Faith Over Fear | Jumuah Khutbah | Imam Nadim Bashir

Community Du'as and Announcements

He's having a heart surgery. We ask Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala to give him shifa and a'afiyah, may Allah grant him well. And finally, a brother of our community, brother Suhail Malik, his sister got into a car accident. So we ask Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala to protect them and grant them a'afiyah. We ask Allah that all those who are sick, may Allah grant them shifa. And all those who may have passed away, may Allah grant them mercy, may Allah enlighten their graves, and may Allah grant their families sabr al jameel, ameen, rabbil alameen.

Assalamualaikum warahmatullahi wabarakatuhu.

Navigating Uncertain Times

I ask Allah subhana wa ta'ala as he has gathered us here today on the day of Juma, may Allah gather us along with our families in Jadfols al a'la in the companionship of Rasulullah صلى الله عليه وسلم and his sahaba, Ameen.

Brothers and sisters we live in a world that feels increasingly unstable day by day. Tensions between countries and superpowers, the atrocities, the genocide that has been unfolding in Gaza for over a year. And with all this that is happening, many of us, we are sitting over here asking ourselves, that what is going to happen next? It seems like the world is becoming increasingly unstable. There is so much uncertainties that are taking place. Things that people have predicted, some were true, some are not true. But the question is, as a Muslim, as a believer in Allah and His Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم, how do we handle these kind of situations?

There is a political component to this kind of a khutbah which I don't want to really highlight. But there is a spiritual dimension, a spiritual perspective to everything that is happening which I want to highlight today in this khutbah. And what can we learn from the Qur'an? What can we learn from the sunnah of the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم?

Different Responses to Crisis

In this time, when you talk to people about these things, some people are going to say, I'm going to simply isolate myself from everything. I'm going to simply just tune away from everything that is happening as if there is nothing that is happening. And I'm just going to focus on what I need to focus on, my career, my job, my kids, my family, my assets. That's all I'm going to do. Some are going to say, no, we need to go and protest. Some are going to say, no, we just need to just let everything take care of itself, leave it in the hands of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala and do absolutely nothing. Some are going to say, no, we need to be proactive. We need to go take the streets. We need to go to the city officials. Some are going to say, we need to go and write letters and do such and such and be more politically active.

Once again, what does the Qur'an and hadith teach us about these kind of circumstances and what can we do?

Prophetic Predictions Coming True

We also find in the hadith of Rasulullah صلى الله عليه وسلم that he has told us about these kind of events that will eventually unfold. As a Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم, he mentions in a hadith that widespread killing will take place. When you see these children in Gaza being buried under the rubble, all this rubble upon them. They're reaching out with their small hands, just reaching out for help. Yet you find these kind of despicable Israelis, despicable people of the IDF, sitting there saying openly, I have no problem killing these children, may Allah destroy them. You see these kind of things happening. But we realize that the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم, he told us about these kind of things. The person who's being killed has no idea why they're being killed. Why are these children losing their lives in Gaza? Yet you find people celebrating this, these despicable people celebrating this.

At the same time, the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم also told us about the years of deception. A time will come where the liar is going to be considered as the ameen. The kathib is gonna be considered as the ameen and the trustworthy. And the people who are truly trustworthy, they'll be labeled as liars in the community. They'll be labeled as liars in society and in social media. And we see the same thing happening today. We see Americans going and voting for politicians who are sitting in Washington DC, who claim that they care about America first. But they don't care about America first, they care about Israel first. If it was an Israeli or an American, they would give preference to first the Israeli and then the American. Yet, these people who are liars, they're corrupt people, they are considered as those who care about this country. And they care nothing about this country because they're being paid on the back end by lobbies such as AIPAC. So we see that every single prediction given by Rasulullah صلى الله عليه وسلم is coming out to be true.

When the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم said that a time will come that you'll be so much in number. Wallahi, I just came back from overseas. And when you see how many Muslims are there, how many times this hadith came to my mind. There's so many millions of people. 1.7 million Muslims have come together in one place. And you're looking at all this number. But what did the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم say at the end of the day? He says that they are like the foam of the sea.

The Prophetic Solution

But what do we do when we hear these kind of ahadith of Rasulullah صلى الله عليه وسلم? It is not time to panic. The Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم told us that these kind of events will take place. But then the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم also gave us the antidote. He gave us the remedy. He gave us the solution to these kind of problems. And he told us that in times like these, hold on to your Muslim community. Hold on to taqwa.

Hold on to the rope of Allah collectively. And in times like these, we have so many people who take social media. And they are growing a sectarianism, trying to pin one against the other. And even what is taking place right now between Iran and Israel, whatever it is. We know what's going on in Iran. We know the people of Iran. Yet at times like these, I don't care. There might be of a different sect. I will never stand, and we should never ever stand on the side of oppressors. Because that is what the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم taught us. That you always stand on the side of the mazloom, and not the dhalim. Yes, they may have a different philosophy, a different ideology theologically speaking. But I will never stand on the side of the dhalimun. Because anyone who stands on the side of dhalimun, they'll be raised with the dhalimun on the day of judgment.

Faith Over Fear

So once again, what do we do when we hear these kind of ahadith of Rasulullah صلى الله عليه وسلم? And you will see what's being flooded with these kind of ahadith. That now we are seeing the signs of the last day. We are seeing these things that the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم he talked about. And now they are becoming apparent. Do we panic? Do we fall tent? Do we lose our faith in Allah? No, we don't do these kind of things. The first thing that we do in these kind of situations is that we hold on, and we put our true tawakkul in Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. No matter what the situation is, we put our trust in Allah. We put our trust in Allah.

Brothers and sisters, for those who are in Gaza, they have a test that they have to go through. But here living in America, we have our own test. And you know what that test is? It's a test of faith. So many people are losing their faith in Allah because they're asking the same question, when will the help of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala come?

This happened even in the time of the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم by the way. When Sahaba came to the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم, a hadith says that he was leaning against the Ka'bah. And the Sahaba came to complain to the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم. And the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم, he came forward. And he never scolded them, but he reminded them that, did you forget about the people of the past? People were brought, and because they never gave up their faith, they were sawed in half. People were brought, they did not give up their faith. They never denounced their faith. And their skins were peeled off with iron combs. The Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم is telling them, the help of Allah will come. Even for us we need to understand, the help of Allah will come. But the help of Allah comes in different ways. Allah tells us that for us, we cannot lose faith in Allah in these kind of times. No matter what, no matter what we see on social media, no matter how many we see kids being burnt alive, yet we say, I put my trust in Allah.

Allah is telling us, He's telling the Prophet ﷺ, that say, O Prophet ﷺ, لَن يُصِيبَنَا إِلَّا مَا كَتَبَ اللَّهُ لَنَا Whatever Allah has ordained, and He has destined, that will come upon us. But He is our Mawla. He is the one who is our Wali. He is the one that we always turn to. وَعَلَى اللَّهِ فَلْيَتَوَكَّلِ الْمُؤْمِنُونَ Allah says, that the believers, those who are the mu'min, not the Muslim. The mu'min, because the difference between a Muslim and a mu'min, is that a Muslim is someone who simply has made a verbal declaration that they believe in Allah. But a mu'min is someone whose heart is also connected to Allah. So Allah says that these kind of people, the believers, the mu'minun, they put their trust in Allah.

When the Prophet ﷺ is sitting in the cave, and Abu Bakr رضي الله عنه saying, Ya Rasulullah, we are caught, we are there right there. What did the Prophet ﷺ say? لَا تَحْزَنْ إِنَّ اللَّهَ مَعَنَا Think about the iman and the faith that you need to have in a situation like this. To say that the danger is right on our doorstep, but even if it's on our doorstep, I still put my trust in Allah. That requires courage, that requires faith.

When We Put Our Faith in Allah

But subhanAllah, brothers and sisters, as a result when we put our faith in Allah, we let Allah take care of things according to His time. Allah is not on our time, we are on the time of Allah. I can say, Ya Allah, do this right now. But only Allah is the one who has a true wisdom about these kind of things.

And subhanAllah, when you look at America right now, you see the tables turning slowly and gradually. People who are part and close to the current president, these were such people that people did not even look up to them as leaders. But slowly and gradually those same people who are close to the president, now they are trying to tell the president, this has nothing to do with us, you stay out of this. Now they are coming out and openly criticizing Israel, alhamdulillah.

We see just two days ago, when Tucker Carlson, he roasted Ted Cruz, made a fool out of him in front of the entire world, showed the entire world where his true political allegiances stand. And I wish every single Texan would understand this also, that this man does not care about this state. He does not represent this state. He is bought out and he's bribed by Israel and by AIPAC. And he should go there. When there was a winter storm that hit this state, what did he do? He was on his first flight out into Cancun. This is a man who does not care about this state. And Tucker Carlson showed that and exposed him, showed how stupid he was in front of the entire world.

Then you have people, political pundits, people who have a platform, like Candace Owens and so many others. Now they are speaking openly against Israel. The tables are turning. This is all due to Allah, due to our duas or whatever we did. But this is due to Allah.

And likewise, Allah, He exposes the hypocrisy. Now more and more Americans are saying, we don't need to be involved in this. The money we're sending overseas, we need to keep that money over here. Let it invest into our educational infrastructure. Our educational infrastructure is turning into a collapse. It's turning into one of the worst aspects of this country. When you talk about homelessness, when you talk about our medical infrastructure, our medical infrastructure is a total debacle. It's a train wreck. Yet we keep on sending money over there. Now people are waking up.

When we put our tawakkul in Allah, we don't lose faith in Allah. Let Allah do what He does best, and He exposes the hypocrites.

The Power of Du'a and Istighfar

The second thing that we need to do in this kind of situations, brothers and sisters, is that we continuously make du'a of istighfar. Do not be distracted with whatever is going on, but make du'a and make istighfar. Why? Because this is the promise of Allah.

When Yunus عليه السلام was trapped in the belly of the whale, what did Allah say in the Qur'an?

This was the du'a that he made. And what did Allah say?

We responded to this call of Yunus عليه السلام. And we saved him from a calamity. But then what about us? Allah promises us also. He says, وَكَذَٰلِكَ نُنْجِي الْمُؤْمِنِينَ Allah will save the believers too. When we turn to Allah, even in the time of the Prophet ﷺ, when they thought that because of their numbers, they're going to succeed. Allah taught the Muslims a lesson. That it's not because of your numbers, but rather it's your spirituality. It's your connection with Allah.

In the battle of Badr, you were outnumbered. Today in the battle of Hunayn, you think that you have more numbers. That's why you're gonna succeed. And you took your focus away from Allah. Allah in the beginning, the Muslims, they did suffer some kind of a defeat. There was a setback in the beginning. But then they were able to regroup with the help of Allah, and with the help of the Prophet ﷺ. And they were able to defeat their opponents. But the point is, that we can never lose focus of du'a.

Do not ever underestimate the power of du'a, brothers and sisters. When you wake up at night, before Fajr, and you make du'a to Allah, that du'a is precious in the eyes of Allah. And yet we find so many people, when they were told, just make du'a, make du'a. What they were saying? I keep on making du'a, I'm sick of making du'a. These are the things that you have to hear, unfortunately. I'm sick of making du'a, subhanAllah. What kind of words are these? Saying that I'm sick of making du'a, that's all I can do? Yes, there are times when the only thing that we can do is make du'a.

So we will continue make du'a, and we will continue to make istighfar, because we have seen that there are results that come about when we connect with Allah, when we make du'a to Allah, and we make istighfar to Allah.

Approaching with Wisdom, Not Recklessness

The third thing that we need to do in times like these, brothers and sisters, is that we need to always approach every single situation with wisdom, and not recklessness. Even if I get into a debate, even if I come across a person who supports the other side, who stands by the side of the oppressors, and your blood is boiling, you feel like you want to say something to them. At the end of the day, what did Allah say in the Qur'an?

Never, you can never achieve anything in a conversation if you are emotional. Whenever the Prophet ﷺ, he would talk, and he would try to talk to someone, and give advice to someone, it was never done with emotions. When Jafar رضي الله عنه was standing in front of the Najashi, being called again and again, he could have lost his cool, he could have got really angry, but he kept his composure, and he talked to the Najashi with composure, with calmness. And that is why there was some kind of results that came about it. Positive results were able to come about it.

But the point is brothers and sisters, that even when we talk to people, even when we talk to our city officials, we saw that there were people who went into the city councils, and instead of talking to them nicely, talking to them gently, they were saying such rude and despicable things. How do you expect to get about results if you're gonna put down someone, if you're going to insult someone, if you're going to say derogatory things about someone, if you're engaged in these kind of situations.

Even now, even now, when you go to work and someone says, I want to learn about Islam, or this is what I'm seeing. And because wallahi there are so many Americans who are naive about the situation. Whatever they're told to do, they do it. Whatever they're told to believe in it, they're believing in it. But then now some of them are waking up, and they're saying that, I want to learn about what Islam is. And they come to you, and they say that, this is what I'm observing. And you might get a little upset, but don't brothers and sisters. If even someone comes to you right now, and they want to learn about Islam, then be calm about it. Give them the proper resources. That is what we learn from the sunnah of the Prophet ﷺ.

Political Engagement with Strategy

And finally brothers and sisters, in times like these, the fourth thing that we need to always keep in mind is, that whatever we can do here, I've talked about this before, that making sure that whatever we can do here, we do from a political perspective. We always try to be politically engaged, do whatever we can. If not, even on a national level, do some things even on a citywide level. But let's be strategic about what we do. The Prophet ﷺ was always very strategic. He always knew what he was doing.

Likewise in a Muslim community, today unfortunately when it comes to our even, our political engagement, what's shocking and what's crazy about all this, is that even though we're such a small community, in the grand scheme of all other communities, yet we're still divided amongst ourselves. Everyone thinks that no one is more smarter than me. مَنْ سے زیادہ کوئی شاعر نہیں I know the most. And this is the biggest problem about us. And we need to work collectively.

Put aside your emotions. One of the things I've always believed in, one of the biggest drawbacks, one of the biggest Achilles heels of our Muslim community, is that we don't think logically, we don't think with our heads, we think with our emotions. Everything has to become emotional. And that's why when we become emotional, we're not able to think clearly. Put aside your emotions, think logically, think clearly, put aside the emotions, and think how we can benefit the community. These are the things that we need to do in times like these.

Final Du'a

So I ask Allah that may He grant us clarity. May Allah keep us steadfast upon His deen. May Allah grant us tawakkul. May Allah grant us the ability to connect with Him through du'a and istighfar. May Allah give us the ability to use hikmah and wisdom over recklessness. Ameen.

Second Khutbah

And Allah has said:

Summary: What Do We Do in Times Like These?

Once again just to quickly recap about things and events that will unfold. In times like these, what do we do?

Faith Over Fear in Times of Trial

Number one is we have تَوَكُّل in Allah and that تَوَكُّل should overcome our fears. Number two is دُعَاء and اِسْتِغْفَار over being distracted by other things that are taking place. Number three is applying wisdom in everything that we do over being reckless. And number four is using education and concept of community and coming together in strategy over being unorganized.

Guiding Our Children Through Difficult Times

And finally, once again there are in times like these even when our kids come around and they will ask us because once again our kids, brothers and sisters they are exposed to social media. They see everything that is happening. You cannot sit there and say that don't worry about it because they see these things every single day.

Either you as a parent you're going to explain to them what's going on and tell them we live in a دُنْيَا where you have good people and you have bad people and even when you have bad people there are people who understand that they are doing something that is wrong and they don't like it but there are also despicable people like we see that who are doing bad and they boast about the wrong that they are doing.

And what do we do in times like these? We always stick to the Quran and Sunnah of the Prophet ﷺ. In the time of the Prophet ﷺ you think that the young sahaba did not see what's going on but the Prophet ﷺ taught them إِيمَان in these kind of times.

Likewise, when our kids come to us we tell them what's going on and we tell them that in times like these you keep on making دُعَاء. Sometimes our kids will come and say I wish I can do something. Tell your kids, if you really want to do something then get up at night stand in front of Allah at night and make دُعَاء to Allah.

So that is why even when our kids come to us and they bring up these kind of things bring up the Quran, bring up the Sunnah and connect their hearts to Allah and His Prophet ﷺ.

May Allah grant all of us تَوْفِيق.

Du'a

أَقِيمُوا الصَّلاةَ

Pre-Salah Instructions

Straighten lines, fill in the gaps. Please come inside the main hall. Sisters, please make sure the rows are straight. Brothers in the back, please make sure the rows are straight and complete. There's still some space inside the main hall. Brothers in the back, two rooms, please come inside the main hall. And brothers in the back, two rooms, please make sure the rows are straight and complete. Straighten the lines, fill in the gaps.

Salah

اللهُ أَكْبَر

اللهُ أَكْبَر

السَّلامُ عَلَيْكُمْ وَرَحْمَةُ اللهِ وَبَرَكَاتُهُ. السَّلامُ عَلَيْكُمْ وَرَحْمَةُ اللهِ. السَّلامُ عَلَيْكُمْ وَرَحْمَةُ اللهِ.