State of the Ummah in 93

State of the Ummah in '93

Imam Siraj Wahaj

Understanding Society Through Media

I don't merely watch them, I monitor them. This show, Sally, Jesse, Raphael, Oprah Winfrey, Gerardo Rivera, these kinds of shows, you can find out the thinking of the American people. And you ought to watch it and listen to it to see the thinking of the average citizen.

The Disease of Imagined Ugliness

And brothers and sisters, I saw a show that I'll never forget. It taught me some lessons. I learned for the first time in my life, about two weeks ago, of a disease. It's called Imagined Ugliness Disorder. I never quite understood Michael Jackson. No, until I saw the show. I'll tell you why.

Brothers and sisters, there's a real sickness. It's called Imagined Ugliness Disorder. No, I'm not making it up. It's true. This sickness... I don't care how good people look. In their mind, they believe that they're ugly. Everything they can to change their look because they don't like their look. And just two days ago, we learned from Michael Jackson that when he was a boy, he believed himself to be ugly. He said, my father told me that I was ugly. And so, Michael Jackson began to try to change himself.

And the irony, brothers and sisters, the real irony, if you know anything about Michael Jackson when he was young, he was actually a very handsome man. And throughout the years, as he began to change his hair and the color and the nose and the lips and the chin and the voice, all of that, as he began to change that, in reality, he became ugly.

The Ummah's Imagined Ugliness Disorder

Imagined Ugliness Disorder. Brothers and sisters, I've come to learn, Imam, I've come to understand that Muslims, by and large, suffer from an Imagined Ugliness Disorder. Been blessed, like Imam Abdel Hakim Quick, to go around the world to see the conditions of the Muslims, first hand.

And brothers and sisters, let me say, in my opinion, there's one basic ingredient that's missing from the Muslim ummah in this country and in America and in the East and in Africa. This one ingredient that I found that the Prophet Muhammad (صلى الله عليه وسلم - ṣallā Allāhu ʿalayhi wa sallam) had and his companions had and the great prophets that came before us had and it is one thing that we miss, in my opinion. If we can grab hold of that, we are well on our way to solving the major problems that confront the Muslims around the world.

The Missing Ingredient: Confidence

That. The thing, the ingredient that we miss so badly, in Toronto, parts of Canada, in America, around the Muslim world, is confidence. You'd be surprised the value of having confidence in oneself. And when you lose the confidence in yourself, you've lost the war.

Imam mentioned it in his talk, psychological warfare. Brothers and sisters, you have no idea. Before we meet on the battlefield, there's already a psychological war going on. Once you deprive a person of that vital self-confidence, when they get on the battlefield, they've lost.

Lessons from the African-American Struggle

Brothers and sisters, let me share something with you. I was part of the struggle of African-Americans in the 60s. And I see some similarities now happening to the Muslim ummah that happened to the African-Americans.

We went through a period that all of us, most of us had this imagined ugliness disorder. We didn't like ourselves. We were taught by the slave master that we were nothing.

And we didn't even know ourselves. We didn't know our language. We didn't know our culture. We didn't know our religion. And black people all over America, many people like Michael Jackson, tried to change their color, tried to change their texture of their hair. Because we had believed that we were nothing.

The Question of Names and Identity

Now, brothers and sisters, something is happening to us. Siraj Wahaj. I wasn't born with that name. I admired Imam Abdel Hakim Quick. He kept the name of his father and his grandfather and his son Quick. And by and large, brothers and sisters, I think Muslims from the West, in general, ought not change their names.

Because Allah revealed in Quran:

"Call them by the names of their fathers."

There was a big controversy that happened a couple of weeks ago. The first lady of the United States of America, the wife of President Clinton. Her name is Hillary Rodham Clinton. And there was a controversy because during the campaign, she just used the name of her husband. Because the American tradition and the Canadian tradition is when a woman marries a man, then she takes on his name. But that's not the Islamic way.

And so there was a big controversy because she decided to call herself by her maiden name. And she didn't get rid of her husband's name, but she called herself Hillary Rodham Clinton. And so the women and the American men, they didn't like that idea that she would try to keep the name of her maiden name, really the name of her father.

So Imam Abdullah Hakim converted to Islam or reverted to Islam and kept the name of his father. That's right. Then why brother Siraj Wahaj doesn't have the name of his father? Because my father's name was Kers. And

most people pronounced it Kers. The name of my father, brothers and sisters, wasn't the name of my great-great-grandfather. I didn't know the name of my great-great-grandfather.

When they were taken from Africa and brought here to America, then the slave master would put their name on the black slaves and they would be known by the names of their slave master. And so when I got rid of the name Kers or Kers, I was getting rid of the slave master name and also at the same time taking on a good name from the Qur'an and leaving what was a bad name according to the tradition of Prophet Muhammad (صلى الله عليه وسلم - ṣallā Allāhu ʿalayhi wa sallam) (peace and blessings be upon him).

The Creation of Adam and Divine Provision

But brothers and sisters, now something else is happening, something strange is happening. Something is missing, what is it? And brothers and sisters, look at this. Prophet Muhammad (صلى الله عليه وسلم - ṣallā Allāhu ʿalayhi wa sallam) (peace and blessings be upon him) said:

Abu Hurairah (may Allah be pleased with him) said: The Prophet Muhammad (صلى الله عليه وسلم - ṣallā Allāhu ʿalayhi wa sallam) (peace and blessings be upon him) took me by the hands and said, "Allah created the earth on Saturday and created the mountains on Sunday and created the trees on Monday and created disagreeable things on Tuesday and created the light on Wednesday and spread the animals on the earth on Thursday and made Adam on Friday, the later part of the day." (Sahih Muslim 2789)

What wisdom there is for us. Allah created man last. He's the last one. Johnny come lately on the earth. Everything is here already. The earth is here. The home is here. The food is here. The trees are here. Everything that man needs is here already. And when man comes, all he has to do now is go get what Allah the Almighty has given to him.

The Only Hope for Humanity

Now brothers and sisters, I'm coming to my conclusion. What does all this mean? What does it mean? They're Muslim brothers and sisters. What does it mean? I don't mean to slight our non-Muslim brothers and sisters who are sitting here to visit us. But I'm saying this without hesitation. The only hope for the world are Muslims and Islam. There is no hope for the world except the obedience of Allah that is found in Al-Quran and the Sunnah of Prophet Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him. I don't care what it looks like.

Because brothers and sisters, when you look around the earth and you see what's happening to the Muslim ummah, it's for a reason. There's something missing. And you know what it was? I spoke to Imam Abdel Hakim this morning at Fajr. And he gave me the answer. He whispered something in my ear from the Quran. And I said, yeah, that is the answer.

The Natural Course of Human Life

And you know what it is brothers and sisters? If you live long enough, according to the Quran, you're going to

have a reversal in your nature. What do I mean? When I look around at this audience, most of you are young. Most of you are young. Most of you are on the way to your full strength. I heard a little baby crying. I see little children over there in the other room and young adolescents.

But you know what? As strong as you are now, young brothers and sisters, if you live long enough, you're going to have a reversal in your nature. You're going to start getting weak. So after having known much, you may even become hafiz of Quran, but if you live long enough, you're going to start forgetting things. And your back, brother, is going to bend over. If you live long enough, you're going to lose your teeth. If you live long enough, you may even have to wear pampers. That's the way it is. Allah made it that way. You can't escape it.

And I don't care, brothers and sisters, what kind of science, technology, but still you cannot escape what Allah says in Quran:

"No soul can die except by the permission of Allah. It's in a book inscribed already."

It's in a book written. So we're going to die. We're going to get old. If we live long enough, we're going to live old and we're going to have a reversal in nature. You can't escape that. But there is something that you can escape. And Allah promised us.

The Promise of Divine Change

Imam said in his speech, he talked about the glorious days of Islam. But what happened? There are some who tell you that civilizations, they live and they die. But some say that civilizations must die like human beings. That's not true. What is my evidence? The evidence is what the Imam told me this morning, Fajr prayer. He says:

"Allah will never change the condition of a people until they first change what is within themselves."

Listen well. Most of us don't understand that ayah from the Qur'an. Most of us, we look at it from the reversal. That if we're in a negative position and condition, Allah won't change it to something positive until we do something positive. Yes, that's true. But there's a greater message there. A more fundamental message. And that is this.

Brothers and sisters, if you're in a good condition, if the ummah is submissive to Allah the Almighty and doing what they're supposed to do, we will continue to get the ni'mah of Allah. Continue to give it to us until we change.

The Hypocrisy of Belief Without Action

How many times have I seen a Muslim come to me and say, Brother Imam Siraj, I don't make prayer, but I believe. Month of Ramadan is coming in a few days, you're going to fast month of Ramadan? No, no Imam, but don't judge me. Okay, you can't judge my heart. I believe, but I'm not going to fast.

Have you ever been to Hajj brother? No, I haven't been to Mecca yet. I've been to Europe, I've been to Africa, I've been to India. I've been all over the earth. I have the money, but I don't want to go to Hajj yet. But I believe.

Oh brother, how can you justify living with this woman and you're not married to her? You can't judge me Imam, I'm a believer. How can you justify having a liquor store selling liquor? How can you justify selling beer? Oh no, you don't understand, everything is real. I'm a believer.

But you cannot continue to disrespect Allah, disobey Allah, and then put your hands out and ask for the blessings of Allah. Ya Rabb, Ya Rabb. The Prophet said, yet the food is haram, the clothing is haram, the nourishment haram things, the drink is haram. How then can Allah hear their dua? (Sahih Muslim 1015)

Why? Don't you see brothers and sisters, there's a promise in Qur'an. If we continue to obey Allah, Allah will continue to give us blessings. He won't take it away from us, unless we ourselves turn our backs on Allah. And I'm saying to you, my beloved brothers and sisters, we have turned our backs on Allah. And what we see here is as a result of what our hands have done.

The Test in the Garden

Look at this. Look how Allah starts us out. And we said:

"Oh Adam, live in the garden. Garden. Live there Adam. Live there, you and your wife. And eat from the garden, anywhere you desire. Go ahead Adam. Big spacious Jannah, the garden. Go ahead, eat everywhere, anywhere you want. Beautiful place. But just don't go near this tree. You too. Don't go near that tree. And become of the zalim, the evil ones."

Now brothers and sisters, let me ask you a question, before I sit down. If you think you were in that garden, you brother, and your wife. And by the way, that verse teaches us, that Allah created Adam and Eve, and not Adam and Steve.

If you were in that garden, brother and you sister, Garden now. Imagine, anywhere you want. And if Allah told you, don't go near that tree. But you can have everything else in the garden. How many of you think you would have resisted, and not go near the tree. Be honest, raise your hand. If you don't think that you would go near the tree. Raise your hand. Raise them up, come on. Five, six, seven, eight. All right, a handful of people. Imam, your hand up. Yeah, yeah. Well, wait. We can find out. Imam, we can test it. We can find out.