EPIC Masjid, Brother Ekram-ul-Haq, Enjoin all there is good & forbid all there is bad.

Enjoin All There Is Good & Forbid All There Is Bad

Muslim women have had their scarves pulled, spat at. Muslim men beaten and attacked. Many Islamic centers vandalized and some burned down. And close to home, just a few days ago, there was vandalism at the Islamic Center of McKinney.

But against this — and of course, Muslims have been called violent, anti-democratic, backward, disloyal, and so on and so forth — against this background, against these heavy odds, some Muslims, brave Muslims and some Muslim communities in the United States have tried to set the right atmosphere and counter the anti-Muslim venom and prejudice that we have seen being expressed. Many masajids have held open houses to invite non-Muslims, to show them the true message of Islam, to show them as to who we are — that we care about our neighborhoods, our communities, we are contributing members of the society, we are peaceful, and so on and so forth.

Now, subhanAllah, accusing Muslims of being violent, anti-democratic, and anti-progress is an intellectual dishonesty. Because if you look at history, whenever Islam was allowed to rule — and of course, there are major actors who, whenever they see that Islam is on the rise, try to stop and impede the growth of Islam — but whenever Islam was able to rule, we saw prosperity, we saw brotherhood, we saw peace in the world.

As a matter of fact, by way of comparison, in all the wars of the Prophet ﷺ in the ten years in Medina, only 1,100 people had died on both sides of the conflict. Compared to that, in the six years of the Second World War, 50 million people perished all over the world. In one day of the bloody battle in the First World War, Britain lost between 20,000 to 50,000 people in a single day. So this is the reality, but we have to take this reality out to the world and tell them as to who we are.

The Qur'anic Command to Cooperate in Good

This responsibility falls on us, and we know that building bridges and making coalitions with other people is something that Islam wants from us. It is something that the Prophet ﷺ did even before he became the Messenger of Allah. And of course, we know that working with other people, working for the common good, is rooted in the command of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala when He says:

"Help one another in good things and in righteousness and piety, and do not cooperate and help each other in acts of sin and evil deeds."

So we see that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala has commanded us, and as a result of that, Rasulullah ﷺ's life is an example of that cooperation. Inshallah we will get to those details.

The Prophet's ﷺ Early Example: Hilf al-Fudul

We see that the Prophet ﷺ engaged from early on in joining hands with other people, even people of other faiths. And Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala tells us to follow the Messenger:

"Indeed in the Messenger of Allah you have a good example to follow."

Now, one of the earliest examples of this bridge-building and coalition-building we see in the life of the Prophet ﷺ is something called Hilf al-Fudul. According to most books of Sirah and most historians, he joined this pact when he was only 20 years old — a full 20 years before Rasulullah ﷺ became the Messenger of Allah.

And what was this pact about? The Quraysh were living in terrible times before the coming of the Nubuwwah and the Risalah of the Prophet ﷺ. They were having wars on silly pretexts, on lame excuses. They were fighting for years, revenging and avenging. Life had become very difficult in Mecca, especially for the poor, for the people who did not have tribal support. The rich could oppress the poor, the strong could oppress the weak, and they could do so with impunity — they had no fear that there would be accountability for them. So they could plunder, they could rob people. The society was full of drinking and debauchery.

Against that background, a man came to Mecca from outside with some merchandise. Another man from the Quraysh, named Aas bin Wa'il, purchased the goods from this man on the promise that he would pay him. But days went by and the man from outside Mecca was not paid. So he was very upset and very sad. He went to the gathering of the Quraysh where the nobles were seated, and he complained loudly and passionately about what he was faced with.

Among the nobles of the Quraysh was seated Zubayr ibn Abd al-Muttalib. He was really touched by the pleas of this man. So he and some other nobles of the Quraysh had a meeting in the house of Abdullah ibn Jud'an, and they decided to form a pact which became known as Hilf al-Fudul — that they will help the oppressed, they will help the weak. And as a result, they forced Aas bin Wa'il to return the merchandise of this man. The Prophet ﷺ, who was only 20 years of age, joined this pact.

SubhanAllah, this was a revolutionary thing in pre-Islamic Arabia, where kindness was really not a norm — if anything, it was an exception.

The Compact of Medina

Now fast forward many years later to the life in Medina. One of the first few things that the Prophet ﷺ did — other than building the masjid — was to dictate a pact known as the Compact of Medina, or the Medina Charter. In this, he included all the citizens of Yathrib — or Medina, which later began to be called Madinat al-Rasul. This included the Jews, the Christians, and the pagans.

The Prophet ﷺ created a brotherhood of faith among Muslims — the Ansar, the Muhajireen, the Aws and the Khazraj and the various tribes. And then he also created a universal brotherhood based on humanity and mankind. He called the signatories of this Compact — the Medina Charter — one ummah. Not in a religious sense, but in a linguistic sense: this was all one ummah, one nation. They were to strive, to cooperate, to defend Medina from external attacks. And of course we know through history that some of the parties to this contract reneged and tried to plan an attack against the Muslims.

Enjoining Good and Forbidding Evil: A Protection from Allah's Punishment

Working with other people to secure your society is not just an act of social activism. If you look deeply into it, this also creates a protection for the community against the wrath of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. We have talked about this before, but just as a reminder: Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala has said, do not think that when Allah's trials and tribulations and the adhab come, only the bad guys will be afflicted. The good may also be afflicted.

The scholars have spoken about the difference between being Salih — pious in oneself — and being a Muslih — one who works to reform society, to stop evil and promote good. The one who is pious in himself but does not do anything to reform the society, to stop the evil, to promote the good — when the ayahs of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala are ridiculed and mocked and he does nothing about it — such a person is not included in the protection of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.

Because the Prophet ﷺ said:

(Jami' al-Tirmidhi, Hadith 2169)

"By Him in Whose hand my soul is, you will either enjoin good and forbid evil, or soon indeed Allah's punishment will take you over, and you will make du'a, and the du'a will not be accepted."

And of course we know from a hadith that when Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala sent the angels to destroy a people, the angels came back saying, "O Allah, will You destroy this village where such-and-such pious person lives, who has never ceased worshipping You?" So Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala said: "Begin the destruction with this person. Because My ayahs were ridiculed and mocked, but he did nothing to stop it."

And that is why Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala made it an obligation when He said:

"Let there arise from amongst you a group of people who will enjoin all that is good and forbid all that is evil. And these are the people who are successful."

And then Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, because of this, said:

"You are the best people who have been raised for mankind — because you enjoin good and you forbid evil."

And then Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala again said that He will never destroy a village — a people — unjustly while there were muslihoon among them. And that is why we see that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala said in the Qur'an that He would not punish the Quraysh while Muhammad ﷺ was living amongst them. Lut alayhis salam was asked to leave before the adhab of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala came.

There is much that tells us that we have to reach out, we have to build coalitions, we have to touch other lives — and not just live in an insulated cocoon where we are only inward-looking, but rather go out to other people. On that depends the true protection for the society and protection from the adhab of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.

Da'wah Is Broader Than Conversion

Now some people may think that giving da'wah is only for the purpose of converting people to Islam. Well, that is one of the main purposes of da'wah, but that is a narrow view of it. Helping the needy is a form of da'wah. Removing harmful objects from the path is a form of da'wah. Building coalitions, building agreements and covenants with non-Muslims to protect the Muslim community from harm is also a form of da'wah.

And that is why some of the scholars — scholars like Ibn Taymiyyah, at the time when the Tatars had ransacked Baghdad, and some people were saying that we cannot become involved in a kufri political system — Ibn Taymiyyah, as harsh and hard as he was on these issues, said: as long as your intention is to lessen the harm to the Muslim community, you may go ahead and join and work within the system to protect Muslims from harm.

A Local Example: Dante's Inferno in Texas Schools

There are many other things that can be a form of da'wah, a form of protection. Perhaps many people in this gathering might not know that right here in Texas, there is a book called Inferno — a poem written in the 14th century by a man named Dante — that has been taught in Texas public schools. This poem contains offensive content about the Prophet ﷺ. Now imagine if Muslims had become involved in the board of education — it would have been difficult for the board to approve such books for a high school syllabus. But this piece of trash is being taught in the high school English literature class, and there is nothing literary about it.

Some of the brothers from this community have actually engaged with the school, the board, and other organizations to see if this book can be removed. And this is one example of many.

EPIC Open House — June 22nd

Inshallah, on June the 22nd — which is just two weeks from today — EPIC will be holding an open house. The purpose is to invite non-Muslims and showcase the true Islam. All of you can participate in this. You can bring co-workers, neighbours, non-Muslim co-workers, classmates from school and college — anyone you interact with. This will give them information that is not falsified, not prejudiced, not half-truth, but authentic and reliable information about Islam.

I hope all of you realize that today, since 9/11, there is a well-paid, well-financed campaign against Islam and Muslims. These people are making the rounds of the airwaves — they are on radio, on television, writing in newspapers, protesting — doing all kinds of things so that Muslims always remain on the defensive. And in the public domain, as you know, many Sikhs have been attacked because they appear to be Muslims.

So we have to rise to the occasion. We have to respond to this call. We cannot be comfortable in our own comfort zone. Islam and the Muslim community is calling upon us, and we can change the situation. This is how the Prophet ﷺ changed it — he was a single man who rose up against heavy odds, went through persecutions alongside his companions, but eventually victory was granted to the Prophet ﷺ and a small group of people.

Closing: The Prophet's ﷺ Words on Hilf al-Fudul

And lastly, I close this khutbah with a profound statement that the Prophet ﷺ made. You remember that he had joined Hilf al-Fudul when he was 20 years of age — 20 years before he became the Messenger of Allah. Now, years later, when he is in Medina and has established an Islamic state in his lifetime, he still remembers Hilf al-Fudul. And when he was reminded of it, he told the Sahabah, may Allah be pleased with them, that if he were to be asked to join Hilf al-Fudul again, he would gladly do so.

Even though the first pact he had joined was not an Islamic pact per se — it was a pact to help protect the community and join hands for the common good. And that is what we need to do, emulating the example of the Prophet ﷺ.

I ask Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala to help us walk in the footsteps of Rasulullah ﷺ, and to make us good ambassadors of Islam, and to help us overcome the attacks that have been leveled against Muslims for the last 14 years. May Allah give us a good life in this world and a good life in the Hereafter. May Allah not take us away while we are upon our sins.