Friday speeches 15 Rajab 1423h/12 September 2003AD

“And among men is he who sells himself to seek the pleasure of Allah; and Allah is Affectionate to the servants”(2:207) .

This is Ali when he slept in the Prophet’s

bed, at the night of leaving to Medina. Only Allah is your Vali and His Messenger and those who believe, those who keep up prayers and pay the poor-rate while they bow (5:55). It is he also whom Allah talks about as the friend of Allah

. O Messenger! deliver what has been revealed to you from your Lord; and if you do it not, then you have not delivered His message, and Allah will protect you from the people; surely Allah will not guide the unbelieving people. (5.067).

The Religion was completed when Allah’s Messenger, Muhammad(p.), appointed Ali (a.s.) as the Muslim’s Imam declaring that whoever considers him as his master , then Ali too is his master

He also said to Ali (a.s.) : To me e you are like Haroun was to Musa except that there is no prophet after me”, and he also asserted that the right is always with Ali, and that he is the city of knowledge while Ali (a.s.) is its gate.

This is Ali (a.s.); the example and the role model in his thought and spirit, in his knowledge of God, in his fight for the cause of Allah, the most Exalted, in his infallibility in thought and actions and in everything that nears man to Allah… This is Ali whom we do not feel his absence, for he lives with us more than many of those around us... For his thought still guides our life, and his actions and stances light our path and help us solve our problems.

In his birthday, we would like to rise with Ali to his level. For this is what he wants from all of us. “Help me with piety, righteousness, judgment and chastity”…

He wanted the nation to rise through the love of Ali: He did not want a naïve love or a traditional loyalty.

Ali was for Islam in its entirety and we want to be for Islam in its entirety. He was for all human beings and we want to follow his lead and be with all men. We do not want to sing and recite praising poetry. For Ali (a.s.) is bigger than that. We want to be like Ali (a.s.) even if at a rate of 10 per cent only. We want some of his thought to light our minds, some of his heart in our hearts and some of his goals in our goals. If we cannot reach the summit where he stays, we ought to try to climb to the highest place of the mountain we can reach, so as to have some of him in our souls.

Ali lived with the Messenger(p.) who became as a father and a mother to him in his early childhood.

Ali (a.s.) described this period as follows: “You do know my position of close kinship and special relations with the prophet of God. When I was only a child he took me under his care. He used to press me to his chest and lay me beside him in his bed, and I smelled the fragrance of his body. He used to chew a thing and then feed me with it. He found no lie in my speaking nor weakness in any act.”

This boy (Ali) did not have a separate bed. He got all the love and affection he needed from the Messenger(p.) who used even to feed him by chewing the food to make it soft. He also says that the Prophet did not find him to lie or to commit any wrong, which means that he was also infallible in his childhood.

Ali (a.s.) then tells about how Allah, the most Exalted, used to teach Muhammad(p.) before He sent him as a messenger and how the Messenger(p.) used to teach him not only by giving him the ideas but also by asking him to apply them. From the time of his weaning, God had put a great angel with him to take him along the path of high character and good behavior throughout day and night, while I used to follow him like a young camel following the footsteps of its mother. Every day he would show me in the form of a banner some of his high traits and commanded me to follow it.

Then he goes back to describing how close he was to the Messenger(p.) who described him as being one of two pine trees that have the same roots(the other tree is that of Muhammad(p.)):

Every year he used to go in seclusion to the Mount of Hera where I saw him but no one else saw him. In those days, Islam did not exist in any house except that of the prophet of God and Khadija while I was the third after these two. I used to see and watch the effulgence of divine revelation and message, and smelled the scent of Prophethood.

When the revelation descended on the Prophet of God I heard the moan of Satan. I said: O prophet of God what is this moan, and he replied. This is Satan who has lost all hope of being worshipped. O Ali you see all that I see and you hear all that I hear, except that you are not a prophet but you are a vicegerent and you are surely on the path of virtue.”

Ali’s life was dedicated to Islam. He was the first fighter in the wars of the Messenger(p.) , which in effect are the wars of Islam. In the battle of Khaibar the Messenger(p.) said describing Ali: “Tomorrow I will give the banner to a man who loves Allah and His Messenger and who is loved by Allah and His Messenger. A man that attacks and never backs away”.In the Battle of Al-Ahzab the Messenger said: “Ali” strike is equal to the worship of Al -Thakalain ( both humans and jinn)

Ali (a.s.) was also the teacher who conveyed to the people ,in addition to his struggle, the sciences of the Quran and the Messenger(p.) . He lived with the Messenger(p.) in his house as a child and then the Messenger(p.) lived in Ali (a.s.) ’s house after he married his daughter ,Fatima Al-Zahra(a.s.).

Nevertheless, Ali lived in alienation, for despite all his knowledge he used to complain that he could not find faithful people to carry his thought:

(And then pointing to his chest), he said: : “Here is well-grounded, plentiful knowledge; I wish it had true recipients and adherents, (I would have imparted it).

But unfortunately, some unscrupulous men of understanding have tried to misuse it, using religion as a weapon to earn the worldly gain, and seeking undue power by divine authority over Allah’s creatures, abusing His bounties which he bestowed upon them. So the feeble - minded people accepted them as reliable; or tool them as compliant with (divine) wisdom, discarding the true guardians of truth. (The truth is that) such people (who thy have adopted as their guided) have no insight into its ramifications; with the result that with the slightest confusion, doubt enters their minds. Neither of them could be the true carrier of knowledge.

And then there are those with insatiable lust, easily misled by the pleasure of flesh, or enticed by accumulating wealth, not at all among those who care for religion. They very much resemble the razing cattle. Thus, Knowledge dies with the death of such carriers”.

He used to feel that all this estrangement and loneliness for someone like Ali (a.s.) could have enlightened all those who lived with him but they were not mature enough to learn from Ali, much like a lot of people in our age and in every age.

Ali (a.s.) was the champion of Islamic unity. His sole concern was Islam and he was ready not to demand his own right if it helps to keep the Muslim unified and powerful. His eternal words still reminds us of how not to think of one’s rights, but of the interest of the cause: “I will sit still as long as the affairs of Muslims are secured”. He also said that when the people pledged loyalty to Abu Baqir, he sat back until he felt that there was a danger threatening Islam, because for him being a caliph is a trivial matter when Islam itself is threatened.

This is Ali’s message to all who consider themselves to be of his supporters, but who would not mind stirring strife.

Based on Ali’s stands which in turn are inspired from the teachings of the Quran and the Messenger, we have said that Islamic unity is the source of strength to both Muslims and Islam. But this unity does not mean that you do not stick to your beliefs and convictions. It means, as the Quran says, that you ought to refer your differences to Allah, the most Exalted, and His Messenger(p.) .

Ali was always on the alert to confront anything that threatens Islam and Muslims. Embracing the line of Ali means that we should be concerned in all challenges that face the Muslims in the light of the prophetic tradition that says: “Who is not concerned with the affairs of Muslim is not a Muslim.

O, Commander of the faithful, we need you and love you. We cannot but try to climb up to you, for are in a summit that is second to none but the Prophet... Give us a little of your spirit so that we can open Allah, Islam and the Muslims.

Asalam Alaika ( peace be on you) O Commander of the Faithful, Intercede to us before God. May Allah grant us the will to follow your line; the line of the Messenger and Islam.

This is a world that has no conscience: The major powers, with the US in the forefront, have given Israel a free hand to assassinate the Palestinian Mujahideen, by American warplanes, and even if it leads to the killing of children women and the elderly, as in the assassination attempt of Sheikh Ahmad Yasseen, and the raids to arrest some Palestinians in the refugee camps… This is because the Palestinian blood is in the view of the arrogant powers a “terrorist” blood, while the Israeli blood is a civilized blood being of the same type as theirs.

The Arrogant powers which condemned the Martyr operations in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv did not condemn-not even in principle- all the Israeli Army military operations that have reached the extent of gradually cleansing them or force them to fly away form oppression starvation and homelessness.

America, which helps Israel in carrying out this strategic plan of confiscating the Palestinian lands and killing their leaders and militants, has made the Quartet Committee demand in effect the surrender of the Palestinians to the Jews who would impose their conditions on them all in the name of the Road Map that the Quartet Committee did not exert any pressure on Israel to implement.

Their continuous pressure on the Palestinians alone proves that they do not want to admit that all the Palestinian people support the Intifada and that the militant Mujahideen are not a few isolated cases, but rather a comprehensive popular movement that includes the Palestinian Authority, who although might apply different tactics but it knows that it will be isolated if it enters into a struggle with the militant factions. This is what made the Zionist government decide in principle to “remove” the “obstacle” of Arafat, perhaps with the blessing of the Americans, and even the Arabs and other international powers.

Based on our very close monitoring, we believe that the Palestinian people will not abandon the resistance, and that it will retaliate against any aggression, which will make the Arab-Israeli struggle enter a dark tunnel whose developments cannot be foreseen...

If America claims to commemorate the events of 9-11 which initiated the war against what it calls terrorism, it is actually encouraging state terrorism against the Palestinians, in addition to practicing its own terror or creating favorable conditions for terror to develop in other parts of the world. In conclusion, we say that the war against terrorism will nit stop unless the arrogant stop their own political, military and economic terror against the downtrodden nation especially those of the Islamic nation…

We notice that Israel is playing with the Palestinian people the same role that was played by those who carried out the attacks of September 11, and that the green light American gives for the Israeli terrorism will encourage all parties to practice terrorism against both the US and Israel. For terrorism is relative just as self-defense is also relative.

On another level, although, the new relationship between India and Israel has emerged due to the Indian need of American blessings; something that cannot be attained except by developing good relations with Israel.

We are afraid that these new relations constitute an advanced step in besieging the Islamic world, and especially Pakistan, which the West views its nuclear weapon as an Islamic bomb, as if possessing such a bomb by Muslim, is a threat to the world. Nevertheless, they do not call the Indian bomb a Hindu bomb.

We also notice that America, who calls for the peoples right of self-determination has tuned the Kashmiri people who demands this very right, termed their movement a terrorist organization just as it deals with the Palestinian people. What kind of democracy is this and what kind of human rights are those that America champion?

In Iraq, the situation is still instable despite the establishment of an Iraqi government that earned the interim recognition of the Arab League. On the security level, the occupation is still facing a security impasse with more American soldiers being killed daily. This security impasse might turn into a political one, as trying to seek the help of the UN will not represent a way out-since America does not wish to give the international community any power that might undermine its leadership of the world.

In such a political, economic and security tempest we are afraid that the occupation of Iraq might last longer. It is about time that The Iraqis who suffered for a long time from tyranny that was in any case backed by the American arrogance, ought to enjoy peace and tranquility. The Iraqis now are voicing their demand: Hands off! For Iraq rejects all forms of occupation.

In Lebanon, we still hear about reform, even from those who led corruption, and about justice from those who used their sources of military, economic and political strength to wrong the people.

If those are the callers for reform, who then are the leaders and sponsors of corruption?

The problem its that there is no talk about the mechanism and there is no identifying of those responsible we only hear about reform in general -Meanwhile the political situation in Lebanon suffers of a malignant cancer. We are afraid that this illness will be transmitted to the new generation because those who are letting them in the regime are the guardians of corrupt.

The People in Lebanon ask the same question over and over again: Where is the state? How could it emerge once again after turning into a farm or a cause?