Jihad- A Just Struggle or Unjust Violence

Jihad: A Just Struggle or Unjust Violence

Introduction to Jihad

The issue that we're dealing with tonight, which has been briefly mentioned by the MC of the event, is Jihad in Islam. We want to look at its comprehensiveness and we want to examine the issue: is it unjust, indiscriminate violence or is it indeed justified?

The Linguistic Meaning of Jihad

First of all, we consider this word Jihad linguistically. Basically, it means to struggle, to exert one's utmost to obtain a particular objective, generally speaking. So from this, we have many words in Arabic. We have the word Jahd, which means exertion. We have the word Ijtihad, from which we get Mujtahid, or those scholars who exert their absolute utmost to ascertain the ruling of Allah in a particular matter or issue. So these scholars are called Mujtahidun.

We have the word Mujahada, from this root, which means to exert oneself vigorously and strenuously in one's ritualistic worship. So an abundant amount of night prayer—excessive indicates too much, excess, which you can't get too much of a good thing, as they say. So an abundant amount of night prayer, an abundant amount of voluntary fasting. All of these acts would be categorized as examples of Mujahada, or exertion, striving diligently in one's ritualistic worship.

Jihad in the Quran and Hadith

And from this root, we get Jihad. Jihad in the Quran has many meanings. So we're talking about, when we say this, we're talking about the meaning understood from the text of the Quran, and not the applied meaning which was derived by the Fuqaha, or the jurists, subsequently.

For example, we have the word Fiqh. Fiqh in the Quran means understanding. It means understanding. In the Hadith:

(Source Name)

"The one Allah desires good for, He gives a sound understanding of the religion." Because the subsequent meaning of jurisprudence was derived later.

Various Meanings of Jihad in the Quran

So in the Quran, Jihad has many different meanings. One, Allah says:

"The one who strives"—and commentators say, to purify his soul, amongst other meanings—"he does so for the benefit of his own soul." One who strives, and struggles, and exerts himself, to do what? Amongst other things,

to purify himself or herself. He does so, she does so, for the benefit of his own soul. And we'll come back to this meaning, Inshallah.

Allah says in the Quran:

"Those who strive and struggle for our sake, then we will guide them to our ways." And some say the ways of ascension. This means, the commentators say, those who do any good lawful action to advance the cause of Islam. Some more general meaning, then we will guide them in our ways.

Physical Fighting as a Form of Jihad

Sometimes jihad means nothing but physically confronting those who take an antagonistic position against Islam and against the Muslim people, to physically fight. So this meaning is also included amongst the general meanings of jihad in the Quran. Allah says:

"Go forth, whether you are light or heavy"—meaning, whether you are ill, lightly armed or heavily armed, whether you are in health or in sickness, sickness or health. And some commentators even say, whether you are fat or skinny. And there is a story behind this. "Go forth and strive, struggle, fight in the way of Allah with your wealth and with your persons. That is best for you, if you but knew."

Muslims and the Concept of Just War

So from this verse, we will enter directly into the subject, or an aspect, critical aspect of the subject: physically fighting in the way of Islam. As Muslims we are not pacifists. We are not people who believe there are no circumstances which justify fighting, using violence to achieve an honorable and noble objective. We believe in the idea of a just war. That there are times when we are justified. In fact, we believe there are times when we are compelled to fight.

Saying that, we are not fanatics, as is often times portrayed, who believe in the indiscriminate, unqualified use of violence. So as Muslims, and Malcolm X said it before he entered formally into Islam, when he said, "by any means necessary." So we don't take that position. And I'm sure after Malcolm made his Hajj and understood Islam more deeply, he wouldn't say that. He would say, "by any Islamically acceptable means necessary." There has to be a qualification here.

When is Fighting Justified?

So what are the situations which justify our using violence to achieve our objectives? Allah says in the Quran:

"Permission is given to those who fight, because they have been oppressed. And Allah is capable of assisting them."

So to defend ourselves against oppression—and what constitutes oppression amongst other things—Allah immediately qualifies this term in the next verse where he says:

"Those who have been driven from their homes for no reason other than they're saying verily our Lord is Allah."

Historical Example: Bosnia

And we've seen this enacted in recent history in many instances, in Bosnia most prominently. What was the reason these people were fought against? These Muslims. Because they used to say our Lord is Allah. Most of them weren't saying that anymore. But it was enough to be the descendants of people who said that, or to identify yourself as identifying with people who say that as a Muslim. People, many who didn't pray, didn't fast. Women who didn't wear hijab, headscarves like many of the sisters here. People who were drinking with their Serbian and Croatian neighbors. But people who identified themselves nominally as Muslims. This was enough. So in these circumstances Muslims are given permission from our Lord to fight, to defend ourselves.

Fighting to Defend the Weak

Muslims are given permission to fight and assist those who are too weak to repulse oppression from themselves. Muslims are given permission to fight and defend the weak. Allah says:

"Men, women and children who cry out: Our Lord, deliver us from this town whose people are oppressors. And raise up for us from yourself one who will protect us, one who will assist us."

So, we're given permission to fight on behalf of the oppressed, to remove the oppression from them, to eliminate it. So, this is an instance where we're given permission. But this is not an indiscriminate license.

When Fighting Must Cease

Once the oppression ceases, the fighting has to cease. Allah says:

"Fight them until there is no more oppression. And if they cease, then you cease. And at that point, there's no transgression except against those who continue to oppress."

So, this is what we believe as Muslims. That there are circumstances that justify our fight. And when those circumstances end, then our fighting ends. We are not people who believe in perpetual revolution. We are people who believe in perpetual peace if that's possible. Islam from the root Salama is peace. But if that is impossible, then there are circumstances where we are justified to fight.

Understanding Terrorism

Now as we said, and we want to briefly detour to discuss the issue of terrorism because this is a very big issue, especially in this country where many people reflexively think or identify Muslims as terrorists. It's like a reflex: Muslim terrorists. Like they have a team. Muslim terrorists. And as soon as anything happens, even Muslims, we've been affected. We're just driving home and you hear on the radio a bomb. Oh no, not again. How am I going to go to work tomorrow? So, we're affected by this. So we need to look at this a little.

Definition of Terrorism

If we can give a definition of terrorism, a textbook definition, combining many definitions, so I've never seen this in any textbook. So having read many textbooks and even taught many texts on this subject, I'll give you my textbook definition:

Terrorism is random violence directed against a civilian population to affect a political outcome.

So I'm bringing together many people's definitions. Random, indiscriminate violence against a civilian population or a segment of a civilian population to affect a political outcome. This is what they say in the textbooks.

Muslims Cannot Be Terrorists

Now, based on this definition, a Muslim cannot be a terrorist because a Muslim cannot fight non-combatants. Allah says in the Quran:

"Fight in the way of Allah those who fight you. But do not transgress. Don't go beyond these limitations. Verily Allah loves not those who transgress."

So by definition, a Muslim cannot be a terrorist. Now, it's interesting that despite the fact, as we said, that globally, Muslims are the most terrorized people on earth.

Muslims as Refugees

And the evidence for that: you look at what people constitute the major percentage of refugees on this earth. People have been driven from their homes. People have had their lands usurped by armies, by mercenaries, by vigilantes. The overwhelming majority are Muslims. In Philistine, Palestine, Bosnia, Kosovo, Chechnya, Kashmir, the Philippines. We could go on and on. And certainly there are large numbers of non-Muslim refugees. But the overwhelming majority are Muslims. Despite that, we are presented as the terrorists.

Media-Induced Perceptions

And this is due in large part to sophisticated acts of mental manipulation. And in this country, a lot of it is media-induced. If we can introduce a new term into the discourse: media-induced perceptions.

We said terrorism is random violence against civilian populations to affect the political outcome. Despite this being the definition, no one in this country views the Israeli bombing of Beirut in 1982 as an act of terrorism. The targets were civilian population, indiscriminately targeted, with every known conventional ordinance, short of nuclear bombs: phosphorus bombs, cluster bombs, napalm, etc. The whole array. Resulting in the death of 25,000 civilians, 200,000 homeless, the destruction of blocks and blocks of civilian neighborhoods to affect clearly stated political objectives. Despite this, no one views this as terrorism.

On the other hand, the bombing of Hezbollah—Hezbollah's bombing of the Marine Barracks in 1984—is viewed as one of the greatest acts of terrorism directed against Americans until Oklahoma City in history. But if we step back, who was targeted? Civilians? No. Military personnel. In a military installation, in a war zone. And it's interesting to ask the question: if Hezbollah owned a bomber, which they don't, and flew overhead and bombed the barracks, would it be described as terrorism? So how we perceive things and how things are presented to us goes a long way in how we view this phenomenon.

Terrorism as the Recourse of the Weak

Finally, in this regard, we have to note that terrorism generally is the recourse of the weak. Those who don't have the bombers, who don't have access to large stockpiles of conventional weapons—those are the people who generally resort to terrorism. As such, as Muslims, we're warned against this course of action.

Islamic Teachings on Dealing with Weakness

Why? When we're weak, we're told to be patient. We're told to do everything to repulse any aggression against ourselves with peace and an effort at coexistence, peaceful coexistence. As the poet says: to do anything short of compromising your religion to please them, as long as you're in their abode. This is what we're taught.

Allah says in the Quran:

"And they repulse wickedness with good. They repulse wickedness with good."

And one of the commentators on this verse, he says that they repulse vile actions and physical harm done to them with peace and this effort at compromising, short of compromising the religion. He says Mudara. So this is an aspect of Islam. This is part of the Sunnah to govern our actions when we're weak.

The Prophet's Example with Enemies

And as Muslims we're taught this. The Prophet, when the Muslims were weak, a man asked to come see him. And the Prophet said to Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her): "What a wicked man he is." And then when the man came, but let him come in. When the man came in, he spoke to him so kindly and softly. Aisha was taken aback. When he left, she said, "How could you treat him like this when you described him as being so wicked?"

He said "That the most loathful people are those whom people leave because of their wickedness."

One of the Sahaba said (may Allah be pleased with them):

"That we used to smile in people's faces and we were cursing them in our hearts." So they were presenting one face to repel the wickedness of people.

Muhammad ibn al-Hanafiyyah, the son of Ali ibn Abi Talib but not from Fatima, therefore his lineage is identified through his mother, al-Hanafiyyah, he said:

"It's not wisdom that you don't treat people with good and kindness when you have no alternative but to live amongst them, until Allah makes for you a way out."

So this is a whole area of Islam governing our interaction with our enemies or with people who oppress us whom we're in a state of weakness. And we'll come back to this inshallah later.

Other Meanings of Jihad

Now we'd like to move on. So this is one meaning of fighting in Islam, to physically fight, but under certain conditions. There are other meanings of jihad identified in the Quran. Allah says:

"O you who believe, shall I direct you to a trade which will save you from a painful punishment?"

"That you believe in Allah and His Messenger and strive in the way of Allah with your wealth and your lives. If necessary that is best for you, if you but know."

Three Types of Jihad According to Imam al-Razi

Commenting on this verse, Imam Fakhruddin al-Razi, one of the great Quranic commentators and great minds of Islam, he says there are three types of Jihad:

1. The first is the struggle between the person and the negative inclinations of his soul.
2. The second, between the person and the non-antagonistic non-Muslims—struggling with them to treat them well, to be merciful to them, to help guide them to Islam. He identifies this as an aspect of Jihad.
3. And the struggle between the servant and the antagonistic non-Muslims, those who fight and oppress. And we've dealt with that briefly.

Addressing Misconceptions About Jihad Against the Nafs

So we like to go back to the first struggle he mentions, the Jihad between the servant and himself. And at this point we like to remind people, brothers and sisters in Islam, and non-Muslim guests, that we should not—some people say because of Hadith, that you've returned from the lesser Jihad to the greater Jihad—this is fabricated. Then the idea of a greater Jihad, the struggle against the nafs, it has no validity in Islam. This is erroneous.

Similarly, some people say after research, the Hadith:

"Turn away from the world, detach your heart from the world, and Allah will love you. And turn away from that which the people possess, and the people will love you."

So they say, oh this is a chain with a broken Hadith, therefore it's weak, and we can't verify the Prophet said it, therefore there's no zuhud in Islam. This is erroneous, because the concept is substantiated by other evidences besides this Hadith.

Classical Scholarship on Zuhud

And if there were no zuhud in Islam, as some of our modern day luminaries understand, then several of our greatest scholars have misunderstood our deen. Imam Ahmad bin Hanbal has a book called Kitab al-Zuhud, the book of other worldliness. Imam Abdullah bin al-Mubarak has a book called Kitab al-Zuhud, the book of other worldliness. Imam al-Bayhaqi, rahimahullah, has a book called al-Zuhud al-Akbar, the great detachment. Imam al-Qurtubi has a book called Kitab al-Zuhud, etc. And many of the sahih compilations of Hadith, such as Imam al-Tirmidhi's, there's a chapter Bab Kitab al-Zuhud, the chapter of other worldliness.

So have all of these people misunderstood Islam? And now in this century we've understood it.

The Struggle Against the Nafs

And similarly the idea of a struggle against the nafs. Allah says in Quran:

"He succeeds who purifies it, and he is ruined who pollutes it."

Pollutes what and purifies what? Purifies his soul. Corrupts his soul. So this purification involves a struggle.

The Three States of the Soul

Allah says in Quran, on the tongue of the wife of the Aziz of Egypt, in the story of Yusuf (peace be upon him):

She says that "I do not absolve myself from any blame, verily the soul inclines or commands to that which is vile, except the one my Lord has mercy on, verily my Lord is most forgiving, most merciful."

So she's talking about the inclination of the soul, which she has conquered. She's engaged in this struggle.

Because at the beginning of the story, she blamed everyone but herself. She blamed Yusuf (peace be upon him), that he's too good looking. That's why she tried to seduce him. She blamed Yusuf. She blamed the women of the court, when they couldn't resist themselves. See, you can't resist them either. She gave them all knives, gathered them together, gave them knives, Yusuf to go into the room. And they screamed and cut themselves. See? Look,

you can't resist them. But at the end of the story, after she's elevated and struggled and purified herself, she said, "I do not absolve myself." She blamed the nafs.

We also learn about another nafs in the Quran:

"I swear by the day of resurrection, and I swear by the self-reproaching soul."

And again, this is an indication of struggle. The first soul, the soul that commanded to wickedness, is beginning to question those acts. And to struggle. A struggle is going on. So it can transcend those acts.

And then Allah talks about the soul that has transcended those inclinations:

"O you contented soul, soul that is at rest, return to your Lord, pleasing to Him and He pleased with you, well pleased with you. Enter amongst My servants, enter into My Paradise."

So now this is a progression if you look at these three verses together. From the soul that commands to wickedness, to the soul that is reproaching and blameful and questioning the acts of wickedness that the person falls into from time to time, to the soul that's contented and at rest and peace that has transcended those inclinations. This progression involves struggle and the struggle our scholars have referred to as the jihad against the nafs. The struggle against the nafs.

The Four Foods of the Soul

And the means for this struggle are many. We'll mention a few. We mentioned this the other night. First of all we have to feed our soul. Soul food. Not that soul food that they might sell in some parts of Chicago. I mean we could eat soul food. I grew up on soul food. But now there's aspects of soul food, the soul food diet that is strictly forbidden. The pig feet. But we're talking about another type of this. So the collard greens, cornbread, mashed potatoes, that's all acceptable. The pig feet and hog maws and ribs and all of that leave for others. But we're talking about another type of soul food.

First Food: Silence

This soul food is, the scholars say, first of all, silence. To be quiet. Because the greatest undermining of our spiritual nature comes from the damage done by our tongue. Because this is the quickest expression of the inclination of our souls. You might can't always do something wrong, but it's very easy to say something wrong. So the first check on those inclinations is to be silent. And to restrain our tongue. And not to give expression to every thought that comes to us.

And there are forces that want us to do just the opposite. To constantly talk and to never experience silence. And we mentioned this. People live their lives nowadays surrounded by oral stimulation. And if they're in a state of silence, most people will go crazy after a day. You put them in an unpadded cell. All alone. Total isolation. No music. A lot of people will go crazy after a day or so. Because why? We've been accustomed to constant stimulation.

And this stimulation incites the negative inclinations of our soul. So we wake up to music. Clock radios. We used to wake up to alarms. Buzzes and bells and ringings, dingings. Now we wake up to music. We go into the shower and turn on the radio. We go down to breakfast and turn on the stereo. And we get in the car and surround ourselves with stereophonic sound. And then we go to work and we fight with each other as to what kind of music we're going to listen to. And then after the battle is resolved, we listen to music as we work. And then we get in our cars with our stereophonic or I don't know—they might have more advanced sound systems. Digitally engineered. I don't know. And then we drive home and then we go to bed as we listen to Beethoven's Fifth or something. And this is how we live our lives. But to appreciate what the spiritual inclinations we have, we need silence.

Second Food: Isolation

The second food for our soul is isolation. Because when we're isolated, there's no one to express our negativity to. There's no one to lie to. There's no one to backbite about. And by not engaging in these practices, the good inclinations within us come to the fore. Because these negative ones are dormant. So they recede and then our good inclinations come to the fore. And we have time to think about our Lord and think about the meaning of life. The higher purpose of life.

So this requires isolation. We know the Prophet, before he was called to the prophetic office, he withdrew from his society. And went into the cave of Hira. And he used to reflect and he used to meditate and contemplate. And this is very, very important for our spiritual winning this spiritual battle.

Third Food: Hunger

The third food for our soul is hunger. Because physical food feeds our physical appetite. And a lack of physical food puts those appetites into recession. So the spiritual nature that's within us comes to the fore. So there's an inverse relationship between the two. The less physical food we eat, the more spiritual food begins to nourish our souls. And the less the drives of our carnal nature influence us and push us.

Fourth Food: Night Prayer

The fourth food is the night prayer. And the night vigil is essential. There's never been anyone who's attained any station with Allah except that they spent a portion of their night in worship and devotion. This is a rule that's inescapable.

"The standing in prayer at night is more penetrating and beneficial for the soul."

Why? Because there's stillness, there's silence. And there are things that exist in the day that we're not even aware of. At night we can hear things five houses down. During the day we can't hear from the next room. Because there are background noises that are bombarding our senses. Traffic, people talking, doors slamming. And we're not aware of it until it's gone. And the only time it goes away, in most places-if you're in New York, the city that never sleeps, even then—in most places is at night. So at night prayer, night prayer, night vigil, contemplation, reading, meditation is essential for the elevation of the soul.

So these are four foods that we can feed our soul to help to win this battle. To go from that nafs al-ammara bi al-su' to this nafs al-mutma'inna.

The Remembrance of Allah

The second thing is the remembrance of Allah. Constant remembrance of Allah. And all of these manifestations, the remembrance of Allah draws us near to Allah. And it brings the love, it makes the love of Allah a reality in our lives. You can't love someone you never think about. That's why they say distance separates. You see two people are madly in love, so their parents are conspiring. We'll send them to different colleges. So in high school, they're madly in love. And then this one goes to UCLA and this one goes to Princeton. So for the first week, they send emails to each other. And the second week, every other day. And the third week, once a week. And then the fourth week, they meet a whole new circle of friends. And then after two months, it's all over. And their parents are drinking tea, celebrating. He was no good for it anyway. So, remembering Allah, why? Because the distance, it led to forget. They forgot about each other.

So by remembering Allah, we endear ourselves to Allah. By endearing ourselves to Allah, Allah elevates us. And this is the way of the believer:

"Remember me, I will remember you."

So you remember someone, they remember you. You send them a letter, they write back. You come to visit, they reciprocate. So remember Allah—remember me, I will remember you. Give thanks to me and don't reject thanks for my blessings.

So remembering Allah, this is another very vital aspect in winning this battle. Because the more we remember Allah, the less we think about the inclinations of our soul. There is no time. And the true lover is the one who every thought is consumed by their beloved. That's all they think about. And again, this is how believers are. It's thinking about others that turn us away from Allah.

Allah says:

"Amongst the people there are those who take equals besides Allah whom they love as they love Allah. Those who believe are most intense in their love of Allah."

This is the believer. So this love helps us to overcome the soul. Because the soul is trying to excite us to things we don't hear any of it. We don't think about it. All we're thinking about is Allah. The meeting with Allah. To please Allah. To do those things which are pleasing to Allah.

Identifying and Eliminating Character Defects

And thirdly and finally we'll mention this. A weapon in our battle against the soul is identifying and eliminating the defects of our character. And again, why? Because this helps us to attain to the prophetic virtues. And a

What are some of the defects?

Anger

Anger. Prophet said don't become angry: (لَا تَغْضَبْ - lā taghdab) (Sahih al-Bukhari 6116). So we want to fight against ourselves until we become halim, forbearing. So things, insults, abuses don't bother us. We forbear. So we fight against the inclination towards anger until we become halim, forbearing.

Envy

Envy. We fight against that by wishing increases for people. Instead of things to be taken, blessings to be taken from the increase. Someone's beautiful, Allah give them more beauty. We feel our heart becoming envious. They have a nice car, give them a better car. Nice house, a bigger house. Allah increase your blessings on your servant. This is until we become a very magnanimous person.

Stinginess

We find ourselves stingy, avarice. And we fight against that until we become altruistic. We want everyone. We give preference to everyone. Instead of holding on, we give freely. So we have ithar. And we know this ithar or giving preference to others is a big part of our Islamic ethical system. To give preference. Muslims are people of ithar.

Tafaddal. And not just going through doors. There everyone has ithar. Tafaddal, tafaddal, tafaddal. So no one— someone should just come and push us both through the door. Get in the door please. So everyone has ithar when it comes to that. But when it comes to something really meaningful, the tafaddal becomes scarce.

We need last night the brothers, Imam Siraj said, who's going to give $20,000? Tafaddal. Squeezing blood out of a rock. So ithar is in meaningful things.

Arrogance

Arrogance. We fight against ourselves until we eliminate kibr and ujub, conceit. Until we have the quality of tawadu', or we can intentionally humble ourselves. And not just humble ourselves and our actions and manners to subordinate our thoughts. Our personal preferences and matters. Okay, perhaps you're right. So people think it's humility just to walk very meekly.

Assalamu alaikum brothers and sisters. It is with great pleasure that I address you this evening. So man, that's a humble brother. Then we say, I think we should do it this way. Bid'a, haram, la, astaghfirullah. We can't do it like that. We have to do it, there's only one way. My way or the highway. So humility is also humbling your opinion, humbling your thought, giving preference to someone else's idea.

Summary of Jihad Against the Nafs

So these are three things that we can do. So reiterate: feed our soul. We mentioned the four foods of the soul— silence, isolation, hunger and night prayer. Be constant in remembrance of Allah and to try to identify and fight

against the negative characteristics we have until we adorn ourselves with the prophetic virtues and characteristics. And this all involves the jihad of the nafs.

The Third Jihad: Dealing with Non-Antagonistic Non-Muslims

And finally, the third jihad—so there's jihad fighting physically and then jihad against the nafs or the soul and then Imam Razi says the jihad with the non-antagonistic non-Muslims.

So every non-Muslim is not our enemy. This is an idea that's gaining in popularity nowadays because of the desperate situation of many peoples in the Muslim world. But it is not an essential belief in Islam. It's an erroneous belief. And a lot of it is influenced by our being influenced by non-Islamic systems of thought. You can analyze a lot of our Islamic movements, they're Marxist-Leninist movements with Islamic clothing on.

So you use Islamic terminologies and categorizations but the way they're structured—and a proof of that is that how do they look at Muslims who have the same aqidah, the same madhab, who oppose their ideas? Their Muslim brothers and sisters become their political enemies. This is a characteristic of Marxists. And there are dynamics that you can study to document how this happened. You have Islamic organization that are broken down into cellular structures that are exact replicas of Maoist groups. And this is a fact. And their tactics are the same. Their tactics and student organizing, how we're going to take over the MSA, is just like the Marxist thing. How are we going to take over the MSA and get rid of these reactionaries?

The five-minute warning, which he's been holding up for ten minutes. Okay sister, we're winding down, inshallah.

Justice Towards All People

So anyway, all non-Muslims are not our enemies. Allah says:

"Allah does not forbid you from behaving justly and having good amicable relations with those non-Muslims who have not fought you and who have not driven you from your homes. Verily Allah loves those who are just."

So this is how we have to understand our neighbors and understand the people we share this land with. And I say this very purposefully.

Love for Humanity

The message of Allah—the Prophet ﷺ says:

(لَا يُؤْمِنُ أَحَدُكُمْ حَتَّى يُحِبَّ لِأَخِيهِ مَا يُحِبُّ لِنَفْسِهِ - lā yu'minu aḥadukum ḥattā yuḥibba li'akhīhi mā yuḥibbu linafsihī) (Sahih al-Bukhari 13, Sahih Muslim 45)

"No one of you believes until he loves for his brother what he loves for himself."

And many commentators on this hadith they say, he loves for his brother in humanity—(أَخِيهِ فِي الْإِنْسَانِيَّةِ - akhīhi fī al-insāniyya)

Allah says in the Quran:

"We've ennobled the son of Adam"—the human being in general.

Every human being has a potential in him or potential in her for good. Because this is part of the ennoblement that Allah has bestowed upon the human being. So it's our job to bring that good out of people.

The Prophet's Way of Dealing with People

And this was the way of the Prophet ﷺ. The Prophet he didn't hate people bitterly. And he told you should not hate people to extreme. Otherwise there's a day will come when that hatred will prevent you from reconciling with that person. And you shouldn't love people to extreme. You should love Allah to an extreme.

Because if you do, there will come a day when it will be impossible for you to be separated from that person. And everyone, no matter how much we love them, we have to leave them. And it might ultimately be at the time of our death. So we're leaving. The one that loves us, we're leaving. And the Prophet ﷺ was like this.

The Year of Uhud and Mercy to Enemies

And because of this, he could at the worst year, the worst year, in the deen, was the year of Uhud. After the battle of Uhud where the Prophet ﷺ is almost killed, he's bloody, his tooth is knocked out, he's bleeding. Many of the eminent Sahaba, such as Hamza, and Mus'ab bin Umair, and others are killed at that battle. And it all occurred after the Muslims on the verge of victory, which made even more crushing. If it happened from the outset, it's one thing, but the victory is right there, and then you have this tremendous setback.

And then after that, during that same year, what happened? Bi'r al-Ma'unah, where seventy of his companions were slaughtered when they were sent on an expedition to the Najd to give da'wah to people. And then Yawm al-Raji', where another expedition was slaughtered and massacred. So it's a very difficult year.

But during that same year, and this is oft times overlooked, the Meccans were experiencing a famine. And the Prophet ﷺ sent a caravan of food to them. You can't do this if you hate a people to extreme.

The Conquest of Mecca

And the conquest of Mecca, these people fought against him, they tried to kill him, they tried to destroy his mission. But when he came and entered the city as a victor, what did he do? Wipe them all out? This is what would probably happen nowadays. He said: "There's no blame on you today. You're free, go."

And most of them came into Islam. So this isn't a person that is deluded by some idea of a perpetual revolution against an irretractable enemy. This is the best of humanity who sent to call humanity to the best of ways.

Our Mission in This Country

And that's our job here. That is our job here in this country. But this is a jihad, this is a struggle. It's a struggle that requires that we try to understand what makes people tick here. We have to have research institutions. And these are set up only as a result of struggle. But we can do this. We have to have charitable organizations. Last night we saw the work of IMAN.

We have to have organizations that are going into the inner cities, going into areas that no one else is going, and trying to arrest this ravaging of human beings that's going on in this country. Where the prisons keep filling up. Even the person who designed this whole policy of imprisonment, I forget his name, after he saw the prisons had now reached two million. He said two million is too much. Two million is too much.

In the state of California since 1980, they've built twenty-five new prisons and one new university. And every prison you can build a university with that money. So if the government doesn't do it, we as Muslims have to start doing it. There's nothing to stop us. And this is da'wah. Da'wah is many times what you do. And not what you say.

Love for All People

So there's a lot for us to do. Out of love. Out of love for people. We have to love people.

(لِيُحِبَّ لِأَخِيهِ مَا يُحِبُّ لِنَفْسِهِ - liyuḥibba li'akhīhi mā yuḥibbu linafsihī) (Sahih al-Bukhari 13, Sahih Muslim 45)

These are our brothers and sisters in humanity. And we have to understand this.

Dealing with Family

And we have to reach out to our spouses and children. It's a struggle relating to them. Allah says that some of them are enemies. So your enemy you have to fight against. But not physically fight against. Fight against with patience, forbearance.

"O you who believe, verily amongst your spouses, amongst your children are enemies. So beware of them. But if you pardon them and forgive them, verily Allah is the most forgiving and merciful."

This is a struggle and we have to fight it. We have to fight it. Brothers and sisters, you have to fight to keep your marriages together if you're married. It's a fight. A lot of people are falling to the wayside because they don't realize it's a fight. So they get waylaid. If you're in a boxing ring in Madison Square Garden and there are bright lights everywhere and 20,000 people smoking cigars, you better start ducking because you're in a ring. And if you don't believe you're in a ring, you're going to get hurt.

So as Muhammad Ali said once, I won't even say it. He taught us the launching of a satellite. You get launched. I said, what was that? I don't know but here it comes again. So once you get into the ring of marriage, understand you're in a battle. So you have to fight to keep your marriage together. Shaytan is trying to waylay you. He's trying to do you in.

And Allah says it:

"They learn from these two angels, Harut and Marut, that which causes separation between the man and his wife."

So Shaytan is your enemy. (فَاتَّخِذُوهُ عَدُوًّا - fattakhidhūhu 'aduwwan) (Quran 35:6) "Take him as an enemy."

So this is a struggle and I don't want to belabor the point because I got the five minute warning fifteen minutes ago. So we have to fight against Shaytan and his dupes.

Muslims in Non-Muslim Lands

In conclusion brothers and sisters, as we said, all non-Muslims are not our enemies. They are not our enemies. And they are not by and large antagonistic to us in this country. There are well publicized abuses, the case of Shaykh Omar Abdul Rahman, the case of Imam Jamil, the case of this poor brother Ahmed Chowdhury in California and others. But these are not the rule, these are the exception. These are not the rule. These are the exception. And until they become the rule, we have to reach out. And we have to understand our shari'i status in this land.

We exist here, and I've said this, and you've heard others say this, and you've heard people reject it. But I'll say it again, we exist in a covenant of protection. It's called aman, mustatman, in this country. And as such, we cannot fight against these people. And we cannot try to undermine these people. But we're free to call them to Islam.

And Imam al-Shafi'i says in Kitab al-Umm, and there's other rulings in terms of when you can justify we exist in a non-Muslim land. Imam al-Shafi'i says in Kitab al-Umm, he says if a group of Muslims enters a non-Muslim land, and are guaranteed protection, their enemies are safe from them until they leave their lands. They have no right to oppress or betray them. The Muslims have no right to oppress or betray them. This is the shari'a.

Peace and Conversion

Even if a person were part of a country that's in a state of war against a certain population, they could cease that war as Muslims. If their antagonists ask for peace. Allah says:

"If they're inclined towards peace, then you're inclined towards peace, then trust in Allah."

Or if the Imam says there's a chance of mass conversion amongst those people. And there's a chance here. And this is a whole other talk. So I don't even want to get into it because this sister starts throwing the notebook at me. So I'm going to stop here.

** السَّلَامُ عَلَيْكُمْ وَرَحْمَةُ اللهِ وَبَرَكَاتُهُبَرَكَاتُهُ وَجَزَاكُمُ اللَّهُ خَيْرًا

Question and Answer Session

We'll conclude the speech with about a fifteen to twenty minute question and answer session. All you're going to really have to do is raise your hand and I'll point to you. If you could just keep the questions brief and if you could project so everyone in the auditorium could hear you.

Question 1: Taliban and Buddhist Statues

Question: I'm wondering, as a Muslim, are you at all embarrassed about what's going on in Afghanistan with the destruction of Buddhist symbols and an unwillingness to let other people have those symbols if they don't want them in Afghanistan. And is this a sign, if you'd answer that, is this a sign of a fundamental intolerance for other people's beliefs?

Answer: No. I think it's a sign of bad PR skills. The question, I'm sorry, was that am I embarrassed by what's going on in Afghanistan and with the destruction of the Buddhist idols and is this a sign of intolerance, a fundamental intolerance.

Okay, and so in response to that I said no. Really, I'm not embarrassed because I'm not there. So, not being there, I really don't have a sense of the nuances of the situation which led to such an attitude. But I can say this, first of all, the Taliban is not intolerant to the point that they cannot peacefully coexist with the statue of Buddha. They came to power in the mid-90s and Buddha was safe until this year. So there's no intrinsic inability of the Taliban to coexist with these statues.

I think that it is unfortunate what has happened there and that I think it's short sighted their failure to realize that we indeed, as Marshall McLuhan said, live in a global village because of the communications network which brings us all into contact with each other. And as such, we have to really be very careful what we do and say. But I think what's lost in all of this, what precipitated their action.

In other words, they've been in power since I think 1996 and Buddha was perfectly safe. So they're in the midst of a very difficult drought and famine in Afghanistan. And the UN, at the peak of this famine earlier this year, offered to send money to fix up the Buddha.

Now why does Buddha need fixing up? Because the British soldiers during their occupation used to use Buddha as target practice and knock large holes in it. And the only reason they couldn't blow it up because during the 19th century when they were there they didn't have adequate firepower. So Buddha is pretty chipped up from the damage done during the British occupation.

So they offered—the UN—to fix up the Buddha. So the Taliban said, well if you send any money we're going to use it to feed the people and we could fix up Buddha later. So the UN said, then we're not sending any money. So the Taliban said, then we're going to blow up Buddha. So this is what the sequence of events that led to this crisis occurring at this time.

Now was it a wise thing to do? No. Especially in light of the fact that there's no one in Afghanistan actually worshipping the Buddha as all the people there are Muslim now. And in light of the fact that it would create this

tremendous ill will and misunderstanding which has a backlash against Islam. So it wasn't a wise thing to do in my estimation.

But it is not an event that occurred in a vacuum. And it is not an event that occurred because of some intrinsic intolerance of the Taliban towards Buddha. As we said, Buddha was fine until this series of events started.

Question 2: Violence and Pacifism

Question: As Muslims on college campuses we meet people of all different types of philosophies and amongst the best people that I've met are pacifists who really believe in achieving justice in the world. And they make the argument that violence begets violence. And they ask the question how could the destruction of life reach anything constructive? As Mahatma Gandhi has put it, an eye for an eye makes the whole world blind. So how are we to respond?

Answer: I think that the question is he's met a lot of very enlightened people as a university student here on campus and some of the most enlightened are pacifists. And they frequently ask him how can violence ever lead to anything good when violence only begets further violence? And that, as Gandhi said, an eye for an eye will lead to a blind world.

I think that the argument is overstated because overwhelming force in the face of aggression has frequently stopped that aggression. I mean if the world stood blindly by or idly by and allowed Hitler to proceed and didn't take firm action I think that we all can agree that the consequences would have been extremely undesirable. So it's a very deep question that requires a lot of contemplation but I think history shows that violence doesn't necessarily beget further violence.

And I think this example is a good example that violence in the case of stopping Hitler didn't lead to a subsequent war in Europe. If anything, it was one of the instrumental catalysts in unifying Europe and making the European community possible. So I think that we have to really look at historically is this in fact true that violence inevitably begets further violence? And I think the answer is that it doesn't.

Now does this totally answer the ethical question? No. But I think it's a strong consideration. And we should ask pacifists to reflect on. And I think some of the deepest reflections in this regard are those of Reinhold Niebuhr who was a pacifist but in light of the totalitarian violence that was destroying Europe he engaged in a very principled reformulation of his ideas. Because you had people like Hitler. You had people like Stalin. And other totalitarianisms during the past century which had to inevitably be checked. Now could they have been checked without violence? Resorting to violence? I think that's questionable. They could not have been.

Question 3: Defending Non-Muslims

Question: They can be Muslim or non-Muslim. The ayah is general. The question, I'm sorry. She said, I mentioned that one of the justifications for jihad or physically fighting in Islam was to fight to defend or repulse aggression or oppression from those too weak to defend themselves or repulse it from themselves. And she said further or asked, are there any qualifications? Do they have to be Muslims or can they be non-Muslim?

Answer: And they can, in fact, be non-Muslim. And something, there's a historical occurrence and it's documented. And a friend of mine actually read this proclamation that during, at the height of the Russian

pogroms against the Jews at the end of the last, or the 19th century rather, that Sultan Abdul Hamid of Turkey, he sent a communique to the czar in Russia and he said, if you don't stop this violence against these Jewish people, I'm going to send an army to Russia.

So this is indicative of the fact that they don't have to be non-Muslims necessarily. But if our resources, and realistically speaking, if our resources are limited, then priority is given to Muslims. But there's no stipulation that this will apply to non-Muslims or excludes non-Muslims.

Question 4: Cycles of Violence

Question: I don't mean to play the devil's advocate, but I'll play the devil's advocate. What it means to me, if someone else fights you, and if you fight back, and if they fight back again, and you fight back again, it's like a cyclical process. There's no resolution. Everyone's fighting. And if you fight back, they fight back, if you fight back, they fight back.

Answer: All right. And this is why we need principled people. And this is why Islam is encouraging us not to divorce our fighting from ethical and moral considerations.

And I think the case you're making is not historically verified. In the case of the advent of Islam, okay, the Quraysh or the people who are fighting the Muslims, they launched their attacks, and the Muslims reciprocated. But this came to an end. And at a certain point, there was no more fighting. And then there was room for dialogue.

And the same thing in Europe. The British and French fought the Germans. And the Germans reciprocated. And now there's no more fighting. And I think that you would have to be extremely pessimistic to think that World War III is going to occur between the French, the English against the Germans. Unified or not. A unified Germany or not.

So I think that at a certain point, there's resolution. And then there is a room, there's room for reflection. And if we reflect during those interims, under the right circumstances, we can transcend the roots of conflict. And I think this is what happened in the struggle between the Prophet Muhammad and the Quraysh, or those who were fighting against him. And in recent history, I think this is what has happened in Europe. And I think there are many other historical examples.

So I think that this idea that conflict and struggle is the norm in human societies has to be challenged. I think it's the exception. There are indeed many conflicts raging amongst human beings today. But do they involve the majority of nations and society and states or a small minority? They involve a small minority. And I think this has always been the case.

So I think the challenge for us as enlightened human beings, especially in these times we live in where war is potentially so destructive, even by so-called non-conventional means. As the Gulf War showed, they have now vapor bombs that have the power of a small thermonuclear device. And they use these in the desert against those hapless Iraqis. They have now concussion weapons that can scramble the brains of whole armies without even obliterating their bodies. And they use these in Panama. They found mass graves in Panama where the bodies

were totally intact, but the brains of the people had been so severely concussioned that they died. They're working on radiation weapons. They're working on all sorts of terrible instruments of destruction.

So as Muslims and enlightened Muslims and non-Muslims, we have to seriously discuss ways to resolve potential conflicts peacefully and definitively and create a harmonious situation because we're reaching a point we can't afford wars because of the potential destructiveness and the lack of adequate defenses. You see now the Pentagon recently canceled a massive howitzer order because we don't need cannons anymore. Who needs cannons? We can push a button and scramble a million brains. So howitzers are becoming obsolete.

So the way technology is developing, we need to respond with a commensurate ethical and moral initiative. So I don't think that this scenario of violence retaliation is inevitable. I don't think that it's historically verified. And I don't think it's a premise that we as Muslims or non-Muslims should accept in trying to formulate strategies to deal with each other.

Question 5: Muslims Who Cross the Line

Question: His hand was up. What is to be done with the Muslim who does cross that line? There's obviously a hadith that says that assist your brother even if he is an oppressor. So how does one in the modern day assist a Muslim who is an oppressor by stopping the oppression? And that's the other half of the...

Answer: Our advice would be that to try to be extremely discerning in your actions. And especially now. But on the other hand, my primary concern is here. Because the conditions that have shaped me are conditions that I'm familiar with here. And not being totally conversant with the nature of the oppression that many Muslims are dealing with in other places, I can only give a general sort of idea and advice. But the specifics, we pray that those people will look deeply at Islam and arrive at the best decisions.

But my advice in response to your question would be to be very discerning to discriminate between those who are actually fighting you and those who are non-combatants. And then don't cross the line. And don't allow your anger to allow you to cross the line.

And this Allah orders us in the Quran, don't let your hatred of the people move you to behave unjustly.

"[Be just, that is closer to righteousness.]"

So I think we have to really urge Muslims everywhere to keep these verses to the fore.

Well, the hadith that you're referencing:

انْصُرْ أَخَاكَ ظَالِمًا أَوْ مَظْلُومًا

"Assist your brother whether he is the oppressed or the oppressor." (Sahih al-Bukhari 2444)

And they said, oh messenger of Allah, we understand how we can assist him if he's oppressed. How can we assist him if he's the oppressor? And he says stop him from his oppression.

I think the greatest thing we can do to stop any Muslims from any acts of oppression is to develop a strong Islamic presence in this country. So that we can bring as a community greater resources to bear on resolving these many conflicts so that the desperate situation that many Muslims are experiencing which oftentimes lead to extreme actions can be eliminated.

So, for example, there's an implicit indication in the question of the gentleman in the red hat to Hamas, for example, which is an Islamic organization that has a charitable wing, educational wing, but also a paramilitary wing that has been identified as engaging in actions against civilian targets. So how will we assist someone like Hamas to build a strong Islamic presence in this country that could bring pressure to bear on the government to bring an equitable resolution to the conflict in Palestine? And then the conditions which produced Hamas will be eliminated.

Because if you have a child who's lived his whole life and grown up in a refugee camp and has seen over the years, has seen his brothers and sisters coming home with broken bones as a part of a policy to break the bones of children, has seen his uncle's house whose uncle worked twenty years in Kuwait and saved his money and came home and built a house, then he saw it blown up because his little brother was throwing rocks at guys in a tank, and you're seeing this day in and day out. This creates a tremendous amount of frustration, alienation, and tension within a human being that can lead a person to discard higher moral considerations.

So the best thing we can do is to eliminate those conditions. And by eliminating those conditions, inshallah, Allah willing, we will do a lot to stop our brothers from what might be perceived as injustice or oppression.

Closing Remarks

And the sisters told me there's no more questions. We can mix up with the people afterwards to carry on this discussion. So we thank her for being merciful because my voice is starting to, going to recession at this point.

Thank you all for your patience, your very thoughtful comments, your very insightful questions. Thank you for your civility. Maybe you wanted to throw something or yell, but you didn't, so this is a testimony to your lofty aspirations.

And may those aspirations be rewarded, and may we all work together, no matter what our background is, to make this world a better place and a less stressful and less violent place for all of us to live in. Thank you again.

السَّلَامُ عَلَيْكُمْ وَرَحْمَةُ اللَّهِ وَ**