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 2, 1429 AH / June 6, 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
Heaven is the Greatest Prize
Allah says in His Glorious Book: "And of the people is he who worships Allah on an edge. If he is touched by good, he is reassured by it; but if he is struck by trial, he turns on his face [to the other direction]. He has lost [this] world and the Hereafter. That is what is the manifest loss." Surat al-Hajj (22:11).
In this Ayah, Allah talks about the issue of loss, which includes losing oneself, or money, effort and work, as when one loses in his trade or as when one dies. But the important thing is that we should not lose the Hereafter, since losing this life is not considered a loss when one wins Allah's satisfaction, Mercy and love. The real loss of this world is when one tries to win it by disobeying Allah, which will lead to Allah's wrath and the loss of His Mercy, which ultimately means the loss of the two worlds.
Man must be concerned with winning the Hereafter since it is the final destiny. This is why we read in the Quran when Qarun talks with his people: "When his people said to him, 'Do not exult. Indeed, Allah does not like the exultant.'" Surat al-Qasas (28:76). (who only seeks the pleasures of this world and forget about the Hereafter).
"But seek, through that which Allah has given you, the home of the Hereafter; and [yet], do not forget your share of the world." Surat al-Qasas (28:77). (take your share of your worldly needs but always keep in mind the importance of the Hereafter).
The first Ayah we cited also tells us about those who worship Allah in a superficial manner. They would continue to worship Allah as long as life is easy and going well. But if things go bad and Allah tests them to see if they are going to be patient or grateful, since there are many people that when faced by a certain loss in life or money they would even object to Allah's decisions and even stop believing in Him, thus earning Allah's wrath, and actually losing themselves.
Testing
Testing that involves certain hardships is not meant to be always a form of punishment; rather it is a test in the first place.
It is not enough for the believer to fast, pray and perform pilgrimage; he should also be truthful with Allah, patient, endure whatever happens to him, and be thankful for Allah's graces. Allah says: "Alif, Lam, Meem. Do the people think that they will be left to say, 'We believe' and they will not be tried?" Surat al-'Ankabut (29:1-2).
"But We have certainly tried those before them, and Allah will surely make evident those who are truthful, and He will surely make evident the liars." Surat al-'Ankabut (29:3).
The honesty of man’s belief could be verified by his positions in times of hardship. If he endures and remains committed to his belief he will prove that he is faithful, but if he fails the test he will prove that he was not a firm believer.
There is another Ayah that says: "Shall We [then] treat the Muslims like the criminals? What is [the matter] with you? How do you judge?" Surat al-Qalam (68:35-36). (these are) they whose labor is lost in this world's life (those who think that they are pious, while in "And of the people is he who worships Allah on an edge. If he is touched by good, he is reassured by it; but if he is struck by trial, he turns on his face [to the other direction]. He has lost [this] world and the Hereafter. That is what is the manifest loss." Surat al-Hajj (22:11).
They have served the unjust and the arrogant, although they think that they are on the straight path they thought that they were acquiring good by their works (fasting, praying…).
Thus man has to keep a watch over himself to make sure that he is not taking the wrong path. He should make sure that he is not following his desires and passions. It is not enough to follow a religious or political leadership feeling that it is infallible, since the infallibles are the Prophets and the Imams only. Thus he has to study the leaders he is following to verify that they continue to be pious and committed to obeying Allah and following His Message, since the pious believer's commitment is to obey Allah and follow His path and not to follow individuals, for he will come to Allah, the Most Exalted, alone and will be held accountable for this commitment.
Allah asserts this in a number of Ayahs:
"And every one of them will come to Him on the Day of Resurrection alone." Surat Maryam (19:95).
"That Day, a man shall flee from his brother, And from his mother and his father, And from his wife and his children. Every man, that Day, will have enough concern [of his own] to make him indifferent to the others." Surat 'Abasa (80:34-37).
As you have come to this world alone, you will go to the Day of Judgement alone and you will be held accountable alone.
The Traditions of Imam Ali, who was with the right and the right was with him, confirm also this point. He says: "Do not disobey Allah when you are alone, because the witness is the judge."
He also said that there are many people who had hoped for what they did not attain and built what they did not live in and accumulated wealth that they had to leave. He adds that they might have achieved this by falsehood or by denying someone his rights. Those people will come to their Lord, feeling that they have lost both worlds and surely this is the evident loss.
Imam Ali (a.s.) told his judge, Shuraih, who bought a house to make sure that he bought this house from his own money, and from the money he earned in a lawful way, lest he lose both worlds.
In the end, he says that the worst loser is who spends his life trying to earn money, but to no avail; such a person will end up feeling remorseful for what he has lost in this life only to meet the eternal life with the sins he has committed.
Therefore, dear loved ones, Allah wants us to be the winners by choosing to obey Him, thus winning ourselves, for what does one win if he wins the entire world but loses himself and loses the Hereafter? What is the use of winning the support of people and losing Allah's Mercy? Therefore, we ought to seek to become winners and not losers.
The Second Sermon
In the Name of Allah, the Compassionate, the Merciful
Judaizing Palestine
The Arab and Muslim world sleeps on the noise of Israeli bulldozers and tanks that create a new settlement status quo in Palestine and wakes up on the noise of extending emergency laws in the Arab and Muslim worlds to highlight the difference between an entity that is preparing for war and regimes that want to tie their peoples by the specters of jails and the nightmares of the intelligence agencies.
The Enemy's Prime Minister boasts that Israel is building new settlements in occupied Jerusalem. He shouts in the face of the helpless regimes that only talk about Iran's peaceful nuclear project, telling them that Jerusalem will remain the eternal capital of Israel.
And while no Arab officials say any word of protest, the Palestinian Authority issues warnings of the kind Israel is used to, while continuing its negotiations with the Arab officials that only aim at passing time.
Meanwhile, Washington, that is receiving Olmert today, continues to use deceiving words, claiming to warn against building new settlements while actually supporting the settlement expansion over the ruins of the Palestinians and the Arabs, while the US presidential candidates compete in declaring full support of Israel.
But the biggest problem is with the United Nations, whose Secretary General talks about the violations of these settlements to international laws but he does not submit a report to the Security Council demanding to condemn Israel, since he knows that the US will not allow it.
The Arab leaders continue to watch all this, in addition to the massacres and the starvation embargo, without being alarmed, as if Palestine is an old issue that is not related to the present or future, or as if it has become a nightmare that disturbs their dreams of surrender.
The current status of Arab defeatism represents some of the whips that the Palestinians are meant to be whipped with. The enabling of the Zionist Entity through American support and Arab silence is part of a drawn plan to end the so-called viable Palestinian state, in addition to the right of return and the Road Map… so that the Arabs will wait for a new American President who will talk to them about a Palestinian state that might come to exist out the end of his term. The Arabs have become addicted to be bitten by the Israeli-American serpents that they no longer feel any pain, just as the Arab poet has said: "A wound cannot cause pain to a dead person." As for the Arab League, that has reached a state where it calls for both anger and pity since it could not solve any of the Arab internal differences which have become more like a state of hostility with each state talking about the other more than it talks about Israel or America who challenge the world… This makes the Arab League incapable of providing the results which the Arab world expects. In this respect, it is regrettable that some problems are a direct response to the negative relations between America and some of the Arab states and perhaps the Resistance movements, which made some of the Arab states take a negative attitude towards them. Such an attitude might even extend to the position towards the Iraqi resistance which some Arabs refuse being against the American occupation.
One of our main problems lies in the addiction of presidents to power, thus turning their regimes, as a result of formal democracy, into a monarchy that does not know any change of power due to the popular will, but rather inheritance in one way or another. These power bases are even made sacred in that no one is allowed to criticize or oppose…. Moreover, many of these power centers have tried to reduce their countries to fit their families and individuals, instead of making their responsibilities as big as their homeland. This led to the hegemony of the superpowers on our countries and resources, especially on the economic level, since it became associated with the interest of individuals and not the peoples.
Sectarianism Abolishes Citizenry
In Lebanon, political debate continues regarding the issue of distributing the ministerial posts on the sects and their leaders and those who seek to benefit from them to promote their chances in the coming elections, which suggests that forming the Lebanese cabinet is not based on qualifications and expertise, but on sectarian considerations that make individuals bigger in the eyes of their sects.
The problem in Lebanon lies in that politicians are trimming down the size of their country instead of boosting its position by producing the elements that bring it back to its great position, when it used to settle Arab problems and serve creative culture.
The tragedy is that every sectarian leader has come to embody the entire sect so that sectarianism is constituting a privilege to sectarianism leaders and not a means to serve the people of this or that sect. This is why those people add to their fortunes at the expense of their sects while the deprived are getting poorer.
On another level, an international conference attended by more than 100 states was held to ban cluster bombs, but America and its Jewish ally had their reservations, sending the entire world a message that it stands with the usurping entity and does not care about any human beings, especially if they are Muslims and Arabs.
In this context, we want the Lebanese who are still suffering from these bombs to know that America, that talks about supporting the Lebanese Army, is lying because it does not accept that any weapons would be used against the Israeli aggression. It is also trying to interfere in the formation of the new cabinet and bringing the ministers it wants, as if the country is one of its districts or a piece of land that belongs to one of its embassies.
The Leader of the Downtrodden Revolution
On the occasion of commemorating the passing of Imam Khomeini, 17 years after, who wanted his movement that started in Iran, and met with other Islamic movements here and there, to embrace the downtrodden and all freedom seekers.
Imam Khomeini brought back the movement to the Islamic reality and brought down the Quran and Islamic slogans to the realm of politics, ensuring that the struggle is between the arrogant and the downtrodden, between the big and small Satans… He asserted that the nation, no matter how diverse in its sects, is but one nation in its goals, principles and values and that usurping the land and occupation cannot become legalized with the passage of time.
Thus the message of the commemoration is to stand with the downtrodden against the arrogant in every place, to stand with the Palestinians, Iraqis and Afghans against occupation and to stand with the liberation of the nation from hegemony, corruption, deviation and occupation.