In the Occasion of the Iraqi Martyr's Day, Sayyid Ammar al-Hakim Calls for Engaging in Dialogue and Warns that if the Strong Barrier of Unity Falls Apart, Everyone Would Get Drowned with It.
In a speech delivered in commemoration of the 10th anniversary of the 2 Rajab assassination of Sayyid Mohammad Baqir al-Hakim (may Allah sanctify his soul) and in the occasion of the Iraqi Martyr's day in his Eminence's office in Baghdad, Saturday May 11, 2013, Sayyid Ammar al-Hakim, head of the Islamic Superior Council of Iraq, said tolerance, acceptance of the other, finding common grounds and limitation of intersections marked the course of the Martyr of the Niche, Mohammad Baqir al-Hakim (may Allah sanctify his soul) and his brother, the Iraq's Aziz, Abdul Aziz al-Hakim, which his Eminence considers as that of the great leaders who work for their countries and peoples. The Martyr of the Niche and the Iraq's Aziz would not, however, tolerate with any prejudice to the doctrine or any violation of the national principles, according to his Eminence. Without being turned into carelessness, their tolerance was based on a well-defined vision about building a united nation and a free country while maintaining the national and religious values. His Eminence called on the political leaders to get over their differences, reduce intersections, have the courage to come to dialogue table in the shadow of the country and offer solutions to the people. He also warned that if the strong barrier of unity falls apart, everyone would get drowned with it, maintaining that the Martyr of the Niche movement is moderate and does not embrace the impartiality policy; yet it believes that policy is about taking as much as giving and describes extremism as injecting poisoned ideas and claims. According to his Eminence, the closeness of the Martyr of the Niche to God is associated with his closeness to the servants of God: He used to promote knowledge, action and jihad with and for his people, and thus, his greatest reward was his martyrdom, and the day he was assassinated has become the Iraqi Martyr's Day.
Clearing the Country of Oppressors, Terrorists and Takfiris Is One of the Most Sacred Duties towards the Mother Country
His Eminence warned that the exchange of accusations takes Iraq to nowhere. He also warned against ducking responsibilities which is rejected by every brave patriot. His viewpoint is that everyone, not only government and security forces, has a responsibility to protect this country because armies cannot protect a state and a country without the help of its people and citizens. Here, he advised peacefulness in claiming rights without using the threatening language, because among the rights is to fulfill our obligations to this country. To him, clearing the country of oppressors, terrorists and takfiris is one of the most sacred duties, and the truly Iraqi patriot does not allow himself to stand under the banners of evil, despotism and extremism. Thus he called on the Iraqis to hold on to their country, to choose patriotism over self-interests and not to allow the sectarianism flood to drag Iraq unconsciously.
The Brave Positions Today Will Become Engraved in the History and the People Will Take Pride in Them
His Eminence asserted that the will cannot be handcuffed and only narrow-minded people would see a narrow horizon, prompting those in posts of authority to be men with wide vision and will. "It is everyone's responsibility to lead the Iraqi people to the right way. In fact, devoting ourselves to the people is the true faithfulness we offer to martyrs and the martyrs of Iraq", he remarked. In addition, he said he trusts that Iraq's leaders will take the right decisions at the right time and will not give the enemies of this people the chance to dig in their poisoned claws in this country, stressing that the brave positions today will become engraved in the history and the people will take pride in them. He also called everyone to stand up to the serious challenges the country is facing, describing his call as emanating from the deep vision of the leaders we gathered today to commemorate. He said the Iraq's Aziz followed the lead of the Marty of the Niche because he believed in sacrifice as much as he believed in altruism and favored participation, given his true conviction about plurality and diversity in this country. He also pointed that the late (may Allah bless his soul) was the first to take pivotal decisions, always willing to serve his people to the greatest extent and worked hard to establish the concepts of the modern state of the new Iraq, driven by national interests rather than personal and political ones, so as to build a country that embraces everybody. The Iraq's Aziz, he said, taught his followers the vocabulary of the mature national rhetoric which goes beyond sectarianism, nationalism and regionalism to include all compatriots without discrimination or exclusion and from which his followers assimilated the belief that Iraq is for all Iraqis wherever they are and despite their differences, since it is the only clear and certain path.
Martyrs Are Shining Stars that Guide us on our Way towards a New Iraq and the Achievement of the Justice which Makes no Difference between Sects or Communities
His Eminence said that we prove our loyalty to our leaders and their courses by keeping walking until we achieve the goals they lived and sacrificed for, describing martyrs as shining stars that guide us on our way towards a new Iraq and the achievement of justice which make no difference between sects or communities. He explained that the Iraq's martyrs are for all Iraq, and their pure blood was shed all over the Iraq's territories, and the faith in a united Iraq is what makes us strong and the reason we exist in this country. He also stated that the history may not be divided, neither the blood or the Tigris and Euphrates, yet the history and the martyrs' blood unify our beloved country and our people. "Our faith in our values and doctrine will protect this country from division and rift traders", he added. His Eminence continued by saying, "The Martyr al-Hakim (may Allah sanctify his soul) raised a generation of Mujahideen who have assimilated his ideas, visions and conduct. He was the leader and the role model who shaped a clear and special path into the ethics of the Islamic political action and Jihad on the basis of the fundamentals and the doctrine". Moreover, he stated that the Martyr was an extension to the Islam's Greatest Schools, the course of the Household (AS) and the religious references as well as to the people's will and the struggle of the nations, from which he founded a well-defined course of Jihad and patriotism that marked one of the most key periods of the struggle undertaken by the Iraqi people against dictatorship and despotism. According to his Eminence, it was this extension and course that brought about a glowing phenomenon which is Sayyid Mohammad Baqir al-Hakim, the brave Muslim, the right arm of the great Iraq's martyr the Mohammad Baqir al-Sadr and the son of the nation's leader, Imam Sayyid Mushin al-Hakim, titles all referring to one big title, i.e. the Martyr of the Niche. His Eminence described martyrs as the most evident mark in the history of nations since they pay their blood and put on the crown of dignity to honor their nations with it and make it an incentive for having the will to engage in the long path of change. He also pointed that the Martyr of the Niche would not accept to be limited to a family, a denomination, a land or a frontier, yet he was for all Muslims and all Iraq given the comprehensiveness of his values and principles.
Usama al-Nujayfi, speaker of Council of Representatives of Iraq, also delivered the following speech:
(We stand with pride to eulogize our fellow, the martyr Mohammad Baqir al-Hakim and the Mujahid Abdul Aziz al-Hakim (may Allah bless their souls) and to recall the jihadi achievements from which we conclude an important lesson that we will all die, and nothing would be left but our nice biography, laudable remembrance and memorable humanistic deeds. The biography of the Martyr of the Niche and the Iraq's Aziz was full of the noblest positions of self-sacrifice, the most sublime of all kinds of sacrifice, for a free strong, impregnable country and a secure, wealthy people living in pride and dignity. The assassination of the mujahid Mohammad Baqir al-Hakim indicated that the ultimate challenge for Iraqis is to fight all forms of terrorism.)
The President of the Republic had the following address delivered by his Vice-president, Khodair al-Khozaei:
(One of the foremost men who stood at the turn of the road and showed the way to those who were looking for the truth is the great reference the late Imam Muhsin al-Hakim (may Allah be pleased with him), which had a leading personality, promising ideas and rising nation of which he created a dynamic we are still witnessing its overflowing effects. No one has been able to face such dangerous, destructive movements as those faced by this great man. That's why he sacrificed the best of his sons for rightness and truth in this eternal ascendant journey. He offered us the apples of his eye to trace for us a path of blood filled with the scent of martyrdom and that of glory. His martyred sons were heroes with attitudes that made changes with loud words, bleeding wound and meaningful voice. Thus they were lofty guides and bacons in this path who deserve that we pay them respect and honor their memory in the niche of their sainthood and martyrdom.)
Words of the Prime Minister delivered on his behalf by Dr. Ali al-Adib:
(We had a long journey with the Martyr of the Niche, where we came to know our comrades in 1980 when the then regime killed the great marja who triggered the revolution against the tyrant in Iraq, Sayyid Mohammad Baqir al-Sadr, while Sayyid Mohammad Baqir al-Hakim was his right arm. The Martyr of the Niche left Iraq to answer the call for wide-range uprising for which a lot of energies, capacities, skills and wills were mastered, thus resulting in a multi-sectarian Islamic revolutionary glory. He tried to create a united front in the face of the tyrant who exercised exclusive power and insulted the people. That's why we all, Kurds, Arabs and Turkmen, Sunnis, Shias, Christians and Muslims, have to work in the interest of this country and the citizens. This is the mission the martyr al-Hakim called for, and before him, the martyr al-Sadr, and this is also the path taken by Abdul Aziz al-Hakim.)
Followed the words of the president of the Iraqi Kurdistan Region pronounced on his behalf by Mr. Hoshyar Zebari:
Today I greet two of Iraq's honorable men: the wise man of Iraq Ayatollah the martyr Sayyid Mohammad Baqir and the Proof of Islam and Muslims, Sayyid Abdul Aziz al-Hakim. What is comforting is that whenever a member of al-Hakim family dies for rightness, another one follows through the path of jihad for the sake of Iraqis and the high-minded values. The 10th and 4th anniversary of the assassination of our comrades in struggle brings to mind the memories of the eternal book they wrote in fighting the authoritarian regime in and outside Iraq. We can't help but remembering them because martyrdom runs in their blood and they constitute the source of wisdom. The late men worked with loyalty and devotion to crystallize and present peaceful projects that made the frames and contents of their struggle to get rid of the Baathism nightmare in Iraq and dedicated all their activities to unify the opposition front no matter how long this will have taken and without their faith being shaken.
The speech delivered by Martin Kobler, the representative of the Secretary General of the United Nations:
(I would like to offer condolences in my name and in the name of all UN employees for the assassination of Sayyid Mohammad Baqir al-Hakim. Sayyid Mohammad Baqir al-Hakim set an incredible example and gave amazing lessons to all of us and to his people in patience and triumph over injustice, dedicating his life to God and his people, striving for his sublime causes, freedom, security and means of life. He was the symbol of unity between all segments of Iraqis. That's why it is worth remembering him and his brutal assassination by the terrorists and tyrants to reflect on the common unity and development values for all the citizens of the same country. Kobler said the intellectual study of the martyr's life and his national struggle since the early 60's until his assassination shows us the importance of the national principles he believed in for he always sought to prioritize the people's interests, adding that the United Nations shares many of the values and principles of Sayyid Mohammad Baqir al-Hakim which are based on unity, rejection of violence and sectarian rift and rhetoric. So from this place, I call on all the Iraqi politicians and the civil society and youth organizations to follow his teachings.)
