FRIDAY SPEECH February 09, 2001

“Oh my sons go and enquire about Joseph and his brother and never give up hope on God (SWT). In truth no one despairs of God (SWT)’s comforting Mercy, except those who have no faith.” (S12,v87)

God (SWT) also said when He was telling Abraham that he was going to have a son:

“He said: ‘Are you giving me such happy news even though I am very old? What is the good news about?’ They said: ‘We really have good news for you so don’t despair!’ He said : ‘And who other than those who go astray despair of the mercy of his Lord?’” (S15,v54-56)

“If we give some of our mercy to people and then take it away, see how quickly they lose hope and become ungrateful. But if we give them our favour after they have gone through a difficult period, they are sure to say ‘All evil has left me’: See how proud and joyful they become. This is not the way of those who are patient and who do good works; those will be pardoned and greatly rewarded.” (S11,v9-11)

Thus there are many verses in the Qur’an that encourage Muslims to be aware of the way the world works and learn about God (SWT) whose abilities are infinite so that they would be able to live in this perfected system where nothing is stable except the major workings of the cosmos. But in mans life things change, civilisations rise and fall, Kings ascend thrones and abdicate or are dethroned and God (SWT) humiliates whom He wishes and elevates whom He wishes.

Thus God (SWT) tells us that when you face certain situations in this life whether richness or poorness, sadness or joy, success or failure you should not feel overjoyed or too desperate either because nothing is permanent. God might let certain people enjoy power and strength for a certain time but there is no such thing as an immortel force. History has shown us that the strong have become weak and the weak become strong. Everything in life has its cause and nothing could happen except by God (SWT)’s will and the objective laws that he has fixed for this universe whether the result is positive or negative.

Many of us have lived and followed the world’s political development. What did they see? They saw certain states who controlled the world but they have become fourth, fifth or sixth rank powers while other states that were living in the background have now occupied the center stage. Britain was the master of the seas in the 1940s and has now become a marginal state that follows the American political line. While America was a British colony and look where they are now? The Muslims used to hold many of the world’s strategic positions and now they have become dispersed and fragmented.

In the light of this we as Muslims should not become helpless when faced with depressing circumstances. We have to analyse the problem as we ourselves might be the cause.

“God does not change what is inside people unless they change what is inside themselves” (S13,v11)

“Corruption appeared on the earth and on the sea as a result of their actions so that God could make them taste a little of what they’ve concocted. Maybe they will come back.” (S30,v41)

Therefore if our weakness is a result of our own actions we have to change our social, political, cultural and economic circumstances. If on the other hand it is because of the strength of others we should study their points of weakness so that we can overcome them.

Even in one’s personal life when you are faced with hardships you might fall. You might compromise your religion too when it has to do with your interests. But God (SWT) tells you that you should never resort to such acts but keep your faith in God (SWT) and remember that he is capable of everything. When you have no faith that God (SWT) would relieve you of your sufferings it means that you believe God (SWT) to be incapable of something and this is a form of non-belief. You should always have faith in God (SWT) and this faith should strengthen your faith in yourself and in the resources he gave you to solve your problems.

“For every hardship there is a relief” (S94,v6)

To the pious that refuse to humiliate themselves, compromise their religion or sell their country and nation to satisfy their personal needs God (SWT) says: “Why do you trap yourself in the circle of despair?”

“As for those who fear God He will find a good way out for them. And He provides for him from sources he could never expect. And God is sufficient for anyone who puts his trust in Him. For God (SWT) will surely accomplish His purpose. In truth God has designated a due proportion for all things” (S65,v2-3)

Therefore man should always be optimistic and study his potentials and develop them to the full. You live in hope of victory and success and prepare all the means that will help you to attain them.

God (SWT) has given us all the means that will help us achieve all we need in this life but some of us just don’t employ these means and we live in an illusionary world. Yet this is what we ought to do if we don’t want to fall down or commit suicide. Some people will try to commit suicide when they feel everything is gloomy around them. Others might not commit suicide but they do so politically, socially and religiously and they do so because they do not have enough faith in God (SWT)’s ability and compassion.

Faith in God (SWT) should always be deep in your hearts even when you are sinful. For a lot of people might be led by their environment or by Satan to commit sins and to deviate or give up hope. For those people God (SWT) says:

“Say: O my servants! You have committed excesses to your own detriment. Don’t give up on God’s mercy. God (SWT) forgives all sins. He is the one who forgives. He is the Merciful” (S39,v53)

“He is the one who accepts His servants repentance. He forgives sins. He knows what you do” (S42,v25)

“In truth I am close when my servants ask about me; I reply to the call of those who invoke me when they invoke me. Let them respond to my call. Let them believe in me. Perhaps they will be directed along the right path.” (S2,v186)

Therefore when you face extreme hardship look to God (SWT) and open your hearts so that he will fill it with hope. Never say that it is all done or that it is all over. For God (SWT) is always there to help. You ought to endure because God (SWT) has given you this power to enable you to be strong when faced with challenges. If we are always with God (SWT) and we always have faith in him no one can intimidate or frustrate us. God (SWT) has told us in the Qur’an about the Prophet’s faithful companions who became even stronger when they were told that the enemy had deployed a big force against them.

“Those to whom men said ‘a great army is gathering against you so fear them.’ But it only increased their faith. They said: ‘God is sufficient for us and He is the best guardian’. And they returned with grace and bounty from God (SWT) no harm ever touched them…It is only Satan who makes you scared of his henchmen. Don’t fear them. Fear me, if you believe.” (S3,v173-5)

Don’t ever despair, don’t lose your faith in God (SWT) and be sure that succes and victory will be your fate if you strive to reach it.

The Israeli elections have resulted in victory for the butcher and murderer Sharon and the fall of Barak, which shows the predominance of anti-arab racism within the Zionist community and the fanaticism as a result of their insecurity since the beginning of the Intefada. They have thus opted to confront the Intefada with the help of this brutal symbol of extreme violence that this killer represents.

All this coincides with the American announcment that it is totally committed to Israesecurity and at the same time the absence of talk about the security of either the Palestinians, the Syrians or the Lebanese whose lands are still partly occupied by the Israelis. On the contrary, they call upon the Arabs to practice self-constraint and to give that butcher a chance to form his government. For in Americas view the Arabs are the only ones who need to be pressurised.

Despite all this, we have gained a unified and significant Palestinian stand that shows that our people in occupied Palestine have a great awareness of what’s going on. They did not disappoint us and they answered our call and my fatwa to boycott the enemy’s elections. They have shown that they are coherent and proved to the whole world that they are not under the influence of the enemy’s policies. We appreciate that they have punished Barak and joined hands with their compatroits in the West Bank and the Gaza strip. We also appreciate the national unity of the Palestinian people which proves to the world that they are the real owners of the land.

The Arab and Islamic worlds should not fall into frustration and perplexity. Neither should they be influenced by the American plot that aims at putting a stop to the Intefada and returning them to the endless rounds of negotiations in which America stands with Israel pretending to be an honest broker.

The big challenge is now facing all Arabs, especially in the light of the Likud threat to blow up the Aswad Dam. That’s why our position should be unified strong and devoid of the political leniency that was so much in evidence at the last Arab Summit. The next summit should adopt a confrontational plan. It should support the Intefada and the Palestinian people in their liberation strategy for the battle is that of the whole nation and not that of the Palestinian people alone. Both the governments and the people have to meet this challenge head-on.

Facing the Zionist threat in Lebanon

The new arrogant Israeli leadership might try to flex its muscles again in Lebanon. Therefore we should be on red alert and the army must co-ordinate with the resistance (being the reserve popular army) to defeat the enemy in the future as we did in the past. The lebanese people should stand unified behind them and the Lebanese and Syrians ought to co-ordinate moves in the face of this imminent threat. I believe, though that it is only a psychological manoeuvre because the conditions are not favorable. Nevertheless we should be careful because Sharon is quite mad.

At the same time the country is on the brink of economic collapse and we must all forget our sectarian and partisan differences in order to surmount these difficulties and find a comprehensive solution to the problem before it is too late.