Lebanon on the Ninth Day of its Uprising…

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

As of today, Friday, 25 October 2019, nine days have passed since the start of the popular movement in Lebanon, which demands the fight against corruption, and the basic rights of the people – which the state has neglected through successive governments for 30 years – where the demands reached the overthrow of the government and symbols of political sectarianism from leaders and ruling parties. This is something new, in an entity based on sectarianism and confessionalism since its founding!

The traditional politicians were between brightening his image among the demonstrators with a fictional reform paper, whose author says that: it would not have been possible without the street that has the right to demonstrate, as in the case of Prime Minister Saad Hariri … Or distributing roles: between representing himself with the movement with the resignation of his ministers from the government, as in the case of the Lebanese Forces led by Geagea … Or remaining in the government and trying to persuade Hariri to go out with him and resign together, as in the case of the Progressive Socialist Party led by Walid Jumblatt … And between intimidating and threatening for destruction and great things and change the equation, as in the case of Hezbollah led by Hassan Nasrallah. The latest of this reality is a recorded indirect speech from the President of the Republic on Thursday afternoon, 24/10/2019, in which he pointed out that the regime needs development, and that change is not from the squares! And that he is the first to demand the fight against corruption! And that it is necessary to reconsider the current government situation! He noted that people have lost confidence in the political class – as if he were not one of them! – and commended the reform paper submitted by the Government.

In this reality, it is noticeable even behind a curtain, that the institutions of what is known as civil society, whose demands intersect with people’s demands for rights, but additionally to that it demands a state and a model of secular governance! which is reflected in the squares with dance and songs, even if these things contradict the natures and customs of the main cities in the country, such as Tripoli, and its square, An-Noor square, one of the largest gatherings in this movement!

Then the major powers, such as America, France and Britain, spoke after the silence, so, there were statements from Washington stating: support for economic reforms! A senior administration official, as reported in Asharq al-Awsat Newspaper, 24/10/2019, was quoted as saying: “We in the administration support reform, but we will not decide what is going on, on the ground”. As for France, Al-Nahar Newspaper published on 24/10/2019, in an article by one of its authors, “… the French President created a crisis cell that follows the developments of Lebanon … began its contacts in Beirut with… To find out how Paris can support Prime Minister Saad Hariri … despite the failure that accompanied his efforts since the Cedar Conference …” The British Embassy published, as reported in Al-Nahar Newspaper on 24/10/2019, “The Lebanese people have expressed their legitimate anger, which must be responded to … The necessary reforms must be implemented urgently”.

O people; O demonstrators demanding your basic rights; based on adopting the interests of the people as imposed on us by our Shar’a, and after we made it clear from the first days of the movement that your start was spontaneous due to the severity of what you suffered from oppression. The statement now with the entry of the second week of your movement, is your right on us, it is a time of need, and it is not permissible to delay the statement at the time of need, so we say:

As for the traditional politicians, their positions are not surprising, for the use of power and governance dominated their hearts. So, they cannot afford to get out of them, even if they are demanded by the people who elected them, because they move only with the permission of their masters, especially America, which still wants this corrupt class in the foreseeable future … So, renounce them all without exception, rather, renounce them and the system on which they were based.

Then, do not let this movement take you to a reality that has been tried by major countries before you, leaving behind only a crisis followed by a crisis, and are anticipating the crisis of 2020. This reality that civil society institutions are trying to take you to, the secular state, as if it were the remedy! in a systematic attempts supported by the international community, to violate the character of these societies and their conservative nature, until it began to emerge in the demonstrations things that should not be in a revolution in which people exert their time, their bodies and the sustenance of their families, which deserves to be serious and unshakeable.

As for the major countries that are watching you, their words do not deviate from the terminology of reform, which will keep this corrupt political class, pending the maturity of the alternative leaders on the ground, and will highlight them quietly, and if their matter is settled, and the rein of these leaders is tightened, they will discard the traditional leaders the way they discard seeds, so these countries will return to enter our country from the window if they left from the door… Therefore, beware of these countries, and beware of those who they make and nurture, to complete the process of controlling our capabilities, but with new faces, governing the same corrupt system.

O People, you have chosen this path of expression and change, and this is a step forward in rejecting the corrupt reality and its men, so, do not make its end bring you back to the same painful reality, in the form of the system, and the way of its rule, so, you re-produce this system and this regime, with new faces bearing Western way of thinking and leadership, which is not suited to the reality of this country and its historical affiliation.

O Muslims, do not make the demand for your basic needs and lifting oppression and injustice, especially as you are the ones who endure the great grievance in this country, do not make that as an entry point for the poor remedies such as the civil state, and the separation of religion from life “secularism”, and an access to personal status laws and inheritance, and the legislation of homosexuality and others. For this is meant to erase and demonize your identity, and silence the voice of truth that you raise to make Allah’s law the rule among the people, the general people…

The origin – despite all the pressures – is to continue to draw the straight line against the crooked lines, and work to present the law of Islam, and that it is the only one valid to solve the problems of humanity, not just Muslims, and that the way to do so is to resume the Islamic way of life, in an Islamic state … The state in which non-Muslims lived, so their presence, even today in Muslim countries, was due to the Islamic State’s maintenance and good care of them … And do not be intimidated by the intensity and haughtiness of falsehood

إِنَّ الْبَاطِلَ كَانَ زَهُوقاً

“Indeed is falsehood, [by nature], ever bound to depart” [Al-Isra’: 81].

So, preserve your authenticity, demonstrate Islam’s rejection of injustice and corruption, and the sophistication of its remedies, and its possession of political, economic and social solutions for all people … Make this your attention point, and work to build it among the general public who have shown the will to change.

وَلَا تَلْبِسُوا الْحَقَّ بِالْبَاطِلِ وَتَكْتُمُوا الْحَقَّ وَأَنتُمْ تَعْلَمُونَ

“Do not confound Truth by overlaying it with falsehood, nor knowingly conceal the Truth” [Al-Baqara: 42].

Hizb ut Tahrir Wilayah Lebanon

26th Safar 1441 AH

25/10/2019 CE