The Good Among You Are Those Who Call You to Good – 19/07/2002

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 9, 1423 AH/ July 19, 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 Good Among You Are

Those Who Call You to Good

Allah says in His Glorious Book: "And remember Our servants, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob – those of strength and [religious] vision. Indeed, We chose them for an exclusive quality: remembrance of the home [of the Hereafter]. And indeed they are to Us among the chosen and outstanding. And remember Ishmael, Elisha and Dhul-Kifl; and all are among the outstanding." Surat Sad (38:45-48)

In these Holy verses, we notice that Allah described those prophets as being among the company of the good, suggesting that this attribute is an important one which Allah uses to describe His prophets. Therefore, we ought to follow their example and try to develop ourselves and become of the same company… the company of the good whom Allah, the Most Exalted describes His prophets as being part of.

The Good Among You

The Prophet (p.) and the Members of the House (a.s.) have left us many traditions in which they explain what is meant by the company of the good and how to become one of them.

The Messenger (p.) says: "Among the best of you are the pious—who fear Allah and obey His commands; the pure, whose hearts and souls are void of any filth or hatred; the generous—who give from what Allah (swt) has given them… who are kind to their parents, following Allah’s command: 'And lower to them the wing of humility out of mercy and say, ‘My Lord, have mercy upon them as they brought me up [when I was] small.’"* Surat al-Isra (17:24) "...and who do not let their wives and children need others to sustain them."

Imam Ali (a.s.) considered that the people of the Good in Allah’s view are "those who fear Allah most and obey Him, and those who are most ascetic in this world." In this respect, we have said many times that this does not mean that you shouldn’t enjoy what is lawful in this life, but it means you should not be a slave to these pleasures to the extent that you prefer them to your principles.

Social Consolidation

Asked about the practice that makes man among the company of the good, the Messenger (p.) said: "The best of people are those who benefit other people," meaning that you should expand and broaden the life of others, especially the poor and the needy, by the knowledge and wealth Allah (swt) has bestowed on you. And Allah (swt) has raised the issue of benefiting others to a very high level when He made the difference between the right and falsehood as the difference between what benefits and what harms people. He says: "He sends down rain from the sky, and valleys flow according to their capacity, and the torrent carries a rising foam. And from that [ore] which they heat in the fire, desiring adornments and utensils, is a foam like it. Thus, Allah presents [the example of] truth and falsehood. As for the foam, it vanishes, [being] cast off; but as for that which benefits the people, it remains on the earth. Thus does Allah present examples." Surat ar-Ra'd (13:17)

And when Allah instructed Mary to tell the people to ask her baby, Jesus (p.) said: "[He] said, 'Indeed, I am the servant of Allah. He has given me the Scripture and made me a prophet. And He has made me blessed wherever I am.'" Surat Maryam (19:30-33) The Members of the House explained the meaning of being blessed in that he benefits people.

Thus, man has to be unselfish, and he has not to deprive people of his knowledge, wealth, and strength, for all of these were given to him by Allah (swt) to give them to the people. "And let those [executors and guardians] fear [injustice] as if they [themselves] had left weak offspring behind and feared for them. So let them fear Allah and speak words of appropriate justice." Surat an-Nisa (4:9) "And spend from that which We have provided you before death approaches one of you and he says, 'My Lord, if only You would delay me for a brief term so I would give charity and be among the righteous.'" Surat al-Munafiqun (63:10)

This is what makes the society balanced and stable, with each member feeling that he has a duty towards the others, as well as a right on them. Social life is thus a contract in which people pledge to support one another.

Both the Messenger (p.) and Imam Ali (a.s.) have said that the best man is the one who benefits others. This is something we should always remember and educate ourselves and our children on. We should also initiate civil education programs to establish a society that is well aware of its responsibility for its own welfare and the welfare of each of its members. Imam al-Sadiq (a.s.) reminds us in one of his sayings that the best of us are the generous and the worst are the stingy. He also said: "The best worshipper is the one who enjoys five traits: He would be happy if he gives in charity; he would ask for forgiveness when he does wrong or commits sin; he would be thankful if he is given something; he would be patient and tolerant in the face of trouble and hardships; and he would forgive if he is wronged."

Provisions for the Hereafter

On another level, Imam Ali (a.s.) says: "The best of you is he who knows how fast his journey is and would therefore supply himself with all that he needs. He would make sure that he has been pious all along and abstain from everything Allah deemed unlawful."

The Messenger (p.) was asked who the best one to sit and chat with is. He said that it is he whom when you see him, he would remind you of Allah (swt), and whose knowledge will increase yours. He also said: "The men of good among you are those who call you to do good… They are those who promote peace and unity in the community, who reject partisanship and call for love and harmony."

There are also several sayings from the Prophet (p.) and the Imams (a.s.) that call upon us to watch over ourselves in everything we do or say, since we are going to stand before Allah on the Day of Judgment with nothing but our good deeds. Thus, we should not neglect to educate ourselves on the necessity of doing good and helping others, for the Messenger (p.) said: "The Muslim is the one who cares about the affairs of Muslims, and he who does not, is not a Muslim."

The Second Sermon

In the Name of Allah, the Compassionate, the Merciful

What is the Problem in Palestine?

The Arabs, the Europeans, the Russians and the United Nations agree that the occupation is the problem and that the complete withdrawal from the 1967 territories is the solution that includes also the establishment of a Palestinian state that guarantees security… Moreover, the position of all Intifada factions meets with this project, although the Islamists do not agree on the partition of Palestine except as a result of the difficult conditions in this stage.

So, what happened? The American president said that the problem lies in the nature of the National Authority, its president, its symbols, its corruption, and its sponsorship of what he calls, “terrorism”. Thus the solution in his view is to change the Authority and adopt administrative and security reforms, to turn it into a state… Meanwhile, Sharon would be free to reoccupy the West Bank and continue his terror campaign without any condemnation from any source, not even the Arabs.

Even the Arab streets have stopped to demonstrate because America has spoken, and all parties should follow suit.

Thus, several Arab countries forgot about their initiative, and the quartet committee that is led by America, talked only about the need to radical Palestinian reforms that will lead to the state… Their communiqué did not even mention the word occupation, and did not talk also about the brutal Israeli practices, It only talked about the need for Palestinian reform as if the Palestinians are the only people in the world who have such problems, for the whole problem in America’s view is how to secure a cooperative authority in the territories that safeguard the Israeli security…

In such circumstances, what could come out of the meeting of the three Arab foreign ministers with the American president or his security of state: They will receive instructions to send their heads of their security agencies to work under the leadership of the C.I.A. director to establish a Palestinian security agency that will haunt the Mujahedeen under the pretense of “fighting terrorism”.

This will in no way help achieve any step on the way of the Israeli withdrawal in accordance with the Arab initiative, for America and Israel do not respect this initiative, and do not find in it anything but a declaration of the Arab states that they recognize Israel… It is merely an incentive to the negotiations and not a plan of action.

Thus, America was able to force Bush’s speech with all its vagueness, regarding the Palestinian state and with all its clarity regarding the Israeli demands, on the international and regional Arab parties, and thus all parties have to accommodate their stances to get along with it.

The Palestinian people alone continued their struggle to undermine the Israeli security whether through the qualitative operation in the fortified settlement or in the martyr operation in Tel Aviv… While the Americans, Europeans and Arabs including The Palestinian Authority condemned these operations…

On the other hand, the savage Israeli operations are made, in the view of America, its allies and its agents, in self-defense against those who threaten Israeli security. It is as if the occupation is not itself a security, political and economic threat to the entire Palestinian people.

America: a war against the world

We have to study the war America declared on the whole world in the name of fighting terrorism, without even defining what terrorism is, or where it is being practiced… We also have to study its other slogan of fighting those who possess weapons of mass destruction, since Israel is the only country in the region with such an arsenal, but America does not let anybody talk about it.

If we study thoroughly America’s intentions, we will conclude that America seeks to Americanize the Arab and Islamic worlds, to loot its resources and markets… even when it threatens Iraq, it wants to take it over and destroy its people, before destroying its regime… That is why; we call on the Iraqi opposition to study the American project that appeared in the media, since one of America major aims is to weaken Iraq as a potential enemy for Israel.

Lebanon: urgent problems first

As for Lebanon, and while many people are talking about an economic plan to deal with the deficit and confront the economic collapse, we ask the government to solve the urgent current problems as a prelude to solving the major ones.

We want the officials to find quick solutions for problems like the vans that run on diesel, the secondary teachers, the workers at OGERO, and so on, because those people should be given the rights, and because not solving these problems, will hinder the government’s ability to solve the other problems.

As Lebanon starts to move as a political and economic workshop in preparing for Paris-2, it should take into consideration the social economic complications which could not tolerate any postponement. Furthermore, as the officials try to solve these problems, they should have in mind the interests of the country and its poor classes and not their political feuds.