The First Sermon
In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful
God says in His Glorious Book:
Invite all to the way of they Lord with wisdom
and beautiful preaching and argue with them in ways that are best and
most gracious: For they lord knows best who have strayed from His path
and who receives guideness.
In this Holy Ayah, Allah says to all people,
especially those who assume the mission of calling for the right path
that if they want their ideas and messages to the others who differ
with them in religion, or ideology to be received, they should base
their call on wisdom. Wisdom in this context means choosing what
conforms to circumstances. The caller should study those whom he wants
to call and convince, as well as the circumstances that affect the
call, to be able to define the means that opens up the minds and
hearts of the people he is calling. He should not adopt a discourse
that creates problems or further incites the existing sectarian and
religious sensitivities.
God, the Most Exalted, says: call to the way of
they Lord with wisdom. He has told us in several Ayahs that He
has sent the Messenger(p.) with the Book and Wisdom for wisdom
represents practice while the Book represents the theory. And beautiful preaching which agrees with
the mind and talks to the heart enabling them to be receptive to what
man is being called to and argue with them in
ways that are best and most gracious If you clash with those
who hold different ideas, whether atheists, People of the Book or
those who you differ with on certain jurisprudence and theological
issues, and you wish to enter into a dialogue with them, you have to
choose what is best and most gracious whether in the words you choose,
or the overall attitude you adopt, thus avoiding any kind of violence.
Saying what is best
This is what the Messenger used to practice. And
this is what Allah, the most Exalted, said when He told His Messenger
that if he had been harsh and merciless the people would not have
followed him. It is the responsibility of the caller to God to adopt
all methods that can convince those he wants to call. If they are
guided or not, it is not the responsibility of the caller who, as God
has told His Messenger, is a reminder and not a watcher over them. The
point is that you have to make all efforts to reach positive results
in convincing others, then whether they are convinced or not, it is
not you responsibility.
In another Ayah, we notice that Allah has called
all people to choose the words that are best: Say to My servants
they should only say things that are best. If you want to
address your household or the society at large, try to study the words
you are going to use before you say them. Certain words might be
inciting: for Satan sows dissentions among them.
He enters inside the words, searching for any possible incitation:
Satan is to man an avowed enemy. Do not say the words, as soon
as they come to your mind. Rather try to put them in a context that
unites and does not divide.
How to face problems
In another Ayah, God talks about how man should
face the problems that confront him. Every person might clash with the
other whether at home or in the society. And when we study the
differences among people we find a clash of ideas to the extent that
it was recalled by some "clash of civilization". Allah teaches us in
His Holy Book how to deal with these cases: He says: And not alike are the
good and the evil. Repel (evil) with what is best, when lo! he between
whom and you was enmity would be as if he were a warm friend.
Search for the way that turns your enemy into a friend and not the
other way round. Your role as a member of a family or in a society is
to open up people's minds on the ideal solution you want them to
adopt.
That is why we have always said to those who
have dialogue with us whether from the West or the East, that Islam
calls on us to befriend to the world. If we face any problem, we
should deal with it in a way that removes the hatred from the hearts
of those who differ with us. This is a very difficult course that
needs a lot of psychological effort, especially when we face sectarian
and partisan fanaticism, which makes man adopt the mentality of
destroying the other.
That is why we see that fanatics resort to abuse
and insult. But Allah calls on us to be armed with both perseverance
and patience.
We should reach our goal of convincing others
with our ideas without inciting their sectarian fanaticism, especially
in these times where we find people inciting Shiite or Sunni
fanaticism. To those we say: when somebody is against the prime
minister, for example, he is not against the Sunnis, and he is not
against the Shiites when is against the speaker… etc.
These are political differences and not
sectarian ones. It is a sign of backwardness not to see them as they
really are.
There are intellectuals in Lebanon, but you can
find a university professor, who could be very backward as a result of
the impact of sectarian fanaticism on his mentality. If this is not
the case, how can we understand the discourse of certain Shiite and
Sunni religious scholars? This proves that these people are backward,
whether they are political or social personalities religious leaders
or independent figures.
This is what Allah says, and this is what we
call for: Islamic unity should govern the internal Muslim relations.
And this is what we are calling for: to unite all Muslim and
subsequently all Lebanese. Allah says: There is no good in
most of their secret counsels except (in his) who enjoins charity or
goodness or reconciliation between people; and the Hadith says:
"A charity that Allah loves to reconcile between people if they
differed and the draw them close to one another if they depart. This
is the Islamic awareness that we ought to adopt to reach the safe
shore.
The Second Sermon
In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful
Creative Anarchy
The American Administration endeavour to
implement its policies is making many problems in the region,
especially after the failure the American strategy has witnessed in
Iraq.
In this respect, and despite all the talks about
the strategic victory in Iraq, the occupation in that country has led,
and is still leading, to a lot of negative results, whether on the
internal Iraqi level, or the US foreign policy in general. This is
what led to the fall of the US defence secretary who sunk the American
troops in the Iraqi quicksand, as a result of the popular rejection
and the national and honest resistance.
The Americans had planed to wage a political war
against Syria and Iran and prevent these two countries from
participating in finding a political and security solution for the
difficult Iraqi problem.
Iraq is suffering from the US Administration
that has been trying to pressurize these two neighbouring countries to
force them to help the occupation in strengthening its hold over Iraq,
and cease their support of the Palestine and Lebanese resistances,
thus supporting the Israeli security, a major element in the American
regional strategy.
But this Administration has begun to review its
aggression policies. The new defence secretary has asserted that the
US will not achieve its desired victory in Iraq. He also warned that
the failure to stabilize Iraq in the coming two years might lead to an
explosion in the Middle East. He also refused to attack Syria and Iran
and called for opening a channel of communication with these two
countries whom he believes will have a big impact on the long run on
the Iraqi stability.
This political development in the American
official conception of its policies in the region might have positive
implications if it is accepted by the American President, instead of
continuing his stubborn which could aggravate the American impasse in
the region.
Iraqi between the Takifiris and Occupation
On another level, we are still living the
tragedy of the Iraqi people who witness daily the fall of civilian
victims by the Takfiris and the remnants of the old regime, before the
very eyes of the American occupation. We call on the Iraqis to take
into consideration the catastrophic results that will evolve if they
do not resort to national and Islamic unity, as well as taking a firm
stand against occupation and calling for its withdrawal.
No party should call for the stay of the
occupation even for training the security forces. This could be done
by the UN which the peoples have no grudge against. We believe that
the staying of occupation in Iraq will keep the problem on several
levels, since it protects security anarchy and allows the Israeli
MOSAD to tamper with Iraq's security and resources.
A truce that serves Israeli Interests.
If we turn to the American police in Israel, we
notice that the US is seeking to establish a truce that will only
serve its own interests as well as that of Israel. At the same time,
America wants to keep Israel free in detaining the Palestinians and
killing their Mujahideen in the West Bank, especially after the
pressure on Israel has mounted as a result of escalating its
continuous crimes.
The US is also trying to cool down the
Palestinian issue, and give the Arab rulers a boosting political shot
that will enable them to escalate their campaign against Iran and
accuse it of being responsible for the developments in Iraq and
Lebanon, while considering Israel a peaceful state and no longer an
enemy.
The US tries to ignore the fact that Iran has
been opening up on the Arab states, especially in the Gulf, to discuss
the issues of security in the region on the basis of Islamic
friendship both as Muslims and neighbouring countries, especially that
the issue of Iraq has an impact on Iranian security, as well as on
that the Arab and Islamic Worlds.
Moreover, Iran does not represent sectarian
threats on the sectarian commitments, on the neighbouring countries,
as the American intelligence agencies are trying to suggest.
We call on the Palestinians people who have set
an example in their patience and perseverance to strength his national
unity for it is the secret of its strength and salvation. They should
continue their resistance following the lead of the Lebanese Islamic
Resistance. The Occupation will not withdraw except if the Intifada
gains more strength as a result of implementing its long-term strategy
in which both the people and the Mujahideen play integral and
complimentary roles.
Europe and Iran: Close Relations
We have noticed that some EU states are still
planning, as a result of American pressure, to impose sanctions on
Iran to pressurize it and force it to quit its peaceful nuclear
project. We believe that such as attitude is not in the interests of
these countries. Their interests lie in establishing closer relations
with the Arab and Muslim region, where as America wants to use
European states in implementing its aggressive strategy against the
interests of the peoples of the region. That is why we want them to
review their policy of pressurizing Iran and Syria that serves Israeli
interest in Lebanon, and does not help Lebanon in trying to deter
Israeli daily aggressions or make it withdraw from the occupied Shibaa
farms.
The Arab and Muslim people want to establish
friendly relations with the EU states that have major interests in our
region, based on friendship, mutual respect and realistic conception
of the political realities.
Lebanon: A call for openness
In Lebanon, we believe that the political
situation is still paralysed, as a result of the rigid and narrow
mentality of several parties who dominate internal polities and look
for the foreign countries to win internally.
It is the people who are voicing their call to
solve the complicated problems that engulf the country, and they are
the ones who raise any politician or fall him. Therefore, we should
strive to be aware of our real interests away for sectarianism that
some trade with to strengthen their leadership.
We are hearing a lot of calls for dialogue, but
past experience has shown us that dialogue does not produce results if
those participating in it do not open up on one another and try to
find a basis for mutual trust.
The talks about going back to the institutions
will not yield decisive results given the debate about the
constitutionality of these institutions.
We also do not believe that the issue lies in
how much the opposition or the governments could deploy masses. It
lies in the concern of all people for their vital interests, through a
national unity government. If we lose this openness towards one
another based on the mutual confidence in the patriotism of all
parties, no one third plus one of minus one will do any good, for the
ongoing row will kill any understanding whether internally or
externally.
Have mercy on Lebanon that you sunk in
quicksand. You will not gain anything by following America's dictates
to aggravate the conflict.
If such indifference towards the country's
destiny continues, and if we continue to listen to what the external
powers want, we will reach a stage when the temple will fall on all
our heads.