The Jafari Mufti, Sheikh Ahmad Qabalan, issued a holiday message, the text of which is as follows: "Because it is the holiday with all that the holiday means in terms of the yearning for an encounter that brings together the face of the earth and the recesses of the sky, because the moment is a long pain on the outskirts of the night stained with the spark of light ignited from the trunk of pure blood, and because fasting is an act of worship involving giving, patience, and moral tenacity while awaiting the day of the heavenly gift and the ceremony of the divine reward, here are the sacrificial offerings of God's holiday bearing their homeland with the generosity of their remains and the fragrance of their funerals, holding the weddings of their national glory with the handles of patience, orphanhood, steadfastness, martyrdom, and legendary fighting in order to protect their country, their people, their land, their independence, and the creed of their homeland that encapsulates the foundation of Lebanon's inception. Because we are in the heart of this national truth and divine sanctity, the shadows of our current holiday have descended upon us to witness the deeds of the emperors of this unjust world who live on extermination, occupation, and ruin, all amidst the voice of the Lord who gathers the elements of dignity from the corners of remains and the blood most sacred to God and man, to be the badge of honor for the noblest, greatest offerings and the holiest souls that protect a homeland named Lebanon." He continued: "Because our holiday this year is thus, it has turned into a verse paired with the miracle of patience, steadfastness, and national fighting, and a proof of the greatest epics of redemption amidst the table of Eid al-Fitr, which God has singled out with the greatest fronts of defense for the sanctity of humanity and homelands. This is a model image of the manifestations of the Great Prophet (P) when he stood atop the minaret of epics to say: 'There is no divine behest greater than human dignity and the trust of homelands.' This is the same thing indicated by Jesus Christ (P) when he said: *(O Allah, our Lord, send down to us a table [spread] from the heaven to be for us a festival for the first of us and the last of us and a sign from You. And provide for us, and You are the best of providers)*, with the table here being a covenant of spirit and homeland and comprehensive solidarity for what is required for God's goals of human dignity. Today's holiday is the wedding of the people of sacrifice and defiance, the stain of their blood, the pendant of their valor, their proof of dedication, and their highest medal of honor amidst a homeland suffering from the worst political failure, national laziness, and a divisive reality that has reached the point where some crawl with blank papers to give Tel Aviv what it failed to achieve in its fiercest terrorist wars, even though Tel Aviv works with all its capabilities to swallow Lebanon and the region to achieve the Greater Israel project, whose expiration date has ended in this fateful war." He said: "Although error in this area will take the entire country into the unknown, the outcome of which is known only to God, silence here is treason against Lebanon, and we will not betray Lebanon. This comes amid a legendary sovereign popular defense waged by the people of the South, the Southern Suburb, and the Bekaa for the sake of this country, its sovereignty, its state project, its national unity, and its Lebanese family, on behalf of the Lebanese authorities who are busy counting airstrikes and protocol soirées. Hence, we affirm that there is no value to a homeland without sovereignty, and no honor to a country without the fervor of national fighting, especially since the Israelis, since the ceasefire agreement, have continued to chase this country, bulldoze its land, demolish its pillars, trample its dignity, confiscate its decision, kill its sons, violate everything, and care nothing for its authorities or the requirements of its independence. Surprisingly, the Israelis do this without any hindrance from an international or UN guarantor or a ceasefire committee, and most dangerously, they do it with clear and explicit support from Washington, which deals with Lebanon as a field for Greater Israel projects. Despite this, there is no map of ideas, defense policies, or acceptable logic from the Lebanese authorities, who have left their people and folk to be killed, bombed, and exterminated above a sea of rubble, ruins, funerals, and sacrifices offered by this people who defeated the Israeli army on the outskirts of the town of Khiam, so that this country may remain a free and independent homeland for all components of the national formula that founded the project of the covenantal state in Lebanon." Addressing the faithful, he said: "Because we are at a fateful moment, I say: The resistance and the army in this field are the foundation of Lebanon's sovereignty, the symbol of the defense of its existence, and what is required for its capacity to survive and its independence. Without the army and the resistance, there is no shield for Lebanon, and the political authority is demanded to prove its patriotism amid a disaster crushing its credibility in this field. Here, a testimony must be given to the Lebanese Army, which is eager for sovereign fighting were it not for the political decision that prevents it from doing so and instead commands it to withdraw from the points where it is stationed toward the border villages that are now waging battles of national honor to defend Lebanon's sovereignty. Herein lies the crisis of this country's crises, and the knot of its knots. The moment belongs to popular Lebanon and its historical and sovereign covenants, which befit the national family that has proved it is the greatest model of unity, solidity, existence, and survival of Lebanon, which has proven that nothing is more important than Lebanon in its Islamic-Christian formula. Indeed, there is no essence to Islam without Christianity, and vice versa. This means we are before a Lebanon baptized with the covenants of the Quran and the Gospel, encapsulated by the reality of upholding the truth and invalidating falsehood, especially national truth and sovereign solidarity that accepts no subservience or flight from the duties of national defense for Lebanon. The moment, according to the logic of heavenly and national heritage for sovereignty, steadfastness, national justice, and moral firmness, is not for deals, hatred, and subservience, which contradict the core interests upon which Lebanon is built." He added: "Here I say to my people, the people of honor and national fervor (Islam and Christianity): Prophets were sent and homelands were established upon human dignity, the greatness of his role, and the rightful purposes of his existence. Houses will be rebuilt, and the South, the Bekaa, and the Southern Suburb will return better than they were (God willing). This is a promise before God, the homeland, and the environment that teaches the people of the world the greatest lessons of dignity, fervor, sacrifice, freedom, and independence." And to the political authority, he said: "The moment is history like no other, the homeland is a family that does not tear apart during existential crises, and the reality of the region sits atop an arsenal that could plunge the entire world into an unprecedented moment of destiny. Israel and America have lost the war, and any major regional mistake could ignite the world. What is required is for us to win our national, political, and popular unity, exactly as we won the historical moment. There is no people like the people of Lebanon in times of crisis, and what is required is for Lebanon's policy to be like the people of Lebanon, who do not accept deals. What is required of Saudi Arabia, Iran, Turkey, Pakistan, Iraq, Egypt, Lebanon, and the rest of the Arab and Islamic countries is to win their strategic unity far from the hegemony of Washington, Tel Aviv, and the rest of the world's poles, because the world's poles know nothing but terrorism, aggression, massacres, ruin, and the looting of countries' wealth." He continued: "The Lebanese authorities here are severely tested, national error is forbidden, revenge burns the country, and leaping into the unknown is suicide. The Southern Suburb is closer to Baabda and the Grand Serail than any other capital or party in this world. Speaker Nabih Berri is a national creed, a historical school, and the master of masters in Lebanese interests. Overstepping him is overstepping Lebanon and a stab to the core of its sovereign and existential interests. The covenantal formula is an existential guarantor for Lebanon, and there is no covenantalism or strategic choices without Speaker Nabih Berri. There is no choice except the 'ceasefire agreement' and nothing else. Sedition is forbidden; rather, it is an existential catastrophe, and there is no sedition more dangerous to Lebanon than political sedition. There are national interests that cannot be bypassed or leaped over, and they [the Lebanese authorities] are concerned with protecting national sacrifices, not sacrificing them. There is no offering following Eid al-Fitr greater than the offerings of sacrifice and sovereign fighting that guarantee Lebanon, and there is no bond tighter for this beloved country than historical popular bonds. Mr. Walid Jumblatt is likewise a great master in times of national crises, and the same goes for Mr. Talal Arslan and the rest of the people of the Mountain, fervor, and honor. Of course, this is connected to the noble, dear brother Mr. Suleiman Frangieh and the rest of the honorable people of the North, Beirut, the mountains of Kesrouan, Sidon, and every fervor that has turned into a 'national sanctuary' for their noble brethren who left their sons in the heart of the greatest sovereign fields and fronts so that Lebanon might remain. Lebanon (since its very first day) has been and is established on its shared living, national unity, Lebanese family, and ability to overcome any vertical division. This is what we strongly hope for from the current political authority so that Lebanon is not lost. There is no behest on the day of Eid al-Fitr greater than Lebanon, its sovereignty, its honor, its national unity, and what is required for its existential capacity. There is no historical stance in this holiday greater than the stance of blood baptized with the offerings of Lebanon's independence. The army and the resistance are this homeland's gateway, its shield, the resurrection of its glory, the reason for its sovereignty and freedom, and the basis of its survival and independence." Qabalan concluded: "Thanks to the army, the resistance, the sacrificing people, and all national figures, and thanks to Speaker Nabih Berri, who constitutes this country's greatest guarantees and the shield of its cross-sectarian interests. The moment is for coming together, love, mutual aid, solidarity, and celebrating national victory together. There is no value to Lebanon without the Islamic-Christian partnership, no value to the Southern Suburb without Tariq al-Jadida, no value to the South and its sovereign fronts without the Mountain of the Druze Monotheists, and no life for the Bekaa without the North. The eye remains on Beirut, the capital, so that Beirut may remain the den of Lebanon's glory and the guaranteeing backing for the sovereign epics that break the greatest tyrants of this world along Lebanon's southern border. Happy New Year, and may Lebanon, its people, its national partnership, its army, and its resistance always remain the title of honor, sovereignty, and independence."