2015 10 16 Sheikh Khalil Abdul Rashid

Adhan

Allah is the greatest, Allah is the greatest. Allah is the greatest, Allah is the greatest. I bear witness that there is no god but Allah. I bear witness that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah. Come to prayer. Come to prayer. Come to success. Come to success. Allah is the greatest, Allah is the greatest. There is no god but Allah.

Opening Khutbah

All praise is due to Allah. We praise Him, we seek His help, we seek His guidance, we believe in Him and we put our trust in Him. 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 declares misled, none can guide him. I bear witness that there is no god but Allah, there is no partner to Him. I bear witness that our Master, our Prophet, our Greatest, our Beloved, Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah. Peace and blessings be upon him and his family and companions.

I advise you to fear Allah.

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

O you who have believed, do not violate the rites of Allah or the sacred month or the sacrificial animals or the garlands or those coming to the Sacred House seeking bounty from their Lord and His approval. And when you come out of ihram, then hunt. And do not let the hatred of a people who once prevented you from al-Masjid al-Haram lead you to transgress. And cooperate in righteousness and piety, and do not cooperate in sin and aggression. And fear Allah; indeed, Allah is severe in punishment.

What a very powerful, powerful, powerful ayah. We begin with this ayah today — on this mubarak day, in this mubarak month, in this mubarak time, in this mubarak place.

The Sacred Month of Muharram

We welcome the blessed, sacred month of Muharram. It is one of the sacred months that Allah has reminded us and admonished us to pay heed to in this month — to let it be a time of peace, and a time of reflection and observation about our correctness and our effectiveness at performing our rights and obligations to Allah and towards each other.

It is not a coincidence that the Islamic lunar year begins with a shahr haram, a sacred month, and it ends with a shahr haram, another sacred month. Muharram, the month we are in now — the beginning of the Islamic year — is a sacred month, a month that is haram. And the last month of the year, Dhul Qa'da, is also a sacred month. We begin with the notion of haram, and we end with the notion of haram — sacredness, inviolability. And between those two ends, right in the middle almost, are months that are haram, back to back: Rajab, Sha'ban, Ramadan. So the year is punctuated with these months.

And so we must ask ourselves: what's going on now? What are we supposed to be doing? What was it in our past that should inspire us to action today?

The Historical Context: The Background of the Ayah

In the latter part of the Medinan period, after the 8th and 9th year in Hijra, and after Fath al-Makkah — when the Muslims returned to Mecca — there were a lot of Muslims performing Umrah and Hajj. And there were also mushrikeen at that time, before the ayah in Surah At-Tawbah. There were also polytheists, Arab mushrikeen, in Mecca still performing Hajj and Umrah.

Some of the Ansar, some of the people coming from Medina, neglected to perform some of the rites — some of the manasik, some of the obligatory ritual components of the Hajj and Umrah. Most importantly, some of the Ansar would just not do Sa'i — Safa and Marwah. They would perform Tawaf and they would just not perform Sa'i. Some of the Muhajir, some of the people of Mecca, they would forego going into Arafah — they just wouldn't go to Arafah, they would stay in Mecca. So some of the Ansar left off Sa'i, some of the Muhajir left off Arafah. Some of the Muslims coming from Yemen would perform — would go to Arafah for a little bit and then leave.

There were Muslims that were performing some rites, obligations, ibadat, and many others they weren't fulfilling at this particular time period — the full degree of ibadat to Allah Ta'ala. Furthermore, they saw their fellow mushrikeen brothers performing Hajj and Umrah with them, side by side. And years before, those same people had prevented them — years before at Hudaybiyah, they stopped them from entering into Mecca. And the Muslims were very upset. They wanted revenge: how is it that now they get to — first of all, we can't ask for retribution now that we've conquered Mecca, and on top of that we have to make Tawaf and Sa'i with these people who stopped us from making Tawaf and Sa'i? They wanted revenge, even while in ihram, while at the Kaaba.

The Story of Shuraikh

And on top of that, there was a man who had come to visit the Prophet, peace be upon him, with a caravan. He left his caravan on the outskirts of Medina and went to Shuraikh. Shuraikh enters Medina and goes right up and says, "Are you Muhammad the Prophet?" And he says, "Yes." He said, "What are you calling these people towards?" He said, "I'm calling them to:

La ilaha illa Allah — there is no god but Allah — and that I am the Messenger of Allah, and to establish the Salah and to pay the Zakat.

And Shuraikh said, "Hasan — sounds good. But I am an emir of a people and I do things with my people, so I'll go to them and explain to them what you've said. If they agree to it, I'll agree — I'll become Muslim. If they disagree, I'm not going to be Muslim." And he got up and left. And the Prophet, peace be upon him, said: "Here is a man who entered my presence with the face of a disbeliever, and he has left my presence with the fate of someone who wants to do treachery."

So the Ashab watched him, and they noticed that he was in Medina cheating people — taking their money, profiting off of their ignorance. And they were silent about it. The next year, they saw him at Hajj. This was the same year that they were upset at the mushrikeen for performing Hajj with them. So they were already upset at the mushrikeen, and then here comes Shuraikh — this man who the year before had cheated some of the Medinans and had been arrogant to the Prophet, peace be upon him. And the Prophet knew this was a man of treachery.

They said, "Ya Rasool Allah, there he is again — there's Shuraikh! That's that man from last year, who came into Medina causing problems, acting like he was interested in Islam but in reality didn't want to do anything. He just wanted to use your company as a pretext to go into the community and cheat the people. Let's go get him — he's here now for the Hajj. Let's grab him."

Now what they used to do — they used to bring the hadyi, the animals for slaughter, into the Haram and they would tie the animal there. And as soon as you tied the animal by the Kaaba, khalas — that was it. Nobody could touch you. That was the reference of the qala'id — the animal for slaughter that is tied to the house of Allah. When the person ties it, they're free — they're supposed to be able to walk freely through the land, untouched, unmolested.

And so the Prophet, peace be upon him, said: "He's tied his hadyi. You can't touch him." They said: "Ya Rasool Allah, we are making Tawaf with mushrikeen! Ya Rasool Allah, he previously prevented us from coming into the Haram at Hudaybiyah! Ya Rasool Allah, this man who cheated so many people..." And the Prophet, peace be upon him, was silent. Then Allah revealed this ayah — so powerful.

Unpacking the Ayah: Do Not Violate the Sacred Rites

Ya ayyuhalladhina amanu — O you who have faith. People of iman. People who are with people of iman, living with people who don't have iman, having problems with people who like to pretend they have iman. But you, people of iman — do not violate the sacred rites of Allah.

First of all, remember where you are. "Ya Rasool Allah, go perform Sa'i." "Muhajir, get out of Mecca, go to Arafah." You're so sensitive about your rites being violated, but you're quick to be lazy about Allah's rites? So first of all, let's reboot our system. First: la tuhillu — you are not allowed to violate, to shortchange, to discount any of the sacred rites of Allah.

And sha'airullah has ma'ani — has levels of meaning. One: it means you are not allowed to violate any of the fara'id, the obligations Allah has said to do. So if it's a fard, you have to do it. That includes Safa and Marwah, for example. Arafat, for example. It also means: don't violate the sha'air — don't violate the deen. There are things that are in this deen that come as a package. Don't take some of it and leave off others. Don't take a part of it and erase and forget other parts. Don't be like those who believe in some of the Book but not others. Take it all as one thing. Don't violate the deen by cutting it in pieces, practicing some and forgetting others.

And then He said: don't violate the sacred month. Don't forget where you are, and don't forget when you are. You are in a sacred time. And even in Jahiliyyah, the sacred months were honoured. There was no fighting, no aversion, no violence — nothing was allowed, no aggression in the sacred months. And how much of the Muslim world is filled with violence and protest and anger and killings now? They've completely neglected the idea of a sacred month — it's gone.

And don't violate those things that you've offered to Allah — those gifts that you've offered to Allah to take, to accept. Your sacrifices, your qurbah. Those things that you invest in to use as instruments to draw near to Allah Ta'ala, to get the pleasure of Allah Ta'ala — don't violate that, don't miss that hope. Don't work hard for something only to destroy it. Don't work hard to give something to Allah Ta'ala and then neglect something else and put yourself in a position where Allah Ta'ala cannot accept that offering.

And those people coming to the bayt, to the house of Allah — whether they're Muslim or not — don't violate them. Why? Because they are seeking the bounty and the gifts of Allah. Somebody who's coming to the house of Allah seeking the guidance of Allah, seeking the gifts of Allah — are we here to obstruct them? Are we here to become the same as the person who is violent, the same as the people that obstructed you? You want to kick people out and do the same thing to people that treated you badly, and expect a different outcome?

Now, when you come out of your sacred months and you come out of your sacred time, your normal operations are permissible — within reason and limits. Hunting is permitted for you. Hunting is permitted because you have to eat. Not sporting — don't kill animals for sport. But hunting is permitted because you have a need to eat. So within reason, within limits, for a cause, with the permission of Allah, you may be assertive in a particular way — in the ways of halal. But that's after you have come out of your state of ihram, after you have come out of your state where you recognized the life of Allah in the first place.

Do Not Let Hatred Lead to Transgression

And the sahabah said, "Ya Rasool Allah, they prevented us from going into the Haram. We hate them — they prevented us from, in our context we would say, building masajid. They prevented us from having cemeteries. They prevented us from establishing Islamic centers. These people that hate Islam prevented us from this, that and the other."

"And do not let the hatred of a people who prevented you from al-Masjid al-Haram lead you to transgress." Don't let your hatred of those people who prevented you from going into the bayt al-haram, who banned you — don't let your hatred of them incite you to violence and to aggression.

Look at that. Our world today is characterized by acts of aggression because of revenge: they did it to us so we do it to them. They killed my wife so I'll kill their wife. They took my child so I'll take their child. They destroyed my house so I'm going to destroy their village. They kill our innocents so we kill their innocents. That is not our way. That is not our teaching. That is not who we are.

Don't let your hatred of those people that deprive you, don't let your hatred of those people that wrong you, don't let your hatred of them incite you to go beyond the boundaries yourself. Don't be like them. You have your own prophet, your own teachings. That's what this Book is about — to reflect on that. That's precisely what it's about.

The Word "Shirk" — Shirking Responsibilities

The Prophet Isa, peace be upon him, used to remind us of shirk, and there are different kinds of shirk. What's profound is — and nothing is coincidental — you go online today on a dictionary website, Dictionary.com, and there is a word of the day. This is the first Jumu'ah in the month of Muharram, the holy sacred month, and before I came into the masjid today, I noticed the word of the day on Dictionary.com. Do you know what the word of the day was?

Shirk.

And the way they defined it: shirk — not fulfilling your proper duties and responsibilities. "Shirking your duties." It comes from the German word Schurke, which means a man who skirts the law — when there's a law, there's a boundary, and this man operates under the law, behind the boundary, does things under the table. That person in the German language is called a Schurke, and from that he's also called a rascal. And also from the word shark in English — where we get the term "loan shark." A person who lives off of breaking the laws that are meant to protect everyone else, and they get fat, they get wealthy, they're in a position of power — off of the abuse of other people.

So when you say "don't shirk your responsibilities," it means don't neglect your responsibilities to such a degree that your lifestyle is such that you want everybody to perform their rights to you, but when it comes to you performing rights to somebody else, you shirk that. And you become big and fat off of that.

And that's what the Shahr Haram is reminding us of — the fact that we are not to be people of shirk. Not in the theological sense, not in the aqidah sense. Because the Prophet, peace be upon him, said:

That's not what I fear for you anymore. What I fear for you is minor shirk — riya' (showing off). (Musnad Ahmad, Hadith 23630)

What's in the spirit of the whole process of the Shahr Haram is the idea of shirking our responsibilities to Allah Ta'ala — that if we shirk our responsibilities to Allah Ta'ala, we forget His rights, we forget that there are certain limits that He has placed on us, we forget that we have to deal with people in a certain way. Because if we don't, shadid al-'iqab — He would be tough with us. So we better be careful.

Cooperate in Righteousness, Not in Sin

We know Allah is with those who have taqwa. So if you want to gain up, if you want to create a collective strength, then gain up and help each other with birr and taqwa. Birr is righteousness and goodness — anything that is beautiful and good is birr. So help each other perform birr. And taqwa means abstinence — to withhold. So help each other to do birr and to withhold — to perform what you're supposed to perform, and to withhold from those things you're supposed to withhold from.

And don't help each other in two things: ithm and udwan. Ithm — our sins, violations between us and Allah — that's ithm, violations between us and Him. Don't help each other violate that relationship, break that relationship. The month of Muharram is to remind us of that.

And don't help each other to udwan. Udwan — violations from one of us to another — hostility, aggression, violence. Don't support each other in that. Don't send aggression and violence from one person to another. Don't do that — outside of the month of Muharram, and certainly not inside of the month of Muharram. And the month of Muharram is to reflect on that, so that outside of the month of Muharram we don't become like that.

And that's why the year starts like that, and it's punctuated in the middle like that — three months in a row — and it's punctuated at the end like that, so we can reflect on how well we've done over the year that has passed. And so that we can make a positive resolution — otherwise known as mujahada — for the next year and the future. And that's why Muharram starts us off.

Conclusion

Dear brothers and sisters, that's what we're doing now. That's what this month is about. That's the time we're in. If you look at what's going on in the geopolitical world, in the Muslim world right now — we've lost it. Let us not, as a community, become like that. We cannot. We cannot.

If that ayah was revealed in the time of the Prophet, peace be upon him, in the tenth year, and he stopped the sahabah from aggression — what then is our hukm? We have to reflect first on our relationship with Allah Ta'ala — the vertical — and then our relationship with others — the horizontal. This is the month to internalize that, to reflect on that, to correct ourselves before we wreck ourselves.

May Allah give us tawfiq. May Allah forgive us for our shortcomings. And may Allah bless us in this life so that we may be blessed in the next life. Ameen.

Closing Reminder

Fear Allah. Allah commands justice and kindness, and giving to relatives, and forbids indecency and evil and transgression. He warns you so that you may remember.

We will be making our way to the gym area, insha'Allah. There will be a janaza prayer, insha'Allah. We will let you know right after the salah.

Astaghfirullah.