The hearing, the sight and the heart – about all those will be questioned

السيد علي فضل الله

 Allah says in His Glorious Book: And do not pursue that of which you have no knowledge. Indeed, the hearing, the sight and the heart – about all those will be questioned. Allah, the Most Exalted, speaks the truth.

The social media, press and news networks provide a lot of news, information, reports, analyses, videos and commentaries about what is happening or what will happen. And this is natural after the spread of these means among all people, now that everybody can publish and share what he has heard or read and provide his/her own view that is influenced by the way he sees things or his interests. Although this has a positive side, for it allows for diversity of opinion and the multiplicity of the sources of the news, the ability to manipulate the content of these news hinders the access of the receiver to the right information, facts and opinions. To prevent the distortion of facts and influencing the audience, there is a need to adopt the criteria and the standards that would help in obtaining true news and information.  

This is what Islam was concerned about when it called for careful consideration before believing what one sees, hears or reads and builds on it. And this is what Allah, The Most Exalted, called for, when He said: Man was created of haste. I will show you My signs, so do not impatiently urge Me.  The Hadith says: “Rush is what doomed people. If people were patient, none would have doomed.” and: With affirmation is safety, and with haste, remorse. And:  Calmness and patient deliberation is from Allāh and haste is from Satan.

Calmness and patient deliberation is what Prophet Sulaiman (a.s.) resorted to when the hoopoe told him about a people who worshipped the sun, although he trusted it. We will see whether you were truthful or were of the liars. And he did not take any stance except after he verified that he was telling the truth.

Verification can be done by:

Firstly: A thorough study of the source of the news and its background, whether an individual, a group or a news institution. One should know their history, present and affiliations, as well as their goals and truthfulness. He should not believe those who are not trustworthy or not accurate in reporting the news… Allah, The Most Exalted, says: O you those who believed, if a disobedient (evildoer) came to you with news so seek clarification that you hit a nation with ignorance so you become on what you made/did regretful. The disobedient, in this case, is the one who does not fear Allah, The Most Exalted, in what he writes or spreads, and enters his own calculations, hatred and interests in them.

Secondly: studying the news or the information in the light of reason, logic, science and reality.  Those who could not, should go back to the experts in this field. Allah, The Most Exalted, says: So ask the people of the message if you do not know.

Allah, The Most Exalted, has denounced those who hasten to spread the news without going back to the Messenger at that time or to the experts who can distinguish between fake and true news at other times:  And when there comes to them information about [public] security or fear, they spread it around. But if they had referred it back to the Messenger or to those of authority among them, then the ones who [can] draw correct conclusions from it would have known about it. And if not for the favor of Allah upon you and His mercy, you would have followed Satan, except for a few.  

Thirdly: one must not succumb to his emotional longings whether to a person, a family, a sect, a confession or a political party. Because such a longing blinds the heart and the mind and distances man further away from the truth. One should also not to be influenced by those who have mastered the art of talking or have the advanced technology or personal abilities to influence the audience or succumb to the public mood and the mainstream views.  He says:  And of the people is he whose speech pleases you in worldly life, and he calls Allah to witness as to what is in his heart, yet he is the fiercest of opponents.  Allah, The Most Exalted, asked His Messenger(p.) to say to those who believed that he was mad to think freely away from all influences, which will lead them to the truth. He says:  Say, “I only advise you of one [thing] – that you stand for Allah, [seeking truth] in pairs and individually, and then give thought.” There is not in your companion any madness. He is only a warner to you before a severe punishment.  

These instructions should be followed so as not to let those who change or alter what was said and those who can influence others to spread sedition and strife or undermine the image of the people who serve the society.

Dear loved ones:

We are fighting these days a war in which the traditional arms are no longer the fundamental weapon. These arms are very dangerous as they can change the minds of people and control them, as well as inciting strife and playing on fanaticisms.  

When the era is one of faking news and spreading these fake news, we need the believer who sees clearly with his eyes and heart, the one who is armed with awareness, insight and calm thinking, for on the day we stand before Allah, The Most Exalted, the hearing, the sight and the heart – about all those will be questioned.

The second sermon

Worshippers of Allah, The Most Exalted, I advise you and myself to learn   the lessons of this story: “There was once a group of people who took up a tree as an idol to worship. A pious man heard about that and decided to cut the tree for the sake of God and to please Him. When he was about to cut the tree, Satan came to him in the form of a man and asked him: ‘What are you planning to do?’ The man replied: ‘I want to cut this tree because people are worshiping it instead of God.’ Satan tried to prevent him but the man fought with Satan and wrestled him to the ground. Then Satan said to him: ‘do not cut it and you shall have two Dinars every day every morning.’ The pious man asked: ‘Who will give it to me?’ Satan said: ‘I will.’

When the next morning came, the man found two Dinars at his bedside. But on the third day, when he woke up he did not find anything. The man became angry and went to cut the tree.

Once again Satan came to him in the form of a man and asked him: ‘What are you planning to do?’ The man said: ‘I want to cut this tree because people are worshiping it instead of God. When the man went forward to cut it, Satan wrestled him to the ground.

Satan then told d the man: ‘When you first came to cut the tree, it was purely for the sake of God, and I had no power over you. So I tricked you with the two Dinars, and you abandoned cutting it. But when you came the second time, it was for the sake of the money and I was able to overpower you.’  Let us learn the lessons of this story so that all what we do would be for the sake of Allah, The Most Exalted, then no human or jinn Shitan will defeat us and we would be more capable of facing challenges.

We begin by Lebanon which is in the midst of an economic crisis that aggravated after the lockdown which was not accompanied by immediate measures that would have helped those that were affected by it. This led to the protest in many Lebanese regions that was culminated by the clashes with the Lebanese army. Although these protests did not exceed a certain limit, it might be the spark that triggers the security anarchy that we have repeatedly warned from, as well as its repercussions and those who might exploit it and those who might destabilize the security of the country and implement their own agenda.

Thus, we renew our call to the government to shoulder its responsibility towards its citizens and take all the required steps to relief them or at least to reduce the burden of the poorest families…  The government should not turn its back to the people 

so that their hunger and poverty will not lead them to lose their temper and break the law. The duty of the government is not summarized by punishing the citizens when they break the law or tamper with national security. It should also deal with the reasons that lead them to do so.

As to those who are suffering from hunger and

Poverty… Those who cannot provide for themselves and their children we say that it is your right to revolt and voice your sufferings but not in the face of the army and security forces who are also poor and sacrificed their lives to preserve your security and safety. Instead, your anger should target those who are responsible of your current conditions. At the same time, we want you to be cautious and not let anybody exploit your suffering to achieve his own interests and agenda, so as not to be a part of the struggle for power among the factions of the ruling class or let the foreign powers tamper with this country. We want your goals and means to stay clean, so that your protests would not be in vein. 

On another level, the catastrophic repercussions of the spread of the corona pandemic continue to increase, especially that of the rate of those infected and the number of those who died and the shortage in the number of hospital beds… Therefore, we renew our call for providing all means of support to this sector. We also call to strictly abide by the prevention measures even in the street protests to avoid reaching a catastrophe if things continue to go on in the same way. We also call to hasten to make the vaccine available so that it will include all the Lebanese and all who live in Lebanon. But we would like to emphasize that the vaccine should be distributed justly and not enter in the political or sectarian bazar.

In addition, the formation of the government after more than three months is still the victim of the struggle for power of the various factions concerned without taking into account the Lebanese sufferings, or what fate will the country end up with. If there are still some who are waiting for foreign support, we believe that they are waiting for a mirage, after it has become clear that those who are supposed to help are busy with their own crises and that they will not help the Lebanese as long as the Lebanese do not help themselves… Therefore, we say to all responsibles that you hold before the Lebanese and the “street” the responsibility of all the sufferings of the people and you have to beware of their anger and the curse of history. The time is not the time of such struggles. It is the time of relieving the Lebanese from their sufferings and despair. Lastly, we have to comment on the statement of the chief of the Enemy’s army in which he threatened to use force and target the civilians. We believe that these threats are a kind of flexing muscles and intimidation as well as e fear from any developments that might not be in the Enemy’s interest. But this does not mean that we should not be alert for any adventure the Enemy might venture to when he finds a favorable chance, which means that we should enhance our unity and deploy all our elements of strength.