They receive instructions to preach about national holidays in their khutbahs – what should they do?
Question

                I am the imam in a mosque, and sometimes we receive instructions from the Ministry telling us to promote national holidays such as the holiday commemorating the conqueror, which will coincide with the date of the battle of Badr. We are ordered to speak about this occasion and the daa’iyahs are confused about these instructions. If they go ahead and do that, that will have a negative effect on their da’wah and make the people think badly of them and they will have doubts about what they are doing. Please note also that the department that is responsible for that will punish the imam who refuses to speak about national holidays.

 My question is: How should we deal with such matters, especially on the occasions mentioned?.
Praise be to Allah.
    Firstly:  

    There is nothing wrong with the khateeb speaking about the 
    battle of Badr or Uhud, or any other battle, and describing what happened on 
    such occasions at the time of the Prophet  (peace and blessings of 
    Allaah be upon him). This is not regarded as celebrating it or introducing a 
    festival that is not prescribed in Islam, because it is simply reminding the 
    people of that battle and, more importantly, deriving useful lessons from 
    it. 

    Secondly: 

    With regard to national holidays, if the people celebrate 
    them and take them as a kind of ‘Eid, then the khateeb should not take any 
    part in that, and speaking about such occasions may be understood by the 
    listener as meaning that he is joining in and supporting this innovation. 

    But if the Ministry will punish those who do not speak about 
    these occasions, by preventing them from delivering khutbahs or other 
    penalties, then the khateeb should weigh up the pros and cons, and decide 
    whether the interests served by his remaining as a teacher, daa’iyah and 
    guide will be outweighed by the negative consequences of a speech which may 
    damage his reputation among the common folk, or not. 

    It seems that the wise khateeb can use these occasions in 
    order to say something useful that will reinforce the ideas of the causes of 
    victory and the factors that lead to defeat, the laws of Allaah with regard 
    to the rise and fall of societies, and the concept of al-wala’ wa’l-bara’ 
    (loyalty towards the believers and disavowal of the disbelievers), the 
    necessity of turning back to Islam, and other important concepts which the 
    people need to know. 

    In this way, the interests served by his speech will be many 
    times greater than the negative consequences referred to. Islam seeks to 
    bring and fulfil what is in people’s interests and to ward off and reduce 
    harmful effects, by choosing the lesser of two evils, as is well known. 

    And Allaah knows best.