| THE STREET MIMBAR SPECIAL AL QUDS KHUTBAH (13 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. Ma'shar Al Mu'mineen… Assalaamualaykum Wa Rahmatullahi Wa Barakaatuh Audio on http://www.islamiccenterdc.com/apps/videos/videos/show/13746024-our-role-in-the-struggle-for-palestine (12-23-2010) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tlq6ZXov0Fs OUR ROLE IN THE STRUGGLE FOR PALESTINE I think this presentation is very sensitive in projecting the reality on the ground in the occupied territories. Obviously most of us, if not all of us, have heard of the plight of the people under occupation there. There were some comments that were made in this presentation that we think are worth reiterating or underlining. First of all the American public really doesn't get involved in any major or substantial way with having their say on what's happening in Palestine. Obviously most of us know that this is due to the disproportionate influence that the Zionist-Jewish lobby has in this country upon the decision-makers. They are concentrated in the media- the major networks and whether that has to do with the television or radio or the press or whatever media that influences public opinion. They also have a very significant presence in the United States financial system, the banking system and then obviously in Government. So you have these three components interlocked with each other. Then you have what we have today- an American public that is basically withdrawn from exerting its influence on the decision-makers here to change American policy in the Middle East. (We don't know if this ran through your mind when you were watching this or not, but it definitely ran through my mind), obviously there's a significant portion of the Jewish population that has been fooled, duped and led into a blind support for the Zionist, racist, expansionist policies of the Government in Tel Aviv and to a certain extent you can understand, (any human being can understand), that some Jews in the world are going to be supportive of Zionism. Not that it's justified or it's right but simply because they have their own narrative of history that says "…they did not have a homeland for/since the time of the Israeli Biblical Prophets…" so now they want a homeland and now they got this territory- and you saw the way that they obtained this by force and by killing and murdering and assassinations and bloodshed and warfare and all the nasty things that went into the making of this Nation-state- but on the other hand, (and obviously the presentation did not go into this but it certainly should have occurred to you as it occurred to us), what are we the Muslims doing? OK- well the Jews (or) many Jews are supporting Zionism, (Zionism is not a just cause- it doesn't have any attraction to it if you step outside the tribal and ethnic and racist mentality that makes up Zionism; so they are supporting their illegitimate Nation-state) but we have a legitimate cause how are we Muslims supporting that? This is what looks you in the eye, (we guess), when you watch the scenes that we are all watching together something has to be done about this. We can't rely on, (we think), discredited Governments that have been torturing this issue in their own way for the past sixty-two/sixty-three years. They've simply proven to anyone willing to open their eyes and use their minds that they are part of the problem not part of the solution. Now with that, what do you do? Do you despair? Do you give up? Do you say "we can't do anything?" We don't think so. We don't think that a person who is just an average human being- much less, being a committed Muslim- could say "this is meant to be and there's nothing we can do about it. We have to wait until the end of time until this is solved." What comes to mind is you and I live the real world; we know there are fanatics in this world. They come in different shapes and models. There are Christian fanatics, there are Muslim fanatics and there's Jewish fanatics all over and the easy way out, (this may have not occurred to you or this may not have crossed your mind), but one of the thoughts that come to your mind if you are thinking is that this is a problem in which two opposite sides are torturing themselves and this is not going to have a solution until Isa (alayhi as salaam) or Jesus Christ, (in some people's language), come to this world and solves this issue" and others who say "this is not going to be solved until Imam Al Mahdi (alayhi as salaam) comes to this world and solves this issue." But we don't think that this is the right way to think! You can't just sit down or step aside or take a neutral position and say that "those who were complicit in the crucifixion are at war with those who were complicit in the Shahadah of Imam Al Husayn and therefore both of them right now are paying the price for this type of history." This is an easy way out of it and as we said fanatics come in different colours and different forms and different modes and some of this undisclosed fanaticism has this strong under-current to it. We don't think that if the Prophets or the Imams were alive and privy to something, (just like us sitting in a seat and watching and by the way much of this as you may have realised most of the comments and statements that were made by these individuals were Jewish or anti-Zionist Jews- we don't know if you caught that), and then there were some, (let's say), pro-Palestinian American Officials who were making the intelligent comments about what was happening in Palestine. Of course you saw that there were Palestinians and Jews who were on the ground there in the field where this misery is unfolding but the ones who were speaking almost in a civilised manner about Israeli and Zionists policies were people who matured out of the Zionist shell and can now look at it in a more neutral and fair way and thus comment against the Zionist Nation-state. Unfortunately we Muslims don't have, (we also watch the names of the producers of this and there are some Muslim names and some Muslims who are involved in this- we're not trying to knock down their effort), but watching something like this and then realising that there is no Islamic intelligent analysis or statements about what is happening there in-and-of itself is a very serious flaw that hopefully in the coming years and coming generations of Muslims we will have enough mental integrity and enough moral courage to say the truth- to speak truth to power, something that we have been lacking all along. Naom Chomsky for example, (we don't know if most of you know this), used to, (I don't know, I can't remember), in the 1970's and the 1960's go to Israel and he used to be on the Moshaav there, these agricultural settlements that were supported by many Left-leaning individuals in the world. They'd go for a stint there either summer time or a full year and help out with the tasks of having what they call "the desert bloom;" but obviously now he's making statements that contradict part of his actual effort a few decades ago. Then, looking at all of this we also realise that, (we don't know if you ever thought about it this way), the Zionist-Israeli-Jews make a big fuss about the fact that they endured a very steep price for their Jewishness in Europe and they concentrate on the holocaust in that regard. They say "six-million people perished/were killed during World War Two by the Nazis and the Germans." We're not here to debate the holocaust or to speak for or against it but you'd ask, (let's assume for the moment what they are saying is true- that's a big assumption, but let's assume what they're saying is true "six-million Jews were killed during World War Two in Europe")… Now, World War Two ended in 1945 and the Israeli Nation-state took root in 1947/1948. So we're talking two-to-three years after "the terrible and horrible holocaust took place" then you have, (and we think), you may have caught the number of Jews- there was a significant influx/movement of Jewish people from Europe to Palestine in the years of World War Two and the immediate years after that. Now how can it fit in anyone's mind- we present this to you because obviously one individual is not, (as much thought as that individual may have given this matter), the final arbiter of this issue- we ask you how can a population that endured and suffered and was tormented and was almost virtually eliminated in Europe in a matter of two or three years begin to do a holocaust inn reverse? How can this happen? You come out of, (as described in the mainstream media), "one of the worst experiences of the human race" – think about you/yourself, being in this condition- you lost family; they were emaciated; they show you the bodies, the skeleton images of Jewish people who were shipped on trains to concentrated camps in Germany and in Poland and in these areas- OK. You see all of that and you can in yourself internalise the misery of it all- OK. You know that- how can you- having survived what your family members did not survive and your extended family members did not survive- come to a land and say "this is my homeland now and I'm going to do to the Palestinian people what was done to me in Europe?!" If the information we are getting is correct, (and we have our question marks about it, but we're setting that aside for the moment), we have one of two answers to this meaning of how is it possible for hundreds of thousands of survivors of the holocaust in Europe with the premium price that they paid with the loss of such a high number of people, (six-million), in a matter of just two-or-three years launch into decades of a slow-motion holocaust against another population? The answer to that is one of two things, (in my mind, you're free to contribute to this), either that did not happen the way and with the numbers that they are presenting it. So if it didn't happen like that there were just a few people that suffered in the holocaust then it did not touch all of those people who went and settled the way they did, stealing other people's lands and property etc. etc. and therefore they are free from the human agony that lives in you that makes it impossible for you to do to others what others did to you, especially when these others, the Palestinians were not the Germans. So it places a big question mark on how that happened. That's one answer. The other answer- the figure stands, six-million perished in the holocaust so how do we have this type of population doing these types of things to other people who were not involved in their torturous history in Europe? How can this be? The other answer to this is they would consider victims, (the Palestinians in this case whether they are Muslims, Christians or whatever), less than human beings. The only way you're going to rationalise this kind of treatment, (you saw the missiles, you saw the fire bombs, you saw the explosions, you saw the bullets, you saw the blood- you saw all of this), how can a population do this kind of thing to another population if it considers that population equally human? So one of the two answers is going to be pertaining to the quantity, (the six-million), or to the quality of another non-Jewish human life. There's no other answer to it! But that's what we have. Now, on a more serious note, we think that we should take this suffering of the Palestinian condition- and there are Christians and there are Muslims in this- the Jews who are anti-Zionists don't run into the type of problems and the type of dislocations and loss of life that the Muslims and the Christian Palestinians do. There are Jews who are opposed to Zionism- some of them are secular Jews, (and you saw some of them there), and some of them are religious Jews, (and we noted one of them at least in this presentation); there are two who on the basis of Judaism are opposed to the type of atrocities that we were watching but they don't fall into the same category as Muslims and Christians do when it comes to the Zionist policies in the occupied territories. We've encountered individuals, (and we're not saying that some of you are not like this), who just don't want to be bothered by the Palestinian issue. They feel sorry and all of this, just like an average human being but if you tell them "don't you want to do something about this" they tell you "no, uh, I feel sorry and all but I'm just not into doing anything about this." There's nothing much you can do with people like that, but if this issue, and this issue is becoming a global issue… It has nothing to do with a regional conflict as some people in the Zionist controlled mainstream media want to present it as an Arab-Israeli conflict- that's a misrepresentation of what it is. This is a conflict that is drawing in the whole world! The price of petroleum at the pump has to do with this conflict; the American economy now is tied into this conflict; the invasion of Iraq and Afghanistan in one of its dimensions has to do with this conflict. We have a shrinking world and if people want to live in their own individualistic cocoons, they are free to do that; there's nothing much we can do, but if you are up to the events (and) you understand what is happening in this world, we think we don't have a choice. Something has to be done about this. We think there is a vast area of American public opinion that has to be presented with the facts. This is a very good presentation. We don't know if the organisers of the conference have the wherewithal to duplicate this video, (with the technology available it shouldn't be a big deal), but if this can be duplicated/copies of it made at the expense of what it takes, (we don't think it's going to be that expensive to obtain something like this), and if we can take it back to wherever we come from- there are public libraries, you have your Congressman's Office, some of you go to school and you have Universities available to you, there are many ways that this can be presented to Church groups and even to Synagogues. You (can) go with this to some Synagogues because one of the issues that is a central issue in Jewish congregations is fear. They are afraid of the other. They don't trust anyone- much less Palestinians or Muslims or whatever. So what if a person comes to them and says to them "what's all of this fear about? Look at what's happening and let's sort this thing out." If they accept that, well, that's the first step at least at one level. A lot of things need to be done; we can't be here trying to outline the many things that need to be done. One of the things that need to be done is to try to have contact with some of these individuals. We know some of these individuals that you were listening to; we've spoken to and we've had some what of a discussion about the Palestinian issue but it's different when you speak to one individual than to speak to a congregation of individuals and if this kind of thing can be presented to the general Jewish public and say "what is the fear all about? You fear the other because there has been a historical breach of trust between you and the other- OK. Let's deal with this. Let's see how far we can go in putting our hand on the sore issue/points between us and you and try to explain this to us." Our experience is, (and it may be an incomplete experience but our experience is), out of maybe ten attempts eight are going to fail. OK- when you begin your effort just put that in your mind. Let's make the math easier- four out of five attempts are going to fail. Put that in your mind and don't let the failure get to you; because we're, after all, human beings and sometimes a person begins to count "well I've tried this five times and four of them are failure and I'm just giving up on this." You can't work like that. If what you just heard Rachel Corrie said- this is just a clear minded and an unpolluted heart as far as seeing what happens there. By the way, for those doubting Thomas's and those reluctant and passive and indifferent and neutral individuals that you encounter here-and-there, one of the statements that was made was "you can't really understand what's going on there unless you go there." We/the majority of us, (we think), are not as poverty stricken as to be unable to go there, so you may want to suggest- for the people who may have their emotions with the Palestinian issue but their bodies and their physical energies outside of the Palestinian issue- you may want to tell them "OK- just give your emotions the benefit of the doubt" and like one of the speakers said in this presentation "for one week." Just go to Ghazzah or the West Bank for one week and see for yourselves, (or in the case of one person- see for yourself), what is happening there. That's the biggest lesson. None of this will penetrate the indifference and the non-involvement of people; nothing is going to match just being there and seeing things with your own eyes. And if you're scared- and some of us are scared, we know- to go to Ghazzah or the West Bank, go to Lebanon and get a sense for the real world- that's one area. (As we said), there's no significant Islamic contribution to this presentation but if there were, definitely there would have been some comments about the Islamic Resistance in Lebanon and about Hizbullah and the way they are treating this whole issue. We think it's about time that the Muslims catch up with the momentum of the Islamic Resistance and the Islamic military answer to the Zionist occupation of Palestine. It seems like this is the only thing that is going to bring us any results. You know, (we think), first hand that because the Islamic State in Iran is the only state in the world that is serious about the Palestinian issue that is why it is in the position that it is in nowadays. It only takes one thing out of all of the policies of the Islamic State to normalise its relations with the type of powers right now that are taking issue with it, and that one issue is the one that you were just looking at. (If they) step back from that and you will see- people want prosperity and all this other stuff- "that's the only thing that it takes!" And you have the choice. Either you are true to your convictions which you've been seeing in live presentation or you want to have the benefits of both worlds, (so to speak); you want to be theoretical Muslims but you resist being the necessary revolt that comes from that theory to practice it in deed. We all have, (and we're going to end with this note, I took a little bit more than my time), Yawm Al Quds, the International Day of Al Quds during the last Friday in the month of Ramadhan; this coming year the month of Ramadhan is going to almost coincide with the full month of August. We haven't looked at the calendar yet, (but probably the last Friday in the week of August, it makes it a little easier for you to imagine this on your calendar), is designated as the Day of Al Quds. It would be very appropriate here, (even though we still have eight months or so to arrive at that day, as this needs preparation), you might want to think about co-ordinating- some of you come from different States and different regions in the country- a protest movement that will be much more significant that the previous ones in the cities that they are held in. You know there's different cities in the country and you can go to others who are not Muslims and there are free souls and non-polluted minds out there that want justice as much as you and I want justice and we think there has to be an out reach to these types of groups. May be you can begin something here. There should have been, may be, one table there/outside that is dedicated for Yawm Al Quds. And for those individuals who can set aside just a few hours a month, (it's not going to cost you an arm and a leg, just a few hours a month), to try and get other justice centred people involved in expressing their opposition to US policy the way its strangled by the Israeli-Zionist-Nation-state. Free it from that strangulation and have it see the light of day and become a nation that doesn't support occupation- an occupation that kills! Thank you for your patience with us this evening. Wa Salaamualaykum Wa Rahmatullahi Wa Barakaatuh This presentation was presented by Imam Muhammad Al Asi on the occasion of the Fortieth Annual MSA-PSG Conference in Dallas, on 23 December 2010. 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. We desire to expand and build on the designation of the day of Al Quds (designated by the late Imam Al Khomeini to be commemorated on the last Friday of Ramadhan in recognition of the suffering meted out to the Palestinians and the oppressed peoples of the world), and will be insha'Allah running a weekly additional Khutbah on Al Quds. We pray that Allah raises the awareness of people regarding the suffering of the people of Quds and the other oppressed peoples so that the designation of the last Friday to ensconce the realities in the lives of oppressed people in our minds will culminate into a daily occurrence. |
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