In the Name of the Almighty

The Islamic Marji’ ( Authority ) Sheikh Al-Yaqoubi : The Divine Promise of Succession and Empowerment

The religious Marji’ ( authority ) Sheikh Mohammed al-Yaqoubi asked all the people to be patient and hopeful despite the enormous dangers and challenges they encounter . He assured them that they would achieve victory and a prosperous future if they continued to work wisely and honestly . His Eminence argyed that one source of hope and optimism is  the operations and battles fought by our armed forces hand in hand with the  heroes of the popular mobilization units supported by  logistical support convoys, especially in the recent battles in Mosul where the leaders of the army of the most powerful nation in modern times admitted that this battle is difficult for any army in the world taken into our consideration the nobility , morality and sacrifice for individuals  of religion , ethnicity  and nationality .

In his annual address to tens of thousands of people who visited the holy city of Najaf on the anniversary of the death of Fatima Al-Zahra (PBUH), His Eminence praised the growing awareness  and  vigilance of the people and the awareness of the challenges of the stage and its requirements . He stressed on avoiding  " all the barriers like disobedience, tearing apart, dispersion, conflicts , following falsehoods , lusts and whims  which may hinder this blessed movement towards integration . He also called for the realization of  conspiracies of enemies and warn against them especially that they  are many , dangerous and complex ; however ,  they are obvious for  the wise leadership and the people of insight.

In the following is the full text of the speech :

In the Name of of Allah the Merciful

“ Allah has promised those among you  who believe and do righteous good deeds , that He will certainly grant them succession to ( the present rulers ) in the land “

The divine promise of Succession and empowerment

          God said: "Allah has promised those among you who believe and do righteous good deeds , that He will certainly grant them succession to ( the present rulers ) in the land , as He granted it to those before them, and He will grant them the authority to practice their religion, which He has chosen for them ( i.e. Islam ) . And He will surely give them in exchange a safe security after their fear ( provided ) they ( believers ) worship Me and do not associate anything ( in worship ) with Me . But whoever disbelieves after this , they are the Fasiqyn ( rebellious , disobedient to Allah ) ." (Al-Nur “ The-Light “: 55) .

         Believers are exposed to many pressures . They may be targeted ideologically by their enemies and they may be exposed to murder , displacement, imprisonment and terrorism . They may encounter different  forms of social problems, moral deviations and ideological confusion or suspicion  ; or they may be targeted through starvation, economic blockade and deprivation of the human rights in a decent free life, and so on.

          Animosity and hostility  are not limited to these practices  which take many forms : sometimes strong and violent , and sometimes soft and hidden . The aim is to dominate believers , deprive them of their faith and morals , abort their reform project and melt their identity by the tool of globalization which they talk about today . Allah said  “ And they will never cease fighting you until they turn you back from your religion ( Islamic Monotheism ) if they can” ( Al-Baqarah “The Cow “ : 217 )  . There is another verse in the same Sura ( chapter ) which says : “ Never will the Jews nor the Christians be pleased with you ( O Muhammad ) till you follow their religion .”   (Al-Baqarah “ The Cow “ : 120) . This is an indication of their selfishness , arrogance , their  love of the world and lusts ; they envy believers for their chastity and keeping away from  vices and sins . The Almighty said: “ Many of the people of the Scripture ( Jews and Christians ) wish that if they could turn you away as disbelievers after you have believed , out of envy from their ownselves , even after the truth ( that Muhammad is Allah’s Messenger) has  become manifest unto them “(Al-Baqarah “ The Cow “ : 109) .

What helps those external enemies in implementing their plans is a number of people  within  the Muslim community : hypocrites , ignorant and foolish ; seekers of the world and slaves of desires and lusts .

          Under these pressures, believers live in a state of distress , anxiety , fear and despair of the success of the project of guidance and reform ; but this Divine Promise mentioned in the verse comes to reassure them , restore self-confidence , plants in their hearts optimism and hope to prove their faith and continue to perform their mission . No doubt that this Promise will be actualized : “ Allah’s Promise is the Truth ; and whose words can be truer than those of Allah ? “ ( An-Nisa “ Women “ : 122) , “ (It is ) a Promise of Allah , and Allah fails not in His Promise “ ( Ar-Rum “The Romans “ : 6) , “ Verily , Allah never breaksHis Promise “ ( Al-Imran “ The Family of Imran “ : 9 )  [God does not leave the promise] (Al-Imran: 9) (Thunder: 21).

          Yes, it may take a long time  to achieve this divine promise, or some of its ranks , because building a good society requires strenuous efforts , hard work with patience and insistence for a certain period of time to fulfill  its conditions and ingredients. Believers should continue their work and carry out their responsibilities ; they do not have to time results or rush .

          The promise refereed  to by the following  verse , revealed in the Madina , is  mentioned by many verses which have been revealed in Mecca [1] as in the verse: “ And We wished  to do a favor to those who were weak ( and oppressed ) in the land, and to make them rulers and make them the inheritors – and to establish them in the land  “ ( Al-Qasas “ The Narration “ : 5-6 ) . Muslims , then , were  few  destitute persons pursued by Quraish to torture them , besiege them , confiscate their money and kill them : “ And remember when you were  few  and were reckoned in the land, fearing lest people might carry you off by force , but He sheltered you and strengthened you with His aid and gave you of the good things that you may give thanks “  (Al-Anfal “ The Spoils of War “ : 26) . Hence , Allah promised believers with the things mentioned by the verse:

1 – Succession  in the land : to have authority and control over the moral and materialistic resources and potential by which they can reconstruct the land and provide a decent life for all mankind .

2- Strengthening the  religion chosen by Allah ( i.e. Islam ) and following Allah : “ This day have I perfected for you your religion and completed my favor on you and chosen for you Islam as a religion “ ( Al-Maeda “ The Table Spread with food “ : 3 ) . Strengthening religion is achieved by its steadfastness and stability in hearts and souls, and when it has curatorship and sovereignty over laws, constitutions and decrees that people , with all their faults and defects , have enacted .

3 - Freedom of faiths and  exclusive worship for Allah only  renouncing all partners with Allah whether they are stone idols  , human beings, tyrants or whims , ethnicity or traditions, coupled with security of fear , the removal of pressure and terrorism and the impact of suspicions and delusions .

          This is done in this world, but in the Hereafter, God tells us that His promise will be actualized: " And they shall say :(All) praise is due to Allah, who has made good to us His promise, and He made us inherit the land ; we may abide in the garden where we please ; so goodly is the reward of the workers “ ( Az-Zummar “ The Groups “ : 74 ) .

         The Divine Promise will  not be actualized by just pretending to be faithful  or merely by practicing  acts of worship and rituals, without turning faith and worship into a dynamic movement that stems from an integrated approach of life making reference to religion a basic ground in all matters and details of life , in behavior and conduct  , even in feelings and emotions . We should always try to please and satisfy God Almighty , making it our sole goal , avoiding His disobedience and anger . The verse says ”of you “,i.e. , some of you who meet these qualities and not  “ all of you ”  .

          As for those who belong to Islam and may belong to Ahl Al- Beit ( the family of the Prophet , peace and blessings of Allaah be upon them ) , they may perform prayers and participate in practicing religious rites ; however , they may  oppress people and transgress their rights ; they may not command that which is reputable and forbid that which is evil or abominable ; they may not  apply the rulings of Allaah in addressing problems and cases . Accordingly , such people are not included by the Divine Promise because this Promise is directed to those who have faith and do good deeds,  follow the truth and pray patiently : “ The Bedouins say : ‘ we believe.’  Say: ‘ you believe not but you only say, 'We have surrendered (in Islam), for faith has not yet entered your hearts. “ ( Al-Hujurat “The Dwellings “ : 14 ) .

          It was narrated that the Prophet (peace be upon him) was sitting with his companions and somebody came to tell one of those companions that his wife had given a birth to a female child ; that companion felt very sad which was reflected in his face .The Prophet (peace be upon him)asked him what the problem was ; he replied : “ I went out and my wife was in labor and birth ; now I was told that  she gave birth to a girl “ . The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) asked him: "How many years have you been in Islam?" The man said, "Seventeen years." ; However,  the Prophet said: "All this time, faith has  not entered your heart." {2}

          Although this man was one of the former converts to Islam and immigrants who had suffered of dangers and hardships, yet he was  deprived of the truth of faith, despite the fact that he is a believer by appearance.

Dear brothers and sisters :

          Succession and empowerment are not necessarily linked to power and governance, although power and governance are tools that help in actualizing  the ultimate goal ; i.e. , they are means and not an end . They represent some of  the foundations or grounds of the power that God has ordered to prepare : “ And make ready against all  you can of power .” ( Al- Anfal “ Spoils of War”: 60).

          What we notice in the fulfillment of the Divine Promise is the results concluded which are mentioned in the glorious  verse . Although Al-Zahra  (peace be upon her) and the infallible Imams (peace be upon them) were in perpetual and continuous oppression and total exclusion, they were the persons referred to by the divine promise . The Prophet  (Peace be upon him and his family) emphasized  this truth frankly and clearly when he gathered his family (peace be upon them) before his death and said to them: “ You are going to be underdogs after me”  which means that the Divine Promise of succession and empowerment  for the weak and underdogs  is a promise for the family of the Prophet ( Peace be upon him ) . This Promise will be actualized  by their grandson Al-Mahdi ( Peace be upon him) . The Commander of Believers said : “ We are promised by God Almighty ; Allah said “ Allah has promised those among you who believe and do righteous good deeds ,that He will certainly grant them succession to ( the present rulers ) in the land “ ( An-Nur “ The Light “ :55)      

   The Chaste , Pure and Honest Fatima Al-Zahra (peace be upon her) was completely confident of this Divine Promise, although she was apparently a weak  and grieved  woman whose rights were pillaged and her husband was shackled. She had no supporters while encountering  a rival who had authority , weapons and the supporters who were ready to do everything with no hesitation or detention . However , she  (Peace be upon him) stood with steadfastness, self-confidence and certitude of the results saying : " I preach you that a strong sword that will make  your  precious assets cheap and your best strengths weak , Alas ! How can you see the path which has been obscured from your sight  blind ? “   , “ Shall we compel you to accept it when you have a strong hatred for it ? “ ( Hud : 28 ) .{4}

         The language used by Fatima Al-Zahra ( peace be upon her ) was not the language of the underprivileged prisoner, but the language of the believer who had the faith in victory, who was certain of the defeat of her/his opponents ; hence , she warned  them of the bad consequences and bad  fate.

          Her daughter, Aqeela Zeinab (peace be upon her) inherited this trust in the divine promise. She said, addressing the arrogant tyrant , Yazeed,   who felt arrogance because of the victory that he had imagined: " plot your plots and do your best ; by Allah , you will not make us forgotten neither cause death to our divine inspiration ; you will not be up to our level and you will never be able to washout this dishonor and disgrace . Your opinions will be  refuted, your days will be nothing , and your power will be broken up  when Allah declares His curses upon oppressors : “ No doubt ! the curse of Allah is on oppressors “ . ( Hud : 18 ) . {5 }

Dear  sisters and brothers :

          Today, we see clearly that there is a number of signs of the realization of this divine promise : promoting the religion that Allah has preferred  to all artificial and man-made regimes and  systems through enabling the righteous believers to take their role in the reconstruction of the earth to the benefit of all humanity and to pave the way for following the the path of guidance and dutifulness . Some of these signs are :

1 - The voice of Ahl Al-Beit ( the close family of the Prophet , i.e. ,his sons and Successors ) (peace be upon them) has become heard by all people in different countries . People everywhere  now are able to know the high and noble human values and principles which Ahl Al-Beit  wanted to establish . There is a wide acceptance of and increasing interest in these principles and the blessed school of Ahl Al-Beit ( peace be upon them ) .

2 - the increase of the level of courage and sacrifice for the sake of God and for the protection of holies and sacred sites ; taking the initiative and the increase of the sense of responsibility among the vulnerable . All these things were reflected  in the operations carried out by our armed forces hand in hand with the heroes of the people mobilized units and the logistical support convoys especially in the recent battles in Mosul  where the leaders of the army of the strongest state in the world admitted that this battle is very difficult for any army in the present taking into consideration the nobility , high ethics , morality and sacrifice for everybody regardless of religion , sect and ethnicity .

3 - the growth  of awareness , vigilance and realization of the challenges of this stage .

4 - the emergence of signs of weakness , indigestion and disintegration in the strength of some super powers due to problems which they try to export to other countries .

Dear Believers :

In order to contribute to the fulfillment of this Divine Promise and its completion by the appearance of the Savior of mankind, the Man of God in His land and His authority  to His creation, our Promised Imam Al-Mahdi (peace be upon him) , we must do our best to perpetuate and strengthen these signs. The Almighty said: “ Those who , if We give them power in the land , ( they ) enjoin Al-Salat ( Prayers ) , to pay the Zakat and they enjoin Al-Maruf ( good and righteous deeds ) , and forbid Al-Munkar ( evil and bad deeds ). And with Allah rests the end of (all) matters ( of creatures ) “ ( Al-Hajj “ Pilgrimage” : 41 ) . 

We must also avoid all the things which may hinder this blessed movement towards integration ; we have to avoid  disobedience, dispersion, conflict, delving into falsehoods, following lusts and whims . We have to be aware of the conspiracies of enemies warning against them . Conspiracies are represented by the atmospheres of corruption  and immorality  in addition to the attempts of  violating Muslims ideological and moral identity . These attempts aspire to make Muslims feel ashamed of their religion and identity trying to make them get rid of their project melting instead  in the enemy project. {6}

This is what the Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and his family) warned against in his well known hadith ( Tradition ) : “  What will  you do if  your wives become corrupt , your young men become immoral , and you no more  enjoin good deeds and forbid evil? His companions asked him : " O Messenger of Allah ? Is this going to be possible ? “ He said: Yes, and worse than that ; how if you enjoin evil and forbid good deeds ? “ They said : O Messenger of Allah ! Is this going to be possible ? “ He said : “ Yes , and worse than that ; how if you see and consider bad deeds as good deeds and vice versa .” {7}

These enormous challenges double our responsibility. Believers should derive dedication , determination, strength and power from the Divine Promise to continue their noble efforts till the actualization of the  that Promise “ O you who believe! If you help ( in the cause of Allah , He will help you , and make your foothold firm “ ( Muhammad : 7 ) , “ Verily , they see it ( the torment ) afar off .But We see it ( quite ) near “ ( Al-Maarij ,” The Way of Ascent “ : 6-7 ) .

1-     As in the following verses : “ And certainly We wrote in the Book after the reminder that ( as for ) the land , My righteous servants shall inherit it .” ( Al-Anbiya “ The Prophets “ : 105 ) , “ And certainly Our word has already gone forth in respect of Our servants , the apostles: Most surely they shall be the assisted ones And most surely Our host alone shall be the victorious ones “ ( As-Safaat “ Those Ranged in Ranks “ “ 171-173 ) .

2-     Mentioned by some sources like Wasaal Al-Shia .

3-     Nahjul-Balagha ( The Path of Eloquence ) , the recommendation given to Imam Ali ( peace be upon him ) when Omer bin Al-Kahtab asked Imam Ali advice concerning leaving to Iraq to fight Persian army .

4-     Al-Ihtijaj , Al-Tubursi, 140 .

5-     See the sources of the speech in the book of “ Al-Saheeh Min Maqtal Al-Imam Al-Hussein “ ( The True Story of The Martyrdom of Imam Hussein ) , 1125 .

6-     Examples of what they want to do is recorded by the book written by an Iraqi immigrant Mr. Aziz Al-Difai : “ Eradicating Iraq “ .

7-     Wasaal Al-Shia , the Book of Enjoining Good Deeds and Forbidding Bad Deeds , Capter 1 , 12 .