Friday Speeches Mosque jamadi Alawwal 18 1424 h, July 18 2003

Allah, the most Exalted, says in His Glorious Book: Allah's wish is but to remove uncleanness far from you, O Folk of the Household, and cleanse you with a thorough cleansing (33:33)

One of these that are Purified is the infallible pure lady, the first lady of the worlds, Heaven and the believers, as both Sunnis and Shiites agree upon in their books of traditions, is lady Fatima Al-Zahra (a.s).

This great lady who lived with those that represent the biggest level of humanity and all the virtues of infallibility, humanitarianism and openness on all the wronged, wretched and deprived… This great lady who also lived with them the confrontation of the arrogant and the oppressive… This great lady whose greatness was not restricted by the fact that it was the daughter of the Messenger (p.) Who was united with her in his heart and soul whether in her childhood or in her youth that was too short and she left this world early… She was so united with her father that she lived all his feelings… Knowing from his eyes what he wanted and from his steps what he meant…yet their relationship was not merely one between a father and daughter but a relation in which love is mixed with the message.

In her childhood, Fatima used to accompany the Messenger (p.) in all his pains and sufferings: If the infidels tortured him in one way or another she used to condole him with her tears, although she was barely five years old. She lived with him in the same house, and when he lost her mother, she gave him all the affection and love he lost when he lost his mother and then his wife. That is why he called “her father’s mother” for he felt the love and tenderness of a mother in her marvelous ability of love and giving.

Fatima was a woman of universal proportions. It is quite regretful that we have imprisoned her in the circle of tragedy. She was quite bigger than tragedy… She never talked about her tragedy but always talked about the right of Ali (a.s) and his legitimacy… Her voice was that of Ali (a.s.) when he said that the right did not leave him any friends... She also was left with mo friends when she adhered to the right, for she stood firm in the face of falsehood, not caring for who might blame her when it was a matter of standing with the right.

Thus, we should take the personality of Al-Zahra in its totality and not imprison her is the tragic death of a human being or the joy of the birth f another… The world needs a great pure lady like A-Zahra (a.s.) … It talks about the achievements of several ladies, but we do not see in any of them the sacrifices and the morals of Lady Fatima (a.s.).

This human being who thought of others more than she thought about her self… We believe that the biggest virtue of a believer is to equate others with himself. (You will not believe until you love for your brother what you love for yourself). This is what her son, Imam Al-Hassan tells us about her, when he used to hear her in the long nights she spent praying for others and not for herself.

Her humanitarianism was like that of her cousin and husband, the Commander of the Faithful, Imam Ali (a.s).

They used to spend their day in hunger and prefer to give the little food they had to the poor, the orphan and the prisoner. They were the embedment of sacrifice and good doing and the highest symbol of humanitarianism.

In addition, lady Al-Zahra (a.s.) was a dedicated housewife, and she was such a hard workers that her health was affected...

Seeing how much she was enduring, Imam Ali (a.s) asked her to go the Messenger (p.) and ask for a servant, but he relied: “Should I tell of something better than a maid.

When you come to sleep say God is great 34 in times, praise God 33 times and say Subhanallah (glory be to Allah, the most Exalted,) 33 times… This is better for you then the servant” And this what they did and what a tradition that all Muslims perform when they pray or go to bed.

In addition to her duties as a wife a daughter and a mother, she used to gather Muslims from both the Muhajireen, (who migrated from Mecca) and Al-Ansar (who received them in Medina) to recite to them what she had heard from the prophet. She was a caller and a leader, despite all the problems and hardships she was facing. She believed that the woman believer should be well knowledgeable of Islamic culture to guide fellow Muslim women. The woman, in her view, the view of Islam, was not a discarded and neglected mass, it is a human being that is responsible for the society just as the man is

She was also one of those who struggled for the cause of Allah... She stood before Al-Muhajereen and Al-Ansar in the same mosque where her father used to deliver his sermons and guide the nation… It has been said that who heard her was hearing her father, for she resembled him in the content and guidance of her speeches as well as her looks and the way she talked. She was able to deliver a cultural Islamic speech that outlined the general and specific principles of Islam… She defended her right to inherit her father, talking about the Quran and the prophet in a polite and gracious way... For, like her father and husband before her, she did not want to insult those she differed with… She only wanted the truth and sought what is right… Her cause transcended her person… It was the responsibility of a person who carries a message and who believes that this message comes before him.

Al-Zahra (a.s) endured a lot of suffering when her house was attacked and in some other ways as well, but she endured all that with the patience of a true believer... She was the human being who knew his message and who knew how to protest… Her last protest was when she asked her husband to burry her at night…

On another level, she, together with her husband, raised and educated Imams Al-Hassan and Al-Hussein (a.s.), those great Imams whether they revolt or hold peace ... It was her great spirituality and her love that nourished their love of God and made them feel the purity of Islam.

This is the great lady whom Allah has purified. There is no uncleanness in her thought, emotions and in all her life. She is infallible, as the Ayah of purification states, as well as being the first lady of the worlds... In addition, her entire life proves that she represents this purity…

Thus, when we remember Al-Zahra (a.s.) we have to understand her in this sense as the international Muslim woman whose humanitarianism, idealism and dedication for the cause, make her a role model for woman all over the world… We have to take her out of the frame of tragedy we have imprisoned her in, to let her live in our hearts and consciences… our minds morals and culture... We want her to become the role model of all humans: men and women.

The whole region is in a state of political turmoil; it faces security threats and economic problems that are created by the American-Israeli strategic alliance that aims at turning it into an advanced base to protect its various interests… And this is what we conclude when we see the absolute conformity of the American and Israeli policies towards almost all issues the region.

The Palestinians are to be suffocated economically and politically so that they will all, the authority, the militant organizations and the people, be pushed to the corner, so that they will declare their surrender to the Jews, and Sharon could proclaim his victory over the Intifada…

America that leads the execution of the Road Map does not exert any pressure on the strong party to fulfill its commitments. It only pressurizes the weak party to yield to the Israeli conditions. Although it might utter a few words to suggest that it is neutral, but it will tell the Jews in advance that these are merely words meant to create the illusion that we are honest brokers.

Although America has devised a plan that does not meet the Palestinians aspirations, it did not set a realistic mechanism to implement it. It left it to negotiations and went to the extent of saying that if the parties concerned agree to change the conditions, meaning the Israeli reservations, it would accept such changes. Moreover it has accepted these reservations in the Aqaba Summit, and the Palestinians did not object although they did not accept them to save their faces…

The Zionist Knesset then took a step further in the same arrogant and aggressive march by decreeing that the West Bank and Gaza are not occupied lands, confirming what Sharon had declared about the occupation being an occupation to the people and not the Land. No response came from America. For it has come to disagree with the United Nations and consider the West Bank and Gaza as disputed lands and not occupied ones.

Thus the game/ plot goes on, with the Arab states asked by the US to protect Israel and pressurize the Intifada even on the level of human aid… The Palestinians along with their militant Intifada leadership should be cautious of what the authority is planning for… There are many political and security mines planted by the Arrogance, the Zionists and their Arab followers… The Mujahideen ought to be very careful to discover them to be able to thwart the new plots as they did with the old ones.

Iraq too is still living in a political, security and economic chaos, as a result of the occupation that is facing in addition to the various complications a growing political and military opposition, as well as the growing demands for the UN to assume the role of the neutral party that cooperates with the Iraqis to enable Iraq to regain its position in the regional and international politics and in the world economy.

Faced by these complications and difficulties the American Administration had to seek the help of the UN to act as one of the means of protecting its soldiers. But since the UN does not have a force that is independent of the superpowers, and especially the Americans, we advise it that if it wishes to remains credible in the eyes of the nations of the world, it has to take a decisive stand that rejects the occupation and uncovers the lies it resorted to legitimize itself. The world needs an international organization the protects its rights, and not one that justifies the oppression of the arrogant… The role of the UN is to end occupation and not to legitimize it as it did in its last resolution concerning Iraq.

As for the governing council, we are afraid that it will fall under the influence of the American civil administrator, who declared that he is in charge. This Council does not have any independent power, except that of the American need for an Iraqi cover to legitimize occupation... If this Council wants to gain the trust of the people it has to call for the ousting of occupation emphasizing the Iraqi right of self-determination being a civilized nation unmatched by the Americans…

We are not calling for emotional reactions; we are calling for a mind of freedom not slavery.

In Lebanon, the debate is still going about the legality of certain cabinet decisions, or the ability to implement some of them, with implicit suggestions by officials accusing one another of protecting corrupted people.

In this maze, the people are confused, they do not know who is undermining the decisions, or whom they should turn to or hold accountable.

To all those who theorize sectarian politics and engage in opposing one of the centers of powers in this country we ask: Why should Lebanon remain lost in these mazes? Why should there always economic and political rows opened only to be closed on a sectarian or even individual interest basis.

The whole region is shaking and the country in facing major challenges, with the American Zionist alliance threatening all peoples of the region… Yet everybody talks about a dialogue without engaging into one… It seems that the plan dictates that we should remain in a state of instability, so that no one will be disturbed politically.

In all this the question that remains without an answer is: Where is the country going? Why do its youth continue to immigrate to the various parts of the world.