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 10, 1424 AH/ August 8, 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
Piety and Obedience:
The Way to Please Allah
Obedience Brings You Closer to Heaven
In the Holy Quran, the qualities of piety and obedience are emphasized as ways to reach Heaven, even with respect to prophets and prominent religious figures. Allah, who is the creator of all human beings, does not have a special relation with any of them other than those who seek to please Him in these ways. This is what the Messenger (p.) and the Imams have told us.
Among the sayings that emphasize the importance of obedience is what the Prophet is reported to have said in his farewell speech. It was as if it was the Prophet’s last wish. In this speech, Muhammad (p.) reportedly said:
"O people! By Allah, there is nothing that draws you nearer to Heaven and further away from Hell that I have not told you to do. And there is nothing that draws you nearer to Hell and further from Heaven that I have not warned against doing. The faithful spirit…" (This is probably a reference to Gabriel) "...has told me that no one will die until they receive what is due to them. Therefore, be pious and try to obtain what you need in the best way." So do not try to obtain things in unlawful ways and do not be obsessed with material gain. "...there is nothing that can be obtained from Allah other than through obeying Him."
In another saying, Imam Al-Baqir (a.s.) is reported to have said, in the context of what Shiism means, that it is not enough to love Ahl al-Bayt to be a Shiite. You must also have commitment, be pious, and be obedient. There are some people who say that loving Ali (a.s.) is a deed that saves you from everything. But the Quran refutes this idea when it says:
"That is not [just] by your wish or the wish of the People of the Scripture. Whoever does wrong will be recompensed for it, and he will not find besides Allah any protector or helper." (Surat an-Nisa’ 4:123)
This is what the Quran says, and whoever says differently we should ignore.
The Followers of Ahl al-Bayt Are Those Who Are Pious and Obedient
Imam Al-Baqir (a.s.) is reported to have said:
"Is it enough for whoever claims to be a Shiite to say he loves us? By Allah…" (And whenever Imam Al-Baqir swears, it has to be very important) "...the Shiites are those who fear and obey Allah. They are known for being humble, trustworthy, remembering Allah often, being kind to their parents and neighbours, especially the poor, the needy and the orphans. They are truthful, often recite the Quran, and only speak about the good qualities of others. Do not delude yourselves. It is not enough for a man to say 'I love Ali and follow him' if he does not reflect this in his actions. He could say that he loves the Messenger (p.), for the Messenger is better than Ali…"
(Let those who try to say that Imam Ali is better than the Prophet Muhammad hear this!) "...If a man says 'I love the Messenger' but does not follow his teachings, his love will do him no good. Therefore, be pious and know that one has a special relationship with Allah. Allah loves those of you who are pious and obedient most. We have no power to save you from the Fire! And Allah is not obliged under any circumstances to save you either. Whoever obeys Allah is one of our followers, and whoever disobeys Him is one of our enemies. Being one of our followers cannot be attained other than through hard work and piety."
Patience is the Way to Heaven
Of course, this hard work and piety needs a lot of patience, which is made clear in several Quranic verses. In one of the reported traditions, Imam Al-Baqir tries to explain to us who the followers of Ahl al-Bayt are, and he emphasizes that they are not fanatics, and I am repeating this to counter those who exaggerate the position of Ahl al-Bayt:
"O followers of Ahl al-Bayt! Be moderate so that both those who exaggerate and the ones who understate will follow you."
When asked who those who exaggerate are, he answered: "They are those who attribute things to us which we do not have…" (In other words, give them a higher position than Allah gave them.) "Those people do not belong to us, and we do not belong to them. By Allah, we have no guarantee of salvation… we have no special relation with Allah that obliges Him to save us. Our only way to draw nearer to Allah is through obedience. Therefore, only those of you who obey Allah will benefit from being our followers. O people! Do not be deceived. Do not be deceived."
Allah wants us to be closer to Him, and this is why we pray, fast, or go on pilgrimage. When we live in this world, we realize that it is not eternal and thus we must always think of the afterlife. It is like what the people of Qarun told him:
"But seek, through that which Allah has given you, the home of the Hereafter; and [yet], do not forget your share of the world. And do good as Allah has done good to you. And desire not corruption in the land. Indeed, Allah does not like corrupters." (Surat al-Qasas 28:77)
The Second Sermon
In the Name of Allah, the Compassionate, the Merciful
Appeasing the Zionist Lobby
The Palestinian cause is still lost in a maze of details that are being complicated by the Israeli entity in an effort to brush the political issues under the carpet and replace them with issues of "security". The issue, therefore, is how to protect the Jews, while the root causes of the problem—that of occupation, the right of Palestinians to self-determination, and the establishment of an independent Palestinian state—are totally forgotten.
The American administration has supported this view, for although it talks about an independent Palestinian state, it invariably links it with the disarming and dismantling of the organizations that are fighting against the Israelis, and it exerts pressure on the Palestinian Authority to carry out the suppression of the latter. On the other hand, America does not pressure the Israelis either to facilitate the execution of the Road Map plan or to stop building the wall to separate them from the Palestinians. They are content to make some remarks in order to pay lip service to the Arabs. The whole thing seems to be an American-Israeli plan that enables the Israelis to continue their policy of settlement with nothing more than a few public condemnations from time to time. America has adopted the Arabic habit of saying one thing and doing another!
Seek to Remove the Zionist Occupation
Everybody knows that the Israelis, especially the present government, are trying to thwart any political solutions that give Palestinians their legal rights because they view this as a threat to their own entity that rejects any independent Arab or Islamic free existence. That’s why they are playing the game of releasing some prisoners and detaining multiples of the number released, while invading their cities and villages and making roadblocks that prevent the Palestinians from carrying on with their daily life. They might remove some of these barriers only to erect other ones, but in doing this, they will succeed in deceiving the American public opinion and win the support of the American President.
Sharon aims at driving the Palestinian militants to break the truce so as to put the ball in the Palestinian court and say that they are not committed to the truce or the Road Map, before he then imposes a truce on them under his own terms.
We believe that the Palestinians should stick to the central issue, which is the removal of the occupation and achieving national independence. Any details should conform to this strategy so as not to lose track of our aim in the game of tactics. If some are talking about realpolitik, meaning that we should accept the American-Israeli conditions, we believe that being realistic is finding the means and the tactics that serve our own strategy.
This stage is thought to be the final one, meaning that the Israeli solution will be imposed on the Palestinian people. In this respect, putting one’s stakes on America is but a mirage which will lead nowhere. For America is implementing the following policies:
Syria and Iran Should Stand Firm Against American Threats
The first of these policies is the heavy stick it is using to threaten several Arab and Muslim countries. It threatens Syria so that the latter will pressure the militants in Syria and Palestine, as if it is Syria’s duty to stand against what America calls terrorism and what is actually the Zionist occupation of Palestine. In this respect, we appreciate Syria’s firm stand against these threats. America also threatens Iran in order to push it to recognize Israel or to impose the conditions of the International Atomic Energy Agency, which are in fact American conditions. They have not even acknowledged Iran’s right to use atomic energy for peaceful purposes. We would like the Iranians to understand that, in the face of these huge threats that are almost military in nature, they ought to stick to their unity, which represents the integrity of Islam and freedom.
Iraq: Different but Concerted Roles in Resisting the Occupation
The American occupation of Iraq is still pressurizing the Iraqis in both public and private domains. Despite efforts to give the impression that they wish to let Iraqis run their own affairs, every single political, economic, and security decision must be passed by the Americans. We have absolute confidence in the Iraqi people, and we want them to understand thoroughly what the occupation is really about. The past is dead with all its crimes and all its atrocities. Now we must concentrate on the present for the sake of the future, so that we will be able to distribute the role of fighting the occupation among us.
The Third point is the bombing in southern Beirut, which has many implications and possible consequences for the resistance and Lebanon in general. Every citizen must be constantly on alert in order to try and prevent the perpetrators of such deeds from succeeding.
The Explosion in Indonesia Distorts the Image of Islam
In our religious capacity, we strongly condemn the bombing that occurred in Indonesia, in which many innocent people died. It distorts the image of Islam and complicates the conditions of Muslims. We believe, even as a Fatwa, that such actions do not have any Islamic legitimacy in fighting the American policies, which should use uniquely Islamic legitimate means. We should study the interests and security situation of the Muslim community and all the possible repercussions of any action. Jihad is not a violent emotional reaction that is not part of an objective and carefully studied plan.
Lebanon is Sinking Fast in the Bog of Corruption
As we face several political and economic scandals in Lebanon that leave their devastating effects on the living conditions of ordinary people, and as the debate over the responsibilities of the various parties heightens, we would like to ask the following question: Most of these problems, like the electricity, social security, garbage collection… etc., are not new problems, but many ministers and officials have been faced with these problems for many years, so why are these people not held responsible for these problems? It seems that, far from solving them, many have actually benefited from them. Lebanon, the country of enlightenment, is becoming the country of darkness... The country of creativity is becoming the country of backwardness. Where are you taking this country? And don’t say that you have the confidence of the people, because the confidence of the parliament does not necessarily imply the support of the people, especially as the current electoral laws serve sectarian interests rather than reflect, as they should do, the wishes of the people.