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 Rabi' al-Thani 7, 1430 AH/April 3, 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
Worshipping Allah: The Soul's Fortress Against Tyranny
Allah says in His Glorious Book: "Eat of the good things We have provided for your sustenance, but commit no excess therein, lest My wrath should justly descend upon you: and those on whom descends My wrath do perish indeed!" Surat Ta-Ha (20:81). And He says: "Indeed, Hell has been lying in wait for the transgressors, a place of return, in which they will remain for ages [unending]." Surat an-Naba' (78:21-23), and "Indeed, this is for the transgressors a place of return." Surat Saad (38:55), and "And as for he who transgressed and preferred the life of this world, then indeed, Hellfire will be [his] refuge. But as for he who feared the position of his Lord and prevented the soul from [unlawful] inclination, then indeed, Paradise will be [his] refuge." Surat an-Nazi'at (79:37-40).
The Concept of Righteousness
The authentic Islamic path that Allah wants people to embrace, abide by, and submit all their affairs to is the path of righteousness and moderation. This means that man, throughout his life, ought to abide by what Allah has made lawful and he should not transgress or deviate away from the path Allah has wanted him to walk upon, which is described in the Quran as the straight path, i.e., the path whose beginning and end are aligned.
The Consequences of Transgression
Then, there is the opposite path, which is the path of transgression (tughyan); which is to overstep the bounds that Allah has set for man, in a way that makes him deviate from His obedience and exceed His limits. In Arabic, transgression (tughyan) might also refer to the overflowing of water, as Allah mentioned in the story of Noah’s son who deviated, influenced by his mother who had also deviated, and he was among those who drowned, for Allah says: "Indeed, when the water overflowed, We carried your ancestors in the sailing ship." Surat al-Haqqah (69:11)—when the water rose up to the mountain tops.
Allah has emphasized that man should remain on the path of righteousness and moderation. He should not take any action unless he knows that it pleases Allah and does not contradict His commands. This applies even to food, since man should eat what Allah has deemed lawful and avoid what He has deemed unlawful, as revealed in the verse: "Eat of the good things We have provided for your sustenance, but commit no excess therein"—do not exceed the limits that Allah has set for you concerning what you eat or drink— "lest My wrath should justly descend upon you", because if man commits excess in what he eats or drinks, including consuming what is unlawful, then Allah’s wrath shall descend on him and he shall meet a disastrous fate.
Allah has also confirmed that the end of transgressors is the worst; therefore, Allah wants man to be balanced in how he views the world when facing any issue in it. He should not consider the world to be the ultimate aim, but rather the path he ought to take to reach that aim, for Allah says: "But seek, through that which Allah has given you, the home of the Hereafter; and [yet], do not forget your share of the world. And do good as Allah has done good to you. And desire not corruption in the land. Indeed, Allah does not like corrupters." Surat al-Qasas (28:77)
Allah wanted Prophet Musa and his brother Harun (a.s.) to go to Pharaoh and remind him of his responsibility, for Allah says: "Go, both of you, to Pharaoh. Indeed, he has transgressed. And speak to him with gentle speech that perhaps he may be reminded or fear [Allah]. They said, 'Our Lord, indeed we fear that he will hasten [punishment] against us or that he will transgress.'" Surat Ta-Ha (20:43-45) Even though Allah talks in this verse about Pharaoh’s transgression, however, this verse includes all the political, security, and economic tyrants, and all transgressors, including kings, princes, and leaders, who act arrogantly towards people and oppress the downtrodden. Even those who serve these tyrants and empower them are, likewise, transgressing, for tyrants enjoy their power through people's support. Therefore, every man who backs an oppressor or a tyrant is sharing in his transgression.
Worshipping Allah and Avoiding Evil (Taghut)
Allah has summarized the Message of the prophets in the following verse in which He says: "And We certainly sent into every nation a messenger, [saying], 'Worship Allah and avoid Taghut.'" Surat an-Nahl (16:36) The prophets' call was that people should worship Allah, associate no partner with Him, and avoid idols (Taghut). Allah talks about those who worship Him and avoid Taghut and idols, meaning that they do not support, sustain, and strengthen them, as clarified in the verse: "And those who avoid Taghut, not worshipping them, and turn to Allah - for them are good tidings. So give good tidings to My servants." Surat az-Zumar (39:17)
The word "Taghut" means, in these verses, anyone who is worshipped besides Allah. It is derived from the verb "tagha", to transgress, i.e., to rule in a way that does not conform with Allah’s rule. Explaining the above-mentioned verse, Imam As-Sadiq (a.s.) said to Abu Basir: "You who have avoided worshipping the tyrant—those who are on the path of Ahl al-Bayt (a.s.) and the Messenger of Allah (p.)—and he who has obeyed a tyrant has actually worshipped him." Obeying the tyrants who steal from people, lead them astray, deviate from the path of the Right, and collaborate with the arrogant is an act of worshipping these tyrants, because worshipping is not an act of prayer only; it is any kind of submission as well. So when someone submits his will to these tyrants, he is actually worshipping them to the detriment of worshipping Allah and His commands.
Allah has told us about the influence of tyrants on the fate of the people in this world and the Hereafter in the following verse: "Allah is the ally of those who believe. He brings them out from darknesses into the light. And those who disbelieve - their allies are Taghut. They take them out of the light into darknesses. Those are the companions of the Fire; they will abide therein eternally." Surat al-Baqarah (2:257)
Seeking Judgment from the Evil One
Then, Allah tells us about seeking judgment and says that there are two judges: that of Allah and that of the evil tyrants (Taghut). There are many who claim that they believe, but when they differ with others, they seek the judgment of the evil one, especially when they know that they will lose if they seek the religious ruling, and that they will win if they seek the ruling of temporal law, with the help of some lawyers who exploit gaps in the law itself. Allah says:
"Have you not seen those who claim to have believed in what was revealed to you, [O Muhammad], and what was revealed before you? They wish to refer legislation to Taghut, while they were commanded to reject it; and Satan wishes to lead them far astray. And when it is said to them, 'Come to what Allah has revealed and to the Messenger,' you see the hypocrites turning away from you in aversion." Surat an-Nisa (4:60-62)—since those people claim to believe, but they have actually gone astray. These are whom Allah calls the hypocrites.
Imam As-Sadiq (a.s.) says that Isa bin Maryam (a.s.) passed by a village whose people were dead—and Allah had given him the power of bringing the dead back to life—and he asked them about their deeds that caused their perdition, and they said: "Worshipping Taghut and loving this world. We forgot about the Hereafter"—as we were deeply indulged in the pleasures of this life. Then Isa (a.s.) asked: "How did you worship Taghut?" And they said: "We obeyed those who were sinful."
Imam Zein al-Abidin (a.s.) says:
"May Allah not give power over us to a stubborn tyrant, any rebellious shaytan, any envious man. O believers, do not be deceived by the Taghut—leaders who are unjust and arrogant and who commit mischief on earth—and their followers who are slaves of their desires in this world."
Nowadays, we see several tyrants and arrogant people, whether among the Muslims who have followed their desires and Satan, or among non-Muslims. Thus, every believer should avoid Taghut, not practice arrogance or transgression, and remain on the straight path, for Allah says: "Indeed, those who have said, 'Our Lord is Allah' and then remained on a right course - the angels will descend upon them, [saying], 'Do not fear and do not grieve but receive good tidings of Paradise, which you were promised.'" Surat Fussilat (41:30).
We ask Allah to grant us success in obeying Him and following His straight path. He is the Most Merciful.
The Second Sermon
In the Name of Allah, the Compassionate, the Merciful
Arab Summits: Rhetorical Decisions and Absent Strategies
The Arab leaders seem to have remembered "the noble Arab traditions and values", and they wanted the last summit to emphasize, yet again, their "commitment to Arab solidarity" and to elevate Arab relations to a broader horizon… But what happened was that these relations entered a new stage, whereby the leaders became closer to one another on the personal level, while the strategies which deploy the great Arab potentials and capabilities were absent, which means that they would not be able to defend their existence and future that are being threatened by the arrogant and Zionist seizure of their land, security, and even political decisions.
And at nearly the same time, the hateful birth of a new Zionist government took place. The new Prime Minister hastened to mimic some of the Arab officials who talked – at the summit – about their refusal of foreign interference in Arab internal affairs. Netanyahu talked about Iran representing a threat to his entity and that there is "a common interest between Israel and the Arab states in confronting Iran, the fanatic dragon that threatens all of us". It was striking that some Arab writers talked about how to "choose between the Israeli and Iranian enemies", instead of talking of how to benefit from Iran and its opening up in what serves the major Arab causes, and specifically the Palestinian cause.
We would have expected that the Doha Summit would set an Arab strategy that aligns with the Islamic strategy, whose features have somehow unfolded in the Iranian and Turkish positions towards the aggression on Gaza, thus putting an end to this Arab decline in an era of international changes and transformations. However, the Arab accomplishments remained restricted to the personal and superficial reconciliations that are born just as they die, all of a sudden, and without discussing what caused their differences and on what they have agreed. The Arabs have grown used to this, because they live in states of families and individuals and not in states of institutions.
Despite the Israeli threats to expand colonization and Netanyahu’s declaration that he is not afraid of the pressures of the new American Administration to change his policy that rejects the Palestinians' rights and to accept the principle of the "two states" that Washington calls for, as a basis for the solution to the conflict, and his talk about an "economic peace" that puts an end to the concept of a "Palestinian state"… despite all that, the Arabs continue to run after what they call a "peace" with their historical enemy. This was evident in what seemed more like a friendly reproach, warning that the peace initiative will not stay on the table for long, in spite of all this contempt with which the Israelis treat their concessions.
Previous experiments have asserted that the Arab Summit would not do anything that would initiate a real change in the region and pressure the interests of America that promotes Jewish interests to the detriment of those of the Arabs. All they do is issue rhetorical decisions whose worth is only that of the ink they were written with or the papers they were written on. This is what we read in the "Doha Declaration" that "demanded", "called for", and "emphasized"… etc. These rhetorical words that are addressed to the others or to the Arab peoples do not possess the force that pressures the enemy, or the American Administration and the International Community, nor do they reject normalization or produce resistance.
The American Administration: Backing the Interests of the Strong
Since America and the European Union only respect the strong, while the vital rights of the weak are totally ignored, Israel has become the superpower that raids Arab states under the pretense that it is destroying arms that are to be sent to the Mujahideen in Gaza, and to prevent any country from producing the elements of an effective self-force. Nevertheless, such actions are not denounced by the superpowers that may even take part in them and support the Israeli unrealistic accusations. The Israeli former Prime Minister has stated that Israel has a long arm that is capable of hitting any place Israel might feel endangers its interests. However, no Arab country can challenge these acts, since it would be facing the United States that opposes whoever tries to confront Israel even in self-defense. It is the problem of the chronic Arab incompetence that the officials do not try to get out of or build their strength, showing that they respect their nation and peoples.
On another level, the Doha Summit that was labeled as "the summit of Arab reconciliations" has shown, through the complicated relations between the Arab heads of state, that the bilateral relations between one Arab state and another are more important than the vital issues that have to do with the security of the nation as a whole. A case in point would be when the difference between two Arab leaders drives one leader not to attend the conference that is held in the state he differs with its leader, although it would have a negative impact on the strategic decisions to be taken.
That is why the reconciliations tend to be formal. In the first place, they were not comprehensive, but rather bilateral or trilateral, while the differences continued between other countries. This suggests that the Arab League has become a league of Arab contradictions and not Arab unity, which makes it a league of heads of state and not of the people who do not enjoy the democracy of free choice, but rather live under the iron fist of the intelligence agencies and emergency laws, in which the votes of the peoples turn into a silly political joke.
NATO Failure in Afghanistan
In Asia, the American-led NATO war against Afghanistan that extended to Pakistan has turned into a heavy burden on the international forces, as a result of the war of attrition against them. Thus, the American Administration has called for an international meeting that will be attended by Iran to discuss the Afghan impasse that could not be overcome by war, which means that the US should find a peaceful way through negotiations with those it calls "moderates".
We believe that the Muslim states, especially Iran, should strive, driven by their Islamic responsibility, to direct these conferences into what serves the security of the Afghan people and the Muslim region, and into what drives the occupation and NATO forces out of the region to enable its peoples to determine their own fate, away from the pressures of the international hegemonic powers that have used the pretense of fighting terrorism to seize the Arab and Muslim region.
As for the summit of the Group of Twenty (G20) that was held in London, we noticed the big demonstrations of tens of thousands against these states which represented the ugliest forms of savage globalization that not only usurped the resources of the Third World, but also threatened the world environment… These demonstrations have proved that these states do not represent a problem for our peoples and those of the Third World only, but also for their own peoples and all the downtrodden on earth, which means that there should be coordination on the highest levels between all those who are hurt by the hegemonic states and affected by savage globalization to protect their peoples, wealth, and heritage.
Lebanese Elections: Internal and External Settlements
In Lebanon, we notice that at the time the row over the parliamentary elections heightens, the elections themselves are becoming part of the regional compromises and the Arab reconciliations. Their prospects and some of their happy or unhappy results have already been drawn, although not all the Lebanese have learned about them, and although their approval or disapproval of them was not taken into consideration. These developments prove that it is not feasible to claim that things are going to explode in Lebanon, for if the settlements are not reached internally, they will be imposed from the outside, and all the issues that many politicians have rallied on will collapse.
We want the Lebanese to understand the game that is taking place around them, so that they would not be fuel to the scattered fires. They should also reproduce their unity, benefiting from their readings of the adequate or inadequate regional circumstances. The electoral high-pitched rhetoric should not incite their spirit of sectarianism, fanaticism, tribalism, and partisanship. We have been stung several times by the same snake. Therefore, now, it is high time to wake up and return to our senses.