Syrian Arab News Agency S A N A
Damascus, (SANA) A massive meeting brought together Sunday a crowd of Islamic scholars from Damascus and its countryside who gathered to voice support for Syria’s presidential elections slated for June 3, urging all citizens to go to the ballet boxes.
The meeting saw the participation of directors of Islamic education institutes and high schools, Quran teaching institutes, Islamic Sharia Education Faculty, the Higher al-Sham Institute for Islamic Sharia Sciences and Arabic Language at al-Othman Mosque in Damascus.
The participants called for developing a reformative progressive project with clear visions and goals based on “a real democratic shura (consultation) instead of the fake democracy” promoted by the West.
Sheikh Hussam-Eddin Farfour, the general supervisor of the Islamic al-Fath Complex, slammed the Western democracy “which has turned Sharon into a hero of peace.”
He called upon the people of Syria to elect and “pledge allegiance to” who is able to pluck Syria out of the crisis it is going through.
Farfour lashed out at the attempts of “those who tried to marginalize religion” and blame religious and Islamic institutions in Syria for having a hand in the sedition which erupted in the country.
“There is no truth to that whatsoever, and the one who did us justice was President Bashar al-Assad,” he said, hailing the recent meeting the President held with a crowd of religious figures and preachers.
He addressed President al-Assad, saying “Our electing of you would indicate awareness, understanding and commitment as well as an honest allegiance to the Islamic, pan-Arab and national principles of the nation…in the face of the Zionist-US project.”
For his part, Chairman of the Levant Scholars Union, Mohammad Tawfiq al-Bouti, son of the senior scholar Mohammad Saeed Ramadan al-Bouti who was martyred at the hands of terrorist groups, said “Our responsibility today is great…as al-Sham is being exposed to a grave danger and a vicious aggression targeting its existence and religion alike.”
The aggressors, he added, “used the card of freedom to rip apart freedom and the card of sectarianism to tear up this country, and they are now betting on Syria’s fall.”
He however affirmed that “Syria won’t fall, as it will rather remain a fountain of Islam.”
Dr. Sharif al-Sawwaf, general supervisor of Sheikh Ahmad Kaftaro Islamic complex, said Syria has been defending humanity and genuine Islam against a tough war that saw as many as 80 countries sending mercenaries to wreak havoc and slaughter the Syrian people.
Sheikh Maamoun Rahmeh, preacher of the Grand Umayyad Mosque in Damascus, said the Syrians will be heading to the polls to choose the one in whose hands the future of their country will be entrusted.
Mufti of Damascus city and countryside, Adnan al-Afiyouni implored the Syrians to take part in the vote as it constitutes a significant juncture in Syria’s history. “Every nook and cranny in our beloved country has been hit hard, but the Syrians are dead set to rebuild,” he added.
Mufti of Damascus, Sheikh Bashir Eid al-Bari applauded the manifestations of patriotism and unity that have been on display across Syria that, he considered, “serve to render papers cast in boxes superfluous.”
M. Ismael/H. Said
