Sunni Authorities in Lebanon: Between the Constant and the Changing

Three forces represent the Muslims in Lebanon, embodying the religious, political, and social reference for the Muslim community. These are the official religious institution (Dar Al-Fatwa in the Lebanese Republic), the Presidency of the Council of Ministers (the Prime Minister of Lebanon), and the Islamic and national political forces and movements. The question that arises in this context is: Who granted these combined and separate forces the right to represent Muslims? What are the mechanisms and means adopted in selecting the effective representatives within these mentioned organizational frameworks? Are the decisions they make and the practices they carry out binding on the vast majority of Muslims in Lebanon? How and when can these representative councils be bypassed? Is it permissible for any Muslim citizen in Lebanon to disdain the religious, political, and social actions they undertake or not? What are the limits of the mandate given to these forces to act on behalf of the nation in managing matters and deciding on critical issues? Are they obliged to inform citizens of every small and large matter or not? What are the constants and variables that govern the course and conduct of these representative organizational bodies? Who is the competent judge to resolve disputes that arise among them or with the citizens? In what sense can we understand and comprehend the dialectic of the relationship between the people and their representatives in terms of tactics and strategy? Is it permissible for these forces to gamble with the rights of the sect in terms of political-economic and social-religious security? To what extent can political settlements that protect the community and the nation be considered concessions and renunciations? Or does political realism and regional and international changes impose on these forces a balance between theory/ideal and reality/crisis to preserve achievements and transition to a safe and stable state?

Islam called for the preservation of five essentials on which the rules of Islam are based: the preservation of religion, life, intellect, offspring, and property; and their basis, as determined by the majority of scholars, is the preservation of religion on its established principles and considered constants. Therefore, the preservation of religion was prioritized over the rest of the essentials according to the well-known fundamentalist arrangement. However, Sultan al-Ulama Izz ibn Abd al-Salam determined that sometimes preserving life takes precedence and is more important than preserving religion. Izz ibn Abd al-Salam said: "If Muslims are few in number and cannot inflict harm on their enemy, they must retreat," and in that lies the enabling of religion through the preservation of life, which is a prelude to preserving religion in the long run. Since Sharia, as Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyya mentioned, is based on preserving people's interests in their immediate and future matters, scholars, including Izz ibn Abd al-Salam, allowed prioritizing the preservation of life over the preservation of religion. He had a good example in the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH), who accepted during the negotiations with Suhail ibn Amr, the envoy of the Meccans, on the day of Hudaybiyyah to remove the phrase "Messenger of God" and replace it with "Muhammad ibn Abdullah," saying to him: "If we knew you were the Messenger of God, we would not have fought you." Then, the rightly guided caliph Umar ibn al-Khattab, on more than one occasion, suspended a Quranic text based on political expediency, such as canceling the share of those whose hearts are to be reconciled, which is established by a Quranic text, and not dividing the Sawad land after the Battle of Qadisiyyah and converting it into a permanent endowment for Muslims, contrary to the Quranic ruling and the prophetic experience in dividing the spoils. Other examples include his decision to suspend the application of the Hudud punishments during the year of famine. No one among the Companions of the Messenger of God opposed him, thus forming a consensus and legislation for the nation beyond the explicit text (Quran and Sunnah).

The political-social dynamics regulating the work of the forces representing Sunni Muslims in Lebanon fall within the circle of human ijtihad (jurisprudential reasoning) based on interests, which is subject to change and alteration on the principle of "preserving life" emphasized by the Quran. Allah says: "And whoever saves one life – it is as if he had saved mankind entirely" (Al-Ma'idah/32). It is clear to any objective and fair observer that our Arab region, for over ten years or more, has been facing structural threats at the levels of thought, authority, and society, making the modern Arab state, as a regulating tool of society in terms of power, economy, and culture, at the eye of the storm, which began to sweep away everything, both humans and stones. This imposes on all of us the necessity to preserve human development and cultural construction that represents our identity, authenticity, and historical presence.

Consultation (shura) as known is not obligatory for the Imam, as determined by jurists. The Imam, after consulting the people, can act on his own opinion without adhering to the opinion of the consultative council. Allah says: "And consult them in the matter. And when you have decided, then rely upon Allah" (Al-Imran/159). Since politics is the art of the possible, and since the religious and political authorities of Muslims in Lebanon are going through very difficult circumstances and are under immense pressure from inside and outside, it is incumbent upon the nation to stand by their representatives, advise them, and support them. Our enemies try to separate the leadership from the masses to isolate the leadership first and then attack the masses. As the poet said: "The sticks refuse to be broken when they are gathered, but if they are separated, they are easily broken." The Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) often kept his political and military movements secret from his Companions to maintain caution and ensure the secrecy of information to prevent it from reaching his enemies, which could lead to the failure of his plans.

The unity between the reference and the nation is the fundamental axis on which the thought of Ahl al-Sunnah wa al-Jama'ah is based. The proof of this is that whenever the unity of the nation was at risk of disappearing, the elements and components of the Muslim community came together to preserve the unity of the nation and the group. The term "Jama'ah" emerged after the incident of Saqifah Bani Sa'idah and what happened during it, almost causing the division of Muslims at that time over the selection of a leader for Muslims after the death of the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH), until they agreed on Abu Bakr al-Siddiq. After the Battle of Siffin and the resulting internal conflict that shook the tranquility of the Rightly Guided Caliphate at that time, Al-Hasan ibn Ali relinquished the caliphate to Mu'awiya ibn Abi Sufyan, making the year 41 AH known as the Year of Unity. The Qadiri Creed emerged when the Abbasid Caliph al-Qadir bi-Allah gathered Muslims on it, achieving political and doctrinal unity for Muslims, historically known to this day as "Ahl al-Sunnah wa al-Jama'ah." This united the nation again behind the political leadership of Muslims (the Abbasid Caliphate) and the doctrinal legislative reference (the Quran and Sunnah). The symbolic concept of "Ahl al-Sunnah wa al-Jama'ah" lies in loyalty to religion and allegiance and belonging to the political leadership.

From here, the aforementioned references, particularly the official ones, are authorized to make decisions and take organizational measures that they deem correct through their ijtihad, based on the mandate granted to them by the community (citizens). This is a general mandate that can only be revoked according to principles, mechanisms, and controls specified by jurists as well as the constitution and the law. Today, if we do not feel unity and unite behind Dar al-Fatwa, the religious reference representing revelation, and behind the Prime Minister, the official political representative of Muslims, we will not rise, and we will not be true Sunnis, even if we disagree with these references in some interpretations and ijtihad of our political-social reality. The Companions (may Allah be pleased with them) had differing jurisprudential and political opinions, and they were not a monolithic intellectual group. They had competition and differences among them, but on the basis of respecting the popular legitimacy granted to the ruler and the legal legitimacy derived from the law and the constitution.

The two official religious and political institutions of Muslims in Lebanon have demonstrated a high level of competence and efficiency in managing public affairs throughout modern Lebanese history. They have offered, and continue to offer, martyrs to preserve Lebanon's identity and its Arabism and to defend the rights and achievements of Muslims. They accepted settlements without relinquishing rights in defense of the truth. The journey of martyrdom began with Prime Minister Riad Al-Solh, followed by Prime Minister Rashid Karami, Mufti Hassan Khaled, scholar Subhi Al-Saleh, Prime Minister Rafic Hariri, and other honorable martyrs on the path of freedom and dignity. Strengthen the institutions with your support; do not weaken them. Do not be allies to your oppressors and Satan against yourselves. And Allah is the one whose help is sought, and there is no power or might except with Allah, the Most High, the Most Great.

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