Friday speeches 12 Safar 1425h/2 April 2004AD

Allah says in His Glorious Book: Allah only desires to keep away the uncleanness from you, O people of the House! (33:33).
One of those members is Imam Al-Hassan (a.s.) bin Ali bin Abi Talib (a.s.) the grandson of Muhammad (p.), and the son of Fatima (a.s.). This Imam who was loved by the Messenger (p.) and who used to ask God to love him and love those who love him. He also considered him along with his brother Imam Al-Hussein (a.s.) as “The Masters of Youth in Heaven”.
The Messenger (p.) used to play with them, looking at them as his sons after he had lost his own son, Ibrahim. They lived their childhood with the Prophet (p.) and discovered the morals, spirituality and behavior of the Prophet (p.) whether at home, at the mosque or with fellow Muslims. The Messenger (p.) was preparing them for assuming leadership, not because of their blood relation, but because he was commanded by God to do.
Thus, Imam Hassan (a.s.) was prepared for this task by the Prophet (p.) in his childhood and by his parents who were also prepared for the same role by none other than the Messenger (p.) .

Thus, Allah wanted the Members of the House,as we are told by the Quranic verses and the Prophet (p.) in his sayings,to be the shining face of Islam. And this is what we notice from the Messenger’s saying: “I am leaving among you too things which, if you hold to, you will never be led astray: the Book of Allah and the House of my family, who will never be separated, until they come back to me in Heaven”.
Thus, the Members of the House were inseparable from the Holy Book: It was expressed in their thoughts sayings and behavior. Furthermore, they had their grandfather morals, which according to one of his wives, were those of the Quran. They were the embodiment of the Quran and the virtually living Quran.
Thus, when we pledge loyalty to Ahl el-Beit, we are actually pledging to adhere to Islam. Imam al Baqir (a.s.) said: “Whoever is a friend to Allah is a friend to us, and whoever is an enemy to Allah is an enemy to us. Our friendship can not be attained except by piety”.

Imam Zein Al-Abidein (a.s.) talks about his uncle Al-Hassan (a.s.) and describes his as “the most pious ascetic and truthful worshipper in his time”. These were the essential components of his personality which were conveyed to him by the Messenger (p.), Ali (a.s.) and Fatima (a.s.) … He was so modest that he used to travel for pilgrimage on foot and perhaps even bare-footed. This virtue made the elder companions of the Prophet (p.) unmount to salute him. He used to say when he entered the mosque, having raised his head to the sky: “My God, your guest is at your door. Oh God the one who has done bad deeds has come to visit you…”
Of course such words of asking forgiveness are a sign of humbleness of the Imams before God, for they are infallible and do not actually commit sins.
Imam Al-Hassan (a.s.) was also unique in forgiving and in providing an example of how to adopt moral behavior. Once he was riding along with his family and companions when he met a Syrian Sheik who was raised by Muawiah on cursing Ali and his family. When the Sheik knew that he was facing the Imam he began to curse.
The Imam stood there very kindly and prevented his company from harming the old man. When he finished the Imam (a.s.) said: “Oh, old man, I think you are hungry and we would feed you, and if you are poor, we would give you money...” And he ordered his servants to take him to his house and entertain him. The old man was surprised and began to compare between what he has been told about the Members of the Family and what he saw. He had to come up with the unavoidable conclusion: That these were the manners of Islam and that Allah, the most Exalted, knows best whom he would entrust His Message with.
We have to learn these manners and adopt and understand this methodology to be able to confront the coercive agencies that have always tried to change people’s minds whether in religion or in politics.
They have always tried to distort the image of those they want to destroy. They might even claim that their enemy is an infidel. Muawiah used to say that Imam Ali (a.s.) does not pray and that we fight him as a means of enjoying the good and forbidding evil. When the Commander of the Faithful was martyred, Ibn Abbass asked Muawiah “why do you insist on cursing Ali” and Muawiah explained he wanted it to turn into a habit for all generations. Thus people maintained this attitude for seventy years that is until Omar bin Abdilaziz ordered them to stop cursing.
Muawiah’s plan was to brainwash the Muslims so that nobody will come to carry the message and assume leadership. That is why Imam Al-Hassan (a.s.) wanted to counter this brainwashing by providing evidence that it is false in real life. Thus he was able to gain a friend who was hitherto an enemy, in accordance with the Quarnic method that calls on dealing with the best way to turn an enemy into a friend. But the problem of even some of the believers lies in that they turn their friends into enemies, by breaking the symbols of reform in our age. Therefore, we are with Ali (a.s.) in our emotions but not as an example to follow and as a bearer of a message, we should understand and adhere to.

Imam Al-Hassan (a.s.) lived with his father, Imam Ali (a.s.) and learned from his experiences. He learned that he should uphold and protect Islam. Imam Ali (a.s.) used to seek the help of Imam Al-Hassan (a.s.) when the going got tough. He was his messenger to Koufa. He also lived the problem of making peace with Muawiah after his father’s death
He was unsatisfied or happy with Muawiah’s leadership. But he had to stand still because the circumstances were not favorable for a rise as they were later with Imam Hussein. It is not a matter of two different attitudes a Hassani and a Husseini.
It is rather the same line but in different circumstances just as the Messenger had to fight at times and engage in warfare at others.
When we study the lives of the Prophet (p.) and Ahl el-Beit, we have to do so, on the basis that they take their stands in accordance with the interests of Islam and Muslims… These interests differ in different circumstances: it might be attained through fighting in certain times and in holding peace in others…
We are with Ahl el-Beit but not in a fanatic or sectarian way; we are with them because they are with Islam and because their words are the words of the Messenger and their actions are the actions of Muhammad. Thus, they do not represent an offshoot or a certain faction of Islam. Moreover, they are not religious scholars who try to deduce fatwas and might be wrong sometimes and right in others. They are the infallible Imams who do not commit any wrong and whose teachings are those of Islam.
May Allah, the most Exalted, have peace on them and may He let them intercede for us in the hereafter

What do the Arab view as a priority? Is it the reform of the totalitarian regimes which have always been dictatorships that confiscate human rights as well of the right of democratic change of government…? Or is it the reform of the Arab League which was brought up by the British and which grew up under the sponsorship of the Americans who made it serve their interests and forced its leaders to follow their commands…? Or should they reform their policies towards Palestine in a way that enable them to lift off its burden from their shoulders. Or is it the American British occupation of Iraq that created several political, security and economic problems in the region, including its blockade of the neighboring countries, Syria, Lebanon, Iran, the rest of the Gulf and perhaps even Turkey on the road of directly controlling the resources of the region.
The Arab world is wondering about what the first priority, and what the guarantees are for the success of a summit that was postponed by a single Arab ruler… Could those responsible for corruption achieve reform?
And could those who transformed their countries into big prisons plan for freedom, not to mention that they transformed their citizen into immigrants or dislocated people running away from the intelligence agencies and the emergency laws that still govern the citizens in the name of the struggle against Israel, which has already been abandoned by several Arab states. It has become evident that their concern is to protect the ruler from the people and not the people from the ruler or from Israel and the US.

As for Palestine, the Arab official majority is still irritated by the Intifada that prevents offering concessions to the American Israeli alliance. It also tries to coerce the Mujahideen or exert pressure on them by the Palestinian Authority, which is expected or even ordered, by the Arabs, the Americans and the Israelis, to disarm the Mujahideen, so that they would not able to object against the concessions demanded by the American envoys who do not care about the Palestinian interests. All they care for is to implement the Zionist strategy of physically liquidating the Palestinians.
Meanwhile, they continue to drive the Road Map towards accommodating the Israeli conditions which make the proposed Palestinian state a project that does not establish the Palestinian right of self-determination, nor does it create a viable state… That is why the racial wall and the settlements are not met by any American objection on pressures. The Americans also prevent Europe, Russia and the UN from exerting any pressure on Israel.
As for the withdrawal from Gaza, it is a Zionist ploy that has been welcomed by the American politicians, who are in the midst of the presidential race and would accept anything that Israel says to secure the satisfaction of the Jewish voters.
Thus, America’s foreign policy is dictated by the internal political needs, which the whole world should pay the price for, the interests of the various nations notwithstanding.

Iraq still suffers from a great instability in all domains including security, politics and the future of Iraq as a whole. One big question still hangs: will the occupation forces continue to be in control over Iraq’s resources and political decisions, or would the UN be in charge of holding elections in Iraq, and have a decisive role in creating a free future for Iraq? Or would it continue to play a humanitarian marginal role?

The Arab peoples do not trust this league that is dominated by those leaders who cannot make up their mind on what to do.
This attitude is but a ploy to deceive their people and save their face. Those who drunk the cup of postponement and freezing in the first round will drink from the same bitter sweet cup in the second round. As for the reform, freedom women’s rights, Palestine …etc, they have to stay in their place or move one step forward and another backward according to the American dictates.

Lebanon’s debt, as it is widely spread, has reached 35 billion Dollars with nobody knowing how to pay them back, due to all that corruption and theft.
Lebanon also suffers from a deficiency in development as a result of partisan and political fanaticism…We need to look for honest and efficient people to encrust them with our local governments, but we have grown addicted to sectarian solutions that we cannot be cured from, unless we train ourselves to think about the interests of the entire country.
The Lebanese ought to learn from the Turkish people in electing local governments and from the Spaniards in electing parliament members, so that they could have the ability to change those who deviate from the straight line.
The people should lead their representatives and not the other way round… The country and the people should not be lead by those who have put their hand on their wills, those who benefit from their weak points and those who take their awareness to sleep by the drugs of fanaticism instead of giving them stimulating drugs of freedom.