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 6, 1423 AH / September 13, 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
Imam Al-Baqir (a.s.) and Imam Al-Hadi (a.s.): Faith in Action
Allah says in His Glorious Book: "Indeed, the number of months with Allah is twelve [lunar] months in the register of Allah [from] the day He created the heavens and the earth; of these, four are sacred." Surat at-Tawbah (9:36). He also says: "Allah intends only to remove from you the impurity [of sin], O people of the [Prophet's] household, and to purify you with [extensive] purification." Surat al-Ahzab (33:33).
The Sacred Months
This month, Rajab, is one of the sacred months in which Allah prohibited fighting. We can also call them the months of peace, which Allah wants people to stop fighting in and think about its disadvantages as compared to the bliss of peace, unless the war is held in self-defense, when the Muslims are fighting an aggression, as what is going on in Palestine and as what America is planning for Iraq; then the Muslims are allowed to fight in these months as in all the others.
In this month that Allah, the Most Exalted, has prohibited fighting in, we have to acquire the spirit of peace by removing the hatred of other believers from our hearts, and by changing enmity into friendship and boycotting into meeting. Allah, the Most Exalted, wants the Muslims to be a unified nation that has one stand, especially when they are faced by grave challenges.
Commitment and Righteousness
This month also carries a lot of memories of the Members of the House (a.s.). In the beginning of it, the Imams Muhammad al-Baqir and Ali al-Hadi (a.s.) were born, and on its third day Imam al-Hadi (a.s.) died. We have to follow the course of our Imams, being the Imams who carried the message of Islam, fought for the cause of Allah, the Most Exalted, and endured a lot of sufferings in due course. If they did not have the chance to lead the nation politically alongside their religious leadership, they practiced their Imamate by advising the nation, facing all the problems its members lived, and responding to all the ideological challenges they faced. Each Imam had a certain role in accordance with the time he lived in and the scope of circumstances that allowed him to practice his cultural leadership.
But we have a vast tradition that they have left us, and we benefit from each occasion to learn some of them to light our way and to earn Allah's satisfaction.
One of the issues we are going to discuss today, based on the teachings of our Imams, is the issue of comparing between performing a recommended (not obligatory) act of worship and helping the poor and the deprived, or even trying to reconcile between two friends or groups that entered into a feud… Which is better: to perform a recommended act of worship, which requires paying some money, like performing pilgrimage, or to give the money to a poor family and help its starving members not to lose their dignity?
Importance of Social Consolidation
In the first case, we heard Imam Ali (a.s.) say in his last will to his children, Imams Hassan and Hussein, and to all who are informed of it: "I heard your grandfather, the Messenger of Allah (p.), say: 'Reconciling is better than fasting or praying'"—that is, of course, the recommended acts and not the ordained ones. Which means that if you have to choose between praying the night prayer, for example, or staying up to reconcile between two people, then it is more rewarding to reconcile.
As for the second question, Imam al-Baqir (a.s.) says that "providing for a Muslim family is better than performing 70 pilgrimages." This tradition highlights the importance of the social issue in Islam. It is the Muslim’s duty to confront the deprivation of other Muslims. It is clear that the belief many of us have—that performing a recommended pilgrimage is more important than supporting a poor family—is baseless. It is more rewarding to support fellow Muslims. We have to recognize the importance of social consolidation.
Trustworthiness and Honesty
Moreover, Imam al-Baqir (a.s.) talks about certain aspects of how to deal with people, condemning all those who have a bad temper, who might curse at will, and even those who might press and ask for what they want over and over again… He says: "Tell the people what you like most to hear from them… Allah hates those who curse… and those who press for their errands, and loves the prudent and the chaste."
Imam al-Baqir (a.s.) also explains to us how important it is to be honest and trustworthy. He says: "Be pious in obeying Allah and in saying the truth and in giving back what you were entrusted with, whether by a good person or a bad one, even if it were by Ali’s assassin."
Imam al-Hadi (a.s.) quotes the Messenger’s (p.) distinction between being a Muslim and a believer, for Muhammad (p.) considered that belief has to be in the heart and has to be credited by the action, while it is sufficient to accept Islam verbally. That is why the Prophet (p.) used to accept all those who pronounced the two testimonies, even if it were out of fear.
Imam al-Hadi (a.s.) also says: "Who obeys the Creator does not care about people’s anger." Allah is everything to such people, for no man is worth anything compared to his Creator. And this is what the Messenger (p.) said when the people of Taif (a city near Mecca) were throwing stones at him and cursing him to drive him out of the city: "[Allah] if You are not angry with me, then I care for nothing."
Imam al-Hadi (a.s.) goes on to say: "And whoever angers the Creator, let him rest assured that he will gain the anger of the created," for they will despise him, knowing that he sold his religion.
The Imam then explains the difference between this world and the Hereafter: "People in this world are judged by the money they have, while they will be judged in the Hereafter by their actions." He reminds us that we are all going to die and that nothing will do us any good except our good deeds: "O you who have believed, fear Allah. And let every soul look to what it has put forth for tomorrow - and fear Allah. Indeed, Allah is Acquainted with what you do. And be not like those who forgot Allah, so He made them forget themselves. Those are the defiantly disobedient. Not equal are the companions of the Fire and the companions of Paradise. The companions of Paradise - they are the attainers [of success]." Surat al-Hashr (59:18-20)
Let us pray that Allah will help us against ourselves, with what He helps the pious against themselves. He is the Most Merciful.
The Second Sermon
In the Name of Allah, the Compassionate, the Merciful
A Year After 9/11
The eleventh of September was the first anniversary of the huge event that challenged the most powerful superpower in the world for the first time in history… The leaders of the world gathered to demonstrate their solidarity with the US in its grief over the victims and in its war against terrorism. As the Secretary General of the United Nations said: "There will be other occasions to explore the reasons for these attacks, for on that day thousands of men and women from more than 20 countries fell victims, and they represent a United Nations of international citizens."
On this occasion, we would like to state a few observations:
Firstly: most Islamic personalities, with the religious men at their forefront, have condemned this event and considered it unjustified from the Islamic point of view, even if Islamists were the ones who did it and even if their motives were noble; for the means that were employed to demonstrate their protest do not conform with the Islamic laws and teachings. In light of what is said above, we conclude that such an act does not represent the human concepts of Islam and the way it opposes other policies… It does not also represent the nation of Islam. Nevertheless, the reaction of the West—generally speaking—was against Islam as a religion and against the Arabs and Muslims as a nation, proving that their mentality is a racial and emotional one.
Secondly: The American Administration, represented by its president, did not permit any discussion of the political, security and economic reasons for what happened, with all the oppression and humiliation it contained… especially since their hegemony over the Islamic and Arab worlds is what led some of its citizens to react to the brutal violence of the international arrogance by such violent actions. The American president told the whole world that "you are either with us or with terrorism," without giving anybody the chance to discuss what terror is or what its reasons are, because "the new American empire" cannot tolerate any discussion; it wants to lead the world by itself, leaving no say for any other.
Thirdly: In the context of combating terror, the American president talks about civilization, freedom, peace and human rights, and asserts that Americans are not fighting for themselves only but for their friends too. But who are America's friends in the region? They are but one: Israel, whom America entered into a war with against the Palestinian Intifada, which they described to be a terrorist act, thus making this war the second war against terrorism, the first being the war against Afghanistan. As for America’s friends among the Arabs and Muslims, they have a secondary position, and their only worth is the concessions of military bases they provide to fight the "rogue" Arab and Muslim states, or those that are a part of "the Axis of Evil," or even to intimidate the Palestinians. This is what we have noticed in the latest round of political, informational and military intimidation of the region that was addressed even to some of America’s friends, who might receive certain affectionate words to cover the real message of threat to change their policies and pressure their people. In this respect, the best example would be the accusations and threats America has been leveling against Egypt and Saudi Arabia.
Fourthly: We had wished that America would have learned the subject lesson and known that the policy of muscle-flexing will not earn her any friends. It will reproduce a new terror that will move from one place to another like ghosts. The only thing that will do any good is to change its policy and stand with the oppressed peoples against the rulers that America utilized to serve its interests. But the internal forces that control the American policies are pushing America towards taking such fatal steps in the future.
Fifthly: Our responsibility in the Arab and Muslim worlds is to take a new look at the world following the major developments that created many cultural, political and security problems for us as a result of the media campaign that was waged against us. Thus, we have to set out a plan on how to use all our extensions in the world to take part in explaining to other nations what we call for… as well as the justness of our causes in liberation, human rights and self-determination… We call on the Arabs and Muslims to mobilize all their powers to confront the unjust campaign against them and to plan to turn the nations of the world into friends, by means of wisdom and good words. For the war is no longer a military and political act; it is also fought through mass media, with the whole world as a front.
We Are With the Iraqi People Against America
Sixthly: We have to follow up the American plan in its war against Iraq, whose political, economic and military repercussions may change the whole region. We also have to stay with the Iraqi people, who suffer both externally and internally more than any other people.
Fighting Occupation Is the First Priority
But surely our great concern remains the Palestinian cause. For we are still in the stage where America has given a green light to Israel in order to destroy the Palestinian people and achieve a final victory over it in accordance with Sharon’s plan. The Palestinians have to continue their heroic march, while the Palestinian Authority has to study the current critical challenges to preserve the national unity and open an objective dialogue that keeps liberation as the top priority… while the Arab and Muslim peoples have to support the Palestinians.
An Economic-Political Plan for Lebanon
In Lebanon, the Israeli threats aim at creating a state of preventive intimidation, the last of which was about the Wazzani River, which Lebanon did not take its share of according to international law. It is ironic that America calls on both sides for self-control. It did not have the courage to ask Israel not to fight the Lebanese for trying to exercise their legal rights. But this is America, which equates between the victim and the criminal.
Therefore, we believe that these threats are a part of a bigger plan that tries to subject the region even before America starts its second round of war.
It is quite odd in these circumstances to find that the Lebanese debate concentrates on marginal issues, acting as if we are in a calm region and hence have nothing else to do. These trivial fights about the press or about other political issues that take a sectarian outlook will make the country enter a stage of chaos.
What Lebanon needs most, in this stage, is to prepare itself to hold out against the winds of threats and change. It also needs to draw a political-economic plan for confrontation. But it cannot do that unless all Lebanese unite on the basis of recognizing the dangers that await Lebanon from the southern gate, as well as the dangers that await the whole region.