Friday Speeches Mosque JamadaII 7, 1423h, August 19, 2002

Allah says in His Glorious Book: {those who annoy believing men and women undeservedly shall bear the guilt of slander and a gross sin} (33:58).

One of the social traits Allah (S.W.T) wants the Muslim to acquire and practice whether at home or among fellow Muslims in the community is to be a peaceful man who is never evil to others. He should be always good to them, and consider them as his brothers in religion or in humanity, in accordance to what Imam Ali (a.s.) said: “People are of two kinds, either a brother in religion or a kin in Humanity”.

When one talks, Allah (S.W.T) does not want him to harm others but to comfort them, for this is the secret of the well-being of the society, because harming a fellow human being brings hatred and enmity leading the community as a whole into a state of confusion and instability. Allah (S.W.T) wants man to spread love among others, and those of you who annoy believing men and women undeservedly (because you have by the right of self-defense to return the harm…) You might be feeling that you are superior or any other similar complex or to prove that you are a “man”, you will have to face Allah’s torture, for you will be committing slander and a gross sin.

Thus, man has to keep watching himself when he deals with others, whether in trivial or essential issues. For instance, parents do not have the right to abuse their children… A child is Allah’s trust to his parents, and it is a brother of them in religion. You should not also differentiate between a male and a female child. Such discrimination between boys and girls that is going on in our houses is immoral. The Messenger (p.) told a man who kissed one of his children that he has to kiss the other too.

The relationship between the husband and wife too should not be abusive. The man should not hurt his wife, for the marriage contract does not make the woman a slave to her husband. It is true that the dowries have rather grown to become huge sums these days, but the relationship is a free one, except in what concerns the legal rights of marriage. Both husband and wife are humans, and the man does not have the right to insult his wife or beat her. In this respect, there is no difference between your wife and the wife of your neighbor. The wife too does not have the right to harm her husband by either denying him his legal right, or distorting his image in the society.

Some people might pray day and night, but hellfire would be waiting for them, because they harm others, even those who are very close to them. The Messenger (p.) said: “The best among you are those who are good to their families…” He also said: “The most humiliated among you are those who insult others”. He also said: “Who hurts a believer hurts me”.

To demonstrate how grave such sins are, the Messenger (p) said: “Whoever frightens a believer with a forceful look would be frightened by Allah in the Hereafter…” and you know how awful would such a fear be on the Day of Judgment. The Messenger (p) also said: Who saddened a believer by insulting or hurting him… and then gave him the world it would not be enough, and he would not be rewarded”.

The Messenger (p.) guides us to a way we could be charitable to our selves. He says: “Do not harm others, for this is a charity to yourself”. Imam Zein Al-Abideen (a.s) says: “Not hurting others is a sign of the perfection of the mind” Those whose minds have developed to the state of perfection are those who do not hurt others.

For not hurting others and being good to them, bring you the love of others, as well as that of God, and the mind leads to do what brings this love.

Not only one should be good to people, he should also tolerate their annoyance. Those who take upon themselves to reform the society, and those who call people to obey Allah (S.W.T), or those who confront tyranny and injustice, should in particular be tolerant, for they have a duty to perform, and enemies, who would constantly attack them to face. And those people are greatly rewarded by Allah.

Our Islamic society is full of problems and hardships, whether economic and political or private problems in each household. If we wish to earn Allah’s love and satisfaction, we should comfort people, and make them happy instead of making them more tired and depressed.

Remember that you will have to pass before God (S.W.T) in the Hereafter, and if you think you are strong enough and wish to hurt and abuse the weak, you better remember that there is a more powerful force above: that of the Almighty Allah.

Solving the Palestinian problem remains in the security sphere, as evident from the American meeting with the Palestinian officials… It did not deal with the political issues, although they constitute the basis of the problem.

Issues like occupation and the right of self-determination were not-and would not be-discussed, for such issues are not parts of the concerns of the American administration. All it cares about is the security of the Jewish people, which means, that all its movement in the region aim at what it calls fighting terrorism or mass-destruction weapons, since such goals serve the Israeli interests.

The American position towards Iran is also determined by the same guidelines, being a response to Iran’s attitude towards the so-called peace in the Middle East, for Iran supports the Lebanese and Palestinian resistances against the occupation. Similarly, it pressurizes Syria for its steadfastness in confronting Israel and its support for the Resistance and the Intifada.

America has even begun acting both politically and through the mass-media against some of its allies, like Egypt and Saudi Arabia, as a result of their objection of the savage and brutal way Israel runs its occupation, in coordination with the U.S that gives the Zionists the green light to continue their atrocities and destroy everything in Palestine, whether people, trees, houses, roads …

Even the American intimidation campaign against Iraq could be seen as part of this movement that aims at distracting the international public opinion away from what is going on in Palestine…

Furthermore, America is not serious in its claim that it wants to relief the Iraqi people, and rescue them from their internal and external sufferings. On the contrary, America itself is responsible for these sufferings, especially by interfering to thwart the Iraqi uprising…

The American plan wants to install a puppet regime in Iraq, so as to control the wealth of Iraq and its political decision, as a prelude to control the Middle East as a whole.

We are aware of the extent of the catastrophe the Iraqi people is suffering from which makes them think only about deliverance and perhaps by any possible means, but we believe that America is only concerned with the Israeli interests.

If we want to have an idea about the value of the American promises, we have only to remember the promises it gave to Afghanistan concerning the rebuilding if its economy and security. Not one of these promises was materialized, and America was concerned only with controlling the political power in the country to execute its political and military plans in the region. We should all remember the ironic saying that states: American enmity for any nation is tiring but its friendship is fatal.

What America feels that is needed now, is to reform the Palestinian security, which means that the Palestinian security apparatus should become one of the branches of the American or Israel security. It wants the Palestinian authority to be marginal and dependent not only in the security field, but also in all other political, economic, security and even cultural fields; so that it will enter the negotiations without any cards that will enable it to gain any of its demands.

This is what the American- Palestinian meetings in Washington and the Israeli -Palestinian meeting in Jerusalem represent. They are held under the slogan “Israel security first” which means that the Palestinian security and the Palestinian state serve only one function: to safeguard the Israeli security. The former American secretary of state Henry Kissinger expressed this fact when he said that the road to Jerusalem passes through Baghdad whose mass destruction weapons should be destroyed. But Kissinger does not talk about these weapons in Israel, for it should remain the only nuclear power in the region.

The stage now is a stage of a comprehensive offensive on the entire nation, under various regional security pretenses. The Arab and Muslim nations should be aware of the American plan to restore the arrogant dominance over the region, under new pretences such as liberation, democracy and civilization, but which, nevertheless, do not have a real content that reflects the peoples’ aspirations.

As for Lebanon, we would like the Lebanese in this stage to consolidate and solidify their internal unity, more than any time before, for the dangers that threaten their political entity are greater than in any previous stage, despite the fact that the Israeli occupation has ended.

Thus, I warn against any ambassador of a super- power, who might whisper to the leaders of any Lebanese sect that certain changes that might be in their favor of this or that sect are about to happen.

Such interferences aim at distracting the Lebanese away from the political and economic dangers that are associated with the regional and international plans…

We all know that putting the stakes on the axis that are hostile to our nation and its causes will be a losing cause, just as it was in the past. The fancy dreams that these axis spread aim at creating an internal instability that hinders any effort to ease things up whether politically or economically. Lebanon should remain in a state of instability until America executes all the episodes of its project in the region.

Do not bet on these imaginary and wrong calculations, because the entire Lebanese people will pay the price. They have- both Christians and Muslims –paid the price in the past, when they listened to an American or a European ambassador.