Bismillah Ar-Rahmaan Ar-Raheem. Alhumdulillah. Peace and blessings on Muhammad (sallalahu alaihi wa sallam), his Noble Companions and Family. Brothers and sisters, Ayyuha Al Mu'minun … Audio on http://www.islamiccenterdc.com/apps/podcast/podcast/99094 (06-03-2011) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ufgwBF2ie8 CRISIS OF CONFIDENCE PART 2 One of the absent components in the way we think and feel today is that you rarely come across Muslims who are balanced/have a depth of experience and at the same time have a range of ambition. It is very rare that you will find Islamic characters/personnel/persons who are confident enough- meaning that Allah and His Prophet have saturated their minds/conscience to such a degree that they carry with them enough experience and that they are so composed that they don't react to the triggers, (there's so many of them around), that are so prevalent and at the same time they carry within them the ambition/confidence to say "they are working for victory." This last sentence "they are working for victory" is something Muslims have to concentrate on, not in a reactionary sense/fanatical way/reckless attitude and definitely not with an absence of thinking. There are quite a number of ayaat in Allah's guiding scripture, Al Qur'an that brings these elements together. Allah says in Surah Muhammad ayah number 7 … if you offer victory to Allah … (Surah Muhammad verse 7) Meaning that if you in your majority are thinking about/working towards/struggling for this victory… … then Allah is going to give you this victory that you are so anxious for and in addition to that He will stabilise your positions… (Surah Muhammad verse 7) You're not going to be slipping side-ways/zig-zagging this way or the other- you're going to be going straight to victory. In another ayah in Surah Al Baqarah, ayah number 7 Allah says … take note – Allah's victory/triumph is near. (Surah Al Baqarah verse 214) It's not a dream/pipe-dream/thousands of miles away/thousands of years away! It is close by, but you can only express these meanings to people who are in the company of Allah. When these meanings are not the attitude/internal thoughts/behaviour of today's average/daily Muslim, then you know there is some gap between these Muslims and Allah. In another ayah in Surah Al Anfal, ayah number 7 … and Allah wants to validate al haqq with His words and He wants to cut Al Kaafireen even from retreat positions. (Surah Al Anfal verse 7) Allah also says in Surah Al Ghaafir … Certainly We will support and give victory to Our Apostles and the Committed Muslims in this world and on the day when witnesses come forth, (meaning) on the Day of Accountability… (Surah Al Ghaafir verse 51) Allah also says in ayah number 47 of Surah Ar Rum in reference to Himself … it is due upon Us to grant support/victory to Committed Muslims … (Surah Al Rum verse 47) And then Surah As Saff ayah number 13 Allah says … and there's another thing that you like … (Surah As Saff verse 47) You see, it's in our nature. Of course there are ayaat before this which speaks about Jihad/struggle/ sacrifices that take place which we should be concentrating on, but after we concentrate on/do what has to be done, then there comes along something that is dear to us… Allah also says in ayah number 47 of Surah Ar Rum in reference to Himself … and there's another thing that is dear to you- triumph from Allah and an eminent break-through. (Surah As Saff verse 47) This is in the context of speaking about Jihad/combat duties. Obviously we can't exhaust al the ayaat in the Qur'an that speak about this ambition, and before that, this confidence that should be located in the heart/ mind of every Muslim. Take a look at the Muslims you know- ask yourself "who carries that type of ambition/certitude that Allah's nasr is pending/going to happen/is just around the corner, (as it were)?" There's another ayah in Surah Al Qamr. You see, one of the obstacles in the contemporary psychology of Muslims is "wait a minute- we don't have the numbers that are required to have this victory that is mentioned in the Qur'an materialise. We need the numbers!" Allah who created our human nature/the numbers/society/the internal/intervening thoughts that we have says When this aggregate that we all think we need shows itself, it's going to be defeated … (Surah Al Qamr verse 45) In the presence of committed Muslims, defeat is what belongs to the other side. … and they are going to be in retreat. (Surah Al Qamr verse 45) Now, we know (that) some of you do not have a very close feeling for the expressions of the Qur'an. It just happens to be that we can help you in that regard. Even though this may be street language/pedestrian talk, but we want you to feel the intensity of the ayah. (This ayah) is like saying … and not only are they going to be in retreat, but also they are going to be in butt retreat. (Surah Al Qamr verse 45) Another ayah in Surah Al Anfal, ayah number 19 says … your camp is not going to do you any worth even if its numbers increase, rather surely Allah is with the Committed Muslims. (Surah Al Anfal verse 19) This is what counts. But this in today's make-up of the way Muslims are conditioned doesn't factor/figure in. Then, there's the well know ayah in Surah At Tawbah … and on the day of Hunayn... (Surah At Tawbah verse 25) (In) that encounter between the Committed Muslims and the Prophet with them and the Mushriks on the other side when now the Muslims had numbers on their side … you were impressed by your numbers/felt proud that you have an army that overwhelms the counter army but in the presence of Allah these numbers were of no value ... (Surah At Tawbah verse 25) Because as the battle of Hunayn went on, the Muslims began to feel like they were being defeated. So when people think that they need the numbers/majority to be on their side, this is not the Islamic mind/psychology at work. The Islamic mind/psychology knows that Allah is on their side. Now, if we take a look at Qur'anic history, there may have been some exceptions to this when truly individuals are limited/overwhelmed and there is no way that they can break out of the circumstances that they are locked into. This is the exception; it's not the norm. One of the exceptions in Qur'anic history is Ahl/As'haab Al Kahf. A few individuals in a society who were out to try to set things straight. What's at work here? We come back to numbers - there were a few individuals who took issue with their own society. Their own society was so iron-clad against them that they had no opportunities/hope of changing this society so they took a step out of it and Allah's will took its course after that. That particular society was not defeated- we're speaking about victory and defeat. In this particular instance that society was not defeated. Those few young individuals/youth who stepped out went to a mountain outside the confines of that society to rest/take a break from the pressures/ antagonisms/confrontations with their own society and then they woke up in a new society. They woke up triumphant. They didn't lose. They were not defeated. (It is) true that the society that they initially were in was not defeated by they themselves were not defeated. Then there may be the issue of stages/phases. The Muslims who were in Makkah in those first three years in what we call today "underground activity." (In) those first three years the Muslims were not looking for victory/pronouncing these ayaat because these ayaat were still not revealed because they were still in the formative stages; but then that lapsed/went by and they went to their new phase where they gained/grew and eventually they became the Islamic change that we still celebrate even though in theory- not many of us know what it means in practise. Then you have some isolated conditions in the human geography in which Muslims may feel this type of constraint/pressure. Probably the closest example of this are those Muslims who lived/still live in Totalitarian systems. The Communist systems were part of those Totalitarian systems in which they couldn't even breathe without permission. Of course, this is a form of speech, but that's how some conditions that are exceptions to the rule. The rule is we think/work for this eventual triumph and we are sure in ourselves that it is coming. Which takes us to one of the common ayahs that almost every Muslim is familiar with- masha'Allah, Muslims are familiar with the verbal ayah but they are never familiar with the moving ayah. This has to do with Al Amr bi Al Ma'ruf and An Nahi an Al Munkar. How many times have we heard these catch words. All of us are familiar with this; (it's) nothing new to you, but what we are not familiar with is the dynamic of this ayah. The dynamic of this ayah is just like we breathe- you inhale/ exhale, they go together. Al Ma'ruf and Al Munkar are just like your breathing- you can't do one without doing the other. We have – masha'Allah- Muslims who want to inhale and never exhale! They want to always speak about the Ma'ruf but where's the Munkar? You can't construct the Ma'ruf without deconstructing the Munkar. It should be a mantra for those who take in breath/oxygen/Ma'ruf and exhale breath/CO2 Carbon di Oxide/Munkar. You construct the Ma'ruf at the same time that we deconstruct the Munkar. Then when you listen to today's speakers/speeches they keep on talking about doing something in the course of the Ma'ruf but they withhold speaking about doing something to bring down the Munkar. You can't do that! You're not breathing/making sense! Al Amr bi Al Ma'ruf and An Nahi an Al Munkar. Which takes us eventually to an area where we have infant Muslim minds… Muslim thoughts in this area are still in their infancy. They can't even walk yet. They're still crawling in this area. This has to do with the legitimacy of the Rulers that we have. No one speaks about this. As long as this is a taboo subject we're going to have these illegitimate rulers doing what they do best. (Don't you) see? They send their militaries to kill Muslims. They unleash their security forces to arrest Muslims. They build prisons/detention centres to incarcerate Muslims and in the meanwhile the rest of us can't even speak about whether these Rulers are/are not legitimate. As a seed that we will toss into your thinking mind and hopefully it will grow as the months/years go by. As a matter of ABC/elementary facts, Muslims are required to have a ruler so-much-so that if they live without a ruler for three days then all of them bear the sin/crime of extending a society without a ruler beyond three days. Everyone! Such was the case that the second Successor to Allah's Prophet said if the Shura that was chosen does not agree on a Ruler in three days then decapitate all that Shura. So if we know that we need a ruler, ask any Muslim that you are familiar with and you have the freedom/comfort to ask this question- "who's your ruler?" Is it the man in the White House/the King in Muslims know Ash Shahadah/An Nasr. There's no third to these two and both of them are privileges/honours from the Almighty. Brothers and sisters on As Siraat Al Mustaqeem … Gage how behind times many of the Muslims are. One of the reasons we are out here in the streets is because we are not shy/apologetic/fearful of saying the truth. It's been twenty-one years since the Muslims suffered the loss of a leader that comes from them and was concerned with them and in addition to them was concerned with the powerless people of the world. We speak in the language of the Qur'an and the Prophet. Even though there has been a victory in our lifetime, many Muslims are either handicapped/ inferior/misinformed to the extent that they can't identify a victory when they see one. What's wrong with the Muslims? What has happened to these Muslims in the world? On second thought- the Muslim speech/literature has been polluted with sectarians/Nationalists who have a problem. "How can it be that Muslims and an Islamic leadership in … Allah knows very well/better than anyone else where He is going to place the trust of His Message ... (Surah Al An'aam verse 124) This wasn't a cheap one. It cost millions of lives and it is still the number one reason for the military interferences/occupations/presence in our part of the world. Not many people want to say this, but it is the truth. What's wrong with you? You want to run away from the truth? Muslims have an Imam. This is not someone who is hiding behind the closed door of party meetings. We relay to you an experience- hopefully it will contribute to the improvement of our condition. More than three decades ago at the initial start of this Islamic leadership and the movement of this Imam, (who now has been absent from worldly life for twenty-two years), there had been an exchange of ideas/words between this humble speaker and one of the leaders/ influential person, (who used to live in this area, originally from Egypt), of the Islamic Movement from the Sunni world, Al Ikhwaan Al Muslimeen. This humble speaker expressed to this brother- who was in prison/ tortured/went through hell on Earth and then became attached in many different ways to the financial kingdoms of Arabia- "the Muslims have an Imam in our time and that Imam is Al Imam Al Khomeini and the Muslims have now the beginning of an Islamic State and that is the one that is taking root in Iran." He said "No. Muslims do have an Imam and an Islamic country…" This humble speaker said "Oh yes?! Who? Where?" He wouldn't say. How can this be? How can you have an Imam and an Islamic State and you can't say who/what it is?! We hope that in the past thirty years this brother/his brothers/these types of Muslims have matured to see that there is an Islamic leadership/Imam/State of affairs taking shape. How long does it take? But this is where we are. We're not speaking about someone who doesn't know Islam. These people/types know their Islam but knowing it is one thing and maturing because of it is something else. This khutbah was presented by Imam Muhammad Al Asi on the occasion of Jum'ah on 03 June 2010 on the sidewalk of Embassy Row in |
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