FridaySpeeches >2003 Speeches > 14/03/2003

In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful

Grand Ayatullah H.E. Sayyed M. H. Fadlullah delivered the two Friday prayer sermons (at the Imamain Al-Hassanain Mosque, Muharram 11, 1424h, March 14 2003 , several prominent religious scholars, dignitaries and thousands of believers attended the Jumu’a prayer).

 

 Imam Hussein (a.s.): a revolutionary and a preacher


The First Sermon

In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful

  Throughout Ashoura, we thought of Imam Hussein   as the martyred revolutionary, but we must also consider his role as a preacher. In his sermons, the Imam continually reminds us of God and our duty towards him. This does not mean that the Imam had two separate personalities: the revolutionary and the preacher, for he had only one. He was faithful to God and to Islam and was filled with the love of God. His personality was one of the perfect human being endowed with all the virtues of goodness righteousness and justice. This Imam sought to emulate a model that Allah would love and would fortify his soul by being continually accountable, by trials and perseverance.

 This is why the Imam Hussein based his political discourse on religious concepts. He did not believe that politics was a profession. Rather it is a change affecting reality of the world and of man himself. Thus an Islamic revolutionary should think of God as he speaks in order to be sure that he never puts a foot in any direction that would no be pleasing to God.

The role model

We need to keep this aspect of his personality constantly in mind, as he is a role model that embodies righteousness both in thought and in practice.

When describing how a believer should behave, the Imam says that the believer is one who relies on God (and no one else) in all his affairs. He should judge himself according to God’s words since the Qur’an is the light that guides us along the path of righteousness.

He would sometimes read verses describing how the believers are those who are faithful to Him, fight for …… and obey His commands including those instructing the believers to love and be merciful towards each other. At other times, he would read from verses describing tyrants and arrogant people Like Pharaoh and promise not to be like him if he was ever in a position of power. He would also study the nations that God had sent Prophets to and especially the way they treated the prophets, how they tortured them and made false accusations about them to destroy their reputation. Thus the Qur’an acts a spiritual social and moral guide, that helps you know and understand yourself and reconcile yourself to it, as you continue to seek the goodness and the truth.

Complete submission to God’s will

The Imam was asked once about how he felt on a certain morning, he answered with an overwhelming sense of responsibility towards his duties in this life and in the Hereafter:

I walk up with a God above me …

That is a God I have to serve and obey everyday who has no partner, for He says:

When a matter is decided by Allah and His Messenger it is not fitting for a believer, man or woman, to insist on their own point of view.   33:36.

The Imam means to say to man that when he wakes up, he has to be aware that there is a God watching him, and that he should fear this God:

And as for those that fear standing before their Lord’s (tribunal) and had protected their souls against base desires. Their abode will be Heaven (79:40)

He should not forget this God .

And do not be like those who forgot Allah, and he made them forget themselves! Such are the rebellious transgressors! (19:59).

 He who does will end up in Hell:

O, Mankind! Fear your Lord! For the convulsion at the Hour (of Judgment) will be a terrible thing! * That Day you will see that every mother giving suckle will forget her suckling-babe, and every pregnant female will drop her load (unformed): Thou shall see mankind as in a drunken riot, yet not drunk: But the chastisement of God will be terrible (22:1-2).

Death is seeking me…

So be quick to repent before it is too late, for each man will be held accountable for what he did… and it would be too late to change anything.

I cannot find what I love nor prevent what I hate. Things are controlled by One other than me  … He will punish me if He so wishes and He will forgive me if He wants…Is there anybody who is poorer than me…?

This is how the Imam wants us… To feel pious when we wake up in the morning, since we will be accountable for each and every day of our lives on the Day of Judgment …We ought to know that time is our responsibility and spend it obeying God. And actually question everything we do or say to make sure that it pleases God.

 In another incident, the Imam uses a different literary style to make the person who sins feel responsible: Once a man came to him and said “I cannot stop myself from committing sins. What can I do to stop this?” The Imam answered:

 Do five things and sin as much as you like. Firstly don’t eat from Allah’s property and sin as much as you like

 Is there anything that isn’t Allah’s property?

 Secondly, get out of Allah’s domain and sin as much as you like.

 Is there anywhere that is not Allah’s domain?

 Thirdly, look for a place where Allah can’t see you and sin as much as you like.

 Is there anywhere that Allah can’t see you?

 Fourthly, when the angel of death comes to take your soul keep him away and sin as much as you like.

 Is there anyone capable of doing this?

 Fifthly, if your money leads you to hell do not go in and sin as much as you want.

 We all live in Allah’s domain, eat from his property, are seen at all times, taken by the angel of death and go to hell if disobey so the Imam obviously said this to discourage people from committing sins.

 Let’s emulate the Imam, as we ought

 These are the words of the Imam Hussein, we should follow his example, be guided by his teachings, study his sayings, take his revolutionary lead. For being a follower of the Members of the Prophet (p.)’s household is not a mere declaration. It is a commitment, a responsibility and a way of life.

The Second Sermon

In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful

 The Arrogant war against Arabs and Muslims 

The American led international Quartet Committee is pressurizing the Palestinians to arrange their affairs according to Sharon’s dictates. Meanwhile Sharon continues to destroy cities and infrastructure with his Nazi army. The Arab silence is encouraging them all the while to continue with their plans and, in some cases Arabs are even assisting in its execution and are therefore playing a role in killing the Palestinian cause.

 America, which is still dominated by the Zionist lobby, has planned to invade the region on the pretext of disarming Iraq. Their real aims, however, are to weaken the region and to stop any Arab state from having the capability of defending itself against Israel…It is the Jewish war against the Arabs and Muslims at the hands of the Americans and this is what some of the American officials said thus exposing the real aims of American military offensive. Those American officials were promptly accused of anti-Semitism.

 Confronting the American plans

The whole region is affected by this crisis including the countries that are counting on their friendship towards the Americans and especially those who are helping them because America is a country that doesn’t have and doesn’t want friends in the region. They are only concerned about their own interests and, for the sake of these interests; America is prepared to do away with any of its agents and replace them with a new one. We are now entering a new phase; one of direct colonization, aimed at a total change in the political map and this fact has been admitted by the American Secretary of State. No one should be deceived by claims of Iraqi liberation or democratization of the Arab world. Real democracy is in fact a threat to American interests as well as the many of the Arab régimes currently in place. America wants a superficial change that will lead people to accept what are in fact new dictators installed in the name of democracy and deceive the people of the region with the granting of nominal freedoms that do not allow real change.  

The people of the region must make an historic and concerted effort to be ready for the coming confrontation with everyone playing their part in order to make America understand that she can never control us or stay in our land even in the event of a military conquest. Because the real issue is not whether they can invade us but whether or not they are capable of staying. All of our historical traditions our values and our religious beliefs do not allow us to surrender to this oppressor as slaves. Our responsibility towards the coming generations is to give them a free safe and sovereign country. Let us rely on our Arab and Muslim unity along with the Christian popular and church led movements to fight for the cause of freedom so that our region will not be merely a place of passage or a destination for would be colonials. We have to trust our nation that was able to achieve victory in the past and have more recently laid the foundations for a greater victory in the future.

 A need for a deeper reconciliation

In Lebanon, we have to strengthen our people by consolidating our unity. This can be achieved by solving socio-economic problems in order to prevent them from being exploited by people who would make use of tragedies to distract us from the real issues.

 We feel encouraged by the new openness between various political and religious groups. However we would like to see an even wider openness extending to the core of religious values and beliefs and one that would prepare us to meet the great responsibilities in the future. They are saying that there is going to be an American earthquake in the region. Let us hope that we will be the earthquake to shake all the American interests in the region by resorting to careful planning to determine the way forward and reach an end that will secure freedom for all without any improvisation or emotional reactions.