EPIC Masjid, Imam Nadeem Bashir ,Following the foot print of Prophet Mohammed pbuh PART 1/2.

Opening Praise

Alhamdulillah, Alhamdulillah, Aliyyul-Dhati, Azeemul-Sifati, Sameenul-Sifati, Kabeerul-Shan, Jaleelul-Qadri, Rafi'ul-Dhikri, Muta'ilul-Jaleelul-Quran, Fakheemul-Ismi, Ghazeelul-Ilmi, Waseelul-Ilmi, Katheelul-Ghufran, Jameelul-Tana'i, Jazeelul-Ata'i, Munjeebul-Du'a'i, Ameemul-Ihsan, Saleelul-Hisani, Shadeedul-Iqan, Azeemul-Adhabi, Azizul-Sultan.

وَنَشْهَدُ أَنْ لَا إِلَٰهَ إِلَّا اللهُ وَحْدَهُ لَا شَرِيكَ لَهُ فِي الْخَلْقِ وَالْأَمْرِ، وَنَشْهَدُ أَنَّ مُحَمَّدًا عَبْدُهُ وَرَسُولُهُ.

Amma ba'ad. Allah says in the Qur'an, after seeking refuge in Allah from Shaytan the accursed, in the name of Allah the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful:

Introduction: Revisiting Last Week's Khutbah

Respected Brothers and Sisters in Islam, if you recall last week, the general topic of the khutbah was stress and depression and how to treat stress and depression in Islam. I had dedicated time to talking about the current events that had been going on in Egypt and in Libya, and the video that was released in regards to the Prophet ﷺ that was making a mockery of our beloved Prophet ﷺ. I had only talked about it for 10 minutes.

There were many people in the community who came to me and who had requested that it is not fair to take this subject — which needs so much elaboration and explanation — and try to squeeze an entire topic into 10 minutes. So therefore, in today's khutbah, I want to take what I talked about in those last 10 minutes last week, elaborate more upon the subject, and address the current events that have been going on in Egypt and in Libya.

What Happened: The Background

Just to get started — where did this subject matter come from? There was a person by the name of Christopher Stevens, who was an ambassador of America sent to Libya, and he, along with 3–4 other people, had his life taken away. The excuse behind taking their lives was a video made regarding the Prophet ﷺ in which there was a mockery of the Prophet ﷺ.

In my most humble opinion, I truly believe that this act of killing was an act of ignorance. Whoever those few individuals were who did it, it was an act of ignorance, and there is no place in Islam for this.

The Sanctity of Life in Islam

When you look at the subject of killing or taking someone else's life in Islam, Allah clearly speaks about this in the Qur'an. No one is allowed to take the life of anyone else. In fact, Allah clearly mentions:

The rule is that if you take the life of one person, you have committed such a crime — it is as though you have taken the life of everyone on the face of this earth. And if you save one person's life, it is as though you have saved the life of the entire humanity.

I remember I was approached a few days ago — I had an interview with a woman from the Dallas Morning News in regards to all of this. She asked me: what is your stance and belief about people taking the life of other people? And I mentioned to her, very clearly and in one sentence: life is precious, life is sacred. Regardless of whether the person is a Muslim or a non-Muslim, no one's life should be taken away unjustly. No one's life should be taken away, regardless. Life is so sacred, and this is something that we all hold dear.

The Inviolability of Ambassadors

Now, keeping in mind — the person who was sent from America as I mentioned, Christopher Stevens, was only an ambassador. In Arabic terms, he was only a rasool — a messenger. If you look at the habit, the rules, and the laws of the Prophet ﷺ — how he would treat messengers and ambassadors — we learn something very, very important.

And not only do we learn this from the Prophet ﷺ, but this is a rule throughout the entire world: ambassadors should not be killed. Even according to Islamic teachings, there is a hadith of the Prophet ﷺ that he said:

That messengers and ambassadors are not to be killed. (Sunan Abi Dawud, Book 14, Hadith 2758; also referenced in Musnad Ahmad)

Even according to Islamic Sharia, if there is an ambassador of a country that people are about to go to war with, and an ambassador from that country comes, you still cannot take the life of that person. Even in that extreme situation, you still cannot take the life of that person.

The Prophet's ﷺ Treatment of Ambassadors: The Lesson of Hudaybiyyah

When we study the seerah of the Prophet ﷺ, we see how he would treat ambassadors. When people came as messengers on behalf of someone else, he would never treat them wrongly. He would always treat them with respect.

When you study the story of Hudaybiyyah — when the Sahaba and the Prophet ﷺ went all the way to Makkah with the intention to perform Umrah and were stopped, not allowed to enter — there was a person by the name of Suhail ibn Amr who came to the Prophet ﷺ as an ambassador and representative on behalf of the Quraysh. He came to the Prophet ﷺ on behalf of the very same Quraysh who were stopping him from entering Makkah. The Prophet ﷺ could have held him as a hostage and used this as leverage — that "we have one of your men, if you don't let us into Makkah, we will take his life."

What did the Prophet ﷺ do? He never did anything of that type. He let the ambassador come, had a conversation with him, and when Suhail ibn Amr went back to the Quraysh and they saw his emotional state, they asked him, "Is everything okay?" He said: "I have visited so many different kings, but I have not seen anyone who is more respectful of their leader than the Sahaba are towards Rasulullah ﷺ." That response had a profound effect on Suhail ibn Amr himself.

About the Video: Separating Fact from Reaction

Now let's go to the movie that was created regarding the Prophet ﷺ. I want to elaborate upon this because many of us may not have a clear idea about exactly what happened.

A brother from the community brought me an article from the Dallas Morning News. The article shed some light on the person who actually made this video. According to it, this person paid some people $75 a day to come and make this video in his home. After the video was made, he put audio in the mouths of the actors and actresses, then began to stitch together different shots to make one video. When he tried to show it in a movie theater, do you know how many people came to see this movie? No one. No one came to see it even for free. No one wanted to waste their time.

Then he put the video on YouTube to promote it, and how many responses did he get? Zero. No responses whatsoever.

But then, according to this article, a person in Virginia — who was anti-Muslim and originally from Egypt, living in Virginia — took this video, transcribed it into the Arabic language by putting Arabic subtitles on it, and then sent it overseas. Some people overseas then made this into a big case. They began to spread it far and wide. So many people became more and more aggravated, upset, and frustrated as they watched the movie, and that frustration manifested into action against the ambassador of America who was sent to Libya — and that person's life was taken away.

Keep in mind — that person whose life was taken away never even made the video. He probably never even knew about the video. He had nothing to do with the video, and yet, in our Muslim lands, people went and took his life. There is absolutely no place for this in Islam.

At the same time, many Muslims were saying that it was Jewish people who were behind this. According to the article, this person did claim in the beginning to be an Israeli Jew — but that was a lie. He was actually a Coptic Christian from California who belonged to a church in California, and it was he who decided to do all of this.

And not only that — just the other day on CNN, there was a report that some of the actors in that video did not know what they were getting into. They had volunteered just for the money, and now they are actually suing the person who made the video because they did not realize what they were getting into.

Expressing Frustration Is a Sign of Iman — But Then What?

Now, in my khutbah last week, some people got the impression that I was saying: if people are disrespecting the Prophet ﷺ, we are to just sit here and be patient. First of all, I am not saying that. The very first thing I want to say is that if a Muslim — brother or sister — expresses their anger, frustration, or hurt over this video, this is a sign of Iman. This is a sign of Iman.

Why? Because a person will only become angry and upset when someone does something wrong to someone they truly love and they take it very personally. When so many people have become upset at this mockery of Rasulullah ﷺ, this is nothing less than a sign of Iman.

I want to share a story to illustrate this. One time the Prophet ﷺ was being disrespected by a Jewish man who had lent him money and came to ask for it back before the agreed date. He came days in advance and began to disrespect the Prophet ﷺ. What did the Sahaba do? Did they just sit there? No — they stood up and were about to confront that person. Rasulullah ﷺ said: no, do not attack this person; explain to him very, very nicely. So you see — the Sahaba became upset. Why? Because each Sahabi, individually, was a mountain of Iman. When a person expresses frustration at the disrespect of the one they love — this is a sign of Iman, no doubt.

What Does the Qur'an and Seerah Teach Us?

But then let's look at what the Qur'an says. What does the seerah teach us? What did the Prophet ﷺ do when people were disrespectful towards him — when people harmed him, afflicted punishment upon him, tortured him? How did he react? How did he treat those people later on?

In the Qur'an, Allah says in Surah Al-Hijr:

Allah is telling the Prophet ﷺ: "Indeed, We are sufficient for you against those who make mockery of you." This is Allah Himself saying: you don't have to take action — We will be the ones taking action. You don't have to worry about it. We will be the ones who hold them accountable for the things they say to you.

Not only that, but in another ayah, Allah says:

"And We certainly know that your chest is constrained by what they say." But what did Allah say after that? Did He say: because you are so upset and your heart is so constrained, go and inflict upon them what they inflict upon you, go and take their lives? No. He said: "Glorify Allah" — and be among those who make sujood, who prostrate themselves before Allah. And then: "Worship your Lord until certainty comes to you."

The word الْيَقِينُ here does not actually mean certainty in the sense of faith alone — it means death. That you continue to worship Allah. Let it be to Allah. Allah will take care of them. Continue to worship Allah until the time comes that you depart from this world.

Patience in Makkah: The Prophetic Model

When you study the seerah of the Prophet ﷺ, one thing we will learn is that the Prophet ﷺ and the Sahaba رضي الله عنهم — men and women — were persecuted because they said one thing and one thing alone: لَا إِلَٰهَ إِلَّا اللهُ مُحَمَّدٌ رَّسُولُ اللهِ. There was religious persecution. Yet not a single time did the Prophet ﷺ tell these people: go and get even with these people. Not only did he stay away from that, but he taught the Sahaba to stay away from it as well.

There were times when the Sahaba came to the Prophet ﷺ and said: where is the help of Allah? When will the help of Allah come? The Prophet ﷺ did not say: whatever they're doing to you, go and do exactly the same to them. He did not teach that. He said: be patient, be patient.

In fact, when he realized that the persecution and torture had gone beyond limits, what did the Prophet ﷺ do? He gave them permission to migrate to Abyssinia, to live there until things calmed down. So we see that even in Makkah, after all of the torture, not a single time did the Prophet ﷺ retaliate.

The Lesson of Ta'if: The Height of Forgiveness

We know the story of Ta'if — how the Prophet ﷺ was treated when he went there. Yet after all of this, when Jibreel عليه السلام came and said: "O Prophet of Allah, if you give the word, the people of Ta'if — who live between two mountains — they will be crushed to death." What did the Prophet ﷺ do? He said: no — I forgive them.

After going through whatever he went through — and if you actually study what the Prophet ﷺ went through in Ta'if, it is mind-boggling. You cannot even imagine the extent of the torture and pain. He was pelted with stones until blood flowed from his body all the way down to his shoes, and his shoes became stuck to his feet because the blood had dried — there was that much blood. After all of this, after shedding so much blood, what did the Prophet ﷺ do? He forgave them for the sake of Allah.

And what was the result of that? If you study history, one of the people who brought Islam to India — at that time it was one region, now divided into India and Pakistan — was a person by the name of Muhammad bin Qasim, who was one of the bravest people to carry Islam to that region. And guess where he was from? He was from Ta'if. He was from Ta'if. Imagine if the Prophet ﷺ had said: yes, get rid of all of them. What would have happened to the people of Ta'if?

The Qur'anic Promise of Trials — and the Response

In Madinah, in Surah Ali Imran, Allah says to the Prophet ﷺ:

"You will certainly be tested in your wealth and your lives, and you will most certainly hear much harm from those who were given the Scripture before you and from those who associate others with Allah." Much, much harm — things that are beyond our imagination. But then what does Allah say? "And if you are patient and maintain awareness of Allah — then that is truly a matter of determination." That is the better course of action.

The Conquest of Makkah: Power Meets Forgiveness

When we see the Prophet ﷺ after living in Madinah, in the years before he passed away, when he went back to Makkah and the conquest of Makkah took place — the year after the treaty of Hudaybiyyah — those same people who had done wrong to the Prophet ﷺ, those same people who had kicked out Rasulullah ﷺ from Makkah eight years earlier, were brought before him. Now, power was in his hand. He could have done whatever he wanted. But what did the Prophet ﷺ do? He chose to take the path of forgiveness. He forgave them for the sake of Allah.

So we learn so many stories and incidents from the Prophet ﷺ — about what to do when people do these kinds of things.

What Should We Actually Do?

Now I'm going to share more on this. But what we have learned so far is that when people disrespect Rasulullah ﷺ — if we show our frustration, if we get upset and are hurt by it — this is a sign of Iman. This should be the least. As the Prophet ﷺ said:

(Sahih Muslim, Book 1, Hadith 186)

If we take it to heart, then this is the least. And this is good. At least we show that we have some love for Rasulullah ﷺ. But the next question is: what are we supposed to do in these circumstances?

1. Raise Awareness and Ignore the Provocation

First of all, we should be raising awareness amongst ourselves to ignore the problem, to ignore the situation. We live in a world where you have internet everywhere. You have enemies everywhere. If you go on YouTube, you will find videos against Christianity. You will find videos against Judaism. You will find videos against other religions. This is the world we are living in.

Even this person today — this Coptic Christian who made this video — even if he were to go away, there will be another enemy of Islam who comes around. There are always going to be people who say things against Islam. One time we had the Danish cartoons. Then there was a person by the name of Terry Jones who wanted to burn Qur'ans. Then now you have this person. This is not the end of the story. This is going to continue.

When a child is being bullied in school, one of the best ways to deal with it is to tell that child to ignore them. Of course he can complain and there can be consequences for the bullies — but when a person is being bothered over and over again, what are they told to do? Ignore them. When you continue to ignore them, the people who want you to get excited about the matter will realize that you are not getting worked up and are not taking action — so they'll forget about it. This is what we need to do as Muslims. The more we ignore it, the more the matter will calm down.

2. Get More Involved in Muslim and Non-Muslim Communities

The second thing is that we need to get more involved within our Muslim and non-Muslim communities. When we see that Rasulullah ﷺ went to Madinah, he didn't just work with the Muhajireen and the Ansar — he also worked with non-Muslims. The non-Muslims at that time in Madinah were the Jews, and he worked with them. He created the Constitution of Madinah with them. Yet later on, when they were the ones who betrayed the agreement, they were dismissed from Madinah. But we learn that the Prophet ﷺ worked with them.

Most of us sitting here — we probably are not part of our homeowner association. If there is one, we should be part of it. We live in a community but we don't express ourselves. We don't get involved. Then we become irrelevant in any society, in any community. Keep friendship and keep a relationship with your neighbors. How many times does it happen that we live next to neighbors for 5, 6, 7, 8 years and don't even know them? The Prophet ﷺ has stressed upon taking care of your neighbors. We need to reach out to our neighbors.

When there are civic engagements, get involved. If there are Muslim brothers or sisters trying to run for state or city positions, support them. We need to get more and more involved.

3. Do Not Watch the Movie

One advice I will give: do not watch the movie. You know the rule with search engines — Google, YouTube, Yahoo, Bing — the first result that comes all the way to the top of the first page is the most visited. The video that appears first in a YouTube search is the one that is watched the most.

Keeping this in mind: if we don't want others to watch this video, we're not going to watch it ourselves. I can almost guarantee you that probably 90% of the views on that video are by Muslims, not by non-Muslims. Non-Muslims don't even care. It is us who have been so upset about it — so we are the ones watching it. The more we watch it, the more views it gets. And when anyone searches for Muhammad ﷺ, this will be the very first video to come up. If we don't want others to watch it, we should stay away from it ourselves.

4. Take Smart, Effective Action

Reach out to CAIR. Find out what CAIR has done so far in regards to the situation, whether they are filing a lawsuit, and get involved with that. We need to learn that when we take action, we take action that is effective and smart — not action that is ineffective, where we make more noise but there is no real effect.

What we see going on — burning flags, riots — there is no place for that. The same person who wrote the article in the Dallas Morning News said: the man behind the movie, who wanted to expose Islam as a violent religion, when he saw nothing was happening, stated that one of the main reasons he made the video was to show how violent Muslims are. And when he produced the video and Muslims became worked up and excited — do you know what we did? We showed the world that whatever he was trying to do, he was right. The intention he had behind making the movie — we proved it. This is what we are showing the world.

Every single time, people put bait out for us. And we as Muslims — we are biting on that bait every single time. The Prophet ﷺ said:

A believer does not get stung from the same hole twice. (Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 6133; Sahih Muslim, Book 55, Hadith 7137)

The easiest way to understand this hadith: a believer does not make the same mistake twice. The Danish cartoons came, everyone got excited — it was proved that yes, this is how you can get to Muslims, Muslims are violent. When Terry Jones came, the same thing happened again. And now, the third time, the same thing is happening again. We need to be very careful about this.

A Closing Reflection: Who Will Be Questioned?

May Allah give all of us stability. There is one thing I want to share with all of you. Of course, we see that there are so many enemies of Islam who are disrespecting Rasulullah ﷺ. Some of you may object to what I am about to say, but in my most humble opinion — and I truly believe it — the people who are enemies of Islam will continue to be enemies of Islam and will continue to disrespect Rasulullah ﷺ. But I firmly believe that these people who are making a mockery will not be held as accountable on the Day of Judgment compared to the Muslims who truly say: "I believe in Allah, I love Rasulullah ﷺ" — and yet their entire life is contradicting the teachings of Rasulullah ﷺ.

We as Muslims can continue to say that we are so upset, we are so upset, we are so upset. But if our life is against the teachings of Rasulullah ﷺ, it is not the enemies who will be questioned about this on the Day of Judgment. It will be us who will be questioned. And as we know, there is a saying in English...