| THE STREET MMBAR JUM'AH KHUTBAH (25 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, Brothers and sisters …
Audio on http://www.islamiccenterdc.com/apps/podcast/podcast/339947 (04-11-2014)
UMAR'S LEADERSHIP VS THE RULERS OF ARABIA PART 1
The history and the struggle of Allah's Messengers and Prophets as well as the contents of Allah's scriptures are centred around justice. Just to quote a couple of these ayaat from the Qur'an pertaining to justice, Allah, whose words are the eternal truth, says
… be fair and do justice because that is closest to honouring Allah's authority and power. (Surah Al Maa'idah verse 8)
In another ayah Allah says
… Allah's messenger quoted in the Qur'an says and I have been ordered to do justice to you… (Surah Ash Shura verse 15)
Some people get two words confused- the word justice is confused with the word qist. Even though in the general sense they have the foundational commonality between them justice, al adl, is everyone's responsibility. Whether you're a father, whether you're a husband, whether you're a neighbour, whether you're a cousin, whether you're a friend- whichever individual relationship you are in, you are responsible for being just. Al qist on the other hand is the cumulative responsibility of justice which means when you combine your individual justice with another person's individual justice and so forth until this grows and grows you wind up with something like collective justice or institutionalised justice or governmental justice. This is called al qist and the reference to this is (that) there are many ayahs in the Qur'an in which al qist is mentioned but one of those ayahs says
Allah has sent His Messengers in the course of all of those centuries in history and until the end of time… (Surah Al Hadeed verse 25)
And the message is still the same. What is it?
… Allah has revealed to them scripture and endowed them with wisdom… (Surah Al Hadeed verse 25)
For what reason?
… so that we can have this accumulation of organised justice… (Surah Al Hadeed verse 25)
We take a look at this history (and) we find that the first successor to Allah's Prophet, Abu Bakr, ruled for only two years. Out of those two years (for) about six months there were individuals, Sahaba, in their own right who did not give him the bai'ah. That's almost one fourth of his reign (or) his office- for about six months out of those two years there were Muslims out there that didn't agree that this person should be the ultimate decision maker of the Muslims. OK-
You come to the time of Uthman, the third khalifah, of the Prophet. There was a revolt against him. He was beseiged in his own home. Those who revolted against him forbid him to have any food or water go into his residence and while he was reading the Qur'an he was assassinated. This is a fact that feeble minds don't want to consider (and) don't want to learn from. So what does that mean? Did those who were the victims, (in this case), and those who were the victors, (in this case), exude the type of divisiveness and hatred that are stirred in today's sectarian pot? No. There's a serious difference. When you have a revolt there's a serious difference but in this serious difference there wasn't that raw type of insidious hatred that today some of these sectarians, especially in the Arabian Peninsula , want to instigate among Muslims. And who is going to be the benefactor of all of that? The common enemy, and we know who the common enemy is.
In the time of Ali we saw what happened. For the first time it went from a revolt in the time of Uthman to a civil war in the time of Ali. For the first time Muslims had their civil war. Was there any hatred in this? No. Did anyone get a sense of sectarianism in all of this? No, but the rulers in Arabia want you to believe that. So when we take a look at these four successors, Khulafa', to the Prophet of Allah we find actually the one who everyone came and gave their bai'ah to was Umar. They didn't do that to Abu Bakr, they did it to Uthman and then they withdrew it, they didn't do it to Ali. There were some exceptions. Banu Umayah took issue with that but when Umar became the leader of the Muslims everyone came- whether they agreed with him or whether they disagreed with him because, (brothers and sisters), one of the reasons this issue becomes a sectarian issue is because we're looking at personalities?! Some people look at Umar and others look at Ali and then they want to polarise this and divide us and then have us kill each other. This wasn't an issue of personalities, this was an issue of the Islamic common interest and of Islamic solidarity and unity- that's what it was and because these Masajid don't want us to think some of us begin to draw conclusions "yeah, that's how it really was. Umar was involved in some type of conspiracy along with Abu Bakr, etc. and they wanted for their own personal reasons to be the ultimate rulers." Now let's see what happened during Umar's reign, (the one that these Saudis are trying to claim when it comes to the sectarian atmospherics that we are in). When Abu Bakr ruled the money that was coming to the Islamic treasury was very limited- nothing much to speak about. His policy (and) his ijtihad for the purpose of adl and social justice reckoned we are going to distribute whatever is coming to the Islamic budget equally. All Muslims are going to get an equal share of this, of course beginning with those who need the most and upwards. That was a brief time period and then when the second Khalifah came to rule he said I'm not going to do it this way. Remember when Umar came to rule the Islamic budget was much different from what it was during the time of the Prophet and during the time of the first Khalifah. Now there was revenue coming from far away lands (i.e.) from territories in Asia and others in Africa . All of this was coming to Al Madinah- there was a lot of money here. He said I'm not going to distribute this money to everyone with an equal share. I'm not going to do it that way. What he is going to do? Remember he's doing this for justice. He's going to look at those who fought with Allah's Prophet and give them more than those who spent many years fighting Allah's Prophet who later on became Muslims. He said how can I give those who fought with Allah's Prophet the same as those who fought against him- this doesn't make sense to me. Then he took another criterion and that is he's going to give those who are closer to Allah's Prophet more. So there were two conditions that he looked at, (i.e.) he's not going to equate those who initially were from the struggle in the first years in Makkah with the Muslims who jumped onto the Islamic bandwagon in the last years of the Prophet's life. He said I am not going to do that. By initiating this policy he was trying to be fair. He wasn't doing this because there was some type of hidden agenda or a conspiracy here (and) the other things people speak about. We want you to remember these rulers in Arabia today every time we mention a feature of Umar. So this policy went into a effect and after a few years Umar realised that there's right now, (what would be called in today's world), class consciousness. There's people who are rich and others who are poor. This is an Islamic society. There's supposed to be social justice in this Islamic society so what he said in his last year of life was if I were to live into the future I would change this policy and go back to the policies of Abi Bakr and the Prophet. Think about that for a moment. Think about what Umar did in order to bring about fairness in society with what the current rulers in Arabia are doing. (Do) any of them care about who's rich or who's poor in that society? Of course, they have all the money that they can get and they have all the money that they have and that person who doesn't have a home or that person who is illegal, (they call them "illegals in Arabia ")- how can a Muslim be illegally in Makkah? How can a Muslim be illegally in Al Madinah? And they say "they are following as Sahaba." When did any Sahabi tell any Muslim "get out of Makkah or get out of Al Madinah?" When did that happen? You Arabian rulers in the birth land of the Prophet and Islam- listen to what Umar said to his governors, give people food in their dwellings and gave their families satisfied which means Umar is speaking to his governors (saying) you are not permitted to have families who are going hungry in their own homes. Do you hear that, you rulers in Arabia ? How many Muslims are going hungry in their own homes? Another quote, and listen to this you deviant rulers in Arabia who have gone off the Islamic course- Umar says people will be straight forward and on the right paths as long as their leaders and their guides are on the right path and citizens will give to the leader as long as the leader is giving to Allah. Umar is saying we can expect a person to belongs to a certain social and governmental structure to be forthcoming towards a leader as long as that leader is forthcoming towards Allah. We ask these rulers in Arabia , are you forthcoming towards Allah? We can't see that. The facts on the ground do not prove that. Umar ends this quote by saying if the leader indulges then the citizenry will indulge. What do we have today? These exact words in flesh and in bones! The rulers in Arabia are indulging so they are going to course their own subjects and the people they rule to indulge.
Another thing we say to these rulers in Arabia who are trying to monopolise certain Sahabis as if this whole Islamic history doesn't belong to us?! It belongs to us altogether. We don't care how much wealth they have or how much reliance upon superpower structures in the world they have. You people who are ruling in Arabia , listen to this. Umar had the hajj as a political summit. The hajj now that is being run as if it is a flimsy, limited and contracted ritual Umar had the hajj as a coming together of those who are ruling and those who are ruled every year in which the citizens were able to look and hold accountable their own governors and their own rulers. Umar would be present in this. What do you say? Ask the Saudi rulers "what do you say about Umar? Was he politicizing the Hajj? If he was here today, would you kick him out of Makkah and out of Arabia because you're saying this is a controversial thing? It's going to divide Muslims if those who rule and those are ruled have access to each other (and) can look each other in the face (and) can speak to each other." You probably have gone to the hajj or the umrah- we don't know (but) some of you definitely have; but when you go, ask yourself: do you have access to people who are decision makers in the Muslim world? Have you ever been side by side with any of them? That was the case during the time of Umar but it's not the case during the time of Saud and Aal Saud. Umar would stand in the hajj and say to the pilgrims, as the rulers in Arabia should be saying to the pilgrims there, O people- I didn't send my governors to your areas-some of you come from Egypt, some of you come from Persia, some of you come from the Levant, others come from Al Yemen, etc. etc.- I didn't send them to lash at your flesh or to expropriate your wealth. This is the ruler of the Muslims standing in front of the rest of the Muslims in the hajj. Do we have the ruler in Arabia stand in front of the Muslims in the hajj to speak to them? What happened? We thought you identify with Umar? Or are you just identifying with him for sectarian purposes? Can these rulers in Arabia come forward and stand in that Umari position and say that to the Muslims? Of course the sectarian mind doesn't want you to think (or) to discover your own history because if you do you're going to expose the liars in Arabia ! We have seen the enemy and the enemy is us! I sent these governors to do justice among you and to distribute your revenue in a fair fashion among you (and) to see to it that that is done. Umar is still speaking to the hujjaaj in Makkah at the Ka'bah saying and whoever has experience anything besides governmental justice and economic fair distribution stand up. Let me hear from him. If there were rulers in the image of Umar today they would have millions of people standing up and saying "where's the equal distribution of wealth?" Muslims in many cases have become paupers because other Muslims in a very few cases have become potentates. This is not al Ummah al wasat.
And it is such a manner that we have rendered you an Ummah of the fair means or as a central Ummah… (Surah Al Baqarah verse 143)
Of course, the sectarian demagoguery of today doesn't permit these truths to see the light of day because the whole Islamic argument and the whole Islamic is going to be turned against the usurpers and the thieves in Arabia . We don't play politics here. You've probably gone through the political ups and downs (of) Islamic parties, Islamic organisations, Islamic figures and Islamic personalities (who) play footsy with the Saudis. One time they're good (and) they're invited. They're buddy-buddy. They eat the food, they get the cheques, they depart with smiles and everyone's living happily ever after. Then the political and military and economic winds begin to shift and then we find these bosom buddies of yesteryear at each other's throats. Why? Because they played politics with the truth! We don't play politics with the truth. We try, with Allah's help, to say it as it is and if that's going to irritate people in power and in wealth then so be it!
You rulers in Arabia who have fooled all the Muslims or practically all the Muslims in the world by saying "you are the heirs of Umar"- far from it! Listen (to) another statement coming from Umar. What he says is an indictment to the rulers of Arabia . Umar is saying how am I going to be concerned with the affairs of the people when I am not affected by what affects them, meaning, I can't, in all sincerity, address the problems and the troubles that are in the street if I myself am not exposed to those problems and those troubles. That's a qualification of being an Islamic decision maker and leader. If your people are hungry you have to be hungry. On one occasion Umar stands up and begins to speak and his stomach and his stomach begins to rumble (and) you begin to hear his stomach giving put a sound and then he pauses (and) he says rumble or don't rumble this stomach is going to continue to have the food that the people are eating. What were the people eating at that time? They were dipping and eating whatever can pass as bread into olive oil. Do that for six months like he did! You rulers in Arabia - have you ever had the food of the lowest people in your kingdom? We don't want to say go for six months like Umar, go for six weeks or go for six days. Don't fool us and say "this is the ideal sahabi (or) this is our man." Who are you fooling? Who are you lying to?
On another occasion Umar did not eat bread made out of sifted flour. It's almost like in today's world saying he didn't eat white bread; he ate the whole wheat bread. Of course, it's healthier. We know this now but at that time the technology that we have today was not available in those days. There was no enrichment of bread. There was no minerals and vitamins that was put into it and all the rest. That was left to those who, just like in today's world, can eat the best of the best. We're talking about a ruler here. We're not talking about someone who just accompanied the Prophet for just a few years.
Another person came to Umar and he refused to eat Umar's food. He said I can't eat this food. Go to the cuisine of the Arabian rulers of today and see what they eat. Compare what they eat with what Umar ate. Compare the two foods on the two table spreads and they tell us, tell yourself and tell the other Muslims that we can't compare the rulers of Arabia today to the rulers or the Khulafa' that followed the Prophet! You can't compare! Don't let the Saudi propaganda machine and all its worldwide propaganda support system, the sectarians included, get away with this.
Once again this is meant primarily to be heard and digested by those who have been misled by misinformation. In order for Umar to be practical to what he says he has to feel what the people are feeling (and) he has to experience what the people are experiencing. During the night he used to go out and see for himself, first hand, the condition of the people that he ruled. That gained a word. There's a word in the Arabic language that designated those night time discovery or inspection rounds that Umar used to do; it's called al assas. Do the rulers of Arabia go out to the slums of their kingdom to see how the average person or the sub-average person is living? Yet they claim, they say, they write, they give speeches, they publish books (and) they put together all types of media programs to have you, for the sake of sectarianism, believe that they are in the footsteps of Umar. They are in the footsteps of Satan, himself.
There are other qualities that we can speak about but we'll end with this one quality. Umar said, in his last years, that he was planning on allocating a full year to go to the different far away territories of Islam. There were six of them at that time. He wanted to see first hand what was happening in these territories. In each one of them he wanted to spend two months which makes it a full year in all of these places. He didn't want to have reports. A lot of today's decision makers rely on reports. We have so and so who has evaluated such and such condition in this precinct or in this jurisdiction. He wanted to go beyond that. He wanted to see for himself what is happening out there because this will accomplish two things in his mind. Number one- it will give him an immediate contact with these people and how they feel about Islamic governance and then it will have him evaluate his own governors because if they were sending him reports about these Muslims who are living in places like Egypt, Al Yemen, Al Basrah, Al Kufa, Ash Shaam (and) Al Jazeerah then he'll know that "oh- these governors who I have given these responsibilities are filing reports that are inaccurate. We can't rely on him, You're relieved of your responsibility!"
When you take all of these issues together you will realise that the rulers of Arabia are crooks and criminals, thieves and usurpers but what do you do when they are in control of the wealth and the power structure behind them. There's only one thing we can do and that is to continue to speak the truth and then we refer the affair from there on to Allah to expose the parasites that live in our body.
Dear Committed Muslims on As Sirat Al Mustaqim…
We are living in the type of circumstances and conditions that require us, (and) almost force us, to expand our understanding of Allah and His Prophet away from the mentality that is incarcerated within rituals. You can pray night and day- just because you are offering these prayers is not going to do justice to yourself or to the world around you. Justice doesn't come by automatic prayers. It needs more than that and as we said at the beginning of the khutbah, the history of Allah's Messengers are scriptures are centred on justice. If we speak about a simple issue- take the issue of theft. The way the Muslim mind is conditioned if you say "a thief" all of a sudden you're thinking about a neighbourhood criminal who broke into a shed or a home and stole something. That's a thief. No one thinks about a thief as those who are in power and who have the money they have from illegal conduits who are stealing and robbing in a systematic way continents and populations. The discrepancy! Why is it that immediately when someone says a thief you zero in on a petty individual? The way you are Islamically programmed by the syndicate of Saudi supported Masajid is to think about thieves in that limited capacity. Your mind is not permitted to think about them in the mega scale of world events! You are prohibited from entering that territory and Allah and His Prophet are moving you by their words and meanings to precisely go that step forward and break through these mental barriers and expose those who have poisoning our lives and rendering us one of the most pathetic societies in the world! What do you say about a Saudi Arabia Asia and say Islam is the religion of brotherhood. Here you have it- this is Islamic brotherhood! And we continue to be satisfied, as if this is a comfortable condition to be in, with the foolishness that comes our way from these Saudi crooks! They say "you're a terrorist" if you have an Islamic program, if you have an Islamic organisation, if you have an Islamic ideology. A terrorist?! If you would put them in the context of Islamic history in the years of Allah's Prophet and the forty years since he went to Al Madinah they will say "these Sahaba (that they idolise) are terrorists." But how come they get away with all of this? Because there's a lack of information on our behalf. They have a playing field of ignorance that we afford them. That's why they get away with it!
This khutbah was presented by Imam Muhammad Asi on the occasion of Jum'ah on 11 April 2014 on the sidewalk of Embassy Row in Washington D.C.
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