Where Is Allah When The Ummah Hurts

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Dr. Omar Suleiman - "Where Is Allah When The Ummah Hurts?"

Opening

A Mother's Faith

24 hours ago, I was talking to a mother, and I apologize in advance because it's going to start a little dark. But inshaAllah ta'ala we'll get to the light.

24 hours ago I was talking to a Palestinian mother who lost her child in front of her. And I was expecting to hear the devastation in her voice. Instead, she said to me, "Shaykh Wallahi, when my son was killed, I was about to scream, and I heard something inside of me say,

'Say to Allah we belong and to Allah we return.'"

And she said, "I don't know what it was that was saying that inside of me or what I was hearing, but I said,

." And she said, "As for my son, alhamdulillah, he didn't feel the pain at the time of his death because he died immediately at the first strike."

And she said,

"Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is truly subtle with His slaves." How subtle is Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala with His righteous slaves.

- He's always there subhanahu wa ta'ala. And the more piety you have, the more you can perceive His power and His presence subhanahu wa ta'ala.

The less that that piety is there, the more the fog accumulates on the heart, the less you're able to perceive Him subhanahu wa ta'ala.

The Question: Where Is Allah?

I'm gonna start tonight on the basis of a question that I've heard a few times over the last few months, not from the people of Gaza themselves, not from the people of Palestine themselves, but from the people who are watching the people of Gaza and from the people who are watching the people of Palestine. There are a few people that have asked the question, where is Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala? Where is God in all of this? And they mean it in a very specific way.

It's one thing to read about the stories of the past, it's another thing to witness the atrocities of the present, and to wonder, where is God? That's the question that they ask, right? Where is Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala in all of this?

The Day of Judgment Perspective

And I'm gonna actually start from the very end of this world, where the layers of this world have been peeled the most. The ulama say that of the powerful reflections on the verse,

"Master of the Day of Judgment," is that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is

- Allah azza wa jal is the Master of the Day of Judgment and He's the Master of this dunya as well. Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is the King of all kings, the Master of all realms.

Why did Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala say

? Some of the ulama said that that is because on that day, on the Day of Judgment, the mulk of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is apparent to everyone and no one will deny it. Because everything has been peeled back. The oppressor and the oppressed, the Muslim and the non-Muslim, the believer, the disbeliever, the righteous and the wicked, all of them will acknowledge the majesty of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala on that day.

And so it will be so apparent and that's one of the blessings, one of the reflections of

"Master of the Day of Judgment." The closer that you get to the Day of Judgment, the more immediate that connection becomes.

The Story of Yajuj and Majuj

I'm not gonna start tonight with what we're seeing now, I'm gonna start with what the Prophet

mentioned of the coming out of.

This corrupt group of people that overtake the earth in its last days. And as they come out and they wreak havoc on every single part of the earth except where Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala has shielded Isa

and his righteous followers. If we are alive at that time, may Allah make us amongst them.

Where Isa

and the believing servants are away. And

have come to this earth and they are let out and they kill everything that is in sight with absolutely no mercy.

Their Arrogance

And in the intoxication of their arrogance, I want you to think about how we as Muslims think about the "where is God" question, where is Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. In their intoxication with their arrogance and their oppression, when they come out to the earth and you can imagine the sight of them ripping flesh, tearing everything apart, beating their chests with power. They say to each other,

"We've already killed everyone on the earth."

"Let's kill everyone in the heavens too." See how intoxicated they become with their arrogance? And the Prophet

says in the hadith of Jabir

which is authentic, that they would throw their arrows. Imagine the sight of the millions and millions and millions of them all throwing their arrows to the sky at the same time.

Because that's how arrogant and how powerful they think they have become. They throw their arrows to the sky. And Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala could have simply turned the arrows on them and let the arrows hit them back.

- Allah azza wa jal increases them in their arrogance for a few moments. What did the Prophet

say Allah azza wa jal does? Allah causes the arrows to return to them with blood. So that for a moment they can think, we succeeded.

We've killed everyone on earth and now we killed everyone in the heavens too. Whatever is up there, we killed him or we killed them too. They're all gone.

Allah's Response

But look at the immediacy of how this interaction with the heavens is happening in those days. The Prophet

said that Allah azza wa jal will then send a parasite which is a particular parasite that would be in the noses of sheep and that would kill them. Allah would send that upon them and it would kill all of them at one time.

Little tiny worm that could kill the weakest of animals would kill supposedly the strongest human beings all at one time. They would all be wiped out by it. And Isa

and the believers would send someone else who fears no one but Allah to see what has happened and he would find that all of them have died at one time.

And then Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala - look at the immediacy with the heavens. The Prophet

said Allah azza wa jal would send birds with necks like the neck of camels that would pick them up because their rotting corpses would stink the earth, would pick them up and throw them all into a pit. And Isa

would make dua to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.

Look at the interaction. So the little worm killed them, the big birds with camel necks picked them up and threw them away. And then Isa

Jesus peace be upon him, would look to the skies and he would ask Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala to send down rain to clean the earth from what is left over of them, from the stench, from the dirt of them.

And Allah azza wa jal would send a rain - the immediacy between the dua of Isa

to the heavens, to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala and the heavens, the response coming from the heavens to the earth. The rain comes down by Allah's permission and it cleans the earth and it would be said to the earth,

"Your fruits come out and let the barakah, let the blessing of the earth be restored."

And when that happens, the earth is wiped clean and the earth produces by the permission of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala blessing like we have never seen before. Fruits that we have never seen before. The immediacy in those last days is so felt and perceived both with the oppressor as well as the righteous. They call, Allah azza wa jal responds right away.

The Day When Only Allah Speaks

And then the day of judgment comes. And the Prophet

mentioned, I want you to think about this moment. A day when all of the oppressors and their mouthpieces are silenced. A day when every single one of the creation of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is unable to speak. And Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is the only one who speaks and says,

"I am the king. I am the king."

You ask, where is Allah? You ask, where is the protector of you believers? You ask, where is the aid of you oppressed ones? You ask, where is God?

"Where are the so-called kings of the world? I am the king."

Where are the

and the

? Where are those arrogant people that used to beat their chests and used to boast and walk the earth proudly? Where are they now? And they are nowhere to be found. Silenced. I'm gonna bring you back to that moment inshaAllah ta'ala in a few minutes.

When only Allah azza wa jal speaks and says, I am the king, where are the supposed kings?

Historical Lessons

The Year of the Elephant

And let's go back to the year that the Prophet

was born. That year, Abraha in Yemen wanted to turn the attention of the world to a home that he had built for other than Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. And he enters upon Mecca with the intention to destroy the Ka'bah.

We all know the story. As he enters upon Mecca with the intention to destroy the Ka'bah, with his army of elephants and with all the power and structures in the world, all the strategies in the world that he could have to destroy the Ka'bah and turn the attention of the world to his supposed house. As he is on his way, in the words of Abdul Muttalib

"That this home has a Lord that will protect it."

Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala sends down the birds and the stones that pelt these people.

- from the heavens and Allah protects his house.

Abdullah ibn Zubair

Fast forward a few years later, Abdullah ibn Zubair

is praying in front of the Ka'bah. And before he prays in front of the Ka'bah, he has one of the most powerful conversations that a person could have with his mother Asma' bint Abi Bakr

. And it's a conversation that's full of faith. Absolutely no questioning of the decree of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala as a tyrant is to attack him while he's praying in front of the Ka'bah.

At no point in the conversation between Abdullah ibn Zubair

and his mother Asma'

do you have any type of doubt in Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala or "is Allah going to step in and protect us in this moment? When we're about to be killed in front of the Ka'bah." At no point do you have any doubt. At no point are they asking the question, where is Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala? Instead, the conversation is about how to meet Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala in the most pleasing of ways.

Abdullah ibn Zubair

is

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