A Conversation with Imam Omar Suleiman & Mufti Minhajuddin Ahmed

Opening & Salutations

As-salamu alaykum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuhu. A'udhu billahi min ash-shaytani r-rajim. Bismillah ar-Rahman ar-Rahim.

Alhamdulillahi rabbil 'alameen. Wa la 'udwana illa 'ala al-dhalimeen. Wa 'aqibatu lil-muttaqeen.

Allahumma salli wa sallim wa barik 'ala 'abdika wa rasulika Muhammadin, sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, wa 'ala alihi wa sahbihi wa sallim tasliman kathira.

Firstly, I want to appreciate our mashayikh and our brothers here at Darussalam. May Allah bless them, and the incredible work that is done to inspire people with the Qur'an, with the sunnah of the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, with our blessed tradition. And to be not just a house of nurturing faith, bi-idhnillahi ta'ala, in the hearts of the believers, but also reminding with the Qur'an.

The Perfection of the Qur'an: Speaking to Every Age

I wanted to just share a few words about the Qur'an as it relates to the situation. I know Mufti Azeemuddin had mentioned that I believe every day in Ramadan, you all were looking at something manifested from the Qur'an in the people of Gaza. May Allah give victory to our brothers and sisters in Gaza. May Allah give victory to our brothers and sisters in Gaza. May Allah allow them to have firm hearts and firm feet and descend upon them tranquility. May Allah accept their shuhada. May Allah heal their wounded. May Allah allow us to be alongside them and be counted amongst al-murabitun. Allahumma ameen.

I wanted to share a thought in this regard. A lot of times when we read the Qur'an, we find it speaking to a very specific situation that we are in. And the perfection of the Qur'an is that the words can encompass those situations, and it can encompass those emotions. So immediately when something is mentioned, you have a visual in front of you.

For example, when Allah says:

SubhanAllah — a very specific connotation. Do you see that person who would forbid the slave of Allah as he tried to enter into his salah, as he called to Allah, as he performed his ibadah? And you can see that visual with the fir'awns of today when you're watching Masjid al-Aqsa. You can see it, you can perceive it. And an image immediately comes to mind of a tyrant that stops someone from their ibadah.

But if you were to ask the companions of the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, they immediately understood that this was speaking about whom? Does anybody know? Abu Jahl — he is the one who is the primary intended meaning of this tyrant that would try to stop anyone from reciting the Qur'an in public and anyone from praying in public. And so there was a visual, there was a person that immediately came to their minds. But of the beauty of the Qur'an is that as we recite these verses, you can connect right away to a situation in your life — something that is current to your time — without losing the original intended meaning.

And I'll say that this is also of the beauty of the deen and Allah's preservation of the Qur'an: we have not just the words of the Qur'an, we have the sunnah of our beloved messenger sallallahu alayhi wa sallam. And we have the explanation from the companions of the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam about asbab al-nuzul — and that's the essence of tafsir. The first default of tafsir is an explanation of the verses of the Qur'an as to why they were revealed and what context they were speaking to. So that now, 1400 years later, you don't just have the words — you actually know the immediate context of these verses. But the words are so perfect and beautiful that Allah has made it as such that you can immediately connect to a current circumstance without losing the original context. It's from the perfection of the Qur'an.

The Tawbah of Adam and Personal Du'a

So for example, when Allah says:

That Adam alayhi salam was inspired by Allah with some words that he turned to Allah with repentance with. In another verse — وَالْقُرْآنُ يُفَسِّرُ الْقُرْآنَ — some verses of the Qur'an explain other verses of the Qur'an as well. What were those kalimat? If you read the books of tafsir, there are beautiful words of tawbah that have been related back to our father Adam alayhi salam. But the primary meaning is:

You know, however, when you make tawbah, you turn back to Allah, and you don't just repeat Sayyid al-Istighfar, you don't just say أَسْتَغْفِرُ اللَّهَ, you don't just say رَبِّ اغْفِرْ لِي. If you have a sincere moment of tawbah, you will launch from those ayat and from those verses into very private du'as between you and Allah as you ask Him to remove the stain of that sin from your heart. So the original is not lost, but it speaks to the immediate situation that you are in. Turn back to your Lord with some words, some inspired words of du'a. Du'a is meant to be personal. It starts from the prophetic words, and then it goes to your own words, without departing from the prophetic spirit.

Rejoicing in the Qur'an — The Greatest Fadl

There is a guidance from the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam as to how to make du'a:

That you should rejoice in the bounty of Allah and His mercy. All of the fadl of Allah, the bounty of Allah, you should rejoice in. And all of the mercy of Allah, you should rejoice in. But there is a primary intended meaning — الْقُرْآنُ وَالنَّبِيُّ عَلَيْهِ الصَّلَاةُ وَالسَّلَامُ — that you rejoice first and foremost in the Qur'an. The greatest fadl of Allah upon us is that He revealed to us divine guidance and has given us a path back to His divine pleasure, eternal divine pleasure. And the first rahmah of Allah is His revelation of the Qur'an. وَرَحْمَةً لِّلْعَالَمِينَ — and the messenger of Allah, sallallahu alayhi wa sallam.

Allah says:

Remind, and verily the reminder benefits the believer. All good reminders benefit the believer, but what is the greatest reminder? There is no greater reminder than the Qur'an itself:

The Jumu'ah khutbahs of the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam were Surah Qaf. There's no greater reminder than the Qur'an itself. No tafsir of the Qur'an is greater than the Qur'an itself. No one's talking about the Qur'an is greater than the Qur'an as it speaks itself, as Allah speaks to us. Remind with the Qur'an.

Surah al-'Asr and the People of Gaza

I was thinking about a conversation that I had with one of the brothers from Gaza. And he admitted something in vulnerability. But it's not 'ayb, it's not shameful. Sometimes people do get down. Sometimes there are moments where even the most inspiring people in the world need someone to pick them up. You're in the middle of a genocide now for 200 days. It's almost been a year of this. 200 days. Every single moment drags. 200 days of bombing, 200 days of drones, 200 days of news of someone else dying, 200 days of another masjid being destroyed, 200 days of another university being destroyed, 200 days of someone saying there's a ceasefire happening this weekend and it doesn't happen. 200 days of that.

If we feel like it's felt like an eternity for us, subhanAllah, imagine living that 200 days. It's like when you think about the khandaq of the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, that moment of al-Ahzab. It was a month, but can you imagine how long it felt in the ditch and under siege for a month? So yeah, sometimes even the most righteous people, it's harder some days than it is other days. And you'll hear it in the voice. Sometimes you'll hear a lot of optimism and sometimes you'll hear even from the best of people a little bit of lowness, low morale. It happens to the best of us. And I'm not saying that to shame them. I'm saying that to help us appreciate a surah that speaks directly to the moment as well.

Allah mentions to us وَالْعَصْرِ — that time is fleeting. إِنَّ الْإِنسَانَ لَفِي خُسْرٍ — by the way, subhanAllah, I say this again because it's so important. The Qur'an is beautiful enough to where it can encompass so much, but it has a primary meaning. If you read the books of tafsir: إِنَّ الْإِنسَانَ لَفِي خُسْرٍ، قِيلَ أَبُو جَهْلٍ — Abu Jahl is in loss. إِلَّا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا — Abu Bakr radiyallahu ta'ala anhu. Because the two opposing people are Abu Bakr and Abu Jahl.

Abu Bakr radiyallahu ta'ala anhu had money — it didn't distract him. Abu Bakr radiyallahu anhu is not Hashemi, he's not from the tribe of the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam — didn't care. None of that blinded him. Radiyallahu ta'ala anhu, he exerted himself in Sidq. And look how much he gained. We praise him until today as he deserves to be praised. The sun has not risen or set upon a man who is not a Prophet of Allah greater than Abu Bakr radiyallahu ta'ala anhu.

Abu Jahl could have had a lot. He could have had so much. He could have been one of the most praised companions. He had the leadership, he had the stature, he had the money, he had the eloquence. He was called Abu al-Hakam — the father of wisdom. He could have had the most beautiful sayings in Islam. إِنَّ الْإِنسَانَ لَفِي خُسْرٍ — what a loser. What a loser, that you go down in history as the father of ignorance, shamed for being the Fir'awn in the time of the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam. فِرْعَوْنُ هَذِهِ الْأُمَّةِ. A great ummah. And he is the pharaoh of it.

إِنَّ الْإِنسَانَ لَفِي خُسْرٍ — what a loser. All of these people. Benjamin Netanyahu is a loser. Every single one of these Israeli prime ministers, every single one of these Zionists — even here — they will go down in history as losers. And they will be even greater losers in the hereafter. People will read in the history books about these tyrants, about these vicious human beings, about their attempts to exert influence, their attempts to harm, about the things that they did to women and children. People will read about them and say they are the most disgusting people that we have read about. And on the Day of Judgment, imagine the state of those people when the tape plays — the tape of the jara'im, of the crimes that they have committed. May Allah allow us to see them thrown into the pits of despair for what they have done to our brothers and sisters. May Allah allow us to see the people of Gaza dragging them to the throne of Allah, taking their justice upon them. Allahumma ameen.

But it starts with Abu Jahl. So there's a specific person, and then there are Abu Jahl-like people. There are Fir'awns of every generation. And there are people الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا وَعَمِلُوا الصَّالِحَاتِ. May Allah make us amongst them. May Allah make us amongst those people who use everything that's been given to them to please Allah. There's Abu Bakr radiyallahu anhu as that example — someone who doesn't hesitate with the truth. May Allah make us people of Sidq. Allahumma ameen.

Tawasi bil-Haqq: Reminding One Another with the Qur'an

They enjoin each other with the truth, and they enjoin each other with patience. By the way, if you open up the books of tafsir, and you say تَوَاصَوْا بِالْحَقِّ — الْحَقُّ هِيَ الْقُرْآنُ. What do they remind each other with? What is the truth? The truth is the Qur'an. When the companions were down, when the companions were facing difficult moments, and they had to remind each other — what did they remind each other with? They reminded each other with verses of the Qur'an:

Can you imagine a companion looking at another companion in the battle of Qadisiyyah, and saying, do you remember the day that it came down on us? Say: حَسْبُنَا اللَّهُ وَنِعْمَ الْوَكِيلُ. They reminded each other with the Qur'an as they were in the trenches. They reminded each other with the Qur'an in their moments of prosperity so that they don't get distracted by the dunya.

As Abdurrahman ibn 'Awf radiyallahu ta'ala anhu said: اُبْتُلِينَا بِالضَّرَّاءِ فَصَبَرْنَا — we were tested with difficulty and we were patient. But we were tested with prosperity and we were not patient. We right now are the people in sarra', we're in prosperity. The fact that you could come to Fajr and not worry about your house being bombed, and not worry about whether or not you're gonna be able to have food on the table when you go home — the fact that you are in sarra'. You're in prosperity. We're in prosperity. We're living it up. But without iman, without faith, إِنَّ الْإِنسَانَ لَفِي خُسْرٍ — what losers we would be.

So what did they remind each other with? وَتَوَاصَوْا بِالْحَقِّ وَتَوَاصَوْا بِالصَّبْرِ. Al-haqq, first and foremost, is the Qur'an. They reminded each other with the Qur'an. And وَتَوَاصَوْا بِالصَّبْرِ — they reminded each other with patience. They held each other to it.

The meanings are so rich, and I don't want to elongate the point. Just to say, dear brothers and sisters, that even the people of Gaza, sometimes they need to pick each other up. You saw that man — may Allah bless him — who was walking in the hospital, and he was speaking, reminding the people. His hands were covered in blood. I mean, he looks like he's in a slaughterhouse, speaking about shahada. He's saying, افْرَحْ يَا رَجُلُ — be happy. Allah chose us for shahada. And he had a smile on his face, in the middle of that, and I got goosebumps watching that.

And I think a lot of us are like, who are these people? You'll hear stories not just of resilience, you'll hear stories of the people that make others resilient. Stories of the brothers that walk up to the other and say, الْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ. Don't belittle yourself أَمَامَ عَدُوِّ اللَّهِ — in front of the enemy of Allah. You see someone speaking to a child, a young man, an eight-year-old boy who just lost his parents, and his uncle says to him: you're a man, stand up. It's not belittling him, he's not minimizing his pain, he's not being condescending. He's saying: you're gonna make your parents proud. You're gonna memorize the Qur'an. You're going to stand up. You're not going to lose it. That's not minimizing pain. That's not putting him down. He's building him up. That's تَوَاصَوْا بِالْحَقِّ وَتَوَاصَوْا بِالصَّبْرِ.

And sometimes تَوَاصَوْا بِالْحَقِّ وَتَوَاصَوْا بِالصَّبْرِ is to let someone cry on your shoulder when they're going through that low moment, and to remind them:

Allah is with the people of patience. Allah is with the people of taqwa. Sometimes we need that too. But we need each other. We need each other. That doesn't take away from our dependence upon Allah, but that is the nature of what is ahead of us — to build each other up, bi-idhnillahi ta'ala, to remind each other with the Qur'an.

Closing Du'a for Gaza

We ask Allah to forgive us for our shortcomings. We ask Allah to allow us to be people of Qur'an. We ask Allah to allow us to be people who carry the light of the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam in this darkening world. And we ask Allah to be with our brothers and sisters in Gaza.

Oh Allah, we ask You to give them victory over their enemy. Oh Allah, we ask You to give them patience. May Allah give them that patience and give them that victory. And may Allah allow us to pray in Masjid al-Aqsa with the men and the women and the children that have been oppressed. May Allah forgive us for our shortcomings in regard to our brothers and sisters, and in regard to the rights of Allah upon us and the rights of His creation upon us. Allahumma ameen.

Wa sallallahu alayhi wa sallam wa baraka 'ala nabiyyina Muhammadin wa 'ala alihi wa sahbihi ajma'in. JazakumAllahu khayran.

Introduction of Imam Omar Suleiman by Mufti Minhajuddin Ahmed

May Allah reward our dear and beloved Imam for those inspiring words and setting the tone for the discussion. What could be a better beginning than the words of Allah and the words of Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam. And we are always very honored that Imam Omar Suleiman hafizahullah wa ra'ahu takes out time from his extremely busy schedule to drop by Darussalam.

Whenever he comes for different events, different conferences, meetings — we may not know fully his schedule, but I'm sure everyone here is aware of, masha'Allah, how busy he is and how little sleep he gets and how much he is traveling throughout the world, engaged in the struggle for justice, for haqq, giving da'wah to Allah. And sometimes from afar we see these luminaries on the stage and we think they are just living it up. But it is indeed my honor and privilege to be close to some of them, and by virtue of that I have some glimpse, some idea, of how challenging their lives are — working tirelessly for the khidmah of the deen, for the khidmah of the ummah, and then on top of that the fitan and the trials and tribulations and attacks from those who are outside and from inside. So this is a very thankless job if a person is looking for recognition in this dunya — then this is absolutely the wrong path to choose. But this is only for those who are sincerely working for the sake of Allah.

وَلَا نُزَكِّي عَلَى اللَّهِ أَحَدًا وَنَحْسَبُهُ كَذَٰلِكَ — this is how our good expectation is with our brother, masha'Allah.

And just to give one little background — many of us may not be aware of the integral role Imam Omar Suleiman played in the establishment of this masjid too. In our humble beginnings — and may Allah continue to keep us humble in front of Him — he was very instrumental when my father, hafizahullah, and my brother were in the fundraising stages for the first construction, first phase of Darussalam. He graciously hosted them before he went to Dallas, back when he was in New Orleans, masha'Allah, in the early 2000s — subhanAllah, he was helping in the raising of the funds. And our first ever fundraising dinner that we had, he was our guest speaker. And then after that, alhamdulillah, Allah continued to keep this friendship. May Allah keep us strong until Yawm al-Qiyamah. And may Allah unite all of us with the Habib al-Mustafa sallallahu alayhi wa sallam.

Discussion: University Encampments and Political Strategy

So, just to continue with the discussion — I wanted to jump right into it, because this is a Fajr crowd. These are the individuals that Allah accepted to come out for Fajr, insha'Allah, every day. Just as recently as yesterday, you had the opportunity to give the khutbah at a university campus — Northwestern University. With these protests and the encampments taking place, how was your experience? You have given opening invocations from Congress to all different places. How was the experience at the university? And what are your comments about this particular phase?

JazakAllahu khayran, habibakAllahu wa ra'aak, wa ja'alani 'inda husni dhann-nikum bihi. I think, just to take it back to a seerah framing insha'Allah ta'ala — sometimes you can derive strategy from seeing what it is that your enemy most cares about. And subhanAllah, when we go back to Badr and we go back to the caravans of Abu Sufyan and the disruption of their commerce, the disruption of their money — subhanAllah, these are people that rejected the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam for money, for tribalism, for very base things. And when they saw that there were complications in those things, that was when you saw a different phase.

And I know you're a 501(c)(3), so I'm just going to state a fact of the present, not necessarily endorse an action, so that you don't lose your status. SubhanAllah, you see what happens in the Red Sea — suddenly the ships. I think there was one commentator who said that the Amazon packages are not getting on time, and then all of a sudden this genocide matters. Like, we need to galvanize the whole world to protect our ships, to protect our money flow. Here in the United States, subhanAllah, it's interesting because the advisors to the president clearly were not able to represent to him the true Muslim community sentiment towards Palestine.

And by the way, I'll say — subhanAllah, I'm so proud of our community. May Allah bless our community. Because, sheikh — subhanAllah — doctors coming back from Gaza, and I know you have them here, 95% of them are not Palestinian. They're Muslims. They're people who believe in Allah, who literally entered into a genocide zone, and had difficult conversations with their families. And subhanAllah, some of them had to pull me in to talk to their families to convince them to let them go. And they're not Palestinians. And it's like, how do you tell your young kids that I'm going to step into Gaza right now in the midst of all this? They're Muslims. They're people of La ilaha illallah, Muhammad Rasulullah. They're heroes. And if any of you are here, may Allah bless you and increase you. And if any of you have family that are there right now, may Allah accept their sacrifice on behalf of all of you.

So what changed the tone suddenly was Michigan — the uncommitted vote. Like who even heard the word "uncommitted"? But suddenly there's a shift, and it's like, oh no, I'm going to lose Michigan. So now he tried to appear more empathetic, and the vice president starts to speak a little bit more empathetically, and you start to see a change of tune. Not that it's consequential, but to say that, look, clearly you can see the nifaq of these people, the hypocrisy of these people, and what they care about. What they want to do is to carry out a genocide without consequence to their power and to their wealth. At the end of the day, that's what it boils down to. As long as it doesn't affect my power, and it doesn't affect our global economy, I don't care if it's 300,000 kids, 400,000 kids. That's the attitude they manifest. Then suddenly you can mention the word Palestinian. So the nifaq becomes clear.

I say all of that to then come to the university encampments. The encampments are terrifying — why? Because, wait a minute, you're going to disrupt business. The weapons manufacturers — and some of the protests in front of the weapons manufacturers have actually been consequential to the genocide in the Bay Area. Admittedly, there's a lot of fiqh that needs to be unpacked here about how far it can go and what's called direct action. But the university encampments now — the idea that we can't just proceed business as usual. Why does Israel hate the BDS movement so much? And again, you're a 501(c)(3) — can't endorse the BDS movement as a masjid. Take it from me. Why do they hate the BDS movement so much? Why is there BDS legislation on the books? Because it disrupts economy. If they tell you it's not consequential and it doesn't really affect their business, then why are they flipping out?

So yeah — Muslims around the world not going to Starbucks, and Starbucks shutting down. Why do you think big corporations are pulling out of settlements? Because it does affect their global business. And anyone that tells you it's not doesn't understand the economics of oppression. It does hurt them. So finding out how to disrupt their business in ways that are permissible, in ways that are Islamically legislated, is deeply profound.

So when it comes to the encampments, I hope insha'Allah ta'ala it grows across not just the country but the world. Can you imagine if all universities have to go online, if universities are forced to divest? That's a serious hindrance to business as usual on their end. So I'm encouraged by what's happening. I think that there is a moment of courage, walhamdulillahi rabbil 'alameen. And sheikh, I think the most encouraging thing that I saw — I don't know if you saw the brother in New York who was doing his salah while he was arrested. He had his hands cuffed behind his back and he was still doing ruku' and sujud. It's amazing.

May Allah guide our youth. May Allah inspire them. And may Allah protect them from the pitfalls of this as well. And allow them to operate within what is Islamically permissible while channeling what is from our Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam and can tangibly help our brothers and sisters in Palestine. And the last thing I have to say is: al-du'a. What differentiates us is being grounded in the deen. But also al-du'a. Al-du'a is your greatest agent of change. So I don't want to belittle the du'a with everything that's happening. What do you hope in most? Allah — al-'Aziz, al-Jabbar. All of this, everything that's happening — al-du'a.

The masajid need to be full for Fajr. It could be the du'a that's made in some masjid somewhere around the world —

— that some young man finds in those low moments a sudden burst of sabr. And it could be your du'a here in the middle of Illinois at Salat al-Fajr. So don't take away from your ibadah — not just to ground you, but to change the situation for them. It does matter. It is a part of this, and it has to maintain its haybah, its place with us as Muslims.

Political Engagement: How Far Should Muslims Go?

So beyond the university encampments — broadly speaking, with regards to political engagement, as you have experienced — what is your advice? There are different camps within the Muslims. Some want to fully engage to the level that we believe Muslims should run for office, starting with local government to the national level. And when the objection is made that you may have to end up violating principles of Qur'an and Sunnah, then it's okay for the greater good. The other camp are those who say that we should vote as blocs, galvanize ourselves, support candidates who will stand by our ideals, and get involved in politics through the checkbook — but it's too much at stake to run yourself because of the compromises that will most likely, or in fact necessarily, have to be made. So as you have evolved and your experience has shown you, what do you feel is the way forward?

Absolutely. First and foremost, I would say that just as on a personal level — مَا نَدِمَ مَنِ اسْتَشَارَ وَاسْتَخَارَ — a person will not be deprived when they have istisharah and istikharah, as the scholars mentioned. Al-istisharah is seeking consultation from righteous people:

And then al-istikharah, which is to seek Allah's guidance — just as that is the case on an individual level, it's also the case for us as a community. The amount of consultation, the amount of shura that has to happen, the amount of deliberation that has to happen between people of 'ilm, people of khibrah — people of knowledge, people of experience — to try to arrive at al-sawab.

So there's al-khiyarah that the scholars mentioned — which is guidance to a good choice — and then there's al-sawab, which is the correct choice. And I think Abu Bakr ibn 'Ayyash said: الْخِيَرَةُ بَعْدَ الِاسْتِخَارَةِ وَالصَّوَابُ بَعْدَ الِاسْتِشَارَةِ. It's really powerful — he said that good choices and being guided to a good choice come after istikharah. But after a lot of consultation, that heavy deliberation — that's when you arrive at al-sawab, correct opinions.

So it starts first and foremost with what is ma'lum min al-deen biddarurah — things that are known from the religion by necessity. You can't impose ambiguity on something that's specific in the deen. What is specific as a boundary is specific as a boundary. What is specific as a directive is specific as a directive. And just as I'm saying there's original context and then there are current circumstances — we never lose the ideal in the deen. We know how the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam set up a society in Medina. We know how our 'ulema conceived of righteous consultation, conceived of governance. We shouldn't lose those ideals. Don't violate the specific in the name of the ambiguous. At no point can you make halal haram or haram halal. You can't do that.

So if any position that you take is going to force you to violate — by saying something is halal that is haram, or haram that is halal, or unable to vocalize on that — then it's not worth it. So that's the first thing: the ideal stays, the clarity stays. We're a people of rushd, a people of hidayah. So to have that clarity is extremely important.

Then when it comes to the realm of the specific and the moments we are in now — I'd also say that not everyone has to do the same thing. I actually don't think we should suggest that everyone has to be doing the exact same thing. However, when we have righteous consultation amongst us, there shouldn't be an undermining of one another in that process. Let the lawyers be lawyers. Let the political activists be political activists. Let the 'ulema be 'ulema. Let people take their spaces and have consultation amongst each other, and then bi-idhnillahi ta'ala move in a way that is beneficial, that is mutually beneficial.

Now when it comes to the moment we're in right now and political engagement — a lot of people would say, this whole "abandon Biden" thing, like, you know, you're gonna give us Trump. Again, you're a 501(c)(3), you're not allowed to endorse a candidate, and I'm not endorsing Donald Trump. But I'm saying: if you don't punish a genocide, then what type of a community are you? What type of ghira do you have for your ummah? If your politicians are pro-genocide — and anyone who has not called for an end to this madness or tried to exert their position to end this madness is pro-genocide, because it's excusable — if you don't punish that, what type of a community are you? You have to be able to punish genocide at least. And as I said, subhanAllah, the thing that changed the tune was Michigan — so penalizing is actually also important for long-term capital.

You have to send a message to those that want something from you that they cannot impose upon you this type of evil. So I think that at the end of the day, Muslims need to have a backbone. They need to have political priorities. They need to be able to say: this is what my community is. And let the politicians of the world try to placate to you, not vice versa. Like, we've done this whole photo-op thing — someone came to our masjid, and we took a picture — like that's validation. No. Let them be afraid of you. Let them be afraid of your principles and of violating those principles. That's true for the left. That's true for the right. That's true for Palestine. That's true for other than Palestine — your religious community. Let the politicians that are friendly to you on some issues be afraid of imposing upon you agendas in your school textbooks, agendas of sexual immorality. Let them actually think: oh no, we don't want to cross that community because they're powerful and organized.

So Muslims have to, at the end of the day, speak with a united voice and channel their different talents and skill sets into these places. SubhanAllah — I mentioned this — one of the brothers who is from the Holy Land Foundation, may Allah free our brothers and sisters who are wrongfully imprisoned, he said to his son — I was performing the nikah for his son and he was speaking over the phone from prison. And anyone that's ever heard the prison calls, every few seconds there's an interruption: "This call is being made from a federal prison." So you imagine, in a wedding, the voice of the father who can't be there, and every few seconds: "This call is from a federal prison." While we're sitting there, all cleaned up and ready to hit the buffet, hearing: "This call is from a federal prison." SubhanAllah.

He said: "Oh my son, learn to compromise on everything but the deen." He was giving him marriage advice. He said: "Learn to compromise on everything but your deen." Words to be written in gold. Learn to compromise on everything but your deen.

So we ask Allah for thabat upon that. And we ask Allah to forgive us for our shortcomings, to forgive us for our zalat, and to protect us, and to keep us upon the straight path, and to allow us to be amongst those people — تَوَاصَوْا بِالْحَقِّ وَتَوَاصَوْا بِالصَّبْرِ — that keep each other on the straight path.

By the way, there is no greater place than the people of Fajr. I know Mufti Minhaj said it with a little bit of laughter — "every day in Fajr." But truly — every day in Fajr. Every day. You think, subhanAllah, when you come every day for Salat al-Fajr and you recite your adhkar al-sabah, that Allah is gonna let you go astray? Every day in Fajr. Every day. If there is one habit in life that you could gain that would completely transform it — every day in Fajr. That's the habit. Every day. Start with Fajr and start with your adhkar al-sabah, and seek guidance for that day.

Call upon Allah while you are confident and certain of a response. And insha'Allah ta'ala with that and with the consultation of our brothers, bi-idhnillahi ta'ala, we will always find that guidance.

Every Segment of the Ummah Has Its Role

I really appreciated everything. One point that you made about every segment of the ummah doing their responsibility, fulfilling their job — whether it's 'ulema, lawyers, social activists, political activists — that's something we really need to hear again and again, subhanAllah. So if you have the Burma Task Force, they're working for Burma. You have American Muslims for Palestine — they have to continue working for Palestine. If you have CAIR working for Muslim civil rights in America, and if you have madaris focusing on tahfidh of the Qur'an, those working for the 'ilm of Sharia — there's the da'wah component, the khidmah component, social services, activism, education — all these different branches of the deen. We need to support one another and continue to engage with and encourage one another, rather than attacking one another.

So just like it would be absurd to ask a political advocacy group what they are doing in the field of preservation of the Qur'an — does that mean they don't care about the Qur'an? No, absolutely not. They have to fulfill their responsibility. Of course, there is a common denominator — our fara'id — that no one leaves out. But beyond that, everyone supports one another and they have to stick to their mission. If they're not going to do their mission, who else is going to? May Allah give us that mutual understanding and respect between all of the efforts of the deen. It's such an important message. I want all of us to take that home, insha'Allah.

The Global Awakening of the Ummah

And lastly — moving from the domestic front to globally — I would hate to say that it had to be such a tragedy, but do you see signs of awakening in the ummah, and an opportunity for us to rebound from this tragedy? What have you been observing globally, and — as Muslims have been taught to be optimistic — what do you see the near future holding, insha'Allah?

JazakAllahu khayran, sheikh. I'll say just one point on the previous one, then I'll answer that insha'Allah and we can conclude.

The haqq of a Muslim on the Muslim is that you want to see your brother or sister come out on top. Their haqq upon you is du'a. Their haqq upon you is nasiha. You make du'a for them. You know, when someone says they want their mother to be guided, they want their brother to be guided — the way that they want their parents to be guided, and they cry at night, and they make du'a to Allah to guide their parents — there's a sincerity there that's necessary. May Allah guide the parents of the converts that are here with us. Allahumma ameen. So that's the haqq of your Muslim brother or sister upon you: that you want them to come out on top.

Because it's a marad, it's a disease of the heart, for you to want another Muslim to fail. It's a disease of the heart as an institution — to want other institutions to fail. What has cost us so much in our communities is sectarianism and the headaches between masajid, and the headaches between imams, and the headaches between this group and that group. It's the haqq of a Muslim that you want them to succeed.

The ayat are so many. Hold on to the rope of Allah. Don't try to kick somebody off that's hanging on by a thread — pull them back up and put them on the rope of Allah as well. Give them an extra hand. Hold on with one hand. And if you're stronger, bring them back up, and put them on that rope. So it's the haqq of a Muslim upon you. And what a disease of the heart — to want another Muslim to fail, or to want a group to fail. So when you see the flaws in some of these efforts, make du'a for them. And if you have an ability to give them nasiha, give them nasiha. But wish well for them bi-idhnillahi ta'ala, across the board, across the ummah.

Is there an awakening? A hundred percent. And subhanAllah, Allah has made it as such that an awakening of Palestine in the Muslim world always translates into an awakening of the masajid as well. Always. I know that we complain about it here sometimes — that the rise in consciousness over Palestine does not necessarily always translate into a deeni rise of consciousness here. But in the Muslim world, those two things are one and the same. A rise of consciousness over al-Aqsa, a rise of consciousness over Palestine, always increases people in their faith and in their coming back to Allah. It's not inconsequential.

And what you're going to find is that the ability to try to suppress that revival — politically and culturally — is gonna keep on waning. Because eventually you can't crush it. You can't suppress it. People are, subhanAllah, boiling right now. Al-Aqsa is the beating heart of the ummah. People are boiling right now. Even — subhanAllah — I'll tell you, there are certain Muslim countries that, I'm just going to be very honest, I don't think Muslims should go to. I don't think Muslims should participate in their economy. I don't think you should fly their airlines. Quite frankly, there are certain Muslim countries that need to be boycotted like Israel. I'm being very honest. Forget their tourism, forget about patronizing their economy — there are Muslim countries that are just as harmful right now to al-Aqsa as Israel. So on a personal level, just purify your wealth and purify yourself from those.

However, there are certain countries that we still will go to. And subhanAllah, you'll find — like the taxi drivers — and I know it because I'll get asked, "where are you from?" And I don't say I'm from America, I say I'm from Palestine. I identify as a Palestinian. And he's always in the taxi, right? And sometimes it's like, let me not talk, let me change the subject quickly. And sometimes someone will just start crying, saying: "We don't know what to do with ourselves. We give sadaqa, we make du'a, but we can't say anything. We're stuck." And they'll cry and they'll apologize. And you can see the sincerity of their iman. O Allah, you can see it.

And it reminds me of the hadith:

(Sahih Muslim, Book 1, Hadith 84)

Whoever amongst you sees an evil, change it with your hand. And if you can't, then speak out against it. And if you can't, then hate it in your heart, and that's the weakest of iman. But you know what — it is iman. And there are Muslims in the world that only have that — that they hate it. They hate that they can't do anything. They hate that in a Muslim country you can't carry a Palestinian flag. In a Muslim country you can't make du'a for al-Aqsa publicly without the cops showing up at your door. In a Muslim country you can't call for a boycott of Israel. Shame — wallahi it's shame. Dhillah. It is humiliation.

But subhanAllah, you can see the iman in the hearts of people. There are believers — every single one of those countries that have sold out Palestine, every single one of them — you better believe there are believers that go to Salat al-Fajr, and they cry their hearts out in their tahajjud, they cry their hearts out in Fajr, because they wish they could do more. So say, alhamdulillah, Allah has given you the ability to come to Fajr and to speak. To make du'a to Allah and to speak out in public. Say, alhamdulillah, you have that opportunity, and use it. Because it's a ni'mah, a blessing. And every blessing is an amanah, a trust as well. So right now we have certain abilities — use those abilities.

I'll say this in conclusion — subhanAllah, I've never wanted to be a doctor more than at this moment in time. And there's so many doctors that went to Gaza, and I'm like, I've never wanted to be a doctor more than today. But you know what — use what you have. They have an ability, walhamdulillahi rabbil 'alameen. May Allah bless them and inspire them towards khair, and the khidmah of the deen. They have the ability. So may Allah inspire us with what we have, to do what is best and most pleasing to Him.

Concluding Announcements by Mufti Minhajuddin Ahmed

Bismillah ar-Rahman ar-Rahim. Tonight we're honored at Fajr with Shaykh Imam Salman, and tomorrow night will be the first program in North America by Mufti Tariq Masroor — those of you who know him from Pakistan. He'll be tonight, insha'Allah, after Salat al-Maghrib. The talk, of course, will be in Urdu. So do spread the word — tonight, insha'Allah, after Salat al-Maghrib, Mufti Tariq Masroor's program.

Secondly, our annual retreat is just two weeks away from today — May 10th — it's called Islam and Artificial Intelligence: Navigating New Frontiers in the Modern World. Maybe you've heard how AI is being used to target Muslims in Gaza as well, how they're using AI through WhatsApp to target specific families. This is obviously a very relevant question about how we can harness the power of AI to benefit us and Islam instead of being harmed. So please register for this free program. We have Islamic academics, scholars, Muftis, and Muslim startup founders, female scholars, male scholars attending, alhamdulillah — this first-of-its-kind, unique retreat. It's going to be a free event, there's i'tikaf open as well, and there are Muslim-owned hotels across the street where you can book at discounted rates. We have babysitting, childcare, separate sections for sisters and brothers, all different types of programs happening. Two weeks from now — May 10th at 'Asr Salah to May 12th, Sunday at 'Asr Salah. All details at masjiddeas.org.

Last but not least — if you want to stay connected, this program is recorded and livestreamed as well. Please quickly scan the QR code, insha'Allah, to stay connected to all of Darussalam's future programs as well as current programs.

Alhamdulillah, we are in the masjid. Let us not leave the masjid without performing our Salat al-Ishraq and making du'a for ourselves and for Gaza and those who are oppressed across the globe. The Nabi alayhi s-salatu wa s-salam mentioned the great rewards of those who sit in the masjid after Salat al-Fajr until after sunrise doing the dhikr of Allah — when they pray two raka'at, Allah will give them the reward of an accepted Hajj and Umrah, and Allah will fulfill all of their needs of the day. So I encourage 100% of us, insha'Allah — please perform your Salat al-Ishraq before you head home.

We also have some refreshments. Usually we have refreshments for 200 or 100 people. Alhamdulillah, because every Saturday we have this program — every Saturday we have other imams who give talks, followed by dhikr, du'a, ishraq, and breakfast. So if you enjoyed today's program, please sisters and brothers, come through every single Saturday morning — nowadays jama'ah is at 5:15 AM — and join us for breakfast. We will be setting up shortly in the gymnasium for the brothers, and sisters on their side as well. Finish up your ishraq, make du'a, and then if you want to join us for breakfast, please do so. And we hope to see all of you tonight at Salat al-Maghrib for Mufti Tariq Masroor's insha'Allah first program.

JazakumAllahu khayran.

As-salamu alaykum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuhu.