Extremism and Moderation

Extremism and Moderation

Opening Remarks and Acknowledgment

My brothers and sisters, let me first say that when I came here to the conference and I got my package and I looked over the program, I was surprised that I saw a name that was missing as a speaker, and if I were the organizer of ISNA, before the day was over I would grab from the audience a man that I've known over 30 years, who has a wealth of information to give us, a wealth of experience, and I don't say this to embarrass him, but I say it because I know it's a fact. Dr. Abdualim Shabazz. Dr. Abdualim Shabazz, where is he? I saw him somewhere. Dr. Shabazz, where are you? Could you please stand up, brother, please? One of the great workers of Islam for many years in this country, and I was like, boy, I told my wife, when is Dr. Shabazz going to speak? And I'm looking, I'm looking, and I didn't see his name. So I think he's going to have some work, brother, in a little while.

Brothers and sisters, I want to thank both Sister Ingrid and Dr. Solaina Nying for their wonderful talk, and both of them mentioned things that I wanted to mention.

The Purpose of Our Existence

I'm going to make two basic points, and I'm going to try to drive them home, inshallah. And the one point I'm going to make, I'm going to keep this, the tone on where it ought to be, and that is with Allah. It is impossible to speak at a conference, at a Muslim conference, and not go back to the very reason that we exist, and I will say it over and over again, I will say it in every session.

"I've only created jinn and men, Allah says, to worship Him."

And I want to put that in context, of the worship of Allah. I looked at the whole theme of the conference, and peace and justice, if I could change things around, I would call it justice and peace, because you don't achieve peace by going after peace. You achieve peace by going after justice, and peace is the byproduct of justice.

Standing Against Injustice Despite Intimidation

One of the extremes that I want to talk about, and I'm going to end with that, is that what Dr. Suleiman Yang said, I want to really, I want to emphasize that. That do not become so intimidated, and I must admit to you that after 9-11 it was very difficult for me. I travel every weekend, I'm always on the plane, and I'm always profiled, I'm always pulled to the side, I'm always checked two and three times, but that's okay.

And even though we are profiled, and it's very intimidating for Muslims, especially Arab Americans and Muslims who are immigrants in this country, it could be very intimidating, but let not that intimidation cause us to freeze, and stop speaking out against injustices. It's wrong. We must admit to the greatness of our country.

America is my country. I'm born in America. This is my country. I don't want America to go down, but I will allow America to go down if I don't speak out against the atrocities of this nation itself. America has many extremes, and I have to fight and continue to fight against that.

The Turbulence Incident and Fear of Allah

Having said that, last week I was flying from the alum program in Detroit to go to a dean intensive in Chicago, and we took, I think it was, Northwest Airlines. We were flying, and we had reached the altitude of 30,000 feet, and I'll never forget this. The plane began to experience some turbulence, and the plane was rocking. You can see in the eyes of the people, the passengers, they were afraid, and even some of them screamed out.

Even myself, believe in Allah, made the dua to Allah subhana wa ta'ala to bless us, because the plane was moving in such a very dangerous way. And you know, brothers and sisters, in this conference often you've heard the word taqwa, the fear of Allah. Wa taqwa Allah, fear Allah. The Prophet said, (اتَّقِ اللهَ حَيْثُمَا كُنْتَ - Ittaqi Allah haithuma kunta) "Fear Allah wherever you are," to one of his companions. (Sunan al-Tirmidhi 1987)

And I'm telling you, if you ever want to fear Allah, have this fear of Allah, go on a plane 30,000 feet in the sky, and then experience turbulences, you will have fear of Allah. So we were having this turbulence, and then all of a sudden we heard the voice of the pilot. In a very calm voice, he said, ladies and gentlemen, we have just experienced a mild turbulence. And that's reassuring, isn't it? And you know what's really reassuring? If you're ever on a plane, and the pilot comes on and says, Ladies and gentlemen, in 20 minutes, we're going to experience some turbulence. Because the pilot ahead of me radioed in, but don't worry about that. I guarantee you, when the turbulence comes, you're OK. He said, oh yeah, a little turbulence. Why? Because you were warned that it's going to come.

Allah Does Whatever He Pleases

The message that I would like to leave the Muslims in this great conference, is one of going back to Allah. And I'm going to quote part of one of the wonderful verses of Quran, that really gives me a lot of assurance in our Lord, Allah. Allah says

"And that means, Allah does whatever He pleases."

He does whatever He pleases. 9-11 was a test for America and Americans. I am an American. 9-11 was a test for Muslims. I am a Muslim. 9-11 was a test for the entire world. And Allah does whatever He pleases.

Examples from the Prophets

I am reminded of Prophet Abraham, peace and blessings be upon him, when the enemies threw him in the fire. You know how devastating fire is. Fire is so devastating that there are some people in the World Trade Center, because of the intensity of the heat, would rather jump off a building 100 feet in the sky, facing sure death, would rather jump off the building, rather than taste the intensity of the heat of the fire. No wonder the Prophet

Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him, forbid it forbid us, prohibit it from punishing with fire. That belongs to Allah the Almighty. That's how devastating fire is.

And so when these people decided to throw Abraham in the fire, Abraham was a servant of Allah. And all Allah said is, He ordered the fire,

"O Fire, be cool and safety for Abraham." And the fire didn't touch Abraham. Why?

"Because Allah does what He pleases."

When Jesus, peace and blessings be upon Him, was about to be crucified, about to be murdered, Allah saved Jesus, raised Him to Himself. And they were not able to hurt Jesus. Why?

"Because Allah does what He pleases."

When Moses had the children of Israel, they were running from Pharaoh and his army, and they were coming to kill him. Allah opened up the sea and drowned Pharaoh and his army. Why?

"Because Allah does what He pleases."

And you would study the Qur'an, study history, and you will see the histories replete with examples of Allah saving people, doing whatever He pleases.

We Are Servants of Allah

I say that to say this, that we are the servants of Allah. I remember reading one hadith where the Prophet taught us that Allah was so pleased with a person coming back to Him. And even though a person spent their life as sinners and they came back to Allah, Allah is always open and allowing people to come back to them. And the Prophet said Allah is very happy when someone comes back to Him. And he gave us the example of a person that's in a desert. And after being in the desert for a while, having their camel with all the provisions, you can imagine having their food and having their water.

And then the man goes and takes a nap and then all of a sudden the camel goes with all the provisions. The man is laying there ready to die because he's in the middle of the desert and there's nothing there. And he goes to sleep and then he wakes up. And behold, his camel was there with all the provisions. And the man is so happy, he says, O Allah, You are my servant and I am Your Lord. And the reason that he's saying that, he doesn't understand, he's just so excited, he's so happy to see his provisions. (Sahih Muslim 2747)

Well, there are people around the world and some of them including Muslims, who act like Allah is our servant. Allah is not our servant. We are the servants of Allah.

The Will of Allah in Trials and Tests

So therefore in that spirit, let me give you the other side. Where we find in the Qur'an, Allah saving prophets and saving people. But at the other hand, you see that there are prophets that have been murdered. You find it in the Bible, you find it in the Torah, you find it in the Qur'an. Did not Allah have the power to save those

prophets? Sure He did. But for whatever reason, He allowed those prophets to be murdered.

"Allah does what He pleases."

You read about, all throughout the history, you read about a young man named Yusuf, Prophet Yusuf, Joseph. You read him in the Bible and you read him in the Qur'an. You find out that this young boy was in prison for nine years for a crime that he never committed. Why did Allah allow him to go to prison?

"Allah does whatever He pleases."

And I'm saying here today, in this conference of Isna, that I want to be a servant of Allah. If it's up to me, as a human being, I say, Oh Allah, don't make me suffer. But not my will, but the will of Allah be done. And this is what every Muslim, every Christian, every Jew, every Hindu, every Buddhist should be saying, Allah, not my will, but Your will be done.

Brotherhood in Islam

The reason I said that, in context, when I became a Muslim in 1969, my mother gave birth to two people, me and my brother. But when I became a Muslim, I became brothers and sisters to 1,300,000,000 Muslims. Because I found out from my Prophet Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him (الْمُسْلِمُ أَخُو الْمُسْلِمِ - Al-muslimu akhu al-muslim) "The Muslim is a brother to Muslim." (Sahih al-Bukhari 2442)

Therefore, because of that brotherhood that Allah made us (إِنَّمَا الْمُؤْمِنُونَ إِخْوَةٌ - Innama al-mu'minuna ikhwah) "The believers are brothers," (Quran 49:10) because of that, I will never deny my brothers in Palestine. They're my brothers, because Allah makes me brothers. And I will never deny my Muslim brothers in Afghanistan.

And I may have problems with the leadership of Muslim countries in Iraq. I do have problems with Muslim leaderships around the world. I have problems with my leadership in America. I have some problems with my President, some problems with my Congress. But even though, even though we may have problems, I will do the best that I can do. I will do the best that I can do.

I cannot control the Muslims in Palestine nor in Iraq. I can't do that. I wish I could. But I decided today, what am I going to do in Washington D.C.? What do I do in America? What do I do in New York City, in Philadelphia, in Los Angeles? What will I do? I will do the best that I can.

The Story of Khabbab ibn al-Aratt

I will leave you with these words. An incident that happened 1400 years ago. One of the companions, one of the early companions, a man by the name of Abdullah. That was his kunya. His name is Khabbab ibn al-Aratt. He came to the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, and the Muslims were being persecuted in Mecca. And he said something very interesting. He said, Ya Rasulullah, Why don't you ask Allah for help? Why don't you just ask Allah?

And then the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him told Khabbab in my conclusion. He says, Khabbab, there are those who came before you. One man was dug and put in a ditch. And when they put him in a ditch, someone came with a saw and sawed him in half. And he never gave up his faith. Another person, someone took a hot iron comb and combed all of the meat off their, the flesh off their bones and that person didn't give up faith. He says, Khabbab, you are in too much of a hurry. (Sahih al-Bukhari 3612)

Patience and Steadfastness in the Face of Adversity

I say this in this context, that no matter what America does to us, we will never be extreme. I'm saying this. I'm not trying to impress the media. I'm not trying to impress anyone, but I'm trying to impress your hearts and souls that we're here and we must be servants of Allah. And if that means that we have to suffer a little bit, then we have to suffer a little bit. We have to be servants of Allah.

I want to remind you, 13 years in Mecca, the Companions suffered. Some of them were murdered. And none of them even, they never fought back. They didn't fight back because they were cowards. They didn't fight back because Allah didn't order them to fight back. They were servants of Allah. It wasn't until they became a nation and when they became a nation and then they fought legitimate wars. So let us never to go to any extreme. In this country, let us continue to teach the message of the oneness of Allah.

Our Mission to Help Others

And if the people, and if the people cause us to suffer, you say, oh Allah, I don't want to suffer. But I want these people to get the message. If I keep my mouth closed, I cannot help the American people.

And I say this to you, brothers and sisters. It is my opinion that some of our best followers of Islam are still out there, in the streets. Today, some of them are murderers, some of them are drug dealers, but some of them, the best ones are there. How do I know that? Because 1400 years ago, Prophet Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him, made a dua. And he said as I sit and take my seat (اللَّهُمَّ أَعِزَّ الْإِسْلَامَ بِأَحَبَّ هَذَيْنِ الرَّجُلَيْنِ إِلَيْكَ بِأَبِي جَهْلِ بْنِ هِشَامٍ أَوْ بِعُمَرَ بْنِ الْخَطَّابِ - Allahumma a'izz al-Islama bi-ahabbi hazayni al-rajulayni ilaika bi-Abi Jahl ibn Hisham aw bi-Umar ibn al-Khattab) "Oh Allah, strengthen Islam with either Abu Jahl ibn Hisham or Umar ibn al-Khattab," two pagans, two enemies of Allah. (Sunan al-Tirmidhi 3681)

And the Prophet made the dua. And the next morning, Umar became a Muslim. The same one who used to fight against Islam.

Closing Remarks: Hope and Trust in Allah

And I say this to you. I say this, and he's coming. I know you're coming. I know you're coming. I see you. I got it. I'm finished.

I say this to you. You never know, brothers and sisters, whom Allah will help and send us, what kind of help he will send. I want to remind you that the President of the United States of America, President Bush, has a daughter named Jenna. Maybe one day, you'll have a grandson named Abdullah. Allah knows best.

As-salamu alaykum.