Friday Speeches Mosque 13 Rabi AlTani 1424 h, June 13 2003

We have talked last week about the role of morals in Islamic jurisdiction, and we said that Islam in its entirety is Morals, since it bonds people together and ensures the stability of the community, especially when everyone knows his rights and duties and acts accordingly.

The traditions of our prophet and the infallible Imams are full of sayings that underscore the fact that morals are linked to man's status when he meets God and that they represent the highest degree of belief, since belief is not a state of the mind or the heart; it is how you deal with fellow human beings.

Imam Al-Baqir (a.s.) says: The most sincere believers are the ones with the best morals, for they have become the living embodiment of Islam.

Imam Ali bin Al -Hussein (a.s. ) is said to have quoted the Messenger(p.) of Allah, the most Exalted, as saying: "Nothing will be put in your (credit) on the Day of Judgment that is better than good morals". Because when you fast, pray or perform pilgrimage it is something that remains in the private sphere but when you have good morals it will benefit all people. That is why Allah considered it better than the other practices.

Imam Al-Sadiq(a.s.) says:

Four qualities, if some one possesses, he would be a good believer, even if he is full of sins: Honesty, trustworthiness shyness and good morals. He also said that the best thing that one can present to Allah, the most Exalted, with the exception of the religious duties, is tolerance that enables you to live with the people and contain their negative attitude without loosing one's temper or make the emotional reactions define one's responses.

Muhammad(p.) says: the one with good morals is rewarded with the same reward of the one who fasts and prays. He also said ,according to Imam Al-Sadiq(a.s.) :

"Two attributes are among the most that let my nation enter heaven: Fear of God and good morals.

The Prophet(p.) also said: Good morals melt sins as the sun melts the ice".

Imam Al-Sadiq(a.s.) says: Morals are gifts that Allah bestows on man. They are of two kinds; one innate and one intentional which is acquired by training and education. The one whose morals are innate could not act otherwise while the one with the good intentions has to be patient and educate himself ,therefore, he is better than the first kind.

We are reading these traditions to purify our souls and draw nearer to God, especially that our community, whether at home, at work or in the society at large, have become plagued with bad manners, and people no longer meet one another with open minds and hearts.

Imam Al-Sadiq(a.s.) says:

"Allah, the most Exalted, rewards His servant for good manners just as he rewards those who fight for his cause". Just as the fighter continues to struggle against the enemy and kills the bad guys, the one with good morals would be fighting himself and trying to get rid of any weak point that might drive him to be bad.

He also considered that it is necessary for a believer to be of good morals "since if he might be deficient in worshiping but one of good manners, Allah will let him reach the level of those who pray and fast”.

There is a story that shows how modest and moral the Prophet(p.) was: Imam Al-Hussein (a.s. ) said in the context of giving an example that indicate that good morals are leniency and kindness: Once, the Messenger(p.) of Allah, the most Exalted, was sitting in the mosque.A women who was a slave to a man from the Ansar came and pulled the Prophet(p.)’s dress three times, with each time the Messenger(p.) looking at her but she did not say anything. In the 4th time she took a small piece of his clothes and went away.

Asked by the astonished crowd why she did so, she said, I was asked to bring a piece of the Messenger's dress to help in healing a sick relative, but I was too shy to ask him.

This story proves how humble, tolerant and modest, Muhammad(p.) was, for he did not even ask her what she had wanted.

The Traditions that ask the believers to be modest are so many in number; suffice to say that modesty was considered by the Prophet(p.) as an embodiment of good manners.

He says: "The best of you are the ones with the most gracious manners.. those who are humble…

He also explained that Allah does not accept the repentance of those who have bad manners.

Asked why was that so, he explained it is because if they repent from a certain sin, they will soon commit a bigger one.

This message that equates between belief and good manners and that makes good manners an essential perquisite to draw nearer to Allah, the most Exalted, seeks to make the believer an individual who loves his fellow brothers in the community and who would rush to help them in their times of need. In return they will open their minds and hearts to him, and he will be loved and respected by all around him. But the problem is that there those who live with closed minds and hearts and they will be a problem to themselves, before becoming a problem to others.

Good morals are a message of love, compassion and active social relations. We have to educate ourselves and our children on the necessity of adopting good manners, for this is what provides tranquility, happiness and forgiveness in this world, as well as in the Hereafter.

The American President is asking the world to help him in stopping the killing in Palestine following the martyr operation in Jerusalem, because he cannot stop the massacres of Sharon whom he considered a man of peace.

Moreover, he was disturbed and even panicked by the objections made by the pro-Jewish members of Congress, following his statement that he was troubled by the assassination attempt that targeted Dr. Abdelaziz el-Rantissi.

That is why the American President issued his threat to the leaders of the Intifada with Hamas in its forefront, and condemned the Martyr operation in Jerusalem considering it an act of outrageous terror. He was followed by his secretary of state and the UN Secretary General although none of them mentioned the Zionist atrocities against Palestinian civilians, which are being executing by American gun ships.

It is the American -Israeli strategic alliance which wants to exploit the force of the Iraqi military victory-along with other political means of pressure to force the Arab to deal with them from the view-point of the defeated party who has to yield to the emperor’s decrees.

The American Administration has sent some observers, but their task is not to monitor the Israelis but rather the Palestinian political and economic activities as if they were still minors in need of an American guardian who would lead them to guarantee the Israel strategic security in Palestine.

The problem of Bush lies in that he is too weak to face Sharon and the Jewish Lobby; he has to apologize whenever he criticizes Israel, even if it were in a very mild way. In contrast, he flexes the American muscles in the face of the Arabs and Palestinians, demanding that they should fully adapt to the political and security changes in the aftermath of the war on Iraq. He threatens them with the need to disarm their countries of weapons of mass destruction, while nobody is allowed to talk about Israel's nuclear arsenal. This is because he believes that Israel has the right to be stronger while Arabs and Muslims do not have the right to defend themselves.

We do not want to sound or act as if we have a subjective complex towards America, but we cannot help but notice that it is destroying us in the name of peace and war against terrorism and occupying us in the name of liberation.

It seeks to destroy the Palestinian force, and put an end to all the region’s causes to ensure the enhancement of its strategic interests.

The Palestinian people should hold out in this very difficult stage in which the Zionst Enemy and its American ally are shaking the ground under their feet. They have to solidify their unity on the basis of objective dialogue that seeks not to offer concessions as a point of departure. They also have to protect the Intifada’s political and military existence by rethinking its means and by studying the internal and external circumstances, for the latest developments have made us reach a very critical situation especially with Bush's repeated call to the Arab world to besiege the Intifada economically until it starves, and asked the entire world, the Arabs included, to wage an international war against the freedom fighters in Palestine…

We have absolute confidence in this great Palestinian people that has proven that it did not yield under pressure, although it was all done without any Arab support, that is form the regimes which might have even turned to providing some support to the Israelis as a result of the American pressure.

The real aims of the American policies in Iraq are beginning to unfold: They want to take full control of all the century's politics and economy.

And this is something the current American rulers in Iraq did not hide, for the maximum it offered the Iraqis was to appoint advisers to the occupation authorities; all the taking about a national conference and a provisional government have evaporated…Moreover, the Iraqi opposition leaders no longer have any legitimacy, for the only legitimacy is that of the occupation.

Such a stance should invoke the Iraqi opposition leaders who put their stakes on the American to review their position. They are not, as we have always said, going to bring democracy and prosperity to Iraq... For the Iraqi aspirations are not on their agenda, which contains one thing only: The oil wealth of Iraq.

If the American continue to neglect the Iraqi national demands, things will end up in cutting all forms of dialogue, and the relations will become even tenser with suspicion and apprehension from the American intention, growing. And this will ultimately lead to negative developments, whose impact will affect all parties

In Lebanon, the economic an political crisis persists, with the continuing rows that take into consideration each party's personal interests. Meanwhile, the region is faced with great political challenges which will undoubtedly affect the country’s security, economy and political stability.

The American green line given to Sharon to destroy the Intifada could extend to Syria and Lebanon, let us be cautious and alert, and let us ,most importantly, freeze our differences, and rise to the level of the challenges.