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 Rabi' al-Awwal 13, 1426 AH/ April 22, 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
The Prophet’s Birth Anniversary: “Verily, This Ummah is One Single Nation”
Allah says in His Glorious Book: "Certainly did Allah confer [His] favor upon the believers when He sent among them a Messenger from themselves, reciting to them His verses and purifying them and teaching them the Book and wisdom, although they had been before in manifest error." Surat Al 'Imran (03:164)
"O Prophet, indeed We have sent you as a witness and a bringer of good tidings and a warner. And one who invites to Allah, by His permission, and a lamp spreading light." Surat Al-Ahzab (33:45-46)
"Say, [O Muhammad], 'O mankind, indeed I am the Messenger of Allah to you all…'" Surat Al-A'raf (07:158)
We meet these days with the anniversary of the birth of Prophet Muhammad, who was sent to all mankind to bring them from darkness into light: "It is He who sends down upon His Servant [Muhammad] verses of clear evidence that He may bring you out from darknesses into the light. And indeed, Allah is to you Kind and Merciful." Surat Al-Hadid (57:09)
This Prophet lived his childhood as an orphan. He was very poor, and he had to be supported by his uncle. Yet Allah's Mercy saw to it that he was assigned one of the greatest angels to teach him; then, when his spiritual, mental and ethical development was completed, Allah sent him as a messenger who possessed the most perfect intellect and manner. The Prophet was famous in his community for truthfulness and trustworthiness. When people saw him coming, they used to say: "Here comes the truthful and the trustworthy." And this is but natural for someone who is supposed to be responsible for the entire nation.
Thus, the Messenger began to convey the Message and confront atheism. He lived among the downtrodden, giving them his love, mercy and compassion: "And keep yourself patient [by being] with those who call upon their Lord in the morning and the evening, seeking His countenance. And let not your eyes pass beyond them, desiring adornments of the worldly life, and do not obey one whose heart We have made heedless of Our remembrance and who follows his desire and whose affair is ever [in] neglect." Surat Al-Kahf (18:28)
In Mecca, the Messenger used to move from one group to another of those who visited Mecca either for trade or to perform pilgrimage or other reasons. Then, he left for Medina and fought the unbelievers until Allah made him victorious, and the following Surah was revealed, in which Allah wanted His Prophet to enlighten the minds of people and fill their hearts with love and mercy: "When the victory of Allah has come and the conquest, and you see the people entering into the religion of Allah in multitudes, then exalt [Him] with praise of your Lord and ask forgiveness of Him. Indeed, He is ever Accepting of repentance." Surat An-Nasr (110:1-3) He wanted to build a new nation whose religion is Islam, whose guide is the Quran, and whose role model is Muhammad: "There has certainly been for you in the Messenger of Allah an excellent pattern for anyone whose hope is in Allah and the Last Day and [who] remembers Allah often." Surat Al-Ahzab (33:21)
The Religion of Mercy
The Messenger was able to enhance the nation and enable it to unite and win the battle against all unbelief. The Quran describes this situation as such: "Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah; and those with him are forceful against the disbelievers, merciful among themselves. You see them bowing and prostrating [in prayer], seeking bounty from Allah and [His] pleasure. Their mark is on their faces from the trace of prostration. That is their description in the Torah. And their description in the Gospel is as a plant which produces its offshoots and strengthens them so they grow firm and stand upon their stalks, delighting the sowers - so that He may enrage by them the disbelievers. Allah has promised those who believe and do righteous deeds among them forgiveness and a great reward." Surat Al-Fath (48:29) The believers are strong and united against the enemy while merciful among each other.
Moreover, Allah wanted the nation to cling to the right and maintain their patience… For keeping their pledge to the right requires a lot of sacrifices in the face of the various challenges.
Going back to the relations among Muslims, we have seen that they are based on Mercy. The Messenger compares the believers to the human body; if an organ gets sick, the others will wait on and support it. He and His Messenger told us that we have to unify the nation: "And hold firmly to the rope of Allah all together and do not become divided. And remember the favor of Allah upon you - when you were enemies and He brought your hearts together and you became, by His favor, brothers. And you were on the edge of a pit of the Fire, and He saved you from it. Thus does Allah make clear to you His verses that you may be guided." Surat Al 'Imran (03:103)
Islam wants us to uphold the unity of the Islamic nations, especially in times of critical challenges. We might differ as Shiites and Sunnis, or inside the same sect, but we should not curse one another. Instead, we should refer any difference to Allah and His Messenger.
Unity in the Light of the Quran
Thus, we should always hold fast to Allah's rope, the Quran, and listen to its teachings that already state that we are "one nation" having one God. We should not allow the enemy to incite strife among us. We should meet on what we agree on, which covers a great part of theology and religious concepts and refer what we disagree on to Allah and His Messenger. And we should avoid cursing: "And do not insult those they invoke other than Allah, lest they insult Allah in enmity without knowledge. Thus, We have made pleasing to every community their deeds. Then to their Lord is their return, and He will inform them about what they used to do." Surat Al-An'am (06:108)
This is also what we learn from Imam Ali, the champion of Islamic unity, when he tells his followers that they should not abuse the people of Damascus, but they should describe their action and “ask Allah to save our lives and theirs, and to guide them to the right.”
We have reached the time that the Messenger has described when he talked about the time all nations will fight over you. In these times, we have to cling to our unity and not listen to those who curse other Muslims, creating strife, and enable the enemy to extend its hegemony in the region, for Allah wants us to be of a firm and compact will.
Be callers for Islamic unity and try to resort to dialogue to solve your differences if you wish to be a force reckoned with. Muslims in the world are over one billion in number, and they possess vast resources that will enable them to be a superpower in this world, but they have to enhance their unity and learn how to not let their unity be affected by their differences.
On the anniversary of the birth of the Prophet, we call upon all Muslims to strive to unify the nation and to carry on the Message of Islam to the coming generations as well as to the other nations of the world, for this is what Allah has entrusted us with.
Allah said: "You are the best nation produced [as an example] for mankind. You enjoin what is right and forbid what is wrong and believe in Allah. If only the People of the Scripture had believed, it would have been better for them. Among them are believers, but most of them are defiantly disobedient." Surat Al 'Imran (03:110)
You are the best nation, not because of your descent, but because you have a role to perform. This is the real meaning of celebrating the Message: to follow the step of Muhammad in calling and struggling for the Message, to convey it to the entire world in an open and rational way. "Work, for Allah, His Messenger, and the believers will see your work."
The Second Sermon
In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful
O Servants of Allah... Fear Allah and confront the difficult stage that is among the most dangerous stages our nation is passing through. Confront it with unity, patience, and mutual compassion, and with communication among yourselves, as Ali (a.s.) said: "And upon you is to maintain ties and mutual giving and beware of severing relations and turning your backs on one another."
We, in our position and in this stage of ours, must work to safeguard the nation from all those who wish to bring it down and weaken it, so that the word of Allah remains supreme, and the word of Satan remains abased. For if we become divided and dispute, that will lead to failure.
Bush's imperial discourse
American President continues his imperial discourse claiming on the one hand that he is not interfering whether directly or through his agents in Lebanon. As he is telling the Lebanese what they should do, he considers this as spreading democracy. But did he confer with the Lebanese on how to run the political affairs in Lebanon, or when he decided to replace one hegemony by another.
As to Syria, we question his motives when he pressurizes Syria to follow is instructions in Iraq to secure his interests at the expense of the Syrian national interests.
As to Palestine, Bush is pressurizing Syria even to close the offices of the factions of the Palestinian of the factions of the Palestinian Intifada, since America’s only concern is Israeli security even if it means strengthening its hegemony over the occupied lands and building new settlements. Thus, we ask who gave him this authority.
The American president claims to be representing international legitimacy. But America does not respect this legitimacy as evident from its occupation of Iraq and the pressures on the Security Council to freeze the implementation of all the resolutions it took against Israel Moreover, America pressurizes various countries in the world to accept its polices and that of Israel. In this context, it is worth mentioning that its new UN envoy believes that the UN should cease to exist, since it sometimes does not conform with the American world strategies.
The Road Map
On the Palestinian level, we ask: What legitimacy does America have to force the Palestinians to accept the de facto Israeli actions on the ground, whether in enlarging settlements or depriving them from their right to return, all in violation of the Road Map that has become a distraction or a game played by the UN, the EU and Russia; meanwhile Israel continues to execute its security and settling plans, until a time comes when America could say that it is unrealistic to talk about a Palestinian state.
Furthermore, the American President considers Hezbollah a terrorist organization, claiming that it killed some Americans in the past. But how many people of various nations did the Americans kill, whether Afghanis, Iraqis or Lebanese (The Beir Al-Abd Massacre). America believes that it soldiers could commit war crimes all over the world, but they could not be tried by the international court that deals with these crimes.
We warn the Palestinians, the Authority, the Intifada and the people against the American plans that seek to deceive the Palestinians, by their cosmetic changes which aim to secure the Israeli hegemony. We also warn the Lebanese against the plans the American envoys carrying with them to reshuffle political and security cards.
The Civil War in Iraq
Iraq is still struggling to form a government based on ethnic and sectarian calculations that does not care about the general interests of the Iraqis who took part in the elections so that the government that would emerge will provide security for him and economic stability as well as the sectarian massacres.
We are afraid that if these massacres continue, they might spread a reaction of civil war, since those who are committing these acts are indirectly linked to the American and Israeli intelligence services. That is why we call for the unity of all Iraqis-Arab, Kurds and Turkmen; and ask each one of them to play his role in protecting the security of the Iraqis. Let the wise among them whether religious man or politicians face the situation in a responsible manner that seeks to find solutions before it is too late. At the same time, we consider occupation to be responsible in everything that is going on in Iraq.
The Islamic Christian Responsibility
As a new pope was elected, we find, as Muslims, that we and the Christians have a joint responsibility in emphasizing the need of continuing the Islamic-Christian dialogue and extend it to all cultures and religions. Such a dialogue will promote the peace that is based on justice for it is based on combining standing with the downtrodden and the religious against arrogance and atheism.
We believe that religion is opening up and not isolation and it is a feeling of responsibility towards the affairs of all people for religion is love, mercy and peace for all mankind.
The Lebanese internal affairs
The white smoke came out of the Lebanese chimney, but it was the result of a foreign effort on the regional and international levels that helped in reaching this balanced settlement. Such a development should lead the Lebanese to become more rational and plan for a dialogue that lays the foundation for a national unity that is not instituted on the basis of a victorious party and defeated one.
Things are happening quickly around you, so try to find solutions for your internal problem before it would draw for you by others who have their interests only in mind.