| THE STREET MIMBAR JUM'AH KHUTBAH (10 October 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/348881 (10-03-2014)
DIVISIVE ARGUMENT VS CONSTRUCTIVE ENGAGEMENT
Even though tomorrow is being imposed on the majority of Muslims as being the day of Eid Al Adha, the 10th of Dhi Al Hijjah, meaning even though the decision makers in Arabia have imposed on the rest of the Muslims standing on Arafat today which is in fact the 8th day of Dhi Al Hijjah and Yawm Arafat is the 9th day of Dhi Al Hijjah and even though we have all these problems (and we have been) living with them for all of these years we are still going to pursue with an opened eye and a receptive heart Allah's instructions in exposing the same culprits in Arabia when they are trying to make believe (or) have us believe that they are accommodating the Muslims when in fact behind the scenes they are complicit in trying to annihilate the pulse of the Muslims. Being that this occasion is, for all and sundry, the occasion of Eid Al Adha meaning in these days are the high holy days of the yearly pilgrimage to Makkah with all the deviations that are associated with it as well as the large doses of ignorance that we have been dealt throughout the centuries we want to begin by quoting an ayah from the Book of Allah in which Allah- the One who cares for us so much so that He provided us with eternal information- He says to us, this ayah is delivering the following approximate meaning- Allah is speaking to us
… and bear in mind (or) be conscious of Allah's bounties and blessings upon you for you were enemies and He has acquainted and reconciled your hearts with each other so you have become due to His ni'mah, blessings and bounty brothers to each other… (Surah Aal Imran verse 103)
This ayah is not what the facts of our current world tell us. This ayah says once we were enemies. Of course it was revealed to speak about the hostilities in the Arabian Peninsula before the pre-Muslims became Muslims. They were enemies of each other and it seems like history has gone its full cycle and now we, who have Islamic appearances, who have Islamic traditions and Islamic photogenics have returned to these positions of hostilities. Or else how do you explain what is happening in the different geographies in the Muslim world. How do you explain that is there's no hostility there? So we were tracing and we continue to try our best to trace where the source of all of this is? Where is this coming from? Of course, we mentioned and we continue to reiterate that much of this is due to our own ignorance – much of it is attributed to that.
To try to tie much of the issues together we will bring you an example of ibn Khaldun. Ibn Khaldun is the very well known historian or sociologist, (depending on how you classify him). Ibn Khaldun went to the hajj- the same hajj these people are going to today. Ibn Khaldun died at the beginning of the 9th hjri century, 808 of the hijri calendar to be precise. He went to the hajj just like people today trek and go to the hajj. Ibn Khaldun is from Morocco , from North Africa all the way (in) the north western area of Africa . Now that's a long way. He goes to the hajj (and) on his way back he comes to Egypt Egypt is on his way back obviously and he settles in Cairo Cairo Far East . They invaded and occupied all the way to the Mediterranean inclusive of Iraq and historical Syria Baghdad , they occupied Damascus Morocco who went to the hajj, who came back to Egypt Damascus Near East but he managed to secure a session with that Tatar commander. So he greeted him obviously and then this commander asks "who are you?" He says "my name is Abd Ar Rahman ibn Khaldun. I am a Moroccan Muslim and I'm a judge from Egypt Damascus Damascus Baghdad Morocco Morocco Morocco to Al Hijaz, he had to go through other territories obviously in North Africa . No one in all of these other territories stopped him and said "where are you going? Don't you know that you need some type of authorisation to pass through our land?" That never occurred. On his way back when he passed through Egypt Egypt Damascus or in Syria or in Iraq Europe .
When the Muslims living in Andalusia were threatened (by) an existential threat, (i.e.), the inquisitions, the expulsions, the executions, the ruler in Morocco, Yusuf ibn Tashfin entered into a unity pact with these Muslims because there was this feeling of togetherness which now even though people are going to the hajj they lack this feeling of togetherness. We have a hajj of prejudice, we have a hajj of discrimination- we're talking about today- we have a hajj of segregation, we have a hajj that violates the standards of the ayah, the other ayaat of the Qur'an and the ahadith.
… and bear in mind (or) be conscious of Allah's bounties and blessings upon you for you were enemies and He has acquainted and reconciled your hearts with each other so you have become due to His ni'mah, blessings and bounty brothers to each other… (Surah Aal Imran verse 103)
When the Prophet of Allah heard that some of the committed Muslims- these are committed Muslims who are with him from the Muhajirin and from the Ansar (radi Allahu anhum)- began to express their pre-Islamic identity he said part with this pre-Islamic affiliation because it has a foul odour to it.
Al Mas'udi died in the first half of the 4th century of the hijrah, to be precise the year 346. He tells us there was a person by the name of Al Yamaan ibn Al Rabab who authored a book arguing for the priority, the legitimacy and the preferential position of Abi Bakr (radi Allahu anhu) to become the leader of the Muslims. His brother Ali ibn Al Rabab wrote and authored a book in which he explains the priority, precedence and the legitimacy of Imam Ali (radi Allahu anhu) to be the leader of the Muslims. These are two brothers and each one wrote a book expressing their point of view and every year they would hold a public presentation in which they would express their point of view. Nothing is wrong with this if it is done in a mature society without divisiveness coming out of it. But that's exactly what happened! People began to be divided and Allah tells us to come together. Allah orders us to come together.
… come together for the purposes of doing the right thing… (Surah Al Ma'idah verse 3)
Fortify yourselves with the rope of Allah… (Surah Aal Imran verse 103)
We, together, are one body. Imagine if you have your physical body and then you have your right hand fighting your left hand? Who's going to suffer? If you close one eye and just open one eye who's going to suffer? If you listen with one ear and plug the other ear who's going to suffer? This is what we are doing to ourselves! Then we get into these disruptive (and) divisive arguments. Thank Allah (that) there's an argument that has disappeared altogether. No one even knows there was for a period of scores of years an argument in the Muslim public mind between the Fatimis and the Abbasis, (i.e.) "who is more legitimate in their relationship to Allah's Prophet?" That's gone. We thank Allah that an argument like that that divides the Muslims is gone.
Take an example of just under 300 years ago in the year 1156 of the hijrah. We're in the year now 1435 of the hijrah. So it's almost 300 years minus twenty years, 280 years. The ruler in the Ottoman state, Turkey , and the ruler in the Persian state, Iran
There was Thaqif, one of the power centres in Arabia during the time of Allah's Prophet, came to him and said we want to become Muslims but we have two conditions: one of them is we have nothing to do with jihad and the other one is we don't want to pay any zakah. (In) the answer Allah's Prophet didn't argue with them or they didn't argue with him. This was an era that was absent of these divisive arguments. He says how do you figure you're going to enter al jannah if you don't give out and sadaqah and you're not involved in any jihad? How do you think that's going to happen? One of the scholars said "a person who has a wide range of information you find that he is not apt to enter into argumentative oppositionist arguments. How appropriate this is? We are not saying this not to take from your confidence (or) not to take from our own will power but to shed light on the deficiencies in our own selves.
On a note that is more optimistic, let us say (that) in the course of this history of four hundred years we, (and we say this with humility (and) without an ego. An absence of the ego is a paradise to eternity (or) a passport to eternity), one of the Islamic writers says in one of his books Al Mutrib min Ash'aar li Al Maghrib that "Muslim travellers at that time, (almost a thousand years ago), had reached the northern most parts of Europe"- and he named that area as Denmark
Say: Travel through the earth and see how Allah did originate creation… (Surah Al Ankabut verse 20)
… why don't you travel through the lands of this world then you can see you (or) can witness what the outcome (or) what the result of those who are contrarians to Allah… (Surah Al An'aam verse 11)
There are many ayaat that give the Muslim this motivation and momentum. The Muslims were the ones who would travel the high seas. There's a book by the name Nuzhat Al Mushtaaq fi Ikhtiraq Al Afaaq, A person who is yearning for a picnic to penetrate the horizons. From the title of this book you see that Muslims are not sycophants, they are not drowning in their ownselves, they have the pulse for investigation, for research, risk taking- all of these. With all of these hujjaaj going to Makkah and Al Madinah, they are going as if they are chained within their own selves. In this book we find the first map of the world. The concept of the world as a globe you'll find here before all of these others came along hundreds of years later. Even in there is a suggestion that "there is a continent, this is in reference to today's North America and South America, beyond the sea shores of Africa and Al Andalus." The Muslims were the first to say "the sun does not rise on all the planet at once and it does not set on all the planet at once." The Muslims were the first to observe the flow and the ebb. You know if you're listening to a weather report they say "there are high tides." All of this can be traced back to those of us who were not involved in the type of divisive arguments that we lived with then but now some people are trying to regenerate to cripple our potential. The Muslims were the first ones who came out with the system that is know today as the university. The word college, Kulliyah or Culligia, comes from Muslims who were thinking, Muslims who were researching, Muslims who were not involved in these petty issues of who's right? "Are you right? Or am I right?" Then we get into this divisive argument. We were the pioneers in the fields of astronomy, mathematics, chemistry, pharmaceutical. It's a shame that we speak about what we have accomplished and now we look at ourselves and we are not accomplishers. We are the first to have scientific observation of the skies and today we are fighting who's right?! "Did the month begin on this day or that day?" None of us wants to consider the scientific information that we pioneered to begin with. We were the ones who pioneered this science of astronomy and after all of these years and the human input into this science we turn the other way and say "we want to see the hilal with our physical eye. Then we get into arguments- "what do you mean by your physical eye? Do you mean 20/20 vision? Do you mean with a binocular? Do you mean with a telescope? Do you mean you have to go up there in an airplane above the clouds?" We get into all of these disputations of division. We were the first to make glass out of sand. We were the first to attempt to fly- a name that probably not many people are familiar with, Al Abbas ibn Farnas- hundreds of years over half a millennium before the Wright Brothers. We were the ones who taught the numerals, (i.e.) the ones that we use today. The way you write 1, 2, 3, 4… that calligraphy comes from us and mostly all of the world knows it right now and here we are intended to be divided so we don't give results. We're not dumb! We have minds. Our problem is we refuse to activate these minds- that's pour problem. Even the alphabets, the alphabet of the Qur'an, alif, baa, jeem, dal… was not arranged like today, (i.e.), alif, baa, taa… It's another arrangement; but the previous arrangement that we had, when these scientists were producing, we find it in the Latin alphabet. ABGD. They don't even know what the right one was. They took that letter and it confused them and the Turks brought it back even though they parted with the alphabet of the Qur'an but they went with the correct pronunciation. ABGD, KLMN, QRST… Our traces are distinguishable in these areas but where are our minds? When you go into these Masajid they want you to not think! So this is the results we have: hatred, Muslims hating other Muslims because the mind is absent. You don't hate when you think. I think therefore I can't hate! We were the ones who set channels for flowing waters before everyone else. We managed to have water delivered to high rises. The high rises in those times were not the skyscrapers of today but they were four, five (and) maybe six stories in certain metropolis areas of the Muslim world (and) we managed to have water go to those heights before any of the world knew about this. We were the ones who investigated the benefits of fruits and vegetables for medicinal purposes (and) plants and herbs for medicinal purposes and look at us today! People identify with certain treatment systems. There's the homeopathic, there's acupuncture, there's TCM- traditional Chinese medicine, there's the allopathic- the mainstream chop them up in the hospital medicine; where's our medicine? What happened to us? We were the ones who began friendly medicine. We have right now no claim to any of that because we railroaded our own minds. Qurtuba, this city in Iberia called Cordoba London Europe used to consider that some type of Paganistic practice. At a time when Europe used to consider disease to be an affliction (or) a punishment from God we studied disease and we found out, (we say this once again with humility (and) without an ego and we mourn where we are today because of the difference between then and now), there's something that goes with disease and its called contagion, (i.e.), some people catch disease from others. They didn't know this! The world didn't know this. We studied, we researched (and) we investigated). You know, right now there's this big scare about Ebola. The issue of quarantine comes from yours humbly, yours truly (and) yours with a thinking mind before it was known by the others. Even confession- you know, some people go to the priests for confession. Some Christians don't have a confession anymore (but) that good influence came from we, the Muslims when we were trying our best to understand Allah and His Prophet.
… and bear in mind (or) be conscious of Allah's bounties and blessings upon you for you were enemies and He has acquainted and reconciled your hearts with each other so you have become due to His ni'mah, blessings and bounty brothers to each other… (Surah Aal Imran verse 103)
And another ayah
… come together for the purposes of doing the right thing… (Surah Al Ma'idah verse 3)
Dear committed brothers and dear committed sisters…
The high priest, (we say this not with a religious connotation but with a civic connotation), today, the imposed day of Arafah on the rest of the Muslims who are there, came out and uncharacteristically addressed himself to the leaders of the Muslims. If you address yourself to the leader of the Muslims that's permissible. Of course, he got his green light from his superiors, (i.e.), the rulers in Arabia and the rulers in Arabia got their green light from their masters in the Capitals that are inimical to the equality of humanity (and) the dignity of every living human being. So he addresses himself to the leaders of the Muslims. Why doesn't he address himself to his own leader and say to him- if he has the integrity of a Muslim scholar (and) if he has the independence of belonging to Allah and His Prophet instead of belonging to a king and a kingdom- to open up this hajj, to open up Makkah and Al Madinah to all Muslims every day of the year without any restrictions. Why do we have to ask permission from these rulers in Arabia to go to see where our Prophet lived, to obey Allah during the times of hajj and umrah? They are the people in Arabia who repeat the word bid'ah endlessly. They are fond of using the word bid'ah in every other sentence that they express. Why can't they place that word where it belongs and say to their rulers (and) their princes that they are committing the colossal bid'ah of all times by possessing Makkah and Al Madinah and inhibiting the Muslims from all around the world from accessing Makkah and Al Madinah whenever they want to go there. But who do they talk to? If they were speaking to hearts that throb and to minds that think they'd probably be responsive to words and advice of counsel but there's no life, (yes, there's physical life, they have bodies they move in but they have no fervent life; no life of the heart and the spirit and the soul).
O you who are committed respond to Allah and to the Messenger if he calls you to that which invigorates you, that which enlivens you, that which gives you life… (Surah Al Anfal verse 24)
But this is our dilemma- we're stuck with these scholars on the pay-list and until we overcome our own ignorance they will continue to overcome us!
This khutbah was presented by Imam Muhammad Asi on the occasion of Jum'ah on 3 October 2014 on the sidewalk of Embassy Row in Washington D.C.
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