The first sermon

Allah, The Most Exalted, says in His Glorious Book: And We had already destroyed generations before you when they wronged, and their messengers had come to them with clear proofs, but they were not to believe. Thus do We recompense the criminal people.

    Allah, The Most Exalted, speaks the truth. The moment the battle of Karbala ended, Zainab took the decision that she had to freeze her emotions of sadness in her heart, for the time was not one of emotions but of hard work. She had to commit herself to her promise to her brother when he said to her, “Sister, if I die, I swear to you that you must not tear your clothes nor scratch your face nor cry out of grief and loss”. And also because she believed that her responsibility was not to allow Yazid and Ubaidallah Bin Ziyad and Amr Bin Saad to feel the glory of victory and achieve their aims of burying the Husseini revolution in the desert of Karbala with all the goals it was launched for and for which he and his companions and family were martyred.

She felt that it was her duty to tell the people about what had happened and remove from their minds all the distortion that the Umayyad had planted, since the battle was over. She wanted to reveal the reality of Yazid and his project of devastating Islam. This was what she did on the way to Damascus: first in Kufa when people gathered around her and then in the court of Bin Ziyad. Then again on the way to Damascus and in the court of Yazid and lastly when she settled in Medina. She was able to make change in every place she talked in, to the extent that the Wali of Medina was fed up with her and sent to Yazid that Zainab and her sisters were inciting people against him and they were about to revolt if she stayed in Medina. Yazid ordered the Wali to banish her from Al-Hijaz. But, she challenged the Wali and told him courageously that after all what had happened to them, she refused to leave the Haram (sanctuary) of her grandfather.

The role of Lady Zainab coincided with that of Imam Zein Al-Abidien who worked on establishing awareness by his speeches and invocations. He sought to remind the people of the horrible crime in Karbala, whenever he had a chance. The efforts of both of them combined and enraged the people against Yazid who tried to change his policy if only formally. That is why he changed the Wali of Medina and appointed another one who was close to its people. He asked him to send a delegation of the people of the city to Damascus to try to win their loyalty. Yazid tried to win them by money thinking that this would bribe and appease them. But, when the delegation came back from Damascus, where they experienced firsthand the reality of Yazid who was described by Imam Al Hussein as a man who disobeys Allah, The Most Exalted, drinks wine, and killer of the respected soul… They said, “We found a man who does not know religion nor Islam and one who is not qualified to rule Muslims. We have decided to oust him so you too have to oust him”. And this was what the people of Medina actually did. This was in fact a revolution against the Umayyad. The people of Medina ousted the Wali and sieged the Umayyad who were in the city, and who gathered in the house of one of their leaders, Marwan Bin Al-Hakam. The people of Medina told them that they had to leave the city in peace and promise not to join anyone who would fight them in the future as a condition for letting them go. Yet, they broke their promise the moment they were free. When Marwan Bin Al-Hakam wanted to leave the city, he started to look for someone to keep his family of 300 in protection but no one accepted except Imam Zein Al-Abidien, despite all his previous crimes and hatred to Ahl Al-Beit. Marwan Bin Al-Hakam himself took part in the battles of Al Jamal and Suffin against Imam Ali (a.s.) and prevented Imam Hussein from burying his brother Al-Hassan next to his grandfather, the Messenger (p.) of Allah, The Most Exalted. He is also the one who suggested to the Wali of Medina when Imam Al-Hussein refused to pledge alliance to Yazid to kill him if he does not do so. But Imam Zein Al-Abidien did not want to hold the family of Al Hakam responsible for his crimes.

When Yazid heard about the revolution, he sent a big army of fifteen thousand strong led by Muslim Bin Akaba. They attacked the city and conquered it committing the most horrible crimes and violating the honor of the people and usurping their money and property. They killed the men and the women and the elderly making the total number of the martyrs according to the historians reach 11700 persons who memorized the Quran and 80 of the honorable Prophet’s companions.

This battle that was called the Battle of Harra(Muharram 13, 63H )that took place three years after the martyrdom of Imam Al-Hussein  was a continuation of the tyrannical rule  of the Umayyad. And while it is true that it ended by this painful tragedy, it, nevertheless, immensely increased the steadfastness and the willpower that grew in the souls of the people in the face of the tyrants during and after the Battle of Karbala.

It paved the way for several revolutions that ended in the falling of the Umayyad rule.  It thus demonstrated the Quranic truth that says :And those who have wronged will know to what return  they will be returned.   

The second sermon

Worshippers of Allah, The Most Exalted: I advise you and myself, with what Allah, The Most Exalted, advised us when He said: And when there comes to them information about [public] security or fear, they spread it around. But if they had referred it back to the Messenger or to those of authority among them, then the ones who [can] draw correct conclusions from it would have known about it. And if not for the favor of Allah upon you and His mercy, you would have followed Satan, except for a few.

Allah, The Most Exalted, has warned us about those whom when they receive news about war or peace they spread them right away without any investigation or verification. But if they go back to God, the Messenger or those who know the truth, they would not have fallen in committing these mistakes or taken stances that would have had an impact on them or their communities. Allah, The Most Exalted, wanted the Muslim society to verify any news before spreading or writing it and this will make us more capable of facing fake news that might mislead us and, thus, become more capable of facing challenges.

We begin by Lebanon, which is celebrating its first centennial, an occasion usually reserved to list the achievements and the outstanding accomplishments of its citizens.

However, it is regretful that this occasion has come at a time Lebanon is in such a deteriorating  social and economic condition, as well as political  and financial corruption and sectarian division  that have caused all the  catastrophes the Lebanese are suffering from, including that of the explosion of the port which has paved the way for foreign interference and struggles on its territories.  

We do not want this event to turn into a celebratory occasion, but one to review the path that led to this collapse. This does not involve reviewing the political system only, but also the change in the mentality of the rulers who should stop treating this country as a milking cow.

The Lebanese shoulder the responsibility of preserving this country as a message and a model in the ability of religions to cooperate and coexist and not become a cause for failing this unique experience by confessionalizing the religion, emptying it from its values and utilizing it in internal and external struggles.

In these gloomy circumstances came the designation of a prime minister, and the French president demands in his last visit to speed up the formation of a new government and carry out the reforms, as well as the way he dealt with the current Lebanese political reality to indicate  a new stage that the Lebanese hope will get them out of the dark tunnel they were put in by the political class.

As we appreciate any effort to relief Lebanon and solve its crises, we are fully aware that the external powers seek to promote their own interests, and do not give anything for free…

On the other hand, we feel very sorry that the solutions were not suggested by the Lebanese political parties which could have done so had they abandoned their selfishness and could have avoided the humiliation and the dictation of the French president…

Anyway, now that the ball is in their court, we call upon them to speed up the formation of a government that is capable of shouldering its responsibilities, whether by the way it will be structured or by choosing qualified and reforming ministers.  They should not evacuate it from its reforming content and sink yet again in the game of fighting for the spoils between its various parties.

We believe that the current international atmosphere is an element that helps the Lebanese if not to a complete solution, then at least to a stage of freezing that could eventually take us towards solutions … In this respect, we should thwart any attempt to subvert it by those who would be hurt by the reform.

Moreover, we   call for speeding up the investigation of the explosion of the port, since the Lebanese are afraid of stalling and not reaching a conclusive result.