Avoid Judging Others
By Abdul Nasir Jangda | 2026-01-19T07:43:23.329296+00:00 | Topic: General
Avoid Judging Others
Khutba by Abdul Nasir Jangda - Quran Weekly
The Story of Musa (عَلَيْهِ ٱلسَّلَامُ) from Surah Al-Qasas
This is mentioned very clearly in Surah Al-Qasas. Musa (عَلَيْهِ ٱلسَّلَامُ) is a child of Banu Israel. He's from the Israelites.
Alright, so he is from Banu Israel, but however he's raised in the house of Fir'aun. Alright, so he's raised in the house of Fir'aun amongst the people of Fir'aun. Now we know the story that he goes in the marketplace, there's a man from the people of Fir'aun, who is in an argument with a man from Banu Israel, Musa's people.
Now Musa (عَلَيْهِ ٱلسَّلَامُ) is constantly struggling with this whole dilemma of a man of Banu Israel living amongst the king and his people. So when he sees this, and the man from Banu Israel sees Musa, and he knows Musa's got a soft spot for his people, Banu Israel. Musa, Musa, look what this guy is doing to me.
So Musa (عَلَيْهِ ٱلسَّلَامُ) intercedes, he steps in, says, what's going on here? Hey, what's going on here? The man says, hey, move along, mind your own business. Move along, mind your own business. Gets very rude and abrupt, and starts getting aggressive, starts getting in Musa (عَلَيْهِ ٱلسَّلَامُ's) face.
The Incident of the Strike
And I would say, somebody gets up in your grill, somebody gets up in your face, so you have no choice but to kind of defend yourself, push somebody off. So Musa (عَلَيْهِ ٱلسَّلَامُ) does that, he says, back up buddy.
What ends up happening is the dude dies.
Musa (عَلَيْهِ ٱلسَّلَامُ) says, back up. And the man dies. Musa (عَلَيْهِ ٱلسَّلَامُ) doesn't realize his own strength.
فَقَضَىٰ عَلَيْهِ The man's dead. Okay, now that's a very small, that's an incident from his life, that's a detail. That's a detail, and this is before he became a prophet, this is long before that.
But it's mentioned in the Quran. There's actually a lesson here. This is relevant, this is pertinent.
The Lesson from This Incident
And the relevance of this incident to the message here is that Musa (عَلَيْهِ ٱلسَّلَامُ) committed unintentional, accidental, but nevertheless what was judged amongst the people where he lived in at that time to be a crime, a crime. He was a convicted criminal amongst the people. Unintentional, accidental, but nevertheless the people saw it as a crime.
Okay, in his earlier age he committed that crime. Later on in life, he's made a messenger of Allah. And then he sent back to those same people to go and bring them the message from Allah.
Go and deliver the divine message to them. Now, as soon as he's told that, what's the very first thing Musa... You know what's in the dialogue between Allah and Musa (عَلَيْهِ ٱلسَّلَامُ)? One of the first things he says is:
He says, Allah, you're gonna send me back to Firaun and the people? I'm a criminal there. I owe them some form of retribution.
I'm a criminal there. I'm wanted over there. You're sending me to them? Okay, so he's already hesitant because of that previous past crime.
Allah says, no, you still gotta go. And when Musa (عَلَيْهِ ٱلسَّلَامُ) walks into the court of Firaun, and says, I'm here with the message of Allah. You need to believe in one Allah.
Firaun's Response
You need to let Banu Israel go. What's the very first thing Firaun says? Hey, aren't you that guy?
Did we not raise you among us as a child, and you remained among us for years of your life?
sarcastically. Aren't you the guy that did what you did back when you did it? And you were really bad person? Right?
That's what he points out, right? So that worst fear is realized.
The Deeper Message
So it contributes to the message in a deeper fashion and manner where there's a powerful lesson to be extracted. And that is, that's going to happen a lot. That's going to be a very common occurrence.
That somebody previously, some point in time in their previous life, they will have done something bad. They will have done something not so admirable. They committed a crime, they did something bad.
And not only did they do something bad, but the people will know that this person was the dude who did that. He's the guy who did that. They'll know that he was the one.
And so he'll have that bad rep amongst his people. But somewhere down the line, there will be a major turning point in his life. Like in the life of Musa (عَلَيْهِ ٱلسَّلَامُ)
He was never a bad person. But he had that one little incident in his past. And the major turning point what I mean is, he went from being a normal ordinary individual to being a messenger of Allah.
Application to Our Communities
So same way in our society, in our communities, there will be people sometime in the past in their life, they will have done something bad. They'll have a turning point in their life where they'll turn things around. And then they will come back wanting to do something good, wanting to contribute something, wanting to be a part of something good.
And at that point in time, that's where this incident becomes very relevant. What are we going to do? Are we going to be like Firaun? So when that young man comes up to call the adhan, and he was convicted of something, he did something bad, and he comes up to call the adhan, he's like, "Hey, hey, you." "You? Move back, move back." "I don't want you calling adhan." "You're a bad person." Right? Are we going to do that? Because if we do that, if that is our behavior, if we're judging people the second they walk through the door, we're no better than Firaun. We have just exhibited a quality of Firaun.
We're acting like Firaun, because that's what Firaun did. He didn't care what Musa (عَلَيْهِ ٱلسَّلَامُ) had to say, he didn't care why he was coming, he didn't care who he had become, and who he had matured into. All he was still stuck on was, "Yeah, but you're the guy who did that." He was still stuck on that.
The Example of Prophet Muhammad (صلى الله عليه وسلم)
So what are we going to do? How are we going to react to people? Versus that, compare that to the example of Muhammad Rasulullah (صلى الله عليه وسلم). Did he ever, ever, ever hold anyone's past against him? Never did. Never did.
Too many examples to list on here. Wahshi. Wahshi.
The Story of Wahshi
Wahshi is the man who assassinated the uncle of the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم). The death of the uncle, the murder of the uncle, the mutilation of the body of the uncle of the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم), is one of the moments in his life, where the sahaba say, it was one of the few times, where we saw the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) in such profound pain. Like he was crying.
He was so deeply hurt. That when they came back into Medina, it's the battle of Uhud, many Muslims had died on that day. And he could hear different family members crying when they were receiving the news of the death of their family member.
The Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) started to cry as they were walking into Medina. And he started to say, today there is somebody crying for everyone who's died. But there's nobody crying for my uncle.
Because my uncle's own family was the one who did this to him. That's how much pain he felt. But the man who carried out the assassination, the hit on Hamza (رضي الله عنه) Wahshi, not only does the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) not hold the grudge against him, but the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) is the one who is having letter after letter after letter sent to Wahshi.
Tell Wahshi to become Muslim. Tell Wahshi to change his life. Tell Wahshi that he should accept Islam.
Tell Wahshi that Allah will forgive him. That's how merciful the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) was. That's how willing he was to overlook people's past.
The Story of Hind
Hind, the woman who hired Wahshi to assassinate Hamza (رضي الله عنه). And after he goes to her and he tells her, the job is done. A woman, she goes down into the battlefield.
She walks up to the dead body of Hamza lying there. She pulls out a dagger. She cuts his ears, his nose and his tongue out.
Strings them up and keeps them as a souvenir. This is a woman. She then takes the dagger, puts it in his body, rips his body open, pulls out his internal organs and mutilates his body.
This is a woman. She takes his clothes and rips his clothes off and completely exposes his body. A woman who did this.
That's how much she hated the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم). And that's how horrible, what a horrible act she had done to the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) and his uncle. But on the day of Fath Makkah, the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) doesn't do anything to her.
And when she comes to the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) to accept Islam:
He welcomes her, gives her the shahada, allows her to become Hind (رضي الله عنها). A companion, a female companion of the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم).
Other Examples
And the stories go on and on. Ikrimah, the son of Abu Jahl, same thing. Khalid ibn Walid, the architect of the killing of dozens of Muslims on the day of Uhud.
All of these people, they were embraced with open arms. And they were made to be close to the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) and he accepted them as they were. And those are people that did something against him, even people who are just bad people in society.
Umar (رضي الله عنه) the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) embraced him with open arms. So this is that behavior versus the behavior of Firaun.
A Personal Experience
One little personal incident about what I mentioned, about people's past, a personal experience that I had.
I was at a masjid where I was leading the prayer. And so, it was during the day time, I think it was Salat al-Asr. And the masjid is that busy.
A young gentleman walked in to the masjid to pray. Now, the gentleman was literally covered in tattoos. From his fingers up to his neck, completely covered in tattoos.
And so, now obviously somebody like that walks into the masjid, what do we immediately do? Reach for your phone. Right? Something bad is about to happen. Right? So, obviously people get nervous.
So, we were actually walking in for the prayer, the iqamah was being called. I said:
He said:
We went in and we prayed. After salah, I turned around and I said, first time I had ever seen him there at the masjid. I said, salam brother, never seen you before.
See, I just moved to the area, just last week. And so, I just found the masjid. I just got a job.
I just found the masjid. And so, thought I'd come pray after work. And he was still in his work uniform.
So, I said, okay, mashallah, welcome. And so, then I started talking to him. Where are you from? Where did you grow up? What's your name? Started getting to know the brother.
His Remarkable Story
And he starts talking and talking, he starts telling me his story, kind of his story. And he says that, he's actually of Thai background. Eastern Asian, Thailand.
His folks are from Thailand. He's of Thai background. And he tells me that his uncle was really caught up in the crime ring, in a lot of drugs and a lot of crime where he grew up.
In California, his uncle was caught up. He was like a gang leader. He was really, really bad.
Involved in a lot of horrible stuff. A lot of crime, a lot of bad stuff. He said growing up, his mother tried to shield him and protect him from that whole family history during the family situation.
But he said that eventually he joined the family business. He said like around 14, dropped out of school, started slinging drugs, selling drugs on corners, started committing crimes, started robbing people, drive- bys, the whole bit. Got involved in the whole scene.
And he said, by the time I was 23 years old, I'd already been to prison twice. Already been to prison twice. Horrible life.
Just crime, crime, crime all the time. And he said, when I was 23 years old, I was arrested for the third time. Now in California they have three strikes.
And you're in jail for life. That's it, you're done. So he said, I was arrested for the third time.
The Turning Point
And he said, I was sitting in jail at night. The next morning I was gonna be presented. I was gonna be arraigned, presented before the judge.
And he said, sitting there at night, I realized this is my third strike. And he said, at that moment it finally hit me, my life is over. My life is over.
I'm 23 and my life is over. And he said, at that moment it just sunk in. Because when you're caught up in that whole lifestyle, you don't think.
He said, it sunk in. And it hit me, my life is over. So he said, at that moment, I just couldn't help myself.
He said, in my cell, I fell into sujood. I did sajdah. I put my face on the ground.
And he said, he said it was the first time in nearly 10 years that I had done sujood. The last time I had done sujood was 10 years ago when I went to the masjid with my mom. Since then I hadn't even done sujood.
I hadn't prayed for 10 years. He said, I did sujood. And at that moment, life changed.
He said, I cried all night long. And I made dua to Allah. And I said:
"Oh Allah, I realized what I've done with my life. Give me another chance, another opportunity. I'll change my ways. And I will totally change my ways."
His Promise to Allah
And he said, at that moment, I felt like I needed to make an intention. What am I going to do? Allah, if you save me from this moment, what will I do with my life? And he said, I remember when I was a child, my mom always had one wish. And that was, I would become a hafidh of Quran.
She said, Oh, your grandfather was a hafidh, but your uncle went bad, and everybody in your family didn't follow in your grandfather's footsteps. I want you to be a hafidh and revive that tradition that your grandfather had. Be a hafidh of Quran.
And he said, I remembered that at that moment. Because I'm thinking about Allah, I'm thinking about my mother and how much I hurt her. So I decided, I said:
"Oh Allah, if I'm able to get out of here, I'm going to go and become a hafidh of Quran."
I'm gonna memorize Quran. He said, when he's presented before the judge in the next day, he said, the judge looks at the file, looks at me, my mom sitting in the back of the courtroom, crying her eyes out. I'm a young man.
He said, the judge looked at the file, closes the file, says, stand up. He says, if I was to let you go right now, what would you do? And he said, it's funny you ask me that because last night I had a change of heart. I repented.
And I'm gonna change my life. And I'm gonna go and I'm gonna study my religion and study the Quran, the book of Allah. And I'm gonna commit myself to being a good person.
So the judge said, alright. Charges, case dismissed. Get out of here.
Be on your way. He said, I walked out of the courtroom. My mom is crying, can't believe that this happened.
His Journey to Memorize Quran
He said, I asked her, mom, how much money you got in your pocket? How much money you got in your purse? She pulled out 40, 50 bucks. My uncles were there. Give me whatever cash you got.
He said, I got about a couple of hundred bucks. I said, somebody drive me to the bus stop right now. Drive me to the bus stop right now.
He said, he jumped on a bus, rode a bus to the nearest major Islamic center, found out where's their Quran memorization program. 23 year old man, just literally no clothes. He said, I had nothing.
I went to an Islamic center, said, where can I go to memorize Quran? They said, oh, there's a place, there's a school for Quran memorization that's 200 miles from here. It's in this city, this is the address. He said, I jumped on another bus on a Greyhound, and I went to there.
And I literally walked in the door, said, hi, my name is this, I wanna memorize the Quran. Like, okay, come on in. The man tells me, he was 23 years old at the time.
The Amazing Achievement
He memorized the entire Quran. This young man didn't even know how to read Alif Ba Ta Tha. He started from scratch.
He memorized the entire Quran cover to cover in 8 months. 8 months he memorized the entire Quran. I've had him lead prayer, I've heard him read.
Beautiful recitation, knows his Quran. And today, years later, a husband and a father. And his children, when you see his children, the adab, the character that they have, he himself personally is making his children memorize Quran.
Amazing. People's past and what they can become.
Conclusion
This story demonstrates the power of transformation and the importance of not judging people based on their past. Just as Prophet Muhammad ﷺ welcomed those who had wronged him when they came to Islam, we too must be willing to look beyond people's past mistakes and focus on who they are striving to become.
The lesson from Musa (عليه السلام) teaches us that everyone deserves a chance at redemption, and our role as a community is to support and encourage positive change, not to constantly remind people of their past failures.
May Allah guide us all to follow the example of our beloved Prophet ﷺ in showing mercy, forgiveness, and acceptance to all who seek to better themselves.
آمین