The distinguished Jaafari Mufti Sheikh Ahmad Qabalan delivered a sermon today, Friday, at the Imam Hussein Mosque in Bourj al-Barajneh. He emphasized that “the direction towards Mecca for prayer means that we should not turn to Europe or America for knowledge, technology, industry, medicine, and others, but rather our countries should be capitals of knowledge and capabilities, able to harness nature and science for humanity. As prayer is a sign of deep leadership, the minds of Muslims should indicate greater potentials worthy of the best religion and believers in the world.”
In his political speech to the government, security agencies, and all political forces, he stated: “The most important requirement today is security, then security, then security again. A country without security is like a body without a head; political and criminal security, market and investment security, social security, and the security of the Lebanese workforce are the greatest demands of the higher national interest. Our country is built on shared living, where Christians and Muslims are a national family, and we must come together to protect this family and ensure the country emerges from the worst catastrophe in its history.”
He added: “To the political forces, I say: We must unite as a national family to end the divisive scene, and we must address all our national requirements as Lebanese, not sectarians. Any sharp alignment is likely to undermine what remains of the country’s higher interests, and there is no alternative to the Islamic-Christian partnership. The country is based on the national family, which has no substitute, and our priorities today are to protect national sovereignty and conclude a presidential settlement that suits the partnership of the Lebanese family.”
He addressed the government: “We do not want to sacrifice Lebanon for one billion poisoned euros; Europe is complicit with Washington in the destruction of Syria and in the siege imposed on Lebanon, and it should suffer from the influx of displaced persons as Lebanon does. I warn those in charge against playing the role of security and political guards for Europe. The issue of displacement urgently needs resolution, and the luxury of time has ended. We are now facing a country threatened in its demographics, stability, security, economy, and livelihoods.”
He continued: “It is a matter of national pride that we are facing an unprecedented equation in the history of the southern front of Lebanon against Tel Aviv, which is displacement for displacement, destruction for destruction, a security belt for a security belt, and forced migration for forced migration, amid the greatest sovereign model and guarantee provided by the resistance, its people, and our national institutions; this is Lebanon's pride and the guarantee for all Lebanese.”
He directed a message to the Arab peoples: “Woe to the Arabs who do not rise up to support the humanitarian conscience in Gaza and relieve its women and children, and woe to the Arab peoples and universities that watch students from the most important American universities and some European universities protesting for Gaza and the humanitarian conscience while the Arab peoples and students appear as if they are dead. When will the Arabs rise up? Or is humiliating normalization suffocating them?”
He concluded: “The era of normalization and intimidation is over, and the era of American influences in this region is quickly collapsing. The Middle East belongs to its peoples, not to the regimes that insist on submitting to a defeated Washington. The unity of American fronts and their funding in Ukraine, Israel, and Taiwan has ended with the worst loss on the ground, and the war in its strategic sense has ended. We are now in the era of tactical warfare, which means merely improving positions. Lebanon and the region are experiencing a moment of a historic new era in favor of our countries and our region.”
