Ali (a.s.): The Champion of Islamic Unity and Teacher for All Generations - 12/09/2003

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 Rajab 15, 1424 AH / September 12, 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

Ali (a.s.):

The Champion of Islamic Unity and Teacher for All Generations

The Friend of Allah and the Believers

"And of the people is he who sells himself, seeking the pleasure of Allah. And Allah is kind to [His] servants." Surat al-Baqarah (2:207).

This is Ali (a.s.), when he slept in the Prophet’s bed on the night of the migration to Medina. "Your ally is none but Allah and [therefore] His Messenger and those who have believed - those who establish prayer and give zakah, and they bow [in worship]." Surat al-Ma'idah (5:55). It is he also whom Allah talks about as the friend of Allah.

"O Messenger, announce that which has been revealed to you from your Lord, and if you do not, then you have not conveyed His message. And Allah will protect you from the people. Indeed, Allah does not guide the disbelieving people." Surat al-Ma'idah (5:67).

The religion was completed when Allah’s Messenger, Muhammad, appointed Ali (a.s.) as the Muslims’ Imam, declaring that "whoever considers me as his master, then Ali (a.s.) too is his master."

He also said to Ali (a.s.): "To me, you are like Harun was to Musa, except that there is no prophet after me," and he also asserted that "the truth is always with Ali (a.s.)," and that "I am the city of knowledge, and Ali (a.s.) is its gate."

Ali (a.s.) the Example

This is Ali (a.s.); the example and the role model in his thought and spirit, in his knowledge of Allah, in his fight for the cause of Allah, the Most Exalted, in his infallibility in thought and actions, and in everything that brings man nearer to Allah… This is Ali (a.s.), whom we do not feel is absent, for he lives with us more than many of those around us... For his thought still guides our life, and his actions and stances light our path and help us solve our problems.

On his birthday, we would like to rise with Ali (a.s.) to his level. For this is what he wants from all of us. "Help me with piety, righteousness, sound judgment, and chastity."

He wanted the nation to rise through the love of Ali (a.s.). He did not want a naïve love or a traditional loyalty.

Ali (a.s.) was for Islam in its entirety, and we want to be for Islam in its entirety. He was for all human beings, and we want to follow his lead and be with all people. We do not want to sing and recite praising poetry. For Ali (a.s.) is greater than that. We want to be like Ali (a.s.) even if at a rate of ten percent only. We want some of his thought to light our minds, some of his heart in our hearts, and some of his goals in our goals. If we cannot reach the summit where he stays, we ought to try to climb to the highest place of the mountain we can reach, to have some of him in our souls.

The Messenger is His Teacher

Ali (a.s.) lived with the Messenger, who became as a father and a mother to him in his early childhood.

Ali (a.s.) described this period as follows: "You do know my position of close kinship and special relation with the Prophet of Allah. When I was only a child he took me under his care. He used to press me to his chest and lay me beside him in his bed, and I smelled the fragrance of his body. He used to chew a thing and then feed me with it. He found no lie in my speaking, nor weakness in any act."

This boy did not have a separate bed. He got all the love and affection he needed from the Messenger, who used even to feed him by chewing the food to make it soft. He also says that the Prophet did not find him to lie or to commit any wrong, which means that he was also infallible in his childhood.

Ali (a.s.) then tells about how Allah, the Most Exalted, used to teach Muhammad before He sent him as a messenger, and how the Messenger used to teach him, not only by giving him the ideas but also by asking him to apply them. "From the time of his weaning, Allah had put a great angel with him to take him along the path of high character and good behavior throughout day and night, while I used to follow him like a young camel following the footsteps of its mother. Every day he would show me in the form of a banner some of his high traits and commanded me to follow it."

Then he goes back to describing how close he was to the Messenger, who described him as being one of two pine trees that have the same roots (the other tree is that of Muhammad).

"Every year he used to go in seclusion to the Mount of Hira, where I saw him but no one else saw him. In those days, Islam did not exist in any house except that of the Prophet of Allah and Khadija, while I was the third after these two. I used to see and watch the effulgence of divine revelation and message, and smelled the scent of Prophethood.

When the revelation descended on the Prophet of Allah I heard the moan of Satan. I said, 'O Prophet of Allah, what is this moan?' and he replied, 'This is Satan who has lost all hope of being worshipped. O Ali (a.s.), you see all that I see and you hear all that I hear, except that you are not a prophet, but you are a vicegerent and you are surely on the path of virtue.'"

The First Fighter for the Cause of Islam

Ali’s (a.s.) life was dedicated to Islam. He was the first fighter in the wars of the Messenger, which in effect are the wars of Islam. In the battle of Khaybar, the Messenger said, describing Ali (a.s.): "Tomorrow I will give the banner to a man who loves Allah and His Messenger and who is loved by Allah and His Messenger. A man that attacks and never backs away." In the Battle of Al-Ahzab, the Messenger said: "Ali's (a.s.) strike is equal to the worship of the Thaqalayn (both humans and jinn)."

Ali (a.s.) was also the teacher who conveyed to the people, in addition to his struggle, the sciences of the Quran and the Messenger. He lived with the Messenger in his house as a child, and then the Messenger lived in Ali’s (a.s.) house after he married his daughter, Fatima al-Zahra.

Ali’s (a.s.) Alienation

Nevertheless, Ali (a.s.) lived in alienation, for despite all his knowledge, he used to complain that he could not find faithful people to carry his thought:

(And then pointing to his chest), he said: "Here is well-grounded, plentiful knowledge; I wish it had true recipients and adherents, (I would have imparted it).

But unfortunately, some unscrupulous men of understanding have tried to misuse it, using religion as a weapon to earn worldly gain, and seeking undue power by divine authority over Allah’s creatures, abusing His bounties which He bestowed upon them. So, the feeble-minded people accepted them as reliable, or took them as compliant with (divine) wisdom, discarding the true guardians of truth. (The truth is that) such people (who they have adopted as their guides) have no insight into its ramifications; with the result that with the slightest confusion, doubt enters their minds. Neither of them could be the true carrier of knowledge.

And then there are those with insatiable lust, easily misled by the pleasure of flesh, or enticed by accumulating wealth, not at all among those who care for religion. They very much resemble the grazing cattle. Thus, knowledge dies with the death of such carriers."

He used to feel all this estrangement and loneliness. For someone like Ali (a.s.) could have enlightened all those who lived with him, but they were not mature enough to learn from Ali (a.s.), much like a lot of people in our age and in every age.

Ali (a.s.), the Champion of Islamic Unity

Ali (a.s.) was the champion of Islamic unity. His sole concern was Islam, and he was ready not to demand his own right if it helped to keep the Muslims unified and powerful. His eternal words still remind us of how not to think of one’s rights, but of the interest of the cause: "I will sit still as long as the affairs of Muslims are secure." He also said that when the people pledged loyalty to Abu Bakr, he sat back until he felt that there was a danger threatening Islam, because for him being a caliph is a trivial matter when Islam itself is threatened.

This is Ali’s (a.s.) message to all who consider themselves to be his supporters, but who would not mind stirring strife.

Based on Ali’s (a.s.) stances, which in turn are inspired by the teachings of the Quran and the Messenger, we have said that Islamic unity is the source of strength to both Muslims and Islam. But this unity does not mean that you do not stick to your beliefs and convictions. It means, as the Quran says, that you ought to refer your differences to Allah, the Most Exalted, and His Messenger.

Ali (a.s.) was always on the alert to confront anything that threatens Islam and Muslims. Embracing the line of Ali (a.s.) means that we should be concerned with all challenges that face the Muslims, in light of the prophetic tradition that says: "Who is not concerned with the affairs of Muslims is not a Muslim."

O Commander of the Faithful, we need you and love you. We cannot but try to climb up to you, for you are on a summit that is second to none but the Prophet... Give us a little of your spirit so that we can be open to Allah, Islam, and the Muslims.

As-salamu alayka (peace be upon you) O Commander of the Faithful. Intercede for us before Allah. May Allah grant us the will to follow your line; the line of the Messenger and Islam.

The Second Sermon

In the Name of Allah, the Compassionate, the Merciful

America and the Racism of Blood

This is a world that has no conscience: The major powers, with the US in the forefront, have given Israel a free hand to assassinate the Palestinian Mujahideen with American warplanes, even if it leads to the killing of children, women, and the elderly, as in the assassination attempt on Sheikh Ahmad Yassin, and the raids to arrest some Palestinians in the refugee camps… This is because Palestinian blood is, in the view of the arrogant powers, "terrorist" blood, while Israeli blood is civilized blood, being of the same type as theirs.

The arrogant powers, which condemned the martyr operations in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, did not condemn—not even in principle—all the Israeli Army military operations that have reached the extent of gradually cleansing them or forcing them to flee from oppression, starvation, and homelessness.

America, which helps Israel in carrying out this strategic plan of confiscating the Palestinian lands and killing their leaders and militants, has made the Quartet Committee demand, in effect, the surrender of the Palestinians to the Jews who would impose their conditions on them, all in the name of the Road Map that the Quartet Committee did not exert any pressure on Israel to implement.

Their continuous pressure on the Palestinians alone proves that they do not want to admit that all the Palestinian people support the Intifada and that the militant Mujahideen are not a few isolated cases, but rather a comprehensive popular movement that includes the Palestinian Authority, who, although they might apply different tactics, know that they will be isolated if they enter into a struggle with the militant factions. This is what made the Zionist government decide in principle to "remove" the "obstacle" of Arafat, perhaps with the blessing of the Americans, and even the Arabs and other international powers.

Based on our very close monitoring, we believe that the Palestinian people will not abandon the resistance, and that they will retaliate against any aggression, which will make the Arab-Israeli struggle enter a dark tunnel whose developments cannot be foreseen...

If America claims to be commemorating the events of 9/11, which initiated the war against what it calls terrorism, it is actually encouraging state terrorism against the Palestinians, in addition to practicing its own terror or creating favorable conditions for terror to develop in other parts of the world. In conclusion, we say that the war against terrorism will not stop unless the arrogant stop their own political, military, and economic terror against the downtrodden nations, especially those of the Islamic nation…

Israel’s State Terrorism

We notice that Israel is playing with the Palestinian people the same role that was played by those who carried out the attacks of September 11, and that the green light America gives for Israeli terrorism will encourage all parties to practice terrorism against both the US and Israel. For terrorism is relative, just as self-defense is also relative.

American Sponsorship of Israeli-Indian Relations

On another level, although the new relationship between India and Israel has emerged due to the Indian need for American blessings—something that cannot be attained except by developing good relations with Israel—we are afraid that these new relations constitute an advanced step in besieging the Islamic world, and especially Pakistan, which the West views its nuclear weapon as an "Islamic bomb," as if possessing such a bomb by Muslims is a threat to the world. Nevertheless, they do not call the Indian bomb a "Hindu bomb."

We also notice that America, which calls for peoples' right of self-determination, has termed the Kashmiri people, who demand this very right, as a terrorist organization, just as it deals with the Palestinian people. What kind of democracy is this, and what kind of human rights are those that America champions?

In Iraq: The Occupation is in Trouble

In Iraq, the situation is still unstable despite the establishment of an Iraqi government that earned the interim recognition of the Arab League. On the security level, the occupation is still facing a security impasse, with more American soldiers being killed daily. This security impasse might turn into a political one, as trying to seek the help of the UN will not represent a way out—since America does not wish to give the international community any power that might undermine its leadership of the world.

In such a political, economic, and security tempest, we are afraid that the occupation of Iraq might last longer. It is about time that the Iraqis, who suffered for a long time from tyranny that was in any case backed by American arrogance, ought to enjoy peace and tranquility. The Iraqis now are voicing their demand: Hands off! For Iraq rejects all forms of occupation.

Who Protects Corruption in Lebanon?

In Lebanon, we still hear about reform, even from those who led corruption, and about justice from those who used their sources of military, economic, and political strength to wrong the people.

If those are the callers for reform, who then are the leaders and sponsors of corruption?

The problem is that there is no talk about the mechanism, and there is no identifying of those responsible. We only hear about reform in general. Meanwhile, the political situation in Lebanon suffers from a malignant cancer. We are afraid that this illness will be transmitted to the new generation, because those who are letting them into the regime are the guardians of corruption.