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 Muharram 01, 1423 AH / March 15, 2002, 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
The Hijri Calendar: Islamic Identity and Civilization
Hijrah (Migration) is the Road to Practice Freedom
Today is the first day of the new Hijri year (1423). The Muslims chose the Hijrah occasion to mark the start of their calendar because it was the great event that constituted a turning point in the history of the Call.
Before Hijrah, the Prophet (p.) used to call on the Muslims to endure and remain steadfast. But as some could not tolerate the Qurayshite oppression and persecution, the Messenger told the Muslims to go to the place known today as Ethiopia, where they found a safe refuge to practice their religion. At that time, the Messenger wanted to stay in Mecca to benefit from its religious position, since there were some traces of what Prophet Ibrahim taught about the oneness of Allah that were mixed with paganism.
Mecca was the trade capital too, as well as the cultural center, since poets and speakers used to come to Mecca to recite their poems and speeches. As a result of all this, as well as the position Quraysh held in administering the Ka'ba, it held a kind of political leadership in the region.
Perseverance and Resolve
Thus, the Prophet (p.) used to benefit from his stay in Mecca to convey the Message to the largest number of people without having to travel to them, for they used to come to Mecca themselves. But he had to tolerate various sorts of torture and persecution, which made him say: "No prophet has been harmed as much as I have." They also tried to tempt him at times and intimidate him at others, but failed in both. Expressing his conviction, the Prophet said his famous saying to his uncle, Abu Talib, who acted as an ambassador between the Prophet and Quraysh, and who protected Muhammad, for he was a firm believer, although he kept it a secret to continue to protect his nephew: "If they put the sun in my right hand and the moon in my left hand, I would not leave this issue (the call), even if I were to be killed."
A Psychological and Informational Campaign
Knowing that Muhammad would not leave the call, Quraysh waged a disinformation campaign to undermine his image, claiming he was a magician, a poet, or a madman, and described the Quran as: "Fables of the ancients, which he has written down, and they are dictated to him morning and afternoon." (Surat al-Furqan 25:5).
The Quran refuted their claims by saying to Quraysh, whose members were chased by Abu Lahab, the Prophet's uncle, telling everybody that his nephew was crazy, telling them to use their minds and not be directed by the emotions of the mob: "Say, 'I only advise you of one [thing] - that you stand for Allah, [seeking truth] in pairs and individually, and then give thought.' There is not in your companion any madness." (Surat Saba' 34:46). Thus, the Prophet was able, through his steadfastness and endurance, to gain many people to Islam and turn Medina into the center of the Islamic movement, for a group of its natives had visited him in Mecca and became Muslims. They had heard, when they were in Medina, the Jews talk about a prophet who would rise in this region; thus, when they saw Muhammad they said: "This is the prophet the Jews talked about."
The Journey of Migration Founded the Islamic State
Things became worse, and Quraysh decided either to imprison Muhammad, leave him in the desert, or kill him. They conspired to kill him by a group of men, each from a different tribe, so that no single tribe would be responsible and all they had to do was pay the blood money.
But Allah told the Prophet about the plots, and he asked Imam Ali, who was 23 years old, to take his place, giving the Prophet the chance to leave Mecca safely. When Quraysh found out that Ali—whose greatness was demonstrated in such acts in which he sacrificed himself to gain the satisfaction of Allah—took his place, they went after Muhammad until they reached the cave he was hiding in with his companion. But Allah told the spider to form its nest at its entrance, and a pigeon to lay its eggs there, leaving the impression that nobody had entered the cave for a long time… The Prophet then continued his trip safely to Medina.
Islam was victorious, and the Prophet began to found the new Islamic state by building a mosque where Muslims could meet. Quraysh resorted to waging successive wars against Muhammad and allied with the city’s Jews, but Allah supported Muhammad and the believers, until they opened Mecca in the end, and people started to enter Allah’s religion in large groups… Islam became the source of power in that region, and Arab tribes began to come to Muhammad professing their embrace of the new faith.
Thus, Hijrah represents the military, political, and cultural force of Islam. Thus, it was worthy of starting the calendar with, although Muhammad began his mission 13 years before the migration. It is the point in time where Islam gained strength, and hopefully this date will empower the Muslims to continue their fight against paganism and arrogance, and be virtuous as the early Muslims were. Fourteen centuries have passed, in which the Muslims faced many challenges and conflicts, both internal and external, but Islam—despite all the wounds—is still strong and spread all over the world, with about a billion and one hundred million Muslims according to inaccurate statistics.
The West and the Islamic Complex
We know that the arrogant West has waged a war against Islam from the beginning. This was manifested by the Crusade wars in which the kings of Europe used religious propaganda to gain dominance over Jerusalem and the region. But the Muslims were able to drive them out of their countries after a long and exhausting war. Then these colonialists came back in the 19th century to colonize the Islamic countries. It is said that when some European leaders reached the grave of Saladin, who defeated the Crusades, they said: "Saladin, we are back." Then the Muslims had to live under colonialism and then Zionism, which took Palestine as a national homeland for Jews, with the arrogant powers, especially America, providing them with all the support they need.
The Hijri Calendar Represents the Identity of the Nation
On this occasion, the beginning of the Hijri year, I would like to refer to several points. First: You should use the Hijri calendar, for after the dominance of the West, the Gregorian calendar dominated. But since the Hijri calendar carries within it the history, culture, and identity of Islam, you should preserve this calendar and consider it a part of your identity.
Second: We have to feel that we are a part of humanity and a part of the Islamic nation. We ought to feel that Islam fills the mind and heart of each of us, and if we are divided into sects, we are joined by our belief in the same Prophet and the same Book. That is why Allah said that all believers are brothers, and the Prophet said: "He who is not concerned with the Muslims’ affairs is not a Muslim" and "He who hears a Muslim calling for help and does not respond to it is not a Muslim."
We have to live the fact that we are a part of the Islamic nation and educate our children to make them adopt this belief.
Dear loved ones, on the occasion of the new Hijri year, I call upon you to unite and be strong to be victorious in your battles against your enemies, for Allah says in His Glorious Book: "And hold firmly to the rope of Allah all together and do not become divided." (Surat Ali 'Imran 3:103). Allah, the Most Exalted, speaks the truth.
The Second Sermon
In the Name of Allah, the Compassionate, the Merciful
The War of Independence
The Intifada is developing its methods and its operations and is gradually turning into a people’s Intifada for the cause of freedom and independence. On the other hand, the Zionist occupation is becoming more and more barbaric as its security impasse widens. It is turning into a blind raging bull in its invasion of Palestinian cities, villages, and camps with the most advanced American weapons…
America too has become aware of its own political impasse, represented by the opposition of the peoples of the region to its unequivocal support for Israel. It even gave Israel the green light to destroy the Palestinian people and force them to surrender and accept all the political and security terms imposed on them… Thus, America made the Security Council, whose resolutions it controls, issue a resolution that calls for a two-state solution. This resolution was considered a political achievement for the Arabs, who applauded it, although it did not call for withdrawal from the Palestinian lands occupied in 1967, or for sending observers to monitor the situation or protect the Palestinians…
The American president commented on the resolution by saying: "Had the resolution tried to condemn our friend, Israel, I would have used the right to veto." He added that first and foremost, there is nothing more important than recognizing Israel's right to exist, as if the issue is recognizing Israel and not the fate of the Palestinian people… That is the problem of the American Administration: if nations start to fight for their freedom, it will accuse them of terrorism.
It is a one-eyed policy that cannot see both sides of the situation. Thus, it sent its envoy, General Zinni, to save Israel from its security impasse and return to the maze of negotiations that might achieve a ceasefire, but it would not achieve anything for the Palestinians. Even the Palestinian state that the Security Council resolution talked about is a state whose borders and authorities are left to negotiations, whose cards are all with the Israelis, including American support that always talks about the need for more painful Palestinian concessions…
In addition, the exploding situation in Palestine should be cooled down to drive the Arab states to accept the American war against Iraq…
In this respect, the American vice president did not come to the region to confer but to inform the officials of the American decision and demand that they will do what is needed to execute it… All this is done in the name of fighting terrorism and preventing any state in the region from acquiring weapons of mass destruction, while at the same time keeping a blind eye on the Israeli nuclear, chemical, and biological arsenal, and even justifying its acquisitions in the name of self-defense.
We are concerned that the visit of America’s envoys would have a devastating impact on the future of the Palestinian cause and on the Arab summit, which America wants to be the summit of Arab political fall as a result of the incompetence of its regimes.
Moreover, we would like to express our appreciation for Syria’s disapproval of the resolution, which is as vague as Resolution 242, and we ask this country, which refuses surrender, to lead the process of rejecting any resolution that aims at undermining the rights of Palestinians and Arabs in general.
The Palestinians, too, who have toppled the myth of the invincible Israeli tank, as well as Israeli security in the Palestinian heartland, forcing America to interfere and criticize Sharon’s policies… We would like the Palestinians to be aware and cautious, so as not to be intimidated into providing any concessions… They must remain as unified and steadfast in the coming stage as they were in the last stage of the Intifada, for the Americans, the Israelis, and perhaps even Arab officials want Israel to gain through peace what it failed to acquire in war. The day of Liberation is getting closer, but the Palestinians, Arabs, and Muslims have to exert every possible effort to achieve it.
Lebanon, the only Arab country that was able to defeat the Israeli enemy and stand with the Palestinians and their Intifada in all possible ways… This country should, in these critical times, remain unified—as a people, a resistance, and a state—to confront all the coming challenges and play its pioneer role in the coming Arab summit in Beirut by coordinating with Syria, so as to ensure that the summit’s resolution towards the issue of the Palestinian struggle would be strong and effective.
To do this, it should end all political and confessional crises that could shake the country and deepen sectarian differences, which would be incited by those who are overwhelmed by personal ambition and pay no attention to the country’s aspirations of freedom, development, and unity.