READER COMMENTS

May God have mercy on your parents ... Sunnis are, due to the transparency in their faith, known often for their good intentions, and they do not conceal things, as do other sects, which are secretly planning and use all methods to gain power. However, these obscurantists forget that their plans may succeed for a while and then backfire on them, and they will be cursed by the inhabitants of heavens and earth, and things will turn upside down...

Our religion is Islam. There is no despicable sectarianism in it. We ask Almighty to support his religion sooner not later, and to thwart the plans of its enemies… Amen.

The difference between Muhammad Hussein Fadlallah and Hamed Abu Zaid is that Muhammad Hussein Fadlallah did not speak evil of Islam and the Quran. He just broke free from backward thought. He followed the right path and did not speak heresies. Unlike him, Hamed Abu Zaid rebelled against the Islamic religion, to the extent of infidelity and disbelief in the Quran text. This is where they are different, he came with a new way of thinking which has nothing to do with Islam.

After the moderate Muslim senior scholar, Muhammad Hussein Fadl-Allāh, had passed away; Lebanon entered a period of Shia conflicts over the religious leadership between the Iranian city of Qumm and the Iraqi city of Najaf since it was independent from the said religious references and being a religious Marji’yyah itself. His absence caused a gap in that respect. His independent opinions caused him many problems and so he left for Lebanon in 1966. He was also an activist in the humanitarian work that the West exploits to enter the East. He was interested in the dialogue of religions and the approximation between the Sunnis and Shias, despite his support for Khomeini’s revolution. However, he opposed the Shia rituals of Ashura Day.

20 years of work, and then when the journalist expressed her opinion regarding ‎the Shia scholar, CNN dismissed her. Likewise, when the British ambassador ‎expressed her opinion regarding the Shia scholar, the British government ‎apologized.‎ It seems that the Israeli influence is the judge, not freedom of expression. ‎ About 100 Iraqi politicians, MPs and ministers went and offered condolences. Does the USA consider them terrorists? Alternatively, will the USA force them to withdraw their statements, knowing that one of them said, “Our loss is heavy, because he was our first support during our struggle against the dictator Saddam”?

There is no doubt about the patriotism of free Shiites. However, when a Shiite religious scholar intervenes in worldly matters, the Shiite loses his identity and even his dignity. As was the case with Mr. Fadlallah, Arabs in Iraq are excluded from the leadership of the Shiite authority in Najaf, led by the Iranian al-Sistani and those around him. There is no Arab person among them. Arabs are excluded and killed, as happened with al-Sadr and his sons. Iran is fighting with its Mullahs and followers, who pledge allegiance more to the doctrine than to the country. If there is Shiite moderation, as it is called politically, the sacred authority and its financial and moral sources of strength will disappear. Thus, rationality and patriotism will prevail. Indeed, there is no religion without a country. The influence of Iran and its money supply will end. It is true that Iran spends a lot of money on its agents and followers, particularly in the Arab region. For instance, Hezbollah is stronger than the Lebanese state. The Iranian Marjaeya of Najaf sends its collected money to Qom and to Guardian jurist and does not spend it on its Iraqi followers. It is estimated at 8 billion annually (half of the budget of the Syrian Arab Republic). There is no moderation when we talk about the doctrine of Guardian jurist.

The Shias’ belief in the religious leadership and Marji’iyyah is inexplicable, because it transcends time and place barriers and gives all Shias everywhere on earth the same intellectual color. Of course, this belief is purely religious and has nothing to do with politics or patriotism, contrary to what is widely thought. On the other side, the Sunnis have no contemporary religious leadership, and this makes them different even in the same country. Shias enjoy three essential characteristics: first, the economic system, represented by the one-fifth, which guarantees the independence of the Shia religious institutions from any government in the world; second, the belief in the political leadership, which protects the Shia society from disunity and from juristic disagreements third, the Shia identity, i.e. the love for Ahl Al-Bayt, or household of the Prophet, peace be upon him, that represents the foundation of the belief in the leadership. I am sure that the writer will not understand any of this, while you allege that you are informed and knowledgeable. The person should not discuss what he has no knowledge about and being influenced by fanatism.

Is it possible that a Shia clergyman like the late Fadlullah advocates opinions outside the Iranian system and its concepts that not only call for the theory of Guardianship of the Islamic Jurists, but also the opinions of Al-Khomeini and his decaying revolution? We do not say so to disparage the call of the late clergyman for dialogue, renovation and openness, but all of these opinions would not have become reality if he had not been living in a country like Lebanon that was and still is the country of freedom and the future. For example, in Iraq, Al-Maliki and Al-Hakim and their supporters, who follow the clergymen of Tehran and Qumm, try ceaselessly to drag the Iraqis in every possible way, to put them under the Iranian hegemony with its dark future, using the special occasions, ceremonies and ventures. They want to send a message to the Sunnis that they can do whatever they want, just because they pretend that they believe in their mission, while this is not true, as proved by the bargains that take place inside the government, not to mention the corruption and the wasting of the public funds. May Allaah have mercy upon the late clergyman, and we ask Allah to provide Iraq with a man like him, who says that we do not follow the Iranian directives and that our societies have their cultural uniqueness.

The Islamic world was been deeply affected by the death of Al-Sayed Fadhlallah. Many Arab and Islamic Governments sent their condolence to the Lebanese people and to the defunct family. This man used to be like a father to many resistance and liberation movements in the Arab countries. He had ever stood by the oppressed and he issued moderate fatwas which incite people to hold on to Islam and its teachings and reject the aggression against others. He helped Lebanon a lot to overcome the crises it witnessed due to politicians’ conflicts. He helped bury the hatchet, insisted on the Lebanese people’s unity. He insisted on the necessity of harmony between Muslims and others and among Muslims from different doctrines. Therefore, many Sunni scholars offered their sincere condolences following the death of this honorable scholar.

The well-versed scholar Fadlallah, who died at the age of seventy-five some days ago, was among the most prominent religious scholars, because he devoted his whole life to calling for justice among people. He contributed to putting off sedition in Lebanon and guiding the Sunni and Shiites as brothers. The death of this scholar had a great impact, not only on the Lebanese people, but it also grieved many people from the neighboring and distant Arab countries. All people know the role of this person and his moderate views towards all the issues of Muslims. He died and he had a large fan base of ordinary people, directors and politicians. Who cannot admire this figure! Even though he is a Shiite scholar, he has many Sunni admirers and imitators. Everyone used to follow his Fatwas. All people appreciated and respected this man.

May our revered scholar go to the mercy of Allah, and to everlasting life in paradise, by Allah's permission. He called for a Muslim-Christian dialogue and was a moderate man of knowledge, so they fought him and overcame him. May Allay have mercy on you, master, and console us. He was a moderate scholar. We ask Allah to have mercy on him and house him in His wide paradise. Allah's mercy be upon you and your chaste soul. May Allah house you with Mohammed and his family. In spite of Al-Qaeda and the spiteful people, we are following in the steps of the pure master; we are the Sunnis and Shia; we are brothers.

I have read several articles by the late scholar, and I liked them very much. May Allah have mercy on him and receive him into paradise. The whole Muslim world, Shiites and Sunnis, have lost a great figure of the honorable nation and an unparalleled intellectual. Farewell, my dear master, and may Allah raise you together with your grandfather, the Messenger of Allah, and his pure family. To Allah we belong, and to Him we shall return. May Allah bless anyone who reads Surat al-Fatiha on his soul. May Allah surround you with his immense mercy and accompany you with your grandfather, the Messenger of Allah, peace and mercy be upon him and his family, in an eternal and honored abode in the presence of the Omnipotent King.