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 Zoul-Qia'dah 11, 1427 AH / November 3, 2006, 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
Patience: The Key to Success in Both Worlds
Allah, the Most Exalted, says in His Glorious Book: "And We will surely test you with something of fear and hunger and a loss of wealth and lives and fruits, but give good tidings to the patient, Who, when disaster strikes them, say, 'Indeed we belong to Allah, and indeed to Him we will return.' Those are the ones upon whom are blessings from their Lord and mercy. And it is those who are the [rightly] guided." Surat al-Baqarah (02:155-157).
He also says: "And be patient, [O Muhammad], for the decision of your Lord, for indeed, you are in Our eyes. And exalt [Allah] with praise of your Lord when you arise." Surat at-Tur (52:48)
and: "Only those who are patient shall receive their rewards in full, without measure." Surat az-Zumar (39:10).
One of our Imams said: "Patience with respect to belief is the same as the head to the rest of the body. If the head falls the rest of the body follows, and if patience dies the belief does too." Patience is the foundation of belief.
Certain traditions have conveyed to us that when man is in his grave and his questioning begins, he would have the prayers on his right, the almsgiving on his left, and patience over his head. Patience will then tell the other two: "Deal with him if you cannot, I will deal with him." This is because patience is the foundation that belief rests on. If we study the issue in our life, we will find that man cannot maintain any discipline or commitment except by patience.
One might be tempted not to perform prayers or almsgiving or any responsibility in life, because it might cost some moral or physical deprivation that might be too difficult to bear. Moreover, if a man cannot fulfil a prohibited desire he will feel pain. The same thing might occur in performing the responsibilities that Allah has ordered, since these responsibilities require an effort, which runs counter to the inner demands for comfort.
Patience is the Key to Freedom
The issue is not limited to lusts and desires. It also extends to the stands that materialize the humanity of man, like the issue of freedom. Man might be challenged to lose his freedom and to become a slave to those who have power, whether arms, money, or other sources. Thus, to be free is to have the willpower to reject all that affects your freedom and makes you a slave to others, in politics, economy, or in social life.
Imam Jaa'far As-Sadiq associated between freedom and patience. He considered that in order to be free you should possess the patience that will prevent you from yielding to the effects of deprivation and other hardships. He says: "A free man is free in all his situations." There is no situation he would accept slavery, no matter how hard the circumstances are. If he is hit by calamity he would be patient, even if he were to be imprisoned.
To give an example, the Imam cites Prophet Yusuf (a.s.) whose will was not conquered, neither by the depth of the well nor by the darkness and torture of the prison. He was then sent as a prophet to guide his people and to bestow Allah’s Mercy on them. Thus, patience as a sign of freedom is a virtue that, as we are reminded by the Imam, would be ultimately rewarded. The Imam concludes, therefore, that you have to be patient and train yourself on patience and that if you do this you will be rewarded.
In the light of this, we conclude that the issue of patience is associated with freedom, especially when nations have to face political, economic, and military besieges. If they are patient, they will be able to achieve victory in the end, and thwart the arrogant plans.
We read in the sayings of Imam Ali (a.s.): "Patience is of two kinds: patience over what pains you, and patience against what you covet." Imam Al-Baqir says: "When my father Ali bin Al-Hussein was dying he told me: I will advise you with what my father advised me on his deathbed: Be patient on the rights even if it is bitter," for the results will be sweet.
Thus, when we want to obey Allah, realize our freedom, and affirm our humanity, we have to educate ourselves on the need to be patient in assuming our responsibilities, since patience is not a weakness but a strength. This is what Allah has said: "And be patient, [O Muhammad], for the decision of your Lord, for indeed, you are in Our eyes." Surat at-Tur (52:48). He also said that we should deal with the various challenges the infidels and the arrogant throw at us: "You will surely be tested in your possessions and in yourselves. And you will surely hear from those who were given the Scripture before you and from those who associate others with Allah much abuse. But if you are patient and fear Allah - indeed, that is of the matters [worthy] of determination." Surat Al 'Imran (03:186), meaning that we should face all their plots with patience and piety and remain steadfast without losing our freedom and becoming humiliated.
The Second Sermon
In the Name of Allah, the Compassionate, the Merciful
America and Israel Are Trying to Bring Down the Palestinian Government
Israel is carrying out a gradual attack on Gaza with airplanes, tanks, missiles, and assassinations. It is a barbaric aggression that does not exclude women, children, and the elderly, and that targets civilians, inflicting additional martyrs, destroyed houses, and bulldozed farms. In addition, settlements are expanding, and the racial wall that appropriates additional Palestinian lands continues to be built in a devious plot that suffocates the Palestinians. This American-Israeli plot that enjoys Arab support aims at felling the elected Palestinian government as a part of a long-term American strategy that aims at putting Palestine in the framework of a larger project that involves the entire region, especially that the Israeli justification for the offensive is the fear of the militant organizations, headed by Hamas, turning into another Hizbullah. They talk about Hamas being able to form commando units and other units that are equipped with anti-tank rockets and similar sophisticated arms, including night vision equipment that would be smuggled to Gaza.
Humiliating Arab Silence
It is astonishing that the Arab countries, with all the economic and political cards within their reach, do not oppose this new war against the Palestinians. The Arabs do not want any resistance against Israel to prove that it is capable of confronting, because such a stand contradicts their commitments to the American Administration that employed them to be guards against the emergence of any force in the Arab world that might create problems for the American arrogance.
We call on the Arab and Muslim people to voice their condemnation of the new Israeli aggression against the Palestinians and to take to the streets in the way they did during the last aggression against Lebanon. We want the Palestinians to form a national unity government as a basis for confronting this aggression. Israel is not with one Palestinian group against the others. It is against all Palestinians. Meanwhile, America continues to waste time by calling for fruitless meetings of the Quartet Committee, and giving the Palestinians, especially the PA, false promises, to allow Israel to continue to implement its plan of dominating over all of Palestine, especially after the Israeli government had included some of the extremists who wish to destroy all Palestinians, including those who live in the 1948 occupied lands.
The authorities in the Arab states should understand that if they continue in their humiliating silence and political indifference, the temple will fall on its head as well as on everybody else.
Iraq and Afghanistan: American Failure
The American Administration that failed internally and internationally remains stuck in its political and military impasse in Iraq, Afghanistan, and other countries. Despite using all its power it failed to achieve any victory, which will force it to return to Iran and Syria to try to find some balance in its policies in the region, hoping to obtain some stability in the regions it occupies.
The Iraqis have been living daily massacres against civilians, aided by a cover provided by the occupation forces that did not establish security for the people, nor were they able to defend them in the face of the hateful Takfiris who have distorted the image of the honourable resistance that is successfully fighting the occupation and that will force it sooner or later to withdraw. The nations have begun to hate America as a result of the policies of the incumbent administration and will ultimately defeat these arrogant policies as a result of the strong rejection of all that these policies represent and their undermining of the interests of the peoples of the region.
The Lebanese Crisis
Lebanon lies in an intricate impasse as the political elites are blindfolded and act under the influence of sectarian policies that claim to be national. Their plans are lost between the external pressures and the internal complications. The international powers receive some of the Lebanese politicians to guide them to what further destabilizes the country and prevents any realistic opportunity for a dialogue, since they want to keep Lebanon in this state of internal division over such complicated issues as the national unity government or the international court, turning the dialogue into one between the deaf.
The end of the Israeli aggression should have led Lebanon into a solution and not an impasse. The national priorities in this case should have been crystal clear: implementing Resolution 1701 by ending the Israeli overflight violations, returning the Sheba'a Farms and the prisoners, and ending the role of the open front for all struggles, as well as initiating the economic and political reforms that ensure the success of Paris 3.
Thus, there is a need to concentrate on reconstruction, revitalizing the economy, and engaging in the dialogue that aims at creating an understanding to find solutions to the unresolved issues: the defence strategy, the crisis of power, as well as implementing what has been agreed upon.
But what is happening on the ground, especially with respect to Lebanon's inclinations towards the regional and international struggles, is something else. What Lebanon needs is to find a way out from the externally engineered impasse that leaves the country in dark political caves, especially that the Lebanese are living another suffocating crisis of hunger and poverty.