THE STREET MMBAR JUM'AH KHUTBAH (11 April 2014) 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 committed Muslims …
Audio on http://www.islamiccenterdc.com/apps/podcast/podcast/339068(03-28-2014)
FINANCIAL CRIMES FROM ARABIA
Sometimes a person- and we are all human and we have our susceptibilities- reaches an area in the emotional realm in which he or she may feel frustration and despair. It is not that this is an everyday occurrence because if it was we would drown in our own failures. It's just one of these fleeting moments or minutes and it passes; not only does it occur to a regular human being like you and I but it also occurred to super human beings, (so to speak), as the Prophets and Messengers of Allah. An ayah says
… until a point at which Apostles or Messengers of Allah feel that this despair is coming on… (Surah Yusuf verse 110)
We have been, (and we say this in a very humble way), trying to communicate the words of Allah and their meanings (and) the teachings of the Prophet and his instructions throughout all of these years and obviously we are knocking on a brick wall when it comes to those who use their power and wealth to obstruct this course of Allah. In the previous khutbahs we spoke about the clout of wealth and the after effects of power when they come to bear on committed Muslims anywhere- whether this is in history or whether it's in our real time encounters with the real world out there. As is the case with the initial pulse- how do you speak to people who are your adversaries such as the ones who forced us to pray out here in the street for over thirty one years now? How do you speak to people like this? (Do) you begin to speak to them with a sense of maybe they will open their minds? May be they will open their hearts? These are people who are Muslims- at least nominal Muslims, who pray and who do whatever is required of an individual Muslim- but as we said it seems like this is a call in the wilderness and the major reason for that is these ayaat(which) we'll try to quote at the end of the khutbah. (These ayaat)characterises their psychology and their behaviour. This ayah with its few words gives us a panoramic expose of the fact of these types of people who are drunk with wealth and intoxicated with power. The ayah in SurahSaba ' says
We, (in reference to Allah), have never sent someone to warn a people (or) to put them on notice (or) to tell them "hey look- what you are doing is going to lead bad, negative (and) destructive results. Watch it! Be careful. Reconsider what you are doing- your policies your strategies," Every time a warner comes to them… (Surah Saba 'verse 34)
What would they say? These are the words of Allah
… they replied whatever you have been sent with- your scripture, your inspirations, your wisdom, whatever comes your way from your God- we are in denial and in rejection of that. (Surah Saba 'verse 34)
Here is where we have a further breakdown of these types of people.
We have more money and we have more manpower… (Surah Saba ' verse 35)
And then here's the arrogance. Here's where their true nature surfaces. If you can't see it yet you will see it in the final words in the ayah.
… and we will never be exposed to any type of punishment or any type of torment. (Surah Saba 'verse 35)
They're above it all! They're above laws, they're above scripture, they're above listening, especially to regular people like you and me. Now the key word that we want to focus on is the word mutrafuha.We're trying to put the original meaning in a combination of words. Mutrafis the extravagantly rich. This will force us to look at some definitions. Some of you read the Qur'an, (we hope frequently), more important than that some of you try to understand the Qur'an more intensely which is important- you just can't satisfy yourself with vocalising words, you have to mentalize them and after that you have to let it become a behaviour. So we encounter words in the Qur'an such as al mutrafun or al mutrafinor utrifu. What does it mean? Ok-those who are extravagantly rich. This forces us to take some other related words.
We find in the Qur'an the word faqir or fuqara'and some times curious and forward looking Muslims ask "can you explain to us." Listen- this is extremely important. There are words in the Qur'anthat are translated (and) in the translation you don't get the subtlety of the difference between one word and the other word, for example fuqara' is aQur'anic word (and) the word al masakin is a Qur'anic word. One ayah says
But as sadaqat (i.e.) what you give to authenticate, via spending, the value of who you are… (Surah At Tawbah verse 60)
So when this ayah says
But as sadaqat is for the fuqara' and masakin… (Surah At Tawbah verse 60)
You can't say because the translation invariably of al fuqara' and al masakin in other languages seems to be the same word (i.e.) poor people (or) poverty stricken people- that's how the general average person understands it. There is a difference because if there wasn't a difference there wouldn't be two words used. If the meaning is the same the ayah would say
But as sadaqat is for the fuqara'… (Surah At Tawbah verse 60)
and skip the word al masakin and go on to mention another category of people or you'd use the word al masakin and skip the word al fuqara'.
But as sadaqat is for the masakin… (Surah At Tawbah verse 60)
Why mention the word fuqara'? So there's a difference and even though there has been a scholarly back and forth on this issue what concerns us here is to understand the refined or the subtle difference in meaning. Al fuqara' in its linguistic construct-because it was a meaning (and) it was a word used before the Qur'an was revealed so it had a type of organic meaning (or) a type of general meaning and what it meant in pre-Qur'anic times was it refers to the word fiqrahi.e. the backbone. So when you say a person is faqir, (we're just trying to give you the flavour of it); it literally means you can see his backbones or he is back bony. He is so poor that he has become so malnourished that you can now see very clearly the make up of his backbone, you can count his backbones. One, two, three, up to the thirty third backbone- you can count them. That's a faqir. Who is al miskin? Al miskin is a person who works but in spite of his labour and his sweat and his work he still remains in need. To al faqirthat's not necessarily the case. A person can be disabled and because he is disabled he is not able to go out and work so his health begins to deteriorate. Another ayah in the Qur'an that helps explain this even more (is) in Surah Al Kahf when Allah was speaking about that vessel that belonged to masakin.
That vessel belonged to masakin- their livelihood their labour livelihood was contingent upon them working (or) ploughing the sea or the ocean… (Surah Al Kahf verse 79)
So when we speak about faqir originally that's who we are speaking about. The reason we're speaking about al faqir is to understand al mutrafin. Sometimes it's easier to understand a concept by looking at its contrarian (or) by looking at its opposite. So take a look at the fiqhi (or) scholarly literature that we have, we find that there is a definition of al faqir. Now we skipped from the original linguistic meaning prior to the revelation of the Qur'an and the advent of the Prophet-the word faqir meant someone (who) you can see his backbones. He's so poor, he's so in need, he can't feed himself or herself so you can see their backbone; in the books of the learned fuqaha' you will find al faqir is defined by a person who is not able to provide for himself and his family for a year. They do not have enough food, they do not have enough sustenance, they don't have enough nourishment for a year.In Islam, if we wanted to take the fiqhi literature we have that's how we define the poverty level. If you don't have in your possession that which suffices you to live for a year you are a faqir even though your backbones not be showing. You see the transition from the linguistic meaning to the shar'i meaning! So when zakahtime comes (or) when distribution of wealth comes the first to qualify for this is the fuqara' (i.e.) those who don't have what will suffice them as far as survival is concerned for a year.
Then we go to another word which is a Qur'anicword, al ghaniy. Al ghaniy is translated as a rich person, meaning he's not in need. How is that defined? Remember we're talking about a rich person here and notice the discrepancy between the Islamic definition of a rich person and the definition we have in today's world. A rich person in theIslamic legal sense of the word is a person who has what suffices him and his family for a year or more-that's a rich person.
Then we have al mustaghni. Al mustaghni is a person who is in addition to having a year and more of food and water and shelter and whatever- those are secure for a year is al ghaniy- al mustghni is if he has it for years. If he has secured whatever he needs for the survival of his and his dependants for a good amount of years he is mustghni.
Then you have the end of this spectrum the word we used at the end of this ayah in Surah Saba '.It didn't say aghniyauha, or mustaghnuha. It said mutrfuha, the extravagantly rich. In today's pedestrian language these are the millionaires and the billionaires that are around. In some of the numbers that come our way in this world there are eighty billionaires in the world that have in their possession more than what belongs to half of humanity! Now you see the lopsided world that we are in! So who's speaking in this ayah is not the average rich person, it is not the rich person that has the abundance of years of security; it is these people who are filthy rich (or) extravagantly rich- mutrafun. So these are the ones who are speaking in this ayah and God forbid the public mind out there as it is engineered by the corporate information sources that someone tried to bring the meanings of these ayaat such as the word mutrafin. Ok- who are they in today's world? "Oh you want to define who al mutrafun are in today's world? Get out of the Masjid!" (That's) basically the dynamic that has been at work for thirty one plus years now which brings up a very legitimate concern or question and that is when you speak about wealth, how in the Islamic remodelling of society do you define the acquisition of money or possessions? The answer to that, without going through many details, is the acquisition is halal as long as it is an acquisition that secures you from need and from want- that is legitimate acquisition but then what if you begin to acquire and you have more then that? Then that does not belong to you, it's no longer yours. So there is something in human nature that wants to accumulate wealth to the detriment of human beings and the Prophet of Allah says (and) he describes this- (we'll quote the hadith for you) the subject of Allah says "it's my money, it's my money" but the only thing he has in actuality of his money are three things:When you come to think about this psychology that says "its mine." These people (i.e.) the billionaires in the world (and) the elitist, (i.e.) those who have interlocked wealth and power are speaking they come and say "oh this is mine, but it is mine." Who said it is yours? Where did that come from? What if Allah is saying something else? Can u open your mind and hearts to understand what Allah is saying? So when you look at it, there is only three things you get out of this money. One of them has a jumbo jet that's custom made that costs $485million! What is this? This is more than the budget of one of those small countries in the world! These people who belongs to that establishment there with its network around the world have muzzled the Masajidso that these words of truth do not be spoken. What is it- $485million for a jet and let other Muslims die to death?! Who cares about Somali Muslims, who cares about Bangladeshi Muslims?! These are Muslims. Dare not speak to them about non-Muslims who are dying of hunger and malnutrition and diseases and poverty. Oh no! Don't talk to them about that. Don't remind them of that. A masjidis not supposed to be a place where this fact is brought to public attention. If it's going to be discussed it has to be behind closed doors and it has to be classified and it has to be by them not by you and me. Another reinforcing hadithby Allah's Prophet says the son of Adam- you and I- says "my money, my wealth." Now the Prophet is putting it in a few words. These people now to whom this hadith applies phrase it in a language that causes you to be friendly to them. You are not supposed to be friendly to them! These are criminals and crooks! We said at the beginning of the khutbah because we are only human beings you speak to them first as if they are your equals. You're concerned about them but when they face you with an iron fist and pressure and rejection and all of this you can only face them the way Nuh (alayhi as salaam) said
Oh my Sustainer- leave not of these who reject and deny You one inhabitant (or) one dweller on this earth. (Surah Nuh verse 26)
At one time in Egypt
… they will ask you what are we to spend (or) donate (or) give? Say: whatever else there is that goes beyond what is necessary for you to have… (Surah Al Baqarah verse 219)
This is before the technicalities and the formalities of az zakah set in. The general question out there with people who had some surplus (or) some extras came and they asked the Prophet what are we to spend what are we to give? There was no such thing as one fortieth of your wealth or one tenth of what you have or one fifth of what you have saved and all of these other legalities that afterwards came to limit the spending. It didn't come to spur spending, it came to limit it! You hear that? There's a difference. The psychology today is "oh what am I going to give of what I have? Look- I have this amount of money (and) I've had it for a year, what am I going to give? Is it the 2.5%? Is it the fortieth? Is it the ten percent or twenty percent? What is it? Tell me." Before anyone gave those answers the social psychology of Muslims (was) any surplus or any extra thing you give to those who are in need. This is the basis. Later on when these details kicked in, that was to limit from giving. In today's world it is topsy-turvy. You tell people about az zakah and sadaqah and these things to spur them to give that two and a half percent or that ten percent or that twenty percent. (Do) you see the difference of the worlds that we are living in? These people listen to the hadiths more than the ayaat-which is supposed to be the other way around. We are supposed to be grounded in the meanings of these ayaat and then the hadiths come in to either reinforce the meanings or to fertilize the meanings. It is not the hadithsthat you concentrate on (and) then you bring the ayaat to fit them into the body of ahadith literature. They have it wrong psychologically and they have it wrong scholarly! The Prophet's hadith says whoever has extra means of transportation… Dhaharliterally means back. Whoever has an extra back should give it to those who are in need of it and the back in those days referred to the back of a camel or a horse or a mule or a donkey or any other means of transportation they had on those days. Dhahar today means if you have an extra car or if you have an extra bicycle or if you have an extra whatever means of transportation there is then you give it to some person who is in need of it. … whoever has extra provisions (or) if you have extra food or extra nourishments you give it to those who are in need of it. Any person thinking along the lines of the Qur'an and the Sunnah would say why don't these hadithscirculate? Why don't people know about this? Why don't people speak about this from the Manabir and from the Masajid? Because obviously if this is going to become public knowledge and then public knowledge is going to become public thoughts and then public thoughts is going to become public behaviour then the public is going to unseat the crooks and the criminals and they're going to do so on the basis of what Allah and His Prophet instructed. Theayah in the Qur'an says
Rather, this social being … (Surah Al Alaq verse 5)
You and I and everyone else who shares the human nature and instincts that we all have in common regardless of what our religious persuasion is (and) regardless of what our ideological convictions- it doesn't matter- not al Kafir, notadh dhalim, not al fasiq, not al Muslim
Rather, this insane in his very inclination, in his very instinct and nature there's a propensity to concentrate power and abuse power… (Surah Al Alaq verse 5)
That is tughyan and taghut. When do you and me become taghiswith concentrated and abusive power?
… when you see yourself in the catergory of istighna… (Surah Al Alaq verse 5)
Remember the definition we just mentioned- al faqir, al ghaniy, al mustaghni and al mutraf? So when you leave the status of faqir and you go to the status of ghaniy you still, more or less, don't have that inclination oftughyan but when you reach al istighna you have much much more than you need then here is where you rationalize for yourself the policies that are in place (i.e.) institutionalized poverty- the number one enemy of humanity.Imam Ali (radi Allahu anhu) says if poverty was a person I would have finished it off. That's how antithetical poverty is to you and to me and to everyone else in this world. We mentioned, (and it's worth mentioning again), that some people, especially this crowd that is brainwashed by the Saudi religious criminal syndicate say, "but brother- you are pious, you are God fearing, you are a man of God, does your prayer tell you to be involved in these things? You talk about economies, you talk about finances, you talk about powers and accumulation of wealth and all of these things, No! You should pray." You see- this attitude was addressed. Theayah in Surah Hud addresses exactly that mind. It says
The people of Shuayb, (a Prophet from Allah) addressed him: does your salah enforce you to tell us to part ways with the status quo of our ancestors, our culture, our history (and) our status quo? (Surah Hud verse 87)
Ibadah is not this super imposed false definition of worship. Idabah does not mean worship. Ibadah means conformity and compliance.
Or does your prayers tell you that we cannot do with our money what we want to do? (Surah Hud verse 87)
Quote this ayah to these people who are reinforcing the polarization and the status quo of a troubled world. This also appeared in the history of Bani Isra'eel.
And their Prophet said to them verily Allah has sent Talut to you as a leader or as someone who has the affairs of sovereignty over you. They replied: "but how can he have al mulk over us? How can he be a sovereign over us when we deserve it more than he does and he doesn't have all of that extra money (and) he doesn't have all of that wealth that we anticipate?" (Surah Al Baqarah verse 247)
We don't anticipate a person who is going to be our temporal sovereign coming from the lower classes.
Allah has chosen him for you (or) selected him… (Surah Al Baqarah verse 247)
This is a divine selection and you take issue with it? Of course they take issue with it. They took issue with it historically and they take issue with it today. They dismiss a person who doesn't come from an affluent background, "who is he?" This is the nature of these types of people who are corrupted by the possession of wealth and the control of power. The same thing happened to our beloved and blessed Prophet. The ayah in the Qur'an says about the people in the two sister cities in Hejaz ,Makkah and At Ta'if- the major cities where the concentration of power and affluence was. How did they respond when they heard that a poor Hashimiman calling himself Muhammad is calling himself a Prophet?
If only this Qur'an was revealed to one of the two noble, affluent headmen in two habitats, (in reference to Makkah and At Ta'if), who is great in his own right (or) who's a well known figure. (Surah Az
This could apply to al qaryah, it could apply to Makkah and At Ta'if, it could apply on a larger scale to the empires of the world. (If) you want a world leader, they expect the world leader to come from a superpower! They don't expect a world leader to come from some trashy third world country (or) banana republic. "No! A leader can't come from there." That's what happened in the time of the Prophet. That leader came, (in today's world), from a backward country (or) a backward environment (or) a backward family (or) a poor family!"That's not a Prophet! That can't be a Prophet" That's the attitude. What happens when people begin to think like that and act like that? The ayahin Surah Al Isra' tells us what happens to societies, to countries, to nations, to establishments (and) to power structures
… and if We want to bring down or destroy a social unit…(Surah Al Isra' verse 16)
When Allah wants to destroy it- whether it's an empire, whether it's a superpower, whether it's a nation state, whatever it is- what happens first?
… We command its super affluent class … (Surah Al Isra' verse 16)
Mutrafiha, not fuqara'ha not aghniya'aha, not mustaghniha.In another supportive reading it says ammarna mutrafiha which means we make the super affluent of that society its decision makers (or) its leaders. That's the first indication that a society is on its way down. You can take a look at any society (that) you want to take a look at. This is Allah's ever lasting truthful and uncontovertible words. What do they do?
… they go about causing individuals and citizens in that particular society to degenerate… (Surah Al Isra' verse 16)
There's a moral degeneration, there's an economic degeneration, there's a social degeneration (and) there's a psychological degeneration that sets in automatically. When you have rich people running the affairs of state that's what's going to happen. It's inevitable.
… at that time Our word (or) Our decree comes to pass and We will destroy it (or) obliterate it into smithereens. (Surah Al Isra' verse 16)
Dear committed brothers and committed sisters…
What we're about to say is not in violation of the khutbah,rather it is in attempt to bring the khutbah up to the level that it's supposed to be at. When we understand what Allah is telling us we can't close our minds. When we have a meaning or a definition in our hands we cannot drop it and say "it cannot apply to people (or) it cannot apply to societies (or) it cannot apply to military and political administrations." You can't do that. It's like you're thirsty (and) you have water in your hand and then you spill the water and say "I'm not going to drink it." If these ayaatapply to the regime that is occupying Makkah and Al Madinah and its twin that is occupying Al Quds then we say that these meanings from Allah and His Prophet apply to you. They have met the criteria, they have met the qualifications. Today the president of this country, the United States Iran ,Iraq , Syria , Palestine and Egypt- Saudi Arabia London London United States
This khutbah was presented by Imam Muhammad Asi on the occasion of Jum'ah on 28 March 2014 on the sidewalk of Embassy Row in Washington D.C.
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