Beirut Friday Prayer: Pilgrimage: The Nation's conference

Following is a summary:

The First Sermon

In the first sermon, Sayyed Ali Fadlullah talked about the duty of pilgrimage (Hajj). He began by a historical introduction in which he explained that the Hajj began at the time of Prophet Ibrahim (a.s.).

The Sayyed maintained that pilgrimage is the most significant religious duty in Islam, for it is incumbent on every Muslim, and that not performing it is equal to disbelief. If one is able to perform Hajj, yet he keeps on postponing from one year to another until he eventually dies without performing it, he will not die as a Muslim.

On another level, Islam did not separate between faith and life. It is a religion in which the social aspect is not separated from the spiritual one.

This fact is evident in performing Hajj as a journey towards Allah, during which the individual regains his purity, but Hajj can only be performed collectively; thus, it has significant social benefits. Moreover, the worth of any religious duty is embodied in its results, which are reflected in the relation with Allah, as well with other human beings.

Thus, being a pilgrim requires, as Imam As-Sadiq (a.s.) said: “It is worthless if one visits this House without possessing three traits: cautiousness (wara’) which prevents him from sinning, forbearance which helps him rule over his anger and good interaction with those who are with him.”

Therefore, to be a pilgrim is to dedicate your entire life to Allah and to be ready to sacrifice everything for Him. It is to adopt unifying stands in your actions and sayings, and in your entire life. But the issue is not about performing Hajj or not, but about the spirit you perform it with, whether as individuals or as one nation.

Pilgrimage resembles a general conference which we convene every year; it is a great chance for unity, yet we do not seize such opportunity to discuss our issues, forsake our differences and join our efforts to face all the problems we face as a nation, such has ignorance, illiteracy, poverty… etc. It is quite shameful to find in the nation of Muhammad such poverty contrasted by such wealth.

The Second Sermon

In the second sermon, Sayyed Ali Fadlullah praised the cooperation between the movements of Hamas and the Islamic Jihad in retaliating against the enemy's aggression, and he called on all the Palestinian factions to follow their example in confronting the enemy that only comprehends the language of force, which calls for a permanent state of cooperation and unity.

The Sayyed also wondered how the Israelis could consider that the unmanned plane that flew over Israel is a very dangerous development while they violate the Arab and Lebanese airspace daily.

The Sayyed congratulated the Islamic Resistance for dealing with the enemy in the same way, and called on the Arab and Muslim countries to take notice of their strength and potentials that need only to be deployed.

The Sayyed also criticized the calls to confront the Shiite expansion, considering it as a trap the Muslims should not fall in, since all it does is incite strife at a time the Arabs and Muslims need to join hands against their real Zionist enemy and the arrogant powers.

The Sayyed then talked about the ongoing war in Syria which is spilling more and more blood daily and threatening to reach the neighboring countries. He stressed on the role that should be played by certain influential countries to stop the war, and called for finding a political situation for the crisis between Turkey and Syria.

He also called for bewaring of what is happening in Syria, appealing to all Lebanese parties to study the best means to prevent its repercussions from taking its toll on Lebanon.

He also called for not rushing into making accusations and keeping away from any tense political or sectarian discourses.

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