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The First Sermon
In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the
Merciful
Allah says in His Glorious Book:
Allah only desires to keep away the uncleanness from you, O people of
the House! and to purify you a (thorough) purifying.
Blessed Occasions
On the third of this month, Sha'aban, we meet with
the anniversary of the birth of Imam Al-Hussein bin Ali (a.s.), who
was born in the Third year after Hijra. Then on the fourth of Sha'aban
is the anniversary of the birth of Abu Al-Fadil Al-Abbass, and on the
fifth we celebrate the birth of Imam Ali bin Al-Hussein (a.s.).
On these occasions, we have to inspire their lives
and history to learn how to emulate them in their piety, spirituality
and commitment to Islam.
First, we have the anniversary of Imam Al-Hussein,
who lived as a child with his grandfather, the Prophet of Islam.
And with his mother Fatima and his Father Ali, who
educated him and gave him their knowledge spirit, and their willpower
to struggle for Allah's cause. All Muslims have read what the
Messenger(p.) said about him. "Al-Hassan and Hussein are the
masters of the Youth in Heaven" and: "Al-Hassan and Hussein are
Imams whether they sit or stand (meaning whether they revolt or not".
After the death of his father and brothers, Hussein
took over to teach people Islam and open up their minds on Allah, The
Most Exalted. The period he lived in Medina, was the stage in what he
emulated his grandfather in teaching and guiding the people,
especially on the need to reject wronging and establish justice.
He wanted to prepare the Muslim community to
distance themselves from the line of deviation of the Umayyads whether
that committed by Muawiyah who usurped the caliphate from Ali, or that
committed by his son who forced Muslims to pledge loyalty to him.
The Husseini Slogans:
As Imam, Al-Hussein had the duty to establish
reform in his grandfather’s nation. That is why, when there was a
chance to act, he did, so as to serve the Message and the nation, he
acted , seeking to establish good and forbid evil And I am not
taking up arms in order to make merry, or be ecstatic over what I
possess. I am not making mischief, nor exercising oppression. But, I
am ready to fight for the sole goal of seeking reform of the Ummah of
my grandfather, the Prophet of Allah I want to enjoin good and.
forbid evil.
Thus, the movement of Imam Hussein was a peaceful one and not one
of war, "whoever accepts me –not for myself but-by accepting the
truth, then Allah is higher than the truth. And whosoever rejects me
then I will bear patiently until Allah judges between me and them, and
He is the best Judge.”
But those who were deviated, and submitted to injustice, imposed
violence on him and wanted him to accept injustice but he responded by
his eternal words "By Allah! I will not submit to you the
submission of the meek, nor I will avow to you the avowal of slaves."
On the other hand, he used to try to provoke the feelings of the
nation and try to make the people more sensitive to right and wrong
saying :
Yazid , the natural son of an illegitimate has placed me in a
dilemma,
drawing my sword and fighting or being humiliated by allegiance to him
. But it is impossible for us to be humiliated, God, his
messenger, the
believers, my respectable family would not prefer obedience to mean
people to dying with glory .
He also used to continue to conduct a dialogue with
those who confronted him calling them for Allah and for adopting the
Right
saying: "Have you not noticed that the right is ignored and the
evil is not forbidden? This is sufficient for making the believer's
desire for meeting Allah rightfully. I consider death as happiness and
life with the wrongdoers as boredom”, but they have closed their
minds telling him that they can not understand what he was saying.
Nevertheless, he continued his movement against tyranny and injustice,
providing the nation until the line of liberation and confronting
injustice and arrogance wherever they exist. He then was martyred
along with his companions and children, but he accepted this fate
since it was seen by Allah; and for the cause of Allah.
Although the Imam was martyred, his revolution,
slogans and goals continued to live in the conscience of the coming
generations, to be turns to meet in the various stages of history into
revolutions against all arrogance and tyranny, to ensure that Allah's
word has the upper hand.
Thus the Imam remained a light that lit the minds,
the souls and the hearts, calling on the nation to be free and
steadfast in the face of the arrogant and the unjust.
Al-Abbass and As-Sajad .
Al-Abbass represented belief in its highest forms,
and courage and sacrifice in their most noble and firm manifestations.
He stood up with Hussein till the very end, saying
after his right hand was cut, that this will not stop him from
defending the true Imam, the son of the Prophet, till the very end.
Citing his role and position Imam As-Sadiq used to
say: Our uncle, Al-Abbass was deep in his insight. To visualize
his personality let us go back and read in his visit "Assalum
Alaikim, O good servant, who obeys Allah, His Messenger, the Commander
of the faithful, Imams Hassan and Hussein, what a good and comforting
brother your are."
Imam Zein Al Abideen, Ali bin Al-Hussein, filled
the era he lived in with knowledge piety and spirituality.
He taught people many aspects the Islamic culture, whether the
Islamic concepts or laws or the spirituality of Islam which he taught
through his supplications, we read in his supplications such saying
as: I showed sincerity by cutting myself off from everything but
Thee.
I approached Thee with my whole self.
I averted my face from everyone who needs Thy support.
I ceased to ask from any who cannot do without Thy bounty.
I saw that the needy who seeks from the needy
is foolish in his opinion,
and misguided in his intellect.
How many people have I seen, my God,
who sought exaltation through other than Thee
and were abased,
who wanted wealth from someone else
and became poor,
who tried to rise high
and fell down low!
And he also used to teach people the guidelines they should adopt
in their political and social options saying:
Preserve me from imagining any meanness
in someone who is destitute
or imagining any superiority
in someone who possesses wealth,
for the noble is whom obedience to Thee has ennobled
and the exalted whom worship of Thee has exalted
He also used to guide the people to the straight path they ought to
follow, explaining for example the meaning of fanaticism saying that
it is not fanatical to love your people, but to see the evil among
them better than the good among others.
He added that fanaticism is not loving your own
people, but to support them in wronging others.
Meaning of Wilayat:
Dear beloved… Ahl El-Beit are the representatives
of the Imamate, the Message and the movement of right. That is why
when we pledge our loyalty to them, we must read all their heritage
and learn all their knowledge, since they wanted our minds to open up
on the truth, and live love and unity among us following the straight
path that Allah has drown, the path of good and justice.
Imam Ali had said that the friends of Muhammad's
are those who obey Allah although they might be unrelated to him, and
those who disobey Allah are the enemies of Muhammad no matter how
related to the Prophet they are.
The impermissibility of hurting or disturbing
others
Finally, I would like to point out to the fact that
we issued a fatwa that deemed impermissible to burn tires, that
damages the environment and hurts the people. We also prohibited
firing shots whether to express joy or grief. We also have deemed
impermissible all kinds of fireworks that disturb people. In this
respect, we have noticed lately, that many people are shooting and
even that some people were wounded.
I want to emphasize this fatwa, and say to all our
brothers and everyone else: Shooting to express joy or grief, as well
as burning tires and fireworks are all prohibited (harram). It also
indicates a backward mentality. Arms are meant to defend oneself and
the nation.
As for protesting, you are not allowed to protest
in a way that hurts others, we have to stand against these bad habits
that do not honor our society, but rather hurt it. We have to be among
those who believe and do good deeds. Those who cling to the right and
those who advise one another to be patient.
The Second Sermon
In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful
Is there A British awakening
In Britain a new view towards the region seems to
be emerging. The foreign relations committee in the British House of
Commons has issued a statement in which it said that London and the
International Community's refusal of conducting a dialogue with Hamas
has caused more harm than it did good.
And that isolating Gaza will further endanger
peace. In addition, they called on the British Government to consider
having a dialogue with moderate elements in Hamas and opening up on
Syria to promote stability in the Middle East. The Committee
criticized London's stilling in calling for ceasefire to end the war
on Lebanon last year, and said that this has undermined the reputation
of the United Kingdom.
It also called the government to start a dialogue
with the moderate MPS of Hizbullah.
Such statements suggest that the Committee has
begun to overstep the outlines of the British foreign policy that were
drawn by the US, which indicates that Britain could be moving towards
a realistic moderate and independent policy that could have an impact
or the policies of the EU that the Americans have been pressurizing.
The Israeli official's apprehension was rather
evident, since they have tried to warn the Europeans against having a
dialogue with Hamas considering it a "Fatal mistake".
It is interesting that the British Foreign Ministry
was quick to respond to the committee claiming that the British
Government worked hard for a ceasefire to end the Israeli war, citing
the fact that hostilities did not break out again. But we notice the
Blair's government – along with America-waited for 33 days for Israel
to win the war against the Resistance, but when it could not, it made
the Security Council pass a resolution that talks about ending
hostilities and not a ceasefire, which by the way, has not been
declared yet. The British Government watched the Israelis destroy the
Lebanese infrastructure and kill the civilians, without any laudation.
Instead, it encouraged Israel to continue,
permitting the Americans to use British airports, to provide Israel
with more bombs and advanced weapons.
This British awakening continues to be loyal to
Israel, asking the Palestinians to recognize Israeli occupation
without recognizing their own freedom, and with out demanding that
Israel would draw its borderlines. That is why the EU refused to
recognize the Palestinian national unity government and stopped all
aid to the Palestinian. They do not respect the Arabs who have yielded
to the International Community that is dominated by America, France
and Britain in the Security Council.
Some political Advice:
The problem with the western Administrations is
that they want to impose their conditions on the Arabs and Muslims as
if they have the right to interfere in all their political economic
and security conditions. And this is what we are facing in the stand
against the Iranian nuclear project, which the EU and the US could not
prove that it seeks to make a nuclear bomb. The sanctions are based on
mere suspicions that conceal the real motive of depriving Iran from
the opportunity of possessing nuclear know-how even for peaceful
purposes, like that of power, which even the countries that are allied
with America, including the Gulf countries have been contemplating
especially that oil might run out in the coming decades.
We advise the EU states not to submit to the
American policies, since they have an interest in establishing good
economic relations with the Middle East states especially that these
relations were historically in favour of the European interests,
although colonialism has ended.
Misguiding the Palestinians
Israel continues its aggressions and massacres
against the Palestinian people in Gaza, as well as detaining them in
the West Bank. But we do not hear any Western condemnations for the
fall of victims by means of American weapons, except some shy
statements that are worthless. Similarly there are no denouncements by
the Arab states that have started to establish good relations with
Israel even to the extent of mutual political and security planning,
to the extent that they now are trying to find the best means of
containing their peoples and preventing them from being committed to
the line of Resistance and opposition. If this trend continues Israel
might become an active member of the Arab League.
If there are those who are talking about peace in
the region and about the conference president Bush has promised to
convene, we refer them to the talk of the head of foreign relations
Committee in the House of Representatives who said that he does not
except any sound achievements from this conference.
Moreover, the foreign Affairs Committee of the
British House of Commons has said that the Road Map has become to a
large extent inapplicable, although we should preserve its goals.
Adding to all this is the fact that the man
appointed for the peace talks, Blair, is a good friend of Israel and
not the Arabs. Moreover, some Western officials are stating clearly
that nothing can be achieved during Bush's tenure… The proposed
conference will only waste more time, as the Arab states are used to
with their relations with the American Administrations.
The future is for the Mujahideen:
We say to the Palestinians, you have to make every
effort to retrieve your national unity, through dialogue among all
parties... We have to do this even at a time Israel is pressurizing
the Palestinian Authority to prevent it from establishing any dialogue
with Hamas.
We say to those in the PA who might think that
America will liberate their lands that they have to go back to reason
and understand that America works for Israel in the fields of politics
security and economics, at the expense of all regional states. Iran
wants Israel to be strong and all the other states to be weak.
This is what we want our Arab and Muslim peoples to
understand. The future will not respect those who do not respect their
freedom and fate, and those who leave others who only seek to deviate
over the entire region, determine their fate for them. We say to them
what Imam Hussein said: Be free in your lives".
Washington destabilizes Lebanon:
America and several other European and Arab states
are blocking any realistic attempt to forge a solution to the Lebanese
political impasse.
A number of European countries who tried to solve
the crisis and restore stability have gone back on their suggestion,
as a result of direct and indirect US pressures. In addition, a number
of Arab states, which had earlier undertaken mediation efforts to
solve the Lebanese deadlock have also stopped their efforts under
American pressure. Political rows dominate the country, leading to
deep rifts that could develop into the chaos President Bush had
planned for. There might be two governments or a political vacuum,
which could lead to additional dangers that Lebanon does not have the
means to overcome, especially with the international interventions
that do not want Lebanon to reach the shore of safety.
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