Khutbah The Siege of Gaza in Light of An Incident from the Sīrah Shaykh
By Yasir Qadhi | 2026-01-07T22:50:11.680665+00:00 | Topic: Justice
The Siege of Gaza in Light of An Incident from the Sirah
Shaykh Dr. Yasir Qadhi
Opening
All praise is due to Allah, we praise Him and seek His help and forgiveness, and we seek refuge in Allah from the evils of ourselves and from the wickedness of our deeds. Whomsoever Allah guides, there is none to misguide him; and whomsoever Allah misguides, there is none to guide him. And I bear witness that there is no deity worthy of worship except Allah alone, without any partners; and I bear witness that Muhammad is His servant and Messenger. O you who have believed, fear Allah as He should be feared and do not die except as Muslims [in submission to Him].
Inna alhamdulillah, nahmaduhu wa nast'ainuhu wa nastaghfiruhu wa na'udhu billahi min shururi anfusina wa min sayyiati a'malina man yahdihi allahu fala mudhilla lah wa man yudhilhu fala hadiya lah wa ashhadu an la ilaha illa allahu wahdahu la sharika lah wa ashhadu anna muhammadan abduhu wa rasuluh ya ayyuha allatheena amanu ittaqullaha haqqa tuqatihi wa la tamutunna illa wa antum muslimun
O you who have believed, fear Allah as He should be feared and do not die except as Muslims [in submission to Him].
Amma ba'd, dear Muslims,
The Historical Context: The Boycott of Banu Hashim
The 8th Year of Meccan Da'wa
In the 8th year of the Meccan da'wa, 3 years or 4 years before the hijrah, after the Quraysh had tried multiple tactics and Islam was still rising, they tried the tortures of Yasir and Sumayyah, they tried the tortures of Bilal, they tried preaching against the prophets and making fun of him, when multiple tactics failed and Islam was still rising, Hamza had just embraced Islam, Umar ibn al-Khattab had just embraced Islam, the Quraysh came together and they did one of their most dastardly, one of their most evil, inhumane tactics.
The Boycott Decree
What did they do? They all came together and they said, we shall boycott the Muslims, we shall isolate the Banu Hashim, we will not sell them food or water, we will not intermarry amongst them, we will not allow anybody to sit in a gathering where there's a Muslim, and we will force Abu Talib to hand over the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) and we can execute him, or they will have to leave and get rid of, astaghfirullah, from their perspective, this nuisance.
And so they came together and Abu Jahl was the leader of this boycott, and Abu Jahl enacted a treaty, in which every major tribe signed on except for the Banu Hashim, that they would boycott the Banu Hashim, no buying and selling anything, no social interaction, no marriages will take place.
The Reality of the Boycott
Now realize sisters and brothers, Mecca does not have farmland, there are no agriculture and crops, everything you have to purchase from the market, everything you go there, there are people coming and they're selling. When you stop the selling of products, where are they gonna get food from? And the boycott affected only the Muslim community, and of course the Banu Hashim, the tribe of Abu Talib.
Abu Talib tried to negotiate, he tried to plea with them. This had never happened in history, never had this happened. How inhumane can you be? You're not gonna sell food to your own relatives? You're gonna let your own relatives starve?
And Abu Talib tried and tried, but Abu Jahl and his arrogance won the day. Abu Jahl was, you know who he was, you know his reality, and people were scared of him. And he had a physical persona, and an aura that intimidated people. And he was the de facto leader of the Quraish. Abu Talib was a gentle man, he was respected, but Abu Jahl was the vicious, you know the tyrant.
The Treaty in the Kaaba
And so Abu Jahl's will was in fact enacted. And they wrote this boycott, the treaty. And to give themselves a bit of ego boost, and to make them feel nice, they said, we will hang it inside the Kaaba.
As if hanging it inside the Kaaba, made it less evil. As if hanging it inside the Kaaba, made it more sanctified and holy. They wanted to placate their guilt. They said, we're gonna put it inside the Kaaba. And so that's exactly what they did.
Abu Talib's Response: The Sha'ab
The Withdrawal to the Valley
Abu Talib was so incensed and enraged, that he decided to physically boycott Mecca itself. He took the Muslims, and he went to a valley that the Banu Hashim owns, it's called the Shaba of the Banu Hashim. It's outside of Mecca, these days of course it's inside the city. It's an entire valley.
Now, he didn't do this out of fear. He did it for two reasons. First and foremost, there was a genuine sense of rage. How dare you do this? And to show how angry he was. This was a type of protest. How dare you boycott your own relatives? How dare you not sell us food and water?
And secondly, to protect the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) from physical harm. Because up until this point in time, there was no physical harm. But things are changing. Talk of assassination has begun. As you know, after the death of Abu Talib, they will actually attempt to assassinate. You know this. But right now it's still the eighth year of the da'wah.
There hasn't been any actual assassination attempts, but talk has begun. So Abu Talib, to protect the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم), physically withdrew. And there was a valley there, that only had one entrance, so you can guard and protect it. And they went into this valley.
Duration of the Siege
For how long? In my analysis of the seerah wallahualam, I think around 18 months is the more reasonable. A year and a half, they stayed in this valley.
Survival During the Boycott
Attempts to Purchase from Outside
Now, how did you survive? How did they survive for a year and a half? Without interacting with the people. Without going to the markets. Without being sold food. How did they interact? Subhanallah, multiple ways.
First and foremost, they attempted to buy from outside of Makkah. Because again, when you're boycotted, when you're ostracized, what will you do? And so when caravans would come from outside of Makkah, non-Qurashi, the treaty is not binding on them, is it? The treaty is not binding on them.
The treaty is only for the people of Makkah. So outside caravans, when they would come, the Muslims would send people, negotiate and purchase, even for a higher price. But then Abu Jahl found out.
And Abu Jahl then came to these caravans. And Abu Jahl said, whatever they're giving you, I'll give you double. I promise you, I will give you a bigger profit. So he tried his best to outman them, to out-veto them. He tried his best to shut off this avenue as well. And sometimes he was successful, sometimes he wasn't.
Support from Relatives
How else did they survive for a year and a half? Kindness of relatives. Because again, the Banu Hashim were boycotted, but the Banu Hashim have relatives, marriages and cousins and whatnot, that are involved in the entire society. And so non-Muslims, pagans, idol worshippers who had conscience, who had love for their relatives, they would give surreptitiously.
Hakim ibn Hizam's Support
Amongst them is the nephew of Khadijah. Khadijah's nephew, Hakim ibn Hizam. This is Khadijah's brother's son. Hakim ibn Hizam was a very wealthy merchant, and he was not a Muslim at this time. Eventually he embraces Islam.
And he would go, and he would give food to the people. And once Abu Jahl caught him, and he was with his servant, and he had barrels of food to give. And Abu Jahl said, where are you going? He tried to change the subject, eventually he had to confess, I'm going to the sha'ab of Banu Hashim.
And Abu Jahl began beating him up. And Hakim was no small man himself. A physical fight ensued, until other Quraishis got involved, and Hakim was allowed to go in. But a one-off basically, he was told not to go after this. They didn't want the bloodshed to occur amongst them. But there were people who were physically fighting the boycott.
People of Conscience
There were people who, because of their blood relatives, were not allowing this to take place. And that is Hakim ibn Hizam and another group. There's yet another group there. No blood relations, but still people of conscience. No physical relatives in the sha'ab of Banu Hashim. But they have, not iman, they have humanity I should say.
They have a sense of compassion. How can this be happening? You're allowing people to starve? It is said in the books of the seerah, in the Ibn Sa'ad's tabaqat and others. It is mentioned that the cries of the children in the sha'ab could be heard by the people of Mecca.
The hungry children without any food, they're crying at night. And the people of Mecca could hear those cries. How can it not move your heart? And these are in the end of the day, even if the Banu Hashim is one tribe, all of the other tribes are related by blood. It's a third, fourth cousin. It's basically all related to one another. You've grown up together. You're the same group, you're the same population.
Mut'im ibn Adi's Compassion
So there were people who were moved with compassion, even though they were not from the Banu Hashim. And they were not related to the Banu Hashim. And most prominent amongst them, and I've given multiple lectures about this person, Mut'im ibn Adi. Mut'im ibn Adi whom the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) himself honored in the battle of Badr. And I don't have time to get into there.
He died a pagan. He didn't ever accept Islam. But Mut'im had compassion in his heart. And he was the chieftain of his tribe. He wasn't no lowly... He was a chieftain. And he could not stand this inhumanity.
So in the middle of the night, can you imagine a chieftain waking up at 3 AM and himself taking a camel. Every few weeks or months he would do this. He would take a camel, one of his own camels, generosity. He would load it with barley, with food, with grain, with dates, whatever there was there. He would load it. And in the middle of the night, so nobody stops him. Nobody catches him. He goes to the valley. And he just releases the camel inside.
And a camel full of food is gonna last you a few months by the way they're rationing it out.
Extreme Hardship
So this is how... And by the way it is also mentioned that Bilal and others they mentioned that when Bilal was asked, how did you survive? He said, we would eat the shrubs, the cactus, the leaves on the floor.
That's what we would eat. Sometimes in order to survive, they literally had to become, astaghfirullah, eating like goats. Whatever is there, they will eat it. And this is mentioned in our books of Sira as well.
The End of the Boycott
Abu Talib's Delegation
18 months, a year and a half. Some books say 2-3 years, but I think realistically it's 18 months or so. But then how did it end? How did this evil, inhumane time end? Two things happened.
Firstly, Abu Tarib himself, after this time frame, after a year and a half, he himself came back in with a delegation. And he had a public challenge to the Nadi, to the parliament of the Quraysh. And he attempted to negotiate, even though it wasn't quite successful, but he attempted to negotiate with them immediately.
How long can you do this last? How long will you keep us there? So Abu Tarib took a delegation back into the city, and he attempted to cancel that treaty.
Internal Dissent Among the Quraysh
Around the same time, again, we don't have eyewitnesses too many, but we're trying to piece it together. Perhaps in the same week, we don't know exactly when, was the straw that broke the camel's back, as the saying goes. And this was the internal dissent amongst the Quraysh.
The internal dissent amongst the other tribes, who could not bear to see the inhumanity, to see the pain, to see the suffering, to see the starvation. Because people in the end of the day, there are people of conscience, even amongst the elites, even amongst the people who don't believe in Allah in the final day, you have humanity.
And so groups of people began, you know there's fomenting dissent, but who's gonna challenge Abu Jahl? Who's gonna be that person who can actually take on this tyrant, this Fir'aun? The Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) said, Abu Jahl is the Fir'aun of our ummah. He is the Fir'aun of our ummah. Who's gonna challenge this Fir'aun? Subhanallah.
And a witness from her family testified.
Abu Jahl's cousin from the same tribe of Banu Makhzum. His name is Hisham, Hisham ibn Amr. Abu Jahl's cousin, another Makhzumi. And Makhzum by the way, and the Banu Hashim were the biggest rivals. They hated each other's guts. They were competitors.
But this is too far, too much pain. And so even somebody from the Banu Makhzum, his heart stirs. And he happens to be the cousin of Abu Jahl.
Building the Coalition
And he begins visiting some of the senior delegates of the Quraysh. And he goes to Zuhayr ibn Abi Umayyah, who is also a very famous person from the tribe. But Banu Khuwaylid from the tribe of Khadijah.
And in fact, he is also a cousin of the Prophet ﷺ from his aunt Atika, i.e. the Prophet's father's sister is Zuhayr's mother. So he's the aunt's son of the Prophet ﷺ. He goes to Zuhayr. And after they have dinner, he goes, Zuhayr, how can you have dinner when your own cousins are starving?
And Zuhayr says, I know, but what do you want me to do? I'm one person. I agree with you, I don't like this. But I can't do this alone. And so Hisham says, don't worry, I'll get somebody else.
And so he goes to Mut'im ibn Adi. And he says to Mut'im, Mut'im, you know this is not right, let's do something. Mut'im says, what can the two of us do? He says, don't worry, I'll get you some other people.
And so he went to Zuma'a ibn al-Aswad. And he said the same thing. Each one of them, he's going and he's saying, and he chooses the right people. And he knows whose hearts are soft. And he persuades them one by one until finally when all 4, 5, 6 of them come, he goes, look, now we have the core that we need. We have the critical mass to lift the boycott.
We have now developed an internal descent to overcome this veto.
The Strategic Plan
Now what do we do? Now here is where Hisham, he plots a plan, a halal plan, a very ingenious plan. And he sets up a beautiful strategy of how to overcome the boycott.
So he says, khalas, at this time when everybody gathers, there's an afternoon time where all the Quraysh would come in front of the Ka'bah just chilling in our vernacular, sipping coffee or whatever. You know that time when everybody sits in front of their houses. We're gonna come at that time, you sit here, you sit here, you sit here, and I'm gonna do tawaf.
When a Quraysh did tawaf, this was a sign that I have something important to say. When somebody from Quraysh, when he's doing tawaf, this is a sign, guys, I have an announcement to make. And so he goes, and then you do tawaf.
The Execution
And so Zuhair, he said to Zuhair, you do tawaf, and then you say these lines. To summarize, so Zuhair then, the cousin of the Prophet ﷺ, Zuhair did tawaf, and everybody is saying, oh, Zuhair is doing tawaf, this means there must be an important announcement.
After Zuhair finishes tawaf, they're waiting for him to say something, he then says, oh, people of Quraysh, how long can we sit in our houses and enjoy our families and food when our own kith and kin are starving to death? How long can we do this?
Now, why was Zuhair chosen? Because Zuhair, out of all of them, he's the first cousin of the Prophet, as I said, his mother is the aunt of the Prophet ﷺ. So it makes the most logical sense that Zuhair was chosen.
So Zuhair says, look, it's not fair, our relatives are dying. As soon as this was the cause, Abu Jahl, obviously, immediately stands up, sit down and be quiet. This is a done deal, you have no right to speak against our agreement.
But all of this is planned. And so as soon as Abu Jahl says this, Abu al-Bakhtari, another of the elite of them, stands up and he goes, no, this treaty that you did, it was done in haste, you didn't follow protocol, I was not consulted. So he brings up a technicality, this is not fair, when you passed it, I wasn't there and I was supposed to be voting.
So then when he says that, then one of the third stands up, and the third one says, I too disagree, we need to get rid of this. And then finally the last of them, Mut'im ibn Adi, who is the senior most, the eldest, Mut'im stands up and he goes, it is time we cancel this treaty, it is time we annul this treaty.
And Abu Jahl is saying, one, two, three, four, five, all the different places. And he realizes, he goes, this is a plot you guys have done from before, this can't be happening, but it's too late. Why? Because public sentiment had turned. The Quraysh themselves did not want this boycott anymore.
They realized this was too inhumane, they realized it was too unjust, and so the tide had shifted, and Abu Jahl was out-vetoed, and the siege was lifted up.
Return to Месса
And so the Muslims were then allowed back into the city of Mecca. But, even when they were allowed back in, this was not the end of it all, this was still persecution, they still had to migrate, but it was better than the boycott, it was better than the sha'ab of the Banu Hashim.
The assassination attempts are still to come, but still the Muslims are back in the city, they can breathe, they're back home, they can eat and drink, it's better than their status quo.
Parallels with Gaza
Drawing Comparisons
Now, sisters and brothers, you all know where I'm heading with this. Obviously, we're talking about this in light of ghazzah. And obviously, when you compare any two situations, you find similarities, and you find
differences. So please, I'm not saying it's exactly the same, please, be a little bit more mature. I'm trying to derive points.
Nobody point out, oh, of course it's different. No two situations will be exactly the same. But I'm trying to derive benefits about what we can look at, some of the positives from this incident that we can look at insha'Allah ta'ala.
Striking Similarities
Because the similarities are way too many. The people of ghazzah have been trapped up, like the Banu Hashim. The people of ghazzah are economically boycotted.
Like Abu Jahl goes to the other tribes, says, don't sell to them. The United Nations, our own country has vetoed. Nobody can interact with them. They shut the border down. Just like Abu Jahl did, now we have the United Nations in its place doing the exact same thing. Nobody should sell.
You can't even give baby food to the babies. You cannot even give humanitarian aid except 20 trucks a day. For 2 million people, 20 trucks a day. If this is not Abu Jahl, then what is Abu Jahl?
The Reality of Starvation
And the similarities as well. Again, you find this reality of nothing to eat and drink. Subhanallah, I saw a tweet yesterday of a famous shaykh, well-known author in ghazzah. He's written many books and a famous muhaddith. And he wrote, when the internet came back up, he goes, I want the world to know, there are three of us living here, and I found an old onion. That's all I had.
And we boiled the onion, and three men ate from boiled soup onion, and we peeled the onion, and we ate, that was our food for today. They ate an onion, three men. This is, again, subhanallah, what is happening?
The Callousness of the World
The callousness of the people. Just like the Quraysh could hear the children crying, and the sha'abah Banu Hashim, now we see children crying, we see dead children. And where is the humanity of the world?
But here's the point, what can we learn? And again, there are differences. But what can we learn from this story?
Lessons from the Seerah
There Will Always Be People of Conscience
We learn so much, sisters and brothers, we learn so much of them, is that there will always be people, always be people on the other side, who are standing against injustice. They have some humanity. You
will find the Hisham Ibn Amr, the Mut'im Ibn Adiz, the Zuhayr, you will find these people.
The Need for Negotiation and Internal Voices
And when you find them, of the benefits we learn as well, is that the delegation of Abu Talib, you need to go and negotiate. Abu Talib went with the delegation, there must have been Muslims in that delegation, there must have been people negotiating with the Quraysh, how can you do this?
So Abu Talib's negotiation, along with the internal dissent put together, that is how it broke in the end. That is the two things that came together, the internal voice and the external voice, they came together.
The Reality of Human Hearts
So you have this reality in this incident of the seerah as well. We benefit from this as well, that subhanallah, sometimes, it takes an immense amount of pain and suffering, the loss of lives really, to see the reality of the situation, to see how evil one side is, and how pious and righteous the other side is. To see, to eventually elicit the sympathy of those who didn't have sympathy at the beginning.
In the beginning when the boycott was enacted, the majority of Quraysh sided with Abu Jahl. But after a year and a half of torture, a year and a half of starvation, a year and a half of children crying, many hard hearts melted, many people who were first on Abu Jahl's side, now came on the side of Hisham, and on the same side of Mutambi ibn Adi. This is the reality of humanity.
The Price of Change
Sometimes, and this is not astaghfirullah, astaghfirullah, to justify the loss of life, may Allah accept all of them as shuhada, who have died in Gaza. But sometimes it takes a lot of pain, a lot of suffering, to elicit sympathy from those whose hearts are hard. To elicit sympathy from those who don't have iman.
And we see this in the seerah as well, that there is a tipping point, there is a turning point, and eventually people will see this is not fair, and it is not right to do.
The Need for Power and Influence
Also we find over here, that there's always dissent from the leading class, and the most important voices, without doubt, are gonna be the most powerful voices. You needed a cousin of Abu Jahl, you needed Hisham from the Banu Mahzum, none of the others could dare begin the initiation and the plot, or else they would have been executed, they would have been boycotted themselves.
So we need power and strength from the people within. And by the way, Hisham in all likelihood never embraced Islam. Sometimes people do it out of humanity, and that's fine, no problem. We just wanna bring an end to the suffering. And your iman and kufr is between you and Allah.
So we need the Hishams, the powerful people, who are of the elite, and who side with truth and justice. They need to be put in charge. But we also need the people who have relationships. Hisham was the one who's the brains, but who was the voice? Zuhair.
Why Zuhair? Because he was the cousin of the Prophet ﷺ. Hisham was the brains, but the ambassador became Zuhair. He's the one who stood up. Because if Zuhair stands up, people understand your cousin is there. He's the closest relative who's non-Hashemi. A first cousin, and actually he was a business partner. If you remember my seerah lectures, he was a business partner of the Prophet ﷺ in the days of Jahili, he would travel with him.
So he was a close friend, and a cousin, and a brother figure to the Prophet ﷺ. Everybody knows there's bonds between them. So for him to stand up, it is logical and rational.
Modern Applications
Similarly in our times, for the people of that region, for the Palestinians who are living in this land, to be on the vocal, on the forefront. This is again a common sense reality, because that's the way things work here. But there always must be the Hishams as well, the people who are up there, who are helping in this regard as well.
The Value of Temporary Solutions
Also sisters and brothers, one of the most difficult things to say, and again I'm simply gonna say it, and you guys think about it. Is that sometimes a temporary solution that brings some peace is better than an ideal solution that never happens. A temporary solution, because this was a temporary solution.
For the Muslims to come back to Makkah, well, the torture didn't stop. The evil rhetoric, the maligning, the slander did not stop. The physical alterations between the Muslims and the Quraysh did not stop. In fact, the Prophet ﷺ, eventually they attempted to assassinate him. Remember the night of the hijrah.
So it's not as if at the end of the boycott, everything is fine. That's gonna take another 4 years for the hijrah. That's gonna take another battle. It was a small win, but it was an immense win, because at least they can eat and drink. At least they're back in their houses.
Political Solutions
Now this is where again, I'm not a political analyst, but again, we have to be brave enough to start talking publicly amongst ourselves before we go outside. What is a realistic solution in that part of the world? I don't know. I'm not an analyst.
But go to the Muslims, go to the Palestinians who have the ultimate choice in this regard. I'm not aware which is the best solution, a two state solution, or even a one state where everybody is equal. We get rid of this political Zionism.
Because we have always said, Zionism is apartheid. Zionism, one group of people think they are chosen by God. How can this not be racism? How can it be 2023? And we are still thinking Zionism is a legitimate philosophy.
Our country went to war against Afghanistan, against Iraq, wanting to spread democracy. Wallahi, why don't they spread democracy in that region? Bring everybody to be equal. One citizen, one vote. It would be way better than what is happening right now with trapped up people, two million behind the wall.
I don't understand. We invade other countries to spread democracy, and yet this country that is supposed to be an ally, we are not doing anything and saying it's okay to have two and a half million people locked up as second class citizens.
The Problem with Zionism
Zionism is a racist ideology that does not deserve to exist as a political philosophy. We have nothing against Jews and Christians who want to practice and pray. Our enmity is not with them.
But we do not accept Zionism and frankly every person of intelligence, every secular humanist, every democratic liberal person should see this. It's not humanity when you think one race, one group of people is better than the other. So I don't know the solution, but I do know some solution is better than current status quo.
And I do know, just like in the time of the seerah, sometimes a partial solution that has a temporary benefit, it'll bring about long term, but it is better than status quo.
Strategic Victories
So from all of this, we learn sisters and brothers from the seerah that sometimes, sometimes victories are not something that are militarily, can be strategic. In this case, it was a strategic victory. It was a victory of ideas, a victory of negotiation, a victory of contracts. And sometimes that victory is not a massive victory. This does not bring about the Medina state, but it is better than status quo.
Our Role and Responsibilities
Finding the Right People
So from this, we learn sisters and brothers that it is our job. It is our job to help in whatever way we can. We have to look at who are the Hishams, who are the Zum'ahs, who are the Mut'ims, who are the Abu al- Bakhtaris.
We have to be like Abu Talib and negotiate and bring about. We have to understand each one has a role to play. Not everybody is gonna be Hisham, not everybody is gonna be Zum'ah, not everybody is gonna be Zuhayr.
Everybody has a role to play. And if we play our role properly, put our trust in Allahsubhanahu wa ta'ala, at least we have done our job. And insha'Allah ta'ala, insha'Allah ta'ala, it's only a matter of time before the humanity of the most hardcore, hard-hearted person will eventually be moved.
Hope for Change
It's only a matter of time, 12,000 lives have been lost, 5,000 children have been killed. For how long will the world remain silent? Alhamdulillah, we are seeing more and more and more voices from around the world bring attention to this tragedy. We hope insha'Allah ta'ala, very soon, insha'Allah in our own lifetimes, a permanent solution will be done for the safety of our brothers and sisters in Gaza.
May Allahsubhanahu wa ta'ala bless all of us with and through the Qur'an. And may He make us of those whose verses they understand, and applies halal and haram throughout our life span. Ask Allah's forgiveness, we as well ask Him, for He is the Ghafoor and the Rahman.
Astaghfirullah, astaghfirullah,
Second Khutbah: Causes of Allah's Victory
In my second khutbah, I wanted to remind myself and all of you of a number of points in the Qur'an that bring about Allah's victory. Now, there are many points but time is limited, I'm only gonna mention three.
But there are at least seven or eight that are explicitly mentioned in the Qur'an. And I have given other lectures in the last 10-15 years, you can look them up. The causes for Allah's support, the reasons for Allah'sNasr to come down.
I'm gonna mention three of them that are especially pertinent for our times and our situation.
First: Increased Religiosity and Spirituality
Number one, and without a doubt, the most important one. Number one, every one of us has to have an increased awareness of our own religiosity, our own spirituality, our own connection with Allah.
Allah's help comes to those who deserve it. Allah's help comes to the righteous and pious. And if all of us come together, this is step one, it's not the only step. Please understand, people always get very emotional, but I firmly believe, step number one, strong iman. Step number one, increased awareness of Allah, increased ikhlas, increased tawakkul, increased dua, increased tahajjud. We all have to be better at our individual lives.
And wallahi, sisters and brothers, look at what Gaza is doing. Look at the iman of the people of Gaza. Look at how they are demonstrating to the world, the bravery that they have. We don't even have a fraction of it. Look at what they are doing. Can we not in our own lives increase and raise the bar? Can we not increase our own piety living in these safe circumstances, surrounded by wealth and money, and
family, and so much luxuries? The least we can do is to increase our own ibadah, to live better and more taqwa-filled lives.
Allah says in the Qur'an:
Allah shall never allow the kafir to be above and over the mu'min. So if we have iman, Allah will eventually give victory to the mu'min.
Allah says:
It is our duty, haqqan, Allah is al-haqq. And Allah says, it is my haqq that I will help the mu'minin.
Allah says in the Qur'an:
And those who believe and do good deeds, that you shall have security in the land. Allah has promised the pious that you shall have political security.
This is in the Qur'an. So point number one, it's not the only point, but I firmly believe, the beginning of everything is a strong iman in Allah. We have to be better in our individual lives.
Second: Unity of the Ummah
Point number two, explicit in the Qur'an, very clear:
Coming together as much as we can. Ignoring our internal differences. A physical unity of the ummah. We have to come together. All of you hold on to the rope of Allah and do not divide amongst yourselves.
And in the battle of Uhud, Allah mentions the reason why what happened happened:
When you lost hope and you began arguing, and you differed amongst yourselves. One of the causes of Uhud, was the ummah was not united. And the ummah began bickering amongst itself.
Sisters and brothers, I say loudly and clearly, any group, any shaykh, any preacher, who at this point in time is pointing fingers to other mainstream movements and shuyukh and what not, something is massively wrong with this person. There is a time and a place to talk about internal differences.
Right now, the ummah needs to be united for Gaza. It needs to set aside its sectarianism, its internal political differences, its ethnic divides, its nation states. The ummah has to come together.
Now, I don't control the entirety of the ummah, but I control myself and my family and friends. You control your family and friends. You strive to be united in your own group as much as you can.
You start from small and overcome these differences and come together for the sake of a greater good. This is explicit in the Qur'an.
Third: Taking Legitimate Means
And the third and final point, and again because of the khutbah, otherwise there's many other things to say, is to take the legitimate asbab, to take the legitimate causes. The Qur'an and sunnah does not ever tell us to sit back in the masjid and worship Allah and expect a miracle to happen. That's not the way the seerah works. Life works.
And I'm sorry, and again, I know it's gonna irritate some people, because some people, they think you should not do anything, do not protest, and they think this is wrong and what not. And again, I don't wanna be harsh, because I just said we have to unite, right? I'm trying to be wise, I'm trying to be...
Subhanallah, I'm not quoting you from the seerah that Abu Talib's event is a protest. I'm not saying that, because you're gonna say, oh, he was a kafir, this and that.
But I'm saying, the asbab or the mechanisms change from time to place to era. And what Abu Talib did, and what the Prophet ﷺ did throughout the seerah, was use the tactics of his time, was use what was available at his time. In our times, the tactics are different.
Modern Tactics and Responsibilities
Legitimate Forms of Activism
In our times, the tactics are public protest, bringing awareness to the cause, writing to your senators, supporting the right people. And I understand it's a long-term battle. But this is the only equivalent we have.
And there's nothing wrong to availing ourselves with the tactics of our times. Anybody who says it's haram and this and that, again, I don't wanna be harsh here, I strongly, politely, but strongly disagree. There's nothing in our sharia to make protest haram.
There's nothing in our sharia that says as Muslims in this land, we should not influence our politicians. We are part of this land. We are Americans.
Using Our Tax Dollars Wisely
It is our tax dollars that are going there. Sisters and brothers, I'm sorry to be so blunt here, but 14 billion of my and your tax dollars, we need to teach and preach to the rest of the American community. We have schools that can use that money.
Our healthcare system is in shambles. Somebody said that to solve all of the homelessness of America requires 22 billion dollars. I find it shameful that we're spending 14 billion in another country and there are people in our country that are sleeping on the streets.
Let's use this line, simple as that. You don't have to bring in religion. Don't bring in politics. Bring in common sense. Why should my tax dollars go to another country? I want my tax dollars to be spent here.
Understanding American Citizenship
Sisters and brothers, especially those that have come from other lands and become American citizens, you need to understand this is what it means to be a citizen of your country. This is what it means because your taxes are going there. These are your politicians. They're being paid by you. How can you be silent?
I understand where you came from. It was apolitical. There were tyrannical regimes. You go to jail. That's long gone. This is a different country.
Supporting Those Who Stand for Justice
And yes, there's social pressure. And yes, you know, the only Palestinian American in Congress simply tweeting something about Palestine, she will get the censure of the entire Congress. How shameful is that? Our Congress votes for more aid. Our bombs are being dropped there. And the one Palestinian voice for simply tweeting freedom to my land, our Congress voted she should be censured.
Wallahi, sisters and brothers, if we don't understand that at this point in time, we need to stand united against this hatred, against this bigotry. I'm not defending every single thing this sister or that congressman has done. But at this point in time, when you have people in Congress that are standing up for the cause of Palestine, for the cause of Gaza, we really need to put our differences aside and support our members of Congress. Support what they are doing.
Because if we're gonna withdraw right now, who's gonna support them? Even the Congress has censured them. But here's the point. Let them censure. This is the United States of America. And we have the right to disagree. We have the right to lobby and campaign.
And we have the right to re-elect those same people if we feel they're better for the ummah. This is the minimum we can do. And anybody who says it is haram, I'm trying to be gentle here. They're just wrong. I'm sorry. They're wrong.
They're living in a different time and era and place. There's nothing haram. There's no shirk. There's no kufr in this. This is our tactics that we need to do. And we learn this from the seerah.
Conclusion: Hope and Trust in Allah
Sisters and brothers, wallahi, I understand it's gloomy. I understand we feel overcome with emotion and depression. But still the seerah teaches us. The Qur'an teaches us. We must always look to optimism. We must always think tomorrow will be a better day.
We must always put our trust in Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. And insha'Allah ta'ala, insha'Allah ta'ala, nasrullahi qareeb. The help of Allah is close.
And we will see this help insha'Allah ta'ala. We need to do our job and leave the rest to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.
Final Du'a
Oh Allah, you are the qawiyy, you are the aziz. Oh Allah, we ask you to send your aid and help upon the people of Gaza. Oh Allah, send your aid and help upon them.
Oh Allah, bless them with sabr. Oh Allah, grant them success over their enemies. Oh Allah, they are hungry, so feed them.
Oh Allah, they are thirsty, so give them clean water. Oh Allah, allow them to see the freedoms that we take for granted. Oh Allah, to you we complain of our weakness.
Oh Allah, to you we complain of our incapacity. Oh Allah, you are the qawiyy, you are the aziz. Show us, oh Allah, your power.
Show us your strength, oh Allah. Show us the izzah that you have promised the messenger and the believers. Oh Allah, upon you we put our trust and in you we believe.
I seek refuge with you, so that you may remember. Remember Allah, the Great, He will remember you. And be thankful to Him, He will increase for you.
And remember Allah, the Great, and establish salah.