2015-02-20 - The Individual's Response to Crisis - Imam Yaseen Sheikh (2nd Friday khutbah)

The Individual's Response to Crisis

There are many things happening around the world today that we are all aware of because of the nature of the technologically advanced world that we are living in. We are seeing and observing and witnessing many things. Many things are happening in different parts of the world to Muslims. Many things happening to Muslims and also many things that Muslims are perpetrating as well. We are aware of all of these things. We are aware of what's happening in Syria and Iraq. We are aware of the fitna and the great trials that Muslims are facing in different parts of the world. And it's important that we renounce those actions and we distance ourselves from them.

When 21 people are beheaded — innocent people — in the name of Islam, then we have to stand up and say that this was not in the name of Islam. We condemn these actions and they were not done on our behalf. They were not representing us and they do not represent Islam. Whatever political issues are happening in Nigeria or in Syria or Iraq are political issues and this is not a religious issue. And that's why we have to be very clear in our stance that any of these atrocities are not carried out in our name. And it should not tarnish the image of Muslims around the world.

Trials Closer to Home

Now, closer to home we are facing some other challenges. Last month, in Texas, in Dallas, when Muslims gathered to host an event speaking about the life of the Prophet — the objective of the event was to build bridges and to also convey messages of peace — many hateful people, bigots, gathered outside. We don't deny anybody the right to protest, because anybody has the right to protest. That's why freedom of speech was established, so people can demonstrate and protest against political powers especially. But what we do dislike was the vilification — the vile language — that was used against Islam and Muslims.

Most recently, we have witnessed the killing of three Muslims in North Carolina. In the name of whatever — whether it was a parking spot issue, which we highly doubt. The belief within the Muslim community is very strong that it was a hate crime. The fact is that we are facing many trials.

What Is Fitna?

The biggest question is: what is the solution? How do we react? How do we respond? As Muslims living in America today, what do we do in such tough times? The fitnas are going to come. They came to the Sahaba as well. They came to the Prophet as well.

Fitna is the process of burning an object to get rid of the parts of the object that are no good, so the purity of an object can come to the surface. That's what fitna means. And when Allah puts us through these trials — whether they are individual trials or trials for the whole community — He wants to purify us, cleanse us, bring us up. So the negative elements we have within us can be wiped out, and the positivity within us can come to the surface.

Nabi Kareem said: Rush towards righteous deeds, for many fitan will come. He said there will be many trials and tribulations like the parts of a dark night. Just like the night — if you divide it into various parts, one part is darker than the other, and as the night passes, the intensity of darkness also increases. Likewise, the intensity of the fitna will also increase. One fitna will follow another. And this is what we are facing.

The Response of the Martyrs' Families

One response is the response of the father of the children and the young man and the two women that were killed. What was their response? Their response was to call for peace. Their response was to call for compassion. Their response was to call for understanding. They were optimistic. They turned it around. They called their children "our three winners" — because they were martyrs in the deen of Islam, because they were Muslim and they were killed. That's the belief that many Muslims hold. So they are martyrs, and martyrs are not dead — they are sustained by their Lord.

Nabi Kareem taught us, and Allah taught us in the Quran. The Prophet was very optimistic despite hardships. If you look at the Prophet and you see the Sunnah, you will find that he was very optimistic despite hardships. When Sumayyah — who was the first martyr in Islam — was going through great trials and great torture, the Prophet approached her and told her: "Be patient. Jannah is waiting for you. Be patient. Paradise awaits you." This was positivity. Nabi Kareem was optimistic, not negative — but positive.

The hadith says: Relief comes after distress. After distress there is relief. And faraj means an opening — from tightness and restriction to vastness. And if we go through difficulties, then we are only emulating the Sahaba and we are emulating the Prophets, because they went through difficulties because of their religion, because of what they stood for, because of what they called for.

Remembering Our Martyrs

When I look at these three young martyrs — when I see the beautiful face of the young Nabiya, which means light — I am reminded of the verse of the Quran when Allah speaks about the people on the Day of Judgement, that their faces will be light, beautiful. When I look at his life and the things he was doing, he embodied the characteristics of the Sunnah: helping people, standing for peace.

And then I am reminded today of somebody else who gave his life because of what he stood for — fifty years ago: Malik Shabazz. If I remember correctly, it is tomorrow that marks fifty years since his assassination. He stood up for the truth. He stood up for peace. And we have to remember our martyrs. We have to remember the people that stood up for justice.

In fact, this whole episode — which has given rise to Islamophobia and Islamophobic rhetoric that we see very prevalent in society today — what it has done is bring the Muslim community together in response to these attacks against Muslims. It has brought Muslims of different elements and different fractions and different sects together.

The Danger of Sectarianism

This sectarianism has been killing the Ummah for the longest time. And when the Ummah continues to infight, they will fall from the esteem and the grace of Allah. The Prophet told us this in a hadith:

When my Ummah starts fighting, quarreling, ridiculing one another, they will fall from the esteem and the grace of Allah.

Honoring Those Who Fought for Our Rights

When we are faced with these trials — when we are faced with hatred and bigotry — it reminds us of other communities in this country that went through similar challenges. It reminds us of the blood and the sweat that was given by those people so they can be free, so they can be treated as equals. It's important for us not to forget the struggles of other communities in their fight for freedom. It's because of their fights and their efforts that we are enjoying rights in this country today.

But the behavior of the Muslim community has become such that the same people that fought for our rights — that we are enjoying today — we marginalize them. The indigenous Muslim population of America, that have been here for centuries, that fought for the rights of me and you so we can enjoy American freedoms and liberty, honor and integrity — we've marginalized them. We don't do much as a community to help other Muslims. We created our barriers and our cliques, and this needs to end.

The Embodiment of the Sunnah

When I look at these three young adults that gave their lives — and their lives were given because of their identity and because of their Islam — it reminds me of the characteristics of the Prophet. They had embodied his characteristics of compassion and mercy and kindness. They embodied his characteristics of helping people. When the young man at the age of 23 died, he is remembered for something today. He had helped set up aid for refugees in camps in Turkey and had himself been on a mission trip to help refugees and give them relief. He was roaming his own streets in North Carolina handing out health kits and dental kits and blankets. And if you look at his messages, they were all surrounding peace. This is the embodiment of the Sunnah that he had in his life.

That's why when I hear his name and I see his beautiful shining face, I am reminded of Deah — from diya', which means light. May Allah give him and his family relief. That's our da'wah.

How Should We Respond?

The reaction of Muslims towards these atrocities — towards hatred, towards bigotry — can be many. Of course we need a political solution, and we have trust in our Muslim leadership to work with those in power, with the lawmakers, to bring about a change for Muslims, so Muslims can feel more secure and safer here. Because the attacks have increased against Muslims in recent weeks — masajid being burnt down in Houston, and many other incidents around the country in Michigan and Minnesota. So definitely we need a political solution, and that's for our Muslim leaders to come up with, to discuss, to engage.

But at an individual level, how does one respond? Certain responses are misguided. Certain responses have no place in our tradition — like what we have seen in France and Denmark. That has nothing to do with our tradition, our religion. They are not guided responses.

The Individual Response: Strengthen Your Connection with Allah

The individual responsibility of the believer — and Rasulullah's advice to the believer when we are faced with trials — is that we must build our connection with Allah stronger than before. Because that's our stamina. That's our strength. Our stamina and strength comes from our connection with Allah. And that's why in the Quran, Allah said:

Allah knows what they are saying. Allah knows that their speech and their hate speech has constricted your heart. Allah knows it hurts you. But what should your response be? Make the speech of your Lord and be from those that pray. Worship your Lord till death comes to you. Be consistent and continuous in your connection with Allah, in your relationship with your master. Do not forsake that.

It is not a time for us to give up our religion. It's not a time for us to run away. It is not a time for us to become weak and forsake our values. It's not a time for that. It's a time for us to become stronger. And we have seen this in the lives of the righteous — whenever they were faced with difficulty, they turned to Allah stronger.

When Abu Bakr was faced with difficulty — when his daughter 'A'ishah was wrongly accused of acts not befitting for the mother of believers — whenever anybody visited him they would find him in recitation of the Quran, strengthening his relationship with Allah.

When 'Uthman's house was being surrounded before his assassination — for 50 days — he was reciting Quran. He was reciting Quran to the extent that when his life was taken, when he was martyred and assassinated, splats of blood were found on the Mus'haf of 'Uthman. He was reading Quran at that time.

During the Battle of Badr, the Prophet himself — what did he do? He had a hut established so he could pray. Because connection with Allah is needed far more in such times.

Why is it that we haven't turned to Allah on a stronger level? We have to ask ourselves. Since these atrocities, since these attacks against Muslims and the increase of Islamophobia — what is my relationship with Allah like? How has my relationship with Allah changed?

There is a verse in Surah At-Tawbah where Allah mentions the situation of the hypocrites of Madinah. Allah says regarding them: every year they are hit with one or two trials and they still don't make tawbah and they still don't take heed. Do we fall under that category? When we are hit with fitna, we don't make tawbah?

Do you not think that the situation Muslims are facing today is sometimes a result of our own actions? Allah said to us: He will not change our situation until we change ourselves. So what have we done in this situation? Has our Iman increased?

The Example of the Sahaba in Adversity

Like the Sahaba — even when faced with death — what was their response? Ka'ab bin Zayd, when he was captured by the tribe of Ri'l and Dhakwan — when Rasulullah sent companions to teach people Islam, they had killed five of them, and then they kept Ka'ab bin Zayd behind. And Ka'ab bin Zayd, before he was martyred, said: "Give me the chance to pray two rak'ah." And he prayed two rak'ah so beautifully. This is how they faced trials.

When the Prophet sent sixty-odd Sahaba to teach Quran to the tribes, the tragedy of Bi'r Ma'unah took place. Sixty of them were massacred. At that time there was one Sahabi — his name was Haram bin Milhan. He was captured by Jabbar bin Salma. And Jabbar bin Salma became a Muslim later. Somebody asked him: "What was the cause of your Islam?" He said: "The cause of my Islam was a statement made by the person I killed — Haram bin Milhan. When I had struck him with a spear, I had forced it through his back and it was coming through his chest. And what were the words coming out of Haram bin Milhan's lips?"

"I am successful, by the Lord of the Ka'bah! I am successful, by the Lord of the Ka'bah!" He said: "I was shocked. Here is a man that I am killing, and this man is saying 'I have succeeded.' Then I understood that there is a deeper meaning to life. And that deeper meaning to life is our connection with our master — the realization of what we are in this world for. And I took the shahada and I became a Muslim afterwards."

So this is how the Sahaba — as we learn on an individual level — responded to adversity, responded to trials, responded to tests, responded to challenges.

The Communal Response: Increase Our Outreach

And of course, my dear respected brothers and sisters, we as a community have much to do. There is an individual response and reaction, and there is a communal reaction. The communal reaction is that we must increase our outreach. We have to show people that what is happening in other parts of the world isn't happening in our name — whether it's by Boko Haram, whether it's by ISIS. It's not happening in our name. It's happening due to political reasons, and they are not representing Islam. But this is Islam: helping people, love and compassion and mercy, treatment of people in a nice way, equal treatment, justice.

And if we don't join others and join our allies with other communities in establishing justice, then we will become prey. And we are prey today. So the communal response is that we reach out.

One of the studies that were done found that Americans who personally knew a Muslim or had personally interacted with a Muslim had more favorable opinions about Islam and Muslims than people who had not. That's not a huge surprise. But Americans that knew Muslims, that had interacted with Muslims, had a favorable opinion about Islam and a favorable opinion about Muslims as opposed to those that did not. What does that mean? That our work has to multiply. Our work in our communities has to multiply. Our relationships with our neighbors, with our coworkers, with our colleagues has to become better.

We have to reach out. We can't wait for others to reach out to us. We have to reach out to other people. We need to embody the Islamic character so we can be true representatives of Islam. And if we do that, Allah will never disgrace us. Allah will never humiliate us. Allah says: if Allah helps you, nobody can overpower you. But Allah's help will only come if we are true believers.

We ask Allah to give us all the ability and the tawfiq to understand the dilemma that we are in and the situations that we are in. But give us the tawfiq to be more optimistic, to be more hopeful — like the Prophet, in the spirit of the Sunnah — to give us the ability to embody the Sunnah so we can face these trials and tribulations as individuals. And may Allah guide our leaders so they can provide political solutions for the betterment of our Ummah as well.

Community Announcement: Allen Masjid Fundraiser

Dear brothers and sisters, I just wanted to invite the community to a really important event. I know that this community — the Dallas community in general — always has requests from many different communities to help them and assist them in their endeavours and in their commitments and their ambitions.

One of our local neighbours — this is of course Plano — and our local neighbours are Allen. But I don't like to call the Allen community neighbours, because Allen and Plano, alhamdulillah, the Muslims of Allen and Plano are very united. Many people from Allen pray here, and many people from here will probably pray in Allen. For many people that attend this masjid, the new Allen Masjid that is going to be built might even be closer to their homes.

So alhamdulillah, Allah gave us the ability to establish this beautiful masjid. Anyone that visits Plano today is marvelled at the beauty of this masjid. But more importantly, the engagement of this community. And alhamdulillah, this community worked very hard for this masjid to be established. May Allah reward the people that were very important in the establishment of this masjid.

Now our neighbours need the same. The Allen community is in dire need of a bigger facility. And alhamdulillah, they have already started their construction at a beautiful location off Highway 75. When the masjid is built, it could probably be seen from the highway. They have started the construction and they are in need of one million dollars instantly so they can complete that building and pray in it during this Ramadan — just like we enjoy praying here in Ramadan, with a beautiful masjid and big crowds. Our brothers there can also pray, insha'Allah, in a big crowd at their newly built masjid.

You remember the first year that we prayed here when all of this was done in 2012 — how beautiful it was. Big masjid, beautiful masjid, everybody was so happy. We want the same for our brothers in Allen as well. And of course the establishment of institutions is so important. I want to invite the community to the fundraising dinner tomorrow night.