The First Sermon

In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful

Monday is the first day of Al-Fitr

Before starting my sermon, I would like to give our brothers, sisters and children an idea on the jurisprudence foundation we rely on to determine the beginning of the lunar month.

First I would like to draw the attention that it is the same as that of our teacher Sayyed Al-Khoie (may Allah have mercy on him), which states that the beginning of the month is a part of the system of the universe that has nothing to do with seeing it, although it is true that seeing the moon is one of the ways of determining the beginning of the month. But we added to what the Imam said that the moon should be illuminating enough to be seen in the countries, which we share a part of the night with us, which means that it is not necessary that it could be seen in our region.

In the light of this, we were studying a few days ago, the issue on the basis of the internet reports, that lists the regions where the crescent could be seen. We also conferred with astronomical scholars, and we reached the conclusion that the moon will be born the coming Sunday in the morning. But it could not be seen in the Middle East, where as it could be seen in certain parts of South America which we share a portion of the night with. Thus we declared that the first day of the Eid is on Monday.

Of course there are diverging views, with respect to this issue in the Islamic world. In Iraq and Iran for example where most religious authorities decided that the month started on Monday, the new month will be on Tuesday if they see the crescent and on Wednesday if they do not. Anyway the differences in determining the Eid is a historical issue whether among the Shiites themselves or the Sunnis themselves or between the Shiites and the Sunnis. But the important thing is not to make an issue of these differences, and let each of us be committed to what makes him feel assured that he is doing the right thing according to his emulating of his religious authority. We ask God to make it a blessed Eid that provides the Muslims and Islam with the strength that enables them to win over their enemies.

Supplication: A means of getting nearer to Allah

These Ayas focus on the importance of supplication that nears man to Allah. Since supplication is to talk to Allah's about your sufferings and pains, and to ask him for what you need, being to the only one who is capable of solving your problems and providing your needs. There is no need to hold a book and recite a supplication. You could use your own language. For example: you could simply say: "O God I am in pain" or whatever you feel you want to say… Talk to Allah in your own way to feel happy and relieved, for just as the prayer is the road of the believer's spirit to God, the supplication is the way by which you communicate with God and become closer to him.

Supplication is a school of ethics

We, in Islam, have a great heritage of supplications including those that were cited in the Glorious Quran.

For knowledge enlightens man's mind and opens his heart, and makes him walk on the straight part. We read in the supplication of the Prophet Ibrahim (a.s.).

My Lord: Grant me wisdom, and join me with the good, "Grant me honorable mention on the tongue of truth among the lates (generations); And make me of the heirs of the garden of bliss: "Forgive my father, for that he is among those astray; And disgrace me not on the day when they are raised "The Day whereon neither wealth nor sons will avail But only he (will prosper) that brings to Allah a sound heart.

We also notice in Imam Zein Al-Abideen supplications, several ethical codes that also opens up on Allah. In the supplication of Abu Hamza al-Thimali, we see that he teaches man how to express his remorse for disobeying Allah; how to ask for forgiveness, and how to renew one's commitment to believing and adhering to His oneness.: O' my Lord! I did not disobey You when I did because I rejected Your divinity, or because I belittled Your commands, or that I was daringly challenging Your punishment, or that I did not appreciate Your forewarning, Yet the mistake has occurred, and my self mislead me, and my sinful desires won over me, and my misery helped me to it, and Your protective veil over my sins lured me.

The Imam deals in the opening supplication the issue of delaying the response to the supplications, since it might be for one’s own good, since Allah knows how things will turn out. Thus not everything you ask Allah for is in your interest, and when we read in the supplications that Allah elevates the downtrodden and lowers the arrogant, the weakened will feel that he is strong and dignified and that the arrogant are not the ones that possess the power.

There is also an important point in the supplication in the month of Ramadam; to think about others, for example. You also would call to fix everything that has gone wrong or corrupt in the affairs of Muslims. O God, Make the dwellers of graves happy... Make each poor rich …Feed all those who are hungry… Pay the dept of all who are in dept… Return all those who immigrated to foreign countries... Release all prisoners and heal all the sick…”

Thus, you open up on the issue of Muslims in the world and study their conditions and learn about social and political corruptions and ask God to reform them.

We find in these supplications what opens us on Allah and what links us to our fellow human beings and interact with their sufferings, as well of the general causes of Muslims and Islam.

In this way the supplication will turn into a social-political and cultural means that makes the believer feel that at a time he is elevating and getting nearer to God, he is not moving away from his fellow human beings, their sufferings and their causes.

We have to respond to Allah's invitation to ask Him, feeling that Allah is close to us, to our pains, aspirations, and dreams, thus, making our faith and belief in His oneness stronger.

As we part the Month of Ramadan, the Imam's supplication marking its end says. O God, as for the small and large sins which we have committed in this our month, the misdeeds into which we have fallen, and the offense which we have earned purposefully or in forgetfulness, wronging ourselves thereby or violating the respect due to others, cover us over with Thy covering, pardon us through Thy pardoning, place us not before the eyes of the gloaters because of that, stretch not toward us the tongues of the defamers, and employ us in that which will alleviate and expiate whatever Thou disapproves from us within it through Thy clemency which does not run out, and Thy bounty which does not diminish!

We ask Allah to guide us to what makes us attain His love and Mercy, to support Islam and Muslims, to grant victory to the Mujahideen and to release all prisoners. He is the Most Merciful.

In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful

Conspiracies, aggressions and the need to confrontation and unity

This is Al-Quds Day, the Day of Jerusalem, the Holy city, whether with respect to heavenly Messages or with respect to Palestine the cause and the human being. The city that was politically and militarily usurped by the Jews, killing the Palestinians, starving and dislocating them… Meanwhile, the Arab world has forgotten all about it as a result of its commitment of the Israel’s existence and in an international political climate that manipulates the existing salutations in a way that farther complicates the problem and does away with the Palestinians' dreams of independence through turning the Road Map into a means of deceit to the Palestinian people and demanding impossible conditions as well as trying to force them to recognize Israel without promising anything in return.

In addition, there are the internal complications of an authority that has yielded to the Israeli demands, and a government the international arrogance and the Arab indifference are conspiring to fall, despite the fact that it has gained the confidence of the majority of the Palestinian people.

This is the day of Al-Quds, whose mosque was the first Muslim Qubla, and the place to which the Prophet headed to in his night journey... The city where religions meet to emphasize their unity in the line of the oneness of Allah and (serving) humanity.

In these days, the Muslim world and the civilized human world should strive to keep Jerusalem alive in the political and spiritual conscience, as well as maintaining the Jihad against the barbaric Jewish occupation. They should make every effort to expose the brutal massacres committed against the Palestinian people, and enable the Palestinians to move towards freedom that is based on the liberation of the land by means of an objective political and military plan that returns the city – the symbol and the cause- to its people.

We have to know that the Jewish army is threatening to bomb all Palestinians, even those who did not launch any rockets, for they are still under the influence of their defeat in Lebanon and the horror that it might be repeated.

The world should condemn the Israel's barbaric war in Lebanon with all its brutal massacres that reflect their racial hatred against Arabs and Muslims. The Palestinian people have to grasp the lessons of the bitter experience that still imposes itself on them.

They have to stop these political rows and accusations for that might lead to an internal strife and a civil war.

On another level, the American President has said in an Iftar dinner some nice words about Islam including that it rose above racism and leads a civilization rich with arts and sciences. But at the same time we notice that he signed into law a bill that allows inhumane investigation methods to those accused of terrorism.

We all know that such measures involve Muslims in particular, especially these living in the US. Moreover, the American President has stated that he does not approve of dividing Iraq into three autonomous provinces, claiming that this will lead to further chaos. But the question is: who has drawn Iraq to this mess in the first place and who is responsible for all these killings that have reached more than 600 thousand people?

Aren’t President Bush and his administration responsible for all this?

Bush has also said that he is wary of the Iranian interference in Iraq, but the Muslim and Arab world is wary of the American interference in the entire region that threatens its strategic interests. As for Iraq, an Islamic conference will be held in Mecca and attended by Sunni and Shiite religious authorities. It will emphasize in its communiqué the unlawfulness of Muslims blood and wealth as well as the need to enhance the security in the region and safeguard places of worship, Muslim and non-Muslim alike, in addition to the need to protect the people against abduction and dislocation.

We hope that this meeting will be successful through providing an objective and scientific plan that condemns the occupation being the cause of most of the bloody problems.

It should also condemn the takfiris who consider as lawful the spilling of Muslim blood, and who destroy their mosques and shrines in an act of ignorance, hatred and backwardness.

The meeting should also enhance the Iraqi national unity and study thoroughly and objectively the local, regional and international circumstances.

National Unity Government

In Lebanon, we notice how the Israel violations continue to threaten the Lebanese sovereignty in air and land. The UN forces does nothing but counts and monitors these violations. The Americans did not try to pressurize on Israel to stop them, and when the French tried to stop these violations, the Jewish entity refused and mocked the French threats to shoot the Israeli planes. The Lebanese Government too did not take a strong stand against them for it is still under the influence of futile promises.

Then there is the unrealistic talk about the internal solutions to calm things down. But the country has become under direct international tutelage. We are even afraid that it will turn into an international protectorate, due to the maritime siege and the talk about running the air space. We are afraid that there is a hidden plan to naturalize Lebanon internal and undermine its Arab and Muslim relations. This is what encouraged the enemy's prime minister to issue a public invitation to hold direct talks with the Lebanese prime minister. But he did not get an appropriate answer or one that corresponds to the ferocity of the Jewish aggression.