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The
First Sermon
In
the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful
Al-Zahra
and the Prophet
The 20th
of this month Jumada II, is the anniversary of the birth of Fatima
which illuminated the life of the Messenger and his wife, the mother
of believers, Khadija.
The woman whom Ahmad
Shawki, the famous Arab poet, described her relation with her father
by saying that he who has Fatima as his offspring does not need
other children.
As a child, Fatima
lived with her father, storing in her mind and psyche everything she
saw him do. Praying to God at night, and feeling the light that led
her to know God, then learning as a young girl how he dealt with all
people with his great mercy, how to use to endure all sufferings for
the sake of the Message, and learning all this from him.
She used to live her
father’s patience and she became incredibly patient before all the
pains of life. She also learned from him how to be strong and
resolved, and how not to be afraid of anyone, when it comes to
telling the truth or standing with the right.
She learned how to
confront all challenges, and how to be truthful and honest in
everything one says, and she practiced it to the extent that Aisha,
her father's wife, said: "I have not seen anybody more truthful
than her except her father".
She also became
knowledgeable and conscious by hearing what was revealed to her
father. She used her awareness to testify before God on what was
happening in her time, and she became, like her father before her, a
witness on people's actions whether good or bad. Thus, she became a
saint, a bearer of witness, and one of the righteous.
This is the
spirituality of Fatima that no other woman has drawn near to and the
one that made her draw to Allah with all her soul, talking to Him,
asking Him alone what she needs, and feeling the tranquilly of those
who love Allah and draw near Him. Let us hear some of her prayers to
learn how she used to live with Allah.
“Content me with the
sustenance You have granted me. And till such time that You keep me
alive, cover me and make me sound and prosperous. For You are the
source of all sustenance and You alone, and You are the only one who
conceals their secrets”.
“And forgive me -but
this pleading for forgiveness, coming from an Infallible, is not for
any sin she has committed, for Allah has made her infallible. It is
a kind of humbleness before the Lord and the All-mighty Creator- and
have mercy on me when I die”.
"And forgive me.
Oh Allah! Do not help me in something that You have not predestined
for me. And facilitate the achievement of that thing which You have
predestined for me" "Oh Allah! Bestow upon my parents and
all those persons who have rights of their blessings and
beneficences upon me, the best of Your rewards. "Oh my Allah,
spare me the leisure and respite for the object for which You have
created me." And nothing else, knowing that we were created by
God to obey Allah and worship Him". And do not let me be busy
and involved (absolutely) in my commitments. And do not torment me
when I ask forgiveness.
Oh God! Make me look
humble when I look upon myself and see You as great as You are.
Inspire me to obey You. Do what pleases You and avoid what angers
You. Oh Most Merciful!". This is how Fatima used to stand
before God feeling what it means to worship and serve him.
The
Role Model
As a wife, she lived
with Imam Ali (a.s) as the most ideal wife to tell all husbands and
wives that married life is based on love, mercy, mutual
responsibility, coherence and humbleness. Imam Ali (a.s.) says: “I
have never made her angry or forced her to do anything… and she
never angered or disobeyed me…” Being married is not a place
where each party tries to force hegemony; rather it is a chance for
integration, where two souls unite.
It is reported in Bihar
that Ali (a.s) said to a man from Bani Sae'ed:
"Should I speak to
you about Fatima and Myself?
She was my spouse who
was the most beloved to the Prophet. She carried water using a
waterskin until it scarred her chest, she ground (grain) using a
hand mill until blisters appeared on her hands, she swept the floor
until her clothes became dusty and lit the fire under the cooking
pot until her clothes became mud colored from the smoke.
Fatima was inflicted by
great pain as a result of this, so I said to her:
Why don't you ask your
father for a servant to relieve you from these jobs?
When Fatima (a.s.) went
to the Prophet she found that he had company; and was too shy to
talk to him, so she left the house. But the Prophet knew that she
had come for something."
Imam
Ali (a.s.) continued:
"The next morning,
the Prophet came to the house while we were still under our quilt
and said:
"Assalamu Alaikum!"
Yet because we were
ashamed (of being under the quilt), we preferred to remain silent.
The Prophet once again
said:
"Assalamu Alaikum!'
Once again we remained
silent. Then for the third time the Prophet said "Assalamu
Alaikum”. Now we feared that he would depart. For it was the
prophet's habit to say Assalamu alaikum three times and then wait
for permission to enter or leave.
So I said:
Wa Alaik As-Salam,
Messenger of Allah! Come in.'
He sat near our heads
and said: 'Fatima what was you need when you came to Muhammad
yesterday?'
Imam Ali added: "I
was afraid that she (Fatima) would not tell him, so I pulled my head
from under the cover and said:
"I will inform
you, Messenger of Allah!
Surely she carried
water using a water skin until her chest was scarred, she ground
(grain) using a hand mill until blisters appeared on her hands, she
swept the floor until her clothes became dusty and lit the fire
under the cooking pot until her clothes were mud colored from the
smoke. So said to her:
"Why don't ask
your father for a servant to relieve you from these jobs?"
The Prophet (S) upon
hearing this, said:
"Shall I teach you
something that is better for you than a servant and a world with
everything in it? After every prayer say: Allahu Akbar thirty four
times, Alhamdulillah thirty three times and Subhan Allah thirty
three times, then conclude that with la illaha ila Allah. Surely,
this is better for you than that which you wanted and the world and
its belongings”.
Thus, Fatima adhered to
this glorification after every prayer; and it came to be known as
“Tasbih Fatima."
Defending
Ali's rights
This is the way the
Messenger used to treat Fatima's pains and she used to respond to
this spiritual treatment, for she used to live this spirituality.
She was one of the greatest wives, mothers, daughters, believers and
fighters for the Right. When her father died, she did not talk about
her pains, but stood to address the Muslims in the Prophet's mosque
to talk about her husband’s rights. She also told the women who
came to visit her when she was sick: “I have become not interested
in this world where the people do not stand with the right”.
Fatima was the women
who lived with her father, husband and children, but she also lived
with the nation, its causes and the cause of Islam. All man and
women should find in this woman who did not live long, but had a
blessed life, the model they should look up to.
The
Second Sermon
In the Name
of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful
An
eradication war in Iraq and Palestine
America and Israel are
waging a war of eradication in Iraq and Palestine. In Iraq, and as
result of their policies and the political climate they had created,
massacres are daily moving from one place to another, bringing the
total number of Iraqis killed since the American invasion, to exceed
tens of thousand. Many Iraqis were expecting peace and salability in
their political and economic life, but they got nothing although the
American changed the label of their occupation.
In Palestine, where
Zionism is waging a war of eradication against the Palestinians,
each new day witnesses the murder of Palestinian children, women and
civilian youth are killed. They are backed by the American
Administration that is controlled by the neoconservatives and the
Jewish lobby.
They American-Israeli
strategy is as it demonstrates itself on the ground, aiming at
destroying the Arab and Muslim resistance to any American and
Israeli hegemony over the nation's resources.
Israel continues to
build the racial war and expand the settlements without any pressure
from America save some words of meaningless lip-service in.
All what we need to do
is to compare it with what America said regarding Sudan to fully
appreciate American's silence and accomplices.
We believe in
protecting all the downtrodden, the oppressed nations. But, we
refuse this arbitrary discrimination between one nation and another.
The Palestinians have been enduring various forms of oppression and
prosecution for more than half a century now, with the international
community not exerting any pressure on Israel.
Lebanon's
old age.
The problem in Lebanon
lies in that the private sector suffers from a lot of complicated
situations, which makes it lose its initiative as a result of an
official policy of ignoring the need to carefully studied economic
plan. Moreover, the living conditions the Lebanese are experiencing
have become so severe that Lebanese could hardly provide for their
daily food, let alone trying to find alternatives to be relieved
from their hardship.
The country is run by
several corrupted patrons. In the power domain for example each loan
the company receives is wasted and them followed by another lean
that is also wasted… The power shortage is an old one with many
ministers and officials over the years claiming that they have tried
to solve it, why then there is not even the glimpse of hope of
finding solutions? Why is not the public informed of the charges
that the judiciary is currently investigating?
The situation is the
same in all the other vital services, to the extent that the citizen
no longer believes that he is living in a state, but rather in a
farm that is turning into a desert and letting all the water find
its way to the sea or to the sectarian tanks.
As a result of these
arbitrary economic policies Lebanon, itself, has become ailing.
Moreover, it has to
endure the effects of the state of madness and anarchy the region is
living. Would this government solve all the country's problem by a
single law that provides social security for its senior citizens?
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