Friday speeches 11 Shawal 1423h/5 December 2003AD

Allah says in His Glorious book: Certainly We sent Our messengers with clear arguments, and sent down with them the Book and the balance that men may conduct themselves with equity; and We have made the iron, wherein is great violence and advantages to men, and that Allah may know who helps Him and His messengers in the secret; surely Allah is Strong, Mighty.57:25

In this Holy verse, Allah, the most Exalted, stresses the fact that Justice is the basis of all Heavenly Messages, since all of them basically convey the same message that people have to establish justice to ensure stability… They have to respect the rights of others, whether those decreed by the religious laws or those stipulated by mutual contracts .

It might even be that the problem in the East or the Third World is that we are preoccupied with how to reduce or even eliminate injustice, which dominates our homes, clubs, governments and markets, in addition to the international injustice represented by international arrogance. This injustice is what brought the disease of backwardness to our society.

The principle of justice and respect of the freedom and rights of others allows men to dedicate their efforts to developing their humane aspects, and enrich their scientific knowledge and their culture in general and thus build an advanced civilization. But if people wrong one another, practicing injustice whether in government, trade or family relations, the social structure of the society will collapse and backwardness will be dominant.

In this respect, Imam Ali (a.s.) considers justice to be the basis of the universe; it is the balance that Allah, the most Exalted, has erected to establish the Right.

He adds that one should not, therefore, violate the decrees of this balance nor should one defy the authority of Allah, the most Exalted. In the light of this, to be a Muslim is to be just. This is something we have to educate ourselves and the coming generations on.

But to be just we ought to know our rights and the rights of others. We have to know of the rights we owe to God: to worship him and obey him without ascribing any partners to Him… Then there are the rights of the subjects the ruler should respect ; he has to be just and treat them as equals before the law. Justice in financial affairs means that you ought to give each person the money that is due to him and never deny anyone the money that is lawfully his. As for the justice in human relations, it could be attained when children know the rights of parents and parents know the rights of children, and both the husband and wife know their mutual rights. We all have to know our rights and the rights of others so that we will not commit any mistake or think that our strength would justify violating the rights of others.

In this manner we would live in a society that is governed by justice. And this is what Allah, the most Exalted, said: Surely Allah commands you to make over trusts to their owners and that when you judge between people you judge with justice; surely Allah admonishes you with what is excellent; surely Allah is Seeing, Hearing. 4:58

Asked who is the most just, the Messenger(p.) said: “The most just is he who likes for others what he likes for himself, and hates for others what he hates for himself. Moreover, we have seen how Allah, the most Exalted, wanted the people to be just, regardless of friendships or enmities.

Justice is blind and does not take into consideration the people’s social and political position, nor personal relationships. A just person is he who is not affected by the fact that the other is an enemy or a friend. And this is what Imam Ali (a.s.) said:

“The strong notable is weak in my eyes until I make him deliver the rights (of others) and the weak and humble is strong and dignified until I can return his right to him”

This is what the Quran says, It stresses the need to rule justly and testify by nothing but the truth even against yourselves or your parents: O you who believe! be maintainers of justice, bearers of witness of Allah's sake, though it may be against your own selves or (your) parents or near relatives; if he be rich or poor, Allah is nearer to them both in compassion; therefore do not follow (your) low desires, lest you deviate; and if you swerve or turn aside, then surely Allah is aware of what you do.
(4:135).

In another verse, Allah, the most Exalted, commands us to be truthful even if in a testimony that would serve the enemy :O you who believe! Be upright for Allah, bearers of witness with justice, and let not hatred of a people incite you not to act equitably; act equitably, that is nearer to piety, and he careful of (your duty to) Allah; surely Allah is Aware of what you do (5:8).

to teach all humans , Imam Ali (a.s.) tells his son, al-Hussein (a.s. ) - although the latter is infallible too - to be pious in richness and poorness… to be just with the friend and the enemy.

Imam Zein Al-Abideen asks God in one of his supplications that are very important to us as a source of education, to help him “to remain pious when he is angry as when he is pleased so as not to commit any mistakes”. He asks Allah to let him seek to obey and please Him alone and not any other friend or enemy…. “So that my enemy will feel safe from my wronging and my friend will give up any hope in my bias”.

Allah also says: and when you speak, then be just (6:152). Meaning that if you love someone you should not attribute to him traits that he has not acquired, and when you hate someone you should not deny his good traits just because you are a slave of your own sensitivities, tribalism and bias. The Messenger(p.) says: “The believer is he who when pleased does not commit any sin or falsehood and when angered, his anger will not make him say anything that is not truthful”.

If Muslims adhere to this Islamic doctrine, wouldn’t their life be stable and dignified? Wouldn’t their society be unified? But our problem is that we take from Islam its name only, while we adopt the ethics of paganism and disbelief. But Allah says:

“Surely Allah enjoins the doing of justice and the doing of good (to others) and the giving to the kindred, and He forbids indecency and evil and rebellion; He admonishes you that you may be mindful”. (16:90)… This is what we hope Allah will help us to adhere to, so that we will earn His satisfaction in this life and in the Hereafter.

The Palestinian struggle against the Zionist enemy is passing through additional political and security complications that might reshuffle the cards and cause more political rows in an already tense front… it also might enter the Palestinians in yet another maze that leads to nowhere.

The recent Israeli Palestinian meeting that is supported by the Europeans and to a certain extent some American circles has yielded a document that was controversial both among the Palestinians because it has forgone the right of return, and the Zionists because of internal party differences, since it could create unfavorable developments for the Likud government.

Meanwhile, the US Administration has given a green -yellowish light for its Secretary of State to meet those who signed the document, thus provoking an Israeli reaction that calls for implementing the Road Map without providing any realistic mechanisms. This means that the Israelis want to pressurize the Palestinians to dismantle the Intifada infrastructure and even incite civil war among the Palestinians as a precondition to jumpstart the negotiations regarding the Road Map… all this with American coordination and blessings.

In Cairo, the Palestinians are having a dialogue to reach a new truce which all factions agree upon, as well as trying to establish a unified Palestinian leadership… Such projects are not realistic especially that Israeli officials have declared that they refuse any truce and insist on their impossible conditions, as well as on continuing to pursue their atrocities , daily invasions and demolitions…

All this is accompanied by planning to build new settlements, especially in Jerusalem, to jeopardize any effort to reach a truce or any forward move towards a solution since they know that no president in America can object to any Israeli project in an election year… Therefore, those who have access to the American inner circles of decision making affirm that trying to find a solution in the region is not on the American agenda whether next year or the one to follow it… And all what is going in is merely to waste time.

Therefore, the Palestinians and other peoples of the region, should be more wary of these developments which could well be a means of weakening the Palestinian stance and ultimately thwarting the Palestinian project...

There are two consistent foundations that no one should be allowed to tamper with. The Palestinian unity, which should not only remain as strong as it is but it should be strengthened, and the Intifada that should continue to resist and play its part in the political arena…

On another level, the American relations with Syria and with the region in general are determined by the relations with Israel. According to the Americans, any economic, political or other relations with the US should pass through the relations of that country with Israel, even if it were harmful to the American interests. For the American commitment to the Israeli security is even greater than that to the American security itself.

This is what we noticed when the Congress discussed the Syrian Accountability Act which awaits the President’s signature to continue to pressurize Syria and Lebanon within the general framework of pressure on the region to yield to the following conditions:

Firstly: To forego all cards before any negotiations for the settlement which Syria has announced that it is ready for, knowing that America doesn’t guarantee the return of all occupied lands.

Secondly: To force the Arab parties to accept many political and security demands before any negotiations take place, which negates the need for these negotiations in the first place.

Thirdly: Opposing any regional role in Iraq and asking the neighboring countries to abandon their interests to secure the success of the American plan.

Fourthly: Executing the plans of the neoconservatives who are more Zionist than the Zionists themselves, in marinating chaos and instability in the region.

This is the outline of this dangerous plan whether it is an American policy that Israel benefits of, or an Israeli policy that is implemented by America. And this is what makes Arab and Muslim peoples lose their trust in America whose imperial goals surpass the peoples’ rights and interests, although America failed to turn its military victories into political ones, in both Afghanistan and Iraq.

We say to the American people: we love freedom as you do, and hate terrorism as you do. But we do not accept the confiscation of our interests and causes and the planning to dominate our lands...

Therefore, we ask you to think about the results of your administration’s foreign policy and military campaigns, for it will only end in isolation, as no military force can achieve a victory of humane dimensions.

Iraq remains a bleeding wound with anarchy dominating its security, politics and economy. It has not so far been able to create a state that is capable of solving its problems for the forces of occupation still impinge themselves on its institutions, despite all the talk about the Iraqis gaining self-determination in many aspects of their political and security life.

Furthermore, more and more blood is spilled, as the brutal violence targets not only the occupation soldiers but also many Iraqi innocent civilians who suffer from the American-Israeli practices of demolishing houses and dislocating their inhabitants.

We believe that occupation in an absolute evil that contains no good… The Iraqis have to enhance their national unity and discover the methods that would enable them to become free and dignified. The day will come when the Iraqis will enjoy their self-determination, and run their own affairs, for no right is lost as long as there are those who pursue it.

In Lebanon, the chaos that controls the relations among the officials takes its toll in the political and administrative spheres…

As a result, new problems emerge everyday… Unemployment is rising, more and more people are immigrating and strikes are soaring, especially in the Lebanese University which still lacks the scientific research needed to raise its level, and enhance its role, to the extent that we feel that it might fall as a result of its suffocating problems.

We need the state of institutions that plans for the future, and not one that sends us back to the past… The people need those who would plan for their future salvation, and not those who have imposed themselves as their representatives without exerting any effort to make this representation meaningful.