20170407- 2nd Khutba- Rodwaan Saleh

Khutbah: Injustice and Tyranny — Divine Justice for the Oppressed

إِنَّ الْحَمْدَ لِلَّهِ نَحْمَدُهُ وَنَسْتَعِينُهُ وَنَسْتَهْدِيهِ وَنَعُوذُ بِاللَّهِ مِنْ شُرُورِ أَنْفُسِنَا وَسَيِّئَاتِ أَعْمَالِنَا، مَنْ يَهْدِهِ اللَّهُ فَلَا مُضِلَّ لَهُ، وَمَنْ يُضْلِلْ فَلَا هَادِيَ لَهُ، وَأَشْهَدُ أَنْ لَا إِلَهَ إِلَّا اللَّهُ وَحْدَهُ لَا شَرِيكَ لَهُ، وَأَشْهَدُ أَنَّ مُحَمَّدًا عَبْدُهُ وَرَسُولُهُ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ وَعَلَى آلِهِ وَصَحْبِهِ أَجْمَعِينَ، أَمَّا بَعْدُ.

ثُمَّ أَمَّا بَعْدُ: فَإِنَّ أَصْدَقَ الْحَدِيثِ كِتَابُ اللَّهِ، وَأَحْسَنَ الْهَدْيِ هَدْيُ مُحَمَّدٍ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ، وَشَرَّ الْأُمُورِ مُحْدَثَاتُهَا، وَكُلَّ مُحْدَثَةٍ بِدْعَةٌ، وَكُلَّ بِدْعَةٍ ضَلَالَةٌ، وَكُلَّ ضَلَالَةٍ فِي النَّارِ.

The Darkness of Injustice

There are tyrants who lately have been emboldened because no one says anything to them. These are the traits of bullying. Unfortunately, they are blinded by their arrogance, and they look down at the weak. They forget — because they are blinded by their arrogance — that Allah, the Almighty, is above them. But not only that, brothers and sisters, Allah promised that they will also be in darkness — not only in this dunya because they cannot see what is right from wrong, but they will be in darkness even in the hereafter.

The Prophet صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ said:

(Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 2447; Sahih Muslim, Book 45, Hadith 6248)

Injustice and tyranny is not only darkness in this dunya — because this individual is not just enough to see what is right from wrong — but on the Day of Judgment the day will be so dark. The Prophet صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ said: if one of us were to put their palms in front of their eyes, you still could not see — that is how dark it will be. And those who committed injustice will be surrounded by that darkness on the Day of Judgment.

Ayna Fir'aun? Where is Fir'aun, the one who killed people indiscriminately? To the point that, because no one told him he was wrong, he said:

He said, "I am now your Lord — al-A'la — the highest over the land." Ayna al-Namrud? The king who also was killing indiscriminately — any time you opposed any of his sayings, he would make sure that you never got to see the light again. Where is Hitler and his like? Where are they? الظُّلْمُ ظُلُمَاتٌ يَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ.

The Hadith Qudsi: Allah Forbids Injustice

On the authority of Abu Dharr (may Allah be pleased with him), from the Prophet صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ, as narrated from his Lord — and this is a Hadith Qudsi, meaning that Allah Himself authenticates what the Prophet صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ is saying:

(Sahih Muslim, Book 45, Hadith 6246)

Allah is telling you and me: "O My servants, I have prohibited injustice upon Myself, and I have made it prohibited amongst you, so do not oppress one another." And the heavens and the earth were established upon His justice. As-samawati wal-ard stand upon Allah's justice.

The Du'a of the Oppressed

But the biggest problem, brothers and sisters, is when the bully is emboldened by his actions because no one is stopping him — no one is holding his hands and saying, "You are doing something wrong." When this individual is emboldened, they do not know that Allah has enabled the weak to cry. And these painful tears will catapult these cries above the clouds, and they will speak to Allah.

The Prophet صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ said:

(Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 4090; Sahih Muslim, Book 1, Hadith 29)

Fear the supplication of the one who is wronged, for there is no veil between it and Allah. The cries of those who are unjustly dealt with — Allah says, "I will listen to you." The du'a of the weak in the middle of the night — those who have no power, those that no one will come to their aid — He says, "I will come to your aid, even after a while."

Whether by force, or con-art stealing, or crookedness — the Prophet said these cries will climb up to the heavens, they will speak to Allah, and Allah will promise: "I will give you justice at due time." Money blinds us and causes us to commit injustice. Power, as we say, corrupts absolutely. And when you mix that with arrogance — feeling or believing or thinking that no one will stop you — it becomes all the more dangerous.

The Story of the Prince and the Elderly Woman

It was said that a prince had a beautiful palace. One day, as he walked outside of the palace with his servants and those who are kingmakers, he passed by a corner of that palace where — in an area not necessarily apparent — an elderly woman had built a shack. That shack was leaning against the walls of his palace. As he walked by, he inquired who owned it. "Clean it up. What is this rubbish?" They told him an elderly woman lived there, and that she was not in her hut right now — she had gone out to sell some items to make ends meet. He said, "Clean it up."

SubhanAllah — they started destroying it. When she came back, she said, "Where is my house? Who did this to me?" They said this prince had done it. She said, "O Allah, I am the weak one. I am the one who is in need of Your power. I am the one who has been wronged by this individual. O Allah, give me my rights from him." It was said that within a few moments, they could hear a cry in the palace — because a lightning came from above and destroyed the room where this so-called prince was living, and he perished.

Sometimes when we tell these stories, it gives us a little bit of comfort. And then sometimes it makes us feel as if this is just folk tale. Perhaps, brothers and sisters, it is because we were not wronged, because we did not feel the weakness in front of someone. But subhanAllah, we do not know — often times, perhaps we are the ones who are wronging others.

Injustice in Everyday Life

If I work in corporate America and I leave the office with a packet of papers from the printing room, I have committed injustice. If I am supposed to work 8 hours a day in a certain office and I work only 7 hours a day, I have committed injustice. If I am supposed to be paid for a certain work and then I wait for someone to come in and say, "Your job, your work will never go an inch unless you pay me a bribe" — we have committed injustice.

And subhanAllah, brothers and sisters, without knowing, we are actually committing injustice. It is easy to speak about tyrants such as kings and queens and presidents and overseers and supervisors. But what about us — the people who continuously commit these injustices without even paying attention to them?

The Hadith of 'Uday ibn 'Umayr: Accountability of the Official

From 'Uday ibn 'Umayr (may Allah be pleased with him), he said: I heard the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, say: "Whoever of you we appoint to a work and he conceals from us even a needle or more, it will be treachery, and he will come forth with it on the Day of Resurrection." A man from the Ansar came to him and it was as if I was looking at him. He said, "O Messenger of Allah, take back my appointment." The Prophet asked, "And why?" He said, "I heard you say this and that." The Prophet said, "And I say it now: whoever of you we appoint to a work, let him bring back everything — little and much. What was given to him legitimately he may keep, and what was forbidden to him must be returned."

This individual went out and he did the work, but of course he was given extra. And the Prophet صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ said: anyone whom we hire to go out to get any type of work done and he or she was paid extra — let them bring it all back. And this man stood before the Prophet صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ and said, "O Messenger of Allah, forgive me — I really worked hard, I was just getting paid extra." The Prophet said, "And so?" He said, "O Messenger of Allah, make du'a for me, forgive me." He said, "Fine, we will make du'a for you to be forgiven. But what about the money — the extra money that you got? Bring it in. If we give you all the money, that is fine. But if we only give you the allowance that you are supposed to get, then that is what you get — otherwise, you are stealing."

Anyone who steals or takes what is not theirs — they will have to bring it forth on the Day of Judgment.

Injustice in Inheritance

And this brings me to an issue — the issue of inheritance. It is okay to say, "The president of a certain country is a tyrant" or "This government has been enslaving us all the time" or "My boss works me like an animal and I never get paid my rightful dues." But we have the audacity to come to our sisters and tell them: "According to this inheritance, your husband already happens to be a rich man — why do you want your share? You already live in a nicer home. Leave it for me."

One of the judges in one of the Muslim countries — a righteous man — had in front of him a man and a woman who walked in with a contract, and they were in a hurry. It is customary in the Arab world, or in the Muslim world unfortunately, that the woman cannot speak up in public to get her rights. In front of the judge, he asked the lady, "Do you know what you are signing?" She said, "Yes." "Are you sure what you are signing?" "Yes, sir." "Are you sure?" "Yes, your honor."

So the judge signaled to his officers to ask the brother to leave the courtroom. He turned to the sister and said, "The contract — do you know what is in it?" She said, "Yes. I told my brother that I am signing off the house where we are living. After my father passed away, it will be divided accordingly, but I need my share right now so that I can cash it and start a business." He said, "Let me read the contract." The contract said: your brother is responsible for all the land your father left, all the cars your father left, all the business your father left — and he is responsible over you, as in whom you will marry and when, and he is responsible for selling the house and will give you what he thinks is right for you. He said, "Do you still want to sign this document?"

Like I said, brothers and sisters — it is easy to blame someone else. But when it comes to our own affairs as Muslims, we are willing to get away with murder. And that has nothing to do with Islam. Perhaps Allah is showing us some signs in this dunya that injustice will not be tolerated.

The Shaheed Who Was Not a Shaheed

On 'Umar ibn al-Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him) — when I read this hadith, I never thought that a shaheed — a martyr in Islam, the ultimate goal for someone who defends the deen and defends his country — could be denied. Yet in this hadith, as the Sahaba were burying some of the martyrs in the battlefield after the Battle of Khaybar:

(Sahih Muslim, Book 1, Hadith 182)

The companions were witnessing: "This man is a shaheed, he is a shaheed, he is a shaheed." And then finally they found someone and said, "He is a shaheed." But the Prophet صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ said: "No, he is not a shaheed. I saw him — I saw in the vision that he is in Jahannam." Why? Because he took something that did not belong to him.

In some Muslim countries, unfortunately, we call that being shater — "I have gotten away with the best contract in the world" — and we label him sharp and clever. Yet we complain about someone else who is wronging us. And then when we face someone and say, "Ya akhi, this is haram, what you have done is actually haram," he says, "Brother, it's business." Wallahi, I ask myself and I ask all of us — is that not injustice? How can you tell me that this is business?

The Hadith of Umm Salamah: The Prophet's Judgment

And that is why the Prophet صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ said, on the authority of Umm Salamah (may Allah be pleased with her):

(Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 2458; Sahih Muslim, Book 30, Hadith 5765)

"I am but a human being when it comes to the worldly affairs you bring before me, unless there is a revelation. You come to my court seeking my ruling over your business and worldly affairs. Perhaps one of you will hire the best lawyer there is — and we like to single out a certain group and say 'I'm hiring the best lawyer in town' — and he comes thinking he will win the case." But you are wrong. The Prophet صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ says: You will come to the court, you know you are wrong, your lawyer knows you are wrong, but he is the best lawyer money can buy. And he will get you off — كَالشَّعْرِ مِنَ الْعَجِينِ — as some say, like a hair pulled from dough. And yet you have the audacity to sit there and tell the lawyer, "Yes I did it, but is there a way you can get me out of it?"

Do not engage in crooked dealings. Do not engage in an act where you know blatantly that you are wrong, and yet you are willing to pay someone else to get you out of it. This, brothers and sisters, is how the Muslim Ummah today deals amongst themselves. Mind you — this is a Muslim to a Muslim, a Muslimah to a Muslimah. And the worst of all: a brother and a sister who came out of the same womb, doing this to one another.

أَقُولُ قَوْلِي هَذَا وَأَسْتَغْفِرُ اللَّهَ لِي وَلَكُمْ.

Second Part of the Khutbah

الْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ وَكَفَى، وَالصَّلَاةُ وَالسَّلَامُ عَلَى رَسُولِ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ وَعَلَى آلِهِ وَصَحْبِهِ أَجْمَعِينَ.

Some of the injustices, brothers and sisters, can be very trivial. They do not have to be so complicated — where we go to courts, or where we bring things into great conflict. It could be just simply in the way we behave with one another, without even knowing.

The True Bankrupt on the Day of Judgment

From Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him), he said: The Prophet صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ asked:

(Sahih Muslim, Book 45, Hadith 6251)

"Do you know who is the bankrupt amongst us?" Imagine the Prophet صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ asking this of the Sahaba. They said, "The bankrupt amongst us is someone who cannot afford furniture, cannot afford a car, does not have a house — someone who is not well-known in the community as being rich." But the Prophet صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ corrected that concept. He said: "The truly bankrupt one of my Ummah is the one who comes on the Day of Judgment with prayer, and zakah, and fasting — yet he comes having insulted this one, slandered that one, consumed the wealth of this one, shed the blood of that one, and struck this one. So this one will be given from his good deeds, and that one will be given from his good deeds. And if his good deeds run out before the account is settled, then the sins of those he wronged will be taken and thrown upon him, and he will be cast into the Fire."

Wallahi, this is the worst judgment there is in the world, and we are not paying attention to it. You know how you become bankrupt? Not in this dunya. You become bankrupt when you come on the Day of Judgment with a mountain of hasanat. We love to donate to the masajid, donate to non-profit organizations, build Islamic schools. We go to Hajj, we go to Umrah, we do extracurricular Islamic activities to increase our hasanat. But on the Day of Judgment, we come and we are bankrupt — because we wronged people in this dunya. We took from them what was not ours, either by crookedness, by con-art stealing, or even by force, by hiring someone — as we say in certain cultures, a gunda — to intimidate the other party into signing on a dotted line: "If you don't sign, we are going to break your legs or kill you right now." And they give up their rights.

They come on the Day of Judgment, my brothers and sisters, as the Prophet صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ said. They will stand before you and say: "You took from me. You hit me. You spat on me. You called me names. I had no right to respond — I was weak, I could not retaliate, I could not take my rights from you. And now I want my rights."

And you know how we pay back people's rights on the Day of Judgment? Allah is the most merciful, brothers and sisters. He will forgive our sins. But Allah will never forgive anyone of us unless and until the other person forgives us first. And that is the worst of all judgments. When I cannot pay him back, I look at my hasanat and begin paying with them. And when all my hasanat are gone, I look at his sins and they are taken from him and placed onto me — and then Allah takes me and puts me in Jahannam. That is not a judgment any of us wants to face.

The Story of the Amputated Man in Kufa

SubhanAllah — I have glad tidings for those who are weak, for those who are punished from above for no reason except that they just wanted a better life. And subhanAllah, some of us who cannot get justice in this dunya — the scholar Imam al-Dhahabi wrote an amazing story that was witnessed in al-Kufa.

He said that a man entered the market and was shouting frantically: "Do not be unjust! Do not be unjust! Do not cause harm to someone else! Do not be unjust!" And when they looked at him, his left arm had been amputated all the way from the shoulder. A man walked up to him and said, "What is wrong with you? Why are you yelling?" He said, "Do you want to know why my arm was amputated like this?"

He was a towering man. He said: "I was a tyrannical young man. I used to take joy in finding someone who could not fight back, and I would take their money or their possessions — I took joy in the fact that they could not retaliate. One day, with my group — we were bullies — I went to the beach and I saw an elderly man who had just caught a big fish. I walked up to him because I loved how the fish looked and I knew I was going to have a good meal. I grabbed it from him and said, 'I'm taking this.' He said, 'No — I have daughters at home, this is the only way I feed them. I fish every day, I sell it, I bring food.' I said, 'I don't care.' When he tried to fight back, I pushed him to the ground, kicked him, and walked away with the fish."

He said: "Within a few steps after I walked away, the fish — subhanAllah — jumped and bit me on my thumb. That night I could not sleep. In the morning when I went to the doctor, he said, 'What happened? This is the worst thing I have ever seen. Look how your hand is swollen — we must cut it from the thumb.' The following day, they had to cut his hand from the wrist. Within a few days the disease had spread all the way to his elbow, and they had to cut it. And finally the doctor said, 'If you do not cut your arm from the shoulder, this will eat the rest of your body.'"

The doctor asked, "What happened? What did you eat? What did you touch?" He said, "Nothing — except I was holding a fish and it bit me in my thumb, and now my arm has to be amputated." The doctor said, "Go back to the man from whom you took the fish and ask for his forgiveness."

He said: "I walked and I looked everywhere. I could not find him. Finally, within two or three days, I found him — fishing again. I stood there and said, 'Please forgive me.' He said, 'Who are you? I don't even remember you.'" SubhanAllah, brothers — there are some people amongst us who are continuously wronged by those who think they are powerful, to the point that we even forget, because unfortunately they have gotten so used to being humiliated and weakened in such a way.

So finally, when he told him, "I am the man who took your fish," he asked: "I ask you by Allah — what did you say when I took the fish?" He said, "Wallahi — I looked up and I said: 'Ya Allah, You have shown me how powerful he is and how weak I am. Show me, ya Allah, how powerful You are and how weak he is.'" He said, "Wallahi — when he forgave me, at that very moment the pain stopped." And so he continued on in the market, shouting his warning.

Closing: Allah Is More Powerful Than Any Tyrant

And so the moral of the story, brothers and sisters: there are many tyrants out there, and a lot of times we give up and say, "It is never going to work." But Wallahi — Allah, Rabbul Izzah, is more powerful than any of them. Allah continuously shows the signs. And there is not a tyrant except that Allah will test him — with another tyrant, or with a humble heart, or with justice coming in ways he never expected. There is a cure for every illness and every trial.

O Allah, strengthen our faith in You. O Allah, forgive us and have mercy on us and grant us Paradise with the truthful, the martyrs, and the righteous companions. What was of success is from Allah, and what was of mistake, humiliation, or forgetfulness is from me and from Shaytan — and Allah and His Messenger are free of it.