If he said it, then he is truthful...
Heres the khutbah I delivered on campus today. I was a little disappointed because my khateebs bailed out on me and I was stuck to write the khutbah friday morning before salaah because i had an exam thursday and then work in the evening. Khayr, i think it was alright, other than the fact that I didnt get a chance to make the khutbah into an outline so i took it in the form below, and brought a pen to mark what I had already said. Twas not a good idea as I began playing with the pen as I spoke annoying those were listening im sure.
- One year before the Hijrah, which is relatively early in the da’wah of the Prophet PBUH, there was an event that took place. The event was something that if you were to hear of it today, unless you have iman you might think it is some type of made up story, let alone those who heard it back in the time of the Prophet.
- This event was al Israa’ wal Me’raaj, the night journey of the Prophet PBUH to Jerusalem and then his subsequent ascension into the heavens to meet Allah swt and then back. The day after the event took place, the Prophet PBUH spoke of the event that had taken place, and for many Muslims this was a test because they were new in Islam and to hear of something so miraculous was almost too strange to be reality for them. Yet other companions showed the strength of their faith that day, namely Abu Bakr ra.
- The Quraish began to go around mocking what the Prophet PBUH had claimed, going around and asking the Muslims if they believe in such a foolish thing.
- They said to Abu Bakr, "Look at what your companion is saying. He says he went to Jerusalem and came back in one night." The response of Abu Bakr was a profound response, it was a response that insha Allah today’s khutbah will be based on. Abu Bakr told them, "If he said that, then he is truthful.”
- Brothers and Sisters, Allah swt tells us in the Quran
يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُواْ ادْخُلُواْ فِي السِّلْمِ كَآفَّةً وَلاَ تَتَّبِعُواْ خُطُوَاتِ الشَّيْطَانِ إِنَّهُ لَكُمْ عَدُوٌّ مُّبِينٌ
O You who believe! Enter into Islam whole heartedly, and do not follow the footsteps of the evil one; for he is to you and avowed enemy.
- In this verse Allah swt is outlining two very important guidelines for us to follow if we wish to be called those who believe
- Enter into Islam whole heartedly
- To enter into Islam whole heartedly means that as muslims we must accept Allah swt as both our Rabb and our Ilaah.
- To accept Allah swt as only our Rabb would mean that there is no difference between us and others who believe in Allah’s existence, as to accept Allah as our Rabb only means that we accept him as our provider, caretaker and sustainer. To believe this does not necessarily mean that you have accepted Islam as in the Quran, Allah swt tells us what Shaytaan will say on the day of judgement. He will say ‘Innee akaafullaha rabbal Alameen’ “verily I fear Allah, Lord of all that exists”. And then in surah Ya seen a group of disbelievers take it a step further by saying to the people calling them to Islam
قَالُوا مَا أَنتُمْ إِلاَّ بَشَرٌ مِّثْلُنَا وَمَا أَنزَلَ الرَّحْمن مِن شَيْءٍ إِنْ أَنتُمْ إِلاَّ تَكْذِبُونَ
- The (people) said: "Ye are only men like ourselves; and ((Allah)) Most Gracious sends no sort of revelation: ye do nothing but lie
- They even recognize that Allah swt is ar Rahman, yet they negate the fact that Allah swt is ALSO the ilaah of all that exists.
- To accept Allah swt as our Ilaah means that we accept him not only as the one who sustains us and provides for us, but also as our law giver and our establisher of rules on this earth.
- To negate this role of Allah swt is negating the very nature of Islam as it was revealed to all the Prophets who came before.
- The second part of the verse that I recited to you earlier states a warning from Allah swt, and this warning ties directly into the acceptance of Allah as our Law giver. “And do not follow the footsteps of the evil one; for he is to you an avowed enemy”
- Brothers and Sisters: What is it that Iblees did which earned him such a curse from Allah swt? What did he do to become such a being that we are asked before we do almost anything of relevance to seek refuge from him before we begin? He, in the company of the angels who are free from sin, refused a command of Allah swt based upon what his own intellect and desire said to him.
- Imagine the scene: In the presence of Allah swt, rows upon rows of angels there, only those whom Allah swt had permitted to be there were there to witness the unveiling of this creation of Allah: Adam. Allah swt then after bringing his creation forth, told all those who were there to bow to Adam not out of worship of man, but out of respect of this great creation of Allah. Everyone making sajdah, except one being. What defiance! What arrogance to be before the Lord who created you, and to reject HIS honorable commands! Then after refusing this command of Allah so defiantly he explained himself. He said that he was made of fire and Adam of clay, therefore he concluded that he was better than Adam and that he did not need to bow to Adam.
- This response from Shaytaan which earned him eternal damnation from Allah swt, is unfortunately the same logic that many muslims around the world use today when given a command from Allah swt.
- Shaytaan this day showed that he took his intellect, an intellect which was fashioned by Allah swt, as his law giver, rejecting the right of Allah swt to command us as HE wills.
- How can we possibly think that we as human beings, a being which does know anything except that which we are taught, can challenge the authority of Allah swt by not doing as we are commanded to do?
- Allah swt has given us the absolute best way to do everything in our life. Any command that HE has given us is better for us for 2 reasons. 1 because we will be rewarded for obeying Allah in the hearafter, and 2 because this obeying will be the best path to follow for success in this life.
- There are so many examples of how Allah has given us a command, and then scientists through millions of dollars worth of research and years of hard work, come to verify that which Allah has already told us.
- Alcohol for instance, Allah clearly tells us why it is prohibited for us. He tells us in the Quran that there is some good in it, but that the bad outweighs the good therefore we should stay away from it. Scientists recently are researching the benefits of alcohol and they find these obscure benefits for its being drunk just to show that it has good qualities in it, yet Allah already told us it has good qualities, and it is obvious to us how harmful alcohol is to societies, and therefore we stay away from it.
- Of course this religion of Islam is a religion which is complete, and Allah swt has perfected it for us and chosen this path for us. But if any one of us were to try and take on all of the religion at once, it could be potentially hazardous to our faith as was advised to us by the Prophet PBUH.
- But we must be careful of an attitude which is creeping into our ummah, an attitude that is taking people out of Islam daily. This is the attitude of taking some of the religion and rejection part of it out of convenience, and suggesting that some of the religion is outdated and is not necessary to follow anymore.
- We may turn on the news recently and hear discussions on how certain rulings in our Sacred Law show how we are intolerant people and how this Sacred Law needs to be fought against. We as Muslims, if we hear something like this or are asked about certain rulings in our Law must keep 2 important things in mind when we are answering. 1) We must not compromise with this religion in order to please others. We will be held accountable for that which we say, and to take part and leave part of Islam is something which can take you out of Isam. And 2) there may be rulings which you do not understand fully, but the proper steps you must take is that you do not deny the ruling because you don’t understand it, and that you then seek out people who can explain to you the ruling so that you can understand it.
- If there is a ruling upon which all the established madhahib of fiqi have an ijmaa' upon, then scholars say that rejecting such a ruling can constitute kufr. And this is evident in the saying of the Prophet PBUH [paraphrased] that if my entire ummah comes together in agreement on something, then this has to be the truth as my entire ummah will not agree upon that which is incorrect.
- Allah swt is al Adl, the Most Just, and therefore HE swt will not instruct us to do that which is unjust. Therefore our response to a question of this type should be the response that abu Bakr ra gave to the Quraish that 'if he said it, then he is truthful'
- Intermission
- Salawaat
- Brothers and sisters, for the past month almost, many of the khateebs who have come to give the khutbah have been giving almost the identical khutbah, and this is partly my fault.
- The most seemingly relevant issue that the Muslims are dealing with is the Danish Cartoons, and I haven’t been warning the ones coming to give the khutbah that we have heard the cartoon khutbah already so they should give another one. But, regardless of the repetition of the message, there is one common theme that the khutbahs have shared which I feel is very beneficial to us.
- The stressing of the fact that to love the Prophet PBUH, means that you must do more than just burn some tires and break some windows. To love the Prophet PBUH means that you try your best to do as he PBUH said to us, and this means that you emulate him in any way you can and you obey him in everything that you can.
-Allah says in the Quran
لَقَدْ كَانَ لَكُمْ فِي رَسُولِ اللَّهِ أُسْوَةٌ حَسَنَةٌ لِّمَن كَانَ يَرْجُو اللَّهَ وَالْيَوْمَ الْآخِرَ وَذَكَرَ اللَّهَ كَثِيرًا
Ye have indeed in the Messenger of Allah a beautiful pattern (of conduct) for any one whose hope is in Allah and the Final Day, and who engages much in the Praise of Allah.
- We at UMBC know of the fitnah we dealt with last month when the Retriever Weekly wrote an article attacking our Prophet, our religion, and those who follow it. But alhumdulillah, this fitnah was small and the MSA with the help of some alumni, had a meeting with the administration, the author of the article, made clear to them our position, and had a counter article published in the paper which clarified Islam and was insha Allah very beneficial to those who seek the truth.
- Now this fitnah was extremely small when compared to what our brothers and sisters at NYU faced this past week. I sent out an email explaining how a group on their campus was going to actually display the cartoons in an attempt to defend the rights to free speech, and that the MSA there needed our assistance in putting pressure on their school’s administration to disallow this event from taking place.
- I received an email from the NYU MSA and in it, the President explained to me what happened and I thought that I would share it with you all. The pressure put on the school forced them to take action, and they told the organization that they would not be able to display the cartoons and that no outsiders would be able to come to the event due to security concerns. The MSA had planned a massive protest outside of this event, and before the event began the MSA took a brilliant step by buying up all the tickets to the event so that nobody would be able to attend it. The MSA then instead of protesting, held a teach in outside of the event in which their was a talk about who the Prophet PBUH actually was. This event was attended by the President and vice president of the university, who showed solidarity with the MSA.
- Brothers and sisters, this is the type of power that we as Muslims need to exihibit when our religion is attacked. To run through the streets pillaging, and to resort to vigilantism as a means of exacting revenge does nothing more than play right into the hands of those who made the cartoons, by showing to them that we are just what the cartoons suggest.
- Our strength needs to be a strength in numbers, and strength in education, and a strength in resolve, as this is the only way that our claims will be legitimized and we will be taken seriously.
BONUS part of the khutbah that I thought was a little too heavy for the audience so i left it out
- This type of obedience extends to the scholars as well, as Muhammed PBUH told us in a authentic narration that “The scholars are heirs of the Prophets. The Prophets do not leave behind an inheritance of gold and silver; they leave behind the inheritance of knowledge. Whoever acquired knowledge, acquired a lot of wealth."
- Now this narration means that the rulings of this religion, of Allah swt and HIS Prophet PBUH, are going to be passed to us through a certain methodology. This methodology was never through scribes writing books and encyclopedias of information for us to get and read and derive rulings from. The methodology was that of the Prophet PBUH teaching his companions who were in his presence, then these companions teaching their companions who were in their presence, so on and so forth. This chain of teaching is still established today and can be found in the 4 schools of thought which are still being preserved in the same respect as we speak. This lineage of sound knowledge is preserved by the promise of Allah swt in the Quran, and by the methodology described by our beloved Prophet PBUH.
- Nowadays many so called progressive Muslims have given themselves the right to now restart the circle, and to reinterpret things through their own methods of convenience. They have no regard for the science of keeping this knowledge pure, but instead they wish to change rulings in an ad hoc fashion for their own comfort.
- We as followers of the Prophet Muhammed PBUH need to be very careful with these types of people, because in essence, these people are calling for us to refuse that which is coming to us of Allah through established methods, and to instead follow our own intellect as was the call of Shaytaan.
posted by Iboo LaL @ 3:19 PM
Comments: 6
