His Eminence, Sayyed Ali Fadlullah, delivered the two Friday prayer sermons at the Imamain Al-Hassanain Mosque, Jamada I 25. 1445 /December 8, 2023. Several prominent religious scholars, dignitaries, and hundreds of believers attended the Jumu’a prayer. Following is a summary of the sermons:

Believers are pleased with whatever Allah chooses for them

 

 

“Allah, the Most Exalted, says in His Glorious Book: ‘Indeed, those who have believed and done righteous deeds – they are the best of creatures. Their reward with their Lord will be gardens of perpetual residence beneath which rivers flow, wherein they will abide forever, Allah being pleased with them and they with Him. That is for whoever has feared his Lord.’

Allah, the Most Exalted, speaks the Truth

One of the most distinguishing characteristics of a believing person is his/her feeling of contentment with their Lord.  Believers are pleased with whatever Allah chooses for them, whether a command or a prohibition, a decree or a share in life. They  see everything that comes from Allah as beautiful and merciful, even if it involves hardship, loss of loved ones, or trials such as illness, disability, poverty, or war…

 

Allah has indicated in the Quran that when He and His Messenger decree a matter, believers have no choice but to accept it.  Prophet Muhammad (p.) once encountered a group during his travels and asked them about their faith. They responded by mentioning their contentment with Allah’s decree, surrender to His commands, and trust in Him.

 

The Prophet (p.) stated, ‘those are wise scholars who almost reached the level of prophets in their wisdom.’

 

Both Quranic verses and Hadiths illustrate the impact of contentment with Allah’s decree on individuals. It is considered the gateway to being in Allah’s party and belonging to Him.  Those are as the Quran says the ones that: Allah is pleased with them, and they are pleased with Him – those are the party of Allah. Unquestionably, the party of Allah – they are the successful.

 

Regarding worldly matters, it is mentioned that the happiest among people in their livelihood are those who are content with what Allah has destined for them.

As for how God’s decree affects His servants, it does not occur directly through each individual, but it happens through the laws that God has embedded in people’s lives. God has established laws for death, sustenance, victory, health, and illness—both physical and spiritual laws. When the causes of death manifest among people, they die; when the causes of sustenance appear, they are provided for; when the causes of victory materialize, they triumph. All these laws that God has embedded in life exist for the benefit and service of humanity, even if during hardship one may believe they harm them or are at their expense.

 

However, it is necessary here to emphasize that speaking about contentment does not imply, as some might misunderstand and thereby discredit religion, surrendering to the existing reality and neglecting one’s responsibilities. It does not mean accepting poverty, weakness, defeat, or submitting to corrupt rulers or a corrupt reality caused by humans or societal, political, and economic systems.

 

Contentment is manifested in matters beyond human control and outside their will, such as death, illness, physical disabilities, and the laws God has set in the universe, leading to calamities like earthquakes, volcanoes, and floods. As for matters within human control, contentment with God’s decree only comes after exhausting all available means and fulfilling all responsibilities that God has called for, exerting one’s efforts.

 

Beloved ones, we are in dire need of reinforcing this value in life—the value of contentment in times of strife and poverty, in times of health and illness… in times of strength and weakness, in times of victory and defeat. And of course, after a person has fulfilled the required role in utilizing all his resources and has lived with gratitude to God in all circumstances, content with God’s decree.

 

When this faith value is firmly established within oneself, it brings about tranquility, security, reassurance, and peace of mind that make a person content with his/ her situation.

 

This faith was expressed by the Messenger of Allah (p.). It is narrated that when his son Ibrahim, whom he was deeply attached to, died at the age of two, he turned to God with tears flowing from his eyes, saying, Your favor is abundant… Harm does not come from You… The eyes shed tears, and the heart grieves, but we only say what pleases God.

 

Prophet Musa (a.s.) also experienced this when he asked God to show him the person most beloved to Him and most devoted in worship. God directed him to a man with leprosy, handicapped, and blind, yet praising, thanking, and glorifying God. Musa then expressed his preference for someone in a state of fasting and performing prayers…

 

 Then Musa (a.s.) said to the sick man, “O servant of Allah, I am a man whose prayers are answered. If you would like, I will pray to Allah, the Most Exalted… to return to you what has been lost of your limbs and heal you of the illness.”

 

The man said, “I do not want anything from that. His choice for me is dearer to me than my choice for myself.

Similarly, Lady Zainab (a.s.) expressed this sentiment after the tragedy of Karbala. When asked about God’s actions concerning her brother and household, she responded, ‘I saw nothing but beauty. These were people whom God had destined for martyrdom…

 

We conclude with the supplication of Imam Zain al-Abidin (a.s.), in which he refers to the proper way to deal with God’s decree and fate: ‘O Allah, purify my soul by accepting Your decree, expand my heart to accommodate Your judgments, grant me the confidence to wholeheartedly believe that Your decree only entails goodness, and make my gratitude for what You have kept away from me greater than my gratitude for what You have given me.’

 

‘O Allah, bless me with complete reliance on You, entrusting everything to You, contentment with Your decree, and submission to Your command, so I do not desire to hasten what You have delayed or delay what You have hastened, O Most Merciful.’

 

The Second Sermon

Worshippers of Allah, The Most Exalted: I advise you and myself with the advice of Ali (a.s.) to his companions when he returned from Siffin and looked over the graves outside Kufa, “O people of the desolate homes, the desolate places, the dark graves. O people of the graves…, O people of loneliness… you are for us a predecessor (you preceded us) and we are for you a follower …As for the houses, they have been inhabited, and as for the wives, they have been married, and as for the money, it has been divided. This is the news of what we have, so what is the news of what you have?” (Then he turned to his companions and said): “If they were allowed to speak, they would tell you that the best provision is piety.”

 

The Imam (a) wanted through his advice to tell us that we should be equipped with piety, that we should strengthen the presence of God within our souls, and. We should not take a step, speak a word, take a position, support or oppose until we know that God is pleased with it. When we do this, we will be more aware, responsible, and capable of facing challenges.

 

And the beginning is from Gaza, where the Zionist enemy continues to target the buildings, the infrastructure, the people and all the components of life there. He aims to Gaza bitants by making life there impossible. He is benefiting from the green light and the open time frame for him to do what he wants, and from the material, military, and intelligence support he enjoys from the American administration and many Western countries. It has reached the point of criminalizing anyone who objects to the policies of this entity and considering him an anti-Semite.

 

This is happening without any initiatives that lead to a near stop to the bleeding of blood and deterring this enemy from continuing its atrocities and crimes. If there are any initiatives, they stop at the limits of wishing this enemy not to harm civilians and modest humanitarian aid that does not meet any of the Palestinians’ needs. Instead, talk has become about how to manage the political situation for the post-war phase, which indicates giving the enemy the right to control Gaza and hold its decision. In contrast, the Palestinian people continue to present the most wonderful images of patience, sacrifice, and steadfastness in the field.

 

This people have been able, with their patience, steadfastness, determination, will, and resistance, to obstruct the advance of this enemy, and to make it costly for him, despite the destruction and massacres that are taking place and the lack of parity in capabilities and potentials.

 

In the face of what is happening, we salute this people, who prove with clear evidence the extent of their readiness to pay high prices to regain their freedom and their right to live a decent life.

 

They did not take this option except after despairing of obtaining his rights through international charters and UN Security Council resolutions that remained with this enemy ink on paper, despite their awareness of the high cost that they will bear from an enemy that believes only in the language of killing and destruction and wants the to end the existence of the Palestinian people or  leave their  own land.

 

We see and on the basis of our human and religious responsibility that we stand with this people, that we support their just cause, and that we should not allow this enemy to achieve its goals.   If it realizes them, not only we will not be safe in its neighborhood,  but also, no one in this world will be reassured of security and peace if its crimes pass without condemnation and accountability.

 

Therefore, we renew our call to the Arab and Islamic countries and peoples, all the free people of the world, and all those who adhere to religious, justice, and human values, to raise their voices more in this stage with the enemy exceeding all limits in its massacres and atrocities, and not to stop condemning the practices of this entity, and to the countries that still support it, and to exert all pressures to prevent it from continuing the war of annihilation it is carrying out…

 

As for Lebanon, which is still standing in the line of confrontation with the Zionist enemy in support of the Palestinian people, and it bears the high prices for it… It believes that if this enemy could achieve what it wants in Gaza, Lebanon would not be immune to the repercussions of that, at a time when we witness the movement of international envoys who warned of the consequences of this position. In this regard, we renew what we said last week, that the duty of the countries that care about Lebanon is to focus their efforts on stopping what is happening in Gaza because what is happening there has an impact on Lebanon, and that the 1701 resolution and all international resolutions should be dealt with on an equal footing, and that they should seek the perceived interests of the Zionist enemy and the security of its settlements without taking into account the security of this country.

 

While the enemy has never abided by the decisions of the United Nations, or by not violating the sovereignty of Lebanon in land, sea, and air, or launched threats and warnings in a continuous manner, in addition to its constant simulation in its maneuvers for how to enter Lebanese cities and villages…

 

It is unfortunate to hear voices in Lebanon talking about this enemy as a lamb, while it is going too far in its attacks that target border villages and towns, which have reached the point of targeting a Lebanese army site, resulting in the martyrdom of a soldier and a number of wounded, and in the deliberate killing of journalists, which has been confirmed by reports of international organizations. It continues to issue threats to launch a destructive war on Lebanon, as his defense minister stated, which requires all political forces to be responsible, by working hard to remove the justifications for division and not to enter into anything that leads to tension in the domestic arena, which the enemy may benefit from and encourage it to expand the circle of its attacks and undermine the sovereignty of Lebanon.

 

At the same time, we reiterate the need to accelerate the resolution of the crises that the country is suffering from and to fill the vacuum in the state institutions, to be able to face the challenges, especially on the level of the leadership of the army, where the country cannot tolerate the vacuum in this position for its importance and for the role that the army plays on the internal level or on the level of protecting the borders of the southern and eastern homeland.  For all this cannot be faced with the slackness that we are witnessing and the vacuum on the political level or the level of its security forces.