Friday speeches 5 Zu Elqi'da 1425h/17 December 2004 AD

God says in His Glorious Book: {And do not incline to those who are unjust, lest the fire touch you, and you have no guardians besides Allah, then you shall not be helped. unseen. Lo! Allah is Strong, Almighty}. He also quoted Musa as saying: {My Lord! Because Thou hast bestowed a favor on me, I shall never be a backer of the guilty}.

The Quran did not lay emphasis on any moral virtue whether in its positive and negative sides as it did with the virtue of Justice, since it is the value that protects the human in man, the society from itself, and establishes the much sought balance between the rulers and the ruled. In short, justice maintains righteousness and blessing among people. It strengthens all the components of the society's unity and developments.

In Surah Al-Hadid, Allah tells us about this when He says: {Certainly We sent Our messengers with clear arguments, and sent down with them the Book and the balance that men may conduct themselves with equity}.

Equity in this sense is the essence of justice. This verse means that all messages from Adam (a.s.) to Muhammad (p.), and all the Holy Books that were revealed whether to Abraham, Musa, Jesus or Muhammad and all the laws that control peoples’ actions and relations aim only at one goal: equity and justice.

Islam has stressed on the virtue of justice in all aspects of life: justice with God, with the enemy and with your friend, and even with animals. In contrast, there is injustice or wrong doing which means not to give each one his right. To be unjust to yourself means that you do not care about your health in this life and you do not care about your fate in the Hereafter.

To be unjust towards Allah is not give Allah His right in obeying and worshipping Him as well as believing in His Oneness.

Justice towards others is not to deny people their rights, whether that is a material right or a moral one. This should be applied to all people; your family, your neighbors, your business associates, and all those you deal with. Allah does not like the unjust. On the contrary, He punishes them.

The first thing each and every one will be held accountable for on the Day of Judgment is injustice to other people especially against the weak and the downtrodden. You might feel you are strong now but what will you do on that day when {every soul shall be rewarded for what it has earned; no injustice (shall be done) this day; surely Allah is quick in reckoning}.

There is no power on that day except that of Allah; and all people are equal before Him. This is what Allah wants us to be sure of and educate ourselves on.

Injustice can take various forms. When you backbite someone or reveal his secrets, you are being unjust to him. When you cheat in your trade, you are being unjust towards others; when you undermine the image of others, and accuse them of what they did not do you are also being unjust. When you curse your spouse, children or relatives, you are also being unjust. “Treat people as you like them to treat you”; as we are told by our merciful Prophet (p.). Do you like to be hurt or cursed by others…? If you don't, how could you then accept it for the other…?

Imam Ali (a.s.) said in his will to his son Al-Hassan " My son: Makes yourself a balance between you and others, love for them what you love for yourself and hate what you hate for yourself. Islam wants you to be the other; both of you should be identified in one another.

Moreover, Islam emphasized the fact that the issue is not an individual one. The wrong doer is but one and the downtrodden is also one person. But when the unjust enjoys the support of thousands, whether his clan, his party or those who vote for him, then he becomes tens of thousands. We are the ones who make someone a tyrant; we give him the strength he abuses with others by our vote or by our weapons. Deprived of our blind support, the tyrant is just like any of us. That is why Allah considers those who support the unjust to be their partners.

Prophet Musa said in gratitude for Allah, the most Exalted, “Blessings I shall never be a backer of the guilty”. If there were an oppressor who happened to be one of your relatives, or a member of your party would you help him?

If someone is unjust to his wife and he happened to be your father or your son, would you defend him? If somebody of your sect or party was unjust to someone from another party or sect, should you support him? Imam Zein Al-Abidein says: “The kind of fanaticism that is considered sinful is to see the bad among one's folk better than the good among others. It is not fanatic to love your people but to help them to wrong others”.

Muhammad (p.) says: "Who ever knowingly helps an unjust in his wrong doing steps out of Islam". Islam is not praying and fasting only; it is a movement of justice towards life and people.

But this is not enough, not only should we not support the unjust, but we should also help the wronged. We should as Imam Ali (a.s.) told his sons: Be a foe for the wrong doers, and a help for the wronged”… The Prophet (p.) promises those who return the right to the wronged to be with him in Heaven…

Islam has ordained that each human being should, to the best of his abilities, be a source of strength to the wronged against the oppressors. He wants Muslims to spread justice in all domains. This is what nears man to God and this is what we should compete for.

The Palestinian cause is still under international political and military pressures, America in particular is besieging the Arab and Muslim region with political pressures that target Iran in its peaceful nuclear project and balanced Iraqi policy to force her to alter its strategic position of supporting the Palestinian people.

It is also pressurizing Syria and Lebanon using several false pretenses, for they want these two countries to stop supporting the Palestinians and forgo the demand of Israeli withdrawal from Palestinian, Syrian and Lebanese occupied lands.

That is why America, along with France and some EU states, is exerting forceful pressures on Syria and Lebanon to execute resolution 1559 that serves the Israeli interests but it is not prepared to pressurize Israel to execute resolutions 242, 330 and 194 which America too has voted in favor of.

The new atmosphere, that America and some of the Arabs are trying to create in the region in the name of finding a peaceful solution in the Middle East, aims only at executing the American-Zionist plans all in the name of realism and the geographical and political new facts on the ground. This is what electing a new Palestinian president should do: to end the Intifada and to forget about the: "Illusion” in their view of course, of freedom and independence.

To accomplish this, the Israelis are promoting a plan to settle the Palestinian refuges in the neighboring countries they are now living in.

The International Community will finance this project that, according to the Israeli foreign minister, establishes the elimination of the causes of hostilities represented by the right of return.

We ask the Lebanese, both who support the government and those who are against it and who talk about the international legitimacy of resolution 1559, and who voice their rejection to the resettling of Palestinians, why don't you reject the new American and Israeli moves that aim at resettling them? Rejecting this plan should be our top priority in addition to eliminating Israeli occupation.

The Palestinian cause is the major Arab and Muslim challenge especially that certain Arab states have started an economic normalization process, at a time we all know that the Palestinian economy and infrastructure is being destroyed. They are thinking about a fistful of millions of Dollars but they risk losing the entire Arab future. When will they wake up and stop undermining the dignity and the future of the Arab Nation that is being stepped over by the feet of the invaders and the arrogant.

We say to the entire Nation and to the Palestinians in particular, that the issue is not one of an emotional reaction in the confrontation line. Nevertheless, we should not yield to the international pressure in the name of political realism. It is liberation that gives the nation its identity, and no right will be lost as long as it is being demanded.

As Iraq is torn between 2 whirlpools, the first being the chaos in the security front represented by the crimes against the civilians and the sacred shrines, which implies certain influence for the fanatic ideologies that accuse others of unbelief and that plan for creating a sectarian feeling, which we are afraid might lead to a similar reaction, and ultimately put Iraq in a grievous situation… We call on all Iraqis to study what these actions committed by those who claim to fight occupation are leading to, especially that such actions fall within a grand plan devised by the Israeli Mosad and the American CIA.

The real problem in Iraq is the occupation, which a carefully studied plan should be set out to confront. It should aim at uniting the Iraqi people to realize this goal that is now being confused by the bloody incidents that kill more Iraqis than occupiers.

Moreover, when these killings target the sacred shrines, they provoke angry feelings that might lead to creating new dangers.

The other whirlpool is the elections, which in itself is a necessity for the Iraqi people.

But we are afraid that it will be controlled by the occupation which will make it deviate from its liberation course.

Therefore, the mindful and faithful leadership should keep its eyes wide open to keep track of the American moves that serve a strategy that talks about freedom and democracy while actually pursuing a different course.

Lebanon has fallen prey to sectarian and even self-serving tactics of politicians who do not mind using an abuse language although they claim to be patriotic.

We say to the Lebanese, both those that support the government and those who oppose it: why is all that tense widening of the gap between the Lebanese in an environment that is full of political and military storms in the region and full of hunger and deprivation in the homeland? Why do you act in a very casual and friendly mood in banquets, but you make fiery statements when you talk about issues that have to do with the fate of the country and seem not to mind if these statements cause more hatred and division among the Lebanese.
In the face of all these leaders who care only about maintaining their leadership privileges, we can only say: "May God help Lebanon".