05 July 2010
BEIRUT: Lebanon’s top political and religious figures hailed Sunday Grand Ayatollah Sayyed Mohammad Hussein Fadlallah as a man of dialogue and the spiritual leader of resistance against Israel.
Fadlallah, one of Shiite Islam’s highest religious authorities, died of illness in a Beirut hospital Sunday at the age of 74.
“The sayyed’s body is gone but his spirit, intellect and path will live,” Fadlallah’s office said in a statement.
“His primary will was to preserve Islam, the Islamic world and its unity as he believed that tyranny will only be beaten by unity among Muslims,” the statement added.
The statement also highlighted Fadlallah as a pioneer in promoting dialogue between the different religious groups as well as “love” among communities away from sectarianism and personal interests.
“He was the mastermind that launched the resistance which inspired from his intellect the spirit of resistance that paved the way for achievements and big victories in Lebanon, Palestinian and every other resisting country,” the statement added.
Lebanons top three officials, President Michel Sleiman, Speaker Nabih Berri and Premier Saad Hariri, sent letters of condolence to Fadlallah’s family and hailed the latter for promoting dialogue and national coexistence among the Lebanese.
In a statement issued by his office, the speaker praised Fadlallah for supporting the resistance against injustice and defending Lebanon as a model for coexistence between civilizations and religions.
“He was at all times and circumstances a voice of moderation and unity among the Lebanese and particularly Muslims,” said a statement by Hariri, a Sunni. “He rejected sectarian strife and issued fatwas banning it and resorted to dialogue to resolve disputed issues,” the statement said.
Hizbullah also hailed Fadlallah as a mentor and spiritual leader of the resistance.
“We promise his soul that we will remain faithful to his sacred goals for which he lived, worked and sacrificed day and night, as we will sacrifice everything to defend them,” Hizbullah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah said.
The Higher Shiite Council said the Islamic world lost a scholar that worked on spreading the values of Islam and established religious, social, health and educational institutions in service of humanitarian causes.
“The Islamic world lost one of its resisting figures who established a culture of struggle that defended the dignity of this nation facing the Zionist plan,” the statement by the Islamic Higher Council said.
Also, Sunni Grand Mufti Mohammad Qabbani said the Arab and Islamic world has lost a great intellectual that served Islam with high moral and ethics.
Also, lawmakers and ministers of the different domestic political groups hailed Fadlallah’s moderation and openness to all Lebanese factions.
Tripoli MP and Former Prime Minister Najib Mikati hailed Fadlallah as a pioneer in defending Lebanon’s national coexistence and unity.
“Lebanon lost one of the major defendants of the country’s national unity and promoter of rapprochement between monotheistic religions,” the former premier said.
Condolences also poured in from foreign officials in Egypt, Iraq and Iran.
“With Sayyed Mohammad Hussein Fadlallah’s death, Lebanon has lost a patriotic man of knowledge, ethics, moderation and dialogue as he was committed to logic and reason in stances making him a national reference that people consult in religious and national problems,” Labor Minister and Batroun MP Butros Harb said.
Al-Jamaa al-Islamyia Secretary General Ibrahim al-Masri said: “The Islamic and Arab world has lost an exceptional individual who surpassed with his knowledge the religious, sectarian and geographic boundaries to bridge the gap between different sects and schools.”
Similarly, Future Movement MP Ammar Houri stressed that Fadlallah was a religious reference to all Lebanese rather than just the Shiite.
“This loss encourages us to commit to Fadlallah’s path, the path of science, modesty and fight against injustice,” Houri said. – The Daily Star
Copyright The Daily Star 2010.
