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 Rajab 1, 1429 AH / July 4, 2008, 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
Wisdom and Patience: A Path to Heaven
Allah, the Most Exalted, says in His Glorious Book:
"So is one who knows that what has been revealed to you from your Lord is the truth like one who is blind? Only they will remember who people of understanding are." Surat ar-Ra'd (13:19).
Allah, the Most Exalted, distinguishes in this Ayah between those who see and those who are blind. Blindness in this context is not the loss of sight in its physical sense; it is the inability to see the truth. It is the inner blindness that of the heart and the mind. Allah, the Most Exalted, says: "This is my way: I call on Allah with insight." Internal vision is insight; it is the knowledge of the truths of the universe. Those who have this insight would have a heart and eyes that see and would believe in the oneness of Allah, and in what He has revealed to His Messenger, and would open up to studying it knowing that it is the truth. The Truth is the Quran, when one reads, learns and studies will know that it is the absolute truth. It is Allah's words that cannot come from a human source. When man uses his mind, it should lead him to the truth and thus to the oneness of Allah, the Most Exalted. Those who deny this oneness, and who deny that the Quran is Allah's revelation to Muhammad that was sent to take man out of darkness and into light, would be preventing the light from reaching his mind and heart. He would not be guided to the light of truth which distinguishes between the believers and those who have not opened up to the truth of belief and its secrets.
The Knowledgeable
Allah ends this Ayah by: "Only they will remember who people of understanding are." Those who have a sound intellect which is the essence of the human being. A body without a mind (head) is a bundle of blood, bones and muscles. The mind is what gives man its worth… It is what makes him human and what gives him science and knowledge and enlightens the way in front of him to choose the right path; that of light and piety. Thus, those who are of a sound mind cannot but be among those who believe in the oneness of Allah, the Most Exalted, and the truth of the revelation, but they remain alert and vigilant and would not deal with anything with carelessness or indifference.
Then Allah, the Most Exalted, underlines some of the qualities of those who are endowed with understanding, those who are knowledgeable and of a sound mind. He says: "Those who fulfil the covenant of Allah." Surat ar-Ra'd (13:20). There is a covenant between Allah, the Most Exalted, and His servants that the servants have to abide by: being committed to believe in His oneness, as well as obeying and worshipping Him. Allah, the Most Exalted, too promised that He will fulfil His covenant to the people who believe. He has told the children of Israel: "Fulfil your covenant with Me, I shall fulfil My covenant with you." Allah will fulfil His covenant to His servants. He will sustain them, have mercy on them, guide them and take them away from darkness into light.
"And break not the covenant", they should abide by it to receive His blessing and enter His garden. They would "join that which Allah has bidden to join". Allah has commanded the Muslims to preserve their relations with their relatives and to base it on love, mercy, solidarity and help. He also wanted them to help fellow believers and sympathize with their grief. He who does not care about the affairs of Muslims is not a Muslim.
The Glad Tidings:
"And have fear of their Lord and fear the evil reckoning." When they move in life, they would encounter the greatness of Allah and fear His punishment, but they would not lose hope in His mercy. They would not commit any sin or evil, and they would patiently persevere, seeking the pleasure of their Lord, since Allah has made patience with respect to belief similar to the head with respect to the body; just as the body is worthless without a head, belief too should be crowned with patience. Allah has promised the patient with His Mercy saying: "And give good tidings to the patient who says when afflicted with calamity: 'To Allah we belong and to Him is our return.' Those are they on whom blessings and mercy from their Lord and those are the followers of the right course."
"Those who keep up prayers:" The pillar of religion which if accepted all the other acts of worship and good deeds would be accepted and if rejected everything else would be rejected. It is as if he whose prayer is not accepted his entire belief is not accepted. "And spend benevolently out of what We have given them," since when you give, you are giving from what Allah has made you a guardian on and not from what you own, since He is the owner – "and repeal evil with good," forgive those who hurt them and try to solve problems with wisdom and not with what further complicates the issue – "as for those they shall have the (happy) issue of the abode."
What is the fate of those people and what is Allah's reward to them? "Gardens of perpetual bliss, they shall enter there as well as the righteous among their fathers, spouses and offspring." Surat ar-Ra'd (13:23). Thus if you have a family you should strive to make its members among the righteous: to join hands with them to win the Hereafter as you join hands in this world. "Peace unto you for what you have preserved in patience. Now how excellent is your final house." Surat ar-Ra'd (13:24) – you have gained this position because you exercised patience in obeying Allah and refraining from committing any sin.
This is the reward of those who have a good understanding; what is the fate of the others? "But those who break the covenant of Allah after ratifying it and sever what Allah had commanded to be joined, and make mischief in the earth, on them is the curse and theirs is the ill abode." Surat ar-Ra'd (13:25). They are not merciful and caring towards their relatives and fellow Muslims, through their activities, money and relations which they dedicate to mischief – on them is the curse – denial of Allah's Mercy.
This is the path, Allah, the Most Exalted, wanted the people to follow… the path of those who believe in Allah and fulfil their covenant with Him and not that of those who deviate and break their covenant with their Lord.
The Second Sermon
In the Name of Allah, the Compassionate, the Merciful
Since the Annapolis Conference, Israel has killed more than 500 Palestinians including 170 children. Furthermore, it continues its practice of killing, assassinating, detaining and besieging the Palestinians, which the so-called "free World" meets with total indifference. In its view these massacres are not acts of terror, while the Resistance movements in Lebanon and Palestine are being classified as terrorists, as part of a plan that aims at relieving Israel from any pressures and enabling it to continue its aggression.
On the other hand, when any emotional reaction is made by any member of our oppressed peoples that the occupation is killing and starving, as the last martyr operation in Jerusalem… all hell breaks out, because the victims in this case are Jews whom all the world should sympathize with.
In the same context, the United States has blocked the attempts of passing a resolution that was submitted by Libya on behalf of the Arab Group that calls for an immediate and complete end to building and expansion of settlements in the West Bank including Jerusalem on the grounds of being biased and unbalanced, as if the Palestinians are the ones responsible for the settlements, the bulldozing of the farms and the blockade. And this constitutes a new proof of how much the settlements enjoy America’s support, since the American Administration strategy seeks to enable Israel to confiscate additional Palestinian lands so as no Palestinian state would be viable. The International Quartet Committee too does not honour its commitments and merely stands on the sidelines as the Palestinian lands are being confiscated, while the Arab countries yield to the American pressures that want them to participate in besieging and oppressing the Palestinians as well as pressurizing them economically at a time they are enjoying an economic boom as a result of the rise in the oil prices.
In addition, the American offensive against Iran is escalating, whether by the American Congress earmarking hundreds of millions of Dollars to destabilize the country, even by supporting the organisations that the Americans have deemed as terrorist like Mujahideen-e-Khalq, or by increasing intelligence activities and threats the last of which was made by the chairman of the American joint chief of staff who said lately that the military option is not ruled out… All this comes as part of a psychological war of intimidation that aims at pressurizing Iran to push it to yield to American and Israeli conditions and end its efforts to develop its potentials and scientific know-how and return to being a third world country.
We warn the European states and even some of the Arab states, who might be supporting the campaign against Iran, from letting the Americans and the Israeli feel that striking Iran is not costly and does not represent a grave danger to them and to the region, as well as the international economy which might collapse. They also ought to know that the attack on Iran is an attack on the entire Muslim world and its resistance movements and other opposition forces. Thus, they should be well aware of the consequences of the adventure they think is going to be a smooth ride.
In Lebanon, the new victory the Resistance imposed on the enemy when the latter agreed to its terms regarding exchanging prisoners in a manner the enemy itself admitted it is humiliating… This victory should lead all Lebanese parties to relinquish all their narrow and petty calculations and deal with this Resistance with the honour it deserves as a unique Lebanese phenomenon and as a source of protection from the enemy, so that the coming dialogue concerning this issue will deal with these facts in a patriotic spirit considering the big political responsibilities.
As we congratulate the Lebanese people on this historic achievement, that is the latest of the honourable and creative resistance, we welcome all the statements that emphasized the importance of this accomplishment. We feel that the near consensus it created should lay the ground for a comprehensive national stand that would be a gateway to solve all the current problems, including the formation of the cabinet, since the Lebanese are fed up with all what is going on in view of the aggravation of their economic, political and security problems. We would also like all parties to end this use of inflammatory political rhetoric as well as the security tensions that move from one place to another. It is high time that we get out of our sectarian and partisan affiliations to the Lebanese broader space; the space of dignity, glory and freedom that is made by the Resistance and protected by the internal unity.