BEIRUT: Leading Lebanese Shiite cleric Mohammed Hussein Fadlallah issued a fatwa, or religious decree, on Sunday forbidding the normalization of ties with neighboring Israel. “The normalization of ties with the Zionist enemy in any form is prohibited by sharia [Islamic law],” Fadlallah said in statement. “We confirm that the fatwa against normalization applies to every Muslim.”

Washington has called on Arab governments to begin normalizing ties with Israel and for the country to halt settlement construction in the occupied West Bank to help pave the way for a resumption of Israel-Palestinian talks broken off in December.
Several Arab governments have indicated that they would consider steps towards normalization but only if Israel agrees to a complete halt to settlement construction. Of Israel’s Arab neighbors, only Egypt and Jordan have signed peace treaties with Tel Aviv.

Fadlallah urged Arabs not to abandon the Palestinian cause, and “realize the seriousness and dangers threats and challenges that await us.” – AFP, with The Daily Star

Lebanon’s top Shiite cleric Ayatollah Mohammed Hussein Fadlallah on Sunday issued a fatwa, or religious ruling, banning the normalization of ties with Israel.

“Normalization with the Zionist enemy in any form is prohibited by Sharia (Islamic law),” Fadlallah said in statement.
“We confirm that the fatwa against normalization applies to every Muslim,” he stressed.

The United States has called on Arab states to begin normalizing ties with Israel and on the Jewish state to halt settlement construction in the occupied West Bank in efforts to facilitate resumption of Israel-Palestinian talks broken off in December.

Several Arab governments have indicated that they would consider steps towards normalization but only if Israel agrees to a complete halt to settlement construction.

Egypt and Jordan are the only Arab countries to have signed peace treaties with the Israel.

BEIRUT: Senior Shiite cleric Sayyed Mohammad Hussein Fadlallah and Progressive Socialist Party (PSP) leader MP Walid Jumblatt on Wednesday stressed on the need to face US-Israeli schemes that aim to “weaken Lebanon’s domestic front and sow the seeds of inter-Muslim strife.” Jumblatt visited Fadlallah at his residence in the Beirut southern suburb of Haret Hreik, for the first time in more than three years. The talks, which lasted for over an hour, were attended by deputy head of the PSP Dureid Yaghi and Minister of State Wael Abu Faour.

Following the June 7 polls Jumblatt held similar talks with political foe Hizbullah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah.

The meeting Wednesday surveyed political developments that followed the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri in 2005.

“We are glad to be able to renew political as well as intellectual discussions with Sayyed Fadlallah after a long pause due to political circumstances and the summer 2006 war [with Israel],” Jumblatt told reporters.

“We share his [Fadlallah’s] political views concerning what is being plotted for the region,” Jumblatt said.

In August, Jumblatt announced his departure from the March 14 Forces, describing his alliance with the coalition as “driven by necessity.”

However on Monday, Jumblatt took part in a large-scale meeting for the parliamentary majority at the residence of Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri in Qoreitem.
Jumblatt said he attended the meeting to “express support” for Hariri in his so-far-difficult task of forming a national unity government.

Jumblatt said Wednesday he remained part of the parliamentary majority, while adding that it was “high time the alliance revives its rhetoric and slogans.”

He also expressed hope that inter-Lebanese and inter-Muslim strife can be avoided. “We should return to the basics and assess the true challenges and threats that await us,” he said.

Fadlallah, meanwhile, accused foreign powers of running Lebanese politics.

The cleric described Jumblatt’s recent stances as “important,” and hoped that others would follow suit.

“It is essential that all groups join forces in order to prevent foreign meddling through politics and the judiciary into domestic affairs,” he said.

“Foreign powers benefit from and extensively use tools such as politics, sectarianism, and racism to sow the seeds of strife among Sunnis and Shiites,” he added. – The Daily Star

BEIRUT: Lebanon’s top Shiite cleric says the Muslim holy month of Ramadan will begin on Friday August 21.

Grand Ayatollah Sayyed Mohammed Hussein Fadlallah said Monday in a statement that Ramadan will begin Friday based “on accurate astronomical calculations.” The beginning of Ramadan is traditionally based on the sighting of the new moon so most Muslims don’t know exactly when the month begins until a day or two before.

Lebanon’s Shiites are alone in their reliance on astronomical calculations rather than moon sightings by the naked eye.

Ramadan is Islam’s holiest month and a time of reflection when Muslims abstain from eating, drinking, smoking and sex from dawn to dusk.

Also on Monday, Sayyed Fadlallah met with Saudi Ambassador Ali at-Assiri, who stressed the need to preserve Lebanon’s social and cultural diversity, while reiterating his country’s support to Lebanon.

For his part, Fadlallah urged Saudi Arabia “the cradle of Islam and the place from which the message of Islam spread to the world” to persevere to preserve Muslim unity “inside and outside” the kingdom.
Fadlallah highlighted Saudi Arabia’s “determined battle” against “Takfiri factions that are dividing the Muslims and distorting the image of Islam.”

The Sayyed Fadlallah emphasized the need to maintain “the stability and security of the Arab and Muslim World, especially the Hijaz region,” in reference to an area renowned for its historical and religious heritage in Saudi Arabia.

The Sayyed said the main factors “to implement stability are associated with the pressing need to safeguard of inter- Islamic relations as well as Islamic-Arab relations.”

As such, he called on all concerned sides to “keep working on ameliorating and developing those relations in order to provide security for the Arab World.” – The Daily Star, with AP