| THE STREET MIMBAR JUM'AH KHUTBAH (11 December 2009) webpage: http://www.facebook.com/The.Street.Mimbar http://groups.yahoo.com/group/the_street_mimbar/ PLEASE e-mail Suggestions & Criticisms to khutbahs@yahoo.com It is in such a manner that We make plain Our signs so that the course of the Criminals may become clear. | Bismillah Ar-Rahmaan Ar-Raheem. Alhumdulillah. Peace and blessings on Muhammad (sallalahu alaihi wa sallam), his Noble Companions and Family. Committed Muslims… Audio on http://www.islamiccenterdc.com/khutbassermons.htm (12-04-2009) ABU DHARR (R): SPEAKING TRUTH TO POWER The time period that witnessed the most radical and significant change in human society which impacted the generations of Arabia during that time and continued to have an influence and a remarkable impact on other societies in future years- extending to our time and into centuries and generations that will follow us- had to it some components that the Muslims themselves are incapable, (even after over 1,000 years), to learn from that experience. People prior to the Prophet, the Qur'an and Islam were living in a time period in denial of Allah. This was true to Arabia and was true to every other part of the world. Allah is the ally of the Committed Muslims, He takes them out of times, mentalities and societies of obscurities and darkness into times and societies of enlightenment… (Surah Al Baqarah verse 257) What happened to them was a transformation from times, mentalities and societies of obscurities and darkness into times and societies of enlightenment. Brothers and sisters- we have to learn and we're going to have to regain and recapture the character of taqwa i.e. that we only factor in Allah's power and authority. That's the only thing that counts. This is the bedrock of taqwa. Don't give us this power, influence, government, ruler, dynasty and all of this that) has been polluting our minds as well as disturbing our societies until we have reached rock-bottom today. We can't go further, so isn't it high time that we open our eyes and turn on our minds? Let us take a look at our self. Let us do this with objective, honest and open minds. Let's not get involved in emotionalisms that divide, fanaticisms that clash and an egotistic self righteousness that excludes. We've been in that rut for so long and it's accumulated so much that we're no longer capable of looking at our own selves (and) if one of us is correct- appreciate and honour it; and if one of us is wrong, we can recognise, express and try to correct it. That's what we have to do. A Muslim to another Muslim is like a structure, every part of it reinforces the other. We're going to try to look at some of us in the 1st generation around Allah's Prophet, and hopefully we don't approach this subject with the build-up of traditions and stereotypes that have put some of us on one side and the other of us on the other side- and both these sides have been incapable of working with each other. This time of the week, as is supposed to be all times of the week), is a time of taqwa. We are only concerned with Allah's authority and power and no one else's. That being the case we'll take a look, (as much as time will permit), upon some of the vital issues and an important person in that context. During the time of Prophet, when he was born and lived in Makkah, the Arabian Peninsula had pockets of religious people who were not technically Mushrikeen or who could be excluded from the general description of Mushrikeen. These pockets were pockets of Yahud and Nasara. Some of them were in Al Madinah, Yemen, the Northern parts of the Peninsula and we had another pocket of inhabitants called Al Hanifiya- this is the leftover practices that survived from the time of Ibraheem and Isma'eel (alaihima as salaam) throughout the ages and was adhered to by some or a limited amount of individuals/people here-and-there in Al Hejaz and Al Arabia. One of those tribes that was included in that Hanifiya was the tribe from which Abu Dharr (radi Allahu anhu) hailed. It so happens that that tribe could not honour the tradition of Ash Shahr Al Haram i.e. the four sanctified tension/war free months of the year have been established way back in the time of Ibraheem and then, they were rededicated afterwards with the disclosure of the Qur'an. Indeed, the number of months in the sight of Allah is twelve; so it was ordained by Allah on the Day when Allah created the Heavens and the Earth, of which four are in-violable; that is the straight way… (Surah At Taubah verse 36) But what happened is that this particular tribe violated Ash Shahr Al Haram. They were free souls; just like if we were to bring the dynamic into today's world, we'll find that a political tribe called Saudi Arabia violates Ash Shahr Al Haram and many people just go with the drift. Many of us are not even conscious of Ash Shahr Al Haram, but at that particular time, Abu Dharr, his brother and mother were sensitive to this issue, so they left their own tribe. It's just like in today's world- if a sensitive Saudi citizen began to wake up and realise that the tribal authority that he belongs to is in violation of Allah's commands and orders- he'll leave. He doesn't want to belong to that type of structure any longer and this is what happened to Abu Dharr. He was as sensitive as not wanting anything any longer to do with his own clannish solidarity. This takes courage. It's not any person who can do this. Some people may realise what is happening but they will not take that extra step to live with a free mind and conscience. It was during this time that something was stirring in Makkah. This was outside Makkah, in an area North of Makkah. There was something happening in Makkah. Word was circulating in Makkah, so Abu Dharr sends his brother Anees to Makkah to go and see what is happening there. He goes and he picks up information to the fact that their society is saying there is a troublemaker in Makkah. They had a name for this "troublemaker" Muhammad- (called) as sab'i. To bring this word to today's vernacular, when somebody in that society says "you're a sab'i" it's like saying "you are an apostate." It has the same flavour. So Anees, Abu Dharr's brother, arrived and began to get a feel for what was happening in Makkah, he asked around who is this person? And some people would say oh he is a sahir, kahin, kadhib or majnoon which means this person is involved in sorcery or lost his wits or gained some type of religious liturgy for some where and these types of general dismissive accusations that tend to deflect from the content of what this person is saying. So Anees returns to his brother and he explains to him exactly the mood that was in Makkah i.e. a mood that the Makkans themselves did not want to expand beyond Makkah. They wanted to contain it. They didn't want people to know about this. This many times happens. It happens in our world today, if you can only open up your eyes. When the powers that be sense that there is a stirring of truth somewhere, they want to stifle it with mis-labels, mis-names, mis-characterisations and silent everything they can to localise the truth and fact that was pronounced by Allah's Prophet and his likes everywhere/anywhere. When Abu Dharr listened to his brother explain about what was going on in Makkah, he said I'm going to go to Makkah and see for myself what's going on there. He went and stayed in the Ka'bah itself. We don't know or haven't read, (as much as we try to read about issues during that period), or come across any information- absolutely not one scant of information- that said Makkah and the Ka'bah was not accessible to anyone who wanted to go to it. And we have a demonstration of that fact- Abu Dharr (was) a person who wanted to reach out, look for and find out the truth of the matter. He was there in the Ka'ba watching, observing, taking note (and) monitoring. (With) whatever faculties he had, he wanted to know what was going on. After the details of this presence for a full month… and some narratives tell us that he lived for that month on the water of zamzam. This is how sincere a person was in trying to obtain what he thought was something of merit. (He was) just drinking ma' zamzam. He had no one there and survived until he finally met Allah's Prophet, became a committed Muslim and a beloved person to Allah's Prophet. We know (that) when we say these words, we are moving through mental areas that have been stuffed with polarised information throughout the centuries. As we said at the beginning, we have to look at these issues with our minds and brains, not with traditions and emotions. When you read about this person/sahabi of Allah's Prophet, you find that Allah's Prophet honoured him in a very special manner. At times, when he would be sitting with those around him, and he would notice that Abu Dharr is not present, he would ask where is Abu Dharr? There is a honorary hadith of Allah's Prophet in which he says there hasn't been a tree that gave shade to nor a land that gave set to a person that is more frank than Abi Dharr. This hadith cuts cross all lines. It's not a monopoly of some sects, madh'hab, Mujtahids or fuqaha'. It cuts across all. Everyone is in agreement on this. Abu Dharr gained amongst his peers/equivalents the nick name as sadique al lahjah which means in today's words a person who is blunt in expressing himself. Then there's another occasion that we think should be mentioned here, and that is when the Muslims were preparing themselves for their 1st encounter with the superpower in the North, the Byzantines. When the Prophet, himself was preparing to go on this military mission, information was coming to him from people close to him. They said so-and-so is not coming. It seems like so-and-so did not show up and these type of expressions were made and he would answer if a person was going to come out of his own volition, then all the best as he would be participating in this war effort- self motivated. That was the implication of the Prophet's words, if we understand them correctly, and for those who are not going to show up, he said Allah will have relieved us of their presence because you can't drag a person into war if he is not in and of himself willing to participate in such an effort that may cost life and limb. As the Muslim contingent of force begins to leave Al Madinah Northward towards Tabuk which in today's geographical political terrain an area in contemporary Jordan i.e. North of the Arabian Peninsula, (adjacent to the Holy Land), the Prophet of Allah realised that Abu Dharr was not present. And at a distance, as these Muslims in the thousands had left Al Madinah towards Tabuk, they see an image of something moving towards them (or) trying to catch up with them. And then, before anyone knew who that person/moving object is, the Prophet of Allah said let it be Aba Dharr. And sure enough, after a short while as he was catching up, it was him and the reason for him being late to join in was because he couldn't find what was necessary for him to join in. So he packed whatever he had and he came walking/rushing to be with this honoured military responsibility. There's much more to add, but this person was going to live on after the Prophet passes away. He was going to live on with those who shared the responsibilities of this Islamic struggle during the time of the Prophet's life, but what are we going to notice? Brothers and sisters- please put traditions and the dividing/polarising information aside. This is an hour of taqwa. We observe Allah's Power and Authority in saying what we say and in you hearing what you hear. During the time of Allah's Prophet ,when Abu Dharr and the rest of the Sahaba (radi Allahu anhu) was alive, there was no, (what is called today), class divisions. The Prophet of Allah was the Imam/leader/decision maker/authority of all the Muslims without dispute and he died as a poor man. After him came the 1st successor, Abu Bakr (radi Allahu anhu), and even though before Islam he was a rich man, when he died, he also died as a poor man. Some references tells us even the budget of Muslims at that time i.e. when Abu Bakr died, only had one coin in it. Whether is was a dinar or dirham- it was only one coin in the Islamic treasury at the time. Muslims were involved in their limited geography there. There was no expansion of Muslims into rich areas of the world. They were still on the sands of Arabia. During the time of the 2nd successor to the Prophet, Umar (radi Allahu anhu), is when we have the Islamic presence extend into rich/wealthy/resourceful areas. Misr, Al Iraq and Ash Shaam and here is where the Muslims were going to be tested for the values, principles and standards they had like no other previous time, but Umar managed to keep the potential problem of wealth under control. He did this by following a policy that can be reduced to three areas. One of them had to do with the acquired wealth coming from the new territories or fertile lands that became part of the Islamic terrain. He kept these newly acquired lands as a possession of the Islamic treasury. There was no individual coming and saying "this belongs to me." No Commander, Captain, General or wealthy person (was) saying "I claim this land that belonged to the general Muslim public." The other aspect of this policy that kept the Muslims within the standards, values and principles of the Prophet was pertaining to influential people i.e. the 1st generation of Muslims or Sahaba/companions of Allah's Prophet. He had a policy that told them you cannot leave here. You stay in Al Madinah and Makkah; you don't go to Ash Shaam, Al Iraq and Misr. They stayed because he was afraid (that) if they were to go out, their popularity is going to cause them to be victims of their own images as the companions of Allah's Prophet and he did not want that to happen because there could have began what is called in today's language "power centres." So that did not happen. The newly acquired lands in these wealthy areas of the world especially compared to the scarcities of the desserts of Arabia belonged to the Muslim treasury. The 3rd general policy that was applied was one of zuhd and takashu' which means he imposed on Muslim decision makers, officials, representatives and deputies a lifestyle that is synonymous with the lifestyle of monks. So the Islamic social condition, (generally speaking), continued as it was during the time of Allah's Prophet and Abu Dharr was living through all of this. Then came the time of Uthman. Here is where Muslims begin to go haywire. They are incapable to look at this objectively (even though) we all belong to it. Someone's mistake is carried by all. During this time what happened was that for the 1st time Muslims began to see that there is a widening gap between the haves and the have nots. (For the) 1st time, these deputies who were placed in these new frontiers of Islam were beginning to act selfishly and what exacerbated the matter more is that they began to acquire unprecedented wealth. Now, saying this does not mean we should turn vile/foul in our language like some individuals do and it doesn't also mean that Muslims just because they belong to that 1st generation of the Prophet are ma'sums/impeccable (and) they do no mistakes. Abu Dharr was living this reality. For him and those who lived then, this is not history; for us it's history from which we can learn. He began to see that some people were becoming super rich and other people have been reduced to the status of paupers. He found out that this is not right and he had his encounters with this new class of Muslims. This is the area in which some Muslims cannot learn the total lesson. There's always going to be a tendency towards corruption. Power corrupts. We saw this in our own history, social selves and representative governments, but how do we deal with it? Do we deal with it by looking the other way and saying "nothing is happening?" That wasn't the case with the frank and blunt Abu Dharr. He saw this happen and he took issue with it. You can go back and refer to the history books on this- there are plenty of them and they come from the "left and right" and the Sunni and Shi'i references that indicate to us that yes. Indeed there was a class of rulers who began to obtain unwarranted, unjustified and un-Islamic proportions of wealth. This happened to acclaimed Sahaba- Az Zubair, Talha, Abd Ar Rahman ibn Awf all of them (radi Allahu anhum) and Abu Dharr reminded these rulers of the prophet's hadith in which before passing on to heavenly company he said to them the best one of you is the one that I will meet on the other side i.e. on the Day of Judgement or the Afterlife in the same way I parted with them here. But they did not stay that same way. When they were around the Prophet they were humble, of limited resources and poor- say it as it is. They were poor, but some of them in years later acquired so much wealth that they became questionable and they have to account for it. Here is where the Prophet's two hadiths… How come the Prophet of Allah, his 1st successor and his 2nd successor die having virtually nothing? His 3rd successor radi Allahu anhu) died having so much wealth that it is probably better for us not to make comparison. Something went wrong and remained wrong until this day when we are incapable of looking at this with a heart and a mind of objectivity and sincerity. (In) the other hadith of Allah's Prophet, he says not committed to Allah is the person who goes to sleep on a full stomach while his neighbour goes to sleep on an empty stomach and he knows about it. Brothers and sisters on a As Siraat Al Mustaqeem… In today's world we have an obvious or in-your-eye class of people who have amassed such wealth and resources that have rendered the overwhelming majority of us in Asia and Africa malnourished, under-educated, overwhelmingly illiterate. We're supposed to be the Ummah of iqra'! The 1st word to come from heaven to earth is the word iqra'. You would presume people belonging to this 1st word from heaven above would be an enlightened, educated, intelligent and progressive Ummah. When we look at ourselves, we find that we are at the bottom of the totem pole in the world! Why? Because of this division and polarisation between the haves and the have nots! We have a financial class or ruling elite that has become above the frankness of Abu Dharr, the austerity of Abi Bakr and Umar and they defend themselves by taking the Prophets ahadith pertaining to social justice out of circulation. Dare any Muslim establish mental contact with Allah's Prophet when he speaks about social justice! Why have we Muslims become dumb-founded, dumbed-down and incapable of pointing the finger of truth at those who stand accused of stealing the resources that belong to us? What has happened? You ask yourself if truly you adhere to or honour the taqwa that you are supposed to honour on this day and time when it is supposed to be said to you ittaqu Allah. Where did all of this go? No courage! No Islamic foundation! Just drifting with the winds of the powers that be! We should be able to- especially at this time of going and coming back from the Hajj, even though the Hajj itself has been voided of the meanings of justice and equality which are supposed to be exemplified and practised there- have the consciousness that has been buried by centuries of traditions, customs, habits, conventions, robotics and mechanics, all of which have annulled us of the spirit of taqwah. Why isn't it possible for a Muslim to look at this manifest, institutionalised and centuries old deviation and call it what it is? We need Allah for that task, and only servants and subjects of Allah will move in to fill this vacuum. This khutbah was presented by Imam Mohamed Asi on the occasion of Jum'ah on 4 December 2009 on the sidewalk of Embassy Road in Washington D.C. The Imam previously led the daily and Jum'ah prayers inside the Masjid. His speeches were revolutionary and thought provoking, and eventually irritated and threatened the Middle-East Ambassadors who control the Masjid. Finally, the Imam, his family, and other Muslims faithful to the course of Islam were forced out, into the streets. This khutbah originates from the sidewalk across the street from the Islamic Center, currently under seige. |
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