THE STREET MMBAR JUM'AH KHUTBAH (2 May 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 brothers and dear committed sisters…
Audio on http://www.islamiccenterdc.com/apps/podcast/podcast/340382(04-18-2014)
POWER STRUCTURE IN ARABIA-QURAYSHI AND SAUDI
When we express ideas and thoughts on this day of Jum'ah at this time of day, salat al Jum'ah,we do so realising that there are certain powers and certain peoples with their circumstances, their ups and their downs, their successes and their failures, their knowledge and their ignorance and many other factors that go into today's life and world. As you and I know, there has been in the previous years, especially in the previous few years, a type of instigation among the Muslims that is supposed to spark animosity and enmity between Muslims and among Muslims; much of this is captured by the way sectarianism and the bottom line is to have us divided (and) to have us not working with each other (and) suspicious of each other. This has taken its toll on a proportion of people who are right now winding up their sectarian plans with its deadly consequences. You know (that) we've tried at length to surround this issue and to arrest its trouble making potential. We've dwelled on this probably, (if we wanted to total it up), for years and still we have some people who can't get it straight. They think that there's some genuine pursuit in trying to smother the other Muslim figuratively, literally or allegorically. Anyone who has learned a lesson or two from the Qur'an or from the Prophet knows that the differences are legitimate (but) the way we live with them becomes the issue. One of the threads in this whole subject is the inability of Sunnis and Shi'isto understand the background of the initial history that is supposed to have conflicting interpretations. Towards this end we're going to have this khutbahanother contribution to understand what is taken out of the public mind either due to ignorance or due to very well thought out educational and propaganda strategies. We will begin by quoting the ayah in the Qur'anfrom Surah Az Zukhruf
They said if only this Qur'an were to be revealed to a man belonging to one of the most significant social units in Arabia . Are they going to also dole out Allah's rahmah (or) are they going to distribute Allah's rahmah (or) are they going to give Allah's rahmah as shares? (Surah Az
These are Allah's words. They capture a social mentality or a social psychology that was prevalent during the struggle of Allah's Prophet with his own people because the problems that are characterized later on by Abu Bakr and Umar versus Imam Ali (radi Allahu anhum) didn't erupt all of a sudden- as if they didn't have no background to them (and) they had no history precedence. These people who were opposed to the Prophet when he came with his crystal clear message said
They said if only this Qur'an were to be revealed to a man belonging to one of the most significant social units in Arabia . Are they going to also dole out Allah's rahmah (or) are they going to distribute Allah's rahmah (or) are they going to give Allah's rahmah as shares? (Surah Az
Is it these people's function who are opposed to Allah's Prophet? In a few minutes we're going to come to give you the structure of these people.
… it is We who dealt out their livelihood in this worldly life… (Surah Az
Mind you, these people who are speaking are the wealthy people, the powerful people, people of influence (and) people of status. These are the ones who are speaking and this ayah and these words of Allah are responding to them. Don't think the world doesn't have them anymore! They are still alive and kicking in today's world. They don't have the same names but they have the same characters.
… and we've raised some of them above others as a matter of rank… (Surah Az
(When) you look at society that's natural in society.
… so that some of them begin to utilise others; but Allah's mercy is much better than everything that they are collecting. (Surah Az
Allah's mercy is much better that the wealth, land, estates, territories, economies (and) whatever they are trying to build up. OK-
In today's words, (let's give this a little more movement), this power structure had, (what you would call), ten ministries. Let's consider Quraysh as a tribal entity. Within that tribal entity there were clans or derivatives of Quraysh. They all hearken back to the same great-great-great grandfather way back and from there there were these strains of blood relationships. The first sub-tribe of Quraysh or the first family structure in Quraysh for our purposes- it has nothing to do with first in rank- was Banu Hashim i.e. the descendants of Hashim. At the time these ayaat were revealed and the power structure was in Makkahthe person who represented Bani Hashim within the power structure of Qurayshwas Al Abbas ibn Abd Al Mutt'talib (radi Allahu anhu). They had responsibilities. There's a function that he was responsible for. What was it? It was offering water and some food if available to those who were coming every year to the Hajj. (We don't know, but) in today's world you could probably with a little imagination say that he was the minister of agriculture in that power structure.
The second one in that power structure was the clan of Umayah, Banu Umayah or the descendants of Umayah. The person who represented them in that power structure was Abu Sufyan ibn Harb.What was he responsible for? He was responsible for- you can't call it operations- any type of responsibilities that would require some defense action.
The third one was Asd. Their representative was Yazid ibn Zam'ah ibn Asd. He was responsible for internal consultations and interactions.
The fourth one was Taym. The person representing Taym was, (in the history books), Abdullah ibn Ka'bahor Abdullah ibn Uthman or we know him as Abu Bakr. Abu Bakr representedTaym in this power structure. What was he responsible for? He was responsible for the internal revenue of Quraysh. He was a person responsible for that.
Another clan was Makhzum represented by Khalid ibn Al Walid. He was responsible for the military budget.
The other clan was Adi represented by Umar ibn Al Khattab. He was responsible for being something equivalent to a roving ambassador who would, whenever the necessity demanded it go and have contacts with other Arabians in the Peninsula or even with the commercial contacts that the Arabians had to the south or to the north.
Another clan in this power structure was called Jumahand it was represented by Safwan ibn Umayah and this person was responsible for, (what we call in today's world), risk assessment. That's another word for isar and azlaam- that was the original words in the texts.
Finally we have the clan of Sahamrepresented by Harith ibn Qays and he was responsible for arbitration. If there was a serious fight of sorts that was going to break out within this power structure he was the person to go to, to try to solve this issue by discussions and by reaching come type of peaceful solution short of clashing with each other.
This is a power structure and it should tell you and me something when we are not aware of this power structure. When we read Islamichistory, whether it is the Islamic history prior to the Prophet or the Islamic history during the time of the Prophet or Islamic history after the days and the years of the Prophet it seems like this power structure is absent from our minds whether we are Sunnis or whether we are Shi'is. When we come and speak about- and this is the argument about sectarianism- "who was and should have been the immediate successor to Allah's Prophet in the decision making process?" Right now, the way sectarianism is being presented is an argument between those who say "Abu Bakr, Umar, Uthman and Ali (radi Allahu anhum)" and those who say "Imam Ali, Imam Hassan, Imam Hussein (alayhi as salam) until the end."This is the argument! So whenever you listen- whether you are a Sunni or a Shi'i- to these arguments that are presented to you how many of you listen to the speakers who are placing their ideas in the power structure of those day? None! This is why sectarianism has a life of its own. That's why you are fed a sectarian Sunnism or a sectarian Shi'ism. In this power structure that we just spoke about we mentioned Banu Hashim- number one. When you look at these, (to facilitate an understanding let's call them), ministries of the Qurayshi power structure of Makkah the ministry of agriculture is not very high. Even in today's world, (if) you give the portfolio of agriculture to a minister- well, he's a junior (or) low ranking minister. It's not like being the foreign minister or the minister of intelligence or the minister of defense (or) these other high ranking portfolios of today. We're still human beings. Power is central. The case that applies today applies in that world. So the person, Al Abbas ibn Abd Al Mutt'talib, who represented Bani Hashim in the Qurayshi power structure was the equivalent of the agricultural minister. (It's) not a very high ranking ministry in the power structure. That doesn't compare with Abu Sufyan ibn Harb who was, (let's call it), the minister of defense or with Umar ibn Al Khattab who was, (let's call him), the foreign minister in that power structure or with Abu Bakr who was the minister of internal revenue in that power structure. It doesn't compare. You can't compare them. So in this power structure Allah with His mercy and benevolence chose Muhammad to become the Prophet of Arabia and the world. These people who are in this power configuration with this Qurayshi power structure and these ministries looked around and said "why did this happen?" A person was chosen from Bani Hashim?" Relatively speaking they were poor. Banu Hashim relatively speaking were poor. (It's) true that they had a ministry but that being the case, they were poor. So these people who had the status (and) these power positions said "how can this be?" Once again, to remind you of the ayah in Surah Az Zukhruf
They said if only this Qur'an were to be revealed to a man belonging to one of the most significant social units in Arabia . Are they going to distribute Allah's rahmah as shares? It is We who dealt out their livelihood in this worldly life and we've raised some of them above others as a matter of rank so that some of them begin to utilise others; but Allah's mercy is much better than everything that they are collecting. (Surah Az
So here we have this power structure with its personalities making a mockery out of Allah's choice to have Muhammad the son of Abdillah of Bani Hashim of Quraysh to become a Prophet with a scripture. This was too much for the whole power structure to stomach but what do we notice? From within this power structure there were two individuals who came to the support of the Prophet- one of them very early and the other one relatively early. Those two were Abu Bakr and Umar (radi Allahu anhuma). They came to the Prophet's aid. They broke from the positions that they were in, in that power structure and they came to support and to assist and to aid Allah's Prophet. So these two individuals were not under any illusions that worldly power is going to satisfy them anymore. Now they have submitted their lives and their potential to Allah's Prophet (or) to Allah and His Prophet, (to be more correct). So what happened in the course of this struggle? What happened was the power structure itself begins to react to Allah's Prophet. Allah's Prophet doesn't have any military, he doesn't have any wealth and resources and riches. He just has the word of truth. So the power structure begins to react to him. What did they do? They wrote what amounted to a document to boycott Allah's Prophet and they posted and sealed that document in the Ka'bah itself to give it an air of religiosity and to give it a sense of obligation that everyone in Makkah should not transact with the Prophet or any of his followers. When you look at the followers of Allah's Prophet, the overwhelming majority of them were poor. Just like the Prophet himself came from a poor clan of Quraysh his followers came from the poor segments of that society. So the power structure-the one that we pointed out its functionaries (and) ministers- said now we are going to economically squeeze life out of the Prophet and his followers- economic boycott, economic sanctions, isolation.So they were limited to the ravines of Bani Hashim or Abi Talib. They were confined there and the economic sanctions were so sever that in these circumstances the Prophet dispatched some of his followers to Africa . Some people say Al Habashah. OK, that's true. It was called in that day Al Habashah but if you say, (in today's world, with what is happening and going on), they went to Africa that will gain some type of traction in the political mind of today. So they went there from fleeing these harsh economic circumstances. No one would transact with these committed Muslims and the Prophet. You can't sell or buy from them any food or water or clothing- nothing.Until this ended, not within the Qurayshi power structure but the Qurayshiruled citizens of Makkah who got fed up with this and they said this has gone on ling enough. This went on for two or three years. We're going to that document in the Ka'bah that was posted and sealed there and we're going to tear it up. (This) is part of our history. The unfortunate thing is not many historians will tell us exactly the families that was involved in this. So here comes the propaganda.
When the economic boycott failed against Allah's Prophet and his followers what came after that in a concentrated way was the propaganda. Look, they'd say, who's following you? His relatives, his acquaintances. Who's following you? We don't see any people who are very much substance around you. TheQur'an comes to expose this mentality not only in Makkah- this is a mentality that is historical and it's a mentality that is infinite. It will go on well into the un-seeable future. That's the arrogance of those who have power and money- they look at people who have morals and principles and they say "who are you?" Allah came to expose this mentality from the beginning, from the time of Nuh (alayhi as salaam). These people who have status and recognition and influence in society said,
Are we going to commit ourselves with you- Nuh- and we see those who follow you are the scum of the earth? (Surah Ash Shu'ara' verse 111)
(You) see- the Qur'an expresses what's inside their psychology. If you're a committed Muslim and you don't belong to the power structure they don't have to say it with their tongues and with their rumors and propaganda. Allah says it from above seven heavens. They look at you as the scum of the earth and they try to give the impression to the public that you are the scum of the earth. (Take a) look at us here in the street. How do you think Mr. Public and Mrs. Public out there whose minds are influenced by the propaganda machines around look at us? They look at us the same way these arrogant people in history looked at their Prophets and their Messengers.
In another ayah, that one was ayah number one hundred eleven in Surah Ash Shu'ara', and this one is ayahnumber twenty seven in Surah Hud. This arrogant psychology that has power and money with it said to people who have morals and principles
We see that you're only a human being like us… (Surah Hud verse 27)
Nothing's special about you. You're just dirt that walks the earth just like everyone else,
… and the only ones that we see are following you are the scum of the earth. (Surah Hud verse 27)
Once again, that word aradhiluna- people who don't have status, people who don't have money, people who don't have power are your followers. Well, that's the social law. That's the way Allah wants it to be. This was addressed in the time of Musa (alayhi as salaam) when Allah says in Surah Al Qasass.
We want to favor the oppressed people in this world who were oppressed by the policies and tyranny of Phiraun and make out of them leaders and We want to make of them inheritors of this world. We want to firmly establish them in this world and We will show Phiraun and Hamaan what they were cautious not to see. (Surah Al Qasass verse 5-6)
Then we come to a short surah and we think most of you should be familiar with it. You know- sometimes the mentality out there is occupied by the religious Islamic official establishment inside (and they) say "brother you are being too specific and we don't find any of this specificity in the Qur'an." Just remind them on one occasion in the context that we are speaking about Allah was specific and in a short surah, not to tax your brains, He says
For the purpose and reason that Quraysh is familiar with, the routine of going on two commercial journeys- one of them during winter and the other during summer. Due to this biannual commercial activity that Quraysh knows very well they should conform and comply with the Sustainer of this sanctuary, (in reference of the Haram in Makkah and Al Bayt Al Haram); Who has offered them subsistence to avoid hunger and offered them security to avoid fear. (Surah Al Quraysh verse 1-4)
The word Quraysh is used here and that's a specific power presentation in a particular time. Can we also not be specific in our particular time and if there is a power structure that replaced Qurayshcan we not identify it? How long is it going to take for Muslims to work their minds and to activate their souls to discover who the criminals are? With all the light and information that has come to us from Allah and His Prophet still some of us are mentally crippled! We can't see our enemies, we can't see war criminals, we can't those who are instigating civil wars, sectarian wars, civil strife (and) internal blood letting. We can't see it! The reason some people can't see it is because there are these types of Masajid and Islamiccenters who want to dumb you down not to see beyond what they want you to see through the lens that they use over your eyes and the calibrated information they feed your mind.
So the Prophet of Allah, (to make a longer story or narrative shorter), passes away with these dynamics at work. (Do) you think when the Prophet became the ultimate leader of the Muslims in Al Madinah this power structure that was in Al Madinah fighting him for twenty plus years suddenly disappeared? It doesn't exist any more? Makkah gave in toIslamic predominance because it could not win this conflict with Allah's Prophet, not because everyone in Makkah was convinced of the Prophet's leadership (and) the Prophet's decision making. That psychology of the Qurayshipower structure lived on during the time the Prophet passed away and in the years that followed that and then it made its grand comeback with the first king in Islam thirty years after the Prophet. But who're you going to say that to when sectarianism out there is meant for one Muslim to accuse the other and taking it from there for one Muslim to kill the other.
Dear committed Muslims…
We hope and we pray that Allah gives us the moral strength and the integrity of thought to be able to point out those who are using the same attitude and mentality and psychology of Quraysh then today in our world. Just take the facts of these past months and few years and look at what role the grand Quraysh of Arabia today are playing. If someone comes to them with the truth- with Allah's words and His Prophets teachings- and that someone is poor then you'll find that Qurayshiattitude kicking in Arabia today. You tell us there's no discrimination (and) no racism in Arabia ? If you're a Muslim and you are struggling from day to day you think they're going to pay attention to you? Just one simple example- when you go to the Hajjyou surrender your passport to those Qurayshi authorities. They take your passport and they tell you "on your way out you can come and check out your passport and we'll give it to you." You can rest assured that American and European passports are treated like dignitaries and the passports that belong to Muslims, (these are all Muslim passport holders), who come from less fortunate countries and territories are dirt. One individual who comes from one of these areas, Sri Lanka
This khutbah was presented by Imam Muhammad Asi on the occasion of Jum'ah on 18 April 2014 on the sidewalk of Embassy Row in Washington D.C.
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