[R-G] Sayyed Fadlullah Calls on "the Religious Scholars in Pakistan to Unite and Confront Inciters of Strife"

[Yoshie Furuhashi]

<http://english.bayynat.org.lb/news/bayan02012008.htm>
2-1-2008 A.D., 23 Zul Hijja 1428 H

Calling on the religious scholars in Pakistan to unite and confront
inciters of strife

Sayyed Fadlullah: Let the occasions of Hijra and Ashoura be occasions
of preserving the unity of Muslims

The Religious Authority, Sayyed Muhammad Hussein Fadlullah, addressed
in a letter, the Pakistani Sunnis and Shiites reminding both parties
that they do not represent a problem for one another, and that their
real problem is the American arrogance and the Zionist Terrorism.

In his letter H.E. said:

Dear brothers and loved ones of the Shiite and Sunni Muslims in Pakistan.

We have been following the sufferings you are living as a result of
the difficult conditions you are passing through, whether that of
economic hardship of poverty and deprivation, the political chaos that
has led to additional conflicts or the barbaric bombings that serve in
one way or another the American project of spreading chaos in the
Muslim world aiming at serving US strategic interests and driving
Muslim and Arab countries to take part in what it calls a war on
terrorism.

The letters we received conveying the details of what happened in the
Parachinar region have made us deeply concerned, especially that the
regrettable clashes have led to the death of about 3000 Sunni and
Shiite victims, creating an additional deterioration in the relations
between the two sects, and enabling international powers to continue
their efforts to spread strife into new areas in the country, and lead
Muslims to kill brother Muslims in cold blood, angering God and
pleasing the enemies of the nation, especially the international
arrogance and the Zionists.

We call on our brothers in Pakistan, especially in the provinces where
the unrest continues to abide by the Islamic rules of dealing with
fellow Muslims. The blood, honour and wealth of Muslims are Haram
(impressible to violate).

We also call on them to be committed to Islamic unity. The Sunnis are
not the problem of the Shiites and the Shiites are not the problem of
the Sunnis.

It is the American arrogance and the Zionist terrorism that are the
problem of both parties, and the ones who stand to benefit from the
internal fights and destruction in our countries, especially what has
been happening in Pakistan following the assassination of Benazir
Bhutto.

Faced by what is happening in Pakistan and other parts of the Muslim
world of turmoil and arrogant attempts to incite strife, we call on
the Sunni and Shiite religious scholars to unite and confront all
kinds of Takfir or offending the Prophet's companions, and unify their
ranks in confronting the American policies that seek to destroy Islam
in its entirety.

As we prepare to receive the month of Muharram and the Hijra year and
Ashoura, we want these Islamic occasions to become opportunities to
solidify Islamic unity and not incite further discord. We want the
Muslims to live their Islam by solidifying the unity of Muslims. Let
the occasion of the anniversary of Hijra turn into an occasion for
solidifying their efforts, for the good of Islam. And let Ashoura be a
movement in confronting the injustice imposed on the nation, both from
inside and outside. Let us all unite in defending the causes of the
nation with the cause of Palestine in the forefront…

And let us all struggle to lift the burden of occupation in Palestine,
Iraq and Afghanistan and let us all unite to confronting all attempts
to incite strife among Muslims.

--
Yoshie
<http://montages.blogspot.com/>