Friday Speeches Mosque Zoul-Qida 14, 1423h

Allah says in His Glorious Book: {When those who disbelieve had set up in their hearts zealotry ;the zealotry of the Age of Ignorance, then Allah sent down His peace of reassurance upon His messenger and upon the believers and imposed on them the word of self-restraint, for they were worthy of it …}[48:26].

In this verse, Allah talks about the psychological force dominating the social relations in the pre-Islamic society. He emphasizes that man in this society was raised and educated on an unhealthy inflated feeling of the self in everything in life.

He would not see anything except through a view that has to do with his zealotry and fanaticism whether to himself, the tribe or whatever group he feels a strong bond to.

Thus man, in the pre-Islamic age of ignorance, was educated on arrogance and haughtiness…He was raised on the feeling that he is greater than the other. In that society, the male felt that he is greater than the female, and the member of a big tribe felt that he is greater than a member of a smaller one... a beautiful woman would feel arrogant and better than a less beautiful one… A wealthy and powerful man would feel greater than those who do not possess power and wealth…Although there are other aspects which might be even more important than power and money such as wisdom, science, intelligence as so on. Thus, we have to be realistic when we come to evaluate ourselves in comparison with the other. We have to study all aspects of our personality… What qualities we have, and what the qualities others have, so that we will be realistic and know exactly where we stand and where others do.

This will enable us to grow more humanistic when we discover the weak points of the other and more modest and humble when we discover the aspects we are better in than the other.

Moreover, if the feeling that you are greater than the other dominates you and controls not only your acts but also your feelings you will become obsessed with the need to demonstrate and prove your greatness. You will always be afraid that others might outrace you.

In contrast, the believer will always live in peace and tranquility… the bliss that Allah bestows on believers. He will always study the other and conduct a very precise comparison between himself and the other. Then he would come to the conclusion that both have certain traits which they are better in, and that in the end they are both equal.

That is why Allah has commanded us to be pious; that is to treat the other as an equal who has certain rights on you just as you have certain rights on him and that both have different virtues. You should never act out of arrogance, since the criteria that men are divided by in the Hereafter is their morals. Some people might feel that they deserve the highest ranks while in reality they are at the bottom Allah says: {Say: Shall we inform you who will be the greatest losers by their works} {Those whose effort goes astray in the life of the world, and yet they reckon that they do good work} [18:104-105].

Based on this Islamic ethical conception, the Messenger(p.) and the Imams talked about fanaticism as a consequence of arrogance and zeal. Fanaticism means that one is totally immersed in himself that he no longer acknowledges the other… Such persons would seek to destroy the others to monopolize everything for themselves. Fanaticism could also be towards a social and political group. In this case, such fanatic persons would go as far as committing unlawful acts to ensure the dominance of their group. They will plot schemes that destroy and distort the image of others so that their party would occupy the center stage.

This person does not mind lying, backbiting, taking words out of context, deleting words from a text and editing it in a way that completely changes the meaning.

When one becomes fanatic he would forget about God and piety and do anything to ensure the supremacy of his party, and he would be living in what could be described as a personality cult.

Such methods-including spreading rumors and false accusations of the kind the intelligence agencies usually practice, would lead to civil strife, especially that the motive that drives their proponents is not religious as they claim.

This is how internal strife was ignited in the Muslim community whether within the same sect or between different sects, for the religious leaders used to encourage the people to destroy the other instead of understanding and acknowledging him.

Let us read some of our traditions to learn how dangerous fanaticism is whether upon belief and piety, or on the fate of the nation.

Imam "Al-Sadiq said: "Who becomes a fanatic whether to a person, party or tribe -or becomes the object of fanaticism, will be denouncing Islam. He also quoted the Messenger (p.) as saying: Who possesses in his heart a small seed of fanaticism, will be raised on Judgment Day with the unbelievers of the pre-Islamic age.

Imam Ali bin Al-Hussein said: No zeal will enter heaven except that of Hamza bin Abdulmutalib. It is because Hamza, the Prophet's uncle, got very angry when he saw how the unbelievers were torturing his nephew, the Prophet(p.), and proclaimed his adoption of Islam in a defying way publicly challenging anybody to hurt the Messenger. He later was martyred in the battle of Uhud and was proclaimed by the Prophet (p.) as the master of martyrs.

Imam Al-Sadiq said: The Angels used to think that Satan was one of them, as he was called the Angels’ peacock, but Allah showed them that they were wrong, by extracting what is really inside him when he was angered.

Imam Zein Al-Abideen used to believe that the kind of fanaticism that one is blamed for is the one that makes him see those who are bad among his folk better than the good in others…

Such persons would hasten to side with their folk in any feud without investigating who is right and who is wrong.

If is not fanatical to love your people, since it is instinctual, but it turns into a sin when this loves obliges you to help your people do wrong to others.

Fanaticism has lead to our defeat, and fragmentation… It has drawn us away from our religion and Allah. We have to make every effort to rescue our belief from this vice since it affects us both in this world and Hereafter.

The war on Palestinian cities is still going on with the same barbaric inhumane brutality due to the need of the Israeli elections to more Palestinian blood. Moreover, the American president and his Republican party are also in need of the American Jews and their rightist supporters to win the coming presidential elections. This means that the American President supports the wining of the Likud to guarantee a similar success for the Republican Party…

Acting under the influence of his Nazi administration and his personal ambitions and complexes as if he suffers from hysteria, it does not matter for Bush how many Palestinians Arabs and Muslim are being killed.

The American President has forsaken all the human rights of the Arabs and Muslims. In addition, how does the international world opinion view the treatment of the detainees in Guantanamu? America might ask Israel shyly about the wisdom of closing two universities in Hebron, or about house demolition and dislocating innocent inhabitants, but when it comes to the Palestinians any minute act if compared to the Israeli crimes, would be met by America’s condemnations of "terror".

As for the British sponsored conference, it aims at suggesting that the Quartet Committee is still working, the fact that the Israeli amendments have turned the “Road Map” into an Israeli project notwithstanding.

What is internationally aimed for is to make the Palestinians reach the stage of exhaustion and despair. They would then be ready to give more concessions and unilaterally freeze the Intifada without any Israeli or American commitment of stopping the campaigns against the Palestinians.

The question that imposes itself is: What is the legal international right that gives America and Britain the right to declare war against any country that does not pose a direct threat to their national security... Even without the consent of the Security Council? What is the value of its members whether permanent or not? How could any Third World country feel secure, if the matters are solved by political or economic deals between the major powers that do not take into account the interests of other nations?

What are the nations that seek peace and freedom going to do about it?

What is meaning of the regional organizations… the Arab League, the Islamic Conference… etc? Have the countries of the world turned into zeroes that do not have any value or weight?

The American military, economic and political pressures made the nations unable to feel that they can depend on any alliance or even cooperation with the United States, despite all the talk about freedom, democracy and human rights, for these are the biggest lies.

On the other end, there has been some renewed talk about a new Saudi initiative for joint defense in the face of the challenges, confronting Zionism and supporting the Palestinian cause: Should we wait until this initiative materializes? Would the Arabs who have been shattered by the successive strikes and challenges agree to join their hands in a non-partisan cause… or would the fate of this initiative be similar to the Arab Initiative of the Beirut Summit? Should we remain waiting until the others allow us to move forward?

In Lebanon, especially in the border zone, the people cannot use the roads that are in a very poor condition…

In fact, all their living conditions suffer from neglect, especially with the municipalities not receiving any financial aid, and could no longer function…

The problem of funding the social security fund that the poor and working classes benefit of, is also another pressing problem.

The steps taken so far to provide some of the funds needed are very marginal and the pace to find a real solution is too slow to have any positive effect…

Another important issue concerns the right of the people to strike and demonstrate which is a constitutional right through which the people peacefully voice their demands. But does the government have the right to strike and seize to deal with the developmental, informational and the living conditions in general of the people? Do the officials have the right to boycott one another, and freeze the country's political and economic life as a result? Nay, they do not have the right to strike and seize to govern…

Is there any respectful country that in the civilized world whose officials boycott meetings that deal with issues as important as the people's life?

There is a law that rules the country… There is the president and the council of ministers that hold the responsibility of executing it in an adequate and peaceful way…. And there is a parliament who has the right to supervise … Either all those, despite their different moods, hold their responsibilities or they should resign… The country is not the property of any of them… It is Allah's trust whose responsibility has fallen on the people, the government and the president.