n36 16 Our Ummah is WEAK - Powerful Khutbah

Our Ummah is WEAK

Powerful Khutbah by Shaykh Abu Usamah At-Thahabi

Opening

(bismillāhi r-raḥmāni r-raḥīm)

(al-ḥamdu lillāhi waṣ-ṣalātu was-salāmu ʿalā rasūli-llāh)

Talking About the Favors of Allah

From what Allah Ta'ala has mentioned in the Quran is the ayat:

"And as for the favor of your Lord, proclaim it."

And Allah Ta'ala mentioned other ayat about how the Muslims should go about giving shukr for the favors of Allah that He bestowed upon them. The Prophet ﷺ said in an authentic hadith, sallallahu alayhi wa sallam:

"To speak about the favor of Allah is gratitude."

(Musnad Ahmad)

So the first ayat he said, as it relates to the favors of Allah upon you, talk about it. If Allah gave you a ni'mah, then talk about it.

Especially if you know that by talking about it, it's going to encourage other people to do good. And in the hadith he says, salallahu alayhi wa sallam, when you talk about the favors of Allah, that is giving shukr. The fact that you would share it with other people.

Now a lot can be talked about and a lot can be said, what is the minhaj of Al-Islam when it comes to the ni'mah that Allah bestowed upon you, but that's not the point here today. I just wanted to establish something that I'm going to share with you from this:

"To speak about the favor of Allah is gratitude."

To talk about the favors of Allah, that is one of the ways that you give shukr. And there are other ways, but this is what concerns us today.

The Ni'mah of Hajj

Allah, he gave me the opportunity walhamdulillah to perform hajj this past year. And that was from the ni'mah of Allah azawajal. And while performing hajj, while performing hajj, I saw a lot of things and a lot of things happened.

And one of the things that I took upon myself as a responsibility was that when I came back to the UK, if Allah allowed me to come back to the UK, I would make it a point to tell every single Muslim here in this community to get serious about performing hajj. Because one year comes and it goes, another year comes and it goes, and another year comes and it goes and on and on and on. And the person still didn't perform hajj.

And what is he waiting for? Especially in light of the fact the nabi told the people salallahu alayhi wasalam, istamti'u bihadhil bayt qablan yurfa. Hurry up and perform hajj at Allah's house before the Ka'bah is raised up and is taken away. One of the signs of Yawm al-Qiyamah is that the Ka'bah is going to be destroyed.

So many people, they don't perform hajj because they procrastinate. It's even in our culture. Some of the cultures, they tell us, hey, just keep procrastinating.

When you hit the age of 40, 45, 50, that's when you make hajj. I came here to first say to you people, hurry up and perform hajj. There is no ibadah from the ibadah of al-Islam like al-hajj.

All of the walking and all of the difficulty and all of what you go through, nothing else is like it. And then the individual, if he performs hajj the correct way, he'll come away feeling as if he put something forward for himself, for his religion. Like he really worshipped Allah because of the difficulty of hajj.

It's just like that. The Nabi described the hajj, sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, as being the hajj or the jihad of the woman, the weak, and the person who is sick.

The Sunnah of Sharing Knowledge from Hajj

So the first point I want to do was practice this sunnah of the Nabi, sallallahu alayhi wa sallam.

He has a sunnah that is mahjurah. People don't practice it. And there are many sunnahs like that.

When he performed hajj, sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, with his companions, there were over 100,000 people who performed hajj with him. Because they wanted to have the opportunity to see what he did at al-hajj. So when

they heard that he was about to perform hajj, everybody came to al-Madinah.

And when he left Madinah, the other Arabs in the desert gathered up with him. When he performed hajj, there were over 100,000 companions, radiyallahu anhum ajma'een, and a lot happened. But the point here about the sunnah that has been abandoned is that at the end of the hajj, he said to the people, sallallahu alayhi wa sallam:

"Let those who are present convey to those who are absent."

(Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 1741)

Let the one who was here performing hajj with me, Abu Bakr, Umar, Ali, let those of you who performed hajj with me here today, go back and tell the people who didn't perform the hajj. Let them know about what you saw. Let them know about the ahkam, about what I did.

And that's one of the many fada'il of the companions. The day of Ashura, it freaks me out, it's disturbing that a group of people who call themselves Muslims will come on the 10th of Ashura and curse Abu Bakr and Umar and Aisha and the rest of those companions, radiyallahu anhum ajma'een.

The Example of Asma bint Umais

When the nabi was performing hajj, sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, the wife of Abu Bakr as-Siddiq, her name is Asma bint Umais.

May Allah be pleased with her. She was pregnant with the son of Abu Bakr. She delivered the baby at a place called Dhul Hulaifa, the miqat of the people of Al Medina.

When she delivered the baby, they have to know, Ya Rasulullah, what should the woman do? He said, tell her to make a ghusl, because of what happened, and to protect her clothes from the blood. That lady went all the way to Mecca. She did all of what the pilgrims do. She came all the way back being in postnatal bleeding.

And one of us, if you go to hajj with some of the people, all they do is cry and they complain. Here you have a lady from the companions, because of what she did, we know what is the ahkam concerning the woman in that situation.

The Mountain of Uhud

While we were performing the hajj, we went to a place called Uhud, the mountain of Uhud.

The prophet said about it, salallahu alayhi wa sallam:

"Uhud is a mountain that loves us and we love it."

(Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 4083 and Sahih Muslim, Hadith 1393)

So if you are a believer, in your religion you have to love Mount Uhud. It's part of your religion. But you don't love the mountain because it's rocks, it's a mountain. You love it because what took place there.

Anyway, the shuhada. At the battle of Uhud, a number of companions were killed. I was telling my group about the story of Mount Uhud, and all I was doing was talking.

50 degrees out there, 50 degrees. After talking for about 15, 20 minutes, I was soaking wet with sweat, drenched with sweat. And I didn't fight anybody.

All I was doing was talking. What about Hamza and the rest of those companions who fought out there? And then the person comes on the day of Ashura, and he curses the companions.

The Cave (Ghar Thawr)

We were in Mecca, and when we were in Mecca, we went to a mountain called the mountain of the Ghar.

It's mentioned in the Quran. It's where the prophet, salallahu alayhi wa sallam, when he was leaving Mecca, he went with Abu Bakr as-Siddiq, and they went high up on that mountain to protect themselves and to hide from the kuffar. We were out there, 50 degrees outside.

I'm just talking. After I finished talking about what had happened, I was drenched in sweat like I took a shower. I didn't climb any mountain.

No one was after my life. It was easy for me. It's just kalam.

And then the person comes, and he doesn't recognize the position of those companions in this religion.

The Reality of Our Ummah

So what I wanted to share with you, brothers, in this religion is, hurry up and perform hajj. There is no ibadah like the ibadah of al-hajj, and when you get an opportunity to perform hajj, you're going to see some of the weirdest things that you've ever seen in your life.

You're going to see the reality of our ummah, the reality of the Muslims in Harrisville, in Mirpur, the reality of the Muslims in Kurdistan. You're going to see the reality of this ummah. And from the reality is that we see the weakness of the Muslims, and that weakness is internal and it is external as well, internal and external.

External Weakness of the Ummah

Concerning the external weakness that we saw with our own eyes, no one can reject it. It's the fact that when we were preparing to go on the 8th day of Dhul Hijjah, the day of tarwiyah, when the hajj actually begins, the people have to go to Mina. It was a day or two before the 8th.

We were in the hotel in Mecca, and we saw the news flash. The Muslims were in Mecca. Millions of Muslims in Mecca. And in a day or two, we're going to go to Mina. There were millions of Muslims in Al Medina, in the prophet's masjid, sallallahu alayhi wa sallam. They hadn't made the trip yet to Mecca, but they were going to be making the trip.

A million in Mecca, a million over there in Al Medina. And then there was the third masjid in Al-Islam, Masjid al-Aqsa. While we were watching the program, the Zionist Yahud, they went inside of Masjid al-Aqsa, on the 6th, 7th day of Dhul Hijjah, and they went in there with automatic weapons, and they shot people in there, and they shot the masjid up.

And no one in Mecca, and no one in Medina, and no one in Harrisville, and no one in Iraq, and no one in Kurdistan, no one anywhere could do anything about it. Because it's the external weaknesses of this ummah. No one here could do anything about it, other than maybe make dua.

But all of those Muslims coming together in one place, in the two sacred masjids in Al-Islam, multitudes of people, a lot of people, and yet, we couldn't do anything. So I find it strange, astaghribu, kun astaghra, I find it weird, that the people give dawah in Allah, and they busy themselves with politics. It's as if they don't know the reality of our ummah.

They don't know the weakness of our ummah.

On Calling to the Khilafah

Here in the UK, I hear people giving dawah to establish the khilafah. And I say, hey, I'm the first one who would like to see the khilafah of Al-Islam established correctly, the real khilafah, not what's in the tasawwurat and the tahayyalat of these people, in their imagination.

No, not that. The real khilafah, where tawhid is the most important issue, where the khilafah is there to help people worship Allah, all of the people. It establishes safety and security, and a system.

As for this romantic idea that people have, where they just echo, al-khilafah, al-khilafah, but he himself doesn't establish the khilafah in his own house. So the point here is, the point here is, when the person is giving dawah to politics, like a few years ago, we have some of these du'at, shuyukh, they were telling the Muslim countries,

Syria, Egypt, Tunis, Algeria, Libya, they were telling the Muslims in all of these places, hey, hey, make khuruj against your rulers, because they're no good. And they used to say, jihad is wajib, jihad is wajib.

We don't know where the fatwa came from, but that's what they said. And they were making these rough and tough khutbah, rough and tough. Now, three, four years later, look at the reality of the Arab world.

Look at the reality of the Muslim world. Did anyone here in his right mind ever think that Syria will be reduced to what it's reduced to right now? Did anyone ever imagine that? It's something that is unimaginable, to the point that Muslims now, from Syria, other than Syria, are getting in boats, trying to make it to Europe, falling over in the water along with their children, drowning to death.

So those same duas who told the people, go out, go out, make these problems, now their dua is, oh, Allah help the ummah, oh, Allah have mercy on the ummah.

Our ummah is weak, and therefore, the imam of the masjid has to know that. The administration has to know that. The parents of these children, we have to know that.

People who are teaching the religion, you have to know, the reality of our ummah is we are weak. Take it easy. Take it easy.

Internal Weakness: The Problem of Shirk

As for the internal problems, hadith wala haraj, I heard with my own ears, I saw with my own eyes at hajj, I heard people saying, the most important thing about hajj is, worshiping Allah. That's why we do hajj. It's the main thing.

This khutbah right here, the main goal and the objective is to worship Allah, remind you of your religion, remind ourselves of what are we doing. This khutbah is not about getting money for the masjid. The khutbah is not about just coming and having a break.

The khutbah is about worshiping Allah, and hajj is like that:

"And for Allah from the people is a pilgrimage to the House."

To Allah belongs the hajj. So the kuffar of Quraysh, they used to make hajj, but they used to make shirk.

The prophet came, and he made a hajj of tawheed. And one of the first things that he did was, he changed the talbiyah. His talbiyah was:

"Here I am O Allah, here I am. Here I am, You have no partner, here I am..."

Tawheed, tawheed.

You want to know about the weakness of our ummah internally? I saw with my own eyes. I heard with my own ears. People saying:

"Here I am O Hussain, here I am. Here I am O Hussain, here I am."

I saw people saying:

"Here I am O Prophet of Allah, here I am."

I saw that. I heard that. Your hajj is for Hussain? Your hajj is for the nabi?

People Asking the Prophet at His Grave

I saw with my own ears. I heard with my own ears, and I saw with my eyes.

Standing at the maqbara of the nabi sallallahu alayhi wasallam. People from my group, from your background, standing there asking the nabi sallallahu alayhi wasallam for good health, for a good job, to help his marriage. That's our ummah. That's our ummah.

Internally. Internally. Now it doesn't mean, it doesn't mean that there's no khair in our ummah.

I'm talking about the condition, the reality.

The Problem with Organization and Order

I saw in our ummah, ikhwani, at that hajj, how our community, we have a problem. We have a major problem with al-nizam and tanzeem (organization and order).

And you go to any masjid, any masjid, and you'll find that is the reality. You will be hard-pressed to go to a masjid in which everyone puts his shoes where they belong. Every masjid is going to have a group of people just throw their shoes off at the door.

Every Friday there's going to be a group of people who compromise the parking in every masjid. That's how it is. That's how it is.

Because we are people who, when it comes to al-nizam and tanzeem, I won't make ghuloo and I won't be zalim, inshallah. I won't say that our ummah, we don't like it. We just don't pay attention to it.

Because I just want to come in and I want to get out. But then, if we're looking at the people who have special needs, if something were to happen in this place and we all had to run out, some of us would get out and we won't be challenged by the shoes. But the one with special needs, he'll be challenged by the shoes.

The one who is older, he'll be challenged by the shoes. He trips over and he breaks his head, la samahallah. Why? Because someone from amongst us, a group of us, we just couldn't take the shoes to put them where they belong.

Now it gets on a bigger level at hajj, a bigger level. What's the level at hajj? The level at hajj of not appreciating, not following directions is there's a street and we are 300,000 people and all of the arrows are pointing, this is the way you must go. So everyone's going that way.

But there's always a group of people from this ummah who, they have to come the other way. And when they come the other way, you get 600, 700 pilgrims losing their lives under a stampede just because people didn't want to follow the right direction.

The Issue of Praying Behind Maqam Ibrahim

You're making tawaf at the Kaaba. For those of you who have been there, a million people are going around the Kaaba. A million people are going in one direction. And Islam is a religion of nizam.

When you perform hajj, you have to be here on this day. You have to be at that place. You have to do this thing.

You can't do things the way you want to do it. Salatul Jummah is at a particular time, a particular way. That's teaching us nizam.

So from the ahkam of al-hajj, if you have the ability, the Prophet prayed with 100,000 people with him, sallallahu alayhi wa sallam. They're gonna make room for him.

He went around the Kaaba seven times and then he made two rakat behind the maqam of Ibrahim. Right behind the maqam of Ibrahim. But when you have a million people, how can it come to the mind of an individual that you should pray behind the maqam of Ibrahim.

So when we're walking around the Kaaba, people are falling over those people. It's just mind-boggling. It makes you say, how and what were you thinking about? He has a good niyyat.

His niyyat is for Allah and it's sincere. But it's the niyyat in the wrong place. So as we've mentioned in this masjid many times, your niyyat is important, Ya Abdullah.

But along with the niyyat is that the action has to be done in accordance to what is pleasing to Allah azza wa jalla. So to go outside and to rob someone with the niyyat of taking the money that you robbed, to bring it to build a masjid that doesn't fly in the deen of Allah azza wa jalla. It doesn't help us in the deen of Allah.

The niyyat and the action.

What I Witnessed at Hajj

So with that being the case, Ikhwan, I wanted to make this point. I was at hajj, me.

I was at hajj, myself. I saw what happened. I find it again, the condition of our ummah.

There are people that are at hajj from our ummah wallahu a'lam. Allahu a'lam. On the day of Arafah, that is the day in which it's one of the most important days throughout the year.

It's not the single most important day. But throughout the year, it's one of the most important days. It is that day in which Allah forgives and He emancipates more people from the hellfire than any other day.

So if you're a pilgrim, you have to take care of this day. You have to have kind of like anti-sociable behavior, meaning I don't want to talk to my wife. Don't bug me on this day with these things that you need.

You're my friend. You're my brother. We came together but I really don't want to waste time.

Maybe when it's time to eat, we can talk a little bit. But this is the day of Arafah. On the day of Arafah, we are overwhelmed.

We are bothered with a group of people who come to perform hajj and they make it a political statement. A political statement. Down, down, USA.

Down, down, USA. All during the hours of Arafah. That's what we have to eat.

If anything, busy yourself with yourself and the needs of your family.

Focus on Your Own Self and Family

Everybody in this masjid, without an exception. Without an exception.

You have more than enough to preoccupy yourself with as it relates to your own self and your own family. No one here has the time or the luxury to be looking outside of his own situation. And if he did start to look outside

of his own situation, then let him look outside towards that which will benefit him and the others.

So I have my family. I'm responsible for them and myself. I have more than enough on my plate.

But I'm going to look out and I'm going to say, maybe I can come to Harrisfeel to give the khutbah in the masjid because it will benefit me to benefit them. As for sitting and wasting my time about those issues concerning the people and conditions that do nothing but waste your time, this is the condition of our ummah.

Islam is the Truth

Now I didn't come here, ikhwani, to paint a bleak and dark, dreary picture about al-Islam, of course. Al-Islam is the deen of Allah azawajal, and it is the truth and it's complete and it's beneficial.

Non-Muslims who have problems with al-Islam, their problem comes as a result of what they see from the Muslims. As for the religion, whenever they try to come and cherry-pick issues in the religion, there are always plausible, intelligent, fair and just explanations that we can give everybody.

Whatever they have a problem with in the religion of al-Islam, the halal and the haram, kuffar of Quraish, they used to have a problem with, why do you worship Allah alone? They had a problem with that.

Hey, we can explain that very easily. Kuffar of Quraish used to say, why is it that Allah chose Muhammad and he didn't choose from the other tribes of Quraish? Hey, we can do that very easily. Why is a man allowed four wives? All of those issues can be answered.

But what's difficult to answer is the way we behave, the way we carry on.

Establish the Khilafah in Yourself

So if we want to establish the khilafah and we want to establish Islam, it's the responsibility, individual responsibility of each and every person here to establish the khilafah in yourself, in your home. Establish the khilafah by worshipping Allah correctly and doing fairly and justly with the people around you.

And that doesn't mean that we're from the mala'ika and we won't make mistakes.

The Double Standards of the Media

Last issue that I wanted to mention because I had a lot of topics, there's another critical issue. Something that happened recently and it went viral in this country.

And the contradictions, they're disturbing. Wallahi, they're disturbing. The West and the media, the Western media, this media.

When the Zionist Israelis were killing those people and to this very day, they're killing people in Palestine. To this very day. But the narrative that we get from the BBC is the narrative that the Zionists want to give.

It's just double standards. The Muslims are being killed. And then on BBC, they have that thing that goes across the screen.

An Israeli soldier, he sprained his leg. On the day that they buried alive a man, his wife, and an 18-month-old toddler. So you want to tell me about ISIS? I tell my own community about ISIS.

ISIS our problem. ISIS don't help us. ISIS, they help the enemies of Islam.

Young people, don't let Shaitan come to you and make you think going to Syria is going to help you or something. We'll tell our community that. And we'll warn our kids.

I'd better not catch you thinking about going to Syria. We'll tell our own community. But where is the justice? ISIS burnt people, according to them, they burnt people.

Those Zionists are burning people. So why don't we hear about that? Instead we hear the Israeli man, he sprained his ankle.