The first sermon

Allah, The Most Exalted, says in His Glorious Book: Prescribed for you when death approaches [any] one of you if he leaves wealth [is that he should make] a bequest for the parents and near relatives according to what is acceptable – a duty upon the righteous. Allah, the Most Exalted, speaks the truth.

In this Holy Ayat Allah, The Most Exalted, calls the believers to do two things. The first is to be always ready to meet death, which is to them not the end of life, but rather the door they pass through to meet God and be held accountable by Him. This readiness should be at all times for nobody can escape from death. This is what Allah, The Most Exalted, has reminded us from when He said: Say, “Indeed, the death from which you flee – indeed, it will meet you. Then you will be returned to the Knower of the unseen and the witnessed, and He will inform you about what you used to do.” The Hadith says: Get ready for death and its difficulties, plan for it before it comes, and prepare for it before it descends.

 Preparing for death does not mean, as some might think, that one should be obsessed by it to the extent of disrupting his life. It means that he should do everything that leads to move after death to what Allah, The Most Exalted, has promised, when He said They (angels) say, “Peace on you! Enter Paradise for the deeds you have been doing.”

Preparing for death, is to leave of this world with a reassured soul that he has done good and has not committed any wrong acts    or disobeyed Allah, The Most Exalted, in anything. This is what Imam Ali (a.s.) expressed when he was asked about preparing to death: To carry out all Wajib deeds, and avoiding Harams, and learning good habits. By observing these cases, how can the human fear whether death coming towards him/her or he/she is going towards death.

The second thing is writing the will which the Holy Hadith, in addition to the Ayat we   cited above have urged the Muslim to write. The Messenger(p.) has said that writing a will is the duty of every Muslim. The Hadith also says: It is the duty of every Muslim who has anything to bequest not to let one-night pass without writing a Will about it.

The will means to commission a person or an institution   whether verbally or in a written form to perform the duties that one has missed in his life towards God or other humans, or to give in charity after his death what he feels he should. It is another expression of the person’s preparedness to death and to what is after death, for he might not have done all his duties towards Allah, The Most Exalted, such as praying and fasting and hajj and Khums or he might not have done all his duties towards people such allocating a part of his money to the poor and the needy. Therefore, writing the will is a very important deed. It is an opportunity for the man to review his accounts with his Lord and the people and help him to make up for any inadequacy in this respect, as well as being a means for doing good and giving.  Furthermore, The Ayat we cited above: Prescribed for you when death approaches [any] one of you if he leaves wealth [is that he should make] a bequest for the parents and near relatives according to what is acceptable – a duty upon the righteous   explains that   the priority in giving should be for the parents and near relatives.

It is also important that we choose   a knowledgeable and competent person

to execute the will for many wills, have not been properly executed due to the improper execution, or because   the executor of the will did not perform his duties.

The Islamic Sharia was also concerned that the will should not be at the expense of the inheritors. That is why it ordained that it should not exceed one third of the bequest.

 But, when we talk about the will, it should   not be confined to the issue    of money as people       are used to . It should be a means of guidance, education and reminding. The parent should remind his children, relatives and all believers of their duties. That is why, the will should include a part in which one advises his children. relatives and those he/she is responsible for to do the duties that Allah, The Most Exalted, has ordained, in addition of not committing any Haram and guide them to what they should do in this life and what they should not. Thus the will in Islam has a spiritual and educational dimension. It is not about money only as it turned out to mean nowadays.

 Dear loved ones: Ordaining the will is a manifestation of God’s mercy towards His creations. He, The Exalted, did not wish to deprive His servants from   dealing with their money after death in a way that helps them to face what they will face when they will be held accountable. At the same time, He did not wish to deprive the inheritors from the money they might desperately need. Thus, He left them two thirds of the inheritance to help them in their life and called on the testator to increase this share to the inheritors if he feels that they need more than two thirds …

Thus, dear loved ones, let us hurry up, and write our wills   sooner rather than later. And let us be concerned that it takes our interests and those of our children, as well as our duty to do good and give in charity into consideration, and let us not allow any emotional or materialistic inclinations in have a say when we do this.

                                                                    The Second Sermon       

Worshippers of Allah, I advise you and myself with what Imam Al-Askari advised his followers:

“Let piety be your provision, patience be your garment, and buy hardship in the path of Allah. Be true in your speech, trustworthy in performing your deeds, prolong your sajdah (prostration), deal with others with best behavior, and treat your neighbor amicably. Perform your prayers even with those whom you think to be your opposition; attend their funeral ceremonies, visit their patients, and give them their rights. Verily I tell you that whosoever is honest and has good behavior in the eyes of others, he is the pious Shia whom I will be proud of. Therefore, fear Allah, be as adornment on behalf of us and be not as shame that defames our name. This is the only way by which others shall be attracted toward us

Keep on praising God, remembering death, reciting the Holy Quran, sending peace upon Mohammad and his household due to its great rewards. At the end, perform what I advised you to do, farewell!”

Let us follow the advice of Imam Al-Askari  (a.s.) proving that we belong to him as well as to Ahl el-Bei and thus become more aware and more able of confronting challenges.

We begin by this country  which we witness these days the  crumbling of one of its pillars : the judiciary , which is the safety valve  of the country and   the authority that deals with any difference  between its citizens and various governmental departments , in the aftermath of its internal differences that were not the result of the differences in views and opinions that are but natural but rather due to their   sectarian and political affiliations and   their  subjugation  to the pressures  of the ruling class, to the extent that   its judgments have become  viewpoints  that are sometimes accepted by a certain party and then refused by it at other times.

Moreover, we are actually witnessing what doubting the judiciary’s   justice is leading to, including the failure of the government to meet or the tensions in the street that could have   ruined the civil peace…  Thus we call, out of pity towards the country’s stability, security and justice, all the political forces and religious sects, and all influential   parties not to interfere in the judiciary’s   business, for he who possesses power and influence now might lose it later and become the victim of the interference of others.

At the same time, we call on the judges not to respond to any pressures   and to be committed to the oath they made, as difficult as this might be, for this is what saves the integrity of  justice and acts as a  safety valve for their country, their  sects  and all Lebanese.

 This underscores the importance of enacting the laws that help the judge to be just and free from the influence of any other party whether in securing his living or his promotion for any such help will not be attained accept in return for depriving him of his dignity and independence.

In the meantime, the economic  crisis continues to aggravate as a result of  the  political and financial malpractice , as well as foreign pressures, leading to the continuous rise  in the price of the dollar, which is the principle cause  of the horrifying rise  in the price of fundamental goods and services, which not only  made the Lebanese unable to secure their daily living  or send their children to school but  even incapable of being hospitalized or buy the medications when they get sick. If this continues, we fear that there might come a day that the hospitals themselves will close, owing to the continuous drain of doctors and nurses or the high prices they have to pay in order to treat their patients at a time the social security or the other health insurance institutions    are no longer able to cover the costs.

 It is regretful that all this is taking place while the government   is paralyzed and the political reality continues to crumble, which might lead to security tensions … in addition to the consequences of the tense relations with the Gulf states.

Thus, we call all those who run this country to end their differences that are   undermining the country and its security and stability; which we are afraid might that they might heighten   to mobilize their constituents before the elections, for we still believe that they are able to find solutions for the overwhelming crises if they unite their efforts to save their country as other nations do in times of crises and   hardships.