Islam is the Cure for Racism

Islam is the Cure for Racism

The Foundation of Iman and Love Among Believers

For instance, I want to share something that just happened to me a couple of days ago. And I bear witness, Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) said to us:

(Sahih Muslim 54)

You will never go to Jannah. Don't even think about it. You will never go to Jannah until you believe. Your passport to Jannah is Al-Iman. If you have no Iman, you don't get into Jannah.

(لَا تَدْخُلُوا الْجَنَّةَ حَتَّى تُؤْمِنُوا - You will never ever ever go to Jannah until you believe. And you will never believe until you love one another. Hmm? Who? Who should you love? What about that Muslim from another country? Who speaks another language? What about that Muslim?

A Story of Brotherhood: The Visit of Imam Suhaib Webb

Something happened to me, brothers and sisters. Wallahi, it brought tears to my eyes. It was Yom Khamis, Thursday. I get a call. A brother who lives thousands of miles away. You know him. Imam Suhaib Webb. He wants to come visit Imam Siraj. So, he comes. It's Yom Khamis, Thursday. He comes with two brothers. He's having some program in New Jersey. Just because of importance, he comes to visit me.

Subhanallah, he comes to visit. And when he comes to my office, maybe around 12 o'clock, I said, Imam, what would you and your guests love to drink? He said, no Imam, it's okay. I said, no, I insist. Okay, we got them what they drink. I said, after Dhuhr, I take you for lunch. Okay, so we talking, mashallah. Brothers experiencing the love and the brotherhood.

He only came to visit me out of love and brotherhood. He didn't want anything, but to visit me. Khalas. No, nothing, no other agenda, but to visit his brother. Born in Oklahoma, I think. And me, I'm born in Brooklyn. And my skin color, a little bit different. But wallahi, we love each other.

The Brotherhood Manifested Through Fasting

So we take them after Dhuhr to the restaurant. And I said, get what you want. And then I grabbed Imam Suhaib. I said, Imam, I want to tell you something. I leave it up to you. I said, Imam, I'm fasting today. So, if you want, I'll eat with you, I'll break my fast. He started laughing. He said, Imam, all three of the brothers, they were fasting. But because I offered you water, they broke their fast with me.

Yeah, I started crying. And so, of course, I eat with them. Now, they're my guests, because the Prophet said, alayhi salatu wasalam:

(Sahih Bukhari 6019)

Whoever believes in Allah and the Last Day, treat your guests with honor.

So, I'm giving them all of this honor. And of course, I'm going to pay for the dinner. So, we fought each other because they wanted to pay. I had to beat him up. I said, no, you can't, your money, you can't bring your money here, not in New York. Get your money out of here. So, while I'm doing this, my brother fasting from Egypt, he beats all of us, he pays for all the food. SubhanAllah.

The Example of Shamim Siddiqui: A Life of Da'wah

And there was another guest of mine, his name is Shamim Siddiqui. Shamim, I brought him to eat with us. Why? Because he had some meeting with me and it was a little bit late, so I brought him into the meeting. This Shamim Siddiqui, subhanAllah, the brothers at Masjid al-Taqwa, we used to call for dawah on Sunday morning.

And we used to carry thousands of these pamphlets. Who is Muhammad? What is Islam? Wallahi, we used to go to the neighborhood, and we give them out. We used to go to the housing project, some of you don't know what housing project it is. Twenty-five stories. Hundreds and hundreds of apartments in one building. And we go up to the 25th story and we knock on every door, they open and we give them the dawah.

Shamim Siddiqui with us. Shamim Siddiqui, the name you may know, he's Pakistani. Oh, but I didn't tell you, he's 80 years old. Giving dawah.

The Reward of Those Who Love for Allah's Sake

So brothers and sisters, all I want to say today is something that Allah will say in Yawm al-Qiyamah. Yaqul Allah azza wa jal, Yawm al-Qiyamah:

(Sahih Muslim 2566)

Where are those who loved one another for My glory? This day, I will give them shade. In a day, there's no shade, but My shade.

The Universal Message of Prophet Muhammad

You know, subhanAllah, about our Prophet Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him, we forget. Allah has said something in Quran:

Allah has never sent a prophet except speaking the language of the people. So every prophet that came, he came speaking the language of his people.

- And when Moses said to his people, he spoke the language of the people.

- And Jesus spoke to the people, he spoke their language.

But our Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, he's different from every other prophet in this respect. SubhanAllah. In what respect? Now listen. For the first time in human history, the people actually speak the language of the Prophet. It's gonna hit you in a minute. Think about it.

Muhammad: The Prophet for All Mankind

Who's prophet is the messenger of Muhammad alayhi salatu wasalam? Who's prophet is he?

O mankind, I am the messenger of Allah to all of you.

So you wanna see the people in Japan? The messenger is Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wasallam. The people in China? The people in Europe? The people in Morocco? Yes, the Arabs, yes. But what happens? Now you have 10 million people learning what language? Who memorize Al-Quran. Ten million people memorize Quran, not all of them Arabs. So you have Muslims all over the world, memorizing which language? The language of Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wasallam.

The Unity of Prayer in Arabic

I'll go a step further. Last year, I drove me and my family from New York City to Atlanta, Georgia. And we got to North Carolina. It's time for Salat al-Dhuhr. We wanna make our prayer. So we get ready. We find an area. And my family, they pray behind me. And I start praying, Allahu Akbar. And I'm praying Salat al-Dhuhr.

And when I'm ready to finish, I say, As-salamu alaikum wa rahmatullah. And when I look, I beheld, many people had joined us in the salah. All of us, they're from different countries. All of them speak in the same language because we did the prayer in Arabic. The language of Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wasallam. Every Muslim you know, wherever they come from, they're studying the Arabic language. SubhanAllah. Imagine people studying the Arabic language. SubhanAllah, African Americans.

True Brotherhood Beyond Surface Level

So brothers and sisters, I wanted to leave you with this message. Our brotherhood must be true and not surface. Most of us, our brotherhood is surface. But if you see the prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, آخَى رَسُولُ اللهِ صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ بَيْنَ عَبْدِ الرَّحْمَنِ بْنِ عَوْفٍ وَسَعْدِ بْنِ الرَّبِيعِ - And the prophet made a bond, a brotherhood between the Ansar and the Muhajireen. He put them together and he made them brothers.

You want to have brotherhood? Not only do I love Imam Suhaib Webb, I love him. I love him too much, as the Arabs say. I love you too much. The English would probably go off, but we get the idea. And Wallahi, I didn't want him to go. He didn't want to leave. And not just him, but Muslims all over the world.

The Transformation of Masjid Al-Taqwa

Our masjid, Masjid al-Taqwa, was started in 1981. In the ghetto in Brooklyn. In a block where there is, what do you call it? Abandoned buildings, drug houses, 15 drug houses. You must have heard about it. And when we started, we started with 25 Muslims. All of them, 100% African-Americans. Every one of them, African- American, like me. The Imam, African-American. The congregation, what percentage? 100% African- Americans.

Alhamdulillah, that's 1981. If you go to Masjid al-Taqwa today, it's a different place. When we came in the ghetto, Allah blessed us to turn the ghetto into a place of light. There was not one, not one, not one Muslim business. Not one. But today, if you come to Masjid al-Taqwa, I take your hand and I walk you one block, you will count more than 40 Muslim businesses.

Now, Yawm al-Jumu'ah, not 25 people, but 1,300 people. What percentage of them African-American? Used to be 100% African-American, maybe now 30% or less African-American. Why?

Allah Unites Hearts

And Allah joined their hearts together. Not if you have spent all of the money in the world, you could not have joined their hearts together. But Allah joined their hearts together. That's the work of Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, you don't know how to do it. Because this is the work of Allah.

Malcolm X and the Power of Brotherhood

And brothers and sisters you will see, all over this country, Allah is touching the people, and they become a Muslim. I leave you with this story. A book that I recommend you to pick up, of course you read the Qur'an everyday, read hadith everyday. But after you read the Qur'an, you read some hadith, you read some books on Islam, I recommend you pick up a book, and you read it. It's called, The Autobiography of Malcolm X. Al-Hajj Malik Shabazz, Wallahi, you should learn about this man. This man, Alhamdulillah, when he found the truth, Alhamdulillah, he embraced the truth.

In 1964, he left the nation of Islam. In 1964, he went to Mecca. And someone said, in this pilgrimage, what thing touched you the most, had the biggest impact on you? You know what he said? The brotherhood. It was the brotherhood. Because he ran into Muslims. He ran into a sheikh, a sheikh, I think, from Egypt. And showed him kindness. And wherever he went, Muslims, immigrant Muslims, showed him kindness. And he took that kindness, and that helped him to embrace Islam.

The Marriage of Indigenous and Immigrant Muslims

Today, they're going to come to us. Some African American is going to come knocking on your door, the door

of the masjid. Some white European American Muslim will come by here. You will see them in the street. How will they meet you? What will you show them? Will they be touched by Islam?

So brothers and sisters, Alhamdulillah, the brotherhood of Islam, the power is the strength of Islam. I'm saying to you, Islam, it's my opinion, it's my opinion, Islam will never succeed in America until there's a marriage between the indigenous Muslims and the immigrant Muslims. And when we tie our hearts together for Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, we will show this country and give them light, not by what comes out of our mouths, but what they see us practice. Inshallah, Alhamdulillah, Rabbil Alamin.

Confronting Racism: Perfect Faith, Imperfect Followers

Brothers and sisters, I'm going to close with a little bit of admonition for all of us. One of the troubling sicknesses of our society is racism. Racism. One of the things that's painful for me is when someone encounters what they think is racism among Muslims. And then I have to be honest with them. Islam, perfect faith, imperfect followers. Islam, perfect faith, imperfect followers.

So brothers and sisters, they're going to come by here imperfect. Many of the people in the society, imperfect. And they're in need of light.

The Story of Abdurrahman: From Drugs to Recovery

I want to leave you with one brother in our masjid, his name is Abdurrahman. You don't even know Abdurrahman. Abdurrahman used to be on drugs for 30 years. He was on drugs for 30 years. His doctor said to him, he's about my height, 6 feet tall. And he had gotten down to 60 pounds. And the doctor told him, he's going to die. He said to the doctor, Doctor, please leave my room. I want to talk to someone who knows. And he called on Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. Sixty pounds. Six feet tall.

This was about 14-15 years ago. You look at him today, wallahi he's a picture of health. Beautiful. Strong. This is the brother when we have a person in the masjid, listen to what I'm going to say. We have a person in the masjid that have a drug problem. I want to say it again. I want you to understand what I just said. When we have a person in the masjid that have a drug problem, and don't you think that there are not Muslims that have drug problems.

Every problem that we have in society we have in the masjid. Don't ignore it. Let's do something about it, inshallah. But this brother, alhamdulillah, you know what he did? Muawiyah was right. He said:

There's no real wisdom without experience. So this brother, he has 30 years of experience. When the people that have drugs and they talk to me, I don't know. I don't know. I'm not experienced. I don't know what to say. But this brother, he know what to say. He been there. And you can't tell him anything because he know and he did it. This is Abdurrahman.

And not only that, we sent him to school to learn about more things about drugs. Wallahi, this brother is so good. He's so good. He says, Imam, you see that brother over there? He's on crack. Seriously. He said, that one there, he has an alcohol problem. Just by looking at him. This one there, he's not free from it. So when the people see Abdurrahman coming, they go like this. But he's helped so many people. You know why? Because this is the brotherhood. It's a brotherhood. And that means, with all our force, it's an ummatan wahida. It's one ummah.

The Prophet's Compassion: A New Standard of Manhood

And I leave you with this, brothers and sisters. I want us to be like the Prophet, alayhi salatu wasalam. You know, one hadith, he went to go visit someone, I think, Ubadah, Sahabi Ubadah. I think it was him. He went to go visit him. He was sick. And the hadith says بَكَى رَسُولُ اللهِ - and the Prophet began to cry. For those who used to be Christian, if you ask them the question, which verse in the Bible is the shortest verse? One of them will tell you, the verse that said, And Jesus cried. Jesus wept.

In this hadith, it says that بَكَى رَسُولُ اللهِ صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ - the Prophet began to cry وَلَمَّا رَأَى الْقَوْمُ بُكَاءَ رَسُولِ اللَّهِ صَلَّى الله عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ بَكَوْا - And when the people saw the Prophet cry, they began to cry. And when they saw the Prophet cry, they began to cry. Because the Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, showed a new standard of manhood. Of compassion. And love. To love one another.

The Danger of Arrogance in Knowledge

Wallahi, brothers and sisters, what I'm telling you is the truth. There was a brother, a long time ago in our masjid. We gave him da'wah. He was not Muslim. We gave him da'wah. And he came to the masjid, alhamdulillah, he learned, and alhamdulillah, he became a good Muslim. One day, he went to some other masjid. And the moment he went to that masjid, he was never the same again. We saw him one day, he was across the street, as-salamu alaykum. And he turned his back to us. And wouldn't even return the salams. We have that.

We have that. We have some Muslims, somehow, they have knowledge, they get new information. And somehow, they think themselves better than any other Muslim. It may be. It's fine. It's okay. My question is this. Why would you share that new information that you've got with us? So that we can be better. Why would you assume that we wouldn't even listen?

How could you be a Muslim and a brother, and turn your back on another brother, when Prophet Muhammad peace and blessings be upon him, on Yawm al-Qiyamah, will see Muslims in a hellfire, and will beg Allah, to take them out of hellfire. But we, we put people in the hellfire. And by the way, inshallah, I want to talk about this tonight. I want to talk about the identity of the Muslims, our identity in this society. I pray, inshallah, that you come out.

Prove Your Love Through Action

So brothers and sisters, you know what?

(Sahih Muslim 54)

And you never believe until you love one another. Do you really love one another? Do you really love that brother and sister? Show it. Prove it. Love is not what comes out of your mouth only. But love is what we do, to prove it.

صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَى مُحَمَّدٍ وَعَلَى آلِهِ وَصَحْبِهِ وَسَلَّمَ

نَسْأَلُ اللَّهَ تَعَالَى أَن يَرْحَمَنَا

We ask Allah Almighty to have mercy upon us.