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 Safar 21, 1431 AH/ February 5, 2010, 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
Divine Mercy
Allah, the Most Exalted, says in His Glorious Book: "And when those come to you who believe in Our verses, say, 'Peace be upon you. Your Lord has decreed upon Himself mercy: that any of you who does wrong out of ignorance and then repents after that and corrects himself - indeed, He is Forgiving and Merciful.'" Surat al-An'am (06:54), and: "And call upon Him in fear and aspiration. Indeed, the mercy of Allah is near to the doers of good." Surat al-A'raf (07:56).
Allah wants in these two Ayats to confirm the main trait through which man ought to envisage His Lord, for He is the Most Compassionate, the Most Merciful; the entire existence is the blessing of His mercy. Thus, man would always feel that he is close to Allah, through His mercy that encompasses everything, and he would feel that Allah's mercy is capable of curing his injuries, alleviating his pains, relieving his concerns, quenching his hunger and thirst, forgiving his sins, realizing his ambitions, directing his steps and course towards the right path, and opening up his destiny to Allah's satisfaction and gratification in this world and the Hereafter.
Therefore, Allah's mercy approaches man's prayers to elevate them, listens to his invocations and responds to them, and accepts his deeds, making man feel that all his deeds are indispensable to Allah's mercy. The Messenger of Allah (p.) once said: "Nothing would save you except work with mercy," and: "Allah has created for everything something that overcomes it, and Allah's mercy overcomes His anger."
Thus, mercy was what Allah wanted His Prophet (p.) to spread, for He says: "There has certainly come to you a Messenger from among yourselves. Grievous to him is what you suffer; concerned over you and to the believers is kind and merciful." Surat al-Tawbah (09:128), and the Prophet (p.)'s mercy that Allah has bestowed upon him extended to reach all of humanity, for Allah says: "And We have not sent you except as mercy to the worlds." Surat al-Anbiya (21:107).
The Mercy of Allah's Creations
Dearly beloved, we deduce from all that, that the Muslim ought to adopt mercy as a means of dealing with the people around him, for mercy is the will that the entire Muslim society ought to abide by, as demonstrated in the following Ayah: "Then he is of those who have believed and advised one another to patience and advised one another to compassion." Surat al-Balad (90:17). This is what the Messenger of Allah (p.) confirmed when a man approached him and said: "I would like Allah to bestow His mercy on me." He (p.) told him: "If you have mercy on yourself and others, Allah will grant you mercy on the Day of Judgment." Imam Ali (a.s.) also said: "He who does not have mercy on people, Allah will not have mercy on him."
Therefore, the Muslim ought to base his life on mercy and use it with wisdom in accordance with the prevalent situation, for some people do not benefit from leniency; thus our mercy on them would be to treat them hard and strongly so that they would follow the straight path. This is what Imam Ali (a.s.) pointed to: "Having mercy on he who has no mercy on others obstructs mercy, and protecting he who does not protect anyone makes the nation perish." All praise is due to Allah, the Lord of the Worlds!
The Second Sermon
In the Name of Allah, the Compassionate, the Merciful
The Continuous Zionist Guile
In occupied Palestine, the enemy's Minister of War issued, once again, many threats and said that the situation might worsen to the extent that Israel might wage an all-out war on Lebanon and Syria. Moreover, he declared that they will be merciless with the weak, pointing out that there will be no political settlement, as long as the other party believes that Israel is weak and can be further weakened.
Therefore, the series of Zionist deception continues as they make political threats to wage a lightning war, and execute security assassinations by the Mossad in the UAE, Syria, or even Iran, trespassing all international boundaries, at a time each Arab and Islamic state is meant to close its boundaries, so as not to take any action to help the Muslims and support them against the killing and destruction machines.
This enemy that is manipulating international public opinion ought to be exposed, for it is demonstrating the image of the one seeking peace at a time it is actually in a state of war at the level of planning and executing; thus, it is incapable of enduring any form of settlement or peace.
Being Ready to Defend the Nation
The nation ought to be highly ready at all levels for all kinds of threats, and for the warnings of the American President and his staff against Iran that is commemorating the thirty-first anniversary of its revolution and that has always represented a challenge in the face of international arrogance, so that the entire world would understand that the era of striking and hurting our peoples, without them reacting in the boldest way possible, has ended, and shall never return.
Iraq: The Return of Strife
On another level, the savage criminals have reignited the flames of sedition in Iraq by targeting the visitors of Imam al-Hussein (a.s.)'s shrine, forcing Iraq into the heart of the international and regional political game that is meant to establish the foundations for a new sedition that would eventually lead to a new round of chaos that serves no one but the occupation, and despairs the Iraqis, and manipulates the elections, as well as the entire political movement. The best way to deter and impede the projects of crime and enflaming sedition is to fortify the internal arena and commit to the line of Islamic unity.
Lebanon: Preserving Internal Stability
As for Lebanon, which has represented a solid and firm opponent to the enemy's occupation and aggression, especially during the July 2006 war, it still represents a main target for the forces of hegemony and occupation, and the enemy spares no effort to try to penetrate its arena. Therefore, everyone ought to preserve stability from any fragility and exert every effort to drive the Lebanese state out of the game of quotas that is controlling the movement of the government concerning the civil service appointments that have not been issued yet, and the municipal elections that have entered into an internal political coma, in addition to other frozen titles and issues, driving the country to step into a phase of political paralysis that they call "stability", and an economic and social death that they call "calmness", as well as a political cohabitation that they call "unity".