His Eminence, Sayyed Ali Fadlullah, delivered the two Friday prayer sermons at the Imamain Al-Hassanain Mosque, JamadaII 9. 1445 /December 22, 2023. Several prominent religious scholars, dignitaries, and hundreds of believers attended the Jumu’a prayer. Following is a summary of the sermons.

The Religious Sermon

Allah, the Most Exalted,  says in His Glorious Book:

When the angels said, “O Mary, indeed Allah gives you good tidings of a word from Him, whose name is the Messiah, Jesus, son of Mary, distinguished in this world and the Hereafter and among those brought near [to Allah].

 

And he will speak to the people in the cradle and in old age, and he will be of the righteous.

On December 25, we will be commemorating the anniversary of the birth of Jesus Christ (a.s.). This prophet is one of the great prophets of God ,Who commanded us to declare our belief in what they brought, when He said:

 

Say, “We believe in Allah and what has been revealed to us, and what has been revealed to Abraham, Ishmael, Isaac, Jacob, and the Descendants, and what was given to Moses and Jesus and what was given to the prophets from their Lord. We make no distinction between any of them, and we are Muslims [submitting to Him.

 

 

The Messenger (p.) referred to his position among them when he said:

 

“My example and the example of the prophets before me is like a man who built a house, and he did it well and beautifully, except for one brick in a corner. So the people would walk around it, admiring it, and saying, “Would that this brick were in its place!” I am that brick, and I am the seal of the prophets.”…

 

 

This clearly indicates that Islam, which we believe in, invites us to believe in all the prophets and not to differentiate between them… It did not come to abolish any of these religions, but rather to remove any dust from them and complete their techings.

 

Since Jesus Christ (a.s.) came to this earth, he has been honored by God by being born as a miracle and a manifestation of the power of God  as he was born without a father and by the great blessings that God has singled him out for:

When God said, “O Jesus, son of Mary, remember My favor upon you and upon your mother when I supported you with the Holy Spirit and you spoke to the people in the cradle and in old age, and when I taught you the Book and wisdom and the Torah and the Gospel, and when you created from clay the form of a bird with My permission, then you breathed into it, and it became a bird with My permission, and you healed the blind and the leper with My permission, and you brought the dead to life with My permission, and when I restrained the Children of Israel from you when you came to them with clear proofs…

 

 

 

When God entrusted him with the responsibility of carrying His message and delivering it to the people and giving the glad tidings of the message of the Messenger (p.)

 

{He said, “Indeed, I am the servant of Allah. He has given me the Book and made me a prophet. And He has made me blessed wherever I am, and He has enjoined upon me prayer and charity as long as I live. .. And :[mention] when Jesus, the son of Mary, said, ‘O children of Israel, indeed I am the messenger of Allah to you confirming what came before me of the Torah and bringing good tidings of a messenger to come after me, whose name is Ahmad…

Dear brothers and sisters,

It is natural that we celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ (a.s.) in the image in which we believe that he is a servant of God and one of His prophets, not a god and does not possess any of the attributes of divinity, and that it should be an occasion for us to express the values he called for, the values of love, tolerance, justice, and standing up to injustice, for which he suffered and endured, until he was almost crucified, but God protected him by raising him to Him.

 

Today, and based on this, we will benefit from this occasion to point out some of his positions to be  taken as lessons for us:

The first position:

 When many people gathered in a state of anger and intending to stone a woman who was accused of adultery, Jesus stood among the crowds, setting a condition for those who wanted to participate in stoning this woman. He said: “Whoever among you is without sin, let him throw a stone at her.”

He wanted to teach people a lesson by saying that whoever wants to judge others must judge himself before judging others and that he must look at his own flaws before looking at the flaws of others…

 

As the Prophet (p.) said: “It is enough for a person to be flawed if he looks at people at what is hidden from him from himself, and he insults people with what he cannot leave.”

The second position:

One day, he was walking with some of his disciples by a dead dog. The disciples said: “How bad the smell of this carcass is!” Jesus Christ (a.s.) said: “How white its teeth are!”

 

Christ wanted his disciples not to be hasty and only look at the negatives of others, but to take into account the bright side of them, and not to forget the positives by the presence of the negatives, and to be fair in their evaluation of people, even if they were their enemies and disagreed with them over some issues. This does not mean not looking at the negatives, but only after considering the positives.

The third position:

One day, he passed by a grave where the owner was being tortured. Then he passed by it the following year, and behold, the torment had been lifted from him. He asked God: “Did you lift the torment from him while he deserves it?” God informed him that: “O Spirit of God; This man has a righteous son who repaired a path and took in an orphan, so I forgave him because of his son.” He turned to his disciples and said to them: “This is how you raise your children.”

The fourth position:

In this position ,he expressed his position on the oppressors and criminals: “Verily, I say to you that the fire may fall in one house, and it will continue to move from house to house until many houses are burned, unless the first house is seized, it will be demolished from its foundations, and it will not find a place in it. Fire, as well as the first oppressor, if he was taken by his hands, no unjust leader would have come after him to follow him, as if the fire in the first house did not find wood and boards, it would not have burned anything.“

 

He wanted to show the community that it should be careful to stand up to injustice and corruption at its source so that it does not move to other locations and exceed its scope, by taking action against the oppressor and those who help him so that his injustice does not reach others, as he is keen to extinguish the fire that may break out in the first house so that it does not reach other houses.

The last position in his will to his disciples:

Forgive those who cut you off, and give to those who withheld from you, and do good to those who wronged you, and greet those who cursed you, and be fair to those who argued with you, and forgive those who wronged you, as you love to be forgiven for your sins, so consider the forgiveness of God for you. Do you not see that His sun has risen on the righteous and the wicked of you, and that His rain falls on the righteous and the sinners of you? So if you do not love anyone but the one who loves you, and do not do good to anyone but the one who does good to you, and do not reward anyone but the one who gave you , then in what way you are better than others…

These are some of the values that Christ called for. Later, Allah’s Messenger came to confirm, advocate, and work on their basis. Our loyalty to Christ, just like our loyalty to the Messenger of Allah, is only realized when we bring these values into practice. They are what we need, upon which we build life and forge the future. By this, religion will not be a problem for life or a burden as portrayed by disbelievers; instead, it becomes a solution and a way out of crises

The second sermon

I advise you and myself ,O worshippers of God, with what the Messenger of God (p.) advised one of his companions, when he said to him: “Protect God, and He will protect you. Protect God, and you will find Him before you.” (This is done by a person keeping the limits of God, His rights, His commands, and His prohibitions). When this happens, God will fulfill His promise to him, for He is the one Who said: “And fulfill My covenant, and I will fulfill your covenant.”)

Dear beloved ones:

We are in the greatest need of these advices, which call us to strengthen our relationship with God so that we do not see anyone else as a provider, helper, or supporter. When we strengthen our relationship with God, we will be in His sight and care, and thus we will be stronger and more able to face challenges.

 

The beginning is from Gaza, which continues to present a unique model of patience and steadfastness in the face of the massacres and destruction it is exposed to. While its resistance continues to present examples of heroism, courage, and daring in the face of the enemy’s military machine, despite the imbalance in capabilities and resources. It is preventing him from advancing, and if he advances, he does not enjoy stability in the land he advances in. This gives him a lesson that no matter what he does, he is unable to extinguish its flame.

 

This is happening despite the regional silence and all the international support that this enemy still enjoys, and the green light that has been given to him to the extent of preventing any decision that condemns him, without taking into account the catastrophic consequences of his aggression, and the crimes that we are witnessing and the world is witnessing on screens and social media, which made the head of the International Red Cross say: “Gaza represents a moral failure of the international community,” and what was stated in the statement of the United Nations: “Gaza is the most dangerous place for children to live in the world.” And if there are criticisms or condemnations that we have begun to witness from these countries of the Zionist entity for targeting civilians, they are not at the level that drives the enemy to stop the bleeding of blood and destruction, but they remain within the framework of advice and wishes that the enemy does not give any weight to.

 

In the face of what is happening, we renew our pride in this people and praise their steadfastness, and we call again on the Arab and Islamic countries concerned with this country that is a part of the Arab and Islamic world, to take serious positions to prevent what is happening, and to stop the enemy’s excesses in his crimes against him, and not to be content with the hollow statements of condemnation, which may indicate collusion with this enemy.

 

We are confident that these countries are capable of influencing if they consolidate their efforts and energies, cooperate with each other, and take decisive positions. We do not call on them to use their weapons, but we see that they have a lot to do, whether at the political, economic, or diplomatic levels.

 

And here we ask, where are the decisions that were issued by the Arab and Islamic summit that was held recently in Riyadh?

It is unfortunate that we see the rise of voices and marches condemning the enemy entity coming out of Western countries despite the restrictions that are being imposed on them, and we do not see that in Arab and Islamic countries. And if it came out, it would remain below magnitude of the tragedy that is unfolding in Gaza.

 

This genocide that is being completed in the West Bank,which requires everyone to freeze all considerations, calculations, and sensitivities, whether at the Arab and Islamic level or at the Palestinian level, as it may prevent taking positions to support the Palestinian people and their cause. There must be a unified position  and forgetting all previous conflicts, since it is not targeting a party or  a state . It is targeting the Palestinian cause, which is the first Arab and Muslim cause. Neglecting it will lead to the fall of the holy sites and all the titles of freedom and sovereignty for our countries in this region and the values that we carry.

Here we must commend all the bold positions, from all the forces that provide all kinds of support to the Palestinian people despite their awareness of any consequences that may result from that. We call for more support so that the Palestinian people feel that they are not standing alone, but that there are those who stand with them and are ready to share with them the burden of this confrontation and bear its high costs.

 We come to Lebanon, which is still making great sacrifices in the face of the Zionist enemy, and its ongoing aggressions, that has reached the point of targeting civilians in their homes.

 

Today, we celebrate the heroism of the resistance and the steadfastness of the residents of the border villages, and the great sacrifices that are being made in this path. In particular, we mention Aita ash-Shaab, which has so far offered nine martyrs, in addition to the destruction that has befallen it. At the same time, we renew our call to all Lebanese to deal with the threats that are being conveyed by international envoys with all seriousness. These threats are intended to impose the conditions of this enemy on this country and to undermine its sovereignty. They call for the implementation of Resolution 1701 according to the conditions that this enemy wants, which protect its entity without taking into account the concerns of the Lebanese and their constant fear of the treachery of this enemy, which has been proven by its history and present.

 

This calls for fortifying the internal arena and freezing the disputes that are raging in this country. It also calls for working hard to fill the gaps that have occurred at the level of state institutions, and to fill the vacuums in them, especially in the position of the first presidency, as it is the basis of the state entity. It also calls for addressing all the pending files…

 

Here, we hope that the consensus that took place in the Parliament and led to the prevention of a vacancy at the level of the army leadership will be reflected in ending the vacancy at the level of the presidency, which can only be achieved through consensus. We should not wait, as some are waiting, for the picture to become clear in the region after reaching a ceasefire in Gaza or what may happen in southern Lebanon.

 

It is high time for the people of this country to live in a state that watches over its stability and security and addresses the crises that it suffers from …

 

Finally, would like to extend our warmest congratulations and blessings to Christians, Muslims, and all Lebanese on the occasion of the birth of Jesus Christ, which we want to be an occasion to enhance the spirit of meeting on the values he  represented; the values of mercy, love, and serving all human beings, regardless of their sectarian, religious, or political affiliation. And stand together in the face of injustice, oppression, and tyranny, and work to achieve justice by which the world is protected.