More than a decade after the blatant fabrications in the file of Islamic detainees were exposed, including the conditions of detention and interrogation, trials, and lawyers’ testimonies regarding selective treatment, ignoring evidence, and political pressure on the one hand, and political weakness on the other...

And after years of public debate over a sectarian deal that would make a general amnesty an escape route for successive authorities to get out of their predicament...

And after months of back-and-forth over legal litigation and calculations of prison terms and the number of detainees to determine who would be released and who would remain...

Obstinacy, excuses, and refusal have remained until the final hours among those who have still not abandoned the policy of sectarian bargaining, even at the expense of truth and justice.

The justice in which we believe is the justice of Islam, as conveyed according to the method of the Prophethood. Muslims have long taught their children the story of the rightly guided Caliph Umar ibn al-Khattab, who ruled Arabia, the Levant, Iraq, Persia, Central Asia, Egypt, and North Africa. Despite the greatness of his rule and the awe he commanded, when a complaint reached him concerning a dispute between one of the non-Muslim subjects of the Khilafah (Caliphate) and the son of the Companion Amr ibn al-As, who was governor of Egypt at the time, Caliph Umar, may Allah be pleased with him, did not hesitate to summon Amr ibn al-As and his son to the capital.

Umar himself sat in the court, listened to both parties, and each testified against himself as required by Islam. He then ruled that the wronged party should take retribution against the wrongdoer. He was not prevented from establishing justice by the fact that the aggressor was the son of a Companion, nor that his father was the governor of Egypt and North Africa and one of the heroes of the Islamic conquests, nor that the victim followed a religion other than Islam. This is the justice that Muslims teach their children.

For this reason, we call upon the sensible people of Lebanon to restrain those with a narrow sectarian outlook who are betting on the victory of what has become known as the “minorities alliance,” led by the West, against the wider Islamic Ummah.

The Ummah is moving toward its complete liberation and the restoration of its authority. The past decades have demonstrated that it is the Islamic Ummah that continues to advance, while the Western project repeatedly mobilizes, erupts, and then retreats and withdraws. The Ummah has brought down tyrants despite the wishes of their Western masters and has humbled the colonial powers.

Despite all of this, we express our complete joy at the release of the oppressed. Such a moment has been long awaited. We also commend the efforts of the sincere people who struggled for many years so that the oppressed could regain their freedom. We congratulate the patient and noble families on the return of their sons, and we offer patience and comfort to the families whose sons have not yet been released, saying with them: “Allah is Sufficient for us, and He is the Best Disposer of affairs!”

In conclusion, even when hardships intensify, conspiracies multiply, and the night of oppression grows long, the promise of Allah (swt) does not change or fail:

[وَعَدَ اللَّهُ الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا مِنكُمْ وَعَمِلُوا الصَّالِحَاتِ لَيَسْتَخْلِفَنَّهُمْ فِي الْأَرْضِ كَمَا اسْتَخْلَفَ الَّذِينَ مِن قَبْلِهِمْ وَلَيُمَكِّنَنَّ لَهُمْ دِينَهُمُ الَّذِي ارْتَضَىٰ لَهُمْ وَلَيُبَدِّلَنَّهُم مِّن بَعْدِ خَوْفِهِمْ أَمْناً]

“Allah has promised those who believe and do righteous deeds that He will surely grant them succession in the land, just as He granted succession to those before them, and that He will surely establish for them their religion which He has chosen for them, and that He will surely replace their fear with security.” [Surah An-Nur: 55].

We are certain that truth will have its turn, oppression will have an end, days alternate, and the promise of Allah will undoubtedly come. The glad tidings of the Messenger of Allah (saw) concerning a Khilafah on the method of the Prophethood will remain a hope that gives life to hearts and a promise conveyed by the truthful and trustworthy Messenger, whose establishment has drawn near, by the permission of Allah.

Let no one think that injustices will be buried behind prison bars or that the voice of the oppressed will be silenced forever. Allah, Mighty and Majestic, gives respite but does not neglect, history does not show mercy to the oppressors, and truth does not die as long as there are men devoted to Allah who steadfastly demand it.

[وَاللَّهُ غَالِبٌ عَلَىٰ أَمْرِهِ وَلَٰكِنَّ أَكْثَرَ النَّاسِ لَا يَعْلَمُونَ]

“And Allah is predominant over His affair, but most of the people do not know.” [Surah Yusuf: 21]