RNA – In his Friday prayer sermon delivered to a large and fervent crowd of believers in the Iraqi city of Najaf’s al-Fatimiyah al-Kubra Husayniyah, Hujjat al-Islam Sayyid Sadruddin al-Qubanchi congratulated the Iraqi people on their victory in the campaign to liberate Mosul and stated, “The self-proclaimed Daesh government has been slaughtered in Iraq and their crimes have ended.”
The Iraqi cleric added that Iraqi Popular Mobilization Forces, in the form of various military battalions, strived hard in the liberation operation to liberate Nineveh Governorate and western Mosul, for which they should be commended and praised.
Hujjat al-Islam al-Qubanchi referred to the role of Grand Ayatollah Sayyid Ali al-Sistani’s June 2014 “obligatory jihad” fatwa, saying it led to the victory of the Popular Mobilization Forces and added, “The issuance of this fatwa led to the formation of the Popular Mobilization Forces and to national unity and we must kiss his hand.”
In this fatwa, Ayatollah al-Sistani, the top Shi’ah authority in the country, called on all Iraqi citizens to defend the country, its people, the honour of its citizens, and its sacred sites in the fight against terrorism.
He described the martyrs as candles of the path and the forbearers of victory over terrorism, saying, “Military commanders should give consideration to other occupied territories such as al-Hawijah and Tal Afar.”
His Eminence explained that many of the martyrs from Popular Mobilization Forces are from the poorest classes of the community and said, “The Iraqi government must give priority in its activities to serve the people, especially the poor.”
Referring to the strong protest of people of Najaf Governorate over the repeated electricity cuts in the province during the summer, Hujjat al-Islam al-Qubanchi said, “Yesterday, we witnessed a street protest against the electricity cuts and failure to act on the promises of the Minister of Energy in Najaf.”
The Friday prayer leader of Najaf commemorated the destruction of the Jannat al-Baqi’ Cemetery in Madinah, where four imams and numerous other personalities from the early Islamic period are buried and stated, “On the 8th of Shawwal, 1345 AH (April 21, 1925), the Wahhabis, with the slogan of monotheism, declared takfir on all the denominations of Islam, and demolished all the shrines of the imams of Jannat al-Baqi’, and now they have no position against the enemies of Islam.”
After eight months of grinding urban warfare, on June 27th Iraqi government troops captured the ruined Grand al-Nouri Mosque in Mosul from where Daesh proclaimed its self-styled caliphate three years ago and the Iraqi military has declared victory over the Takfiri terrorist group and issued a statement that the reign of the extremists’ “caliphate” has ended in their country.
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