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 Ramadan 23, 1427 AH / September 15, 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
Awaiting al-Mahdi (a.s.) in the Struggle for Justice
Justice for All
Allah, the Most Exalted, says in His Glorious Book: "And We wanted to confer favor upon those who were oppressed in the land and make them leaders and make them inheritors. And establish them in the land and show Pharaoh and [his minister] Haman and their soldiers through them that which they had feared." Surat al-Qasas (28:5-6)
During the past week, we met with the anniversary of the birth of the Imam of the Time, Imam al-Mahdi (may Allah hasten his return). It is an occasion we have to live, since it is based on the rule the Prophet (p.) made as he was leaving this world when he said: "I am leaving among you what, if you adhere to, you will never be deviated: the Book of Allah and my progeny."
Therefore, the Imamate, which aims at protecting Islam from the deviations others might try to attribute to it, represents the present leadership that accompanies the people and guides them in everything that they might face, aiming at opening their minds to the Right, their hearts to the Good, and their life to justice. This is because the Imamate and the following of Ahl al-Bayt is not a matter of love, but it is also, and in the first place, an adherence and a commitment to the leadership of the Imams, who link the people with the Message of Islam.
The community in every age will remain a Muslim community, with the father living Islam in his house, and the people living Islam in their social life and in struggle fronts, so that they will live all the aspects of their life, including those related to the issues of struggle, in accordance with the Messenger, in all they do or abstain from doing.
This is how we understand the issue of Imamate. It is to abide by what the leadership, from Imam Ali to Imam al-Mahdi, left us, whether their interpretation of the Quran or the application of the Islamic law in our life, since when the Imams left us, they did not leave us in a vacuum; they left us their legacy and their objective interpretation and application of Allah's law (Shariah). And this is also the role of the religious scholars, whom the Messenger (p.) asked us to follow when he said: "Scholars are the inheritors of the Prophets."
The Messenger (p.) also said: "The religious scholars are the heirs of the religion as long as they do not seek this world." Asked what is meant by seeking this world, the Prophet said: "Following the Sultan," meaning following the unjust tyrant ruler. He added: "If you see a scholar caring about this world, then do not trust him with your religion, since he will present his deviation as part of the religion." Imam Mahdi told us that with respect to the new events that we encounter, we should go back to the "narrators of our Hadith," since they are his witnesses, while he is Allah's witness.
The Imam of Justice and Good
According to our faith, Imam al-Mahdi is the Imam of the downtrodden, the poor, the needy and the wronged. His role is to fill the earth with justice, having been filled with tyranny. Thus, his message is one of justice, since this is the base of all messages since Adam: "We have already sent Our messengers with clear evidences and sent down with them the Scripture and the balance that the people may maintain [their affairs] in justice." Surat al-Hadid (57:25)
Thus, being one of his supporters means that we should be just, whether with respect to Allah, ourselves or others, and that we should face all tyrants and arrogant men.
We have to study ourselves: Are we among his supporters and helpers? This could be defined by the criterion of justice: To be a follower of the Imam is to be a just person who does not wrong, nor does he support the arrogant and the tyrant.
Therefore, it is not necessary to go back, as many people do, to certain books to try to determine when the Imam will appear, since this is something that is part of Allah's knowledge, and He alone will decide on it when the right time comes.
The Imam is the Imam of Islam, justice and Good, and we have to follow him by being just and seeking to spread justice and face tyrants everywhere.
We have to wait for him not by sitting to drink coffee or tea, but by struggling for the cause of Allah. Thus, the Mujahideen are the ones who have earnestly waited for him, because they are "men true to what they promised Allah. Among them is he who has fulfilled his vow [by martyring himself], and among them is he who awaits [his chance]. And they did not alter [the terms of their commitment] by any alteration." Surat al-Ahzab (33:23)
O Allah, make him the caller for Your Book. Make him Your Caliph on this earth, as You made those before him. Consolidate for him Your religion, the one You chose for him. Change his concern into tranquility… O Allah, support him… and support others by him… Give him a remarkable victory… Oh, Allah! Let us become among his supporters.
Allah, we ask You for an honorable state that gives Islam and Muslims the upper hand and disgraces hypocrisy and its supporters… And make us of those who call for obeying You, and those who lead to Your path… O Allah: we ask You for an honorable state that supports Islam and its people and humiliates hypocrisy and its people. We ask You to make us among the callers for obeying You and of the leaders to Your course.
O Allah, O Allah! Show us the rightly guided face of (the Imam, a.s.), the praiseworthy moon (referring to the face of the Imam, a.s.), and enlighten our vision by looking at him. And hasten his reappearance, make his arrival smooth, hasten his path, make us tread on his way, implement his authority and strengthen his back.
The Second Sermon
In the Name of Allah, the Compassionate, the Merciful
The New Middle East
The region is still under the influence of several complicated political and security factors as a result of the international challenges led by the US in the name of "Fighting terrorism." America is exploiting the anniversary of 9/11 to pressurize the region in order to realize its project of the New Middle East, while its actual aim is to put its hands over the region's oil resources, even if it includes spreading the "constructive chaos" that American Neocons and the Zionist Christians feel is an important tool in carrying out their plans.
Targeting Islam
As a result of their political weakness, we feel that the Arabs will not attain any positive results through their dealings with America, whose only concern is the Israeli interest.
Israel, in the American view, should remain the strongest power in the region that all the others submit to. The American President has told the Israeli foreign minister that he will not exert any pressure on Israel concerning the Arab initiative.
Bush's speeches still aim at intimidating the American and Western public opinion by saying that Syria, Iran, Palestine and Lebanon threaten the entire world.
As a part of these vicious plans, we have noticed how the arrogant American Administration has frozen the process of finding a solution to the Palestinian problem by stopping the negotiations, under the pretense that the Intifada is a terrorist movement that has to be stopped before any talk about a Palestinian state. America also does not exert any pressure on Israel to stop its daily massacres, which leaves the Palestinians without a chance to catch their breath, since America feels that the solution lies in Palestinian unconditional surrender. Even when it comes to the Palestinian state, America wants it to be a marginal satellite state under Israeli economic and political influence.
We warn the Palestinians, the Authority, the cabinet, and the Resistance against the deceit represented by the expected results of meeting with the Zionist prime minister, since it will not yield any significant results.
We also warn against expecting much from the Security Council, since some of its resolutions were never put into practice, as a result of the interference of America and its allies, who target Islam to distort its doctrine and blame it for all the terrorist acts in the world and for the popular hatred of their policies.
In this respect, there are several points that should be highlighted.
Firstly: Israeli denial of the rights of Lebanese civilians, and planning, after the end of the war, to kill Lebanese farmers and their children by means of over 1.2 million cluster bombs that Israel pounded Lebanon with, without any American condemnation, since the US does not respect the Lebanese civilians.
Secondly: Violating the Blue Line and annexing Lebanese territory before UNIFIL's eyes. That UNIFIL kept silent and did not object suggests that it cannot stop any Israeli aggression against Lebanon. On the other hand, it is alarming that the Lebanese government did not protest to the Security Council, despite the reports that the Lebanese Army has submitted detailing the violations.
Thirdly: The statement of the German Chancellor about sending German troops to protect Israel's existence, which means that the role of UNIFIL is to protect Israel, not Lebanon. This means that all Lebanese, regardless of their sects, should continue to monitor the developments, especially regarding the UNIFIL movements that reflect a hidden agenda, especially that which has to do with protecting the enemy.
In this atmosphere, we hear statements that aim at playing one Lebanese party against the other and one Muslim power against the other.
They are trying to make the Arab world afraid of Iran, claiming that it wants to dominate Iraq and citing its nuclear capability. But Iran has declared time and again that it only wants to protect itself from the American occupier in Iraq and Afghanistan, while Israel, being a nuclear power, is the only threat to the region, especially as a result of its primitive wars and intelligence subversions.
The Pope's Understanding of Islam
In a recent lecture, the Pope claimed that the will of Allah according to Islam is not related to any of our concepts and not even to reason. He called for a dialogue between civilizations and said that Christianity is closely linked to reason, in contrast to those who accept spreading their religion by force, and added that violence contradicts the nature of Allah and that of the spirit.
Such statements indicate that the Pope does not possess an academic and objective knowledge of Islam, which considered reason a divine power that constitutes the basis of all issues, including belief. It also called for calling, by means of wisdom, the People of the Book, the Jews and Christians, and adopting the best means to meet on a common factor. It also said that religion could not be coerced. As for Jihad, the Quran affirms that it is a defensive act and not an offensive one, just as in all civilizations.
As for claiming that the will of Allah does not conform to reason, we believe that this is a wrong understanding, since our faith affirms the wisdom of Allah in all His creations and actions, since He is the Wise, the Compassionate and the Merciful.
We call on the Pope to study Islam thoroughly and objectively.
Moreover, as we accept his call for a dialogue between civilizations and cultures, that I have called for decades ago, we do not accept the apology of the Vatican sources that claims that the Pope was not talking about Islam itself but rather about exploiting it to incite violence, since the Pope was talking about conceptual issues such as "reason" and "sacred wars." We demand that he should apologize personally and not through his sources for this wrong reading, which we do not wish that someone in his religious position should present to the world.
But as we denounce all this talk, especially the citing of the emperor’s talk that offends our Prophet, we call for a Christian-Islamic relationship based on an objective, profound understanding of each other's views, away from all inciting words.
Building a Just State in Lebanon
In Lebanon, we warn against any tension in the political discourse and call for a purposeful, objective dialogue on the basis of building the country on a firm foundation that guarantees freedom and peace for all Lebanese. If the aim of this dialogue is building a just and strong state, we have to discuss which state we want and how it possesses the strength and justice that enable it to confront the Zionist continuous aggression.
The Lebanese ought to conduct the dialogue in a way that avoids scoring points as well as exclusion. They should not once again allow any official to cooperate with those that have hurt Lebanon, or enable the corrupt to hold responsibilities. The just state needs clean hands that do not use sectarianism to promote its political interests.
We also have to warn against some of those who are trying to incite civil strife in Lebanon, like Henry Kissinger, who is responsible for the Lebanese civil war and who said that Hezbollah's next step will be trying to extend its hegemony over the Lebanese government by intimidation, as well as Shimon Peres, who said that in a week or two the Shiites might dominate in Lebanon.
We advise them not to be dragged into executing what the enemy and America are planning for inciting civil strife in Lebanon. We call on the government to uphold its economic, social, military and political responsibilities and choose honest people in the field of aid and relief.
Patriotism is measured by the sacrifices one makes and not by his statements. And all parties should fear Allah in what they say before the country sinks into chaos, having been returned by the Resistance and the Lebanese people into victory and just peace.