In Photos: A Spiritual and Social Gathering... The Sheikh Aql in Kfarselwan

These remarks by His Eminence Sheikh Abi Al-Muna came during a spiritual and social meeting held at the Al-Maghraby family hall in the town of Kfarselwan, organized by the town's families and institutions to celebrate the visit of His Eminence the Sheikh Aql and the sheikhs, in response to the invitation of the town's sheikhs to participate in a religious evening. He was accompanied by a delegation of sheikhs, including the head of the Irfan Tawhid Foundation, Sheikh Nazih Rafeh, and sheikhs from the foundation and its administration, as well as members of the Madhab Council and advisors. He was received by the municipal and mukhtar councils, town institutions, and sheikhs, dignitaries, and residents from the families of the town.

The meeting began with a speech by Sheikh Abu Hossam Nawaf Hatoum, welcoming His Eminence the Sheikh Aql and the accompanying delegation with joy and happiness on the occasions of the visit and the blessed Eid al-Adha.

Then, Mukhtar Fawzi Al-Maghraby spoke, welcoming them on behalf of the town's institutions and families, the Mayor Bassam Hatoum, and the Al-Maghraby family endowment committee, addressing His Eminence the Sheikh Aql by saying:

"We take pride in you as a symbol and a sacrifice, and we remember your favor towards our town. Your honor today only serves to make those bright pages shine even more with your name, virtue, your intentions, your wisdom, and your pristine path. We look to you for inspiration in thought, creativity, and wise conduct, aimed at planting the seeds of harmony among all components of society and preserving the safety of the nation."

His Eminence the Sheikh Aql then delivered a speech, which stated:

In the name of God, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful

Praise be to God, Lord of the Worlds, and peace and blessings be upon the Master of the Messengers and upon all the pure prophets of God...

Esteemed sheikhs, our beloved people in Kfarselwan, with all its families and good components, ladies and gentlemen.

It pleases me to come for the second and third time to Kfarselwan, which is dear and precious to our hearts. Even if the village is geographically distant, as if it were at the far end of the world, it is in the very depths of our hearts. We visit it, along with the esteemed sheikhs, to bless you for the Eid and to emphasize that our holidays unite us as Muslims and Christians, and within their essence, the meanings of faith, love, and brotherhood are manifested.

He added: Our meeting with you in the public hall is a cause for joy and happiness for us. When we visit our villages, we are reaffirming our message that unites us, and in all our meetings, we carry that message. Yesterday, we visited Bkerke and met, as spiritual leaders, with the Secretary of State of the Vatican. We reaffirmed our national constants and the importance of unity in diversity, which is far beyond dualisms regardless of how many they are, aiming towards a broader national identity. Yesterday, we also met in a long-standing Islamic residence in Beirut, Muslims and Christians, to honor one of the great figures of Islamic-Christian dialogue, and we jointly affirmed the message of love, mercy, and brotherhood. Our Unitarian message is the same, and our national message is a message of gathering, not division; a message of reconciliation, not hatred; and of unity, not partitioning or fragmentation. It is the message of the Mountain, which is the heart of Lebanon and the mountain of reconciliations, through which we turned the pages of pain and conflict and opened a page of love and cooperation, with the hope that it will be completed in this town and region. We affirm our established truth and firm constants in faith, values, and rootedness in the land. No matter how many challenges increase, we will remain committed to these constants, raising our generations upon them so that the identity remains preserved, and the link between our immigrant and displaced children remains intact at its spiritual, moral, and national levels, through upbringing and developing a sense of belonging in generations. Because if we hold firm to these principles, we can face all difficulties. We are linked to our religion, our values, and our land; therefore, no one can shake our existence or our society. We, as Unitarians, are a unifying and cohesive sect, and we are the link in the chain. We are keen, as a spiritual and political leadership, not to be the spearhead in confronting any sect or partner in this country, but rather advocates of gathering, cohesion, and construction.

His Eminence continued: In Lebanon, we need the assistance of influential nations because we are linked to the issues of the region, and this is not the responsibility of the Lebanese alone. However, we need dialogue among ourselves to save Lebanon and achieve its renaissance, and so that we may preserve what we inherited from our ancestors and safeguard it for our children and grandchildren.

He concluded with verses of his own poetry:

Lebanon is our history and the East is our pride

And the glory within us is attributed to this sanctuary

We wrote it for the grandchildren long ago

In letters made of the blood of ancestors that never faded

We wrote it as a single life, in which

The minarets and bells rang out and drew closer

For we are those who were the masters of the nations

And we are those who were a mother and father to the sanctuary...

Following this, His Eminence the Sheikh Aql participated in the Kfarselwan religious evening at the shrine of the late Sheikh Abu Hussein Mahmoud Al-Maghraby, alongside the participation of His Eminence Sheikh Naim Hassan and the esteemed sheikhs: Abu Saleh Mohammed Al-Andari, Abu Zeineddine Hassan Ghannam, Abu Fayez Amin Makarem, Abu Taher Munir Barakat, Abu Hani Wafiq Haidar, Abu Suleiman Saeed Sarieddine, Abu Hassan Adel Al-Nimr, Abu Salman Mahdi Darbia, and a group of sheikhs from the Matn and the region.

This was preceded by visits made by His Eminence the Sheikh Aql to a number of the town's sheikhs, and he accepted an invitation from the family of the late Sheikh Abu Youssef Halim Zahruddine in the town of Al-Khalawat in the Upper Matn, with the participation of a group of sheikhs.

His Eminence the Sheikh Aql had accepted an invitation from the head of the National Dialogue Party, MP Fouad Makhzoumi, in Beirut to honor Dr. Mohammed Al-Sammak for receiving the "King Faisal International Prize for Service to Islam", alongside the participation of the Grand Mufti of the Lebanese Republic, Sheikh Abdul Latif Deryan, and a number of personalities.