Friday speeches 2 Zu elkoada 1423h/26 December 2003AD

With the advent of the birth of Christ, we need to take a profound look at his personality, as well as that of his mother Mary(a.s.), for they aspire spirituality, exemplary morals, openness on God, steadfastness in the face of challenges, and a call to God Who has made them two human prodigies. He gave them a spirit from His spirit and a blessing from His blessing, yet they remained human who walk, talk, feel happy and sad like any other human.

They did not possess any element of divinity… They were humans who elevated in their humanhood to the realms of the highest levels of spirituality and practice.

Mary’s mother, Imran’s wife, was a good woman who loved God and was faithful to Him. When she conceived, she vowed to dedicate her child to serve the house of God in Jerusalem, and be free in all his relations with other human beings, serving Allah alone. When a woman of Imran said: My Lord! Surely I vow to Thee what is in my womb, to be devoted (to Thy service); accept therefore from me…

Then when she gave birth, she found out that it was a girl, and could not serve in the temple where only man were allowed, she was disappointed. Yet she asked God to bring up this girl as a devoted and faithful human being who serves Allah alone. This is the first lesson we learn from her: When you have a child be it a boy or a girl. The first thing you should think of is how to bring up this child as a pious servant of God. {When she was delivered, she said: “O’ my lord! Behold! I am delivered of a female child!” and Allah knew best what she brought forth” and is not the male like the female. I have named her Mary, and I commend her and her offspring to thy protection from Satan the Rejected”.

Some might think that this Ayah demonstrates that the male is better than the female, but this is not the case. Since she was talking about the traditions of that time that do not permit women to be in the service of the temple. Moreover, she was afraid of the temptation of Satan who would lead her to the path of evil, and not as an exemplary model for all mankind males and females and this is what Allah wanted. He says: And Allah sets forth an example to those who believe the wife of Firon when she said: My Lord! Build for me a house with Thee in the garden and deliver me from Firon and his doing, and deliver me from the unjust. And Mary, the daughter of Imran, who guarded her chastity, so We breathed into her of Our inspiration and she accepted the truth of the words of her Lord and His books, and she was of the obedient ones.

Thus Allah, the most Exalted, made her live under the kind and loving guardianship of Zakariya who used to find food with her whenever entered to see her. So her Lord accepted her with a good acceptance and made her grow up a good growing, and gave her into the charge of Zakariya; whenever Zakariya entered the sanctuary to (see) her, he found with her food. He said: O Mary! Whence comes this to you? She said: It is from Allah. Surely Allah gives to whom He pleases without measure.

Thus she was aided by Allah’s miraculous care since her early childhood.

We also notice that the Quran tells as that the Angels used to talk to Mary. And when the angels said: O Mary! Surely Allah has chosen you and purified you and chosen you above the women of the world. He gave you the blessings of being Jesus’ mother, an event unprecedented and never repeated.

When the angels said: O Mary, surely Allah gives you good news with a Word from Him (of one) whose name is the '. Messiah, Isa son of Mary, worthy of regard in this world and the hereafter and of those who are made near (to Allah).

She said: My Lord! When shall there be a son (born) to me, and man has not touched me? He said: Even so, Allah creates what He pleases; when He has decreed a matter, He only says to it, be, and it is.

Then they talked to her about the traits of Christ like talking with the people to defend his mother although he was a nearly born child. She had vowed not to talk and pointed at him, and he said: Surely I am a servant of Allah; He has given me the Book and made me a prophet; and He has made me blessed wherever I may be, and He has enjoined on me prayer and poor-rate so long as I live; And dutiful to my mother, and He has not made me insolent, unblessed; And peace on me on the day I was born, and on the day I die, and on the day I am raised to life.

And added that I have come to you with a sign from your Lord, that I determine for you out of dust like the form of a bird, then I breathe into it and it becomes a bird with Allah's permission and I heal the blind and the leprous, and bring the dead to life with Allah's permission and I inform you of what you should eat and what you should store in your houses; most surely there is a sign in this for you, if you are believers.

On the occasion of the birth of Christ, Allah’s word and spirit, we ought to know what Islam tells us about him. He is a servant of Allah, the most Exalted, with no element of divinity…

There is another thing while others believe that he was crucified and died on the cross, and then he was buried but he was brought back to life and ascended…

But Allah says that “they did not kill him” but they imagined that they did or that they killed a man who looked like him and thought it was him.

We believe in Islamic-Christian coexistence, and with continuing the dialogue with them on basis of unity of God and humanity.

But we differ with them on these issues. But this dies not mean that we ought to lead a life of unity and cooperation with the Christians in accordance with Allah, the most Exalted, saying:” And do not dispute with the followers of the Book except by what is best, except those of them who act unjustly, and say: We believe in that which has been revealed to us and revealed to you, and our Allah and your Allah is One, and to Him do we submit.”

One last point: We are not against celebrating the birth of Jesus (p.) by reading what the Holy Quran says about him and his mother, to learn the spiritual value that is embodied in them, and not by adopting traditions which are neither Christian nor Muslim.

Israeli atrocities in the occupied Palestinians lands are becoming a daily practice, with all that hypocrite talk, about a military truce that could change into a political one.

The Arab leaders are reassured by the declarations of the Zionist officials concerning this truce, but they do not concentrate on the random massacres like the one that killed and wounded 50 civilians in Rafeh.

Meanwhile, the US believes, as the spokesman of its state department asserted, that Israel has the right to defend itself, then he added hypocritically, but without turning these defenses into causalities among the innocent population, or derailing the chances of peace. He did not condemn, eve in shy manner the massacres in Rafeh and Gaza.

Israel destroys all the chances of the so- called “peace” by its barbaric acts, but America holds the Palestinian responsible. The American Administration believes that all evil comes from the Arabs, at a time the Arab officials make every concession to please America, and yield before Israel.

The Palestinians have to continue their march, for time is on their side, since no power could stop a nation that is determined to gain its rights.

Furthermore, it is ironic that some Arabs who have yielded to the American demands, have begun to ask Syria and Iran to follow suit and give up their weapons of mass destruction… But we know that Syria and Iran have signed the non-proliferation treaty while Israel who possesses a large arsenal of nuclear weapons did not.

Yet America and Israel, continue to make accusations without any proof to create problems for the Arab and Islamic countries. It also continues to reject any call whether Arab, Islamic or international to Israel to destroy its WMD weapons so as to remain the most powerful state in the rejoin, just as America is the most powerful power in the world.

This is what the peoples of the region should confront… by pressurizing their leaders, or by punishing America through economic boycotting… While emphasizing that this boycott is against the Administration and not the America people who we wish that it would exert pressure on its administration to change its policies.

The wounded Iraq still suffers from various political economic and security problems.

It also feels deceived by those unserious promises to regain authority next year, while the occupation plans to keep the country under its control.

We call all Iraqis to uphold their national unity and to insist on national referendum as a means of expressing their will… We ask them to cooperate with the Islamic religious authorities and with the faithful political leaders to freeze all sectarian sensitivities and not raise certain controversial issues whose timing might not be adequate such as annexing an oil rich area with the Arab or Kurdish region.

The decision is for the Iraqi people, all of the Iraqi people, and not for the conferences that were established or convened before the fall of the regime with all due respect to those who participated in them. Do not cause additional complications at a time Iraq faces grave dangers.

Lebanon that is sick in its education and politics, hungry as a result of the economic crises, has begun to be sick in health as a result of the row between the private hospitals and the social security… This has a very grave negative impact on all Lebanese especially the poor, and could even destabilize the social stability of the entire country.

Debt, corruption and thefts have started to have a big effect on the lives of the poor and the deprived people who are looking helplessly for any glimpse of joy in their holidays and feasts, but could not find but a series of economic and social hardships.

People, especially children need this joy…

The officials in this country ought not deprive the children of their smiles and leave them only with tears.

On another level, the calamity that Lebanon lived with the catastrophe of the plane crash that killed scores of our beloved sons in Africa who had to immigrate looking for the sustenance the country was unable to provide them… We would like to offer our deepest condolences to the families of the dead, and ask the All-Mightily God to bless them with His Mercy... We ask Him to heal the wounded, and bestow on us all the gift of patience.

We call on the officials, whom we appreciate their efforts and concern, to exert more effort to help in every possible way… providing medical care for the wounded and burying the dead, which is the least we can do to those whom the country could not embrace while they were alive.