The first sermon

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

And [remember, O Muhammad], when those who disbelieved plotted against you to restrain you or kill you or evict you [from Makkah]. But they plan, and Allah plans. And Allah is the best of planners. Allah, the Most Exalted, speaks the truth.

 This  Ayat was revealed to the Prophet to  inform him about  had happened in the urgent meeting  the leaders of Quraish held  in DAR ANNADWA to discuss how to face the threat the Messenger (p.) has come to represent  after Islam’s presence extended  beyond Mecca  and reached Yetrib.  After intense deliberation in which many options were reviewed, they decided that each tribe would choose one of its strong young fighters and  that each would hit the prophet with one strike while sleeping in his bed. In this way, Bani Hashim would not be able to avenge and would have to resort to holding peace.  This conspiracy made the Messenger (p.) step up his immigration plans to Medina(Yethrib) which he had already prepared for  and  told his companions to immigrate to, since it became the only safe haven , from which he would be able to move with his message  into  a new stage   away from the pressures and conspiracies of Quraish.  

The Messenger(p.) called Ali (a.s.) and told him that  Quriash has planned to kill him and asked him to sleep in his bed so as to deceive them while he would be on his way to Medina.

The Imam accepted right away despite the dangers, for all he cared about was the Messenger (p.)’s safety. He said that he did not care about his death if it means that the Prophet would be safe.

At dawn, the forty knights who represented the tribes of Quraish    attacked the Prophet’s bed, but, they were shocked when they found out that it was Ali (a.s.) instead of the Messenger(p.) and their  plot  was aborted at a time The Messenger(p.) was on his way to Medina  .

Quraish deployed its knights and warriors to trace Muhammad in the desert and allocated a prize of 100 camels to anybody who catches him.  They reached Ghar Thawr which the Messenger(p.) was hiding in. But they decided that Muhammad could not have possibly been inside as they saw two pigeons  that had nested outside the cave, and a spider  that wove a web in its opening . Thus, they turned back and did not go in. The Prophet then stayed there for three days to make sure that Quraish had given up their pursuit.

But before he left Mecca, Muhammad asked Ali (a.s.) to return all the trusts people had left with him to their owners…despite the fact that they had conspired against him and even plotted to kill him. He then continued his journey to Medina to start a new stage in the mission he was commissioned with.

After eight years of suffering in which he confronted the challenges of the hypocrites and the idolaters, the Messenger (p.)  returned to Mecca to open it and the people began to enter into the religion of Allah in multitudes, starting a new dawn in the history of mankind.

 In these blessed days, in the beginning of the month of Rabi Al-Awal, we recall the anniversary of the blessed Hijra of the Prophet to learn some of its lessons: 

  Firstly:  it points out to the sacrifices the Messenger (p.) and the Muslims made so that Islam would reach us… They left their homes and families in Mecca that was the dearest to their hearts for the sake of Allah, The Most Exalted, and the support of His religion, thus deserving to be awarded by Allah, The Most Exalted:  Indeed, those who have believed and those who have emigrated and fought in the cause of Allah – those expect the mercy of Allah . And Allah is Forgiving and Merciful. These sacrifices make us feel even more responsible  for this religion, and call on us to sacrifice by our money, efforts and life , as they did …

This incident demonstrated the main feature of the personality of Imam Ali (a.s.) when he slept in the Messenger (p.)’s bed to facilitate his immigration, although he knew that he might be killed which was expressed in God’s saying:  And of the people is he who sells himself, seeking means to the approval of Allah . And Allah is kind to [His] servants.  The Imam sold himself to God which was evident in everything he did in his life, whether when he fought, held peace or ruled. This should be the course his Shia should follow. They should sell themselves to Allah, The Most Exalted, and none other, regardless of his position, or status. 

Thirdly: we should enjoy the tranquility that Allah, The Most Exalted, has bestowed on the Prophet when he was in Ghar Thawr: And Allah sent down his tranquillity upon him and supported him with angels you did not see and made the word of those who disbelieved the lowest, while the word of Allah- that is the highest. And Allah is Exalted in Might and Wise.  It is the tranquility that the Messenger (p.) felt as the result of feeling the presence of Allah, The Most Exalted, in his soul, although the idolaters were right in front of the cave. And that would  always be felt, as God has promised, whenever we trust in Allah, The Most Exalted, in the times of crises and challenges.

Fourthly: the Messenger (p.)’s immigration has drawn the line Muslims should adopt. They should not yield to falsehood and wronging or oppression even if they have to leave their homeland and their loved ones. This is what God has warned against when He said:   Indeed, those whom the angels take [in death] while wronging themselves – [the angels] will say, “In what [condition] were you?” They will say, “We were oppressed in the land.” The angels will say, “Was not the earth of Allah spacious [enough] for you to emigrate therein?” For those, their refuge is Hell – and evil it is as a destination.

Dear loved ones; we are in a dire need to learn the lessons of Hijra, which is not limited to spatial immigration. It could also be inside our souls, minds and societies and always for the sake of Allah, The Most Exalted, to become among those whom Allah, The Most Exalted, has elevated their ranks: The ones who have believed, emigrated and striven in the cause of Allah with their wealth and their lives are greater in rank in the sight of Allah . And it is those who are the attainers [of success].

The Second Sermon

Worshippers of Allah, The Most Exalted, I advise you and myself , with what Imam Ali (a.s.) advised his Wali (governor), Malik  when he said : You should avoid shedding blood without justification, because nothing is more inviting of Divine retribution, greater in (evil) consequence, and more effective in the decline of prosperity and cutting short of life than the shedding of blood without justification. On the Day of Judgement Allah the Glorified, would commence giving His judgement among the people with the cases of bloodshed committed by them.

Therefore, do not strengthen your authority by shedding prohibited blood because this will weaken and lower the authority, moreover destroy it and shift it. You cannot offer any excuse before Allah or before me for wilful killing because there must be the question or revenge in it. If you are involved in it by error and you exceed in the use of your whip or sword or hand in inflicting punishment, as sometimes even a blow by the fist or a smaller stroke causes death, then the haughtiness of your authority should not prevent you from paying the blood price to the successors of the killed person.

This is the advice of Ali (a.s.), which, as it is clear, warns from deeming it easy to shed blood for enhancing power or venting anger or tension which is happening a lot nowadays. The blood of the innocent is very dear in the eyes of God and its punishment is huge in this life and in the Hereafter. If we grow aware of this we will live in a stable and secure society and become more able of facing challenges.

We begin with the sufferings of the Lebanese that are aggravating every day, as the price of the dollar resumes its rise, after a short period of decreasing. The prices of food commodities services, fuel, power, medication, and school and university fees  are also increasing , making the citizens unable to secure their basic living needs. 

We are aware that the government is unable to present swift and radical solutions to  the crises the country is suffering from, due to their size and accumulation, as well as the complications of internal political reality  that lead  to the delaying of the solutions and even to abort them . Moreover, the road to secure the financial resources for these solutions is not paved. Some of them need certain conditions the government cannot secure in a short period .  In addition, there are other conditions that are hard to attain , due to the absence of political consensus.

Furthermore, even if all these conditions are realized, we do not think that the government will be given the aids needed, since it will not last long and due to the nature of its structure and the circumstances that accompanied its formation. Any aids that may be granted would not be more than sedatives, so that the country will not completely collapse.

But this does not mean that the government should not shoulder its responsibility. If it cannot reach radical solutions, owing to the scarcity of internal resources and the unavailability of Arab and international aid. It has to make   every effort to work on short term solutions ,such as    increasing the rationing of electricity, curbing the black market  and the  dominance of the food merchants and the generator owners and the fuel cartel, as well as pressurizing the banks to stop stealing the money of the depositors, benefiting from the circulars of the central banks and studying the possibility of raising the minimum wage…

We also call on the government to study all the initiatives that aim to help the Lebanese to overcome their sufferings without any considerations other than the interests of the Lebanese.

We also renew our call, with the beginning of the academic year , to  be particularly concerned about the teaching in  secondary schools and universities  , as it heavily burden the citizens. We also call  to enhance the public schools and universities and increase their capacity of enrolling additional students, as well as resolving the problems of this sector by increasing the wages of the teachers… for the country should not reach the level that its students are not able to learn because they cannot afford to pay the fees…

As for the port blast, we are afraid that the file would be forgotten and lost as a result of politicizing it  or turning it into one of the tools of the internal political struggles or foreign pressures…

 As for the Iraqi parliamentary elections we hope that it would be an opportunity for the Iraqi people to express their free opinion and appoint whom they wish to run the country which we want to be free , unified and strong to resume its pioneer Arab and Muslim role.