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 1, 1428 AH/ October 12, 2007, 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
Let the Eid Be an Opportunity to Reassert Our Unity
A Day of Unity
Our Eid today is a blessed day because it is a day in which Muslims meet. Allah, the Most Exalted, wanted the Muslims in the entire world to meet on this day and feel their unity, having felt this unity in the month of Ramadan by fasting its days and praying to Allah to be nearer to Him.
Allah, the Most Exalted, wants the Muslims in the entire world to meet on this day to exemplify their unity in observing the Eid, although it is unfortunate that they still differ on its date in accordance with their juristic views.
Today too, Friday, is the weekly Eid of Muslims in which Allah wanted the Muslims to meet to know one another and communicate so that each area where the Friday prayer is performed becomes a unified area in which Muslims become united in their approach to their affairs.
Allah wanted the Muslims to establish and enhance their unity. He says: "And hold fast 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 (3:103). This covenant is the Quran… it is Islam. Therefore, every Muslim should consider that despite all differences, he should be committed to Islam which is the firmest handle, for "whoever believes in Allah has grasped the most trustworthy handhold." Surat al-Baqarah (2:256).
Allah considers Islam as the firmest handle; if the Muslims cling to it they will not fall. He wants the Muslims to preserve their unity despite all sectarian or political differences and despite all their racial diversity. They have to be united by Islam, since all Muslims believe in one Allah, His Messenger and in all Messages, the angels and the Hereafter. They all believe in the Quran which "falsehood cannot approach it from before it or from behind it." Surat Fussilat (41:42). Just as they believe in praying, fasting, pilgrimage, Jihad (struggle for Allah's cause) and enjoining good and forbidding evil.
Therefore, Allah, the Most Exalted, does not want us to be divided into enemies or foes… When Muslims disperse into parties or sects, they consider each other as enemies, while the traditions of Ahl al-Bayt say: "If a Muslim says to his brother 'you are my enemy,' then one of them is accusing the other of disbelief." Allah, the Most Exalted, says in the Glorious Quran that all Muslims are brothers, and when a Muslim says to another Muslim something different than what Allah, the Most Exalted, says, he will be in the position of disbelief.
Unification Unites All Messages
Allah has told His Messengers: "O messengers, eat from the good foods and work righteousness. Indeed, I, of what you do, am Knowing. And indeed this, your religion, is one religion." Surat al-Mu'minun (23:51-52). All Messengers were sent with the same religion to the same nation. They all call for unification, piety, and believing in the Hereafter. Thus, this religion you are calling the people for is but one religion, "and I am your Lord, so fear Me." Surat al-Mu'minun (23:52).
He also says: "And obey Allah and His Messenger, and do not dispute and [thus] lose courage and [then] your strength would depart; and be patient. Indeed, Allah is with the patient." Surat al-Anfal (8:46). This is because when the wind comes from a single source it is strong, but when it is divided among various directions it is obviously weak.
Dear loved ones:
We have to preserve our Islamic unity… We might differ in certain political or juristic ideas, but Allah tells us: "And if you disagree over anything, refer it to Allah and the Messenger, if you should believe in Allah and the Last Day. That is the best [way] and best in result." Surat an-Nisa' (4:59). He wants us to meet on the basis of Islam, the Quran and the unification of Allah.
Spiritual Meeting
Allah also wants us to pray together in groups. This is strongly recommended in all days. One of our traditions says: "If congregation prayer is held by more than ten people, then Allah, the Most Exalted, alone can count its rewards." Friday prayer should be held in congregation as a religious duty. He also told us to meet in Eid prayers, so that the Muslims would feel they are meeting in the name of Allah and before Him, meaning that we have not to meet in the name of the devil and all the devils who seek to incite strife among us.
Dear loved ones:
We have to learn how to be united, to be a strong power against all arrogant and unbelievers. Allah has held us responsible for being mighty and honourable: "But honor belongs to Allah and His Messenger and to the believers." Surat al-Munafiqun (63:8). And He has held us responsible for being strong: "And prepare against them whatever you are able of power." Surat al-Anfal (8:60).
This is what we benefit from in these spiritual meetings in every prayer and Eid and in every time and place Allah, the Most Exalted, wants us to meet.
The Second Sermon
In the Name of Allah, the Compassionate, the Merciful
Iran: Western Escalation and Arab Fears
The American vice president, Dick Cheney, favors a decisive military strike against Iran that targets all its military and civilian infrastructures as well as the economic sectors, communication and transportation. This strike should be executed before next March at the latest. This man who hates Islam and Muslims, and who leads the neocons, has made several tours in the region to convince several Arab states, especially in the Gulf, to confront Iran as a dangerous enemy that ought to be faced.
This is because Iran represents the Muslim state that tries to attain strength in its ability to defend itself and create a strong economy. It is also determined to use nuclear power for peaceful purposes, despite all the international pressures.
Iran also supports the liberation movements in Lebanon and Palestine and confronts the American occupation in Iraq. It also refuses to recognize Israel, being the state that usurped the Palestinians' right to their land.
But we believe that the planned aggression will not succeed, but it will bring destruction to the region where the United States has founded its military bases, as well as the oil resources. It will also destabilize the Gulf States that still refuse the war against Iran, being a destabilizing factor that threatens their security.
On another level, the debate about the American peace conference that talks about the two-state solution continues, with some Arab officials, especially PA officials, thinking that it might bring a solution. But we notice that the meetings between Olmert and Abbas have not, and will not, produce any political document that might constitute the first step of the solution of the Arab-Zionist or Palestinian-Zionist struggle. This is what the enemy Prime Minister has declared when he said that signing a peace agreement is far away.
He also assured some of his ministers that he would not discuss the issue of Jerusalem in the "peace talks," it being a Jewish sacred taboo, as a political and religious capital of the Jewish state.
Meanwhile, assassinations, invasions and atrocities still hit the Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank, amidst an Arab and international silence, since they are afraid that their protest might affect the coming conference.
The American Plan: A Threat to the Arabs and Muslims
We call on the Arab and Muslim states and their peoples to be aware of the dangerousness of this current stage in which America is trying to force its hegemony over the entire region, if not the entire world.
America coordinates in all that with Israel through a strategic alliance that Israel benefits from by trying to penetrate every country America enters to usurp the wealth and deploy its intelligence agents to subvert the entire political stability and institutions. This subversion and usurpation is especially evident in Iraq, Africa, and several Arab states of those who signed peace treaties with Israel or those who established other relations with the Zionist entity. This is in the first place why Israel was planted in this region: to destabilize the Arab and Muslim countries on the political, military and economic levels. Israel, according to the American planning, should remain the strongest state to the extent that the countries that are allied with the US do not feel safe, but rather threatened, as they are intended to remain weak and insecure.
Lebanon: The Role of Political Money
Israel is demanding that Lebanon, where some parties have gone back to demanding the implementation of UN resolutions that interfere in the Lebanese internal affairs, such as Resolution 1559, to pressure the Resistance. Some Lebanese parties also share these demands, although the Resistance did not resort to armed struggle except to protect the country against Israeli aggressions. The Resistance scored victories in the years 2000 and 2006, but those who used to applaud it are now throwing stones at it, despite the fact that it only seeks to deter the aggression at a time the Lebanese state does not have a strong strategy to defend Lebanon and arm its army.
On another level, the beast of inflation and the price increase are forcing the people to use all their savings to buy their necessary needs or to pay for the government’s taxes that are imposed on vital services.
Some might say that such a level of poverty could tempt some people to accept money to vote for political leaders or attend their rallies… Those leaders made their wealth by usurping the people's money and used it to gain political position.
It is political money that has driven away the country's skills and talents, and left those who stand at the doors of both sides to receive a price for the positions they take.