Friday speeches 24 JumadaII 1423h/22 August 2003AD

One of the moral values Allah wanted man to adopt both in his private and social lives is to be faithful and honest towards himself as well as others. He should advise and not cheat both of them. And this is what the Prophet(p.) , the Imams and the previous messengers have emphasized: “I deliver to you the messages of my Lord and I am a faithful adviser to you 7: 69 . “Then he turned away from them and said: O my people I did certainly deliver to you the message of my Lord, and I gave you good advice, but you do not love those who give good advice.” 7: 79.

Allah, the most Exalted, wanted the entire nation to adopt advice as the method of dealing in human relations whether in matters of opinion or in social dealing, like marriage, business partnership …etc.

The same thing goes in political affairs, especially when it concerns adhering to a political line, or believing in a political leader; for Allah, the most Exalted, wanted the society to be stable and maintain its unity.

But unity in Islam is not a formal matter. It is the full integration of the nation in a way that makes every member feels that he is responsible for all others in the same way he is responsible for himself, meaning that he has to advise the nation just as he advises himself. He also should not cleat the nation just as he does not cheat himself when asked about what religion is and he answered that religion is advice, The Messenger (p.), had summarized the entire religion in one word . Then when asked to whom, he added: To Allah, the most Exalted, , His messenger, the Muslims’ leaders and the Muslim public.

The Messenger(p.) emphasized the same meaning in many of his sayings including: “He who does not care about the affairs of Muslim is not one of them”; and “ he who does not give advice to Allah, His messengers are, His book, He Imam and the Muslim Public is not a Muslim. Meaning that to be a part of the Muslim society you have to advise Muslims. Those who cheat Muslims can not be Muslims for they would be undermining the nation and disrupting its social fabric.

The Messenger(p.) said: “Those who hold the greatest position on the Day of Judgment -meaning the closest to Allah, the most Exalted,- are those who walk around providing advise to His creations, meaning that they should seek in all their actions and positions to advise fellow human beings to develop their life and strengthen their unity.

Imam Jaa’far Al-Sadiq(a.s.) says: “Provide advise for Allah’s creations, for there is nothing you could meet God with that is better than this action”.

This means that caring for the social aspects of Muslim life especially the welfare of the nation is considered among the most benevolent actions you could meet God with

Regarding cheating, we read in our traditions: “He who cheats his Muslim brother will be… punished and left on his own”. If you sell something knowing that there is something wrong with it that you do not uncover, you will be hated by Allah and cursed by his angels”. Imam Ali (a.s.) says: The most evil among you is he cheats others” furthermore: “A believer does not cheat, betray accuse or let down his brother”.

Imam Al-Sadiq(a.s.) was asked about mixing a poor quality of a certain item with one of a better quality to sell them at a higher price by showing the one of a better quality and biding the other and he affirmed that this is a kind of unlawful cheating.

Imam Al-Baqir narrates one of the experiences of the Prophet who happened to be inspecting the marketplace. He found n man selling some food which seemed delicious and praised it. But he was inspired by God to put his hand deep inside the food and found out that the food inside was bad. The Messenger(p.) said: “What you have collected here is nothing but a cheat and a betrayal to Muslims”.

He also said: “He who cheats us in not one of us”.

Therefore, in the face of all this political, economic, social and even religious chaos that might will lead to anarchy and strife, as people are motivated by their desires and interests, we have to make every effort to deter this trend . This could be done only if we adhere to the principle of honesty: Just as we are supposed to tell people the truth about the commodity we are selling them, we have to provide objective advice toward all the social, religious, economic and political affairs of the nation. Our own personal preferences and prejudices should not be allowed to interfere.

Thus, backbiting is unlawful, “Would one of you love to eat the flesh of his dead brother? Ye abhor that (so abhor the other”(49: 12). yet there are some instances when it becomes lawful, as in the case of advice in matters concerning business partnership or marriage. Backbiting in this sense is disclosing a certain hidden flaw in a man, yet it becomes lawful when hiding it leads to a bigger problem than revealing it.

The Holy Quran constantly reminds us of the Hereafter. It constantly asserts that this life is temporary and that we are all going to die and that each of us will have to face God in the Hereafter to be held accountable for what we have done. Therefore, we have to be pious and fear God in everything we do or say for all the money we gather, and all the hatreds that motivate us to act in wrongful ways, are but perishable. The only thing that will be left is our meeting with God on the Day of Judgment. On that day nothing and no one will help us accept our good deeds.

Therefore, let us fight against ourselves. If Satan tries to convince us of resorting to dubious means to get rid of a certain stock so that we will not lose our money, we have to know that unlawful money will be undermined by Allah, the most Exalted, and only our lawful earnings will be blessed by Him. Money goes away and only good deeds remain: “Wealth and children are an ornament of the life of the world. But the good deeds which endure are better in thy Lord's sight for reward, and better in respect of hope” (18:46). All those who have cheated have died along with their cheating, but they still have to bear the responsibility for it, while those who gave true advice are also dead, but they will be undoubtedly rewarded.

The war the American President is waging against the Palestinians, along with his Zionist alliance, has entered a new stage, with the President demanding that the whole world should play a role in the so-called fight against “terrorism” and not giving anybody a chance to refuse or even discuss the issue.

The US administration did not object at all on the Israel assassinations and daily invasions. It even did not express its regret for the loss of Palestinian civilians or for the collective punishments they are subjected to, which are so brutal and savage that they represent the most severe violation of Human rights ever. It did not argue with Sharon when he declared that assassinating the Intifada activists would be conducted at a faster pace even as the truce began, since the truce is a Palestinian internal affair that does not concern him. Then when the Palestinians could not withstand this bloody massacre and attacked the Israeli security to defend their own, the Americans condemned their action with the most vehement expressions and called on the Palestinian Authority to dismantle the network of the militant organizations. President Bush has given The Palestinian Authority a green light and it began to prepare itself for such actions with some security officials announcing that they will carry out this task until the end… But then the assassination of Martyr Ismail Abushanab reshuffled the cards and freed the Mujahideen from being committed to the truce.

Despite these developments, the US Administration continued to call upon Israel to carry out additional assassinations and to go on with their oppressive measures such as the suffocating closures and the separating fence and the daily assassinations .It offered a prize of loan guaranties and some special aid to encourage the Israeli government.

President Bush does not believe in the freedom for the Palestinian people. He only believes in freedom for the Jewish people, and the Palestinians have to accept the Zionist solution that turns their country into a prison and scattered pieces of land called a state. He talks bout Israeli security, but never about their politics or about occupation...In his view occupation it self-defense, while resistance is terror.

We want the Arab and Islamic world that is sound asleep when it comes to these critical issues, especially that of the Palestinians… We want it to wake up from this political “coma”, because if Israel defeats the Intifada, there will be no Arab and Islamic dignity, not even for the officials.

As for the Palestinian people whose body is full of injuries, they know how to stay steadfast, and plan for the confrontation, studying all the objective circumstances in the region in particular and the world in general, and keeping an eye on all changes.

On another level, we are afraid that the permission given by the Zionist occupation that for non-Muslims tourists and Jews to enter the Aqsa Mosque is a prelude for letting them practice their rites alongside the Muslims, turning the Aqsa into a religious temple for both religions. All Muslims have to make every possible pressure, as remaining silent will lead to catastrophic results, at least with respect to the Muslims’ sacred places.

On the security level, Iraq is still in a state of turmoil that is turning more and more into chaos. The Iraqis are still lacking the basic conditions of life. The occupation forces have failed to manage the basic services and utilities and their only concern it is to protect its soldiers.

Moreover, it could not also provide protection for the international organization whose headquarters was devastated by the tragic explosion.

How could we then believe the occupation that failed in initiating any political movement , when it promises the Iraq is by security, democracy and freedom? This is the biggest lie which their media is trying to promote.

In Lebanon, the campaign to end the illegitimate stealing of power could have had a partial success, but we all know that some of those who run the electricity company have received commissions and bribes. It is also said that they were well known and protected by high ranking politicians. Does the government have the power to get the money back from them?

Could anybody hold those high officials accountable? And could we hope that this reforming Intifada extend to the other dossiers of corruption?

Our experience with all the pervious cabinets makes us tend to believe that these questions will remain unanswered. Compromises and appeasement will remain the only way to “fix” these problems.