BEIRUT – Sunday’s funeral will be immortalized in the history of the struggle against imperialism. The day after, the greatest revenge begins, revenge for our greatest leader whose commandments, the most prominent of which is not to “distance ourselves” in a time of betrayal, will resonate forever.

To hear an oppressed nation calling for your help, who is one of the subjugated, marginalized, and disenfranchised nations in the world, like the Yemenis and the Palestinians, do you remain silent? Can the bearers of the legacy of Martyr Sayyed Nasrallah “distance themselves?”

The answer requires exploring the depths of Hezbollah and Sayyed Nasrallah’s doctrine.

In 2015, in one of the most important periods of his life, Sayyed Nasrallah said: “If you ask me, I would say that the most honorable thing I have done, throughout my life, is that speech I gave the day after the Saudi war on Yemen. This is the greatest thing I have done in my life.”

In 2018, at the height of the escalation of US-led Saudi attacks on Yemen, Sayyed Nasrallah considered Yemen “the new arena of resistance against arrogance.” As the victories of the Yemenis began to be evident on the ground, he became more optimistic, stating: “The nation that stands firm in the face of challenges will achieve victory.”

Whoever knows the centrality of the Palestinian cause in his ideological system and what he has done for it, and then hears this statement about Yemen, will automatically link it to his commitment to the two prophetic hadiths: “The greatest jihad is a word of truth in front of an unjust ruler” and “whoever hears a man calling out, ‘O Muslims,’ and does not answer him, is not a Muslim.”

Martyr Sayyed Nasrallah explained the meaning of the later hadith, noting that Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) did not say “Muslim,” but rather “a man,” meaning that helping this oppressed person is obligatory, even if he is not a Muslim, each according to their ability, and the least of it is to proclaim “the word of truth.”

Martyr Sayyed Nasrallah put this firm conviction into practice. Thus, to “distance himself” was asking him to disbelieve, to disobey his Lord, and to abandon his religious, ethical, and moral obligations.

Every free person who participates in the funeral will be nothing but a hypocrite if they “distance themselves” by ignoring the tragedies of the oppressed around the world, Muslims and non-Muslims.

Let no one think that the martyrdom of the Sayyed meant that we will “distance ourselves”. Starting today, the responsibility that will fall on our shoulders is not to distance ourselves but to implement the commandments of Sayyed Nasrallah.

The mother idea on which Hezbollah and many other resistance movements were founded is that martyrdom is not the end of the path, but rather a sacrifice required for the perpetuation of the cause.

The blatant statement of Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law, following the assassination of Sayyed Nasrallah that “beheading Hezbollah” will bring “salvation” to Lebanon is a fundamental misreading of the heavy price that these fools will pay in the near future.

When Sayyed Abbas al-Moussawi, Nasrallah’s predecessor, was assassinated in 1992, the US-led Israeli aggression failed to defeat resistance. Rather it led to its escalation.

The assassination of a revolutionary leader like Sayyed Nasrallah, along with the resistance leaders in Palestine, Yemen, Iraq, and Iran has alerted millions around the world to confront imperialist hegemony, especially in West Asia, Latin America, and Africa.

In physics, we used to study that when a big star consumes its hydrogen, it explodes and scatters into space. Then these scattered gases accumulate to form new, brighter stars.  This is how Sayyed Nasrallah’s martyrdom will create several brilliant stars.

Despite all the threats, we reiterate the words of our great martyr: “We must not despair. Despair is the trait of the weak, the losers, those who lack will and determination. As for you, as for us who stood in the face of the violent storms, endured, stood firm, and triumph, we must not allow despair to creep into our hearts.”