| THE STREET MIMBAR JUM'AH KHUTBAH (26 August 2011) 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. Sisters and brothers… Assalaamualaykum wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakaatuh Audio on http://www.islamiccenterdc.com (02-02-2002) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tzbiBwCaHfU AL QUDS DAY : PALESTINE : AN ISLAMIC APPROACH PART 1 We are here this afternoon to take a look at probably the most remarkable person in our lifetime. Of course, we don't know what the future has to uncover; the knowledge of the future is in the domain of Allah and not in our limited human earthly existence; but from all we know up until this moment, we can say quite comfortably that the late Imam Khomeini- this personality and hindsight is always twenty-twenty as they say- and we take a look at him now with the years that have passed and the more we do so, the more we can appreciate the magnitude and the substance with which he presented to not only those who admire him, but it went beyond that to those who don't even know much about him. Obviously there are many ways to approach this unique figure that Allah has blessed us with- a part of that you have just listened to. A person, a Canadian, went there in the early years of the Islamic Revolution and he described to us quite poetically and with some excellent details when he met the Imam. We want to concentrate though on an area that we think is very very important and it is relevant to the, (maybe we can call this), absence of his presence in making decisions today. This has to do with the Muslim psychology itself. The Muslim psychology, (we're talking about the general Muslim psychology), has a tendency to avoid what may be the most determinant factor that will define our common future and for that matter the future of humanity- this psychological reality or fact that we are referring to, and this is an area that the Imam demonstrated for us how when we are presented with the type of circumstances, (that we're going to be speaking about), how we should behave ort interact with these conditions. We don't think that anyone who has common sense will deny the fact that Muslims have enemies. The problem is in how we behave with the enemies we have; another problem is in trying to define these enemies. This is a problem that we have but the Imam did not have and this is what distinguishes him from us. Let us come down with something like a theological or a Qur'anic approach to this… No two Muslims are going to argue that we, the Muslims, have enemies. In theory we're not going to argue that, except for a few who are lost and are intoxicating themselves with a peacefulness that doesn't exist- a peacefulness that everyone wants but that in practical life is not there. Allah says to us in the Qur'an Indeed Ash Shaytaan has been or is your enemy therefore designate him/identify him/behave towards him as if he is your enemy. (Surah Al Fatir verse 6) But in the mythological make up of the common Muslim mind, sometimes Shaytaan is something abstract; it doesn't seem to be a practical concept for which we can factor in the daily animosities and the daily hostilities and the daily belligerencies that characterize the condition of current day Muslims- you condition and my condition. It doesn't matter which part of the world we come from, these hostilities and belligerencies are expressed galore! There's all types of them. They range from a poisonous word and they go all the way to poisonous nuclear warheads that are being aimed towards Muslim populations. There's plenty of that but there's a lack of identifying it. Some of this is attributed to a hefty proportion of ignorance that has settled into the way that we interpret the real world around; which is not a problem when we speak about Imam Khomeini. So we're speaking here about some type of qualitative difference between our common or our public or our run-of-the-mill interpretation, assimilation, understanding, application of the meanings of the Qur'an with the real world around us. The fact of the matter is (that) as much as today in a relative recession of the quality leadership that the Imam presented us with, there are individuals who run around now or make their rounds, (to be more polite about it), in different Conferences around the world everywhere that want to indirectly convince us that we really don't have any enemies and that we should seek a peaceful approach to the problems that we may encounter in life, whether it's a local problem or whether it is an international problem. We should become, (as one person said), "the Muslims lack Martin Luther Kings and Gandhis." So what we really need, (they're not very blunt about it because this is communicated in so many different ways but the end message is that we are suffering because we don't have a Gandhi and we don't have a Martin Luther King; and the retort to that is that we are suffering because all of us are Gandhis and all of us are Martin Luther Kings. We don't have the equivalents, (and if we do they are very rare and they are exceptional), of Al Imam Al Khomeini who was not a Gandhi and who was not a Martin Luther King. We also have this fuzzy way of avoiding the issue of enemies, hostile forces by thinking about it strictly in historical terms. The ayah in the Qur'an says … descend therefore from Heaven, some of you are enemies of others … (Surah Al Baqarah verse 36) The conventional mind tends to look at this in a historical lapse or with a historical distance. It cannot re-invigorate these meanings as if they are the human act as it is played out in the real world today with the hostilities between different segments of the human population. Let us say that Muslims don't go around looking for enemies. Imam Khomeini was not going around looking for enemies. The Prophets themselves did not go around looking for enemies. The way things happen if you are on a course to Allah, As Siraat Al Mustaqeem- this As Siraat Al Mustaqeem that we always repeat daily- the way life functions, the way they react is they present themselves to us as enemies. We are not excused to say/bury our heads beneath the sand and say "no, we don't have any enemies." … Allah is the enemy of the Kaafirs. (Surah Al Baqarah verse 98) These words are built in to our belief system, to our thoughts. … Allah is an enemy of the Kaafirs. (Surah Al Baqarah verse 98) If we understand these basics, we can certainly understand Al Imam Al Khomeini much more than a person who was just involved in the Administration and the affairs of State. We can see the direction that he was moving in and we can see how he identified those who expressed their hostility to the determination to see to it that Islam was the order of the day. The Islamic Revolution took place in Iran; the Muslims from Iran didn't go from Iran picking on people from different parts of the world. What happened? When the Islamic power base was established in Iran, what happened after that? War broke out. How can anyone come to anyone in their right mind and in their right senses and say "once a bloc of people are determined to have an Islamic codification for their life that they're going to be left alone?!" If someone is thinking like that, it's more like daydreaming; it's not like facing the facts and the realities. This should be- for many of us who cannot relate to issues that happened many many centuries ago- a prime and a fresh example that has happened in our lifetime. Through a simple process, a population- the Muslims in Iran- decided to have an Islamic State. What's wrong with that? Why should anyone express their hostility to this Islamic State? They did it. Let's skip the details of why and look at the results. They did it and it was a war that continued for eight long years that drained the budgets, the potentials, the manpower of all who were involved. It wasn't only a war between Iraq and Iran as it is presented to be. This was a war by the status quo powers that be against this new breakthrough in that whole region. Never before has there been a power base and now, for the first time in contemporary history there is an Islamic power base in the area. Who was antagonized by this the most? These were people who were tending to their own affairs. The Muslims in Iran were not in Iraq, they were not in Saudi Arabia, they were not in Lebanon, they were not in Turkey. They were in their own homes in their own country. This effort was lead by Al Imam Al Khomeini and when hostility was expressed what did he do? Did he say "look, this should be solved diplomatically. We should define a political solution to this hostility and war of aggression" in which the egged on the Iraqi Government occupied a good chunk of territory of what's supposed to be a sovereign State even by the norms and standards of International Law. This is a sovereign State. You just can't go in there and occupy the land just because people decided in their own internal affairs to have a change of Government. You can't do something like that, but the international system, the international political order ganged up on the leadership of the Imam and the power base of Islam and launched this war of aggression. Now what would happen? What would have been done? Let's say we didn't have this experience behind us, let's say something like this just happened today. Al Imam Al Khomeini is not around; let's assume for just a moment he was not there and some Muslims somewhere else- take Egypt, take Turkey, take your choice of places in the world- decided to go Islamic and the powers that be- the superpowers, the hyper powers- understood what that means. So they instigated some of their cronies in the area to launch a war of aggression against this power base wherever they wanted it to be. What would be the response? How do you respond to something like this? (Do) you respond to them by quoting ayaat from the Qur'an and wishing the occupation away? Or you respond to it by going to the international forums- the United Nations, to the Security Council, to NATO, to the superpowers and you plead for understanding? Is that the Islamic response to hostility? For people who are disconnected from Allah, disconnected from his Prophet- they may choose something like that and they'll argue for it and they may come up with fancy words to defend their positions but it has no basis in the Qur'an and it has no basis in the precedent of the Prophet. What made the leadership of Al Imam Al Khomeini unique is that it was forcefully embedded in the depths of the understanding of the Qur'an and the Prophet. Why do we say this? Allah in the ayaat in the Qur'an says And those who suffer the consequences of aggression opt for triumph, for counter force to achieve this triumph. (Surah Ash Shura verse 39) And Allah says And to counter affect a sayyi'ah you instigate a counter sayyi'ah ... (Surah Ash Shura verse 40) War is a sayyi'ah; aggression is a sayyi'ah and to annul it, you get involved in it. And he says And if you mete out punishment, you do it in the quality and quantity of the punishment that comes your way … (Surah An Nahl verse 126) If war is imposed on you then you launch a counter war to equalize it. And there are other ayaat in the Qur'an that leave no choice for us to try to contrive political arguments to cover our weakness. Al Imam Al Khomeini did not have this psychological weakness; but this is what some of the other individuals who are around who are making decisions or trying to make decisions in other lands, in other areas especially as it pertains to the Palestinian problem that we all have that threads together not only a contemporary war of hostility against the Muslims but it brings with it all the weight to bare against us. Allah says O you who are securely committed to Allah: don't have my enemy and your enemy as a source of allegiance, alliance or authority … (Surah Al Mumtahanah verse 1) We don't have this quality of leaders who are making decisions for all the Muslims in today's world. You can't say that this psychological healthy understanding of what Allah is saying and what men are doing who can come out with confidence and say that aggression and warfare has to be dealt with by counter aggression and counter warfare. Is there an issue that all Muslims agree upon more than, (what is called), the Palestinian-Israeli issue? Have you ever encountered any serious disputes among Muslims as to whether the Israeli Nation-state is an enemy of the Muslims. We think it is almost a universal given, a universal common agreement among all Muslims that the Israeli. Zionist Nation-state is the number one enemy of all the Muslims in the world. There shouldn't be anyone surprised by this. You will find those who express the utmost hostility and belligerency to those who are committed to Allah to be Al Yahud and Alladhina Ashraku … (Surah Al Maa'idah verse 82) Israel is an interpretation (of this). The Israeli Nation-state with criminals as leaders is expressing this hostility that no one should disagree about; but even though we all agree on this issue how do we deal with it? How do you deal with an enemy? We've seen some attempts. Remember Sadat? Some of you are old enough to recall the chapters of how he capitulated to the Zionist occupation and theft of the Holy Land. Did it work? We don't have to recreate the needle all over again! We've seen- all of us have seen- what has happened to the policies of the Egyptian Government. Where have they gone? Has the Egyptian people experienced a betterment in their living? Have they gone down the right track? What has come of those who are supportive of the Egyptian Government in its surrender to the Israeli Nation-state such as the Saudi Arabian Government bankrolling these policies? More humiliation! More occupation! More attacks on innocent people. Now, the most likely turn of events- the Israelis now are planning, (we don't think it is a wild guess any longer, as it may have been eight of nine years ago when we began saying these words), the Israeli Government is trying right now to dislocate a whole population. It wants to move en masse the Palestinians from the occupied territories East of the Jordan River. They can go wherever they want to go as long as they leave into Jordan or Iraq or wherever. They can do that as long as, according to Israeli and American Official policies, they are no longer wanted in the West Bank and in Ghazzah. Before we look at the past years, let us quote for you some of what Al Imam Al Khomeini said many years ago. Someone asked him "amongst your demands is the annihilation of the state of Israel. If this leads to Israel's destruction and victory for the Palestinians, what will be the fate of the Jews?" That was a question that someone came and asked the late Imam. And he said "the issue of the Jews is quite separate from that of the Zionists. If the Muslims are victorious over the Zionists, the latter will meet the same fate as the deposed Shah. However, the Muslims will do nothing to the Jews for they are a nation like other nations and they will carry on with their lives and they will not suffer dispossession." What the Imam is speaking about here is… We are always side-tracked, we meaning the Muslims or the Arabs or the Palestinians- into the way the Israelis present the annihilation of the State of Israel. They go on to say "look- the Muslims want to dump the Jews into the sea" or "the Muslims want to destroy the Jewish State." Number one- we don't think any responsible Muslim has said "we are going to dump the Jews into the sea." Any time this is brought to your attention, defy anyone who is bringing that to present proof of what they are saying. Number two- Muslims don't want to destroy a Jewish State because Israel is not a Jewish State. Israel is a Zionist State and Muslims want to dismantle and deconstruct and terminate an Israeli-Zionist-Racist-Apartheid enclave in the Holy Land. This appears clear from the statements Imam Khomeini gave- all of them pertaining to the malignant Israeli Nation-state that has been enforced on the peoples in that part of the world. But how do we do this if we encounter a general Muslim psychology that is not prepared to identify an enemy and then take corrective measures against that enemy which will mean warfare and combatant duties? How do you do something like that? (Do) we begin to educate the Muslims- are we going to liberate Palestine by giving out PHDs on the issue of how Palestine was stolen from its rightful occupants? Is this the way to liberating Palestine? Or is the way to liberating Palestine begging the United Nations for Resolutions? The United Nations has issued scores of Resolutions and condemnations of the Israeli State telling it "it has to withdraw to the borders of 1967" or "it has to withdraw from the Occupied areas of Southern Lebanon" or it has to do this-that-or-the-other and it hasn't done any of that! The Israeli Nation-state junked all of these Resolutions; threw them in file number thirteen- the trash can! Let us take the Egyptian Government and its sponsorship of the Palestinian Authority. Every time Mr. Arafat wanted to embark on a particular policy in the West Bank and Ghazzah he'd go to Cairo and consult with the Egyptian President or the Egyptian Government. They more-or-less micro manage- on behalf of the Americans and Israelis- the Palestinian Authority. Where did that get them? Virtually no where! Actually it caused them to loose ground. They went from having a moral high ground to having virtually no ground at all in this issue! Now juxtaposed that with the Islamic leadership in Iran and how its relationship with the Islamic Resistance in Lebanon which identified this area of a pronounced belligerency and warfare by the Zionists against the occupants of Southern Lebanon. How did they deal with this? Did the Chairman of Hizbullah shuttle all around the area and all around the world asking for understanding the Palestinian issue? No! What they did was they consolidated their rank and file; they identified and designated the enemy and then they countered enemy aggression with force. What happened? For the first time since 1848 the Israeli offensive forces were defeated in Southern Lebanon and had to retreat- humiliated- from territories that they wanted to hold on to, calling it their security zone. There's a difference here if we wanted to take a look at these two parallel policies throughout the years- the relationship between the Islamic Resistance in Lebanon and the Islamic State in Iran and the relationship between the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank and Ghazzah and the Egyptian, (what do you want to call it? If we use the appropriate word some people say "well you loaded your terminology."), client Regime. What happened? No results; not to speak of counter/opposite results. The Imam spoke about the Palestinian issue early, way before the Islamic Revolution in 1978 and 1979. Let us quote for you a statement that he made back on February 6, 1971. This was a message that he sent to the pilgrims in Makkah. In 1971 he sent a message to the pilgrims in Makkah- in it he said "unite and cooperate for the sake of independence and the elimination of the cancer of Imperialism. Listen to the people of each Muslim land explain their problems and then neglect no measure necessary for the solution of these problems. Consider the poor and needy in the Islamic lands. Turn your attention to the liberation of the Islamic land of Palestine from the grasp of Zionism- the enemy of Islam and humanity. Do not hesitate to assist and cooperate with those heroic men who are struggling to liberate Palestine" Of course, this is only one paragraph of a long message that was sent and read to the hujjaj/pilgrims in Makkah. The result of that was? What happened? In 1971! We're not talking about an Islamic Revolution that rattled the brains of reactionaries. There was no Islamic Revolution around. What happened? Just because a few volunteers of the Imam, (who at the time we think was in Najaf,) who read this message in Makkah, they were taken and iron-clads or iron-chains or iron (whatever you want to call them), was put around their feet and they stayed in detention (for) months or a couple of years, (we don't know; can't remember the duration time at this moment, but it was an extended time of period). It took the interference at the time of the Saudi Ambassador in Tehran to speak to his Government to release these people. Now what do we have? We have some politicians from the same land of the Haramayn who are willing to recognize this tragedy of history that occupies the Holy Land?! The proposals that were made a couple of years ago are not new; they were made in 1982 at the Fez Conference in Morocco by the same ailing person right now who is passing away and can no longer rule the Kingdom. It's nothing new. This is what makes men great! This is the difference between Al Imam Al Khomeini and the nit-wits that go around and try to surrender to Allah's enemies; because in themselves they never imagined or took a moment to pause- "do we really have enemies?" They don't want to deal with that. Psychologically they run away from it so if on that level they're not dealing with it, obviously their policies and their statements and their actions and their diplomatic behavior and all of this is going to reflect it. This is what we have in the true world. They say "what's going to happen? They're going to attack us?!" We're being attacked! "They're going to drop bombs on us?!" They're already dropping bombs on us! "They're going to render us refugees?!" They're already rendering us refugees! You know- when the Iraqis were attacking with missiles and threatening they're going to do this-that-and-the-other the Imam was calm. "What's all of this about! Why is everyone getting nervous?" This is the feeling you get when you are at a close distance to Allah. There's nothing to be tense about. What is it? The worst thing in this world that could happen if you are fighting and defending your rights is we're going to die. So what? We go on to a better life. What's the nervousness and the tension and all of this about? Why are people afraid? Which, (we think), leads us to what we would say the stand-off in history. We are fortunate enough, (we think), to be living at a time when history is at a moment in which its forces now are confronting each other. What do we mean by this? There is an inter-change of role between Muslims and Jews, (and we use the words Muslims and Jews here not in the very technical sense; we just use it in a very general sense) because the position that we, (meaning the Muslims), are in today is not new. Other peoples at other times in other societies deep down in the chapters of history were where we are today. What characterizes our predicament today is that we feel that we are powerless. This is the main trait that runs through our minds and our psyches. We feel and we think that we are powerless. Of course, there are some exceptions to this rule, but let's jump beyond the exceptions and let's look at the totality of this affair. This is the same way that the Israelis or the Jews felt at one time in their history. They've been here, where we are. They experienced the same thing. And pertaining to what? Pertaining to the Holy Land. Musa (alayhi as salaam) told them at one time. This ayah goes something like this. Enter the Holy Land that Allah has designated for you and don't retreat in making that thrust into the Holy Land because if you do, you'll end up winding up losing. (Surah Al Maa'idah verse 21) Ok- this is what Musa is telling them to do, but what are the facts on the ground? These Israelis that were in the position that we are in today- feeling powerless, feeling hopeless- said … but indeed, in that land there is something like a superpower, an ominous people … (Surah Al Maa'idah verse 22) Now, if this statement doesn't describe the way many of us think, we don't know what does?! Because now, if you come to the average Muslim and you tell him "look- this is what we have to do. We know we don't have F16s, we know we don't have nuclear weapons, we know we don't have these satellites…" You know- the Israelis put these OFEQ satellites above the region in the Middle East, OFEQ 1 and OFEQ 2- ufuq, it means horizon; so they have these satellites up there on the horizon. "e just don't compare to the military might and power and base that this regional superpower has. So what we're going to do? We can't fight against them!" that's what they'll tell you, "we can't fight against them. We don't stand a chance." Now this was said before when people- who were also recipients of scripture and revelation just like all of us- were put into this position before us. We say "we have the Qur'an and the Prophet and we really have guidance and we know what it's all about…" They had the same thing but when they were put in this particular position then they showed their true colors. None of that- all the scripture, all the prayers, all the namaaz, all the fasting, all the voluntary good things that they were doing all around- vouched for them. When it came time to prove themselves, meaning to fight, to realize that this is God's given responsibility and you have to dislodge these people who are erroneous and don't belong there and then you look at the balance of power and then you realize "hey wait a minute- if we do something like this, it's going to be a suicidal war." Now, if we were to have said suicide last year or a couple of years ago, it wouldn't have had the same connotations that it had today because now they're scaring us- "look- the last option, the last thing these Muslims are doing is they're going on suicide missions"; and this is the crux of the matter. This is where we have come to face our historical self because, (and this is where some of us lose sight), because the previous experience that happened when the Israelis said "we're not going to go in there" was our historical failure because there's no delineation between the followers of Prophets and the history of scripture that we inherited. All of this comes together. So, it's enough that there was a failure at that time, there shouldn't be a failure at this time. But the Israelis in Jewish history broke away from that failure and they began to work on accumulating as much power as they can to make a comeback to the Holy Land, which they did. They successfully, albeit temporarily, made a triumphant military comeback and occupied the land what they could not take from what they perceived at the time as a suicidal military attack against that superpower. They took another route and they're back and in the process they've placed us where they were. We hope we didn't lose anyone here? So what are we going to say "wait a minute- these are suicide missions, suicide operations." Are we going to act like those Israelis did many hundreds, maybe thousands of years ago and do the same thing? Or are we going to prove that we are capable of delivering when Allah expects us to do so? This is the challenge that Al Imam saw and this is what he was pointing to and this is what he expected us to do. Some of us have remained loyal to the Imam and are carrying that struggle until its bitter end. This is what Hizbullah, this is what the Islamic Resistance and on the way HAMAS and Islamic Jihad and the rest of the Muslims are going to find themselves responsible for. This is the only way. This is the way we prove our medal. We have to take this responsibility; not dodge it with diplomacy, not try to create excuses of running away from it- it doesn't work that way! Because if we do that then we exclude ourselves, we discredit ourselves. And if we go that far, Allah says And if you retreat Allah will replace you with a people who will not duplicate this type of behavior that you have shown … (Surah Muhammad verse 38) Why do you think that the Israelis are squirming and trying their utmost best with everything they have to put an end to this Islamic reinvigoration that was launched by the late Imam. There are people who are still true and faithful to this direction of the Imam and you will know them by this context that we are talking about; and for all of those who Nationalistic or sectarian or whatever they are deep down inside, all of this will surface, all of this will come to the fore and those who are on this line, in this direction will prove themselves. Give them time and they will show us that Allah will grant victory. Where do we expect (this victory to come from)? We're talking about a few people, several hundred Hizbullahis in Lebanon, get victory from? (Did) they have some kind of line or weapons that was coming to them from some superpower somewhere? Did they rely on military technology? None of that! They went ahead, they assumed their responsibilities and countered the enemy- first they identified the enemy, they designated the enemy as the enemy and then they communicated with the enemy in the language that the enemy understands and that is why they are where they are today- successful! They didn't go all of these other routes because they lead no where. That's why this concept of ash shahadah or martyrdom was not lost in the throes and in the gestation of history. It was maintained especially by types of Muslims that come from the land of the Imam who know what this meaning of shahada is and this terrifies the Israelis. "Oh no no no- why can't you become like everyone else?!" Some have fallen along the way. We've seen in the course of the past twenty years- Imam has been gone for what, thirteen years?- some people who are beginning to show some type of fatigue; as if it is ideological inertia by some individuals here and there or even segments of people here and there. That's what they have been all along. This doesn't require that. This requires a confidence in the line of the Imam which he defined and set. All problems may be solved, but this problem is not going to be solved by any other means except for the Muslims… (We think), in one statement the Imam said "if only every Muslim took a bucket of water and through it on Palestine, the problem would be washed away!" Why this inertia? Why? We can't understand where this comes from?! Some Diplomats wanted to get involved in diplomatic flurries here-and-there and do some things and convince themselves- it's OK, they can try that. They've been trying it for years but parallel to that, there were others who took the line that "look, this Israeli problem…" And this may have unexpected benefits. You saw, we all saw- when the war was imposed on the Islamic State in Iran by its neighboring country and supported by the political system in the area and the international system for that matter- how Muslims were polarized. Some Muslims were saying "this is not the right way to go. You should reach an accommodation. Put an end to this war. Look- the Iraqis are willing to sue for peace. Let's terminate this." Etc. etc. etc. We all lived through that. OK- because we're all Muslims and justice seeking people around the world- you don't need to be a Muslim to see the validity of what is called "the Palestinian issue" - if we concentrate on the liberation of Palestine, because the Israeli Government belongs to the political system in the area, when pressure is placed on it, the other weaker Governments are going to give in. We may not intend that; our thrust is against the Israeli occupation and usurpation of the Holy Land but in that thrust the lesser ones may begin to cave in. And let it happen! So what? If this is Allah's will, we welcome these types of positive developments along this type of direction. But without that, changes are hard to come by. You can see some people ask "why is the Americans- the American Government and the American military- and all of this in Afghanistan at this time?" This is a long question that has a long answer but to sum up the reason for it being in that area is to set back Islamic self-determination for many years to come. They want to rid Muslims of nuclear weapons, they want to steal Muslim resources in Central Asia and then they want to surround the Islamic power base in Iran and the latter- surrounding the Islamic State in Iran is their number one priority because they know the potential and that's why they're saying "they're trying to put pressure on the Islamic Resistance in Iran through round-about ways, through channels in Tehran to tell them to cool their heels. Don't persist in this resistance." We think the Imam could foresee that if Muslims are not as determined in the military sense of the word to take on the cancerous Israeli presence in the Middle East, then we may have a repeat of… Remember after Would War 1, the European powers, the French and British went into that same part of the world, Palestine, Lebanon, Syria and Iraq and one of these French Generals went up to the grave or mausoleum of Salahaddin who had liberated Palestine nine-hundred years ago and he kicked that grave and he said "it is now that the Crusades have come to an end. It is now that the Crusades have come to an end." Why? Obviously, when you have ideas that jihad is not a basic component of Islam, ash shahadah is not a central feature, martyrdom is not a central feature of Islam, al qital is not a concept in Islam- when you have this type of demilitarization of the Muslims, this is what happens. Al Imam stood for the militarization of the Muslims at a time when it is needed more than any other time. This is the time when we have to think about carrying arms. No one's going to blame us; we mean- look, military bases in the world are in our lands; international, multi-National and trans-National corporations are stealing our resources; we don't have free and fair elections throughout Asia and Africa; so why can't we have self-determination? Tell this to anyone with common sense in their head and they'll tell you "yeah- you Muslims have that right. Go ahead and have self-determination;" especially when we deal with this Israeli menace that is unidentifiable. How do you define this Israel? It keeps on changing its borders! Israel in the late '40s is not Israel in the late '60s in not Israel in the beginning of the 80's is not Israel today! It keeps on fluctuating itself. An Israel that doesn't have a Constitution; an Israel that doesn't have permanent citizenry! Since the outbreak of the intifadha- what was it, nineteen months ago? Twenty months? Since the outbreak of that intifadha it is estimated about one-and-a-half-million of these Israelis left Israel. That is one-third of the so-called "Jewish population" that make up the manpower of the Israeli Nation-state that left the country altogether. Where have we heard of something like this? A state at war and one-third of its population leaves?! Can you bring us one example in history when something like that occurs! Its finances are going down; its tourism industry that brings in $2 billion a year hasn't brought anything in the past year to speak about. Banks now are reflecting losses, liabilities and they had to instigate a new economic program that caused one of the major religious parties to threaten to leave the Knesset and it left and it came back a couple of days later- begging to re-enter. Can we say that they're not in turmoil? The complaints that they have individually towards the war criminal that they heads their state- a war criminal that is systematically involved in massacres: Qibya in the early '40s and then Sabra and Shatilla and now Jenin and the massacre of Egyptian prisoners-of-war in the Sinai. … if we are hurting, they are hurting like we are but we have this confidence and we have this hope in Allah which they don't have … (Surah An Nisa' verse 104) They want life because we want shahadah but we have to continue at this. This doesn't come from Muslims who are sitting on the fence and watching all of this. We have to be involved. So the demilitarization of the Muslims made it possible for Ayimbi, a European General to come to the Holy Land and tell a Commander who defeated them hundreds of years ago "now the Crusaders have come to an end." And if we continue to be demilitarized along diplomatic and political lines the way the opponents of the line of the Imam in the region, beginning with the land of the Haramayn, are trying to take the Muslims then don't be surprised is an Israeli General- or even if Sharon himself- goes to Al Madinah in Hejaz and he stands- just like Ayimbi stood next to the grave of Salahaddin- net to the grave of the Prophet and he kicks it with his foot and he says "now Ghazwat Khaybar has ended." The Imam, (and we can't say this enough), has referred to the nature of the Zionist Regime. We have pages here, but we choose not, at this moments, to quote any of this for the factor of the time limitations that we have, but what we want to say as a concluding remark is that- you know its going to be a matter of an hour or two and you're going to go back to your regular places, to your homes, to visit a friend or whatever- we're going to all go back to our worlds and this is going to be just some other presentation that was given on the occasion of the passing away of the late Imam and we think, (we're no one to speak for Imam Khomeini), but if he was here, the most appropriate communication from reading his thoughts on this matter is that look if we Muslims cannot at this moment comprehend the necessity of dealing with the immediate belligerence that we have and if we can identify a common enemy, let us unite our forces against this common enemy. We mentioned, yesterday, that in the United States some of these Islamic spokespersons and personalities that have been pursuing in the past decade-and-a-half a line of getting involved in seeking justice from the White House. These have come now, after all of these years to realize- we communicate to you these words because they were communicated to us person to person; it didn't come from third parties- that "all that they did in the past decade-and-a-half have gotten them nowhere and they sort of regret it but cannot say it out loud, they can't say it to the public." Some of them may have some excuses and some of them may be forgiven- only Allah knows that part- but as far as those who have been more intimately involved with the Islamic Revolution with the teachings and the advice that came from the Imam, in the past several years even they have been swept by this tide; not all of them, some of them have been swept by this tide. What should we do? Wait another decade-and-a-half for them to come out also and say "look- we spent these years in vain; nothing has been accomplished trying to pursue justice from the Pharoah's castle." Let us at least check our tendencies and not fall into this regrettable line of action and then years later regret it. May Allah bless Al Imam Al Khomeini. May Allah strengthen the line that is represented by Imam Khamenei towards the ends that have been expressed in this presentation in which we quoted the Imam's sayings on the liberation of Palestine and we don't- for one moment- forget the shuhada' that have preceded us on the fronts of the internal enemy and on the front of the external enemy. … and no aggression is due and no offense is due except against those who have aggressed and offended. (Surah Al Baqarah verse 193) Wa Salaamualaykum Wa Rahmatullahi Wa Barakaatuh Thank you very much. This presentation was presented by Imam Muhammad Asi on the occasion of the commemoration of the passing away of the late Imam Khomeini on 2 February 2002 in London. 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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