2015 05 08 Friday Prayer Sheikh Khalil Abdul Rashid

Opening: Adhān and Iqāmah

السَّلَامُ عَلَيْكُمْ وَرَحْمَةُ اللهِ وَبَرَكَاتُهُ

Opening of the Khutbah

أَشْهَدُ أَنَّ سَيِّدَنَا وَنَبِيَّنَا وَعَظِيمَنَا وَحَبِيبَنَا مُحَمَّدًا رَسُولُ اللهِ ﷺ. أُوصِي وَأُوصِيكُمْ بِتَقْوَى اللهِ. قَالَ تَعَالَى. أَعُوذُ بِاللهِ مِنَ الشَّيْطَانِ الرَّجِيمِ.

A Week of Trial and Difficulty

This week has been a week of stress, difficulty, hardship, and heat — rage, anger, hatred. Hatred by some of Muslims towards Muslims, and hatred inside of some Muslims towards those people. The way that we have been affected as a community, both collectively and individually, is one in which we have been tried and tested in the flames of turmoil.

And it causes some of us to sometimes reflect and say, all of this work, is it for nothing? What are we doing? All of the good work we've done in the community, and all of the bonds that we have forged, all of the projects we're trying to do — because of the actions of a few people, all of those things are rendered meaningless. So sometimes it is natural to doubt the work of Allah Ta'ala, when the response to that work is a response that brings hatred and negativity. I was just in New York City, the brothers and the sisters in New York City have a real ihtimam, a real concern, for the state of the Muslims here in Dallas, because of what has transpired earlier this week, and because of today's announcement.

We are indeed tested. But our test is easier than the test of those that came before us. So we must not lose hope.

Reflecting on Sūrat Ar-Rūm: A Tawḥīdic Community

There is a very powerful āyah that I just recited from Sūrat Ar-Rūm. If we reflect on it and ponder on it, there are profound layers of openings that we may benefit from. And at the core of this message — that Quranic message which we'll analyze in a second — is the reminder that we are, at our core, a community of muwahhidūn, a tawḥīdic community.

That means at its core, what we are about is oneness, is unity. Not just unity and oneness in the numerical sense, but unity and oneness in the larger, abstract sense as well. It is not a coincidence, or for something simple, that we believe in one God.

That tawḥīd is our foundation in the theological, ʿaqīdah sense. But that tawḥīd that binds us, that grounds us, should also motivate us and inspire us to see the world and to see events that happen in one way — as opposed to in different, divisive ways. And the opposite force of tawḥīd — there is an opposing force against unity, against oneness — and that force is divisiveness. That force is a force that seeks to alienate, to segregate, to separate, to deconstruct us, to tear us down piece by piece. That we have to be very aware of.

And so Allah Ta'ala calls us to rise above those forces that would seek to divide us, that would seek to bring us down. And to constantly rise above that at several markers or several points in our life, and several points in the day and night as well. And he begins:

We must glorify Allah Ta'ala, remember Allah Ta'ala, and what comes with that remembrance is the idea and the understanding of tawḥīd. As a matter of fact, subḥān means that Allah Ta'ala is wāḥid in every single sense. Anything that we try to associate with oneness, anything that tries to break that oneness or violate that oneness of Allah Ta'ala — we negate it, we refuse it, we reject it. That is subḥānAllāh.

The Times of Glorification

So negate multiplicity in Allah, negate diversity in Allah Ta'ala, negate other than the oneness of Allah, and understand that oneness and embrace that oneness, and you yourself operate based upon that oneness of Allah Ta'ala.

حِينَ تُمْسُونَ — at night. Ibn ʿAbbās, the companion of the Prophet ﷺ, said this verse means that you reflect on the oneness, the unity of Allah Ta'ala, the tawḥīdic nature of Allah Ta'ala. تُمْسُونَ — at night — he said it is a reference for the Maghrib time and the ʿIshāʾ time. And the ṣalāh that is there is put there in the evening for that purpose. وَحِينَ تُصْبِحُونَ — and in the morning time. That is a reference for reflecting on the tawḥīd of Allah Ta'ala at the ṣabāḥ time, at the Fajr time.

And so here Allah Ta'ala is telling us: be mindful of the oneness of Allah — and therefore have oneness in your understanding and reaction and in your solidarity — at the Maghrib time when things happen, at the ʿIshāʾ time, or even at the Fajr time as well.

And whatever happens in the samāwāt or in the arḍ, in the heavens or in the earth — whether it's good, whether it's bad, whether it's brightness, whether it's darkness, up or down, positive or negative — our reaction must be one: alḥamdulillāh.

وَلَهُ الْحَمْدُ — to Allah Ta'ala belongs all the reflection and all the praise. لَهُ الْحَمْدُ فِي السَّمَاوَاتِ — in matters that are in the heavens: heavenly matters, abstract matters, glorified matters, praised matters, elevated matters, wonderful, positive, khayr matters. سَمَاوَاتِ is a reflection not just of the heavens, but if سَمَاوَاتِ is a reflection of goodness and khayr and positive things, righteous things — it's a reflection of goodness in the elevated sense as well. وَالْأَرْضِ — the heavens and the earth. Not just the earth itself, anything that happens in the physical earth, but anything that happens in the lowly, mundane sense as well, in the negative sense as well. In both scenarios, in both circumstances, our reaction and understanding must be with a ḥamd approach — reflecting on Allah Ta'ala — because there is khayr in both, and both are from one source: Allah Ta'ala.

سَمَاوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضِ — the source is one. The creator of the Ẓuhr time, the creator of the ʿAṣr time, Maghrib, ʿIshāʾ, Fajr — the source is one.

At the ʿashī time — the ʿashī time is the time for ʿIshāʾ, the dinner time. That is the ʿAṣr time — not the late dinner, the normal dinner time, six o'clock, seven o'clock, after work. At the close of the day, at the close of the business day, whatever profits that we've made, whatever losses that we have incurred — when we go home and we make our accounting for the day, whatever has happened through that day: alḥamdulillāh. ʿAshiyā — the end of the day, not at the night time, but at the close of the business day.

وَحِينَ تُظْهِرُونَ — and at the time for Ẓuhr. This is the Ẓuhr time. At the Ẓuhr time, marking the middle of the day, the break of the work day — when you've done work and things have happened in the morning and there's a break to transition into the afternoon — at that transitional moment: alḥamdulillāh. Because those moments of transition have barakah in them as well.

Life from Death: Extracting Meaning from Difficulty

Now why is it that Allah Ta'ala is reminding us to reflect on his tawḥīdic nature at these particular junctions? What is it about these points of transition — from night into day, from the working world to going home — rising in the night and going to work at the Fajr time? He then says:

He extracts living from the dead. From the egg, which is not alive, a live chicken emerges, a live bird emerges. From a clot of blood, which is not alive, a human being emerges. He extracts living — he produces life from death. From the jāhil, the ignorant person, an ʿālim, a scholar, emerges. From a kāfir, a believing person emerges. From darkness, light emerges. Light could not emerge had there been no darkness in the beginning. Imān could not have emerged had there been no such thing as kufr in the beginning. Both are required.

يُخْرِجُ الْحَيَّ مِنَ الْمَيِّتِ وَيُخْرِجُ الْمَيِّتَ مِنَ الْحَيِّ — and also from that living entity, darkness or death emerges as well. So from the bird, you get an egg. From the human being, you get a clot of blood as well. Occasionally from the ʿālim, you get jāhil — you get ignorance as well. And occasionally from believers, you get disbelievers as well.

There is oneness in that cycle. Both of those things — life and death, light and darkness — they are both different manifestations of the same source. They are from a tawḥīdic source. And we must reflect on those things.

And so those points of transition — from wealth to poverty and sickness to health — different markers in the day are signposts for us to prepare for something different in the day, or something different to come in the night, or for something different to come in the morning, or for something different to come in the afternoon. And to prepare for that difference. And to reflect on the fact that when that difference emerges, that difference is also from the creator of difference, and from his oneness.

And that's why when we are tested with the events we've been tested with recently, and with other events in the past, and more events most likely perhaps to come in the future — we must see all of these things as part of the power and the manifestation of Allah Ta'ala to bring life from death, to bring stability from instability as well. All of these things are manifestations of him. And therefore when we approach these circumstances, when we encounter them, we must reflect on him first, and then the circumstance second. And this is part and parcel of the believer's attitude in the perception of life events.

Lā Ḥawla wa lā Quwwata illā Billāh

There is a phrase in our tradition, as you know: لَا حَوْلَ وَلَا قُوَّةَ إِلَّا بِاللهِ. That phrase has two differing parts: lā ḥawla and lā quwwata. The first part has to do with ḥawl; the second part has to do with quwwah. The ḥawl part is very important for us, and we cannot understand the quwwah part without first comprehending the ḥawl part.

Istiḥāla: The Fiqh of Transformation

You see, there is a chapter in Islamic law, a concept in our fiqh tradition, where seeing certain things that are impure — najis and filthy and dirty — those things have the ability to become pure and clean. They go through a process of transformation. All of our ʿulamāʾ accept this process. It's called istiḥāla in the fiqh literature, in Islamic law. Istiḥāla means transformation. And there are certain things that go through transformation — that go from darkness to light, that go from impurity to purity.

So for example, wine. The ʿulamāʾ say that wine in its state is najis. Of course it's ḥarām, but the point is from a fiqh point of view it's najis, it's impure. But wine, when it goes through a continued process, it can transform into vinegar. And when it becomes vinegar, the substance is changed, therefore the name is changed. It's no longer wine anymore — it is vinegar. And that process of going from wine to vinegar is called istiḥāla. That process of going from something najis, impure, to something pure is called transformation.

And we know the Prophet ﷺ forbade wine, but we know he considered vinegar a wonderful condiment for food, and he loved vinegar ﷺ on his food, and he used vinegar ﷺ.

We know the companions of the Prophet ﷺ asked the Prophet ﷺ about a dead animal. They used to take benefit from all parts of the animal, but they would throw away the skin of the deceased animal because they knew the skin of a deceased animal was impure, was najis, was filth. And the Prophet ﷺ corrected them on that, and he taught them not to throw away and discard filthy things — that there is an ability for those filthy and dirty things to become purified, to become usable.

And he ﷺ taught them about dead animal skin. He said: if you tan the skin, you heal it — you put acid with it and fire and you cleanse it — that animal skin with time becomes what we call today leather, and you may use it. What was once filthy becomes pure. What was once of no benefit becomes of radical, amazing public and social utility. But you must see the beneficial properties that are there. That is also called istiḥāla — transformation.

Water — another example. The Prophet ﷺ taught us that water is pure and can become impure, but when that impurity is removed, water becomes pure again.

Even the ʿulamāʾ debated about the pig, the khinzīr itself. The juridical discussion about the pig was that the pig was different from wine and from animal skin: the pig, according to the command of Allah Ta'ala, is impure in and of itself. It's not impure because of something else — it is negative, it is impure in its essence. And then the jurists debated: is istiḥāla, that transformation, possible with the khinzīr, with the pig? And on that issue the scholars differed. But some of them have said that if the pig product undergoes chemical transformation, then that product may be used for medical purposes — not for human consumption, not in the food sense, but in the ṭibbī/shifāʾ sense. It can be used as a medical product to help bring life to someone who needs life. And so in that situation, istiḥāla — transformation — is applicable.

The Window and the Wall

So what is it about these fiqh examples? The idea of looking at something negative — a situation that from the outside contains horror and disgust, and you have an aversion to it, you don't see any khayr in it, there is no benefit that you could possibly use. Why did Allah decree for that to happen? Where is the khayr in this? How is it that this could come from our Rabb who is merciful? All this killing and this that and the other — what's going on here? I don't see the ʿadl, I don't see the justice. I don't see the mercy in this. I don't see Allah's plan in that. And we question the creator of events as if we are in a position to question.

But the jurists have told us in these case studies that on a case by case basis, even the most filthy, deplorable substance can come out clean — can be of amazing use — through transformation. And the word they use for that transformation is istiḥāla. The same word for lā ḥawla: change.

And that is why the meaning of لَا حَوْلَ وَلَا قُوَّةَ إِلَّا بِاللهِ — lā ḥawla — is that there is no transformation, no change. There is no ability to change from something negative to something positive. There is no ability, no power, to transform myself, or for the public to be transformed from something negative to something positive. For a scenario that is full of violence and hatred to be transformed from something negative to something positive — there is no ḥawla. For a heart that is dirty and in a state of darkness and kufr and disbelief to be in a state of nūr and imān and enlightenment — there is no ḥawla. To go from dirt to purity — there is no ḥawla. To go from najis to ṭāhir — there is no ḥawla. To go from sin to obedience — there is no ḥawla. To come out clean — there is no ḥawla. Except through Allah.

There is no ḥawla to stay positive, to always be able to see — as we say — the silver lining in things, to stay positive and to act with that view.

Mawlānā Jalāluddīn Rūmī, the great scholar of the Seljuk Empire, he said: everything that occurs in life is either a wall or a window. If that thing — if you see that event as something negative and you don't see the creator of that event — you're caught in how horrible that thing is. All you see is the negativeness, the filth of that event, and you're not able to see the light in that darkness. Then that event for you is a wall, and that event becomes trauma for you.

But if you see that Allah Ta'ala has the power to transform through that event — to take life from death, as he said:

Life comes from death. Enlightenment comes from ignorance. Ease sometimes comes through pain. Understanding of Islam sometimes comes through misunderstandings of Islam. But we must respond in a certain way. That is lā ḥawla — viewing the positive in the situation.

Wa lā quwwata is the other part. Once we understand the ḥawl, then the quwwah comes easy. Because lā quwwata means there is no strength, there is no quwwah to act in a way other than the way you would act seeing the ḥawl in that situation. So because you see positive potential that's there, you act positively. That's the quwwah — the quwwah comes after that. Because you perceive that Allah Ta'ala may be working with hidāyah through that ignorant person — he may guide them. Through that negative trauma, he may bring life. So you have quwwah to respond like that. That helps you respond through the pressure, through the stress of the context that's tough.

Rocks into Diamonds: The Call to Rise

Brothers and sisters, this term لَا حَوْلَ وَلَا قُوَّةَ إِلَّا بِاللهِ — we can't do that except through constantly, at Fajr time, Ẓuhr time, ʿAṣr time, Maghrib time, ʿIshāʾ time, going through Allah — meaning, remembering Allah, perceiving everything that is happening with the will of Allah.

Lā ḥawla wa lā quwwata — everything that happens, we see it in one dimension, in one way, from one perspective, one lens: through the lens of tawḥīd, the perspective of tawḥīd, the understanding of tawḥīd, the recollection of tawḥīd. And therefore our reaction must be a tawḥīdic reaction under that paradigm.

And we must not respond like individuals that are in a pressure box where we just become crumbled like rocks that are just put together and we just become divided pieces. We say we're just broken — like a broken community. We are not rocks. That's not how we respond to pressure. The way we respond is that we might go into that circumstance as rocks, but through the barakah of tawḥīd and our understanding of how to react, and through the medicine of understanding لَا حَوْلَ وَلَا قُوَّةَ إِلَّا بِاللهِ — we might go in as rocks, but we have to come out as diamonds. We must come out precious. We must come out clean. We must come out beautiful. We must come out with value, with our values. We must be better than the way that we went in.

And so we must not see trial and stress in our community as tools to bring us down. We must see those circumstances as opportunities to rise further — but through the recognition of لَا حَوْلَ وَلَا قُوَّةَ إِلَّا بِاللهِ. That:

Which is why Allah mentions both of them together — because they are both from one source. And that is the mindset we have to keep in mind.

In the American counseling and psychological arena, they say you must be positive. That's fine. But we should say: we must be tawḥīdic. We must be balanced. We must be civilized in our tawḥīd. Our tawḥīd must elevate us. We must be able to see the potential of transformation in ourselves and in other people — even if those people hate us, even if those people despise us. We must not react like that. Because they are not our teachers. They do not command us. They do not govern us. We have our teacher, we have our teaching, and we have our case studies which tell us that purity comes through najāsa also, that light comes through darkness as well, that there is one source, and we rely on that one source for one outcome.

Closing Duʿāʾ

May Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala purify us. May Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala elevate us. May Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala ennoble us. And may Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala give us the ḥawl and the quwwah to act and to see and to respond through him.

Second Khutbah and Iqāmah

عِبَادَ اللهِ اتَّقُوا اللهَ.

Iqāmah and Ṣalāh

استووا صُفُوفَكُمْ — please make your lines tight, إن شاء الله تعالى. Make room, make space for those that are in the back. Please eliminate the gaps in the rows.

Recitation During Ṣalāh

السَّلَامُ عَلَيْكُمْ وَرَحْمَةُ اللهِ، السَّلَامُ عَلَيْكُمْ وَرَحْمَةُ اللهِ