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 Safar 2, 1424 AH/ April 4, 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
Why Is the Islamic World Dropping Its Right to Self-Determination?
Gain All the Elements of Strength
In describing the strong and conscientious Islamic vanguard that opens up to Allah to acquire a strength that enables it to defy any other power, Allah, the Most Exalted, says in the Glorious Quran, in the context of praising the attitude of the Messenger’s companions in the Battle of Uhud:
"Those to whom people said, 'Indeed, the people have gathered against you, so fear them.' But it [only] increased them in faith, and they said, 'Sufficient for us is Allah, and [He is] the best Disposer of affairs.'" Surat Al 'Imran (3:173)
What was the result of such a faith and such a trust? "They returned with Grace and bounty from Allah." Who gave them additional strength and "No harm touched them." For they followed the pleasure of Allah, and Allah is of infinite Bounty. They heard Allah's call and they could not be affected by the psychological and informational war the enemy waged against them. They would no longer experience fear, which is bound to lead to defeat since it undermines the will to fight and consequently it is an act of the Devil. And therefore "fear them not"… "Fear Me if you are true believers." You have to fear Allah in every step you take if you are true believers, for a believer fears Allah only and nobody else.
This Holy verse calls on the Muslims to win the psychological war because it focuses on our weak points to make us weaker, and that there is no balance whatsoever between our force and that of the enemy.
Just as we were told in the Quran about the Battle of al-Ahzab that started by a psychological war: "When they came upon you from above you and from below you, and when the eyes turned dull, and the hearts rose up to the throats, and you began to think diverse thoughts of Allah. And behold! The Hypocrites and those in whose hearts is a disease (even) say: 'Allah and His Messenger promised us nothing but delusion!' Behold! A party among them said: 'You men of Yathrib! You cannot stand (the attack)! Therefore go back!' And a band of them ask for leave of the Prophet, saying, 'Truly our houses are bare and exposed,' though they were not exposed they intended nothing but to run away." "While the believers say: 'This is what Allah and His Messenger had promised us, and Allah and His Messenger told us what was true.' And it only added to their faith and their zeal in obedience." Surat al-Ahzab (33:11-13)
Allah wants the entire Islamic nation to face the psychological war when it tries to convince the Muslims that they are weak, to understand that it is true that we have certain points of weakness (cultural, political and even military) but we also have strong points that enabled us to conquer the world and give it a new civilization. The Muslims gained their strength from their belief in Allah which gave the mind the power to think and the heart a resolve that cannot be beaten… and that is why they were able to be victorious.
Even in our recent history we were able in several countries to oust the arrogant in the end from our lands. Thus if they want us to think about our weak points, we should also think about our points of strength. We have to understand the laws that Allah has made the universe be governed with: There is no absolute or immortal weakness just as there is no absolute or immortal power, except that of Allah.
A strong power today will be weak tomorrow and vice-versa. And Allah has told man in His Book that He has given us the mind, the will and the strength that would enable us to transform our weakness to strength. But we have to make use of these potentials that Allah has given us: Allah wants you to be strong, but He has left it to you to create this strength.
It depends to a large extent on the mentality you develop; if you believe you are free and strong and that Allah wants you to be free and strong then you will be free and strong.
Both Parties Suffer
Moreover, one of the means of the psychological war the enemy might resort to is the talk about the sufferings and the pains the struggle for the cause of freedom might bring upon us, claiming that there is no need for all this.
And that they will give us freedom and democracy for free, but Allah tells us that we have to pay no attention to these pains; for they too are suffering. Yet we have a great advantage over them: we seek Allah's reward, which will surely be bestowed on us. "If you suffer pain, then surely they (too) suffer pain as you suffer pain, and you hope from Allah what they do not hope; and Allah is Knowing, Wise." Surat an-Nisa' (4:104)
The last point in this context is very essential: Allah wants us to be proud and dignified as it says in the Quran He has delegated to us the authority to run all our affairs except, as Imam as-Sadiq says: "becoming disgraced." How do we become disgraced? It is when our affairs are controlled by others and when the others, especially the arrogant and the unbelievers, decide our destiny in accordance with their interests… They give the instructions, and we do what we are told waiting for others to liberate us while knowing that they want to enslave us even more. They want to change one dictatorship with another for this is what their interests demand.
Losing the Right of Self-Determination
The Islamic world has begun, by accepting the regimes that were imposed on it, to lose its right of self-determination. When there is talk about the Palestinian cause, those who want to find a solution are the members of the Quartet Committee although there is not any Muslim or Arab among them. Meanwhile, Israel imposes the amendments it feels suitable with no one to challenge it.
All what the Arab regimes are looking for now is the "Road Map" which has also changed so much that it barely resembles the first version.
Furthermore, when they speak of the war on Iraq, they discuss how to arrange things after the war… even those who differed in the Security Council have turned now to divide the cake, and to respond to questions like: who is going to rule Iraq? How are we to divide among our companies the Iraqi oil or the contracts of rebuilding Iraq? They did not bother to consult any Arab or Muslim ruler or people…
Our crucial issues are being decided upon in Washington, Paris, London and other capitals.
Is this how we understand the pride of Muslims? Is it by following the news going from one news channel to the next, while they are actually killing us? Wouldn't this make us feel that we lost the game before we got engaged in it?
The Whole Nation Is the Target
The issue is not Iraq or the overthrowing of the Iraqi regime that should fall anyway; it is the future of the nation at stake. We are talking about the entire Islamic world that should rise up, gain strength and build its freedom and dignity even if after fifty years, for Allah has promised us: "And We desired to bestow a favor upon those who were deemed weak in the land, and to make them the Imams, and to make them the heirs." Surat al-Qasas (28:5). And He will not let down those who believe and trust Him.
The Second Sermon
In the Name of Allah, the Compassionate, the Merciful
Rising to the Challenge
Worshippers of Allah, the Most Exalted; be pious and fear Allah, the Most Exalted, in the issues that pertain to the nation, especially in this stage of the arrogance offensive. Be strong and do not be affected by the psychological war that wants to convince you that you are weak. And do not help the unbelievers gain the upper hand on believers. Those who do so have no connection with Allah: "Let not the believers take disbelievers for their friends in preference to believers. Whoso does that has no connection with Allah unless (it be) that you but guard yourselves against them." Surat Al 'Imran (3:28)
Those who are trying to get into their country under the occupier's umbrella are described by Allah as hypocrites "who shall have a painful doom."
The arrogant powers are saying to us: We are occupying you to liberate you, and we are killing you to give you life. This is what the Americans are saying in Iraq. Similarly they are saying to the Palestinians we are supporting Israel to kill you, women, children and all. We are destroying your infrastructure and hunting the Mujahideen because you represent a terrorist threat to the country that has a special and privileged status, Israel, which is thus in a state of self-defense.
This is the logic of the American Administration that is in effect the same Israeli logic. They both aim to lessen the Arab and Muslim strength by all means including allegations that we possess, or plan to possess, weapons of mass destruction to sustain Israeli supremacy in the region.
America and Israel: A Vicious Similarity
This similarity is also evident in what was published in the Israeli press lately. They claimed that the massacres committed by the British and Americans, killing scores of civilians in Iraq, justify the Israeli killing of Palestinian civilians because they had to kill Palestinian civilians in their search for Mujahideen, since there was no way to avoid it…
This is what is actually common in both mentalities: the despising of the Arab and Muslim human being.
The actual objective of the American war on Iraq has never been to realize any of the goals the Americans claim they seek, but rather to promote the American interests, taking advantage of its overwhelming war-machine that makes it in a position to decide on world war and peace, even if the rest of the world disagrees. It does not allow any country to oppose and if it does it will threaten it with economic and military sanctions… This is what we heard from the arrogant Americans, even towards their major allies when they dared to reject the war resolution in the Security Council.
The way America and Britain acted in the Security Council has led to the humiliation of this Council and made it ineffective in protecting the peace and the rights of nations which makes the world live in a jungle whose wolves are about to eat the lambs.
It might be worth noting that the countries opposed to the American war have begun to open up to it, wish it victory and started to look for their own post-war interests… They want to divide the spoils of the war among them…
The others will not fight our wars for us… On the contrary they will plant many political, economic, and military thorns in our way… Let us think of how to fight for our causes, even if it takes a long time, for no rights are lost as long as there are those who demand them.
We warn the American and British forces that are creating a tragedy in the region through their political, economic, and human massacres… We warn them strongly against any aggression on the Islamic Holy Shrines. Such an aggression will not only undermine our sacred Islamic values but also the human being whose sanctity is the most important in Islam.
Prevent These Crimes
We call upon all Muslims and all free men in the world to prevent these crimes, and confront occupation. We ask them not to believe their claim about liberating the Iraqis...
We also have to continue to confront the Zionist enemy, and support the Palestinian people who are no longer the focus of concern on the international level. Nobody talks now about the daily massacres and arbitrary arrests… We have to keep Palestine in mind and understand that it is the same battle, that of ensuring Israeli supremacy, through American support.
The future is full of challenges
The other parties have begun planning for a future that will deprive us of any element of strength. They want to impose new rulers and regimes that will protect the interests of the arrogant… they want to substitute old, worn-out tyrants with new ones. We call for the awareness that surpasses the particular to the general, the narrow approach to the wide one.
The issue concerns the entire nation, and even those who are helping international arrogance will be affected… The international arrogance does not care about the future of the nations, especially the downtrodden ones. It only cares about the multi-national monopolies which are in actual fact the ones that make the American and other administrations.