20161216-1st Khutba - Shaykh Arsalan

Khutbah: Patience and Hope in the Face of Oppression and Trials

All praise is due to Allah. We praise Him, we ask His help, we ask His forgiveness, and we ask His guidance. And we seek refuge in Allah from the evil of our souls and from the evil of our deeds.

Whomsoever Allah guides, none can misguide him. And whosoever He misguides, none can guide him. And I bear witness that there is no god but Allah, alone, with no partner.

And I bear witness that our master Muhammad, peace be upon him, his servant and his messenger, his friend and his companion, conveyed the message, fulfilled the trust, advised the Ummah, and strived in the cause of Allah, for the truth of his Jihad, until the certainty came to him. O Allah, send blessings and peace upon our master Muhammad, and upon his pious and pure family, and upon his righteous companions, and upon those who followed them with goodness until the Day of Recompense.

As for the rest, the best of speech is the Book of Allah, and the best guidance is the guidance of our master Muhammad, peace be upon him. And the worst of all things are its innovations, and every innovation is a bid'ah, and every bid'ah is a misguidance, and every misguidance is in the Fire.

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

O you people, fear your Lord, Who created you from one soul, and created from it its mate, and spread among them many men and women. And fear Allah in Whom you ask for mercy. Verily, Allah is ever watching over you.

This World Is a World of Trials

Brothers and sisters, this life is full of tests, as we constantly remind ourselves, that this world is not the world of bliss and delights — that is the world of the hereafter. This world is a world of ups and downs, of prosperity and adversity, of setbacks and victories, of challenges and success, of lows and highs.

And therefore, brothers and sisters, what we face of difficulties, and setbacks and tragedies, whether at a personal level, or in our family, or at a local level, or a national level, or at an ummah level, what we face is nothing new. This is the sunnah of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, since the day that He created the universe, that there will be tragedies, there will be setbacks, there will be oppression, there will be challenges.

Even our Prophet ﷺ, the best of creation, faced oppression. Him and his companions, they faced difficulties and challenges and trials. And it is natural for us as human beings, that when we are faced with such tremendous difficulty, whether at a personal level or at an ummah level, it is natural for us to feel helpless, to feel a sense of hopelessness.

Yes, it's natural, because the nafs is there, and shaytan is there to put hopelessness in the hearts. It is natural to feel grief. It is natural to feel anxiety. It is natural to feel all of that. And therefore, even the companions of the Prophet ﷺ were prone to some of that.

And to heal them, to provide healing for them, Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala would reveal ayat of the Qur'an to His Messenger ﷺ containing stories of the previous nations, so that it would give them solace when they would hear about the trials and challenges and oppression that was faced by the people who came before them, the anbiya' that came before them, the nations that came before them.

So we, brothers and sisters, must do the same thing — that when we are faced with trials and difficulties and challenges, we must also refer back to the story of our Prophet ﷺ, to the stories of our earlier ummah, so that it brings us solace to be able to deal with the difficulties and challenges and tragedies and oppression that we face.

In this khutbah today, insha'Allah ta'ala, I would like for us to look at a few examples from the life of Rasulullah ﷺ and the companions, and see how he faced oppression, how he faced tragedy, how he faced persecution, how he faced challenges.

Example One: The Boycott and the Year of Sadness

In about the 5th, 6th and 7th year after the Prophet ﷺ had announced his prophethood and started preaching publicly, the persecutions from the disbelievers became tougher and tougher. Until finally, in the 7th year, they decided to boycott the tribe of Rasulullah ﷺ. The entire tribe had to go into a valley in Makkah, where they were completely cut off from everything — no food, no drink — and that lasted for 3 years.

During that time, his people ﷺ, his family members were forced to starve. People were eating leaves and skin of animals. Children's cries could be heard loudly during the nights. And after the boycott ended in the 10th year, in that same year, the uncle of the Prophet ﷺ died. And his wife Khadijah also died. And many of our scholars have said that it was probably a result of the long boycott that had affected their health.

Then after that, which was called the Year of Sadness, the Prophet ﷺ went to Ta'if to see if the people of Ta'if would support him and his message after the Meccans had turned away. And you know what happened to him in Ta'if — that the people of Ta'if turned the fools and the children of their town loose on the Prophet ﷺ. And he was literally chased out of town as he was pelted with stones, which caused him to become wounded ﷺ.

What was his response to all of that? All of this persecution of his family, his tribe, his own person ﷺ. His response was to turn to Allah in du'a. In that famous, heartfelt du'a that the Prophet ﷺ made as he stood outside of Ta'if, in which he said ﷺ:

That is: O Lord, to You alone I complain of my diminished strength, of my limited strategy, and my insignificance in the eyes of others. He did complain ﷺ — but only to Allah. He turned to Him because he knows that there is no one else that he can turn to. Even he as a nabi, he has no one else to turn to except Allah.

And so he turns to Him and then he says: Ya arham al-rahimeen — most merciful of those who show mercy. You are the Lord of the downtrodden, and my Lord. To whom will you leave me? To those who mistreat me or to an enemy in whose hands you've placed my affairs?

And then he says ﷺ: as long as your wrath is not upon me, then I don't care. As long as you're not angry with me, as long as this that's happening to me is not because you're angry with me, then I can take it. But please don't be angry with me. Although he says, وَلَكِنَّ عَافِيَتَكَ أَوْسَعُ لِي — that I would like for my affairs to be easier; that would be more beloved to me.

And then he says: I seek refuge in the light of your countenance which illuminates darkness, and the affair of this world and the next is set right, from your wrath descending upon me or your displeasure enveloping me. For you alone have the right to reprimand until you are pleased, and there is no strength nor power save with you.

So this was his response — to turn to Allah, to implore Him, to please Him, to put his trust and reliance only in Him. To show his need. That he needs Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. That he has no power himself to do anything. He has no strength that he can gather from his family, from his tribe, from his allies. He has no resources that he can gather that can overcome the will of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. Only Allah can help me. لَا مَرْجَعَ مِنْكَ إِلَّا إِلَيْكَ — as he used to say ﷺ.

Example Two: The Torture of the Early Believers

During the years of persecution, many companions would be tortured before the eyes of the Prophet ﷺ. Physically tortured. The family of Yasir, may Allah be pleased with him — Yasir, his wife Sumayya and their son Ammar — all three of them were made to lie on burning sand and beaten severely every day.

As a result of the torture, Yasir died. Yasir, may Allah be pleased with him, couldn't take it; he died from the torture. Sumayya, his wife, was killed by Abu Jahl — with his own hands he killed her, in public, in front of the Muslims. And the son Ammar was tortured to the extent that he spoke words to disparage Rasulullah ﷺ because of the torture. But his heart was full of iman. And so the Prophet ﷺ permitted him to do that.

What was the response of Rasulullah ﷺ? When he would pass by the family of Yasir, he would say to them:

He would advise them to be patient. Be patient — Jannah is yours. Paradise is yours. He didn't promise them anything of this world. But he promised them Jannah. That was his response ﷺ.

Another companion, Khabbab ibn al-Aratt, was also tortured by the polytheists. They would pull his hair, they would twist his neck, they would make him lie down on burning coal and put a huge rock on his chest so that he could not escape.

It got to a point where Khabbab and other companions came to the Prophet ﷺ and showed a level of impatience — why doesn't Rasulullah ﷺ do something? Why doesn't he pray to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala to destroy these people? They showed a type of impatience, at which Rasulullah ﷺ became angry. His face turned red. And he said to the companions:

(Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 3612)

He said: Among those people before you, people would be seized and placed in a pit in the ground and then cut into two pieces by running a saw through their heads — but that wouldn't make them give up their faith. Others would be brought and their flesh and muscles would be torn away with iron combs — but that wouldn't make them give up their faith. And then he swore by Allah and said: By Allah, Allah will give victory to this religion until people will travel from Sana'a to Hadramaut fearing no one except Allah and the wolf for their sheep. But you are being hasty.

What haste? This lasted for years. Yes, he said you're being hasty. Allah will give victory. وَالْعَاقِبَةُ لِلْمُتَّقِينَ — the end is for the Muttaqeen. But you are being hasty. Be patient. So again he connected them to Allah. He gave them hope. But he reminded them again and again that they have to endure with patience. That this difficulty they have to endure. But after difficulty there will be ease. When? According to Allah's schedule. But our job is to be patient and put our trust in Allah and hope for the ultimate reward — which will not come in this world, but which will come in the hereafter.

Example Three: The Battle of Uhud

In the Battle of Uhud, as you know, the Muslims suffered a setback. They were winning the battle but then they made a mistake and the disbelievers took advantage, and as a result they killed many believers. Seventy companions died during that battle. Seventy Sahaba of Rasulullah ﷺ were killed in that battle. And the Prophet ﷺ had to retreat up into the mountain of Uhud, surrounded by only a few companions, his own life put in danger.

Abu Sufyan came to the foot of mountain Uhud and he saw the few companions there. And he asked: Is Muhammad with you? Is Abu Bakr with you? Is Umar with you? And when he didn't hear a response, he started to celebrate that they had killed Rasulullah ﷺ. So Umar replied and said: No, you have not killed him, he is alive — and so is Abu Bakr and so am I.

And then Abu Sufyan was about to leave the battleground as a victor. So he shouted and he said: May Hubal be exalted! — Hubal was their idol in Makkah. May Hubal be exalted in the face of this defeat, this humiliation. Umar didn't even know what to say. So Rasulullah ﷺ said to him: Why don't you say something in return? Respond to him. Umar says: What should I say, Ya Rasulullah? I don't know what to say. So Rasulullah ﷺ tells him: Tell him, Allah is more exalted and sublime.

So then Abu Sufyan said: لَنَا الْعُزَّى وَلَا عُزَّى لَكُمْ — We have Uzza! Uzza is another idol in Makkah — a big one. We have Uzza, you have no Uzza. Again Umar doesn't know what to say. So Rasulullah ﷺ tells him — and look at how he's giving them confidence, giving them hope, even in the face of this defeat. He says to him: Reply back and tell him:

Allah is our protector and you have no protector. Even after this defeat, Ya Rasulullah, Allah is our protector. Yes, He is. He is. Allah is our protector. This is just a phase. We have to go through this before the victory comes from Allah. This is part of the process to filter out those who have true yaqeen in the victory of Allah — those who put their trust only in Allah — from those whose iman is shaky and whose faith is not strong.

As I said, 70 companions were killed on this battlefield, including the uncle of the Prophet ﷺ, Hamza. He was killed. He was severely mutilated. His body was so severely mutilated that when Safiyya came — Safiyya, the sister of Hamza, the aunt of Rasulullah ﷺ — she came wanting to see her brother who she heard had passed away in the battle. Rasulullah ﷺ told Zubayr: Tell her she cannot see him. She will not be able to bear the sight of her brother's body. That's how badly it was mutilated.

And then when Rasulullah ﷺ stood in front of the body of his uncle and prayed salatul janaza on him, the narrations say he sobbed. He sobbed as he stood there. Imagine, brothers and sisters. The Prophet ﷺ himself was so injured in that battle that he had to lead the prayer sitting down. He couldn't stand up.

His Du'a After Uhud

What was his response? He gathered the companions and he said: Gather behind me. I want to praise Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. He said: Straighten your rows so that I can praise my Lord. Even in that moment, Ya Rasulullah. Even in that moment. Because we are 'ibad — we are servants of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala — and we have to show that to Him.

So Rasulullah ﷺ makes a beautiful du'a, in which he says:

O Allah, to You belongs all praise. And that's why some of the salihin, among the du'as that they used to make, was that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is the only one who is praised even when we are in a situation that we don't like to be in. So he praises Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. And then he says: O Allah, none can withhold what You give out, and none can give out what You withhold. None can guide whom You lead astray, and none can lead astray whom You guide. None can give to the one You deprive, and none can deprive the one You give. None can bring close what You have distanced, and none can distance what You bring close.

What is he doing here? He's admitting that all power belongs to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. That we cannot do anything without Him subhanahu wa ta'ala. This is the response that we must show in the face of oppression — we must come before Allah and show our 'ubudiyyah to Him. We must testify before Him how much we need Him.

And then he says ﷺ: O Allah, open for us the gates of Your blessings, Your mercy, Your bounties and Your sustenance. O Allah, I ask You for perpetual delight that does not diminish. And then he asks for faith from Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. And then he says: O Allah, guide us. O Allah, make us die as believers. Give us life as believers. Put us with the righteous, neither disgraced nor misled.

He now asks for the most important thing — more important than prosperity, more important than good times. What's most important is that we die as believers. Because ultimately what matters is the afterlife and not this life.

And then he also makes du'a against the oppressors. He says: O Allah, fight the disbelievers who reject Your messengers and block the way to You, and send down upon them Your punishment.

I say this and ask Allah to forgive me and you, so ask Him for forgiveness. O Allah, the One who forgives.

Second Part of the Khutbah

All praise is due to Allah, Lord of the worlds. And the best prayer and the most perfect submission is to our master Muhammad and to his family and all his companions.

O you who have believed, fear Allah and say a firm word. He will correct your deeds and forgive you your sins. And whoever obeys Allah and His Messenger has won a great victory.

The Ummah Is One Body

Brothers and sisters, Rasulullah ﷺ said:

(Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 6011; Sahih Muslim, Hadith 2586)

He said ﷺ that the likeness of the believers in the way that they love each other and have mercy for each other and compassion for each other is like a single body — that when a part of that body is feeling pain, is injured, then the entire body responds to that with a feeling of fatigue and fever.

If we feel pain, if we feel sad because a part of this ummah is suffering somewhere in this world, then that's a sign of faith. That's a good sign. If we don't feel anything, then that's a bad sign. I'm not saying we shouldn't feel sad. If we feel that they are our brothers and sisters, then obviously we will feel sad. So that's a good sign. And if I only feel sad when the people of my home country are being oppressed, but I don't feel anything when the people of another Muslim country are being oppressed, then that's not a good sign either.

The Promise of Allah Against the Oppressors

Oppression is part of this world, brothers and sisters. There will always be oppressors until we meet our Lord subhanahu wa ta'ala. And He will judge the oppressors, especially those who are not brought to account in this world. Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says in a hadith qudsi:

(Reported by Ahmad in his Musnad; related in Ibn Kathir's Tafsir and al-Haythami's Majma' al-Zawa'id)

He says subhanahu wa ta'ala: Fierce is My wrath upon the one who oppresses anyone who can find no ally other than Me. So make no mistake — the oppressors will meet what they deserve from Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala one day.

But the oppression that this ummah faces, brothers and sisters, is actually a sign of rahmah from Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. As the Prophet ﷺ used to say:

(Sunan Abu Dawud, Hadith 4278)

That this ummah is one that Allah has shown mercy to. Its purging will be in this world with civil strife and earthquake and calamity. This is a way of purging the ummah so that we are not punished with an eternal punishment in the hereafter.

Calamity Turns the Heart to Allah

Calamities, brothers and sisters — and I close with this — calamities compel us to acknowledge our dependence upon our Creator. They force us to see that we need to offer our servitude to none other than Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala alone. This world is not Jannah. It was purposefully created to be filled with chaos, with distractions and temptations and trials, only to engender in the heart of the believer a desire for peace.

The trials of this world often force us to the door of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala — to beg, to implore Him, and to seek an opening into the perfect peace of the hereafter. In seeking the next world of true and sustained peace, while one is still in this world, increases the presence of peace inside of us here and now. And therefore, if calamity propels us to Allah, if difficulty propels us to Allah, then there is grace in that calamity.

The end is for those who have taqwa of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.