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 Ramadan 12, 1424 AH / November 7, 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
On the Day of Brotherhood:
Adhering to the Prophet's Path in Unity and Shared Destiny
Muslims are Brothers
Allah, the Most Exalted, says in His Glorious Book: "The believers are but brothers, so make settlement between your brothers. And fear Allah that you may receive mercy." (Surat al-Hujurat 49:10)
From the moment Islam began its international call as a religion that is bound to be victorious, even if the disbelievers dislike it, one of the first tasks Muhammad (p.) attended to was to make each Muslim a brother of another Muslim, to establish the spirit of brotherhood among Muslims that is as strong as, or even stronger than, the bond among brothers by blood.
He started in Mecca by assigning a brother for each Muslim from among the Muslims in Mecca. It is said that Imam Ali (a.s.) alone was left without a brother. He came to the Messenger (p.) feeling rather sad. The Prophet told him: "Do you not want to be my brother?" For this is a brotherhood not only in blood but also in the spirit and the Message. When the Imam (a.s.) said yes, Muhammad (p.) told him: "You are my brother in this world and in the Hereafter." The relationship between them is not a temporary one; it started when the Imam was a child, raised and educated spiritually and mentally by the Prophet, and it will extend indefinitely.
When the Messenger (p.) immigrated to Medina along with a group of Muslims, he once again repeated the same experiment, but this time between those who immigrated with him and those who welcomed and supported them. This brotherhood was based on right and equality. It is a militant brotherhood to defend the right and call for it. It is also a brotherhood of equality and compassion. Muslim brothers should share the wealth, the pleasures, and the sufferings of fellow Muslims to demonstrate that being a brother in Islam is greater than being a brother in blood. We all have to live and apply this brotherhood in our relations with our fellow Muslims.
Thus, the Medinan supporter (Ansar) used to come to their Muhajir brother and say to him: "You are my brother in Islam. You cannot be poor while I am rich. We will share what I have." "And [also for] those who were settled in al-Madinah and [adopted] the faith before them. They love those who emigrated to them and find not any want in their breasts of what the emigrants were given but give [them] preference over themselves, even though they are in privation. And whoever is protected from the stinginess of his soul - it is those who will be the successful." (Surat al-Hashr 59:9)
They even inherited one another in the first stage, which lasted until the battle of Badr, when the following Ayah was revealed: "And those who believed after [the initial emigration] and emigrated and fought with you - they are of you. But those of [blood] relationship are more entitled [to inheritance] in the decree of Allah. Indeed, Allah is Knowing of all things." (Surat al-Anfal 8:75)
Muhammad is Ali’s Brother
Again, Ali (a.s.) was left without a Muslim brother, and he came, according to Al-Tabaqat by Ibn Sa'd, to the Prophet asking to have a Muslim brother, and again the Messenger (p.) said to him: "You are my brother in both worlds."
Such a brotherhood indicates the greatness of the Imam (a.s.), for there were many companions, and most of them were older than the Imam and closer in age to Muhammad (p.), who was at that time 53 years old. Yet the Messenger (p.) chose this young man whom he raised and educated to grow as the most perfect example of Muslims. Moreover, it was not a matter of being blood relatives, for Muhammad had many other cousins. It was because the Prophet knew that this cousin was the most knowledgeable, faithful, and virtuous.
We are talking today about the concept of brotherhood because this day is the anniversary of the day Muhammad concluded the pact of brotherhood between the Muhajireen and the Ansar, and between him (p.) and Imam Ali (a.s.). This day is a day of emphasizing this brotherhood on both the private and public levels, for this is what unites Muslims with a firm bond. It makes the Muslim live the pains, concerns, and problems of fellow Muslims and enables the Muslims to act as a unified nation.
That is why we find that Allah associated the Muslims being brothers with the need to "make settlement between your brothers." Being brothers, believers ought to solve any differences that might appear. Those who try to settle these differences should fear Allah and not side with any of the parties.
Regarding the nature of this brotherhood, there are many traditions that have touched on this point. The Messenger, for example, compares the tranquility a Muslim feels when he deals with a fellow Muslim to that of a thirsty man when he finds water. He also teaches us that the Muslims are brothers who provide their blood for other believers and who stand unified against their enemies.
Imam al-Sadiq (a.s.) says: "The believer is a brother of a fellow believer. He is his eye and his guide. He does not betray him, nor wrong him, nor cheat him..."
Imam Ali (a.s.) says: "Muslims are brothers, and there is nothing more important for a brother than his brother."
Following the Messenger
On this day, the day of brotherhood, and in this time, when Muslims all over the world pray, we have to open our hearts to Allah and say: "O Allah, we believed in You and followed Your course. Give us of Your Mercy what will make us brothers who support one another in all our causes."
To the Messenger (p.) we say: On this day, the day of brotherhood, we bear you witness that we follow your example and live the brotherhood you made between the Muhajireen and the Ansar, which enabled them to face their enemy with their unbreakable unity. We promise you that we will unite again and act as the human body, which, if any organ is in pain, the other organs will look after it.
It is the day of brotherhood. Let us be brothers, especially as we live in a very critical era of grave threats. If we want Heaven, then Heaven is attained with love in the hearts, righteousness in the minds, and good in our deeds. You cannot end up in Paradise with all this hatred and enmity that flourish among you.
The Second Sermon
In the Name of Allah, the Compassionate, the Merciful
American Democracy: A Support for Totalitarianism
What is new in America these days? The American President has called for establishing democracy in the Middle East, being the "most deprived" region of the benefits of democracy and freedom. He went on to admit that the American support of dictatorships in the region, which lasted for about 60 years, has generated an anti-American feeling that feeds terrorism. He ended by emphasizing that no country or nation should be deprived of the great benefits that freedom and democratic progress could produce.
Bush talks like a prophet sent by Heaven to change the world, and especially the Middle East. Yet he wants to accomplish this aim through a team of Zionist-Christians allied with the Jewish lobby and an administration that is controlled by the giant oil companies.
The question is: What does Bush understand by democracy? Is it a privilege of the American people alone? And even at this level, the public freedoms, especially those of Arabs and Muslims, have been restricted in the US, and international law and human rights have been violated with its treatment of the prisoners of war.
In addition, the American President considers the Palestinians who are fighting for freedom and liberation as terrorists and supports the Israeli strategy of eradication. Does this American-Israeli policy of massacres and demolition of houses and bulldozing of farms represent democracy? Does democracy not extend to the occupied nations?
America, which admits that it has been supporting oppressive regimes, continues to do so when it supports the Zionist entity. It also practices direct oppression through its pressures on several Middle Eastern countries that do not accommodate its interests. It is the democracy of the American Administration that seeks to preserve the US strategic interests in the region and not that of the peoples of the Middle East. What America wants is the freedom of its intelligence agencies in inciting internal strife, initiating wars to put its hands much more firmly on the region.
Demonizing the International Media
The international media, which has been reporting in an objective manner the actions of the Jews that threaten world peace and Israeli threats to the countries of the region, has been attacked by America, which criticizes the reporting of any story that exposes Israeli atrocities and violations of human rights, without anybody, including the UN, daring to condemn them as they rush to do against what they claim Iran is doing. Nevertheless, America remains silent or even encourages the American and other media that attack Islam, the Muslims, and the Arabs, under the pretense that America is the land of freedom.
Such twisted logic gives every American the right to take any Arab or Muslim to task, but it does not give anybody, even those outside America, the right to criticize the Jews, for they are above any criticism. They are, as Mahathir Mohamad said, in control of the world, and they let other nations fight their wars by proxy for them, with the help of the United States, which is the first country to fight these wars. Is this the democracy Bush is calling for?
America and Israel Are in the Same Impasse
On another level, America is going to give a military grant to Israel that is worth more than 2 billion dollars to secure Israel’s supremacy in the region. It is as if America is telling the world that it is fighting Israel’s war against the Palestinian people and killing the elderly, the women, the children, and the civilian youth who are being killed in the name of preserving peace.
We believe that the Palestinian steadfastness has made Israel and the US fall into the same impasse, despite all the operations of eradication and demolition, especially as those who oppose the occupation in Iraq are inspired by this formidable spirit of resolve and resistance in Palestine.
Thus, America wants to lessen the pressure in Palestine to lessen the pressure on the Americans in Iraq, keeping all the burden on other states of the region, such as Syria, Iran, and Lebanon. Hence, the Palestinians, and the other peoples in the region, ought not to be deceived by this ploy. The issue is not to reduce the pressure here or there. It is the issue of the freedom of the oppressed peoples of the nation. The impasse encompasses both the occupier and the fighters for freedom, who have to make sure that the only way out for the occupier is liberation.
Resettling the Palestinians in Lebanon
In Lebanon, the issue of resettling the Palestinians has begun to impose itself in the political life as a result of new American and European initiatives. This issue is very critical because it has to do with the international recognition of the Palestinians’ right of return. The Lebanese politicians have started to issue statements that indicate that there is a consensus regarding the issue of rejecting resettlement. But what has Lebanon done at the level of its international relations? Has Lebanon studied the far-fetched goals and far-reaching plans to drive the Palestinians to a level of despair that would impel them to accept their fate?
Lebanon should be a state that shoulders its responsibility when it comes to these critical issues, especially since Lebanon’s problem is inherently interrelated with what happens in the region. If there are some who are raising the issue to test the waters, the desired reaction should be political and not by any means informational, for we are dealing with one of the most dangerous problems that target Lebanon both from the inside and the outside.