcare requirements? Where will they get the dollars to secure fuel for heating as we approach winter? In every aspect of life and living, as long as all transactions are dollarized, who will return depositors' deposits? Crises surround the Lebanese from every direction, yet those who obstruct solutions and procrastinate do not blink. They hinder presidential elections, paralyze the parliament, and delay government sessions, while existential threats, especially the danger of Syrian displacement, threaten the nation's fate, while national responsibility calls for hastening solutions through consensus without delay. Do not be surprised by this, as long as you have pledged yourselves to the patrons of political sectarianism and accepted to politically sectarianize yourself.”
He announced that "the radical solution to definitively rid ourselves of the recurrence of these crises is to establish a citizenship system that equates all Lebanese based on humanity. Sectarian and denominational affiliation does not grant any individual superiority over another in rights and duties, which is in agreement with heavenly religions. This is what the Lebanese should agree upon to unite against the racism of political sectarianism. Additionally, it is necessary to unite the Lebanese to confront the spread of vice and moral corruption and not allow its proponents to destroy the Lebanese family and undermine Lebanese society morally, just as they do in politics."
