| In his sermon on the tenth of Muharram, Sayyed Fadlullah called for building the power of the nation by establishing unity between the Sunnis and Shiites |
Fadlullah: We support producing the elements of internal confidence and ending the acts of setting political traps
His Eminence, the Religious Authority Sayyed Muhammad Hussein Fadlullah, called in his Ashura sermon, for ded
ucing the lessons of struggle (Jihad) and sacrifice from Ashura and building our force at all levels, by establishing unity between the Muslim Sunnis and Shiites, as well as the unity of the entire nation. Moreover, he criticized some of the backward rituals practiced in Ashura ceremonies, such as hitting the heads with swords and backs with chains, instead of committing to the noble goals of the movement of Imam Al-Hussein (a.s.).
He also criticized the absence of any significant Arab or Islamic voices that call for protecting Yemen from the game of internal divisions and fragmentations.
Moreover, he confirmed that establishing a just and strong state in Lebanon ought to be based on a number of rules whose features would crystallize once a candid and transparent internal dialogue on all kinds of files is initiated, calling for establishing the solid basis – at the internal level – for confronting the Israeli threats. He also laid emphasis on the necessity of producing the elements of confidence between the different Lebanese components and ending the acts of setting political traps at every political turning point in the region.
Marking the occasion of the tenth of Muharram, His Eminence delivered the following speech at Al-Imamain Al-Hassanain Mosque in Haret Hreik:
The message of Imam Al-Hussein (a.s.) persisted throughout time, for he used to consider the interests of the entire nation rather than those of a specific group of people. He (a.s.) says: "I rose to seek reform in my grandfather's nation." Al-Hussein (a.s.) actually shared the same concerns of his grandfather (p.), for the Prophet (p.), too, used to think about the reform of the generation he lived with and the future generations of the nation, since he used to say that the blood, money, and honor of every Muslim is haram on all Muslims.
Therefore, when we commemorate the anniversary of Imam Al-Hussein (a.s.), we would actually be reminding ourselves of our contemporary reality in which Muslims are going through tragic situations imposed by the arrogant people and atheists. It is as if we are actually witnessing how Al-Hussein stood in the face of those who came to fight him… Actually, we are experiencing the same line and the same reality and we are facing the same group of people that supported Ziyad and Yazeed at that time; thus, we ought to deduce many lessons from Ashura, for it represents the example we ought to model after, and not the incident.
O beloved ones, we are seeking reform in the Islamic world on the basis of reform in the nation of Al-Hussein (a.s.)'s grandfather (p.). Moreover, we are seeking to enjoin good and forbid evil so as to preserve Islam's dignity and keep humiliation away from Muslims, for the slogan of Al-Hussein is: "How far is humiliation away from us!" This is the lesson we ought to deduce from Ashura, especially when it comes to struggle (jihad), sacrifice, and opening up to Islam, as well as the responsibility of uniting the Muslims so as to fight oppressors and support the oppressed.
O beloved ones, Ashura anniversary arrives this year at a time the arrogant attack on the nation widens and the cracks, divisions, and wars on the nation's diverse positions increase, starting from Yemen that has stepped into the hell of a continuous war in Saada, in addition to other major problems in other Yemeni regions. Actually, we can notice a dangerous international scheme, in which all parties share concerted roles that aim at keeping Yemen unstable in order to attract many external factors and pave the way for further divisions and fragmentations in the nation, as a result of political and tribal struggles that are meant to persist under the sectarian titles that the biased media is trying to market and promote, disguising the realities and real facts.
At a time we do not hear any significant Arab and Islamic voices that call for and seek to protect Yemen's internal unity, we notice persistent attempts by western administrations to meddle in the Sudanese internal arena, in order to create chaos and besiege the regime that sided with the Arab and Islamic causes and opposed the American policy and stood in the face of the enemy's plots conducted against the African Horn and Sudan itself. The result was that the external dictations worked on nourishing some parties in order to create an internal axis that aims at toppling the regime and re-forming Sudan vis-à-vis new divisions that endanger its entity and unity.
The same scene is repeated in Somalia, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and even Iraq, yet each in a different method, and we can notice the persistence of various events that are meant to weaken the Arab and Islamic body to the interest of the enemy and to incite political divisions and sectarian sensitivities, to draw a new map for the nation. In this map, the nation's components scatter, its positions drift apart, its geographic and religious unity rips apart, and its elements of strength are dismantled, paving the way for the arrogant Zionist project to return gradually to the positions it has already lost or retreated from.
At a time we are witnessing an act of repositioning at the regional level, and simulating the hostile project in several locations in the nation, we call on the Arab and Islamic peoples to take a preemptive stand to confront the spiteful international plots that aim at hitting the Islamic unity and scattering the one word of Muslims and planting the seeds of sedition, once again, or intimidating people by sedition, in order to pass new schemes and projects set in accordance with the Zionist interests in the region.
We are called in Ashura for building the nation's power at all levels by establishing unity between the Muslim Sunnis and Shiites, as well as the unity of the entire nation. Moreover, we are called for going forth in building our military, political, and security force, in order to prevent the reoccurrence of historical tragedies in our reality and to send decisive messages to the opposing axis which state that targeting any position in the nation is equal to targeting the entire nation. This holds everyone responsible for deterring any aggression and facing all the pressures and sieges imposed, be they against the Palestinian or the Iraqi or the Iranian people…etc. As a matter of fact, previous experiments have proven that the nation is capable of revolting, confronting, and fighting, and consequently; achieving victory in the future.
We also believe that establishing a just and strong state in Lebanon ought to be based on a number of rules whose features would crystallize once a candid and transparent internal dialogue on all kinds of files is initiated, especially the files related to the real Zionist threats on Lebanon. Moreover, practical and realistic bases should be set in order to face this dangerous strategic threat. Such a candid dialogue would produce the elements of confidence that were missing at earlier stages. In addition, this party or the other is supposed to abstain from setting political traps that some make use of at any political turning point in the region.
We also believe that a true state should set a legitimate, legal, and rational limit for the movement of foreign ambassadors in Lebanon, in order to prevent them from violating the Lebanese internal arena and meddling in the rules of joint living and turning the parties against one another. Moreover, it would put an end to the direct tutelage, especially that exercised by the American Ambassador, for forcing her to abide by the adopted diplomatic ways and rejecting her interference, as well as that of other ambassadors, in the Lebanese internal affairs actually represent the primary basis on which we can establish the state, resulting in a true independence for the country and releasing it from the claws of the American tutelage and the like.
In conclusion, Al-Hussein (a.s.) used to call for reform in his grandfather's nation, and for enjoining good and forbidding evil. Therefore, if we seek to commit to his Wilaya, line, and love, we ought to fight all forms of corruption in our society, such as drug abuse, consuming alcohol, and assaulting people's money and robbing them and attacking them. This is the path we ought to follow, and not the path of hitting our head with a sword and our back with chains causing them to bleed, in addition to other new backward methods resorted to by some people in certain Islamic countries.
Al-Hussein (a.s.) rose to restore the civilized image of Islam that the Messenger of Allah (p.) had previously brought, so that it would be a title that pnes up to the depth of the message of the Messenger of Allah (p.) who said: "Hussein is from me and I am from Hussein." Therefore, to support Al-Hussein (a.s.) is to support reform in his grandfather's nation, as well as enjoining good and forbidding evil , and to work in accordance with what preserves the general order.
Peace be upon Al-Hussein, and Ali, the son of Al-Hussein, and the sister of Al-Hussein, and the brother of Al-Hussein, and the good elite of the supporters of Al-Hussein.