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Bismillah Ar-Rahmaan Ar-Raheem.
Alhumdulillah. Peace and blessings on Muhammad (sallalahu alaihi wa sallam), his Noble Companions and Family.
Dear committed brothers and sisters…
Audio on http://www.islamiccenterdc.com/apps/podcast/podcast/350819 (11-28-2014)
THREE EARLY ISLAMIC POLITICAL PARTIES
With Allah's guidance and help we're going to continue to shed light on the dark corners of our minds and our conscience that have been causing us divisions and lives- as you can very well see if you open up your eyes and see and observe what is happening to the Muslims today. All of this is done with obedience and compliance with Allah when He says
And hold on, all of you, to Allah's fortified extension to you and be not divided… (Surah Aal Imran verse 103)
We are conscious of the fact that some people are trying to distract us from our responsibilities of undoing the massive injustice and the theft and the occupation of our Holy land by having us concentrate on our divisions and by blowing them out of proportion and by misleading some of us through our ignorance- they think that we can get involved in an internal strife that will take the pressure off and then they will relax for some time period and we will die for some time period. We are aware of all of this as we try our best to remedy the internal ignorance that most us are guilty of.
During the clash of Siffin, that's one of the early battles in the first and second generations of Muslims, a third orientation appeared or some may say a fourth orientation appeared because up until now we had the political, (so to speak), Islamic trends in the House of Islam centered around Imam Ali (radi Allahu anhu) in the first instance. In the second instance it was around Talha, Az Zubayr and Umm Al Mu'minin A'ishah (radi Allahu anhum) and the third one was around Muawiyah. These were the three, up until now (or) up to Siffin. These were the three Islamically explained and rationalized political trends. Now we have a fourth one that appeared and this fourth one is referred to in the major books of history as Al Khawarij which roughly means the dissidents. These were a group of followers of Ali who were very devoted to him. They were known for their, (what some may say), extreme observation of Islamic responsibilities and obligations. They were not from the Ulema' per se. These were not scholars who were known for ijtihad and these things but they had a propensity in them to act as if they were. So when it came to this arbitration issue- remember brothers and sisters, we're trying to cover territory in today's real world that is avoided by those who are supposed to know better- (and) when this arbitration took place there was an agreement from both sides, (i.e.), the camp of Ali and the camp of king Muawiyah. When both sides agreed to arbitrate, (and this we've covered before), we know about the raising of the Qur'ans or the Masahif (or) copies of the Qur'an on the swords and the side of Muawiyah said we want to refer to this book in solving the issues among us. So this fourth Islamic political trend- it's Islamic. Agree with it (or) disagree with it- this is an Islamic thing. It is part of our history and people who are trying to make believe that this didn't happen are just losing some of the experience that they offered to us. They said there cannot be any judgment expect that that belongs to Allah. The Imam's famous words answering that, the words are words of truth but the intentions are fallacious. He tried to explain to them the Qur'an itself doesn't speak. The Qur'an itself doesn't act. It's left up to men themselves to express the meanings of the Quran in their lives but they couldn't understand things like that. The way these Khawarij thought and felt about this issue (is) they referred to an ayah in the Book of Allah and that ayah we think is known by the average Muslim.
If there are two contingents of committed Muslims who go to war against each other (or) who battle against each other then you try to reconcile these two sides but if one of them pursues aggression against the other then you turn altogether against the aggressors until these aggressors refer to Allah's commands… (Surah Al Hujurat verse 9)
So these Khawarij were saying Allah is telling us here in this ayah, (that everyone knows), to carry on this war against these aggressors meaning king Muawiyah and those who are with him until they come to Allah's words. So their position is clear. It seems from our understanding of this delicate page in Islamic history Ali concurred. He agreed that's what has to be done but he realized that not everyone in his camp agreed to that. He realized further that most of those people in his camp did not agree with that. So if he was going to carry on the fight against these people now who have the Masahif on the swords his own camp is going to begin to fight against itself. What do you do in a condition like this? Ali agreed to this tahkeem for the purpose of keeping his own followers together. This is another area that Muslims don't want to look at. Many of the followers of Ali at this moment in time… Remember we're talking about a battlefield here. We're not talking about some people who are living luxuriously in their libraries and in their comfort of their homes and trying to deal with a matter like this. At a battlefield you don't have the luxury of time, (i.e.), give us a little time, we need to think about this (or) give us a few weeks and we'll think about this. No! Decisions have to be made on the spur of the moment, (as it were). So in calculating all these variables around, (i.e.), his enemies, his own followers Ali thought that probably the best thing to do at this time is to agree to this arbitration which these Khawarij disagreed with. Then- here we may say we don't know if this is the absolute fact of the matter but there is reason to believe that it is- within the camp of Ali were those who, (in today's language), were either sympathetic or leaning towards or even agents of Muawiyah. One of these personalities name is Al Ash'ath ibn Qais. This person is in the camp of Ali and when this issue of tahkeem presented itself he was the most enthusiastic about it. He comes from a very significant tribe called Kindah. His name is Al Ash'ath ibn Qais Al Kindi and this is a significant tribe in the southern part of Arabia towards Al Yemen and he was all for it. The way he went about this gives a person reason to believe that he had some type of connections with the opposite side. Further yet, when it came down to choosing the arbiters, (i.e.), the two individuals who are supposed to arbitrate this whole affair Al Ash'ath ibn Qais was in enthusiastic or gung-ho about Abu Musa Al Ash'ari (and) that he should become now the arbiter for the side of Ali. In some quarters those people who want to spend an extra effort to dig in to the personalities and the characters of those who were around you'd find that Abu Musa Al Ash'ari was on close terms with Muawiyah because in the battle of Al Jamal Abu Musa Al Ash'ari was a person who did not like what was happening in that battle. It could have been that he was just against war amongst Muslims- that's one interpretation of it. Another interpretation of it was that because this battle went in favor of Ali and those who were with him by being against it he was supporting the rival and the enemies of Ali. Add to all of this, Abu Musa Al Ash'ari was not from the prominent Sahabis. He did not attend Badr, he did not attend Uhud and he did not even attend bai'ah Ar Ridwan. He approached Nabi during the time of Khaybar. These were during the last years of Prophethood. Besides he was known to give the benefit of the doubt to the opponents of Ali and maybe because of this type of personality he could easily be fooled by the arbiter from the other side, (i.e.) Amr ibn Al Aas. So when it was right now clear that this arbitration was going to take place Ali could see this as an equivalence to the arbitration that took place, (so to speak), and the discussions and the negotiations at Al Hudaybiyah. Muslims during the time of Allah's Prophet were not comfortable with this agreement when the Prophet signed this agreement with Quraysh so the Muslims are going to have to also feel discomfort because of this arbitration the same way they felt at Al Hudaybiyah. So now that we had Abu Musa Al Ash'ari in difference with Ali. Ali wanted other persons to be the arbitrators, one of them is Abdullah ibn Abbas (radi Allahu anhu), the other one is Al Ashtar An Nakh'i some people know him by Malik Al Ashtar (radi Allahu anhu) (and) the other one is Al Ahnaf ibn Qais (radi Allahu anhu). These were three personalities who were known for their devotion, for their sincerity and for their acumen. Abdullah ibn Abbas was someone who we can call, (in today's words), a scholar. What was going for Abu Musa Al Ash'ari and the majority of people in Ali's camp was that he also had a type of scholarly demeanor to him and the Prophet gave him some responsibilities during the last years of his life. Besides, it appears that Ali was not convinced that Abu Musa Al Ash'ari was going to be fooled as easily as he was fooled. So when it was agreed that Abu Musa Al Ash'ari was going to be the arbiter in this affair Ali sent with Abu Musa Al Ash'ari, ibn Abbas and some others from the people of Iraq but Abu Musa Al Ash'ari didn't want to listen to anyone. He wanted to take this whole affair into his hands and deal with it by himself and by doing so he became an easy prey to Amr ibn Al Aas. So when it came time to discuss this whole matter Amr ibn Al Aas took the initiative and he concentrated on just one issue. It was one issue arbitration and that was who is going to be the leader of the Muslims now. Other pertinent issues were taken off the agenda- the original issues like who killed Uthman (radi Allahu anhu). In this arbitration they should have discussed the founding arguments (or) the initial arguments that divided both sides, (viz.) who killed Uthman- that's number one. If we can name those who killed Uthman, what is their punishment going to be? Then, how is that punishment going to take place. Then to deal with the hadith of Allah's Prophet when Allah's Prophet said about Ammaar ibn Yaaser (radi Allahu anhu)- and this is a hadith all Muslims agree on- you are going to be killed by the aggressor camp and it materialized. This became true. Ammaar ibn Yaaser was killed by the camp of Muawiyah. These are the issues that should have been discussed if Abu Musa Al Ash'ari had approached this issue with a broad spectrum he wouldn't have been content with Amr ibn Al Aas imposing on him one single issue, (i.e.), who should lead the Muslims. So what took place is what we all know in history and that is Abu Musa Al Ash'ari was deceived and was fooled. Some writers, historians, analysts (and) people who take the effort to look into this comment by hindsight now looking back at it saying "this was a type of conspiracy between Muawiyah and Al Ash'ath ibn Qais, the person who was in the ranks of Ali." There was a type of conspiracy in imposing Abu Musa Al Ash'ari on that camp to represent them. These types of conclusions still need to be researched and authenticated. By us bringing it up doesn't mean that this is the final word on the matter. What we're trying to say is that these types of things occur in these conditions and circumstances. Did they occur then? Is this true? This is another point that Muslims have to collectively bring their minds together and reach some type of conclusion about.
So after this arbitration and how it appeared oh we've been fooled. Ali's camp now realized they've been fooled. In this circumstance Al Khawarij said see we told you so. So what happened reinforced their position. Even though when that happened Abu Musa Al Ash'ari was fooled Ali denounced the tahkeem because it was a fraud. Even Abu Musa Al Ash'ari after he was fooled denounced the arbitration process but the damage has been done. These Khawarij insisted on their holier than thou position. See, we told you. Now we are back to square one! We're trying to avoid divisions and we find out there are new divisions arising. The people on Muawiyah's side now were more adamant on their positions. Both sides agreed to these arbitrators and look at what these arbitrators did. When they did that and when it's all over everyone should agree to it. It should be mentioned here that Muawiyah was more skillful at using political propaganda against his enemies and opponents. The people who were following him were not people who were steeped in Islam. The people in the North, in the Levant , were not people who lived in the Prophet's struggle, gave of their possessions (or) had a record for them. These were people who just became Muslims basically a few days ago (or) a few years ago. These were people of interests. They were ruled by the Byzantines and they were looking after their commercial interests, regional interests, cultural interests, etc. so it was easy to take them along in the line of Muawiyah. After it was all done Muawiyah authenticated to them everyone agreed to this arbitration and the result of it was they declared me the Khalifah of the Muslims. So he took that with all its propagandistic potential just like before he convinced his own subjects that Ali was responsible for the assassination of Uthman. Now one of the claims that Muawiyah made was he is responsible for extracting justice for the assassination of Uthman- you hear that. This also is not a simple matter. It's an asabiyah matter from Muawiyah's point of view but the way he sold it to the public (was) he referred to the Qur'an. There's an ayah in the Qur'an that says or means something like this
And whoever was killed as a madhlum or without justice, We, (Allah says), have given to his next of kin a type of authority to extract justice for the victim… (Surah Al Isra' verse 33)
So Muawiyah took this ayah and he claimed he is the wali of Uthman so Allah has given him the permission to extract justice for Uthman. Yes, there's a relationship between Muawiyah and Uthman- both of them are from Bani Umayah- but the closest blood relationship between them goes back to their grandfathers. When the ayah says waliyah it has to do with immediate family. No one here challenges, (we're talking here in today's world for people who want to look into the subject matter), and says "wait a minute here- Muawiyah hijacked this issue by claiming this relationship of next of kin to Uthman! Where's Uthman's immediate family in all of this?" Whatever background you come from and whoever's listening to this khutbah why don't you ask, "if this ayah is applicable, it's applicable to Uthman's immediate family, it's not applicable to some ruler who us related way back then through a grandfather to each other to claim that he is the wali of Uthman?!" Now, after the dust settles we realize we have three camps here, after Siffin, (and) all three camps referring to the Book of Allah. There was the camp of Ali and he is the legitimate ruler through the bai'ah, the consensus, ash shura and the public expression of that.
O you who are securely committed to Allah, obey Allah and obey His Messenger and those who carry authority in this interactive-position among you... (Surah An Nisa verse 59)
This is position that sums up Ali and his followers.
The second position that broke away from Ali refers to the ayah in the Qur'an for its legitimacy saying
If there are two contingents of committed Muslims who go to war against each other (or) who battle against each other then you try to reconcile these two sides but if one of them pursues aggression against the other then you turn altogether against the aggressors until these aggressors refer to Allah's commands… (Surah Al Hujurat verse 9)
That's how Khawarij rationalized we should have continued fighting them, meaning the camp of Muawiyah, until they referred themselves to Allah's orders and commands.
Then Muawiyah and his position which we just explained in the ayah
And whoever was killed as a madhlum or without justice, We, (Allah says), have given to his next of kin a type of authority to extract justice for the victim… (Surah Al Isra' verse 33)
These were the Qur'anic (basis used) and we see how the Khawarij were misled. They were misleading themselves. How Muawiyah was using the Qur'an as a trick to justify his position and how the sincerity and the devotion and the dignity reside in the position of Ali.
We say to you after all of this, (you've listened to all of this), should this become a matter of civil wars? Should we be killing ourselves today because of this? Besides, let's concede for a moment that Muawiyah and those from Bani Umayah are the second of kin or the guardians, etc. of Uthman. OK-
So we had these three trends in the Muslim domain. After this tahkeem what happened when the positions solidified these Khawarij asked Ali to make a tawbah. You were wrong! You gave in so now it's your responsibility to ask Allah for forgiveness. You ask Him for forgiveness. They went further, not only ask Allah for a political calculation that was wrong, they're telling him, but you also ask Allah for forgiveness because you are guilty of kufr. This is the bombshell here. You see- in today's world this takfiri thing that is going on can be traced all the way to that incident and those occasions. You are guilty of kufr; express you tawbah. This is the first time we observe in Islamic history this phenomenon of takfir. These Khawarij were not amenable to reason just like today's takfiris. You can't come to them (and) approach them- let's sit down and let's go over this issue and reach an understanding. They're not that type! Once they consider you a Kafir you're outside the pale! There's nothing else that can be done! We've lived with this issue of takfir ever since. We have some Muslims who say "other Muslims because of such and such a matter (which) they say is the Sunnah of Allah's Prophet" and they're not willing in their minds to contemplate the fact that there are other Muslims who express themselves on that matter in another way and say "this is the Sunnah of Allah's Prophet." They not willing to do that! So in today's world takfir has an introduction to it- its called tabdiyah, that is they'll not begin by accusing a certain person of being a Kafir- that's not how it begins. It begins by accusing a certain Muslim of bad'ah. They will say to the Muslims they disagree with, "what you are doing is a bid'ah." Now the other Muslims are not doing a bid'ah. The other Muslims are trying to obey Allah and His Prophet to the best of their understanding of Allah and His Prophet the same way these same accusers are trying to do. These accusers are saying "we obey Allah and His Prophet according to the information that we have." The other Muslims are saying "we are obeying Allah and His Prophet according to the information that we have." So there should be a recognition here of mutuality. No! These tabdi'is and these takfiris want to turn this against other Muslims and then they turn violent and we have the consequences that we have. This is why we have today these wars, the civil wars that began the way they began. They're being used for political ends. They have no justification in Allah's Book or in the Seerah or the Sunnah of Allah's Prophet but the consequences we are living with today and the reason we have them today is because there's an institutionalized ignorance. These Masajid all around that are run by the status quo Taghut want this ignorance to stay in us. They don't want to speak about this issue. They don't have confidence in the intellect that Allah has endowed us with to understand Him and his Prophet! They want preponderant ignorance and hopefully we have contributed to chipping away against that ignorance by what has been said.
Dear committed Muslims, brothers and sisters…
If we just have enough confidence and enough understanding of what Allah and His Prophet are telling us (and) enough knowledge of this then we are able to look at the criminals of today in the eye and identify them. Yes- those who dwell in the Holy land and their masters, but they don't want us to mature to this degree. They want to continue because if we had at the beginning of our history beginning with Muawiyah a monarchy which was called a Khilafah so it was legitimate; we can have a monarchy today in Arabia (and) we can have multiple monarchies in Arabia today and they can also be legitimate- that's one of the reasons they do not want Muslims to learn from their history and to learn from their experiences and to learn from their mistakes! They don't want us to learn. They want these Masajid to be incubators of ignorance!
This khutbah was presented by Imam Muhammad Asi on the occasion of Jum'ah on 28 November 2014 on the sidewalk of Embassy Row in Washington D.C.
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