Syria Mufti Urges Lebanon Politicians to Learn from Rahi: Syrians Don't Want Assad to Go
إقرأ هذا الخبر بالعربية
Syria's Mufti Sheikh Ahmed Badreddine Hassoun on Friday called on the Lebanese politicians to visit his country similar to Syrians' move towards Lebanon during its war, explaining that this is what “prevented partition”.
"Lebanese politicians should learn from Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi's step,” Hassoun said in an interview with al-Mayadeen television, expressing that he had wished if Grand Mufti Mohammed Rashid Qabbani was among the first travelers to his country.
Al-Rahi made a two-day visit to Damascus on Saturday - the first by a Maronite patriarch since Syrian and Lebanese independence in 1943 - during which he participated in the enthronement of Greek Orthodox leader Youhanna X Yazigi.
"Some local newspapers had threatened to move against my visit to Lebanon,” he revealed, stressing that “he will be present in the country whenever he desires”.
Hassoun also accused the Lebanese Forces of “killing of his brother in Lebanon”.
Regarding the ongoing war in Syria, he said it was fueled by “callers for jihad that long for strife in the country”, adding that they are “responsible for every ounce of blood shed during the conflict”.
He noted: “People do not want President Bashar Assad to step down”.
The Mufti urged Christians to refrain from leaving the country, explaining that this would give a reason for the establishment of a religious state.
“Syria will not be divided and it will continue to exist with all its sects and factions,” he confirmed.
Hassoun revealed that he was asked by official, Islamic and financial figures to leave Syria and announce his defection at the beginning of the last holy month of Ramadan.
16 February 2013, 21:34
10
yes, he loves his holly and the money from ASSad, but that doesn't make him HOLY.
anyhow, some of the biggest genocides in history have been led by so called men of faith--if they get political power, that's when they become really dangerous. look at the crusades, spanish inquisition, bosnia, rwanda, sudan, etc...
15 February 2013, 23:25
67
"Syria's Mufti Sheikh Ahmed Badreddine Hassoun on Friday called on the Lebanese politicians to visit his country similar to Syrians' move towards Lebanon during its war"
Time to send the Lebanese army and intelligence Syria, take over and run the place!!! We would need to vet all of the candidates to make sure they adopt a proper nationalist line.
16 February 2013, 01:05
134
FT - You are wrong. I happen to know few of the opposition people in Vancouver. They have been oppressed and victimized by the regime as much as we have.
16 February 2013, 01:25
84
FT - I do not disagree with you that Lebanon highest priority should be to protect its interest. The problem in this post is that we spend so much time arguing about things and not trying to articulate what Lebanese wants. If we can all agree that we want a strong democratic pluralistic state, then we can go about talking how this can be achieved.
16 February 2013, 01:29
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Habibi - There is a minimum level of acceptable discourse in our culture and "mothers" are red line. We should never stoop so low.
16 February 2013, 06:44
21
Stargate - He is appointed by the regime no matter what you call me or others and he will toe the line whether out of genuine belief or out of coercion. As for Assir, I could care less for him except as a human being and a fellow citizen. As for Arour, I find him to be repulsive - even though much of the blood curling statements attributed to him are fabrications.
16 February 2013, 02:11
61
This a does not have an ounce of faith just have a look at that head. If he wishes to break away from Islam and form a quasi-Pseudo Muslim sect with Assad (Kalb) as its head feel free, but someone already beat him to it the Alawis,
16 February 2013, 07:53
31
Rover98 - Take Hassoun's regrettable and lamentable position regarding Bashar regime out of the equation and let us look at his theology, why would you consider that he is somehow outside mainstream islam. And who are you to characterize alawite to be pseudo-muslims. Why are you so sure that your "truth" is the truth? Do you wonder why some minorities worry about zealots in the midst of the sunni community? Do you see how you play into the hand of this criminal regime?
16 February 2013, 06:48
22
And he has no problem with a regime that kills tens of thousands and torture many more? I grant you that in a choice between a Takfiri and sheik hassoun, I would pick the latter. However, he should also have made a stand and condemn the regime's killings, torture and inhumanity.
16 February 2013, 09:17
20
FT - Please study in depth the theories of political, religious and social pluralism. It is an essential part of having a healthy democracy. All attempts at creating homogeneous societies have ended up in disaster as it is the antithesis of liberty.
16 February 2013, 09:39
11
actually it is more typical for political leaders to have religious leaders at their back to legitimize their rule. As a religious leader, he should be against the shedding of blood and innocent lives, ON ALL SIDES. This guy has said that only the rebels are responsible for the bloodshed.
I guess this guy didn't want to bring up how many deaths and "disappearances" that this regime has brought on its own, even before this uprising. He is a hypocrite, which probably feels dear to the feelings of M8 anyway.
16 February 2013, 09:48
120
FT deserves every possible insult available in any encyclopedia. of others are offended tell them it's his father instead of his mother.
16 February 2013, 13:29
00
Al Rai was simply attending a religious ceremony in Syria and his visit should not misconstrued. He’s never expressed support for neither Assad nor the FSA. He always wanted the Syrian to peaceful solve their problems. The Syrian and Lebanese are one family and what affect us affect them and vice versa. Our hearts goes to the Syrian people who are facing hard time with the cold and displacement. I hope their struggle finishes soon. In Lebanon, we know how hard civil war is. I hope theirs is not as long as ours was. It destroyed the hopes of many people in Lebanon.
