The Light of Islam (with British Sign Language) - Shaykh Mustafa Abu Rayyan

Khutbah al-Jumu'ah — Opening

Islam: The One Continuing Light

We thank Allah for allowing us to be upon this truth — the message of Islam — that did not start with our Prophet Muhammad ﷺ, but rather is a continuation of the message that started from the time of Adam's creation. It is the religion, the one true religion, that is about worshipping Allah alone — devoting yourself to a life whereby you live not according to your whims or desires, not according to what the current social norms are, but rather the laws and the ways and the values set by the creator, Allah.

The deen of Isa عليه السلام, the deen of Musa عليه السلام, and all these other great prophets that came before our beloved Prophet Muhammad ﷺ — we are upon that path. We are proud to be upon that path. We hope to live on that path and die on that path.

Now, Allah calls this noor — light. The deen of Islam is a light, a transformative light that enters people's hearts. And once they accept it — and I have no doubt, among as many as we have people here that are born into Islam, we have a great number of brothers and sisters that converted to the religion — they have experienced that transformative nature of seeing that light enter your heart and change the way you see life, change the way you see yourself, and become someone who lives for their creator, Allah.

And that light is what Allah speaks about. But subhanAllah, this light that Rasulullah came with — our beloved Prophet Muhammad ﷺ — 1400 years ago in Mecca, when he came with that light, you had those that immediately gravitated towards and accepted that light and embraced it. And you had those that it took them a while, but they eventually embraced it. And you had those that opposed it, rejected it, and fought against it. And this is the nature of faith, this is the nature of the faithful — you have those that embrace it, you have those that embrace it after a while, and you have those that reject it.

Allah says in the Quran:

Allah was talking about those that oppose the truth, those that oppose the deen, those that oppose the faith — that they want to extinguish this light. But Allah refuses. Allah says He will complete and perfect this light until it reaches everywhere. And that responsibility was upon our Prophet ﷺ — to spread the light of Islam, to spread the truth, to spread the best type of moral character — like he said:

"I have not been sent except to perfect exemplary character." (Musnad al-Imam Ahmad, Hadith 8952; al-Adab al-Mufrad of al-Bukhari, Hadith 273)

Truth, honesty, sincerity, kindness, compassion, mercy, justice — these values are what the Prophet ﷺ came to perfect and to uphold. And of course, the most important value being that we live our lives connected to our creator, Allah — pure tawhid.

Internal Obstacles: Wounds We Inflict Upon Ourselves

Now, my brothers and sisters, this attempt to dim or even extinguish the light of Islam — we have to understand that sometimes, yes, they are external. But often, we do what we call self-inflicted wounds. We are our own worst enemies. When we are carrying this beautiful deen, the beautiful religion of Islam, the way we as Muslims portray it, or the way we behave — that is causing the deen to not be accepted by others. Because what they see — they don't read the Quran. Most people in the world that aren't Muslim will not read the Quran. Maybe some will out of curiosity or interest, but the majority of them, their understanding of Islam is shaped by the Muslims around them and the Muslims they see in the world. Which adds a responsibility upon us — are we representing the Islam that the Prophet came with, or are we doing something that is our own?

And here I want to talk about three things that are internal to us, to the Muslim Ummah, that we have to ensure are tackled and addressed, because they are tarnishing the image of true Islam.

1. Cultural Practices Mistaken for Islam

The first one, my brothers and sisters, is cultural practices — cultural practices and Islam — and assuming that certain things that are cultural are part of the faith. And that will happen; by the people that are looking from the outside in, they can't distinguish. It's up to us to get rid of any cultural habits that have no place in the religion of Islam.

A lot of people will assume that forced marriages are part of our deen and part of Islam, when it isn't. Why do they assume that? Are they all just bigots and they made it up? No. Some of us, in our cultures, we have this — and we have to address it. Because the Prophet ﷺ prevented that and he preached against that. And you can count a number of cultural practices that we have all over the Muslim world, that when people look to us they think: if that's Islam, I don't want it. But the fact of the matter is, it is not Islam. It is not part of our deen — and in fact, sometimes it goes against our deen.

It is extremely important that we are able to get rid of that and separate beautiful, true Islam from certain cultural practices that are not part of it. This is wajib upon us — because not only are we sometimes doing things that are prohibited in our religion, we are also tarnishing the image of the message of the Prophet ﷺ. The way we, in certain parts of the world, are treating our sisters — again, that goes against al-Islam. The way we treat each other goes against al-Islam. So the religion is free from this, but again, the unassuming person that looks will not know. It's our responsibility.

2. Extremism

The second thing, my brothers and sisters — and alhamdulillah, it has been addressed and we will continue addressing it — is the issue of extremism. People that are zealots will read the religion, and without going to the ulama, without going to the scholars, without having a good understanding of it, they develop the wrong understanding. And due to cultural pressures, due to social issues, due to actual real grievances that they have, they go overboard. They go all the way to the other side and they think that Islam is harming other people that aren't Muslim. They think Islam is killing and bombing civilians. That's not part of our deen. That has nothing to do with Islam.

But now, the stereotypical Muslim to many in the world is someone that is out there to harm you, to hurt you, to cause you issue and problems — when the fact of the matter is that Islam is there to save you. It is there to transform your life. It is there to transform your heart. It is a beautiful deen. And when the Prophet ﷺ brought it to the people of Mecca and those that accepted it understood this — there's a reason why you have 2 billion people that are following it today. There's a reason.

And that reason has nothing to do with how — sometimes, and again I have to stress, it is a minority, it is a small group, and alhamdulillah they are getting smaller and smaller each year — but we have to accept that that is part of why people look at Islam and think it's something that is not for them. "Oh, I don't want to join that religion." Why do you not want to join this beautiful religion that connects you to Allah, that gives you the best moral character, a religion that teaches you right from wrong? Because of everything they are seeing. Is some of it exaggerated? Absolutely. But we have to internally adjust these issues.

How do we adjust that? Knowledge. Understand and learn the true religion. Understand and learn who the Prophet ﷺ was. And when you do that, you'll realize that that which is being portrayed is so far away from the truth. And all you have to do is speak to those that convert — every day in the masjid we have so many coming to us, every day, converting to the religion of Islam. It's because they saw its benefit, its beauty. They saw what it means to change yourself from someone that only looks at the material to someone that transcends above that and understands there is more to life than just what you eat and what you drink and what car you drive.

3. Our Own Characters and Daily Behaviour

The third thing, my brothers and sisters, that can be a hindrance — an obstacle to our da'wah, to our call, to our mission to spread the light of Islam — the first one was cultural practices that have nothing to do with the deen, the second one was those among us that have fallen into extremism and are harming those that we are meant to preach to, and finally, my brothers and sisters, it is our own characters and behaviours and our personal day-to-day lives.

I'm talking about your neighbours, your school, I'm talking about where you work. How are you? Are you embodying the character of the Prophet ﷺ? Are you someone that is helpful? The Prophet told us the most beloved people are those that are most helpful to others. Are we the most charitable? Alhamdulillah, when it comes to charity we do great. By the way, I think in the UK, Muslims are one of the greatest contributors to charity — again, it's part of our deen, it makes sense, but the point still stands.

My brothers, ask yourself this: if you were to look at yourself — am I doing the best I can in my surrounding, in my area, in my work, in my neighbourhood? Do you knock on the door and see how they are? This is our deen. This is our religion. And that's how we ensure that we overcome the obstacles that we have created. And when I say "we," I'm not talking about any individual here, but as a Muslim Ummah — wallahi, if we get rid of those, the Islam will spread further and wider and people will understand what the true Islam is.

External Obstacles: Opposition to the Truth

But my brothers and sisters, is that the only obstacle? Is that the only hindrance? No. Like I said, I started with the internal, but there are also external ones. You have all studied the life and the seerah of our Prophet ﷺ — when he came to the Meccans and called them to Islam, they immediately started to go against it, trying not only to dim but to extinguish the light of Islam. They threatened him ﷺ. They starved him and his companions ﷺ وَرِضْوَانُ اللَّهِ عَلَيْهِمْ. They pushed them to the side — ostracized, name-calling, using fear-mongering against him, calling him all sorts of labels and names — to the point where there were three years where him and his clan were completely boycotted, where they were literally starving. All because those that were the rejecters of the truth opposed him that harshly ﷺ.

It didn't stop him. He continued preaching, he continued calling, he continued doing his mission — because the mission continues, the message continues. But there are those that are always going to not only reject but fight against the truth. And when that happens, my brothers and sisters, we have to look to our sunnah for guidance. We are not the only ones that are being spoken about in a manner that is unbefitting — they did this to our beloved Prophet ﷺ. So the next time you see people labelling you something that is undeserving, understand — it comes with the package. And what do you do? You have sabr. Like the Prophet ﷺ said, and the prophets that came before:

"And we will surely be patient regarding the harm you do to us."

Islamophobia is real. And we have those that want to do us harm, and we have those that don't like our deen and our faith and what we stand for. They look at the modesty of our sisters and they see it as a threat. They look at us as if we, standing up against genocides that are being committed, makes us the ones in the wrong. There are those that look at our mosques and our madrasas and our messaging and our family values as if it is something that is wrong. There is nothing wrong with it. There is nothing wrong with our values. There is nothing wrong with what we believe in. Rather, it is the same message that Prophet Isa came with, Prophet Musa came with, that our beloved Prophet Muhammad ﷺ came with.

And we are on that ship, and we are going to stay on that ship, and we are going to invite others upon that ship. And no amount of bullying tactics, no amount of name-calling, no amount of labelling, and no amount of pressure will make us ever move from the haq — from the truth. And that is an important message that our brothers and sisters have to understand: the truth is the truth, the haq is the haq, the deen is the deen. It is what we believe in, it is what we call towards, it is what we stand for.

This is extremely important. But if we remove the internal obstacles — if we ensure that we are presenting the true Islam, not something that is just cultural; if we ensure that we are not doing any, or calling towards any, extremism; if we ensure that our character is the moral character of the Prophet ﷺ — then we are able to handle and tackle those that threaten us, those that endanger us.

And as much as we are worried for the safety of our brothers and our sisters, what should be more concerning to us is the message of the deen — that the message does not get distorted, that in the end of the day the people that we live with, those that aren't Muslim, have a good understanding of what Islam is, have the right understanding of what Islam is. That's our message. And after that, like Allah says in the Quran:

"Let the one who wants to believe, believe — and let the one who wants to reject, reject." But that should happen عَلَىٰ بَيِّنَةٍ — upon clear truth. And that is our responsibility.

There is no other prophet coming. There is no other prophet coming. And the Prophet ﷺ gave that responsibility to us. What is your place in that responsibility? What is your place in that mission of spreading Islam — the right image of Islam — and ensuring that when people hear Islam, they think positivity, they think monotheism, they think spirituality, they think fairness and justice, they think kindness and compassion? That's our responsibility, and that is inshallah something that we have to stand for.

Second Khutbah — Practical Advice for Preserving the Image of Islam

My brothers and sisters, what I want to conclude the khutbah with is some points of advice that will aid us in preserving the image of Islam. And it is extremely important that we do think about the image of Islam.

Remember: when it comes to the pure religion, the deen of Allah, we will never waver. We will never waver. We will never compromise. We will never compromise. Quraysh tried to compromise the Prophet ﷺ — they said: "We'll worship your lord one year and you worship our lord another." And Allah revealed that that will never happen. We will always stay upon the path that was carved for us by the great prophets that came before us and our Prophet Muhammad ﷺ. And let that message be heard loud and clear.

But that being said, my message to myself and to all of you is: what can we do better to ensure that the message of Islam is not tarnished, to the point that we are not giving ammunition and arming those that are against the deen of Allah?

1. Seek Knowledge of Your Deen

Number one, my brothers and sisters, is knowledge. Understand your faith and your deen so that you can explain it better, understand it better, and apply it better. Learn the deen. It is not something as simple as just grabbing the mushaf, reading a few ayat, and thinking you understand it. Put effort into understanding the religion of Allah. Put effort — learn it. I always see on Fridays the mosque is full, but the classes and the programs — we get a small number of people attending, and this is a huge problem that we have. If you can make time for the khutbah and Jumu'ah, which is good, which is wajib upon you — make some time to learn your religion. There is so much content online. Understand what Islam really is.

2. Be Brave Enough to Reject Un-Islamic Cultural Practices

The second thing, my brothers and sisters, is that you be brave enough to say no to cultural practices that are not part of Islam. Be brave — because sometimes we have this attachment, and it's cultural. If the deen says no, then that's what it is. Because the religion of Allah should correct — and it has, it has course-corrected many cultural practices. That's the whole point of the deen. That's the whole point of the deen.

3. Be the Face of True Islam

And finally, my brothers and sisters, understand that when people look into Islam, rarely do they look into it by looking at the books that we have, looking at the Quran and looking at the sunnah of the Prophet. They look at me and you. And we have to try extra hard to ensure that when we represent Islam, we represent Islam in the right way.

And finally — when we do all of that, when we do our job, if there are those that want to malign, those that want to exaggerate, take us out of context, those that are trying to harm us and harm our message — to them we say: have at it. Go and try and extinguish the light of Islam. Because our creator promised us that you will never be able to do so. They are entering into Islam in droves because of the good work that's being done. So let those that are barking, bark. Let those that are yelling, yell. Let those that are name-calling, name-call. Upon us is our responsibility — to call to the deen of Allah.

A reminder to my brothers — there will be a fundraiser for our brothers and sisters that are suffering in Sudan, inshallah.