Friday speeches Jamadi'II 29 1426 H, August 05 2005 A.D

The number of months in the sight of Allah is twelve (in a year)- so ordained by Him the day He created the heavens and the earth. Four of them are sacred (9:36)

One of these sacred months is the month of Rajab, which begins tomorrow.

This month is one of the months of worship and one of the months that have many Islamic occasions such as: The anniversary of beginning of the Prophet(p.)’s mission, the Prophet(p.)`s night journey, the death of Al-Qazim, the birth of Imam Ali (a.s.) in Ka`aba, the death of Lady Zainab, the death of Imam Al-Hadi and the birth of Imam Al-Baqir.

In this speech, we shall discuss some of the aspects of Al-Baqir`s life. This Imam(a.s.) lived at a time when the Islamic community was going through a struggle between the Umayyads and the Abbasids, and which ended in the victory of the Abbasids. This struggle gave him a freedom of action, both culturally and politically since the Umayyads who used to prosecute the Imams were preoccupied with their fight against the Abbasids while the Abbasids were still establishing their rule. Thus, he talked to a mixed group of various sects and opinions, and was open to every ideology. He used to discuss all issues with no restrictions, like all the schools of Ahl Al-Beit, which were the schools of freedom.

They used to receive all people who wanted to learn, regardless of their religious affiliations or ideologies, sitting with atheists as with Muslims and listening to the ideas of both, for their message was the message of Islam which seeks to find truth in all areas. This is also the message of the clerics who should answer every question the people ask regardless of the topic.

“Imam Al-Baqir was the successor of his father Ali Bin Al-Hassan and the Imam after him. He was known as the most knowledgeable ascetic person of his time…None of the children of Hassan and Hussein showed as much knowledge in religion, hadiths, Qur`an, the Prophet`s”biography or literature. Among his students were some of the companions who were still alive and their followers and the most prominent jurists…”

Ibn Hajr, a Sunni cleric, says: “He revealed hidden treasures of knowledge, just rulings and countless other interesting subjects . No one other than closed-minded or malicious people could deny this fact. He was a collector of knowledge who raised this knowledge and elevated its position.

One of those who narrated those hadiths, a man called Mohammed Bin Muslim, said:

“I have asked him about 30 thousand hadiths and he gave me his opinion about each.”

He repeatedly said that the Holy Quran is the only reference and that we should not believe in any hadith that people say or that is written in books unless it conforms with what the Quran says. If it does, we will accept it and if it doesn’t we will discard it.

Nowadays we might hear people citing hadiths that may contain some legends that go against what is said in the Qur`an. We should not accept these hadiths because the Imam(a.s.) say`s:

“You should only accept a hadith, be it from a pious believer or a hypocrite, if it conforms with what is said in the Quran, and you should reject any hadith whether from a pious believer or a hypocrite if it does not conform to what is said in the Quran.”

Because the Quran is the reference which falsehood could not come to and it does not contain any additions, omissions or deficiencies.

Al Baqir(a.s.) used to encourage people to work and considered work to a kind of worship. According to a story told by a man who once met the Imam(a.s.), the Imam(a.s.) used to encourage people to work and considered work to be a form of worship. This man said:

“Once I went outside in Medina when it was extremely hot and I saw Mohammed bin Ali (a.s.); a very fat man who was walking with the help of two slaves. So I said to myself ‘one of the senior citizens of Quraish having to go out at such a hot hour to earn his living. I should talk to him to urge him not to do so. So I drew near him, greeted him and told him…what would you say if you died at this very hour?’ The man said: ‘If I die, I will die while obeying God and earning my own living so that others won’t have to help me. I would have been afraid to die if I were doing something against God’s will. Having heard this, the man then said I wanted to give you advice but in fact it is you who gave me advice.”

It has been said in certain hadiths:

“Worshipping is of ten parts. The best of these is seeking to earn one’s living.”

Historians have it that he used to mention God at all times: whether walking, talking or doing anything else. And he used to gather his family and tell them to mention God until sunrise. He said in a verbal letter that he wanted to be conveyed to the Shiites:

“The Shiites should be pious. Their rich should help the poor and their strong should support their weak.

The living among them should attend the funeral of the dead. They should meet and exchange visits. Tell our followers that we cannot do them any good if they do not practice good deeds. They cannot claim to be of our followers except by piety. Those who will remorseful the most on the Day of Judgment are those who knew what is good and yet they followed what is different.”

Talking about charity, the Imam (a.s.) corrected a wrong attitude among the believers. If a believer were asked to help a poor family he would regretfully deny saying that he doesn’t have enough money but he might nevertheless save his money to go on pilgrimage for the second or third time. Criticizing this attitude the Imam (a.s.) says:

“To help a needy Muslim family by giving food clothes or the like is better than performing pilgrimage twice, three times…” ( until he reached seventy.)

Therefore, the Imam (a.s.) considers that sustaining a poor family has a bigger reward than seventy pilgrimages.

On the issue of knowing oneself; to know whether one is good or bad, loved or hated by God, the Imam(a.s.) says:

“If you want to know that there is good in you, then look at your heart. If it loves those who obey God and hates those who disobey Him then there is good in you and God loves you. If it hates those who obey God and loves those who disobey God then there is no good in you and God hates you.”

In another saying he says that he who wants to know whom he will be with in the Hereafter after has to look at whom he is with in this world. Thus if you don’t want to be with someone in the other world, how could you follow him in this world and give up your religion and your dignity to him?

Our commitment to following the members of the house is a commitment to the authentic original Islamic beliefs that earn us God’s pleasure and ensures our safety in this world and the next. Peace be on Imam Mohammed Al Baqir (a.s. ), his fathers and his sons.

Sharon has recently made a statement in which his real future plans were revealed. In this statement, he said that the separation plans will “guarantee that we will keep large parts of the Jewish homeland forever.” He added that: “there will never be a return to the 1967 borders or the return of the Palestinian refugees. We will never compromise on anything that has to do with Israel’s security.” At the same time, Israel is building a wall in Gaza that would strangle the Gaza strip under the pretext of preventing the Palestinians from re-entering Israel. As for the international community, it has only warned about the consequences of the oppressive Israeli measures that are tightening the grip on Jerusalem. So what is behind all this?

Sharon is actually declaring his plan to Judiaze Palestine, leaving the Palestinians with so little that Sharon will effectively besiege them to ensure that they will never establish a viable independent state. In the meantime, the major powers remain silent and even praise the butcher of the Shabra and Chatilla massacres (not to mention the daily massacres he commits in Palestine). This is what happened recently in Paris where he received a welcome of the type that only a few leaders would receive. This is because of certain internal needs and because America considers support for Israel to be precondition to good relations with the U.S. I am afraid that this pressure will extend to other EU countries, especially after the aggressive campaign against the Muslims of Europe in the aftermath of the London bombings.

The danger is that the Zionist policies are moving the attention of the Palestine cause from one partial problem to another so that the Palestinians and the world will forget about the strategic problem and Israel will be able to achieve its goal of eliminating the Palestinian cause, especially after it accomplishes its plan to annex the West Bank, which Israel considers to be part of its biblical state. The US, for its part, continues to implement its deceptive strategies to conceal the true consequences of the Israeli actions and ensure that the Arab and Islamic world is duped into accepting them.

We call upon the Palestinians to be aware of the dangers of this plan and not to be deceived by the so-called withdrawal from Gaza, which is destined to be the promised Palestinian state. In fact, Israel would actually be achieving its goal of occupying what they consider to be biblical Israel by securing their positions elsewhere. We encourage the Palestinians to continue their Intifada in order to maintain the current impasse facing the Israelis no matter how the American-Israeli conspiracy develops, since the Palestinians have nothing left to lose except their chains. We call on them to unite and resolve their differences through dialogue in order to maintain their strength and use it against their real enemies.

Regarding the Euro-American stand on the Iranian peaceful nuclear project, it is still pressurizing Iran to accept humiliating concessions. They do not want Iran to possess any power that could upset the current military balance in the region. We want the Iranian Muslim people to remain steadfast in the face of western pressures that aim at keeping the Muslim world politically, militarily and economically weak, while, at the same time, providing Israel with every kind of support, including nuclear weapons, that enable it to threaten the region.

We urge the Iraqi people to develop a plan that will force the Americans to withdraw so that Iraq will gain its freedom. They should also promote unity and steer away from any divisive projects, especially as I am afraid that federalism will divide the country. In reality, it is a very vague project that will allow the Kurdish region to gain independence from the rest of the country. Iraqis should uphold national and Islamic unity and stand against those who are bombing innocent civilians under false sectarian pretenses. These people are actually helping the occupiers to prolong their presence since they are giving them the excuse of maintaining security.

In Lebanon, the people expect their government to study their problems carefully and especially those concerning security and the economy. As for the political situation, the government should seek to distant itself from American and European interventions that hide behind dubious political projects such as the pressure to implement resolution 1559 that calls for the disarmament of the resistance. What the Israelis and the Americans want is that Lebanon should not be in any position of strength to confront Israel. They wish Israel to remain the only power that could dominate Lebanese land, people and resources.

I appreciate the goodwill efforts to re-establish good relations between Lebanon and Syria on the basis of the unity of the two countries when facing their common enemies as well as political and economic integration and cooperation on security. This should be done on the basis of mutual respect of each other’s independence. If the difficulties in relations between the two countries persisted it would be harmful for both countries and the politicians should be aware of this when they make fiery statements that could de-stabilize the whole country.