Western Ailments- Islamic Medicine

Western Ailments: Islamic Medicine

Introduction of the Speaker

Our guest speaker today is Brother Hamza Yusuf Hansen. He came back to Islam in 1978. He was educated in 1980-84 at the Islamic Institute of Al Ain in the United Arab Emirates. In 1984 he studied in Algeria at Bilal Ibn Rabah in Tirzi. In 1985-86 he was at the Madrasa Al Hajj in Mauritania. He studied Arabic and the traditional Islamic studies during this period.

From 1987-1990 he took a degree in Nursing and English in Southern California. And while studying homeopathic medicine during this time, he was also presently studying postgraduate work as a student of homeopathy with the Devon School of Homeopathy. Presently Brother Hamza is involved in teaching Arabic, Islamic jurisprudence and he is the acting Imam Khatib at the Muslim Community Association of the Bay Area in Santa Clara, California. In addition to the Quran, Tafsir and Khutbah at the South Bay Islamic Center, Brother Hamza travels nationwide and lectures at universities and Islamic centers and he is now engaged in writing a book about the Dajjal and the New World Order.

So we have indeed great pleasure in welcoming Brother Hamza Yusuf in our midst to Toronto and to be with us this evening and to address us on this occasion. And we would be happy to have him and to pay attention to what he has to say and listen and leave here with some new knowledge of Islam which we didn't have before. Again I ask parents to please keep their children quiet while we listen to Brother Hamza.

The Preservation of the Deen

Allah has given this Ummah a gift that was not given to any Ummah before it and that is the preservation of the Deen until the end of time. And inshallah what the topic that I was asked to talk about was the Islamic medicine or the Quranic medicine for the ailments of the North American society. And I think that was based on a talk that I gave at the ISNA conference which was a similar topic. It was called America's Problems, Islamic Solutions. And I looked at that topic and made the remark that I didn't think that Islam was a solution to the problem because I think that it's an alien vocabulary to the Islamic teaching.

Islam as Healing, Not Just Solution

And the reason for that is that problems, when solutions are found for them, if they're implemented they tend to disappear immediately. Whereas the Quranic language talks about the Quran being a shifa, a healing. And it talks about the disease in the hearts. So the idea of the healing that takes place is that it's one, transformative, that two, that there's an indication of time because there are very few diseases that you can actually have a spontaneous cure from. In fact I can't recall any off the top of my head. Most diseases take time in order to come about and then they take time to heal.

The Prophet's Mission as Healing

If you look at the diseases of the Arabian Peninsula at the time when the Prophet ﷺ arrived there, then you will see that there was a period of 23 years where the Prophet ﷺ was administering the medicine of Islam to a sick and diseased society. And his mission was not complete until he had left that society intact and integral in its own self. So a diseased body became well and then was able subsequently to go out and literally heal the world. Because the nature of Islam is that it is a healing. And the nature of the Muslims is that they are healers. That they take the light of Islam to the darkness of the world and dispel that darkness by the light of Islam.

Light as the Cure for Darkness

And the light itself, we heard earlier the ayat an-nur, the light verse, the light itself is the healing. It is the transformation because the disease is darkness. The disease is ignorance. And it is the light of Islam that dispels that disease which is darkness, which is ignorance. The way that Allah does that is clarified in the teachings of Islam.

The Spread of American Sickness to the World

And in order just to look, one of the unfortunate aspects of the diseases of the American society, and I will speak American by extension, the Canadian society as well, that the, is that alright to do that? Maybe not in Montreal, I don't know. That the sicknesses of this society no longer, you see, impact on the society itself. But these sicknesses are now exported all over the world. This is the tragedy of our time.

The Confusion of Dar al-Islam and Dar al-Harb

Is that Kufr is no longer isolated in what is called Darul Harb. You see the traditional Muslims had this world view that was very nice. They had Darul Islam and Darul Harb. They had the abode of Islam, which was the abode of peace, Darul Salam. And they had Darul Harb, which was the abode of the war. Because the idea being that when Islam comes, there is peace.

The Greeting of Peace

Our greeting is (السَّلَامُ عَلَيْكُمْ - Assalaamu Alaikum), peace be upon you. The Prophet ﷺ said, Can I tell you something? That if you do it, then you'll love each other in Allah. And they said yes, and he said, Spread peace, spread peace. I mean if you say (السَّلَامُ عَلَيْكُمْ - Assalaamu Alaikum), You know either it's just lip service, which is what we call a Munafiq. Or you're telling somebody peace on you. Now the Muslims they say (السَّلَامُ عَلَيْكُمْ - Assalaamu Alaikum), And then the sledgehammer comes right after that. What they really mean is (السَّلَامُ عَلَيْكُمْ - As-salamu Alaikum), Which is like the heavy rock on you.

Islam: The State of Peace

So Islam is about spreading peace. And when you spread peace, war, which is the opposite of peace, Which is

Kufr, you see. Kufr is a state of war with Allah. You're at war with Allah. Islam is a state of peace with Allah.

The War Against Riba

The Quran says that the one that makes Riba, A transaction in Riba, in usury, Is making war, that Allah has declared war on his messenger. That Allah has declared war on his messenger, On those who make Riba, usury. And so the Prophet ﷺ said on the Yawmul Qiyamah, That the angel will give the murabi, the usurer, the banker now. In modern terms, the banker. It used to be the murabi or the usurer. Now it's the banker.

Banks and Modern Slavery

He'll give the banker the sword. President of Bank of America, Citicor, All these nice corporations that are helping more and more people Get into slavery and indentured servitude. In California they have this big propaganda that says, Bank of America, we've helped more Californians. They never tell you what they helped them do. They just say, we've helped more. Bank of America, we're banking on America to go bankrupt. Because we're the ones that are putting everybody in debt. So on that day, Yawmul Qiyamah, Yawmul Adalah, The day of justice, The murabi gets the sword and the angel says, Here's your lord, now go to war. See how long he lasts. That's the murabi.

The Blurring of Boundaries

So, that's the nature of kufr, Is that it used to be isolated in Darul Harb. Now, Darul Harb and Darul Islam are no longer, We're in now Darul Islam, here in this gymnasium. Islamic basketball. And next door is Darul Harb, right? Now, in the Muslim countries, I don't know what do you call it. We don't even have terminology anymore. The fuqaha, if they exist anymore, But the ones that do are so confused now. They don't know what to, where's Darul Harb, Where's Darul Islam, where's Darul Sulh. It's all become confused. Nothing's clear.

The Age of Bewilderment

The Prophet ﷺ said, Towards the end of time, he said (يُصْبِحُ الْحَلِيمُ حَيْرَانًا - Yusbihu al-halimu hayrana) - That the one with hilm, The one with forbearance and intelligence, Sagacity, will become confused. Will become bewildered. But that's the nature of the time we're living in, Is a time of hayrah. It's a time of bewilderment. It's a time when people are confused, you see. This is the nature of the age we're living in.

Kufr Entering Our Homes

And so, things are no longer clear. Kufr enters into our homes, By our own hand. We turn on the television, And we allow kufr to permeate the home. You see. Kufr is all over the Muslim world now. They have satellites, huge satellite disks, And they bring, The bat kufriya, right? These, Electromagnetic microwaves, Kufr microwaves, From these satellites, That are floating around the earth. And they bring them into their homes.

The House as Dar al-Islam

McDonald's in Mecca

Right now there's McDonald's in Mecca. Right? I mean think about that. McDonald's. Kentucky Fried Chicken. Colonel Sanders in Mecca. I mean that is to me something very serious. It's not a simple thing that we can reduce to kind of Isn't that amusing? I mean that's something really telling us about the nature of the world we're living in. People are lining up. When they first opened up I was there. They're lining up around the corners to get a Big Mac. I mean they don't even have the ingenuity to like have McDonald's or something. That's what I saw this one was the safest way. Right? Trying to be a little clever.

Following the Kuffar Down the Lizard's Hole

But I mean this is the imitation of the Americans and the Kuffar that the Prophet ﷺ told us that people would end up down the lizard's hole. Well they're down there and they're eating Big Macs. Down the lizard's hole. So it's a serious sickness.

How Islam Treats These Ailments

Now how does Islam treat these things? I mean this is what I was asked to talk about. I could go on and on and on about the terrible state of affairs and we'd all get depressed and walk out here. Walk out there feeling terrible. So I'll try not to do that. It's getting harder and harder though. But Alhamdulillah the nature of Islam is it's a deen of hope. The Qur'an says that the people of yaas, the people of despair are the kafirun. They're the people of despair.

Being Aware Without Being Fooled

But we should be aware of the age we're living in. We shouldn't be fooled. Shouldn't be simpletons. We now see that in the Muslim world there's no place that we can point to anywhere in the Muslim world and say that's Islam. There's no place. We can point to individuals and say there's a Muslim. See I can do that today. And hopefully you can do that in this room. You can point to people and say here is an example of Islam.

Islam in Motion

Because Islam by its nature is in motion. It's not a static thing. If you look at the Qur'an الَّذِينَ آتَيْنَاهُمُ الْكِتَابَ يَتْلُونَهُ حَقَّ تِلَاوَتِهِ (Quran 2:121) - Those that we have given the book they recite it as it should be recited. Yatlunahu, because it means to recite but it also means to follow. وَالشَّمْسِ وَالْقَمَرِ إِذَا تَلَاهَا (Quran 91:1-2) - Right وَالْقَمَرِ إِذَا تَلَاهَا (wal-qamari idha talaha) - The moon when it follows the sun. You see?

Recitation Implies Following

So تلاوة (tilawah) - reciting the Qur'an It says in the Qur'an that those who we have given the book and they recite it but also it is implied in that recitation that they follow it. In other words that they're in motion. That the book is in action. It's happening. When Aisha رضي الله عنها (radiyallahu 'anha) was asked How was the Prophet ﷺ's character? She said كَانَ خُلُقُهُ الْقُرْآنَ (Kana khuluquhu al-Qur'an) - His character was the Qur'an. In other words was the embodiment of the Qur'an.

Not Separating Mind from Body

We are not, you see In western religion they separate the mind from the body. And what happens is you separate action Right? Which is a physical thing. Action is physical. Speaking is part of our action because it's physical. Your tongue has to move. They're in the actions. They're in the mind. They're in the intellect. Actions are motion. Motion by its nature is physical. The Muslims do not separate the physical from the spiritual or the emotional or the intellectual. The human being is a totality. It's a whole.

Prayer as Physical Action

This is why our prayer by its nature is physical. You see we pray physically. We don't close our eyes to the Buddhist tradition or the Hindu tradition. You can meditate, right? The Prophet ﷺ meditated and the Sahaba did take time for tafakkur and reflection. I'm not saying that that's not. But the fundamental prayer of the Muslims is a physical action. It's in the body. That we are in the body and we actually move with the body. Why? Because we are our body. Our body is essential to our nature. And it's not separated.

The Quran as Living Teaching

The Qur'an is the embodiment. You see the teaching is a Qur'an. Qur'an is a recitation which implies it's a book, right? But really it's called Al-Qur'an which means that it's actually in motion. You see it's happening. It's not static. You can't fix it. You can't say this is what it means because there's always new meanings emerging. The scholars will never be satiated from the Qur'an. In other words they'll always be because it's an ocean. And even now to this day the scientists have not discovered all of the things in the ocean. They keep finding new things in there. Because that's the nature of an ocean is that it's vast and you can keep going and going and looking and you'll keep finding new things. And this is the nature of Qur'an. You see the Qur'an by its nature is alive.

The Quran in the Breasts of Believers

And where is it alive? فِي صُدُورِ الَّذِينَ أُوتُوا الْعِلْمَ

In the breasts of those who have been given knowledge. In other words those people are the embodiment of this teaching. They are the Qur'an in motion. They are the Qur'an in motion.

Few Reciters, Many Who Understand

When the Sahaba left the Arabian Peninsula the Prophet ﷺ said in a hadith أَنْتُمْ فِي زَمَانِ قَلِيلٌ قُرَّاؤُهُ كَثِيرٌ فُقَهَاؤُهُ (You are in a time the reciters of this age are very few. But those who embody the recitation are many that know its halal and haram and act according to it. You see. وَقَلِيلٌ سَائِلُهُ وَكَثِيرٌ مُعْطُوهُ (wa qalilun sa'iluhu wa kathirun mu'tuhu) - And those who ask are few and those who give وَمِمَّا رَزَقْنَاهُمْ يُنفِقُونَ (wa mimma razaqnahum yunfiqun) - And those who give are many and from what we provided them they give.

Understanding Requires Action

Many recite and how few know its meaning and act according to it. فَقِية (Faqih) - is the one that understands and understanding implies action. If you know something intellectually and don't act according to it you're not فَقِيةٌ (faqih). That's not فِقْةٌ (fiqh) فِقْةٌ (Fiqh) is something that is when the Prophet ﷺ made du'a he used to make du'a that people would learn فِقْةٌ (fiqh Allah, the Prophet said in the hadith in the Sahih Muslim مَنْ يُرِدِ اللَّهُ بِهِ خَيْرًا يُفَقِّهْهُ فِي الدِّينِ (Sahih Muslim) - Whoever Allah wants what is good for he gives him understanding in this deen.

Knowledge Must Lead to Action

And the good you see is in his actions that he acts according to what he knows because the thing if you know something and don't act according to it that is not good by its nature it's actually bad for you it's better that you don't know something than that you know it and don't act according to it and so this is the nature of the teaching of the Sahaba so when they went places they were the embodiment and people could look at them and say whatever he is or she is I want to be like that you see I want to be like that.

The Light of the Sahaba

When they went to the different places on this planet they didn't speak the language of the people but they had light they had a healing you see they started they just had a transaction with the person and there was something took place something took place and so they followed these people that was their nature so the healing you see you have to first understand the disease before you can treat it that's why so much of the Qur'an is dedicated to explaining to us the nature of Kufr.

The Two Definitions of Humanity

I mean look just in the Qur'an at the definition of man insan which is not really man but the human being because in the Arabic language it means male and female right. Allah gives us a twofold definition of the human being in the Qur'an the insan on the one hand if you read certain verses of the Qur'an you would come to the conclusion that the human being was a vile thing right. Allah says he that he created man مِن مَّاءٍ مَّهِينٍ (Quran 77:20) - from a vile fluid from a vile fluid. Allah tells us that مِن سُلَالَةٍ مِّن طِينٍ (Quran (23:12) - from mud from earth and water. Allah tells us that قُتِلَ الْإِنسَانُ مَا أَكْفَرَهُ * مِنْ أَيِّ شَيْءٍ خَلَقَهُ * مِن نُّطْفَةٍ خَلَقَهُ فَقَدَّرَهُ * ثُمَّ السَّبِيلَ يَسَّرَهُ 80:17-20) - how man destroys himself right how he's destroyed from what is he created right from what from a nutfa a drop of fluid and then Allah fashions it measures it out from a drop of fluid.

The Nobility of Humanity

So if you look from the one aspect it would seem that the nature of man is a vile nature a low nature but then you look at these other ayahs verses in the Qur'an وَلَقَدْ كَرَّمْنَا بَنِي آدَمَ (Quran 17:70) - we have ennobled the children of Adam and your Lord said to the angels إِنِّي جَاعِلٌ فِي الْأَرْضِ خَلِيفَةً (Quran (2:30) - I'm placing in the earth a khalifa

I mean khalifa is a big thing you're standing in the place of and he spoke to Musa and he took Ibrahim as a friend man's raised up man's exalted in the Qur'an so there's these two pictures here.

The Two Natures of Man

And when we reflect on that it would you see Allah is addressing the two natures of man man has two natures one is to to humiliate him to humiliate himself to be like an animal and the other is to think that he's a god you see cause he has these incredible attributes he's this paragon of perfection he has attributes that are angelic he has the intellect the nature has been subjugated for him we have power and dominion over creation and so people will become deluded by that you see start thinking that I'm something special I'm something extraordinary and it will lead to to arrogance to arrogance istikbar kibriya khuyala the diseases of the heart.

The Weak and the Oppressors

So on the one hand you see you have what are called in the Qur'anic vocabulary the mustad'afeen those that are weak and humiliated in the earth subjugated exploited which is the vast majority of humanity now and then you have the al-malak you see in the Qur'anic vocabulary those people the people that consider themselves akabira mujrimiha the big mujrimin the mutakabbirin the jababira the taghut al-zalimun the oppressors al-mu'tadun those who aggress in the earth.

Firaun's Delusion of Independence

So here these two being called on the one hand to the jabbar to the one that thinks that he is mustaghni that he thinks that he is ghani that he is rich and powerful and dominion when Fir'aun says look at me أَنَا رَبُّكُمُ الْأَعْلَى (Quran 79:24) - I'm the god look I've been given the dominion of Egypt I must be a god look at what I have in my possession you see.

Musa Sent to the Arrogant

And then who does Allah send to Fir'aun? One who is maheen humble in the eyes of Fir'aun لَا يَكَادُ يُبِينُ (Quran 28:34) - he can barely communicate Musa alayhi salam karim Allah and he sends him and he says لَا تَخَافٍ إِنَّكَ مِنَ الْآمِنِينَ (Quran (28:31) - don't fear innaka minal amineen you're from the people of amanah and aman the people of trust and the people of safety because you're from the people that Allah has chosen and given his message to go to Fir'aun اذْهَبَا إِلَى فِرْعَوْنَ (Quran (20:43) - go to Fir'aun right go to Fir'aun and what do you tell him you're not Allah أنتَ مِن مَّاءٍ مَّهِينٍ (anta min ma'in maheen) - you're just a little drop of fluid yesterday in the womb of your mother don't think that you're something special humble yourself go low.

The Arrogance of the Oppressors

And what does Fir'aun say? Are we going to follow these slaves? We going to follow these وَقَوْمُهُمَا لَنَا عَابِدُونَ (Quran 7:127) - their people are slaves our slaves see that's what the Americans say now become Muslim follow the Pakistanis we send them billions of dollars every year so they can buy our weapons why should we follow

The Materialistic Standard

That man when Allah tries him gives him tribulation gives him benefits gives him gifts he says (فَيَقُولُ رَبِّي أَكْرَمَنِ - fayaqūlu rabbī akraman) (Quran 89:15) - oh my lord he's ennobled me and if the opposite happens he said (رَبِّي أَهَانَنِ - rabbī ahānan) (Quran 89:16) - my lord's forsaken me he's humiliated me this is the materialistic standard that people use and look at things and Islam gives us a new way of looking at the world.

Rib'i Ibn Amir and Kisra

So Islam calls these jababirah and it tells them worship Allah look at the Rib'i Ibn Amir when he went to Kisra and he comes in and Kisra said he's an Arab desert Arab wearing his rags and he comes into the court of Kisra and walks across his famous carpet and all the mela right all his wizara his ministers there right it would be like now some poor pathetic Muslim coming out of Somalia or Sudan or something and walking into the White House right and there all the congressmen are and there's Bill Clinton and he says in his rags he says I'm coming with a message and Bill Clinton says what's the message and he says that you have to submit to Allah and quit oppressing people.

The Wisdom in Simple Words

And Bill Clinton looks at the majlis shuyukh right the congressman he says what do you think of this character and they say this is pretty pathetic right I mean that's the same scenario and that's what they said and he said what are you calling us to and he said to take you out of the worship of slaves and created things to the worship of the creator of things and the creator of the servants and slaves and so Kisra said to them and he and the the his congressman said to him these are pathetic people they have nothing and he said but listen to the words that he said there's wisdom in them and they fought them and they lost because the truth was with them and falsehood was with those people you see so this is the nature the sirat.

Allah's Promise to the Weak

So Allah tells the the weak and the oppressed in the earth (وَنُرِيدُ أَن نَّمُنَّ عَلَى الَّذِينَ اسْتُضْعِفُوا فِي الْأَرْضِ وَنَجْعَلَهُمْ أَئِمَّةً وَنَجْعَلَهُمُ الْوَارِثِينَ - wa nurīdu an namunna ʿala alladhīna istuḍʿifū fī al-arḍi wa najʿalahum aʾimmatan wa najʿalahumu al-wārithīn) (Quran 28:5) - that he wants to give as a gift to those who were oppressed in the earth to make them the leaders and them the inheritors of the earth this is the promise of Allah to those weak and oppressed in the earth if they do what? if they worship Allah and to show who? (وَنُرِيَ فِرْعَوْنَ وَهَامَانَ وَجُنُودَهُمَا مِنْهُم مَّا كَانُوا يَحْذَرُونَ - wa nurīya firʿawna wa hāmāna wa junūdahumā minhum mā kānū yaḥdharūn) (Quran 28:6) - to show to show the political power to show the economic power and to show the military power in other words to show the White House the Federal Reserve and the Pentagon what they were afraid of in the first place.

The Pentagon's Fear of Islam

You see a spokesman in the Pentagon said in the Newsweek magazine in 1991 that in the Pentagon in the 1980s we had a visceral fear of Islam much more than we feared communism you see because they know that communism is an empty philosophy it's an empty philosophy because it's based on false principles but they know historically that the power that Islam has had in infusing the weak and the oppressed in the earth with the light of truth haq and knowledge and then taking that light and changing the world that they were in they know the power you see they've read their history books we haven't read our history books but they've read the history books so they know it just like Firaun knew it just like Haman knew it and just like the armies knew it.

Allah Completes His Light

They want to put out the light of Allah even if they're averse to it even if they dislike it Allah is completing His light so bringing these people out of darkness into the light of Islam.

The Need for Practical Action

I said last night somebody doesn't have something can't give it we can do a theoretical you see I can look at that we can do a theoretical look at how Islam would do this it's very clear the first and most fundamental principle is to let these people recognize that you're from a vile drop of fluid that you're created from clay that you need to humble yourselves that you can't prance about in the earth you cannot be 5% of the world's population and be consuming 30% of its natural resources.

Ecological Injustice

You see the average American has an ecological impact on the environment right that's detrimental to the environment that's 40 times greater than the average Indian in India and 100 times greater than the average Kenyan in Kenya and they complain about those people down there they populate like rabbits before you know it they're going to be eating up all the resources which means we'll have to lose weight which means they'll actually get better right because they're all dying of over of gluttony and that's what they're dying that's what their Surgeon General said Americans are dying from overeating.

Operation Restore Hope

So they're all out to here and the Somalians are the opposite right and they go there with Operation Hope or something what do they call that? Operation Restore Hope oh my goodness Restore Hope which was really a Pentagon operation all it was see the Americans all of a sudden if the average American pays $6,000 in taxes $3,103 goes to the military industrial complex $128 goes to education so all of a sudden when the Russians are no longer around the Americans say shouldn't we be spending this stuff on education or something because

nobody can read anymore and the Pentagon says uh-oh we're in trouble they might actually think of cutting our budget.

Pentagon's Photo Opportunity

So what do they do? Restore Hope Hope for who? The Somalians? No, for the Pentagon you see so they have it was a photo opportunity they were all out there landing on the beach smiling with their guns and there's all CNNs there with their cameras rolling could you move a little over there to the side there could you show your M-16 a little right and that's what it was and so the Americans are saying those are our boys over there restoring hope right hope to who? they were the ones that created the situation they created the despair you see I mean it's like somebody cutting you up with a knife and then saying hey don't worry about it I'm a surgeon okay I'll sew you up are you going to trust him to do that? you see that's what they create.

Siad Barre: A Creation of Sick Minds

Siad Barre he's a creation of some very sick people probably with bald heads in the Pentagon they actually they drew out who should we put in the Horn of Africa? well let's see he should be ruthless put that on top of the list right they're very passive people they need somebody to beat them down with a good stick right and he should be very greedy right so that we can buy him I mean if he has any sense of patriotism where he actually thinks about his country you know that these are Somalians I mean after all my mother was a Somalian so maybe I should actually try to look after them because I was just a peasant one day walking around with bare feet but so he has to be greedy, ambitious so they write all these characteristics we've got just the man you see our CIA correspondent in Mogadishu says there's this character named Siad Barre he's a colonel in the army fits the bill so that's what they do.

Manufacturing Tyrants

That's how it happens and it's all over the Muslim world that's what they do they work out specifications and then they look within the army for these characters and then they say look play the game and we'll make you president now every once in a while because these people were dealing with kind of infrahuman intellects here right so every once in a while one of them says because he's surrounded himself by all these yes men right like Idi Amin remember that poor guy he's surrounded himself by all these yes men that are saying oh great and majestic leader you great and triumphant one and pretty soon he starts believing it right I really am this important person because they all keep telling me that right and they're all smiling they're all yes men right.

Tyrants Are Cowards

Aristotle said that tyrants always surround themselves by yes men because they feel insecure that's the nature of tyranny tyrants are cowards that's their nature they're actually cowards that's why they go around tyrannizing people like bullies you know bullies all the famous stories about the big bully that goes and punches out and then one day the little kid sticks up for himself and then the bully runs away because that's their nature they're

cowards so they surround themselves by these pathetic little caricatures of people and they tell them how wonderful they are and how great they are and everything they're doing is perfect and wonderful ilayka ilayka that's what they say all these poor Iraqi children to Saddam Hussein you know what a great leader you are and they've written their poetry and all these things and so they start believing it.

Stepping Out of Line

Every once in a while not too often but every once in a while it gets to their head and then they actually try to do something that's not in the game plan right and then they say he's getting out of line and so they go and tell him listen you stepped over the boundaries there he said what are you telling me who do you think I am I'm the ruler of Uganda or wherever they are I'm the ruler of Iraq I have scud missiles you can't push me around and so these poor guys at the Pentagon say something went wrong this wasn't put into the program and so they have to work out how to how to to teach him a lesson either they get rid of him right or they humiliate them or they just remind them who's in charge so they get back in line so that's what we're dealing with.

Muslims Are Not a Religion of Persecution

And so the whole point of that is here's what we're dealing with we've got these mustad'afeen in the earth which are now the Muslims and Islam by its nature is not a religion of persecution Christianity by its nature is a religion of persecution they've been persecuted from the beginning and they love persecution they feel good when they're persecuted they've always you know that's how it started and that's for 300 years they were persecuted in Rome and so they feel good when they're persecuted like something is going right you see they start getting worried when they're not persecuted.

Muslims Are People of Victory

The Muslims are they're people of Nasr I mean the first chapter of the Quran is called Al-Fatiha Al-Fatiha is the one that gives victory I mean that's the one I mean it means the opening but it's also the same word for the Al-Fatih the one that gives victory I mean that's one of the names of Allah and that's how our book begins Al-Fatiha I mean this is the victory of the Muslims the ones who who say (بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَنِ الرَّحِيمِ * الْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ - bismillahir-rahmanir-rahim * alhamdulillah) (بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَنِ الرَّحِيمِ - bismillahir-rahmanir-rahim) - Tawheed (الْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ - alhamdulillah) is only for Allah Tawheed (رَبِّ الْعَالَمِينَ - rabbil alameen) - Lord of the worlds (إِيَّاكَ نَعْبُدُ - iyyaka na'budu) - Our Ibadah our worship is only for you (وَإِيَّاكَ نَسْتَعِينُ - wa iyyaka nasta'een) - and our Isti'ana our seeking help is only to you.

The People of Al-Fatiha

Those are the people of Fatiha those are the people of Nasr (إِيَّاكَ نَعْبُدُ وَإِيَّاكَ نَسْتَعِينُ - iyyaka na'budu wa iyyaka nasta'een) and the people of what? of humility of humility that never become deluded and think that I can't go wrong (اهْدِنَا الصِّرَاطَ الْمُسْتَقِيمَ - ihdina siratal mustaqeem) - Guide me to the right path in other words I never become so deluded that I think that I'm perfect that I don't need Hidayah because Hidayah is an ongoing thing it never

stops until you die so keep us humble (اهْدِنَا الصِّرَاطَ الْمُسْتَقِيمَ - ihdina siratal mustaqeem) (صِرَاطَ الَّذِينَ أَنْعَمْتَ عَلَيْهِمْ - siratal lazeena an'amta alayhim) - The Ni'mah of Hidayah (غَيْرِ الْمَغْضُوبِ عَلَيْهِمْ - ghayril maghdoobi alayhim) - Not those who know things and don't act according to them (وَلَا الضَّالِّينَ - wala ddalleen) - and not those who don't know anything and just go out and do whatever they want.

Not the Jewish or Christian Trap

Not like the the Jewish trap of falling into knowing the truth and not acting according it and not the Christian trap which is not even bothering to learn the truth to say well the truth has set us free so we don't even need to bother with it anymore we don't need Hidayah we don't need any laws because we're filled with the Holy Spirit and so that's Al-Fatiha these are the people of victory are the Muslims the people of this chapter we say it every day in our prayer and that's what it is it's a those people are the ones that are given victory and they take the guidance to other people.

The Beginning of Surah Al-Baqarah

And then the book begins (الم * ذَلِكَ الْكِتَابُ لَا رَيْبَ فِيهِ هُدًى لِّلْمُتَّقِينَ - alif lam mim dhalika alkitabu la rayba feehi hudan lilmuttaqeen) (Quran 2:1-2) - Alif Lam Mim That is the book There's no doubt in this book Guidance for the people of Taqwa this is the book there's no doubt that's how the book begins negating doubt and so these are then Allah gives us the attributes of the believers that they believe in Allah they believe in the unseen and they give out from what they're given and then He tells us about the Kuffar that they are the ones that don't believe in this teaching and they don't follow the truth and then the Munafiqin and then it gets complicated because then you're into a complicated creature.

The Three Types of Human Beings

So that's the that's how the book begins and then it tells us about man look at the first the very first in terms of as you open the book which is the Baqara that Allah gives us the definition of the three types of human beings and then the first revelation is (اقْرَأْ بِاسْمِ رَبِّكَ الَّذِي خَلَقَ * خَلَقَ الْإِنسَانَ مِنْ عَلَقٍ - iqra bismi rabbika alladhi khalaq * khalaqal-insana min ʿalaq) (Quran 96:1-2) - Iqra Bismi Rabbika Alladhi Khalaq * Khalaqal-insana min alaq from a clot of blood congealed clot from a clinging thing that's what we were created from.

The First Revelation's Two Characteristics

So the first historically the first revelation tells us who we are but then it tells us اقْرَأْ Iqra) again الَّذِي خَلَقَ الْإِنسَانَ مِنْ عَلَقٍ * اقْرَأْ وَرَبُّكَ الْأَكْرَمُ * الَّذِي عَلَّمَ بِالْقَلَمِ * عَلَّمَ الْإِنسَانَ مَا لَمْ يَعْلَمْ - alladhi khalaqal-insana min alaq * iqra warabbukal akram * alladhi allama bil-qalam * allama al-insana ma lam ya'lam so Allah tells us that he's akram he's the one that gives ikram so it has in that first revelation the two characteristics of man the alaq which is the low and then the mukram which is the high who knows that was taught by Allah Allah taught us with the qalam with the pen so he's ennobled us so right there in those first revelation you have that picture of man so it's telling the mustada'atin those weak in the earth Allah has ennobled you he's raised you up recognize who you are.

Muslims Have Forgotten Who They Are

The Muslims have forgotten who they are they've forgotten that they're the ummah of Muhammad ﷺ the best of creation who lived in a little house in the Arabian Peninsula sleeping on a mat made out of palm fibers that used to imprint on his cheek and when Umar رضي الله عنه (radiyallahu anhu) wept and he said what's making you weep (يَا ابْنَ الْخَطَّابِ - ya ibn al-khattab) and he said (يَا رَسُولَ اللَّهِ لَقَدْ رَأَيْتُ قُصُورَ قَيْصَرَ وَكَيْفَ يَعِيشُونَ وَإِنَّكَ أَوْلَىٰ بِهِمْ مِن ذَلِكَ - Ya Rasulallah laqad ra'aytu qusura qaysar wa kayfa ya'eeshun wa innaka awla bihim min dhalika) - I saw the palaces of Caesar and how they live there and you are so much more worthy of that.

The Prophet's Response to Umar

What does the Prophet ﷺ say? (يَا ابْنَ الْخَطَّابِ أَلَا تَرْضَى أَن تَكُونَ لَهُمُ الدُّنْيَا وَلَنَا الْآخِرَةُ - Ya ibnal-khattab ala tarda an takuna lahum ad-dunya wa lana al-akhira) - aren't you content that we that they have the dunya and we have the akhira aren't you content with that (يَا ابْنَ الْخَطَّابِ - ya ibnal-khattab) - he's not thinking about himself Umar he's thinking about the best of creation he wants to see him living in nice palace with servants and the prophet says that's not our way.

The Poverty of Choice

We're the people of the poor (فَقْرِي فَخْرِي - faqri fakhri) - my poverty is my pride it is my pride not the sick poverty of the ghettos it's the poverty of choice it's the choice to be humble that is the poverty of the Prophet ﷺ it's not a poverty that abases it's a poverty that raises up and elevates people it's not a poverty that makes people get on welfare or go ask people it's a poverty that makes people content with a little the Prophet said (رَحِمَ اللَّهُ امْرَأَ رُزِقَ الْكَفَافَ وَقَنِعَ بِهِ - rahimallahu imra'an ruziqa al-kifaf wa qani'a bihi) - Allah has had mercy on the one that's given just enough to get by in this world and he's content with that.

A World of Extremes

You see we live in a world of complete extremes we live in a world of feasts and parties and so much plenitude cornucopias and we live in a world of 50 million people dying from malnutrition and starvation that are under 15 years of age every year we live in a time when people on the Arabian Peninsula are dying from overeating and their brothers in Somalia and sisters are dying from starvation that's the time we're living in you see and it's a time of deep imbalance.

Islam: The Middle Way

And Islam is the middle way it's the way that brings the mizan that brings (وَوَضَعَ الْمِيزَانَ * أَلَّا تَطْغَوْا فِي الْمِيزَانِ - Quran 55:7-8) - he set the balance that you don't transgress the balance (وَأَقِيمُوا الْوَزْنَ بِالْقِسْطِ وَلَا تُخْسِرُوا الْمِيزَانَ - Quran 55:9) - and establish this balance with justice and don't upset the balance if people are hungry feed them if people are oppressed then give them victory and help if people are poor then enrich them from asking if people are dying of starvation then look at them as a responsibility on you.

The Duty to Feed the Hungry

The Prophet ﷺ says (لَا يُؤْمِنُ بِاللَّهِ وَالْيَوْمِ الْآخِرِ مَن بَاتَ شَبْعَانًا وَجَارُهُ جَائِعٌ إِلَى جَنْبِهِ - la yu'minu billahi wal-yawm al-akhir man bata shab'anan wa jaruhu ja'i' ila janbihi) - he doesn't believe in Allah in the last day who sleeps satiated and his neighbor sleeps in hunger so this is Islam establishing the balance and we are in the most imbalanced society on earth and if we're participating in their cornucopia of plenitude then we're part of it because the earth right now is completely tilted it's out of balance you have the south and you have the north and it's out of balance and the Muslims are the people that are supposed to establish the balance to set things straight.

Out of Sight, Out of Mind

But if we're not thinking about it I mean if we're not even thinking about it if we're so busy stuffing our faces right if we're so busy with the maladda with the laddat of dunya with all this pleasure of dunya that we're not even thinking about these other things because they're out of sight out of mind when the Christians they use guilt they show all these starving babies and things like that they just turn the channel see I mean the Muslims wallahi people wept because I was in Mecca during the last 10 days of Ramadan alhamdulillah and when just when the Imam started making dua for Bosnia and Herzegovina everybody started weeping but really I mean not to belittle because I mean all of us I felt the same way and we all do.

Abu Abdullah's Tears

But it's like Abu Abdullah when he left Granada there's a place it's called Mabka al-Muslim the weeping place of the Muslims when Abu Abdullah left Granada and surrendered Granada to the Christians he looked back they call it Zafrat al-Moor now in Spain they still call it that the sigh of the Moor he looked back at Granada and started weeping and his mother said (ابْكِ عَلَيْهَا كَالنِّسَاءِ بَعْدَ مَا لَمْ تُحَافِظُ عَلَيْهَا كَالرِّجَالِ - Ibki alayha kan-nisa' ba'da ma lam tuhafidh alayha kar-rijal) - weep like women weep over it after you didn't defend it like men you see and those are the tears that we shed you see.

The Tears of the Powerless

The tears the collective tears of the Muslims are the tears of al-'ajiz you see they're the tears of people that have just (نَسُوا اللَّهَ فَأَنسَاهُمْ أَنفُسَهُمْ - Quran 59:19) - they forgot Allah so Allah made them forget their own selves (رَكَنُوا إِلَى الدُّنْيَا - rakanu ila ad-dunya) - they inclined to this world and if you forget your own self forgetting yourself is not forgetting to eat that's not forgetting yourself forgetting yourself is to forget what your responsibilities are in the world that is (نِسْيَان - nisyan) is to forget that we have duties we have something to do we have a job as Muslims we have a job to take this deen out to the people.

Our Responsibility in These Countries

And really and this is the truth if the truth be said and inshallah let the truth be said the responsibility of us in these countries if we're here is to take this message out to those who will listen to it and those who will listen to

it are the poor and the oppressed they're the (مُسْتَضْعَفِينَ - mustad'afeen) and if you read the Qur'an you will come to that conclusion very quickly the (مَلَا - mala) don't accept Islam except in rare cases and those people are important people it's not to belittle their importance Umar was from the (مَلَا - mala) Al-Khattab was a big family in Mecca but he's not the majority of sahabah.

The Majority of Sahabah Were the Poor

The majority of the sahabah are the Abu Dharr Al-Ghifaris and the Bilal Ibn Rabah right I mean they're the people that nobody cared about that were the people that had no societal value Abu Dharr was from a tribe of desert brigands and Bilal was an Abyssinian slave or Zaid right the freed slave of the Prophet ﷺ or Ibn Mas'ud these people were humble people and they're the ones that followed the Prophet ﷺ and they're the people that we should go out and they're the people that will respond.

The Transformation of the Black Community

And Wallahi I'll tell you this if we can turn these societies around in this country there are enough Muslims in this country that Wallahi I believe this if in the United States alone if the black community becomes Muslim as they are becoming Muslim (رَغْمَ أُنُوفِنَا - raghma unufina) - despite our noses like the Arabs say and you see the transformations that take place in those people and the light that enters into their houses and the dignity that they get from Islam that elevates them and makes them realize that (وَلَقَدْ كَرَّمْنَا بَنِي آدَمَ - Quran 17:70) - that we have truly a noble Bani Adam.

No Exploitation Before Allah

(يَا أَيُّهَا النَّاسُ إِنَّا خَلَقْنَاكُم مِّن ذَكَرٍ وَأُنثَىٰ وَجَعَلْنَاكُمْ شُعُوبًا وَقَبَائِلَ لِتَعَارَفُوا ۚ إِنَّ أَكْرَمَكُمْ عِندَ اللَّهِ أَتْقَاكُمْ - Quran 49:13) - the one that knows that truly knows that will never feel humiliated will never feel exploited never feel ashamed to stand in front of Allah because he's the person of (إِكْرَام - ikram) from (ذُو الْجَلَالِ وَالْإِكْرَامِ - Quran 55:27) - from the one that gives majesty and possesses it and gives generosity and nobility and possesses it he allows his slave (لِيَتَحَلَّىٰ بِمَكَارِمِ الْأَخْلَاقِ - liyatahalla bi-makarimi al-akhlaq) - to ornament himself with the noble characteristics of man (إِنَّمَا بُعِثْتُ لِأُتَمِّمَ مَكَارِمَ الْأَخْلَاقِ - innama bu'ithtu li'utammima makarima al-akhlaq) - I was sent to perfect the noble characters of man of human beings.

The Power of Transformation

What Islam does and if those people accept Islam Wallahi when the Americans see the transformation within those communities as they're taking place in microcosmic scales right now in New York in Philadelphia in Washington in Atlanta and these different places they will have to admit that the transformative power of Islam is unequaled and unmatched on the face of the earth because it changes human beings it changes societies it raises those who are low up and it lowers those who are high and exalted down and they meet in a middle place which is called the middle way which is called Islam.

Don't Waste Time Arguing

But the Sahaba didn't waste their time arguing and the Prophet said (مَا ضَلَّ قَوْمٌ بَعْدَ الْهُدَى إِلَّا أُوتُوا الْجَدَلَ - ma dalla qawmun ba'da al-huda illa utu al-jadal) - no people go astray after guidance except that they're given in place of that guidance argumentation so when you see people arguing my advice to you is to do what Imam Malik رحمه الله (rahimahullah) did he used to get up from the gathering and say (أَنْتُمْ حَرْبٌ - antum harb) - you're just war (السَّلَامَةُ مَعَ - as-salamah ma'a) - safety is with leaving the only people that should argue are the Ulama and the (الرَّاغِبُ الْأَصْبَهَانِيُّ - ar-Raghib al-Isfahani) he says (الْجِدَالُ فِي حَقِّ الْعُلَمَاءِ مَكْرُوهٌ فَمَا ذَارُكَ بِالْعَوَامِ - al-jidalu fi haqq al-'ulama' makruh fama dharuka bil-'awamm) - argumentation in the right of the scholars is disliked so what about those who don't have knowledge so don't waste your time with people that want to argue because there's a lot of them out there.

Unite Our Efforts

And recognize we have to unite our efforts we have to have economic sovereignty our communities have to become economically independent this is essential to the vitality of our communities wherever we are but particularly in these countries we have to be economic our money should be going back into the community we have to be teaching our children the Deen not in Sunday school not Sunday school it is not enough, it's not acceptable.

Proper Islamic Education

We need to be retraining so that we have if they go into medicine or economics or literature or engineering or whatever they study at the university level that prior to that they have had a sound foundation in Islam they memorize either the whole Quran or a large part of it or at least the Jawahir the essential parts of the Quran, that they know the Sunnah of the Prophet, that they know their Ibadat and Muamadat they know how to survive as a Muslim when they buy and they sell when they pray, when they go on Hajj, when they do these things, they need to learn the Deen.

Revive the Arabic Language

And the Arabic language needs to be revived your children should be learning the Arabic language it's essential to our Deen English should not be the medium whereby we speak in our conferences and all these things, we need to revive the Arabic language, because the Arabic language is the language of empowerment in Islam, it is the language that accesses the book there's no such thing as a translation of Quran it doesn't exist whatever you read in these English words, it doesn't convey anything of the power of this message because the power is in its it's in the incapacitating nature of this book it incapacitates anyone who attempts to imitate it and the power is in the Arabic language and people have to go back to this language and learn it.

Creating Proper Schools

So we have to be creating schools and those schools need to have proper minhaj, it has to have a proper

methodology whereby people come out after 12 years of education and they know their Deen, they're able to go wherever they go and they have their Deen and nobody can shake them and get them following dajajila, false bearers of false teachings and things like that, they should be grounded firmly in the teachings of Islam that this Ummah has accepted for 1400 years the vast majority, we follow Ahl as-Sunnah wal-Jama'ah we don't follow sects and groups we follow which is the vast majority of scholars, the great scholars, these are the people we should be following, not these people with funny ideas that have introduced innovations and things like that but don't argue with them, just get on with the business at hand.

The Field of Battle

So there's lots to do and believe you me, the Al-Maidan right now, the the field of battle is (فِي أَحْوَجِ مَا يَكُونُ إِلَى الْفُرْسَانِ - fi ahwaji ma yakunu ilal-fursan) - it's in the biggest need of knights people to go out and engage engage, Islam is not vital if it's not engaging Kufr, it's not vital, it loses its vitality because Islam stands up in the face of Kufr and it says, here am I here is Islam all of these things, I'm the alternative (تَعَالَوْا إِلَى كَلِمَةٍ سَوَاءٍ بَيْنَنَا وَبَيْنَكُمْ - Quran 3:64) - come to a word that we share, that we only worship Allah don't let us take don't let some of us be mutakabbirin and others be mutadallilin, khadi'in don't let some of us be from the people that only hear the ayah (لَقَدْ كَرَّمْنَا بَنِي آدَمَ - laqad karramna bani adam) and forget the ayah that we're from (مِن مَّاءٍ مَّهِينٍ - min ma'in maheen).

People of the Middle Way

And don't be from those who think they're from (مِن مَّاءٍ مَّهِينٍ - min ma'in maheen) and never hear (لَقَدْ كَرَّمْنَا بَنِي آدَمَ - laqad karramna bani adam), be people of the middle way, people of humility and people of izzah, of dignity and when those two combine you have the power of the Muslim when you have humility with dignity you have the power of Islam if you have dignity without humility, you have an arrogant person, there's no benefit, neither to himself nor to others, if you have humility without dignity, you have somebody that's of no benefit the Muslims are people of izzah and tawadah, they're people of izzah and tawadah people of dignity and people of humility, that's the Muslim he's the man of the wasatiyyah he joins the opposites he joins the opposites.

A Little Action Is Better Than Many Words

So you know I don't certainly not claiming to have all the answers but those are just some things that I've thought about (دِينَارٌ مِنْ عَمَلٍ خَيْرٌ مِنْ قِنْطَارٍ مِنْ قَوْلٍ - dinarun min 'amal khayrun min qintar min qawl) - that a little bit, a dinar or a dirham like a small amount of action is better than a whole bundle of words so taking something and just holding to it if you decide every day to read ten ayahs of Quran every day and not stop on that you see, or read a juz of Quran or read a hizb of Quran every day and not stop on that that's better than reading the Quran the whole Quran from beginning to end one night and then not picking it up for the next three months.

Continuous Action

Because the best of action is that little action but it's continuous (كَانَتْ أَفْعَالُهُ دَائِمَةً - kanatafaluhu da'imah) - that's what Aisha said in Sahih al-Bukhari his actions by their nature were continuous the Prophet did action that

continued,

see one of our biggest problems in our community is that we don't have sources of income we're always begging and Allah gave us the whole concept of waqf, of wuqoof awqaf we need, the Muslims in these communities you should be buying real estate for the masjid for Islam, and then rent that out, and so you have every month you have 700 dollars coming from one house or 1000 dollars, or buy an apartment complex and each one of them paying, so every month you have this income that's constant that's what we need to do.

Revive the Concept of Awqaf

Revive the whole concept of awqaf, people should be giving their money when they get near their death, thinking about awqaf giving money to Allah and His messenger to this deen because that's what's going to save us in the next world just read the Qur'an and you'll realize very quickly that infaq, giving out is one of the essential natures of Islam they say (الْمُحَبَّةُ بِدُونِ إِنْفَاقٍ نِفَاقٌ - al-muhabbatu bidoon infaq nifaq) - love without giving out is hypocrisy if you're not giving out, then you don't love this deen, if you're not giving out of your energy, of your money, of your time yourself your wealth, all these things, then it's hypocrisy, that's the bottom line.

Question About Economic Issues in Muslim Countries

The question is the Muslim in North America, whether Canada or the United States they are pulling together in order to overwrite certain economic evils in order to overpower it through the spread of Islam we look forward to, you know, that you said that McDonald's is opening business up there there are all sorts of other things going on up there that is the heart of Islam what is the Muslim pulling or the hierarchy in that region doing in order to eliminate let's say, economic evils or obstacles towards Islam so that it reflects the teachings of Rasulullah?

Answer About the State of Muslim Countries

I think from the general, you know, the Arab they say (الأَبِيبُ بِالْإِشَارَةِ يَفْهَمُ - al-labibu bil-isharati yafham) - that if you have intellect you just need innuendos you don't need somebody to just spell everything out for you so I hope you understand that the Muslim world and there are good Muslims everywhere there are certainly incredible Muslims in the Hijaz some of the best Muslims that I've met actually have been from the Hijaz in fact and that's not an exaggeration but there's a lot of problems there I don't generally like to mention countries because I think all of our countries unfortunately are in deplorable situations certainly that area is an easy target if you want to set your marks the bullseye is very big.

The Ulama and Their Preoccupations

And as for what the ulama are doing there a lot of them are very busy with argumentation right now and preoccupied with things like whether Allah has a hand or not or something, I don't know so it's an unfortunate situation and but our Prophet ﷺ told us that towards the end of time he said (إِنَّ الْإِيمَانَ لَيَأْرِزُ إِلَى الْحِجَازِ - inna al-imana laya'rizu ila al-hijaz) - iman goes back to the Hijaz (وَفِي رِوَايَةٍ إِلَى الْمَدِينَةِ - wa fi riwayatin ila al-madinah( and in a riwaya to Medina (كَمَا تَأْرِزُ الْحَيَّةُ إِلَى جُحْرِهَا - kama ta'rizu al-hayyatu ila juhrihaa) - like a snake goes back to

its hole and Allah has blessed those people with the two (الْحَرَمَيْنِ الشَّرِيفَيْنِ - al-haramain ash-sharifain) - the two noble sanctuaries.

Problems in That Region

And I would say this that there's there's a lot of troubles in that region and there's troubles in store if you look at the foreign affairs journal of fall of 1993 no 92 92 Atkins who was an ambassador of Saudi Arabia wrote an article in there and said basically that our strategic interests lie in that region and what we should do is deplete it completely of its oil reserves within the next twenty years so that's part of the foreign policy of the United States is to take all in fact that's why they're artificially keeping the oil prices so low so that they can just get as much oil as they can because they store oil in the United States there's huge oil reserves actually stored in the United States in case of a national emergency where sea lanes are cut off and things like that and oil can't get into the country so that's part of their long term strategy.

Not of the Revolutionary School

I personally am not of the revolutionary school of thought. I think that I agree with Sultan Abdul Hamid that revolutionaries by their nature destroy much more than they ever build up I think that it's dangerous to instill in the Muslims the idea of coup d'etat and these type of methodologies for changing things because I believe that the Quranic methodology for change is summed up in the ayah (إِنَّ اللَّهَ لَا يُغَيِّرُ مَا بِقَوْمٍ حَتَّى يُغَيِّرُوا مَا بِأَنفُسِهِمْ - Quran 13:11) - that Allah does not change a people until they change what's in themselves.

Different Responsibilities

As far as certain countries go, there's indications that what's needed is the people literally to just get up and as an intifada and just say enough's enough I mean there are countries that warrant that I really don't have much of an answer for that it's a deep question, I don't think I'm capable of really going into detail about that because I also believe that our taqalif are different our responsibilities are different in amr bil-ma'ruf wan-nahyi 'an al-munkar which is the foundational or fundamental I'm trying to avoid that word fundamental but the basic principle of Islam is amr bil-ma'ruf wan-nahyi 'an al-munkar after iman in Allah and that's what gives the Muslims their moral superiority over other peoples and it's based on three conditions.

Conditions for Commanding Good

And the first condition is that that you recognize that it's a munkar and you know what the ma'ruf is in other words you recognize the disease for what it is and you know what the cure is so for instance one of the amazing things in this deen is that there are different ways of reciting the Quran and there's a famous story of Umar heard Ubay ibn Ka'b reciting the Quran and he told him it was wrong and he said well that's the way the prophet taught me and so they went to the prophet and the prophet said they're both right so like in the Quran because I learned with riwayat Warsh and I've many times if I've led the prayer there have been people that don't know

riwayat Warsh and so I would say something like I can't think of a good oh in the riwayat Warsh they say (مَالِكِ يَوْمِ الدِّينِ - maliki yawmi ad-din) and in Hafs it's (مُلِكِ يَوْمِ الدِّينِ - maliki yawmi ad-din) so they're different recitations.

Knowledge Is Fundamental

So if somebody doesn't know it he'll say and they think they're correcting you and they're not they're just giving you a different variant of reading and that's why knowledge is so fundamental you have to know what a munkar is before you can correct it because it might not be a munkar it might in fact be perfectly correct and the second condition is that there's difference of opinion about this but most of them say that you will not bring harm upon yourself in other words that you won't put yourself in actual physical bodily danger and some of them say because of the ayah when Luqman tells his son (وَأْمُرْ بِالْمَعْرُوفِ وَانْهَ عَنِ الْمُنكَرِ وَاصْبِرْ عَلَى مَا أَصَابَكَ - Quran 31:17) - that you should enjoin right action and forbid evil and be patient about what you're afflicted with they use that as a proof that you still have to give and we know the hadith (أَفْضَلُ الْجِهَادِ كَلِمَةُ حَقِّ عِنْدَ سُلْطَانٍ جَائِرٍ - afdalu al-jihad kalimatu haqqin 'inda sultan ja'ir) - that the highest jihad is speaking the truth in front of a tyrant which often means death.

Avoiding Greater Fitna

So and then the last prerequisite is that your calling in enjoining the right and forbidding the wrong does not lead to a fitna or a munkar greater than that thing that you are actually speaking out against. So in many of our countries, in the Muslim countries, to have radical change in the way a lot of Muslims want it leads to fitnas greater than the actual fitna that they're in. And so people suffer. And from that perspective, I think that we have to be very careful. And we've seen in instances with the assassination of Sadat, what came after actually ended up being worse than what they were in.

Solutions Beyond Violence

Because I don't think that solves the problems to chop the head off. It's just not a solution. The solution is that the ulama have to start speaking the truth and people have to listen to them and that the rulers need also to recognize that they have responsibilities. Again, it goes back to the khitab al-Qur'ani, the way that the Qur'an is addressing people. It speaks to the rulers and warns them. And we're in a time again, as the brother said, this is a time when there's deep darkness in this age and there's a global network taking place.

Trust in Allah's Power

But I believe in (لَا حَوْلَ وَلَا قُوَّةَ إِلَّا بِاللَّهِ - la hawla wa la quwwata illa billah) - that no matter how powerful they appear, they're not (مُعْجِزِينَ اللَّهَ فِي الْأَرْضِ - mu'jizina Allaha fil-ard) - They're not incapacitating Allah in his earth. Allah is (قَاهِرٌ فَوْقَ عِبَادِهِ - Quran (6:18) - He's over all of them conquering and overpowering. But we have to be people of Allah and by being people of Allah, we become people of Nasr.

Closing Words

So, (أَقُولُ قَوْلِي هَذَا وَأَسْتَغْفِرُ اللَّهَ - aqulu qawli hadha wa astaghfirullah(. جَزَاكُمُ اللَّهُ خَيْرًا لِحُسْنِ إِسْتِمَاعِكُمْ - Jazakumullahu khayran li husni istima'ikum) - Thank you for being patient and listening. And forgive me, inshallah, if I said anything that anybody took offense with. It wasn't my intention. And our nature is (نَقْصٌ - naqs) - It's deficiency. So, inshallah, you overlook my shortcomings and I'll try to overlook your shortcomings. And look at the best of each other as brothers and sisters.

Final Du'a

Inshallah, make us people that look at the best of the Muslims. And lower our eyes to the faults and the shortcomings of the Muslims. And make dua that Allah raises the Muslims up, inshallah, and makes us people of the izzah of Allah and the izzah of Islam. And inshallah, unites the hearts. And makes us people of mahabba, of ikhlas, of sincerity, of tawba, of people of tawba, that turn back to Allah, of people of istiqama, of uprightness, that Allah gives us uprightness in our gatherings and amongst our family, that Allah protects our children in these countries, and that He raises them up as true Muslims and barreen, like people of piety, filial piety towards their parents.

Prayer for Parents and Children

And inshallah, put in the hearts of their parents a love for Islam and a desire to transmit that Islam to their children and not see Islam as a threat from their children, but see Islam as the salvation for their children and to guide them and guide their children to the best paths. And inshallah, Allah gives this community bounty and blessings. And inshallah, help you complete this worthy and noble project here. And inshallah, make this community a beacon for other communities, inshallah. A beacon of light and istiqama and mahabba and dhikr of Allah.

The Virtue of Dhikr

And I'll just finish it by saying that the Prophet said (مَا عَمِلَ ابْنُ آدَمَ عَمَلًا أَنْجَىٰ مِنْ عَذَابِ اللَّهِ مِنْ ذِكْرِ اللَّهِ - ma 'amila ibn adama 'amalan anja min 'adhabi Allahi min dhikr Allah) - That the son of Adam was not done anything that will protect him more from the punishment of Allah than the remembrance of Allah. And the Prophet, when the man told him (إِنَّ شَرَائِعَ الْإِسْلَامِ قَدْ كَثُرَتْ عَلَيَّ فَدُلَّنِي عَلَى شَيْءٍ أَتَشَبَّثُ بِهِ وَأَنْجُو بِهِ يَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ - inna shara'i' al-islam qad kathurat 'alayya fadullani 'ala shay'in atashabbathu bihi wa anju bihi yawm al-qiyamah) - the rules of Islam have become too much for me. So indicate to me, guide me to something that if I hold on to it, I'll be saved by it. And he said, (لَا يَزَالُ لِسَانُكَ رَطْبًا بِذِكْرِ اللَّهِ حَتَّىٰ تُفَارِقَ الدُّنْيَا - la yazalu lisanuka ratban bidhikr Allah hatta tufariq ad-dunya) - May you leave the world and your tongue is moist with the dhikr of Allah.

Final Salutations

So inshaAllah be (ذَاكِرِينَ اللَّهَ ذِكْرًا كَثِيرًا وَذَاكِرَاتٍ - Quran 33:35) - dhakirin Allah dhikran kathiran wa dhakirati. سُبْحَانَ

(37:180-182 Quran) رَبِّكَ رَبِّ الْعِزَّةِ عَمَّا يَصِفُونَ * وَسَلَامٌ عَلَى الْمُرْسَلِينَ * وَالْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ رَبِّ الْعَالَمِينَ