Friday speeches Ramadan 03 1426 H, October 07 2005 A.D

God says in His Glorious Book: O ye who believe! Fear Allah, and let every soul look to what (provision) He has sent forth for the morrow. Yea, fear Allah: for Allah is well-acquainted with (all) that ye do And be ye not like those who forgot Allah; and He made them forget their own souls! Such are the rebellious transgressors. Not equal are the owners of the Fire and the owners of the Garden. The owners of the Garden, they are the victorious.

One of the goals of Islam is that man should know all the elements of his personality, so as he would be able to know where he is heading in the future.

This is because any idea a man holds has some right and some falsehood, and when some people adopt a certain ideology, they might have taken it from their fathers, grandfathers or their environment, just as the people at the time of Jahelliah (pre-Islamic time and values) used to tell the Prophet when he asked them to listen to his Message - Nay! they say: We found our fathers on a course, and surely we are guided by their footsteps. (43:22) The Prophet (p.) used to tell them that thought could not be inherited. It is something one is convinced of and that could not be inherited or emulated. That is why he used to tell them: "What! Even if I brought you better guidance than that which ye found your fathers following?" They said: "For us, we deny that ye (prophets) are sent (on a mission at all)." (43:24) you love and respect your father, but that does not mean that you should adopt his ideology.

Some people might take their ideas from the environment they live in, which could be loaded with incorrect and unrealistic traditions and habits. That is why Allah, the most exalted, gave man a mind to think about what surrounds him, so that he will discuss his thoughts with others to reach the truth. This is because the responsibility in Islam is individualistic. When someone adopts a thought, a doctrine or an ideology he has to defend his belief on the day of Judgement Remember the day when every soul shall come, pleading for itself and every soul shall be paid in full what it has done, and they shall not be dealt with unjustly. On that day, Allah, the most exalted, will ask him why you chose this or that religion, or this or that political line…. Etc.

Islam wants the society to be a conscious and a thinking one. It wants it to be a civilized society that is convinced by the Islamic call and convinces others by it. When a Muslim lives in another community he should be able to defend Islam.

Islam wants man to be able to know himself… How he thinks and what he feels what the basis of his love and hate are…. so that he will know how to answer when asked by God, the most exalted, in the Hereafter.

It has been said in Hadith that man on the Day of Judgement will be asked about four things: How he spent his life and how he consumed his youth, how he made his money and how he spent it.

On that day man will be asked about everything including his private life: How he treated his spouse, for man is a slave of God. He is free before the entire world but he has to kneel before God, the most exalted, and he has to prepare his report that God will hold him accountable for in the Hereafter.

The Ayats we recited emphasise this issue, every individual should know his own account and then he has to hold himself accountable, and try to be pious in the days he has left: O ye who believe! Fear Allah, and let every soul look to what (provision) He has sent forth for the morrow. Yea, fear Allah: for Allah is well-acquainted with (all) that ye do. Man should not forget at any moment that God knows what he is doing; he should feel that Allah, the most exalted, is monitoring his actions to feel the value of Allah, the most exalted, in his existence and to understand that Allah the most exalted, has left him the choice while in this world between hell and heaven in the other world.

Hold yourselves accountable for your actions. And demand that you do what have been ordained on you, and that you have taken supplies from this world to the other world. You have to be ready and equipped before you are brought again to life. In this respect the Messenger (p.) says: hold your selves accountable before you are held accountable (before God), and be ready for the great day.

Imam Al-Baqir (a.s) says: he who does not hold himself accountable, every day is not one of us. If he has done good deeds he will thank God and ask Him for more. But if has done evil deeds he should repent and ask God for forgiveness. Imam Ali (a.s) has given us an example on how we should hold ourselves accountable. He said that we should at the end of each day look back and say :

This is a day that has passed and will never come back. God will ask you what you did in this day. Have you remembered God. Did you attain the right of a Muslim brother ? relief some of his grief. or helped his siblings after his death… If what he has remembered was good then he will thank God for His Grace, but if what he remembered was sinful he should ask God, the most Exalted, for forgiveness and promise himself not to commit such sins again.

Such a methodology stresses on one meaning: You have to know yourself; to be concisions of God and of your life and fate. It has been said in the Hadith: "Who knows himself knows his God". Allah, the most exalted, also says: Whatever is in the heavens and whatever is in the earth is Allah's; and whether you manifest what is in your minds or hide it, Allah will call you to account according to it; then He will forgive whom He pleases and chastise whom He pleases, and Allah has power over all things. (2:284).

In Palestine the Israeli plan to perpetuate its occupation of the West Bank and Jerusalem is still being implemented daily in such practices like detaining and killing civilians, confiscating lands, and even play grounds of school children …

In addition, the Palestinians are facing the danger of an internal strife in which the Palestinian weapons are turned against the Palestinian people in a specious way that is directed by agents who wish to incite strife.

Furthermore, some of those who hold positions in the Palestinian authorities are encouraging some of their subordinates to incite civil war since it facilities the implementation of the "realistic" Israeli and American solutions claiming that some countries were able to gain their independence as a result of a civil war.

We believe that the Intifada militants are trying to avoid any internal role for the Palestinian arms, and offering concessions to support internal peace. They have one goal: complete liberation and the weapon’s only role is fighting the enemy.

We would like the Palestinian Authority to know that civil strife will not achieve any victory.

On the contrary, it makes the temple fall on the heads of everybody.

Israel does not differentiate between and The Authority and the Intifada. It aims at putting an end to the Palestinian cause to carry out its strategy of settlement in all Palestinian lands. Therefore, the Authority should coordinate with the militant factions, since the freedom of the people and the land is the sacred cause that all parties adopt, especially that they all consider Jerusalem as the capital of their homeland.

In Iraq some of its officials are demanding that the occupation should stay longer to "protect the country from terrorism" since the Iraqi army and security forces are not able to secure the security of the people. But we have noticed that the occupation forces are not able to offer the Iraqis any basis for internal security, especially against the apostators. They could not even protect themselves, or the civilian worshippers who are being killed brutally in their mosques, as in the terrorist operation in the city of Hillah that killed scores of worshippers.

As we denounce and condemn these massacres we ask: Why is there complete silence in the Muslim world and no condemnation is being heard of these operations that target Muslims and not occupation, out of sectarian fanaticism that kills Shiites without any mercy. In addition, we have heard certain political statements by Arab officials who are talking about Iraq in a sectarian language, despite the fact that everybody knows that the Iraqi Shiites are not aiming at dividing the country. They want to live in a unified Iraq where everybody has equal rights and duties.

We appeal to all Muslims to be merciful towards Iraq and its peoples because the strife that starts there will extend to all the Arab and Muslim world. Is this the constructive anarchy president Bush has promised us? We assure him that anarchy cannot produce democracy and occupation does not achieve for any people their freedom and independence and human rights.

Moreover, the fire will burn those who set it and this is what we see in the mud the American have sunk in, in Iraq, Afghanistan and several other Islamic and Arab countries.

On the other hand, we appeal to our people in Iraq to rise to the level of the dangerous challenges facing them, and confront all this with political awareness that looks towards the future, and adopt a constitution that safeguards their unity and preserves their Arab and Muslim identity. We also call on all religious and political dignitaries to face the great challenges by insisting on their unity in the face of the occupiers and apostators who spill Muslim blood that was prevented be Allah.

The rhetoric of Lebanon political parties is politically adolescent and absent of any serious and objective assessment of national issues, which makes the security issue ambiguous and this should merit the attention of officials across the spectrum.

For the issue is not that of the government that we keep counting its mistakes, but that of all parties trying to find a way out of the impasse that began to destabilize the security and undermine the economy at a time the political situation in the country is turning into adopting hateful rows and the parties adopting alliances that do not have the welfare of the country in heart. In addition, foreign intervening aims to promote foreign interests, turning the country to a card that one power plays against the other.

This situation should make the Lebanese wonder whether the country is being steered toward a predetermined fate instead of being allowed to enjoy total freedom, fully-fledged independence and absolute national dignity, instead of being a cover to foreign tutelage.

We say to the people: stand with those who support broader projects that promote the earth as a whole, humanity and a glorious future away from personal, party and sectarian privileges.