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 Rajab 27, 1423 AH / October 4, 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
Protect the Message of Islam
Today, the 27th of Rajab, holds two Islamic occasions. The first is commemorating the day Muhammad (p.) was commissioned to call for Islam. It is the day Islam was born, and the day Muhammad (p.) was chosen to carry this heavy burden: "Indeed, We will cast upon you a heavy word." Surat al-Muzzammil (73:5).
The second occasion is commemorating the Prophet’s Night Journey and Ascension. For Allah, the Most Exalted, took His Prophet (p.) in this night from the Al-Haram Mosque in Mecca to the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem, and then to the heavens to show him His signs.
Carrying the Message is a Continuous Responsibility
Dear loved ones, we have to reflect on these two Islamic occasions, for they, especially the first one, are associated with our Islam.
Because when Allah, the Most Exalted, put the burden of the Message on the Prophet’s shoulders, He wanted him to carry it as long as he was alive, and then to commission the Keepers of the Members of the House to continue carrying it, and they in turn would hand it to the religious scholars.
In this way, every Muslim will feel that when the Messenger (p.) dies, the message will not die with him: "Muhammad is not but a messenger. [Other] messengers have passed on before him. So if he was to die or be killed, would you turn back on your heels [to unbelief]? And he who turns back on his heels will never harm Allah at all; but Allah will reward the grateful." Surat Al 'Imran (3:144).
The Messenger (p.) dies and the Imams (a.s.) die, but the message stays. For the Message was revealed by Allah to remain until the Day of Judgment. This is what we understand by the Prophet’s saying that "what he declared lawful will stay lawful until the Day of Judgment." And this is what we understand by his saying to Ali (a.s.): "Your position with respect to me is like that of Harun to Musa…"
Moreover, the Message is not the responsibility of scholars alone; it is the responsibility of each and every Muslim who should call for it and spread it in the world. The entire world should adopt Islam as a result of our efforts and hard work. This is our mission, for Islam was sent to the whole world, as evident from the verses that stress that Muhammad (p.) was sent to all mankind.
In light of this, let us read what Allah, the Most Exalted, has told us about sending Muhammad (p.) with the Message. Allah, the Most Exalted, says that He is gracious to have sent Muhammad as well as the Message itself. This means that as great as the Message is, it becomes even greater by the Messenger, while at the same time the Message in turn bestows greatness on the Messenger (p.): "Certainly did Allah confer [great] favor upon the believers when He sent among them a Messenger from themselves, reciting to them His verses and purifying them and teaching them the Book and wisdom, although they had been before in manifest error." Surat Al 'Imran (3:164).
The first part of this verse, which says that Allah, the Most Exalted, has been gracious to the faithful in sending them an apostle from among themselves, aims at making the Muslims feel the value of the grace Allah, the Most Exalted, has bestowed on them when He sent the Message, being the source of all other graces.
There is no meaning for life with all its diversity and potentials were it not for the Message, that makes you call for Allah’s oneness, as well as the Messenger and the Islamic law that organizes the life of Muslims, showing them what is good and what is evil. Moreover, when a passage of the Quran was revealed, the Messenger (p.) used to recite it to the people and explain it to them, thus purifying their minds by making them cling to righteousness, their hearts by making them full of love, and their lives by making them seek only justice and righteousness.
He then would teach them the wisdom that is contained in the Quran so that it would be their guide in all the intellectual and practical issues, especially those relating to their struggle for the cause.
We conclude from this that learning the Book in all its extensions in every field of life is a responsibility the Muslims should shoulder in every time and place. The religious scholars in particular ought to carry it out in a very objective and dedicated manner, in that the religious scholar should serve the Message, and not the other way around.
We feel that it is the duty of religious scholars, intellectuals, and thinkers to live in a state of contingency to call the people, especially when deviation and falsehood are abundant and challenges are on the rise.
The word wisdom in the verse indicates the way the Book should be applied in private and public lives, which means that the Muslims ought to act rationally in applying what they believe in, saying the right words, appointing the right man in the right place, and drawing the right plans for every situation. Thus they should first thoroughly study all aspects of every situation and field, whether in politics, economy, etc.
The Caller’s Role
Allah, the Most Exalted, says: "It is He who has sent His Messenger with guidance and the religion of truth to manifest it over all religion, although those who associate others with Allah dislike it." Surat at-Tawbah (9:33).
This verse, which was repeated in other chapters, suggests to us that the callers must call for Islam to spread it all over the world and gain the upper hand over all other ideological trends.
Talking to His Messenger to define what Muhammad (p.)'s task is, Allah, the Most Exalted, says: "O Prophet, indeed We have sent you as a witness and a bringer of good tidings and a warner. And one who invites to Allah, by His permission, and an illuminating lamp." Surat al-Ahzab (33:45-46). So that all people will be guided by the light of the Message and the Messenger (p.), who came to get people out of darkness, giving them the light of righteousness, justice, and good: "And give good tidings to the believers that they will have from Allah great bounty." Surat al-Ahzab (33:47).
Thus Allah, the Most Exalted, wants His Prophet to rely on Him alone, and not to be concerned about those who might act as obstacles, for Allah is all-sufficient.
But we too are responsible for the call: "And let there be [arising] from you a nation inviting to [all that is] good, enjoining what is right and forbidding what is wrong, and those will be the successful." Surat Al 'Imran (3:104). Follow the example of those "who convey the messages of Allah and fear Him and do not fear anyone but Allah. And sufficient is Allah as Accountant." Surat al-Ahzab (33:39).
Allah also describes to us the traits of those who follow Islam: the call for the good that raises men to the highest level in spirit, thought, and action, and at the same time a call for forbidding falsehood which lowers them: "[Allah] said, 'I will impose upon the earth that I should bless therein for everyone. But My mercy encompasses all things.' So I will decree it [especially] for those who fear Me and give zakah and those who believe in Our verses. Those who follow the Messenger, the unlettered prophet, whom they find written in what they have of the Torah and the Gospel, who enjoins upon them what is right and forbids them what is wrong and makes lawful for them the good things and prohibits for them the evil and relieves them of their burden and the shackles which were upon them. So they who have believed in him, honored him, supported him and followed the light which was sent down with him - it is those who will be the successful." Surat al-A'raf (7:156-157).
Allah also talks to us about the Messenger’s personality, the man who lives his humanity in his heart and in his dealings with all people: "There has certainly come to you a Messenger from among yourselves. Grievous to him is what you suffer; [he is] concerned over you and to the believers is kind and merciful." Surat at-Tawbah (9:128).
He also draws the picture of how the Messenger and his companions used to be merciful in their Islamic community and how they used to be united in fighting the enemy: "Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah; and those with him are forceful against the disbelievers, merciful among themselves. You see them bowing and prostrating [in prayer], seeking bounty from Allah and [His] pleasure." Surat al-Fath (48:29).
Thus, dear loved ones, Allah, the Most Exalted, wants us to live like the Messenger (p.) lived, and to start by calling our family and relations, and then move to the larger circle.
We are also being held accountable if we do not carry out our responsibility: "O you who have believed, protect yourselves and your families from a Fire whose fuel is people and stones, over which are [appointed] angels, harsh and severe; they do not disobey Allah in what He commands them but do what they are commanded." Surat at-Tahrim (66:6).
The Birth of Islam
On this day, the day of the birth of Islam, and after it had spread and strengthened, with the Muslims reaching more than a billion and a hundred million, as a result of the efforts of the Prophet, the Imams, the companions, and the callers… we believe that it is our responsibility to widen the sphere of Islam, especially since there are many non-Islamic trends that are trying to distance our youth from Islam. That is why Allah, the Most Exalted, has shouldered us with the responsibility of carrying Islam from one generation to another, until we deliver this Message in its entirety to the one who will fill the earth with justice after it was filled with wrongdoing. We want to stand before him and say that we called for the obedience of Allah, the Most Exalted, as you taught us. He should not appear to see us killing or hating one another. If we do so we would be of the unjust that he would purge in order to spread world justice.
We have to do all we can to protect Islam and fortify it against all the arrogant powers that want to defeat it even in its heartland.
Dear loved ones, in this stage where there is an all-out war between arrogance and Islam, we have no time to rest, relax, and resort to negative and defeatist attitudes. We should dedicate all possible efforts to defend Islam and enable it to gain the upper hand.
The Prophet’s Night Journey
In this journey Allah, the Most Exalted, wanted to educate Muhammad (p.) and send him to the cradle of messages to meet with the messengers and pray to assimilate their message and his, and to discuss with them the future of this message that he came to complete.
Moreover, the verse that describes this journey explains that the Prophet visited Al-Aqsa which Allah blessed its "precincts." "Exalted is He who took His Servant by night from al-Masjid al-Haram to al-Masjid al-Aqsa, whose surroundings We have blessed, to show him of Our signs. Indeed, He is the Hearing, the Seeing." Surat al-Isra' (17:1). This Mosque, that Allah blessed, is imprisoned by the enemies of Allah, His Messenger, and humanity. It is our duty, as an Islamic nation, to protect this Mosque as well as Al-Haram Mosque in Mecca, for they are the symbols of all Holy Messages; in protecting them we protect the Message itself.
The Second Sermon
In the Name of Allah, the Compassionate, the Merciful
America is intimidating the world; it is pressurizing the Security Council and threatening many other countries by jamming their interests if they do not actively engage in its military and political projects. It also declares that it will hamper the return of International inspectors to Iraq if the Security Council does not pass the British-American proposed resolution. Meanwhile, it continues to pay lip service to the Arabs while providing concrete support to the Israelis in every decision it takes. The last of which was Bush’s signing of the congressional law that considers Jerusalem the capital of Israel. The American president tried to soften its impact on the Arabs by saying that it is not binding… The Arab regimes that were looking for any way out rushed to welcome this declaration, adding that Bush did not "officially" accept this bill… But we all know that Bush had previously promised to move the American Embassy to Jerusalem to affirm that the US considers it as its capital.
Opposing US Hegemony
We know quite well that America is planning to consolidate the Israeli domination of Palestinian territories, using deceptive and hypocritical tactics that include talking about the Palestinian state every now and then, and associating it with certain demands that cannot be realized due to the occupation and the destruction of the Palestinian infrastructure.
At the same time, America does not exert any pressure on Israel to withdraw or to stop its atrocities that kill scores of innocent civilians almost every day. If America has exerted some pressure on Sharon to lift the siege on Arafat’s headquarters, it is because it does not want anything to hinder the execution of the aggression against Iraq. Nevertheless, all it did was to abstain when the Security Council passed its resolution, but it did not call on Israel to execute it, which enabled Israel to say that it would not carry it out.
Furthermore, we are sorry that several countries that have the right to veto in the Security Council did not examine the barbaric circumstances the Palestinian people are now living. Instead, we have begun to hear about "terrorism" in Palestine and not a word about the Zionist state terror.
What kind of a world is this where the arrogant powers that talk about freedom, progress, and civilization seize all the causes of the downtrodden? All the peoples of the Third World, including Muslim and Arab countries, should voice their opposition to this brutal globalization that increases the poverty and backwardness of the world and produces daily new terror and violence. Since the violence of the superpower would ultimately produce counter-violence among the downtrodden, to get out of the economic and political prison cells they are forced into.
Individual and group terror could not be dealt with in the way America is calling the world for: to form an alliance against it. The way to deal with it starts by stopping the international terrorism that blocks the future of nations, takes over its resources, and incites strife and civil wars to benefit the arms or oil industries…
Moreover, America has not so far been able to end individual internal terror, for it has not dealt with the matter on the basis of respecting the humanity of the American citizen and saving him from the power of the trusts and cartels that control the decision-making process in the States. This control not only affects the American individuals but also the foreign policy as well, which means that the interests of these companies are the main goals of the American foreign policy at the expense of the interests and aspirations of the whole world.
Lebanon Heads Towards Collapse
In Lebanon, there are still many parties who are immersed in widening the gap between the Lebanese citizens. Several instruments are used to achieve this goal, including the talk about the frustration and the deprivation of certain sects, tarnishing the government’s reputation at all levels, accusing the judiciary of serving political goals, accusing internal security of acting on the basis of political calculations to weaken opposition factions, trying to make the parliament lose its representative capacity as a result of the "secret suggestions" its deputies receive, making the government lose the confidence of the people, and confusing the public opinion by overwhelming it in marginal and unproductive disputes and conflicts.
In such an environment, the people do not know whom to believe or who is saving and who is being saved, or who is engaged in the dialogue and with whom. In the meantime, the poor classes are starving and the economic crisis is threatening our national currency, vital services are completely absent, and the great challenges are about to turn into storms and earthquakes, while the sectarian and marginal political differences distract the people away from their real problems.
The big question is: where are we going? The deep valleys are waiting for all those who have abused their positions at the top.