Racism and Differences in the Ummah on the Mawlid

Reflecting on MLK: Racism and Differences in the Ummah on the Mawlid

The Testimony of Creation to Allah's Oneness

As one of the poets said, everything in existence points to the fact that Allah is One. And the angels, they bear witness to this as well, to the oneness of Allah.

As Allah said in Surah Al-Baqarah, Allah ordered the angels to make sujood to Adam. This is Iqraar, this is an admission. And the admission is the strongest evidence by obeying Allah. And also as they said in the same chapter, in the same page:

"That we magnify you, we praise you. So this is how the angels bear witness to the oneness of Allah."

The Witness of the People of Knowledge

And then thirdly, the people of knowledge, they bear witness to Allah and His oneness. As the Prophet (peace be upon him) has said, as related by Imam Muslim:

(أَنْتُمْ شُهَدَاءُ اللَّهِ فِي الْأَرْضِ - Antum shuhadāʾu Allāhi fī al-ʾarḍ)

As the Prophet (peace be upon him) said to the Sahaba, you are the witnesses to Allah in this earth.

And the ulema said that the scholars, they bear witness to the oneness of Allah (بِالدَّلَائِلِ وَالْبَرَاهِينِ وَالْحُجَجِ - bi-al-dalāʾili wa-al-barāhīni wa-al-ḥujaji) - with evidences.

Justice: The Foundation of Bearing Witness

And here Allah says (قَائِمًا بِالْقِسْطِ - qāʾiman bi-al-qisṭ) - that all of this is done with justice. And those scholars who call to Allah, who remind people of Allah, if they are going to do so in the proper way, then they have to do so recognizing and honoring justice.

Allah said, "Be just, it's closer to taqwa."

And Allah mentions also:

Allah mentions in Surah Al-Hadid that indeed we sent the messengers with clear proofs and we sent down with them the Scripture and the balance, and we did that so people could establish justice.

Shaykh Al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah said, this is a proof that the illah, that the cause behind revelation and the sending of the prophets is to establish justice. And as we said, Allah said (وَأُولُو الْعِلْمِ - wa-ūlū al-ʿilmi) - the people of knowledge, (قَائِمًا بِالْقِسْطِ - qāʾiman bi-al-qisṭ) - standing for Allah with justice.

Two Ways People Respond to Truth

And in the end of Surah Al-Imran, here we see a very interesting pattern, that people are going to respond to knowledge and information through two means. First are those people who use their hearts and use their minds, and they respond to the call of truth.

As mentioned in the end of Surah Al-Imran, those people in their dua, in their supplication, they say, "O our Lord, indeed we have heard one who calls to iman, and we have responded."

"We hear and we obey." They don't need a lot of aggression, they just need proofs.

As is the case of Sayyidina Abi Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him), when the people told him, did you hear what this man he claimed to have done, what he claimed to have accomplished on the night of Isra and Mi'raj?

And he said, if he said it (فَقَدْ صَدَقَ - faqad ṣadaqa) - he's truthful. He doesn't need a lot of pressure or motivation, he just needs something that can cause his mind to think properly.

And that's why Allah calls these people (أُولُو الْأَلْبَابِ - ūlū al-ʾalbābi) - because the word al-baab is the plural for lubb, a seed. He doesn't just call them the people of knowledge, but he calls them the people of, if you literally were to translate it from Surah Al-Imran:

Only people who are going to benefit from this type of reminders are the people of seeded minds, is the actual translation, because a seed when it's planted, it brings out fruit, it brings out benefit.

And Allah said:

Allah compares them to a tree, right, that grows from a seed to a strong stem that brings out fruit, the fruit are the actions. So the people who benefit from the call of the prophets cognitively, right, they are those who their mind and their hearts are clear.

The Second Approach: Discipline and Firmness

And the second program for teaching people is more disciplined, a little firm, and that's why the ulema say:

وَنُعَلِّمُهُم بِالْحُجَجِ وَالْبَرَاهِينِ وَثَانِيَا نُعَلِّمُهُم بِالْحَدِيدِ الْمَتِينِ

That some people you just need to teach them, and when they see clear proofs, it touches their heart, it touches their mind. Al-Irbad ibn Sariyya (may Allah be pleased with him) said, that the Prophet (peace be upon him) when he reminded us, our hearts were moved, and our eyes were filled with tears. They benefited just from listening to the Prophet (peace be upon him). Their heart is pure.

But there are others who need a more disciplined approach. So Allah says:

And also just as we sent Prophets with clear proofs, we also sent iron. And iron here is talking about that there are people who need to be disciplined, people who need to be brought in check. Not everybody can simply benefit from proofs and evidences. But both are done with justice.

The Believers' Responsibility to Establish Justice

Both are done in recognition of justice. Allah, after mentioning that the purpose as we talked about now, of sending the Quran and Sunnah, and this deen:

Is the establishment of justice. He carries on this responsibility to the believers in two places, and it's very unique.

The first is the end of the fourth chapter of the Quran. Allah said:

Allah says, "O you who believe, be custodians of justice, witnesses for Allah."

The word قوام is the form in Arabic فعّال As Ibn Malik said:

وَبَعْدُ فَالْفِعْلُ مَا يَحْكُمُ تَصَرُّفَهُ يَحْزُ مِنَ اللُّغَةِ الْأَبْوَابِ وَالسُّبُلَةِ

You know, let's hope our brothers and sisters can take advantage of the time to study with some of our mashaykh because this is important.

Allah says قَوَّامِينَ بِالْقِسْطِ - qawwāmīna bi-al-qisṭ - قَوَّامِينَ - qawwāmīna is the form in Arabic, which is صِيغَةُ الْحِرَفِ which means the form of someone who serves. Like we call, for example, the carpenter in Arabic, plumber فُعَّال, سَبَّاكَ

And our sisters might like this, the same form at the end of this verse in Surah An-Nisa, where Allah says قَوَّامِينَ بِالْقِسْطِ - qawwāmīna bi-al-qisṭ is the same form that Allah orders us as men with regards to our women:

You know that men, and it's translated a little differently, but the meaning should be that men are at the service of their women. They are constantly looking after their needs because the form فَعَّال, صِيغَةُ الْحِرَفِ

So here Allah says كُونُوا قَوَّامِينَ بِالْقِسْطِ شُهَدَاءَ لِلهِ - kūnū qawwāmīna bi-al-qisṭi shuhadāʾa li-Llāhi - the same meaning now, be at the service of establishing justice, شُهَدَاءَ witnessing for Allah.

The Order in Surah Al-Ma'idah

In the fifth chapter of the Quran, we have a similar verse, but it changes the order. But it still orders us as believers to be custodians, that's the word - قَوَّامِينَ - qawwāmīna custodians of our women. قَوَّامِينَ - qawwāmīna custodians of justice as believers.

Allah said:

"Be witnesses for Allah, custodians of justice" - standing for the truth.

Here the order changes. So Allah mentions in Surah Al-Ma'idah شُهَدَاءَ لِلهِ - shuhadāʾa li-Llāhi - "Be witnesses to Allah," then you establish justice. In Surah An-Nisa, establish justice, then be witnesses to Allah.

The Wisdom Behind the Different Orders

The difference is قَوَّامِين - qawwāmīn is implying تَنْفِيذ to establish or to practice. And the scholars, they discuss something here interesting. Why in the fourth chapter of the Quran is Allah ordering us to establish justice and then make da'wah. But in the fifth chapter of the Quran, Allah is ordering us to make da'wah and then establish justice.

Because Surah An-Nisa, the discussion is primarily about our own community, how we live amongst each other as Muslims, how we deal with each other, how we deal with our families, how we deal with our wives and our children. So here the propensity for hypocrisy amongst the believers is greater.

Therefore Allah orders us to establish in our own lives justice amongst ourselves internally, in our homes, in our hearts, in the people around us, before we preach it to ourselves.

But Surah Al-Ma'idah is different. It's talking about Ahlul-Kitab, non-Muslims. And the goal here:

As mentioned in the end of the fifth chapter of the Quran, "O Messenger of Allah, convey what has been revealed to you."

This is different from the internal relationship we have as believers. Why do you say what you don't do?

Because maybe amongst ourselves, we talk about things that we don't do. Maybe amongst ourselves, we have the propensity to show off.

So here we're ordered in our own house, in our own house, to establish justice before we call to it. Because God forbid, we become from the people of hypocrisy. But when it comes to those who aren't Muslim, it's code red.

It's code red.

As Imam Malik said, if people waited till they did things before they called people to things, nothing would get called to. Meaning that here people, they are not believing in Allah, not accepting the Prophet (peace be upon him). So don't worry about what you're doing or what you're not doing. Your job is to call them to Allah.

But within the community of believers, your job is to be careful of hypocrisy and establish the orders of Allah.

And all of this is rooted in justice.

The Prophet's Example of Justice

And that's why the Prophet (peace be upon him), Allah said:

To the Prophet (peace be upon him), "If you judge between people, judge with them, between them, with justice."

صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَآلِهِ وَصَحْبِهِ وَسَلَّمَ

Our beloved Messenger (peace be upon him), who taught us to stand for justice, who even said, if my own daughter were to steal something, I will punish her for that.

صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَآلِهِ وَصَحْبِهِ وَسَلَّمَ

Examples from the Rightly Guided Caliphs

And his khulafa, for example Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) who he was sent a letter from Egypt to him from a Christian woman, who said that Amr ibn al-Aas wanted to expand the masjid, he knocked down my home to build the mosque.

And Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) sent her the money to buy and purchase for her a new home. And he wrote a long letter where he criticized Amr ibn al-Aas. And one of the things that he mentioned to him was to be just.

Amr ibn al-Aas himself, when he was in Egypt, we ask Allah سُبْحَانَهُ وَتَعَالَى وَحِدْ صُفُوفَ مِصْرِيِّينَ. When he was in Egypt and his son raced a non-Muslim man and the non-Muslim man defeated him, and his son beat him. Amr ibn al-Aas (may Allah be pleased with him) when he heard about this, he went to this non-Muslim man, he gave him the whip, and he said, hit me.

And he said, how can I hit you? You're the leader of this area. He said, hit me. He said, but how can I do that? He said, if you don't hit me, I'm gonna punish you. So the Amir, he ordered this man, this non-Muslim man, to punish him.

And then he gave this impassionate speech about the importance of justice and how parents have to be responsible for their children and how their children act.

Our Ummah: A Community of Justice

We are an ummah of justice. We are a community that establishes justice. And when we fail to do this, we'll not find the help of Allah سُبْحَانَهُ وَتَعَالَى in this ummah.

ARABIC TEXT (CRITICAL - PRESERVE EXACTLY)

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I ask Allah to enlighten our hearts with faith and make us love the Quran, upright witnesses for Allah, just as we ask Allah to send blessings upon the one sent as a mercy to the worlds, the master of the first and the last, Muhammad, son of ʿAbdullāh, may Allah’s blessings and peace be upon him, and upon his family and all his companions. O Allah, send blessings upon him in the first times and in the last times, and in the highest assembly, O Lord of the worlds. Allah, glory be to Him, the Most High.

Allah said, meaning:

Internally and externally. Internally make sure that you practice what you say. Externally call the people to justice through the example of our beloved Prophet (peace be upon him).

Say O Muhammad to your wives and to your daughters and then to the believing men and women, they should cover.

They said notice how Allah began with the wives and the daughters of the Prophet first because you have to establish things in your own life before you project into the larger community justice.

Learning from Martin Luther King Jr.

And the Prophet (peace be upon him) on a number of occasions he was praised by the people for his sense of justice and his sense of commitment.

Now that reminds us in this time in America of a great American, a great historical figure who his, you know, his commitment to justice is what makes him beloved to many of us and this was of course Martin Luther King Jr. Although he wasn't Muslim, but again we are a just ummah.

As the Prophet (peace be upon him) said:

(Sunan al-Tirmidhi 2687)

That wisdom is the lost property of the believer.

And Ali ibn Abi Talib (may Allah be pleased with him) when he used to relate this hadith, would add to it:

Ali used to when he would relate this hadith (كَرَّمَ اللهُ وَجْهَهُ - karrama Allāhu wajhahu) he would say and take it even if it's from the people who don't believe in Islam. Wherever you find the hikmah (خُذْهَا - khudh-hā)

And what we're going to do is take two important lessons from the life of this man that are found in our tradition that are rooted in our tradition.

First Lesson: Combating Racism

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And the first is the problem of racism in society and the problem of racism in our own community. Anyone who believes in the transcendence of Allah should be able to see his transcendence in his creation. And Allah mentions:

That the difference of your colors and your tribes and your nations:

All of this is a sign of Allah's mercy.

But if we look at the Muslim community unfortunately now we are a community that is rocked with a very sick type of racism, a very sick type of bigotry, a very sick type of arrogance.

As mentioned in the Quran, Allah quotes shaytan as saying, "I'm better than him, you made me from fire, you made him from clay."

It's a sickness. And that's one of my teachers used to tell me that the stronger your aqeedah is, the stronger your tawheed is, the more love you will find for the Muslims wherever they're from. Because when you say (لَا إِلَهَ إِلَّا اللهُ - lā ilāha illā Allāh) when you say there's nothing in existence worthy of worship but Allah - you remove all of those kind of dunya sicknesses from your heart and you're not looking at people for being from this place or that place, but you're looking at them for being (مُوَحِدِينَ الْحَمْدُ لِلهِ رَبِّ الْعَالَمِينَ - muwahidīn, al-ḥamdu lillāhi rabbil-ʿālamīn)

The Example of Sa'id ibn al-Musayyib

And there's a beautiful example of this of Sa'id ibn al-Musayyib who they call (إِمَامُ التَّابِعِينَ - Imām at-Tābiʿīn) - he was such a great scholar that in the (حَدِيثُ مَرَاسِيلَ - ḥadīth marāsīl) you know they would take the (مَرَاسِيلُ - marāsīl) of Sa'id ibn al-Musayyib, those hadith where the sahabi is not mentioned, the (تَابِعِيّ - tābiʿī) says from the Prophet (peace be upon him) but the sahabi they did not mention.

Muhammad (peace be upon him) so this (حَدِيث - ḥadīth) is called (مُرْسَلٌ إِلَى نَبِيِّنَا صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ بِالرِّوَايَةِ - mursalun ilā nabiyyinā ṣallā Allāhu ʿalayhi wa sallam bir-riwāyah) meaning that he mentioned the Prophet without mentioning who he took it from.

In most situations people will say this (حَدِيث - ḥadīth) must be weak because there's someone missing in the chain, but the (شَافِعِيّ - Shāfiʿī) as well as the (مَالِكِ - Mālikī) - and the (مَالِكِ - Mālikī) have different conditions for (مَرَاسِيلُ - marāsīl) as mentioned as you see in the (مُوَطَّأَ - Muwaṭṭaʾ) of Imam Malik (may Allah be pleased with him). Inshallah we'll read the (مُوَطَّاً - Muwaṭṭaʾ) inshallah soon here.

That Imam Ash-Shafi'i in his Madhab said because of the (مَقَام - maqām) of Sa'id ibn al-Musayyib, the great status of this Imam, we take (مَرَاسِيلُ - marāsīl) from him because we know of his status.

You know, in his lifetime he had a very beautiful daughter. Allah blessed him with a beautiful daughter (سُبْحَانَ اللهِ - Subḥāna Allāh) and everyone wanted to marry his daughter - the kings, the princes, the governors, the people of money, the businessmen, everybody was hoping they could hook up with the bint of the Shaykh. We know how that goes well - hook me up with that bint of the Shaykh, man!

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So everybody unfortunately was trying to hook it up with his daughter. He kept saying no, no, no. Even the Khalifa proposed his son to his daughter. He said no. And then he said to the people, "I have the best husband for her." It was his student, and his student was a slave, and his student wasn't from a great tribe, his student even they say he wasn't very handsome.

And when he proposed his daughter, he talked to his daughter about this man. She was ecstatic, she was ecstatic and she accepted. And from their lineage came a large number of salihin.

An example of one moment in time where someone was able to look past economic differences, social differences, ethnic differences, racial differences, differences in social status and make the right call. And from that right call came Umar ibn Abdulaziz and other salihin from this marriage.

Removing Offensive Language from Our Community

Imagine if this whole ummah now today we pledge never to use the word (عَبِيد - ʿabīd). You know I'm sorry to say sometimes I hear brothers overseas and sisters, you know, when they talk about someone of color they say (عَبِيد - ʿabīd) and (أَمَة - amah) - slave man and slave woman (نَعُوذُ بِاللهِ - naʿūdhu billāh)

You know how could you say something like that? What would the Prophet say to you if he heard you say that? He will say to you what he said to Abu Dharr:

(Sahih al-Bukhari 30)

"You are a man who still has a quality of jahiliyyah in you, you are a person who still has a quality of ignorance in you."

So we should make a pledge to Allah and to know (نَعُوذُ بِاللَّهِ نُطَهِّرُ أَلْسِنَتَنَا مِنْ هَذِهِ الْكَلِمَاتِ الْقَبِيحَةِ - naʿūdhu billāhi nuṭahhiru alsinatanā min hādhihi al-kalimāti al-qabīḥah) - we should remove those sick words from our tongues.

This applies to the N word in English, the N word. I know in certain ethnicities that's between you because you have to negotiate your culture, but people outside of that ethnicity they should stay away from using the N word because it's offensive.

And I remember once I saw some young kids, they were from Pakistan or India and they're like, "What's up N?" I said, "What are you talking about? Where do you think you're from?" "Oh I'm from Wayland." Wayland was like ghetto love right? Not aware that that word hurts people, bothers people and it's indicative of a sickness in the heart, a sickness in the heart.

So number one, as a community we should really move beyond unfortunately the sick racial and ethnic politics that plague us institutionally, socially and communally. And that was something that Martin Luther King Jr. did.

If the Prophet met Martin Luther King Jr. and he met many of the Muslims, I bet he would say as far as this sunnah is concerned, this non-Muslim held to this sunnah greater than you do. That this non-Muslim held to this sunnah greater than you do. And how would we feel being the followers of the Prophet (صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَعَلَى آلِهِ - ṣallā Allāhu ʿalayhi wa ʿalā ālihi)

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knowing that someone who doesn't even believe in our faith outperformed us in one of the important sunnah of our beloved messenger (صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَعَلَى آلِهِ وَسَلَّمَ - ṣallā Allāhu ʿalayhi wa sallam)?

Second Lesson: Differing Without Being Disagreeable

The second thing that we learn from his life is to differ without being divisive, or to differ without being disagreeable. And unfortunately we find within the Muslim community the inability to exercise differences without being disagreeable. It's unfortunate man, because our tradition is a tradition of differences.

You know the first day I walked into Kulliyat al-Shari'ah in Azhar, the sheikh he told me:

You know the sheikh who was the mufti who taught us, he said, "(الْفِقْهُ - al-fiqh) is a speculative science." We said, "What do you mean it's a speculative science?" He said, "It means people they're going to differ a lot on issues, on rulings."

And I said to him, "Can you give us an example?" He said, "I'll give you one example: Imam Ahmed." I was shocked because usually if you have differences there has to be two parties or three parties or four parties or five parties right? But one person.

So I said to myself, how can one person differ on an issue? He said "(أَتَعْلَمُ - a-taʿlamu) - do you know that Imam Ahmed, Sayyidina Imam Ahmed (may Allah be pleased with him) on one issue he had 18 different opinions in his lifetime? He differed with himself 18 times."

I said, " (سُبْحَانَ اللَّهِ - Subḥāna Allāh) I never heard of someone differing with themselves more than 18 times." He said "(وَهُذَا مِنْ بَابِ - wa hādhā min bābi) (حُسْنِ تَوَاضُعِهِ - ḥusni tawāḍuʿihī), and this is from his humility, (رَضِيَ اللهُ تَعَالَى عَنْهُ - raḍiya Allāhu taʿālā ʿanhu).

The Issue of Celebrating the Mawlid

One of the issues that comes up every year is celebrating the (مَوْلِدِ سَيِّدِ الْأَوَّلِينَ وَالْآخِرِينَ - mawlidi sayyidil-awwalīna wal-ākhirīn). You know sometimes the community people get upset, they start to argue, they start to fight and they forget this important lesson: we should differ without being disagreeable.

I remember my first year in Al-Azhar, in the college not in the high school - I have a high school degree from Egypt (الْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ - al-ḥamdu lillāh) - I remember my first year there was one teacher, his name (مَا شَاءَ اللهُ - mā shāʾa Allāh) he was a great Mufti (الْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ - al-ḥamdu lillāh) he was our sheikh also in Dar al-Ifta, Sheikh Hilali.

You know he presented an issue and there was one brother, he got really upset, raised his hand, his face was red, was hot man, dude was hot. And the sheikh he said to him "(أَنْتَ أَوَّلُ السَّنَةِ - anta awwalu as-sanati)" - he said to him in Arabic, "You must be from first year students." He said, "How do you know that?" He said, "Because fourth year students they don't argue like this, only first year students." Only the pups, the pups are immature.

Understanding the Scholarly Difference on Mawlid

So this issue of (مَوْلِد - mawlid) - to celebrate the (مَوْلِد - mawlid) or not celebrate the (مَوْلِد - mawlid) - first of all this is an issue of Ijtihad. We have to make this very clear. This is an issue where the scholars differed from the very early days.

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in the (التَّنْوِيرُ بِمَوْلِدِ الْبَشِيرِ وَالنَّذِيرِ صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ - at-tanwīru bi-mawlidi al-bashīri wan-nadhīri ṣallā Allāhu ʿalayhi wa sallam): he's the first one to write a book - (أَبُو الْخَطَّابِ الْمَالِكِيُّ الْكَلَاعِيُّ - Abū al-Khaṭṭāb al-Mālikī al-Kalāʿī), In fact, 5th century. He was a great (فَقِيةٌ مَالِكِيٌّ - faqīhun Mālikī). When he wrote this book, the Khalifa gave him 500 gold pieces. He did not punish him, he gave him 500 gold pieces.

(رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْهُ الْمَقْرِيزِيُّ - raḍiya Allāhu ʿanhu al-Maqrīzī) - the great historian, he said from that time till my time - and he lived in the 9th century - he said all the people who were khalifa from that time to this time celebrated the (مَوْلِد - mawlid) of the Prophet (peace be upon him) with the ulama, especially the scholars of hadith and the scholars of fiqh.

The point is that I want to make here - and I'm pro-mawlid, I have to be honest with you, but I respect the other opinion (الْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ - al-ḥamdu lillāh) - that this opinion is something that the scholars differed on. You're not going to read about the scholars fighting, destroying a masjid, killing each other, talking bad about each other. They will argue the positions, they will discuss the positions like Shaykh al-Islam ibn Taymiyyah (رَحِمَهُ اللهُ - raḥimahu Allāh) and how ibn Hajar he answered ibn Taymiyyah, and al-Suyuti answered ibn Taymiyyah, and al-Sakhawi answered ibn Taymiyyah and his position on the (مَوْلِد - mawlid) of the Prophet (peace be upon him).

But they did not allow it to destroy their brotherhood. In fact, I'm reminded of a beautiful story of Imam al-Shafi'i (رَحِمَهُ اللهُ - raḥimahu Allāh). Imam al-Shafi'i once he was arguing with his student and it got heated to the point that his student got up and ran away. Al-Shafi'i he ran after him and he grabbed him and he said, "Don't forget my brotherhood, don't forget the brotherhood."

Issues That Should Not Destroy Our Unity

Unfortunately every year in America a number of things happen that destroy our brotherhood: (مَوْلِد - mawlid) - should we fast Ramadan in this time or that time, should we break our fast in Eid on this time or that time, should we vote, should we this, should we this. It should not destroy our brotherhood.

All of these are areas where the scholars are gonna differ. In fact, Imam al-Suyuti (رَضِيَ اللَّهُ تَعَالَى عَنْهُ - raḍiya Allāhu taʿālā ʿanhu) he wrote a very good book: (حُسْنُ الْمَقْصِدِ فِي عَمَلِ الْمَوْلِدِ - ḥusnu al-maqṣidi fī ʿamali al-mawlidi). And in that book he mentioned how the scholars differed on this issue and how other scholars answered them.

Understanding Bid'ah in Islamic Jurisprudence

The point I wanna make though is that the (مَوْلِد - mawlid) is not a (بِدْعَة - bidʿah) in the strong sense of the word. (بِدْعَةٌ حَسَنَةٌ عِنْدَ جُمْهُورِ الْفُقَهَاءِ - bidʿatun ḥasanatun ʿinda jumhūri al-fuqahāʾ) - and this definition of a good (بِدْعَة - bidʿah) and a bad (بِدْعَة - bidʿah) is accepted by the four schools of thought: the Hanafis, the Malikis, the Shafi'is and the Hanbalis.

(هُمْ فُقَهَاءُ - hum fuqahāʾu) - those (عُلَمَاءُ -

The Scholarly Support for Mawlid

So Imam al-Sakhawi (رَضِيَ اللهُ تَعَالَى عَنْهُ - radiAllahu ta'ala 'anhu) he said that as for the مَوْلِ this is one of the best things that happens in our day.

Imam al-Nawawi (رَضِيَ اللهُ تَعَالَى عَنْهُ - radiAllahu ta'ala 'anhu) said that as for bid'ah hasanah, one of the best bid'ah hasanah we ever saw in our life was the establishment of the Mawlid of the Prophet (peace be upon him).

This is Imam al-Nawawi (may Allah be pleased with him). Whether you differ or you don't differ, who will abuse Imam al-Nawawi? It's not possible.

The great Qadi Abu Bakr ibn al-Arabi al-Maliki, you know he's the great scholar like Imam al-Nawawi, but he didn't pray like this like most Malikis. And he went into one masjid in Morocco and he started praying like this and people they almost killed him. So don't think just because a great scholar or a great faqih, people didn't try to harm them. They did. And that's because unfortunately we haven't mastered the art of differing without being disagreeable.

Evidence for Observing the Mawlid

Imam al-Suyuti mentions two dalil for observing the Mawlid of the Prophet. The point I want to make here is we should not say it's (بِدْعَةٌ بِدْعَةٌ مَذْمُومَةٌ - bid'atun madhmumah) because (بِدْعَةٌ مَأْمُومَةٌ - bid'atun ma'mumah) means (لَيْسَ لَهَا أَصْلٌ - laysa laha asl) - it has no (تَأْصِيلُ الشَّرْعِي - ta'seel ash-shar'i) - it has no fundamental basis.

Imam al-Suyuti (رَضِيَ اللهُ تَعَالَى عَنْهُ - radiAllahu ta'ala 'anhu) said the first evidence is that the Prophet (peace be upon him) fasted on Mondays. When people ask him why you fasted on Mondays, he said:

(Sahih Muslim 1162)

"This is the day I was born" - (يَعْنِي بَيَّنَ الْعِلَّةَ - ya'ni bayyana al-'illah) as al-Suyuti he mentions.

Number two, he mentions that Anas ibn Malik (may Allah be pleased with him) as related by Imam al-Bayhaqi (بِإِسْنَادٍ صَحِيحٍ - bi'isnad sahih) he said that the Prophet (peace be upon him) (عَقَّ عَنْ نَفْسِهِ مَرَّتَيْنِ - 'aqqa 'an nafsihi marratayn) - that the Prophet made aqiqa for himself twice. One was by his uncle, but the second as an old man in Medina, the Prophet as related to us by Anas with sound isnad, he made the aqiqa for himself.

Al-Suyuti he said "(وَهَذَا الدَّلِيلُ - wa hadha al-dalil) - this is an evidence. This means it's not bid'ah. This is an evidence that the Prophet (صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَعَلَى آلِهِ وَصَحْبِهِ وَسَلَّمَ - sallAllahu 'alayhi wa sallam) was showing us the importance of his day of birth."

Maintaining Unity Despite Differences

The point I wanna make is honestly I'm happy with every position you choose. I'm not here to force you, but what I want to do is bring some maturity to our communities. We cannot destroy ourselves over issues like this when we have bigger problems in our community.

Look at Syria, look at Egypt, look at the illiteracy rate of Muslims in some countries. I traveled to one Muslim country, the illiteracy rate amongst women is 60%. If we were more encouraged and more motivated to remove polio and illiteracy from the Muslim lands and to build proper Muslim communities where we are able to serve each other, then these little issues, oh Allah, things will be much better.

So the point I wanna make is regardless of what position you choose, these are not issues that we should destroy ourselves over.

Al-Shafi'i (رَحِمَهُ اللهُ - rahimahullah) he said that the issues of ijtihad, these issues where scholars are going to differ, no one should raise his hand to another person - meaning he should not hit or she should not hit that person - nor should they abuse that other person. But as I mentioned in the beginning of the khutbah, they should discuss them with justice and they should engage them with proofs.

The Example of the Companions

We ask Allah even if we differ to not forget that we are brothers. Look at the companions of the Prophet (peace be upon him). When the Prophet (peace be upon him) sent his companions to Bani Qurayza and he said:

"Pray Asr when you reach Bani Qurayza."

And they differed. According to Sahih al-Bukhari, as they were going to Bani Qurayza, the time of Maghrib came and some sahabi said, "The Prophet (peace be upon him), he did not know that we're gonna miss this time of Maghrib, we have to pray Asr now."

The other they said, ", we have to obey the letter of Allah, we'll pray after Maghrib even Asr."

So you had two groups. They didn't fight each other, they didn't kill each other, they didn't destroy each other, they didn't make YouTube posts about each other, they didn't blog about each other, they didn't slander each other. And they got there and the Prophet (peace be upon him), he did not say you're right or you're right, he (صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَعَلَى آلِهِ وَصَحْبِهِ وَسَلَّمَ - sallAllahu 'alayhi wa sallam), sanctioned both actions.

And this hadith is one of the most important hadith in the بَابُ الْإِفْتَاءِ and بَابُ الإِجْتِهَادِ because it creates a sense of ethics and love and brotherhood and sisterhood even if we differ.

Closing Reflections

So ask Allah to let us learn this important point from the life of Martin Luther King Jr. that we as a community we can differ and we will have our differences, but we should not destroy ourselves, we should not wreck ourselves. But we should remember that we are one Ummah even if we have small, small fractures, not major fractures. And you never amputate because of a fracture but you make sure you treat it.

So ask Allah as we ask Allah to protect our brothers and sisters everywhere. Ask Allah to purify our hearts from hypocrisy and our tongues from lies and our lives from hypocrisy. Ask Allah to give us a good life and a good hereafter and save us from the torment of hell. Ask Allah to remove the disease of racism from our hearts. Ask Allah to replace that with love, Inshallah, for every Muslim brother and sister and humanity.

We ask Allah to let us benefit truly from the teachings of the Quran and Sunnah in a way that it will bring Nur into every action of our being. We ask Allah to bless those who have become Muslim. We ask Allah to guide their parents to Islam, to open the hearts of their parents to the truth. We ask Allah to guide their family members and their friends and those around them.

We ask Allah to bless this community. We ask Allah to bless the people of Somalia. We ask Allah to protect our brothers and sisters in Palestine and in Egypt and in Syria and Kashmir and Bangladesh. We ask Allah to bless the people of our neighborhood that we live in. May Allah make us a benefit to them, an extension of the mercy of our beloved Prophet (peace be upon him).