The scholar Sayyed Ali Fadlallah sponsored the ceremony held by Al-Mabarrat Charitable Association in the Al-Zahraa (PBUH) Hall at the Al-Hassanain (PBUH) Complex in Haret Hreik for more than four hundred girls on their reaching the age of religious maturity, in the presence of a number of religious, cultural and social figures and the families of the girls coming of age.
The ceremony began with verses from the Holy Quran, then the Lebanese national anthem. Al-Mabarrat's girls then presented a bouquet of anthems and a play inspired by the occasion, after which the scholar Fadlallah delivered a speech in which he said: It gives me joy today to be among you so that together we may embrace girls who have reached the age of religious maturity and who have decided, by their own will and their own choice and without compulsion or coercion, to enter life through the door God drew for them in this life… a decision that came out of their sound nature and the sound upbringing they were given, which made them possess the awareness that the road through God's door is the safest road for their lives and their future in this world and when they stand before God - because God wants nothing for them but good in what He commanded and forbade them…
From this standpoint we see that they have put on the hijab as an outward sign and an expression of this obedience, confident that God did not command it of them in order to restrain them, but so that it would be a mark of their humanity, and so that they would appear in society through that humanity and not through their femininity, which remains within the frame God has set for it. Neither the neighbourhood, nor the school, nor the university, nor the office, nor any place of learning or work is an arena for displaying it; these are the places in which she affirms her active position through her role in various fields…
When we speak of the hijab we do not mean the form alone so much as the substance: as the hijab is a covering for the body, so it is a covering of the mind against every thought that strays from truth and right, of the tongue against every word that harms others and harms life, and of the heart against all rancour and hatred.
And through this door you will enter life so as to be as God wanted you to be, dear ones - to be His stewards on earth, and to be the best in knowledge, in deed, in character and in presence in the arena of life, in which you must have an active role in every field of culture, society, politics and the economy, and in building the homeland and raising it up.
Our girls have reached the sense of responsibility they have reached through the awareness they have gained, but that would not have happened without the efforts of their families, who were careful to fulfil their role toward their daughters, planting in them the love of God and a sense of responsibility toward Him and obedience to Him, and who did not leave their daughters to be toyed with by the media and social platforms and by everyone who wishes to corrupt their thought, their hearts and their lives.
So congratulations to you, parents, on this upbringing, and all thanks and appreciation to you for the effort and toil you expended until you brought them to the straight path - going beyond working to secure food, drink and life's other requirements to focus on upbringing and guidance despite the difficulties and challenges of this age. And congratulations to you for the reward you will receive from God, which the Messenger of God (peace be upon him) pointed to when he said: “Whoever has a daughter and disciplines her well, and teaches her and teaches her well, and extends to her of the blessings God has bestowed on him, she will be for him a protection and a shield from the Fire.”
And of course we do not forget the great role of the educational institutions, which took upon themselves the role of upbringing, formation and guidance alongside the role of the academic and knowledge institutions that build minds. So thanks from the bottom of the heart to our directors, our teachers and our educators for what they expended and what they gave, until this harvest they sowed ripened and bore awareness, maturity and the bearing of responsibility.
But all this responsibility will not end with our dear girls reaching what they have reached; rather it is the beginning of the road. From today they will face great challenges and difficulties, and many questions will be put to them about the hijab - whether it is obligatory and why at this age - especially as we live in an unjust society where there are schools, universities or workplaces that do not accept the hijab within them.
Hence we call on our girls to possess the awareness that makes them able to answer and to meet all these questions, and to work to plant the confidence that God will grant them relief and a way out, and that they will be in God's sight and under His protection. He is the One who said: “And those who strive for Us - We will surely guide them to Our ways. And indeed, God is with the doers of good”, and “whoever fears God, He will make for him a way out”. And be sure that the difficulties which faced the girls before you, they were able to overcome by their faith and their awareness - and you will overcome all these challenges with every confidence.
At the same time we call on parents to accompany them by answering their questions, to fortify their minds with the idea that suits their ages and with the evidence that supports it, to soften their hearts with the counsel that strengthens in them the love of God and the fear of His punishment, and to work to strengthen their spiritual and ethical immunity so that they are able to face these challenges - to possess an argument to meet an argument, insight to meet deceptions, temptations and propaganda that carry poison in honey, and patience to meet pressures…
The most important thing required of parents is to plant in them the awareness that their beauty does not stop, as the media, the companies, the devices and the monopolies seek to establish, at the beauty of the body; rather true beauty, true worth and true freedom are shown in a girl's ethics, in her mind and her awareness, in her possession of her own decision, in her conduct, in her freedom from appetites and consumerism, and in her presence and her social, political and cultural role.
We are staking on these girls, through whom society is built and through whom we can change our reality for the better on every level
We take pride in you, noble girls…… we take pride in this purity and this clarity… and in this loyalty to God Almighty… We want you to be a bright image in this homeland, in which we suffer on every level, when you arm yourselves with awareness, knowledge and learning… and when you are among the high achievers at school… We want you to set out to obtain the highest degrees and the most important specializations… and to hold fast to this religion and its teachings…
Let the Holy Quran, the Book of God, be your guidance, and your models the Messenger of God (peace be upon him) and the People of the House (PBUH), especially the pure and truthful Fatima Al-Zahraa (PBUH), from whose life we want you to draw inspiration - her stances and her aspirations, which are the best help to us in overcoming this crisis and in making a better future…
