The representative of the Supreme Religious Authority in Najaf; his eminence Sayed Ahmad al-Safi, read the text of the statement of the Supreme Religious Authority on the occasion of the anniversary of the fatwa of the defense’s sufficient duty, during the second sermon of Friday prayer of the 10th of Shawwal 1440 AH, corresponding to the June 14, 2019, which was held in the holy shrine of Imam al-Hussayn (peace be upon him):
Brothers and sisters, I will read for you the text of the statement issued by the office of his eminence the supreme religious authority in Najaf on the occasion of the anniversary of the fatwa for the defense's sufficient duty:
"Like yesterday, 13 June 2014, five years ago from this holy place, the call of the Supreme Religious Authority and its famous fatwa for the sufficient duty of defense was launched; calling the Iraqis who are capable of carrying arms to join the security forces to defend Iraq, its people and sanctities, face to the onslaught of the terrorist gangs of ISIL, who had invaded large areas in a number of provinces and were threatening the capital Baghdad and other provinces as well. So the heroic men of Iraq, young and old, from various social strata rushed to the battlefields with unprecedented enthusiasm and indescribable vigor and fought for more than three years dozens of fierce battles with high efficiency, in which heroism was manifested in its finest and the highest meanings. They have offered, in this path, tens of thousands of martyrs and the double of this number of wounded and injured to save the dear homeland and as a redemption to the sanctities, until God bestow upon them purple victory, and they managed to defeat the terrorists and rid the usurped land of the abomination of the aggressors and the elimination of their alleged state.
It would not have been possible to achieve this great historic achievement without the unity and the cohesion of the Iraqis and the unification of their ranks, and the political forces overcame their differences and conflicts, ignoring their personal, factional, national and regional interests in the face of the supreme interest of the homeland and the citizens of various components, as well as the cooperation of the friend countries and their active contribution to help Iraq to defeat the ISIL terrorism.
But after the war was over and the victory was achieved and the various regions were cleansed of the desecration of the terrorists, the disputes, whether they are overt or hidden, have been renewed among parties in power, and the conflicts exacerbated between the forces that want to maintain their former positions and other forces that emerged during the war on ISIL seeking to consolidate their presence and obtain certain gains. But the stabbing on positions and sites, including the Ministries of Defense and Interior, and the abhorrent quotas, prevent the completion of the ministerial reshuffle, and corruption in the state institutions has not yet met with clear practical steps to reduce it, and hold those involved. And the administrative bureaucracy, lack of employment opportunities, and the acute lack of basic services, with the exception of the recent improvement in some of them, are still causing the suffering of citizens and embittering their lives. And the laws that granted unfair privileges to certain categories at the expense of the people are still in force and have not been amended. All of this is happening in the time where the situation is very dangerous in this sensitive area, and the tension is escalating after a period of relative calm as everyone was concerned by the war on ISIL.
The continuation of the conflict over the gains and bounties among those in power and fomenting security, tribal and sectarian problems here or there for specific purposes, and not quickly tackling the issues of the war-torn territories, will enable ISIS remnants to carry out some attacks disturbing the security and stability, and some disgruntled might embrace them and the situation will be getting more complicated.
The normalization of the situation and insuring security in the war-torn territories, based on professional foundations, observing the citizen’s sanctity, in terms of living with honor and dignity, and preventing infringement and violation of his legal rights is an absolute necessity, otherwise there is an increase of the risk of the country returning to the painful and tragic circumstances that are not forgotten.
The authorities concerned with the country’s security status ought to be very attentive to what can happen as a result of the mentioned factors, to deal professionally with this important file and to pay special attention to the intelligence effort to thwart the terrorist schemes before implementation, and to provide accurate monitoring of areas that can be a station for their movements and do not allow any negligence in this matter.
Greetings and tribute to the great martyrs and the loved ones in their families, and to the dear fighters of the wounded and handicapped, and to the heroic men of various types of armed forces and security services who are maintaining the security and stability of the homeland and the protection of citizens and residents. And we pray the Almighty Allah to protect them and make them steadfast and to help everyone to do what is good for the country and the people. He is the Most Merciful of the merciful."