Sheikh Abdul Mahdi Al-Karbalai
Dear brothers and sisters,
I wish to indicate the following points:
First Matter:
The eve of 15th Shaaban marks the anniversary of the birth of our awaited Imam Al-Hujja (May the Almighty Hasten His reappearance), followers of Ahulul Bayt (peace be upon them) will express their joy and happiness at this celebrated anniversary, and many of them will coincide with the occasion to visit Imam al Hussain (as) here in Holy Karbala, and in this regard we wish to point that this occasion will differ this year due to the nature of the circumstances, difficulties and challenges faced by the country than previous years, as our nation, our fighters in the Armed Forces, our sons volunteers in the Popular Mobilisation Forces fight in fateful battles against gangs of the Islamic State in Iraq and Levant (ISIL), which has resulted in the enormous tolls of the dead and injured, and left additional numbers of orphans, widows and caused the displacement of large numbers of citizens away from their towns and villages, therefore our celebrations on this auspicious occasion marking the anniversary of the birth of the Imam (peace be upon him) to the exent consistent with this critical and particular situation that our country faces, and focus most of our attention and potential capabilities in supporting the fighters in the forefronts and care for the conditions of the displaced citizens, the orphans and widows, and seek to do more acts that brings us closer to Allah The Almighty and staying away from committing sins and taking into account the holiness and devotion of this occasion and deter from acting in any manner contrary to this, thus we ask our appreciated visitors their cooperation with the security agencies and services, and preservation of decency, of dignity, of chastity and hijab, and consideration to the system and hygiene, without being wasteful with food and public funds, with consideration to consumption, whether in terms of electrical energy or water usage or other necessities, taking into account the economic and financial situation Iraq is experiencing and adapt light spirits and good manners with others and to avoid any possible friction and stay away from the exploitation of this religious occasion for political propaganda or partisan or personal purposes.
Second matter:
To clarify the nature of the events in the region with the expansion of ISIL gangs and similar occurrences in certain areas in Iraq and its surroundings and in some other countries, with clear evidences suggesting regional and possible international sources providing the facilities, with financial and logistic backing to these groups, which illustrates serious indications that countries of this region and its nations are all threatened by bloody conflict of sectarian and ethnic motives which may extend for many long years, resulting in mass killing and devastation and reason to paralyse the development process and evolution of these countries, for the sole purpose of ultimately weakening the nations more than ever before and in preparation for the inevitable division and torn apart mini-states warring among themselves, in order to ward off threats to our country Iraq and prepare consciously to deter any opportunity to the enemies to achieve their evil plans, there must be a unified stance by all political, religious and social forces in the country because of the nature of the conflict and the positions of ISIL gangs in the country, an attitude that stems from firm conviction that this is a national conflict, a moral and humanitarian conflict and not a sectarian struggle, and that ISIL is a deadly plague and devastating to the peoples of the region and the group is a mere instrument and tool in the hands of some regional parties and others to achieve their spiteful goals, therefore it is of utmost significance that the unified stance is embodied by actual support by every potential possible, and not by just verbal declarations or exclusive media offerings for national unity is essential especially between influential and prominent players in provinces occupied by ISIL groups, whether these influential parties are of political, religious , tribal or popular identities, there must be cooperation with the armed forces of the army, police and volunteers who have proved their loyalty and devotion to their country, their people and its diverse components, unbiased to any particular sect, ethnicity or religion, who quenched the thirst of their land with their precious bloods in preservation of its soils from the impurity of the terrorists, here we have to recall and respect the honour that the hero martyr soldier Mustafa Al Athari, who suffered harm and torture before he was martyred at the hands of the most evil creations of God portrayed by the ugly pictures that appeared in the media, we wish mercy on the soul of the martyr and all martyrs of Iraq, as we are confident that their pure blood will not go to waste rather it is what continues to protect Iraq, its people and holy preserves from the plans of its enemies, so blessed are they with the high ranks in the afterlife they have acquired with the holy prophets and saints.
Third matter:
Specialist reports indicate to the low water revenues in the Tigris and Euphrates rivers in this year, especially in the Euphrates River, in addition to the severe shortage of water tanks in district dams and reservoirs, which is expected to lead to a scarcity of clear water resources in all sectors and the difficulty of meeting the needs of the provinces to the underside of the Euphrates River column, which could lead to securing drinking water to some of these areas a challenge in itself, not to mention the deterioration of the water situation of the marshes, hence, the Iraqi government is required to act in order for neighbouring Turkey to increase water releases in the Tigris and Euphrates, the government is also a required to declare an emergency plan in action for the provinces along the Euphrates River column, whether for agricultural or for drinking purposes and set agriculture adjustments for the summer along the Tigris River and specified to the Euphrates and whatever other measures necessary that could aid overcome the expected crisis ahead.
We ask Allah to help us to what pleases Him and help us stray from sins and protect us from evils of our enemies, like ISIL groups and others…
