In the Name of Allah, the Compassionate, the Merciful
The Religious Authority, Grand Ayatullah H.E. Sayyed M. H. Fadlullah delivered the two Friday prayer sermons at the Imamain Al-Hassanain Mosque on Shawwal 13, 1422 AH / December 28, 2001, AD. Several prominent religious scholars, dignitaries, officials, and thousands of believers attended the Jumu’a prayer. (Edited version of the Sermons)
The First Sermon
In the Name of Allah, the Compassionate, the Merciful
Celebrating the Birth of Jesus (a.s.): A Call for Unity and Peace
The Birth of Jesus Christ (p.)
The world is celebrating these days the birth of Jesus Christ (p.), which we too are celebrating, for Christ, as it was revealed in the Quran, is "Allah’s Apostle and His word which He cast to Mary, and a spirit from Him." Allah, the Most Exalted, wished to show His ability in the way Christ was created, just as He showed it in the birth of Adam, and just as He shows His ability in the way people naturally reproduce.
Moreover, when we remember Christ, we also remember his message and all the spiritual values it carried, which are the same as those of both the Quran and the Torah. For we believe that the Torah and the Bible are Holy Books revealed to Moses and Christ. The Quran only protested against the deviation people had inserted in these books. Moreover, just as Jesus believed in Moses, Muhammad (p.) believed in what was revealed to both Moses and Christ. Thus, the value of Islam lies in that it believed in all books, and that is what Allah told us when He talked about dialogue with the People of the Book: "And do not argue with the People of the Scripture except in a way that is best, except for those who commit injustice among them, and say, 'We believe in that which has been revealed to us and revealed to you. And our God and your God is one; and we are Muslims [in submission] to Him.'" Surat al-‘Ankabut (29:46)
We both agree that Christ and his mother—whom Allah has chosen from among all women of the worlds and honored, by the fact that each time Zechariah went to her room he found that she had plenty of food—are sacred. We only differ with them about certain theological issues, like the Christian sect who used to believe that Christ and Mary are gods, or like the issue of the Trinity. Then Islam came and explained that Christ is not a god. As for being Allah’s spirit, Allah used the same expression regarding the creation of Adam. Therefore, the spirit in this sense is Allah's ability. Thus, the Quran says that those who say that Christ is Allah have disbelieved. Some Christians feel offended by this word, but disbelief is relative. They might disbelieve in part of the doctrine only. That is why Allah has differentiated between the unbelievers and the People of the Book. We both believe in the oneness of Allah, but we differ about what this oneness is. We also believe in their book and prophet, but they do not believe in our Holy Book. That is why many of our religious scholars, including me, believe that a Muslim man could marry a Christian or Jewish wife, but a Muslim woman cannot have a Christian or Jewish husband. Because a Muslim man believes in his wife’s book and does not offend her sacred beliefs, as he shares them with her, but a Christian husband would not believe that Muhammad (p.) is a prophet, and that is probably why—and Allah knows best—a Muslim woman cannot marry a Christian or a Jewish man. In light of the above, we try to celebrate the birth of Christ by reading what the Quran tells us about him. And I would like to tell all our brothers and sisters that there is nothing against celebrating the birth of Christ, but in our own way: reading the Surahs of Maryam and Ali ‘Imran.
Christ and Mary in the Quran
The Quran says: "And mention, [O Muhammad], in the Book [the story of] Mary, when she withdrew from her family to a place toward the east. And she took, in seclusion from them, a screen. Then We sent to her Our Angel [Gabriel], and he represented himself to her as a well-proportioned man. She said, 'Indeed, I seek refuge in the Most Merciful from you, [so leave me], if you should be fearing of Allah.' He said, 'I am only the messenger of your Lord to give you [news of] a pure boy.' She said, 'How can I have a boy while no man has touched me and I have not been unchaste?' He said, 'Thus [it will be]; your Lord says, "It is easy for Me, and We will make him a sign to the people and a mercy from Us. And it is a matter [already] decreed.'" Surat Maryam (19:16-21)
She conceived the child and retreated with him to a distant and solitary place. Knowing that her pregnancy would soon be apparent, but it seems that her pregnancy did not last long. "So she conceived him, and she withdrew with him to a remote place. And the pains of childbirth drove her to the trunk of a palm tree. She said, 'Oh, I wish I had died before this and was in oblivion, forgotten.' But he called her from below her, 'Do not grieve; your Lord has provided beneath you a stream. And shake toward you the trunk of the palm tree; it will drop upon you ripe, fresh dates. So eat and drink and be contented. And if you see from among humanity anyone, say, "Indeed, I have vowed to the Most Merciful abstention, so I will not speak today to [any] man."'" Surat Maryam (19:22-26)
She took him to her people who were astonished, and they said, "O Mary, you have certainly done a thing unprecedented. O sister of Aaron, your father was not a man of evil, nor was your mother unchaste." Surat Maryam (19:27-28). She pointed to the baby (and referred them to him for their answer). They said, "How can we speak to one who is in the cradle a child?" [Jesus] said, "Indeed, I am the servant of Allah. He has given me the Scripture and made me a prophet. And He has made me blessed wherever I am and has enjoined upon me prayer and zakah as long as I remain alive and [made me] dutiful to my mother, and He has not made me a wretched tyrant. And peace is on me the day I was born and the day I will die and the day I am raised alive." Surat Maryam (19:29-33)
Such was the true story of Jesus, the son of Mary, about which they dispute bitterly. Allah is too exalted to have a son. When He decides to bring something into existence, He needs only command it to exist, and it comes into existence. (Baby Jesus said), "And indeed, Allah is my Lord and your Lord, so worship Him. That is a straight path." Surat Maryam (19:36)
This is the atmosphere we should live in when we celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ and meet with the purified Virgin Mary and the greatness of Allah as shown by His absolute ability. And this is what we should learn from Christ: spiritual and social peace, as well as peace in the whole world, the peace that the Messenger (p.) taught us, upon Allah's revelation to great people. We should uphold peace even when we differ and search for the common grounds that we meet on. We should not incite any sectarian differences, but we should always call for love, the love that opens up the hearts and minds of man to fellow human beings. Do not be deceived by the arrogant lies that try to portray the struggle in the world as a struggle between Christianity and Islam. No, it is between the oppressor and the oppressed, the arrogant and the weakened. And there are weakened and oppressed in all religions, as there are oppressors in all religions.
Therefore, and especially because we live in the same country that we should build together, we should look for common grounds and establish love as the basis of our relations: "Say, 'O People of the Scripture, come to a word that is equitable between us and you - that we will not worship except Allah and not associate anything with Him and not take one another as lords instead of Allah.' But if they turn away, then say, 'Bear witness that we are Muslims [submitting to Him].'" Surat Ali ‘Imran (3:64)
The Second Sermon
In the Name of Allah, the Compassionate, the Merciful
Worshippers of Allah, be pious, and know that we have to stand against all the oppressors, the arrogant and the unjust, especially as we suffer from an international, regional and internal injustice.
The Palestinian Developments
The Palestinians are prisoners in their homeland, due to the arrogant policies, especially that of America, which gave Israel a green light to besiege the Palestinians economically and politically, destroy their houses and bulldoze their farms, and carry out daily killings of Palestinian women, elderly and children. All this with nothing but silence from the US or occasional hollow words of sorrow, at a time it is pressurizing the imprisoned Palestinian leadership in Ramallah to force it to accept the Zionist demands.
On its part, the Intifada is subjected to internal pressures to stop its operations that shook the Israeli security. To preserve the Palestinian national unity, the Intifada has partially agreed… As for the negotiations between the PA and the Zionist Entity, they are still going in a vicious circle. They have produced nothing, and they will never produce anything. For it is a way of wasting time until the enemy is able to execute its plan of giving the Palestinians far less than what Barak offered. Then America will interfere to force the Palestinians to accept a mini-state that is absolutely meaningless, in the name of real politics.
Faced with this state of affairs, we believe that the Palestinian Mujahideen, especially the Intifada heroes, should develop their methods of confrontation, even if they decide to go underground, for they are not going to obtain anything in these suffocating conditions.
On the international level, it seems that they want Israel to be the only powerful player, for any source of strength the Palestinians obtain will threaten the interests of the international arrogant power that Israel represents as its upfront base in the Arab and Muslim worlds.
We call on all the Mujahideen in Palestine and in every Arab and Muslim country to build up their strength, through a plan based on the civilizational Islamic methods and the principle of real politics. For Allah has ordered us to prepare all means of strength we could to confront them with.
Afghanistan: The Brutal Destruction Goes On
The American war against the Afghani people is still going on, ruining towns and villages and killing hundreds of civilians. We have noticed that the American Army is calling the poor and needy Afghanis to fight in the rough mountainous regions, which proves that their victories were achieved by those Afghanis who collaborated with them and not by their own strength.
The preparation for war between Pakistan and India may well be a part of the American plot, for America wants to destabilize the whole region. It exports war, disasters, chaos and terrorism to the whole world and invests them in serving its political and economic interests, especially in the poorest countries of the Third World... We call on these countries that cannot provide the daily bread of their peoples to go back to their senses and refrain from entering wars that will not yield any positive interests for their peoples; rather, they may well make the temple fall on the heads of everybody.
The Economic Crisis in Lebanon
In this holiday season, we look at the economic situation, which does not seem hopeful. The economic crisis is still worsening, and the budget deficit is still growing; the hard currency reserves are decreasing; the government may be planning to levy additional taxes. Corruption and waste of funds is on the rise, while corrupt officials are being protected by politicians who care only about their position in the political and sectarian game, which deepens the sectarian differences among the Lebanese, so that they will never feel that there is a country that ought to unify them in order to solve its critical problems.
In addition, Lebanese youth are immigrating, and the international and regional players are trying to impose their conditions.
Have mercy on your country, before it falls under the hegemony of the arrogant invaders who are ready to kill all its hopes and inspirations; then heaven will have mercy on you.