Muslim Unite Shia and Sunni KHUTBAH ; THE PROPHET’S HAJJ

 

THE STREET MMBAR JUM'AH KHUTBAH (1 November 2013) webpage: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=182501078290&ref=ts 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.

Brothers and sisters, committed Muslims…

Today's one of those days of raining and stuff like that so we'll try not to have you get very wet. Allah can help us.

Audio on http://www.islamiccenterdc.com/apps/podcast/podcast/325399 (10-11-2013)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h5mHceoppkE

THE PROPHET'S HAJJ

This is the time in which Muslims are arriving and have been arriving in Al Hejaz particularly in Makkah and in Al Madinah to relive or at least to try to relive the meanings of the Hajj and what better could it be than for us to trace how the Prophet performed some of the obligations of the Hajj. In this final Jum'ah before waqf al Arafat and before Eid Al Adha, we will try to follow the Prophet's footsteps. To begin with, the Hajj pilgrimage was made a faridha (or) a mandatory act of devotion to Allah in the tenth year of the hijrah. We know this sounds some what odd to some Muslims who have grown up thinking that the Hajj and all of these other arkan of Islam were mandatory at the beginning of the Prophet's mission and those who are going to find this statement unusual actually should look at themselves to find their information inaccurate. So the Hajj became a fardh upon every committed Muslim towards the end and the beginning of the tenth year of the hijrah when the ayah often quoted by yours truly here ayah number 97 in Surah Aal Imran in which Allah says (we're trying here not to quote the whole sequence of the ayaat).

… the station of Ibrahim or the status of Ibrahim and who ever enters it, enters it in security and it is incumbent upon those who are able from amongst mankind that they do the Hajj to the sanctified House for Allah for those who are able to do so… (Surah Aal Imran verse 97)

See- in this ayah which was revealed at the end year of the ninth year of the hijrah Allah says that the Hajj now has become a wajib (or) a faridha- it has become an obligation and a mandatory duty towards Allah. Another thing that might strike some people as odd because they haven't thought very cogently about the Prophet in what he was doing (is) even though the Prophet was born in Makkah and even though the Prophet went to the Haram so many times that no one has been able to count how many that was the case before he was a "Muslim" (and) before the Wahy came to him and when the Wahy came to him, (he must have gone there thousands of times and in those years), there was the Hajj and in those years people used to go for the tawaf around the Ka'bah and the Prophet was there but the only Hajj that the Prophet performed was the one in the last year of his life in the last year for the hijrah and this Hajj is referred to by the average person out there as Hajjat Al Wada', the pilgrimage of farewell or leaving. Now this same Hajj, the only Hajj that the Prophet performed, is also called Hajjat Al Islam and it is also called Hajjat Al Balaagh but we here, after fourteen hundred years, are only living with one nomenclature for this Hajj. Everyone calls it Hajjat Al Wada'. You have Muslim friends, you have Muslims scholars, you have Muslim spokespersons- have you ever heard anyone of them call it Hajjat ul Islam or Hajjat ul Balaagh? No. That also is another indicator of how we have slipped on our scale of living up to the meanings of this Hajj. The reason it's called Hajjat ul Islam is because it's the first Hajj- it was the Prophet's last Hajj- for the rest of the Muslims of the world that was performed in accordance with the final message from Allah which is Islam; therefore it's called Hajjatul Islam. Another designation of it is Hajjat ul Balaagh, the pilgrimage of communication because in this pilgrimage the Prophet gave what is referred to by some people as "the sermon on the mount" in which he began by saying O People- your lives, possessions and honor are as sanctimonious as this day in this month in this city and he goes on. So we, the Muslims, as an indicator of who we are today have dropped from our vocabulary two very important designations of this Hajj of the Prophet. In this Hajj- the only Hajj of the Prophet, the first and the last Hajj of the Prophet but the first Hajj of the Muslims- Allah revealed the ayah in Surah Al Maa'idah that begins with until Allah says

… today I have perfected your deen for you and I have completed My blessings upon you and I am satisfied with Islam being your deen… (Surah Al Maa'idah verse 3)

The Sahaba (radi Allahu anhum) upon hearing this were moved. They had a feeling (or) a sense that this was an end of the Prophet's life or the Prophet's life was coming to an end and one of the companions of the Prophet was moved and tears were running down his cheeks and he was asked why have you turned emotional. He said because what comes after perfection is imperfection. This is a very authentic understanding of human nature and if we were to gage the history of the Muslims after that we find that was true. That was the pinnacle of Islamic materialisation, (so to speak), and then from there on we began to see how Islam began to gradually wind down, (so to speak). So how did the Prophet begin this Hajj? What happened? Did he wake up one day and he said "well I'm going for Hajj. He collected his belongings and he walked from Al Madinah to Makkah"? How did this begin. Obviously it begins by a niyyah. Everyone has the intention to perform the Hajj. The prophet expressed his intention and determination to go to the Hajj. After that he made it known to the public and then after that, of course, he prepared himself (with) whatever it takes. You need some supplies, you need some belongings, you need this that and the other to go on this journey and he motioned (and) he moved himself towards Makkah. Now when the word got out that the Prophet is going to Makkah to perform the Hajj then almost everyone was interested in going to the Hajj and they wanted to accompany him. So many Muslims from Al Madinah joined him in his journey to Makkah. On the way word also got out to surrounding areas in the Hejaz and in the Peninsula and some people on the Prophet's way from Al Madinah to Makkah began to join him there. He left Al Madinah after praying adh dhuhr- four raka'at in five days that were left of the month of Dhi Al Qa'da, meaning around the 25^th of Dhi Al Qa'da the Prophet left towards Makkah which would mean that he left about two weeks before standing on mount Arafat and then Eid Ul Adha'- about two weeks. He expressed himself to those who were accompanying him. Remember, eventually when everyone was present there in Makkah there was over one hundred thousand Muslims performing the Hajj. If we were to be somewhat fair to our history, (and sometimes we're going to have you think), during that time when the Prophet was in his last year there are wobbling estimations to the number of Muslims who were now committed to Allah and His Prophet and they may wobble between a half a million to two million. Let's take for purposes of the argument today that Muslims are going to the Hajj without any barriers- this is the argument that some ignorant people and some malicious types throw out there. They say "Oh the Hajj is open. Muslims go to the Hajj and everything is normal. No one should be making a fuss about the accessibility of Makkah and Al Madinah or the regulations that are imposed on the performance of the Hajj and also the Umrah." So for purposes that will give numbers or give the benefit of the doubt to numbers on their side we'll say that the number of Muslims when the Prophet passed away is about two million because if we say they were around half a million that's going to say that one fifth of the total Muslims in the world went to Hajj but if we say that the Muslims at that time were two million then it says one twentieth because if out of two million one hundred thousand went to the Hajj that means one twentieth of the Muslims of the world went to the Hajj. That would tell you, (probably it's a fair way to measure the Muslims in all of their varieties- whether they are truly committed, whether they are half-way Muslims, whether they are reluctant Muslims, whether they are hypocritical Muslims, whoever they are ), if we say one twentieth of the Muslims went to Hajj because at that time there were no barriers, there were no regulations, there were no dues to pay to certain governments and all of this that goes on today- the door was open. The journey was for anyone who had in their personal capacity the physical stamina and the financial wherewithal to go to the Hajj. So if we were to say this is the Muslim state of nature, (i.e.) one twentieth of them will go to the Hajj if all of these barriers came down, well why don't we have one-twentieth of the Muslims going to the Hajj nowadays? What's one twentieth of around two billion Muslims in the world? What would that come out to? One hundred million?! Why don't we have one hundred million Muslims going to the Hajj? The way we are programmed to think over there in these controlled Masajid is "Oh you can't think like this!" Why can't you? Bring this idea up (and) let people who are placing us in our positions today answer to why we don't have a grand Hajj as was the case in the time of Allah's Prophet.

So as the Prophet was accompanied by these thousands of people who were now going with him to the Hajj he began to teach them the talbiyah (or) the conscious echo of reciprocating with Allah. He said to them you say on your journey on your way to the Hajj Labbayk Allahumma labbayk. Labbayk laa sharika laka labbayk. Inna al hamda wa an ni'mata laka wa al mulk. Laa sharika laka- that's what he said. These are his words to them. We want to repeat this again; because some of you who may be more anxious or technical about words we want to repeat this again. The Prophet taught those who were going with him to perform the Hajj this formula that all the Muslims now say not necessarily word by word as it is said here, (we'll get to that in a minute), but this is what he told them to say I respond to You, O Allah. I come to You, O Allah. I enlist for You, O Allah. All of these meanings are entailed here. Once again, I respond to You, O Allah. I come to You, O Allah. I enlist for You, O Allah; but here is the addition, You have no partner, You have no associate, You have no parallel, You have no co-other with you. Gratitude, blessings are Yours as is the dominion, the domain, the world. Once again reiterating, You have no co-other with you. Listen to this brothers and sisters: then here is where the Muslims around- remember he's speaking to hundreds or thousands of Muslims, depending on the occasion and the stations and the whereabouts from Makkah because he's on his way from Al Madinah to Makkah- were listening to him and were trying to repeat exactly what he was saying but some of them did not say it exactly the way he said it. Some of them added to it and some of them subtracted from it and the Prophet was hearing them. He didn't say "Oh, you're saying it wrong." He didn't make this a divisive issue the way some Muslims today, especially those who are supposed to be the guides in the Hajj, do if someone says, (we'll give you a good example), Inna al hamda wa an ni'mata wa al mulk laka. It's saying the same thing but rearranging the words. Instead of saying Inna al hamda wa an ni'mata laka wa al mulk you say Inna al hamda wa an ni'mata wa al mulk laka. The word mulk either comes at the very end of the sentence or it comes a word before the end of the sentence. The Prophet was listening to the Muslims saying this and he didn't tell anyone "you are saying it wrong." And there are other ways in which this same sentence; for those who are interested in fiqhi studies, you can go to the different fiqhi schools of thought and you will find the same sentence with the same general meanings formulated with different words of with different locations of words. There was nothing wrong with that. It wasn't an issue of divisiveness as some of today's controllers over there want people to think.

On the way to the Hajj formal Madinah to Makkah the Prophet went through a few areas. The first one is called Al Araj, the second one is called Al Abwa', the third one is called Wadi Asfan and the other one is called Dhi Tawa. Some of you may probably have heard these words for the first time now. It's odd but it's true. If the Prophet on his way from Al Madinah to Makkah went through these particular areas or stations, (as they should become, they become stations because the Prophet went through them), on his way from Al Madinah to Makkah then why aren't they house words? Why doesn't every Muslim know them and is familiar with them? Let's say, for these technical types who control the Hajj and the Umrah process over there with the use of brute force, some Muslim wanted to go to the Hajj the same way the Prophet went to the Hajj- its not mandatory, you don't have to do it- but let's say some Muslim says I want to do it the way the Prophet did it; he goes to Al Madinah and then he wants to follow in the direction and in the trail from Al Madinah to Makkah. So it's going to become very difficult for him to dig up this history. Why? Because its going to be very hard for this person to know where these stations- Al Araj, Al Abwa', Wadi Asfan and Dhi Tawa- are because the regime in control over there wants to bury Islamic history literally, technically, physically. A person is going to have a very difficult time going in the footsteps from Al Madinah to Makkah and it's not by chance! This is all thought out. So the Prophet stayed in this last station of Dhi Tawa. It was the night of Sunday. He prayed salah as subh, then he took a full bath and then he took unto Makkah. Of course, he came into Makkah from the Northern area of the city. He went until he reached the Masjid. It was mid-way almost between al Fajr and adh Dhuhr, around the Dhuha time of the day. So he goes up to ar Rukn. You know the Ka'bah is the cube. The word Ka'bah- you would sometimes figure does the word cube have anything to do with the Ka'bah? This cube that was there has Al Hajr Al Aswad in one of its corners called Ar Rukn if we understand it correctly. So when the Prophet entered the Haram area he went towards that corner of the cube and from there he began his tawaf around the Ka'bah. The tawaf takes place counter clockwise. One of the explanations of this, (we're not saying this is the only explanation), is that a Muslim in performing the tawaf has his right shoulder exposed. When you wear the ihram, the ihram you put on in a way that exposes the right shoulder so when you are moving around the Ka'bah in a counter clockwise motion you are exposing your right shoulder to those who are watching or viewing. At the time in Makkah- even though Makkah in the past year had exceeded its status from a Mushrik urban centre now to an Islamic city- in this society of Makkah there were still Mushriks. Not everyone became a Muslim. There were still those who were opposed to Islam even though Islam now had become the order of the day. So one of the explanations to the form or to the motion of the tawaf is to show demonstrate your strength because the outer side of this ring of people is the right shoulder. So when the Prophet went around the Ka'bah in his tawaf- remember this is his first and only Islamic Hajj, first and last and only Islamic Hajj- and when he performed it he performed the seven tawaf, just like we all. Why do we do seven tawaf? Because he taught us the seven tawafs (or) the seven circumambulations (or) the seven surrounding motions of the Ka'bah he did three of them in a jogging manner. Its not he was walking and its not he was running. It's in a pace in between around the Ka'bah and then he did four while he was walking. Three and four- three jogging and four walking. That completes seven around the Ka'bah. Then he goes to Maqam Ibrahim. There's a station there- may Allah provide us with the opportunity to make it there one day. As he approached Maqam Ibrahim he quoted the ayah

Bear in mind that we have designated Al Bayt a retreat and a refuge for people or a place in which people recoup themselves from the affairs of the materialistic world and an area of safety and security, peace and tranquillity, and designate the Maqam of Ibrahim as a place to offer your salah … (Surah Al Baqarah verse 125)

We don't know if the Muslims of today are doing this in a conscious manner. They may be doing it in a physical manner, they may be doing this is a manner equivalent to a parrot and they may be repeating words and not being aware of what they are saying. Then he went to a position in which the Maqam was between him and the Ka'bah and he would pray two rak'aat and in these rak'aat he would read Surah Ikhlaas and Surah Al Kafirun. Then he'd go back to that corner of Al Hajr As Aswad or Ar Rukn and from there he'd go to As Safa. There's these two positions that we are all familiar with- As Safa and Al Marwah. There's the obligation of jogging between these two positions. When he reached As Safa he read the ayah in the Qur'an in Surah Al Baqarah

As Safa and Al Marwah are rituals belonging to Allah, are symbols belonging to Allah. For whoever goes to the sanctuary- Al Bayt Al Haram, the Ka'bah- for purposes of Hajj or Umrah, there is no violation of conscience and principle to jog between these two places, even though those two idols are still there on these two places… (Surah Al Baqarah verse 158)

Let us mention to you also something that not many Muslim speakers and not many Muslim scholars want to speak about, (i.e.) prior to this Hajj of the Prophet, the only Islamic Hajj in his lifetime, there was something that was called Umrah Al Qada'. The year before that because of the stipulations of what was called the agreement of Al Hudaybiyah, the Prophet was given leeway because Makkah was still not under the control of the committed Muslims. The Prophet still did not have jurisdiction over Makkah so the Mushriks said we will permit you, because of this Hudaybiyah agreement, to come to Al Umrah to Makkah. The Prophet went to what is called Umrah Al Qada'. In this Umrah he performed the same things

That he did during Hajj because during Al Umrah you do the same things when you go to the Hajj. So when he went to the Umrah Al Qada' the year before this Hajj he went to a Ka'bah (and) he went to As Safa and Al Marwah and there were idols all around. The Prophet of Allah goes to perform the Umrah when there were idols in the Haram, in Al Bayt Al Haram, in As Safa and Al Marwah. What do you say? How does this sit with today's people who don't understand how this Islam is to be constructed? Just drill this fact into their area of attention and ask them "how do you feel about this? Was the Prophet wrong? He shouldn't have gone to the Ka'bah, to Makkah, to Al Bayt Al Haram, to Al Masjid Al Haram, to Ar Rukn, to Al Maqam Ibrahim, to As Safa, to Al Marwah, to all of these other places?!" You, who understand Islam, will say to him as the expression is in the Arabic language- you approach Islam by hanging on to it by its tail! These are the types right now who are in control of the Hejaz, Makkah and Al Madinah. They don't understand the dynamics that are at work even though the ayah here is explicit.

As Safa and Al Marwah are emblems of devotion to Allah, so whoever embarks on a Hajj or a Umrah he shall incur no sin to perform the sa'ee between them… (Surah Al Baqarah verse 158)

Why would Allah say this? Because there was an idol on As Safa and another idol on Al Marwah and Muslims felt in themselves wait a minute here- is this right? Are we allowed to perform this sa'ee or back and forth jogging between As Safa and Al Marwah when there are idols there? To answer one question that one of you asked at one time, "what's the difference between a wathn and a sanam." This also, because many Muslims especially those who are supposed to be communicative in the Arabic language can't understand the difference between a wathn and a sanam they use these words as if they are interchangeable. There is a difference obviously. Al wathn is something that you regard with devotion and with adoration but it has no feature to it. It could be a tree, it could be a rock- it's featureless. You can't make out a living being ion that thing; but once you define and defect characteristics of a living being, whether it's an animal or a human being, then that's called a sanam. So the ayah here for those who are willing to understand

As Safa and Al Marwah are emblems of devotion to Allah, so whoever embarks on a Hajj or a Umrah he shall incur no sin to perform the sa'ee between them… (Surah Al Baqarah verse 158)

The two idols there on As Safa and Al Marwah was called As Saaf and Naa'ilah. These were two idols (or) two graven images (or) two repugnant things to the conscience, to the heart, to the mind of the average Muslim. So Allah is saying

… even though As Saaf and Naa'ilah are there on As Safa and Al Marwah you incur no sin by performing your duty of jogging between As Safa and Al Marwah. (Surah Al Baqarah verse 158)

But who do you say that to in today's world? Who are we speaking to? Are there people out there who are thinking? We're sorry brothers and sisters- we have to curtail this khutbah at this point because of the weather and because of the circumstances.

Dear committed brothers and dear committed sisters on As Siraat Al Mustaqeem…

We want to bring your thinking abilities into the area of the ayah that says

You publicise the timing and the duty of going to the Hajj … (Surah Al Hajj verse 27)

This is supposed to take place months before going to Arafat and Al Adha'.

Hajj is a matter of months… (Surah Al Baqarah verse 197)

We are stricken by a deafening silence in the months that precede the Hajj. Instead of our senses being bombarded, (so to speak), with the information to go and to accommodate and to be welcomed in the Hajj. There's a deafening silence that comes from Ash Shaytaan himself. Then, all of a sudden there's this scurry- everyone's in a hurry to go and to get out in a couple of weeks.

… they'll come to you walking on their legs and on their feet and also using whatever other meagre means of transportation … (Surah Al Hajj verse 27)

Today we have this performance of the Hajj in which those who are - we say this deliberately and we hope it becomes the lingua franca choice of everyone- controlling the Hajj. The Hajj can't be controlled if we were reporting to Allah but some of us, especially those who are making laws and decisions don't report to Allah. They report to their phoney earthling deities. So instead of encouraging Muslims to come to Hajj they're telling people- you and I and the rest of us- "Oh, postpone your Hajj for this year and the coming few years because we have some type of construction efforts that we are involved in here to make it better for you and the Hujjaaj in the coming years." This is what they tell us. They themselves (per) their own sources of information say "so far the number of pilgrims who have arrived in the Holy Land is one fifth less than their numbers last year." It could be more or less, we don't know because these people are not in the habit of expressing the truth and the facts of the matter! On another account they tell us "they have thirty-plus cameras who are monitoring the committed Muslims." We need monitors there? We need people to spy on us if someone is speaking to someone else or contacting someone else or having a small group meeting and exchanging feelings and ideas? Of all places this should be done in the Hajj and the Umrah?! But no, they want to place cameras there! Did anyone tell them this is a bid'ah!? You can't do that! This is what happens when our minds lag behind and our bodies go to the Hajj just as they come to this Masjid- as if it's a call of nature (and) as if someone has to dump a load. So he goes to the Masjid on Friday and he dumps that obligation. They go to Hajj once a year and they themselves, who run the place, don't tell themselves "hey, you who have come from Jeddah or from Ar Riyadh or from another area in their Kingdom, you've been to the Hajj before- make room for the other Muslims around the world who don't have that opportunity." But they don't do anything like that and this is what we are faced with. If we don't wake up and understand our responsibilities and duties we're going to be run over by their merciless policies and we complain to Allah. We don't complain to anyone else.

O Prophet of Allah- there are Muslims committed to you and to Allah. Fourteen centuries after you trekked from Al Madinah to Makkah there are voices that still amplify your intentions, your responsibilities and your efforts.

This khutbah was presented by Imam Muhammad Asi on the occasion of Jum'ah on 11 October 2013 on the sidewalk of Embassy Row in Washington D.C. The Imam previously led the daily and Jum'ah prayers inside the Masjid. His speeches were revolutionary and thought provoking, and eventually irritated and threatened the Middle-East Ambassadors who control the Masjid. Finally, the Imam, his family, and other Muslims faithful to the course of Islam were forced out, into the streets. This khutbah originates from the sidewalk across the street from the Islamic Center, currently under seige.

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Muslim Unite Shia and Sunni KHUTBAH : THE HAJJ IN PRACTICE AND THE HAJJ IN THE QUR’AN

 

THE STREET MMBAR JUM'AH KHUTBAH (25 October 2013) webpage: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=182501078290&ref=ts 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/324667 (10-04-2013)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oXAFv-WztS4

THE HAJJ IN PRACTICE AND THE HAJJ IN THE QUR'AN

We are approaching the high days of Dhi Al Hijjah- the days in which the Muslims from around the world express their devotion to Allah by going to Makkah and Al Madinah to perform duties that are supposed to be meaningful (and) obligations that are supposed to show other people the way. We're going to take a couple of ayaat from the Qur'an and try to pass the meanings of these ayaat so that we can understand what these ayaat are saying (or) what these meanings of these ayaat are and what is going on in the real world. This time we take the liberty to bring these meanings into today's performance of this Hajj.

The first ayah- Allah says in Surah Aal Imran

Of a certainty the first bayt that has been situated for people is the one that is in Bakkah… (Surah Aal Imran verse 96)

The reason we left the word bayt in its original form without translating it obviously, we think anyone who is familiar with just a few words of the Qur'an or Arabic knows that bayt means a home or a house or a residence- that's what bayt means. In this ayah in Surah Aal Imran Allah is saying

The first bayt that was situated for people… (Surah Aal Imran verse 96)

Now let's take our time a little and give it just a little thought. If we were to dig up its linguistic roots a bayt is where you stay for the night. The word or the verb out of which it comes is baata. A person baata in a certain place is he spent the night there. So where a person spends his night or her night is considered where a person lives (or) the domicile of that person. There's many ways you can refer to this. I mean (in) the English language you can't compare. This is where many things get lost in translations because if we say bayt in English you say house. What does that mean? It really doesn't have an active meaning and this is one of the beautiful things about the wording of the Qur'an. Words have actions to them. Nouns are extracted from actions. So when we are saying bayt we are saying a place where people can consider their domicile (or) the place where people can stay for the night (or) the place where they can think about as a refuge and as a retreat, a place that is secure- you're secure in your own home. So this if where we, the Muslims, are just absent. We read the ayah, some of us have beautiful voices, and then we vocalise it in melodious ways but what goes unnoticed is what's the meaning here? What is going on? We want to know what the meaning is. Allah is saying a bayt- where you sleep your night. A night is a time of privacy- that's one of the definitions of al bayt. Allah in this ayah is saying

The first bayt that was situated for people… (Surah Aal Imran verse 96)

Not for an individual, not for a tribe, not for any specific stratum of society, not for any particular strain in society- for everyone.

The first bayt that was located for people is the one that is in Bakkah… (Surah Aal Imran verse 96)

Now some people who gave this a thought- remember at one time we used to think… It doesn't mean we are not thinking now others didn't think at one time. So when they looked at the meaning of this ayah they took it and said the first bayt that was designated for people was the one in Bakkah and their understanding of it when they tried to give it some of their intellectual vigour is that the first place for the purpose of devotion and submission to Allah is the one that is in Makkah, meaning when we say today there are churches, there are synagogues and mosques and temples and these things these are understood to be places where people go to express their relationship with their definition of God. So one understanding of this ayah says

The first type of place like that… (Surah Aal Imran verse 96)

Because that's a public place if it's a church or a Masjid or a synagogue or anything else- forget about what has accrued throughout the ages- by definition these are supposed to be open places for the public. So one of these understandings is the first place in the world on earth that was built as a public bayt is the one that is in Makkah. Then you have people that says, (because history goes in different directions here), it was built before Adam (alayhi as salaam) and some people say it was built when Adam came to Earth and on and on. So let's skip these types of historical ups and down. The fact remains what the ayah is saying.

The first bayt that was located for people is the one that is in Bakkah… (Surah Aal Imran verse 96)

Now yours in ijtihad says that there is a meaning to this ayah that just goes by or passes by everyone. The meaning of this ayah is

The first bayt that was meant for people is the one Makkah… (Surah Aal Imran verse 96)

Your bayt is a private place. The other person's bayt is a private place. Everyone's bayt is a private place. The first private place that become public is the one in Makkah because this bayt doesn't belong to you or me or any human being. No government (and) no tribe can claim it as their possession. This ayah says so.

The is the first place on Earth that has been made public for all people … (Surah Aal Imran verse 96)

Listen- li an naas. The ayah didn't say li al Muslimin (or) li al Mu'minin, (or) li al Muttaqin etc. etc. It said li an naas just like we say in the short Surah at the end of the Qur'an.

Say: I seek refuge in the Sustainer of Mankind. King of mankind. God of mankind. Surah An Naas verse 1-3)

Can we get it? Can we just invite our thoughts into this ayah? Now if we take a look, (and yours here has done this and it doesn't mean that it's final and everyone is invited to do it and if you come up with some other type of conclusion let us know), when reading in the history books about Makkah and about Al Bayt Al Haram never have we come across any information saying "those that are administering the affairs of Makkah said a certain types of people are not allowed into the city or not allowed into the Haram." In jahili history or pre-Muhammadi time we don't know of any time. We're not talking here about the rule or the administration of jahilis (or) people who were running Makkah outside of the realm of Allah's guidance and scripture only. We're talking about its whole history- when it was run correctly and when it was run incorrectly. Never has there been a reported incident in which it was said "certain individuals or certain religious denominations are not allowed into Makkah."

Now, we come to today's world. In today's world we have certain people who are running Makkah who tell us certain people can't come to Makkah." They are in violation of the meanings of this ayah because this place is li an naas.

The is the first place on Earth that has been made public for all people … (Surah Aal Imran verse 96)

There is a difficulty that occurs because there's another ayah in the Qur'an that refers to the Mushriks as being najas.

Mushriks are foul and filthy… (Surah At Tawbah verse 28)

Whether that is in the literal sense of the word- their bodies and their selves- or whether that is in the mental or spiritual portion of a person because there's been opinions elaborated in both these directions. How ever way you look at it, the Mushriks, because they are najas, foul and filthy, they are not allowed into Al Masjid Al Haram. Mushriks. From all the people in the world the ayaat in the Qur'an states that Mushriks are not allowed. These are ayaat that maybe if Allah gives us time and good health we will elaborate on this point in Surah Al Bara'ah and in other places in the Qur'an but just because from all the people in the world Al Mushrikin are not allowed into Al Masjid Al Haram that doesn't mean it is off limits to all other peoples of the world. When we say this we are saying this with Allah and His Prophet as our reference. In the lifetime of Allah's Prophet it hasn't been reported that he said that people who are not committed Muslims are not allowed into Makkah or even not allowed into the Haram area. It's not there. So all of this destructive development that we are living with has to be undone! We have to get rid of it and Makkah has to return to the status that belongs to it.

Let's take another ayah. Allah says in Surah Al Hajj

When you call people to perform this Hajj… (Surah Al Hajj verse 27)

Then the word adh'dheen is to express or make a public statement concerning the coming to the Hajj. You see- once again li an naas.

When there is a yearly call for the Hajj it has to be for the general public, for all people... (Surah Al Hajj verse 27)

So al Hajj is an open invitation to all the peoples. What's wrong? They can't come to the Hajj? OK- maybe people who are not of the Islamic commitment who don't know the fine message of the Hajj don't go around the Ka'bah (and) maybe they don't go between As Safa and Al Marwa obviously because this is not part of their faith but who said they can't come to Makkah? Where did this come from? Provided of course they're coming peacefully and they're coming with open hearts and minds. No one wants people to come there, as is the case today, with military bases and with weapons of mass destruction and with spies and all the rest. There's a difference between what Allah is telling us in these ayaat.

When there is a yearly call for the Hajj it has to be for the general public, for all people... (Surah Al Hajj verse 27)

In Arabic the construct of the language, (because we have to say this we have to explain it), there is something that you do and as a consequence something else happens. It's like saying "bring me food, I will eat." Eating is the consequence of food that is brought to me. So one act is contingent on the other. This is one of the elementary things they give in elementary grade school- two verbs: study, you'll succeed! Study, succeed. So we take this forth because it's in this ayah.

You publicise the Hajj to all people and then… (Surah Al Hajj verse 27)

What happens?

… they will come to you (or) they will come to Makkah (or) they will come to the Hajj walking on their feet… (Surah Al Hajj verse 27)

English expressions for this.

… and using every meagre means of transportation… (Surah Al Hajj verse 27)

The picture here looks like we go public and say "now is the time for the Hajj"- this is an invitation to the people of the world and the result is people are trekking to Makkah and coming. You can see this. Dhamir means a method of transportation that is not very well developed. It's a weak method of transportation. In those times it referred to (something) like weak animals. In those days they used to travel on camels, on horses, on mules, on donkeys, etc. so they will come to Hajj on these means of transportation that are very weak. So if we were to take it in today's world and say they'd even be going to Hajj on bicycles, on motorcycles, on run down vehicles, jalopies, contraptions, etc.

… they will come from every distant and remote cavity of the earth… (Surah Al Hajj verse 27)

We don't see that happening! This is what the ayah is saying- what happened? We don't see that happening in today's world. First of all there is no public notice to the Hajj. Hajj is as if it is left to limited periodicals and limited means of communication, maybe a radio program here and there and they speak about "this is the time of Hajj and let's go to hajj and all of this" and it is only meant to a certain audience and it is not meant to the general public! Thus Makkah has been chained and reduced. Makkah has been emasculated from being a vibrant city that concerns humanity itself.

Let us tell you- this is not only something that appears once a year when we encounter the times to go to al Hajj, it is also in your mind and my mind. Let us give you an example. The importance and the significance of Makkah has been so withdrawn from our active thoughts that when we say Makkah is a Qiblah and Al Bayt Al Haram is the Ka'bah we just pass it by. It is something to do with prayers- when we pray we try to find that direction, (i.e.) which way is towards Makkah and when Hajj time comes OK that's where we perform our Hajj- that's it! That's Makkah. That's all Makkah means and this is how much the definition of Makkah has been damaged. All of us know that the Prophets before the final Prophet prayed- all of them prayed. Hud (alayhi as salaam) prayed. Maybe not necessarily the same way we pray but in whatever devotional communicative manner they prayed. Hud, Salih, Lut Ibrahim, Nuh (alayhim as salaam) all prayed. What were they praying to? Have you ever asked yourself what was their Qiblah? The problem is, first of all, we think we haven't bothered to ask ourselves that question and even is someone maybe thought about it in a passing manner then what's the answer? Where was it? It takes a very courageous (stand to say…) just like we're saying right now that Makkah belongs to humanity, Makkah also belongs to the Prophets. The Qiblah of the Prophets was Makkah. The only interference in understanding this is the issue of Al Quds as Al Quds was a Qiblah of some of the Prophets of Bani Isra'eel. That's the only type of information that comes our way that says there may have been another Qiblah besides Makkah and there's reason to believe that Al Quds at one time was an authentic and bona fide Qiblah because we, the Muslims, (and) the Prophet prayed for sixteen months from the Arabian Peninsula towards the Qiblah in Al Quds. So let us say, without going into much historical fine points, there are two Qiblahs. Why is it if we, in our minds, reach a conclusion (that) in all of this history (and) in all of this peoples and Prophets that preceded us there were two Qiblah why don't these two Qiblahs come to our minds? Why don't we think when we are praying that the Prophets prayed to Makkah? Because Makkah is not only physically remote to us and made to be that way by man made laws but our own ignorance has imposed on us a distance between us and Makkah.

… so that they can be witnesses to manaafi'… (Surah Al Hajj verse 27)

The plural of manfa'a,

… so that they can be witnesses to utilities for them (and) advantages for them (and) usages for them (and) benefits for them… (Surah Al Hajj verse 27)

This is what the ayah is saying. So when we go to Makkah we will encounter concrete results (and) something that will be of benefit to us. This is what the ayah is saying. Why are we going to Makkah? We ask you- some of you, if not all of you, have been to Makkah- when you go to Makkah what type of manaafi' (or) what type of benefits are palpable to you? What type of benefits do you gain from going to Makkah? Of course some people will say "you know I felt a common brotherhood" even though in Makkah there's discrimination. With the official discrimination there "you Iranians, you go there. You stay in that area. You Nigerians, you stay in that area. You Turks, that area's allocated to you" and on and on. That's a discrimination! If people want to voluntarily be among language groups that they understand or ethnic groups that they feel comfortable with that's one issue but if they do it to separate from others that's another issue. We come to Hajj not to separate ourselves but to understand ourselves (and) to communicate with ourselves. How can we do that when the Hajj is set up the way it is? Then, if we're going to open the door of your mind to think don't stop here. Ask! Take it further. Ask where did this come from? Who said that a certain racial group should be in one place or a certain linguistic group should be confined to another place and on and on like that? Where did that come from? We need an answer. It didn't happen just like that. You didn't say (or) I didn't say (or) we didn't say it should be like that so who said it? And then why are we doing it?

… so that they, meaning the Hajj attendees mention… (Surah Al Hajj verse 27)

Now look, this is another slaughtering of the meaning. The sentence in this ayah ends (with) the translation of the word yadhkuru- to mention. Even though that is part of the meaning it is not the overall meaning. Yadhkuru is

… that the name of Allah becomes their conscience… (Surah Al Hajj verse 27)

That's why the word is used to refer to a person when he remembers something. Even some people translate yadhkuri ism Allah to remember Allah's name! So what is it? You have forgotten Allah's name? Is this the character of committed Muslims? They forget Allah's name and then when they go to the Hajj they remember it?! Obviously not! It means

… that Allah's name becomes a cultural consciousness… (Surah Al Hajj verse 27)

Because there we come from different parts of the world. The Hajj right now has been cut down severely to two million people which should be twenty million, forty million, seventy million people who go there but not only have they brought our level of thinking down so much that Makkah doesn't mean what it means the Ka'bah doesn't mean what it means the Hajj doesn't mean what it means- they've done a job on us and these ayaat are shining with these meanings. You see the ayah in Surah An Nur right there on this Masjid

In houses or abodes which Allah has permitted to be constructed and which Allah has permitted His dhikr, a consciousness pertaining to His name there-in, Praising Allah there-in, morning and evening, are men who are not distracted by commercialism and transactions from the consciousness of Allah (Surah An Nur verse 36-37)

If that was a Masjid and Makkah was the Makkah it's supposed to be and we were performing the Hajj as Allah tells us to do then his name would become our- not personal conscience- our tens of millions of consciences that go there to Makkah. We'd have Allah in our conscience. What is this? You go there, (we don't mean to be a little rude here), but it is like someone getting "high". Some people go to the Hajj to experience a high- that's a personal one. If everyone was experiencing that there's nothing wrong by getting "high" on the consciousness of Allah. Sufis do it all the time- the true ones not the ones that go around and play some games. There's nothing wrong in that but that's absent in the Hajj. It doesn't happen. So if we gain our consciousness of Allah right now from the Hajj it's supposed to be directed of what is called

… the livestock of the world … (Surah Al Hajj verse 27)

because part of the rituals or part of the stations of the Hajj is to sacrifice an animal According to the ayah, if al Hajj had its international reverberations the magnitude of it would be felt by the hungry people all over the world (or by) the concentrated hunger in the world. What was it? There was a statistic that was out last week that said "one out of every eight persons in the world." Another one said "one billion people in the world." However way you understand this or whichever way you understand this better- one billion people in the world or around one out of eight persons in the world goes to sleep hungry at night. If this is sentence in this ayah in Surah Al Hajj

… you feed those who are desperate (or) those who are poverty stricken (or) those who are hungry… (Surah Al Hajj verse 27)

If the Hajj was the Hajj that was meant to be then these one billion people in the world will feel "the days and the nights of poverty are not like what they used to be because now they feel like food is available to us" and that food should be there courtesy of that sha'aa'ir of the Muslims in the Hajj but we ask you, these are the meanings that we read and we had to as much as we could develop these meanings so that you can understand more or less what Allah wants us to do and what we actually wind up doing. There's a discrepancy. There's a world of a difference between what has to be done and what we are routinely and meaninglessly end up doing.

Dear committed brothers and sisters…

This year what these people who are running the affairs of the Hajj, by force obviously, with the protection that they have from their masters who have also a significant military presence in the land of the Prophet, in the land of Prophets (and) in the land of scriptures are telling people to do this year is "don't come to the Hajj. If you can delay your Hajj for a few years do that." Where did this come from? How is this possible to tell Muslims bluntly- not in direct ways, "you know we have these regulations. You have to bring $1,500 or you have to pay this amount for some type of application." No those are indirect ways of taking away the momentum of the Muslims to go to the Hajj. A person applies for a visa. Let's say you are an American here and you went to visit your relatives or your friends in another country and it's time to go to Hajj and you say I'm going to go for Hajj. You go to the Saudi Arabian consulate in that country. Remember you're an American passport holder or another passport holder- as long as it is not that country. You go into that country and you say "I want to go to the Hajj." They'll say "no, you can't go to the Hajj. You have to go back to your passport's country, (in this case you have to go back to the United States)." If you were in some Muslim country you have to go back to the United States, obtain a visa from the United States to go to the Hajj. Where? Once again- we were reading. Don't these imbeciles there in Arabia who are putting these obstacles in front of Muslims know that they are in violation of these ayaat? They're treating Makkah as if it is their personal property or real estate. It's not! It's our weakness and our ignorance combined that contribute to their crimes against committed Muslims and against humanity because the Hajj is for the human kind. Makkah is for an naas. We don't know what can we do? We are not much. We can't do much but at least we can express the truth and at least we know Allah listens. He sees and He hears their secret movements and their clandestine activities and their unpublicised policies and their this, that and the other that they think "oh as long as no one knows we are doing this it's fine." No! Allah knows that you are doing it and you are not going to get away with it. It's going to catch up with you and the sooner the better it is for you and the better it is for the rest of mankind.

This khutbah was presented by Imam Muhammad Asi on the occasion of Jum'ah on 4 October 2013 on the sidewalk of Embassy Row in Washington D.C. The Imam previously led the daily and Jum'ah prayers inside the Masjid. His speeches were revolutionary and thought provoking, and eventually irritated and threatened the Middle-East Ambassadors who control the Masjid. Finally, the Imam, his family, and other Muslims faithful to the course of Islam were forced out, into the streets. This khutbah originates from the sidewalk across the street from the Islamic Center, currently under seige.

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Muslim Unite Shia and Sunni KHUTBAH : THE KHAWARIJ AND TAKFIR

 

THE STREET MMBAR JUM'AH KHUTBAH (18 October 2013) webpage: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=182501078290&ref=ts 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/323880 (09-27-2013)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B6VlFzH2EzI

THE KHAWARIJ AND TAKFIR

The annul Hajj is quickly approaching and we know (that) habit has it to precede the Hajj by a few weeks and speaking about what the Hajj means and that we will do in the second khutbah but because of the importance of the issue that has been dividing the Muslims and killing the Muslims yours honestly is going to continue with the effort to try to shed light on the origins of this problem so that hopefully- with Allah's help and guidance- we won't become victims of our own ignorance or preys of our own misinformation. Allah says

and don't be like those who were divided and went into dispute and disagreement among themselves after clear evidence, manifest truth (and) visible guidance has come to them or don't be like those who were divided and then went into deep disagreement after Allah's Books were revealed to them, after Allah's Prophets lived with them and showed them the way forward- after all of this don't disunite, don't dispute (and) don't be divided… (Surah Aal Imran verse 105)

One of those divisive issues that have historical thread (and) a historical line that goes back almost a thousand and four hundred years is what is called Al Khawarij. Al Khawarij were a type of an Islamic party that has its own argument for the type of positions that they stood for in their time and in their circumstances. The word Al Khawarij is taken from the word al khuruj and in today's language that would be like insurrection and insurgence. Its detractors give it a negative meaning but they themselves give it a positive meaning. So any person or any group of people that break away in a social and then in a military sense from a legitimate ruler could be called Khawarij whether it was a thousand four hundred years ago or whether it happens today or whether it happens a thousand or more years from now. The persons who did not give bai'ah to the first successors to Allah's Prophet could, in this sense, be called Khawarij. When some notable Muslims disagreed the leadership of Abu Bakr (radi Allahu anhu) they could in a linguistic sense be called Al Khawarij; but then there is the positive meaning of this word and it is taken from the ayah one hundred in Surah An Nisa'a

… and whoever is active in this khuruj from his residence on a journey to Allah and His Messenger and then he dies in the process his reward is due from Allah… (Surah An Nisa' verse 100)

So to be objective and to be impartial about this issue the word- even though it gained through its historical accumulation a very negative meaning and connotation it doesn't necessarily have to be like that. It just happens that the forces in history that go under (and) that lose never have the opportunity to present what they stood for and to explain what they were all about. This happened to many other groups in history- in the Islamic context and in the non-Islamic context and in this particular case it happened to this type of orientation. They have other names (or) they are known by other words. Another word calls them Al Haruriyyah that is in relation to a town or a place called Al Harura'. After the battle of Siffin and the difference of opinion inside the camp or the army of Imam Ali (radi Allahu anhu) there were those who disagreed with the way Siffin was coming to an end- what was called in Islamic history at tahkeem (or) arbitration. There were people who disagreed with that and said this is wrong. This should not happen. So after leaving Siffin and going back to Al Kufa these people who disagreed with him Ali didn't follow him back to Al Kufa. They went to Hurura' so some historians refer to them as Al Haruriyyah. They are called Ash Shura', the plural of shaaree. Sharee has a double meaning- it could mean to sell or to buy. So some historians refer to them as those who transacted their lives for Allah and they refer this back to the ayah in Surah Al Baqarah

… and there are people who will transact or sell their lives for the satisfaction of Allah… (Surah Al Baqarah verse 207)

Then there are those in history, and you can sense from the designation of this political trend in Islam, who refer to them as Al Marika. Al Marika means, (we're going to come down to today's language so that you can understand what the inference of the word is), in the street language those who were slick. This is taken from a hadith of the Prophet. The Prophet of Allah was talking about a certain type of people they will slip through ad deen the same way an arrow departs from a bow. So they called them Al Marika. Then there are others who called them Al Muhakkeemah because when this dispute began- something that could happen anywhere by any Muslims- and when this dispute of arbitration divided the rank of Ali this particular strain of opinion said

… but governance belongs to no one except Allah. (Surah Al An'aam verse 57)

So because they said la hukm ill li Allah they were called Al Muhakkeemah meaning that when anyone wants to discuss the issue of governance and ruling and sovereignty and decision making all of that belongs to Allah. Now we want to remind you once again- this khutbah on this day of Jum'ah is not meant to fill in some vacuum in your mind (or that) we're just giving some information. No. If you're here just for getting information maybe you should go and sign up for a class somewhere and get, at the end of your information gathering effort, a piece of paper to hang on the wall. What is meant by us revisiting these facts is to gain an awareness and then a character that is immune to the troublemakers today who want to divide the Muslims along these fault lines.

So in one of their statements and this sort of defines where they are coming from, (of course they had many statements), responding to Abdillah ibn Abbas (radi Allahu anhu) the Khawarij are speaking to those who were with Ali because just a few days ago all of them were on one side (and) this difference didn't occur. This difference began when the Masahif went up on the swords and the losing party in the war was suing for peace- a grand deception, but some people took it as a way to save Muslim lives or bring this warfare to an end. Remember this is Al Khawarij speaking to the side of Ali and they say in an affair that belongs to Allah you arbitrate this to men... This is when both sides- Imam Ali's side and King Muawiyah's side- agreed to have two representatives to represent each side to solve this chronic bloodletting, civil strife and war within the Muslim Ummah. So they go on to say … in the meantime Allah has said His final word on Muawiyah and his party. What is that word? There's only two solutions to Muawiyah and his military might- either they are killed or they retreat from their positions meaning they acknowledge the leadership of Ali- this is what Allah says about this whole affair. So if you bring in Amr ibn Al Aas representing Muawiyah or you bring in Abu Musa Al Ash'ari representing Ali- Al Khawarij were saying what's all of this about? We don't understand this? Before that in whichever way we called them to Allah's book, (i.e.) this Qur'an that they are raising up on these Masahif, they refused. Now you've reached a point in which you are going to sign an agreement between you and he meaning Muawiyah?! Now you have placed between you and him a type of cordiality and getting along?! They said Allah has severed (and) has cut this cordiality and this getting along between the Muslims and people of war since the revelation of Surah Al Bara'ah except for they who pay the financial dues. Then, in another sentence that tell you who they were, these Khawarij said the committed Muslims have a commander, that's in reference of Ali, but when he arbitrated an issue pertaining to Allah's deen he has stepped out of iman (or) he has left al iman… Then they said he should make a tawbah (or) he should express his remorse, his guilt, confess to his mistake and ask Allah for His forgiveness after he has acknowledged his kufr. You see- brothers and sisters- right now we speak about this takfiri mentality and this takfiri strain of Muslims who are armed and killing left and right; this is one of the first times that committed Muslims were brave enough to express what they have on their mind and in their hearts. Agree or disagree (but) one feature that these Khawarij had to them is they would express exactly what was on their mind. They wouldn't withhold one word or they would not withhold one meaning from anyone. This is obvious. (Take a) look at the way they are speaking. Just a few days ago Ali was their Imam. They were on his side. They accepted him as the legitimate ruler of the Muslims and now all of a sudden after this decision by Ali to accept this tahkeem- and this acceptance was done, mind you, because the majority of the Muslims who were with him wanted to sue for peace. It wasn't his preference. They knew this but still they put him in a position that they designated as a Kafir. They said to Ali- once again they were frank (and) they were blunt- make a tawba (or) express your tawbah for your mistake and retreat from your affair. Lead us to our enemy. We will fight them until we meet our Lord and Sustainer. These were in today's words die hard revolutionaries who, in their mind, could not see that a leader is answerable to the people who put him in that position. In their mind he's only answerable to Allah. Well that's partially true. Of course every leader is answerable to Allah but how about the people that you are ruling over? Are you not also answerable to them? What if all the people or eighty percent of the people who are with you want to accept an arbitration? What do you do? You create another internal civil war? It's enough that now Muslims were divided into two opposing camps you want one of those camps itself to be divided into two opposing camps? They couldn't understand this. So Ali answered them and he said to them I wanted you to go that way meaning to fight until the end but you disobeyed me. We want you to understand that there's a very tricky area here in Islamic history because some of these Khawarij were saying initially we want to go for peace but when the decision was made to go to arbitration and to peace then they flipped sides and joined the others who said we don't want this to begin with. So in those few days some of them straddled both sides- this is also a fine point in history that goes either unnoticed or unexpressed. This is not history. Brothers and sisters- when you're listening to this you're listening to human nature. This can occur anywhere (and) anytime among any group of Muslims and like we said repeatedly, if we don't learn from our mistakes we're going to be condemned to repeating those same mistakes. So he said we now have signed what amounts to an agreement between us and these people meaning Muawiyah's side of the issue and we now have agreed to certain conditions and to that end we have given our trust and signed our contracts. You can't do this. After you enter into this tahkeem process you can't after ending it renege and say "oh no I have nothing to do with this!" We can't do that. We don't know if we mentioned this- there were about twelve thousand of them. This is not a simple group of people. The ones who broke after Siffin and instead of accompanying Ali back to Al Kufa they went to Al Harura'. Twelve thousand! This is a significant number of people with this mentality (and) with this mindset. So the first major encounter with them was at An Nahrawan between Ali and these Khawarij and they lost in a very significant way. Some history books tell you all of the Khawarij were killed except nine and these nine went to certain areas- they went to Yemen, they went to Oman, they went to parts of the Arabian Peninsula, they went to North Africa and they spread their message there. Sajastan also.

What stands them out as far as today's world is concerned? Please remember, when we're saying this we can't every sentence break from history and come to today's world (and) then go back to history (and) then come back to today's world. You're going to have to make that connection or else the khutbah will keep on going for two hours (or) three hours. What stands out in their position is that they equated at tahkeem with kufr. Anyone (and) everyone who accepted this arbitration in their eyes is a Kafir- period! Now you would ask- with the type of violent language and violent interpretations that they had of the ayaat, of the ahadith and all of this how do they continue to survive? If in An Nahrawan they were virtually wiped out how do they jump back into existence? Well, let us give you a sense of how they gained this popularity even though they were very confrontational. Remember when we covered this area some months ago- the major polarisation between Al Muhajirin (radi Allahu anhu) and Al Ansar (radi Allahu anhu) at one time and between Al Qurashiyin and the Umawiyin or the Hashimiyin and the Umawiyin at another time was that they all had a sense that the leader should be from Quraysh. These Khawarij said nonsense! Who understands Islam like this? So they said as long as the leader is just (or) as long as he rules with justice he is a leader. The quality (and) the qualification is justice. Don't tell us he is to be from that tribe or that nationality or that group of people, whatever. Don't get lost in this maze. What is clear is the leader has to be just. Then if we bring a just leader to rule and then he changes his conduct (and) he violates justice there's only two solutions to it- you either relieve him of his duties or you get rid of him altogether. Finish him off. Kill him- that's their language. Kill him. So if a just person comes to rule he could be from Quraysh he could be from non Quraysh, he could be an Arab he could be a non-Arab, he could be a freeman he could be a slave. Now in those times with the asabiyah that we're speaking about they tried to cut through all of these asabiyaat and by doing that the average person listening to them would say "hey wait a minute- this sounds fantastic. I think I'll join these people." So they regenerated numbers because of what they were saying. Most of these Khawarij were not from Quraysh, they were not from Thaqif, they were not from the Ansar, they were not from all of the rest of that area that we were covering previously. Most of them lived in Southern Iraq in Al Kufa and Basra and most them were, to put it upfront, nomadic, very simple. no sophistication (and) no depth of thought, (so to speak), but they were fiercely and violently and dyingly opposed to the Umawi grab of power. With all the differences they had internally, (so to speak), with their brothers in arms after there split after Siffin they remained and didn't lose sight, in a sense, of their opposition to Muawiyah and the rulers with Muawiyah.

They also refused the Muslims having a central authority. This is an argument that comes up in political science nowadays. "How far are we going to decentralise? Should we have most of the power in one city or should the different areas of the Muslims share their power equally among themselves?" Their point of view is there shouldn't be a concentration of power. This power has to be decentralised. So the people in Kufa and the people in Iraq feel like they have their own type of power that is consolidated with the other people in Arabia who have their type of power and so forth and so on. Don't tell us we have to report to one place that has ultimate power and ultimate decision making. They didn't understand the world like that.

These were warriors. These were fighting people. They wanted the benefits that come with fighting and giving your lives for the cause of Allah, in other words if they were out there on the boundaries or the frontiers of Islam and there was a war with some enemies and they gained new territories they thought that these gained territories should be administered by military men, (i.e.) you get what you fought for. Don't tell us we're going to give up our lives and some people somewhere in Arabia because remember right now the frontiers of Islam were way out in North Africa and way out in Central Asia- they said to themselves don't tell us when we are doing the fighting way out there in North Africa and Central Asia someone in Arabia is going to be telling us that we have no input in areas we liberated with our lives.

A lot of Mawali entered. Mawali, like we said, is what you consider in today's USA like people who are here illegally. They are treated like they are not full class citizens. So when this came up (and) when they heard this is what Al Khawarij stood for they said that appeals to us. Definitely we are going to join this type of effort. They had a very central slogan that said all committed Muslims are brothers of each other. They said this in a world now, (remember if you go back to the information in the previous khutbah), that was wrecked by asabiyaat, divisions (and) fault lines along the definition of asabiyah. When they came in and said all committed Muslims are brothers of each other they brought the Arab and the non Arab together, they brought the Qurayshi and the non Qurayshi together, they brought the rich and the poor together, they brought those who had all the freedoms and those who had limited freedoms together- all of us now are brothers. What is all this division about? Many of them were like in today's world labourers, farmers, you know hard workers- those types and in all of their wars against Ali they never won one of them. They lost all of them.

Finally they came up with this conspiracy to kill three individuals- Amr ibn Al Aas, Muawiyah ibn Abi Sufyan and Ali ibn Abi Taalib. They lost all their wars against Ali and in this assassination plot they were only successful in killing Ali. Abdur Rahman ibn Muljam whose wife had many family members who were killed in all of these wars against Ali. Eventually they were shattered. Historians can't even count how many divisions Al Khawarij even had. The least is twenty- twenty sub-Khawarij persuasions. All of them had this in common- they agreed that Uthman and Ali are Kafirs. We can't help it- we want to right now break for a moment and think about those today who are saying that so and so is a Kafir. This didn't come from thin air. This has a root and it has an argument here in history and because we- you and I- have not opened up these pages and thought through them and learnt from the lives and the deaths and the martyrdom and the blood and the mayhem located here almost fourteen hundred years ago look what's happening now. They agreed that the two Hakams are Kafirs, those who went to war in the battle of Jamal are Kafirs. Everyone who accepts arbitration are Kafirs.

Let us look at some more particular details. If you think what is happening today is ugly look at the source of the ugliness. Some of the opinions with this Khariji type of thinking is that it is halaal (or) it is permissible to kill children, babies. They say it is permissible to kill babies if these babies belong to parents who are Kafirs. They say if a baby of a Mushrik dies that baby goes to the fire. They say at taqiyyah is not permissible anywhere by anyone due to any circumstances. There cannot be something called at taqiyyah. They also said anyone who commits a kabirah- you know there's seven kaba'ir, these are called the major sins- or anyone who's guilty of a major sin is a Kafir. That is some of the seeding that took place fourteen centuries ago and now if you failed to see the seeds you can look and see the fruition of those seeds in the takfiris who are killing other Muslims and thinking that by doing so they are going to Al Jannah and they are going to be rewarded with all of the rewards that come to Al Muttaqeen and the rest of this that we have in today's world.

… Don't be from those who have divided their deen and then became partisans here and there… (Surah Aal Imran verse 105)

As we have seen, if we can just open our eyes and see what we did. Now brothers and sisters- we know ninety nine percent of you disagree with what these Khawarij did, but that's not enough. So what? It's not enough to disagree. What has to be done in this lesson has to be presented to the Muslim public- the two billion Muslims in the world- so that they can distinguish what is right from what is wrong so that we are not once again producing in our generation and in our time our own Khawarij.

Brothers and sisters, committed Muslims…

As mentioned at the beginning of the previous khutbah even though time is besieging us the Hajj is approaching. It's a matter of another maybe seventeen or eighteen days before the Muslims will be celebrating Eid Al Adha. What we want to say in this short frame of time that we have is that Al Hajj is not a personal ibadah, per se because many of us who think we go to the Hajj, just like all the other personal obligations that we have, we have voided these personal obligations from their social content. We've done this to as salah, we've done this to az zakaat, we've done this to as siyaam and we've done it to the Hajj. Al Hajj has become something personal. A person goes to the Hajj and goes through all the motions over there and then comes back and he thinks "Alhamdulillah I have fulfilled my obligation." We say to that type of attitude you haven't fulfilled your obligation. Al Hajj is a social obligation. We will remind you of two statements from Allah's Prophet. The first one says all these people (or) all these creation of humanity is Allah's family and the one Allah loves more in this family is the one who cares more for the other members of this family. Does anyone go to Hajj and find this? If all of humanity is our family, we can say that we have an immediate family in the Muslims who are there in Makkah. Does anyone care for any members of his or her immediate family? Are you given the opportunity when you go there to know who the members of your immediate family are or are you once again faced with another type of asabiyah in the Hajj? This whole problem that we cannot come to terms with comes and haunts us in the Hajj. If you open your eyes and if you heighten your senses in the Hajj you tell us you cannot see asabiyah in the Hajj? This asabiyah that has caused us civil wars and divisions comes back to organise the Hajj and to divide us inside the Hajj. Another hadith from Allah's Prophet- a person has no iman or a person is not committed to Allah… Who is this? The Prophet says whoever goes to sleep at night on a full stomach knowing that he has a neighbor that goes to sleep on an empty stomach. You can do all of the du'as and all of the salah and all of the Ramadhan's and everything you want to do (but) one indicator that there's no iman in you is that you go to sleep on a full stomach and there's someone next to you, besides you (or) your neighbor who doesn't have enough to put in their stomach. Many of these types go to the Hajj. Actually now the Hajj in an indirect way is meant to have these people who have full stomachs go to the Hajj and for the rest who can make it to the Hajj- they have to struggle to go and make it- and when they meet there the one who has a full stomach is not allowed by policies, by organisation, by pre-determination to familiarise himself with the one who has an empty stomach. And you say "you've gone to the Hajj and come back and carry the honorific title of Al Haaj or Al Haajah." Rethink yourself and rethink this obligation.

This khutbah was presented by Imam Muhammad Asi on the occasion of Jum'ah on 27 September 2013 on the sidewalk of Embassy Row in Washington D.C. The Imam previously led the daily and Jum'ah prayers inside the Masjid. His speeches were revolutionary and thought provoking, and eventually irritated and threatened the Middle-East Ambassadors who control the Masjid. Finally, the Imam, his family, and other Muslims faithful to the course of Islam were forced out, into the streets. This khutbah originates from the sidewalk across the street from the Islamic Center, currently under seige.

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