In The Name of Allah, The Compassionate, The Merciful.

His Eminence, Sayyed Ali Fadlullah delivered, in the context of the Friday Talk, a religious speech on   Rajab 18, 1441 H. /March 13, 2020… Following is an edited text of his talk:

Allah, the Most Exalted says in His Glorious Book: – O mankind, you are those in need of Allah, while Allah is the Free of need, the Praiseworthy. If He wills, He can do away with you and bring forth a new creation. Allah, The Most Exalted, Speaks the Truth.

These two Ayats point out to a fact that man should never be heedless of, no matter how  much his wealth or other potentials may be, he will always be in need of Allah in all his affairs, whether  this affair is important or trivial . He will also need his Lord to preserve his security and heal all diseases.

No intersession with Allah

Not only did Allah prepare for man all what he needs in this life and the hereafter; He also opened the door wide for communicating with Him and telling Him about his grievances especially when he faces sicknesses and crises. He also made this communication quite easy without the need of any intersessions or special rules.

Thus, man can talk to God right away without any introduction. And this is what Imam Ali pointed out in his will to Imam Al-Hassan: He has left the door of repentance open. He hears you whenever you call Him. He accepts your prayer whenever you pray to Him. Invoke Him to grant your heart’s desire, lay before Him the secrets of your heart, tell Him about all the calamities that have befallen you and misfortunes which face you, and beseech His help to overcome them. You may invoke His Help and Support in difficulties and distress.

Thus, supplication (dua) is a gift that Allah has given to His servants and urged them to resort to it, when He said: And when My servants ask you, [O Muhammad], concerning Me – indeed I am near. I respond to the invocation of the supplicant when he calls upon Me. So let them respond to Me [by obedience] and believe in Me that they may be [rightly] guided. And Allah will not disappoint the servant if he addresses Him with all his heart, mind, and soul.

The importance of The Dua

There are many Hadiths that have pointed out to the importance of the Dua and its effect in facing the calamities, such as the Hadiths that urge us to supplicate to Allah since, even if He has decided on a certain calamity and was about to execute His decision, He would stop it from taking place. Another Hadith says that whoever knocks on Allah’s door, it will be open for him.

 To confirm this fact, Allah tells us about individuals and peoples whom He relieved when they beseeched Him. He told us, for example, about the people of Younis whom he abandoned after he  lost any hope in guiding them and threatened them by the punishment that was implemented on other peoples.  But when they came back to their senses and asked Allah wholeheartedly to forgive them, God responded to them: Then has there not been a [single] city that believed so its faith benefited it except the people of Jonah (Younis)? When they believed, We removed from them the punishment of disgrace in worldly life and gave them enjoyment for a time.

This is also what happened to the companions of the prophet who took refuge in Allah when they were told that Abu Sufian was preparing to attack Al- Medina: Those to whom hypocrites said, “Indeed, the people have gathered against you, so fear them.” But it [merely] increased them in faith, and they said, “Sufficient for us is Allah, and [He is] the best Disposer of affairs.” So they returned with favor from Allah and bounty, no harm having touched them. And they pursued the pleasure of Allah, and Allah is the possessor of great bounty…

Facing calamities:

That is why, dear loved ones, let us resort to Allah by our minds and hearts to face the calamities and difficulties of life and use this effective and tried weapon… The weapon of the prophets and every believer. For it has been said in the Hadith that the supplication is the weapon of the believer and that with the supplication no one will perish.

The conditions of Dua

However, there are some conditions that we have to realize when we supplicate. Firstly, when we supplicate, we have to be confident that Allah is able to change our state. We also have to ask Him with a pure heart and tongue, for Allah does not accept the supplication of those who use an obscene language or those whose hearts are not pure. Moreover, when we implore Allah, we should leave the matter in His hands for He is the one that knows what is best for us.

Furthermore, we should do all what we are responsible for, for Allah does not accept the Dua of the lazy, who want Allah to achieve for them what they want without doing first what they ought to do. Imam Al Sadiq said: there are four persons whose Duas are not answered: one who sits idle at home and says: O God! Give my daily food. He is told: have I not ordered you to you go after your daily food? A man who has an indecent wife and curses her. To such a man, it is said: don’t you have the option to divorce or keep her? A man who has possessed a wealth but he has ruined it and keeps saying: O God! Increase my sustenance. It is said to him: didn’t I order you to be moderate in life?…

The believer does not despair

Dear loved ones: we are living in one of the most difficult stages in which one must not despair, as the believer should not despair after Allah has opened for him this wide door, which we should knock with confidence and belief. Let us invoke Allah by all our hearts and minds after we do our part. And Allah will not disappoint us:

O Allah send blessings on Muhammad and on his children, and take the matter of my welfare in Your hand! take me in under Your protection, allow me to enter into Your impregnable sanctuary.

I look up to Your generous assurance, fill me with the sense of total security under Your shelter , give out to me Your surety as a charity, award to me Your guarantee as a gift, spread out the kindness of Your patronage, make the availability of Your assistance easy for me, and let there be no hindrance between me and Your support, in this and the next world.

In The Name of Allah, The Compassionate, The Merciful.

His Eminence, Sayyed Ali Fadlullah issued on    Rajab 18, 1441 H. /March 13, 2020 a press release in the context of his regular Friday talk. Following   are the main points he touched upon:

.The Sayyed commented first on the health and living developments in Lebanon, and expressed his appreciation for the citizens who committed themselves to the prevention measures that the specialists announced, which demonstrated their religious and national responsibility. This responsibility demands that they ought to commit themselves to all that preserves their health and lives and of those living with them. The Sayyed warned, yet again, against taking that illness lightly. And called for dealing with it seriously and shouldering the national and moral responsibility in strictly being committed to all the measures of   prevention, regardless of the inconveniences they may bring about. Any negligence or indifference in this issue might lead to disaster, no prevention or treatment would be of any use in overcoming it.

Sayyed Fadlallah added that the responsibility of the Lebanese   has multiplied in these critical conditions in which the quick spreading of the coronavirus challenges the available health and medical facilities. Thus ,and on the basis of our religious responsibility, we decided to stop the Friday and the congregational prayers so as to  prevent  any gatherings that might cause any harm to the general health of the believers which the religion  considers that it is impermissible to neglect or take lightly . In this respect, the Sayyed called on everyone to commit to the letter to all the protection measures, which should be considered a religious duty.   His eminence welcomed all the prevention measures that were taken by the government to reduce the spread of the disease, although there was some slackness in the first stage. He also appreciated the efforts of the entire medical and nurse staff who are treating the victims of the coronavirus and are ready to sacrifice their lives. He considered that what they are doing is one of the highest forms of worship. Moreover, he called on the government to make every effort to provide those infected with the facilities they need including hospitals. He also called for making the health policy governed by the health of the citizens not to hesitate if need to order the citizens to remain at home even for a short period. The Sayyed urged  all political parties to rise to the level of national responsibility and to stop accusing the government of being negligent  in the way it is  supervising  the measures or failing to impose new urgently needed ones  , for this stage requires an unprecedented solidarity to save the country from this health catastrophe.

With respect to the role of the information media, the Sayyed said that he appreciated their role in making the citizens aware and emphasized the need of continuing to perform this role with moral, national, and humanistic responsibility. He also called on them to confirm the news and to avoid any news that cause panic.

With respect to the social and living conditions, His Eminence noticed that the suffering of the Lebanese is increasing, as a result of the unjustified rise of prices of the essential commodities, at a time the salaries and wages are decreasing and the unemployment is increasing. He called on the relevant departments that are responsible for the supervision of prices to be strict in holding the merchant responsible, especially those whose greed prevents them from feeling with people.

The Sayyed also called on the government to provide all the necessary conditions to produce the financial administrative and economic plan that makes the Lebanese restore their confidence in their government. Furthermore, it could convince the international community that it is able, in the light of these reforms, pay the debt back, although these reforms should not be at the expense of the majority of the Lebanese whose living conditions have become lower than the minimum level of decent living. His Eminence considered that one of the criteria of seriousness and transparency of the reform process that is being demanded, both internally and externally, has to do with the judiciary appointments. These appointments should further enhance the independence of the judiciary, which is a very important step in building the state of law. Is the government going to succeed in this step proving that everybody who doubts its seriousness in the reform process is wrong? Or would it fail leading to renew the street demonstrations against it? In addition, if the government fails, it will open the door wide before the opposition who are waiting for any mistake to doubt its credibility, which will have serious consequences on the reform process at the future of the government and the country that cannot tolerate any additional division and struggle.