Friday Speeches Mosque Muharram 25, 1424h

Of the purified Imams whom Allah, the most Exalted, wished "to remove uncleanness from"(33:33) is Imam Ali Bin Al-Hussein Zein Al-Ibi-dien (a.s.) whose death anniversary is today, the 25th of Muharram.

Assajad, who lived a life of pains, and a life of continuous Jihad… the Imam (a.s.) who developed the Islamic sciences in his age and provided a material that the following ages can build on …

He is an Imam who was so spiritual that he was called Zein Al-Abidien (The Best worshipper) and Sayyed Al-Sadajgiden (The Master of those who pray)... Thus Imam whose supplication provided to those who read them an elevating spirituality, a deep love of Allah, the most Exalted…a set of morals that are so divine and humanistic at the sardine... an openness on God, man and humanity...

Despite all the pains he endured, the Imam used to deal in the best of morals with others. He tried not to hold a grudge against anyone who had hurt him, and forgive him. He even was merciful towards those enemies who created the tragedy of Karbala .

The Imam was in Medina when there was a conspiracy against the Ummayds. Marwan bin Al-Hakam one of their senior notables happened to be in Medina too. He wanted to flee but his family of children and grandchildren were about 400 people… Meaning that no fleeing could be arranged in a swift manner. He went around in Medina trying to provide shelter for them, but no one agreed accept Imam Ali Bin Al-Hussein who provided them with shelter and said to Marwan let your family join mine.

One of the rulers of Media was particularly hateful of Imam Ali Bin al-Hussein and used to treat him and his family in a very harmful manner. This same ruler was ousted and punished by being sent to the streets to be beaten and insulted by those whom he wronged. The ruler was especially fearful of those he had hurt the most. The Imam (a.s.) gathered his family members and told them not only not to hurt the man, but to see to his needs and to pass by him respectfully and smiling. Seeing this man had to say: God only knows where to leave his message.

One of the Imam's relatives used to speak harshly and even curse the Imam (a.s.), but all the Imam did was to go his house and say: You have said something about me that if it were true I ask God to forgive me, but if it were not I ask God to forgive you. This shock changed the man into a totally different person.

This was whom the Imam (a.s.) was: a role model in facing hatred and aggression, for like all Messengers and Imams, he did not think about himself as a person but as a carrier of a message who wanted to teach how to discard hatred and embrace love.

His nephew, the son of Fatima bint-Al Hussein says: whenever I sat with my uncle, I used to benefit from him, either by fearing God when I see how much he fears God, or by increasing by knowledge learning from he tells me. The Imam believed that the learned leaders should spread their knowledge to the unlearned, just as their spirituality should fill the hearts of those who come to them.

The Imam (a.s.) used to preach his followers concerning the type of love we should love they should show to the Members of the House. Should we love them as individual persons in a subjective manner or should we love them the love of Islam, so that our love to them would not be separated from what we are supposed to believe in as Muslims? We love them because they were the embodiment of the Message who were always truthful and righteous. We should not exaggerate our love into the extent that “it will turn against us".

Some of the companions of Imam Al-Sadiq (a.s) relate how the Imam used to compare between Imam Ali (a.s.) and his grandson Imam Ali bin Al-Hussein.

Sai’d bin Kaltoum says: I was at Imam Sadiq's (a.s.). He talked about Imam Ali (a.s) and praised him for what he was worth, and added: Imam Ali (a.s.) has never taken or eaten from anything unlawful, and whenever he asked to choose between two things that please God, he would choose the tougher, and whenever a difficulty faced the Messenger (p.) he would send for Ali (a.s.), and nobody else, to relief him.

Moreover, Ali, who loves Allah, the most Exalted, and His Messenger(p.) and who is loved by Allah, the most Exalted, and His Messenger (p.), used to think about hell and heaven when he did any action seeking the reward of Heaven and fearing the punishment of hell.

He was a man who used to feed his family with oil, vinegar and dates and wear the roughest of clothes... No one resembled Imam Ali (a.s.); according to Imam Al-Sadiq (a.s); in his clothing and his jurisprudence more than Imam Ali (a.s.) bin Hussein.

Furthermore, Imam Ali bin Al-Hussein used to grow pale whenever he performed Wudou in preparation for prayer. Asked about the reason he said:” Don't you know whom I am standing before. How can I not be fearful"?

I would like to end my talking about him with two points the first is the supplications that demonstrate his relationship to God proving that he was so faithful that he saw no one but God to talk to when he needed to ask for anything, and the second is his talk about fanaticism especially that we are a nation that is plagued with all sorts of fanaticism, beginning with familial and not ending with tribal. What is fanaticism? It is “when you see those who are bad among your tribe better than those who are good in others”. “It is not fanatic to help your people, but it is fanatic to help them wrong others”.

These are our Imams, which we ought to follow, that means we have to follow them in what we practice and not only emotionally. Did not Imam Al-Baqir say: Our Shiites (followers), are those who obey Allah, the most Exalted,; they are those who are known to be modest and pious...If you say you love Ali (a.s.) and you do not follow him, than the Messenger (p.) is better than Ali (a.s.), would it be enough to love the Messenger and not follow his Sunnah…?

Those who are with God are with us and those who are enemies of God are our enemies.

To become a follower of us cannot be attained except through piety.

America has began committing its crimes and Massacres... against the civilians in Baghdad, Basra, Najaf… all under the pretense of liberating Iraq from its regime… In the same manner the British occupier entered Iraq to liberate it from the Ottomans. The truth of the matter is that it is colonialism, which is being imposed on the Iraqi wronged people, having suffered from the Iraqi dictator whose role has now ended.

Killing civilians and then claiming that it was by mistake is the same attitude that the Zionists resort to in Palestine saying they had to do that to fight terrorists.

Why should the nation face through its history a series of massacres committed by regimes that are imposed by colonialism, as in Iraq or direct colonial occupation…?

Why do others, especially America , talk about planning to change our politics, economy and culture in order to teach us, as they claim, how to respect freedom and human rights, and how we ought not resort to violence even if we were invaded, and accept their conditions, which are total surrender as in Palestine ? For America which used to consider the lands occupied in 1967 as occupied lands has began to consider them disputed lands so that they will deprive the Palestinians from any legally owned land and the whole of Palestine would be disputed between the Palestinians and the Jews.

This is also what they aim to achieve when they try to resettle the Palestinians. Even the "Road Map" which was proposed by the American and British presidents to sedate the Arabs and the Palestinians in particular, and to save the faces of some of their Arabs agents is nothing but mere words, for Sharon is working with some of the US officials on a plan to terminate the Palestinian cause to come up with a shadowy solution that does not give the Palestinians any of their rights.

American and Britain and their allies have revealed in their war on Iraq the ugly face of the arrogance through their murderous killing of civilians and changing the image of war from a clean and swift one to a long and dirty one…

We do not want to engage in political debate about who is fighting: the Army or the people, for what underscores the freedom of the nation is weakening or defeating the arrogant occupying forces that plan to extend its occupation to additional areas in the region … We have to emphasize hat the correct reading of the resistance lies in the fact that it does not serve the regime, but defends the freedom of the Iraqis and the entire nation. The arrogance forces will not stop their aggression once they topple the regime; they will go on to the entire region and the negative consequences will have a strong impact on all parties including the victims of the regime.

We have to stop acting as victims and turn into freedom fighters. The nation has in every generation the duty of making its own history and independence. We should not wait for others especially those responsible of our tragedy to solve our problems, for they have their own priorities.

The Americans are trying in their political discourse to suggest that the Shiites support the occupation while the Sunnis are fighting it. This is what the American minister of defense suggested when he said that the Shiites is Basra are going to support us and that the 3 million Shiites in Baghdad will also stand with us. This is a futile attempt to try to create internal strife. Shiite Muslims have always held freedom in their historic conscience. They follow the Quran that says that might and honor belong to Allah, this Messenger and to the believers, which means, as interpreted by Imam Jaa’far Al-Sadiq, that Allah did not leave the Muslims any choice when it comes to their dignity and honor, Thus Shiites have always been against the oppression of internal dictators and the slavery of external occupiers…

They cannot conclude peace with the occupier or sit down on the sidewalk when it is playing with their homeland and destiny… Their whole history has been a testimony to their defense of Muslim unity for this is what gives the nation its strength.

In these critical conditions, we call everybody to be politically aware of what is going on. They should all take the same stand and be unified against occupation, for this is one of the most difficult stages in the history of our nation. It determines our destiny: We either will be free or enslaved. And remember what Allah, the most Exalted, says: {Truly Allah loves those who fight in His Cause in battle array, as if they were a solid cemented structure} 61:4.