2014-11-07 - Friday Prayer - Sheikh Khalil Abdul Rashid (2nd prayer)

Opening

There is no god but Allah. We bear witness that our master, our prophet, our great one and our beloved one is Muhammad, the messenger of Allah. Peace and blessings be upon him and his family and companions.

I seek refuge in Allah from the accursed Satan. In the name of Allah, the Most Merciful.

The believers and the believing women are allies of each other. And Allah said, the believers are brothers.

And from Anas ibn Malik, may Allah be pleased with him, he said: The Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, said — Allah said:

"If I test My servant with his two beloved ones and he is patient, I will recompense him for them with Paradise." (Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 5653)

The First Khalifa of the Ummah

When you usually pose the question to 99.9% of Muslims — you ask, who was the first khalifa of Rasulullah, peace be upon him — the response you always get is Hazrat Abu Bakr al-Siddiq, may Allah be pleased with him. In reality, there was someone before him.

It was a gathering in the time of the Prophet, peace be upon him, in Mecca. It was an area where the Prophet, peace be upon him, was trying to convince six leaders of the Quraish. Among them were Abu Jahl, Waleed ibn Mughirah, even the Prophet's uncle Abbas ibn Abdul Muttalib, and three other individuals as well.

The Prophet's objective, peace be upon him, was to convince them of the message. And he knew that if he could convince these leaders, if he paid attention to these leaders and focused on these leaders, and if he got them to understand and accept the message of Islam, that the followers would follow. So if the leaders became Muslim, then everyone else would become Muslim, and so it would be an easy catch.

And as he's giving the Dawah, as he's talking to them, a man walks up to him. He says, "Ya Rasulullah, teach me of what Allah has taught you." The man kept tugging at the Prophet, peace be upon him, kept interrupting the Prophet's words, peace be upon him. "Ya Rasulullah, teach me what Allah has taught you. Ya Rasulullah, teach me a little bit of what Allah has taught you."

This man — he didn't realize and he didn't notice: one, that the Prophet, peace be upon him, was in a gathering of big, important people; two, that he was cutting off the Prophet, interrupting the Prophet, peace be upon him. But he didn't realize and he didn't know it because he was blind. His name was Abdullah ibn Umm Maktum.

The Prophet, peace be upon him, turns to him and he frowns. He was focused on his objective, concentrating on what he was trying to do, and he was cut off, interrupted. So he frowned a bit — with his Mubarak mouth, peace be upon him — he turned away from the blind man and kept speaking to the Quraish.

The Divine Reprimand — Surah 'Abasa

And Allah reprimanded him. He frowned. It's like if you and I were having a conversation about someone else, and I said to you, "Did you see that? Did you notice that? He just frowned. Did you notice that? He turned away. Can you believe that? He frowned."

Still, when Allah reprimands, He reprimands. But because of His love of the Prophet, peace be upon him, He did it in the most gentle, the most kind of ways. He didn't say "you frowned" and "you turned away" like we do when we're upset — and we speak at the person and we want to condemn them and we want to debase them and we want to bring them down: "You did this, you see what you did, that's not right, who do you think you are? You're wrong." No. Still in the reprimand of Allah, there was lutf — there was gentleness. Because of the Prophet's maqam given to him by Allah, and because of Allah's love of the Prophet, peace be upon him.

So He didn't direct His address directly in the second person — He addressed it in the third person: "He frowned" — not "you frowned" — "He frowned, and he turned away." Because the blind person, the person with a special need, came to him.

"What is it — do you perceive that the people you're talking to may get the message better? Perhaps the blind man will be more purified by the message. And perhaps the message will benefit that person who has special needs."

In other words: include the blind man, include the person with special needs, include the person with a disability in your message, in your community. Give them attention, give them space, accept them. Do not prioritize — do not think that the ones that have ability and have money are more deserving of your attention than those who are weak and disabled. Do not think that. That is not our teaching. That is not the prophetic way.

Marhaban — Welcome to the One Who Corrected Me

And after that — do you know what the Prophet ﷺ would say every time he saw Abdullah ibn Umm Maktum? He would say, "Marhaban" — welcome to the one who reprimanded me and corrected me. Or rather, through whom Allah corrected me. He didn't say, "There is that guy who got me in trouble — it's his fault, stay away from him, it's him, he did this to me." No. Welcome — Marhaban — to the one that Allah used as an instrument of correction for me.

Very powerful insight. First, he welcomed the person. Second, he understood that that person was a vehicle, a means, and that Allah put that person with a disability in the presence of the Prophet ﷺ to elevate the Prophet ﷺ, and to teach us how to engage and accept those other members of our community that have special needs — and how we become elevated by elevating them.

Abdullah ibn Umm Maktum — The First Khalifa

After that, the Prophet ﷺ would assign Abdullah ibn Umm Maktum the role of assistant mu'adhdhin. So if Bilal did not call the adhan, or could not call the adhan, Abdullah ibn Umm Maktum would.

And on not one but two occasions — when the Prophet ﷺ and his companions had to leave Medina for battle — the Prophet ﷺ only twice left a khalifa in charge of the entire city of Medina. We don't have records other than those two occasions where he appointed a khalifa for Medina. On both of those occasions, he grants that status and that position to the blind man, Abdullah ibn Umm Maktum.

So in reality, the first khalifa of Ummat Muhammad ﷺ was not Abu Bakr al-Siddiq. It was Abdullah ibn Umm Maktum. Twice appointed by the Prophet ﷺ. The hadith literature states that the Prophet ﷺ made him a khalifa on two occasions over Medina. He took him from being in the back and brought him up front. He took him from being someone who did not see others and put him in a position where others saw him.

The word "keeper" — if I give you something in English and I want you to hold it for me, I say, "Keep this for me, hold it for me for keepsake." That works for objects, but it also works for people as well. So the person who is in charge of keeping something, the person who maintains the amana, the trust of keeping something, taking care of it, making sure there is a place for it, ensuring its well-being — that person is a keeper.

And the incident of Abdullah ibn Umm Maktum was the signature moment in our Ummah where Allah is teaching the Prophet ﷺ — and teaching us — that the job of the Nabi and the job of his Ummah is to be keepers of those individuals who have special needs in the community.

Am I My Brother's Keeper?

We must ask ourselves today: Am I my brother's keeper? Am I my sister's keeper?

When the Prophet ﷺ sent Muadh ibn Jabal to Yemen — to rule Yemen, to govern Yemen, to teach people halal and haram — the biography of Muadh ibn Jabal says he was a man who had a disability in his legs. He was not able to walk well. But the Prophet ﷺ put him in front. Though he was a man of special needs and had a disability, the Prophet assigned him the role of leadership.

Hazrat Umar ibn al-Khattab, radiyallahu ta'ala 'anhu, received a man once. And the man complained to Umar — he said, "Ya Umar, I want to go to the Masjid, but I am a man who cannot walk. I have no ability to go to the Masjid." Hazrat Umar asked the man where he lived. And the man told him. Umar ibn al-Khattab wrote a letter to a famous Sahabi whose name is Sa'd ibn Abi Waqqas. He assigned Sa'd ibn Abi Waqqas the task of making sure that man came to the Masjid when he needed and wanted to.

Look at the tarbiyah. Look at the training. Look at the care and consideration. Look at the intervention. Look at the teaching. Am I my brother's keeper? Am I my sister's keeper?

The Reality of Caregiving Families

We have families in our communities that struggle to survive because Allah has gifted them with a special child who has special needs. Sometimes it's not even a child — sometimes we have family members, members in our community, that have parents that have special needs, and have uncles and aunties — literally uncles and aunties — that have special needs. Maybe their sibling is an individual who is disabled or has special needs, and that person is a caregiver for their family member — be it their child with Down syndrome or autism, who is blind, hearing impaired, speech impaired, has mental illness, whatever the case may be.

Caring for a child or a relative with a special need can be physically draining. Emotionally isolating — find anyone to talk to, find anyone to lean on. Financially, it can be ruining and devastating. You've got medical bills, you've got prescription pills, you may have to buy a wheelchair, therapy, counseling, family counseling, personal counseling, food — all kinds of things.

Physically, people have to care for their children all day. You've got a child that can't go to the bathroom by themselves when they're 15. You've got to wake them up, get them up, clothe them, bathe them, take them to the bathtub, the toilet, brush their teeth, wash their hands, feed them, clean them after you fed them, get them dressed, get them in the car, take them out, help them out, get them in the elevator, take them to the doctor, put them back in the car, take them back home, put them back to bed, give them food. And if this is a wife doing this — versus one kid — she may have to feed her husband, take care of her husband.

Where's the community? A giant masjid here — where's the community? Where's the support? Am I my brother's keeper? Am I my sister's keeper?

Our task is to open up spaces. Our mandate is to open up opportunities for our brothers and sisters who are keepers of their family members with special needs. We have to be keepers of those keepers.

Open the Doors — The Quranic Mandate

O believers — people of Iman, people of Hidayah, people of Istiqamah — when you were asked to open up a space, when you were asked in your communities, when you were asked to move over in the ranks, when you were asked to make opportunities for families that need — open it up. Do something about it. Help. Make a space. Include them. Don't shut them out. Don't send them packing. Bring them in.

Yafsahil Allah lakum — Allah will open up a way for you. You want an open door in Jannah? You open it here in dunya for somebody else — not for yourself, for somebody else.

Wa idha qila unshuzoo — when you were asked to stand up, when those families say "I need help," when those families say "I need zakat," when those families say "I need a babysitter," when those families say "I need a break" — stand up. Unshuzoo. Rise to the occasion. Don't sit down. Don't be unavailable.

Yarfa'illahu alladhina amanu minkum — those people of Iman, those community members who have Iman, Allah will raise them. Walladhina utul 'ilm — and then those people who live their Iman, they have 'ilm, they stand up for you in the right way. They don't stand up for you and in their attempts to help you create more obstacles for you. People who help with 'ilm — people who know how to help you, and are able to help you, and are willing to help you, and actually help you — then Allah will raise them.

Receiving Difficult News — A Test from Allah

Imagine you've just been gifted a child, and your wife tells you, "Honey, I'm pregnant." Allahu akbar, walillahil hamd. You go for your appointment for the sonogram and everything, and you're excited. You get the sonogram and you do the genetic testing to make sure there are no genetic abnormalities and all that stuff. And the news comes back:

"Oh — baby's proper height and weight, measurements are okay — but the child has a chromosomal abnormality, and the child will have Down syndrome."

"Well, the child's okay, but just one small thing we saw — the child has a cleft foot. Everything's okay with the height and weight — baby's brain functioning is fine — but I'm so sorry to say, there's a hole in your child's heart. The child will need multiple surgeries when she's born."

"Well, I'm happy to report that everything's okay with this function and that function, but there's a slight problem. You know, in 1% of children that are born, they have this very, very, very, very rare illness. The child will be fine when she's born, but after 10 or 11 they'll start to have slow deterioration. We're sorry. We don't expect your child to live past the age of 20."

This happens to people. First thing that comes to the mind is: "Ya Rabb, I don't believe it." You turn away. You frown at the news. Abasa. You start to question: "Where's Allah? Where's the rahma? All I wanted was one healthy baby — just one, Ya Rabb. Why me?"

Why are we talking about dunya? Why me? Who else was that supposed to happen to? Would you like to pass it along? Who would you like to give it to? Khalas — you have the bad news, now give it to somebody else. Would you really do it? Would you dish out, distribute, the rahma of Allah?

Allah says: We are the ones who are in charge of giving out lifestyles and living in this dunya — that's what We do. You got a child with Down syndrome? That's your test. Don't hide that child — that's a barakah. The fact that you don't say that's a barakah is your problem, not the child's. If your community doesn't accept it, that's the community's problem — they have to change.

Some of you, we want to be keepers over others — that's the point. Some of you have to keep others, some of you have to help others.

Umar ibn al-Khattab and the Man with a Disability

A man came to Sayyidina Umar, and he had the same illness Muadh ibn Jabal had — one of his legs was longer than the other, he could barely walk. He came and he was pulling his donkey. The donkey had the same condition — one leg of the donkey was longer than the other three, and the donkey was carrying the belongings of the man. Both of them were struggling. The donkey had more problems.

The man came to Umar, who was Khalif. He said, "Ya Umar, you are our shepherd, we are your flock. You are responsible. We're just citizens — we're normal people." He said: "Today, I'm having a hard day. And if you don't help me, tomorrow" — meaning Yawm al-Qiyamah — "tomorrow, your day will be even harder. And it will only get harder because of my hard day."

Umar ibn al-Khattab was shocked. Do you know what his response was? He said, "La hawla wa la quwwata illa billah." He realized it. He got up. Umar said, "Ya Umar" — to himself — took the belongings off of the donkey and put them on his back. He grabbed the reins of the donkey, and grabbed the man, and brought them both into the city.

If something needs to be done, stand up and do it. Provide opportunities.

The Hadith Qudsi — The Two Beloved Things

There is a very profound Hadith Qudsi, narrated by Anas ibn Malik — the hadith I narrated earlier — where Allah says:

"If I test My servant with his two beloved ones — his two eyes — and he is patient, I will recompense him for them with Paradise." (Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 5653)

It is an authentic hadith. He says: Izabtalaytu 'abdi — when I decide to try and to test a servant of mine — bi habibatayhi — with his two habibs, or her two habibs — with the two things they love, the two beloved things to them. Fasabara — and that person decides at that moment to have sabr, to hang in there, to patiently endure. When that person makes that decision — those two habibs, those two beloved things are taken — but they decide to endure. What happens? I substitute for both of those things I took. I substitute Jannah in place of it.

The question is: in the hadith, what are the two beloved things that Allah was talking about? It's the two eyes. The two eyes. Izabtalaytu 'abdi — if I decide to test a servant by taking his or her two eyes, meaning they become blind.

When a person loses a faculty, we see it as a loss in the human realm. Allah sees it as a substitute in the spiritual realm. So why frown at the blind man, when we should be smiling for his sake and crying for ours? Because we haven't been given a substitute. We are not in the business of frowning and turning our backs. We are in the business of smiling for them, and turning our fronts and addressing them, serving them.

Do Not Be Ashamed — Bring Them Forward

Let us not frown at our children that are blind, at our children that have lost their hearing, at our children that have lost some mental capacity — that may have Down syndrome, autism, or some other chromosomal abnormality, or some other mental health issue, or have a speech impediment. Let us not be ashamed of them — keeping them in their homes, hiding them, as if they don't belong, as if they are not worthy to be in the presence of Ummat Muhammad.

On the contrary — the believer knows that Allah gave that child to us because He knew that she would gain acceptance through us. Our job is not to conceal, not to hide. Our job is to show the diversity of the creation of Allah. We don't keep them locked up. We take them out. We send them out. And if our masajid haven't provided opportunities, then we petition our masajid to open the doors. And if our community members don't understand, then we give them more opportunities to understand.

Perhaps people don't understand your plight because you haven't told it to them. Perhaps you haven't arrived, perhaps you haven't had conversations. Or perhaps they need to see your child.

A Personal Story — Dr. Warsi and His Son

When I was growing up in Atlanta, Georgia, my best friend as a child was a kid by the name of Suhail Warsi. His brother — his younger brother — was, from the time I knew him as a toddler until today, in a wheelchair. That kid does not move and cannot move.

Dr. Warsi himself — the father of Suhail Warsi, my good friend who is still in Atlanta today — every single Jumu'ah, he would bring his son to the masjid in Atlanta in the wheelchair. Roll his son right up to the first saf. Dr. Warsi was on the shura by the way — he helped establish that masjid in Atlanta, right next to my father's. And he put his son right in the front row, every single Jumu'ah. His son in a wheelchair in the front row.

As a child — as a child. This kid didn't even have to come to Jumu'ah. Some of us don't bring our six-year-olds to Jumu'ah. This is a six-year-old in a wheelchair. This kid is 29 now. He is still in a wheelchair. You want to know something? You won't believe it. Hafiz of Quran. You won't believe it. You would never know — this kid in a wheelchair, hafiz of Quran. But his father put him up front. And as a community — if you didn't like it, that's your problem. That's your obstacle. You have to get over that. That's a nafs issue.

How dare you shun this kid. And as a family, how dare you keep your kid from the masjid. That is wrong. Wrong cultural values, wrong practices. You take them out. You give them experiences. You give them opportunities. You show them there is something more to life.

So when Allah took something away — who are you to take the rest of it away? Provide an opportunity for them. Who says that because they have one disability, we have to facilitate an entire life of disableness? They are not the ones disabled if we have that attitude. We are disabled if we have that attitude.

Am I my brother's keeper? Am I my sister's keeper?

Conclusion — The Children of Jannah

So we return to the point of the khutba, and I'll end here. The first khalifa was the blind man. It was the blind man, Abdullah ibn Umm Maktum. So let us be proud of our families who are keepers of those children that have special needs — because those families represent the children of Jannah. That's what they represent. Those families represent the keepers of Jannah.

If you knew that somebody was guaranteed Jannah, wouldn't you want to befriend them? Wouldn't you want to be close to them? Wouldn't you want to support them? Absolutely. So we must embrace them, we must help them.

Very proud to announce that, alhamdulillah, this masjid is the first masjid in this area — in the whole region, actually — to provide a Quranic education to special needs families. Alhamdulillah, we have 13 children that come every weekend to study the Quran, from ages 5 to 27. Some able to walk, some in a wheelchair. We have four teachers that work with them — two sisters and two brothers. We have a small team of advisory members — trained professionals — that advise them.

This is the beginning of opening our doors. This is the beginning of supporting these families. But they need our help, they need our duas. Most importantly, they don't need our frowns. We don't frown — with our lips or with our hearts. But they need our smiles, with both. And we need our own tears for our own selves, because we've not been given a Jannah substitute like they have.

May Allah give us tawfiq to accept what is inevitable. May Allah enable us to be better at being our brothers' and our sisters' keepers. Ameen.

Closing Du'a

Alhamdulillah. As-salatu was-salamu 'ala Sayyidina Muhammad wa 'ala alihi wa sahbihi wa man wala.

Uusikum wa usikum bi taqwa Allah. Qala ta'ala:

Wa sallallahu 'ala Sayyidina Muhammad wa 'ala alihi wa sahbihi wa sallam.

Aqim al-salat.