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The First
Sermon
In the
Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful
A
diverse school of thought
Allah says in His
Glorious Book: Allah only desires to
keep away the uncleanness from you, O people of the House!
(33:33).
On the 25th of Muharam was
the death anniversary of Imam Ali bin Al-Hussein (a.s.).
This Imam who was described by some of his contemporaries as
such: “I have not seen any one who is better or more
knowledgeable in religion than him…
I have not seen a friend of
him in private or an enemy in public. For those who know him
envy him, but they cannot declare their hatred to him in
public.
This Imam, whom people used
to make way for him when he came to the Kaaba, something
they did not care to do for the crown prince of that time,
Hisham bin Abdilmalik. The latter was so embarrassed that he
had to claim that he did not know him although he was well
known for his piety and knowledge.
He was respected and admired
by the Muslim community of that time, because he was able to
spread Islamic knowledge to all Muslims including those who
did not recognize his imamate.
And this is what we conclude
when we review whom his students were in all fields of
knowledge. Moreover, when we read his supplications that are
compiled in Al- Sahifa As-Sajadiah, we can see how it can
easily turn into a cultural source of knowledge, along with
his other supplications.
Patience and perseverance to attain the Right
The
Imam was a role model in many fields including his piety,
his worship of God, his neglect of worldly affairs and his
tolerance. He witnessed the tragedy of Karbala right from
the beginning and until the very end.
In this glorious battle the last words of
his father Imam Al-Hussein (a.s.) before he was martyred
were: “I will tell you what my father told me on his death
bed: Be patient and tolerant in pursuing the right no matter
how bitter it might be”. It is as though he was saying: God
is the Right; and His Message is the message of the Right.
Our cause is the cause of the Right. We
should adhere to it no matter how bitter and distasteful it
might be. Imam Ali says: “[Pursuing] the right has left me
no friend”. Thus, Imam Hussein’s will was a call for
patience and perseverance in following the right in all
fields whether religious, political or social and never
giving up regardless of hardships.
The
freer of slaves
When we read about the life of Imam Zein
Al-Abidein, we find that he was the freer of slaves.
The Imam lived in an age where due to
certain circumstances slavery was not completely abolished.
Islam fought this trend and encouraged the freeing of
slaves, by various means including making it the atonement
of deliberately not-fasting in the month of Ramadan, thus
adopting a realistic plan to abolish this distasteful act…
Pursuing this noble causes, the Imam (a.s.)
used to buy slaves, educate them and send them to Mecca to
help pilgrims and then gather them in the month of Ramadan,
and ask them in a gesture of humbleness, to forgive him if
he had -God forbid-, have done them any wrong. Then he used
to give them some money and free them. It is said that he
has freed more than one thousand slaves.
The Imam also made every effort to
educate the people on the necessity of not being fanatic or
partisan. And as you know our society in the East is based
on various forms of sectarian, tribal, political fanaticism
that has even been evident in the behavior of some of those
who give themselves religious titles. He used to say: The
kind of fanaticism that is punished is the one demonstrated
by seeing the evil among your falk better than the good of
others It is not fanatical to love your own people
nevertheless it is certainly so when you help them in being
unjust”. Therefore, supporting your party or side while
knowing it is wronging others is a fanatical act that is
unlawful and will be punished for by God in the Hereafter.
An
Exemplary model in humbleness
When the Imam used to travel in a convoy
as was the case in his time, he used to choose to travel
with a group that did not know him ensuring that they will
treat him just as they treat anyone of them. Once he was
asked by his fellow travelers to collect some wood for a
fire while another convoy passed by with people who knew him
among the travelers.
They told the first convoy who came to
him and asked why he kept his identity a secret. He said I
have traveled with some people who knew me and they gave me,
as a tribute to the Messenger of Allah what I do not
deserve. And I do not like to take what I cannot give an
equal thing in return”.
The lesson we learn from this incident is
that there are many political or social personalities in our
society who might feel that it is the duty of others to
respect them, merely due to their academic, social nobility
or the like. You ought to serve the people and guide them to
what is best for them. For God did not give anybody a right
without assigning him a duty. There is not anybody who is
greater than the Prophet, and yet it was his duty to teach
and educate the people: O Prophet! Surely We have sent you
as a witness, and as a bearer of good news. And as one
inviting to Allah by His permission and as a light-giving
torch as a warner and to purify you a (thorough)
purifying.33:46
There are two rules you ought learn by
heart and adhere to: when you give, do not think about what
you will get in return “And they give food out of love for
Him to the poor and the orphan and the captive “(76:8). The
second when you want to take you have to think about what
you had given...
Imam Zein Al-Abidein was a summit in
knowledge, morals, the spirit of giving, and his love and
service to all people.
This is how we should understand him. We
should not restrict to the sphere of tragedy. True he used
to cry upon his father and remind the people of Karbala, but
he was also the man who used to teach and liberate the
people and perform all the duties of the Message the Imams
dedicated themselves for.
Do not imprison our Imams inside the
tragedy… True we should remember their sufferings but we
should also remember that they suffered because they had
adhered themselves to the cause of Islam and the cause of
Allah.
The
Second Sermon
In the
Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful
American lies concerning Iraq
A year has passed on the American-British
occupation of Iraq that was justified by the blowing up of
the danger of the tyrant regime on America’s and the world’s
security.
They have claimed that Iraq possesses
weapons of mass destruction a lie that Bush insisted on in
237 statements and one that has proven to be false by the
UN, as well by the American inspectors themselves.
But what he happened is not merely a lie
fabricated by intelligence agencies, it is a war that has
left as devastating impact on the region and on the entire
world. It has opened the way for further false accusations
to other countries of possessing WMD. It has also led to
giving Israel the green light it needs to go on with its
plot to eradicate the Palestinian people and to penetrate
Iraq’s economy and security.
This intelligence-political lie has
instigated a political debate about the future of the
British and Australian prime ministers. And it has already
brought down the Spanish prime minister who ignored the
opinion of his people who were totally opposed to the war
against Iraq, and whose policies have led to the criminal
bombings that claimed hundreds of civilians, which many have
considered a result of allying with the US.
If these liars are talking about the
positive result represented by the fall of the tyrant
regime, we do not object to this, but we all know that this
was not the aim of the invasion. They rather aimed at
putting their hands on the Iraqi oil and turning Iraq into
an outpost to serve the American interests in the region,
and act as a political, economic and security bridge to
cross over to the region. But the occupation did not
transfer the power to the Iraqis to enable them to safeguard
the security of their country, because it wants to continue
to occupy it until all its aims are accomplished… If the
Americans talk about democracy, we all know that it could
not be achieved through occupation. Political and military
subjection do not conform with freedom and democracy.
Welcoming the Spanish developments
We welcome the political developments in
Spain, the friend of Arabs and Muslims.
And we view them as big blow to the
American plan that aims at extending its hegemony over
Europe and dragging to follow its imperial policies. We also
find in them a message to the European peoples to study
their relations with the US on the basis of freedom of
decision, and force their governments to side with the
freedom of peoples and refuse unjust wars.
We also call on them to change the
governments which do not adhere to their will in rejecting
unjust wars. On the other hand, we call on all Muslims and
Arab peoples to learn the lesson the Spanish people have
given them: to change the governments if they do not serve
the nation’s interests.
In this respect, we would like to point
out to the fact that the officials in the regimes of this
region despise their peoples and confiscate their freedom by
means of the security agencies, the laws of emergences
protection of corruption and subjection to the United States
that enable the latter to talk about the need to reform the
great Middle East.
The
Palestinian steadfastness
In Palestine, we pay tribute to the
martyrs who executed the qualitative operation in Ashdod
that proved that the Mujahideen can strike in any strategic
location in Palestine, despite the racial war and the road
blocs. We believe that all threats and all plans to reoccupy
Gaza will not compromise the will power of this great people
who have created a big impasse to the Israelis, despite
their war machine and all the American support.
In Syria, we would like to point out to
the attempt to create turmoil by raising the Kurdish
question without any political or economic basis. We feel
that America is behind this in an effort to destabilize
Syria and break its steadfastness threatening in the same
time by the sanctions that everybody knows that they will
not deter Syria or break its will.
Lebanon and the need for change
Lastly, what is going in Lebanon? Is it a
political truce to temporarily halt the war between the
influential circles that erupt every now and then to create
chaos, freeze vital developing projects and the ability to
face critical challenges? Or is it striking a compromise
that serves personal and partisan interests, especially with
the elections due to begin…
We had hoped that the alliances would
have been based on an agenda of comprehensive reform that
would give the citizens local governments that is different
from the central one. We ask the people who are about to
vote what are going to vote to: an agenda that would serve
your interests, or on the basis of personal and partisan
loyalties…
Lebanon needs a people that think, plan
and has a will to change, and not one that is a slave to
emotions and that signs whenever it is asked to. |