FRIDAY SPEECH October 3, 2001

Yesterday was a very special day. It was the anniversary of the birth of Imam Al-Mahdi; the day of light that illuminated all times and the man who would fill the earth with justice having been filled with oppression and wrong-doing. In these blessed days, where the light of guidance penetrates into our hearts reminding us of our great responsibilities towards Islam, the Muslims and the whole world, following the example of the Prophet(p.) who opened up on the whole world.

Imam Al-Mahdi’s message is none but that of the Prophet(p.), and his role is a part of the Messenger(p.)’s role. To associate with the Imam is to believe in Islam and adhere to its teachings and rules. For there could be no relationship between any of us and the Imam if it was not through Islam. The Imams of the House of the Prophet(p.) do not want us to establish a personal relationship with them but rather a relationship that is based on the message of Islam. That is why Allah tells us in the Glorious Quran:

{Muhammad is not the father of any of your men, but he is the Apostle of Allah and the last of the Prophets}.

Imam Ali (a.s.)told those who wanted to be a raised to a higher level because they were relatives of the Message: Muhammad’s followers and friends are those who obey God regardless of their kinship and Muhammad’s enemies are those who disobey God even if they were of close relation.

Therefore, Imam Madi’s role is the role of the Imam that represents the role of the Messenger(p.) but without being a prophet(p.), and that is why being a follower to him is to believe in Islam. Thus we say in our opening supplication: O God, make him the caller for your Book and the upholder of your religion. God let him be the supporter and the champion of your religion and the supporter of your Prophet(p.)”.

If this is the task of the Imam to support religion and champion its cause, then our task should be to ensure that Islam is our guide in our homes, clubs and communities as well as all our lives. Islam should be our first and most important concern.

As for believing in the Imams, we were told by the truthful Messenger(p.) who does not say any thing out of his own feelings or desires, but rather what has been revealed to him by God. The Messenger(p.) said according to both Shiite and Sunnah sources: I am leaving among you two things- The book of God and my progeny- that if you follow them you will no be led astray, Furthermore They will not separate until they come back to me [On the Day of Judgment]. We deduce from this saying, that is a long as the Book of Allah exists an Imam from the Prophet(p.)’s progeny will also be present.

Moreover, both the Sunnahs and Shiites agree that the Messenger(p.) said: The caliphs are 12 and they all belong to Quraish” Such a number cannot be found in the Rachides or Umayyads or Abbasids rules, but only in the Twelve Imams of the Shiites.

As for the Imam’s absence and long age. All what has been said about it is not based on solid foundations, since his absence and age are matters of Allah’s knowledge. He is the One Who absented him and He is the One Who will bring him back, and He is capable of everything. If Allah has told us that Naoh lived for 950 years ,could not this number be multiplied? We have to believe that there are things we do not know , like what will happen in the future, for Furthermore, both Shiites and Sunnahs agree on the existence of the Mahdi. They only differ about whether he has already been born. Thus, Imam Al-Mahdi is an Islamic truth agreed on by both Shiites and Sunnahs. The Messenger(p.) said: The World will not end until the Arabs will be ruled by one of the members of my house whose name is the same as mine”. In another saying, the Prophet(p.) says: If there would be just one day in the life of this world, Allah will send a man whose name is the same the same as mine and whose looks and manners are like mine”. Abn Saiid Al-Khoudari quotes the Messenger(p.) as saying: The end of the world will not come until a man from my house will come to full it with justice as it had been filled with oppression”. Therefore, justice is not for one region, but rather in the whole world, and Islam will spread in the whole world.

This is what we want to underline today. That the Imam’s message is to fill the world with justice, a task he shares with all the Prophet(p.)s. Allah says in His Book:

{We have sent our apostles with clear signs and brought down with them scriptures and the scales of justice, so that men might deal with fairness}

Allah has sent all books and Messenger(p.)s to establish justice on earth. And the Imam is going to perform his task-towards the end of time, the task of establishing justice.

Thus, if we want to be of his followers, we have to be just in everything: We have to be just with Allah by worshipping Him only and by obeying Him. Then we have to be just with fellow human beings even with our enemies regardless if they were Muslims or non-Muslims or even unbelievers.

On the personal and social levels, we cannot be just towards our political issues, if we are not just with our families, neighbors and those whom we trade with. If you are not just in this circle you cannot be just in matters relating to the whole nation. A wrongdoing no matter how trivial it is, will make you get used to bigger ones. Those who dominate the world had learnt how to be unjust in their homes.

Therefore, to be a follower and a Shiite of the Imam is to be just .Imam Ali says: ”The strong among you is weak in my eyes until I take from him the rights of others. And the weak among you is strong in my eyes until I return to him his right”. Muhammad, the seal of the Prophet(p.)s and the man with the exemplary morals says in a saying that tells us that the reason for the fall of civilizations is the class differentiation between the rich and the poor.

These who were before you were ruined because if one of their nobles stole they would leave him be, but if the weak stole they would punish him.

The law is against the weakened only. Suppose a poor man did not pay his taxes, the whole government will come to him and sell what he has to obtain their money, but the major companies and top officials do not pay any taxes. And if they were asked to pay, a political crisis will erupt…

Therefore, today the Imam’s day. It is the day of justice. And you cannot be with him and await him while you wrong do one another. Our hearts cannot be with him while our swords are against him. If you want to be with him you ought to know where justice is and stand with it.

Promote justice in your homes clubs, communities parties, markets and homelands, and then you can ask God to make you one of the Followers of Imam Mahdi, and his message, the message of Islam and Justice.

Worshippers of Allah…. Be pious and seek to be always just. But to be just includes fighting arrogance whether represented by a individual, a group, a community, a country, or an international alliance…

The American and Israelis are playing complementary parts in the same play. Israel kills the Palestinian activists, occupies the territories of the Palestinian authorities, and continues to blockade them and destroy the Palestinian infrastructure as well as killing Palestinian, children, woman and the elderly.

The US secretary of state protests against some of the Israeli practices in the “A” areas, but Israel refuses. What does America do? It succumbs to the Israeli position and calls Sharon to visit the United States, and he even flirts with the idea. On another level, the UN Security Council meets to discuss the Palestinian complain dealing with the refusal of the Israelis to withdraw, what does America do? If prevents the Council from issuing a resolution but only a communiqué which does not have even a moral power, let alone the power of implementation.

European heads of state and foreign ministers visit the region (Italy, Spain, and Britain) to talk about peace, rejecting violence, the need of for a Palestinian state and that they “understand the Israeli government’s need to protect its citizens”. But none of them dares to demand that Israel should withdraw, end its blockade and stop killing the Palestinian activists..

Those European delegations, therefore do not have anything to give to the Arabs except some consolatory statements… For they can not offer except what America has already decided on, and the Americans are not preparing any new initiative in this respect. It only cares about the Israeli interests and claims that Israel is a victim of Palestinian terrorism.

It is the old American- Israeli deception which was joined lately by Sharon who is now talking about peace and negotiations, provided the Palestinians end the Intifada… and lose the only card they have.

I would like to warn the Palestinians not to fall in this trap again… All this aimsonly at taking Israel out of the impasse it finds itself in, as well as finding an excuse for some of the Arab and Muslim countries to join the international alliance against the so called”terrorism”.

The Palestinians should keep their pressure, to broaden the Israeli impasse. Their salvation depends on the continuity of to Intifada that has grown up and became an adult.

Do not kill the Intifada with these political and security schemes that might endanger your national unity.

In Afghanistan, America is following the Israeli example in its operations of destruction, killing civilians and burning food warehouses. It is even bombing hospitals, all under the pretense of fighting terrorism… In both places what is being practiced is nothing but state-terror with none of the Arabs and Muslims objecting. Millions of Muslims are dying or threatened to die out of hunger. for these people are not considered humans, America sees them as insects that ought to be crushed so that they will not disturb the arrogant.

Every now and then, we hear that some Muslim countries, such as Turkey and Pakistan, as well as some Afghanis are fighting with America that kills Muslims without any differentiation between civilians and non-civilian, yet we hear no Islamic party that voices its opposition to this crazy war, that has begun to drag America into an impasse. It is a war that might not end, and a war that America will find very difficult to achieve a victory in unless it considers killing the hungry Afghani people a victory.

In this respect, any attempt to consider this conflict as a struggle between Islam and Christianity, or between Muslims and Christians is a vicious scheme. Thus, we denounce the attack on a church in Pakistan, just as we denounce the American bombing of Mosques in Afghanistan….

America does not repesent the Christians for there are some Christians who oppose this aggression, while some Muslims try to find justifications for it. It is the war of the arrogant, against the weakened .A war that aims at promoting the political and economic interest of the arrogants.

In Lebanon, the appointment of the high officials in the civil service has turned into a game of political sharing of the benefits of the state. especially with respect to the appointment of the deans of colleges of the Lebanese University. It is a game that aims to promote the interests of politicians without taking the country’s need of efficient and qualified civil servants away from any fanaticism, sectarianism or backwardness into consideration.

Lebanon is a beautiful country, why do you (officials) want to impose on it all this ugliness and distortion? It is the country of illumination, why do want it to become dark? It is the country of human rights why do you want to deprive its citizens of its freedom.

We dream of fresh air, crystal clear water and innovating space, and we have to make every effort to turn our dreams into reality.