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-Awwal 4, 1424 AH/ July 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
Embody Concern for All Muslim Affairs
Being Concerned with Muslim Affairs
One of the essential principles Islam stresses is that the believer should be spiritually and practically concerned with everything that enhances the welfare of Muslims, serves their interests, defends their freedom and dignity and strengthens their unity. Allah wanted to establish through Islam a nation whose members are strongly attached to one another and who view the interests of the nation as their own individual interests, especially when it comes to the threats the arrogance and infidels pose.
Allah wants the Muslims to be familiar with all the affairs of Muslims, especially the political, economic and security threats the nation faces. A believer should be concerned with the problems of the nation just as he is concerned with the affairs of his family. In short, the nation should be his bigger family just as his wife and children are his smaller family.
This is what the Messenger (p.) stressed in his famous saying: "He who is not concerned with the affairs of Muslims is not a Muslim."
This means that you have to keep an eye on all the changes that occur in the Muslim world and study what you can do to help, whether ideologically, or by taking part in the actual confrontation or any other thing that will enhance and strengthen one of the positions of the nation.
Imam Ali Bin Al-Hussein (a.s.) points to this issue in his morning and evening supplication, when he asks Allah to grant him success in his day to defend and support Islam and to be one of those who support the Right and weaken and defeat falsehood. For when you wake up in the morning you find you have two kinds of personality, the private one which deals with personal and family affairs and the general one that is derived from being a part of the nation and has to think about its welfare.
The Unity of the Nation
The Messenger (p.), who considers that, as we said in the beginning, those who are not interested in the affairs of Muslims are not among Muslims, has also told us that the best worshipper is the one who advises fellow Muslims and carries their well-being in his heart.
Yet we have to remember that this means all Muslims irrespective of color, race or sect. If there are secondary differences among them we have to refer it to Allah and His Messenger: "And if you disagree over anything, refer it to Allah and the Messenger." Surat an-Nisa’ (04:59)
Imam Al-Sadiq (a.s.), whose sayings reflect those of the Messenger (p.), asserts that the best good deed you can meet Allah with is to advise fellow human beings. The Messenger himself said: "If someone hears a Muslim calling on fellow Muslims for help and does not respond, he would not be a Muslim," thus emphasizing that Islamic politics calls for the unity of the nation against any tyrant or occupier.
The Messenger (p.) also says: "All humans are Allah's creations. Those whom Allah loves most are those who serve the others and bring joy into a household… People are of two kinds: some are like the stagnant water in the pond, others are like the water of a spring that is always ready to give."
Education on Good Manners
In this respect, Prophet Muhammad (p.) says that Allah, the Most Exalted, loves most those who benefit others… He promises those who help in putting out a fire or other civil defense duties with Heaven. Jesus Christ (p.) passed by a grave and saw that its holder was in torture. A year later he passed again and noticed that the man was relieved. He asked Allah and was told that it was because he had a good son who provides shelter for the orphan and maintains roads. Thus, the man was forgiven for the sake of his son. Imam Sadiq (a.s.) explains the meaning of Allah's saying that He made Issa "blessed" wherever he is as being useful to the people.
Based on all this, we have to live this human spiritual aspect in our lives. The good should fill our hearts and minds. The Prophet has said that "Religion is advice," adding that this advice is for Allah, His Book, His Messenger (p.), Muslim Imams and the Muslim public.
This is the virtue of Islam. We have to do our best to provide advice for all Muslims. We should love them, emphasize and enhance their unity, especially in these times of turmoil and strife.
The Second Sermon
In the Name of Allah, the Compassionate, the Merciful
Arab and Muslim Helplessness
The American President, Bush, is still insisting on dismantling the infrastructure of the militant Palestinian organizations and disarming them, despite the fact that they have announced a truce while their lands are still under occupation. Moreover, the Americans did not provide any guarantee for an Israeli withdrawal, since the Road Map is dominated by the balance of force which is not in favor of the Palestinians.
They want to deprive the Palestinians of any source of strength they might still have, leaving Israel as the only power with all the force that enables it to impose its conditions, and giving the Palestinians by way of charity small parts of their land that are surrounded by the settlements and the separation fence which is also confiscating large parts of their lands.
The Bush Administration is unable to pressure Israelis. When the National Security advisor criticized the fence, the Israelis are building to serve as a barrier, and the Zionists rejected her comments, she kept silent. It was enough for Sharon to tell her that this is a matter that has to do with Israel’s security and that we will not accept anything from America that is against our security.
In his turn, Secretary Powell talks about the necessity of isolating those who oppose the Road Map, but he does not talk about the Jewish rabbi who rejected the Map because it is against the Torah, or about the Likud members who accepted the Map on the basis of Sharon's 14 reservations that left the plan void of its content. Powell even announced that he understands these reservations and went on to deceive the Arabs and the Palestinians by saying that he will not change anything in the Road Map.
It is very satirical and cynical that the Palestinian Authority’s prime minister would declare, although deprived of both the territories and the authority, that the Palestinian-Israeli struggle is merely a political one that has no ideological or national dimensions or even the people's right in the Palestinian lands.
We know that the Arabs who made peace with the enemy, whether publicly or behind closed doors, have abandoned the Arab nationality of Palestine, to turn the problem with the Zionist enemy into one that deals with details and not principles, because what they really seek is to liberate themselves from Palestine and liberate Palestine itself. But we cannot understand how a Palestinian could forego his right in Palestine, and recognize that Palestine is the Jewish Israel, while the Palestinians have a right to a state but not the rights of an independent and free nation.
We do not trust the American-Israeli project which aims at pushing the Palestinians into an Israeli corner. And we do not also trust the Arabs who are exerting pressure to execute this project. But for the Palestinian Authority government to abolish the historical roots of the Palestinian issue as a cause that involves all Arabs and Muslims in general; this is really a catastrophe.
Beware of the Implications of the Truce
We warn the Mujahideen who accepted the truce to safeguard Palestinian unity, from the efforts that aim to turn this truce into a sword that hangs over their heads, to prevent them from continuing to fight against occupation and ultimately put an end to the Intifada. The truce needs a political agenda that ensures the continuance of the struggle to end occupation and attain the Palestinian national rights. This is the great challenge we hope that the Palestinians are capable of confronting despite all the difficulties and hardships they face.
Meanwhile, America continues its efforts to ensure that Arab and Muslim countries recognize Israel even before the end of Israeli occupation. This is what we noticed in Pakistan, the Islamic state whose people rejected their president’s statement about the possibility of recognizing Israel. It could well also be that the American severe and continuous pressure on Iran and all the talk of nuclear war was because the Islamic Republic refused to recognize the Zionist entity and it still supports the forces of freedom in Palestine. In the meantime, Arab and Muslim countries are falling one after another and yielding to the American pressure.
Iraq: Planning Resistance
Iraq is still in a state of political turmoil. No policies are being articulated that could give rise to the foundation of the new republic. No meeting of political, economic, social and security experts is being held to study the future and to lay the foundations that would end the occupation. Meanwhile, America plans to stay for several years, which would allow it to turn Iraq into an economic and military base, whose strategic resources, both economic and geopolitical, are dominated by the Americans. In addition, the US is trying to let Israel, its strategic partner, share the fruits of its aggression.
This is very natural from the US viewpoint since one of the reasons that led to the invasion was to destroy for good the Iraqi army that constitutes a potential threat against Israel.
We call upon our people in Iraq to be cautious of the announced American plan of establishing a political council to form a government, provide the country with a new constitution, and build an America-style army—a weak army whose main job is internal policing. Most importantly, it wants to let the Israeli economy share with the US in usurping Iraq's vast resources.
We say to our people in Iraq: Resistance of occupation is a human, civilizational, and Islamic rule, yet it is not a slogan but rather a plan.
What we need now is unity and integration between the various stances and actions. You are passing through a very difficult stage, and you have to rise to the levels of responsibility. We cannot afford to score points against one another. We ought to score them for the benefit of the country and the nation.
Lebanon: No to Dividing the Cake
In Lebanon, we witness each day a new issue that is raised for political consumption that could widen the existing differences. We are not against political differences when they are over the general interests of the people. But we say to all parties, especially the officials, that issues as important as appointing high-ranking civil servants cannot be left to be decided by the necessities of the presidential or sectarian quotas.
The main objective should be the interests of the people, and any civil servant or politician, however superior he might be, is by definition a servant for the people, and this is the meaning of the famous saying: "The most senior among the people is the one who serves them most."