Friday speeches 12 Jumada'II 1425h/30 July 2004AD

Allah says in His Glorious Book: {O ye who believe! Betray not Allah and His messenger, nor knowingly betray your trusts}. (8:27)

This Ayah suggests that Allah is saying to the believers that your faith represents a covenant between you and Allah. A pledge that covers all your commitments whether religious or otherwise, that each of you should seek to please Allah alone in everything he does. It is Allah that has given man his existence and then nurtured him with all the graces that gave him the power to grow, move and prosper.

There is nothing in you that is for you. Even those who study to become academics or thinkers, or those who have experiences… etc they have built themselves with the instruments that Allah has given them…

He has given us the mind that thinks… the eye that sees, and the tongue that we talk with. There is nothing that you need for your existence that was not given by Him.

Therefore, there is a covenant between you and Allah, the most Exalted...When you say that there is no god save Allah, you are actually promising Allah that all your life would be committed to the belief in the oneness of God, meaning that you worship no one but Him and obey none but Him. And when you testify that Muhammad is His Messenger, it is also a pledge to be committed to his Message adopting no other message or thought.

When you live with others, there is a kind of mutual commitment among you. Moreover, you become a part of the society with all its institutions: the family, the place you work in, school… etc

The society gives you when it defends your freedom to work and to express your political thought and act accordingly. You have to give it back. If you are a scientist or a scholar, you cannot leave your knowledge for yourself. And if you are strong or have certain resources, these resources should serve the society.

And as it is evident from the Ayah we recited, if you do not observe your commitments you would be betraying your trust. Freedom has nothing to do with not observing your commitment. When you adopted Islam, you accepted its restrictions and commitments. Thus, being a free man means that you have to honor your beliefs and commitments

Many traditions of Ahl el-Beit explain that to betray Allah and the Messenger is to disobey them, while betraying other people is by not honoring your commitments towards them.

To show how dangerous treason is, Muhammad (p.) said: "If any of those four things, betrayal, theft, drinking wine and adultery, enters a house… it will be destroyed ". Imam Al-Sadiq believes that a believer might have certain traits that will make him commit certain sins but not betrayal and lying, for believing implies honesty and faithfulness.

The Messenger (p.) says: He who betrays a trust is not one of us". He will not be a part of the Muslim community. He also says that deceit and betrayal are in Hell, adding in another saying that treason is the most evil sin, and describing it as the head of hypocrisy.

A Shiite came to Imam Al-Baqir (a.s.) saying I want to stay in Mecca but I owe some money to a Muslim of another sect (Al-murjia- The postponers).

The Imam told him to go back and make sure that he meets God without carrying any debt, for “a believer does not betray". This tradition is addressed to all those who believe that it is lawful to take the money of those who do not meet with them. There are those who might feel that it is lawful to take the money of other Muslims, and there are those who live abroad, who cheat in credit cards and in insurance contracts on the basis that this money is the money of infidels. But I say there is no difference when it comes to honesty and respect of others’ property, whether Muslims or not. This is not a view I have come up with: It is what Allah says: {Allah does not forbid you respecting those who have not made war against you on account of (your) religion, and have not driven you forth from your homes, that you show them kindness and deal with them justly; surely Allah loves the doers of justice}. (60:8)

Imam Ali (a.s.) says: "Betrayal is a sign of lack of piety and religion".

He also says: “The most evil among you are those who do not believe in trust and do not avoid betrayal”. There are those who justify betraying others, in retaliation of being betrayed by them. But the Messenger (p.) says: “Do not betray who betrays you, lest you will be like him”.

Imam Ali (a.s.) says: “Do not betray who trusted you even if he betrays you”. Imam Al-Sadiq (a.s.) was asked. "If a man owes me some money but he denies it. Then I happen to put my hand on some of his money, can I take the money he owes me from it?" He said “no” because it is a breach of trust. Imam Al-Jawad says: “It is enough to be betraying if you are faithful to those who betray”. Imam Ali (a.s.) says: “Betraying the nation is the greatest betrayal”. Those who spy for the enemy and help the arrogant in occupying their country and robbing its wealth are the biggest traitors.

We have to understand the real implications and the various aspects of betrayal, so as to avoid it, for Allah does not love those who betray. We have to be honest and trustworthy to earn the rewards of those who were faithful to Allah, the most Exalted, His Messenger and all people.

Israel continues to bulldoze Palestinian gardens and fields. In Beit Hanon alone, it has destroyed about 7 millions square meters of citrus and other fruit gardens. It also continues to demolish houses and dislocate its inhabitants, in addition to all the raids and assassinations. All this is done under absolute Arab, Muslim and international silence, which gives Israel the freedom to destroy the Palestinian infrastructure.

Meanwhile, America and Israel have moved away the Palestinian question from the political sphere and restricted it to the security one. The Palestinians are living now in an internal crisis that focuses on the corruption of the various departments of the Palestinian Authority, to the point that America and Israel could claim that the problem in Palestine is one of corruption and internal security. This has even made the Palestinians totally preoccupied in these problems instead of continuing the Intifada as the current stage demands.

In this context, we say to the Militant Palestinian people that the demand to get rid of corruption is a logical and necessary one, but it has to be realized in a way that serves the Intifada and not hinder it.

Therefore, based on our religious capacity, I deem unlawful any movement that divides the Palestinian ranks and makes them enter in the internal political and security charades. As for threatening to demolish Al-Aqsa Mosque, it might not be a serious one, but rather it might aim to distract the Muslim World and keep its attention away from other vital issues including the racial wall and the settlements. On the other hand, this does not mean that the Muslim states and peoples should not be concerned with this vital issue that has to do with our sacred places. And we notice that the Organization of the Islamic Conference did not take any step to confront the Zionist threats.

In Iraq, massacres continue to move from one place to another, killing scores of innocent civilians in the name of the resistance, which has nothing to do with such brutal methods that reopened mass graves for the Iraqis.

We say to all who are responsible for these massacres that such acts serve the occupier, since they give him a reason to stay in the name of preserving security, especially that the Iraqi security forces which are supposed to fill the vacuum are the ones that are targeted.

We have also read a Fatwa issued by the spiritual leader of the Zarkawi movement that deems permissible the killing of Muslims who protect infidels. It also threatens the Shiites, accusing them of attacking the Sunnis and of being "allied with the occupation forces".

Such Fatwas are responsible of devastating the strength of the Muslims since it pits them against each other and incites an internal strife among them, at a time Iraq needs its Muslim and national unity in one unified rank against occupation. Muslims should engage in an objective dialogue regarding the best ways to ensure the realization of this goal and build an Islamic bright future for Iraq.

We have received from reliable sources that the Mosad has begun to execute a plan to provoke a conflict between the Shiites and the Sunnis whether in Iraq or in the region exploiting the assassination incidents to create an atmosphere in which people say Sunnis are killing Shiites and vice versa, which means that we should be all quite vigilant and expose these attempts before they take hold.

On another level, problems like Darfor in Sudan, Houi in Yemen and the like are being initiated by the American intelligence agencies to preoccupy the Arab world and distract them from the failures they are facing in the region. Meanwhile, the American Secretary of State tours the region, blaming the Palestinians for the failure of the political solutions, talking with the Egyptians about American reform and pouring fuel to the Sudanese fire.

In view of such problems, we call on the Arabs and Muslims to handle their own affairs. We call on the Arab League to interfere before others do.

We also ask the media to be transparent so that the people would know what is going on and would not be deceived by others especially when it comes to crucial and critical issues.

As for Lebanon that is now in the intensive care unit, both politically and economically, all officials who hold posts and all those in the opposition should rise to the level of the catastrophe and study -together- the problems the country suffers from and the best way to solve them.

Continuing to score points against one another and engaging in futile debates arguing about the presidential elections, from the regional or international point of view without taking the Lebanese circle into consideration, has been tried and proven a failure in the past.

It is not the elected individual that is the problem but the whole corrupted regime that is based on the futile confessionalism.