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 14, 1425 AH / July 02, 2004, 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
Az-Zahra' (a.s.): The Spiritual and Human Role Model
Allah, the Most Exalted, says in His Glorious Book: "Allah intends only to remove from you the impurity [of sin], O people of the [Prophet's] household, and to purify you with [extensive] purification." Surat al-Ahzab (33:33). One of the Members of this House is our mistress, the pure and purified Lady Fatima Az-Zahra’, the lady of the worlds and of the women of Heaven and the women of this nation whose passing is commemorated tomorrow.
This is because she passed away, according to Imam Jaa’far As-Sadiq (a.s), seventy-five days after the passing of her father (p.). It is also reported that she came to her father on his dying bed. He whispered something to her and she cried, then he whispered again and she laughed. Asked after the Messenger's death about why her mood had changed so quickly, she said: "In the first time, he told me that he has been called to meet his Creator, and in the second he said, that I was to be the first of his house to follow him and I laughed."
Such a story demonstrates the spiritual relations between Az-Zahra’ and the Messenger (p.). Just imagine that a young woman of 18 who loves and is loved by her husband and children, who are in an age that needs her care and love, laughs when her father tells her that she would die because of the prospect of meeting him. This shows us that her life with the Prophet (p.) was one of love and dedication.
Since her mother died, although a very young child, she used to embrace her father with her love and care. She used to go with him to the mosque and watch what the infidels did and support him with her tears. The Prophet (p.), thus, used to call her “her father’s mother” for she gave him the motherly love he missed since his mother died early in his childhood.
In Medina, her house was his house. It was the house he used to come and rest in. She used to be the last to bid him farewell when he traveled and the first to welcome him when he returned. He used to feel tranquility and security in the house of Ali and Fatima, for it was the house that embodied Islam in every aspect of faith and life.
Sacrifice
The Messenger used to find in Fatima's house what he did not find in the other houses of his wives and companions. He knew that his daughter used to live with Allah all night long. Her son, who used to watch her pray until her feet were swollen, asked her once, having noticed as young as he was that although she was so sick and tired she never asked Allah anything for herself, about the reason for such an attitude: She told him that "we are people who always think about others before we think about ourselves."
Our message is to open up the people's minds to truth and their lives to justice; we seek to think about their problems and pains and try to solve them. These are the morals of Ahl el-Beit that Allah talked about, and that is why the Messenger (p.) said that Fatima (a.s.) is a part of him adding that "he is pleased with what pleases her and angered by what angers her." This is also the model Allah, the Most Exalted, wants His servants to follow: To bring happiness to the hearts of others and not to be selfish and think about oneself.
Az-Zahra’: The Role Model
It was said that whenever Az-Zahra’ came to visit the Prophet, he would stand up, kiss her hand and seat her in his place. She used to do the same too. Such a spiritual relationship that demonstrates how two human beings could become one made her the role model that we ought to aspire to, especially in her spiritual pride that is void of any arrogance or selfishness.
She used to say in her arguments against those who denied her what was rightfully hers: "Know that I am Fatima and my father is Muhammad", which means that she represents the Message and that she was not talking as an individual.
Aisha, the mother of Muslims, described her as the one that resembles most, in her features, traits and talk, the Prophet. She also said that she has never seen anybody more truthful than her except her father. This truthful, loving and dedicated person used also to teach the women what she heard the Prophet say. For Muhammad used to take time to talk to her, even giving her written inscriptions like the one that said: "If you believe in Allah and the Hereafter do not hurt your neighbor ... If you believe in Allah and the Hereafter then try when you speak, to say something good or hold your tongue."
And she used to convey everything she heard, making her, as short as her life was, fill the world around her.
Courage
She used to carry all her responsibilities strongly and patiently… She suffered a lot after her father's death. She was denied her inheritance, and the people came to burn her house while she was in it. She suffered all that, but she only cared about denying her husband his rightful position, who was appointed by the Messenger as the Imam to lead the Muslims after his death… She used to defend her right to inherit telling those who argued with her: "How come you inherit your father and I do not, while Islam provides for the right of children to inherit their parents?"
She was also bold in demanding her rights telling some of the people who denied them: "I will ask Allah in every prayer to punish you." She was also the loving and faithful mother and the wife who never angered her husband or disobeyed him. For they were both joined together both in conveying the Message and in taking care of their children.
Her Grief
There are those who claim that after her father’s death she used to cry day and night. What kind of talk is this? She was far greater than to indulge in such behavior. She was told, by her father, not to practice any of those expressions of grief that were customary before Islam. She did so, and demonstrated a kind of sober grief, visiting her father’s grave, along with her children to tell them about his life and Message. The only thing she used to say was: "This is where the Messenger (p.) is."
It is reported that when her father died she told the women who began to cry loud "not to scream but to read supplications..." Those who claim that she acted in this way actually undermine her image and her infallibility... She never acted in any way that was not right even when she protested. The maximum that she did in this respect was to ask her husband to bury her at night, so that those who opposed her would not attend her funeral.
Az-Zahra’, the purified, the infallible and the one who embodied all spiritual and humane values, the strong person in defending the right, the devoted person in her prayers and the teacher who taught fellow women, used also to perform her duties as a daughter, a wife and a mother. May the peace and blessing of Allah be on her when she was born, when she died and when she will be brought back to life. We have to make her, men and women, a role model, for she is the best role model that was loved by the Messenger (p.), as well as his friend and student.
The Second Sermon
In the Name of Allah, the Compassionate, the Merciful
Bush and Freedom
Israel hunts Palestinian civilians, day and night, whether by killing their women, children and elderly, undermining their daily activities with such measures as curfew, closures, building the racial wall, continuous invasions, bulldozing farms and arbitrary arrests. Such measures paralyze the whole country, under the pretense of upholding security.
On his part, the American president, George Bush, claims in his arrogant manner that all these massacres and aggressions are in self-defense while what he calls "Palestinian terror" is the problem, suggesting that the presence of Palestinians in their own lands is a terrorist act.
He talks about freedom but he confiscates the freedom of nations in many regions… When he talks about the Palestinian problem, he only takes into consideration the votes of Jews and neoconservatives… He reminds the Palestinians of being the first president to recognize a Palestinian state alongside the Israeli one. But he did not take any step to pressure the Zionist government. He only pressures the Palestinians to offer additional concessions, and drives his partners in the Quartet committee to follow suit.
France: A Commendable Stand
In this atmosphere, we appreciate the French Foreign Minister's visit to Palestine and his reference to the difficult situation the Palestinians suffer from as a result of the Israeli daily practice, as well as the building of the racial wall… We would like France to make every effort to pressure the European Union to join Russia and the UN in facing the American stand that is totally biased.
We also appreciate what the French President said about the French not being "servants" to America. And we wish that the Arab and Muslim rulers who are associated with the US would express their view about their relations with any state in the sense that they do not mean being a slave to it, especially in issues that determine their fate… but the problem is that those who do not believe in the freedom of their nations cannot be free in their relations with the arrogant.
Congratulations to the Palestinian Militants
We would like to congratulate the Palestinian Mujahedeen on their qualitative and creative operation in Gaza that constitutes a development in their militant strategies, and puts the enemy along with the new Palestinian tactics in an impasse that it could not get out of unless it yields to the Palestinian will… We believe in this people that produce in every stage a new generation of Mujahedeen starting with the stone children to the rocket youth and to…
Iraq: An Imaginary Sovereignty
All that has changed in Iraq was the title: The occupation forces have become the multinational forces, but they are still there doing the same things, but this time under the name of a treaty that is imposed on the Iraqi government… Moreover, the US has made the Iraqi embassy its biggest in the world suggesting that it will be the actual ruler of Iraq in all domains.
We wish the Iraqi people political and economic stability, and independence in taking its vital decisions. We all wish that its government will try to acquire the trust of the Iraqi people as well as those of the region by aiming at asserting national sovereignty and resuming the Iraqi pioneer role in enriching the civilization of this region and in interacting with the rest of the world.
Iraqis who have suffered from tyranny in their recent history want a government that puts an end to such suffering, and takes them to a new future that builds civilization and that does not denounce its Islamic history. Let us say to the arrogant: "Hands off. For the Iraqis are perfectly capable of running their own affairs."
Lebanon: Nominal Accountability
In Lebanon, there are certain attempts to hold accountable some of the corrupt in a certain sector and/or to a certain level. This, in itself, is a positive indication. But we are afraid that some will intercede as usual to stop any further investigation at a certain level and even to call the whole thing off.
Moreover, we are following the fiery statements by the top officials which have descended to the level of cursing. Those who have heard or read such statements are wondering about how those could be responsible for the morals of the country or its future… How could the future generation trust the old one that continues to produce the ethical and moral tragedy of this country?