God says in Glorious Book: And We will most certainly try you with somewhat of fear and hunger and loss of property and lives and fruits; and give good news to the patient, Who, when a misfortune befalls them, say: Surely we are Allah's and to Him we shall surely return. Those are they on whom are blessings and mercy from their Lord, and those are the followers of the right course. He also says: and bear with patient constancy whatever betide thee; surely these acts require courage; and: only the patient will be paid back their reward in full without measure.

One of our Imams said: Patience with respect to belief is the same as the head to the rest of the body. If the head falls the rest of the body follows, and if the patience dies the belief does too.

Certain traditions have conveyed to us that when man is in his grave and his questioning begins, he would have the prayers on his right the almsgiving on his left and patience over his head. Patience will then tell the other two: deal with him (the one questioning) if you cannot, I will deal with him".

This is because patience is the foundation that belief rests on. If we study the issue in our life, we will find that man cannot maintain any, despite or commitment except by patience.

One might be tempted not to perform prayers or almsgiving or any responsibility in life, because it might cost some moral or physical deprivation that might be too difficult to bear. Moreover, if a man can not fulfil a prohibited desire he will feel pains. The same thing might occur in performing the responsibilities as that Allah has ordered since these responsibilities require an effort, which runs counter to the inner demands of comfort.

The issue is not limited to the lusts and desires. It also extends, to the stands that materialize the humanity of man like the issue of freedom. Man might be challenged to lose his freedom and to become a slave to those who have power, whether arms money or other sources. Thus, to be free is to have the willpower to reject all what affects your freedom and makes you a slave to others, in politics, economy or in social life.

Imam Jaa'far As-Sadiq associated between freedom and patience. He considered that in order to be free you should possess the patience that will prevent you from yielding to the effects of deprivation and other hardships. He says: A free man is free in all his situations".

To give an example, the Imam cites prophet Yusuf  (a.s.) whose will was not conquered neither by the depth of the well nor by the darkness and torture of the prison. He was then sent as a prophet to guide his people and to bestow Allah’s Mercy on them. Thus, patience as a sign of freedom is a virtue that, as we are reminded by the Imam, would be ultimately rewarded. The imam concludes, therefore, that you have to be patient and train yourself on patience and that if you do this you will be rewarded.

In the light of this, we conclude that the issue of patience is associated with freedom, especially when the nations have to face political economic and military besieges. If they are patient, they will be able to achieve victory in the end, and thwart the arrogant plans.

We read in the sayings of Imam Ali (a.s.), Patience is of two kinds: patience over what pains you, and patience against what you covet. Imam Al-Baqir says: "When my father Ali bin Al-Hussein was dying he told Me: I will advise you with what my father advised me on his deathbed: Be Patient on the rights even if it is bitter" for the results will be sweet.

Thus, when we want to obey God, realize our freedom and affirm our humanity. We have to educate ourselves on the need to be patient in assuming our responsibilities, since patience is not a weakness but a straight. This is what God has said: and bear with patient constancy whatever betide thee; surely these acts require courage. He also said that we should deal with the various challenges the infidels and the arrogant throw at us Ye shall certainly be tried and tested in your possessions and in your personal selves; and ye shall certainly Hear much that will grieve you, from those who received the Book before you and from those who worship many gods. But if ye persevere patiently, and guard against evil, then that will be a determining factor in all affairs, meaning that we should face all their plate with patience and piety and remain steadfast without losing our freedom and become humiliated.

The Second Sermon

Israel is carrying out a gradual attack on Gaza with airplanes, tanks, missiles and assassinations. It is a barbaric aggression that does not exclude women, children and the elderly, and that target civilians, inflicting additional martyrs destroyed houses, and bulldozed farms. In addition, settlements are expanding, and the racial wall that appropriates additional Palestinian lands continues to be built in a devious plot that suffocates the Palestinians. This American Israeli plot that enjoys Arabian support aims at filling the elected Palestinian government as a part of a long term American strategy that aims at putting Palestine in the framework of a larger project that involves the entire region, especially that the Israeli justification for the offensive is the fear of the militant organizations headed by Hamas, turn into another Hizbollah. They talk about Hamas being able to form commando units and other units that are equipped with anti-tank rockets and similar sophisticated arms, including night vision equipment that would be smuggled to Gaza.

It is astonishing that the Arab countries with all the economic and political cards within its reach, do not oppose this new war against the Palestinians. The Arabs do not want any resistance against Israel to prove that it is capable of confronting, because such a stand contradicts its commitments to the American Administration that employed them to be guards against the emergence of any force in the Arab world that might create problems to the American Arrogance.

We call on the Arab and Muslim people to voice their condemnation of the new Israeli aggression against the Palestinians and to take to the streets in the way they did during the last aggression against Lebanon. We want the Palestinians to form a national unity government as a basis for confronting this aggression. Israel is not with one Palestinian group against the others. It is against all Palestinians. Meanwhile America continues to waste time by calling to fruitless meetings of the Quartet Committee, and giving the Palestinians, especially the PA, false promises, to allow Israel to continue to implement its plan of dominating over all of Palestine, especially after the Israeli government had included some of the extremists who wish to destroy all Palestinians, including those who live in 1948 occupied lands.

The authorities in the Arabs states should understand that if they continue in their humiliating silence and political indifference, the temple will fall on its lead as well as everybody else.

The American Administration that failed internally and internationally remains stuck in its political and military impasse in Iraq, Afghanistan and other countries. Despite using all its power it failed to achieve any victory, which will force it to return to Iran and Syrian to try to find some balance in its policies in the region, hoping to obtain some stability in the regions it occupies.

The Iraqis have been living daily massacres against the civilians aided by a cover provided by the occupation forces that did not establish security to the people, nor was it able to defend then in the face of the hateful Takifiris who have distorted the image of the honourable resistance that is successfully fighting the occupation and that will force it soon or later to withdraw. The nations have begun to hate America as a result of the policies of the incumbent administration and will intimately defeat these arrogant policy as a result of the strong rejection for all what these policies represent and its undermining of the interests of the peoples of the region.

Lebanon lies in an intricate impasse as the political elites are blind folded and act under the influence of sectarian policies that claim to be national. Their plans are lost between the external pressures and the internal complications. The international powers receive some of the Lebanese politicians to guide them to what further destabilizes the country and prevents any realistic opportunity for a dialogue, since they want to keep Lebanon in this state of internal division over such complicated issue as the national unity government or the international court turning the dialogue into one between the deaf.

The end of the Israeli aggression should have lead Lebanon into a solution and not an impasse. The national priorities in this case should have been crystal clear: implementing resolution 1701 by ending the Israeli over flight violations, returning the Sheba' farms and the prisoners, and ending the role of the open front for all struggles, as well as initiating the economic and political reforms that ensures the success of Paris 3.

Thus there is a need to concentrate on reconstruction, revitalizing the economy and engaging into the dialogue that aims at creating an understanding to find solutions to the unresolved issues: The defence strategy, the crisis of power, as well as implementing what has been agreed upon.

But what is happening on the ground, especially with respect to Lebanon's inclinations towards the regional and international struggles is something else.