Al-Amin Mosque in downtown Beirut. (Credit: Matthieu Karam/L'Orient-Le Jour)
BEIRUT — Dar al-Fatwa, Lebanon's highest Sunni religious authority, is postponing its first-ever event to mark the "Martyrdom of Imam Hussein," a primarily Shiite religious commemoration, a Sunni Court judge told L'Orient Today.
The event, which had been scheduled for Friday at the Al Amin Mosque in downtown Beirut, was "indefinitely postponed...to avoid the exploitation of it," Judge Khaldoun Araymet, who is affiliated with Dar al-Fatwa, said.
Friday's gathering would have been the first time Dar al-Fatwa commemorated Hussein's martyrdom, which is usually observed on Ashura, the 10th day of the month of Muharram in the Islamic calendar.
Though in Iraq and some other countries, Ashura is observed by both Shiites and Sunnis, in Lebanon and other parts of the region, Ashura is associated with the Shiite community. It commemorates the martyrdom during the Battle of Karbala of Hussein, the grandson of Prophet Muhammad, and his family, by the forces of Umayyad Caliph Yazid in the 7th century.
“We want to present Imam Hussein who is an Imam for all Muslims, and not only for our Shiite brothers and sisters, and we want to present him as a figure who sacrificed for Islam,” Araymet told L’Orient Today.
“We don't want any exaggeration and we simply want to highlight the role of Imam Hussain as the grandson of the prophet Mohammed, like we routinely do to other companions as well,” he explained.
He said that though some media responses had politicized the step, Dar al-Fatwa's intentions were “purely religious, far away from the political scene in the country.”
'Bridge the gaps between the two sects of Islam'
Dar al-Fatwa's planned event had drawn mixed reactions on social media.
One Facebook user had commented on the invitation to the event, posted on local news page Beirut 24: “This a step that will bridge the gap between the two sects of Islam. This is a step in the right direction.”
Another user replied to the critics of this initiative by stating: “Before speaking about anything happening on earth, without the slightest knowledge, the Prophet [Mohammed] said: 'Whoever believes in Allah and the Last Day, let him speak good or remain silent.'"
One user, however, commented that the commemoration of Ashura is “based on historical fabrications," and called Dar Al-Fatwa’s initial call a “mistake.”
L'Orient Today contacted Higher Islamic Shiite Council, though a representative did not respond by the time of publication.
