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 Rabi' al-Thani 11, 1423 AH/ June 22, 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 True Believer
The Most Pious
Who is the most distinguished person from the viewpoint of Islam, as Allah and His Messenger (p.) have explained? What are the virtues this person should possess to be near Allah and His Messenger (p.) and to act as a role model for Muslims? Let us review the answer of Muhammad (p.) and the Members of the House (a.s.).
It is said that Imam Muhammad Al-Baqir quoted the Messenger (p.) as saying that the best believers are those “who would be pleased when they do good”, because they become able to express the spiritual and moral values they are distinguished with, and because they please Allah and fill the hearts of people with joy. They also please themselves even if their benevolent activity had cost them some effort, pain, and sacrifice. They view charity both as an act of good and as one that will produce good results whether in this world or in the Hereafter. “They are those who when they do wrong, they ask for forgiveness” because any wrongdoing would draw them away from Allah and drive His anger.
They consequently feel that they have fallen into big trouble. This is because the believer is the one who seeks to please Allah in the first and foremost place. It is Allah’s satisfaction that secures salvation in this world and in the Hereafter.
And this is what makes man watch all the time whatever he says and does… and this is what prevents man from insisting on his sin.
For if a man does anything wrong and then asks for forgiveness, it means that this act is accidental; but if he does not ask Allah for forgiveness, and continues to commit more sins, then the sin will become deep-rooted in his personality. “They are those if given would be thankful” for Allah wants us to thank those who are created as well as the Creator. “They are those if tried would be patient and tolerant” for Allah has promised those who are patient when they are tried with loss of life or money or fall into troubles that their reward will be enormous. “They are those who when they fall in anger they will forgive” … they do not seek revenge if they are hurt, but they would respond by forgiving. In this regard, Allah has ordained that you can respond to an offense by a similar one, but He said: "but if you forgive, it is nearer to righteousness" Surat al-Baqarah (2:237).
Good Manners
Imam Al-Baqir (a.s.) also quoted the Messenger (p.) as saying: “The best among you are the men of the mind”: it is the mind that commands man to do good and forbids him from doing wrong. The Messenger (p.) was then asked: Who are those? He said: They are “the men of good manners” who live their morals with the people without compromising their principles. They are those who are of “composed attitude”. They are those who are good to their relatives and faithful to their parents. They are those who care about the poor, the neighbors, and the orphans. They give the poor from what Allah has given them and sponsor the orphans to alleviate their burden and are good to their neighbors, for Islam wants to tie neighbors with a spiritual Islamic bond. The Prophet (p.) said: “Gabriel used to keep reminding me that we have to take care of our neighbors until I thought he wants us to include them in our wills.” Imam Ali (a.s.) said: “The Prophet used to keep reminding us that we have to take care of our neighbors until we thought he wants us to include them in our wills.” They are those who share their food, just as the Quran described the Members of the House:
"And they give food in spite of love for it to the needy, the orphan, and the captive, (Saying), 'We feed you only for the countenance of Allah. We wish not from you reward or gratitude.'" Surat al-Insan (76:8-9).
They are those who salute people by saying: Asalamu Alaykum “peace be on you”. Because the word peace suggests that there is a human bond between them. Anybody who salutes the other with this salute would be expressing a will and a promise that his relationship with the other is one of peace, not war. Then when the latter answers with the same greeting, he would be agreeing to accept the offer and pledge in his turn that he would act in the same way. Islam even made “peace” the salute of the people of Heaven:
"Peace be upon you for what you patiently endured. And excellent is the final home." Surat ar-Ra'd (13:24).
Traditions have it: saluting has 70 rewards, 69 to the initiator, and one for the one who responds, and ten if his response is a good one.
That is why we should not change the saluting of peace by other forms, since this salute is the slogan of Islam and since its humane connotations exceed any other words of greeting. They are those who forsake their beds of sleep, "calling upon their Lord in fear and aspiration" Surat as-Sajdah (32:16).
The Importance of Honesty and Trustworthiness
Imam Al-Baqir (a.s.) also quotes the Messenger (p.) as saying: “The believer is the one whom other believers could trust with their lives and wealth.” He should be known in his community as being trustworthy and honest. He does not cheat people in his business dealings or violate their rights or honor. The Prophet (p.) went on to say: “The Muslim is he whom other Muslims are safe from his tongue and hand… It is unlawful for a believer to wrong, let down, backbite, or even push a fellow believer.”
Imam Al-Sadiq (a.s.) quotes the Messenger (p.) as saying: “The one who resembles me most among you is the one with the best of manners, the most modest, the one who takes most care of his relatives, and the one who is most fair with himself…”
Imam Al-Baqir uses a simile to show how strong a believer is: “The believer is tougher than the mountain. We can take a portion of the mountain, but we cannot reduce the belief of a true believer” regardless of how much he is being tried with problems and pressures.
Imam Al-Sadiq (a.s.) describes how the believers behave in life by saying: “The believer is a good helper who kindly assists the others. He is not a heavy load on others. He is a good manager of his way of living, he can’t be easily deceived, and he learns from his experience.”
These are the sayings of the Messenger (p.) and the Imams (a.s.) that tell us about the believer model who lives in the community as a man of reason (not instinct) and a man of right (not falsehood). We have to learn these sayings and apply them in building the Muslim community, for that will make non-Muslims attracted to Islam, just as the unbelievers used to do at the time of the Prophet.
This would be the best way to call for Islam and make non-Muslims embrace it.
The Second Sermon
In the Name of Allah, the Compassionate, the Merciful
The Mujahideen penetrate all barriers
The Intifada goes on… and the martyr operations penetrate the entire enemy’s berries and walls no matter how fortified they are… for the Palestinian militant people are the legitimate owners of the land and they are experts in all its terrains.
They are going to continue to fight, for they believe in the cause of liberation whatever the cost is, and despite all the hysterical invasions of their cities and camps as well as the killing and arresting thousands of civilians.
On his part, the American president understands, encourages and supports all what the Zionist army does, and considers it as a form of self-defense. The occupation and the suffering of civilian Palestinians under occupation and the pressures they are subjected to with the use of advanced American weapons means nothing to him. All he cares about is to relief the tension of the Zionist “street” that started to question the ability of the Zionist army to put an end to the martyr operations. Meanwhile, America condemned the Palestinian liberation movement and took some stances that supported the Jews. The American president postponed the speech in which he was to outline his Middle East policy, which in any case would not have been in the Palestinian favor. The American Administration is so committed to the Israeli security and policies that it has started to use vague words to describe the Palestinian state as a means to impose new conditions on the Palestinian Authority and additional political and security concessions that in fact aim at imposing surrender.
The Palestinians will continue their Intifada. They will not listen to any of the calls that ask them to stop it, nor will they fall under the Israeli brutality, the American pressure, the international indifference and the Arab initiatives. They will hold on to their unity and they will not be affected by all the elements of disperse.
The Arab and Muslim peoples should continue to be active in providing additional political, physical and informational support for the Palestinians. For the war is the war of the whole nation; it is not the war of the Palestinians alone. We all have the same problem: the arrogant policy that allies with Israel against all our causes, in a declared war against all the forces of liberation in the name of fighting terrorism.
A disinformation campaign against Syria, Iran and Lebanon
In this respect, Israel is waging a disinformation campaign against Syria, Iran and Lebanon claiming that the Islamic Resistance is preparing to wage an offensive against the enemy with the help of the new weapons “it received from Iran”. We believe that this old-new war is a preventive war of intimidation that aims at creating a state of international pressure to protect the Israeli security from the future challenges of the Resistance that is not ready under any circumstance to reveal its cards.
On the other hand, this campaign could well aim at creating an internal state of contingency in the Zionist Entity to distract the Israelis away from the defeats in confronting the martyr operations, by all this talk about a threat on the northern front.
And since anything can happen in this war, all concerned, especially the Lebanese, should rise to the level of challenge. They should forget about their marginal differences. The impasse we live is not an impasse which we and the Palestinians only suffer from.
It is turning into a big impasse for the enemy on all political, economic and military levels… We should not let the international powers, especially the Americans, rescue them, for although these powers claim that they want to establish peace, they are actual planning for a war against the Arabs and Muslims by freezing the Palestinian statuesque through an unjust settlement.
We have many elements of force that could, if well organized and united, lead us to victory... But we have to prevent those who produce weakness, impotence and defeat from re-leading the nation to defeat.
Legalizing crime in Lebanon
The government in Lebanon should listen to the calls of the deprived people who are going from one crisis into another, as a result of the efforts of the brokers of corrupt companies to legalize their products, then when these products are discovered to be bad and the scandal to legalize them is uncovered, they change them with other bad products, paying the politicians once more bribes to legalize them and so on. Thus, the temple is falling upon the deprived and the poor and no one listens. There are those who legalize polluting the environment then try to fight it so as to legalize yet another crime. Where are you taking the country to you irresponsible responsible?!