Source: Nidaa Al Watan
Writer: Karen Abdel Nour
The power of the “duo” over and within the Shiite community is not a secret to be revealed. And the decision of the General Administration for Religious Communication in the Supreme Islamic Shiite Council issued two days ago only confirms what is certain, as the knowledgeable say. The decision ruled that fifteen Shiite religious figures were not qualified to carry out guidance and direction, while warning them to remove the religious dress and demanding that the decision be circulated to the Ja`fari Sharia courts to implement it. And the denouncers say that “it will not go unnoticed.” So to the recitals.
Although the Council considers that what was issued by the Religious Reporting Commission is not expressed and that the Vice-President of the Council did not see it, regardless of its content with a request to deal with it as if it had not been issued, yet what stands behind the decision may be more dangerous than the decision itself. Has the Supreme Shiite Islamic Council turned into a tool that can be adapted in this way to cover factional practices that are no longer hidden from anyone within it? Does the confusion among the people of the same house reflect a struggle over the leadership of the council between the Amal movement and “Hezbollah”, as is the case in many other files?
Moral assassination
The beginning is with Sheikh Yasser Odeh, whose name topped the list of “wrathful” names. He indicated, in connection with the “Call of the Nation”, that those who issued the decision need someone to testify to them of their eligibility, knowledge and competence, and that the Religious Communication Authority needs someone to acknowledge and acknowledge it. “They live on superstition, subsist on underdevelopment, and invest in positions. As for Yasser Odeh, he rejects myths and refuses that the Shiite sect be in this form of backwardness, just as he fights the corrupt of all sects, and this is what annoys politicians. Although he was not summoned before the decision was issued, he expressed his disapproval of what happened, expressing his readiness for a public debate away from fabrications and false stories, adding: “Since 2017, false campaigns have been launched against me by the head of the commission and his deputy, and since then they have been demanding the removal of my turban. But with or without a turban, I will remain as I am, and no one can control my mind, my freedom, and my intellect except the one who created me, the Almighty.
But how does the statement of the Supreme Islamic Shiite Council, which considered that the decision not be expressed, be interpreted? Odeh answers that the intervention of some politicians to prevent a “shakeup” within the Shiite community may be the reason behind this, especially after the unexpected rate of interaction that social media witnessed. “But the last thing that concerns me is the council and those in it, despite my respect for some of its members. It is a council of quotas and concessions and a corrupt institution like other state institutions, and I never considered it my reference. My testimonies are sufficient for me, and I do not need theirs. Let them reform themselves, and if I did not have a religion, I would have revealed enough files that condemn the young and old among them, and I am not talking here about the vice president of the council, ”he added. Odeh confirmed in conclusion that moderation and the voice of truth have unfortunately become a crime for which the Sharia and the law are held accountable, and that there are repeated attempts to assassinate him morally, which seems clear through the amount of hatred shown by some members of the sect who claim to believe. “My true testimony I took from the free Shiites and from all other sects, and I will not accept anything less than a public apology for what was done by the Commission.”
parallel bodies
The decision of the Reporting Committee must open the door again to the reality and legality of some bodies of the Supreme Islamic Shiite Council. For more details, we contacted lawyer Najeeb Farhat, who pointed out that the main problem is the absence of elections in the parliament for more than forty years, and therefore its institutions no longer represent the people. “The reality of successive extensions and the appointment of persons inclined to power in decision-making positions (despite the presence of worthy persons) resulted in bodies parallel to the legally elected bodies, including the Religious Communication Commission, which was not stipulated by the law, not even by the internal system of the Council. Despite this, it began issuing decisions that are not within its powers, while the committees established by law and the internal system of Shiite civilian judges are completely absent from their work, unfortunately.
From the perspective of the legal reading, Farhat saw that the decision is considered to be issued by a non-competent party and not in accordance with the principles. He praised what the council’s vice-president, Sheikh Ali al-Khatib, did in terms of announcing that the decision was not issued by him, even though he is the one who officially represents the council towards the state and the rest of the authorities. It is mentioned here that Al-Khatib took over the presidency of the council by virtue of a caretaker rule, after the death of its former president, Sheikh Abdul Amir Qabalan, in September 2021, pending elections. Due to the lack of political agreement between the two sides on appointments within the council, Al-Khatib continues to conduct business. In this context, Farahat adds: “There is no doubt that the intervention of the President of the Council and the role given to him by law put matters on the right track in terms of defining the powers that the Commission has exceeded, and I hope that he will continue to exercise this role in the future.”
towards confrontation?
We continue with Farhat and ask what veiled messages the decision carried. He replies that the statement reaches the extent of its content to excommunicate the religious figures included. Who actually has this right? “Anyone who disagrees with the religious opinion of the commission’s officials or follows another reference, a decision is taken to strip him of his religious powers. We all bear witness to some of the aforementioned names with their knowledge, respect and social position, but their only fault is speaking the word of truth and illuminating people’s pain. The absence of accountability for the perpetrators under political cover, on the one hand, and the policy of silencing mouths for anyone trying to influence society, on the other hand, diverted attention from scandals and wholesale violations within the parliament. There is much talk about selling endowments and importing various materials in the name of the council, and covering up a clergyman against whom a court ruling was issued in a harassment case that the Religious Reporting Authority refused to implement.
In any case, the most important question revolves around whether or not the decision can be implemented after the statement of the President of the Council. In this regard, Farhat explains that the decision was requested to be circulated to the Ja`fari Sharia courts, although the latter are supposed to receive no correspondence except through the president of the council. However, the head of the Religious Reporting Authority, Sheikh Abd al-Halim Sharara, is an advisor to the Supreme Sharia Court and thus has influence. The President of the Supreme Sharia Court is also a judicial member of the Religious Communication Commission. So what is the impediment to implementation? “If the courts decide to adopt the decision, we will be facing a sharp division among Sharia judges. As men of law, we will resort to the State Council, putting ourselves, my colleagues and I, at the disposal of any cleric who has been subjected to an arbitrary decision. I affirm that this decision “does not cut off” because it contradicts the simplest axioms. I hope that they will not push us into meaningless confrontations, and that they weigh matters with the balance of reason and not with the balance of maliciousness and revenge. But if they wanted it insistently and abused, we will not bat an eyelid.
internal crisis
Politically, the legal researcher and political activist, Dr. Ali Murad, described in an interview with “Nidaa Al-Watan” the decision as a condemnation of those who issued it because it expresses two crises: the first will reflect the general political crisis that the political Shiites suffer from, as it became clear that the two are unable to bear opinion The other, despite the surplus of power he claims, is trying to silence any objecting voice, either by enticement or intimidation, or more. As for the second, it is internal administrative, as Murad indicated that the council’s statement is defective, as it exclusively highlighted the failure to inform its presidency of the decision of one of its bodies. “Today we are talking about Sheikh Odeh, one of the most prominent Shiite clerics who are currently objecting to the performance of the duo. Will the response to the decision to drop his turban be with a statement that appears as if what happened was an administrative error? It is required to issue a statement to withdraw the decision and consider it annulled.”
Murad stressed the need for the council to find a solution to its political impasse and internal differences. However, the real problem is represented in the level of mobilization exercised by those who control the decision of the sect through treasonous speeches, the consequences of which cannot be absolved by those accused of attacking any activist or cleric who opposes the dualism. Some of the names on the “penalty list” are those who confronted groups affiliated with Hezbollah publicly in Bint Jbeil recently during a funeral ceremony for one of its sons, defying a decision to prevent any sheikh from attending to participate in prayers for those who “disagreed with their opinion politically” – and attended despite the threats. “We are all aware of the current balance of power, but history testifies that these balances, even within the Shiite community, can be more fragile than some imagine. I wish the council would work to resolve the scandal of the age of custody that affects the jurisprudential and jurisprudential history of the Shiites, instead of drifting behind accusatory letters of accusation against clerics,” Murad ends.
Full sagging
In conclusion, we turn to the writer and political activist Mustafa Fahs. He tells us that there is complete flabbiness within the Supreme Islamic Shiite Council after the departure of its former president, Sheikh Muhammad Mahdi Shams al-Din, as he became a prisoner of the reality of control and sharing between the two parties. As is the case in any private or public institution they enter, they empty it of elites and competencies and replace it with people whose only criterion is loyalty, and this has not happened in Shiite history, neither the reference nor even the official one, according to Fahs. “There is speculation about a struggle over the leadership of the council between the internal poles of the Shiite religious establishment, which is supported by the duo. This conflict may have crystallized in the decision issued two days ago. We ask to whom the reporting body is subject, and why this reprehensible response from the Council Presidency by denying the signature without addressing the content of the decision?
Fahs continues that after the death of Sheikh Shams al-Din, the desired value of the Shiite Council no longer exists, because it is no longer independent but submissive and is dealt with by the duo as one of its tools used in its political disputes within the Lebanese Republic. Finally, we ask him if this interaction reflects the image of the real Shiite community, and he says: “The couple represents the Shiite majority, and therefore the face of the couple reflects the face of the majority that it represents. The dual audience is the one who chose its deputies, and the Shiite council is a reflection of the dual, i.e. a reflection of the entire Shiite community.
2023-08-19 04:48:30
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