Islam, Nonviolence & Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Khutbah: Islam, Nonviolence & Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Imam Khalid Latif

Opening

"I seek refuge in Allah from the accursed Satan."

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

"All praise is due to Allah, Lord of the worlds."

"There is no power nor might except with Allah, the Most High, the Most Great."

"May the peace and blessings of Allah be upon the noblest of the prophets and messengers, and upon his family and all of his companions."

"We bear witness that there is no god but Allah, alone, without partner, and we bear witness that Muhammad is His servant and messenger."

Khutbah al-Hajah

In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. All praise is due to Allah, Lord of the worlds, Master of the Day of Judgment. I bear witness and testimony to the oneness of Allah, to His magnificence, His omnipotence, His might, His glory. To His being the Creator and Sustainer of all things. The Giver of life, the Guider of hearts, the Master of the Day of Judgment. And I bear witness to the fact that Muhammad ibn Abdullah is His servant and final messenger.

May the peace and blessings of Allah be upon him and upon all those who choose to tread in his path until the last day.

The Early Days of Islam

It is said that in the early days of Islam, the situation was very harsh for the Muslims. That on a regular basis, on a daily basis, those early followers of the Deen of Allah in the city of Mecca they were forced to succumb to great persecution and hardship.

And so the situation comes about that many of these men and women in hopes of being able to find a place where they could worship Allah as freely as they would want to, they leave behind all of their possessions, they leave behind their families and their homes. And they go from the city of Mecca to the city of Medina where they're able to practice freely. There they're able to establish their law, there they're able to establish their

customs, there they're not fearful of worshipping outside in public. There they're able to do things that they were not able to do in the city of Mecca.

The Conquest of Mecca

And now when the situation comes about, when they have opportunity to return back to their home. When they have opportunity to go to the place where they were once born, where their family was from, where their lineage is traced. They go now in mass, they go with the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم they go with those early companions who had faced that persecution. Who had been beaten and abused and boycotted, some who had even lost loved ones because they had espoused an understanding that there was nothing worthy of worship except Allah.

They go now back to the city of Mecca, going to meet the Mushrikeen, the Meccans who had treated them in this way. And when the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم goes back to take the city, he does not do so with vengeance or retribution in his mind. But when he goes back to this place that was his home, where he goes back to this place that has a special place in his heart. When he goes back to this place where most assuredly everyone was expecting that he would seek his retribution in pursuit of what they would understand justice to be.

The Beloved of Allah صلى الله عليه وسلم demonstrated a justice that was not based off of self-interest but one that was based off of the interest of all those who he was going to engage. Compassion and mercy was underlying the Prophet's صلى الله عليه وسلم taking back of this city of Mecca. That each and every home that had sought to wrong him, the Beloved of Allah صلى الله عليه وسلم said, today they are forgiven.

And he was able to go back into this place that had cast him out without casting any drop of blood from anyone. This was the man Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم and this was the way that he engaged people. Those who had wronged him, those who had abused him, those who had taken from him that which was his. Still with them he engaged in such a manner that he honored their rights and did not seek to demand justice for himself while he sought to act justly with them.

Justice and Means

We have to understand this component of the characteristic that is legacy of the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم. That more often than not our natural instinct is that when someone is wronged, we seek to take by whatever means we can that which we think we are entitled to. Anger gets us to a point where when the power dynamic is in our favor, we no longer look at the rights that those around us have over us. But we will treat them in the most atrocious of ways. Even at times going into acts of violence, thinking that this is justifiable because the ends is something that we want to have in our grasp.

But we are not a people who look solely at the ends. We also look at the means by which those ends are achieved. We have to be able to understand that the pathway by which we seek our objectives are just as important as those objectives that we seek to have. And we cannot justify saying that the outcome is one that we are so in desire of, we are so wanting to have, we need to have it in our hand, that we will do whatever we can to get that which was given to us.

The Prophet's Thirteen Years in Mecca

The Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلمhe lives 13 years in Mecca to Makara. In these 13 years the beloved of Allah صلى الله عليه وسلمwhen he is speaking to his companions, young and old, male and female, those who are Arab and those who are not, he is not preaching a rhetoric that says go and take that which is yours by any means necessary. But the philosophy that the beloved of Allah صلى الله عليه وسلم is espousing is one that is more non-violent in nature.

He is saying to people to honor the rights of those who are around you. Have a love for the people who are here in your most immediate proximity. Even those who dare to dishonor the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلمthey found a special place in his prayer, in his dua. Where it was habitual of him to beseech Allah for forgiveness upon these people who treated him in the most atrocious of ways.

"O Allah, forgive my people, for indeed they don't understand."

This is a man who had no food to eat for days in his home. This is a man who saw his companions, male and female, beaten in front of his eyes because they sought to practice what he told them would bring them not only good in the next world but also in this one. This is a man whom the people of Mecca they would ridicule and mock him in front of his young daughter Fatima's eyes. And still he is making this dua for them:

Contextualizing the Hadith on Injustice

We get caught up much in hadith that tells us that when we see an injustice, we should act against it. And if we are not able to act against it, then we should speak against it. And if we cannot speak against it, then we should make dua for that thing. And that is the weakest form of faith.

But our inability to contextualize this tradition puts us in a place where we see Muslims on a daily basis engaging in actions that are most antithetical to the fundamental values of our tradition.

Core Values of Our Tradition

We are a people who espouse sabr. And we espouse patience. We pursue justice and the understanding that it is adl. And adl is not just about let me go and get mine. But it is derived from the same word, the adl which means equilibrium. We are seeking to bring people back to where things are in the middle. We are not people who are on one extreme or who are on the other.

We are a people who espouse ihsan. We espouse excellence. We do what we can to the best of our ability. And we understand this thing of ihsan is something that denotes that we live in such a way that although we cannot see the divine, we understand that he can see us. And if we have this frame of mind that is so God-centric, we would not be able to ever justify the violation of any rights that people have over us.

We are a people who respect and honor the universality that exists amongst us. Not because of any specific ethnicity or culture that we adhere to. But we adhere to the fact that we are part of a race that is the human race. And that is something that allows for us to look past any socially constructed difference and just give a deep value to that which is human life.

Brotherhood in Humanity

That when the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم tells us that you will not enter paradise until you believe. And you will not believe until you love for your brother what you love for yourself. The key word that we have to understand here in this hadith that is setting a condition for our entrance into paradise is brother.

Imam Nawawi رحمه الله, when he defines this word, that same imam whose arbaeen we study day in and day out and all of us despite our ideological or theological characteristics still value and respect this man. He says that word brother is in reference to the son, the children of Adam. It is not in reference only to Muslims. It is not in reference only to those who follow Islam. But when the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم is using this word akh, he is using it in reference to Ibn Adam.

And there is a certain value that is there in appreciating the fact that we are human. And the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم is not seeking to be made restitute at the expense of somebody else's rights.

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

And we want to think about this because in the coming week, this country, our country, our communities, we are going to be honoring the legacy of a man whose notoriety is based off of principles of nonviolence in pursuit of social justice. A man by the name of Martin Luther King Jr. Who has made a name for himself and people commemorate that which he did because he was not a person who sought physical and aggressive means to get that which he wanted for his people. But he sought to do so through a philosophy that was nonviolent in nature.

He did not say that take up your arms. He did not say that go and cast any kind of atrocity upon innocents. He did not say, and this is what this actually means for us today. People in our community who are the children of immigrants, South Asians and Arabs and Indonesians and people from all over the world. People who are indigenous to this land, Caucasians and Latinos and Hispanics and African Americans. Each and every one of them on the coming week will be going out and serving the community in the legacy of this man.

Why is it that so many people from so many different backgrounds honor his memory? He was a person that was able to change society. And he did so with the benefit of society as being his primary objective. He wasn't going out encouraging young people or old people that you have been violated in this way and you need to go and do whatever you can by any means necessary to understand the value of human life.

Nonviolence in Islam

And this espousing of this nonviolent tradition is something that we find is elementary in our own tradition. It's something that we find is there and the Prophet displays it and demonstrates it on a regular basis. How is it that today people when they understand our religion, they equate it to something that is violent in nature?

And you type in the words Islam and non-violence and you will get nothing. But if you type in the word Islam and violence, you will get thousands and thousands and thousands of articles that aren't even degrees removed in their relevancy. These are things that say Islam in its default is something that is violent.

Where did we make this transition? And how did we get to the place that we are in today where there are people that look towards aggression as being the solution for its problems?

The Black Stone Incident

We all know the tradition when the Prophet, in the days before he receives revelation, finds himself in the situation where the people of Mecca they are arguing amongst themselves because the Kaaba is being reconstructed. And the chieftains of the tribe, each and every one says that if it is not my tribe that puts the stone back, we will have bloodshed, we will have violence. They bring forth pots of blood and they dip their hands into it and they show palms coated with blood to one another, saying that this is what will happen if we are not the ones who will put the stone back.

And so they say we need to come to a solution. And they say that the next person will be the person who will give us the advice. And they say to themselves that if the option that this individual presents us with is not something that we agree with, we will just take his life too.

And the Prophet, he is the person who comes in. And the people, they know him as being the trustworthy one, the honest one. They rejoice when he walks in. When he comes in, he comes up with a solution. And they will

have each individual tribe represented by a person. They will each grab a hold of it and together we will lift it into the air. And once they have done this, the Prophet with his own blessed hands, he puts the stone back in the place that it needs to go.

But there is an inherent wisdom that we see in his decision. But we also see that the natural reaction of the rest of the people of Mecca when they are trying to get to go towards the most aggressive and violent means necessary. You give me what I want or I will hurt you. You give me what I want or I will do whatever I can to take it from you. I will take your life. I will take everything that is within your possession.

The Prophet as Mercy

This is the natural reaction of the people of Mecca. The Prophet being sent, and this is not but a mercy for all of the world, not just one single people or one single set of individuals or a society, he thinks before he acts. He does not let his aggression, he does not let his sense of retribution, he does not let any kind of sense of self interest dictate the way he will set precedent for these people in terms of how they should respond when emotions are high.

They have to begin to do the same thing. It means they justify the ends. We can't just say that because we are seeking to attain something that all bets are off in the process of how we get to it. And there has to be a consistent reminder of that which is fundamental within our tradition. Mercy is there and we have left it behind.

The Hadith of Mercy

The first hadith that many of us have read in the tradition of mercy:

"The merciful one is merciful to those who are merciful. Be merciful on the earth and the one in the heavens will be merciful to you."

But we don't think in this way. And we do whatever we can, lashing out in anger, lashing out in rage, doing whatever we can, saying that I need to get mine.

MLK on Means and Ends

Martin Luther King Jr., the man whose legacy will be celebrated next week, he says that non-violence demands that the means is as pure as the ends that we seek.

And the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم - ṣallā Allāhu ʿalayhi wa sallam) he tells us:

Rules of Warfare

Even in instances where we go out on campaigns that are military in nature, there are certain guidelines that we have to follow. Abu Bakr (رضي الله عنه - raḍiya Allāhu ʿanhu) and he is commissioning the people to go and approach the borders of Syria, he says to his army that there are ten things that you have to be conscious of as you go and engage these people.

He says do not be treacherous and do not deviate from that path which is right. He says do not mutilate any body that you come upon. He says that do not take the life of a child. He says do not take the life of any women. Do not take the life of any aged men. He says do not harm any trees or burn them, especially those that are fruitful in nature. He says that do not slaughter or take from the opposition's flock except that which you need for your own food. And he says that along the way you will meet individuals who will leave the domestic services and lifestyles. Leave them alone.

But setting a precedent for us in terms of what we can do and what we are not allowed to do. What kind of lifestyle can we engage in today that justifies the killing of any innocent child or woman?

Where Have We Gone Astray?

How have we transitioned to a place where we don't honor the rights of every single creation? Where the likes of Abu Bakr Siddiq (رضي الله عنه - raḍiya Allāhu ʿanhu) is able to speak to his companions, his followers, and say don't even hurt a tree. And today we have people who are espousing opinions and say that you and I because we live in this country, we are considered collateral damage if there is any attacks on us. And we sit back and let that be the dominant understanding of our tradition.

The Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم - ṣallā Allāhu ʿalayhi wa sallam) he was a man of mercy. He was a man of compassion. He was a man of understanding. He was a man who knew how to engage with people. He was a man who understood the rights that people had over him. And he was a person who did not seek to say that you have dishonored my rights so I will justify dishonoring yours. That's not the way that it would work. And we have to be able to stand upon it.

Nonviolent Social Change

Many conflicts in the world today have been resolved through non-violent means. Many situations, many societies, many dynamics, they have been caused to be moved in so many different ways because the people who are the pioneers of the efforts that sought to change those societies did so not seeking things through physical violent means. But they sought to utilize and engage it in a pragmatic way. They did so with an understanding that the tactics and the strategy that they would employ would yield social and political change by means of non-violence.

Those of us who come from the Indian subcontinent, we find our tradition rooted in that area. How do we get away from British rule? Gandhi did not say that go and take up your arms. But just like Martin Luther King, he didn't say that the means is something that is separate from the ends. But he says that the means, it should be likened to a seed and the ends to a tree. And if we're not careful about what we're planting, we're going to yield what we yield.

And people they will understand us to be what they understand us to be. You and I, we might not espouse that rhetoric which is violent in nature. But we also can't take a passive approach to dealing with the situation that we're in.

Active Compassion

When you have the opportunity to go out and be a means by which someone's pain or someone's trial is alleviated, don't hesitate in helping those individuals. If you have access to wealth, if you have access to resources in such an individualized way that you think about what I will get from that which I have been given before what everybody else could benefit from every blessing that I have.

The Prophet (عليه السلام - ʿalayhi as-salām) stood into the late hours of the night praying to Allah (عز وجل - ʿazza wa jall). Tears dropping from his blessed face as his legs became swollen and swollen. Why was he doing this? What was the reason behind it? This man who was forgiven. This man who arguably the entire world and everything in it was created for his coming. Did he ever say to somebody that you hurt me? Did he ever say to somebody that you owe me something? But he just kept giving of himself over and over and over.

Following the Legacy

The Prophet (عليه السلام - ʿalayhi as-salām) was a man of mercy. We as individuals who claim to follow his legacy, we should be those individuals who uphold that legacy as well.

Why is Muhammad (صلى الله عليه وسلم - ṣallā Allāhu ʿalayhi wa sallam) not mentioned as much as a Gandhi or a Martin Luther King Jr.? Why is it that we are able to celebrate days and weeks and legacies of these men who most definitely need to be recognized? But

our beloved (عليه السلام - ʿalayhi as-salām) was a person who sought, but had no understanding of rahmah, what it actually meant? And people don't know him as this. What are we doing? How are we allowing for that narrative to be taught? And it's not just explicitly but it's implicitly in our decisions and in our actions.

No one will think you're merciful if you put yourself before them. No one will think you're merciful if you raise your hand against them. If you scream against them in any physical way, in any of these ways, mercy does not come.

Practical Mercy

In such a way that it justifies that you slap your child when he seems to have done something that frustrates you. Mercy is not that when my wife has done something that I find to be irritating, I will say to myself that I have a right to raise my hand against her. Mercy is not that I will say that I will keep to myself if I would just share it with them.

Let compassion be your motivation. Let mercy be your catalyst. Justice is not equated to me saying I need to get that which is owed to me. That's not justice. And if we think only about ourselves first before we think about everyone else, we will find ourselves to be in this place more days than we should. If we sought to do everything that we actually could to remedy the situation.

Our Responsibility

Think about what you do for the sake of Islam. Think about what you do individually to better the conceptions and the images that people have over us. And even if you don't do anything that is wrong, if you are not going out and doing things that are right, we are still not benefiting from you in the ways that we can.

Closing Du'a

May Allah guide us and protect us. May He bless us with knowledge that benefits us. May He bless us with the tawfiq to understand and implement that knowledge into our daily lives. And may He guide and bless us all.

End of Khutbah