If the [Islamic] nation gets used to thinking, if the nation realizes that it must not let its mind stagnate, and if the nation becomes accustomed to accepting things only after thinking them over with its mind and believing in them – nobody will be able to control us, nobody will be able to become a dictator ruling us, nobody will be able to enslave us. We have been raised to be submissive... You have probably seen this time and again at home. At home, the father does not let anybody else speak. The wife does not have the right to speak. The children do not have the right to speak. The father says: "I make the decisions, and nobody may object or disagree." Right? He is the father. But your children have grown, and maybe your wife is educated and experienced, and you – who are you?! Did Allah give you a brain that is unparalleled? No. Do you know what this education leads to? This education raises children who refrain from opposing the ruler. Their father does not allow anybody to speak, so they learn that they do not have the right to speak. When we consider the political parties – there too nobody opposes, disagrees with, or criticizes [the leader]. Whoever criticizes [the leader] finds himself outside. This is true even for the secular parties. The parties call for freedom. They shout that the ruler denies people their rights, but within the party, people are being denied their rights. When there are centers of power, nobody can express opposition. Whoever expresses opposition finds himself outside. This happens throughout the Middle East. I am not talking about anywhere specific. We raise our people to submit to the strong. Therefore, nobody expresses opposition. They are afraid. It is better to not talk, to not object. That is why we have tyrants who are like gods. Among the Arab and Islamic peoples, you might find people who criticize Allah and the Prophet, God forbid, but can you find people who criticize mortals like the president or the king? No, this is not allowed. Such people go straight to jail or to the gallows. If you say something against Allah – never mind. If you say something against the Prophet or the imam – never mind. But if you say something against the president, the king, the Emir, or any senior politician – that is not allowed. What does this mean? It means that we have succumbed to being slaves, because this is what slavery means.

Thanks for posting that Malik, it is exactly the type of thing we would wish to see from Islam, an awakening of individual thinking.
That there is need to have to tell people to think at all, is another matter.

Fadllah condemns the clebrating occasions by fing shots

Following the shooting to celebrate the reelection of the speaker, Nabih Berri, the Religious Authority Ayatullah Al Ozma Sayyed M. H. Fadlullah issued a Fatwa that prohibited firing shots and fireworks among the people in the streets, whatever the occasion may be.

His Eminence condemned the shootings that followed the reelection of the Lebanese Speaker, Nabih Berri, considering them as an ignorant or backward way of expressing feelings.

His Eminence emphasized that such an action is prohibited due to the negative consequences of scaring the people, disturbing them and even causing causalities, who fell as a result of these practices that reflect a flaw in their religious political or national commitment. It also reflects a backward mentality in dealing with those occasions, whether those of joy or mourning.

It also lead to a great loss of lives and of money and to a misuse of arms in the wrong place and in a way that hurts social security and general order.

Sayyed Fadlullah further called on all officials concerned to prevent such an attitude from being repeated in any other occasion to safeguard our country and public life.

Good one Malik. I note that the word "fatwa" is in there. The problem with the West and Western media is that words like jihad and fatwa automatically conjures a negative image because the general populace do not know its proper meaning or that they are used in only one context which inevitably becomes the only meaning.

freediver wrote on Jul 24^th, 2008 at 10:36am:

From my understanding he is the highest ranking Shia religious authority in Lebanon, with the position of Grand Ayatollah