Opening the Conference of "The Unity of the Nation and its Future… ", Fadlullah: Those who do not open their hearts to dialogue are cowards.

 

Upon an invitation of "The Gathering of Muslim Religious Scholars" and "The World Forum for Proximity of Islamic Schools of Thought", His Eminence, the Religious Authority Sayyed Muhammad Hussein Fadlullah opened the Conference of "The Unity of the Nation and its Future…The Duties of the Islamic Nation in the 21^st Century" that was held in Al-Comodore Hotel. The Conference was attended by political, diplomatic and religious personalities and delegations.

The speech of the Gathering of Muslim Religious Scholars was delivered by Sheikh Ahmad El-Zein where he confirmed that "the Conference represents a significant matter of high importance for what this century (20^th century) has left and will leave behind in the Islamic region and elsewhere and for what the next century will bring of matters that are already emerging".. He also focused on the challenges that the nation is facing, calling for its confrontation, especially the Arab openness to Israel and the shameful silence concerning the Judaization of Jerusalem.

He added, "But we have an optimistic view towards the Islamic resistance that is inflicting harm on the Israeli enemy forcing it to withdraw. This withdrawal has started from Jezzine and hopefully it will withdraw from all the territories of the South and the Western Bekaa. We feel relieved to see that the Lebanese State is taking a stand with the Resistance against the Zionist enemy and emphasizing in every occasion on the unity of course with Syria that is established on the basis of holding fast and rejecting the idea of surrendering to the enemy.

Then, the Head of The World Forum for Proximity of Islamic Schools of Thought, Ayatollah Muhammad Wa'iz Zada Alkharasani delivered a speech through which he affirmed that "The World Forum for Proximity feels proud to have accomplished its mission in this conference in cooperation with The Gathering of Religious Islamic Scholars in Lebanon". Alkharasani praised the knowledge, jurisprudence, and thought of His Eminence, Sayyed Muhammad Hussein Fadlullah confirming that "we are pleased that he is present". He also praised the efforts that the late Sheikh Said Sha'aban had exerted in the field of Islamic unity. In addition, he pointed out the necessity of acting responsibly towards uniting both Muslim sects, the Sunni and the Shiite.

Then His Eminence, Sayyed Muhammad Hussein Fadlullah delivered a speech in which he stated:

Conferences increase and slogans multiply, and yet we remain right where we are. We do not deny that the proximity that was started in the proximity house in Cairo was the ray of light in that darkness in which Muslims lived the fanaticism… the fanaticism that did not start even from the thoughts spread by fanatics here and there. It aroused from the backwardness of understanding Islam in its movement in the world… because the problem might lie in understanding what Islam is so as to pursue all the developments of awareness in the world to find out where is Islam's position…

And he asked: are we serious in calling for the Islamic unity or are we just like those mentioned in the Holy Quran: "When they meet those who believe, they say: "We believe;" but when they are alone with their evil ones, they say: "We are really with you: We (were) only jesting." We launch the Islamic unity, and  we compliment each other and we talk about unity in the belief and in the face of arrogance. But let us face the facts, most of us return to their bases saying: we are only complimenting them, we are hundred per cent right and not them, our sect is the rightful, whereas the other sect is the wrongful, so, there is no profound Islamic chance to engage in a dialogue and review what we believed in here and there...

He added: We have become addicted to the culture of partition that the one sect has turned into many sects and the fanaticism that controls sectarianism has come to govern the opinions within the sect, and the problem is no more in how to unite Muslims, but how to unite Sunnis within themselves and Shiites within themselves. Instead, the issue of takfir has become the element  that governs the Islamic reality without even  determining what the concept of unbelief in Islam is… This  concept lost its meaning and each group has its own concept of unbelief and deviation. I do not want to seem pessimistic but we are facing a real problem that is being engraved within us.

He proceeded: we are falling behind in the meaning of Islam in life and its movement in facing the challenges… to confine Islam in your prison and lock it out and so does the other. Islam broke forth from the isolation bottle but its guards have worked to return it to the bottle of fanaticism… There exists a difference between fanaticism and commitment. To fanaticize is to suffocate within yourself and not to think again, whereas to become committed is to grant your conviction of the idea the meaning of the movement of thought in your conscience, and to think not to stone the other when he disagrees with you because those who do not open their hearts to dialogue are cowards… Do not fear for Islam when it enters the field of struggle because, armed with the elements of strengths it owns, it is capable of protecting itself in its movement of thought or from its followers when they misunderstand it and defy its authenticity.

He added: we were waiting for the Islamic movements to resolve the fanaticism state in the communities of Islamic sects, but I fear that there is sectarianism within the Islamic movements which is separating them from one another… We are scared of frankness, why do not we plan for it? The answer is that each one of us fears the invisible areas in the other which is complicating all this reality we are living. So, if we do believe in our thoughts and we want the others to believe we are faithful, then why do the hypocrite compliments dominate our way of speaking? If we do not cut the reality, we will not be able to heal it, for complimenting the reality creates accumulations that could bury it, even if it has some authenticity.

He also said: when we finish this conference or the upcoming ones, we ought to go to the ground, to our bases, and talk to them about Islamic unity and that the disagreements among Muslims could represent the diversity that enriches Islam, and that the disagreements  be the result of the misunderstanding resulting from not being frank and sincere… The Conference is not only here but the conference is in all our mosques, sites, and forums, so if we are convinced with Islamic unity, we have to get down to our bases. And perhaps the bases that we had nourished on hatred would end up by throwing us with stones. Let us consider these stones to be medals because what is actually stoning you is backwardness and not awareness, knowing that backwardness was what stoned the prophets throughout the history…

He proceeded: we know that this generation is a sanctified generation that wants to face all the big challenges in the world, so why do not we teach it to be objective and rational in dialogue and methodology… This is the Islamic reality! How long  we have said that Palestine will stay, yet we lost Palestine, and how long  we have said that Afghanistan will stay, yet we lost Afghanistan! People plan and we cheer, people occupy and we fight each other!! Our problem is this surface on which we float and the fact that words have a great influence on us. The American president, Clinton, delivers speeches in which he promises this and that, so we feel optimistic and run after this mirage, that if we examined carefully, we would find it to be void?!

He ended wondering: you Muslims of all sects, do you want Islam or yourselves? The world has declared war on Islam and we have to be ready for the battle by making the Islamic unity the meaning of Islam in ourselves… Be the Muslim Sunnis and the Muslim Shiites, for if you ignore your belonging to Islam, then you will be putting the sect ahead of Islam… The field is full of contradictions and the horizon holds many hopes, so come to the reality so that we can plan, work, and fear God in our present and our future, and think about the future carefully.