Imam Ali (a.s.): The Living Quran and the Guiding Light - 16/03/2001

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 Thul Hijja 21, 1421 AH/ March 16, 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

Imam Ali (a.s.): The Living Quran and the Guiding Light

A few days ago, our thoughts were with Ali (a.s.), that great man whose greatness arose from his submission, in the most profound sense of the word, to Allah, the Most Exalted. He saw nothing without thinking about Allah, the Most Exalted, because his mind and heart were enlightened by Him and because his life was full of Allah’s light in every one of his words, actions, and relationships. The Quranic verse that illustrates this was revealed when Ali was still at the beginning of his youth, and he took the place of the Messenger during the night of the emigration from Mecca to Medina:

"And of the people is he who sells himself, seeking means to the approval of Allah. And Allah is kind to [His] servants." Surat Al-Baqarah (02:207)

Ali did not have anything for himself but was entirely Allah’s, which is why he spoke nothing but the truth, felt nothing but love, and his underlying motive was always justice.

Therefore, Ali (a.s.) is the most qualified to take care of the community’s affairs, and that is why Allah, the Most Exalted, revealed to His Messenger:

"O Messenger, announce that which has been revealed to you from your Lord, and if you do not, then you have not conveyed His message. And Allah will protect you from the people. Indeed, Allah does not guide the disbelieving people." Surat Al-Ma'idah (05:67)

Because Ali received the knowledge of Islam that had been revealed to the Prophet Muhammad (p.), as is mentioned in the well-known tradition which says:

“I am the city of knowledge and Ali is its gate.”

Ali (a.s.) always did, thought, said, and felt what is right. Even when he fought, he was always pious and controlled himself in a way that would please Allah, the Most Exalted.

Once, in a battle known as the Battle of the Trench, Ali (a.s.) was face to face with a man called 'Amr ibn 'Abd Wudd in combat. Ali (a.s.) managed to overpower him, at which point 'Abd Wudd cursed him. However, instead of killing him immediately, Ali (a.s.) hesitated before killing him, and he did this to be certain of killing him for Allah, the Most Exalted, rather than out of anger.

When, before the Battle of Siffin, his soldiers started thinking that he was afraid because of his hesitation, he did not get angry but instead calmly explained his reasons. Because he was a man with a mission, he did not care about himself but only for Islam, and this is why he often said:

“I am not the same as you. You want me for yourselves, and I want you for Allah.”

Therefore, there is no doubt that the Qur’an and the Prophet have named Ali (a.s.) as the successor. There is no one like him in his multiple dimensions and Islamic actions.

The reality of the Muslim community is a far cry from the example given by Ali, with all due respect to the other companions, because Ali (a.s.) was entirely molded by the Islamic model. Let us look at the lives of the other companions. When Ali (a.s.) was a child, he was raised by the Prophet (p.), who gave him his mind, heart, concepts, and values. The first-ever Islamic household was that of Muhammad (p.), Khadija (a.s.), and Ali (a.s.). He was second to the Prophet (p.) in prayer and used to hear the revelation and memorize it, and that is why the Messenger told him:

“You see what I see, and you hear what I hear, but you are not a prophet.”

The Messenger’s (p.) wives were jealous of Ali (a.s.), as he was often with him, and this left less time for the Prophet (p.) to be with them. After Ali (a.s.) married the Prophet’s (p.) daughter Fatima (a.s.), theirs was the Prophet’s (p.) favorite home. Moreover, the Prophet (p.) has not talked about any other companion in the way in which he praised Ali (a.s.), because he wanted to prepare the Muslims for Ali’s succession.

The Prophet’s succession was different from any other succession, for the one who succeeded him needed the personality of a ruler and of a messenger. When we study the history of the Muslim community’s leaders, whether successful or not, we find that there was no other who knew Islam like Ali (a.s.). He was qualified to complete what the Messenger had started, and he was able to give the Islamic theories that were appropriate to every time and place, to the extent that if Ali (a.s.) were living now, the mosques of Kufa would be filled with Europeans, leaving no place for Arabs.

Therefore, appointing Ali (a.s.) as successor on the Day of Ghadir was, in fact, the completion of the religion:

"This day I have perfected for you your religion and completed My favor upon you and have approved for you Islam as religion." Surat Al-Ma'idah (05:03)

So, we have to follow Ali (a.s.), but not as those of his time who did not adopt his ideas and thought. We have to know that Ali (a.s.) was a moral hero as well as a physical one. If you want to follow Ali (a.s.), you should learn how to be morally good, how to tolerate everyone for the sake of the cause, and how not to kill people like Ali (a.s.) did by being a slave to your fanaticism. We should also do everything to promote unity within the community, in imitation of Ali (a.s.), who did not even fight for his right of succession for the sake of the unity of all Muslims.

The Second Sermon

In the Name of Allah, the Compassionate, the Merciful

The need for national unity in Lebanon cannot be over emphasized

Two days ago, was the anniversary of the first Israeli invasion in 1978 that occurred at a time when the whole region was scared of the Israelis. But Lebanon’s experience of resistance based on the unity and steadfastness of its position allowed them to inflict defeat on the enemy and prevent it from achieving its goals. Moreover, the enemy is still worried by the Lebanese insistence that it should withdraw from the Sheba’a farms and by the presence of the resistance along the border in order to achieve this goal. It has started to ask that the Lebanese army be deployed in the south in order to ensure its security and they have done this by exploiting certain internal differences and demanding that America should put us on the list of those countries who support terrorism as a means of aggravating the already bad economic situation.

To confront all this, I would like to emphasize the importance of national unity, people, state and resistance and exhort them to use every possible means whether political, diplomatic or military to protect ourselves from these external influences. We should also bridge any gaps between our citizens by adopting a calm and objective dialogue for the enemy might use any new tensions to his own advantage in his ongoing political and economic war against Lebanon.

In this context, raising some of the issues that have to do with the regional problem, especially at this stage does not serve our national interest but rather serves the enemy indirectly. Especially as these problems cannot be solved by way of political incitation that does not take into consideration the regional and international situation. All Lebanese should resort to calm discussion to resolve such important issues.

New attempts to end the Intefada

At the moment there are two attempts being made to end the Intefada. The first is Sharon’s plan to intensify the blockade against the west bank and Gaza. The second is through the Arab and non-Arab meetings that are paving the way to the next Arab summit which the USA along with the European states hope will come up with moderate decisions that would both exert pressure on the Palestinians and find a way out for the enemy. But I believe that the Palestinians will continue their struggle for independence and freedom no matter how much the pressure increases because they know that it is their only chance to achieve their goal. The Arabs on the other hand should study a realistic plan that could support and intensify the Intefada at their meetings since the Zioniste challenge does only affect the Palestinians but also the Arab and Islamic nation.

I repeat my call to the Arab and Islamic people to take to the streets in a political Intefada against the regimes on one hand and the intattempts to crush the Ion the other. Let us all be as one in our political and military struggle for the cause of Palestine.

Russian Iranian cooperation

I have noticed how, concerning the recent Russian Iranian cooperation, the USA has been fighting any attempt by Iran to gain, political or military power in the region. It has been threatening any country that establishes good relations with the Islamic Republic of Iran as such relations could undermine its current military and economic siege of Iran.

The USA does not seek to protect the regional and international peace as it claims but is trying to use any weak point as an opportunity to reinforce its own domination over the region. It knows full well that Iran is not an aggressive state and especially towards its neighbors. On the contrary, it has extended its hands to them in an effort to find a joint security system for the region. But this runs contrary to what the USA wants, which is to destabilize the region and ensure that Israel is the strongest state with an ability to threaten all the others.

I hope that this ongoing Russian Iranian cooperation will constitute a link in a chain that will expand to provide solutions to many of the political and economic problems that the region suffers from as a result of the American hegemony. I also hope that it will pave the way to solving some of the problems and healing some of the Islamic/Russian wounds, especially that of Chechnya where I hope a peaceful solution giving the Chechen people their rights will be found.

The need for unity and planning