Brotherhood in Islam - Shaykh Mustafa Abu Rayyan

Brotherhood in Islam

Indeed, all praise is due to Allah. We praise Him, seek His help, and seek His forgiveness. 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 leads astray, none can guide him. And I bear witness that there is no god but Allah, alone, no partner for Him. And I bear witness that Muhammad is His servant and His Messenger, and pure of heart, of His creation, and His friend.

Allah has sent him to all people as a bearer of glad tidings and a warner. He conveyed the message, fulfilled the trust, and advised the Ummah. And He left us on the white pilgrimage. Its night is like its day. Nothing escapes it except destruction. May the peace and blessings of Allah be upon him and upon his family and his companions. And whosoever is guided by his guidance, and holds fast by his Sunnah, and calls upon his call to the Day of Judgment.

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

O you who have believed, fear your Lord, who created you from one soul, and created from it its wife, and spread among them many men and women. And fear Allah with whom you ask one another, and the wombs. Verily, Allah is ever watching over you.

O you who have believed, fear Allah, and say a firm word. He will amend your deeds for you, and forgive you your sins.

The Bond of Brotherhood

My beloved brothers and sisters in Islam. I thank Allah for gathering us here today on this blessed day, Yawm al-Jumu'ah. I want to focus today on something that I am sure many of us here already know. But it is important — and this is the point of the Khutbah — to remind ourselves of that fact. And perhaps reflect over it, and see where we can do better.

What I am referring to, my brothers, is the fact that we are brothers. That we are related to one another through our faith. And that Allah has emphasized that in the Qur'an. I am speaking about brotherhood in Islam. Sisterhood in Islam. Being connected because of لا إله إلا الله، محمد رسول الله.

This is the bond that we have between us. It is not a bond of blood. It is not a bond that came as a result of living next door to each other. It is a bond that is based upon Tawheed. It is a bond based upon the very thing that justifies our existence — لا إله إلا الله. And that bond comes with rights and responsibilities.

But before that, we have to understand what that means. What does it mean for us to be brothers and sisters in Islam? Allah, when He speaks about it, He treats it like it is the greatest ni'mah Allah has bestowed upon us — the brotherhood that we have.

And you became brothers because of Allah's ni'mah and blessing and bounty.

It is that which our Prophet emphasized as he came to Medina. When we list the things Rasulullah emphasized when he was building the first community in Medina, it was building the masjid — the community hub and place of worship — and then:

He made the Muhajireen and Ansar brothers — real brothers — to the point where they were living together, eating with each other, and even inheriting from each other. This is a concept that the sahabah understood: that the person who says لا إله إلا الله محمد رسول الله is my brother. What is for him is for me, and what is upon me is upon him. We are in this dunya together.

Do We Truly Live This Brotherhood?

And the question I want to ask to myself and all of us is — is that really the case today? Do we exemplify that which the Prophet taught the companions and that which Allah spoke about in the Quran? Do you truly consider your Muslim brothers? Lip service is one thing. Yes, أَخِي. SubhanAllah. We call each other أَخِي all the time. It has become a thing. السلام عليكم أَخِي, how are you doing? أَخِي, how are you? Brother, I'm going to meet the brothers. We say it. But do we really understand what that means?

When your blood brother — the one whom your mother and father gave birth to — calls you for help, you will respond, unless you're a bad brother. Most of us will respond. Do we feel the same way about the rest of the Muslims? You want your family to prosper — do you feel the same way about your fellow Muslims?

Brotherhood Beyond Time

And what's beautiful, ikhwani fillah, and you will see this in the Quran and the Sunnah, is that the brotherhood of Islam is not bound by time. When Allah tells us how we should feel about the Muslims that came before us, we say:

"Oh Allah, forgive us and our brothers that had iman before us." You see Abu Bakr and Umar as your brothers. You see the scholars in the past, the righteous brothers and sisters in the past, as your brothers and sisters. You make du'a for them. You think about them. You read about them. You hear about them. And the same should go for the ones that are living in your time, and perhaps even more.

This ikhwah fillah, we have to understand it. It comes with a responsibility. It has an actual manifestation in this world. When we plan for the future, let's build centers that will last generations, and the Muslims that will be born here in future generations will benefit from them. Why do we care about them? Because they are our brothers. Let's make du'a. Let's read the books of the people in the past. Let's continue their reward. Why? Because they are our brothers.

The Du'a of the Prophets for the Believers

Look at Prophet Nuh making du'a for himself, his parents, وَلِلْمُؤْمِنِينَ — and for the believers. Look at Ibrahim. When Allah gave him the great status of being an imam, Allah said:

"I will make you to the people a leader" — someone that is followed. And is he not followed? He is seen as the greatest prophet, or one of the greatest prophets, not just by Muslims, even by Jews and Christians. His name is mentioned in the tahiyyat — the only prophet after Rasulullah that is mentioned is Ibrahim. Allah has given him a beautiful legacy. And Allah promised him: "I will make you an imam." What is his response?

"How about my offspring and my progeny and the people that come after me?" He didn't only mean those who he gave birth to — Ismail and Ishaq. And Allah responded to his du'a and made them prophets. But for generations to come. And this is why he made du'a for Mecca before Mecca even existed. He asked Allah to send these people a prophet before they were even born. He was making du'a for them.

That concept — that brotherhood concept that you feel for everyone, those in the past, those who will come in the future — this is ikhwah fillah, a concept that we have to hammer home. And from that comes changes in our behavior, changes in our actions, changes in our speech and our tone.

Welcome to the Biggest Family on Earth

The moment you truly see this — something we say alhamdulillah here in this masjid, we have a lot of reverts that walk through our doors that want to take the shahada — there's something I say to them a lot. The moment I witness their shahada, I like to say to them: welcome to the biggest family on earth. But to be honest, I wish that was really the case. And inshallah it will be, and we will work towards that — that we really are a family. That we really are like this, together.

And that means everyone that says لا إله إلا الله محمد رسول الله, regardless of whatever their race and their ethnicity is. Which is why, when people approach you for marriage who are not from your immediate family or culture, this is a good thing — because they're coming to you because you're a Muslim and they are a Muslim. It is the bond of Tawheed that is stronger than anything else.

When aid is requested from different countries, there should be no disparity in the charity that is sent. If you're from Africa, you need to be able to aid your brothers and sisters in Pakistan, and not be thinking: "I have my own hometown to worry about." That's not how Islam works. Look at us here, from different homes and different backgrounds, standing side by side. We are being trained in our salah. We stand together. It doesn't matter where you are from. You are my brother and I am your brother.

The Example of Mus'ab ibn Umair

Look at what happened to Mus'ab ibn Umair, a beautiful companion. When his brother Abu Aziz rejected Islam, rejected faith and fought against the Prophet, that moment he ceased to be his brother. He participated in the Battle of Badr against the Muslims. And Mus'ab was fighting for the Muslims.

And then his brother was captured — the one who was trying to kill and murder and maim the Muslims. When he was being dragged as a prisoner, he appealed: "Mus'ab, are you going to let them treat me like this?" And Mus'ab said: "Tighten the chains on him. And his mother is rich, so demand a high ransom." And then his brother said: "Am I not your brother?" He said: "The one carrying you in chains is my brother."

This is Islam. Stronger than — thicker than — blood. Thicker than anything else. Thicker than color, ethnicity, all of it.

So ikhwah fillah, it is extremely important that we appreciate this and that we apply these ayahs. Allah says in the Quran:

The believers are but brothers to each other, so rectify and reconcile between your brothers, and fear Allah. Have taqwa. What do we gain from this? We gain the mercy of Allah — لَعَلَّكُمْ تُرْحَمُونَ.

So next time there is an appeal for a cause, remember — it is your brothers that are hungry and thirsty and in trouble. Come to their aid. The next time you are making du'a, remember it is your brothers that need your du'a — those who have died before us and those who are coming. The next time you are discussing how to further our community, remember that we are setting now the foundations for how future generations will live. They are your brothers that are going to come.

And this concept of ikhwah fillah is extremely important. And if we understand this, then we truly become united. And when we stand united, we will never fall, as Allah and His Messenger promised us.

What Can Compromise Brotherhood?

Brothers and sisters, I want to make a few more points to really help us understand how Allah and His Messenger have emphasized the brotherhood in Islam, and perhaps some lessons that we can take from this.

Number one: what are some of the things that can compromise our brotherhood? Transgressing upon each other. And to mitigate that, our Prophet said to us: do not oppress each other, and do not allow others to oppress as well.

(Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 2442; Sahih Muslim, Book 32, Hadith 6219)

The Muslim is the brother of the other Muslim. He does not oppress him, nor does he surrender him to the enemy.

In fact, the Prophet one time said: aid your brother, whether he is the oppressed or the oppressor. And the Sahaba said: we understand aiding the oppressed — but if he is the one oppressing, if he is the one making the trouble and the problems, how do we aid him? The Prophet said: by stopping him. That is aiding him. That is being his brother. You are stopping him from sin. So sometimes, admonishing, advising, and even stopping someone from doing something that is against Allah and His Messenger and hurting others — is being a good brother to them.

Even in the Worst of Circumstances, Brotherhood Remains

But what, if transgression happens, should we do? When Allah speaks about the concept of retaliation in the Qur'an — Allah spoke about when one kills another, and of course there must be a recompense. The killer will either be killed for his crime, or he will be paying blood money — we know the ahkam and the rulings. But when Allah was speaking about the murderer, the killer, the criminal, Allah said — speaking to the relative of the one that was killed:

And whoever forgives from his brother, or absolves his brother — you know who the "brother" is here? It's the person who was the killer. Allah is calling him a brother, reminding you — even when the worst crime is committed, it does not dissolve this brotherhood. He is still your brother.

And that is the beautiful and lasting statement of our Sahabi and Sayyiduna Ali, when he spoke about the ones who fought against him in Ma'rakatul Jamal. He said:

"They are our brothers that transgressed against us." Why is that concept being reminded — even in these dire and dangerous situations when people are actually transgressing? It is to remember that no matter what they do, as long as they are people upon لا إله إلا الله, there are rights that they will enjoy. That bond is thicker and stronger than any transgression they can do upon you. That doesn't mean that we don't stand against injustice, or that we don't uphold justice, or that criminals are not treated as criminals — but as long as they are upon لا إله إلا الله, they are our brothers.

Brotherhood and Differences in Creed and Practice

I want to finish with this one point, and that is: sometimes the way we treat those that disagree with us in matters of creed and practice — as if they are not our brothers.

We are now in Rabi' al-Awwal, and this month is famous for the celebrating of the birth of the Prophet. Now, we have many times from this Minbar mentioned what should and shouldn't be done on this day, and that there is no such thing as the practice of a 'Eid al-Mawlid. Many times. And alhamdulillah, we know that we do not do things that were not done by our righteous predecessors. We know this.

But often I have young men come to me saying: "My family celebrates the Mawlid — what shall I do? Shall I cut them off?" That is the first thing they say. لا حول ولا قوة إلا بالله.

The brothers and sisters that perhaps are less educated on a matter of this Deen are still your brothers and sisters. Those that pray at other masajid are still your brothers and sisters. Those that may have wrong beliefs — and perhaps that is cultural, or they have not been educated enough — are still your brothers and sisters. Treat them as such. Give them salam. Smile when you see them. And try and advise them and educate them in the best way possible. And even when they don't listen to you — do they cease to be your brothers? They don't. Wallahi, they don't.

If the man who killed your relative, Allah called him your brother, then the one who perhaps needs to be educated on a matter of our religion — the one who was raised in a family where there are certain practices that may be wrong — the way we treat them should be the best way possible. They are our brothers and sisters and they are part of this family. And when we say to someone who accepts لا إله إلا الله and enters Islam: "Welcome to the biggest family in the world" — they are part of that family. And we are on the same boat.

And when we start thinking like that, we change the way we speak, how we speak, and we make steps closer towards the brotherhood that the Prophet taught us to have.