His Eminence, Sayyed Ali Fadlallah, delivered the two Friday prayer sermons at the Imamain Al-Hassanain Mosque, Safar 11, 1446/August 16, 2024. 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: And We made them leaders guiding by Our command and We inspired to them the doing of good deeds, the establishment of prayer, and the giving of zakah; and they were worshippers of Us. God has spoken the truth.

 

On the seventh of the month of Safar, we commemorate the blessed birth of the seventh Imam of Ahl al-Bayt (a.s.), Imam Musa ibn Ja’far al-Kazim(a.s.) .

 

Shaykh al-Mufid referred to some of his qualities in his book “Al-Irshad,” where he said: “Musa ibn Ja’far al-Kazim was the most revered among the children of Abu Abdullah, the greatest in status, the most renowned among people, and the most generous and noble-hearted in his time. He was the most devout, pious, virtuous, and knowledgeable, and the bravest among the people of his era.”

 

The Suffering of Al-Kazim

Imam al-Kazim assumed the responsibility of Imamate after the death of his father, Imam al-Sadiq , at the age of twenty. Throughout his 35 years of Imamate, he endured the oppression of the Abbasid rulers who reigned during that period, with the harshest period being under Harun al-Rashid. Harun imprisoned him in his dungeons for a period that lasted either seven or ten years, according to different reports.

 

Harun al-Rashid feared the despite the vastness of his empire. The Imam’s status, influence, and presence among the people were so significant that someone once said, “I did not think there were two caliphs on Earth until I saw Musa ibn Ja’far al-Kazim”.

 

Despite the harshness of this suffering, it did not weaken the Imam or prevent him from fulfilling his role in confronting intellectual and doctrinal deviations, answering questions raised about the oneness of God and His attributes, addressing the role of reason and analogy in Islam, combating extremism, and resisting the spread of immorality, which was promoted by the Abbasid rulers.

 

Despite all the difficult circumstances he faced, the Imam left us a wealth of hadiths, jurisprudence, exegesis, sermons, and advice.

 

Today, we will take advantage of this occasion to highlight several hadiths narrated from this Imam:

 

A Believer Should Not Be an Umaa’t

 

The first hadith: He said to one of his companions, “Do not be an (Imma’at), for the Messenger of Allah (p.) forbade a person from being so.” When this companion asked him, “What is an Umaa’t, O son of the daughter of the Messenger of Allah?” He said, “Do not say: I am with the people, and I am like one of them. Verily, there are two paths: the path of good and the path of evil. So why is the path of evil more beloved to you than the path of good?”

 

In this, he intended to point out to him and to us that we should not be followers and echoes of others, merely repeating what they say without thought, awareness, and reflection. Instead, we should speak and act based on our faith and values, which call us to adhere to goodness and righteousness, regardless of where this goodness comes from, and to avoid evil and corruption, no matter where it comes from.

—

 

The Second Hadith:

“Strive to make your time divided into four parts:

1. An hour for communing with Allah, the Mighty and Glorious – for remembering Him, supplicating to Him, and working in His path.
2. An hour for managing your livelihood – which emphasizes the importance of work, avoiding idleness and laziness.
3. An hour for associating with trusted brothers who will show you your faults and be sincere to you in private – meaning you should cherish those who correct you.
4. And an hour you dedicate to lawful pleasures, which will give you the strength for the other three hours.”

A Person Knows Himself Best

The third hadith: This is what the Imam pointed out to one of his companions, Hisham ibn al-Hakam, when he said to him: “O Hisham, if you had a walnut in your hand and the people said it was a pearl, it would not benefit you while you know it is a walnut. And if you had a pearl in your hand and the people said it was a walnut, it would not harm you while you know it is a pearl.”

 

In this, the Imam was indicating that a person should not take their self-evaluation, abilities, and potential from what people say, but from what they know about themselves and their awareness of what they possess…

 

The Recommendation to Accept an Apology

The fourth hadith: This is what the Imam advised his children, saying: “O my sons, I am advising you with advice, whoever keeps it will not be lost with it; if someone comes to you and says something unpleasant in your right ear, and then moves to your left ear and apologizes, saying he did not say anything, then accept his apology.”

 

In another piece of advice to some of his children, he said: “O my sons, beware that Allah sees you committing a sin He has forbidden you from, and beware that Allah misses you in an obedience He has commanded you to perform. Be diligent, and do not let yourself fall short in the worship and obedience of Allah, for Allah is not worshipped as He deserves to be worshipped. Beware of joking, for it extinguishes the light of your faith and diminishes your dignity. Beware of impatience and laziness, for they prevent your share in this world and the Hereafter.”

 

The Dignity of the Imam

The fifth hadith: This occurred when the Abbasid Caliph Harun al-Rashid sent his minister Yahya ibn Khalid al-Barmaki to convey a message to the Imam , offering to release him on the condition that he apologizes. The Imam refused and said to him: “I have nothing to apologize for. Go to him and tell him: The appointed time is near, and the reckoning is coming.” On another occasion, he sent a message to him saying: “Know, O Harun, that no day of affliction will pass for me without a day of ease passing for you, until we all meet on a day that has no end, where the wrongdoers will be the losers.” What dignity and strength is this?!

 

Imagine this situation: The Imam is imprisoned, and after spending many years in a dark and desolate underground prison, Harun offers him the chance to apologize and be released, ending his suffering. But it was impossible for him to comply! The prison was his choice in the face of what Harun offered.

 

For this reason, Harun al-Rashid became frustrated with the Imam’s steadfastness, resilience, and patience. When threats and temptations failed to change his stance, Harun decided to end his noble life in the prison where he had confined him, as narrated in the reports.

 

Dignity Despite Oppression

Dear ones, this is Imam al-Kazim. This was his path, this is his image. He suffered, endured pain, and was oppressed in his prison, but at the same time, he was strong and dignified, upholding the word of truth and justice.

 

Our loyalty to this Imam should not stop at expressing emotions and sentiments, though they are important. We should also strive to be in the positions that he, the Imams of Ahl al-Bayt , and the Messenger of Allah held; to struggle as they struggled, to sacrifice as they sacrificed, and to emulate his life and morals, following the image we recall when we visit him:

 

“Peace be upon you, O Gate of the Needs to Allah, Musa ibn Ja’far al-Kazim. I bear witness that you conveyed what Allah entrusted to you, guarded what He entrusted you with, endured harm in the way of Allah, and strove for Allah with true striving until certainty came to you.”

 

May Allah make us among those who follow you, emulate your path, and act according to your teachings, for He is the Most Merciful of the merciful.

 

The second sermon

Worshippers of Allah, I advise you and myself with

the advice of Imam Al-Kazim to his companions when he said: “I advise you to fear Allah in private and in public, to act justly in times of satisfaction and anger, to earn a livelihood in poverty and wealth, to maintain ties with those who cut you off, to forgive those who wrong you, to give to those who withhold from you. Let your sight be one of lessons, your silence one of thought, your words one of remembrance, and your nature one of generosity. For the stingy person will not enter paradise, and the generous one will not enter hell.”

 

Dear loved ones, we are in dire need of Imam Al-Kazim’s advice to make our lives more conscious, responsible, and open, enabling us to face challenges.

 

The Doha Negotiations

 

Starting with the ongoing negotiations in Doha, which we hope will lead to an agreement that ends the daily massacres suffered by the Palestinian people, resulting in tens of thousands of martyrs, wounded, and disabled individuals, as well as the destruction of residential buildings, schools, universities, hospitals, and public and private institutions—essentially, all aspects of life in Gaza.

 

It has become clear that there is a desire to make these negotiations successful, expressed by the Palestinian resistance, which has shown all positivity and flexibility to ensure their success…

 

However, the concern remains with the enemy’s Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu. If he goes along with the negotiations, it is to ease the pressures on the Zionist government, whether from within, by political, military, and security leaders and large segments of the population who want to stop the war due to the deadlock in achieving the war’s goals, or from abroad, by countries embarrassed in front of their people, who have taken to the streets demanding an end to the bloodshed. But Netanyahu does not want to grant the Palestinian people their most basic legitimate rights: a permanent ceasefire, the opening of crossings to lift the siege on Gaza, and the freedom of movement within it. He seeks to achieve through negotiations what he could not achieve on the battlefield, by recovering his captives without offering any guarantees to stop the genocide.

 

It is ironic that the U.S. administration is calling for these negotiations and expressing its desire for their success to avoid a broader regional war that it sees as not in its interest and for electoral considerations, especially after voices supporting the Palestinian cause have risen within the United States, expressed by universities. However, at the same time, the U.S. declares its support for this entity in any war it wages, deploying its warships in the sea while announcing a new $20 billion arms deal with it, naturally making this entity more stringent in the negotiations and possibly causing it to renege on them to complete its project with the support of this aid.

 

Arab and Islamic Responsibility

 

In this regard, we renew our call for the Arab and Islamic countries to play an active, influential, and decisive role in supporting the Palestinian people’s options in the ongoing negotiations and not to leave them alone in this battle, to fortify and support their position, and not to remain neutral. We are confident that the Arab and Islamic countries are capable of this if they unite and decide to fulfill this role towards the Palestinian people.

 

As we have said before, we reaffirm today that allowing the Zionist entity to achieve its goals will lead to its increasing tyranny and aggression, and it will not spare any Arab or Islamic country when its interests dictate so.

 

 

 

 

 The Resistance in Lebanon

Returning to Lebanon, where the Zionist enemy continues to escalate its attacks, increasing its targeting of civilians, using new and advanced weapons to try to intimidate the Lebanese and pressure the Resistance to make concessions at its expense and at the expense of Lebanese sovereignty. Meanwhile, the Resistance continues to confront the enemy in kind, promising significant surprises if it ventures against the security and sovereignty of this country. This calls for the Lebanese to unite and stand together in the face of this entity’s aggressions and adventures, as reality shows that it does not distinguish between one town and another, or between one sect and another, or between one religion and another.

 

Here, we appreciate all the voices that have risen to prevent this enemy from achieving its goals of causing divisions among the Lebanese, whether on a sectarian or political level…

Finally, the 14th of August has passed, marking the 18th anniversary of the victory achieved in 2006, through which the Lebanese were able to thwart the goals that the Zionist enemy sought to achieve.

 

On this day, we renew our call to the Lebanese to refresh their memories with all the images of heroism, courage, and sacrifice that were conveyed by screens, radios, and media they experienced at that time, not to boast of those achievements, or to live off them, or to use them in internal conflicts, but to reinforce hope within us that victory is possible against the enemy in facing any new aggression, to increase our awareness and sense of the need to preserve the accomplishments made, not to squander them, and to make them a path to achieving further successes.