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-Thania 13, 1427 AH / June 9, 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
The Islamic Method of Dialogue:
Wisdom and Beautiful Preaching
Allah says in His Glorious Book: "Invite to the way of your Lord with wisdom and good instruction, and argue with them in a way that is best. Indeed, your Lord is most knowing of who has strayed from His way, and He is most knowing of who is [rightly] guided." (Surat an-Nahl 16:125)
He also says: "And tell My servants to say that which is best. Indeed, Satan induces [dissension] among them. Indeed Satan is ever, to mankind, a clear enemy." (Surat al-Isra 17:53)
There are several other Ayahs in the Holy Quran that emphasize the need to choose what is best, whether in words, means of debate, ways of solving problems, or anything that has to do with relations with others.
Therefore, if you have an opinion, whether as a Muslim or an Islamic caller, and you want to attract others to your religion…
You have to study the idea you want to present and the method you are going to use, to ensure that your words will open the receiver’s mind and heart, so that he will be convinced by what you say.
That is why we find the first Ayah talks about wisdom, which is using the right words for the right person. If you want to talk to someone, you have to study how he thinks and his social and psychological circumstances, and then use the appropriate words that do not create problems. You also have to resort to beautiful preaching that opens up the hearts of those you are talking to; you have to argue in the best way, without any verbal violence. Tell him that we have different thoughts. So let us debate in an objective and calm manner, in our search for the truth lost between us. This is what Allah taught us in His Book when He wanted this Prophet to discuss with the unbelievers in matters of truth and falsehood. Although Muhammad is the Messenger of the right and truth, he used in his discussions with the unbelievers a method that respects their humanity. We read in the Quran: "[Say], 'Then are we or you more rightly guided? Or are they in manifest error?'" (Saba' 34:24). Was the Prophet in doubt when he said this? Of course not, but he wanted to give the other a feeling of assurance to attract him to engage in the journey of finding the truth. This is the meaning of wisdom and the way that is best: to respect the other, and not curse or damn him.
Allah has guided the Muslims on how to agree with the People of the Book (Christians and Jews): we should use good words that enter directly to their minds and hearts: "And do not argue with the People of the Scripture except in a way that is best, except for those who commit injustice among them, and say, 'We believe in that which has been revealed to us and revealed to you. And our God and your God is one; and we are Muslims [in submission] to Him.'" (Surat al-'Ankabut 29:46)
Use the methodology that suggests you have a common factor, like believing in Allah, although we might differ in detail: "Say, 'O People of the Scripture, come to a word that is equitable between us and you – that we will not worship except Allah and not associate anything with Him and not take one another as lords instead of Allah.' But if they turn away, then say, 'Bear witness that we are Muslims [submitting to Him].'" (Surat Ali 'Imran 3:64)
You should first establish the common factors before you deal with the points of difference.
This is the same way that should govern human relations: the husband or wife with one another, or with their children, relatives and neighbours, or with the society at large. You have to choose the best words, since Satan will hide between the words, and try to exploit any word to create differences.
The Good and the Bad
We notice that the Quran focuses on the way to solve our internal problems, saying that there are two ways: that of violence and that of leniency. He says you have to use the method that changes your enemy into your friend. "And not equal are the good deed and the bad. Repel [evil] by that [deed] which is better; and thereupon, the one whom between you and him is enmity [will become] as though he was a devoted friend." (Surat Fussilat 41:34). This needs a lot of awareness and self-control. You have to be patient and tolerant to achieve results at the end.
Allah does not want us, in our political and social life or in our sectarian diversity, to run our relations in a way that will further aggravate the problems.
Therefore, we have to educate ourselves and our children on the need to run our sectarian differences on the basis of respecting the other.
We have as Muslims a difference between the Shiites and Sunnis on who is the rightful caliph.
There are two ways to deal with this issue: The first is that every party must express his views and arguments, and we would either convince one another or come to an understanding. The second is cursing and slandering, and this is the method that will lead us to accuse each other of unbelief.
And this is what the Messenger warned against when he talked about not turning against one another after his death, with each party accusing the other of unbelief.
Imam Ali (a.s.), although on his way to fight Muawiyah who rebelled against the legitimate authority, said when he heard some of his followers cursing the People of Sham: "I dislike you starting to abuse them, but if you describe their deeds and recount their situations, that would be a better mode of speaking and a more convincing way of arguing. Instead of abusing them, you should say, 'O Allah! Save our blood and their blood, produce reconciliation between us and them, and lead them out of their misguidance so that he who is ignorant of the truth may know it, and he who inclines towards rebellion and revolt may turn away from it.'"
This is the method Imam Ali used, although right was clearly on his side.
But we have reached the level of letting sectarian fanaticism dominate our football matches, with each scored goal accompanied by cheers to either Imam Ali or Omar bin Al-Khattab.
It is regretful that several politicians in our countries encourage this method to mobilize the people around them, leading to a state of emergency in the country.
That is why we have to learn to respect one another and not to fear one another, for the devil that tries to incite strife among us is not Satan only. There is the American devil that tries to benefit from all our differences, especially in the latest demonstrations against the pictures that insulted the Prophet or the other demonstrations. We have to educate ourselves on the need to keep away from the negative methods that fear others and create problems.
The Quran asks us to repel evil with what is best. This is the method Allah and His Messenger want us to follow. Islam is a call for life; the good, peaceful, independent and cooperative life.
The Second Sermon
In the Name of Allah, the Compassionate, the Merciful
The Continuous Aggression Against the Palestinians
In Palestine, the Zionists continue their daily aggressions of assassinations, shelling, detention, economic siege and starvation. It is a process of an ongoing reproduction of the 1967 Zionist aggression in which the Zionists invaded all of Palestine, including Jerusalem, as part of a Western conspiracy led by America and supported by Europe, making use of all the elements of Arab weakness and Muslim defeatism.
The regimes that are under American influence were engaged in reconciling the enemy, pressuring the Intifada and planning to undermine the Palestinian issue in coordination with America, Europe, and the International Community under the title of the Road Map that Israel has forced and that the American president has accepted, although he continues to talk about a Palestinian state in a kind of paying lip-service.
The American President is committed to prevent the Palestinians from returning to their home and to preserve the larger settlements in Jerusalem and the West Bank, and change the problem from a political to a security one to stall any negotiations, unless the Palestinians stop their resistance unconditionally. Then Israel will implement its plan of turning the Palestinian state into scattered fragments that do not include Jerusalem, and that annex the parts on which the settlements are built.
Pressures on the Palestinian Resistance
Thus, the entire world, with the Arab world in its forefront, continues to pressure the Palestinian Resistance and the elected government by threatening them with a suffocating economic blockade in order to force them to unconditionally recognize Israel, while not demanding that Israel should recognize the rights of the Palestinian people.
Then the Palestinian Authority tried to topple the government under the influence of American and Arab meddling that threatens the Palestinians with strife and chaos.
We would like to ask: What is the Palestinian interest in subjecting the situation to escalation and tension in the name of a referendum that cannot be considered legitimate, especially that the plan aims at pushing the Palestinians into a political corner to force them to forego their legitimate rights without any price? What the Americans and the international community want is to keep Palestine a Jewish state, while the Arabs would have some political leftovers of a ghostly state that has no taste, color or smell.
International Resolutions and Arab Weakness
In these circumstances, it is particularly amazing that the Arabs are still talking about the Arabian initiative of the Beirut Summit, which has been rejected by both Israel and the US that refused to recognize the Arab rights, in spite of the Arab willingness to collectively recognize Israel as a result of their weakness.
Thus, they accepted not to possess any force that could face the Israeli current and future aggression. This is what the UN Resolution 1559, which started as an Israeli resolution, aims at. They do not want Lebanon to possess any force that can deter aggression in the future, especially after the Resistance has defeated Israel. This is what the majority is asking for when it demands the disarming of the Resistance, under the influence of the American and European tutelage that supports Israel unconditionally and does not pressure it to implement the relevant international resolution.
The Fifth of June
On the anniversary of the fifth of June and the following invasions of Lebanon in the seventies and the eighties and the aggressions that followed, we have to think about the future by preserving all the elements of force we possess, whether economic, political or military. The American plan wants Israel to be the strongest state in the region. That is why they do not talk about its nuclear power, while they pressure Iran to stop its peaceful nuclear project, for they are afraid that it will enable Iran to make a nuclear bomb, despite the fact that Iran has ensured the International Community that it is not planning to do this.
As for the new American offers, we do not know what catch lies behind them.
In this spirit of Iranian challenge to international arrogance, we have to remember the strong and decisive stands of Imam Khomeini, whose passing anniversary passed a few days ago. These stands initiated the revolution and built a state on the basis of confronting the unjust international arrogant tyrants that plunder the wealth of the nations, since such a spirit would eventually be victorious.
The Shiites and the Resistance
As Iraq continues to sink in its internal political, sectarian and racial conflicts as well as the atrocities of the Takfiris who target innocent women, children, workers and students...
As we emphasize the dangerousness of this Takfiri mentality that makes the killing of fellow Muslims lawful and that creates strife among them, we would like to stress that Shiite Muslims cannot be with the occupation and will not allow it to expand in the Muslim and Arab countries. They will stand fast along with their Muslim and Arab brothers against the American occupation in Iraq and the Israeli occupation in Palestine, and they will support every honorable resistance, as well as being against all those criminals who believe that it is lawful to kill Muslims.
We call on the Iraqis to be cautious towards the Takfiris as well as the occupiers who kill innocent civilians and then would find their soldiers innocent of these brutal crimes. We also call on them to hold fast to their national unity and plan for the occupation's withdrawal, for it is the curse of all the problems of Iraq and all the political, security and economic anarchy Iraq is suffering from.
Citizenry in Lebanon
In Lebanon, the political situation is moving from one sectarian conflict into another, with the politicians accusing each other of betrayal. We say to all our compatriots: It is the citizenry that treats the Lebanese as a human being that is the way to build the future.
It is the only way to study the country's political, social, economic and security problems away from sectarianism and partisanship.
The sectarian climate in Lebanon has aggravated its poverty and increased its debt. It changed corrupters and thieves into leaders who talk about reform and honesty. They have put on masks that create additional problems for the citizens while claiming that they are presenting solutions.
The new generation that has suffered from deprivation, dislocation, pain, assuming a sacred status for those who have none and running after those who have created its problems… this generation has to think about a future Lebanon with a mentality that opens upon the good, freedom, independence and beauty, but without any borrowed masks.