The First Sermon 

In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful

God, the Most Exalted says in His Glorious Book: Allah only desires to keep away the uncleanness from you, O people of the House! and to purify you a (thorough) purifying. One of those people is Imam Jaafar bin Muhammad As-Sadiq (a.s) whose death anniversary passed on the 25th of the month of Shawal. This Imam filled the Islamic culture in his age with culture, knowledge, philosophy and advancement in all these fields.

In that era, you would not have found any one who did not benefit from his knowledge, become his student or citied one of his sayings.

One of the hadith scholars  at that time says: I entered the Kufa[i] Mosque, and saw 900 teachers each of them starting by saying I was told by Ja'afar bin Muhammad As-Sadiq (a.s.). His biographers say that they have counted those who cited his traditions and sayings and found that they reached four thousands.

Furthermore, when we study his legacy we will find that it was so diverse dealing with philosophy, ethics, religious sciences and even physical sciences like chemistry, which one of the  great scholars of chemistry of that age, Jaber bin Hayan, mentions that Imam Ja'afar (a.s.)  was his teacher.

Opening up

The school the Imam instituted, opened up on all Islamic groups, whether those of his sect or those of other sects.

Of those he taught was Imam Abu Hanifa, the Imam of the Hanafi school, who he used to say: Were not for the two years (he spent as a student of Imam Jaafar (a.s.)), I  would have been doomed.

Asked who was the most knowledgeable jurist of his time, Abu Hanifa said it was Imam Jaafar (a.s.), adding that he was summoned by Caliph Abu Jaafar Al Mansour who told him that the people have been charmed by Imam Jaafar (a.s.).

He asked him to pick some problematic questions that the Imam would not be able to answer. Then when I started to ask him the questions in front of the caliph and a large audience, The Imam (a.s.) used to reply to each one saying: You say this and this and we say this and this while the people in Medina say this and this, until he answered all forty questions with such a comprehensive outline of all juristic views. Abut Hanifa went on to conclude: Don't we believe that the most knowledgeable people are those who best know what people  differ about.

The Imam also opened up on Malek bin Anas, the Imam of the Maliki school, who used to say: No eye has seen, and no ear has heard, and no mind have thought of someone better than Jaafar bin  Muhammad in his knowledge, worshipping and piety.

Knowledge and Science:

Imam Jaafar's school of thought was instituted on several general principles:

The first being the value of reason in Islam since Allah made the mind the argument  that justifies His reward and punishment of  His worshippers.  The Imam used to tell his followers that they have to resort to logic and avoid backwardness and myth.  He also said: The mind is the believers’ guide, and he used to associate between the mind and good manners saying: Those who have the most perfect mind  are those who have the best manners. He also used to cite the Prophet  as saying: we the group of prophets were ordered to speak to people at the level of their intelligence  since  if you want to convince someone you must talk to him in the language he understands.

The second principle the Imam's school was founded on was science. Man has to resort to science in all things that has to do with his needs. He used to cite the Messenger as saying: Seeking knowledge is a duty on every Muslim. be he man or woman. In this respect, he believed that it is the responsibility of  the scholar to teach the ignorant saying that he read in Ali's Book that Allah did not commit the ignorant to seek knowledge until he committed the scholars to teach them.

The Imam of Dialogue and freedom

Another basis of Imam Sadiq's school is dialogue. The Imam (a.s) used to believe that when people diverged in their opinions they had to resort to dialogue, for Allah, the most exalted, has commanded us to call for Him by wisdom and to argue with them in the best way. Thus, if you differ with another man you have to enter into a scientific and objective dialogue with him in order to reach conclusive results.

The Imam(a.s) practiced this dialogue, whether with his companions whom he used to conduct  dialogue with them  as a means to correct their thoughts, and methods, or with the atheists who used to discuss the most critical and sensitive questions with  him inside the Haram  Mosque.

Another important foundation, was freedom. The Imam believed that people ought to be free and not yield to pressures, or relinquish their ideas when confronted by the oppressors. He used to say: A free man is always free, If he is faced by trouble, he would be patient, And if catastrophes hit him he will not be defeated or broken even if he was imprisoned.

 The Imam (a.s) used to give Prophet Yousuf (a.s) as a role model to follow.  Prophet Yousuf (a.s) did not submit to slavery when he was enslaved. But he was patient and lived his freedom inside him, until the oppressor became, by Allah's will, his salve.

This is what the Imam taught: you should always be free, because freedom lies inside you. If others are able to imprison your body, they cannot lock up  your thought, because they do not control it.

The Imam's school also emphasized the importance of dignity. He believed that Allah's assertion that the believers are dignified means that Allah has left the believers in charge of all their affairs, but he did not allow them to humiliate themselves, either by engaging in what will lead them to apologise later or putting themselves in situations they cannot bear.

A life Guide:

The Imam (a.s) wanted to warn people that not all the hadith that is narrated among the Shiites and Sunnis are authentic. But how would we distinguish between an authentic hadith and a false one? The Imam says that we have to go back to the Book of Allah. If it conforms to it then it is authentic, but if it does not then it is false, regardless of the person who is narrating it whether he is good or bad.

He used to send verbal messages to his companions saying:

“I enjoin you to fear Almighty Allah, be pious, work hard for the sake of Allah, be truthful in speech, trustworthy in handling trusts, prolong the prostration (sajda) and be good neighbours. This is What Muhammad (p.) came with. Return things trusted to your custody, whether they belong to a pious person or a sinner because the Messenger of Allah (p.) used to enjoin the returning of even [small items like] a thread and a needle. Maintain relationship with your kinfolk, participate in their funerals, visit their sick, and fulfil their right”.

Once he asked one of his companions, who had left his people and travelled with him. How did you leave your brothers?

The man praised them. Then the Imam asked him if their rich help the poor. When the man replied that this was a rare  phenomena. the Imam asked him 'then how do you claim that they are Shiites?

These are some of the countless virtues of Imam Al-Sadiq, and this is what we have to abide by if we consider ourselves to be the followers of Ahl el-Biet. If we wish to become their followers we have to elevate ourselves to the level they wished us to rise to in this world and in the Hereafter.

In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful

The Second Sermon

Targeting the Islamic Identity

In the war the American arrogance and its Western and  Zionist allies are waging against Islam, under the pretence of fighting terrorism, a special emphasis lies on the Quranic culture, and especially the Islamic interpretation of the Glorious Quran. They claim that the Quran represents the basis of the terrorist conception  that encourages physical violence. It also encourages not recognizing the other. They also cite certain negative words that were used in the context of the fight against the oppressors to further solidify their case, but they ignore all the positive words.

They have even begun to demand to delete certain Quranic verses and Holy Hadith from the courses of religious education that are taught to school children. And certain Muslim countries, especially those that normalized the relations with Israel are planning to delete all verses that describe in a negative context the Jew's attitude toward Islam and towards the entire humanity.

In Israel, they have started to interpret God's saying that those who are killed for the cause of God are not dead, but rather living, as encouraging people to commit violence, since they are promised by great rewards. In France too, they have started to say that those who were engaged in the turmoil in the suburbs were racist and violent Muslims, although many of them were black Catholics. Others claim that the problem lies in that Muslims hate the West and refuse to integrate in it.

Such claims that did not bother to study the oppression against Muslim immigrants in the West or the Mujahideen in Palestine are a carefully studied response to justify their hateful behaviour, especially that of the right,  so that they will not feel any guilt, despite the fact that the immigrants whether in Palestine or the West have lived for tens or years in a way that abides by civilized laws, but they were subjected to racial persecution and brutal oppression, a fact that is recognized by free and honest intellectuals  who call for studying the reasons that impel the poor and the downtrodden to revolt.

We call for justice in this world in which those in charge talk about human rights, but at the same time encourage the persecution of occupation forces to the downtrodden nations and practice racial discrimination in the name of fighting racism. We say to all those both in the West and the East: A little bit of honesty in the slogans your raise, some justice in dealing and some realistic studying of the realities in human societies.

On the other hand, we urge all Muslims in schools and cultural institutions to be faithful to Islam, and not to make my concessions regarding any letter of the Glorious Quran. But at the same time we encourage the interpretation of the Quran that focuses on condemning violence except in self – defence or in support of the downtrodden. We want them to face the arrogant campaign that aims at undermining the Muslims’ confidence in Islam, so that they will accept the concessions the arrogant are demanding, to promote their hegemony and appropriate our vital causes.

America's Occupation

We also urge the Palestinians to continue to monitor the complicated situation they are facing in Palestine, and the political complications the Jews create.   This is very important: if they want   to unify their positions of confrontation they should rise above the petty differences the enemy creates among them or their own political ambitions.  The enemy might differ in its internal calculations but they always unite in their efforts to eradicate the Palestinians.

As for Iraq, the latest Bush speeches reveal that all he wants is victory at any cost. All the talk about the Iraqis' cause , Iraqis’ security, democracy and freedom is  but a lie.

The occupation forces have not given the Iraqi security forces anything to defend themselves with, let alone the Iraqi people. Moreover, the Iraqi Army is neither trained nor equipped to protect the country, which means that the occupation plans to stay for a long time while the Iraqi security in moving forward at the speed of a turtle.

We do not find in the near future any realistic chance for the withdrawal of the forces of occupation, not as long as the Iraqi officials ask them to stay, and not as long as the American Administration talks about the necessity of achieving victory not only in Iraq, but also in the entire region. This is what the Iraqi people should understand so as not to be deceived by the fantasy dreams of the occupation's media.

On another level, the complicated security situation in Yemen makes us quite worried and concerned, for we have no confidence in the Government’s policy towards the downtrodden in the region of Saada, in that it seeks a possible peaceful solution based on justice and the right. We call on all the rational and wise people of all Yemeni parties to interfere to stop the blood shedding since they all know that America tries to interfere in such issues, for it considers Yemen as a front to fight terrorism.

Lebanon is besieged:

As for Lebanon, the international, regional and local complications, are still influencing  the internal political field, and as parties are engaged in accusing one another, or in political analysis that incite fears from an outside sabotage violating security, foreign tutelage, investigations that some of accuse of lying while others believe them to be honest: all representing a maze that the Lebanese are addicted to walk through or sink in its quick sand.

Meanwhile, the poor are getting poorer, and the deprived  are calling for a  solution  to save them from the catastrophic circumstances they are suffering from . The enemy looks at us and laughs , while America continues to play Lebanon as a card, without the Lebanese having any role in solving their complications that suffocates their present and future.

They want Lebanon to remain besieged by humiliation. Who would get him out to the fresh air of freedom?