Friday speeches 28 Shaaban 1423h/24 October 2003AD

Allah says in His Glorious Book: The month of Ramadan is that in which the Quran was revealed, a guidance to men and clear proofs of the guidance and the distinction; therefore whoever of you is present in the month, he shall fast therein, and whoever is sick or upon a journey, then (he shall fast) a (like) number of other days; Allah desires ease for you, and He does not desire for you difficulty, and (He desires) that you should complete the number and that you should exalt the greatness of Allah for His having guided you and that you may give thanks.{2:185}

This is the last Friday of the Month of Sha’ban. And the blessed month of Ramadan will begin next Monday. The Month of Sha’ban is of 30 days. It started in Saturday. We have studied when its end is going to be and found out it is impossible to see the moon on Saturday night, while it would be clearly seen on Sunday. Thus, Monday is the first day of the blessed month of Ramadan, which we pray to God that it will return with victory, dignity and piety.

In these days that we await this blessed month it is reported that the Messenger of Allah, the most Exalted, gave a speech in the Last Friday of the Month of Sha’ban to prepare the Muslims spiritually and intellectually to enter the month of Ramadan and observe all his duties in this month in which we are supposed to rise spiritually and emotionally to be nearer to God.

It is the month that was described by Imam Ali Bin Al-Hussein Zein Al-Abideen as the month as the month of “mercy, purification, putting to test and Islam”.

It is as if the Imam wants to say to the believers: “In this month, God has bestowed his Mercy upon you in all your moves, whether at work, at home or among your social contacts.

The Imam (a.s.) adds that between the last month of Ramadan and the coming one you have committed a lot of sins and became stained with many dirts, that it has become high time to purify… Don’t we all do that? When our body or clothes become dirty, do not we rush to clean them? Yet there is something more grievous than this kind of dirt. It is the dirt that accumulates on the mind and heart and which drives man to act in an evil manner. Thus, be prepared for this month in which you meet God. Sit down and think of the dirt that has stuck on your heart and ask God who is your host in this month to make you worthy of his hospitality, so that by the end of this month you will emerge purified.

The month of Ramadan is also the month of Islam. Allah has sent the Holy Quran in this month to guide the people: their minds and souls will be guided by the Quranic wisdom and their actions will be guided by the Quranic virtues and values.آ The month of Ramadan is that in which the Quran was revealed, a guidance to men and clear proofs of the guidance and the distinction}. Moreover since the month of Ramadan is the month of Islam, we have to live the whole of Islam in this month. Each one of us should study how much of a Muslim he is.

Does he love what Allah loves and hates what Allah loves and hate what Allah hates?

Does he stand with those who support Allah and against Allah’s enemies? Does he side with the Right and against falsehood? If this is the month of Islam then each and every one us has to ask himself: Is my house a house of Muslim whose members obey God or do they disobey Him?

Furthermore, we should all think about what could we do to protect Islam from those who are plotting against it, and remember what the Muslims accomplished in this Holy Month especially in their battles like that of Badr.

It is also the month of putting to test that is we should study all our points of weakness, and change them into sources of strength.

When we live this spirit of enjoying Allah’s hospitality our breaths will remember Allah, and our sleep will be a form of worship, our good deeds will be accepted and our prayers will be answered.

Most importantly Allah will accept our supplication for forgiving us. It is the season of mercy and forgiveness in which only the wretched as our prophet says: will be deprived of Allah’s forgiveness in this month”.

The Messenger (p.) in his speech gives us a detailed account of what it means to fast and to be near God in this blessed month. He says that the importance of fasting has to do with making one remember the hunger of the poor and needy, and secondly it the state of spirituality lived by those who fast. When you fast don’t think about your Day of Judgment. On that day having a big record of sins, will make your stand in hunger and thirst before Allah for a time that seems almost indefinite, while if your sins are but few you will soon return to your folk in Heaven...

The Messenger (p.) wants us to give alms to the poor and needy… When we eat and drink all these delicious foods, we have to remember that there are those who do not find any food to eat. He also wants us to respect our seniors, for they have preceded us to Islam and to obeying God, and because they have more experience than we do and they are quite happy to let us benefit from it.

We should also be kind to our children and the youth. For they do not have the knowledge and experience you do. Do not be harsh in punishing them, but rather kind and understanding.

Allah also wanted us to visit our kin as means of being concerned about their affairs… He also wants as, as our prophet goes on to say to be kind to orphans and act as fathers and mothers to them. He also wants us to repent from all the sins we committed in every aspect of life and let Allah bear witness by saying: O God. I feel remorse for what I have done, and I intend to forego such actions. Allah accepts the repentance of His servants. He forgives their sins and he loves those who repent. He is the most generous.

Then the Messenger encourages us to say our supplications to Allah while we perform our prayers; it does not matter if we are standing, bowing or prostrating. We should take our time in prayer and not be in a hurry to finish it. For this month is the month in which Allah answers your prayers and the best time to do so is during the daily prayers.

We also have to treat those around us in a lenient and more morally abiding manner. Treating those whom we have certain degree of control on, including children, wives and employees on with a kind and just way and becoming more lenient towards them will we rewarded with leniency on the Day of Judgment.

The Prophet ends his speech by saying that the gates of heaven are open in this month. Ask Allah not to close them in front of you by your sins. And the gates of Hell are closed. Ask Allah not to open them for you.

When we became Allah’s guests in this month, we ought to open our hearts with love to all believers, and put our differences and sensitivities aside. Yes we differ but we have to refer our differences to God and His Messenger. Let us ask God to make us succeed in ending this month in a way that make us earn His satisfaction and let our Eid be a Eid of obedience; it is, as Imam Ali (a.s.) said: “a Eid for those whose prayer and fasting are accepted by Allah. Everyday that Allah is not disobeyed is a Eid”

Let us turn all our days into Eids by obeying Allah.

Israel bombs the civilians in Gaza and Rafeh claiming that it is targeting the Intifada activists and killing and wounding over 140 children, women and elderly…

Nevertheless the minister of strategic affairs in Sharon’s cabinet considers the “terrorists”, to be responsible, for they take refuge among the civilians, who agree to hide them. The Torah, this same minister adds, says: Woe unto the evil doers and their neighbors”. They have chosen this result and they have to bear the responsibility.

Thus the Israelis want all the population of the West Bank and Gaza to get out of their country to leave the Mujahideen alone…

What kind of a barbarism is that: Killing all people in the street to target one particular car? What if the Mujahideen asked the Israeli civilians to keep away from the Zionist soldiers in buses and restaurants, claiming that they will be responsible if they don’t?

The massacres the Zionist army committed have outraged several parties even among the Jews. An Israeli newspaper accused Sharon of Madness, while another said: “We have become an impatient society that adopts [morally] wrong attitudes”

As for America, which gave Israel the green light for this ongoing process of irradiation, did not find anything in these brutal acts except self-defense. It is as if it is boosting about its own foreign policy of killing and spreading chaos, to compensate for its failure in the war against terrorism.

America has vetoed the UN Security Council resolution that condemns the racist Jewish wall, because it does not accept any condemnation for Israel even when the latter violates international law. That is why the Israeli officials felt proud when the General Assembly voted against the Racist wall. They felt that international isolation is meaningless as long as America is with them.

We know that the General Assembly resolution is not binding, but it still serves as a message to the US that its Middle East policy is not coherent with the international community resolution, despite their empty words concerning the “Road Map” and the Palestinian state.

Where is the Quartet Committee? And how are the EU and Russia going to act? Do they have any power or influence that would enable them to participate in finding a solution, including the Road Map? They do not for America and Israel will not let them.

The Middle Eat has become in their view a backyard to them, leaving nothing for the rest but the leftovers.

Iran has agreed to sign the protocol demanded by the International Atomic Energy Agency that is subjected to American and EU pressure. They are afraid of the possibility of Iran possessing a nuclear weapon, and they threaten her with international isolation and military or security steps… Iran has moved in a diplomatically cautious way through which it tried walk through the American minefield, and maintain its strong elation with Europeans which was a subject of controversy between supporters and opposes, talking about political realism and diplomatic objectivity.

We are not in a position to give a decisive opinion about the issue, but we would like to ask: why is all this pressure on Iran while none is exerted on Israel and on other countries that possess nuclear weapons?

What is the legal right allows the superpower to possess nuclear weapons that could destroy the world?

Who gave them this right, and even the right to use those mass destruction Weapons when they see fit?

The superpowers intend to keep the downtrodden under the permanent threat of mass-destruction weapons, a privilege only Israel is allowed to share with them… We are afraid that the International Atomic Energy Agency has lost its independence.

The nations will not despair, they will continue to protest and pressurize in as much as their political strength grows. If the war against terror is America’s war in the name of the international community, we are afraid that the American way of running the international affairs will increase terrorism in the world despite all deterrents. Violence calls for counter violence, and the only solution is justice for all especially for the downtrodden.

Iraq is still in the midst of its crisis begging the world to help it to reconstruct under the supervision of the US, which failed to deliver the democracy it, promised the Iraqis of its heaven.

We are afraid, as it has been reported extensively in the media, that Israel will penetrate into the Iraqi economy, as a partner of American major firms. And we ask the Iraqi faithful to verify these reports and to be aware of this dubious game.

Meanwhile, we are still following the difficult and mobile complications that hinder any development in Iraq’s general security or economic instability, as well as a trying to circumvent the American future plans in putting its hand on the country’s resources. …and to serve as a base for the US strategic plans in the region. We say to all the faithful Iraqis: Try to close all the openings through which civil strife could infiltrate, whether sectarian racial or partisan, for the unity of the Iraqis is the one and only way for deliverance since they give strength to exert pressures on occupation

The budget is still an issue of polarization among the officials; it hides behind it all the political complications whether personal or objective in a Zero-sum game of scoring points.

We urge all parties to study the budget in an objective way that balances between the needs and the capabilities. Please stay away of allocating shares, because the issue is one that has to do with the future of a people that is suffering from a serve economic crisis.

Think, even for a moment that you are not the masters of these people but the servants. A day will come that the future generations will replace you by those who care of the future welfare of the Lebanese.