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 8, 1430 AH/ August 28, 2009 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
Piety is the Provision for the Hereafter
Self-Accountability
Allah says in His Glorious Book:
"O you who have believed, fear Allah. And let every soul look to what it has put forth for tomorrow - and fear Allah. Indeed, Allah is Acquainted with what you do. And be not like those who forgot Allah, so He made them forget themselves. Those are the defiantly disobedient. Not equal are the companions of the Fire and the companions of Paradise. The companions of Paradise - they are the attainers [of success]." Surat al-Hashr (59:18-20)
In these Holy verses (Ayats), Allah wants people to sit with themselves and review all their history; all what they have said or done, all the relations they have established, all the projects they have planned for, and all the challenges they were engaged in. He wants people to study the nature of all these events to learn their points of weakness and their points of strength, since people might commit mistakes by surrendering to their own weakness, and they might be right in what they do.
Allah, the Most Exalted, summarizes this issue by saying that all what people have gone through in their past life, regardless of their age, is what they are going to present to Allah in the morrow, that is, in the Hereafter, since when they meet Allah on that day, they have to present all their deeds, be they good or evil.
When you move in this world, you are actually gathering what you are going to present on the Day of Judgment. Therefore, Allah wants you to study what you have already done and know the good and evil in you, so that you will fear Allah for the rest of your life and be mindful of what you are going to do in what is left of it.
Then, Allah stresses that He knows everything you do or think of, whether good or bad, and whether you have obeyed or disobeyed Him in what you did. You have to feel that you are being watched all the time by Allah and that there is nothing you can think of or do without Him knowing, for "He knows the treachery of the eyes, and what the breasts conceal." Surat Ghafir (40:19). You would be fearful of Allah since you know that He knows even what is inside you. That is why we have a tradition that says: "Fear Allah as if you see Him, for if you do not see Him, He sees you." And do not let Allah be the least whom you care about if He sees you, for some people might be ashamed of committing a sin in front of a child, but they would not be ashamed to sin in front of the Lord of the Worlds.
Thus, you have, first of all, to hold yourself accountable. One of our traditions says: "Hold yourselves accountable before you are held accountable and weigh them before you are weighed." This is because you know what you have done and what you have not. Such a review is very important, since when you study your history and your deeds, you will be able to go back to the right path when you sin or deviate.
Forgetting Allah is the Basis of Committing Sins
The second point the Holy Ayat discusses is: "And be not like those who forgot Allah, so He made them forget themselves." Surat al-Hashr (59:19). You have to remember Allah all the time, for if you forget Him, you will forget your responsibility and the need to reform and educate yourself. If you forget that, then you will be driven by your desires and deviations, which will lead to a disastrous fall.
If one forgets their Lord, they will forget themselves. They will live their life without any rules or restrictions and without caring about their destiny, which will lead them to dissolution.
Allah has dealt with this issue in several Ayahs, explaining the punishment expected for those who forget the Day of Judgment or their Lord. He talks about certain people: "Who took their religion as distraction and amusement and whom the worldly life deluded." So today We will forget them just as they forgot the meeting of this Day of theirs and for having rejected Our verses. Surat al-A'raf (7:51)
Then Allah talks to us about the hypocrites as an example of those whom Allah has forsaken. He says: "The hypocrite men and hypocrite women are of one another. They enjoin what is wrong and forbid what is right and close their hands. They have forgotten Allah, so He has forgotten them. Indeed, the hypocrites - it is they who are the defiantly disobedient." Surat at-Tawbah (9:67)
Allah, the Most Exalted, also says: "And remember your Lord when you forget..." Surat al-Kahf (18:24). If you happen to forget your Lord, because you are too overwhelmed in your business or desires, then remember Allah to return to the right path... "...and say, 'Perhaps my Lord will guide me to what is nearer than this to right conduct.'" Ask Allah to guide you to the right path.
Remembering Allah is the Basis of Obedience
Imam Ali (a.s.) says: "Remember Allah on two occasions: one at the time of distress – then you will be patient – this is a good remembrance, yet what is better than this is to remember Him when you are about to commit a sin, because His remembrance is a hindrance between the person and the sin." Imam As-Sadiq (a.s.) says that some of the most severe things that Allah has ordained on His creations are: "being fair with people – in that not accepting for them except what one accepts for himself – helping brothers and remembering Allah in all circumstances," not just by saying: Subhan Allah and praise be to Allah and there is no God but Allah and that Allah is Great, although this is actually a kind of remembrance – it is also to remember Allah, when one finds himself tempted to do something unlawful – thus, remember Allah so as to avoid committing any sin or disobeying Him.
Allah says: "Those who have believed and whose hearts are assured by the remembrance of Allah. Unquestionably, by the remembrance of Allah hearts are assured." Surat ar-Ra'd (13:28). Because when you remember Allah, the Compassionate, the Merciful, and the Loving, you will feel a state of tranquility and you will not feel any worry. Allah has ordained the five prayers during day and night, so as to remember Him in all times, and to live the feeling of His presence. It has been said that the prayers are the means by which the believers' spirits ascend to Allah. We pray that Allah will make us among those who would always remember Him.
The Second Sermon
In the Name of Allah, the Compassionate, the Merciful
The Zionist Lies
In occupied Palestine, a new American-Israeli game has been initiated based on an understanding on the freezing of the settlement activities for a period of time that does not exceed three months. The Zionist media has been reporting that the solution approved in this sense is no more than a maneuver that enables the Israelis to go forth with the colonization, at a time when the enemy's Prime Minister has considered that Jerusalem is his entity's sovereign capital and that he does not accept any restrictions on this sovereignty, for: "Jerusalem is not a settlement, we have been building in Jerusalem for three thousand years."
Conducting Negotiations to the Detriment of the Palestinians
Upon the declaration from inside the enemy's entity that the Zionists have built more than six hundred new settlement units since the commencement of the negotiations with Obama's Administration, and upon the exposure of plans to build the biggest settlement on Eastern Jerusalem, the game has become more exposed; they want it to have a dramatic end in which the President of the Palestinian Authority and the enemy's President meet with the American President to declare the commencement of the negotiations; but negotiations on what?!
What is actually taking place is a continuous daily annexation and appropriation operations, so that when the moment of truth comes, the Palestinian negotiator would realize that the negotiations are taking place over scattered lands that could, in no way, form a state. The Palestinian negotiator would also realize that he who has no cards to play and would not even threaten to use the card of the resistance can win nothing. Actually, he would facilitate the game and further push the Arabs into the trap of normalization that declares the end of the Palestinian cause and the commencement of the Israeli expansion into the heart of the Arab and Islamic world.
The Israeli Invasion of the Arab Region
We want the Arabs and Muslims, which the 40th anniversary commemorating the passing of burning Al-Aqsa Mosque has passed by them unnoticed… we want them to rise from their sleep, because what is actually taking place is not just an end to the Palestinian cause, but rather a first step towards a political, security, and media invasion to their positions and sites. Moreover, when Palestine does fall down, everyone will realize that the other fortresses will follow amidst this chaos in which the brothers in arms and Arabism and religion fight one another under false sectarian, political, partisan, and confessional titles, at a time when the exposed and hidden occupation monster crawls towards them from all directions.
In contrast with the postponement of the real dialogue projects within the nation, we notice that the enemy does not postpone neither its settlement activities, nor its aggressions against Gaza, killing and wounding more Palestinians in its raids against the sector. Moreover, it does not hesitate to use and sell the organs of the Palestinian martyrs, in what represents a savage violation to the bodies of the martyrs, revealing a spiteful mentality that disdains all what is connected to the rights and dignity of the Arabs.
Iraq: An Ongoing Tragedy
In addition to the Palestinian tragedy, the Iraqi tragedy is also escalating as a result of the practices by groups that commit daily mass murders and organized crimes, persecuting the innocent people in the streets and targeting them with tons of explosives that turned the Iraqi arena into one that is plunged in rivers of blood of the poor, the workers, and the employees. They have also made the political arena suffer from unstable political relations with this country or the other, amidst the talk about a game that witnesses the participation of intelligence parties and several axes that work around the clock to keep Iraq in a state of security disturbance that paves the way for political disturbance. This provides the occupier with the opportunity to continue its occupation and murders and look forward to other phases that accomplish its greedy ambitions in Iraq and the neighboring region.
Reformulating the Iraqi-Syrian Relations
Faced by these developments and the complications that accompanied them in the relations between Iraq and some other countries, we call for reformulating these relations on the basis of complete frankness, mutual openness, and a brotherly spirit that would restore the warmth to these relations in a way that guarantees the respect for the security of the Iraqi people, as well as the interest of the nation and its future.
Lebanon: The Crisis Continues
Lebanon is still living in a stage of marking time at the political level, with the concerned parties exchanging accusations regarding the formation of the Cabinet. Then, if the Cabinet is formed, they will all praise this "accomplishment". This is very tragicomic, for what could be more ironic than considering such a political act which represents a duty and a responsibility the politicians should shoulder, as a big accomplishment?!
We are afraid that these political rows and deliberate tensions aim at prolonging the status quo, and creating some instability in the internal front to link what is happening in Lebanon to foreign agendas, thus further complicating the internal crisis.
Thus, we call all officials to uphold their duties and not to hinder the attempts to reach a solution out of subjective, sectarian, or foreign calculations. The people cannot wait indefinitely for their daily living problems to be resolved. And many have grown to fear that these continuous postponements are a part of the preparations for a new strife fueled by the Lebanese themselves and one that serves the interests of regional and international powers that do not mean any good for the country.