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 Shawwal 10, 1426 AH/ November 11, 2005, 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
Whoever Accepts a Wrongdoing Shares the Guilt
Condoning Sins and Deviations
When we are faced with the sins and deviations that are committed by the responsible sectors of society—that is, those who hold social, political, or religious positions—would the general public hold the responsibility for their wrongdoing? These people, when they deviate and wrong the weak, steal the nation’s money, and corrupt society both politically and ethically—would the public be accountable?
The Messenger, in a hadith narrated by Imam as-Sadiq (a.s.), says: "When a sin is committed publicly without being confronted, it will hurt the public." When someone commits a sin of stealing or wronging, people should confront him and deter him. If they do not, and act indifferently, it will hurt them because it will be like a contagious disease. Therefore, people should attack the person who commits sins in public so that they will not be influenced by these sins, either psychologically or practically.
Imam Ali (a.s.) says that Allah, the Most Exalted, does not consider the public guilty of the sins of some of them as long as it is done in secret. But once it becomes public, both parties will become responsible if the public do not try to stop the guilt. Thus, Allah would punish those who committed the sin for committing it, and He would punish the public for not trying to prevent it.
The Nation's Responsibility
The core theme in these hadiths is that when the elite starts practicing oppression, corruption, and stealing the money of the people, nobody should be neutral or indifferent. The entire nation should organize itself, on both the political and social levels, so that it could stop those people and prevent them from going on with their wrongdoing and deviation. If it does not, the entire nation will also be punished. Thus, the nation's confrontation of the oppressor and traitors is a responsibility on its part.
On another level, how do people confront individuals who commit sins? People might face an oppressor who wrongs the weak or who creates corruption in the community. In this case, there are two kinds of people: There are those who could prevent the sinners by force, and in this case they have a duty to do so, or Allah will punish them if they do not. And there are those who cannot stop the sinners because they are too strong, and in this case they have to oppose them in their hearts so that the idea of rejecting evil and corruption will remain inside them, so that they will strive to acquire the force that will enable them to stop the evil in the future. This is what the following hadith means: "Whoever sees an evil must change it by his hands; if he cannot, then he should change it by his tongue; if he cannot, then by his heart—and this is the least he can do, as an act of faith."
An Odd Partnership
Imam Ali (a.s.) has said: "He who accepts what others do would be taking part in it with them." When you belong to a party or support a leader, and they kill or detain those who are innocent, and you accept such actions, you would be a partner to them in guilt and punishment. He also said: "What joins people together is satisfaction and anger." Satisfaction unites society, and in this case, if some members commit evil and others accept it, then the entire society will be held responsible. The people of Thamud's camel was killed by one man, but they were all punished because they all accepted this act.
Another example would be when a tribe picks one of its members to kill a young girl accused of committing adultery, even if it were only a rumor. In this case, the entire tribe would have committed the murder, although the one who actually killed is only one of them.
Imam as-Sadiq (a.s.) explains Allah's saying about what the Jews say regarding the prophets: "Say, 'Then why did you kill the prophets of Allah before, if you should be believers?'" Surat al-Baqarah (2:91). Thus, Allah has held the Jews responsible for killing the prophets, although He knew that they did not kill them, but they supported those who killed them. So, Allah considered them to be killers for supporting that action, although the actual killing happened 500 years ago.
If we are repeating these sayings, it is because we ought to learn how to become followers of the Prophet and the Imams (a.s.). We ought to adhere to their teachings and instructions, because when they talk to the people of their time, they are actually talking to all people in every time and place.
When Imam Ali (a.s.) was asked by one of his companions, who wanted his brother to attend Allah's victory in the Battle of the Camel, he asked the man: "Is your brother's heart with us?" The man said yes, and the Imam (a.s.) told him: "Then he is present. We have seen among our fighters who will shake time and strengthen faith." When man faces the issues of right and falsehood, he has to make his heart stand with the right: to be with the right and reject and confront falsehood, even if you are not present in the scene of events. Thus, you have to be a pious believer in what you think, just as you obey Allah in what you do.
The Second Sermon
In the Name of Allah, the Compassionate, the Merciful
The Security Council and the Palestinian Cause
As Israel states before the world that it will continue its war of assassinations, detentions, and invasions in the name of self-defense, it refuses to withdraw from the occupied Palestinian lands and insists on building the settlements and the racist wall to besiege the entire Palestinian people in moving prisons in every town and village.
The question we want to ask those who control the Security Council, namely the US and its allies, is: Why did they issue three resolutions concerning internal Lebanese affairs to put pressure on it and on Syria, to the extent that they resorted to threatening sanctions and even the use of force, but they did not issue not even one resolution that asks Israel to stop its gradual and daily eradication of the Palestinians? Although all the Palestinians are asking for is to liberate their country from occupation, establish their state, and live in peace on the basis of holding political negotiations with Israel and the implementation of UN resolutions, especially those of 194, 242, and 338.
America and its allies do not make any move in this direction. They only keep stalling and stalling, to lead the Palestinians to fall into despair and lose any hope of achieving their political and human rights of freedom and independence. Israel, to them, is above the law, and the US Administration prevents all states, including permanent Security Council members, from supporting any resolution that condemns Israel. Then, when the militant Palestinian Mujahideen start defending themselves by their martyr operations, the International Community will protest and accuse them of terrorism and the like.
America and the Security Council
Arabs and Muslims now have a complex regarding the international legitimacy that only resorts to pressure when it has to do with a vital Arab or Islamic cause, but it never pressurizes Israel, which has always represented a threat to the region and the world.
Thus, any study of the international resolutions suggests that the Council is but a card that America plays to serve its interests in the region—that calls for pressurizing Syria, supporting its occupation of Iraq, and supporting Israel.
And this leads us to ask: What kind of international legitimacy is this when measured by the political justice of the downtrodden nations?
On the other hand, the Arab leaders have opted to normalize relations with the enemy, being the policy that is rewarded by American praise. They cooperate with the US in fighting terrorism and claim to be working for peace in their public and secret relations with the Israeli enemy, believing that it gives them additional time on their thrones. This is what the Palestinians and the other Arab and Muslim people should well understand to know how to deal with the developing situations.
On another level, the aggressive language America adopts, along with Britain and France, when it comes to Arab and Muslim issues, is one of imposition that threatens with sanctions and the use of force. They also refuse to engage in any political or economic objective dialogue in a way that makes the Arabs and Muslims feel humiliated, because the arrogant powers have decided to engage in a political and economic war that could turn into a military one: You either yield to our demands, or the only option left to you is war.
Rejection and Confrontation
We know that the relations among states should be based on mutual respect and common interests, but the arrogant powers are acting on the basis that their strength enables them to establish their hegemony in all fields.
Thus, we want our Muslim and Arab peoples, as well as those of the Third World, to assert their stand of rejection and plan to confront this arrogant force that seeks to destroy the nation to ensure the maintenance of its monopolizing interests. We should not believe their talk about reform, democracy, political freedoms, and human rights, because they only use it as a tool to serve their interests, as we have seen in the big lie of America and Britain to justify their war on Iraq.
Condemning Terrorist Acts
On another level, we would like to note that as we condemn the negative acts of arson in some of Paris's suburbs, we would like to note that the French government has neglected the poor classes, which could lead to a popular revolution that could turn into a state of general anarchy that nobody wants.
At the same time, we condemn the terrorist acts in Jordan that killed and wounded hundreds of innocent civilians. We believe that such actions distort the image of Islam and Muslims and provide the nation's enemy with a chance to wage war against it. Islam does not legalize these actions in any way, whether against Muslims of other sects or different political stands, or against non-Muslims who are not at war with the Muslims.
The American Occupation Insists on Staying
As we follow up the situation in Iraq, we notice that the occupation relies on the official request to stay as long as America feels strategically necessary to stay in the region. Meanwhile, they are not giving the people in Iraq any chance to become stronger and be able to run their own affairs. We do not know how we can get out of this impasse in the next Arab Summit, with all the political complications that pose themselves as sectarian ones.
Which Lebanon Do You Want?
In Lebanon, everybody is busy with everything except the economic crisis. They talk about international legitimacy that some have been considering as a holy book, without noticing that the others who plan to dominate the region are using Lebanon as a tool to pressure others without any real concern for Lebanese interests.
We say to the Lebanese that despite all the problems in the relations between them and Syria, the unity of the two tracks is a given fact in politics, security, and economy. We should accordingly draw plans on the basis of common interests, the historic relations, and the independence of each party in the issues of freedom and sovereignty, so that we do not let others play with us to serve their own interests.
We wonder, along with all our people in Lebanon: What Lebanon do we want for the future? What freedom are you dreaming of? What have you prepared for the coming generations to restore Lebanon as a homeland and unite its people on the basis of citizenship and national unity?