Lebanon: Friday Prayer Ceremony led by Sayyed Ali Fadlullah

The First SermonIn the first sermon, His Eminence, Sayyed Ali Fadlullah, talked about piety and its relationship with fasting. He explained that piety is the ultimate goal of fasting. It is an inner power that helps man in fighting against his own whims and do good deeds. It is a spiritual force which gives man his identity as a human being. Nevertheless it is not something we buy from a drugstore. Rather it is the product of one’s struggle against internal desires and greeds.Fasting in this sense is a battle against oneself that aims not only at abstaining from food and drink, but also and in the first place from all sins. Yet this is the negative sense, but piety, which one educates himself on by fasting, is also a positive behavoir. It is to deprive yourself, for example, of some food and give it to a poor man who does not have any. Thus, fasting is not the goal, it is a means that aims at getting closer to Allah through piety. This could be accomplished by being just in your work and social relations… If you are a shop owner, for example, just do not cheat or sell at high prices. If you are an employer, be just and humane with your employees…Piety is also a social act represented by giving charity to the poor even without them asking. It is also being a unified and merciful nation…Piety is the means that get us closer to God, and fasting is a course that educate us on piety.The second sermonIn the second sermon, His Eminence, Sayyed Ali Fadlullah, began by condemning the car-bomb in Dahiya. He said that he is afraid that it might be the beginning of a series of aggressions through which the Zionists, or those who work for them, pour fuel to the sectarian fire.He valued the national consensus against the bombing, but saw that this is not enough if it is not coupled by making every effort to take the country out of the acute division it suffers from.The Sayyed then talked about the Zionist enemy who is undoubtedly happy as he watches the divisions and state of weakness in the Arab world, and as he continues and accelerates his settlement policy and daily aggressions.The Sayyed commented on the state of affairs in Iraq and Syria where the blood shedding continues. He also talked about the acute divisions and violence that threaten Egyptian unity and role, which call for the meeting and dialogue of all leaders to restore national unity.The Sayyed ended his speech by talking about the need to alleviate the sufferings of the Syrian refugees in Lebanon./129