His Eminence, Sayyed Ali Fadlullah, delivered the two Friday prayer speeches Safar 29, 1442H. /16-10, 2020.  . Following is the edited  translation of the two speeches

Allah, The Most Exalted, the Most Exalted says in His Glorious Book: There certainly has come to you a messenger from among yourselves. He is concerned by your suffering, anxious for your well-being, and gracious and merciful to the believers. Allah, The Most Exalted, speaks the truth.

On the 28^th of this month we commemorated the anniversary of the death of the Messenger, which has taken us back to the sad memory of the day the Messenger (p.) left this world, having conveyed the messages of his Lord and hurt as no prophet before him. His sufferings were described by Imam Zein Al-Abidein as such:

 O God, bless Muhammad, entrusted by You with Your revelation,اdistinguished by You among Your creatures devoted to You among Your servants, the imam of mercy, the leader of good, the key to blessing, who wearied his soul for Your affairs,

exposed his body to detested things for Your sake,

showed open enmity toward his next of kin by summoning to You, fought against his family for Your good pleasure, cut the ties of the womb in giving life to Your religion, sent far those close because of their denial, brought near those far because of their response to You, showed friendship to the most distant for Your sake, displayed enmity toward the nearest for Your sake, made his soul persevere in delivering Your message, tired it in summoning to Your creed…, desiring to exalt Your religion and seeking help against those who disbelieved in You, until what he attempted against Your enemies went well with him until Your command prevailed, and Your word rose up,  though the idolaters were averse.

 On  this sad occasion , we  are going to recall some of his advice that show how much he was concerned for his nation despite the pain he suffered due to his sickness;

In his first advice he told his close relatives as well as all those who believed in him not to rely on this closeness to be saved when they stand before God, for the only thing that saves them is their good deeds: O people of Quraish! Buy (i.e. save) yourselves (from the Hellfire) as I cannot save you from Allah’s Punishment; O Bani Abd Manaf! I cannot save you from Allah’s Punishment, O Safiya, the Aunt of Allah’s Apostle! I cannot save you from Allah’s Punishment; O Fatima Bint Muhammad! I cannot save you from Allah’s Punishment.

“There is nothing that would make Allah give you what is good or keep evil away from you except your deeds. O people do not claim otherwise nor wish (like those who say, I can do everything and Ahl el-Beit will arrange everything for me in the hereafter). By He who sent me as a prophet in Truth, Were I to sin, I would fall.

The second advice was addressed to his nation which he was afraid that it would be divided and dispersed , by conflicting interests and various strives :Your blood and estate are as holy as this day in this month on this land. O people, the believers are each others’ brothers. It is illicit for anyone to behave in (someone’s) money before he obtains the owner’s permission. Have I conveyed? O Allah, be the witness. After me, return not to deviation by beheading each other.

Sadly, the fear of the Messenger(p.) was realized . Right after his death strife struck his nation and fragmented it … Sectarian , partisan tribal differences  and any difference for that matter cannot be solved except by dialogue that is based on fraternal belief ; if not , it will soon turn to hostility and hatred that will lead to blood shedding.

The Messenger (p.)’s third advice came when he was told that people were crying since they were told he was about to die. He reminded them that all prophets who came before him had died, but that he left among them what will protect them against deviation if they only adhere to. It is the Book of Allah and his family.

His last advice came when he felt that he was about to die. He told the people that if anyone claims that he has taken any money from him or has any other demand let him come and take it without being afraid from his anger because anger and hostility were not part of his nature.

By this, the Messenger(p.) , although infallible, wanted to teach the people that they should prepare for meeting Allah, The Most Exalted, by making sure that no one has any right to claim from them.  If they do not, they should hasten to repent and return the rights to their owners, so that they would not have to stand before God in disgrace on the day the wronged would be much stronger…

By this last will, the Messenger (p.) wanted also to teach his companions and all believers to accept criticism and not to consider it as an insult, but a gift that will help them correct their mistakes. They should even ask the people to criticize them.

On the death anniversary of Muhammad (p.), let us address him with all our minds and hearts with what the Commander of the Faithful did: May my father and mother be sacrificed for you O messenger of Allah! By your death, something has ceased that it has not ceased by the death of any other than you; Prophethood, revelation, and the news of the Heaven.

You have been particular until you sufficed away from anyone other than you, and you have been popular until people were the same in you. If you had not enjoined on patience and forbidden from impatience, we would have exhausted our tears for you, and disease would have lasted long, and distress would have endured forever.”

Let us pray from all our hearts: O God,

so raise him, because of his labors for Your sake,

to the highest degree of Your Garden,

that none may equal him in station,

none may match him in level,

and no angel brought nigh or prophet sent out

may parallel him in Your sight.

And inform him concerning his Household the pure

and his community the faithful

of an excellent intercession,

greater than what You have promised him!

The second speech

Worshippers of Allah, The Most Exalted: I advise you and myself  to adopt the traits which Imam Al-Rida described the Shia with: Allah accepts his good deeds, he is trustworthy, he sees as plentiful the little good that others do for him, while seeing his own abundant good as little; he does not fret from being asked for favor, nor does he feel tired of constantly seeking knowledge; poverty reached in order to please Allah is better for him than wealth accumulated otherwise; to be subjected to power while trying to serve Allah is better in his regard than achieving power over his foe, and obscurity he prefers over fame. Whenever he sees someone, he says to himself: ‘He is better than me and more pious. People are two types: a person better than him and more pious, and one who is more

evil than him and more lowly. If he meets the one who is more evil than him and more lowly, he says to himself: ‘Maybe, the goodness of this (statement) is implied, and it is better that he hears such a compliment, while my own goodness is apparent and it is detrimental to me. And when he sees someone better than him and pious, he would humble himself before him trying to raise himself to his level. So if he does that, his glory will be higher, his reputation will be better, and he will become distinguished above his contemporaries.

We are in a dire need to acquire these traits which will enable us to further face the challenges.

We begin with the obstacles that met the nomination of the prime minister and the delay that followed. The Lebanese had hoped that all political parties would have helped in the formation of a government, surpassing their interests and calculations to save a collapsing country and a citizen who is no longer capable of paying the price of delay. Regretfully, this did not happen, for the political parties were not, yet again, unable to shoulder their responsibility

We hope that the coming days would be sufficient for the logic of accord to triumph over the logic of escalation and tension. This is a time that needs unity and joining hands by offering mutual concessions being the only way to reach agreement.

Meanwhile, the fear of the Lebanese is increasing as the date for lifting the subsidy for the fuel, bread and medication draws near, and as the amount of fuel and medication in the market is already decreasing either because of hoarding or smuggling, as the latest inspection round of the health minister has showed… What made matters even worse is the last decision of the central bank to put a ceiling for the money the depositors can draw in Lebanese pounds, having been denied their money in dollars.

In this respect, we renew our warning against these decisions that affect the citizens’ lives, food and health and stand with the prime minister of the caretaker government in his refusal of these decisions … at the same time, we renew our call for unity to the Lebanese people in the face of those who caused their pains and sufferings.

All those who are in power should take into consideration that the ability of the country to tolerate additional suffering is limited. We say to them that time will not be in their favor if they do not rush to shoulder their responsibility and take the necessary steps to rescue the country, especially the reforms that restore the confidence of the Lebanese and that of the world, having become clear that it would not provide any help except after reform is initiated.

 On the occasion of the first anniversary of   The Hirak ( popular protesting movement)that came to express a real suffering of all Lebanese in all their sects and regions, we would like to say that it has been able to show the corruption of the political class , but it was not to able to hold. due to the interferences of the local and foreign forces, as well as some of the tactics it used that blurred its image and made it lose the popular support.

On this occasion, we call on the movement to make a complete review to deal with reasons that led to its retreat and the loss of public support that it gained in its beginning and regain its purity as well as the purity and clarity of its tactics

 As for the indirect negotiations with the enemy to mark the borders, we had hoped that the Lebanese delegation would have gone armed with national unity, and not surrounded by the controversy over its constitutional legitimacy or nature, which could, if it continues, weaken the delegation’s position, for Lebanon cannot win the battle of the negotiations with such a treacherous Enemy if these divisions persist.

On the health level, we renew our call to the Lebanese to be vigilant and abide strictly by the protection measures to confront the horrifying numbers of those infected with the coronavirus who can no longer find a bed in the hospitals

 We also call on the government to take decisive steps and review the lockdown decisions it has taken in this respect.

Lastly, we congratulate the Yemenis on the agreement that led to the freeing of a large number of prisoners and hope that it will lead to an understanding that would end the tragedy of the Yemeni people and restore the unity, the independence and   the integrity of the country.

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