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 Jumada al-Oula 11, 1424 AH/ July 11, 2003, 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
Do Not Dispute, Lest You Become Weak
The Spiritual and Practical Path
Allah says in His Glorious Book:
"O you who have believed, fear Allah as He should be feared and do not die except as Muslims [in submission to Him]. And hold fast to the rope of Allah all together and do not become divided. And remember the favor of Allah upon you - when you were enemies and He brought your hearts together and you became, by His favor, brothers. And you were on the edge of a pit of the Fire, and He saved you from it. Thus does Allah make clear to you His verses that you may be guided. 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. And do not be like those who became divided and differed after the clear proofs had come to them. And those will have a great punishment." Surat Al 'Imran (3:102-105).
These verses represent a spiritual, social, and practical guide for Muslims. It first points out that belief in Allah should extend to all of a person’s being… Allah should be present in his mind and heart… in his love and hate… He should feel the presence of Allah in all his life; he will not think of something, say anything, or take any action unless he is sure that it pleases Allah.
Piety Towards Allah
When you do anything, you usually take the views and reactions of others into account, even if to a certain extent. But when it comes to Allah, you ought to be pious and fear Him in everything you do so that your only purpose is to please Him. This is the meaning of the well-known saying about those whom Allah would offer refuge on the Day of Judgment: those who would not take a step forward or backward unless they are sure it pleases Allah. And this is the meaning of the verse: "O you who have believed, fear Allah as He should be feared and do not die except as Muslims [in submission to Him]."
Be pious, for Allah is the only God and the absolute God. He is the secret of your existence and the secret of your life... When you truly live your belief, you will not see anybody else, and you will not associate Him with any other person... not even the prophets and the Imams, for they are but His servants... We honor them because they are worthy of being honored, and they are honored by Allah. But when it comes to their relation to Allah, they are His servants who do as they are told by their Lord.
Piety as the Road to Unity
Therefore, we should adhere to this path... The path of piety in our homes, in our work... in our social and political views and actions... to meet Allah as Muslims.
And we should all hold fast to the covenant of Allah, which is the Quran, as in some traditions, or Islam itself, as in other interpretations.
Therefore, when you are a pious Muslim, other Muslims should be united with you in heart and mind. You meet with other Muslims in the belief in the basic principles of the doctrine: the belief in Allah, the Most Exalted, His messengers, His books, His angels, and the Last Day... Other Muslims share the same beliefs, and you should live the unity of faith with them. If you have certain differences in interpretations, you have to refer them, as Allah said in the Quran, to Allah and His Messenger. When you disagree, do not forget that it is a disagreement between brothers that Allah has provided you with the means to solve. Say: we are Muslims, and we have to make the authentic sources of Islam—the Quran and the traditions—the basis for solving any of our differences.
And even if you continue to disagree over certain issues, do not become disunited, for this is the way to weakness and collapse. Remember Allah’s favor when He united your hearts and made you brethren. You were pagans, and every one of you used to believe in a way that was different from the others. And now, you all believe in the same principles and worship Allah. He turned you into united brothers and saved you from the fire of Hell. Turning back into hatred and fragmentation will surely end in your fall and demise.
The Message of Islam
Allah emphasizes that it is the responsibility of each Muslim to carry Islam as a message in all his life and according to his capacities: "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. And do not be like those who became divided and differed after the clear proofs had come to them. And those will have a great punishment." Surat Al 'Imran (3:104-105).
This is Islam. It is a call for the good for both the individual and society, and it is a call for each Muslim to try to achieve this good. Those who do so are considered, as the verse indicates, to be "successful."
This is how Allah has outlined the Muslim social and spiritual personality… He emphasizes the significance of Islamic unity, which many are trying now, as they did in the past, to undermine. They are focusing on what divides the Muslims so that Muslims will accuse one another of being infidels, in a trend that could lead to internal strife and bloodshed, as the Muslims have witnessed in the past.
The Muslim experience tells us that this state of fragmentation has weakened the Muslims in facing other challenges... They were preoccupied with their trivial differences and grew unconcerned with the major issues that constitute the pillars of Islam, and thus they fell into backwardness. We now hear some Sunni Muftis accusing the Shiites of ascribing partners to Allah, and vice versa. They might even kill one another, which makes us forget about the infidels... This is the sad reality, and this is what we have to change before this cancer spreads through the entire body.
The Prophet’s Will
The Messenger focused on this issue in the Farewell Pilgrimage when he said:
"O people, listen to my words carefully, for I know not whether I would meet you again on such an occasion.
Return the things kept with you as a trust (Amanah) to their rightful owners. O people, listen carefully! All the believers are brothers. You are not allowed to spill the blood of another Muslim or take things belonging to another Muslim unless he gives it to you willingly. Do not wrong yourselves and go back to being infidels who kill one another. O people, none is higher than the other unless he is higher in obedience to Allah. No Arab is any superior to a non-Arab except in piety.
O people, reflect on my words. I leave behind me two things: the Quran and my family household, and if you follow these, you will not fail."
This is the Prophet’s will; should we not abide by it? Don’t we see that in every stage that has passed, Muslims are preoccupied with their differences with other Muslims? They do not support one another, and they even reach the stage of killing fellow Muslims. This is what we witnessed in Pakistan, where backwardness, fanaticism, and fatwas accusing others of unbelief have led to an attack on a mosque that resulted in the killing of about 50 believers.
Therefore, it is very critical for the Muslims to understand that there are major challenges that face them and that they should not listen to the arrogant media that concentrates on anything that might divide the Sunnis and the Shiites.
We have issued a communiqué in which we said that the Shiites’ problem is not the Sunnis, and the Sunnis’ problem is not the Shiites. The problem of both is America... It is the problem of international arrogance that tries to usurp all our wealth and resources and tries to turn us into fragments, applying the same old colonial rule of "divide and rule."
But blind fanaticism and elements of backwardness are being used by the arrogance to achieve its goal. Therefore, we ought to return to the Book of Allah and the Messenger’s traditions to restore the unity that demands that we should refer to them in everything we differ on. Our relationship should be based on dialogue...
We should refrain from any accusations of unbelief or any cursing and swearing... They will not solve any problems but rather exacerbate them.
Dear loved ones: Every Muslim should hold the responsibility of Islam, Muslims, and the strength and welfare of both in his heart and mind and strive to maintain and enhance them with his utmost effort.
The Second Sermon
In the Name of Allah, the Compassionate, the Merciful
America Consolidates the Zionist Entity
Israel is extending its confiscation of Palestinian lands by building the separation fence, as well as new settlements, and preventing the Palestinians from reaching their fields and gardens… Meanwhile, America might hint that it will exert some pressure on Sharon, but without delivering. On the contrary, they are telling the rabbis in the US that America does not want to strengthen Abu Mazen but to weaken Arafat... The American strategy, thus, is based on strengthening the Zionist entity and subjugating the Palestinians. Moreover, America is pressuring Europe to stop any aid to the Intifada’s militant organizations… The problem with this "American-Israeli" policy is that it lies to justify its policies of occupation and pressures the Arab and Muslim nation to promote its interests and those of Israel…
Its talk about the need to destroy weapons of mass destruction is a case in point... It knows that there are no such weapons, and this is what has been proven when it failed to find these weapons in Iraq… On the other hand, the "American-Israeli" axis finds in the US a force to threaten the world, and the region in particular. It also benefits from American support to proclaim its ultimate victory over the Palestinian Intifada... But the biggest problem is the Arab-Islamic one… We have not seen any indication of an effective plan to pressure the US, even by reminding it of its vast interests that might be jeopardized, or to confront Israel in any way.
The Need for Unity
We are monitoring the difficult situation that poses many critical threats on many fronts: For in addition to the situation in Palestine, the occupation in Iraq is still in a political, security, and economic whirlpool without any prospect for a solution in the near future... That is because America is the one that is formulating, executing, or making Iraq’s policy—elections, constitution, and even its army, which is planned to be a small one that could not deter any aggression… They are using the political council or the interim government as a front that acts under the supervision of the American civil ruler, who has the right to veto anything he does not accept. The plan also covers Iran and Syria, which are being portrayed as a threat to the region and the world.
We need to rebuild the nation of the Arab world in the Arab states. And we need to unify the Islamic world and regain its strength to rise to the level of a nation that knows how to defend its freedom and dignity…
Lebanon: The Cancer of Corruption
In Lebanon, administrative corruption has turned into a kind of cancer that is spreading through the entire body of the people. It is usurping all its wealth, destroying its security, shaking its economy, and depriving it of its needs.
Bodies like the Civil Service Council have offered documented proof of this corruption in a way that suggests that political corruption is the instigator and protector of administrative corruption and that there are certain positions in the country that nobody dares to hold those who occupy them accountable, even if they have abused their positions to earn illegal contracts or commissions.
The law is a sword that is only raised over the heads of the poor, while those who possess power and wealth are above the law, and this is what leads to the fall of society and leaves the Lebanese at a loss…
This is the law of history as Allah has laid it, and this is what Prophet Muhammad told us: "Those who were before you were doomed because they used to let the noble go free when he steals and punish the weak." Should we repeat the famous saying that your rulers will reflect what you are? This saying emphasizes the fact that the summit is the product of the base; how would we then reform the base that would, in turn, reform the corruption at the top?