Bismillah Ar-Rahmaan Ar-Raheem. Alhumdulillah. Peace and blessings on Muhammad (sallalahu alaihi wa sallam), his Noble Companions and Family. Brothers and sisters those who's hearts and minds are fixed on Allah… Audio on http://www.islamiccenterdc.com/apps/podcast/podcast/31986 (12-31-2010) UNDERSTANDING THE FEAR FACTOR This day/time are specified for heightened consciousness of Allah's ever power presence in our one-on-one interaction/the social movement/whatever activity we embark upon; but there is an element that has been undermining the healthy psychology that belongs to healthy committed Muslims and that element is simply the element of fear. Let us say to begin with, (and we are going to, of course, reference ourselves in Allah's book and teachings of His Prophet), that fear is a component of the human psychology. There are different types/varying levels of fear. This has to be said to begin with before we try to understand the words/ayaat of Allah. The normal/natural fear that accompanies the average person is a type of fear that is, (in a sense), a derivative of pity. You feel sorry for someone or some people may phrase it you fear for someone. You don't fear an overwhelming power, (that you fear), for the lack of protection/power/wherewithal of a dear one, as an example. This is demonstrated in an ayah in the Qur'an in Surah Al Qasas in which Allah says to the mother of Musa (alaihi as salaam)- OK now please summon your thinking capacity and follow the meanings of this ayah because in it there are two types of fear. In the first type in the words of this tanzeel/ Qur'an … if you fear for him- your little baby- then place him in the water… (Surah Al Qasas verse 7) And then … and don't fear/grieve… (Surah Al Qasas verse 7) in this ayah. Then Allah says … We will have him come back to you and We will render/make of him one of those who are sent by Us- an Emissary/Apostle. (Surah Al Qasas verse 7) OK- now the issue here, (without being side tracked), is … you fear for him… (Surah Al Qasas verse 7) and then Allah says la - this is an order/command … but don't fear the consequences of placing him in the uncertainty of what is going to happen to him on the surface of the water… (Surah Al Qasas verse 7) He may drown/something awful may happen to him. Allah says to her … you fear for him but don't fear the consequences of placing him in the uncertainty of what is going to happen to him on the surface of the water… (Surah Al Qasas verse 7) Like we said before and we will repeat it again: khawf, (in the generic sense), is of something that will happen in the future; huzn is pertaining to something that has happened in the past. So a committed Muslim in his/her right character/healthy psychology does not grieve for something that has happened in the past and does not fear for something that may happen in the future. … the awliya' of Allah themselves have no fear in their lives and they don't grieve. (Surah Yunus verse 62) You have heard these words multiple of times this is the epitome of confidence in Allah. We make mistakes and we correct our mistakes in the past but we are not consumed by a negative psychology that attaches to those mistakes. We don't fear what may happen when we are doing what is right- tomorrow/in the next year/in the life to come. Another expression of a derivative of pity- which in a sense is a form of fear- is spoken by the father of Yusuf- Nabi Allahi Ya'qub )(alaihima as salaam). What did he say? He-Ya'qub/Jacob- said "I will be saddened if you were to go off with him and I fear for him that a wolf may come and devour him… (Surah Yusuf verse 13) This is a normal expression from a father. Just like Umm Musa had the type of fearing/pity for her baby, in the same category we have the father of Yusuf- a young boy- fearing for the consequences of what may happen to his young/beloved son who goes out with his own brothers. Another type of fear which is normal is a social fear. One of the ayaat in the Qur'an, (and by all means we're not exhaustive here. We are not covering the whole territory. There is much to it.), in Surah An Nisa' says… to the end of these ayaat. And if you fear… (Surah An Nisa' verse 3) What is it speaking about? Is it speaking about some type of fear from challenging military power/a danger of some sorts that threatens the life of committed Muslims? No. It is speaking about a social inability. … the institutions in society/Islamic governance, (as it were), becomes incapable of doing justice to the orphans so there's a type of social apprehension that there is not going to be social justice given to orphans… (Surah An Nisa' verse 3) This is not a fear of terror/horror. It is natural/may occur. Societies go through fluxes. Societies at times are rich/capable and at other times are poor/incapable. So when these societies go through a phase of incapacity/poverty then orphans become exposed because usually they are weak elements in society. So what grips this Muslim society is a type of pity for these orphans and this is natural. Another type of fear which is also/should be normal/natural in a Muslim person is the fear of committing a crime. The ayah in the Qur'an in Surah Al Maa'idah that zeros in on this psychology is … the story of the two brothers who offered their sacrifices and Allah accepted the sacrifice of one brother and did not accept the sacrifice of the other brother... (Surah Al Maa'idah verse 27) The brother whose sacrifice was not accepted was overwhelmed with, (what you may call), negative feelings towards his own brother. In other words we have the criminal psychology expressing itself here … and he said to his own brother by all means I am going to kill you… (Surah Al Maa'idah verse 27) What does his brother say in response to hearing these threatening words from his own brother? He says If you are going to extend your hands towards me to kill me I am not going to extend my hands towards you to kill you… (Surah Al Maa'idah verse 28) Why? … I fear Allah the Sustainer of the worlds. (Surah Al Maa'idah verse 28) This is a natural fear. The territory that we just covered, (more-or-less), in addition to another oft repeated state of mind… (In) many ayaat the Prophets say to their own people the following statement … indeed I fear for you the punishment on an awesome day. (Surah Al Shu'ara' verse 135) Another ayah says … indeed I fear for you the punishment on a great day. (Surah Hud verse 3) Another ayah says … indeed I fear for you the torment of an all encompassing significant approaching day. (Surah Hud verse 84) And so on and so forth. So this is another fear. You fear for people if they continue the destructive course that they are in. They are going to suffer the consequence so you fear for them. This is natural. Now we come to what we call the "grey area." The fear that is understandable but not warranted; a fear that we can relate to in context but really doesn't belong there. This also part of human nature. Allah demonstrates this to us in the Qur'an and we shall quote some ayaat for your knowledge. Surah Ta-Ha speaks extensively on Musa and his brother (alaihima as salaam). If you read this Surah closely you will discover that there are multiple occasions in the progress of Musa's struggle with the Pharoahnic system in which he expressed his fear. Musa and his brother went to the Pharaoh. Now- brothers and sisters- we don't want to get side-tracked/off the issue that we are concentrating on but as a note to this we read/understand that one of Allah's Prophets goes to a person who has under his command the resources/ power/force/wherewithal like no person has. This is like going to the Chief Executive/ Commander-in-Chief/President/King- all of them combined in one. Compare that behaviour of Musa with our personalities today. Who is thinking about going and speaking to the big shots in the world today- and speaking truth to power to that person? So what we have done is we have pre-empted the words that Musa and his brother are going to say in this ayah. We never reached that level. So what did they say in this ayah? Both of them said "Oh our Sustainer we fear that he/the Pharaoh will go to the extremes in dealing with us-either he will not be forthcoming or he will be unleashing whatever he has against us- these two extremes is going to happen" … (Surah Ta-Ha verse 45) How does Allah respond to this, (what you may call), natural expression in human nature? He said to both of them "don't fear I am with you; I hear and see what's going to happen." (Surah Ta-Ha verse 46) Now Allah is speaking to Prophets and by extension He is speaking to us and with common sense He is speaking to human nature. OK- so we go through weak moments in our life and we feel "Oh my God! I'm not up to this! I can't do this! This is too much! You know the odds here?! You know what goes through a person mind/internal self. (Do) you mean to tell me that I am going to go with words that are not going to be pleasing/acceptable to the most powerful person in the world! I fear." So even though a person expresses his human nature on the assignment that he has Allah reminds that person and those two Prophets/persons. In the case of Musa on another occasion Allah reminds him … don't fear you are the superior one. (Surah Ta-Ha verse 68) What this infers is that when people experience this fear they feel that they are inferior. Inferiority breeds a fear of its own so Allah is saying … don't fear because you are superior. (Surah Ta-Ha verse 68) In another discourse in Surah Al Maa'idah when Musa tells the Children of Isra'eel that they are expected by Allah to make a military effort … and enter the So people here were fearing a military/superior power. Then Allah has an ayah that quotes two persons; out of all of the crowd of Bani Isra'eel there were two individuals who didn't have their fear misplaced. Everyone else was fearing the superpower in the Two men of those who fear… (Surah Al Maa'idah verse 23) not the superpower/military advantage of the enemy/ technological edge that's on the opposing side. No, they didn't fear that because their fear was in the right place. … they feared the power of Allah… (Surah Al Maa'idah verse 23) These are not Prophets. They were just two average individuals but they were in their right mind/psychology/approach … they said move in a manner that will that will break through the enemy lines and once you do that you will become victorious; and in this fashion the committed Muslim should place their confidence and trust in Allah. (Surah Al Maa'idah verse 23) So we had a fear here that was recorded for us in Allah's eternal book. After covering some of this territory/history- and this history is not chit-chat. These are lessons for us. If we encounter the average/normal/regular in human nature and we understand it and then when we encounter the abnormal/misplaced fear… In today's world we have those who say "they are Muslims" and those who discharge their rituals in the same manner as every committed Muslim when it comes to matters in areas where there should be no fear you look around and you see there is a psychosis of fear- not only scattered/individualistic fears here-and-there. No! It's become an overwhelming/all encompassing state of fear that doesn't belong in our social psychology. Who says it doesn't belong? Allah says it doesn't belong. some ayaat from the Qur'an that should liberate us from this fear… An ayah says Indeed those who say our Sustainer is Allah and move forward in a straight-forward manner… (Surah Al Fussilaat verse 30) (Did) you see/listen? Because we have people who say "Oh my Sustainer/Lord is Allah" and then they begin zig-zagging/cutting corners/hiding/doing all of these other things. For what? This doesn't belong to the pristine character of a committed Muslim. (When) you say Rabb then you move straight-forward. What happens then? … Al Malaa'ika will descend upon them… (Surah Al Fussilaat verse 30) Saying what? … do not fear and do not grieve… (Surah Al Fussilaat verse 30) Obviously the worldly conditions/provocations/entrapments/all of the shenanigans going on are meant to have us fear and as if Allah's words from Heaven above are pre-empting this human condition. Earlier before the Muslims gained this level/amount of confidence/reliance in Allah they experienced fear. When they were in Makkah some of them went through times of torture/economic hardship and you know the details of the Seerah of the Muslims in Makkah. And another ayah in the Qur'an speaks and diagnosis this. And remember your condition: a few in this world having no power being oppressed- you fear that at any time you will be overcome/overwhelmed by the people/forces of these adversaries around, (then) He, (meaning Allah) gave you refuge and He supported you with His victory and He provided you of His sustenance/wholesome provision so that you may be thankful (Surah Al Anfaal verse 26) (Do) you see? In the build-up to the confidence that we should consolidate when we become a social unit/society we go through a phase in which we experience fear; but it doesn't smother/paralyse us/render us speechless/make of us hypocrites. The ayah in Surah Al Baqarah – listen to the wording of the ayah. And We will test you- not only /we will, We certainly will test you or of a certainty We will test you … (Surah Al Baqarah verse 155) Now listen closely to the wording of the ayah. Allah did not say- He could have said it, the ayah could have been …We will test you with fear/hunger/a deficit of agriculture/produce/ livelihood… It could have been worded like that (but) it wasn't because there's an important issue that is involved. Allah's words are … with a small/insignificant amount of fear/hunger/a deficit of produce, etc. … (Surah Al Baqarah verse 155) Which means- if we understand Allah- that these conditions of life shall never get to us/take away from our determination/burn us out. We have burnt out Muslims! They've been through a particular experience in life and then they emerge from that no longer wanting to assume any responsibilities of social justice. The problem is we don't communicate with Allah. He's speaking to us but we don't listen. He's talking to us but we don't understand. Finally an ayah in Allah's truthful book says Allah has promised… (Surah An-Nur verse 55) Do you listen? Allah is promising those who are committed from among you and who do as salihaat… (Surah An-Nur verse 55) Commitment alone and by itself is not going to work. It has to be proven by what you do/by what is right/correct/accurate. … We will cause them to inherit the affairs of the Earth as was the case with those who preceded them… (Surah An-Nur verse 55) And here's the relevant sentence to the issue of khawf that we were speaking about. … and He will exchange/replace the portion of fear that they experienced with safety and security… (Surah An-Nur verse 55) Dear committed Muslim Brothers and sisters… We think we would be repeating your facts/observations if we were to say, once again, that Muslims in our day/time live in conditions of unwanted/unwarranted fear. There is no reason/ justification/rationale for the type of fear that has taken hold of many Muslims! You ask yourself : "Because of what? What did we do? What have we, the Muslims of the world of here/now, done? Is there anything that we done to fear of the consequences of what we did?" A criminal fears because he committed a crime; have we committed a crime? Have we committed any crime? What have we done that has caused many Muslims to go silent/run away from their responsibilities/twist and mangle the words/meanings that come to us from Allah and His Prophet? What is there? What will happen if we say the truth? That's all at this point that is required of us. Speak the truth about issues of justice in a world that has gone haywire because of the absence of justice. A world that's standing at the precipice/abyss and we can't say… Allah has given us a trust and the facts/truth and we say "we can't say it. Now is not the time to say it?" You have to be diplomatic/philosophise/ spend all of your effort in the mental realm meanwhile those who are killed/suffer/going under/ bleed/sweat/shed tears, (all of these are in the hundreds of millions/billions of people in the world), and we can't speak the truth about this?! What has happened? We have Masajid all around the world that keep us in a state of almost perpetual fear. One of the requirements for an Imam should be when he ascends the Mimbar is his capability/capacity/willingness/devotion to speaking truth to power. What's wrong with that? What law in the world says we can't express the truth about the abuse of power? Where? Show it to us? Ask these Muslims who are gripped/frozen by fear to produce for you an ayah/hadith that would substantiate their behaviour/deadly silence. There is none. We fear so much (that) we can't even identify a Dictator/Despot/oppressor/Tyrant! These words have gone out of our vocabulary. We don't use them anymore and if we do use the generic term Dictator/Tyrant etc. – well, can't we break it down? Does the Dictator/Tyrant have a name/ Government/economic-military-political system? Muslims say "now we can't say these things?!" Why? Who told you "you can't say these things?" You are required to say these things and because you're not saying them we have been visited with the tragedies/catastrophes that we have. This khutbah was presented by Imam Mohammad Al Asi on the occasion of Jum'ah on 31 December 2011 on the sidewalk of |
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