Hawzah News Agency- Delivering his Friday sermon at the Grand Fatimiyya Hussainiya in Najaf Ashraf, al-Qabanchi pointed to the presence of the Israeli regime’s prime minister in Syria, just 35 kilometers from Damascus, noting that the visit took place amid Arab silence while Arab states remain preoccupied with their own conflicts—including the ongoing war between Saudi Arabia and Yemen.
“We demand standing up against the blatant Israeli aggression, just as we demand an end to internal disputes among Arab and Islamic countries,” he said.
Israeli attacks on Lebanon continue amid Arab silence
The cleric further noted that Israeli attacks on the Lebanese people continue, leaving hundreds of martyrs and several times that number wounded, while Arab silence prevails.
He cited reports indicating that the Zionist enemy has used white phosphorus 23 times—a substance banned under international law.
Delay in completing Iraq’s cabinet
Turning to domestic affairs, al-Qabanchi addressed the delay in completing Iraq’s ministerial cabinet, saying more than 115 days have passed since the government under the Council of Ministers was formed, yet nine ministries remain without ministers: Defense, Interior, Planning, Higher Education, Reconstruction, Culture, Labor, Youth and Sports, and Migration and Displaced Persons.
He identified the main obstacle as a “foreign veto” imposed on certain positions, and urged the Coordination Framework and the Council of Ministers presidency to accelerate the completion of the cabinet and distance themselves from foreign pressures.
Religious sermon: Mosque attendance and women’s participation
In his religious sermon, after advising piety, the Friday prayer leader cited Imam al-Sadiq (peace be upon him), who told his student Fadl: “O Fadl, the one who frequents the mosque does not return with less than one of three things: either a supplication through which Allah admits him to Paradise, or a supplication through which Allah averts calamity from him, or a brother he benefits from for the sake of Allah, the Mighty and Majestic.”
He then addressed the hadith attributed to the Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) or the innocent Imams (peace be upon them) stating, “The mosque of a woman is her home,” explaining that, as Ayatollah Sistani has stated, this does not mean that attending mosques and congregational prayers is not recommended for women. Rather, it refers to the “more concealed place.” If the mosque is more concealing—in terms of hijab and privacy—then attending it is recommended for a woman; if the home is more concealing, she remains at home. He noted that scholars emphasize that congregational prayer in mosques is recommended for both men and women.
He added that the hadith in that exact form—“The mosque of a woman is her home”—has not been narrated; what has been narrated from the immaculate ones (peace be upon them) is: “The best mosques of your women are their homes,” meaning that a woman’s home is her mosque, where she engages in worship—and this does not contradict the recommendation of attending mosques, visitations, Hajj, Umrah, and similar acts.
Al-Qabanchi continued: “We place this topic under the concept of ‘calling for social relations instead of isolation.’ That is why the noble hadith on the virtue of entering mosques states: ‘Or a brother he benefits from for the sake of Allah.’ The believer must always seek a faithful and beneficial friend instead of isolation and seclusion.”
He concluded: “Therefore, jurists say that the recommendation of visiting the immaculate Imams (peace be upon them) is established for women just as it is for men, and the same applies to congregational prayer. Lady Khadija al-Kubra (peace be upon her) prayed behind the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family) in the Sacred Mosque, and Lady Fatima (peace be upon her) prayed Friday prayers behind the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family), as the noble verse says: ‘And when they see a trade or amusement, they scatter to it and leave you standing.’”
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