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 Muharram 8, 1431 AH/ December 25, 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
The Concept of Trustworthiness in Islam
Trust: A Foundation for Human Relations
Allah says in His Glorious Book: "And they who are to their trusts and their promises attentive." Surat al-Mu'minun (23:08)
And: "Indeed, Allah commands you to render trusts to whom they are due and when you judge between people to judge with justice. Excellent is that which Allah instructs you. Indeed, Allah is ever Hearing and Seeing." Surat an-Nisa (04:58)
And: "O you who have believed, do not betray Allah and the Messenger or betray your trusts while you know [the consequence]." Surat al-Anfal (08:27)
Allah, the Most Exalted, wants people, in their lives and in their relations with one another at the individual and social levels, as well as at the level of the entire nation and reality, to base these relations on trust, especially regarding vital issues related to life and to people's economic, social, and financial welfare, etc.
Upholding Trust is a Virtue
Therefore, Allah defined believers as those who uphold their trusts and covenants, including public and private trusts, as well as the covenants they undertake in all issues related to their public and private lives. Indeed, Allah wants all people to observe their trusts and not to betray Allah and His Messenger (p.). Moreover, Imam al-Baqir (a.s.) explains the third verse by saying that betraying Allah and the Messenger is to disobey them. As for misappropriating that which is entrusted to you, it is because every human being is entrusted with what Allah has imposed upon him.
Therefore, we ought to study the entire history that people went through with the prophets, who were concerned with establishing the principle of trust in their lives, for Allah wanted them to operate on the basis of commitment to trust in all their public and general affairs. However, when we examine the societies in which the prophets lived, we find that these people betrayed the trust, being unfaithful to Allah and His messengers and prophets in both public and private life.
The Reality of Trust
Indeed, Allah wants people to embody the deep sense of trust. He wants people to judge one another by their conduct and not by outer appearance, for the Prophet (p.) says: "Do not look at how much they fast or pray… but look instead at their truthfulness and trustworthiness;" indeed, these two traits signify how committed one is to the Islamic message.
It is narrated that Imam al-Baqir (a.s.) once said: "There are three things which Allah, the Mighty and the Glorious, has not permitted anyone to forsake: returning a trust to its owner, irrespective of whether he is a good person or an evil one; fulfilling one’s promises and covenants, irrespective of whether they have been made to a good person or an evil one; being good and kind towards one’s parents, irrespective of whether they are good or evil." It was also narrated that the Messenger of Allah (p.) says: "Whoever betrays a trust in this world and does not return it to its owner, he would die not embracing my religion and he will be met with Allah’s anger." He is also reported to have said that he who has no trust has no faith. When we study the circumstances in which Imam al-Hussein’s (a.s.) revolution took place, we find that the people who pledged allegiance to him in Kufa and vowed to be faithful to him actually betrayed him, which is revealed in the statement: "Their hearts are with you, but their swords are against you." The truth is that they loved Imam al-Hussein (a.s.) and supported his wilayah, yet they assumed the position of enmity and sided with the Umayyads, who lured them with money.
Betraying the Nation
In a tradition from Imam Ali (a.s.), he says: "The worst kind of treason is that against the nation." Therefore, the entire nation, in all its issues pertaining to its economy, as well as its general and specific situations, ought to uphold its trust to the entire nation and not betray it. Allah wants us to return the trust to its owners—a command we should apply in our lives, at the economic and social levels, and in all aspects of our practical human life.
We all know that the Prophet (p.) was known for his honesty and integrity—traits we ought to abide by, for Allah wants us to model ourselves after His Messenger (p.), as He says: "For this let those who strive, strive." Surat al-Mutaffifin (83:26)
The Second Sermon
In the Name of Allah, the Compassionate, the Merciful
Palestine Between Two Walls
The Palestinian cause is cornered, at this stage, between two walls: the racist separation wall being erected by the Zionist occupier, and the other wall being built on the Egyptian border with the Gaza Strip, as plotted by Israel, designed by America, and executed with Arab collusion.
Therefore, the continuous siege on the Palestinians created by these two walls, combined with the political schemes of international and regional axes that aim to end the Palestinian cause and entangle it in political labyrinths—and which have begun to talk seriously about making Jordan an alternative homeland for the Palestinians—amidst all this, the Palestinian people are under the most hideous forms of pressure, targeting their very existence and aiming to break their will and steadfastness.
A Vicious War on the Palestinians
On the first anniversary of the Israeli war on Gaza, we cannot but notice the persistence of the impacts of such a war, especially at the health level. Reports speak of the outbreak of dangerous diseases and that newborns suffer from many kinds of deformities as a result of the use of internationally banned weapons. In addition, the Zionists have admitted to removing organs from the bodies of Palestinian martyrs for medical purposes.
Therefore, this dangerous situation that the Palestinian cause is going through at the field and political levels requires a major stand from the entire Arab and Islamic peoples, as well as other peoples, to raise these issues at the media, political, and field levels in order to expose this entity and reveal its criminal nature that respects no one except members of its own religion.
An International Alliance to Besiege Iran
At another level, the American and Zionist arrogant attack on the Islamic Republic of Iran is escalating. The American Administration is seeking to establish the widest international alliance to besiege Iran at the economic, political, and media levels, with the aim of halting its peaceful nuclear program.
It seems that this attack has turned to enlisting some Islamic parties and oil-producing countries, which are making tempting offers to one of the major powers to cut its economic and political relations with Iran. This would further fuel the efforts of the Americans, Israelis, and Westerners to attack Iran, in addition to the threats launched by certain American officials to give the Zionist enemy the green light to target Iran directly.
Indeed, we place our hope in those who are vibrant and conscious in our Islamic nation, and particularly the Arab peoples, to expose all those who tend to follow the lead of the arrogant powers and the Zionists, and to thwart the attempts of everyone who tries to give the Arabs the wrong impression that Iran is their enemy and that the Zionist entity could be their friend and ally.
Lebanon: For a Substantial Economic Solution
In Lebanon, we would like the workshop of social and political reform to be as far-reaching as possible, and not to restrict its concern for the poor to the limited subsidizing of fuel prices, which is more virtual than real, for the situation is far more complicated. The people's hopes in the government extend far beyond short-term solutions and actually aim for long-term, substantial ones.
At a time we feel relieved that the file of Syrian–Lebanese relations has overcome all this pile of mistakes and landmines, we hope that everyone would help in accompanying this file with major, on-the-ground steps to enhance inter-Arab relations, especially in the face of the arrogant and Zionist projects being schemed against our entire Arab and Islamic reality.