Bismillah Ar-Rahmaan Ar-Raheem. Alhumdulillah. Peace and blessings on Muhammad (sallalahu alaihi wa sallam), his Noble Companions and Family. Brothers and sisters, committed Muslims… Audio on http://www.islamicc INTERFAITH MEETINGS: THE TRUTH OF THE MATTER (Last week saw) an occasion/celebratio Those who say that Allah is a third of three are in denial of Allah… (Surah Al-Ma'idah verse 73) Allah also commenting, (as it were), on their false statement pertaining to Allah … what they are saying is a fantastic fallacy that comes out of their mouth… (Surah Al Kahf verse 5) So, at this level of things, we, Muslims, are going to have to come to terms with ourselves because anyone should know there are those Muslims who want to blur the lines between Muslims and Christians (by saying) "Oh, we are all of the Abrahamic religion. We all are monotheists. We should have interfaith meetings and get togethers and these types of things." There is a difference between identifying the differences that we have and moving forward on one hand and those who want to blur the differences and make believe we all belong to the same history and future- which is not accurate/truthful. So as far as freedom in belief, after we, Muslims, knowing that there is this serious theological divide between us and those who are involved in Trinitarian and recognising that these differences do exist, there shouldn't be any bad, much less any hostile, feelings between Muslims and Christians because of theological and incompatible definitions. There should be no bad/hostile feelings- this is our, Muslims, understanding of Allah and His Prophet; but then it doesn't stop here. There is a continuation to this. Those who have adopted a Trinitarian belief and religion i.e. those who say "that they are Christians" don't stop at issues of theology; they proceed into plans, programs and orientations that become deadly against Muslims- here is where we begin to have our initiation of our irreconcilable feelings between those who are Muslims and those who are Christians. It is not because of beliefs/creed/"religions." No! Part of our responsibility of submitting to Allah is to guarantee- to those who differ with us and attribute this difference to their understanding of, (what they call), scripture i.e. the New Testament and the Old Testament- the freedom to believe and to enjoy the consequences of that belief even though we know it is wrong; but that doesn't mean that we agree with their political character. We tolerate/guarantee the freedom for their theological character but that doesn't extend to have us look the other way or rubber stamp the political programs that come out of what is called the Judeo/Christian context. Here is where we begin to have our difficulties with them. The problem with today's Muslims is that some of them- especially those who appear to be very/fanatically religious- want us to take issue with and argue/verbally confront Christians or Jews because of their theology. This is not an Islamic character. We don't do that. We point out, and if the circumstances and chemistry permits, we explain to them these theological differences. Once that is done there shouldn't be any bad feelings on our side, (and we can speak for ourselves), and there shouldn't be any bad feelings on their side. But the fact of the matter is that they generate governments and regimes that rationalise their invasions, occupations, massacres, ethnic cleansing and genocide of Muslims. This is where we, (if we understand Allah and His Prophet), say "we know our differences but we don't tolerate the extensions of these differences into the military policies" that have become a matter of silence; (generally speaking), Churches and Synagogues are silent when they see their own brethren i.e. people belonging to their own faith circle involved in, (for example), placing hundreds of military bases in Islamic territories of the world. The issue becomes for us, (as maturing Muslims), (a matter of) what is the relationship between their theology and their politics? This is the area that has to be investigated and understood. Is there an issue between their theological doctrines and tenets on one side and their political strategies and orientation on the other side? If we truly had, (what is called), interfaith/acumenic … and you will most certainly find the most closest of them, (meaning of the Judeo/Christians) to the committed Muslims are those who say we are Christians… (Surah Maa'ida verse 85) Why? … because you will find among them priests and monks who don't show an air of arrogance or they don't exude hubris. (Surah Maa'ida verse 85) They are humble and down to earth. This is a fact that Allah states pertaining to their religious character, but Muslims, don't confuse this matter and say "we want to extend this and include their political and official characters and personalities." Don't do that! This is not what Allah is saying. Our thanks and gratitude are due because He enlightens us in this area in which we need guidance in. What does He say pertaining to their political character? He says The ultimate desire of many of them- the Judeo Christians along with the Mushriks- is to have you revert from your iman to kufr… (Surah Al Baqarah verse 109) What does He say also pertaining to their political character? And the political Yahud (not the theological one) and the political Nasara (not the theological one) are not doing to be satisfied with you (O Prophet and you O followers of the Prophet) until you are enlisted in their political creed… (Surah Al Baqarah verse 120) At that time yes. They will smile in your face. They will accept you into their circles you become part of them. This is exactly what is happening in today's world. The theological and the political are confused. Even when Allah is speaking to us and the Prophet is explaining to us, we still confuse the issues. We still consider a person who occupies the highest office in a particular country, who goes to the Church or Synagogue and who may be doing their religious obligation or rituals as they are supposed to be doing them (a Christian or Jew). But what is that? In the course of the week- a few hours and it's all over! And what are we supposed to do when the rest of the week in its hundreds of hours are spent in the political character of that person? What are we supposed to do when Allah is telling us this is the theological description of these people and these are the political descriptions of these people? We are going to say "oh, we are going to just look at their theological description in the Qur'an and the Sunnah and not look at their political description and definition there in?" … Are you committed to some of this divine writ and then you are in denial of other parts of this divine writ? (Surah Al Baqarah verse 85) This is a character and a feature that does not belong to committed Muslims. This was said pertaining to those who say that "they are followers of Musa (alaihi as salaam)" and those who carry the Israeli burden of history. Today, we have superpowers/ Indeed those who deny Allah's power and authority from those who are supposed to belong to scripture or who belong to scripture… Meaning in today's words the Jews and the Christians. So there is a dynamic within Judaism and Christianity, and if we wanted to be true to ourselves we may say this has also extended into the Islamic domain. Something set in that's not supposed to be there, and that is kufr. This is one of these words nowadays that is being tossed around among Muslims. There are Muslims going around and saying "other Muslims are kafirs." Ask them "why are other Muslims kafirs?" And they will refer to a theological issue. Remember, when we are speaking about Muslims on one side and Jews and Christians on the other side, we find that two words interplay in this relationship: the word shirk and the word kufr. Some of this, (if we were to read closely Allah's guiding words), we can trace the policies of war and economic goals to some of their religious books, not all of it. Allah is divulging this information to us Indeed those who deny Allah's power and authority from those who are supposed to belong to scripture or who belong to scripture… So there is a dynamic/fact of life within the Judeo-Christian history and contemporary events in which we have Evangelicals- who are ardent and zealous supporters of Zionism. Investigate (and) ask yourself "where do they get this ardour for Zionism?" and they will take you back to Holy text, to the Bible itself. Is this true of all Christians? It is not. So we have a task. We are responsible to be accurate. We said in previous khutbahs Avoid Allah as Power and Authority and say/express what is accurate/right. (Surah Al Ahzaab verse 70) We have a responsibility here of being factual and precise when we look at this hodge-pogde of Judeo-Christian beliefs, sects, offshoots, denominations and trends. We can't lump them all as theological or political, but after our scrutiny of who they are, we will find out that the majority of them in fact and in practice are supportive of their political character that has strayed away from the Old Testament, the New Testament and scripture altogether. That's the majority of them; but that doesn't mean that if the majority of them are like that, that we lump those who are true to their convictions with them. There are still among them people who are in pursuit of the truth and these theological issues should not/never cause us to stumble when we are approaching them if we have the clear mind and the clean heart that belongs to us when we belong to Allah and His Prophet. Brothers and sisters, Ayyuha Al Mu'mineen… What we also have in the course of the couple of days or so is a tragic event that took place in our own history and geography and in our own selves. This tragic and moving event we, in a sense, (whatever background we come from), have not been able to present in a way that speaks to common sense to the common man who may belong to any creed or background. What we are obviously referring to is This khutbah was presented by Imam Muhammed Asi on the occasion of Jum'ah on 25 December 2009 on the sidewalk of |
Commentary of Holy Qur'an http://al-islam.org/tahrif_quran/
Du'a - http://www.duas.org
Islam - http://www.al-islam.org
Free Islamic Books -http://www.winislam.com
http://www.islamic-message.net/English/index.htm
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