Revival of the Ummah

Revival of the Ummah

Shaykh Abdullah Hakim Quick

Opening Salutations and Gratitude

All praises are due to Allah, Lord of the worlds. May Allah always send his peace and blessings upon our Prophet Muhammad, his family, his companions and all those who call to his way to the day of judgment. As to what follows, I begin with the greeting words of the righteous : (السَّلَامُ عَلَيْكُمْ وَرَحْمَةُ اللَّهِ وَبَرَكَاتُهُ - الْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ)

Personal Reflection on Toronto's Islamic Growth

It is a great privilege for me to be with you tonight and it is very touching especially for those who lived in Toronto in the 70s. I can recall in the early 70s that there were only two places in Toronto to make Jumu'ah, two places on Eid al-Fitr. The Islamic foundation in the east end established the Salah and there wasn't enough people to fill the small little foundation. And now by the mercy of Allah we are filling the sky dome, our numbers are increasing and our presence is being felt on all levels within this society. So we thank Allah, but at the same time we must never forget the responsibility upon our shoulders that we are the representatives of the last and greatest prophet who ever lived. There are no more prophets to come and the innocent people around this world who are accepting Islam are looking toward the Muslims. We are the hope not only for our Ummah but with us lies the hope for the planet earth.

Seven Point Plan for Islamic Revival

And so with this in mind I want to repeat to you some of what we shared in the beginning of this conference in the day of Jumu'ah a seven point plan to initiate Islamic revival. I want to be very practical with you, very straightforward because the time is short.

Number one:

We are in need of collective tawbah. Every one of us need to turn to Allah to ask for forgiveness and to see within tawbah not only crying to Allah but self analysis and reconstruction.

Number two:

Working unity amongst believers. That the Muslims especially of Ahlul Sunnah wa Jama'ah, that we need to now look to each other for brotherhood and sisterhood. We need to network our strengths. Instead of looking for problems in another Muslim we should realize the strengths and benefit from the strengths to network our organizations. There are so many masajid, so many Islamic movements, so many organizations, but alone we are only single individual groups, together we are a united ummah. And so we need to start looking at other Muslims not for what is wrong or not for what is different than ourselves but for what is the same. And in

most cases 95% of the other Muslim may be the same and 5% different, and if we focus upon the 5% then we'll be lost in a confusion of mistrust.

Number three:

A focus on Muslim families. We need to focus upon real solutions for our families, to set up institutions to defend the weak within our homes. And as I said before and I say it again, we need to hear the voices of Muslim women not just in special sessions but we need to hear the voices of Muslim women in the leadership.

Number four:

A focus on the youth, that we begin to provide halal solutions for relevant problems, alternatives in recreation, alternatives in career development so that our youth are not caught up in the confusion of the 21st century globalization.

Number five:

Awareness of the crises of the Muslim world and active participation in solving these crises. We cannot sit here today and forget about what is happening in Iraq or Palestine or Afghanistan or in Sudan or in any part of the Muslim world. If Muslims are suffering on any part of the planet then we are all suffering and we need to keep aware of this.

Number six:

Special emphasis on outreach, to take this message to the non-Muslims, to let people who have not heard the beauty of Islam understand where we are coming from. And that those who are accepting Islam, we need to set up institutions so they can come into this faith and realize the true message.

Number seven:

It is on our backs to provide relevant solutions to real problems in society. We hold the solution to the HIV AIDS crisis, we hold the solution to racism, to economic exploitation, to polytheism, to atheism and to sexual perversion. And we need to see that it is our responsibility to take this message to all of the homes of people who have not heard kalima la ilaha illallah muhammada rasulallah alayhi salatu wasalam.

The Importance of Knowledge and Wisdom

Brothers and sisters, the world we are living in today is going through tremendous changes and technology has given us the ability to funnel information around the planet. But with the ability to teach all around the world simultaneously we also have the ability to confuse each other simultaneously. And so it is crucial for the younger generation to begin to go to the original sources of Islam, to study hard in the Arabic language, go to those sources so you can know if somebody is teaching you Islam or something else. The younger generation also needs to read widely. Don't accept everything that is being taught to you in the university. Question your teachers, question the television, question the media, go to your own sources and travel in the land because with travel Allahsubhanahu wa ta'ala opens up our eyes.

We are in desperate need of hikmah, of wisdom, putting things in the proper perspective. In many cases it's not what we know, it's not how many verses we've memorized but it is how we are using it. And so we need perspective. One of the great areas of perspective is history. A people without a history who have no memory of

themselves have no direction for the future and so it is crucial for us to take out of this conference the legacy of Muslims around this planet.

Deconstructing Historical Narratives

As a young African American growing up in North America I realized that history was a crucial subject and I questioned my teacher from the early days because they showed us a picture of Christopher Columbus and you may have heard this in your own schools. He's landing on the shores and they say Christopher Columbus discovered America in 1492. I questioned people in Africa and Asia, I asked them who discovered America and they said Christopher Columbus in 1492. But when you look to the picture of Columbus, he lands on the shores and the native people are standing there looking at him. So the question I asked as a young person was: how can you discover a place when the people have lived there for over 10,000 years?

So we need to be able to deconstruct our history, deconstruct information being given to us, put it in a proper perspective and then rewrite our own history. If I had the power I would write Christopher Columbus was discovered in 1492. He bumped into America, he bumped into America thinking he was going to India and called the people Indians. And when he returned to Spain he couldn't properly describe where he had been but yet until only recently it was considered to be a fact. This is cultural and educational imperialism and it is crucial for Muslims to begin to look at our history, to go into our own roots and to understand where we are coming from.

Confronting Modern Propaganda

We are being bombarded with negative images of Islam, we are being bombarded with misinformation and they are still talking about Darfur and they're talking about the light-skinned Arabs coming down, destroying the dark-skinned Africans. The same way they lied about the Sudan, they lied about Islam and we ask Allah to protect the Sudan and to give them strength and to give them an Islamic state.

Understanding Africa's Islamic Legacy

I want to share with you a few gems that over the years Allah has blessed me to find concerning the African continent because it has been so misunderstood. The legacy of Africa has been so misunderstood and Muslims need to understand that we are not separate races, we are not separate countries but we are all part of the Ummah of Muhammad. And so when we look at Africa we don't find a country where an imperial army is entering into the continent.

The Divine Message to All Nations

The first message of Islam in Surah An-Nahl verse 36, Allah has revealed to us:

"And We certainly sent into every nation a messenger, saying, worship Allah and avoid false deities. And among them were those whom Allah guided, and among them were those upon whom error was decreed. So travel through the earth and see what was the end of those who denied the truth."

And so in traveling to different African nations we are finding an amazing phenomenon. In every nation there is a strong belief in one God. (وَلَقَدْ بَعَثْنَا فِي كُلِّ أُمَّةٍ -) In every nation there were people who taught the belief in one God. Even in ancient Egypt, people think that the pharaoh of the time of Musa represents all of the pharaohs. This is not true. In Egypt, in all parts of Africa and the world at one point in time or at some point in time there were people sent to give them the message. And so monotheism has taken root in the continent thousands of years ago.

The First Hijrah to Abyssinia

The time of the prophet Muhammad ﷺ, the last messenger, peace be upon him, in the time of persecution, the time when the Meccans refused to accept this message, the prophet peace be upon him sent his followers to Habashah. This is the first hijrah, the fifth year of the prophethood. The prophet ﷺ, when he described this to his followers, he told them: if you go to Habashah, to Abyssinia, it would be better for you for in it there is a king who will not tolerate oppression - (مَلِكٌ لَا يُظْلَمُ عِنْدَهُ أَحَدٌ -) but nobody is oppressed with him. (وَهِيَ أَرْضُ صِدْقٍ -) it is a land of truth. Go until such time as Allah shall relieve you of your distress.

The Relationship with An-Najashi

How did the prophet peace be upon him know that it was a land of truth? What was the relationship between Rasulullah ﷺ and Ashamah An-Najashi (رَحِمَهُ اللَّهُ رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْهُ)? An individual that we need to study and those who want to begin to understand our heroes we need to go into our history. There are so many thousands of heroes throughout the world. The younger generation is being bombarded with sports and so our heroes become Ronaldo, Rivaldo, Ronaldinho and Figo and who scored the goal and whatever and we love soccer. But if soccer, if a grown man kicking a ball in the net is more important than children dying in Palestine then something is wrong.

The Prophet's Letter to An-Najashi

So the prophet peace be upon him sent his followers to Abyssinia and he sent a letter with his followers, an interesting letter that was different than any other letter he sent to a king. He said: In the name of Allah the beneficent the merciful, from Muhammad the messenger of Allah to the great Negus Najashi of Abyssinia, peace be upon he who follows the guidance. As to what follows, verily for you I praise Allah the one whom there is no deity except him, the sole king, the holy, the source of peace, the protector and the guardian. I bear witness that Jesus the son of Mary is the spirit belonging to Allah and his word which he cast into the chaste, an excellent virgin Mary. She thus became pregnant by means of his spirit and his inspiration with Jesus in the

same manner that he created Adam with his hand. Verily I invite you to Allah the one who has no partner and to friendship, continuity and government in obedience to him. Thus I have delivered the message and given you counsel, therefore accept my counsel, peace be upon he who follows the guidance. I invite you to follow me and to have absolute certainty with what I have come with. Verily I am the messenger of Allah and I invite you and your government forces to Allah the mighty the majestic.

Visiting the Grave of An-Najashi

Just two weeks ago Allah blessed us to go high in the mountains of northern Ethiopia and we found a village where lies Najashi. This that you see on the screen is Masjid al Najashi. It is the site of the great king who accepted Islam, who struggled with his people and who set an example for generations to come. And it is with that spirit that we turn history around. Africa was not a place where an imperial army attacked, Muslims sought refuge in Africa and received sanctuary. Ashamah Rahimahullah recognized the Prophet and the scholars show us through the Hadith that the Prophet prayed Janazah for him, he was Muslim.

This is a picture of where his grave lies. It is said over 20 of the Sahaba are laying with him. We entered this area two weeks ago, what a beautiful smell. I said to the hadith, to the guard, what is that smell, are you putting perfume? He said yes a little bit but something is coming up from this place. It is a land of truth and it is a land that we need to investigate to understand more about the legacy of Islam.

The Spread of Islam in North Africa

In the northern areas in 642, Egypt became the first northern bridgehead for the Muslims. We have to understand that the confrontation that went on in the north was not a religious confrontation. It was Muslims responding to the imperialism of the Byzantine Romans and so with a relatively small force and supported by Coptic Christians the Muslims defeated the Byzantines and entered into the area.

Later on, Ibn Nafi Uqba established Qidawan. He rode his horse all the way to the Atlantic, he looked across the Atlantic and said: if I knew there was land across you I would take this message across. Uqba also went south and reached somewhere in the area of Lake Chad and so Islam was then spreading not by imperial force but by the contact.

The Origin of the Name "Africa"

In 705, Hassan Ibn Nu'man founded an area known as Ifriqiya. Many of us don't understand that the word Africa comes from the Arabic language, it's Ifriqiya. We're shocked when we find how deep the legacy of Arabic and Islam is in this world. But a key point to remember is that the spread of Islam in Africa was independent of the military confrontations and as a result of migration, trade and the wandering of scholars and holy men. It was done through contact, through akhlak, through the character. And that is what our scholars are talking about. We need to take this legacy of Islam and through our character show the people of Canada that Islam is not a religion of terrorism but it is the religion of peace and it is the solution to the world crisis today.