“Indeed all the Believers are Brothers” (with British Sign Language) - Shaykh Mustafa Abu Rayyan

Opening — Khutbah al-Hajah

إِنَّ الْحَمْدَ لِلَّهِ نَحْمَدُهُ وَنَسْتَعِينُهُ وَنَسْتَغْفِرُهُ وَنَعُوذُ بِاللَّهِ مِنْ شُرُورِ أَنْفُسِنَا وَمِنْ سَيِّئَاتِ 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 وَصَفِيُّهُ مِنْ خَلْقِهِ وَخَلِيلُهُ أَرْسَلَهُ اللَّهُ إِلَى النَّاسِ كَافَّةً بَشِيرًا وَنَذِيرًا فَبَلَّغَ الرِّسَالَةَ وَأَدَّى الْأَمَانَةَ وَنَصَحَ الْأُمَّةَ وَتَرَكَنَا عَلَى الْمَحَجَّةِ الْبَيْضَاءِ لَيْلُهَا كَنَهَارِهَا لَا يَزِيغُ عَنْهَا إِلَّا هَالِكٌ فَصَلَوَاتُ اللَّهِ وَسَلَامُهُ عَلَيْهِ وَعَلَى آلِهِ وَأَصْحَابِهِ وَمَنِ اهْتَدَى بِهَدْيِهِ وَاسْتَنَّ بِسُنَّتِهِ وَدَعَا بِدَعْوَتِهِ إِلَى يَوْمِ الدِّينِ

حِبَّتِي فِي اللَّهِ وَفِي الْإِسْلَامِ أُوصِيكُمْ وَنَفْسِي بِتَقْوَى اللَّهِ وَالْإِحْسَانِ فَإِنَّ اللَّهَ مَعَ الَّذِينَ تَقَوْا وَالَّذِينَ هُمْ مُحْسِنُونَ

My beloved brothers and sisters, I start by praising Allah and thanking Him, for indeed He is worthy and deserving of our constant praise and gratitude, and I send blessings and salutations upon our beloved messenger Muhammad, peace be upon him.

Indeed All the Believers Are Brothers

My brothers — when I say "my brothers," this is a statement that we use a lot as Muslims: brothers and sisters, إخوة, أخي this and أختي that. But the reason we say that is because we truly are meant to be brothers to each other, and that means something. I guarantee you that if you have family members that are suffering, you are — emotionally at the very least — suffering with them, that you have empathy, that you feel that pain because of how close they are to you.

What makes Muslims special and different is that relationship that we have with all who say لَا إِلَهَ إِلَّا اللَّهُ. Like Allah says in the Quran:

Indeed all the believers are brothers — all of them. And the moment someone says their شَهَادَة, we welcome them to the greatest and biggest family in the world. And with that comes a sense of responsibility towards each other, with that comes an understanding of what it means to be united, with that comes love and وِلَايَة.

Allah says in the Quran:

Indeed the believing men and the believing women are to each other أَوْلِيَاء — protectors, brothers, friends, loyal towards each other. Each one of us: our pain is the other's pain, our joy is the other's joy. That's what makes us unique, that's what makes us special.

Have We Fulfilled the Responsibility of Brotherhood?

Now let me ask you, my brothers and sisters: have we fulfilled the responsibility of being a true brotherhood? As it relates to what's happening all over the world, there are so many pain points in the Muslim أُمَّة — so many. And the Prophet, peace be upon him, described us as one body: if one part is feeling pain, the whole body is awake at night and in fever. If your toe is hurting, you are all day bothered. The Muslim أُمَّة, wherever they may be — the east and the west and the whole world — when they are suffering, we suffer with them. That is what it means to be a Muslim, and that then turns into actions.

It's been almost a year that the onslaught on Palestine — the current onslaught. As for the actual predicament, the crisis, the occupation, it's been going on for far too long. We as the Muslim أُمَّة — we mobilized, we reacted, we spoke out, we felt the pain for the first three to four months. Then as it disappeared from the news cycles, it disappeared from our minds, it disappeared within our communities. We got busy, life continues. They're still being bombed, they're still being killed, they're still being oppressed. They have no medicine, they have no help except Allah and the little aid that comes to them — and we go about our day.

Sudan. The Rohingya brothers and sisters from Myanmar. All over the world, different pain points — I'm mentioning a few, but there are so many. How many of us are aware and constantly conscious of that?

And you might be wondering: "Well, Sheikh, how can we constantly be conscious of it and aware of it?" Would you not be aware of it and conscious of it if it was your own flesh-and-blood brother? Yes, you would. What makes them different — is it because they are far away? No. That care, that pain in itself is an عِبَادَة. And it is from that pain, from that concern, from that worry, that will make you raise your hands and make دُعَاء — which is our greatest asset. We have Allah. Raising our hands. But when they are not on your mind, then you will not even be able to make دُعَاء for them, because you are not remembering them. Do you see the importance of being conscious of your brothers and sisters?

That at the very least we can stand in front of Allah and say: "Ya Allah, I was powerless, but I did what I could when it came to my دُعَاء — I ensured I was remembering all of them at the very least." And when I say "the very least," I'm not trying to minimize دُعَاء — دُعَاء is the most powerful tool we have. But it is a tool we all can engage in.

Education and the Next Generation

Many young Muslims are not aware of what's happening in the world. They are not aware of the oppression that is taking place, nor the systems that put this oppression in place to begin with. They do not know the history, they do not know currently what's happening in the world. And this is very relevant as a new school year is starting — we are getting ready to send them out for their education. Are we thinking about ensuring our young Muslims that are growing up — the next generation — are informed? Not just about their دِين, not just about the rights of Allah, not just about تَوْحِيد — which is the essence of everything — but they are also informed of what's happening in the world? Why are we fragmented? Who caused us to be fragmented? What are the leading causes? Who from our family — from the Muslim brothers and sisters — are suffering the most? And what are some of the ways we can alleviate that? What are some of the strategies we can put in place?

Long-term vision. We speak about people like Salahuddin Al-Ayubi — a great hero. We speak about him. But Salahuddin Al-Ayubi grew up in a home, he had a mother and a father, he was raised. We need to think about the future generation: do they care about the أُمَّة? Do we instill that in them? And before that, do we instill in them an attachment and love to Allah, an attachment and love for the دِين? Because if you have a love for Allah and a love for the دِين, you're going to love those who love Allah and the دِين — which are your fellow brothers and Muslims everywhere.

A Call to Action

So what is my call here today, for myself and for all of you?

Number one: don't abandon and forget your brothers and sisters. At the very least, do the most powerful thing — raise your hands and make دُعَاء for them. After your صَلَاة, at night when you're alone, remember them — just like you would remember your sibling or your cousin who is in the hospital. That is the very least that we behave like the أُمَّة that we are.

My brothers and sisters, we should also continue the great works that have been done. Let's not take our foot off the gas. We need to continue. Let's not be reactionary. There have been many movements that are celebrated — movements that brought about reform — and a lot of times there are certain things people talk about, but what they forget is: for every liberation, for every civil rights movement, for every conquest, there were those who were putting in the work consistently. What we cannot expect is to do nothing, or react for a little bit of time, and not put the work in.

We need people that are educated. We need people that care. We need people that know their دِين. We need people that know the Quran — and I'm not just talking about recitation. We need people that understand what it means to be the inheritors of the prophets, the upholders of justice, the justice that the Prophet, peace be upon him, came with. We need to be people that understand that it is our collective responsibility as the Muslims to take humanity away from the many darknesses that they are in to the one true light — Al-Islam.

And those darknesses take different forms. It is because of those darknesses that they are in — the شِرْك that they are in, the sins that they are in, the hedonism that they are in, the chasing of the دُنْيَا that they are in — that is causing them to be the oppressive people that they are. Calling them to تَوْحِيد — that responsibility is our responsibility. But to do our job effectively, to be the right type of ambassadors of Islam: yes, we need عِلْم, yes, we need عِبَادَة, yes, we need دُعَاء. But we also need to understand that we need to do it together — one أُمَّة, one body, that we feel each other's pain and we work to remedy it to the best of our abilities.

Correcting Our Mindset — The End Victory Belongs to the Believers

My beloved brothers and sisters, it is also important that we correct our mindsets.

Allah promised those who follow the path of the prophets, who singled their worship out for Allah alone — the true believers — that in the end they are the ones that will be victorious. The end victory belongs to the pious. So your responsibility is to be among the pious, among the Muslims, among the worshippers. That being said, you are not promised that immediately, you are not promised that right now. And your responsibility is not just to aim to be there when that victory happens, but to be honored to be part of the process of that happening — to be part of the process of the spreading of Islam and عَدْل and justice, to be part of the process of alleviating suffering and injustice, to be part of the process of bringing about generations that worship Allah alone. That's the honor.

There were many صَحَابَة that lived in Mecca under oppression — many صَحَابَة that never saw an Arabia that said لَا إِلَهَ إِلَّا اللَّهُ. Many صَحَابَة that all they knew was a Mecca that was filled with idols, that all they knew were Muslims that were being oppressed. They didn't see Medina. They didn't see the many victories the Prophet had. They didn't see the return to Mecca. They didn't see the idols being removed. They didn't see that. But they were still victorious, because they were part of the process, and they were upon the عِبَادَة of Allah until the day they met Him.

Why is that important? Because that protects us from feeling defeated. Because we have assurances that as long as we are on the right path, the end victory belongs to the believers — and there may be tests as we are on this journey. Be part of the process, be part of the solution, be part of the دَعْوَة, be part of the mission of the Prophet, peace be upon him. And that will take many forms. What we have to ask ourselves is: as a mother, what is my role? As a father, what is my role? As a worker in a particular business, what is my role?

Each one of us — there are certain things we can all do. We can all make دُعَاء. We can all spend on that which will aid and help the أُمَّة. We can all speak out against the evil that we see. And there are certain things that we can specialize in and do differently — and that is extremely important.

My brothers and sisters, it comes from a place of responsibility that we are able to stand in front of Allah and say: "Yes, ya Allah, we truly did care for our أُمَّة. They truly were my brothers."

The Poison of Tribalism and Division

The brotherhood of Islam does so much good for us. It also eliminates the poison that is in our communities — the poison of tribalism. The poison of "me and my brother against my cousin, me and my brother and my cousin against the world" — this mentality that we are putting each other in little groups. In Islam, we do not divide each other based on any lines — no tribal lines, no borders in countries. "I am a Somali and you're a Saudi and you're a Pakistani and we don't care about each other" — no. We are all Muslims and we all care about each other.

This is extremely important, because the things that the دِين came to eliminate — if we keep bringing them back — there is only one function for our different ethnicities and countries, and that function is so that we may know each other. It is among the signs of Allah that we all look different, have different languages — it's beautiful. But it is not how we organize ourselves, how we show loyalty towards each other. That is Islam.

And that is important because at some point there was a trend — especially in certain countries — where people were writing online: "Not my problem. Palestine? Not my problem. Sudan? Not my problem." Or: "What is your problem? My area, my country." This type of thinking is poisonous. Islam came to get rid of it. We cannot continue bringing it back to life. We need to fear Allah in this regard.

Tawheed — The Foundation of Unity

And finally, my brothers and sisters, the strongest thing that can unite us is تَوْحِيد. There is a saying:

The statement of تَوْحِيد comes before the uniting of the أُمَّة. Meaning what? Yes, we need to be united, but the easiest way to do that is to ensure that we are all believing the same thing, promoting the same thing, calling to the same thing, and being true Muslims — getting rid of sin, getting rid of innovation, getting rid of شِرْك, coming together as brothers.

May Allah make us among those that truly care for their brothers and sisters wherever they may be. May Allah cleanse our hearts and make us love one another and be true أَوْلِيَاء to each other.

Closing — Salah upon the Prophet and Du'a

وَأَقِيمُوا الصَّلَاةَ