His Eminence, Sayyed Ali Fadlullah, delivered the two Friday prayer sermons at the Imamain Al-Hassanain Mosque, Safar 23, 1445 /September 8, 2023. Several prominent religious scholars, dignitaries, and hundreds of believers attended the Jumu’a prayer. Following is a summary of the sermons.

 

                        The first sermon

Allah, The Most Exalted, says in His Glorious Book: Muhammad is not but a messenger. [Other] messengers have passed on before him. So if he was to die or be killed, would you turn back on your heels [to unbelief]? And he who turns back on his heels will never harm Allah at all; but Allah will reward the grateful. Allah, The Most Exalted, speaks the truth.

On the 28^th of Safar, we observe the sad anniversary of the Messenger(p.)’s death. The day the Prophet of Mercy left this world, leaving pain and sorrow in the believers’ hearts. By his demise, the Muslims lost their link with revelation and the news of Heaven… The one who got them out of the darkness of ignorance, backwardness, and unfreedom to the light of belief, awareness, and knowledge. He was their loving and caring father as well as their teacher and guide. Despite his sublime status, he was never seen but smiling. He was also very modest as he used to sit with all of them whether young or old. He did not differentiate himself from any of them to the extent that anyone who came to see him had to ask them which of them Muhammad was. He also used to check on his companions, noticing if one did not show up in three days and visiting him if was sick or offering help if he needed any.

When sitting with a group he used to look at all of them and never turn his face if someone was talking to him… He was so modest that when a man trembled while speaking to him he said to him: Take it easy I am only the son of a  Qurashite woman who used to eat dry bread. That is why his companions loved him a love that is incomparable except by the love of Allah, the Most Exalted… They could not imagine the fact that they would be separated from him. One of them even cried thinking that they would be separated in the afterlife as Muhammad was obviously of a higher status. He did not calm down except when Muhammad told him that in the afterlife one will stay with the ones he loves.

Although the demise of the Messenger (p.) was very hard to bear  … the Prophet did not leave them without arming them with the advice that guaranteed the continuity of the march of Islam: their relations with each other, the tasks that lay ahead and all that safeguards them against strife and falsehood, especially his will concerning who will succeed him, Imam Ali (a.s.).

Today we are going to recall some of his last advice, which were very important as they revealed what he was worried about after his death…

The first piece of advice: “Oh people! By God, there is nothing that draws you nearer to heaven and further away from hell that I have not told you to do. And there is nothing that draws you nearer to hell and further from heaven that I have not warned you against doing… Regard the life and property of every Muslim as a sacred trust… Do not return after me infidels (kuffar) cutting each other’s necks…  All mankind is from Adam and Eve, an Arab has no superiority over a non-Arab nor does a non-Arab have any superiority over an Arab; also a white has no superiority over a black nor a black has any superiority over a white except by piety and good action.

The second advice: when he learned that the people were crying as they knew that he was about to die, he stood up and said: O’ people! Behold! It seems the time approached when I shall be called away (by Allah) and I shall answer that call. Behold! I am leaving for you two precious things which if you cling to you will never go astray. First of them is the book of Allah in which there is light and guidance…The other one is my Ahlul-Bayt.  

 In the last incident, the Prophet wanted to teach the believers that no one is above punishment. The story says: In his final disease, the Prophet (p.) asked people to retaliate upon him if he had made a mistake with any of them intentionally or unintentionally. Suwada Ibn Qays said: “O God’s Messenger, once, you were riding your she-camel and having a cane in the hand when I received you after you had been in Ta’if. As you were trying to beat your riding animal with your cane, you hit my belly.” The Prophet (S) ordered him to retaliate. “Show me your belly,” asked Suwada, and the Prophet did. “May I put my mouth on your belly, God’s Messenger?” asked Suwada. The Prophet permitted, and Suwada said: “I seek the guard of the Prophet’s place of retaliation against the fire of Hell.”

 

The Prophet then asked him to retaliate or forgive. “I will certainly forgive, God’s Messenger,” said Suwada. The Prophet prayed: May Allah, forgive Suwada Ibn Qays, for he forgave Your Prophet Muhammad

With these advice, the Messenger(p.) was drawing  a course that was founded on three pillars”

The first was that punishment even to a prophet is a must as the Messenger(p.) in his last days was concerned that he would not leave this world having wronged anybody in any way. Moreover, if punishment did not take place in this world, it would be done in the Hereafter where it is more forceful.

The second: The ruler should be transparent with the people and accept their criticism, for there is nobody whosoever above justice or the law.

 The Third: Even when he was very sick, he wanted to stress the bond between what is said and what is practiced as one should not say something and do another. The Holy Ayat says: O you who have believed, why do you say what you do not do? Great is hatred in the sight of Allah that you say what you do not do

 

 

The second sermon

 

Worshippers of Allah, The Most Exalted: I advise you and myself with the advice of Imam Al-Rida to his followers: Give my best wishes to my followers, and tell them not to enable Satan to find his way to them … And tell them to be truthful in what they say…and not to argue in what is not of their business. 

Tell them to be close to one another and exchange visits …Tell them not to be concerned about breaking up one another…

Dear loved ones: we are in dire need of these advice, by which we express our love for this great Imam… We pray to God to grant us success in overcoming the whims of Satan as well as those of our souls. By this, we can confront the challenges and achieve what we wish to achieve.

We begin with the sufferings of several parents who are unable to enroll their children in schools and universities as they cannot afford the tuition fees and other expenses including books and transportation. Meanwhile, the doors of public schools remain closed and we are afraid that they will remain so, given the ongoing teachers’ strike as the Government does not respond to their rightful demands.

Moreover, it does not seem to be concerned with helping the citizens deal with the difficulties they are facing in their living conditions. Instead of strengthening the surveillance over the big merchants, it actually increases their suffering by increasing the taxes and the fees…

We reassert that the Government has the right to do so to carry out its responsibilities, but not in this difficult stage in which the citizens are not able to cope with the current burdens and they certainly would not be able to deal with them when they are multiplied.

Thus, we call on the people’s representatives in the Parliament not to let the Government maintain its policy of putting its hands in the empty pockets of the people to cover its expenses. Rather, it should target those who wasted the people’s money and plundered their deposits, in addition to optimizing the utilization of State resources.

Unfortunately, all this is accompanied by the collapse of the state’s institutions, while the vacancy in the presidency persists; waiting for the stances of those concerned regarding the call for dialogue suggested by the Speaker to become clear. This dialogue is actually the best way to elect a president, having become clear that no political party can impose its candidate, or make a concession to the other parties…

Therefore, we call, yet again, on the political parties that refuse this dialogue or those who have not taken a stance yet to benefit from this opportunity instead of resorting to provocative and tense rhetoric that would put an end to the dialogue and consequently find a solution, as it is clear that the only alternative is chaos and destabilization as well as opening the way for calls to federalism and division.

The fears that some have regarding the feasibility or the integrity of the dialogue should not drive the parties not to participate in it. On the contrary, it should further drive them to participate and discuss their fears in its sessions…

The new wave of Syrian migration is escalating despite the attempts of the Lebanese Army and the security forces to prevent it… As the burdens on the Lebanese increase to an unbearable extent, we call for making all efforts to deal with this migration and prevent it. We also call to increase the surveillance on the Syrian–Lebanese borders in coordination with the Syrian Authorities.

On the security level, we warn of the resumption of the fighting in the Ain al-Hilweh Camp whose clashes have affected its surroundings. We call on all those who are concerned to make every effort to stop this bleeding that adds to the sufferings of the Palestinians in the camp and negatively affects the Palestinian cause and those who are fighting for it. It also damages the relation between the camp and its surroundings which only benefits the Zionist Enemy and the enemies of the nation…

 

 

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