The Rohingya & Our Duties Towards Them - Shaykh Dr
By Yasir Qadhi | 2026-01-08T05:58:24.290729+00:00 | Topic: Iman
The Rohingya & Our Duties Towards Them
Shaykh Dr. Yasir Qadhi
Opening
إِنَّ الْحَمْدَ لِلَّهِ نَحْمَدُهُ وَنَسْتَعِينُهُ وَنَسْتَغْفِرُهُ وَنَعُوذُ بِاللَّهِ مِنْ شُرُورِ أَنْفُسِنَا وَمِنْ سَيِّئَاتِ أَعْمَالِنَا مَنْ يَهْدِهِ اللَّهُ فَلَا مُضِلَّ لَهُ وَمَنْ يُضْلِلْهُ فَلَا هَادِيَ لَهُ وَأَشْهَدُ أَنْ لَا إِلَهَ إِلَّا اللهُ وَحْدَهُ لَا شَرِيكَ لَهُ وَأَشْهَدُ أَنَّ مُحَمَّدًا عَبْدُهُ وَرَسُولُهُ
"O you who have believed, fear Allah as He should be feared and do not die except as Muslims [in submission to Him]."
"O mankind, fear your Lord, who created you from one soul and created from it its mate and dispersed from both of them many men and women. And fear Allah, through whom you ask one another, and the wombs. Indeed Allah is ever, over you, an Observer."
أَمَّا بَعْدُ
My dear brothers and sisters in Islam, we are all painfully aware of what is happening right now as we speak amongst a Muslim minority called the Rohingya in the land of Burma or Myanmar. And before we even begin to help our brothers and sisters, the first thing we need to do is to understand who they are and what is going on. And that is briefly the topic of today's khutbah because you always begin everything with knowledge.
You always begin everything with knowledge. So we need to understand who are these people and what is going on. And then insha'Allah ta'ala what we can do to help them.
Understanding Myanmar and Its History
Know, my dear brothers and sisters, that the land that is called Burma, the land that was called Burma is now called Myanmar. And Myanmar is the name that its own inhabitants give to the land. Burma is the name the British gave to it.
So we will use the term Myanmar out of respect to the people that are living there. And Myanmar is like the majority of countries of that province born out of the legacy of British colonialism. Like India, like Pakistan, like Bangladesh, Burma as well is born out of British colonialism.
And the modern nation state of Myanmar, which was called Burma before as we said, the modern nation state of Myanmar comes from the ashes that were left by the fires of British colonialists. Hence not surprisingly to the Indians and Pakistanis here, the independence day of Burma is also 1948. Right when the British left, Burma or Myanmar was created.
The Buddhist Majority and Political Leadership
The majority of people of Burma are Buddhists. But they follow a branch of Buddhism called Theravada Buddhism. Buddhism is divided into three branches.
And the people of Burma primarily follow a branch of Buddhism called Theravada. And within the Theravada branch, there is a particular strand that is followed by the people of Burma. And the people of Burma follow what is called the Bamar, B-A-M-A-R, the Bamar strand of Theravada Buddhism.
And the Bamar peoples are the majority of Myanmar. So the majority of Myanmar are Buddhists, and they are ethnically called the Bamar people. It is important to note that since 1946 up until recently, Myanmar was ruled by a military dictatorship.
It was a very strict military junta that did not allow any freedom of speech, it did not allow protests, and it was in that climate that opposition against the government began by local people. And this opposition was led primarily by a lady who is now the person in charge of Myanmar or Burma. And this lady eventually won the Nobel Peace Prize.
We should all be aware of her name. It is Aung San Suu Kyi. And she is, by the way, the daughter of the person who was called the father of modern Burma.
Her father was the one who led the opposition against the British. Her father clamored for independence. Like in Pakistan, you know, we have our figures, like we have in India, we have our figures, Mahatma Gandhi, Jinnah.
So too in Myanmar, in Burma, there was the father of this lady. So her father, and his name actually is Aung San, the first two, Aung San. Her name is Aung San Suu Kyi.
So the first two words are the father, and the last two you added is the daughter. The father was the primary figure to fight against the British, to declare independence. He was assassinated, and this was a young girl at the time.
She was a young girl at the time. So she is raised in the legacy of anti-colonialism, the legacy of freedom. And she then becomes the voice of opposition against the military dictatorship.
Back in the 60s, 70s, 80s, she becomes the voice of opposition. Eventually she is arrested, she is tortured, she is put under house arrest, she is sent into exile. They attempt to silence her.
Many of you are aware what's happening, what happened in the 80s and 90s. She was exiled to England. She began a resistance movement, and slowly but surely the people began supporting her.
Until finally in the 90s, the late 90s, the military government essentially had to withdraw and collapse. And in the early 2000s, her party ran for election, in a first free and fair election. And she won with a landslide victory, okay? Think of Nelson Mandela in South Africa.
She was the only candidate, the most popular candidate, and her party wins with a landslide victory. Unfortunately, after she won and her party won, from being persecuted, they then became persecutors themselves. From being people who know what it feels like to be persecuted, they are now in charge, and they are now leading one of the worst campaigns that this country has seen.
The Ideology Behind the Persecution
And this government, as we said, it follows a strand of Buddhism called Bamar Theravada Buddhism. The Bamar Buddhist strand is actually a very very racist strand of Buddhism. Think of the worst of the Tea Party, the worst of the far-right, that mixes elements of Christianity, elements of white supremacy, elements of far-right nationalism, elements of pseudo-patriotism, and they use it to basically talk out against minorities, against Muslims, against everybody.
We're familiar with that strand here in America. Imagine that strand isn't just a minority. Well, we can't just imagine in America they have won the White House, but still I say they are a minority by and large.
They're still a minority. That strand is a majority in this land of Myanmar. The people support that violent racist interpretation of Buddhism and of their Myanmar or Burmese values.
And just to give you an example, the government has officially declared eight ethnicities to be real Burmese, real Myanmar people. And all other ethnicities are considered to be foreigners. Now, there are hundreds of many ethnicities in this land, just like any land.
But the government has declared only eight of them to be officially recognized. And obviously the largest as we said are the Burmese ethnicity and they are the ones in charge.
Who Are the Rohingya?
So who then are the Rohingya? The Rohingya obviously are not one of those eight.
They are the smallest, one of the smallest of the ethnicities, but they are predominantly Muslim. So the Rohingya are predominantly Muslim. Who are the Rohingya? And again, this whole khutbah is a little bit academic because we need to understand who they are, what's going on.
We cannot help them unless we understand and sympathize and know their plight. Who are the Rohingya? The Rohingya are a descendants of a civilization that actually used to have an empire, a kingdom over 500 years ago. And this is a civilization that is called the Arakan civilization.
These days it's called the Rakhine, R-A-K-H-I-N-E, Rakhine. Arakan is the classical name, Rakhine is the modern name. Now, the Arakan are not the Bamar, they're different ethnicities, different languages.
The Arakan peoples had their own kingdom and it was contemporaneous to the Mughal dynasty. So when the Mughals were around, you also had the Arakan kings, the Arakan, the Rakhine sultans and the
Arakan kings. Some of the Arakan people converted to Islam.
Some of them did not, okay? So the ethnicity called the Arakan, some of them converted to Islam because they were neighboring the Mughals of India. And some of them did not. Actually the majority did not convert.
Those who converted, they are called the Rohingya, okay? So, to be very simplistic and I'm not teaching a professorial class, so don't quote me here, it is a very simplistic understanding, do not quote me, but for the purposes of our modern knowledge, we can say, the Rohingya are the Muslim converts of the Arakan ethnicity, is that clear? Don't quote me on this, but for the purposes of our understanding day-to-day affairs, it is sufficient to say, the Rohingya are a small percentage of the larger ethnicity called the Arakan, is that clear? The Arakan, majority of them remain Buddhists or Hindu, small percentage converted to Islam. And those who converted are then called Rohingya, okay?
The Discrimination and Double Standards
Now, ironically, we shouldn't be surprised, the Arakan ethnicity is one of the eight that have been declared acceptable in Burma, in Myanmar. Are you guys understanding the double standards here or do I need to spell it out? The Arakan and the Rohingya are the same blood, the same language, the same culture, the same civilization.
What's the one difference? Religion. The Rohingya are Muslim and the Arakan are Buddhists. Of those eight that the Myanmar government said, these are originally from this land, is the Arakan people, can you believe that? And the Rohingya minority speak the same language, they are Arakanese, their civilization is Arakan, they go... But because they converted, so the government has said, you are not a part of our land.
How can they say this? Well, they claim, this is their claim, they claim that these people are not pure Arakan, they are the children of Muslims who came from India, from Bangladesh, they are the intermarried, interracial couples, they got married, and these are now ethnically not pure. So there's an element of racism, just like the Nazis of Germany, just like the Aryan supremacy, just like the white supremacist, there's this point of pure blood, who is pure. So they say, the government and the majority of people, they say that the Rohingya are not pure Arakan.
And this is firstly, historically inaccurate, and secondly, there is no such thing as pure, we have said this many, many times, there's no such thing as pure Arab, pure white, pure black, these are all things that we have invented, our DNA, our blood does not tell us apart in that sense. But even from a historical perspective, this is simply not true. And this is because, the Arakan peoples, it is well known, that they actually converted during the time of the Mughals.
And remember, there were no nation states, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Burma, these borders were created when? 1948 and beyond. So to claim that before these borders were created, you're worried about where they came from and where they want to. This is a claim that you are taking something from modernity and projecting it back 500 years.
Historical Context
The Arakan kingdom, actually encompass parts of modern India, parts of modern Bangladesh, and parts of modern Burma. The Arakan kingdom. We have coins and I've seen them, you know I'm a coin collector.
We have coins from the Arakan dynasty that are minted in Arabic. With the kalima (لَا إِلَهَ إِلَّا اللَّهُ مُحَمَّدٌ رَسُولُ اللهِ). The Arakan dynasty as we said, some of them converted, some of them remained Buddhist.
So the Arakan dynasty encompassed modern India, parts of India, parts of Bangladesh, parts of Burma. So the claim that modern Rohingya all come from Bangladesh historically is false. And then secondly, who cares where they came from.
You're not supposed to treat them in this manner. We're gonna get to that after a while. And to prove the strong connections between Burma and the rest of the Indian subcontinent, it is well known historically that traders, merchants, people would come from and between these lands.
In fact, for those of you who know Indian history, the Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb, when there was a civil war between him and his brother, and his brother had to flee. His brother fled to what is now modern Burma. And his brother and his descendants remained in Burma.
Those of you again who are familiar with Indian history, Shah Bahadur Zafar, the last Mughal Emperor, where was he exiled? To what is now modern Burma. The British sent him to Burma because from the British perspective, this is one of their provinces like India. Like all of this, one of their provinces.
Like the British sent laborers from India to Guyana, to Trinidad, to South Africa, they also sent people to Burma. From the perspective of the British, it's one land because they controlled all of it. So for people now to then backtrack and backtrace and say, where do you originally come from? This is not only a racist question, but essentially every civilization comes from another land, another region, and then they settle down here.
The Rohingya peoples have been in that region for 500 years. To claim that they are not a part of that land is racist, number one. And number two, who cares where they're from, they're human beings.
Systematic Persecution - Historical Context
They don't deserve to be treated in this manner. Nonetheless, the racist claim that the government and the people have is that these Rohingya are not ethnically from our land. They shouldn't be here, and they should go back to where they came from.
Despite the fact that their language is the language of the Arakan people, their civilization is the civilization of Arakan people, they have nowhere to go to.
To make matters worse, the government has a systematic policy of persecuting them back to the beginning of the land of Burma, of Myanmar. From the 40s, from the beginning, these people have not been given equal share of properties, of rights, of the education.
In fact, there were studies done back in the 80s, before the modern persecution began, where a list of apartheid countries was written down, South Africa's number one as you know. On that list was Burma, and its treatment of the Rohingya was classified as apartheid treatment. This is back in the 80s and 90s.
The Rohingya, the Muslims of Burma, and this is the largest Muslim group in Burma by the way. So the Rohingya were not allowed to get education, they were not allowed to get the jobs of the other people, they were living in ghettos, in separate places. So what's going to happen? Poverty, high rates of crime, petty theft, when you have to feed your family, you have to do something.
And so this fuels the perception, oh, the Rohingya are all terrorists, the Rohingya are all bad people. This is from the 80s and 90s, before the modern issues began. What happened however, so by the way, I've heard also a footnote here, in the 80s and even before, this led to a mass migration of Rohingya around the world.
People began fleeing, because they don't want to live in this land. And the government, and this shows you how racist they are, they refused to give them passports. The Rohingya are not allowed to have Myanmar or Burmese passports, they're not allowed to have them.
So they have to flee via UN programs, that allow you to travel without passports. So the Rohingya to this day, and that's one of the reasons travel is difficult, because if they get a passport, then they can claim, we are Burmese, we are Myanmar, how can you mistreat us? So there's an infinite catch 22.
The Burmese people want the Rohingya to leave, but they don't want to give them a passport.
Because if they give them a passport, this means we are equal, you are a part of our land. So they are a stateless nation. The United Nations officially calls the Rohingya a stateless ethnicity, they don't have a state, no state is willing to adopt them.
Their own homeland, where they have been for 500 years, does not give them a passport, they can do nothing. So people fled in the 70s, 80s, 90s, by the tens of thousands. And there are pockets of Burmese across the Khaleej lands, in the Western lands, and some of them have risen to fame.
Notable Rohingya Figures
In fact, one of the most famous Qurra and the Imams of the Haram, somebody who I personally met in our times and very influenced by his voice, Shaykh Muhammad Ayub from Medina, he passed away two years ago. Shaykh Muhammad Ayub was the Imam of the Haram in Medina, and he is from the Rohingya. He is from the Rohingya ethnicity, he fled to, his parents fled to Medina, and he was raised in Medina, eventually he became the Imam of the Haram.
And by the way, the Burmese Muslims, the Rohingya are known for emphasizing the Qur'an, hifdh of the Qur'an by and large. The Rohingya are very religious folks, they're very pious, they're praying, they have the healthy habit of having their kids memorize the Qur'an, it's very common amongst them.
So alhamdulillah, even in terms of religiosity, they are very well known.
The Modern Crisis (2012 Onwards)
Nonetheless, back to our point here. So what happened was, eventually of course, people are going to fight back. And this fighting began, or the modern phase of persecution began, roughly in 2012, when a Muslim shopkeeper and a Buddhist customer had a bit of a fight, the Buddhist customer complained and said, oh, he's doing this and that.
So then they went and burnt the shop down, and began killing Muslims, they burnt the masjid down, hundreds of Muslims were massacred in mob mentality. This is spontaneous riots, this is 2012, spontaneous riots. And this demonstrates the danger of dehumanizing another population.
What happens when you keep on saying, these people are not a part of us, these people are evil, these people are not fully Burmese or Myanmaris, what's gonna happen? At the slightest provocation, just like in Nazi Germany, and the khutbah I gave a few weeks ago, we have to be careful, it's happening here in America with us. This rhetoric that you are not fully the same as us, you don't deserve the same rights as us, right now we can laugh about it, but 5, 10, 20 years, 30 years of constantly talking like this, what's gonna happen? One spark in 2012, and thousands of Muslims were forced to flee, hundreds were killed. Some of you might remember some of the video footage of children being doused with kerosene and set alight by the Burmese mobs.
And the army is standing doing nothing, absolutely nothing in front of their eyes. In fact later on we learnt, not only did they not do something in certain places, the army participated. This is 2012 by the way, before the modern, this is 2012, the army participated.
And when you have this power dynamics of men in uniforms and military, and you have civilians, you will also get mass rapes, which from 2012 we have been hearing, may Allah (عز وجل) protect our sisters around the world. This is the reality what happens when you dehumanize a population, claim they're not fully like us, you lose any sympathy for them. And we now have as we know rapes, killings, what not.
So this is 2012, what's gonna happen? Obviously a group of Rohingya form bands and they fight back. And last year they attacked a military post, and they killed some people. And I'm not justifying any violence, but I wanna say as an academic, as a professor, the term terrorist is meaningless.
As a professor I'm telling you, not as a Muslim, as a professor, the term terrorist is meaningless. Because who gets to call whom a terrorist, it all depends on who's speaking. So the government can call the Rohingya terrorists because they attack this military outpost.
But they can conveniently neglect what they themselves have been doing for the last 50 years. So as a result of that attack last year, the government has basically lost all traces of humanity. And they have declared the Rohingya en masse to be a fifth column, to be all jihadi, radical, Al-Qaeda inspired.
All of this is completely false as you know. These are civilians, they don't even have an army, they don't even have weapons and arms. But they have declared all of the Rohingya to be people that may be expelled and killed.
Current Systematic Genocide (2016-Present)
And from last year 2016 up until now, there has been a systematic attempt by the military, this isn't now mobs anymore, 2012 was mobs, now it is the military. And the military has official carte blanche authorization from the government to expel or kill or get rid of the entire Rohingya population. And this is what is happening for the last year in particular.
And all of you are painfully aware of the footage that is coming out. All of you are aware of tens of thousands of Muslims whose lives have been destroyed. The butchery, the savagery, the burning of people alive, chopping off of babies, this is well known.
And there is video footage as well, there is a documentary, there is pictures that have been taken. And this is something even the UN has declared, and I quote from the UN report, a classic textbook case of genocide. This is from the UN, classic textbook case of genocide happening right before our eyes.
Key Figures Responsible
And in particular, I want everybody to be aware of two names, two people that are directly responsible. The first of them, the political leader of Myanmar, and that is Aung San Suu Kyi, as we have said, the daughter of the father of the Burmese country, and the one who won the Nobel Peace Prize when she was a dissident. When she was against the government, she won the Nobel Peace Prize.
Now that she's in office, she has become even worse than the military government was against the Muslims. And this shows us really what can happen when you gain power. Aung San Suu Kyi has publicly defended what the military is doing.
And she has claimed that the Muslims are all Al-Qaeda terrorist affiliates, what not. And she has in fact canceled public engagements in other lands, because she does not want to face the press. So she knows exactly what is going on, and she is the one, in the end of the day, the buck stops with her, she's the one in charge.
As well, there has to be religious fanaticism, and there is. Ashin Wirathu. Ashin Wirathu is the Buddhist monk who was on the cover of Time Magazine two years ago, and it said, the face of Buddhist terror.
Ashin Wirathu is one of the most inhumane Buddhist monks to ever have walked the face of this earth. You think of Buddhism, you think of peace. Well, maybe generally, but there are exceptions.
And this is one of the main exceptions. He has called for open genocide, for the elimination of the Rohingya people. And he is their senior most cleric within the Bamar Theravada Buddhist understanding.
He's one of the senior clerics, and he has blessed this endeavor, and he has essentially said that it is permissible to kill the entire Rohingya population. And he is one of the most respected clerics. So when you have your politician, and you have your cleric, both telling you, go do it, you have our blessings.
We see what is happening right now. So for the last year and a half, the situation has gone from bad to worse. And the last two weeks have seen over 300,000, and this is the UN estimate.
Whatever the UN estimates, multiply by two. The UN has estimated 300,000 people have fled, maybe around 20,000 have been massacred, but they have no statistics on the massacres. Because Myanmar is still shut off to the media.
You really don't have too many journalists inside there. Whatever we're getting is primarily from video footage of the people who are being killed. The people who might have some cameras or what not, by and large journalists are barred from entering Myanmar.
There are no journalists flying in as they covered the Iraq war, as they covered Afghanistan. And no, nobody is flying in, because firstly there's not interest in the west, and secondly the government has banned all journalists from coming in. So what's gonna happen when you have 300,000 people fleeing? Mass starvation, malnutrition, problems of people taking advantage of them over and over again.
Global Response and Double Standards
And brothers and sisters, as we are speaking, the situation really is at an impasse. We don't know what the future holds for them. We're all aware that the superpowers have hardly done anything.
Muted responses here and there, some minor condemnations here and there. And of course, we have to be grateful for any politician shedding light and condemning. But in the end of the day, what will condemning in and of itself do? We are thankful the Dalai Lama has condemned what is going on.
He has spoken out against Aung San Suu Kyi, but the Dalai Lama, Muslims you should be aware of this, the Dalai Lama is not a follower of Theravada Buddhism. He is a follower of another branch of Buddhism called Tibetan Buddhism. And Tibetan Buddhists and Theravada Buddhists do not get along.
So imagine a person from another sect criticizing what's happening with another sect, it doesn't matter, it's falling on deaf ears. So the Dalai Lama does not represent all of Buddhism. He is the Pope figure for one strand, and that is Tibetan Buddhism.
And the strand in Myanmar, in Burma, is totally different, and they don't respect the Dalai Lama anyway. So even though we're grateful, but still we have to understand even his condemnation actually, some ironic ways might even fuel the fire because they hate the other strands so much. Just like we all are aware there's inter-strands issues going on.
So they do not appreciate the other strand. Now that the head of the other strand has criticized them in some perverse way, it might even make them even more like, okay, if he's criticizing, we have to do it even more. Nonetheless, brothers and sisters, the purpose of the khutbah was to contextualize, was to make us understand.
Our Response as Muslims
And in the second part inshallah I'll give some advice of what can be done to help our brothers and sisters in Myanmar.
Brothers and sisters, it is not lost on me and on all of you the painful reality that I myself have stood here before you and across the world Imams and Du'at and Khatibs have stood in front of their gatherings and masajid and have reiterated over and over again the same story of suffering but the name changes.
The same issue of refugees but the name changes. The same problem of massacres but the name changes. One crisis after another.
Few weeks ago this land, few months ago that land, few years ago this land. And here in this same mimbar and pulpit I have given khutbas about Syria, about Kashmir, about Palestine, about attacks in western lands, about attacks by western lands, about natural calamities and disasters that we are witnessing. I didn't even talk about in this khutba.
Signs of the End Times
And without raising the alarm too much, but we are believers in a Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) who has predicted this. I mean how much more do we need to understand that this is the sadiq and the masduq, the one who spoke the truth. He predicted that a time will come when there will be calamities, there will be bloodshed.
Every day will bring worse news than the one before it. And this is what we are seeing with our own two eyes, hearing with our own two ears. Calamity after calamity, disaster after disaster.
And our Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم explicitly, explicitly said, there shall be bloodshed, there shall be earthquakes, there shall be natural calamities. And look what is happening. Wallahi, we're barely done with one news.
Whether it's a natural disaster in Houston, then we hear of Florida coming. We hear of one news, whether it's Kashmir and then we find out Syria. We finish off with Syria, we're not even done still.
The Syrian crisis is going on and another one begins. If this is not gonna make us believe, then what will? A prediction that we see happening in front of us. And therefore, we need to actually increase in our iman in Allah (جَلَّ وَعَزَّ)
The irony is that some people who don't have strong iman, they actually suffer as a result of these crises. Many people are leaving religion because they say, how could a God allow this suffering? And I talked about this in a recent khutbah and also in an academic lecture, and you'll find it online. This is not the khutbah, how do we understand evil? I've given that khutbah.
But many people are leaving religion because they're saying, how can we explain all of this that is going on? And of course the irony, by leaving religion, it's not as if they have an answer. Actually they become even more in despair. When you leave God, you don't even have any answer.
At least when you believe in God, you have some answers about why there is evil. Not by leaving God, you're gonna have better answers. On the contrary, by leaving God, the question becomes meaningless.
There is no evil, there is no good. So we as Muslims, rather than weaken our faith, much less lose it, we should increase our iman. We should believe in a Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم who predicted all of this 1,400 years ago.
Our Practical Duties
As well, brothers and sisters, and we mentioned this when we talked about why evil occurs. One of the main wisdoms of the existence of pain and suffering is to test those who want to change that pain and suffering. To test those who want to stop that pain and suffering.
And therefore every time we hear of one pain, of one suffering, we need to do something, whatever it is, to try to help. Whether it's dua, whether it is financial, whether it is spreading awareness, whether it is pointing out the double standards and hypocrisies of those who claim never again. And yet it always happens over and over and over again.
Of those who want to intervene when 10,000 Yazidis are trapped in a mountain, and they send in the helicopters from America, and they send in the war planes to rescue 10,000 on a mountaintop. But when 6 million Syrians are gassed by their own tyrant, they couldn't care less. When a quarter of a million Rohingya have to flee, they just say, oh sorry, what can we do? Yes, we point out the double standards.
You cannot intervene when it suits your interest and claim this is humanitarian. No. Be honest and say we're intervening because it suits our political agenda.
Don't claim that there's a humanitarian reason when you intervene. Because far greater crises have happened and are happening. And the world could not care less.
The United Nations can issue a condemnation and that is it. The superpowers can just say, oh, that shouldn't be happening and not a single penny is spent. So yes, we speak out on those double standards.
And we talk to the peoples around us and explain to them these double standards. Perchance they will also see what is going on. And brothers and sisters, what we can do as well is feel a connection with the ummah.
One of the least things that we can do is to genuinely be troubled. It shows that our heart still has some iman. To live a callous life, a carefree life, not caring what is going on.
Are we not terrified what is happening to them here today might happen to us tomorrow here? Are we not terrified that just like in Syria, nobody could have thought it would have happened. Just like here, nobody... Here that's happening, what about in our lands? So, we will try our best to alleviate their pain and suffering, even though there's not much we can do. But we continue doing whatever little we can.
Because in that little is hope of Allah's forgiveness. Because that's all we can do. I cannot miraculously slap my fingers and stop the entire crisis, the entire people fleeing.
But public awareness, talking about it on my Facebook page, bringing it to people's attention, giving khutbahs, whatever finances we have, help out with them. Make dua for them. Did you ever make dua for the Syrian refugees, brothers and sisters? Have you ever raised your hands and made genuine dua for the people of Afghanistan and Iraq, for the people of Rohingya? That's the least we can do.
And it shows a sense of connection, a sense of ummah, that we have to help, even if it's just by raising our hands and saying, oh Allah, help them.
Gratitude for Our Blessings
And of course, brothers and sisters, of the things that we need to do in light of all that is happening. And perhaps this is the most important thing, is to recognize the blessings that Allah has given us.
And to appreciate those blessings by increasing in our own worship of Him. By being thankful for the freedoms that we have to worship Allah five times a day. To be able to pray and fast, to be able to be good Muslims.
How sad is it that people are being killed for practicing Islam. And here we are with the freedom to practice Islam, and we are not practicing Islam. The least that we can do is to appreciate those blessings
and make a betterment in our own daily lives.
If I can't save them, at least let me save myself and my family. If I can't save the rest of the world, let me save my family and friends to the greatest of my extent. And in the end of the day, brothers and sisters, that is all that Allah will ask you.
What did you do? Given your qudrah, your power that I blessed you with, your money that I blessed you with, your opportunities that I blessed you with, what did you do within that realm? Allah will not ask you,
What did you do to solve the Palestinian crisis? What did you do to solve the Rohingya crisis?
You're not in the power to solve the Rohingya crisis. But Allah will ask you, what did you do given your time, your health, your wealth, your opportunities, your freedom, what did you do for yourself and your society? So in light of all of this, brothers and sisters, yes, we think global, but we act local. Yes, we think global, but our actions have to be local, have to be on myself, and my community, and my family, and my friends.
Conclusion
And in the end of the day, all that we can do is to help out with our finances and our du'as, and to raise public awareness, and whatever political pressure can be applied, and the rest we leave to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. And we continue to make du'a to protect ourselves and our families, and to protect Muslims and people around the world.