Grand Mufti Sheikh Mohammad Rashid Qabbani said Sunday that the controversial elections for the 32-member Higher Islamic Council were legitimate and a decision by the Shura Council to cancel the polls was not binding.

Grand Mufti Sheikh Mohammad Rashid Qabbani said Sunday that the controversial elections for the 32-member Higher Islamic Council were legitimate and a decision by the Shura Council to cancel the polls was not binding.

In remarks after the elections kicked off, Qabbani said: “The polls are legitimate and we are not concerned with the opinion of the Shura Council.”

“Our hand is extended to everyone,” he stated, adding that “we don't have political differences with anyone.”

Qabbani said candidates in Beirut, Sidon, Mount Lebanon, Hasbaya-Marjayoun and Akkar won contested and that the electoral battle was underway in Bekaa and Tripoli.

The Council, which elects the mufti and organizes the affairs of Dar al-Fatwa, has been at the center of controversy after 21 of its members, who are close to ex-Premier Saad Hariri's al-Mustaqbal Movement, extended its term until the end of 2013 despite Qabbani's objection.

The mufti has refused to hold or join any meetings at Dar al-Fatwa, Lebanon’s top Sunni religious authority, and called for the elections of council members.

But last month the Shura Council allegedly deemed the call illegal and canceled the elections. Its decision followed a similar move it made last year when it canceled previous polls set by the Mufti for December 30.

The deputy head of the Higher Islamic Council, Omar Mesqawi, was quoted on Sunday as expressing regret for the failure of the Mufti to react positively to the Shura council's decision.

He made the last appeal for the remaining candidates to withdraw their candidacies and for voters not to participate in the electoral process.