Thoughts after the Election (Corrected)
By Nouman Ali Khan | 2026-01-08T22:00:29.351016+00:00 | Topic: Knowledge
Khutbah: Thoughts after the Election
By Ustadh Nouman Ali Khan
Introduction: We Have Been Here Before
Today, we are going to discuss the topic of the Quran, the Quran of the Prophets. We have been in this situation before. This is not the first time we're facing this kind of a, you know, perceived hostile situation. It's not the end of the world.
As a matter of fact, in the Bush years, these kinds of concerns were also overshadowing the minds of the Muslims. And the second term of President Bush, probably similar khutbahs were being given. So I want to begin first and foremost with a reminder from the one place that gives us comfort and the one place that gives us protection.
The Book of Allah as Our Refuge
The Book of Allah isn't just a place that we find hope and guidance in. It's also our refuge.
- It's the place we find refuge and the place we find protection.
So when you and I are feeling that we don't have protection, we go to the Book of Allah. Allah says, about a people, this was actually revealed after the Muslims had suffered terrible losses in Uhud. They were weak, they couldn't even stand up straight.
The Lesson from the Battle of Uhud
And the Prophet (peace be upon him) said, after the enemy had left. And the Prophet himself (peace be upon him) was almost killed. So this is a pretty bad situation for the Muslims. They were almost killed. And the Kuffar have talked trash as we were heading up the mountain. You know,
- You're climbing up the mountain, you wouldn't even turn back to look at anybody, and the Messenger is calling you from behind.
And some of the Muslims were so scared, the Sahaba were so scared, they're running up. And the Prophet (peace be upon him) is still on the battlefield, calling them from behind. And then they came back and they rescued him and they got him up, up the mountain.
The Enemy's Plan to Return
And then, you know, back then the leaders of the enemies of Islam, they spoke in this talking trash kind of way to the Muslims from the bottom of the mountain. You know, praising their gods, because their gods have won this time. And the Prophet (peace be upon him) responded to them, they left.
But about halfway through when the Quraysh had left, a thought came to the enemy. Hey man, they're weak right now, and they're injured. We let them live. We should just go back and finish the job. We should just kill them all. Now is our opportunity.
This is the first time we've got them down. They got us pretty bad at Badr, but now we've dealt them a pretty serious blow at Uhud. Let's go back and get them.
The Prophet's Response and Allah's Revelation
So a thought was coming to them to turn around and finish what they started. And the intelligence report came to the Prophet (peace be upon him) that they're coming back. And when that report came to the Prophet (peace be upon him), instead of saying, Oh my god, we're not ready to fight them, we need to run.
The Prophet (peace be upon him) said, who's gonna get up with me, let's go. Before they come here, we should go after them. We should go after them.
And these Sahaba, they actually, many of them injured, can't even get up, got up and started walking towards the enemy. And they just responded to the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him). And others said, what are you doing? You're gonna get killed.
You're not equipped. Even when we were equipped, we couldn't fight them. How are you gonna fight them now? And in response, Allah revealed a number of verses.
- This is just a few of them. When people said to them, people, others, the enemy has gathered against you, so fear them.
They were making sense. People have ganged up against you. They hate you. They want to kill you. I mean, this is far more extreme than what we're going through. This is just an election cycle, guys.
The Ultimate Response of Faith
This is the battle of Uhud. This is far more extreme. And they have more reason to be scared than we ever will be. May Allah protect this ummah. But these people have far more reason to be terrified. They're literally bleeding.
And then what do they say? They say
- They say, Allah is enough for us. He'll be enough to take care of our situation. He'll be enough.
That is the response. When you hear that response now, when a Muslim is nervous, man, what's gonna happen with us? I don't know. I'm afraid to even go to the grocery store.
Maybe we should tell our daughters and our wives and our mothers to kind of take the hijab off, or maybe, you know, not go to Walmart. I don't recommend Walmart anyway. But, you know, don't go there, because somebody might say something or do something, and just be vigilant.
By the way, vigilance is important. But on the side note, our first response is supposed to be
- Allah is enough for us. He's enough to take care of our situation.
Allah's Eternal Protection
This situation happened now in 2016. Who's kept the situation from happening for the last 50 years? Who's kept the Muslims? Who's kept you safe in your home and me safe in my home for all this time? Who's provided for us for all this time? You think that protection just got lifted? Because an election happened? That security is not there anymore? Politics will come and go. Rulers will come and go.
Parties will come and go. But the protection of Allah for the believer is always there. It's always there. It doesn't go away. And you cannot let that go. And the moment you let, you forget about Allah.
The Danger of Forgetting Allah
The moment you think this is a bigger situation for us to handle, and you forget that you have the rope of Allah in your hands, then don't become like the people, you know, Allah says
- It's so beautiful. Allah said, don't be like people who forgot Allah. And Allah made them forget themselves.
You know, the reciprocal statement should have been, don't be like the people who forget Allah and Allah forgot about them. He didn't say that. He didn't say that, because He doesn't forget about you.
Even when you forget about Him. Even when you forget about Him. Even when you and I don't pray, even when you and I sin, even when you and I disregard His commands, He still protects you.
He still takes care of you. He doesn't forget you. You forget Him, He doesn't forget you.
He says, when you forget Allah, what happens then? What's the reaction to that?
- He makes them forget who they are, themselves. The Muslims start fearing other than Allah, and then they start losing their Islam. Hijab started coming off.
Learning from Past Experiences
This is not the first time I've had this conversation. The week after 9-11, I remember giving the khutbah. Because the conversation was, we should leave this country. We should not be here anymore. They're gonna kill all of us, put us in concentration camps. Remember special registration? I went for special registration. I spent 15-16 hours, and was spoken to like not a human being. I remember those experiences. Allah was still there.
Allah still protected us. And there were people then who got scared, and took a step back from their Islam. And the only protection they had was Allah, and they lost that protection.
They walked away from the protection of Allah. Don't become like those people, and don't let that happen to your families. We do not have fear of people. We have fear of Allah. There's a reason we call it the fear of Allah. Because once you have that fear, nothing else scares you.
Allah's Angels as Protectors
Nothing else terrifies you. That's just not going to happen. Even when we stand at our death. When the angel comes to the believer, and he's dying. Everybody else around the believer is crying. They're afraid that this loved one is leaving this world.
The angels come and say
- We've been your protective friends in this life and in the next life. Allah sends security guards for you from the skies. For each and every one of you.
- He sends security guards for you. That's what he says.
Every time you get in the car, there's security around you from Allah. So don't panic over what's happened. This is not the end of the world.
The Victory That Came from Courage
And now let's take a step back. I'd like to not only give you a reminder from the Book of Allah. And incidentally in that story when the Muslims got up and said, fine, we will preempt. We will go on the offensive instead of being on the defensive. What happened? Quraysh heard that the Muslims, even though they're injured, got up. So they said, I don't think we can handle this. They ran away. They ran off.
- They came back with the favor of Allah and the blessings of Allah and a great additional favor. No harm touched them. When does no harm touch you? According to the formula in Surah Ali Imran. There's a formula here.
No harm touches you when you grow a spine and learn to stand up for yourself. When you stop being scared.
- Don't be afraid of them, be afraid of me if you're in fact believers.
The Source of Our Fear
This is one third of my message to you. Who scares us? It's not actually people. Allah describes it in these verses Himself.
- It is no one other than Shaytan in fact. He's the one putting fear of his friends into you. Shaytan is using his friends to scare you.
The other interpretation of this verse, another understanding it could be taken as what it would mean in simple English is the only people who get scared are friends of Shaytan. So don't be a friend of Shaytan or don't get scared. Don't be afraid.
We have to become strong.
Understanding Politics and Religion as Separate Entities
The second thing I want to mention to you is about a simple comment about the nature of politics and its relationship with you and I as Muslims as each individual Muslim citizen. I'd like you to understand something.
Let's go into the Muslim world first. If somebody lives in Pakistan or Malaysia or Bangladesh or Turkey or somewhere else and they have elections going on and they have their politics and they have their disagreements and there are Muslims on both sides of the election. This candidate is Muslim, that candidate is Muslim.
This party is Muslims or that party is Muslims. And every Muslim in that country has a political opinion. Every one of them. But they don't all have the same opinion. They don't share the same opinion. They pray at the same time.
Some of them are equally religious. They're devout to Allah. They recite the book of Allah. They pray five times a day. They pay their zakat. They fulfill all of their rituals. But politically they're completely different from each other. One has this opinion, one has that opinion. One agrees with this economic policy, the other agrees with a completely different economic policy.
The Complexity of Muslim Political Views
Why am I mentioning this to you? We have assumed that it's more Islamic to vote for one candidate than the other candidate. Or it's more Islamic to be a member of one party than the other party. Look, the Muslims are stuck.
We are people, the only thing permanent for us is our principles. And when it comes to some of our principles, they're very conservative. They are. We have very conservative family values. We have very conservative religious values, social values. That's a fact of life.
That is what Muslims are. When you think of conservative in America, I don't have to tell you which party you think of. On the other hand, there are certain values like civil liberties, rights, you know, protection of minorities and things like that.
These are also very important to us. And that's not really associated with a certain party. It's associated with another one. And we're caught in between. Do you have to be loyal to your principles and give up
The Reality of Voter Motivations
on your civil liberties and, you know, take on this hateful rhetoric? Or do you hold on to this civil liberties rhetoric and rights for all? And then also agree with some of the principles that that party endorses that we have nothing to do with and we will never have anything to do with. We're caught in between.
The Reality of Voter Motivations
Why am I mentioning this to you? Because politics and Islam are two separate things. These are two different things. Don't confuse them with each other.
A lot of people that voted in this election and they voted for the winning president. They didn't vote because they hate Muslims. A lot of these people have nothing to do with Muslims. They've never seen a Muslim. They couldn't care less. They're just angry.
They don't have jobs. There's been a mass migration out of their towns and they're just mad that a democratic government for 8 years changed nothing about their economic situation. So you know what? Yeah, the guy said pretty racist things.
He said some pretty hateful things. He spoke ill of the Hispanic community. He's made derogatory comments about women. So what? At least they're all corrupt anyway. So who cares about that? And maybe he'll bring some change. So for us to think it's all about they hate Muslims, this is wrong.
Just like our political opinions are complicated, the people who voted in this election, the rest of our country, their political opinions are also complicated. They cannot be oversimplified as everybody hates Muslims. That would be a mistake on our part.
The Reality of Good People in This Nation
As a matter of fact, now what I want to share with you is how are we supposed to then think about the nation that we live in? There's going to be a loud but a very small minority of bigoted people, hateful people, that have now become very happy over this election. They feel like they're the ones that have won. And they're going to be very, very loud.
They're going to put offensive bumper stickers on their cars. They're going to make comments at you when you go to the grocery store or when you're at the airport or even at the office. They're going to be there. Some of their internal spite will come out. But that is not the conscience of this nation. There are good people here.
You have good neighbors. You have good teachers at your schools. You have good police officers too. There are good people in this country and we will not, just like they, you know, stereotype all Muslims. We're not going to do that. You will not be guilty of the same crime that you're a victim of.
That you cannot allow yourself to do. So don't confuse religion and politics with each other in this way. The only thing constant in our being is principles.
Our Duty as Citizens: Voting with Justice
And on that note, I want to leave you in this khutbah with practical advice. What are we supposed to do? We, Muslims, are supposed to recognize something about the nature of politics in our country. This is our country.
When you vote, for instance, or when you get involved in politics, or you endorse a candidate or not endorse a candidate, on what principle are we supposed to do so? We have an amanah. Wherever the Muslim lives. If you were the only Muslim living in a village, you were the only Muslim living in an island, and you were asked about picking a candidate in that island, or making a decision in that island, you wouldn't think, what's best for the ummah when I pick this candidate?
You know how we think? We're going to vote because this guy is going to be good for the Muslims. We're going to vote for that one because that's going to be better for the Muslims. Or we don't even say better anymore, we say this one is going to kill the least. Right, that's how we think now.
This one is going to do the least damage to the Muslims, so we'll vote for this one. This is, in my humble opinion, you are free to disagree, this is the incorrect way of thinking for any citizen. Voting or participating in any land, because you're passing your opinion, is an amanah.
Thinking Beyond Muslim Interests
Whatever land you live in, whatever society you live in, you and I are responsible to think what is best for the people of this land, including myself. We are citizens. We play the role not of Muslims, but of citizens in this land that happen to be Muslims, that live by their faith.
And we have to fulfill our duty. Just like at the office, if somebody asks you, who should be the manager? You don't say, which manager is going to be best for the Muslims in the company? No. Who's the most qualified? Who's going to be best for the company? Who's going to be best for the job? Who's got the best experience? You will make these decisions based on justice and principles, not based on your bias as Muslims.
Our loyalty to Islam should not taint our loyalty to justice, justice itself. Because the candidate being chosen is supposed to be one that is good for all people, all of them, not just for ourselves. We are not another lobby group.
We are not. Just because the Hispanics have a certain lobby, and there's a Hispanic voting bloc, and there's a Jewish voting bloc, and there's an Irish voting bloc, there's a white voting bloc, there's a conservative voting bloc. People think there's a Muslim voting bloc.
Muslim Principles, Not Bloc Politics
There isn't. There are Muslim principles. It may be that in some county, somebody recognizes that the Republican candidate is better for the community. It may happen. And they have to vote their conscience, not considering global politics, because they are going to go in a certain direction no matter what you do, no matter what you and I do.
Practical Advice: Local Civic Engagement
So my practical advice to you that we need to now grow a spine. Many of you have jobs, you have school, you have responsibilities at home, you come to the masjid, you have a religious life, you have a spiritual life, you have responsibilities. But now we cannot afford except to be at town hall meetings in our local communities. We need to be involved and we need to show our face locally.
Our kids are being bullied at schools. Muslim kids are being bullied daily. Daily they are being bullied at public schools. Who's going to town hall meetings and making an issue about that, about our schools? Who's raising hell saying these teachers who make these kinds of comments in our school classrooms that we pay taxes for are now discriminating against our own children off of our money. This is not acceptable. That is not something you take to the President of the United States.
You take it to your local town. And when we show ourselves up, men, women, beards, hijabs, kufis, you name it, wear your thong, I don't care. Go there. Show yourself. Then let them speak bigoted when they see you in the face. When they see you walking alone in a mall somewhere, then they can make their comments.
Becoming a Powerful Minority Through Participation
But when you and I show up 20, 30, 40, 50, 100 strong every single week in every town that we are, we may be a minority, but we can become a very powerful minority. We can become a very powerful minority. And I would argue this is a civic responsibility we have to speak to the issues not just that pertain to Muslims, but what's better for our community? What roads need to be fixed? What schools need to be improved? What liquor stores need to be shut down that are increasing crime in the neighborhood? How are we dealing with the offenders in our neighborhood? What's happening with the arrest rates? Where's the crime rate? Who's going to hold the government accountable?
You know, we think when we go... Many of you voted when you went to vote for the president and there was a ballot. We know those two top candidates. You don't know anybody else. You're like, I'll just check mark this line. This guy, this name I don't know and this name I don't know. We don't know who people are involved that are actually concerned with our local politics.
Local Politics Matter Most
And that's the one that affects your day-to-day life. That's the people that are living here in Irving or in Hewlett's or some small town in Wisconsin or in Chicago, some suburbs of Chicago. Get involved locally. You don't have to become a politician but you have to become now an active citizen.
And we have to teach our children to become active citizens because until we show up and grow a spine, we will remain invisible no matter how many show up for Jamaat. It won't matter how many are here. We have to be there.
And we have to show up. You have to find this out. Educate yourselves and become part of that society. Take some time out of your busy day and your busy life because this is how we're gonna build a future. We can build our homes here. We can buy cars here.
We can get jobs here. But discrimination will get worse and worse and worse if we're not involved in the mainstream society. If we just keep bubbling ourselves up, we can no longer afford to do so.
The Example of Musa and Harun (Peace Be Upon Them)
My final message to you, inshallah, as I close, is about Musa (peace be upon him). Musa (peace be upon him) was supposed to stand up to Firaun. We don't have to. Firaun is much worse. I mean, maybe not that much worse but still, much worse. And Musa (peace be upon him) is to go alone.
And he asked Allah for support. And what support did he ask for? He asked for his brother. And what did he say about his brother?
- Strengthen my back by means of him and make him share in my affair.
You know what it means to strengthen your back? You're being pushed. You're being hit. You're falling back. And somebody's behind you to keep you from falling. That means strengthen my back. You understand? Which means Musa (peace be upon him) knows he's going to be on the defensive.
And he needs someone to hold off the defense better because he alone will not be able to withstand the push. So he needs somebody that can push his back. And later on in Surah Al-Qasas, what did Allah say to him?
- I will strengthen your muscle, your forearm with your brother.
The Power of Speaking Well
When do you use your forearm? When you're pushing back or when you're going forward? When you're going forward? Meaning Allah said, I will not just give you defense, I will give you offense. I'll give you strength to speak up and move forward. And what was the great strength of Harun (peace be upon him) that Musa (peace be upon him) recognized? What was the weapon Musa (peace be upon him) was going to bring? What spear, what sword? What was he going to bring? It's on the tongue of Musa himself.
- He's better spoken than I am. He speaks well. This is the age of speaking well. This is the age when our voice needs to be heard. And that is the best of us. If we remain silent, we're giving up the weapon Allah has given us. We're just giving up that weapon. Now this is the time to be proud as Muslims, to be confident as believers.
Following the Sunnah of Optimism
I know I said that's the last thing, I'll take 15 more seconds, I promise. I want to share with you that Rasulullah (peace be upon him) had one of the toughest lives ever lived. Those 23 years of his mission, are some of the toughest in human history. There are problems in every single year.
There's not a year where there's no problems. It's issue after... and there are big issues too. There are life- threatening issues, there are issues that can end the career of Islam itself. Every single year. And what do you see the Sahaba saying? We never saw him except he was smiling. You know that, right? Rasulullah (peace be upon him), when Sahaba came to him, all the time they would see that he has a smile on his face.
That is the consistent sunnah of Rasulullah (peace be upon him). You tell me, when you are buried under problems, you're buried under issues, and no one has more... You and I are not under pressure. Rasulullah (peace be upon him)
- We're gonna put a heavy word on top of you.
When somebody is under a lot of pressure, the last thing you see them do is what? Smile. And Rasulullah (peace be upon him) leaves off the sunnah of being buried under pressure with all kinds of enemy forces at us, and yet there's a smile on our face. Follow the sunnah of Rasulullah (peace be upon him).
Conclusion: Be People of Hope and Strength
Be a people of alhamdulillah. Be optimistic. Allah will see us through this. This is nothing. This is not an issue. It will only become a big deal for you and your family if you let it.
And you, the heads of household, the men that are sitting here, you're not supposed to instill fear into your children and your spouses over what's happening. You're supposed to instill hope and confidence and strength. This is only a test from Allah and we will come out stronger as a result.
May Allah protect us from that and give us the ability to lead our communities the way that we were charged to lead. May Allah make us committed to our timeless principles and not sway when situations go one way or the other.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the journey of seeking knowledge in Islam is a lifelong endeavor, filled with immense rewards and blessings. It is a path that leads to a deeper understanding of Allah, His creation, and our purpose in this world. By embracing the teachings of the Quran and the Sunnah, we can illuminate our hearts, strengthen our iman, and strive to become better servants of Allah.
May Allah grant us the tawfiq to continuously seek knowledge, act upon it, and share it with others. May He make us among those who are guided and who guide others to the straight path. Ameen.
"Our Lord, do not impose blame upon us if we have forgotten or erred. Our Lord, and lay not upon us a burden like that which You laid upon those before us. Our Lord, and burden us not with that which we have no ability to bear. And pardon us; and forgive us; and have mercy upon us. You are our protector, so give us victory over the disbelieving people."
May Allah accept our efforts and make them a source of guidance and benefit for all. Jazakum Allahu Khairan.