Friday Speeches Mosque jamadi Althani 3 1424 h, August 1 2003

One of the virtues of social Islamic ethics that aims at enhancing the relations between fellow Muslims, whether individuals or groups, is the virtue of wishing well to others. Such a theme is demonstrated when the believer prays for his brother, when he is standing before God.

In this state, when the Muslim reaches a highly spiritual level and becomes detached from his material surroundings and living in an elevated state of purity and piety, he would remember the various problems his Muslim brothers suffer from and the pains and hardships they endure. He will call God to solve their problems, and lessen their pains. He will let Allah, the most Exalted, bear witness that he is concerned with the pains and sorrows of his Muslim brothers just as he is concerned with his own or that of his actual brothers and relatives.

This practice elevates the soul of man and purifies it from any selfishness. He would start to be concerned with the problems of his brothers even when he is praying. He would thus pray and ask God to grant them what he would ask Him for himself, thus reaching a supreme state of altruism.

Our supplication heritage, especially those of the Quran, the Prophets and the Imams, has taught us to adhere to this spiritual path. They are full of supplications asking God to address the miseries of fellow believers. The prophets, for example, ask God to forgive them, and forgive their parents and all believers, while the supplication that is read after prayers in the month of Ramadan says: O God, Make the dwellers of graves happy... Make each poor rich …Feed all those who are hungry… Pay the dept of all who are in dept… Return all those who immigrated to foreign countries...

Release all prisoners and heal all the sick…”

This supplication teaches Muslims that when they finish their prayers they should think even about those who are dead, and ask Allah to forgive them. They should, while they are living the spirit of fasting think about the hungry, the poor, the sick the distressed, the deprived, the oppressed, the prisoners and the Muslims who live in corruption due to external or internal factors. Thus, this Islamic moral guidance suggests that the spiritual aspect of worship is not separated from the social aspect: One can not be neutral towards all the tragedies and hardships that Muslims live; nor can he believe that it is sufficient to fast and pray. One’s prayer is important, because, among other things, it makes you feel more responsible to help all those you are able to help.

In this respect, praying for fellow believers is expressing a feeling of consolidation and trying to find a way, whether consciously or unconsciously, to help them. Thereby worshiping rites, especially supplication, will lead to participating in enhancing the social unity among believers. Let us read some of the traditions of the Members of the House (a.s.) whom we have said many a time that they voice those of the Messenger (p.). We certainly believe that citing the Messenger’s sayings as well as the Holy book is the basic pillar. But we also believe that citing the sayings of the Imams is also citing the sayings of the Messenger (p.). And that is what Imam Al-Sadiq (a.s.) told us: “My sayings are those of my father. And his are those of my grandfather. My grandfather’s are those of Imam Al-Hussein (a.s). They saying of Imam Al-Hussein (a.s.) are those of Ali (a.s.) . And the sayings of Ali (a.s.) are those of the Messenger (p.) ”.

Imam Al -Baqir (a.s.) in the context of explaining who is meant by the believers” who do good deeds and gives them, more of His grace” (42:26) says that those are the ones who pray for their Muslim brothers. We can imagine thus what would be the punishment of those who produce hatred and try to incite strife among Muslims. Imam Al-Baqir also says that praying for a Muslim brother is the one that is closest to God and the one that is the fastest to be answered.

Imam Al-Sadiq (a.s.), Al-Baqir’s son, says: Praying for your Muslim brother increases wealth and prevents hardships.

This spiritual and moral guidance suggests a general rule: Believers should care about one another… They should be concerned in the affairs and problems of fellow Muslims to create an Islamic unity that fosters cooperation and unity of goals and destiny. We have to remember in this respect, the Prophet’s saying who considers those who are not concerned with Muslims’ affairs as having stopped being Muslims in the profound sense of the word. Did not he say: Whoever stops being concerned about the affairs of Muslims is not a Muslim”.

Faced by all this hatred, and the political, cultural and media war that aims at undermining the unity of Muslims and drive them to become fragmented into parties and tribes… We have, if we truly care about our Islamic future, to learn how to love one another instead of hating and fighting each other.

The meaning of loving God is to love all who love God, and open up on all those whom you meet with on the belief in God and Islam.

It does not seem that the Palestinian cause is anywhere nearer to get out of the dark tunnel... Not even the dimmest light of any solution could be seen in the horizon… Meanwhile, the Arabs continue to put their stakes on America which has began to play the game of accusing its nearest allies, like Saudi Arabia. Both the Congress and the Administration are alternating turns in pressurizing this country although it is one of the oldest countries that Americans exploited its oil.

Thus, America benefits from the Arab political and militarily incompetence. It pressurizes the Arab regimes to deploy them against the basic Palestinian demands… They are using the intelligence game to destabilize and create divisions among the Palestinian people and even the Palestinian authority; all in the name of seeking peace.

They even asked for the return of the Jordanian and Egyptian ambassadors to Israel before any positive development had taken place…

Such a state of affairs have made the Palestinian people stand all alone, with the Arab official front complementing the Israeli and the American policies… The Arab regimes are tired and they have begun to recognize Israel politically and deal with it economically.

Israel has even entered occupied Iraq through the wide gate America had opened with no protest whatsoever from most Arabs.

The Palestinian prime minister preformed “pilgrimage” to the white House hoping to find the best solution to the problem and pave the way to “liberation”… He heard some words of praise that also included some of his ministers. He also heard that he was worthy of trust and that Bush agrees with him on the necessity of fighting the terrorist Intifada. Bush also considered the separating wall as a problem that makes the establishment of a Palestinian state more difficult

But he went back on all that when Sharon came and began to call the wall a security fence, which is, in new his view after Sharon’s visit, a sensitive issue and not a problem.

Thus the American President gave Israel a victory over the Palestinians… In his view, the problem is terrorism, that is combating those fighting the barbaric historical occupation … He also asked Sharon to ease up the life of the Palestinians… but he did not protest against destroying this life… He cried over the Israeli civilians but he did not talk about the pains, of the civilians in Occupied Palestine.

Then came the big ploy when the American Administration announced that it did not change its position regarding the wall issue. They wanted to save Abu Mazen’s face, because they know that the Arabs and the Palestinian Authority could be drugged by words while Israel defies the American policies by actions.

And thus we saw how Sharon announced that the Israelis wish to continue to build the fence, despite any American protest.

The American Administration, and the Congress, believe that Israel’s security is more important than that of the Arabs and Muslims…

In fact, it is more important than that of the world. This suggests that the American Administration has converted America into a satellite state to Israel especially when it comes to foreign policies and its war and peace decisions…

This is what we have noticed in its hostile declaration against Syria and Iran and the lies it used to justify its war on Iraq.

In short, what the visits of Sharon and Abu Mazen served is the return of fighting the so-called Terrorism to the forefront, while withdrawing any hint that the occupation is the cause of the problem... We wonder along with the Palestinians, about the reasons behind the hatred of certain American officials who called Israel to kill Palestinians until the last “Intifada terrorist”. Is the American media whose policies are directed by the Administration antagonizing the American public against the Arabs and Muslims, and especially the Palestinians, so that it can justify its policies of pressure against them, all in the name of freedom and democracy?

We call upon the Palestinians and the Arabs and Muslim peoples to be more careful and to resort to planning and dialogue. We warn the Palestinian Authority that is putting its stakes on the Road Map not to be bitten by the same American -Israeli snake again...

Finally we ask the Quartet Committee members. Why do you accept the playing of a marginal role? Have you too become incompetent like the Arab and Muslim regimes?

Iraq still represents the big concern of the region and perhaps the entire world. The fall of the tyrant regime on the one hard and the American British occupation on the other hand have created a major earthquake in the region with the American Administration trying to change the whole region both politically and economically.

If the wronged Iraqi people had breathed a sigh of relief and began to feel free on the interior level, they still feel deprived in issues of security and public services. Moreover, what the occupation is doing night have negative repercussions on the situation in Iraq which could turn into total chaos.

We call on the Iraq people to be very careful towards these negative repercussions and to change these conditions towards building a free and independent Iraq, using all the potentials and the capabilities we are sure they possess, and creating new circumstances that would cement their national and religious unity on the road for a new civilized and Islamic Iraq. They should face the challenges with a strong will power, a firm determination and a love that is broad enough to reach every Iraqi.

In Lebanon, we notice that the traditional political game is active once again in shrinking the big issues and inflating the trivial ones to serve some private interests here and there that could be linked to certain sectarian or even personal interests. It seems irrelevant that such actions are undermining the living conditions of the people, or poisoning the political life in the country.

If the oppressed and deprived people could raise their voices they will certainly say a lot of things that the officials won’t be happy to hear, with those in charge responding by empty words that would not solve any of the problems.

Meanwhile, as the power taxes have been frozen, until those in charge could find a legal way to re-impose them, the old-new problem of the social security fund has remerged with an overwhelming fear that they plan to lead it to bankruptcy…But, we know that several governmental departments as well as influential rich businessmen do not pay their due to the power company because the law in this country is imposed on the poor alone.

The problem is that we live in country that does not have a ministry of planning, for planning might hinder many of those who benefit from every kind of corruption to increase their fortunes.