THE STREET MIMBAR Khutbah (21 July 2006)
e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] webpage: www.geocities.com/khutbahs
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/the_street_mimbar
Suggestions & Criticisms: PLEASE E-MAIL
It is such a manner that We make plain our signs so that the course of the
criminals may become clear.
Bismillah Ar-Rahmaan Ar-Raheem.
Alhumdulillah. Peace and blessings on Muhammad, his Noble Companions and
Family.
Brothers and Sisters, Muslims whose relationship with Allah is one of
responsibilities and duties and one of tasks and obligations....
Audio onhttp://www.islamiccenterdc.com/khutbassermons.htm?archived=1&page=7
(12-10-2005)
CONSOLIDATING THE MUSLIM RANK AND FILE PART 12
INTRODUCING KING MU'AWIYA- ISLAMS FIRST KING
Over the weeks, we covered the form of government, Al-Khilaafah the followed
An-Nubuwah. The reign of Abu Bakr, Umar, Uthman, Ali and Hassan, (radi allahu
anhum) were characterized by the model of Allahs Prophet. Even with some of the
mistakes that unfolded in the time of Uthman, this system of government was on
the model of Allahs Prophet as they were still characterized by the essential
elements of Shura, Justice and Freedom of Conscience. Now, we will see a new
form of government- something that many Muslims are slow in recognizing.
Sometimes, bringing up these issues renders some Muslims broken spirited. It is
alien to us to have a broken spirit. How did this all begin? Where did all this
begin? Why are not we able to track it to its sources? Once again, the problem
is we don't have enough confidence to track it down to its source. You come to
the fear molded Muslim of today and you tell him- look, Allah has given us this
indisputable source knowledge, this book of
certainty, (Surah Al-Baqarah verse 2) but why are we in the condition that we
are in today? Let us try to take a hard look at what has happened. When you
express these words, they fall on an average individual who is incapable of
rewinding his mind with the pulse of the Qur'an and the Prophet (sallalahu
alaihi wa sallam). Incapable! Why? - because he is beholden and entrapped in a
tradition that has become a religion. He is not stimulated by the meanings that
Allah has imparted to us. What factors in is centuries of consolidated customs
that put together have become the substitute for our imaan. Granted- these are
brave words, but brave words only come from those who are solidly, thoroughly,
deeply and honestly entrenched in Allah and His Prophet. What happened? If a
person is located with Allah and His Prophet, he can easily take a look at
1,400 years of human efforts and say this is right and this is wrong. Why are
we the most feeble people in the world when it come to
pointing to what is right and identifying it and adhering to it, and then
pointing to what is wrong, disclaiming it and opposing it? Why are we so feeble?
You take the obvious- early on in Islamic history, after the period of
succession to Allahs Prophet, kings took over- that's what happened. Brothers
and sisters, this is not said with any type of bad feelings, this is not said
to try to score against someone and this is not said to try to make certain
Muslims feel inferior- it is only said as selflessly, objectively and honestly
as the words of truth can be expressed. An indication of how lazy Muslims have
become is
Allahs Prophet himself said "There's going to be an era or time-frame
of corrective governance after him, mature administration after him. Then,
after that, there's going to set in a monarchy. Then, after the monarchy there
will be despotism. Then, after that, the Muslims will make their way back,
full-circle, to mature governance." Where's this? We've spent 1,400 years- has
anyone realized the historical stages of this hadith? Is anyone paying
attention? If someone comes and says (as a matter of sincere
interaction with the information, that is proof positive to us from Allah,)
"Look, Muawiya was the first king to rule after Allahs Prophet."- what happens?
Why should anyone get upset?! Why should anyone feel any unease with a fact
that should have been crystallized over 14 centuries? Why should anyone take
issue with this? The 1st king- the Prophet of Allah said "There's going to be a
monarchy that follows mature governance." We ask these Muslims who run away
from the facts in the Qur'an and the facts in Al-Khalq, from revealed facts and
from developmental facts- we ask these types, have you not heard the Prophet
speak? This is an authentic, consensual, mainstream hadith that the Prophet
expresses to us. It's not controversial, it's not a hadith ahaad, it's not of a
dubious verification process- it's a hadith that all of us have come to agree
with and if that's the case, who is the 1st king? Has the 1st king come yet?
Are we still living in the era of mature governance?
Can anyone in his right mind look a the condition in which the Muslims are
living and say we still don't have a king and we still don't have a despotism
around? They have set in a long time ago. They have taken root over the
centuries, so why are we slow in identifying this? Why can't anyone wake up and
smell the coffee as it were? What's wrong?! Don't we have access to what Allah
is telling us? Can't we hear what Allahs Prophet is explaining to us? What
happened, brothers and sisters- committed Muslims- is that Islam began to
recede initially at the level of those who ruled the Muslims. That's where the
1st retreat of Islamic self-determination set in. How did we, (you and me among
the Muslims), behave towards this? There was an armed opposition and a passive
status quo arrangement to it, that's how you and I responded to this. The
violent strong armed opposition 1,350 years ago was defeated by the monarchy,
by the dynasty that ruled over the Muslims. So, when we take a
look around in this world and we see Muslims who are in armed resistance to
the deviation that has grown into centuries of a livelihood, if we have a
consistent historical character, we realize that this is nothing new. This is a
continuous response to a deviation that has entrenched itself since those times
at that level of our being. But, the question is after all these centuries and
all the generations after all this time, why do we come out today with Muslim
individuals who are fearful to look at this fact? Fear what? If you are looking
with the vision of Allah and His Prophet, you fear what?! Allah says concerning
people who because of fear became selective about scripture- Ooh! This is what
we want to speak about and this is what we don't want to speak about...; this
is what we want to speak about in public and this is what we want to stay
clandestine. This is of Allahs book and Allah condemned these types and
everyone who meets this standard, as despicable as it is.
Do you commit to some of Allahs book and do you reject or deny other parts of
Allahs book? Do you know what the results of doing that is? It is humiliation,
disgrace and mortification in this worldly life. (Surah Al-Baqarah verse 85)
An apt and exact description of the condition that we collectively find
ourselves in. Here, we are dealing with a root problem. The root problem is not
in the symptoms that are around- military occupation, military assaults,
military invasions, military this and military that, that's a symptom. The
diagnosis is in the fact that we are unable to face the facts with the
microscope and the amplifier that Allah and His Prophet have given to us. We
turn our backs and say "we should be speaking about fiqh and muaamalaat." This
began 1,400 years ago, it's nothing new. One of the ways to try to avoid facing
the corruption or the deviation that set in at the decision making level of the
Islamic reality of self-determination was the passive co-existence with it. We
turned to fiqh and muaamalaat; we turned to akhlaaq and tasawwuf. All of these
are integral parts of who we are. We cannot say, thinking about the
organization and the co-ordination of Allahs instructions to us are not
part of Islam, obviously it is. Fiqh and muaamalaat are part of who we are,
but we have an enlargement of that at the expense of the other parts of who we
are. Then, some of them took an escapist route out of this. They emphasized
akhlaaq and tasawwuf. Obviously these are an integral part of who we are. No
one can say that a Muslim is not an ascetic; a Muslim is not a moral human
being. Abundantly obviously we are, but not at the expense of the other parts
of our integral, consolidated and unified character. So, why have we grown
throughout these long years of being incapable of taking a look at our rulers
and saying to them "that you have gone out on a tangent and you've been there
for so long- this is no longer tolerable." You see, in the course of our
history, there has not been a gelling of Islamic public opinion to address our
governments when they go astray?! It hasn't existed. It either has to be an
Islamic violent opposition or it has to be Muslims disappearing
into the underground or it has to be Muslims dissimulating a moral character
to hide behind it, and we can't be ourselves. Why can't you and I be ourselves?
Why can't we cause a consolidation of Islamic public opinion to say to the
ruler when he is right "you are right" and equally and forcefully to say to him
when he is wrong "you are wrong." Imagine, an Islamic public opinion swells
that stands up and roars against a ruler of Tughyan and Taghut and tells him
"Enough is enough- you are relieved of your responsibilities and if you don't
want to relieve yourselves of your responsibility, this Islamic public opinion-
these hundreds of millions of active, informed, conscientious Islamic citizens
and constituents will take you out of power and office." Why can't that be? Why
are we always pre-empted? When Muslims begin to get a sense of how things
should be done, then some internal and external enemy unite against us and they
abort our growing consciousness, saying "look how
violent Muslims are, or look how hypocritical Muslims are." You see, both ways
that we go on our own, without bringing together the majority of
Muslims
granted, no-one is going to be able to bring together 100% of the
Muslims on a political platform of opposition to stray governments, but we can
bring together 70% or 80% or 90%, but why isn't that possible? Why hasn't it
happened since that time? You can look at all of these years and all of these
chapters in our history, why hasn't there been a popular, over-whelming
groundswell of popular public opinion that can easily move transplanted
governors and rulers, kings and presidents out of their seats of oppressive
abuse of power? Why? Because we live in a culture of fear, and they want us to
stay, disintegrate and rot in this culture of fear- that's what they want.
Allah says
They will try to frighten you by using those who are inferior to Allah.
(Surah Az-Zumar verse 36)
That's what we have. Where is all this fear coming from? You look around at
the Muslims you know, the communities, the neighborhoods, the local Islamic
Centers, the Islamic Conventions and Conferences, the scattered bodies of
Muslims all over, and come and present them with the issue of the hour- to come
and concentrate and focus on those who have been taking us in wrong directions
for centuries- let us begin to think about them, let us begin to discuss them,
let us begin to expose their wrongs and their crimes- isn't this a moral
personality who does that? What do you say about governments that get away with
murder? You know the squeaky voices, the silent voices, a long time ago, we're
talking about over 1,300 years ago- there's a scholar- you see, the problem
with mentioning the name with traditional Muslim society, if we're going to
mention the name of the scholar, then all of tradition is going to break loose,
and you're going to imagine this in your particular and
your lop-sided understanding of history, because we've never written our own
history, it's always been the people in power, whether they are Muslims, or
whether they are claiming to be Muslims- they are the one's who wrote this
history. So, if we're just going to mention the name of a scholar over 1,300
years ago, he's going to fit into this historical fix that you have, so, we're
not going to mention the name of the scholar, but suffice it to know that he
was an Islamic scholar by the agreement of almost everyone. They came to him
and said "The authorities have caught a thief and they're taking him to a
ruler." This scholar said, and he's one of the scholars who entered into a
passive arrangement with the status quo, he wasn't the type who was working on
regenerating the promising potential of the Muslims to correct the political
deviation early in Islamic history- he said "Oh! They're taking the small thief
or the minor thief to the major thief, they're taking the junior
thief to the senior thief, they're taking the average thief to the super
thief." Who in our world looks at the rulers that we have an immediately thinks
about culprits and criminals? The way Islam is presented to us, it doesn't help
us, even though Allah and His Prophet have made it very clear to us how we
should be thinking and how we should be looking at the world around, but the
way the khutabaa, the Ulema, the A'Immah speak to us about Islam, no-one is
going to be thinking about people in this capacity. It's not a weekly thing
that- you're going to be reminded every week during khutba to focus your
attention and your thoughts on these types of people. Thats not going to be
the case. What do they say? (As an example), what did this person across the
street from this mimbar in an occupied masjid say? When he was talking about
some people in Iraq, and he can't even speak his own mind, they always have to
hide behind words, he was talking about some Muslims- (we're
relating to you only the small part that we heard), taking other innocent
human beings as hostages. Who's he referring to? Obviously you and I know who
he's referring to and the people who are listening to him know who he is
referring to, but he's looking at the petty criminals- he is not looking at the
master criminals. Why can't we, in the house of Allah have the confidence to
break out of these shackles of fear and express our heart and our mind on the
subjects. The Qur'an and the Sunnah are a waste if we don't process them in our
minds. Did Allah send His Prophet and did He reveal His words to the animal
kingdom? Obviously not, because it doesn't qualify, it has no mind. He revealed
it to us who have the quality and the responsibility to understand what He is
telling us in the context of our world. Then, why should we be trying to hide
some of His ayaat and some of the hadiths- why should we be hiding them? Why
should these scholars be concentrating on a segment of the
Qur'an and the hadiths and then disregarding other segments of the Qur'an and
the Prophet? Why? At a time like this, brothers and sisters, we ask- this
khutbah is all about raising our sense of Taqwa- the fact that you should be
more conscious, more aware and more cautious of Allahs power presence in human
affairs and in human life than anything else. Where's Allah in all of this? Do
you think that Allah doesn't see those who are monopolizing Islam? Do you think
that he doesn't hear the irrelevant words that are said every Friday from the
mimbar during this time.
Don't consider for one moment that Allah is oblivious (Surah Ibrahim verse 42)
But, nothing is going to be done, nothing will be done if we relinquish our
responsibility- it is through our sweat and through our tears and through our
blood that Allah will change the course of decision making in this world and He
will put it in honest hands only if we carry the burden, and the 1st thing to
do in carrying this burden is to get rid of this fear factor. Fear what?! This
is un-acceptable- to have the Muslims of today fearing demi-gods and semi-gods.
Where has this taken us? You can take a look at the historical continuity and
look where we are today. People have many ways of avoiding Allah, His word, His
Prophet- they can even rationalize it and give it a logic, but we know as a
matter of truth and certainty that this relationship and this connection with
Allah and His word generates more confidence. We speak about a divine writ that
tolerates no doubts and that is guaranteed to be a source of guidance for those
who are committed to Allah. (Surah
Al-Baqarah verse 2)This is the case, even though in some of the discourse of
the Qur'an there are things that are not totally understood. (Surah Ahl-Imran
verse 7)
Brothers and sisters committed Muslims
Literally thousands of Muslims, from jum'ah to jum'ah, are losing their lives
or their liberty. From this week to next week, there will be another at least
another 1,000 Muslims who have either lost life or liberty. Why? Because of the
systematic ignorance that has taken hold in our psychologies and in our
societies, because the Muslim mind is not developed to think everyday
Allahs
Prophet says "Whoever is not concerned with the affairs, whoever does not
follow the developments, whoever is not plugged into the condition of the
Muslims is not one of them, is not a Muslim." Here we have, week after week,
year after year, loose Muslims- graduating with degrees of ignorance from
Masaajid, Islamic centers, schools and Institutes to make it possible for the
perpetuation of this week to week denial of life and liberty to thousands of
Muslims. In the past, we hade those who occupy Makkah and Al-Medinah-you see-
the word occupation is a loaded word on those who are brain vacated-
no thoughts circulate in them about Tughyan.
Whoever rejects At- Taghut , the excessive concentration of excessive power,
(that's the practical meaning of Taghut) is on firm grounds. (Surah Al-Baqarah
verse 256)
O you who are firmly committed to Allah, dont have as your allies or
superiors yahud and nasara, Dont ally yourselves to the political and the
ideological expressions of Al-Yahud and An-Nasara, they are allies one to
another. And, whoever from among you does that, he has become one of them, it
doesnt matter who he is, (it doesnt matter if hes praying night and day
until there are holes in his musallah, if he is going to Hajj and Umrah every
year, if hes fasting days on end, if hes making tawaaf of the Kaba and
sajdah in the Haram, it doesnt matter how much hes outwardly behaviour
appears to be Islamic), he has left, he is no longer part of the Muslim
crowd. (Surah Maida verse 51)
Certainly, kings and monarchs, when they enter or make their appearance in a
society, they render its noble or good sector or elements in society into an
inferior one into the lower grade of society; they corrupt it, they cause it to
decay and disintegrate. And it is routine that belongs to them, this is their
policy or this is the way they behave. (Surah An-Naml verse 34)
Much of these mind stimulating meanings that are coming to us from Allah,
courtesy of Allah, as a function of His care for us, we deliberately decide to
dismiss them- and look at the consequences. The occupiers of Makkah and
Al-Medinah, (we've been saying this for the past two and a half decades, and
Allah is our witness,), have been serving the all time pharaoh of history. To
add more proof to the ample evidence that are strewn all over these years, the
mouth-pieces of these Saudi royals were saying "Yes, Muslim and Arab forces
should go into Iraq." Look at how far they are going in satisfying Ash-Shaytaan
and how extremely they are proceeding in displeasing Allah, and when it comes
to the Muslim collective conscience and public opinion, it's as if it's a
footmark or a foot note in the course of events. What did the Saudis do, just
as a quick reminder- in the past crucial years in our lives. We're not
responsible for Makkah and Al-Medinah before and after us, this is our
portion of history and destiny- the least we can do is get our facts straight.
The Shaytaani administration in Washington DC goes to the Saudi equivalent or
parallel and says to it "you have to clean up your act; you have to change your
educational curriculum.", and the Saudis prostrate themselves to this order.
After that, they tell them "You have to identify the extremists among you.",
and the Saudis religiously point their fingers of accusation against committed
Muslims all around, especially those who gained their trust. Ash-Shaytaan Al
Akbar goes to them and says "You have to cut-off the financial assistance that
you are giving to some of these Islamic radicals", and once again, as a
religious act of faith, they open their financial records and institutions to
officials from the state department, and the FBI- come on it, and these, some
Muslims continue to call the custodians of the Haramain, the protectors of
Makkah and Al-Medinah. "Bring down the price of oil" they
are told, and the Saudi royals genuflect, and, because, upstairs, there is not
enough enlightening and illuminating responsibilities that are generated by
Allahs word and His Prophet, they will want to get away with this, thinking
that you and I are clumsy, we can't see all of this, because yeah, this is
Islam, the Islam of peace, the Islam of brotherhood between oppressor and
oppressed, the Islam of turning the other cheek, the Islam of burying your head
beneath the sand, the Islam of sitting in the corner of a Masjid somewhere and
forgetting about the world around, the tamed Islam, the domesticated Islam, the
eviscerated Islam, the sterilized Islam- that has become the religion of the
majority of the people around, who get their weekly doses from the mimbar and
the Masjid so that the pharaohs, the mushriks and the enemies of Allah can have
their way. Brothers and sisters, our immediate responsibility and duty is to
follow Allah and His Prophet and free Makkah and
al-Medinah, our center, our seat of power, throbbing heart, our pulse- to
clean it and to clear it for the course of history, for the will of Allah. This
is where it all begins and this was demonstrated throughout 23 years of the
Prophets life. How have we been distracted in every other direction.
---------------------------------
How low will we go? Check out Yahoo! Messengers low PC-to-Phone call rates.
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Save Aceh now! visit http://www.pusatkrisisaceh.or.id
Click English section for contact Islam Relief Organizations
Want to learn about Islam and Christian?
visit: http://come.to/christian-islam
Yahoo! Groups Links
<*> To visit your group on the web, go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/muslim/
<*> Your email settings:
Individual Email | Traditional
<*> To change settings online go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/muslim/join
(Yahoo! ID required)
<*> To change settings via email:
mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
<*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
<*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to:
http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
