FRIDAY SPEECH July 27, 2001

“We sent aforetime pure messengers with clear signs and sent down with them the Book and the balance (of right and wrong), that men may stand forth in justice”

In this verse, God (SWT) wants to assert that all the messages that the messengers carried, whether with books or not, had the same goal: To establish justice among the people.

For justice is the force that maintains man’s system and the worlds balance.

Essentially justice means giving each person his rights including one’s own without any increase or decrease whatsoever whether in private or public life.

The Holy Sharia teaches us that God (SWT) has given Himself certain rights over His servants. He has also given people rights, over each other.

The right of God (SWT) is to believe in His oneness, and to worship and obey Him. If you give God (SWT) His right then you are just towards him, and if you don’t then you are unjust towards him.

Then there is the issue of being just towards yourself.

God (SWT) wants you to be just towards yourself by not doing anything that might hurt yourself . You are not free to hurt your life, body or mind. You are not free, for example, to drink alcohol or take drugs since they distort the mind. Similarly you are not free to put an end to your life even if it were what the west calls ”mercy killing” to put an end to your pains and sufferings.

You are also not allowed to be unjust to yourself by committing acts that might lead you to Hell.

That is why God (SWT) says in many verses that those who do so are not treated unjustly by Allah (SWT), but that they are unjust towards themselves. God (SWT) also does not want us to be unjust to fellow human beings, whether in the primary cell of the family where the husband, the wife and the children ought to do know their rights, and abide by them, or in the larger societal sphere.

That is why the Quran says that all messages were sent to ensure that men are just. The Quran even says that we have to be just towards our enemies in the same way we are just to our friends. When it cones to justice, there is no difference between a believer or an unbeliever. You ought to be just towards an unbeliever if he is wronged by a Muslim.

Therefore, we have to follow what the Quran has advised us because it is for our own good both in this world and in the hereafter.

In this world, the benefit is both personal and collective If you wrong people you end up being wronged, but if justice is served neither your rights nor the rights of others will be violated.

As for the general and public levels, justice of the rulers towards the ruled and justice of nations towards one another, secures peace and security.

As for the Hereafter, being just in this world secures you a place in Heaven and ensures God (SWT)’s pleasure.

Now let us go to the Holly Quran to see how it dealt with these meanings:

”O you who believe! Stand out firmly for justice, as witnesses to Allah even as against yourselves, or your parents, or your kin, and whether it be (against) rich or poor. For Allah can best protect both. Follow not the lusts (of your hearts), lest you swerve, and if you distort (justice) or decline to do justice, verily Allah is well –acquainted with all that you do”.

When you are asked to give your testimony you should understand the significance of bearing God (SWT) as your witness and act accordingly. There is nothing more serious than having God (SWT) as your witness and then testify in falsehood.

In another verse, the Quran says:

”O you who believe! Stand out firmly for Allah as witnesses to fair dealing. Do not allow your hatred for other men to depart you from justice,. Be just: That is next to piety: And fear Allah .For Allah is well acquainted with all that ye do”.

Imam Zein Al-Abidien Ali Bin Al-Hussein says ”O God (SWT), help me not commit any wrong both when I am calm and when I am angry… So that my enemy will not be fearful of my injustice or wrong doing and my friend will not hope to benefit of my tendency”[to help him]”.

Power and wealth in this world will not help you in the Hereafter. The money you obtain unlawfully in this world will turn into a fire that will burn you in Hell .And you will be held responsible for any unjust act you perform when you meet your God (SWT), on the day that neither money nor children will do you any good.

Think about this day before you hit your wife, a poor worker, or any other weakened person.

Be just and do not wrong yourself or others before it is too late on the day of Judgment.

The region as a whole is living in a state of instability as a result of the fears of a new wide war the enemy might wage, having failed to contain the Intifada. Moreover, the region’s economies are living in a state of paralysis, as the result of the multiple pressures they face. In this atmosphere, the G8 summit cared only about securing the interest of its countries in the poor third world countries, securing that they would remain, under the influence of their economic and political globalization.

The American president has even used a threatening tone against the decision of OPEC countries to decrease its production to maintain the current level of oil prices, saying that such a move will have negative consequences on the American economy, as well as the European economies, which followed suit and began to pressurize the oil countries, the fact the interests of these countries will suffer economically if the oil prices plunge notwithstanding. I do not see why the OPEC countries should take the welfare of the economies of the consuming countries into consideration while the industrialized countries do not take the interests and conditions of the Third World counties when they determine the prices of consumer goods exported to these countries,

The American congress is threatening to ban any aid to the Palestinian Authority , and the “
terrorist” organizations whose offices in the US should be closed if they do not stop the violence against the Israelis, as if the Palestinians are the ones responsible for the violence and not the Israelis. Meanwhile, American aid to Israel continues to grow substantially reaching more then 3 billion Dollars annually.

The American Congress has also extended the punishments against Libya and Iran for five more years on the pretense of their support to terrorism. The US wants these two nations to offer political concessions to the US, especially regarding the issue of the “peace” settlement in the Middle East. The Israelis too, are making some threats against Iran. They are threatening to shell the Iranian atomic reactor, just as it had bombed the Iraqi reactor, if Iran goes forward with developing its nuclear program .Israel is trying to play the role of the policeman in the region with the US help. Moreover, it plans to stay the only nuclear power in the region.

In Palestine itself, America still insists that the Intifada should not be considered as a liberation movement that seeks independence, but a violent movement that practices “terror” against Israel, while it gives the enemy every freedom to assassinate Palestinian militants, shelling Palestinian buildings and offices, killing innocent women, children and elderly, and building new settlements.

In this context, I believe that the Mitchell project and the demands for international monitors turns the Palestinian cause into a group of small issues that make one forget the cause of liberation. In this respect, I am afraid that the mounting pressures will turn the Palestinian Authority into a strike force against the Palestinian Mujahideen, due to thneed to please the Americans, even it the cost was the Palestinian militant unity. And then the whole movement will aim at moving the negotiations forward and the liberation cause will be forgotten.

With the continuing Arab impotence to do anything except following the American plans in the region, I call on the Palestinians to preserve their national unity and to stick to the major cause of liberation in all their moves, especially as the challenges will grow tougher and more critical .

The Palestinians have made the Israelis suffer from a security crisis; they should not allow them to get out of this tunnel and enter into a political tunnel themselves.

I would like also to welcome the improvement in the diplomatic relations between the Islamic Republic of Iran and the United Arab Emirates in order to solve their current problems that America exploits to further complicate the Arab –Iranian relations and especially the relations with the Gulf states, and I call on both Iran and the Arabs to continue their dialogue. I should also like to welcome the renewal of the strategic alliance between Syria and Iran and the announcement of Iran that it is ready to provide any assistance to Syria in case Israel wages an aggression against it.

Lastly, and in the face of the endless rows in Lebanon about a set of issues that never end, from electric power, to phones to water supply … etc, as well as the continuous talk about the country’s eminent economic collapse, I call upon the government to find real solutions as soon as possible before the country loses its ability to stand fast, in the face of those who wish Lebanon to paythe price for what it did to the Israeli occupation. The country desperately needs a response that matches the level of the challenges it is facing before the temple falls on the heads of all Lebanese.