FRIDAY SPEECH October 19, 2001

A few days ago, was the anniversary of the beginning of Muhammad’s message, as well as that of Israa and Mi’rage (the night journey and the ascendancy of the Prophet).

In this spiritual atmosphere we would like to recall the image of the early Islam, when Allah revealed to His Messenger (P) that he was to begin his mission, having prepared him both mentally and practically as well as spiritually. The Prophet thus began his mission relying on the reputation he built within his community that used to view him as their advisor when they needed to decide upon any significant problem.

They also used to call him the honest and the truthful,

for he never said a lie or failed to return a trust.

So, when he began to tell them about his mission and about Islam, they were listing to someone whom they ought to believe considering what they knew about him.

Allah has told us about his first task when He said: ”When He raised among them an apostle from among themselves reciting to them His Ayahs and purifying them and teaching them the Book and the Wisdom, although before they were surely in manifest error”.

His first task was to recite to them the Quranic verses, to listen to them, be taken by their magic and start to contemplate in their meanings and then they would enter their hearts and minds.

The infidels of Quraish were astonished to find out that they too were affected by the magic of these verses and could only call one another not to listen to them. They even used to make a lot of noise so that no one could hear, for they knew that whoever listens to the Quran with an open mind and heart will believe in God right away...

Thus, when people came to the Prophet, he needed only to recite the Quran to gain followers. We also notice that much of the Quran was revealed in Mecca, because its task was to shock the virginity of their ideas.

The Messenger (P) used to purify and develop them, so that their minds with grow on the right, their hearts will be filled with love and good and their actions with justice. That is why we find that the Prophet had several ways of dealing with those whom he lived with, rational proof for those who looked for reason to believe, and emotions with those whose personality was lead by emotions. But all the while he used to be the role model that embodies all the values he preaches for.

That is why Allah ordered the believes to

”Whatever the Apostle gives you accept it and whatever he forbids you, Keep away”

and told the people to follow his example

” Certainly you have in the Apostle of Allah an excellent example for him who hopes in Allah and the latter Day and remembers Allah much”

His ethics was the letter he sent to the hearts of the people. He was as described by the Quran: “Of sublime morality: and a” Mercy from Allah”. He was of a kind heart that hates no one and never says anything cruel to anyone. And this is how all the callers to God

The Messenger addresses his message to man, and man is a mind a heart and feelings. If you want some one to believe in an idea; if you want an idea to enter his mind, it should enter his heart. You yourself should dig into your heart and make them love you. But if you have a black heart full of malice and hatred, nobody will love you and this what the Commander of the Faithful, Imam Ali bin Abi Talib, who has one of the great hearts in history, meant when he said: Take out evil from the hearts of others by taking it from your own hearts. There is a tradition that says: ”A good word is a form of charity”. It is a gift that you present to others, because it shows that you love and respect them. The Messenger (P) had such a good heart that loved all people. He even used to feel sad for those who did not believe. He did not exploit people to turn them into blind followers, but rather he wanted their own good as their belief will save them in both worlds.

with such attributes the Messenger (P), began his call and entered their hearts and minds. But the arrogant and the rich who were afraid that they will loose their privileges as a result of this call carried by this poor orphan who refused all what they had promised him, saying to his uncle AbuTalib. “By Allah, it they put the sun in my right hand and the moon in my left, I will not leave this matter until Allah makes it prevail or until I die for its cause”.

The Messenger (P) confronted all challenges, and threats. He was even called a mad man, but his resolve or belief did not lessen. Instead he was instructed by Allah to teach them how to think

.{Say: “I exhort you to one thing: stand up before Allah in pairs or singly and ponder whether your compatriot is truly mad. He is sent forth to warm you against a dreadful scourge}.

We ought to study this methodology and adopt it, especially that there among us who do not mind to say any irresponsible words to describe the reformers, the religious scholars and the Mujahideen, if they do not agree with what they say. Therefore we ought to ask ourselves when we face such accusations: Does what they are saying conform with what we know about the man, his stands and the actions he has takenall his life?

Thus we find that the Messenger (P) wanted the Message to enter the minds of people without any show-off of muscles or any intimidation, as we see nowadays when we find some people claiming that they met with Imam Al-Mahdi, or that they know what will happen in the future. The Prophet himself was portrayed in the Quran as an ordinary human being whom Allah reveals to

{Say: ”I do not tell you that I posses the treasures of Allah or know what is hidden, nor do I claim to be an angel. I follow only that is revealed to me}.{Say: ‘I am no prodigy among the apostles; nor do I know what will be done with me or you. I follow only what is revealed to me, and my only duty is to give plain warning’}.

This is the prophet, a modest person who is considered as one of the prophets although he is their master. One that does not know from the hidden except what Allah told him. One that does not have a fortune to give, but who tells the people that Allah has given you your mind , to use. Use it and you will believe. And do not believe in anything unless you had thought about it. Do not give your mind a vacation no matter how short it is. Use it, for we in the East usually follow others driven by our emotions and instincts and not as a result of our firm rational conviction, although we are going to be asked by Allah about the reasons that made as take each and every stand we had taken.

If you want to be a follower of Muhammad, Ali and the Imams whose minds are an extension of that of the prophet, we have to be responsible through our minds so that we will able to answer our Lord in the hereafter:

“O you who believe be careful of your duty to Allah, and let every soul consider what is has sent on for the morrow and be careful of in Surely Allah is aware of what you do.

Worshippers of Allah (SWT)…. Be Pious and seek Allah’s satisfaction that is not limited to fasting praying and Hajj. It extends to all what we do or say, especially in the field of our social and political lives.

As we live now in an era that witnesses the transformation of all the powers of arrogance into one nation, we have to plan so as to avoid in the first phase the result of its offensive, and to defeat the arrogance in a later stage.

The Intifada development into a new stage when it began to target Zionist officials. It has killed the first Israeli minister in retaliation for the assassination of several Palestinian political and resistance leaders. The enemy has begun its aggression, storming the Palestinian villages and towns with its tanks and troops and uprooting trees, killing children, woman and the elderly and talking about a fire that will burn everything.

The Intifada has turned Sharon’s plan for Israeli security into a failure. All the Israeli government military and economic means were not able to provide the security promised by Sharon. But if the Palestinian Authority had to play the game of detaining the Intifada men under the American and Israeli pressures, the spirit of the Intifada has proved its ability to resist all these pressures . The Intifada should continue, for the present state is as follows: Either the Palestinians will yield to the Israeli pressures and stop the Intifada enabling the Israelis to impose their conditions in the negotiations, or Israel will have to recognize the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people as a result of the Palestinian steadfastness and resolve.

Therefore, the Palestinians should rise to the level of challenge, responding to each shelling of their villages and towns with a similar shelling, and retaliating for each assassination by assassinating Israeli officials… The enemy has dropped all red lines with its brutal and barbaric operations… Thus, there should be no red lines in front of the Intifada. Restraint or detention of the Mujahideen, as demanded by the international calls, does not do any good for the cause of freedom and independence… The Arrogant powers will have to uphold its responsibility towards the military chaos that could develop in the occupied territories.

Arabs and Muslims have to insist –even if it were for once only- on imposing their own conditions in giving the Palestinians their rights as a precondition to join the coalition against the so-called terrorism...

The war against Afghanistan has changed into a war against the civilians, with America testing its state of the art weapons in killing hundreds of women, children and the elderly…

It has also dislocated of Afghanis who are running to find shelter in caves, mountains or neighboring countries, only to die out of hunger since no aid or food is reaching them.

In this respect, the biggest crime is the joining of Muslim states like Pakistan and Turkey, the war that kills Muslims in the name of fighting terrorism and not Islam… the fact that Pakistan declares that Taliban is not s terrorist organization notwithstanding..

The land battle that is still to come promises to be a human massacre for civilians in which Afghanis Pakistanis and other Muslims will take part to serve the cause of international arrogance and kill fellow Muslims.

We call on all our Afghan brothers to find a way to unite and stop fighting one another.

They ought to find a common political, economic and security ground to establish their unity away from any arrogant influence.

The international game does not serve the interests of nations but that of the arrogant powers, no matter what they say in this respect.

Therefore, it is unlawful for a Muslim to fight another Muslim, especially if this fight serves the interests of the Arrogant. We know that there are several diverse political and cultural lines among the factions engaged in this internal conflict.. But the time now is for the unity against the foreigners… Just as your unity in the past secured your victory against the soviet occupation… This war is not the war of the world against terrorism… It is America’s war against those who oppose its policies .We have denounced all terrorist acts against civilians all over the world. And we now denounce this international terrorism against the weakened Afghani innocent civilians… We can not find an explanation for all this international American, Russian and European enthusiasm to join the war against so weak a people like the Afghanis, nor do we understand the reason for all this silence towards all the Zionist crimes in Palestine.

What is happening now will yield further anarchy and chaos and ultimately new forms and acts of terrorism. For pressure generates explosions. We do not justify terrorism, but we have to understand the objective cause of Terrorism so as to uproot terrorism.

Finally we call on the Lebanese to be aware of persecution, for there are many parties that might try to take advantage of the current situation to incite internal strife… Be aware and keep your unity.