A Universal
Islamic school
Allah says in His Glorious Book
And Allah only wishes to remove all
abomination from you, ye members of the Family, and to make you pure
and spotless.
One of the Imams of this
household of the Prophet is Imam As-Sadiq whose death anniversary is
on the 25th of the month of Shawal. When we talk about this
Imam we are talking about this broad objective Islamic school that
enrolled,
as students, all the
religious scholars of that age with the aim of not only calling for
Islam but also to correct any deviation and to guide to the Muslim
society to the sublime morals of Islam.
Moreover, the Imam touched on the
various Islamic issues building an ideological and theological basis
for Islamic philosophy. He used to guide people to listen to the mind
and not to be driven by passions that might lead to man's fall. The
mind on the other hand, works by the rules. It is the means that Allah
has provided us to distinguish right from wrong, and, as such, be held
responsible since it is man's Holy part that receives Allah's orders.
The Imam of
dialogue
The Imam focused on dialogue and
considered that there no taboos in it. He used to talk with those who
differ with him in their sectarian beliefs, presenting his proofs and
arguments. He also used to conduct dialogues with those who differ
with him in religion, such as the atheists, with an open mind that
listened to what they had to say and a humanitarian attitude that
believed in their freedom of speech, even if what they were saying was
offending, because he wanted them to say anything they were thinking
of, so that he could convince them of its falseness.
The Imam used to sit in Al-Masjid
Al-Haram, with people praying and turning round the Kaaba, and receive
the atheists who used to mock their acts of worship with such
statements as: “for how long are you going to pound this threshing
floor?”
Yet he answered them in a
humanitarian and calm way resorting to his grandfather's (The
Messenger
(p.)) method of saying
that is best.
Thus, the Imam was a champion or
dialogue, and this is what all the callers especially if they are
Imams, should resort to. They should not be infuriated by the opinion
of others, but rather they should try to influence them by their views
by wisdom and debate with the best words and means. He was even
described by one of those who used to gather around him: "I have
never
seen anyone who deserves to be called humanitarian except Jaa'far bin
Muhammad.
The Imam of
Scholars and Knowledge
Imam As-Sadiq was the teacher of
that stage, whom all scholars of the various sects used to learn from.
One of his students was Abu Hanifa, the Imam of the Hanafi sect, who
spent two years in the Imam's school.
Abu Hanifa used to say: had it not
been for these two years, I would have been damned. For although Abu
Hanifa did not become a Jaafari, he learned the various religious
sciences in these two years. Abu Hanifa also reports that he was asked
by Abu Jaa'far Al-Mansour, the Abassid Khalifate of that age, to paper
forty complicated questions to Jaafar bin Muhammad for he has charmed
the people. Faced by these questions, the Imam used to say: We say
this and the people of Medina say that and that group says that, until
he went through all the different opinions.
Thus Abu Hanifa concluded:
"He is the most knowledgeable
person, since the most knowledgeable is the one who know best the
peoples' differences:
A historian of that era says that I
entered the Mosque and saw 900 Sheiks each saying: "Jaafar bin
Muhammad As-Sadiq told me" .He was the teacher of that age, the
teacher of those who agreed with him and those who don't for they all
used to go back to him, and it is said that those who narrated his
traditions exceeded four thousand scholars.
Piety and
dedication.
The Imam also represented the
highest level of spiritually. When we read his supplications, we find
out that he was the man who loved God and was loved by Him, and who
was dedicated to Allah in all his mind spirit and life. He opened up
on all people, talking to and guiding them. He wanted his followers to
learn about all their religion. He also wanted them not to offend or
hurt others even those who differ with them in their opinions saying:
It is very easy to please the people; just do not offend them with
what you say. He believed that the differences in opinion necessitate
dialogue with the best mean that avoids cursing or insulting. Allah
has prevented us from abusing others for it will lead to a reaction of
the same kind. And do not
abuse those whom they call upon besides Allah, lest exceeding the
limits they should abuse Allah out of ignorance.
Moreover, the Imams, including Imam
Jaffar, followed what Imam Ali believed in, to uphold Islamic unity
and to avoid abusing those who differ with them.
The commander of the faithful said:
"I will remain peaceful as long as the affairs of the Muslims are
maintained and the only wronging committed falls on me personally .He
also said: I dislike you starting to
abuse them, but if you describe their deeds and recount their
situations that would be a better mode of speaking and a more
convincing way of arguing. Instead of abusing them you should say, "O'
Allah! save our blood and their blood, produce reconciliation between
us and them, and lead them out of their misguidance so that he who is
ignorant of the truth may know it, and he who inclines towards
rebellion and revolt may turn away from it."
This is the legacy of Ahl el-Beit
and this is their moral system. They wanted to attract people by
wisdom and using the best means in dialogue. One of our Imams said:
"Keep our memory alive, May Allah have mercy on those who do so".
Asked how we do that, he said:
Relate to them our sayings. They will learn about our supreme
morals, and thus they will love us. This is the way to make the
Muslims love our Imams and this is what we want all our religious men
and reciters of Ashoura to remember: to tell the people the truth and
not myths.
Imam As-Sadiq wanted us to uphold
Islamic unity. Asked what should they do with their relatives and
members of the community of the other sects, he said:
"Pray with them, visit their sick,
and attend their funerals, so that people will say: May God bless
Jaafar bin Muhammad; he educated his companions on good manners. The
Imam wanted the Shiite Muslims to open up on the Sunni Muslims, which
does not mean that they have to offer concessions that have to do with
their faith: He used to say: Abu Bakir is twice my father since he was
his grandfather from the mother's side. This does not mean that he
recognizes his caliphate, but he wanted the people to take the ethical
and humanitarian aspects into consideration.
Our following to Ahl el-Beit is part
of our Message and Islamic belief. They are the ones who embody the
Message. May Allah bless Imam As-Sadiq, his fathers and his children,
when they were born, when they died, and when they will be brought
back to life.
The
Second Sermon
In the Name of
God, the Compassionate, the Merciful
A Persistent
American Policy
President Bush had given Israel, in
the name of self-defence the green light to kill Palestinian women
children and the elderly, and destroy their houses in Bet Yahoon.
His UN Security Council
Representative used the veto against the draft resolution that mildly
condemned Israel.
This is the fortieth US Veto that is
made to support the enemy, encourage it to carry on its aggression
against the Palestinians, and humiliate the Arab and Muslim worlds
whose majority of its regimes are under the hegemony of the US
administration that despises their leaders, for it does not respect
those who yield to its political pressures.
On anointer level, the visit of the
Zionist Prime Minister has renewed Washington's support, for the
continued aggression of the Jewish State against the Palestinians. The
American President whose policy’s cornerstone in the region is the
Israeli interests, has even promised Olmert to oppose the idea of an
international conference.
It is also shocking that Bush has
asked the enemy's prime minister to train the Israeli armed forces to
avoid being defeated again, promising to provide the Israelis with
advances weapons that will kill more Lebanese and Palestinians. In
this respect, the Zionist officials have declared that the cluster
bombs they have bombed the Lebanese southern villages are made in the
US, and that they are but a part of what the US administration has
provided to the Israeli Army that has not submitted the maps of these
bombs to the Lebanese Army or the UNIFIL.
Arab
incompetence
The Arab foreign ministers who met
in Cairo decided to lift the blockade on the aids to the Palestinian
people. But this is the least they ought to do, for they did not take
advantage of the pressure cards they possess against Israel and
America, being afraid of the consequences and the impact of such an
action on their personal positions and interests. Such a state of
affairs makes the state of Arab weakness persistent, and keeps them on
the margin of international affairs especially when their vital
interests are concerned.
Repercussions
of an Aggression against Iran
In Iran, the American President
with his black Israeli hatred has assured the enemy's prime minister
that although he lost the midterm elections, he can still carry out
what he had previously declared of not allowing Iran to turn into a
nuclear state even for peaceful purposes. And that he will use the UN
to impose multiple sanctions if Iran does not succumb.
We believe that the Islamic Republic
of Iran has all the means to defend itself against any Israeli or
American aggression that can lead to regional and international
political or military catastrophes, turning the world in what is left
of Bush's term into a place more violent and less secure with the
terrorists acts increasing.
This will lead to extraordinary
complications to the American interests with the free nations
resisting the American hegemony. We even feel that the American people
will continue to pressurize their Administration, protesting against
its wars in Iraq, Lebanon and Afghanistan.
It is ironic, in this respect, that
the enemy's prime minister is calling on the "moderate" Arab countries
to stand against Iran in its nuclear project, since in his view, it
represents a threat to them and the world, but he does not talk about
his nuclear arsenal.
The American
solution for Iraq: Division
Iraq is still in the darkness of the
catastrophe that struck its people with tens or hundreds of Iraqis
being killed by the occupation forces or the Takifiris death squads,
while the losses in the occupation forces are but few.
We have always stressed that the
root cause of the Iraqi economic and security tragedy is the
occupation that created this barbaric attitude of the Takifiris hatred
that continues its war on the innocent civilians. In addition, the
American media is promoting the idea of dividing Iraq. Time Magazine
has described such an idea as the realistic solution, and the best one
for all parties. It considered that the US should give up the idea of
creating a new unified Iraq. It should let the country disintegrate
into its three components – the Shiites, the Sunnis and the Kurds,
turning Iraq into mini-states that are ruled by the US and fall under
the influence of Israel, giving it the chance to further weaken Iraq
and interfere in its affairs.
Lebanon and
the Sectarian complications
We were hoping that the Lebanese
would rise to the great victory against the Zionist enemy, but the
sectarian-political complications, of several parties, led to the
country to plunge in the caves of the international plans for the
region, especially the American plan that made Lebanon a base for its
pressures both on Lebanese and regional parties, exploiting the
country's suffering of internal division due to the sectarian loaded
discourse most politicians hold. They are practicing deceit to the
extent that the dialogue many parties are asking for lacks any
essence, being only talk and no action.
The Lebanese people of all parties
are living a pressing economic crisis, fearing form the security
developments and are influenced by the sectarian dividing incitation.
The Politicians promote these divisions to insure that they stay in
their positions. Lebanon is floundering in hatred rancour and
hostility, with no voice calling for love even in the religious
discourse. Where is Lebanon heading to?