The scholar Sayyed Ali Fadlallah sponsored the large ceremony held by Al-Mabarrat Charitable Association in the Al-Zahraa (PBUH) Hall at the Imamain 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, educational and social figures and the families of the girls coming of age.
The ceremony opened with verses from the Holy Quran, then the Lebanese national anthem. The girls of Al-Mabarrat schools then presented a bouquet of anthems and plays inspired by the occasion. The scholar Fadlallah then delivered a speech in which he began by sending greetings to the people of Gaza and the West Bank, who are making the dearest sacrifices in defence of their land and their dignity, standing with every ounce of pride and firmness and writing the finest epics in the face of this treacherous enemy that seeks to renew their catastrophe by driving them from their land.
His Eminence added: From here and from this platform we must stand in reverence and respect for the immense sacrifices being made by our patient and resisting people in the South, who did not fail Palestine and its people but rose to offer aid and assistance on every level, out of their religious, national, ethical and human belief in supporting the wronged and defending them.
He continued: I am glad to be among you to share with the dear parents, the directors, the teachers and the educators at Al-Mabarrat's institutions, institutes, cultural centres and mosques in honoring this constellation of our dear girls, and to embrace this hope together, and to accompany together these girls who have decided by their own will and their own choice to wear this hijab, so that it may be an outward sign and an expression of complete obedience to God. They are 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 a girl affirms her active position through her legitimate role in society. 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.
He said: 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 parents 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. And of course we do not forget the great role of the teaching, educational and care institutions, which took upon themselves the role of upbringing, formation and guidance alongside their teaching and knowledge-giving role. They worked to shape minds, to plant awareness, and to build character morally and in faith, on an approach of openness, of building bridges and communication, and of keeping away from bigotry and closed-mindedness. So thanks from the bottom of the heart to our directors, our teachers and our educators for what they expended and what they gave… and you represent this harvest which they sowed, and which has borne awareness, maturity and the bearing of responsibility.
He held that this responsibility will not stop here: from today our girls will face many challenges and difficulties, and questions will be put to them about the hijab - why and how… and that faith is in the heart, so what is the meaning of the hijab, and so on. This requires you to possess the awareness to meet all of that
He addressed the parents, saying: Accompanying a girl is essential, as is answering her questions, especially as she grows older, by addressing her mind with the idea that suits her age and with the evidence that supports it; and strengthening her confidence in herself, and fortifying her spiritual, ethical and intellectual immunity so that she is able to face all these objections and challenges by possessing an argument to meet an argument - so that we may protect them from all these pollutants and the forms of corruption that surround us in the environment we live in, or that the media and social platforms broadcast…
He pointed to the importance of parents planting in them the awareness that their beauty does not stop at the beauty of the body, as the media, the companies, the devices and the monopolies seek to establish; 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, and in her freedom from appetites, from consumerism and from marginal matters unworthy of her humanity and her role…
He continued: We want a girl to live the deep meaning of the hijab, the meaning reflected in her reasoning, her conduct, her relationships and her aspirations. Likewise we want a woman's hijab to reflect the image of her faith in goodness, reform, openness, effectiveness, enjoining what is right and forbidding what is wrong…
The hijab, dear ones, is the mark of the Muslim woman's identity. Islam charged her, as it charged man, with the responsibility of leading life toward what is good, of holding to the truth in the face of falsehood, and of playing a great role in shaping a bright future for the homeland and the nation under the guidance of faith. The Muslim woman has been able to have a great role and a wide presence in the social, political, scientific and national fields, as shown in women's contribution across the various arenas of challenge, where they were strongly present in the uprisings and the confrontations with colonizers and occupiers, and offered a model of patience, will and the bearing of every kind of hardship and sacrifice.
We take pride in you… we take pride in this purity and this clarity… and in this loyalty to God Almighty. We want you to be the bright image of Islam… we want you to arm yourselves with knowledge and learning… to be among the high achievers at school… to set out to obtain the highest degrees and the most important specializations… and to hold fast to this religion and its teachings, for the homeland awaits such energies, through which the nation rises and the homeland's resilience, freedom and independence are strengthened…
