Jumu'ah Reminder | Mufti Azeemuddin Ahmed

Opening: The Adhan

Allahu Akbar, Allahu Akbar. I bear witness that there is no god but Allah. I bear witness that there is no god but Allah. I bear witness that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah. I bear witness that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah. Come to Prayer. Come to Prayer. Come to success. Come to success. Allahu Akbar, Allahu Akbar. There is no god but Allah.

Part One — Mufti Azeemuddin Ahmed: Gratitude for the Reopening of the Masjid

Respected friends, listeners, brothers and sisters, assalamu alaikum warahmatullahi wabarakatuh.

We cannot thank Allah enough for giving us this opportunity today — for being here present, not listening over the YouTube channel, but rather being present in this beautiful house of Allah, attending Jumu'ah Salah. And the more we thank Him, the more we will hopefully be able to preserve this gift of Allah for us.

How often — and I've said this already many times in these past ten weeks — how often we always say we thank Allah for granting us the opportunity to be gathered here. But we didn't really understand and appreciate what that meant, until these past three months in which we were deprived of attending in person in the house of Allah. We felt the pain of not being able to see the house of Allah. We felt the pain of not being able to pray in His house. We felt the pain of not being able to find a corner of the house of Allah to shed tears and connect with Him. And we understood truly how much we loved this place, but we were never able to understand what it means when this blessing is taken away from someone.

We commonly say: when a person loses his parent, or loses his job, or loses his health, he begins to value at that time what that is. So this is what we're seeing here. We hope that we've learned from our experience. We hope I have learned — and we all have learned — what it means to be gifted with the opportunity to attend the house of Allah. Because many may not have learned that. Many may not understand still that the masajid are our lifeline. And as long as we're connected with this place, we are safe. And if we are distant from this place, no matter what we have gained, we will have lost everything if we do not have the house of Allah with us.

A Du'a Against the Loss of Blessings

So Nabiyy عليه الصلاة والسلام has taught us in a hadith — one of the du'as that we covered on our Saturday night du'a sessions:

(Sahih Muslim, Book 48, Hadith 85 — also recorded in Sunan Abi Dawud, Hadith 1545)

"O Allah, I seek refuge in You from Your blessings being moved away from me — مِنْ زَوَالِ نِعْمَتِكَ — from Your blessings falling away from me. Number two, وَتَحَوُّلِ عَافِيَتِكَ — from the well-being that You give me, from that well-being being shifted, and I am missing out on leading a life of 'aafiyah and well-being. وَفُجَاءَةِ نِقْمَتِكَ — and from Your sudden punishment." Seeking refuge in Allah from His sudden, unannounced punishment. "And then lastly, وَجَمِيعِ سَخَطِكَ — from any and all forms of Your anger."

This is something that we need — not just to recite these words — but to understand that we have to, from our heart, ask Allah: "Ya Allah, please do not put me through this test again."

The Opening of the Masjid as a Victory

You may have seen Masjid al-Nabawi when it opened this past week — the imam, as he recited the ayat so emotionally in Salat al-Fajr, the ayat of conquest. The ayat of conquest is mentioned in the Qur'an:

Allah is saying: "Indeed, We have granted you a clear victory." So the doors of the masjid opening up is a victory for the Muslims — and in fact for anyone — because these are the four walls in which we will pray for the ummah. These are the four walls in which we will pray for the health of the first responders, and for those who are sick, and for those who are on ventilators, and for those who are passing away from any and all other types of sicknesses. These are the four walls in which we will beseech Allah for His assistance against this unseen enemy.

So alhamdulillah, I want all of us to rejoice today:

We need to be happy and thankful that Allah, after giving us a sort of jolt and difficult moments for the past 8, 10, 12 weeks, has allowed this to open. And how are we going to show our appreciation? With a smile on our face. We're going to show our appreciation by saying alhamdulillah. We're going to show our appreciation by performing two raka'at extra — go home and pray your two raka'at of shukr, or here, wherever the opportunity arises. Pray two raka'at salah — that, alhamdulillah, ya Allah, You have allowed the doors to open for us.

That is one very important point. And then stay committed to coming. The masjid is open for daily salah now — Fajr through Isha. Most of you, alhamdulillah, are coming. And maybe some of you are coming from out of the area, so this is not your local masjid — fine, attend your local masjid. But let us not deprive ourselves.

Some brothers were asking: "Should I drive an extra 40 or 30 minutes to come for Jumu'ah because our local masjid is closed?" And I was like: well, ask the elders sitting here — when you came here in the 70s, what did you do? When you came in the 80s, what did you do? That was the norm — to drive 45, 50 minutes for Salatul Jumu'ah, and more. How often are we driving an hour for work when we probably had to work on site — that was normal. So if you have to drive today 45 minutes for Salatul Jumu'ah, and you are healthy and you can take the precautions that we have asked everyone to take — and all masajid have — then mashallah, by all means, make that extra trip. Do not think that this is a burden. This is an honor that we are allowed to perform Salah.

So this is how we are going to establish our shukr with Allah — by taking every opportunity that we have and benefiting from it. Any Fajr, Dhuhr, Asr, Isha, weekend, weeknights — please make a point to connect yourself with the house of Allah.

Part Two — Racism, Spiritual Disease, and the Corruption of the Heart

The second thing I want to speak about today is, obviously, the past two weeks have also been very rough — with the murder of George Floyd and the aftermath. And this is by no means an issue which I can speak on in 10 or 20 minutes. No matter what aspect I speak on, someone may come and criticize and say, "Well, you did not address that issue," or "you did not address this issue." So it is a very big issue, and there are so many different aspects to it. I am not saying these words are conclusive by any means or super comprehensive. Whatever Allah is putting in my heart, I am sharing with you.

A few points come to mind. There is lots of reflection for us to do here — lots of reflection. There is the police brutality aspect of it. There is the emboldening of the police with all the resources that have been passed down from two decades of wars. This was being reported about a decade ago — that you have so many veterans coming from Muslim countries who did not have a good experience and who were angry. And then police departments were able to purchase extremely high-grade upgraded gear that is used only on the battlefield. So you have a very toxic mix: people who do not have jobs and who find nowhere else but law enforcement, who have not received proper training, who are simply war veterans — which is not a simple thing; it is a completely different way of working, as opposed to making tarbiyah of the community.

Law enforcement, you make tarbiyah of the community — "Hey, come on, don't do this, don't do that." It is very different from when you are engaging with an enemy. The citizens of this country are not the enemy. These are our fellow citizens that we are trying to ensure follow the rules, for the benefit of the whole country. So we have had this situation building from beforehand, and people were afraid that this is going to be a very toxic mix, that the people of this country — especially minorities and especially Muslims — may end up paying a very high price for it.

Then you have of course hundreds of years of discrimination, starting all the way from slavery, that has unfortunately laid the foundations of this country. So we cannot trivialize and we cannot minimize what is happening by reducing it to one small incident. Instead, this is something that has been building — not just for 20 years, not just for 200 years, not even just for 400 years.

Instead, what we see here, my dear brothers and sisters, is the weakness and the holes within the human being — not within the white race only, but within all human beings. This is the way Shaytan plays the human. At the end of the day, who is laughing? Who is having a party? Iblis is, right now. When he sees the mayhem, when he sees the protests, when he sees the looting — and when he sees that one death in Minneapolis has not stopped the deaths of innocent Black people, that it continues on the very same day, and the days after, so many more have died — all over the world, and also in this country, and also at the hands of law enforcement.

The Origin of Arrogance: The Story of Iblis

What do we see here? We see the falling apart of the human when the human heart is not purified. Then Iblis comes in. And this is actually a direct effect from Iblis, because Iblis had it within himself — it was his arrogance, his self-conceit — which led him to do what he did when Allah told him to humble himself in front of Adam. He said, "No, I'm not going to."

We know that story, but it is not simply to know — it is for reflection. He came up with the idea: "Why will I not bow down? Why will I not show my appreciation for Adam — even though he is a prophet, he is khalifatullah, and all of that — and Allah is telling me to show my respect to him? It is because I am better than him. I am better than him. What I am made of — I am made out of fire, and he is made out of clay. And fire, logically to him, seemed to be more superior than clay. Fire goes up even if you try to suppress it. And clay, even if you throw it up, will come down. Fire can make the largest of structures melt and crumble. What will sand and mud do to that level? It may help them build, but it will not destroy." Iblis said, "I am made of fire. I have the ability to destroy Adam. Hence, I do not want to bow down to him."

And that was it. That was the cardinal sin of arrogance. That was the beginning of chaos in the heavens and the earth. That one sin caused Allah to say:

"Get out of here — you are expelled, you are cursed till the Day of Judgment."

"You will be cursed till the Day of Judgment." And the curse does not end there — what will start when he arrives on the Day of Judgment in Jahannam is going to be obviously the worst that anyone can imagine.

Then Adam عليه السلام was told:

"Both of you go down." Both of you need to leave this place now. His disobedience — not prostrating — and you slipping and falling and eating from the forbidden tree: not acceptable. You need to go out for some time.

Spiritual Diseases: The Root of All Corruption

My dear friends, that laid the foundation of where we are today. Then it led to the hasad of Qabil and Habil, where Qabil ended up killing — not just being biased towards his brother, or having ill feelings — he went ahead and committed the very first murder. These are the newest human beings on earth. Just a matter of some years in the long history of this human race, and within a few years, the horrible sin of murder was committed — over jealousy. "Why is it that he gets a chance to marry so-and-so, and I have to marry so-and-so? This is not fair." Jealous over what his brother had. And he ended up committing murder.

You see these spiritual diseases — they lead to major problems. The problem is I don't realize it. We think: if someone has — Allah forbid — COVID, he's sick. Someone's got cancer, he's sick. Someone's got diabetes, he's sick. But do we realize that all of us sitting here — inshallah, none of us have COVID, that's why we're sitting here by the will of Allah — but how many of us have something much worse than COVID? Much, much, much, much worse than COVID. Which is a spiritual disease — be it of jealousy, be it of hate, be it of ostentation and show, be it of love and intoxication of worldly and material things, intoxication of lustful desires. How many of us are suffering from ujub and self-conceit? Do we even recognize that these are spiritual diseases?

Look at how many years ago we installed hand sanitizers here, and as flu season came we pushed to keep them. And how many years ago, alhamdulillah, a lot of us started also implementing physical health and exercise and so forth. And now you're seeing to what extent the entire world is going to protect one another from physical disease. But do we realize how blackened our hearts may be? Do we realize that when a person dies from these physical diseases, he may die as a shaheed — very likely — and he may die after suffering with a completely pure, clean slate? Not a single sin in his book of deeds, because of the pain he had to suffer for one or two or more years. A clean slate, going to Allah.

But these diseases — spiritual diseases — the real price we have to pay is when the soul is lifted from us, when the soul parts from our body. That is when the real suffering will start. Physical diseases: the pain ends here. Spiritual diseases: the real suffering will begin once we leave this world.

This is a moment for us to understand. I need to ask myself — you need to ask yourself — what types of spiritual diseases am I carrying? We've done blood tests. We've done all sorts of other tests to see the health of our physical body. But are we even for a moment thinking: "You know what — I might have a stinking soul. I may actually have a very black, darkened soul. I may actually have a soul that is barely alive at 2%, and if I don't revive it as soon as possible, I may walk around as a zombie — a completely dead soul."

Can that happen? Yes, it can happen. Allah says:

"They have hearts — they do not comprehend with them. They have eyes — they do not see with them. They have ears — they do not listen with them. They are like livestock — nay, they are more astray than that."

Racism Within Our Own Community

Dear friends, this is what we are speaking about — what you see today and what has happened is not just a white problem, or a Black problem, or a Muslim problem, or a Desi problem. Many times people will say this is not a white versus Black issue. And I'll be the first one to recognize and acknowledge that the amount of racism we have within the Muslim community — Muslim versus Muslim — is staggering. It is not even just between people of different colors. It is people of the same country, people from different states of one country, people from the north versus the south, people who speak one dialect of the same language versus another dialect.

You all know that. People predominantly from India and Pakistan who are sitting in front of me, some of the Arab brothers, some of the African American brothers — you also realize that within the Arab world, how much racism exists. Not talking about against people of color or of Indo-Pak background — that's a whole different thing — but within themselves: Khaliji versus non-Khaliji, Egyptians versus non-Egyptians, Palestinians living in Jordan, Jordanians versus them. There are so many layers of racism that exist. Is this something that is happening now? No, it's not. It's been happening since long before the time of the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم — from the very inception of this human being.

This is like stealing, cheating, murder, deceit, lying — all of these diseases manifest themselves in the form of physical loss, but where do they start? They start from the heart. Every single sin committed by a limb starts from a corrupted heart. And when the heart corrupts, that is when the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم said:

(Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 52; Sahih Muslim, Hadith 1599)

"Listen — there is a piece of flesh in the body. It is a very important piece. If that piece of flesh comes right, then the entire body will come right. And if that piece of flesh goes wrong and becomes corrupted, then the entire body will become corrupted. Indeed, it is the heart."

All sin — from the hands and feet, from the tongue and the eyes — starts from the heart. So that racism, and abuse on the basis of color or wealth, most definitely exists within our own communities back home and here. We have all either been a perpetrator or a witness. When a person raises his hand against his spouse — what is that? When a person raises his voice because he is in power — at work, at a school, at a masjid, anywhere — "I have a badge and you don't." How often do we see this? Either we're perpetrators or we're victims. Every day, power corrupts.

Anytime we see that we have this power — I'm standing behind the table and you're on the other side — I have more power than you. So now I'm going to say, "I'm sorry, I'm closed right now. You gotta come back. Don't you see I'm busy?" I can say whatever I want because you need me. I have the ability to serve you, so now instead of using that as an amanah from Allah, I may easily end up abusing it. These are all aspects and manifestations of zulm.

The Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم said:

(Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 2447; Sahih Muslim, Hadith 2579)

"Listen — oppression will be the source of many layers of darkness."

Dear brothers and sisters, we need to turn to Allah today and repent from any and all forms of zulm — be it in the form of racism against people of color, be it racism against people of our own language but who speak a different dialect, be it against people who earn less than us.

The Crisis of Cultural Racism in Marriage

How many boys and girls will come to me — and this is going to hit real home — and will tell me: "I want to get married." There are emails sitting in my inbox, many, many of them, and many text messages yet to be answered, from people whose fathers may be sitting here, whose mothers may be listening online, saying: "I'm 19, I'm 20, I'm 21 — I really want to get married to this boy, I really want to get married to this girl. And subhanAllah, I'm scared I'm going to commit sin. I asked my parents and they went berserk. They said, 'How dare you — she's Maiman, she's Surti, she's Hyderabadi, she's Pakistani — absolutely not, are you crazy?'" Even though you both eat biryani and dal and eat the same food, but they are a hundred kilometers apart — hence the parents would rather they end up in zina than get them married.

Every single day — and I am absolutely not exaggerating. Mufti Menk — someone shared a clip, or I came across it — a very passionate clip. He was in an airport at 4 AM and he said, "I have to share this message." He said: "I'm getting calls from so many youth who are willing to, and who are planning to, commit suicide. Not two — tens and tens of them — who have sent me emails letting me know they're going to commit suicide." And he said, "I can't answer all those emails, but I want to share with the community: why?" Because their parents won't allow them to get married to someone — not a rapist, not a murderer — someone who comes from a slightly different ethnic background from the same part of the world.

My dear parents — this is stupidity. This is foolishness. This is completely against the deen. If the child is 21 or 22 years old and says, "I want to get married to this person" — it's kinda late now. It's like you're in the middle of the highway, the nearest exit is 30 miles, and your tires are flat, you've run out of gas. Your options are limited. When a person's son or daughter is 19, 20, 21, 22 and comes saying they want to get married — this is not the time to argue. You can encourage, you can share your heart's desire, but if they are going to go commit suicide or commit zina over this — it's not worth it. And on top of that, you have to ask yourself: is what they're doing inherently wrong? Especially if the other person is Muslim — why is it that on the basis of this intercultural racism that plagues us, people are suffering?

I spent many years studying overseas, and I would randomly get asked: "Where are you from?" "From Chicago." "Okay. What does your father do? What is his job?" Straight up. We don't even know your name — straight up, what does your dad do? What is that? This is the problem with our community — immediately wanting to put someone in a box. "What is your occupation?" This is not a marriage proposal. You met me at the bus stand — why are you asking what my dad does in America?

That's us, right there. I spent eight years overseas, and I've traveled to about five or six continents, spent extensive time in India and Pakistan too. We rate people based on how much they earn, based on their profession, on the color of their skin — and not against African Americans only. Within ourselves, there is this obsession — because of colonial rule or whatever else — with white complexion and everything associated with white ideals and cultural practices. If we don't discuss that at home with our kids, we're going to create another whole generation of racist people. Not just racist against African Americans, but racist against people who don't earn as much, who don't live in as large a home, who don't have the luxuries that you and I have.

Going to Islamic school, I would hear kids fighting: "My dad drives this, what does your dad drive?" "I have four bathrooms, how many do you have?" I have heard this myself. I know people who pulled their kids out of Islamic school because they said, "We can't afford $140 shoes, and everyone is pressuring each other to buy $140 shoes in the class." What are we raising? A generation of kids that values money only — that everything is about how much money you have, what your complexion is, what jobs you get, what universities you attend.

No, my friends. We need to stop asking these questions. We need to start focusing on: How many of us have prayed Salatul Fajr with jama'ah? How many of us have read Surah al-Kahf? Ask your kids this. This is how you are going to base things.

My kids the other day — just little ones — were just talking about action figures, Superman, this and that. And I'm watching this and I'm like, "No." Then I told them: "I don't mind you knowing this stuff, I don't mind you knowing the characters. But please do not think you are superior to anyone because you know them. That doesn't make you any better. Your superiority belongs on the basis of taqwa." Little kids think that if they know this stuff, they're cooler than their cousin or their classmate. This is what we need to work on in this generation of youngsters — working on purifying their spiritual diseases, making them realize that the most honorable in the sight of Allah is the one with the most taqwa.

I have a long journey myself personally to work on this, and I hope I can work and achieve it one day. I hope you all can achieve a state where we genuinely regard ourselves as the most humble from amongst the masses — the most lowly in front of Allah. "Ya Allah, I am the worst of the lot. If You don't forgive me, I am gone. I need to be focused on my own faults, on my own shortcomings." And this will protect us from all of the other horrible diseases that we suffer.

I pray to Allah that He allows the Muslim community, and this country, and the whole world to heal — and allow us to start focusing on what we need to focus on, which is our heart. Cleansing the heart, purifying the heart, before we leave this world.

Remembering Those Who Have Passed

Today I'm sad to share that within the past week, some of the most famous ulama of the world have left us. Mawlana Haroon Abbas Omar was one of those very compassionate shuyukh that I was very close with. I had tried very hard for him to come and give the last Bukhari lesson last year. His son taught Bukhari Sharif here as well, over Skype from South Africa. And suddenly he passed away — subhanAllah. Before that, many other mashayikh have been passing away. And one day it will be my announcement — it will be your announcement. We'll read it out: "My brother Azeemuddin is gone, janazah will be at so-and-so." That is going to happen one of these days. So I need to ensure that I face Allah with a clean heart, and all of us work on that as well.

May Allah accept if anything beneficial I said — it was from Allah — and allow me to practice on it. If I've said anything that was out of line or that hurt anyone's feelings, please forgive me for that, as that was not my intent.

SubhanAllah wa bihamdihi, subhanakaAllah wa bihamdihi, la ilaha illa Allah, astaghfirullah.

Part Two — Second Speaker's Pre-Khutbah Remarks

Alhamdulillah. Indeed it is the fadl of Allah that we are gathered in His house of worship on the day of Jumu'ah. And this is a well-known phenomenon — that we truly begin to value the blessings once they are taken away from us. Alhamdulillah, the majority of us, if not all of us, can see with our eyes. Allah has blessed us with vision — both of our eyes we can see. We see our loved ones, we see our children, we see our spouses, we see the beautiful creation of Allah, the beautiful day that He has created. But we do not thank Allah for the blessing of the eyes. And the one who is tested by Allah — that his vision is taken away from him — is the individual who truly knows how great this blessing is.

Rasulullah صلى الله عليه وسلم has said: "The one who is tested regarding his habibatayn — the two beloved blessings of Allah — meaning the two eyes, and he remains patient, then his reward is nothing less than Jannah itself."

(Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 5653)

So likewise, this blessing we have — coming together in the house of Allah, performing the Salah — instead of recognizing it as a blessing, many times we consider it a burden. And throughout the world, we have all been deprived of this blessing. Even the most sacred masajid — Masjid al-Haram by the Ka'bah, as we know, was empty of Tawaf, empty of musallis. Masjid al-Nabawi على صاحبه الصلاة والسلام — this was the first time that Salat al-Tarawih was not performed with the huge congregations.

Now Allah has allowed us once again to come into His house — He has opened the doors for us. Let us truly connect our hearts to the masjid, to the house of Allah. And the more we are connected — with our hearts, with our bodies, with our spirit, with our soul — the more we will be connected to the mercy of Allah. The mercies from Allah, the Rahma from Allah, descend upon the Ka'bah. All the Rahma from the sky comes to the Baytul Ma'mur — the fourth sky — and from the Baytul Ma'mur, the Ka'bah of the angels, it comes down to the Ka'bah of this earth. And from the Ka'bah, it is distributed to the masajid — the houses of worship. And all of the houses of worship throughout the world are aligned with the Ka'bah, facing the Ka'bah, and they get the direct connection from the Ka'bah.

Allah says:

"Verily the first house of worship which was erected for the people to worship Allah is the one located in the valley of Bakka" — which is the old name of Mecca — "a source of barakah, and a source of guidance for the worlds." So the hidayah comes from Allah to the Ka'bah, from the Ka'bah to the masajid:

"And the masajid — they are the houses of Allah, erected for Allah." And from the masjid, we bring the hidayah back to our own dwellings. If our houses are connected to the masjid, then the hidayah and barakah will come into our homes. But if we are not connected to the masjid — which is connected to the Ka'bah, which is connected to Allah — then we are cut off. And if we are cut off, our hearts will be filled with darkness.

The only way we can illuminate our hearts is by being connected with the masjid. And the one whose heart is connected to the house of Allah — on this hot day we can remind ourselves that there is a greater day coming that is much hotter than today. The sun will be much brighter, and it will be near the heads. On that day there will be no shade except the shade of the Arsh of Allah. And on that day, who will be under the shade of the Arsh? Seven categories — and one of them is: the one whose heart is attached to the masjid. If our hearts are attached to the house of Allah, then insha'Allah we will have shade on the day when there will be no other shade.

(Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 660; Sahih Muslim, Hadith 1031)

May Allah unite us and join our hearts to the masjid. We had an opportunity last week to speak about racism in Islam — I don't have sufficient time now, but I cannot ignore it. We are going through, of course, the biggest thing for us — you're back in the masjid, so I've spoken a few words about that. However, we cannot forget about the conditions around us, the riots and protests throughout the country. We may not be able to solve the problem, but we can begin with our own selves — look into our own families, into our own culture, into our own Muslim society, and the racism which exists. We need to begin to talk about it, and we need to eradicate it. This is against the teachings of Islam.

Allah says:

"O mankind, indeed We have created you male and female, and We have made you into tribes and nations — different colors, different identities — so that you may recognize one another, so that you may respect one another, so that you may love one another for the sake of Allah. And who is the most honorable in the eyes of Allah is not the one whose skin is the lightest or fairest, but: inna akramakum 'inda Allahi atqakum — the most honorable among you in the eyes of your Lord are the ones who have the most taqwa." That is the value we have in the eyes of Allah — not by color of skin, nationality, language, or gender.

As Rasulullah صلى الله عليه وسلم — he did not only give empty talk but practically demonstrated this — how he gave honor to Bilal رضي الله عنه, Suhaib al-Rumi رضي الله عنه, Salman al-Farsi رضي الله عنه — Arab and non-Arab, all of them were treated equally with respect in the company of Rasulullah صلى الله عليه وسلم. But unfortunately, we have become affected by this virus. Just like there is a coronavirus, there is this pandemic of racism as well, and we need to remove it, speak about it, and educate our children. This is a learned behavior — we see it in our elders, we learned it, and we are transmitting this sickness to our children. So we have to stop it right here, before this dhulm catches us on the Day of Judgment.

Rasulullah صلى الله عليه وسلم, in his farewell sermon — the Hajjat al-Wada' — said:

(Musnad Ahmad, Hadith 22978; also referenced in al-Albani's Silsilah al-Sahihah, Hadith 2700)

"There is no superiority for an Arab over a non-Arab, or a non-Arab over an Arab, or for the red-complexioned over the black, or the black over the red-complexioned — except by taqwa." He used ahmar as well — meaning brown-skinned. If the whites think they are superior to the brown-skinned, and the brown-skinned — which is the majority sitting here — think they are superior to the black-skinned: this is explicitly addressed by Rasulullah صلى الله عليه وسلم. There is no superiority except by taqwa. And who knows who has taqwa? Allah alone knows, and He will judge between us. He is the Malik-e-Yawm al-Din — the Master of the Day of Judgment.

May Allah rid our society of racism, and protect us from all forms of oppression.

The Khutbah — Formal Second Sermon

Bismillah al-Rahman al-Rahim. Alhamdulillah wa kafa, wa salatu wa salamu 'ala Rasulillah. Allahumma salli wa sallim 'ala Sayyidina Muhammad wa 'ala aali Sayyidina Muhammad wa barik wa sallim. Rabbi ishrah li sadri, wa yassir li amri, wahlul 'uqdatan min lisani, yafqahu qawli. Amma ba'd.

My respected elders and brothers, mothers and sisters, dear listeners — assalamu alaykum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh.

We thank Allah — not with fakeness or ingratitude, but with genuine appreciation and gratitude — for allowing us to be here today for Salatul Jumu'ah. After months of not being allowed and being deprived from attending Salatul Jumu'ah, we should all feel extremely delighted, happy, and thankful to Allah for opening up these doors. And this whole crisis has shown us in so many ways the qudrah and power of Allah.

And when it comes in the Qur'an:

In Surah al-Qalam, Allah says: On the Day of Judgment, Allah will manifest Himself — His tajalli, His nur — in a very special manner in which people will feel overwhelmed and will want to fall into sujood. They will feel His presence like never before, but they will not be able to. They will be told to come, to feel the power of Allah. They will want to fall into sujood, but they will not be able to — it will be as though their backs have become like planks of steel, unable to bend. This is speaking about the disbelievers and those who disobeyed Allah: khashi'atan absaruhum — they will be looking down out of humility and awe. Tarhaquhum dhillah — disgrace will be drenching them. Wa qad kanu yud'awna ila al-sujudi wa hum salimun — and Allah says: they were invited to perform sujood in the world when they were healthy, wealthy, at peace, and they could have done so — but they didn't.

The adhan would be called. The clock would tell us it's time for salah. It's 1 PM, Jumu'ah. You could go. Some went, some didn't. And Allah says: not today. You feel right in front of Allah and you want to fall into sujood, but the back will not be allowed to bend. And the person will simply be melting in disgrace in front of Allah. And Allah says:

"Leave Me and the one who belies My Qur'an — I will handle him. Although I may not strike at him right now in this dunya, he is definitely going to have to face Me. We are going to slowly reel them in and bring them to Us in a manner, in a time, in a place of Our wish and desire. They won't know what's happening."

This is a call to humanity: when you have an opportunity to worship Allah, do so happily. Because there will come a time for those who did not honor and respect Allah when they will want to fall into sujood, but will not be allowed to.

This crisis and this lockdown has hopefully taught us a lesson of how much we need to appreciate the masajid — how much we need to appreciate praying in the masjid. Yes, you can pray wherever, but praying in the masjid has its own significance, power, and virtue. And if we do not appreciate this, it may be taken away from us.

Do you want this to happen to any of us again — two and a half months? If we don't feel the pain now, when are we going to? I hope this creates within us an extremely strong longing to come here. You don't have to be invited. No — instead, if someone comes between us and our home, we will fight them. "Move out of the way, this is my house." This is what the masjid should be for all of us. And not just for the elders, but for the youngsters as well.

When the masjid opened up initially for small numbers — only ten people — who did we see? The elders. Those who are more at risk were the ones who were coming. And the youngsters, who are less at risk, unfortunately many of them did not show up for daily salah. So we need to ensure that our youth and our kids understand this and value the masjid. Have this discussion with them. "Dear daughter, dear son, dear grandchild — value the masjid. Make sure you keep going to that masjid once or twice a day, lest a time should come that you experience what we experienced in the early months of 2020."

This will go down in history. Our history books will cover this crisis. But for the Muslims, this should be a story we speak about to our kids and our generations for decades — that there was a time, for two and a half months, we could not go to the masjid. And Allah can instantaneously make that happen. The last Jumu'ah we prayed here — who would have known that the next Friday there would be an announcement that you can't come? We came in at whatever time we usually do — relaxed, sat down, listened, half-listened, half-slept, whatever. And moved on. If we had been told this was the last Jumu'ah for the next three months, it would have changed our perception completely.

But who knows? You might not live for another three months. We are the lucky ones who survived. There are people who died yesterday, who died today, who died in the past months — they never got a chance to pray in the masjid again after early March. So we need to share this lesson with our generations and with ourselves.

Rejoice, be happy, and be grateful to Allah. But don't ever underestimate the qadr of Allah. He can easily bring another wave. He can easily close these doors again — la qadar Allah.

Shukr: Gratitude in Action

Shukr is through our tongue — so we are going to thank Allah, say alhamdulillah, and pray an extra two raka'at of shukr today. Go home and pray two raka'at extra before Salatul Asr. Thank Allah — "Ya Allah, You made me from among those chosen people." There are many masajid in our radius, a few miles away, that are closed. There are thousands in our locality who would pray Jumu'ah, who are not praying today — because their local masajid are closed.

So we are a very select, hand-chosen group of people whom Allah gave the tawfiq to come here. It's not just that the masjid is open — you're here because the masjid is open and you received an invitation from Allah. That is the key thing. We need to ask Allah to keep on giving us every week this invitation — not just for Jumu'ah, but for our daily salah. Fajr and Isha, my dear friends. Drive out, drive 10 minutes. People ask: "Do I need to drive 40 minutes for Jumu'ah?" How did it happen in the 70s and 80s? How many of our parents drove 60 or 70 miles? That was so normal.

When this masjid opened for Fajr for ten people in Ramadan, there were brothers coming from about 35 minutes away — North Chicago, Des Plaines area — coming for Fajr. Sometimes they'd come a little late, sometimes they'd arrive to find people leaving. He said, "No problem — at least alhamdulillah, I can pray in a masjid." 35 to 40 minutes to drive just to pray Salatul Fajr. That is the true price any one of us should be willing to pay to pray in this beautiful house of Allah.

So let's make this intention right now. Maghrib is here. Isha is here. Throughout the week, weekends and weekdays — make a point, with all the protective measures in place, to pray in this masjid or your local masjid. If you're healthy and you can make it, definitely do not stay away. Keep the habit of coming to the masjid.

Racism, the Heart, and Spiritual Corruption

The second thing I wanted to speak about was the George Floyd issue. There are so many aspects to address: the murder itself, the system that allowed it, the police brutality that is prevalent, the racism that exists outside and within the Muslim community, the protests, the looting — and many of our Muslim businesses were affected. I know from our own community, people have lost millions. There are so many ways to approach this. I cannot use this time to address all aspects, so if I speak about one thing, don't say "why didn't you address this or that?" I'm sharing just one take-home message.

We know the virtues — we know the importance Islam places on people being valued by their akhlaq and a'mal, not by their skin color. But what we may not realize is that what has happened — in Palestine, in Iraq, in Pakistan, in India, in Burma, in Africa, here — at the hands of Blacks, whites, Indian-Pakistanis, Arabs, among their own ethnicities — this is a reflection of the corrosion of the heart and the lack of spirituality, the lack of fear of Allah.

When a person misuses the power that Allah has given him — be it the power of being a police officer, a wealthy person, a husband or wife, a mother or father, a principal, an imam, a doctor, a lawyer, someone providing a service — this is an amanah from Allah. Power, strength, being at the top of a hierarchy, having a podium, having physical strength, having a badge — this is a trust. If we do not understand this responsibility and allow Shaytan to enter, then:

(Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 2443)

The Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم said: "Go help your brother, whether he is the oppressed or the oppressor." They said: "We understand helping our brother when he is oppressed — but how do we help him when he is an oppressor?" He said: "When he is an oppressor, you help him by stopping him from his oppression." What happened? The oppressor is actually a victim of Shaytan. Shaytan has lit up anger within him. You see spousal abuse. You see parental abuse. You see children abusing their parents. The zulm we see is all the result of not cleansing our hearts. Instead of having a qalb saleem, we have a qalb saqeem — instead of a clean heart, we have a sick heart.

Arrogance, conceit, thinking too much about ourselves, looking down upon others — all of this stems from the disease of the heart. Dear brothers and sisters, let us reflect on how, in the past two and a half months, we have done everything we can to protect our physical health — masks, washing hands repeatedly, all sorts of protective measures against this virus. And we hope Allah protects us. May Allah forgive those who passed away and grant shifa to those who are sick. But the harms of a spiritual sickness are far greater.

The Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم said:

(Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 5641; Sahih Muslim, Hadith 2573)

"No fatigue, illness, anxiety, grief, harm, or sorrow befalls a Muslim — even a thorn that pricks him — except that Allah expiates some of his sins thereby." Two weeks of having difficulty breathing, having a fever — what do you think that does to you? It purifies you from your sins. Sickness, we don't ask for it. But remember: for a believer when he becomes sick, that is a rahmah of Allah. But one sickness is not a rahmah — and that is the sickness of the heart. Jealousy, malice, hatred, prejudice, bias, racism — all of these are diseases of the heart. If a person does not reflect and recognize that he has a problem, he will never make an effort to rectify himself. And he will leave this world with these diseases.

Cancer dies when the person dies. High blood pressure goes away when the person dies. Even COVID — when a person is dead, it is done. But one disease that does not die when you and I die is the spiritual disease. It goes with you into the grave. And the angels will come asking:

(Sunan Abi Dawud, Hadith 4753; also in Musnad Ahmad, Hadith 18534)

"Who is your Lord? What is your religion? What do you say about this man?" And our space in the grave — those six feet — will be conditioned based on our spiritual state. If a person had a pure, clean heart, he can expect a beautiful, luxurious place to rest in the grave. If he did not work on those diseases, it will be — Allah protect us — a pit of hell. That is what the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم said:

(Sunan al-Tirmidhi, Hadith 2308; Ibn Majah, Hadith 4267)

"The grave is the first of the many stages of the hereafter." Uthman رضي الله عنه would pass by the grave and cry. They said: "Why is it that when you pass by the grave you cry, but when Paradise and Hellfire are mentioned you don't cry as much?" He said: "Because the grave is the first of many stages of the hereafter. Whoever passes through the grave successfully, then what comes afterwards will be easier. And whoever suffers in the grave — then what is yet to come is going to be much worse."

And where does it start? From the heart. Whatever fitna and fasad we see in the dunya today — including what happened in Minnesota, and what is happening throughout the globe, continuously, without stopping — it is because we have allowed ourselves to become 'abd al-shaytan, slaves to the insinuations of Shaytan, instead of becoming 'abd Allah.

Self-Reflection and the Rectification of Our Hearts

I have — you have — we all have major flaws within ourselves. Let us use this moment to repent to Allah on this blessed day of Jumu'ah, in which He has opened the doors for us, to say: "Ya Allah, I am going to come to terms with the disease of my heart. I am going to start reflecting. I'm going to look in the mirror and see: when my wife is upset at me, when my husband is upset at me, when my kids say something to me — the problem may actually lie with me." Very few of us are willing to acknowledge that. That the problem may actually lie within me. The evil may actually lie within me. It's not that everyone is angry at me without reason — they actually have a right to be angry because of mistakes I have made.

If we can achieve that status — that level of self-introspection and reflection — we can say: "It's not that they are racist and prejudiced and looters." No, my brothers and sisters. We ourselves have major prejudices within the Desi community, within the Arab community, within the Muslim community. Not only racism against African Americans — which is most definitely present, and I will be the first to acknowledge that — but within people of our own selves. Wealthier people feeling prejudice against people who earn less. People who speak a certain language within our culture feeling superior to those who speak a different language. People who come from a certain profession or economic background feeling superior to those who don't.

How many brothers and sisters have reached out to me — youth — saying: "I am so upset. I want to run away from home. I come from a Punjabi background, and I really want to get married to this Hyderabadi girl, but my parents said, 'Absolutely not — over our dead body.'" Someone from a Maiman background wants to marry someone from a Gujarati background — "Absolutely not." Someone from a Bengali background wanting to marry someone from Karachi — "Absolutely not." You know exactly what I'm talking about. This happens within our homes.

Are we allowed to marry someone from Africa, from America, from the Arab world? Most definitely — that should not even be a question. But we have issues within our own small little communities. Just a hundred miles away, we say no. The same age-old prejudices and biases from back home — we brought them to this country. And who is suffering? Our kids. What are they doing? They are contemplating suicide. They are contemplating and attempting zina. Because of this prejudice. And deen is not even a priority — they tell me: "My mom and dad don't care about the deen. She has to be of this caste." Are we Hindus? Why is all of this entering our society?

So this is a moment for a tough conversation within our own families at home. Sit down when you go back today. Sit down with your wife and your kids. Address these issues. It's not just a matter of "what are they doing — African Americans are oppressed, whites are prejudiced." We are doing the same thing in a different shade — whether against Black people, or against our own people. And we are paying the price for it. What will happen in the next generation? We have to unlearn these prejudices. We have to unlearn this bias. We have to unlearn this hate for anyone that is different from us. We have to unlearn this false thinking — that someone who has more wealth is superior, that someone who works in a certain industry is more superior, that someone who has a certain title is more superior. Wallahi, we are going to pay the price otherwise.

The True Measure of Honor

Let us make tawbah, tawbah, tawbah. Allah says:

"Indeed, the most honorable in Allah's sight is the one who has the most fear of Allah."

And the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم said:

(Sahih Muslim, Hadith 2564)

"Allah does not look at your faces, nor at your bodies, nor at your wealth — but He looks at your hearts and your deeds."

The Day of Judgment has been called Yawm al-Taghabun — the Day of Mutual Deception. Allah named a whole surah in the Qur'an al-Taghabun. Why? Because the people we think are downtrodden today are going to be way ahead of us tomorrow. And the people we thought were ahead — they are going to be all the way in the back of the line. I hope you and I are not in for a shock — that we gave reverence to people who we shouldn't have, and pushed away people who we should have honored. That would be a very sad day for us.

Closing Du'as

May Allah grant you and I that level of taqwa which will save us from any and all types of prejudice and racism. Say ameen.

May Allah truly allow us to lead a life — as parents, as husbands and wives, as elders — that we embody the akhlaq of Rasulullah صلى الله عليه وسلم, so that people do not get even a sense of prejudice or racism from us. Say ameen.

May Allah allow us always to give preference to taqwa over everything else in our marriages and in all other affairs. Say ameen.

May Allah allow us to all work on the rectification and purification of our hearts before it is too late. May Allah grant all of us a qalb saleem — a sound and pure heart — and purify it from all the evil diseases that strike our hearts. May Allah emancipate us from the tyranny of Shaytan and Iblis. May Allah emancipate us from tyrannical thoughts and ideologies. Say ameen.

May Allah allow us to value the opening of the masajid, and allow us and our generations to remain connected to the houses of Allah till our last breath.

Subhanallah wa bihamdihi, subhanakaAllah wa bihamdihi, la ilaha illa anta, nastaghfiruka wa natubu ilayk.