Allah, The Most Exalted, says in His Glorious Book: And tell My servants to say that which is best. Indeed, Satan induces [dissension] among them. Indeed Satan is ever, to mankind, a clear enemy.  Allah, The Most Exalted, speaks the truth.

To differ is something natural. It is one of the phenomena Allah has ordained among His creations. That is why we see people differing in their religions, sects, ideas, views and behavior. Had Allah wanted them not to differ they would not have done so and this what God has pointed out to when He said: And if your Lord had willed, He could have made mankind one community; but they will not cease to differ. Except those whom your Lord has given mercy.

But Allah has not wished these differences to turn into strifes, conflicts and tensions. that would destabilize the life of individuals and societies. That is why He strongly urged people to be careful in choosing their words in their information and social media and when they engage in a dialogue or differ. They have to choose which is best in what they say and stay away from anything that provokes or hurts others.  That is why, He said: And tell My servants to say that which is best. Indeed, Satan induces [dissension] among them.

Allah has called people in this Ayat to stick in their dialogue to what is best for Satan is waiting for any mistake to create hostility among them. Allah also told those who work in the field of the call and might engage in a dialogue with those who differ with them :  Invite to the way of your Lord with wisdom and good instruction, and argue with them in a way that is best.

 And He called for those who are offended by others not to respond in the same way, but in the way which is best to turn enemies into friends: And not equal are the good deed and the bad. Repel [evil] by that [deed] which is better; and thereupon the one whom between you and him is enmity [will become] as though he was a devoted friend. This is the course which the Messenger followed throughout his life. So, when he was told to invoke Allah’s imprecation upon the unbelievers he said he was not sent as a curser but as a mercy who was sent to “complete sublime manners. “Aisha , The Messenger’s wife narrated:

A Jew came to Allah’s Messenger (p.) and said, “As-samu ‘Alaika ” (Death be on you), and I understood it and said to them, “Alaikum AsSamu wa-l-la’na (Death and curse be on you).” Allah’s Apostle said, “Be calm! O `Aisha, for Allah loves that one should be kind and lenient in all matters.” The Messenger said this when he was at the top of his strength in Medina and not when he was weak. That is why when Allah talked about the Prophet’s   methodology by which he was able to open the hearts of people  He said: by mercy from Allah, [O Muhammad], you were lenient with them. And if you had been rude [in speech] and harsh in heart, they would have disbanded from about you. So pardon them and ask forgiveness for them and consult them in the matter.

 And this is also the way Imam Ali acted when he heard his companions cursing Ahl As-Sham as a reaction of the latter’s curse to them. He said: I dislike you starting to abuse them, but if you describe their deeds and recount their situations that would be a better mode of speaking and a more convincing way of arguing. Instead of abusing them you should say, “O Allah! Save our blood and their blood, produce reconciliation between us and them, and lead them out of their misguidance so that he who is ignorant of the truth may know it, and he who inclines towards rebellion and revolt may turn away from it.”

 Imam As-Sadiq advises his companions to: ” Therefore fear God, be a source of pride, and not a source of infamy for us. Attract all love and friendship towards us, and repel all evil and wrong accusations from us… Say to people what is good and preserve your tongues …

 This is the principle that the righteous scholars and religious authorities were concerned to abide by in their religious Fatwas, when they prohibited cursing of fellow Muslims and humans, as well as those who differ with them in thought or religion. They did not do so to appease others, but of their understanding of the morals of Islam…

Moreover, in the age of strifes, we need those who cool them and not those who enflame them. And this cannot be done except by good words that enhance unity and remove hatred from the hearts . This is what remains in this world and what we will benefit from in the Hereafter.  Allah says: Have you not considered how Allah presents an example, [making] a good word like a good tree, whose root is firmly fixed and its branches [high] in the sky?

It produces its fruit all the time, by permission of its Lord.

The second sermon

Worshippers of Allah, The Most Exalted: I advise you and myself with what Allah, the Most Exalted, has advised us when He said:
O  you who have believed, if you obey a party of those who were given the Scripture, they would turn you back, after your belief, [to being] unbelievers.

 This Ayat was sent  after a Jew passed by a group of the Ansar  and was disturbed by what he saw of their friendship . He sent to them, a Jewish youth to initiate fighting between them by reminding them of [the battle of] Bu’ath [or Bughath, which occurred between them before the advent of Islam] until they went out about [making calls for war,] crying: ‘weapons, weapons’. The Prophet of Allah(p) heard of that so he came out with some of his Muhajireen companions to them and said: O Muslims, …(while) I am still among you, after Allah guided you to Islam, and honored you with it, you go back to al-Jahiliyya traditions . The people knew that it was Satan who incited them. They threw their weapons and hugged one another.

in the age of strifes, we need those who cool them and not those who enflame them. And this cannot be done except by good words that enhances unity and removes hatred from the hearts.

We begin by Lebanon where the living conditions, are back to the front, which might have a negative impact on confronting the Corona virus, as people have taken to the street without taking the safety measures against Corona into consideration. They can no longer tolerate the rise in the price of the dollar which have exceeded five thousand Lebanese pounds.  The price of basic foods also skyrocketed, for the Government have not played the role it is supposed to play to curb this rise or handling its consequences that would ultimately destabilize their social and psychological security.

The measures the Government took did not rise to the level of serious confrontation of this crisis. Thus, we renew our call to the Government which pledged to get the Lebanese out of this tunnel to soothe the anger of the people   that no one knows its repercussions or who might exploit it to deal with the real causes of this crisis and not to be satisfied with certain secondary measures such as arresting the money changers, who are not responsible for the crisis; they only benefit from it, despite the fact that we  support  this measure.

It has become clear that no solution is efficient unless it reviews radically the financial and money policies that made the country reach the place it is in now. The Government has also to retrieve the looted money, activate the producing sectors, and to prosecute those are who are responsible for this unprecedented rise in the price of the dollar.

 The Government has to shoulder its responsibility in these hard times, so that it will regain the peoples’ trust. And the people will stand with it in any measures it will take if they feel that it s serious and truthful even if these measures requires some sacrifices. Furthermore, the Government should not put all its stakes on the IMF which will not offer anything. And even if it does offer what would resolve the problems of the country, it will impose certain conditions that the country cannot tolerate .

Therefore, we renew our call to the Government to be loyal to the goals it came to achieve and which it promised the Lebanese that it will accomplish. It has  to evade the anger of the people who will not have any mercy a government that will return them to their previous situation that the rebelled against.

If the Government says that it came to appoint civil servants on the basis of their qualifications and not on sectarian policies or sharing the posts between the political powers. If the Government feels safe because it knows that there are no alternatives, this is not the logic of history or that of the present. The Government has to understand that justification of its existence lies on its being the voice of the people which is its only guarantee. The political powers that founded it will not be able to protect it if the people, the source of legitimacy, do not want it to stay.

We are not saying that the crisis the country suffers from or the pressures it awaits are not significant. But we emphasize the doors are not closed provided the political parties decide to leave their divisions behind them and cooperate together to save the country from its crises, for the temple will not, if it falls, fall on the head of the Government or some of the political parties supporting it, but on the heads of all of us.