The First Sermon

In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful  

Allah says in His Glorious Book: And it behooves not a believing man and a believing woman that they should have any choice in their matter when Allah and His Messenger (p) have decided a matter; and whoever disobeys Allah and His Messenger (p), he surely strays off a manifest. 

In this the Holy Ayah, God emphasizes that the belief of all believers (men and women) impels them to obey the commands of God and his Messenger (p). This is actually what belief is since when we say that there is no God but Allah, the most Exalted, we mean that He is the only God we believe in, worship and obey. It also means that God’s commands take priority over all other commands and that we ought to obey them. 

And when we say that Mohammad is God’s Messenger (p), it follows that we are committed to the message he came with and that the message he came with was really from God. One has to abide by its commands  Whatever Allah has restored to His Messenger (p) from the people of the towns, it is for Allah and for the Messenger (p), and for the near of kin and the orphans and the needy and the wayfarer, so that it may not be a thing taken by turns among the rich of you, and whatever the Messenger (p) gives you, accept it, and from whatever he forbids you, keep back, and be careful of (your duty to) Allah, the most Exalted,. You have no say or choice .This  is the line of piety and righteousness . But if you disobey Allah, the most Exalted, and His Messenger (p) you would surely be lead astray

Then we read Allah’s, the most Exalted saying to His Messenger (p): ( But no! by your Lord! they do not believe (in reality) until they make you a judge of that which has become a matter of disagreement among them, and then do not find any righteousness in their hearts as to what you have decided and submit to it with entire submission. Thus belief would not be deepened unless the Messenger (p) is the reference and the judge in all they differ about in their personal and social life  When they differ they should say let us go back to the Messenger (p) and see how he dealt with this issue. He is the one whom Allah, the most Exalted, sent to tell us what pleases Him and what does not.  So if the Messenger (p) has made a social or cultural judgment, we have to conform to it even if is against our interests or desires. Islam means submission, so we must submit ourselves to the will of Allah, the most Exalted, and everything He tells us to do. Moreover, we also have to obey the Messenger (p) because obeying the Messenger (p) is obeying God.

“Whoever obeys the Messenger (p.), is obeying God” (4:80)

“If you love God, then follow me and God will love you” (3:31)

Therefore the sign of a love for God is following the Prophet (p.) and this what we must learn to do in our houses, in the market and in our private and public life. Therefore the issue at hand is what Allah, the most Exalted, and his messenger want. Thus when you want to deal with your children you should not act in accordance with your personal feelings but, rather, according to what God and the Messenger (p.) command. The same thing goes for dealings with your wife, which should be based on justice and righteousness. No personal mood or psychological state should influence the actions of a husband or wife. Marital relations should be governed by Islamic guidelines. Both men and women have to reflect on how to deal with any situation before taking action. Even those who want to reconcile marriage partners have to base this reconciliation on God’s commands. 

The above rule applies to all other social and political situations. A true Muslim is someone who would not take a step forward or backwards unless he knew it was God’s will. When we support or oppose someone, we should not think about what people would say but about what God would say, because He is the one to whom they will be accountable in the end. People should know that Allah, the most Exalted, will hold them accountable for every word they say and every actions they do. They will be ready to answer God’s questions on the Day of Judgment…

Characteristics of hypocrites

Then Allah, the most Exalted,  gives us an example of those who do not follow His commands . He tells us about who  say: We believe in Allah and in the messenger and we obey But then a party of them turn back after this, and these are not believers.

For belief  means that you have to be committed to what you say

And when they are called to Allah and His Messenger that he may judge between them, lo! a party of them turn aside.

 They would prefer to go to the state courts ,but And if the truth be on their side, they come to him quickly, obedient. Is there in their hearts a disease,

Are they hypocrites?

or are they in doubt, or do they fear that Allah and His Messenger will act wrongfully towards them? Nay! they themselves are the unjust (to God and to themselves )

 The response of the believers, when they are invited to Allah and His Messenger that he may judge between them, is only to say: We hear and we obey; and these it is that are the successful.

This is the Islamic attitude that all who are committed to Islam should adopt. To be a Muslim is to say like Prophet Ibrahim When his Lord said to him, Be a Muslim, he said: I submit myself to the Lord of the worlds.

Say. Surely my prayer and my sacrifice and my life and my death are (all) for Allah, the Lord of the worlds .No associate has He; and this am I commanded, and I am the first of those who submit.

…To live Islam in our hearts and minds  so that it will govern all aspects of our personal and social life, thus earning  God’s pleasure and entering His Heaven . 

The Second Sermon

Tightening the grip on Palestine

 In Palestine, the Palestinian people are facing a series of rapid dangerous acts that aim at enhancing the Israeli control over the country.

There is  first the efforts that Sharon claims they aim to withdraw from the Gaza settlements, while in fact it is but a fake image designed to present Israel to the international public opinion as "civilized democracy". If such a withdrawal would give the Palestinians a certain degree of freedom in determining their future, it actually besieges Gaza with an outside ring, coupled by control of both the air space and the borders on the seaside and thus turning Gaza into a big prison. Meanwhile, the bigger Israeli settlements in the West Bank are being expanded, and the racial wall that aims at Judaizing Jerusalem continues to be built.

In addition, Israel continues its assassinations and imprisonment of the Palestinian civilians, as well as its other barbaric practices on the road bloods which hinder, the movement of Palestinian civilians, especially the sick whom many have died while waiting at these berries. Meanwhile the international community does not exert any pressure to implement the "Road Map for peace" as it promised. In fact the International Community still provides political protection for Israel and denies it for the Palestinians.

Meanwhile America is pouring financial aid to enable Israel to enhance it military and economic potentials while denying the Palestinian people and authority any aid.

In the meantime, the Palestinian internal debate is still unfolding. It is threatening to become counterproductive, through weakening the resistance and destabilizing the Palestinian Authority, especially now that the discussions have concentrated on the security issues and ignored the political aspects. Adding to this, the Americans have asked some Arab states to interfere in the Palestinians affairs.

Faced with all these developments, the Palestinians should be aware of what is going on. They should not be preoccupied with their own disputes, while the Israelis are busy changing the reality on the ground.

On their part, the Arabs and Muslims should reaffirm their commitment to the cause whose safely determines all their future, and make sure that it reaches the safe shore, especially that Israel was able to get the blessings of the new pope who expressed his great concern and love for Israel, without any objection to its occupation and brutal practices…

All this drives the believers to ask: Does the Israeli "values" intersect with the spiritual values of Jesus Christ who drove the thieves out of the temple? Would those who stole the country remain in the heart of Jerusalem? 

The Islamic Conference Refuses accusations of unbelief

On another level, we welcome the decision of the Islamic conference that was held in Jordan to reject all accusations of unbelief that Muslims throw at one another. We also welcome the call to consider objective and academic dialogue in which differences are referred to God and His Messenger as the only means to reach decisive results that affirm Islamic brotherhood.

In this atmosphere, Muslims should voice their condemnation to the practices of killing fellow Muslims in the name of Islam. We should differentiate between fighting occupation and killing Muslims in their mosques, homes and working places, under the influence of backward mentalities that have a distorted understanding of Islam. This is what is happening in Iraq where they are seeking to incite strife among Muslims. We warn all Iraqis from this plot, which only the occupation benefits form, since the civil war will enable him to prolong his  stay, under the pretense of protecting the Iraqis.

In the meantime, America continues to haunt Syria and Iran with false accusations, for they refused to succumb to the American conditions of accepting the occupation of Iraq, Afghanistan and Palestine, and because Iran does not offer any concessions regarding its peaceful nuclear program.

As for the G8 conference in Scotland, America does not agree  to help the African states unless they accept the American political terms.

In the meantime, the African peoples suffer from hunger, diseases, deprivation and a state of chaos as a result of the struggle of the major powers to plunder their wealth.

Sovereignty and Disarming the Resistance

In Lebanon, we notice in the sectarian federation the elections produced that forming the government has become a process of spoils-sharing, Every sect asks for a ministry that is in proportion with its size, as if it were  some of the spoils that ought to be divided. As for  the development of deprived areas, the liberation of the country from international foreign tutelage and the nature of the reform program, it dos not concern the politicians.

The major concern of some of those who support UN Security Council Resolution 1559 is to disarm the Resistance .For them, Israel does not represent a danger to Lebanon. Their concern is for Lebanon not to threaten Israel. 

The question is the following: Is this Lebanon, the free sovereign and independent country that should disarm the resistance but not Israel?