EPIC Masjid,Sh. Gyas Mckenze,Muslims to serve humanity, Part 1

Khutbah al-Ula — Opening

Alhamdulillah, we praise Him, ask for His help and ask for His forgiveness. And we seek refuge in Allah from the evil of our souls and from the evil of our deeds. Whom Allah guides, none can misguide him. And whom He sends astray, none can guide him. And I bear witness that there is no god but Allah. Alone, with no partner. And I bear witness that Muhammad is His servant and His Messenger.

O you who have believed, fear Allah as He should be feared, and you will not die except as Muslims.

O you people, fear your Lord, Who created you from one soul. And He created from it a wife. And He spread from them many men and many women. And fear Allah in Whom you ask for mercy. Verily, Allah is ever Merciful to you.

O you who have believed, fear Allah and say the righteous word. It will amend for you your deeds and forgive you your sins. And whoever obeys Allah and His Messenger has certainly attained a great victory.

As for the rest, the most truthful speech is the Book of Allah. And the best guidance is the guidance of Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him. And the worst of affairs are those newly invented. And every newly invented thing is an innovation. And every innovation is a misguidance. And every misguidance leads to the Fire.

Serving Humanity — The Core of Our Faith

I would like to begin by sharing with you a very beautiful, profound, and important verse that we all must familiarize ourselves with. It is a verse in Surah an-Nisa, verse 36, in which Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala gives us some instructions.

Worship Allah, and join none in worship with Him. And do good, show kindness, and be pious. Show kindness to the parents, relatives, the orphans, the poor, the neighbor who is your relative, and the neighbor who is a stranger, the companion by your side, and the wayfarer, and those whom your right hand possesses. Verily, Allah does not like those who are boastful and proud.

So in this verse, we see that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala instructs us to give many people their rights. He tells us, as Muslims, that many people — and He goes into detail — have a right or rights upon us. So Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala first begins by saying, fulfill His rights: worship Allah, and do not worship any except Him. And then Allah begins to tell us to serve humanity. Give humanity their rights. So Allah begins with the parents, and the relative, the poor, the orphans, the neighbor who is a relative, the neighbor who is a stranger, and on and on.

And afterwards, after Allah tells us, gives us this instruction, He says that indeed, Allah does not like those who are boastful and proud. Hence, Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is clearly telling us that those who are not serving humanity, those who are not striving to become an asset to their community — these are boastful and proud people.

And we see this theme recurring over and over in the Qur'an. Allah is telling us that this is who we are. Muslims are people who strive to be an asset to society. Muslims are people who sincerely care about the orphans, the poor — sincerely care about making the world a better place. There are so many ahadith and so many verses in the Qur'an that we must conclude that this is one of our core objectives as a Muslim.

The Best Among Us — Those Who Benefit Others

As a matter of fact, the Prophet ﷺ tells us that these are the Muslims who are the most successful. And interestingly, when it comes to becoming an asset, when it comes to helping others, the Prophet ﷺ and Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala connect success to this. That this is true success — one who is looking communally, one who is trying to make the world, the global community, a better place.

For example, the Prophet ﷺ tells us that the best of people are those who bring the most benefit to society. And the best among you are those who are best to their families. And the best amongst you are those who are best at fulfilling the rights of others. And the best amongst you are those who display the best character and manners.

(Al-Mu'jam al-Awsat lil-Tabarani; also reported in similar wording — see al-Silsilah al-Sahihah of al-Albani, Hadith 426)

Hence, all of these ahadith in which the Prophet ﷺ is telling us who is the best are ahadith that focus, that are centered on, helping others.

Altruism in the Five Pillars of Islam

Likewise, we see that even in our five pillars — the pillars that Islam is based upon, that uphold Islam — there is great emphasis. We even find this theme resonating in the five pillars of Islam.

For example, very explicitly in the Zakat. We see that altruistic nature — meaning selflessness — that we should have. This is what we have to think about, and this is something that is very difficult. And as a matter of fact, this selfishness is something nowadays that is not being portrayed as advice or being condemned as evil, but it's being portrayed as a virtue. If you search and listen to many conversations now, this is what has been taught. And this is the opposite of what the Qur'an and what Islam is teaching us.

So in this pillar of Islam, the Zakat, we are obligated — this money is not even looked at as ours — to help those who are less fortunate, to help the weak and the disadvantaged, to help them get on their feet. This is what defines us. Not only that, but we even have another pillar — the fast — in which there is a month-long training camp of altruistic deeds that we do. In the month of Ramadan, no doubt we focus on helping others.

As a matter of fact, as Ibn Umar said:

(Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 6)

That the Prophet ﷺ was the most generous of people, and you would find the Prophet ﷺ at the peak of his generosity in the month of Ramadan. And naturally, of course, when we fast, we're going to be more compassionate to those who are hungry, those who are weak, those who are neglected. And remember this word — this is the word that should be repeated all the time — it is neglect that we find is causing the problems of the world. Neglect.

Iman Is Linked to Loving for Others What You Love for Yourself

Again, I cannot overemphasize the importance of sincerely caring for the other, sincerely wanting good for your brother. We know that the Prophet ﷺ many times has equated or linked Iman with this altruistic deed or with altruism. We find in the five pillars of Islam a strong emphasis — the motif of sincerely loving for others, of caring for those who are less fortunate than we are.

Likewise, the Prophet ﷺ over and over many times linked our Iman, our core essence — what it means to be a Muslim — to this sincere love for humanity, and especially our Muslim brothers and sisters and our families.

(Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 13; Sahih Muslim, Hadith 45)

Everyone is familiar with this hadith. But it's a hadith that, if we think about it, is somewhat difficult to uphold. If we think about it, we will see how high the bar is set. The Prophet ﷺ tells us that you do not truly have Iman — your Iman is deficient — if you do not love for your brother, and of course brother meaning brother or sister, what you love for yourself.

So many of you, maybe this is your first time seeing me. But the right that I have upon you, and vice versa, the right that you have upon me, is that I love you, that I'm concerned about you as much as I'm concerned about myself. Selflessness. Altruism. This is what it means to be a Muslim. We're striving to have this love and concern for each other.

The Most Virtuous Manifestation of Islam

To show you that this is at our core — this is one of our core objectives, to develop this selflessness, this altruism — the Prophet ﷺ was asked a very profound and heavy question:

Which manifestation of Islam, which aspect of Islam, is most virtuous? And there are many questions like this that you would think would be some complex equation — something that only the most noble, most lofty, most sincere, and most religious could participate in. But the Prophet ﷺ answers amazingly:

(Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 12; Sahih Muslim, Hadith 39)

The most virtuous aspect or manifestation of Islam is to feed people — those that you know and those that you do not know — and to give salams to those whom you know and those whom you do not know.

How simple is that? But we see that when you feed people — and most of us know what food does — it increases affection, it creates love, and it is a sign of love. Whether the person is rich or poor, whether the person is hungry or not, this is something that we should always be trying to do: feed the people. This is one of the best things that you can do in Islam. And do not trivialize this. Again, it is a sign of love and it engenders love.

Likewise, giving the salam. And we are told that this will be from the signs of the Day of Judgment — that people will only give salams, this beautiful greeting, the best greeting that you can give to wish tranquility, to pray for tranquility upon another — only to those they know. Those strangers that they see in the store or passing by, they will just walk past them. But the point is that we should not fall into this.

You Will Not Enter Paradise Until You Have Iman — And You Will Not Have Iman Until You Love One Another

The Prophet ﷺ tells us in a very powerful hadith:

(Sahih Muslim, Hadith 54)

You will not enter Paradise until you have Iman. And you will not truly have Iman until you love one another. And then the Prophet ﷺ didn't leave us with that, but he said: Should I not tell you a thing — that if you do it, you'll have this love and this concern? Spread the salams among yourselves.

All of us are here today because we want Jannah — the ultimate success, the only true success that really lasts. Islam is a religion of love and caring, very explicit, at its core values. This is what we're about: becoming an asset, caring about those who are weaker than us, even as much as we care about ourselves.

The Example of the Ansar — The Pinnacle of Selflessness

Not only does the Prophet ﷺ tell us all of this, but Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala tells us about the attributes of the Ansar — the helpers, what a beautiful name. Those who provide aid and support. Allah says about them:

And those who, before them, had homes in Medina and had adopted the faith — these Ansar were real Muslims. They showed their love to those who came to them for refuge. Even though the Muhajireen were strangers, they still showed their love to those who came to them. And they had no jealousy in their chests for that which had been given to the Muhajireen. And they gave them preference over themselves, even though they were themselves in need. They loved and preferred the Muhajireen over themselves, over their children, over their families. This is what it means to be a Muslim. This is our example. This is what we're striving for.

And listen to this again: وَمَن يُوقَ شُحَّ نَفْسِهِ فَأُولَٰئِكَ هُمُ الْمُفْلِحُونَ — Allah tells us about that buzzword again: success. The word everyone is looking for. We take so many seminars, buy so many books. And Allah tells us over and over in the Qur'an what it truly means to be successful. We even heard it from the Mu'adhin twice, four times — Hayya 'ala al-falah. Allah says, whoever is saved from his own greed, from his selfishness — if you're able to truly love and be concerned about your brother, your sister, and humanity — then these are the people who will be successful.

And one theologian said so beautifully, talking about altruism: "He who lives only to benefit himself confers on the world a benefit when he dies." How true a statement.

Neglecting the Poor — A Cause of Failure

And lastly, before concluding the first part: Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala not only emphasizes that doing good deeds is a part of Iman, and that caring for others is a part of the pillars of Islam, but Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says:

Allah tells us, very frighteningly and alarmingly, that the purpose or cause of failure, the cause of entering the Hellfire, is not taking care of the poor. Have you seen the one who denies the deen, the one who denies the judgment to come, the one who denies Islam? Allah, first and foremost, describes that person as one who rejects the yatem — the orphan — and doesn't care about feeding the poor.

Likewise, we find among the people of Hellfire — Allah tells us in those few verses that we have in the Qur'an — Allah finds it a benefit to tell us some of the conversations that will happen between the people of success and Paradise and the people of failure and disgrace in Hellfire. When they are asked, "What has gotten you into this wretched situation?" they will say: we did not take care of the poor. We were selfish people. We were greedy people.

So Allah tells us both ways — to tell us and to wake us up — that this is what life is about: making this communal concern real, making the world a better place, becoming an asset.

Living Up to Who We Are

Many of us complain many times about our position. We have been made into the boogeyman, made into this evil figure. Every time you hear this label, it's usually negative, even though this wasn't the case in the past. But one of the things that I think will erase this — that will make us successful in this world and the hereafter — is if we live up to who we are.

One Catholic priest — and I've told this story many times, even in Dallas, maybe at least a good twenty times — he said he wanted to find out who the Muslims were after September 11th. What are you guys all about? And he was someone who was highly active in community service. When he picked up the Qur'an, he said: "I was shocked to see so much attention paid to the weak, the underprivileged. Every time you hear salah, you hear zakat. So much emphasis, over and over." Even he caught that. And of course that made us proud — yes, that's who we are. But at the same time, it was bittersweet, because it was as if he was saying: you guys should be the rock stars, the superstars of community service, of making the world a better place. And I think there is a lot of work to do. But if we do that work, we will be successful in this world and in the hereafter.

And alhamdulillah, just before the khutbah, I heard about the call to help feed the people here, the needy people, and to give Zakat to the needy Muslims. This is something that we should do happily.

And one last thing — this is an exercise many people have done: we just said, okay, the people of Dallas, we keep hearing all of this evil and hateful speech, we're just going to leave. If we did leave, what would be the impact? We have to ask ourselves that question. It should be that people are screaming and crying — "Come back! The soup kitchens are closing! Come back! Those volunteers in prison are dwindling! Come back! All these free medical clinics are closing!" And then inshallah, hopefully once we get to that level, we have to ask ourselves: what value am I adding to society? And once you do that, inshallah, you'll see collectively that we do make a difference. But we have to ask ourselves — what value am I adding to my family and to society? Because if we don't, Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala will ask us.

On the Day of Judgment — The Question of Neglect

The Prophet ﷺ tells us that on the Day of Judgment, Allah will ask the children of Adam: "I was hungry and you did not feed Me. I was thirsty and you did not provide Me water. I was sick and you did not visit Me." Neglect. That word again — neglect, neglect. The person will be astonished: "You are the Lord of the worlds, how could I have visited You? How could I have provided You water?" And Allah will say: "So-and-so was sick and you knew it. Had you visited him, you would have found Me there. So-and-so was hungry — had you fed him, you would have found that with Me."

(Sahih Muslim, Hadith 2569)

So Allah will ask us. This is who we are — people who care about society. People will be questioned about this, and people will be successful because of their big hearts.

Second Part of the Khutbah — The Rohingya Muslims

Bismillah, wal-hamdulillah, wa salatu wa salamu 'ala Rasulina wa 'ala alihi wa sahbihi.

If we could all move up a little bit to make room for those who are standing.

In the last few minutes of this khutbah, after hearing the first part about how we are people who sincerely strive — or should strive — to care about others and to love others as we love ourselves, striving to get this altruistic spirit, I want to point out to you that there is a group of people that unfortunately many are unaware of: the Rohingya Muslims. Muslims in Burma.

I ask you sincerely to research this. It will shock you to see how blatant the persecution is. The United Nations mentions them as one of the most persecuted minorities in the world. Of course we know about the suffering in Gaza and Palestine which gets much more attention. But also there are these people who used to number 3 or 4 million just a few decades ago and now only 1,200,000 remain. These people, similar to the Palestinians, are stateless. Their citizenship for the last few decades has been stripped. So they have no access to education, no freedom of movement because they are not citizens, and no access to healthcare.

And they are Muslims. They are disowned and unwanted by Burma, or Myanmar. But also they cannot flee across the border to Bangladesh — especially since over the last ten months things have been heightened and many tens of thousands of people are trying to flee because their houses are burnt, their villages are wiped out, and there is nothing to go back to. And they cannot run across the border to Bangladesh because according to Prime Minister Hasina, Bangladesh is overpopulated. They said there is not enough space for their own people, so how can they welcome hundreds of thousands more? They also cited limited resources.

So, unbelievable. For the last ten months or so, these Muslims — and again, research this, especially BBC — it will bring tears to your eyes. You will say, how could this happen? And again, that word of neglect will resonate. Neglect. Neglect. These people are suffering in a horrible position, and there is a way for us to help them. And it's amazing how much we can do with just one dollar.

So, Help in Hand, the organization I work for — it's a top-tier charitable organization — is doing work in Burma. And I will say it's not easy, because they are making it difficult. But they are doing work there. What we want to do after the khutbah — and I will only take a few minutes of your time — we want to try to feed 200 families. I would like to see the EPIC community feed and take care of our brothers and sisters whom many of us have probably never seen, never met, and maybe many of you don't even know a Burmese Muslim.

One of my teachers is from Burma. He is one of those people who left long ago — like many of them, they went to Saudi Arabia, to Malaysia, to India. They are all over. But anyway, we want to take care of 200 families if we can. That is what we're asking for. We're going to try to come as close to that number as possible. What it takes to take care of one family is $100. Amazing.

So take responsibility. Try to better their makeshift tents and living conditions. Because it's not just food — there are other things that are really troubling them. So this is what we want to do today.

And lastly, I want to remind you that whatever you give — if you work for a company that matches gifts, most companies participate in a gift-matching program — you can double your donation. Also, there will be a fundraiser on December 21st at Ziad Factory in Plano. We'll be having flyers for that. Just invite people to attend. Even if you only give $5, trust me, you can see how just a few dollars go a long way. So do not trivialize whatever you give.