Speech of His Eminence, Sheikh Aql of the Druze monotheistic faith (Tawhid), Sheikh Naeem Hasan, on the occasion of the advent of the Blessed Sacrifice in Lebanon 2020
2020-07-31
In the name of God the Merciful,
Praise be to God, Lord of the Worlds, and blessings and peace be upon the Seal of the Prophets, Muhammad, the greatest of the Messengers, and upon his pure descendants and companions, and upon all the Prophets and Messengers.
The Prophet of God, Abraham, was afflicted with arduous affliction when he had the vision, as in the noble verse “O son, I see in my dream that I slaughter you.” He surrendered himself to God, and so he surrendered his son, and both of them became obedient to the prophecy, “So when they did so, the prophecy was true in a sense that the sacrifice was done on behalf of the generous people – and this would be the apparent effect; and we redeemed it with a great slaughter in sacrifice” (As-Safat 105-107).
Then, God Almighty explained to him (PBUH) the location of the house, and commanded him to build it according to the rules of piety and monotheism until He, the Most High and Majestic, said to him: “And make the pilgrimage to men and upon every conscience they come from every sin.” (Al Hajj 27).
The blessed sacrifice (Al-Adha) in the heart of the nation, before any sects existed, is the feeling of this redemption, which is the gift of God Almighty for the obedient, believing Muslim. And this, with his sincerity and piety, he proceeds into the face of the Most Compassionate and the Most Generous, forbidden and responding and seeking and standing in prayer, drawing close to his satisfaction, disavowing the spur, close to the sacrifice, as God Almighty said: “The pilgrimage will attain to you.” (Al Hajj 37).
Today, as in all times, whether in the past or in the future, the believers (with their hearts in the current circumstances) in their intentions, their hearts and the tongue of their response, obedience, contentment, sincerity and recognition of the mirror of His light, guidance and true calling for what a generous Lord wanted them to rise in meaning in the dignity of their souls, with their humanity to the end of existence. This would not be possible without man’s insight and will are informed by the word of God and the purposes of His wisdom. A word that carries a sublime call to strip the heart of passions and reprehensible thoughts. A reasonable word in all its meanings, with the sincere lights of knowledge, wisdom, and the spectrum of monotheistic values that have the life of hearts and souls, and with the obligation to adhere to the praiseworthy actions and sayings. Its fruits are the virtues by which man realizes himself in what is required by the secrets of God's wisdom in his creation.
And is there what is more worthy than a person’s raiment to the face of truth and to the source of life? And when a person is overwhelmed by negligence, astonished by the opportunities of the world, he becomes distracted in his demands for the light (when the time comes.)
The blessed Eid Al-Adha comes, while the sacrifice for the sake of the nation’s resurrection has become almost non-existent in the face of challenges that need bold and decisive stances. We raise our voice to remind us on the days of the blessed Eid Al-Adha (and the sacrifice by the way was mentioned in the Torah, the Bible and the Holy Qur’an) of the ideals and human values that have always been throughout history as the basics for every human civilization. Justice is the basis of judgment, and people are created free, and religion had called upon the tribes of the earth to get acquainted on the basis of piety. This means dialogue, seeking peace, and thus the place of dialogue is at the highest ranks of governance and responsibility.
The character of the Lebanese entity’s trust is in convergence and settlement, not in the sense of “this being victorious over that”, but in the sense of a wise management that preserves for Lebanon its people (and by the way, they are classified according to the law "recognized historical sects"), and they are constitutionally citizens shaded by a democratic republic based on the pact of coexistence. And we do not forget that nearly two decades of lean years have passed in our contemporary times, with the grace of God, with a settlement witnessed in Tai’f, including the constitution, to play the role of the boundary between a state to which everyone rules on the one hand, and a return to the furnace of conflict and divisions on the other.
And while we in Lebanon, the people are bombarded with crises in all sectors without exception, due to the low levels of political performance, which has been unable to take basic decisions that are possible in the path of reform, address black holes of corruption, neither to listen to the demands of young men and women.
The files and crises accumulated on the shoulders of the Lebanese have become at a dangerous level that calls for confronting internal solidarity and starting real and effective reform in all sectors of the state, first of which is the electricity sector issue which have incurred the country the biggest loss in the budget. It also demands a practical reading of the current facts and innovate new ways to sustain the people's savings, dealing with the deterioration of the lira exchange rate, controlling the economy and curbing monopoly.
In light of what is happening around us in terms of open conflicts between competing regional and international fronts that take in their path the peoples of the region, their rights and their livelihood, we’d better think carefully how to apply in practice distancing our country from the devastating conflicts, implementing the provisions of the decisions of the national dialogue that took place in 2006, and complying with the positive results that prevailed after the "Bandung" conference.
Today, in our contemporary times, we see the world faltering under the weight of conflicts, not to mention the state of the pandemic that revealed, at least, that most of the basic energies of humans are consumed in the maze of that conflict in an extremely costly race to possess power, weapons and means of communication, as well as technologies aiming at supremacy and dominance in the absence of the concept of international justice, while the health immunity is collapsing in front of the exacerbation of pollution and the lack of adequate support for health systems.
We, the Druze, our national constants will remain firmly rooted in our belief in Lebanon, a homeland built on the basis of its national unity and coexistence, its unifying state and its strong army, and as we condemn the repeated Israeli attacks on Lebanon's sovereignty, land, sea and airspace, we will remain on the side of the fair and just human causes, the first of which is the cause of the Palestinian people fighting against the occupation and its aggression.
We ask God Almighty to clear the insights and to awaken the consciences, and to lift with His gentle power the distress from the people of our nation. “And God is gracious to His worshipers.”
May you be safe on Eid Al-Adha for the years to come.
Beirut on: 31/7/2020
Praise be to God, Lord of the Worlds, and blessings and peace be upon the Seal of the Prophets, Muhammad, the greatest of the Messengers, and upon his pure descendants and companions, and upon all the Prophets and Messengers.
The Prophet of God, Abraham, was afflicted with arduous affliction when he had the vision, as in the noble verse “O son, I see in my dream that I slaughter you.” He surrendered himself to God, and so he surrendered his son, and both of them became obedient to the prophecy, “So when they did so, the prophecy was true in a sense that the sacrifice was done on behalf of the generous people – and this would be the apparent effect; and we redeemed it with a great slaughter in sacrifice” (As-Safat 105-107).
Then, God Almighty explained to him (PBUH) the location of the house, and commanded him to build it according to the rules of piety and monotheism until He, the Most High and Majestic, said to him: “And make the pilgrimage to men and upon every conscience they come from every sin.” (Al Hajj 27).
The blessed sacrifice (Al-Adha) in the heart of the nation, before any sects existed, is the feeling of this redemption, which is the gift of God Almighty for the obedient, believing Muslim. And this, with his sincerity and piety, he proceeds into the face of the Most Compassionate and the Most Generous, forbidden and responding and seeking and standing in prayer, drawing close to his satisfaction, disavowing the spur, close to the sacrifice, as God Almighty said: “The pilgrimage will attain to you.” (Al Hajj 37).
Today, as in all times, whether in the past or in the future, the believers (with their hearts in the current circumstances) in their intentions, their hearts and the tongue of their response, obedience, contentment, sincerity and recognition of the mirror of His light, guidance and true calling for what a generous Lord wanted them to rise in meaning in the dignity of their souls, with their humanity to the end of existence. This would not be possible without man’s insight and will are informed by the word of God and the purposes of His wisdom. A word that carries a sublime call to strip the heart of passions and reprehensible thoughts. A reasonable word in all its meanings, with the sincere lights of knowledge, wisdom, and the spectrum of monotheistic values that have the life of hearts and souls, and with the obligation to adhere to the praiseworthy actions and sayings. Its fruits are the virtues by which man realizes himself in what is required by the secrets of God's wisdom in his creation.
And is there what is more worthy than a person’s raiment to the face of truth and to the source of life? And when a person is overwhelmed by negligence, astonished by the opportunities of the world, he becomes distracted in his demands for the light (when the time comes.)
The blessed Eid Al-Adha comes, while the sacrifice for the sake of the nation’s resurrection has become almost non-existent in the face of challenges that need bold and decisive stances. We raise our voice to remind us on the days of the blessed Eid Al-Adha (and the sacrifice by the way was mentioned in the Torah, the Bible and the Holy Qur’an) of the ideals and human values that have always been throughout history as the basics for every human civilization. Justice is the basis of judgment, and people are created free, and religion had called upon the tribes of the earth to get acquainted on the basis of piety. This means dialogue, seeking peace, and thus the place of dialogue is at the highest ranks of governance and responsibility.
The character of the Lebanese entity’s trust is in convergence and settlement, not in the sense of “this being victorious over that”, but in the sense of a wise management that preserves for Lebanon its people (and by the way, they are classified according to the law "recognized historical sects"), and they are constitutionally citizens shaded by a democratic republic based on the pact of coexistence. And we do not forget that nearly two decades of lean years have passed in our contemporary times, with the grace of God, with a settlement witnessed in Tai’f, including the constitution, to play the role of the boundary between a state to which everyone rules on the one hand, and a return to the furnace of conflict and divisions on the other.
And while we in Lebanon, the people are bombarded with crises in all sectors without exception, due to the low levels of political performance, which has been unable to take basic decisions that are possible in the path of reform, address black holes of corruption, neither to listen to the demands of young men and women.
The files and crises accumulated on the shoulders of the Lebanese have become at a dangerous level that calls for confronting internal solidarity and starting real and effective reform in all sectors of the state, first of which is the electricity sector issue which have incurred the country the biggest loss in the budget. It also demands a practical reading of the current facts and innovate new ways to sustain the people's savings, dealing with the deterioration of the lira exchange rate, controlling the economy and curbing monopoly.
In light of what is happening around us in terms of open conflicts between competing regional and international fronts that take in their path the peoples of the region, their rights and their livelihood, we’d better think carefully how to apply in practice distancing our country from the devastating conflicts, implementing the provisions of the decisions of the national dialogue that took place in 2006, and complying with the positive results that prevailed after the "Bandung" conference.
Today, in our contemporary times, we see the world faltering under the weight of conflicts, not to mention the state of the pandemic that revealed, at least, that most of the basic energies of humans are consumed in the maze of that conflict in an extremely costly race to possess power, weapons and means of communication, as well as technologies aiming at supremacy and dominance in the absence of the concept of international justice, while the health immunity is collapsing in front of the exacerbation of pollution and the lack of adequate support for health systems.
We, the Druze, our national constants will remain firmly rooted in our belief in Lebanon, a homeland built on the basis of its national unity and coexistence, its unifying state and its strong army, and as we condemn the repeated Israeli attacks on Lebanon's sovereignty, land, sea and airspace, we will remain on the side of the fair and just human causes, the first of which is the cause of the Palestinian people fighting against the occupation and its aggression.
We ask God Almighty to clear the insights and to awaken the consciences, and to lift with His gentle power the distress from the people of our nation. “And God is gracious to His worshipers.”
May you be safe on Eid Al-Adha for the years to come.
Beirut on: 31/7/2020
