Friday Speeches Mosque Shaaban11, 1423h

Allah says in His Glorious Book: {Allah only wishes to remove uncleanness from you, members of the Family, and to purify you} [3:33]. The first member is Imam Ali Bin Abi Talib (a.s.), while the last is Imam Al-Mahdi (May Allah hasten his relief) whom Allah, the most exalted, has prepared to fill the earth with justice having been filled with wrongdoing.

O Allah, send blessings on the Custodian of thy commandments,
the vigilant Guardian, the reliable Patron, the awaited Justice,
surrounded by Thy favorite angels,
assisted by the Holy Spirit.

O Lord of the worlds.
O Allah, send him to call the people unto Thy Book for establishing Thy religion,
and make him succeed in the earth,
as Thou caused those who were before him to succeed,
and establish for him his faith
which Thou has approved for him,
and give him in exchange safety after fear.
He serves Thee.

He ascribes nothing as partner unto Thee.

O Allah, give him power and authority,
and through him strengthen the people.
Give him the necessary assistance,
and through him support the people,
and make him prevail over all with Your final decisive victory,
and delegate him Thy controlling authority.

We are awaiting and expecting to see him among us at any time, {They see it far and we see it near} (70:6). But as we wait, we cannot sit still while unbelief wants to uproot Islam. We cannot watch confused and helpless, as we face all this oppression and arrogance that want to suppress the downtrodden. We have to wait him -he who carries the message of Justice- carrying the same message in our hearts and lives, so that we would be paving the way for him to fill the earth with justice.

Thus, in times as the ones we are living in, while the storms are about to uproot all trees of good, and ruin the fences of justice, we have to shoulder our Islamic responsibilities especially the political, cultural, and militant ones, because Islam came for all aspects of life and not to any side in particular {O ye who believe; Obey Allah, and the messenger when He calls you to that which quickens you} [8:140].

We, in this phase, have to face the arrogance’s effort, to distort the image of Islam and drive people away from it. We have to wage this cultural war … Every Muslim intellectual in the Islamic world, whether in religious academies or universities, has to face these challenges. According to the Messenger (p.), he who does not reveal his knowledge in times of abundant falsehood, is cursed by Allah, the most exalted. Moreover, it is very critical that all Muslim intellectuals and scholars have to freeze their differences, whether political, sectarian or juristic, for the enemy has unified its ranks in his war against Islam.

We also have to fight against the political war of the International arrogance. They are accusing several parties of being terrorists or extremists to fight any Islamic policy that wishes to assert freedom and preserve independence.

When President Bush talks about the axis of evil associating it with Islam and the Muslims, it is as if he considers himself to be the source of all good that can pass judgment on others, and classify them.

We do not deny that there is something evil in some of our rulers, but what about their rulers.

To Bush, evil is all those who want to live a free, decent independent and honorable life. They are those who dare to oppose his arrogance or his interests.

We have to freeze our petty political differences, which are generated by the political leaders, as well as the leaders of parties and communities who preoccupy the minds of the people, by these partisan differences at a time the enemy is unified in facing us.

International arrogance is waging an all out war against us that uses all its advanced weapons, and even the nuclear weapons if it feels the need, just as it did in Japan. Faced by such a threat all secondary differences should be frozen and we should all strive to consolidate our internal unity and solidarity.

The arrogance is oppressing the downtrodden all over the world whether on the cultural level or on the political and military levels. Thus, as we celebrate the birth of Imam Al-Mahdi (a.s.), we remember Allah’s saying: {But it was Our will to favor the oppressed but who stood up and did not forsake their rights- to make them leaders and inheritors, and to give them power in the land; and to show pharaoh, Haman and their army, at their hands, the very thing that they dreaded} (18:6).

There are some traditions that state that this verse is more general and represents the struggle of believers against arrogance in every time and place.

There are even some traditions that say that this verse indicates the final victory that would be achieved by Imam Al-Mhadi (a.s.): The Prophet (p.) said: “The world will not end until the Arabs will be ruled by a man from my house whose name is the same as mine”. He also said: I am leaving with you what if you cling to, you will never get astray: Allah’s Book and my household who will not separate until they meet me”… on the Day of Judgment.

When we remember Imam Al-Mhadi (a.s.) we have to strive to strengthen the positions of justice in our Islamic nation. Let us try to be just in our houses and in our clubs and in our markets… When the nation is educated on justice it will be a strong, free and proud nation, and it will be victorious over all wrong-doors. Because justice is the theme of all religions {We have sent Our apostles with clear signs and brought down with them scriptures and the scales of justice, so that men might deal with fairness}[57:29].

Justice is the Message of all religions. It is the message of Islam, the Prophet and the Imams and the Message of Imam Al-Mahdi.

If you want to be supporters and soldiers of the Imam (a.s.), it is not enough to read the supplication. You have to look in your life: Are you just in your homes in political views and stands, in your economic dealings…

Let us study ourselves to find out if we are among his supporters or his enemies.

There is no such thing as a small wrongdoing; it will turn, given the right circumstances, in a big wrongdoing.

Imam Al-Mahdi (a.s.) is not only a word, a promise and a love feeling. He is a message, a cause and a commitment. He is loyalty to Allah the most exalted, His messenger (p.) and the Muslims… He is the one that will come to lead the oppressed to defeat the oppressors… We have to choose where we stand for we will be asked about this on the Day of Judgment.

O Allah, send blessings on the Custodian of thy commandments,
the vigilant Guardian, the reliable Patron, the awaited Justice,
surrounded by Thy favorite angels,
assisted by the Holy Spirit.

He ascribes nothing as partner unto Thee.

Worshippers of Allah… Be pious, and face this tough situation that challenges all our vital issues. Be the untied nation and hold to the rope of Allah the most exalted ... if you disperse, you will be defeated by the arrogant forces that will turn us into fragmented pieces.

Our problem is that the arrogant powers were able to weaken us, because we weakened ourselves, by producing almost daily our own feuds…

America continues to execute its plan of unilaterally dominating the world. It has reached the extent of holding a stick, albeit in a diplomatic way, against the Security Council. It also threatened the opposing countries by depriving them from their interests and investments in post-Sadden Iraq. The American president continues to act as a “Zionist” Christian preacher as he divides the world between the axis of good (America and its followers and the axis of “evil” represented by those who oppose its policies or some of its interests. He also continues to talk about peace and to describe himself as a “man of peace”, while at the same time he threatens to wage war, under the pretense of ridding humanity and civilization from “terror”, Moreover, he even praises Sharon, whom he described as a man of peace, for his “humanitarian” dealings with the Palestinians.

What kind of humanitarianism is this destructing of the Palestinian infrastructure or this killing of the innocent including women, children and the elderly. On the other hand, Sharon has described Bush as “the best American president Israel has dealt with”, because he has sought to give the Zionists full freedom to implement their strategy of transferring the Palestinians and turning Israel purely Jewish.

As for the Arabs, America has been able to put them in a political and military quarantine, by threatening their leaders of loosing their rule and by deceiving them in the various letters or meetings with US officials… Muslims too were subjected to the American hegemony through its influence on the “Islamic conference Organization”…

We are still in the same stage that represents the greatest threat ever, and we have witnessed lately the last massacre in the city of Rafah, Gaza, where several victims including two children were martyred.

The war against Iraq is still in the making; for the American Administration wants to dominate Iraq through military occupation to make sure that it fully controls its resources and its strategic location.

America claims that it is restoring democracy, while it rejects this democracy in all other third countries where the rulers promote American interests.

Thus America is the real threat for all the downtrodden nations. It has given all dictators their powers and their positions… to continue to play the game of nations and conquer more peoples… While Israel represents the major threat on the region, whether by its own forces or by the American protection it enjoys.

As for the Palestinian people who live a daily tragedy, it is planned for them to become the victim through the American deception scheme of making empty promises of a Palestinian state on condition that the Palestinians go on with the security and political reforms as a means to humiliate them. Nevertheless, the Palestinians have decided to remain dignified and continue their march of resistance and steadfastness until they liberate Jerusalem, leaving the Israelis to face their security impasse and thwarting the American attempts to cool down the situation so that it can focus on its war on Iraq.

On another level, we feel concerned about the massacres that move from one place to another: First in Indonesia, then in the Philippine and now in Algeria, especially that the American media and their allies are using these massacres to accuse those whom they call terrorists without any proof. They want to turn the international public opinion against Islam and Muslims, which might constitute a threat against the Muslim communities in the West.

We call on all Islamic activists to study the situation thoroughly. There is a dire need for awareness, as well as realism, to determine the right means of struggle that could achieve the positive results without any violence against the innocent.

Such violence may distort the image of Islam and Muslims in the world, and provide proof for the allegations that terrorism is an Islamic phenomenon, while everybody knows that Islam is the religion of Mercy for all mankind, and that Jihad is not an act of aggression, but rather an act of self-defense.

In Lebanon, the national unity over the major national issues has provided, through its support of the resistance and its taking into consideration the adequate political circumstances, a balance of terror that enabled Lebanon to accomplish its second victory over the Zionist occupation and provide water from the Wazani River to the thirsty villages of the south.

We hope that additional steps will follow this achievement, until we retrieve all our rights in our land and water. We also hope that executing the developmental projects that help the southerners to continue to live and resist in their southern lands will complement it.

Moreover, the Lebanese have to draw the lessons of this successful experience of political planning on the basis of national unity. They have to keep away from the political discourse that causes violence and sectarian tensions, and focus on the realistic solutions especially in this stormy international climate that threatens the stability of the region.

We should not continue to be as the kids who build their sand castles on the beach and start to fight over them, only to be destroyed by the next fierce wave… Do not raise the issues that induce conflict, stir sectarian instincts and besiege freedoms.

Lastly, we all upon our free youth that stands tall and acts freely under the sun, to rationalize its agenda study its moves, and keep away from sectarianism, to be able to build a future Lebanon based on freedom. A Lebanon that radiates thought, and believes that justice for all its citizens, is what gives the country its meaning.