State of the Ummah

State of the Ummah

Opening Praises and Testimony

اَلْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ رَبِّ الْعَالَمِينَ، وَالْعَاقِبَةُ لِلْمُتَّقِينَ، وَلَا عُدْوَانَ إِلَّا عَلَى الظَّالِمِينَ، وَأَشْهَدُ أَنْ لَا إِلَهَ إِلَّا اللهُ وَحْدَهُ لَا شَرِيكَ لَهُ، وَأَشْهَدُ أَنَّ مُحَمَّدًا عَبْدُهُ وَرَسُولُهُ، خَاتَمُ الْأَنْبِيَاءِ وَالْمُرْسَلِينَ، اَللَّهُمَّ صَلِّ وَسَلِّمْ عَلَى عَبْدِكَ وَرَسُولِكَ مُحَمَّدٍ وَعَلَى آلِهِ وَأَصْحَابِهِ، وَمَنْ دَعَا بِدَعْوَتِهِ وَاسْتَنَّ بِسُنَّتِهِ إِلَى يَوْمِ الدِّينِ، وَسَلِّمْ تَسْلِيمًا كَثِيرًا. أَمَّا بَعْدُ، فَأُوصِيكُمْ وَنَفْسِي بِتَقْوَى اللهِ عَزَّ وَجَلَّ، وَاسْمَعُوا وَأَطِيعُوا. وَيَقُولُ الْحَقُّ سُبْحَانَهُ، أَعُوذُ بِاللهِ مِنَ الشَّيْطَانِ الرَّجِيمِ All praises are due to Allah, Lord of the worlds. And surely the best reward is for those who have taqwa. And surely there is no animosity except for the oppressor. And I bear witness that Allah is one and has no partners. And that Muhammad, the son of Abdullah, is his servant and his last messenger. And may Allah always and constantly send peace and blessings to Muhammad, to his family, to his companions, to all those who call to his way and establish his sunnah to the day of judgment.

"O you who have believed, fear Allah and speak words of appropriate justice. He will [then] amend for you your deeds and forgive you your sins. And whoever obeys Allah and His Messenger has certainly attained a great attainment."

The Essence of Taqwa

As to what follows, I begin by cautioning myself and you to have taqwa. Al-khawf wal-rajal. That we should fear Allah, creator of the heavens and the earth, but at the same time we should have hope in the mercy of almighty God, Allah. And this consciousness of the creator should be with us not only in the masjid but outside. Not only on special occasions but in everything that we do. We should recognize that there is one who is divine in knowledge, who is closer to us than our jugular veins, who knows what we do in the secret and in the open.

And so I caution myself that we should nurture and develop this consciousness and we should hear the words of Allah, and obey. Allah has revealed to us in his glorious book, O you who believe, have the consciousness of Allah and speak a straightforward word. He would repair your deeds and forgive you of your sins and whoever obeys Allah and his messenger has surely gained a mighty triumph. And so in the spirit of qawlan sadida, I speak to you today.

The Critical Crossroads of the 21st Century

Because at this point in the 21st century, we as a human race are reaching a very critical point. We could say it's a crossroads. In one direction is imminent destruction. A destruction coming not only from the environment itself, which is turning against us because of misuse of the technology, because of pollution, because of lack of regard for the creation, not only from the environment, but also from the economic system. The economic system is imploding on us.

And so the very dollars and cents, the very paper notes that we printed as promissory notes to make a promise to somebody that there would be an equal amount of gold and silver in the bank, the papers are now becoming useless. In some parts of the world, your money can be valuable on one day and within two months it can be worthless. And so the system itself, which is not based on the actual amount of gold and silver in the bank, it is exploding from the inside. And this will have profound impact upon all of the peoples of the earth.

The Social Crisis and Rise of Magic

The social system as well. The relationship of human beings is at a very critical point. There are those nations and individuals who would want to separate people based on their color. They would feel that if a person is not the same color, or does not speak the same language, or does not come from the same tribe or ethnicity, then that person is an enemy. He is a foreigner. And so the social system now, the family structures are shaking and in many parts of the world people don't even get married anymore. And so the very basis of society, the family, the relationship of people is at a critical point.

Also in this time, with catastrophic events coming about, there is a rise of magic. There is a rise of supernatural groupings where people are seeking knowledge from spirit gods and from different types of forces in their frustration with the material world.

The Strategic Position of the Muslim Ummah

And so in this critical point, the Muslim ummah, the nation of the last prophet, Muhammad ibn Abdullah, is in a very strategic position to impact on the world. Because whether we realize it or not, when a person declares the shahada and becomes a Muslim, they are standing for the belief in one god. That is the belief of Abraham, of Moses, of Jesus, of all of those righteous ones who came from the beginning of time.

And by the very opening chapter of the Quran, the Muslims have a declaration of independence. It is a declaration of independence from material things, from spirit gods, from superstition. And when we say

You Allah alone will we worship and from you alone we seek assistance. This is a declaration of independence.

Islamic Solutions to Global Crises

Whether we realize it or not, we represent a solution to the international crisis in the economic level. Interest-free banking, a system where people do not exploit each other based on wealth, but where they cooperate with wealth. And if one has more wealth than the other, he takes a section of his wealth, that we know as our zakat, and he gives it freely to the poor. If he has wealth, he will cooperate with another individual to empower that other individual. And so this cooperative interest-free system is a solution to the international problem.

Whether we realize it or not, we stand as the ummah of the last prophet Muhammad, who did not come to the Arabs. He came to all of humanity. And from the beginning of his message, there were light-skinned and dark-skinned with him, the Arab and the non-Arab. People from Persia, people from Africa, people from the Northern European past, all types were with him in this beautiful rainbow coalition, which stood for the belief in one God and the respect for the family, that women should not be abused, that the rich should not take from the poor, that the Creator alone should be given our ultimate respect and reverence.

The Treasures We Hold

And so we hold this information in our minds and in our hearts. We have gems of wisdom in the book, the final last testament, Al-Qur'an. We have gems of wisdom coming from our beloved prophet Muhammad, who did not speak from himself, who spoke from above seven heavens. But we also are at the crossroads.

The Paradox of Muslim Nations

Our nations make up over 26% of the earth's population. We live in strategic water passes, strategic mountain ways, strategic regions. Over 50% of the mineral wealth of this world lies underneath our countries. We have some of the richest people on the face of the planet earth. We have intellectuals. We are a young nation. And in recent study was done, it found that in most Muslim countries, the majority of Muslims, over 60% of Muslims are 25 years and under. This is the majority. And so we are a young nation. And a young nation is a nation of the future. We have great standing armies who are waiting for their generals. We have nation states. We have a long history, a great civilization.

But we are at the crossroads because there is a contradiction. With the great wealth, there is poverty. There are some countries where the people have so much food, they don't know what to do with it. And if you go a few miles in the air or over the borders, there are other Muslims who are starving to death.

The Problem of Intellectual Division

With intellectuals, in many cases the scholars will argue over trivia. They will argue over furoo, minor issues, when the usool, when the foundations are the same. And the Prophet was reported to have said

(Sunan al-Tirmidhi 3253)

- people would not go astray after guidance until they were given the ability to argue.

With the great armies standing, we are still feeling a type of frustration and humiliation on the ground. Masjid al-Aqsa is crying out. Jerusalem, under the Muslim rule, was an open land for all religions. Christian people worship in the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem. Jewish people worship in their synagogues without interference. And so, this blessed land is crying out for that rule which allows people of all nationalities to come. Where the worship of God, the worship of the Creator, is put above nationalism and man-made ideologies.

The Call for Internal Change

And so, the contradiction is there. The wealth, poverty, great armies, they do not come to assist the oppressed. Intellectuals are not making the discoveries that are needed in the world today. And so, we cry for change and we feel a type of frustration in ourselves. We cry for a political system. We cry for Islamic economic system.

Some of them cry out for the Khalifa. They want the Khalifa to come. But Allah told us

- Allah will not change the condition of a people until they change that which is in themselves.

The Heart: The Foundation of Change

The internal Muslim. This is the primary issue that we need to look at today. Everything else is in place. Everything is in place. Like a beautiful vehicle that is there waiting to go. It's on the beginning of the race but it has no gas inside of it. The energy inside. The heart. The Prophet said

(Sahih al-Bukhari 52, Sahih Muslim 1599)

- there is a lump of flesh in the body if it is sound, the whole body is sound and if it is corrupted, the whole body is corrupted and that is the heart.

The Disease of Pride

And so the intentions, the relationship of people to each other. There is too much pride. Some are proud of their color. Some are proud of their nationality. Some are proud of their language. Some are proud even of their passport. But what do we have to be proud about? We come from a humble place and we will return to a humble place. And no matter how rich you are, how beautiful you are, when you go down into the earth, nobody is going down there with you. So why are we proud?

There are even those who claim to be of the family of the Prophet Muhammad. And we respect them. We constantly ask Allah to send blessings and salutations on the family of the Prophet. But blood is not enough because Abu Lahab, the uncle of the Prophet was Hashimi. He was of the noble blood of the Prophet and he is burning in hellfire. So blood is not enough. It is the character. It is what within us.

The Disease of Jealousy

Hasad. Jealousy. Jealous of a little progress that another Muslim makes. They have a new baby and they're jealous of the baby. A new masjid comes up and people are jealous of the masjid. Wealth. The people get wealth and we are jealous. There is nothing to be jealous of because material things come and they go. And having an overabundance of wealth is not necessarily a blessing. Why would the Prophet Muhammad say, I want to live with the poor, I want to die with the poor, and I want to be raised on the day of resurrection with the fukara, with the poor. Why would he say this? And so we have nothing to be jealous about in the material sense.

The Disease of Anger

Kathrat al-ghadab. Anger. Becoming too angry, too emotional. Now is the time when we need to have cool minds. When we need to think straight. Because the pressure is on us. But it was throughout Islamic history, it was during the time of the pressure, during the time of difficulty, when the leadership came to the surface. When the good qualities of the Muslims came to the surface, and we were able to revive Islam within our ranks.

The Path Forward: Increase in Taqwa

So I caution myself and you, number one, that we need to have an increase in taqwa. We need to culture our relationship with Allah. We need to be thankful for what we have. Be thankful. This masjid is a great blessing to you. I prayed in masjids in Mali and Timbuktu, in Malawi, in Zimbabwe, that has no rug on the ground. The masjid is made of dirt. And there is an animal skin or a piece of thatch. This is your rug. But you will see people with a thirst for knowledge. Changing their lives. So that when we do have the blessing of comfort, we need to thank Allah over and over again, who has given us comfort, given us wealth, and given us health.

Learning from Authentic Sources

We also need to begin to focus on understanding our religion from authentic sources. That we learn to speak classical Arabic, that we go to the usool, the foundations of our religion, and we take from the foundations and not necessarily from the cultures that we come from, because my culture is not the same as your culture. But the foundations of the religion are the same.

Relevant Knowledge for Today's Society

Thirdly, that this knowledge that we gain needs to be relevant to the society we are living in today. What is the Islamic position on substance abuse, on drugs? What is the Islamic position on homelessness? What can we provide to the society against racism? To show that we sit together, white, black, brown, yellow, we sit together, we pray together, as brothers and sisters. What can we show to the world now at this critical point when racism and xenophobia is rising in the world? And so we hold this in our hearts and we need to share it to the society.

Unity Among Muslims

We need to unify, to start to look at other people, especially those of Ahlus Sunnah wal Jama'ah, we need to look at each other as people of the Qibla. Not a Maliki or a Shafi'i or a Hanafi or this movement or that movement. In many cases, 95% of a Muslim will be the same and 5% is different. But if we focus on the 5%, then that will lead to a negative relationship when 95% is the same. And so we need to focus on the positivity that is between us, that which unifies us and not that which separates us.

A Positive Outlook

A positive outlook. The Prophet, when he would send his companions out, he would tell them

(Sahih al-Bukhari 69, Sahih Muslim 1734)

- He would tell them, give glad tidings, don't drive people away, make it easy, don't make it difficult.

Our Strategic Moment in History

And so we lie at a very strategic point in this time. We have within us solutions to major international crises. Major international crises. And the world that we know today and Allah knows best, within the next few years, this world is about to change. There are catastrophic, catastrophic events. We are standing at the door of catastrophic events. And those floods, those earthquakes, the tsunami, all of the natural crises, whenever the people report about it in the last five years, they say it was the largest flood in living memory. And this is not just in the Muslim world or the third world. Recently in Poland, when they had the flood, the Polish people said, this is the largest flood in living memory in the history of our nation. We have never been flooded like this.

Sharing the Message of Islam

And so with the world in a great change, it is now that we need to understand our religion, to have hikmah, wisdom, have the balance to give this religion to the people and to see that one of the key parts of this message is not to keep it to ourselves, but it is to share it with the rest of society. Share with people that we are not enemies of the great prophets. But the Prophet Muhammad was the fulfillment of the message of Abraham, Moses, Jesus, and all of those righteous ones, alayhimu s-salam.

Conclusion and Supplication

Now is our time. Now is the time to shine. Allah has given it to us. May Allah make it easy for us. May Allah purify our hearts in these difficult times. May Allah unite the ranks of the believers so that we are one saf, standing for tawheed. And may Allah forgive us and have mercy on us for the mistakes that we have made for we know not what we do.

Establish prayer, may Allah have mercy on you.

O Most Merciful of those who show mercy.