FRIDAY SPEECH August 17, 2001

One of the major sins in Islam, which drives those who commit it to hell, is falsehood. This could take one of two forms either by accusing your brother of doing or saying something he did not do or say, or by dealing with him in an unjust end unlawful way. This act is much worse than backbiting. For the letter is accusing your brother of something you yourself know it is not true while backbiting is revealing something in his absence that is mostly factual.

Therefore, spreading falsehood is both backbiting and lying, as well as violating the rights and honor of fellow Muslims.

The Glorious Quran has talked about this sin in several Ayahs, sometimes in general and sometimes in particular.

In this speech we will go over these Ayahs so as to avoid committing this major sin in our private and public lives. For we live in a society that has became so aggressive that it has grown increasingly difficult not to be backbitten or accused falsely, even among the inner societies of religious scholars. It is a byproduct of fanaticism and it involves spreading lies against adversaries to ensure that those who follow them will turn to your side.

Many great Islamic scholars and reformers have faced this kind of fanaticism that involved false accusation. I myself was one of the victims, and several people whether religious men or others accused me of denying the infallibility of the prophets the Imams and Fatima al-Zahra.

Those people who do not fear God (SWT) when they produce such lies are still lying and spreading such false accusations.

Thus, we have to understand the limits of God (SWT). For in this world, if we think that we can cheat one another and get away with it what are going to do when we stand before God (SWT)?

In general, Allah (SWT) says:

“And pursue not that of which you have every act of hearing, or of seeing or of (feeling in) the heart will be enquired into (On the day of Reckoning)”.

Do not pursue anything you have no knowledge of, and which you did not think thoroughly of, for you will be responsible for all tour Actions before God (SWT).

Now let us move to specific kinds of falsehood, like trying not to pay the money you promised your wife to give as a dowry. God (SWT) Says:

”But if you decide to take one wife in place of another, even if you had given the latter a whole treasure for dower, Take not the least bit of it back: would you take it by slander and a manifest wrong? And how could you take it when you have gone in unto each other, and they have taken from you a solemn covenant?”

When you want to divorce your wife, and you think that by being rough and cruel you can force her to forego her right in the dower the contract you held with her makes he entitled to… In God (SWT)’s eyes this is a great sin, for it involves being unfaithful to the human side in you. For you have lived with this woman and shared every thing in life with her. Moreover, such an action involves breaching a solemn covenant.

In another Ayah about falsehood, God (SWT) talks about a person who commits a crime, but his tribe or party try to accuse someone else and even provide witnesses to ensure his “innocence”, so as an innocent person will be accused. This is what happened when a Muslim in the Medina stole some money, and his tribe falsified certain evidence to convince the Prophet that the thief was one of the Jews.

And since the Prophet has to judge upon solid evidence God (SWT) revealed 14 Ayahs to prove the Jew innocent and the Muslim guilty. God (SWT) says:

” But if any one earns a fault or a sin and throws it on to one that is innocent, he carries (on himself) both a falsehood and a flagrant sin.”

This is quite a sensitive issue, and we tend, being the partisans we are, to claim that the criminals from our tribe, sect or family are innocent and blame others. This is unlawful, even if the one we accuse is one of God (SWT)’s staunchest enemies.

Since when it comes to justice, there is no such thing as a Muslim or a non -Muslim.

”O you who believe! Stand out firmly for God, as witness to fair dealing, and let not the hatred of others to you make you swerve to wrong and depart from justice. Be just that is near to piety: and fear God for God is well –acquainted with all that you do”.

A third Ayah that talks about falsehood came in the context of the Jews who stood against Christ and his mother Virgin Mary accusing her of a shameful act.

“That they rejected faith; that they affirmed against Mary a grave false charge”.

Such a false charge is so much worse than lying and we should be careful before accusing any honorable girl of adultery without any solid proof. This is a great sin that Allah (SWT) will hold you responsible for on the Day of Judgment, the day in which no one can hide or deny anything that he has done.

The war of rumors and fanaticism is undermining our religion and turning it into one of fasting and praying with no piety and fear of Allah (SWT).

I am not telling you this because I want to deliver a speech. I am reciting the words Of Allah (SWT), so as they would be learnt and followed.

A fourth Ayah concerning the same issue was revealed when one of the wives of Muhammad was hit with false accusations. Allah (SWT) sent the following Ayahs to scold those who spread rumors and accusations without proof:

” And say not of your mouths things of which you had no knowledge: and you might presume it to be a light matter while it was most serious in the sight of God. And why did you not when you heard it, say? “It is not right of us to speak of this. Glory to God! This is a most serious slander!”

Another Ayah talks about how much sinful are those who tell lies or spread false rumors accusing Muslims of doing wrongful acts

” And those who annoy believing men and women undeservedly, bear on themselves a calumny and a glaring sin”.

These are God (SWT)’s limits that we ought to observe for the issue has to do with social security.

And Allah (SWT) wants the MuslimSociety to be one in which each Muslim can feel that his honor and property is safe. It should be a society in which all members join hands in all that secures the welfare and the good of the community.

And be always aware that there are international intelligence agencies, and certain local and regional agencies that are associated with them, whose purpose is to stir internal strife in our community by spreading certain false accusations, like accusing Islam by the American, European and even some Arab agencies as the religion of violence?

Thus, they were able to win the international public opinion to their side and fill it with apprehension regarding Islam and Muslims. Then they tried to distort the Image of Muslim leaders who stood against international arrogance, as they did with the late Imam Khumeini, and as they are trying to do with all those who dare to stand against the interests and policies of international arrogance.

In this respect, it is regretful that such intelligence ploys were able to have ears even in certain religious schools (Hawza), for they are unaware of the nature of the rumor and the people fabricating it.

Thus, and as we engage in a fierce struggle against international arrogance and Zionism, we need to safeguard our inner front and preserve our leaders and reformers, so that we could stand against those who wish to create an abyss between us and the Mujahideen.

As the Intifada continues, and as the Zionist enemy continues its daily aggressions against the Palestinian both public and government, as well as its political pressures like the occupatof the House of the Orient and the communicate center in Abu Diss and the assassinations of the Intifada activists… the Palestinian people have proved that they are much more stronger than all of this. It is resolved and determined to continue the war of Liberation, widening the enemies security impasse and creating economic hardships for the Zionist economy.

The Palestinian people are working on destabilizing the political front of the enemy and unveiling the true face of America whose president has been calling for the end of violence meaning the end of the Intifada. He still considers Israel as a “victim” of Palestinian ”aggression”. This makes Bush’s America more Zionist than the Zionists themselves.

All this to do able to pass his bills in the Israeli dominated Congress. Bush is waiting for the Intifada to fail to interfere and help save Israel politically through the Mitchell project. But he is going to wait for a long time for the Palestinians are not going to stop.

Muslims ,Arabs and Palestinians in particular have to realize that America’s policies are Israeli policies, and that America is their major enemy, for it crushed all their causes by its feet… It is now forbidding the UN Security Council from discussing the Zionist aggression against the Palestinians on the pretense that it “hinders the execution of the interim solution of the Palestinian -Israeli conflict” which aims at stopping the Intifada rather than condemning Israel… It is also threatening to boycott the UN conference on racism in Durban, South Africa, if the document includes equating between Zionism and Racism… At the same time, it continues to bomb Iraq under the pretense of protecting the Iraqis, although it is the one who created all their problems. It also continues to besiege Iran because it stands with the Palestinians in their struggle for independence.

America has given the green light to the enemy and promised to justify each barbaric move it makes. But it paid some live service to the Arabs so as not to lose face.

Therefore, the current American administration is equally responsible for all the brutal violence committed against the Palestinians, especially as Israel uses American arms that the US did not find any violation of American laws in using it to kill the Palestinians.

In this regard, I would like to express my appreciation for the Islamic Republic in Iran, and especially the Iranian president, Sayyed Khatami , for his international calls to secure support for the Palestinians. I also ask the Arabs and Muslims to raise their support to the level of actual participation on the ground to ease the Pressure on the Palestinians.

I call on the Arab and Muslim states to plan how to face the Zionists in Durban in a way that ensures the condemnation of Zionist racism, especially after what one of their major rabbis had said and following the leader of Shas declaration that the Arabs in Jerusalem multiply like ants, let them go to hell. He added that they are “worse then snakes”.

As for the Lebanese internal front I would like the objective and rational minds that have the interests of the country in heart, to interfere to solve the existing and coming problems and rid the country of the petty political differences More and more files and issues are being raised everyday, while the Lebanese citizen is searching both for his food and freedom.

He has began to loose faith in his country and future as a result of all the tension that dominates the political dialogue, with some parties saying that the state is dead or that the cabinet is about to fall, and even that ghosts are running the country.

How could the citizen feel any stability with all the talk about militarizing the regime and the collapse of the economy this is encouraging the youth to leave the country, while the problems themselves are of the kind Lebanon is used to throughout the history of its republic.

The political discourse has become a source of threat on the stability of the citizen in this country, which needs an objective and realistic discourse to help it to overcome the difficulties. The economic crisis is so grave that the solution should be very urgent, lest we will wake up one day and find that the country has collapsed.

The country needs mercy .Is there any body that would merciful and sympathize with its hunger, anguish and insecurity?