| THE STREET MIMBAR JUM'AH KHUTBAH (22 October 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. Brothers and sisters who belong to Allah, Committed Muslims who work for Allah, Muslims of taqwa who fear no-one but Allah… Audio on http://www.islamiccenterdc.com/khutbasarchive.htm (01-14-2000) OVERCOMING A CRIPPLED PSYCHOLOGY- PART 3 We have just ended a season of reserving our time/senses/the concentration of our attention for the Glory and Majesty of Allah. Also, it happens to be that there were followers/religious individuals in the Christian/Jewish religion who observed their high and Holy day. Even though many times Muslims are given the light/word of truth from Allah/the confidence that comes with knowledge/insight that comes from being with Allah there are some Muslims who behave as if they have no light/knowledge/confidence/insight; worse than that they try to acquire light/confidence/knowledge/insight from those who don't have it. Let us enter into the meanings of the ayaat that Allah presents us with and feel the security that comes from understanding/living/trying to live out these meanings. In this past month you saw with your own eyes -it was all around- the way they celebrate their holiday. The Christians/Jews have made these occasions an opportunity to release their carnal desires/basic instincts i.e. party/going out/dating/taking a break- all of these words that you hear coming out concentrated on this occasion; whereas a Muslims dignified observance of his Eid in which we- this is the difference between those who have Allah's words/guidance and those who don't- when we observe our Eid concentrate on the fact that Allah is greater than all of the attraction in this world. Allah's voice is louder than the voice that tells me "to party/go out/have fun/be merry." Our Eid is characterised and our religious observance is concentrated on the fact that Allah overwhelms my mind/emotions therefore He moulds my behaviour/conduct. Besides that, in our Eid we become closer to each other. There's a social glue that should bring us together not only physically but also our hearts/minds and that's where it counts the most. (Take a) look at them on their holiday they go out drinking/stay up during the nights of their holidays/vacation. They smother/suffocate the soul/spirit on this occasion where as we illuminate the hearts/spirits on this occasion. Live in the context of the meanings that Allah has provided you with as we part company with People of Scripture at this time of year not only in the way we understand/celebrate our holiday as opposed to the way they celebrate theirs but also in our relationship with Allah. You've heard in the past few weeks how they glorify a human being to the status of a deity. Allah says concerning them Those who say that the Messiah is God are opposed to/deny the truth about God… (Surah Al Maa'idah verse 72) Instead of the Muslims on this occasion with meekness/humbleness/humility standing up and quoting the facts about this matter, we have most of our Islamic representatives trying to glance over this fact to make believe that there is no serious parting with those who claim that Jesus the Son of Mary is God. We Muslims will not accept that and deep down inside the Christian psyche they don't accept that. It will take time for a mass recognition of the truth on their behalf to recognise the fact of this matter. The Jews say that Uzayr is the son of Allah and the Christians say that Jesus is the son of Allah by stating such words they are competing with those who deny the truth about Allah in times that have past so Allah will take issue with them in the fraudulent statements that they make… (Surah At Tawbah verse 30) Here the Muslims find another contingent of those who are supposed to represent the Muslims who say and try to stir animosity when there is room for understanding. The example/precedent of the Prophet that he set for us in the way he treated Christian clergymen should not be ignored by those who claim to represent the Muslims nowadays. This is how they've thrived- when Muslim cannot balance their approach because they don't have sufficient/accurate knowledge concerning these affairs. Have you ever wondered why in the Judeo-Christian world out there, there are two types of Muslim representatives that are favourable to them? The first type is the one that wants to curry favour with them; the types that go up to them and say "there's no real difference between you and us. We are basically they same" and they try to destroy the principles/directives of Allah and Islam in this approach. And they come out looking good in the lens of Hollywood. Other types that also are a focus of attraction are those who want to create an argument/animosity with Christians/Jews on theological basis. The Prophet of Allah encountered Christians in Al Madinah and he opened up the theological issues. There was no tension/animosity. So the way they look askance from the Prophet they look askance from all those who've understood the conduct of the Prophet. The Prophet wasn't begging them/going to them for recognition/spreading words of accommodation on basis of his principles/belief; and on the other hand the Prophet was not taking issue with their theological belief in order to instigate a hostility between him and them purely on theological issues. The Muslims have missed the Prophet altogether because they are doing what he did not do vis-a-vis the type of religious establishment around us. Muslims- listen- it is surprising to know that with all the truth/rightfulness/facts that are on the side of the Muslims how we behave is as if we have been exposed and we have nothing on our side. In the meantime when our adversaries have no truth/facts on their side they seem to be brave/bold about their own position. Muslims: be proud about the fact that the Qur'an we have in our hands/we open and read are the same words that were revealed to the Prophet over 1,400 years ago. How strong a position! This should not be taken for granted. No other people in the world have a book 1,400 years old that is still preserved with no fraction of a change in it. What do these people who celebrated Christmas/Hanukka and the rest of these holidays a few weeks ago have with them? The Torah is not the Torah that was revealed to Musa (alaihi as salaam). They don't have it. It has long seized to exist. They have writings of what other people recalled of what Moses said; that's not what Allah said. Other people's memories don't constitute Scripture. Then, when it comes to our Christian folks around, we have four Gospels. These four Gospels were selected by the Church out of four-hundred Gospels. Now look how weak the Muslim position is. If there were people who were speaking/standing up for Islam they'd come up and ask these Christians, (not with any animosity/type of agitation and on the other hand not with any inferiority complex/"look- we're all the same." Neither this nor that! You have the truth. You have the confidence/knowledge that comes with the truth so you don't have to be to this/that extreme. Be yourself. Be the Muslim that Allah wants you to be- the way our Prophet behaved in these circumstances.) "how come out of four-hundred Gospels you have agreed to these? Well- what happened to those three-hundred-and-ninety-six Gospels? We want to know? If we are searching for the truth, where are they? Let's look for them. If they are in the library of the Vatican let's bring them to public attention. If they are in other libraries/museums/places of antiquities we want to know/listen/read/see what they say." These Gospels are not the words of Allah/God's words. These were written between the year sixty and one-hundred-and-ten according to their own history. The truth may be somewhere else, but according to what we/they know these words were written by people sixty to one-hundred-and-ten years after the revelation of the Injeel to Isa (alaihi as salaam) and in all of that there is no Aqeeda/aqaa'id/doctrines of faith/ahkaam/regulation. It's like some historical recollection of what Isa did: "he went here, he encountered that person he said this to him" and the rest of this. (It's) much like a story. (Take a) look (at) how vulnerable they are and how strong we are. Even when it comes to them- the Catholics say "Catholicism is a religion." "Protestantism is a religion." "Eastern orthodoxy is a religion." (Can't you) see how divided they are? They have three religions! We the Muslims have Madh'habs/Ijtihadaat. We don't have religions. No one said "he is from a Shafi'ee religion or he is from the Jaafri religion or the other Muslim is…" No! These are Ijtihadaat. This is the way the Muslim mind works to understand what Allah and the Prophet say. There is no Islamic difference concerning Allah. All of these facts that come from Allah's book and Allah's Prophet bring us together. How come what we have is supposed to glue us together and (when) we look around we find we are not glued together and what Yahud/An Nasara have should divide them apart and when you look around you will see that they are standing together?! Why should Muslims not have the balanced approach? They don't want to look at a balanced Prophet (and) they don't want to look at a balanced Muslim! They want to look at a Prophet who is tainted with their defamations. They want to look at Muslims who are vulnerable to their intimidations- they love that that. That's who they're concerned with. Even in the course of their history- they don't want to admit this- does anyone here know when they began to move the meanings of the Qur'an to Europe in other words when they translated the Qur'an into Latin? Was it in the academic achievements of the West in the past hundred/two hundred years? No! They did this during the twelfth century! During the Crusades they took the Qur'an and began to translate it into Latin. We are not brainless people. (It is) true that Hollywood and the engineered information has taken a toll on us but Allah has encouraged us to think and we are supposed to think. Brothers and sisters in Islam- we should know if they translated the Qur'an into Latin during the Crusades about eight-hundred/nine-hundred years ago we should begin to ask… As far as we can tell, there is not one Islamic dissertation on the first translations of the Qur'an into the European languages; which is a sad comment on the type of universities that we have! (In order) to begin to understand how their understanding of Islam germinated nine-hundred years ago let's go back to that process. But just like they don't want us to know of the 396 other Gospels they also don't want us to know how they initially understood the Qur'an. If we Muslims don't do it they are not going to do it and we cannot expect them to do it! But what happened? A few centuries after they took the Qur'ans meanings into Europe they had what they call "The Reformation." Is it far-fetched to say that Luther in Germany had access to the Qur'an and he turned against the Church because it clashed with logic/decency/divine values? Imagine having a religion that sells out God's forgiveness?! This is what the Church was doing 900/1000 odd years ago. They'd say "do you want to buy a lot in heaven? Pay the Church." So it turns out that those who had money can secure a foot-hold in paradise. Then a person who used his mind in Germany said "this is not God. Is God selling His Mercy?" He came and looked at the Church and he said "there's a Pope who doesn't make mistakes?!" (It's) as if he read the Qur'an and the Prophet's words all the descendants of Adam are prone to make mistakes. They do mistakes. He came and saw clergymen who don't get married; he said "this is a clash in human nature." In many things that he stated, this person appeared to have had the influence/imprint of the Qur'an on him. We have the influence/imprint of the Qur'an on us (but) what are we doing? In the middle of all of this, the point of which you/I should not lose sight of is (that) when we do have the facts/truths/knowledge/confidence we don't act arrogantly/intimidate those who don't have what Allah has given us because they need it. On the other hand when we have what Allah has given us we don't act as though we are inferior/need their recognition. If Allah has recognised you what type of recognition are you looking for from these other creatures around? We don't need that but that is exactly the two types of Islamic representatives that we have around us today i.e. those who even though they claim to have knowledge/access to Allah/the Qur'an/the Prophet they go and bow down/prostrate themselves to in the niche of kufr because they feel an inferiority and then we have those who because they understand some of what Allah has to say they want play as if they were "bosses" over other people. Allah did not give you the knowledge to act as if other people are inferior to you so you become someone with a superiority complex. Both of these positions are wrong. Muslims don't have a superiority complex and Muslims should not have and suffer from an inferiority complex but this is precisely the type of complexes that those who purport to represent Islam have and this is what our common adversaries thrive on. This is what they want. We will be going- with Allah's permission and through Allah's grace- through other encounters/occasions in life with those around us who claim "they share a portion of scripture" and when we do arrive upon those occasions/pass through those times of confluence with other Peoples of Scripture we should feel the security/confidence that comes from being/staying with Allah and from anticipating an accountability in front of Allah. What is there that makes the Muslims what they are today when Allah calls upon you as Yaa Ibaadi… Yaa Ayyuha an Naas… Ayyuha Al Insaan… With this address from Allah we have nothing react to, (one way or the other), concerning the intimidation that come our way from those who lost touch/sight of Allah. Committed Muslims… This may be a very cold day for us who are forced to pray in the street but remember the bitter cold of Muslims in the hundreds of thousands who have no home in Chechnya. Is it too much for you out of the whole week to spend an hour or two in this cold weather when you have Muslims who belong to your blood/flesh of Iman who have to be exposed to the bitter elements of winter for days/weeks/months and in some cases maybe years. What are these Muslims doing who go to these Islamic Centres on this day? They don't have the integrity to speak out for the Islamic condition/the condition of the Muslims in today's world. They don't even have enough thinking power in their heads to figure out the beginning/ending of a lunar month. They can't even suggest to their congregation a reliable method of determining the beginning/end lunar month. They are confused! They say "they don't want to adopt the scientific information about the moon." Then why do they adopt the scientific information about the sun?! How do you determine when Dhuhr/Asr/Maghrib/Isha'/Fajr prayers occurred? Is there anyone who wakes up everyday trying to determine when that will occur? Or have they adopted a formula that is placed on their calendars/almanacs that tell them Fajr is at one time and Isha is at another time? If they did that concerning As Salah then why can't they do that concerning As Siyaam? Why can't they see the contradiction that they are in but this is what happens when they cancel their minds and they don't want to think about what they are doing? Can we suggest to these types (that) instead of looking for the hilal at the end of the lunar month in the evening as they do to determine the beginning of the coming month because it's very difficult to see because of the glaze of the sun as it is setting why don't they get up early in the morning when the chances are better for them to determine the end of the month? Instead of all the time wanting to know when the beginning of the month is when don't they determine when the end of a certain month is, (which is easier to do). But you can't suggest this to people who don't want to think. This is the problem with many Muslims today. They don't want to think! Their knowledge is insufficient/incomplete and some of their knowledge has distortion in it and they don't want to have this easy relationship with Allah. They make it hard for themselves. Allah makes it easy for them and they turn around and make it hard for themselves. We have just experienced this on this Eid last week; we will experience it next year and the year after as long as there is not a mental click that takes place in the Muslim mind. We ask Allah, (because He is the Only One we can ask), to have this occur or else the price that we Muslims in the world are going to pay is going to be very heavy. Those Muslims who are in Chechnya… And now they are talking about Muslims who, (this is what they say), "Muslims are running wild now from Kashmir to Turkey. They want to topple governments." Muslims are not wild. Muslims don't want to cause havoc and trouble. They want to be what Allah wants them to be and if their cookie is crumbling because of this- it is the will of Allah satisfies us. This khutbah was presented by Imam Mohamed Asi on the occasion of Jum'ah on 14 January 2000 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. | 
No comments:
Post a Comment