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Bismillah Ar-Rahmaan Ar-Raheem.
Alhumdulillah. Peace and blessings on Muhammad (sallalahu alaihi wa sallam), his Noble Companions and Family.
Dear, committed brothers and dear committed sisters…
It's raining out here so I'll try to be as short as we can.
Audio on http://www.islamiccenterdc.com/apps/podcast/podcast/308092 (06-07-2013)
MUHAJIREEN AND ANSAAR- POLITICAL PARTIES OR ASABIYYAH
Once again we place ourselves in the shades of the Qur'an as Allah guides us and cares for us. The ayah around one hundred in Surah Aal Imran.
Oh you who are securely committed to Allah guard against Allah as is due to Him in the full measurement of this guard and do not die except in a state of submission to Him. And hold firm to Allah's binding matter all of you- no exceptions- and be not divided; and bare in mind Allah's provision, favour and privilege upon you when you (who are now Committed Muslims), were once enemies of each other and then He reconciled your hearts and familiarized and acquainted you with each other and then, due to this provision, favour and privilege you became brethren of each other; you were on the edge of a pit of fire and Allah saved you from it; it is with this is mind and with understanding these dynamics and factors that Allah is going to guide us. (Surah Aal Imran verse 102-103)
This ayah which we have been referring to and then taking the meaning of this ayah and seeing how it is behaved by the first Muslims around the Prophet is the way we have been doing it in the past few weeks. Before we continue our journey back into those formative years we think, at this moment, we should consider what this ayah is saying- not all of the sentences in these ayaat but a peculiar or a particular statement that says
… and bare in mind Allah's provision, favour and privilege upon you when you (who are now Committed Muslims), were once enemies of each other… (Surah Aal Imran verse 103)
Allah is speaking to those Muslims who were listening to Allah and His Prophet. You can go back home and read it at your own pace- the ayah says
… and bear in mind (or) be conscious of the fact (or) remember Allah's blessings (and) Allah's bounties upon you… (Surah Aal Imran verse 103)
… you were enemies of each other, you were at war with each other… (Surah Aal Imran verse 103)
Of course the wars in that society were not at the magnitude of wars today; at times they were skirmishes, at times they were clashes, at times they were conflicts and at other times they were battles but still there were people killing other people. Why? Because they were enemies.
… remember, recall (or) reconscientize yourself as you were in the past enemies of each other and so here Allah… (Surah Aal Imran verse 103)
What did He do?
… He reconciled your hearts with each other... (Surah Aal Imran verse 103)
… you have become, because of this ni'mah of reconciliation and this ni'mah of the meeting of hearts from Allah you've become brothers to each other- that is how close you are… (Surah Aal Imran verse 103)
You is who here? In al yawm as saqifah, (we are breaking it down), we are saying these are the Muhajirin (radi Allahu anhum) and these are the Ansar (radi Allahu anhum) and then later on maybe at the end of this khutbah we will realize that there is Al Hashimiyin (radi Allahu anhum). You're all right now in a togetherness, solidarity, amicable relationships (and) friendly contact with each other. The ayah says this. We're not here imposing something on history that wasn't there.
… in previous generations before the Prophet, before the Qur'an before Islam you were on the edge into falling into the abyss of the fire and so Allah saved you from falling into it… (Surah Aal Imran verse 103)
These were the people at as saqifah. Now they begin to express themselves and we went through the different statements and the different words that were used between Al Muhajireen and Al Ansar. We began with Al Ansar (and) we reminded you
And remind them, because a reminder is of benefit for those who continue to be committed to Allah (Surah Az
Be conscious of what happened, not only knowledgeable… There's many individuals that stash their heads with information but adh dhikra is not just stashing your head with information; adh dhikra is when that information touches base with your conscience. So here we are trying not only to recollect the information pertaining to what happened but also to have that information filter down into our conscience so that we don't repeat the mistakes or we don't fall into the traps that some individuals during that time may have fallen into. We mentioned what Sa'd ibn Ubada (radi Allahu anhu) said we mentioned what Al Habbab ibn Al Mundhir (radi Allahu anhu) said- (both of these belonging to Al Ansar and Al Ansar had their own pre-Islamic disagreements and divisions, Al Aws and Al Khazraj- (we mentioned all of that and there's no need right now to go all over it again. It's all recorded also for the benefit of those who missed out on it you can refer back to the recordings). So now what we have in the as saqifah Bani Saa'ida when the major decision makers or the influential decision makers or personalities of that time and of that society were assembled, the Muhajireen- remember, they are the ones who were forced out of Makkah and now were living in Al Madinah. The Muhajirun were not back in Makkah (in) their own homes, their own territory (among) their own folks. They're still living among the Ansar. Remember that- everyone; because you run across very simplistic Muslims who don't make the effort to look into the social dynamics that were at work. The Muhajirun now in this saqifah were something like, (we know this is a little strong word but it has to deliver the shades of the meaning), strangers. In the context of Islam and Iman they weren't strangers, these were like the ayah said ikhwana but in the residual from the past because this iman didn't penetrate deep down into the hearts of every single human being living in that community, in that society (and) in that state. There were residuals (or) leftovers from the past that were beneath the surface of society lodged into the psychology of certain people. So now in this saqifah, (which we think all Muslims should revisit- get your hand on any facts (or) reliable books; you don't want to get into some because there were orientalists and there were enemies of Muslims who threw themselves into this day and then they wanted to collect information to make problems for us. No, no. Go back to the books that all of us, Muslims, go back to to try to make sense out of the issue like this speaker of yours is trying to do on this day of taqwa in this khutbah.) What eventually took place was a bai'ah, a pledge of allegiance- this is ideological, political, social allegiance to a person to lead them and what happened is this bai'ah went to Abi Bakr (radi Allahu anhu).
The Muhajirun who were there in the saqifah were of the frame of mind, (generally speaking), that the Prophet did not categorically- (we want some people here to slow down a little because some people run through this area at a hundred miles an hour; slow down and realize these people who were in the saqifah who are having this of discussions were. The people who were not in this saqifah were later called the Hashimis by certain books, the Alawis by other books- these were not participating in this discussion. When the Muhajirun and the Ansar, with the exception of the Hashimiyin were discussing this whole affair and we tried to quote for you what Sa'd ibn Ubada (and) what Al Habbab ibn Al Mudhir said (and) what Abu Bakr As Siddiq said (and) what Umar (radi Allahu anhu) said, (and we'll cross this area here now insha'Allah in the coming minutes), we could not detect that there was a social asabiyyah. When these individuals as close as they were and as much as they were taught by Allah and His Prophet they did not come out with what we may call a social or an operational asabiyyah. They may have been statements that indicated that they were afraid of this asabiyyah coming into their nascent Islamic society. So these Muhajirin were of the mindset that the Prophet did not categorically (state) which means the Prophet never made a statement that could be understood by absolutely everyone that a particular person is a leader after him therefore these people began discussing who's going to be the leader after the Prophet. We know this is going to be a matter of contention by certain individuals but we know why. We say this with humility and with a sense of responsibility and brotherhood because if the Prophet had made it beyond the shadow of a doubt clear who the successor to him is we wouldn't have had the history we had and we'll get to that when the time comes. So these Muhajirin sensing that there is an asabiyyah beneath the surface first of all they realized that this matter has to be concluded without extending for weeks and months or even days because if this matter extends further into the future it has the potential of igniting the asabiyyah that's been dealt with during the time of the Allah's Prophet and no one wanted that to happen. So the way these Muhajirin- here's where we begin to sense that there's a formation of a party. Now there's a difference between a party and an asabiyyah. Here is where we begin to sense this is an Islamic partisan issue in which some people will take one side and others will take another side but there's no asabiyyah involved at this point. So some person can get away with saying that Al Muhajirin appear now to become a political party Al Ansar appear to be at this point in the formation of a political party and there's nothing wrong with that. You can have Islamic political orientations or political movements or political trends in the House of Islam- there's nothing wrong with that. What becomes wrong with partisan Islamic politics is when a political party is infected with asabiyyah. That's when things begin to go wrong! But at this point there is no asabiyyah in the coalition of Al Muhajirin and the Ansar. Don't let anyone, whoever that person is, try to convince you at this point and time that the Muhajirin and the Ansar were behaving with asabiyyah. It simply was not there! If someone comes to you saying "there was an asabiyyah here in this context amongst these individuals" you tell him or her present your evidence because this is the area that the trouble makers of today are instigating Muslims against themselves. We can go back- this is not the history of Yahud, this is not a history of Zionists and Imperialists. This is our history. We can go back to it and we can think through it provided obviously we are not in-chained by this asabiyyah because anyone who is going to enter this area and in themselves have this asabiyyah they are going to try to use any information they get to feed their own asabiyyah. We can't do that! You have to enter this area with an open mind and an objective one- that's the way it's done. So what we begin here to sense is a sort of political party called Al Muhajirin. In the moments of leading to the bai'ah to Abi Bakr they used as an explanation for themselves doing that the fact that, (and this is stated in these books), Abu Bakr led the final prayer, the night prayer the day the Prophet passed away. They said if the Prophet of Allah was satisfied with Abi Bakr leading the prayers we are satisfied with him leading our society. Remember at this time there is no asabiyyah around, it's beneath the surface and the Muhajirin also had the impression that they were more or less of a peculiar feature that others didn't have, meaning Al Ansar in this context and that is what they called as sabaq wa al qaraba, they were the pioneers (or) they were the first to become committed to Allah and His Prophet. That's true and they were his relationship. They were related to the Prophet so they were pioneers or they were the Islamic firsters and they were also the ones who were related to him. You see- when they think of themselves as related to Allah's Prophet we're talking about blood relationship here. Al qaraba here means family relationships with the Prophet. In this sense the Muhajirin thought of themselves as that even though there was no asabiyyah expressed by them. As sabaq is understood. Any one (or) any Muslim with any background will tell you and submit to the fact that they were the pioneers of Islam, they were the first to carry on the responsibilities of iman and Islam. Everyone knows that but when the Muhajirin come and say we are the qaraba of the Prophet or we are the family relationship to the Prophet then you begin to sense here this really doesn't fit into the Qur'an and into the Sunnah- but that's basically how they thought. When Abu Bakr spoke to Al Ansar in as saqifah part of what he said discloses this, (we quote), he said they meaning Al Muhajirun were the first to conform to Allah on earth. Of course, he's not speaking about previous prophetic history, he's speaking about the history that began with the Prophet. So Al Muhajirun were the first to conform and to comply with Allah and His Prophet. They were the first to commit themselves to Allah and to the Messenger. They were his first supporters and they were his folks. Ashira are the people within which a person dwells, (i.e.). the lively and the living individuals or peoples among whom a person lives. Then Abu Bakr goes on to say and they deserve more than anyone else to carry these responsibilities to lead the Muslims after the Prophet and it can only be someone who is doing injustice who is trying to rival them for this matter of leadership. (Remember because some people take these statements out of context we're trying here to put these statements in context); in this exchange between Al Muhajirin and Al Ansar when Sa'd ibn Ubada was speaking and Al Habbab ibn Al Mundhir was speaking among others from the Ansar we had Abu Bakr and Umar speaking from the Muhajirin. Umar said who is it who is rivaling us for the authority of Muhammad and his command being that we are his awliya' and his ashira? Anyone who is trying to take issue with us is trying to present a batil, and skirt an ithm and get involved in a calamity. This is what Umar said to Al Habbab ibn Al Mundhir the Ansari who said, (if you can recall in the previous khutbah), if it comes to it let there be from us meaning Al Ansar an Emir and from you meaning the Muhajirin an Emir. This was trying to reach a middle ground between the Muhajirin and the Ansar. The reply to that was quoted just now in the words of what Umar said to him. Remember the Hashimiyun, (for some of you out there) or the Allawiyun were not involved in this discussion. They were busy preparing the Prophet of Allah's funeral. They weren't in the saqifah so this is not a peculiar issue like the simpletons say "this was a difference or a division or a conflict" some of them say different things between Umar and Ali (radi Allahu anhu). Brothers and sisters- whoever says something like that is basically writing off all of these details in our formative historical years. Then Umar goes on and says for the Ansar to hear, he says, (for those who go to extremes in reading history let me respond to them). They say "Umar was more or less taking this affair from Ali." When Umar is standing up and responding to the Ansar that the Muhajirin deserve to be in this position of leadership he was defending Ali because Ali was from the Muhajirin, he wasn't from the Al Ansar. But you'll not find this type of understanding in the sectarian minds! So Umar says to Al Habbab ibn Al Mundir, (these are his words and we'll try to translate this as best as we can; it's like saying- this is a translators license here), you can't put two arms in one sleeve. Umar is speaking to Al Habbab and the Ansaris saying by Allah the Arabs are not going to accept that you the Ansar become their decision makers when their Prophet is not one of you. Now you can sense here, first of all, Umar did not use the word Al Muslimun or Al Mu'minun because if he had used the word Al Muslimun or Al Mu'minun are not going to accept you, Al Ansar as their leaders, he would have been wrong because why can't the Ansar lead? We went through their virtues. We went through their supportive roles. We went through their sacrifices. Most of the sahaba (radi Allahu anhum) were from them. Most of the Prophet's wives (radi Allahu anhum) were from them. So what disqualifies the Ansar? That's not the case. Per Islam nothing disqualifies them. Umar knows that, the Ansar know that, the Muhajirun know that, the Hashimiyun know that. Everyone knows that but Umar is saying to them- he is looking at the larger society. Islam had grown into all of the Arabian Peninsula and he is saying to everyone else who is listening these other people who are out there- (it's) true they are Muslims on the surface of it. Most of them became Muslims- but they still remained these Arabians who they are in fact. There's an ayah that refers to this fact.
The A'rab came and said that we are committed Muslims too; say to them: you haven't committed yourselves to Allah but say that you are Muslims … (Surah Al Hujurat verse 14)
These Arabians, who Umar is referring to, are not going to accept you the Ansar to become their leaders. So these are surface Muslims. Beneath this surface there's an asabiyyah and this asabiyyah gets confused because some people say "certain individuals had this asabiyyah and they climb all the way up and they say Abu Bakr and Umar have this asabiyyah." Where? Brothers and sisters who say that, where is the proof that they have this asabiyyah? Then it goes from asabiyyah to becoming a conspiracy! Where is this conspiracy? So the inference is here- when Umar is speaking to the Al Ansar in saqifah Bani Saa'ida he is telling them all of these Arabians out there are not going to be satisfied if you Ansar assume this role and they know that the Prophet was not from among you because Arabian public opinion out there still have the hundred of years that they carry with them from their culture, from their history, from their habit from their customs. It's all in there even though on the surface they say ash hadu an laa Ilaha illa Allah wa ash hadu anna Muhammadan rasulullah but when it is going to come down to it they are not going to accept you. Then he continues you see these Arabians won't object if the leaders come from the same people that the Prophet came from. This was the general impression that was out there. This is what the successors to Allah's Prophet had to deal with. What do you want to do at this point? You want to begin an internal civil war among the Muslims? That was the other option and it was inferred in these words. He goes on but unfortunately we're not going to have the time that is required to continue but you get the gist of it at this point and that's what is important.
The result of this exchange of expressions and statements that even though they were referring to an asabiyyah did not in themselves indicate that those who were speaking from the Ansar and the Muhajirun themselves were asabiyeen. They weren't but they were referring to the fact that al asabiyyah was there. So as a result of this Al Ansar went silent. They didn't add to that especially when they heard Abu Bakr saying the leaders are from Quraysh. Now this statement has different meanings for different people. Our concern at this point is not to try to develop a khutbah about this sentence, the Imams or the leaders are from Quraysh. So it took this back and forth to have the Ansar acquiesce at this point. They didn't object to the fact that from here on someone from Muhajirin is going to be the leader for the Muslims. In other words, what was done at this point was to smother a fitnah before this fitnah could take shape in that Islamic community. When the bai'ah was performed people went up to Abi Bakr and shook his hand and express fealty to his leadership, he said I found no other alternative and I feared for the Ummah of Muhammad to be divided. Some people say Ali accepted this because he wanted to maintain that togetherness of the Muslims and Abu Bakr said the same thing but why do people pick and choose? They had the same understanding of this asabiyyah beneath the surface. You see this asabiyyah beneath the surface in that community and in the Arabian society at large was the issue that was troubling the internal thoughts of everyone. How are we going to keep this issue together? How are we going to stay together? It wasn't some conspiracy- we'll get to that.
One of the indicators that even coming to this working decision was influenced by historical precedent- because before Islam when a tribal chieftain was to pass away the decision to replace that tribal chief was done by the elders, the seniors, the most influential and the most experienced in the tribe. This had nothing to do with the Qur'an and the Sunnah, it had everything to do with the way society arranged itself. So even the way society right now began to arrange itself had an input from pre-Islamic traditions and customs. It's not the ideal but it's the operational. One of the statements you will find is that in saqifat Bani Sa'ida Abu Ubayda (radi Allahu anhu) who was from Makkah, he was a Muhajir, said to Ali after the bai'ah to Abi Bakr you are still a young person and these are the seniors of Quraysh. This is in reference to the rest of the Muhajirin; we're speaking about Abu Bakr, we're speaking about Abdur Rahman ibn Awf (radi Allahu anhu) and we are speaking about the others who were older than Ali. These are the seniors from your own people. You have not accumulated the same range of their experience and their knowledge pertaining to these matters and I can only see that Abu Bakr is going to be able to handle this with more input or with more vigor than you are. Abu Bakr was an elder person. Physically speaking Ali was in his thirties or his early thirties and Abu Bakr must have been in his early sixties, so if you come to understand what Abi Ubayda is saying when he uses the word stronger doesn't mean physically- physically Ali was more qualified than Abi Bakr; what he meant was the social clout that Abu Bakr has will help him manage this affair than what you have. The social clout that Ali had- if we go back to pre-Islamic times and the asabiyyah beneath the surface- wasn't that much because he was very active in the frontline of Badr and Uhud and Al Khandaq and Al Ahzab, Hunayn (and) all of these battles; so Abu Ubaydah is telling Ali I see the social clout that was needed for this togetherness more in Abi Bakr than I see it in you. This is not a divisive statement. This was not meant to cut down Ali at all. What was meant here was to try to give it a sense and a spirit of co-operation amongst everyone so that this asabiyyah doesn't burst out. Then there are others who will come along here and who will quote the ayah in the Qur'an and they try to suggest "don't try to knock down a fair person." (With) Abu Bakr there was no malice here. There's no trick that is going on. The ayah in the Qur'an as these people would quote it would divulge as much. When the Prophet was on his way from Makkah to Al Madinah when he began his hijra the ayah says
… the second of two, (this is in reference to Abi Bakr), as they are in the cave (or) then cavern, the Prophet is saying to his companion don't grieve, Allah is with us… (Surah Tawbah verse 40)
The only thing we can say at this time because we've come to the end of the time is remember the ayah as these individuals were remembering the ayah in times where al asabiyyah lurks just beneath the surface.
Oh you who are securely committed to Allah guard against Allah as is due to Him in the full measurement of this guard and do not die except in a state of submission to Him. And hold firm to Allah's binding matter all of you- no exceptions- and be not divided; and bare in mind Allah's provision, favour and privilege upon you when you (who are now Committed Muslims), were once enemies of each other and then He reconciled your hearts and familiarized and acquainted you with each other and then, due to this provision, favour and privilege you became brethren of each other; you were on the edge of a pit of fire and Allah saved you from it; it is with this is mind and with understanding these dynamics and factors that Allah is going to guide us. (Surah Aal Imran verse 102-103)
Dear brothers, dear sisters, dear fervent committed Muslims…
This togetherness that those of us who are sincere and devoted to Allah who have done our best and who understood in a practical meaning the lifetime of Allah's Prophet and who look at what the Prophet accomplished during his lifetime and the Muslims who continued to hold on to whatever they could of that accomplishment in a very positive sense- now that doesn't mean that the weren't trouble makers and all of the rest of the negative types around, there were; but we never went into a consuming civil war that obliterated us or any part of us from existence. That never happened and that's something that we should be thankful for because there's more good in us than there is this strain of evil among us. This strain of evil among us, this fitnah, that is beginning to show its ugly face is something that everyone who has a score or a grudge or hostilities against us from inside of us and from the outside are trying to make happen. You have crazies, loonies, fanatics. Remember, if you look at measured, amicable and friendly exchange of words in as saqifah- because everyone or anyone who thinks enough refers their whole difference with the other Muslim to the day and the people that we are speaking about. We haven't sensed or seen or read any thing from these individuals that say that they are fanatics (or) that say that they are intent on killing each other (or) that say that if you disagree with someone you become a Kafir. You can't find any of that! So how come you have people who disagree with other Muslims and because of that disagreement they equate that other Muslim with a Kafir? Where did this come from? It doesn't exist. You had some fanatic, absolutely out of his mind type of individual on the internet from Kuwait because of what's happening in Syria and Iraq, particularly what's happening in Syria, (we're forced to say this because we have to contrast these types of quasi-Muslims who even though we disagree with them and even though we know they are wrong we're not going to say they are Kafirs. A Muslim doesn't say that pertaining to another Muslim.), but this type of individual comes out and he says something like this, (the best that we know is he has no type of position, he's not a decision maker; just some person from the average pedestrian Muslims), "if you find any member belonging to Hizbullah slaughter him." That's what he says and he goes on. You can tell the type of raw hatred that spews out of such individuals. You can't generalize. Just because there's an individual like that don't go and say "all the Muslims who perform their rituals like him are like that." To break that down for you, this person is a Sunni and if he said something like that don't go and say "look how the Sunnis think." He goes further and he says, (we want you to compare what he says, obviously, he's hostile, he's an enemy of Hizbullah and all of this- that's obvious, but the way he expresses himself has no justification and no foundation in the words of Allah or in the behavior of Allah's Prophet, none whatsoever), "if you can capture ten members of Hizbullah, reserve them for me so that I can personally slit their necks." If this person knew his history and if he knows his background he'd never ever utter anything coming close to the words that he said. But it goes to show you the asabiyyah when it surfaces and the twist and the spin of information when it takes it's course on certain individuals- these are the types of characters that come out. We wouldn't be surprised if someone else having a counter asabiyyah having heard these types of things said or answered and responded to them with similar statements because asabiyyah feeds asabiyyah. Fanaticism feeds fanaticism and this doesn't exist in the Qur'an and it doesn't exist in the Sunnah.
This khutbah was presented by Imam Muhammad Asi on the occasion of Jum'ah on 14 June 2013 on the sidewalk of Embassy Row in Washington D.C.
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