In God We Trust - Corrected Khutba

In God We Trust

55th Annual ISNA Convention Khutba by Yasir Qadhi

As-salamu alaykum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh. Alhamdulillah wa salatu wa salamu ala Rasulullah wa ala alihi wa sahbihi wa man wala.

Introduction: The Living Message of Seerah

The seerah of our Prophet (صَلَّىٰ ٱللَّٰهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ - sallAllahu alayhi wa sallam) is one of the most important sources of our religion. It is supposed to inspire, to guide, to empower us to be better Muslims. Yet for many of us, the stories of the seerah are abstract tidbits, historical facts that might sound good but bear little relevancy to our modern lives.

And this is a mistake and a shortcoming from our part. For the seerah is supposed to be a lived message, where we connect the dots from the past to our lives here in the present. So in today's talk, I want to discuss a number of incidents from the life of the Prophet (صَلَّىٰ ٱللَّٰهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ - sallAllahu alayhi wa sallam) and draw parallels with specific events and circumstances of our own time.

So that the seerah becomes not just tales from the past but lessons for our contemporary lives.

The Foundation: La ilaha illallah

From the life of the Prophet (صَلَّىٰ ٱللَّٰهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ - sallAllahu alayhi wa sallam),we learn that the single most important aspect of our faith is the kalima of La ilaha illallah Muhammadur Rasulullah. There is no deity worthy of my unconditional servitude or obedience or worship other than Allah.

We learn that the Prophet (صَلَّىٰ ٱللَّٰهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ - sallAllahu alayhi wa sallam) spoke out against all false gods, against all idols that threaten this kalima. And that he persevered in this message from the beginning to the end. We learn that most other peoples, societies, cultures, they create false gods.

They love gods that are not true. And those gods divert them from the worship of the true God. And Islam is sent to liberate the minds of people from those false gods and call to the worship of Allah alone.

Modern Idolatry

Now in our times it is true that the type of idolatry that was practiced in Arabia is almost gone, especially in the world around us. But many of us don't realize that we are living at a time and a place, in a society where there are many other types of false gods that prevent us, that hinder us from the worship of Allah (جَلَّ جَلَالُهُ - jalla jalaluhu)

A lot of times those modern gods, our modern gods, are not constructed of bricks and stones but they are concepts and ideas. Whether it is the idea of materialism, whether it is the veneration of the nation state to the point of almost worship, we as Muslims need to constantly think to ourselves, do we truly believe that there is nothing greater than Allah (جَلَّ جَلَالُهُ - jalla jalaluhu)? And we also always need to prioritize worship to Allah (جَلَّ جَلَالُهُ - jalla jalaluhu)

The Moral Foundation of Islam

From the seerah we learn that our religion is not just about theology, but there is also morality and ethics. It is not just good enough to believe in Allah, we need to strive to be better in our actions. And that means preaching and practicing morally upright beliefs and practices.

From the seerah we learn that of the earliest teachings that our Prophet (صَلَّىٰ ٱللَّٰهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ - sallAllahu alayhi wa sallam) taught was female infanticide is haram, was that racism is an affront to human dignity.

These teachings were highly unpopular at the time, they were politically incorrect, they turned many people off, and yet the Prophet (صَلَّىٰ ٱللَّٰهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ - sallAllahu alayhi wa sallam) remained firm and did not waver.

Standing by Islamic Values

In our times, we too have many aspects of morality that people find politically inconvenient. We as Muslims, we have a different view of morality, of sexuality, of gender roles, and even of gender.

And if we want to learn from the seerah, then we need to learn that our job is to preach the truth, and to stick by it, no matter how unpopular those truths may be. Morality is not defined by a majority vote, it's not what is politically correct, it's not what happens to be in vogue. Even if all of mankind agrees that the immoral is moral for us as Muslims, the immoral shall remain immoral.

And we have clear definitions of how we practice our understanding of marriage, our understanding of gender, our understanding of gender roles. And if we want to remain faithful to the shariah, and faithful to the seerah, then it doesn't matter what the criticism of the critics says, it doesn't matter what is politically correct or incorrect, we will stand by our values, as the Prophet (صَلَّىٰ ٱللَّٰهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ - sallAllahu alayhi wa sallam) taught us.

Rejecting Worldly Temptations

From the seerah, we learn that multiple times, our Prophet (صَلَّىٰ ٱللَّٰهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ - sallAllahu alayhi wa sallam) was offered gifts, he was offered bribes, he was offered money, he was even offered leadership, if he only remained quiet and stopped preaching his message.

The Quraysh were willing to make him their leader, to make him their richest, if only he compromised on the teachings of Islam. And he said that famous phrase to his uncle, "Oh my uncle, if they were to put the sun in my right hand and the moon in my left hand, I would not stop preaching what I am doing."

So we learn from the seerah brothers and sisters, that the goal is never just to be accepted by society, the goal is never just to live a comfortable life, if that had been the goal of the Prophet (صَلَّىٰ ٱللَّٰهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ - sallAllahu alayhi wa sallam) he would have accepted any one of these compromises.

But the goal is never acceptance, the goal is to be role models of truth, to be pinnacles and paragons of virtue in our community, to preach the truth, and to make sure that we follow in the footsteps of the Prophet.

Persecution, Migration, and Our Duty to Refugees

From the seerah we learn, that sometimes believers will face persecution, they will have to flee from their lands, as the Muslims had to flee from Mecca, first to Abyssinia and then to Medina. We learn that the Muslims faced much hardships and sacrifice.

So when we look at the seerah, we remind our brothers and sisters in Burma, our brothers and sisters in Syria, our brothers and sisters around the globe, that being persecuted for one's faith is nothing new, that migrating for one's religion is of the highest acts of worship, and that those who migrate shall attain Allah's rewards in this life, and eventual victory in this life and the next.

The Role of the Ansar

But we also learn from the seerah, that those who are not being persecuted, like the Ansar of Medina, they need to make space in their own homes for the refugees, they need to welcome them, they need to share their wealth with them, they need to make their own communities safe and open for those that have fled persecution, and that job is here on us now.

We cannot sit in silence when our country wishes to build walls and shut refugees out. We cannot sit in silence when the Muslims of Myanmar, the Muslims of Burma, are being persecuted, when the refugees of Syria are not given safe haven, when the refugees from Central Africa are not being allowed to worship Allah. It is our job, like it was the job of the Ansar of Medina, to open their doors, to put pressure on their societies, and to make room for their brothers and sisters.

The Tragedy of Family Separation

From the seerah, we learn that hatred blinds people to the point of separating mothers from their own children. Umm Salama, who eventually becomes our mother, the wife of the Prophet (صَلَّىٰ ٱللَّٰهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ - sallAllahu alayhi wa sallam) Umm Salama, when she wanted to perform hijrah, her people prevented her from doing so. Her son and child was taken away from her. She was separated from her own flesh and blood, and she was kept locked up, locked up away from her own child for many months on end, just because of the hatred they had for the new faith.

Modern Family Separations

And that same irrational hatred, that same bigotry and xenophobia of the other, it is now being practiced domestically as well. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, commonly known as ICE, have separated thousands of parents from their own children, and have kept children incarcerated in kennels. To this day, we don't know how many thousands were subjected to emotional, physical, and even sexual abuse.

We don't know how many hundreds and thousands have yet to be reunited with their own mothers and fathers. Oh Muslims, we cannot stand by in silence, as our own country does this barbaric deed.

Our Prophet (صَلَّىٰ ٱللَّٰهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ - sallAllahu alayhi wa sallam) said, "Whoever separates a mother from her child shall be separated from his own loved ones on Judgment Day."

A Warning for All

So let us make sure that we do not remain silent in the face of this adversity and this evil. And I say, brothers and sisters, that it is truly terrifying to see that these agents, many of whom are parents themselves, would obey orders and follow commands so blindly. And this is a wake-up call for those amongst us who believe that intermittent camps, that, maybe even worse, would not happen over here.

If an entire bureaucracy willingly and blindly followed orders to physically separate crying toddlers from their mothers, do you think they would hesitate when the orders came to arrest Muslims? Do you think they would hesitate when the orders came to round up people of a certain ethnicity, or even more than this? This is food for thought for us Muslims and all minorities. And we learn this from the seerah.

The Tactic of False Accusations

From the seerah we learn that many times those who oppose Islam, they attempt to smear it with the very crimes that they themselves are guilty of.

A few months before the Battle of Badr, an incident occurred where an expedition party outside of Mecca got involved in a small skirmish in which one person of the Quraysh lost his life. Immediately, the Quraysh raised a hue and cry. They accused the Muslims of breaking the sanctity of the haram. They accused the Muslims of killing and of wreaking havoc and of creating chaos. They accused the Muslims of bloodshed. And it was true that a minor incident had occurred.

Say, it is a major sin that this life was taken. But, O Quraysh, what you have done of preventing people to worship Allah, of killing an entire group, of expelling an entire civilization is much bigger crime in the eye of Allah than the crime you're accusing the Muslims of doing.

Modern Applications

So we learn from the seerah, brothers and sisters, that it is a common tactic of the enemies to smear the Muslims with what they themselves are guilty of.

In our times, millions of Muslims are being persecuted in China. The Muslims of Kashmir, we know what's happening with them. Palestine is an apartheid state and an apartheid state has taken control of that region for over 60 or 70 years.

Yet, it is the Muslims who are called terrorists. We are being asked sometimes by those from within our own to compare the crimes of Zionists with those of the Palestinians and to sympathize with both sides in the name of fairness. But the two are not the same and you cannot compare one side with the other.

Just like with the Quraysh and the Muslims, they are not the same. For on the one side, you have the occupier. On the other, you have the occupied. On the one side, you have the oppressor. On the other, you have the oppressed. On the one side, you have an apartheid systematic oppression of an entire civilization. And on the other side, you have resistance to occupation. The two are not the same. And to prevent an entire people from flourishing is a bigger crime than anything you accuse them of doing.

We learn this from the seerah.

The Case of Unjust Imprisonment: Lessons from Abu Jandal

From the seerah, we learn that during the incident of Hudaybiyyah, a companion by the name of Abu Jandal had been unjustly imprisoned. And he managed to free himself for a while and begged the Muslims to save him. The Prophet (صَلَّىٰ ٱللَّٰهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ - sallAllahu alayhi wa sallam) attempted to negotiate the freedom of Abu Jandal with the Quraysh. He pleaded his case and pleaded and pleaded.

So much so that one of the companions said that I have never in my whole life seen the Prophet (صَلَّىٰ ٱللَّٰهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ - sallAllahu alayhi wa sallam) beg and plead so much as he did for Abu Jandal. It didn't work. Abu Jandal remained a prisoner for a period of time.

But the Prophet (صَلَّىٰ ٱللَّٰهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ - sallAllahu alayhi wa sallam) tried his utmost. And even when Abu Jandal was taken away back to Mecca, the Prophet (صَلَّىٰ ٱللَّٰهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ - sallAllahu alayhi wa sallam) raised awareness about him, made dua for him, and eventually Allah (جَلَّ جَلَالُهُ - jalla jalaluhu) created a way for Abu Jandal to be freed.

So we learn from the seerah that when a Muslim is unjustly imprisoned, prophetic guidance dictates that we attempt to negotiate, to petition, to bring awareness, and to call out that injustice.

Contemporary Muslim Prisoners

Around the world, brothers and sisters, there are prisoners who have been jailed for no crime they have been convicted of, merely for being Muslims. And where does one begin? As we stand here today, 16 years have gone by and Guantanamo is still open. Dozens of human beings, all of them Muslim, languish in conditions worse than how animals are treated in this land.

The rest of the world might have forgotten them, but the seerah teaches us we will never forget about them. They are going to be in our duas, and we will continue to try whatever we can to free them.

And another case that we should all be aware of, we have in our midst, Sister Aya Khalaf, an American citizen. Her mother is Ula Qardawi, her father is Hissam Khalaf, and they are the daughter and son-in-law of Sheikh Qardawi. And they have been imprisoned for no crime, other than for the crime of being the daughter and the son-in-law of Sheikh Qardawi.

The Case of Dr. Tariq Ramadan

And speaking of Muslim prisoners, how can I not mention one of the most prominent political prisoners of our times? Someone who has spoken on this very platform multiple times, and who would be eagerly invited by any and all Muslim organizations, and I refer to Dr. Tariq Ramadan.

Let me be clear here. This is not about what he has been accused or not accused. This is not about the alleged crimes. This is about the very clear fact of him being treated differently, simply because he is Muslim. Of having been dragged into custody, put into isolation, in solitary confinement, deprived and denied of medication for months on end, without even being convicted of a crime, whereas many other people accused of much worse in that land are walking away scot-free. I say this loud and clear.

Oh Muslim organizations who are so eager to invite Dr. Tariq Ramadan, who are so prominently advertising his presence on your own stage, your silence in the face of this travesty of justice is deafening. Is it so easy for you? Is it so easy for you to abandon your own Muslim brother? What a shame. And we learn from the seerah, we will not be silent.

Self-Criticism: The Example of Khalid ibn al-Walid

From the seerah as well, speaking of self-criticism, we learn that sometimes you need to criticize your own for a wrong that they have committed. When Khalid ibn al-Walid, as a brand new Muslim, was sent out on an expedition, he made a major mistake. And he took the lives of some innocent people.

This hadith is in Bukhari (Bukhari 4339), and I've spoken about this in my seerah lecture. He made a mistake. He was a new Muslim, and he took the lives of people he shouldn't have taken.

When the news reached the Prophet (صَلَّىٰ ٱللَّٰهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ - sallAllahu alayhi wa sallam)and this is Khalid ibn al-Walid, by the way. This is the sword of Allah. When the news reached the Prophet (صَلَّىٰ ٱللَّٰهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ - sallAllahu alayhi wa sallam), he turned his back on Khalid. He raised his hands to the Qibla to Allah. And he said, "Oh Allah, I distance myself from what Khalid has done. Oh Allah, I distance myself from what Khalid has done."

Meaning, I have nothing to do with this action. So he took a public stance against someone who was highly respected and highly beloved to many people. And this teaches us, brothers and sisters, that we cannot let our past ties and our loyalties blind us to the false of our own.

Applying Self-Criticism Today

Each and every one of us in the clerical circle by virtue of our studies and interactions has ties with other lands and other regimes. And when those lands commit mistakes, those who wish to walk on the prophetic path must criticize their own before they accept the criticism of others.

When muftis of some lands legitimize the army attacking thousands of people in a masjid callously calling for them to be murdered, then those who associate with that strand of Islam need to stand up and dissociate from those types of people.

When other muftis praise tyrants and butchers who gas their own people, who support the most tyrannical pharaonic regimes, then it is time for our real scholars to stand up and wipe their hands of them.

And when those who claim to be custodians of the sacred mosques and protectors of the haram, when they bomb innocent Yemeni school children and they shed the blood of innocent women and children under the false pretense of sectarianism, then those who have ties with those lands need to stand up and make their stance crystal clear.

The Sanctity of Muslim Life

Brothers and sisters, it is reported in the sunan of Ibn Majah (Ibn Majah 3932) that the Prophet (صَلَّىٰ ٱللَّٰهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ - sallAllahu alayhi wa sallam) was doing tawaf around the Kaaba. He looked at the Kaaba and he said:

How great are you! How majestic are you! How beautiful are you! But by Allah, the life of one Muslim is more precious to Allah than you.

Anyone who claims to be the custodian of a sacred mosque yet massacres innocent Muslims is no custodian of any mosque of Allah.

Conclusion: The Eternal Spring of Wisdom

Muslims, Muslims, the seerah is a spring that always gives us water. It is a never-ending source of wisdom and gems. From the seerah, we learn that sincerity to Allah is the most precious commodity. That the pleasure of the people is never a praiseworthy goal.

That the worship of Allah is the most satisfying nourishment. That adversity only increases the piety of the pious. That dua is the weapon of the oppressed.

That help comes from Allah, sometimes from the most unexpected of sources. That victory only comes to those who are patient. That with every difficulty comes ease.

And that iman and taqwa shall always be victorious in the end. From the seerah, we learn. From the seerah, we learn.

JazakumAllahu Khayran. Wassalamualaikum warahmatullahi wabarakatuh.