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The
First Sermon
In
the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful
God says in His
Glorious Book: "O Apostle Deliver what
has been sent to you from your Lord, and if you do not you have not
delivered his Message and Allah will protect you from the people”.
In the Prophet's last days and during his last pilgrimage, Allah,
the most Exalted, told His Messenger(p.) that he was about to
depart. In this context, the Ayah was revealed to tell the Prophet
(p.) that he has performed his duty in conveying Islam and fighting
for its cause, enduring what no prophet before has endured. And now
the time has come to meet his God where He will reward him for his
great service. But there remains the issue of the future of Islam,
which needs a leader who has Islam in his heart, mind and soul.
This leader is Ali
(a.s.), who has lived Islam since his early childhood, having been
raised and educated by the Prophet (p.). He is the only one who
never kneeled before an idol; he has lived the oneness of Allah
since he was two years old, and grew up with the concept of oneness
in his mind, soul and feelings.
Dedication
to Islam
Then as a young man,
Ali (a.s.) fought as no Muslim did in all the battles of Islam. In
Bader, a voice was heard saying what could be paraphrased as Ali is
the bravest fighter. Then, when Amr bin Abd Wid asked for someone to
fight him in a dual at the Ahzab battle no one would answer the
Prophet’s call to fight him except Ali.
The Prophet (p.)
repeated his call three times saying that he would guarantees heaven
for the fighter. In the third time, he gave Ali (a.s.) the
permission saying: faith in its entirety has risen to idolatry in
its entirety.
On the battlefield, Amr
told Ali (a.s.): your father was
a friend of mine, and I hate to kill you.
But Ali (a.s.), filled
with the youthful pride of Islam said: “But you are an enemy of
Islam and I like to kill you". Ali (a.s.) then proposed that
Amr should adopt Islam. When Amr refused he told him: “take the
army back to where it came from”. When Amr refused, Ali told him
that the only option left was fighting.
Amr was surprised and
said: “No Arab before you has made this suggestion”, for they
all knew how strong he were.
The two fought and Ali
(a.s.) gained the upper hand. Defeated, Amr cursed the Imam, who
waited for several seconds before he killed him. When asked why he
did so, the Imam (a.s.) said, I was nervous, and I did not want to
kill him for self-vengeance, I waited until I calmed down and killed
him for the sake of God. This is why Ali (a.s.) fought and prayed;
for the sake of God, and this is why the Messenger (p.) described
what Ali (a.s.) did in the Khandak battle as equal to the
worshipping of all humans and jinn.
Why did the Prophet use
these words? Is it because of his love for Ali; Knowing that all
what he says is revealed to him by Allah, the most Exalted. No, it
is because Ali’s killing of Amr prevented the total devastation of
the Islamic society the unbelievers were set on realizing.
The scholar
The Messenger (p.)
said: I am the city of knowledge and Ali is its gate. And Ali also
said: The Messenger taught me one thousands fields of knowledge of
each a thousand doors are opened to me. Ali was the man who lived in
poverty and in austerity; to the extent that when he wanted to marry
Fatima he had only his sword and Shield. The Prophet told him to
sell his shield as dowry for al-Zahra (a.s.).
Now, we would like to
ask in an objective and cold way that is not influenced by emotions:
Why Ali and only Ali (a.s.)? It is simply because there is no one
else. There is nobody who possesses Ali's knowledge, his history in
Jihad and his dedication for the cause of Islam. There was no one
among Muslims who had all these traits and virtues other than Ali.
Some might had certain knowledge or played an important role in
Jihad. We are not here trying to deny the virtues of Muslims, both
Mahajireen and Ansar, having been praised in the Holy Quran. But no
one but Ali had all of these traits together. Moreover, Islam after
Muhammad (p.) needed someone to continue the movement as it was
expanding. That is why the Messenger (p.) did not find anyone else.
It was not a personal decision, but because he knew that Ali (a.s.)
has what Islam needed. They all acknowledge that Muhammad (p.) said
"I am the city of knowledge and Ali is its gate". “The
right is with Ali and Ali is with the Right". “Ali and the
Quran will always be together until they come to Heaven'. “Aren't
you satisfied to be with respect to me like Haroon was to Moses? A
partner in every thing with the exception of not being a prophet”.
That is why Allah, the
most Exalted, told His Messenger(p.) that if he did not tell the
Muslims that Ali (a.s.) was the appointed leader he would not have
delivered Allah's Message. He added that he had not to worry about
any accusations of favoring his cousin, for he was delivering God's
Message and Allah, the most Exalted, will protect him.
Thus, the Messenger
(p.) stood at high noon, in the heat of the desert, and called on
the Muslims to gather and listen to him, before they head to their
homes having finished the rituals of pilgrimage. He then raised
Ali's hands and said: Do I not have more right over the believers
than what they have over themselves?" People cried and
answered: "Yes, O' Messenger of God.” Then the Prophet (p.)
held up the hand of Ali and said: "Whoever I am his leader (Mawla),
Ali is his leader (Mawla). O' God love those who love him, and be
hostile to those who are hostile to him”. Immediately after the
Prophet finished his speech, the following verse of Holy Quran was
revealed: "Today I have perfected your
religion and completed my bounty upon you, and I was satisfied that
Islam be your religion."(5:3). Upon hearing this, some
of the serious companions said: Well done Ibn Abi Talib, you became
the leader (Mawla) of all believing men and women."
The days passed, and
the Messenger passed to Heaven. And as Ali was preparing to bury
Muhammad (p.), the Muslims were arguing about whom to be a caliph…
Then, they deviated from the right line. And Ali's house was
attacked, and they threatened to burn his house if he does not
pledge his alliance… Yet Ali (a.s.) was not thinking about the
injustice inflicted on him and on his wife when she was denied her
right in fadak.. He saw that there are negative developments, with
people diverging from Islam, and felt that it was his duty to act
helping those who preceded him and providing them with the guidance
they needed: I was greatly distressed that the people ran to a
certain person and swore allegiance to him. So I withdrew myself
until I saw that a group of people diverged from Islam and intended
to destroy Islam. Then I feared that if I did not help Islam and the
Muslims, Islam would suffer such destruction as would be more
painful to me th at the snatching away of the caliphate. Of
course political power cannot last long. It must dissipate like the
clouds. It was under these conditions that I have to rise, so that
paganism would become weak and Islam become firm."
He also used to say: I
will maintain peace as long as the affairs of Muslims are secured;
the only injustice falls on me…
What is important is
that Islam should not be wronged or weakened..
He also used to say to
some of those around him: your goals are different than mine: you
want me for yourselves and I want you for Allah, the most Exalted.
And he used to call people to criticize him and hold him accountable
although he was above all criticism and questioning.
When we study Ali's
life, from the day he was born in Kaa'ba and until the day he was
hit on the head in the mosque; we find that he dedicated his life in
its entirety to God. He ended his life by asserting that he was won:
In the name of Allah… and on the religion of his Messenger, I
swear by the Lord of Kaaba that I have won.
Champion of Islamic
unity
The Imam was the
champion of Islamic unity. He did not forgo his right of Imamate,
but only postponed or froze any demand for the sake of the general
interests and unity of Muslims. He did not want his followers even
when the struggle was in its toughest phases to resort to cursing,
advising them to limit their discourse to describing the actions of
their opponents, adding that this would be more convincing… We
too, and as we live in a time where Muslims kill each other, have to
follow Ali's lead, and say to those who believe that it is
permissible to kill fellow Muslims in Iraq, that Islam need the
efforts of all Muslims. And that Muslims should solve their
differences by means of dialogue, as Allah commanded them to do. We
need to unite all Muslims and the downtrodden nations against all
unbelievers and arrogant powers.
On this day, the Day of
Ghadir, we ask God to strengthen our belief in Islam, and thank Him
for guiding us to believe in the Imamate of Ali (a.s.).
The
Second Sermon
In
the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful
Trying
to finish off the Palestinian Cause
The American-Israeli
alliance is trying to reshuffle the cards in the region to further
suit its interests. It is also extending to various parts of the
world to widen the Zionist entity sphere of influence, by exploiting
the slogan of anti-Semitism to fail any media movement that attempts
to reveal the Israeli crimes against the Palestinian people whether
in confiscating its properties, as the stealing of Palestinian homes
of those who were expelled from Jerusalem under the pretense of
confiscating the houses of those who are absent, or the lands that
are being usurped as a result of building the racial wall … In
short, they are talking about peace while actually continuing their
killings and devastations.
In this respect, their
last crime was the killing of the 3 years old Palestinian girl at
home, and holding the Palestinians responsible for such an act. So
far hundreds of Palestinian children have been brutally murdered
without any American, European or even Arab denouncement.
They are preoccupied
with the talk about the promised peace that asks the Palestinians to
offer one concession after another, and provide total security for
Israel, without anything in return, all within the framework of the
Road Map which aims as a result of American leadership to legalize
the abandonment of the right of return, the existing settlements and
the return to Jerusalem making the proposed Palestinian state
meaningless, especially with regard to freedom and
self-determination.
The American-Israeli
alliance has sought, since the establishment of the Jewish state, to
circumvent all UN resolutions to allow Israel to dominate over the
Palestinian lands and people, as well as the lands neighboring
Palestine in Syria and Lebanon. All this talk about temporary and
conditional solutions is but a tool to absorb the international
condemnationt for its massacres, and impose new conditions on the
Palestinian leadership… It wants the Palestinians to step in a
minefield that distract them away from any demand of their rights on
building their political future.
This is what the
Palestinians, the government and the militant factions should be
aware, especially when they receive American envoys who tend to
resort to deceit and offer sweet words that mean nothing while
actually implementing the Israeli plot. They ought to continue their
dialogue to reveal the American-Israeli plots, and seek to
maintain their national unity so as not
to sacrifice all the years of Jihad and endurance, for this is what
the Americans and Israelis want, and no believer is supposed to fall
in the same trap twice.
American
Democracy
The American
President's new policy in his second term is the international war
for democracy.
But the question is:
Did this man come with a heavenly message to liberate the world? Or
is he really aiming at promoting American economic, security and
political interests to the detriment of the security of the
downtrodden nations, by his preemptive wars that destroy the lands
and their peoples…
The rationale of the
current administration is to make the world dominated by a sole
power; that of the American empire. What kind of democracy and human
right in the US building? Could democracy mean the interference of
military power in the life of the nations, and crash them by means
of tanks in the name of freedom?
The Americans took a
unilateral decision to enter Iraq under the pretense of destroying
WMDs, which they now discovered that they are not there. Yet, Bush
has not been able to establish security in Iraq, which suggests that
what he aims at is to perpetuate his occupation in Iraq, but with
the consent of the new government which is being created in a way
that serves the occupation purposes…
Iraq is about to
hold elections in a couple of days, but are the Iraqis free to elect
those who represent them? Are the political and security
conditions that create the free atmosphere that is necessary
for the elections available…?
Suspicious
goals
We call on the Iraqi
people to be aware of all what is being plotted against them. They
should keep their eyes wide open with a view that focuses on future
developments especially that the road America has to cover to
establish its interests is quite long. Since their goal is to turn
Iraq into a major diplomatic and military base that would enable it
to pressurize the states of the region, especially Syria and Iraq,
with the help and coordination with Israel that is considered one of
the American aircraft carrier in the region.
The region is about to
enter one of the most dangerous security and political situation.
Its states and peoples
should be very vigilant, for the coming developments will have a
severe impact on their freedom, independence, integrity and economic
development.
Lebanon
and the withdrawals
Those in authority
in Lebanon have forgotten every thing that has to do in its present
and future, and became preoccupied with the electoral law that is
supposed to serve certain sectarian and personal interests in an
overview that tries to calculate how much would the opposition or those
in power win. But no one is thinking about the general situation in
Lebanon that is surrounded by threats from all sides.
It is Ironic that
according to some parties, the Israeli withdrawal is no longer
important. And it has been replaced by the Syrian withdrawal. The
problem according to them is not the American intervention but the
Syrian one.
We say to all: Let us
all unite our stand in seeking to maintain the free Lebanese
decision, the refusal of Israeli occupation, our crucial relations
with Lebanon’s Arab environment, especially with the Syrians, on
the basis of mutual respect and common future in the face of all the
political and security earthquakes that are hitting the region.
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