Jummah Khutba

Jummah Khutba: Allah is with us

Speaker: Abdul Nasir Jangda

Opening

In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.

All praise is due to Allah, Lord of all the worlds. May prayers and peace be upon the Messenger of Allah, his family, and all his companions.

Thereafter, I seek refuge in Allah from the accursed Satan.

Our Heritage of Enduring Adversity

Of a great, long-standing tradition of enduring adversity, calamity and tragedy. Of facing great trial and tribulation, but never wavering, never forgetting. And not just only believing and remembering, but knowing for a fact that Allah is with us.

The Prophet's Journey from Mecca

The Prophet (صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ - sallAllahu alayhi wa sallam), when he was preaching and teaching the message of Islam in Mecca, and he did so to the best of anyone's ability. And after 13 years of great turmoil and great challenges and trials and tribulations, the Prophet (صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ - sallAllahu alayhi wa sallam) was forced to leave his home, to abandon his city, and to walk away from the house of Allah which was so dear to him. But even at that very difficult dark moment, quite literally, in the middle of the night, as the Prophet (صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ - sallAllahu alayhi wa sallam) snuck out of Mecca, as tragic as that scene is, Allah told the Prophet (صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ - sallAllahu alayhi wa sallam) at that moment:

That the one who has mandated this responsibility of communicating and conveying the Qur'an, he promises you today that he will bring you back home.

The Journey to Medina and the Cave of Thawr

As the Prophet (صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ - sallAllahu alayhi wa sallam) and his tribal companion Abu Bakr as-Siddiq, the truthful, may Allah be pleased with him, (رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْهُ - radiAllahu anhu) as they are departing from Mecca on their way to Medina, making the hijrah, performing the great migration, something that we commemorate till today. And we talk about and remember till today. As they are making that journey, and they are being hunted down, and they climb up on top of a very large and difficult mountain, the mountain of Thawr.

And they sneak, they slip into what we call a cave. But if you've ever been to the top, you realize it's not much more than a crawlspace. And they climb in, they go into that small crawlspace, and lie down inside of there, and spend three days and three nights inside of a crawlspace.

And when the enemy is searching the area, and they can hear them, and when they look out, they can see their feet searching around in the area. And Abu Bakr (رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْهُ - radiAllahu anhu) begins to panic, justifiably and rightfully so, concerned for the safety of the Prophet (صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ - sallAllahu alayhi wa sallam). It is at that time that Allah recalls this moment in the Qur'an, and the Prophet (صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ - sallAllahu alayhi wa sallam) he verbalized the words of God in that moment, where he said:

That don't worry, because Allah has always been, is, and will always be with us.

The Battle of Badr

When the Prophet (صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ - sallAllahu alayhi wa sallam) and the believers are standing in the field of Badr, facing imminent doom and destruction, at the hands of an enemy that outnumbers them three to one. And they're completely outmatched, and out-equipped, and out-prepared. And in that moment when anyone's analysis would have led to one conclusion, that this is imminent defeat, it is at that time that the Prophet (صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ - sallAllahu alayhi wa sallam) turned to Allah:

(Muslim 1763)

That, oh Allah, if you allow these people to perish in this battlefield, no one remains on the earth to worship you as you deserve to be worshipped. And it is at that time that Allah again was with the believers.

That God was with you, Allah aided you, Allah helped you, Allah came to your rescue at the place of Badr, when you should have been defeated.

The Treaty of Hudaybiyyah

At the place of Hudaybiyyah, when the Prophet (صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ - sallAllahu alayhi wa sallam) and the Sahaba are in Ihram, going to perform Umrah, perform this sacred act of worship, and they're in the sacred state of Ihram wearing the two garments, and the enemy comes there and blocks them, and does not allow them to pass. And they sit there and the Prophet (صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ - sallAllahu alayhi wa sallam) agrees to terms that are not favorable to the believers at all.

And while people are very confused and upset by the circumstances. It is at that time that Allah again told the Prophet:

Allah is giving reassurance to the Prophet (صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ - sallAllahu alayhi wa sallam) and all of us, when Allah said that, God shall fulfill the promise that Allah made to His Messenger (صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ - sallAllahu alayhi wa sallam). You will enter into the house of God. You will enter the Haram and visit the house of God safe and sound, with complete peace and complete tranquility. That is a promise that Allah will deliver upon.

A Heritage of Divine Support

Time and time and time again, throughout our history, this great heritage that we cling to, that we claim, we are reminded of the fact that Allah is with us.

Difficulty, tragedy is no stranger to us. It is something that is the lot of those who choose to live by the truth, to believe what is correct, to do what is best. And that adversity and that tragedy is always responded to above anything else, with iman and conviction that Allah is with us.

We can never waver in regards to that. Of course, over the last week or so, it has been brought forth to the front of our consciousness once again, the great tragedies and the great calamities that befall the Ummah of the Prophet (صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ - sallAllahu alayhi wa sallam). And I know that it has been addressed a number of times.

Spiritual Response to Tragedy

And so I'm not here necessarily only to just simply address the tragedy in New Zealand, but more so to zoom out from that, keeping that in front of us, of course. But to zoom out a bit and to remember that there are so many tragedies that have come before and there are multiple tragedies unfolding as we sit here today. But to be able to remember that while we talk about and these are very important conversations about how do we respond, how do we react communally, legally, strategically.

What do we do about these kinds of situations? I personally needed some time to reflect. And I thought that I would share that here today, about how to spiritually move forward from this and how to spiritually build upon this. That it allows us to go back into our heritage, spiritual heritage and look back at the life of the Prophet (صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ - sallAllahu alayhi wa sallam) and even all the prophets that came before the Prophet (صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ - sallAllahu alayhi wa sallam) to flip through the pages of the Qur'an, to go through the lives of all the messengers (صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ - sallAllahu alayhi wa sallam) and be able to remember and be able to remind ourselves and strengthen our iman and our convictions in the fact that Allah is with us.

The Timing of Isra and Mi'raj

It's very worthy of reflection and to think about that as we are sitting here, still undeniably reeling from the tragedy that occurred. That we are entering into the later half, the latter half of the month of Rajab. The second half of the month of Rajab, which is the occasion of the Prophet (صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ - sallAllahu alayhi wa sallam) maybe one of the greatest moments of his life.

And that was Al-Isra and Al-Mi'raj. The Prophet (صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ - sallAllahu alayhi wa sallam) journey by night from Makkah to Jerusalem, to Al-Quds. And then his ascension above the heavens. That glorious moment and that amazing experience came at what occasion? Where does that exactly occur in the life of the Prophet (صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ - sallAllahu alayhi wa sallam)? It is very important for us to think about that and to reflect on it.

That Al-Isra and Al-Mi'raj did not come at the end of the life of the Prophet (صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ - sallAllahu alayhi wa sallam). That that moment was not a celebration of some great achievement and accomplishments. That that moment was not the grand finale after a great victory had been achieved. Rather that moment was a moment to gain perspective and to be able to understand and contextualize and realize what it meant immediately after the Prophet (صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ - sallAllahu alayhi wa sallam) had gone through maybe the greatest personal tragedy of his life.

The Year of Sorrow

The Prophet (صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ - sallAllahu alayhi wa sallam) had dealt with multiple severe setbacks. The Prophet (صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ - sallAllahu alayhi wa sallam) lost his beloved wife, the mother of the believers. The first person to accept and believe in his message. Khadijah (الكبرى رضي الله تعالى عنها - al-Kubra radiAllahu ta'ala anha) after 25 years.

He had just lost her. Not three weeks after her passing, the Prophet (صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ - sallAllahu alayhi wa sallam) lost his uncle, Abu Talib. The man who raised him from the time that he was a young boy and had lost both of his parents. The man who supported him throughout his youth. The man who defended him when he announced and proclaimed his message. And he had lost Abu Talib three weeks after Khadijah.

The Journey to Ta'if

The Prophet (صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ - sallAllahu alayhi wa sallam) had taken a huge chance. The biggest chance that he had taken so far in his dawah, in his mission, in the propagation of his message. When he had traveled outside of Makkah and traveled on foot all the way to Ta'if, 70 miles through the desert and the mountains on foot. And he had gone there to another city to try to gain and garner support. This was a huge chance the Prophet (صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ - sallAllahu alayhi wa sallam) was taking. And there was a lot of risk involved.

And while we would normally think that the end and the conclusion of that story would be something amazing and miraculous, it was actually quite the opposite. Not only did the people of Ta'if reject his proposal, but they set after him the thugs of their city, the troublemakers of their town who threw rocks at him and stoned him for three miles as he walked out of their city. And then they leaked the information to Makkah that Muhammad (صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ - sallAllahu alayhi wa sallam) was trying to raise an army and attack his hometown of Makkah, thereby painting him as a traitor.

Unable to Return Home

And when the Prophet (صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ - sallAllahu alayhi wa sallam) got back to Makkah after all this difficulty, he could not enter the city of Makkah without being prosecuted. And this was the first time since the day he received revelation, the Prophet (صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ - sallAllahu alayhi wa sallam) went back to the cave of Hira and stayed there for three days while he waited for someone to arrange safe passage for him back into his own hometown. He became an outsider overnight.

He could not enter into his own home. Tragedy upon tragedy upon tragedy. Difficulty upon difficulty.

The Night Journey and Ascension

And in that moment, Allah called him above the heavens to go to a place where no creation has ever gone before:

At (سِدْرَةِ الْمُنْتَهَىٰ - Sidrat al-Muntaha) and his guide and his escort on the journey of that night, Jibreel (عَلَيْهِ السَّلَامُ - alayhis salam) stopped and asked him to proceed forward. And when the Prophet (صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ - sallAllahu alayhi wa sallam) asked Jibreel to accompany him, he said, I cannot come forward. I cannot go beyond here. No creation of God has ever passed this point. You are the first.

And he went there. And what did the Prophet (صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ - sallAllahu alayhi wa sallam) do? He put his face on the ground. He prostrated and bowed before his Lord. Remembering that that is where strength is found. That is where strength is achieved. That when we assume that position of humility before our Lord.

Divine Guidance in Times of Difficulty

Allah said, I will deal with these troublemakers. These people who make a mockery of the worship and the belief of Allah. Soon enough, they will know.

Leave what they do, even what they say. We know that it hurts your heart. And that it constricts your chest. And that is very painful what these people say and what they do.

Continue to praise and glorify your Lord. And put your face on the ground in front of Allah. Prostrate, do sujood, bow your head in front of your Creator.

Commit yourself to the worship of your Lord. Enslave yourself, devote yourself, dedicate yourself to Allah. Until the reality and the truth of the matter comes to pass. Because either the truth will become manifest