Friday speeches Shawwal 23 1426 H, November 25 2005 A.D

God says in His Glorious Book `For We assuredly sent amongst every People a messenger, (with the Command), "Serve Allah, and eschew Evil": of the People were some whom Allah guided, and some on whom error became inevitably (established). So travel through the earth, and see what was the end of those who denied (the Truth).

Who are those that Allah loves… Those who have reached this rank and those who will enjoy being near to Allah? The Glorious Quran tells us that God loves those who abide by what the Messenger, who does not say anything on his own, but what is revealed to him from God, says . The Holy Quran says: If you love Allah, then follow me, Allah will love you and forgive you your faults, and Allah is Forgiving, Merciful.

Thus, if we follow the road that God, the most exalted, has built and wanted us to take, we will earn God's love.

The Holy Quran identifies several ways to earn God’s love: And spend in the way of Allah and cast not yourselves to perdition with your own hands, and do good (to others); surely Allah loves the doers of good.

Allah wants the believer to do good to Allah by worshipping Him alone. He wants him to be good towards himself by obeying God in everything He has pronounced lawful or unlawful. He wants him to be good to the people by addressing their needs and easing their pains.

In another Ayah, God says :And seek by means of what Allah has given you the future abode, and do not neglect your portion of this world, and do good (to others) as Allah has done good to you, and do not seek to make mischief in the land, surely Allah does not love the mischief-makers. God has been good to you when He gave you your life and your health. He gave you the mind and the willpower, as well as all the systems you need in your body, and all what you need in the outside world. So give from what Allah has given you, for He gave you to give others.

In another Ayah ,God says: Allah loves those who turn much (to Him), and He loves those who purify themselves. When Allah created us, he created with us the soul that is prone to evil. He also created Satan who promised to multiply our sins. He said: As Thou have caused me to remain disappointed I will certainly lie in wait for them in Thy straight path. Then I will certainly come to them from before them and from behind them, and from their right-hand side and from their left-hand side; and Thou shall not find most of them thankful (7:16-17) But Allah has opened for us the door of repentance: And He it is Who accepts repentance from His servants and pardons the evil deeds and He knows what you do; (42:25). He wanted us when we remember our sins to pray to God and repent, feeling sorry for what we did, and promising ourselves, with Allah as our witness, that we will not go back to such practices. Moreover, Allah loves the purifiers who purify their minds, hearts and their entire life from falsehood and their entire life from any uncleanness.

God also says: Yea, whoever fulfills his promise and guards (against evil) then surely Allah loves those who guard (against evil) (3:76). Allah loves the pious who obey Allah, doing what He commanded them to do and leaving what He commanded them to leave, and He promised them Heaven in return.And hasten to forgiveness from your Lord; and a Garden, the extensiveness of which is (as) the heavens and the earth, it is prepared for those who guard (against evil). (3:133).

He also says: And how many a prophet has fought with whom were many worshippers of the Lord; so they did not become weak-hearted on account of what befell them in Allah's way, nor did they weaken, nor did they abase themselves; and Allah loves the patient. (3:146). Those who are patient towards their obedience, sins and trials. Those are promised a great reward .And We will most certainly try you with somewhat of fear and hunger and loss of property and lives and fruits; and give good news to the patient, Who, when a misfortune befalls them, say: Surely we are Allah's and to Him we shall surely return. Those are they on whom are blessings and mercy from their Lord, and those are the followers of the right course. 155-157).He also says: Thus, it is due to mercy from Allah that you deal with them gently, and had you been rough, hard hearted, they would certainly have dispersed from around you; pardon them therefore and ask pardon for them.

And try in everything that has to do with your leadership to consult them, to make them feel that the leader is not autocratic, and to make them used to think about their affairs to reap great results. and take counsel with them in the affair; so when you have decided, then place your trust in Allah; surely Allah loves those who trust. Those are ones who benefit from all they have, to achieve results. Then they will leave the matter to God, saying: This what we were able to do, Help us on what we can't do.

This is the difference between relying on God and between dependence. Relying on God means doing everything possible and then relies on God, while dependence is sitting at home waiting for God to grant you what you want without making any effort.

God also says: if you judge, judge between them with equity; surely Allah loves those who judge equitably . Give everyone who has a right his right and do not wrong anybody.

This is what Allah wants every man to abide by. To be just with himself by not wronging himself; to be just with his God by making sure that he obeys Him, and to be just with his family, those who work with him, and his country as a whole and when you speak, then be just though it be (against) a relative

We also learn from Allah's saying :Surely Allah loves those who fight in His way in ranks as if they were a firm and compact wall that God loves the nation that resorts to unity in times of confronting an enemy, since this is what ensures their victory and thus earn God's satisfaction.

Imam Zein al-Abideen (a.s) says: "God loves all sad hearts (for they committed sins) and "He loves all thankful servants" for the graces He has bestowed on them.

Our relation with God must be a relation of love: to love God as we love no one else. It is He who gave us our existence and everything in live. We have to love Him

In some of his supplications, Imam Zein al-Abideen(a.s.) asks God how does He punish him, while is heart is full of His love?

Then when we love Allah, we have to do what He loves to earn His love. This is what the Commander of the Faithful, Imam Ali, (a.s.) demonstrated when the Messenger (p.)described him before his dual with Marhab[i]: "I will give the banner tomorrow to a man who loves Allah and His Messenger and who is loved by Allah and His Messenger. A man who attacks and never backs away…".

Independence Day was an occasion to remind the Lebanese of the political and human value of preserving their country's freedom and sovereignty, as well as preserving their right to determine their fate and to free themselves from any international or regional tutelage, so that their relations with others will be based on mutual interests and respect, and differentiating between yielding to the foreign powers and dealing with them on the basis of sovereignty.

This is why they should study their present situation which some might feel that Lebanon has fallen under international pressures that claim to be promoting its own interests. Lebanon is being used by the U.S. as a bargaining card to pressure the political or security situation in the Arab region, especially in Iraq, Syria and Palestine. The U.S. is supporting Israel's actions, and pushing the UN Security Council which does not believe that the Shiba’ farms are Lebanese to hold the Islamic resistance responsible for facing the aggressions without mentioning the daily Israeli violations to Lebanon.

We had hoped the Lebanese political club would launch a strong campaign against the Israeli acts of aggression and would hail the martyrs of the resistance who fought for freedom. However, it seems that some Lebanese also justify Israel’s occupation of the farms and that Israel is not a threat to Lebanon but rather the Arabs.

In this occasion, Arabs and Muslims should know that any country will not be independent as long as other countries are occupied. As long as Palestine, Iraq and Afghanistan are occupied in a direct way, with other Muslim and Arab countries occupied indirectly, it is difficult to expect that any country is fully independent.

On independence day, I would like to emphasize the importance of national unity that is not undermined by sectarian fanaticism and personal and party ambitions, so that all parties will resort to objective dialogue and cooperation. The Lebanese should study the problems the Lebanese citizens face and their relations with the Arab region, especially Syria to be able to assert our sovereignty in a realistic manner and not by emotional slogans.

In this atmosphere, and based on our Arab and Islamic position, we are following the situation of the downtrodden peoples who are being subjected to severe pressures that aim at exploiting their resources and destabilizing their security. This is what is happening in the Middle East, but also in Bosnia Chechnya, Kosovo, Africa and other places .

But the most severe suffering is that of the Zionist occupation of Palestine . It involves the occupation of the sacred places on the one hand, and is associated with the future and the freedom of the entire nation on the other.

This means that the organization of the Islamic Conference ought to play an effective role in planning for confronting these problems on all levels.

The American – British occupation of Iraq is still oppressing the country's freedoms relying on political deceit in saying that it will stay as long as the Iraqi security forces are not able to establish security. But we notice that the security chaos and brutal massacres are getting worse. Thus we believe that the withdrawal of the occupation forces, that either did not try or was not able to solve this problem, is what restores security to the Iraqis.

On another level, we hope that the reconciliation conference in Cairo has yielded positive results in promoting the understanding and meeting between the various Iraqi groups and parties, especially that the elections are near. We want them to be able to chose faithful representatives who will strive to unify their stand in calling for liberation and building the strong and unified Iraq that is open on the Islamic future that maintains the identity of Iraq and enables it to play its leading role among the other peoples of its nation.

Lebanon has become an open arena for different forms of tutelage. We can see how the U.S. Ambassador Jeffrey Feltman is interfering in our internal issues and how the country is an open field for Israeli violations

We had waited for condemnation from even one international party to condemn Israel's abduction of a Lebanese citizen in the Lebanese regional waters, or at least to condemn its daily aggressions and violation of our airspace. But when the Islamic Resistance retaliated, all international voices including the UN condemned this defensive act. Thus the International Community gives Israel the freedom to aggress and denies the right of self-defence for the Resistance.

The clashes along the Southern border highlighted the importance of keeping the resistance on high alert to defend Lebanon. All Lebanese should continue to support the Resistance and to stand up together to face Israeli aggressions. They should also find practical solutions to their difficult problems away from sectarian and political fanaticism . Let us all strive to maintain Lebanon as a free, unified and strong Lebanon that addresses the problems of its deprived and poor citizens