| THE STREET MIMBAR JUM'AH KHUTBAH (26 March 2010) webpage: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=182501078290&ref=ts 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. Ma'shar An Naas- Brothers and sisters … Audio on http://www.islamiccenterdc.com/khutbassermons.htm (03-12-2010) FORGOTTEN DIMENSIONS OF JUM'AH Allah says (in) these stretch of ayaat is located at the end of Surah Al Jum'ah. Surah Al Jum'ah, unlike any other Surah in the Qur'an, has only one name. By consensus it is called Surah Al Jum'ah- no other description/label/name. This Surah was revealed in Al Madinah. Also, unlike many other surahs that have been distributed between Makkah and Al Madinah, this one in total was revealed in Al Madinah. It was revealed in the 6th year of the hijrah at the time when Khaybar was liberated/conquered, (depending on how you want to look at that event.) This surah was revealed after Al Jum'ah was established/in progress for six years. The Prophet of Allah first performed his Al Jum'ah upon his arrival in Al Madinah. He arrived in Al Madinah on a Monday and the Friday that was to follow that Monday was the 1st Jum'ah Salah in our Islamic history… therefore a question arises. This ayah was revealed approximately six years after the Prophet was conducting Jum'ah prayers and congregation. This means that the conduct of Allah's Prophet is legislated in certain instances even prior to the revelation of information pertaining to certain obligations- as is the case in this instance. He arrived in Al Madinah, the 12th of Rabi' Al Awwal, (in) the first year of the hijrah and this surah and these ayaat were revealed in the 6th year of the hijrah. What does this surah say, (with the limited time frame that we have and with the weather conditions that we have)? This surah begins with the praise of Allah. After the praise of Allah and mentioning a few of His attributes, Allah tells us and humanity forever That it is He, (Exalted), that has sent to Al Ummiyeen… (Surah Al Jum'ah verse 2) Allah didn't say that He sent to the Arabs/Arabians. Upon thinking and investigation, the fact of the matter is that he was sent to, (in the immediate sense of the word), his own society, but Allah did not mention the ethnic/racial/linguistic character of the Prophet's own society He mentioned a description and definition of them as may be related to a human condition that is common among all races/ethnic groups/segments of the human family and that is Al Ummiyeen i.e. those who are illiterate- not those who are illiterate as far as their language is concerned. The Arabians were very well versed in their own language. They were very proud of their linguistic culture. They were high on their linguistic poetry. So if we're speaking in a literal sense, the word ummiyun/ummiyeen does not apply to these people. So, they were illiterate about what? They were illiterate about scripture. They had no Torah/Injeel/Zabur/Suhuf of Ibraheem and Musa (alaihima as salaam). In this sense, they were illiterate as may be the condition of many other societies of the world at that time and in times to come. To these particular types of people, Allah has sent this Ummi Rasul. Here, Allah says ba'atha fi Al Ummiyeen He didn't say ba'atha li Al Ummiyeen; which means when Allah chose His Prophet, He did not choose him as a Prophet to illiterate people … He chose him as a Prophet from within the condition of illiterate people… (Surah Al Jum'ah verse 2) To some people this may seem like a fine point/subtle issue, but it only appears as such because it lacks thought. When you think about it, we see that Allah has chosen a Prophet that is extracted from a constant human condition that is not peculiar to his time. Then, what will follow these ayaat? Allah says The parable/example/similarity of those who were tasked with the Torah and then unburdened or unloaded themselves from the responsibilities of the Torah is that of an ass/donkey, they look much like donkeys who are loaded with books/references/documents. (Surah Al Jum'ah verse 5) What's the use of placing the best knowledge in the world in print on the back of the donkey? Is there any benefit in that? This is exactly the condition of these characters who were living in the time of Allah's Prophet who refused to acknowledge/accept him. The Torah is of no value to them. They confused/contradicted it. They clashed with it and here comes a Prophet from Allah innocently speaking to them and everyone else and they refused. They were as stubborn as stone. Non receptive and even hostile to Allah's Prophet and some people may ask "these are sharp words." Sharp words, as they are in these ayaat, are directed against the deviant nature of these types of people. Look- we, committed Muslims have high moral standards. An average committed Muslim doesn't use abrasive language when speaking about other human beings unless these other human beings are so offensive/criminal; at that time, we take out of our dictionary and vocabulary the words that are suitable to these types of criminal characters. That's why the wording in Allah's book is commensurate to their character. … this an awful example of a people who contradict/deny Allah's power/authoritative presence. (Surah Al Jum'ah verse 5) This is what they did with we, the Muslims. The day of Jum'ah was a day that was observed as a, (sort of), congregational day before the Qur'an and before Muhammad. It was a day in which Quraysh used to meet in Dar An Nadwah, but it wasn't called Yawm Al Jum'ah. It had another name. It was called Aruba and when the Qur'an and these ayaat were revealed, the name changed so significantly that in its change it eroded the cultural/historical character of the Arabian speakers of Makkah and the Peninsula. Aruba's affinity to these people is like the affinity to the word Pharisee/Pars to the Persians; Turan to the Turks; or whatever other national character that may be ascribed to another nationality/nation. This sacred day of the week's name was taken away from these people because Allah wanted to take away from them, (among other things), their nationalism which is a point that is mute/unobserved/almost unknown by even we, the Muslims, who are reading and trying to learn the lessons from this Qur'an. Now we come to these ayaat … if the call for as salah is made public/amplified on the day of Jum'ah for salah, then you make an effort to go to a consciousness of Allah or to a mental state of contact with Allah and drop all your commercial activities, that's best for you if you have/are in possession of this knowledge. (Surah Al Jum'ah verse 9) Brothers and sisters committed Muslims- the average person who goes up the Mimbar and wants to speak about Jum'ah prayers go into the fiqhi issues of Jum'ah prayers. "The khutbah replaces the two rakaat of Salat Al Dhuhr. Ok- so what if a person comes to Jum'ah prayers, (this same Jum'ah that we are in), and he misses the khutbah itself (i.e.) he just makes it for that two rakaat of salat Al Jum'ah? Does he make up for this by praying two additional rakaat after salat Al Jum'ah? Does he make up for this by praying the two rakaat of salat Al Jum'ah and then after it the four rakaat of salat Al Dhuhr?" These are the types of issues that are considered fiqhi issues that we try to avoid because this is left up to how your mind/heart are convinced about this issue, but people who ascend the Mimbar at this time every week, if they are to speak about these types of issues, this is the type of details that they present. As if we are in the comfort of liberation and liberty, are free, have no problems and now we can concentrate our mind into these fine details that we have?! No! We have many problems and the number one problem that we have is the dispossession of our Masajid, the illegitimate repossession of the Ka'aba, Al Bayt Al Haram and Al Masjid An Nabawi. They are no longer the accessible areas that should be for all the Muslims of the world. There are forces and powers that have occupied these areas and we should have enough information and meanings coming to us from Allah to concentrate our minds/thoughts on these types of issues instead of getting distracted and divided by such-and-such a scholar said this pertaining to a fiqhi issue and another scholar said something else pertaining to the same fiqhi issue and third one said another opinion about the same and exact issue! Where we should be is on one plane/level and where they are trying to locate us is on another plane/level. I know this piece of information is withheld from the public, but we want, (as a matter of an Islamic conscience), to divulge it to you. It is there in the mainstream Islamic history and seerah books. It happened in this 6th year of the hijrah that the Muslims and the inhabitants of Arabia were experiencing harsh economic times. And on Friday at that very time when the Prophet of Allah ascended the Mimbar to give the khutbah, there was a caravan of goods/merchandise/nutrition/food arriving into the same vicinity, Al Madinah and as the Prophet was giving the khutbah many people left. Think about it for a moment. The Prophet himself is speaking to the congregation of Muslims and then many Muslims leaving. There may have been some type of practical excuse. Some Muslim members of a family were starving- "maybe" and here is food coming to support their livelihood. The Prophet of Allah is speaking to them and they leave. This is a delicate human condition. The ayah says describing this human nature and these societal distractions even if it maybe at a survival level … and if they see a commerce/entertainment, they may part with you… (Surah Al Jum'ah verse 10) And it depends on what history books you are going back to… Some of them say that twelve individuals remained with Allah's Prophet others say fourteen and others say forty individuals remained with him. Remember, this is the 6th year of the hijrah, when committed Muslims were in their hundreds, (at least), and you have this amount who were not distracted from Allah's Prophet by the necessities of life. .. say to them… (Surah Al Jum'ah verse 10) Them (meaning) who are present with you, the society in Al Madinah, the Ummiyeen, and (at the beginning of the surah) this human condition that is to unfold in future generations- as we still have the same human dynamics around. … say what is in the presence of Allah is better than these distractions, entertainments, commercial activities and the market… (Surah Al Jum'ah verse 10) Brothers and sisters, committed Muslims… We just heard the ayaat pertaining to salat Al Jum'ah. We understand from these ayaat that this is an open invitation as well as it is an Islamic requirement to congregate on Friday in salat Al Jum'ah and jama'ah. There shouldn't be anyone telling other Muslims "you cannot come and join the Islamic congregation." If there are such people, (and there are such people), then they are in violation and responsible for what amounts to a crime against Allah, the Prophet and the cohesion/togetherness of Muslims. We have seen, (27 years have lapsed), and we've been witnesses in these 27 years that there is a force- real people who have Muslim features to them- who have been telling you and me "you can't have access to the House of Allah." In the past weeks we are told through the news, (we don't know how accurate/truthful this is), "there are some Muslim women who wanted to go and pray in the Masjid behind men and they were barred from doing that to the extent that that last Sunday at Dhuhr prayers, the administration in this Masjid, (whoever it was), called the police and forced these Muslim women outside the Masjid." And we are told "they prayed Dhuhr prayers out there in the street," just like we have been praying Jum'ah prayers for the past 27 years out in the street. What catches our attention is ten/fifteen women tried to pray in the Masjid and they are treated with scorn and exclusion and their effort becomes news! We have been here 27 years and our effort is not news?! Keep an eye open for whatever may be behind such development. That is number one. Number two- Muslims are supposed to be united to a certain degree. There are many ayaat in the Qur'an, (and we've spoken about these on many previous occasions), that tell us how consolidated we should be. We've seen for the past 27 years that there are those who say "they are Muslims." We're not going to be judgmental about this- Allah is going to judge them eventually- but here they are trying to live a normal life, meanwhile every week they are responsible for us being out here and not being in the House of Allah that they have claimed for themselves! They act as if the Masjid belongs to them! They have a deed. They have control over the House of Allah. This is how they have been behaving. There are many things that have happened within these 27 years. To give you one example… Just a few weeks ago, yours truly was maybe about 10,000 miles away and we met some good Muslims, (just like you and I), and one of those Muslimaat came up to yours meekly and said "I've gone to Washington DC and prayed in the Masjid and after I came out of Jum'ah prayers, I saw another Jum'ah prayer in the street. I didn't realise it was you and I didn't have the slightest idea of what was going on but now that I understand/know…," (because it was explained to her what was going on), "… what was going on, I will try to do whatever is required of me as a Muslimah although I know that probably doesn't mean much to you who were out there in the street." Imagine how many Muslims/Muslimaat on Friday go into the Masjid and come out and just don't have an idea about what is happening! So what in the final analysis?! We're not here for people to observe us or to gain the sympathy of the public. We are here simply because of this ayah which we have been doing for all of these (27) years and before all of these (27) years that you've been coming here. And if it is going to be this force that intrudes between Allah and ourselves, ultimately they are going to be held accountable. Have you noticed in these 27 years how they fail to appear? You would think at least in one Jum'ah in these 27 years we would come face-to-face with one of these people who are inside this Masjid? We can tell you as a matter of truth/transparency that not once throughout these 27 years have we had, (at least I can speak for my limited self), one face-to-face encounter/eye contact with anyone of these because of the support they get from Imperialism and Zionism. Some of them have died in these 27 years. We know them very well. We have nothing to hide. Some of you may say "what does all of this have to do with the khutbah on Friday? Why do we express/complain about this during this time? And why do we sometimes use words that are not normally used or words that are charged?" The answer comes to you from Allah. The answer to this question in the words of Allah are Allah does not like going public with abrasive words except for those who have been mistreated or dealt injustice or oppressed or offended… (Surah An Nisa' verse 148) That is exactly the condition we have been in throughout these years. Let he who will listen- listen and let he who will try to pretend like nothing is happening- go out pretending. Their acts will catch up with them. This khutbah was presented by Imam Muhammed Asi on the occasion of Jum'ah on 20 March 2010 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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