Mohammed Rashid Qabbani
Sheikh Mohammed Rashid Qabbani (, born September 15, 1942) is the former Grand Mufti of Lebanon and the most prominent Sunni Muslim cleric in the country. Qabbani succeeded former Grand Mufti Hassan Khaled. The current Grand Mufti of Lebanon is Sheikh Abdul Latif Deryan. Life and education. Qabbani was born in Beirut. He finished his secondary education in Sharia studies in Azahar Lebanon in 1962. He earned his License (equivalent to Bachelor of Arts) in Sharia and Law in 1966 from the College of Sharia and Law in Cairo, Egypt in 1966. For his post graduate studies, he  received his masters in Comparative Fiqh in 1968 and a Doctorate in Comparative Fiqh in 1976 from the same college and university. An alleged assassination attempt against Qabbani was foiled by Lebanese internal security forces on September 21, 2009 during Eid al-Fitr celebrations in Beirut. Religious and political views. In a 2011 meeting with Palestinian delegates, Sheikh Mohammed Rashid Qabbani described Palestinians as "trash" and claimed they would never be victorious. He also accused Palestinians of illegally seizing land that belonged to the state and the Islamic Wakf Trust. However, in his 2014 Eid al-Fitr sermon, Qabbani called  for jihad to "[liberate] Palestine’s sacred land from Jewish foreign occupation." In an interview broadcast on Al-Manar TV in September 2012, Qabbani condemned the anti-Islam film "Innocence of Muslims" as "intensely painful and disgusting" and stressed that broadcasting the movie was a step towards "instigating Christian-Islamic tension" during the Pope’s visit to Lebanon. He also suggested that five million dollars were reportedly donated by Jews for its accomplishment. Qabbani is against the legalization of civil marriage in Lebanon. On January 28, 2013, Qabbani made a fatwa declaring any Muslim politician who supports the introduction of  civil marriage, as an apostate. In his 2014 Eid al-Fitr sermon Qabbani condemned the persecution of Christians by ISIL, stating "We Muslims, will not rest until our Christian brothers, notably in the Levant, are able to live in peace, security and tranquility." Academic and religious positions. He occupied many functions including: