| THE STREET MMBAR JUM'AH KHUTBAH (6 December 2013) 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.
Dear brothers, dear sisters, dear committed Muslims…
UNITY PART 3
There are facts of life that cannot be ignored and there are also within the nature of life the issue of knowledge and ignorance. When we look at ourselves, almost two billion Muslims in the world today or quickly approaching the number two billion of Muslims today, in a calm way we will realize that we, meaning in our practical lives, are in conflict with what we say we are. Let us try to be a little more clear on this issue. Allah says
For sure this Ummah of yours is one Ummah and I am your sustainer so conform to Me.
(Take a) look at ourselves- are we one Ummah? There are Muslims, even educated Muslims, who speak about the two billion people in this world who in one sense or the other call ourselves Muslims- are we one Ummah? We have around (or) between fifty to sixty nation states. How can we say that we are one Ummah when we have fifty to sixty acrimonious, tense, antagonistic (and) sometimes hostile nation states among us? This is not what is called one Ummah. If we pay close attention, Allah is saying we are an Ummah when we are consolidated (or) we are one Ummah when we are united. That's when we are an Ummah. If we are not together we can't be called an Ummah. So if we all were to make a mass effort to conform to Allah because the ayah says
… conform or comply with Me.
If we were to make a collective effort to do that then we begin to gain the definition of an Ummah.
The other ayah which is fifty two in Surah Al Mu'minun
And For sure this Ummah of yours is one Ummah and I am your sustainer so be conscious of Me.
The wording is basically the same with two differences between the ayah in Surah Al Anbiya' and this ayah in Surah Al Mu'minun. At the beginning of it there is And; and the first ayah ended with fa'budun and this ayah ends with fattaqun. At taqwa is to figure in Allah's power presence in our two billion numbers. The implication here is if we don't in our public mind, (i.e.) two billion people having a public mind, figure in Allah's power presence then we are not one Ummah. So let us be careful with the use of the words that we sometimes kick around very absent mindedly.
Because there's a conditioning that goes on (and) because we grow up in life and we are exposed to an array of cultures and depending on which culture that is there is a conditioning that goes on because these cultures are top heavy with traditions some people think that when we use the word Ummah there is something sacred about it. In the Shar'i sense there's something honorable about Al Ummah but in the linguistic sense there's nothing honorific about an Ummah. An ayah in the Qur'an says or it is describing these aggregates of people when they are kicked into the fire. The comment is quoted in the Qur'an
Every time an ummah. (Surah Al Anbiya' verse 92)
See- there's nothing honorific about an aggregate of people being thrown into jahannum.
Every time an ummah enters this blazing fire it curses and condemns its counterpart. (Surah Al Anbiya' verse 92)
So there are umam, (the plural of ummah), in jahannam. It's just like when someone uses the word Imam. In the Shar'i sense there's something honorific about the word Imam but in the broader sense it's a word that describes a function. We encounter this in the Qur'an
And we have rendered of them (i.e.) these leaders of societies Imams who call people to an naar… (Surah Al Anbiya' verse 92)
There's nothing honorific about that but it's the culture. People are brought up in certain cultures and they can't break out of it. In the Qur'an Allah is breaking the moulds of these static cultures and look at ourselves today- it is sad, it is regrettable, it is pathetic to see that we are divided! Who feels proud about our divisions- divisions that the gaps are so wide that all kinds of trouble makers have located themselves in these gaps and then they instigate ignorance of Muslims here and there so that we kill each other. (In) a sentence from Hajj Al Wada' (or) the Prophet's farewell speech he said don't revert after me to being deniers of Allah's power… Doing what? … you strike to death each other (or) you behead in wars each other (or) you slaughter via massacres and civil wars each other. Now compare who we are today in the real life that we are in with these words of guidance and directions that come to us from Allah and His Prophet. Where are we now and where are we supposed to be? As hard as this is to say but it's a fact of life- we are not united. It's good to diagnose where we are, its good to know the fact of who we are and then proceed forward (or) move forward because if we keep on fooling ourselves and saying "we are an Ummah…" Where's this Ummah in the Shar'i, in the honorific, in the Qur'anic (and) in the Prophetic sense of the word?! Look around- where? Are we united? Some people will say "many of these Muslims of around two billion (or) the overwhelming majority of them share sentiments, (i.e.) there's this common thread of emotions that run through them that wants them to be together." Well, that doesn't make an Ummah. We don't live by emotions and dreams. You can dream about unity (and) you can sentimentalize about unity but you're not going to have unity if you don't work for it and working for it is via these two channels mentioned in the ayaat
… conforming to Allah. (Surah Al Anbiya' verse 92)
And then
… calculating Allah's power presence in our collective lives. (Surah Al Anbiya' verse 92)
Once this is done- we don't know; only Allah knows al ghayb, the unforeseen, the untold; that is beyond the perception of our human senses. Only Allah knows how will the future unfold in the coming months and generations and decades. The knowledge of that rests with Allah- but let's say we do become an Ummah (and) we do begin to consolidate and we begin to solidify our ranks and we begin to close these ranks so that these trouble makers don't find an area to come and say "you're Muslims, (but) look the other person's not a Muslim. Here's weapons and here's money- go at it!" As is happening today in many parts of the Muslim world. We can look at the two billion that we're speaking about and we can say these are Muslim peoples, these are Muslim countries, these are Muslim cultures and all of this other stuff but we can't say this is an Ummah like people liberally and lacking knowledge come forward and they express themselves! But let's say we begin a consolidation process and an Ummah right now is in its growing phase- does that mean we can't have differences? It's part of our human nature to have differences and that's why and ayah- this one's in Surah Al Anfal- says
Don't dispute with each other to the degree of division and separation... (Surah Al Anfal verse 46)
Tanaza'u is dispute with separatism. Don't go that extent! Because what is the consequence?
… because if you do you're going to fail… (Surah Al Anfal verse 46)
So one of the elements of success is our staying together.
… your momentum or the winds on your sail will disappear… (Surah Al Anfal verse 46)
Why is Allah telling us this? Because He knows (that) inside of us there is this trend to dispute to the degree of separation. We can dispute, we can have arguments even but we can't separate. That's not allowed per this ayah. Look around! (Take a) look at the Islamic world (i.e.) the two billion people on planet earth and look at your local Islamic make-up. You have it here! Some of these differences have isolated Muslims from each other. You can have differences but you can't have isolation! How do you approach Muslims who justify their distance from other Muslims because of an argument? Qur'anically its not justified. You can have the argument but you can't have the distance. Then the ayah that we've quoted (we don't know how many times), from this Mimbar
And fortify yourselves… (Surah Aal Imran verse 103)
I'tisam is fortification.
And fortify yourselves with the collective threads that come to you from Allah and be not divided… (Surah Aal Imran verse 103)
We're sorry to go to this extent but you can easily say the Muslims are doing or what is being done to them is exactly the opposite or the rewording in the opposite direction of these ayaat. Allah says
For sure this Ummah of yours is one Ummah… (Surah Al Anbiya' verse 92)
And the way we behave and the way we are is Umamun katheerah not Ummatan wahidah. Then Allah says
Do not dispute into separation... (Surah Al Anfal verse 46)
What we are saying and doing to ourselves is tanaza'u and taf'shalu and tadh'hab reehukum. Then Allah says
And fortify yourselves with the collective threads that come to you from Allah and be not divided… (Surah Aal Imran verse 103)
We are doing wa laa ta'tasimu bi hablillah.
Then there's an ayah in Surah Hud that says- and we want you to pay close attention to the meaning of this ayah- Allah here is speaking about human nature, human societies the human aggregate; He says
They, meaning people, will continue to be at odds with each other except for he or those who Allah has endowed with His mercy… (Surah Hud verse 119)
So in the nature of human societies, there is going to be differences. The wording of this means they will continue to be different from each other. Human beings are going to continue to be different from each other except for those who Allah has engulfed with His mercy. OK-
… and that is why Allah created them… (Surah Hud verse 119)
(Do you) see why Allah created us? Because of our differences- that's one of the purposes why Allah created us. He created us for our differences. Can we acknowledge that? He created us to be different but being different does not meaning being divided. These are two separate, two different (and) two unrelated issues. You hear in some sessions
I have not created Al Jinn and Al Ins except that they conform and comply with me. (Surah Adh Dhariyaat verse 56)
In this ayah, when He speaks about the differences in human societies, He says
They, meaning people, will continue to be at odds with each other except for he or those who Allah has endowed with His mercy and that is why Allah created them… (Surah Hud verse 119)
So if we merge one ayah into the other we realize our conformity to Allah is done regardless of our differences (or) in spite of our differences.
We want to go back to finish the hadith that was quoted last week. We began the beginning of the hadith but we didn't finish it. We think it's so important that this territory and these meanings become well established in the depths of our psyche and at the root of our thought. The hadith began like we said last week when the Children of Isra'eel fell into disobedience… When we speak of the Children of Isra'eel we're not speaking literally of the ten or twelve children of Ya'cub or Isra'eel or Jacob (alayhi as salaam); we're talking about their extensions. So the word Banu Isra'eel in the Qur'an is defined by the context that it is in. If we are looking at Surah Yusuf and we are looking at the word Bani Isra'eel that is referring to the sons of Isra'eel, the Children of Isra'eel or those of Jacob. When we are looking at the whole context of the Qur'an when Allah mentions Bani Isra'eel we're talking about those generations that sprung from that first generation, (i.e.) the Children of Isra'eel. The hadith is saying when these Children of Isra'eel fell into disobedience and sin their scholars told them what you are doing is wrong (or) their religious scholars (we don't like to use the word but just to make the point clear) brought it to their attention, "wait a minute- this is wrong. You can't go down this path." whether it's a matter of fornication, whether it's a matter of usury, whether it's a matter of making more money at the expense of those who don't have it, whether it's a matter of trying to ease out of their public mind the issue of justice- their scholars told them no- don't do that. The Children of Isra'eel didn't stop doing what they were doing. They went on doing what's wrong. Then comes the second act. These Ulema' began to keep their company. The people who are wrong gained the company of the Ulema'. They began to break bread together. They began to have drinks together. So, at that time when it reached that moment and the deviation became so obvious, Allah struck or put their hearts at conflict with each other. And he condemned Bani Isra'eel by the words of Dawud and Isa ibn Maryam (alyhima as salaam). The ayah says
… that is due to their disobedient and the aggressive character that comes from that disobedience (and)the aggressive behavior and policies that come from that disobedience. (Surah Al Maa'idah verse 78)
At that time the Prophet of Allah, who said these words, was in a sitting position and then he took an erect position and he said no. By he who has my life in His hand. Now he's speaking to the committed Muslims around him- he's speaking about the Ulema' of Bani Isra'eel and he's speaking about Israeli society- and at that point he stopped and he turned and he said until you... He said no. Absolutely not! Until you put the decision makers in this society in the frame of al haqq. Al haqq is inclusive of al adl- truth and justice. It is your responsibility to frame them your rulers in the frame of truth and justice. If you don't do that (or) if you don't take issue with rulers that have gone off course then there's nothing that's going to stand between you and then you, yourselves - he's speaking in the immediate sense to the sahaba (radi Allahu anhum) who were with him but in the extended sense he's speaking to us all- if you don't take issue with these rulers who have deviated from Allah and His Prophet then what is it that's going to stand as a barrier between you and them? Then you'll become just like them. You'll keep their company. They'll invite you to the White House (and) you'll go to the White House. They'll invite you to the State Department (and) you'll go to the State Department. They'll invite you to have iftar with them (and) you'll have iftar with them. They organize the iftar, they organize the occasion and here you are! Some of you feel "wow- what an honor." You go and you sit with them exactly like Allah's Prophet is saying. Not only do you sit with them, you break bread with them, have a sandwich. They know you're Muslims so instead of circulating some wine and some beer and champagne in the iftar or in the dinner they bring you juice or they bring you pop soda or they bring you something else and there you are hob knobbing with them?! The Prophet of Allah says absolutely not! Until you put them in the framework of al haqq and al adl. Don't think that Bani Isra'eel has a law that applies to them and there's another law that's going to be applied to us. What applies to them applies to us. If we go off course we are going to encounter the same results- just like we are today. They lived in a Diaspora. They were scattered all around the world. They came back to a piece of land now, (and that has another history), and now wherever we are we seem to be suffering from the same circumstances. Even when we are living in our own countries we don't feel like we are at home. Where did the alienation begin? It began there when we didn't take issue with those who were taking issue with those who were making decisions and who are making decisions for us. He caused their hearts to collide or to run into each other. Just like when you have an accident and two cars crash in our predicament today our hearts are crashing with each other! There are accidents that are taking place in our psychology and therefore we have the mess that we have today- referred to by some uninitiated speakers as an Ummah in the positive sense of the word. Then the ayah from the Qur'an was quoted
Condemned are the deniers of truth from the Children of Isra'eel by the words, tongue, expression or language of Dawud and Isa the son of Maryam; that is because they, the Children of Israel, were disobedient to Allah and because they were aggressive or offenders. These Children of Isra'eel would never ever act in as social modality or character that rebukes the munkar- a munkar that they were responsible for… (Surah Al Maa'idah verse 78-79)
Then the Prophet says absolutely not. He could see this happening. We sure he had a sense, (because we are human beings and we are subject just like Bani Isra'eel to the rest of these things in life. Some of us want to go with power, some of us want this American dream, who knows- there's are one thousand and one distractions out there and most of them have to do with two things, (viz.) wealth and power. (If) you take away wealth and power and there's many distractions out there but these are the major ones. Then he says you are definitely expected . These are two words that everyone is exposed to, (i.e.) al amr bi al ma'ruf wa an nahi an al munkar. Then the way it is translated it totally loses its meaning. Al Amr bi al ma'ruf is when we are in a position to enforce al ma'ruf and an nahi an al munkar is when we are in the position to cancel socially and politically and if need be militarily al munkar. That is an nahi- it's an order. An order doesn't come from a position of the loss of power. When you don't have power you don't have a position to give am order. So al amr bi al ma'ruf wa an nahi an al munkar includes in it you being in a position to give orders. When many Muslims speak about al amr bi al ma'ruf wa an nahi an al munkar they take the pedestrian and mainstream translation of it, (i.e.) to enjoin what is good and to forbid what is evil. What a convenient way to wiggle out of the original meaning! What do you mean (by) enjoin what is good? First of all, what does the word enjoin mean? It means you join something with something else. Then the word good- the way the Muslim mind is conditioned, something that is good is something that is moral but never or rarely does it occur to the listener or to the speaker to think of something that is legitimate and legal in the eyes of Allah. Rarely! So the Prophet of Allah says and you shall grab the hand of adh dhalim and you shall lead- because it has these meanings to it- the hand of this dhalim meaning you're in control. You hear people speaking, slogans from the left "power to the people." We're sure some of you have heard that from time to time. This is what the Prophet of Allah is saying, listening Muslim, you are expected to have a grip on the affairs of this person who is doing injustice meaning you're not permitted to let him get away with it you are in that position. Once again, the wording of this is emphatic (and in) the strongest words you are going to put him in the frame of al haqq, you are not only put him, you are going to confine him to truth and justice. Or what happens if we don't do this? Allah is going to cause our hearts (and) our psychologies to clash and to crash- they're going to collide. Then Allah is going to condemn you just like He condemned them. He's going to condemn the verbal Muslims, the nominal Muslims, the imagery Muslims (and) the superficial Muslims just like He condemned Bani Isra'eel. He's going curse you just like He cursed them.
Committed brothers and sisters…
If these numbers that we are looking would just altogether express themselves against adh dhalimin they would drive adh dhalimin crazy. If we, the two billion Muslims in the world, were to have one voice against those who go off course we could drive adh dhalimin mad. Imagine two billion Muslims in the world who can agree to say at one time to adh dhalim especially where we begin- charity begins at home; begin in the area of Makkah and Al Madinah. We've been saying this for so long! Imagine if two billion Muslims can say to the rulers of dhulm, to the oppressors and tyrants in the Arabian Peninsula with one voice- Yaa dhalim. Begin saying that. Get into the habit of saying that. The problem in today's Muslim psychology is not many Muslims have the courage to stand up and to say to these usurpers of power and authority (or) put them in the frame of truth and justice. Why can't we do that? Some Muslims want to continue to receive some largess from the Arabian Peninsula . They want to get their cheque at the end of the month or at the end of the term or at the end of the year. They want a cheque. You see. Just like they feel comfortable going to the White House and rubbing shoulders with adh dhalimin some of the other Muslims feel honored going to those who illegitimately rule over Makkah and Al Madinah. Can't they listen to the ayaat and the ahadith? Where are you? Can't you tune in to what's being said here? Why don't you have what it takes? Only thing is words of truth. At this point no one is expecting anything more. Don't get caught up in this entrapment. There's a worldwide policy of entrapping Muslims. Look, (when) Muslims want to correct a deviation they jump to the bullets and the machineguns- that's an entrapment. How are people right now fighting when no one is expressing the truth? This has to be taken one step at a time. Don't jump the gun. Let us begin saying with one voice to those who are misruling in Arabia "Ya Dhalim" and let it be repeated by hundred of millions of people around the world so that they know who they are. There's plenty of ayaat and ahadith that are supportive of identifying these criminals- plenty of them; but they want us to remain ignorant. They want to delay our moment of enlightenment and so they pay these Masajid all around the place to keep the Muslims ignorant so Muslims can no longer live the Qur'an for the purpose of justice.
This khutbah was presented by Imam Muhammad Asi on the occasion of Jum'ah on 29 November 2013 on the sidewalk of Embassy Row in Washington D.C.
__._,_.___
| Reply via web post | Reply to sender | Reply to group | Start a New Topic | Messages in this topic (1) |
.
__,_._,___
No comments:
Post a Comment