Khutbah: Addressing Consumerism Culture

Khutbah: Addressing Consumerism Culture

Speaker: Yassir Fazaga

Event: MAS ICNA 2014

Opening

Assalamu Alaikum Wa Rahmatullahi Wa Barakatuh

Bismillah Ar-Rahman Ar-Raheem

In the name of Allah, the Compassionate, the Most Merciful, all praises due to Allah and may his peace and blessings be upon our beloved Prophet Muhammad (صلى الله عليه وسلم).

I begin by greeting my brothers and sisters. Assalamualaikum Warahmatullahi Wabarakatuhu. Jazakumullahu Khair for being here. Jazakumullahu Khair for being so patient. Some of you have been here since the very, very early in the morning. And my appreciation to you and my condolences to you that I actually have to be the last speaker of this night. And inshallah, I will get into my topic immediately, tagging off on what Dr. Ramadan and Sheikh Musleh Maud were talking about.

The Culture We Must Fight

The culture that we have to fight, the culture that we have to stand up to, Dr. Ramadan was saying. And one element of the culture that we are in is the consumerism element. And consumerism is actually addressed in the Quran. And if you remember what Dr. Ramadan said towards the end of his speech, he said that sometimes the last short surahs in the Quran are the surahs that we use in order to reorient our vision as Allah (سبحانه وتعالى) wants us to do.

And what is beautiful about the Quran is like we have said, the Quran is a very organic book. It's a very relevant book. It's a book for what is going on at any place at any time.

The Quranic Response to Consumerism

And addressing the issue of consumerism, the Quran uses a very provocative way of addressing that where Allah (سبحانه وتعالى) says:

"Allah, indeed takathur has bewildered you."

Indeed takathur has diverted you. And the word that the Quran uses is takathur, which some have said that it means the amassing of things. It is the striving of man to compile more and more.

And then the Quran uses the word alha. In Arabic you say alha, you say saha, you say ghafala, you say samada. And Arabic is such a rich language. But they say that it's all about neglecting to do your duty. But there is an added meaning in the word alha. And that is you neglected your duty due to the fact that you were being entertained. You found in the entertainment that this is what was going on.

And Allah does not speak as to what it is that you were amassing. It does not speak as to what it is that you were hoarding. It doesn't say much about what is it that you were multiplying. But the fact that you were taking joy in doing this.

The Culture of Consumption

And many times the culture that we live in is really promoting this idea of now that you have bought things, you no longer like the things that you have. So you need to buy more things. And then the things that you just bought, you ran out of liking it. And then you end up buying more things and more things. And as such we become a culture of consumers.

In addition to that also, there is an element of competition that is taking place. Where we are competing with one another in what it is that we are amassing. In what it is that we are building. And what it is that we are compiling and collecting.

The Quran does not have a problem with this. The idea that we compete with one another. But the question is, what is it that we are competing in? And to what end are we competing in? And what does that say about us?

The culture of consumerism is really based on the idea of you needing things. And confusing our wants and our needs. Where our wants are depicted as our needs. And not only that, but then the sad part is that self-worth now is associated with what it is that we amass.

So for example, in California where I come from, your self-worth is based on what kind of a car do you drive. In New York for example, your self-worth is based on where do you dine. In England, London, your self-worth is based on what brand do you wear.

So we are constantly having things to determine our self-worth. Be it the car that we drive. Be it where we dine. Or be it what clothes that we wear. But it is never us who are doing the talking. It is the things around us that are doing the talking.

The Wisdom of Rumi

And that is why Mawlana Jalaluddin Rumi puts it so beautifully. And by the way, amazingly subhanallah, Jalaluddin Rumi is the most read poet in the West. In fact, he is the most read poet in the English language. He is the most read poet in the United States.

And what happens is that Mawlana Jalaluddin Rumi passed away on the 17th of December back in 1273. And the question is why would somebody like Jalaluddin Rumi be the most read poet? Now Jalaluddin Rumi did not write his poetry in English. Jalaluddin Rumi was born in Balakh in Afghanistan. Jalaluddin Rumi wrote and spoke Farsi.

So he has transcended all geographical barriers. He has transcended all language barriers. But what happened is that when he transcended, he spoke a language that was understood by everybody else. And that is he spoke to the human in each and every one of us.

And subhanallah, that is the language of the Quran. The language of the Quran is the language that transcends all these boundaries. Be it the geography or be it the language barriers. And as such, it really speaks to man about man. And it was Sheikh Musleh Maud who alluded to the fact that many of us are being unmasked because even within our mosque, that language is no longer used.

The Story of the Hindu Man

Reminds me of a story of a Hindu man. At a point, Hinduism had a different caste system. Where if you came from a lower caste, you could not really attend the temple of people of a higher caste. So this man coming from a lower caste was about to enter a temple that belongs to the Brahmins. These are the people who are of the highest of castes.

So as he's walking, the priest in the temple saw him. And he ran to him and he said, where are you going? And he said, I am going to pray. The priest was a nice man. He didn't want to turn the guy away. But for sure he did not want him to come in.

So he said, you know, why don't you go back tonight and pray at home and see what God tells you. So the man looked at him and he said, you know, that is not such a bad idea. So the man goes home and the priest is very happy that he did not offend the man and mission accomplished. And that is the man is not coming to the temple.

The next day, at the same time, the man is coming back to the temple. So now the priest saw him and he said, what happened? Did you do what I told you yesterday? He said, yes, I did. I went and I prayed and God spoke to me. And the priest said, well, what did God say to you? And the man said, God said to me, don't feel so bad. I have been trying to come to that temple for the past five years and they wouldn't let me in.

Rumi's Teaching on Consumerism

And sometimes we have a tendency to behave in such ways. At any case, what does Mawlana Jalaluddin Rumi say, speaking about this consumerism culture? He said, you know the value of every article of merchandise. But if you do not know the value of your own soul, it's all foolishness at that point.

And there is a great element in the culture of consumerism where it is definitely all foolishness. I'll give you an example. In the year 2013, Americans have performed 15.1 million plastic surgeries. People wanting to look better. In the year 2014, it is anticipated that Americans would have spent $58 billion on makeup and cosmetics products. People wanting to look good.

And again, there is nothing wrong with wanting to look good, wanting to be honored, wanting to have. There is nothing wrong with that. But how do we go about approaching this or reaching this? That is very, very problematic, my brothers and sisters.

The Prophetic Approach to Beauty and Wealth

In the hadith, the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) knowing this about man, he said:

Reference: This is a compilation of du'as from various sources

In the hadith, the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) said, Oh Allah, enrich us with knowledge. Adorn us with a sense of clemency. Be nice and soft-spoken. (وَأَكْرِمْنَا بِالتَّقْوَى وَزَيِّنَا بِالْحِلْمِ) Endow us with a sense of dignity by being conscious of You. (وَجَمِّلْنَا بِالْعَافِيَةِ) And beautify us with good health.

So in this hadith, subhanAllah, when the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم), knowing the nature of consumerism, if this nature is not fought, like Dr. Ramadan said, it can overtake the man. So the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) said, Well, richness is not really in the compilation of things, but rather he said, seek richness in knowing. Because knowing, subhanAllah, is just beautiful.

Get to know, as Imam Sayyidina Ali ibn Abi Talib used to say:

He said that knowledge is more virtuous than money by ten things. And he would speak in it and he would say that wealth decreases as a result of you giving it in charity. He said, while if you give knowledge in charity, it actually increases. He said that you have to guard wealth, but when you have knowledge, knowledge actually guards you and so on.

But in any case, this idea of seeking knowledge is really where the richness is. And then the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) would say, if it is about beauty, then let it be my clemency. If it is about adorning myself, then let it be about the fact that I am healthy and so on.

The Two Cardinal Attributes of a Believer

And that's why they say, to live life fully, we must use things and love people. Not use people and love things. Let me say this one more time. In order to live life fully, we must use things and love people. Not love things and use people.

Going back to Rumi, inshallah I'll try to tie it up with what was said before me, with the two speakers. Rumi believes that in order for this bird of Islam, the two cardinal attributes of a believer are most important. A believer is compassionate, rahim, and a believer is loving. Compassionate and loving.

- So these are the two elements that are essential when we interact with everything that is around us. The idea of compassion, subhanallah, reaching out to people, and reaching to them out of genuine care for the people that we are reaching out to.

The Issue of Humanity

And you know sometimes, subhanallah, and please do not be offended by this. Again, like Mawlana Rumi said, he said that, the carpet should not mistake the beating that it is getting as an offense against it. It's only against the dust that is on it. So when we do this, this is really part of that self-criticism. And I believe that there is a wave of fitna that is coming our way. And I will explain in a second what I mean by this.

That many times, a person's sense of humanity, religion does not put this in you, but rather the job of religion is to enhance that element that Allah (سبحانه وتعالى) has placed in us. And sometimes sadly, non-Muslims are more humane than many religious practicing Muslims. And that is a fitna.

What do we mean by this? Give you an example, the hadith of the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم). He said that one time, he gave the example of a woman who was a prostitute during the time of the Israelites. She became very hungry, or she became very thirsty. She went down the well and she drank out of the well.

But when she came up, she found a dog that was panting. And she thought to herself, she filled up her shoes with the water and she came and she gave to the dog. And the hadith said that the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) said:

Reference: Sahih al-Bukhari 3467

Allah appreciated what she has done so much that Allah (سبحانه وتعالى) forgave her sin.

By no means, I am saying that the profession that she was involved in is a good profession. But her profession was one thing and the fact that her sense of humanity was not tainted by what it is that she was involved in. The woman really was compassionate.

Despite what she was engaged in, the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) said that Allah (سبحانه وتعالى) appreciated what she has done and as a result Allah (سبحانه وتعالى) forgave what this woman did.

The Approach to Others

What we want as we are addressing, as we are countering this culture that we are in, it does not have to be a relationship of opposing, even though we do not necessarily agree with everything that is being