Supporting The Revert Muslims - Sheikh Zakaullah Saleem

Opening Khutbah

Islam: A Universal Religion

My dear brothers and sisters in Islam, we as Muslims believe and we proclaim that the religion of Islam is the only religion which is accepted by Allah Dhul Jalal wal-Ikram, because Allah declares it in the Quran:

Indeed, the only religion in the sight of Allah is Islam. And we also claim that this religion — the religion of Islam — is not only for Muslims, rather it is for all humankind and jinkind. But unfortunately, the vast majority of us fail to prove this claim through their actions and their attitude when we do not make any efforts at all to share this blessed religion with those who are deprived of it, and we do not convey the message of Islam to others.

And if someone embraces Islam, accepts Islam by the grace of Allah and through the efforts of those who are involved in Da'wah to non-Muslims — we collectively as a community do not treat those revert brothers and sisters as they should be treated. And this is a reality we cannot deny.

My dear brothers and sisters, you should know that because of our attitude towards revert brothers and sisters, many of them go back to their previous path and start practicing their previous religion again once they have accepted Islam — because they do not find any help from the Muslim community. They do not find any social help, financial help, or educational help from the Muslim community. So they give up this blessed religion of Islam and go back to their previous path.

My dear brothers and sisters, let me share with you some of the pains and sufferings of our revert brothers and sisters. And I would use the word revert because of the fact that the Prophet ﷺ said they do come back to their origin.

The Sufferings of Revert Muslims

First: Isolation and Abandonment

First of all, my dear brothers and sisters, when someone accepts Islam, they are left segregated, isolated, and no one really takes care of them. They are left without any help. Why? Just because of being born into a non-Muslim household.

We cannot say that they were not born Muslims — in fact, they were born Muslims. They were born Muslims because the hadith of the Prophet ﷺ says:

(Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 1385; Sahih Muslim, Book 33, Hadith 6423)

No child is born except on the fitrah, then his parents make him Jewish, or Christian, or a follower of any other religion. And then the narrator of this hadith, Abu Hurairah (may Allah be pleased with him), in his explanation of this hadith, used to recite the verse of Allah in Surah al-Rum:

This is the fitrah of Allah upon which He has created mankind. There is no change in the creation of Allah. This is the upright religion, but most of the people do not know. So this is the first problem — the first suffering of our revert brothers and sisters.

Second: Being Treated as Second-Class Muslims

Secondly, our revert brothers and sisters are not treated, not respected, and not accepted within the Muslim community. They are integrated into the community, but they are not treated as they should be treated — or in other words, they are not treated as we treat those who were born in a Muslim household. There is no educational help for them, and they are seen as second-class Muslims.

Therefore, we see many of us saying to those who converted to Islam — even many years after their conversion — we still call them "new Muslims." We always say "new Muslim" to them. And by calling them revert or sometimes "new Muslim," we treat them as new Muslims and we belittle them.

And we tend to forget that the religion of Islam — this very blessed religion that me and you practice today, my dear brothers and sisters — this very religion was brought to us through reverts. Was Abu Bakr al-Siddiq (may Allah be pleased with him) born in a Muslim household? Was he born to Muslim parents? No, he was a revert. Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) — the honor of this religion — he was a revert. Uthman (may Allah be pleased with him) — he was a revert. Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) — he was a revert.

All ten of the Mubasharoon — the ten companions of the Prophet ﷺ who were given the glad tidings of Jannah by their names — all of them were reverts. Was Abu Hurairah (may Allah be pleased with him), who narrated the largest number of ahadith of the Prophet ﷺ, was he not a revert? Was Bilal al-Habashi (may Allah be pleased with him) — who was appointed for the Adhan, for the call to prayer — was he not a revert?

You can easily say 90%, or over 90%, of the companions of the Prophet ﷺ were reverts. And this very religion has reached us through the efforts of reverts. And now we treat reverts as second-class Muslims? This is the second problem — the second suffering of our revert brothers and sisters.

Third: Social Isolation and Marital Problems

Thirdly, my dear brothers and sisters, our revert brothers and sisters also face social problems. They are isolated socially, and this is manifested through the fact that on one hand, we have revert brothers — when someone converts or reverts to Islam — they stay single for so many years, and no one amongst the community is willing to marry them their daughter or their sisters. Why? Just because of their having converted to Islam, reverted to Islam.

And on the other hand, we have revert sisters who do get married to their Muslim husbands, but unfortunately they are depressed, oppressed, and abused. Many of them are left homeless, divorced, or with children that they themselves need to provide for. And we all know this reality — they are oppressed.

My dear brothers, if you decide to marry a revert sister, then first of all you have to have a pure and sincere intention. If your intention is to obtain your legal status, then this is — wallahi — an ill intention, a bad intention. And secondly, you should be fully aware that this sister — this very revert sister — was not born in a Muslim household. She did not receive Islamic tarbiyah. She did not grow up in an Islamic environment. So you, as a husband, have to teach her the religion of Islam. You have to give her tarbiyah through your attitude, through your behavior, through your efforts. And you have to be wise and patient.

And if you believe, if you think that you cannot show any patience towards their attitude, then please, please do not marry them. It is better to leave them single. Do not marry them — rather than oppressing them and abusing them at later stages. And this is another problem of our revert brothers and sisters.

Fourth: Financial Difficulties

And fourthly and lastly, my dear brothers and sisters, as I said, our revert brothers and sisters face financial problems as well. Remember, my dear brothers and sisters — wallahi — it is not easy to change one's religion. We as Muslims, within the fold of Islam, it is not easy for us to change or to rectify our mistakes. We know there are many sects amongst the Muslims, and it is not easy for one to give up his deviant sect and start following the Quran and Sunnah. If it is hard for those who were born Muslims, within a Muslim household, within a Muslim country, within a Muslim society — if it is difficult for them, then what about those who are not even familiar with the Deen of Allah?

It is not easy. It is a big step. They have big hearts. They have great courage to change their religion — to give up the religion of their parents, their society, their forefathers, their friends, their colleagues — and they give up all of that just for the sake of Allah.

When they give up everything, some of them might need to quit their jobs because the job they were doing is Islamically haram. Once they have accepted Islam, they are eager to practice the Deen of Islam — and in fact, in most cases, they are more eager to practice the Deen of Islam than those who were born Muslims. They want to quit their job. They need financial help.

Some of them might need to close down their business which is not Islamically acceptable — their business is haram — but because they have accepted Islam, they realise and they learnt that they have to close it down. They need financial help. Someone might need to move out of their parents' house because they cannot live within that environment anymore — because that environment is not Islamic, or they cannot practice their Deen, they cannot pray, they cannot fast, they cannot consume halal food while staying in that house. They have to move out. So they need financial help. But unfortunately, we push them away. We do not provide them financial help.

So these are some of the problems — some of the sufferings of our dear revert brothers and sisters. What do we need to do? What do we as a Muslim community, as this masjid and many other masajid around the country, what do we need to do to tackle this problem? Insha'Allah, I will discuss this in the second khutbah. May Allah give us tawfiq and ability to first of all admit our errors and our mistakes.

Second Khutbah

What Must We Do? Solutions for Our Community

My dear brothers and sisters, what do we need to do to tackle this problem — the suffering? How can we alleviate the suffering of our dear revert brothers and sisters?

First: Educational Responsibility of the Masajid

First of all, I have to say the biggest responsibility falls on the management of the masajid. The biggest responsibility falls on the shoulders of the management of the masajid and Islamic centres. First of all, they have to provide educational classes for them. They have to teach them. They have to hold special classes for revert brothers and sisters.

Alhamdulillah, in this masjid we do have Quran classes, tafseer classes, and many other classes for revert brothers and sisters. But unfortunately, most of the masajid — and if I say 99% of the masajid, that is probably true, or perhaps more than 99% — do not take care. They do not realize their responsibility towards revert brothers and sisters. There are very, very few masajid who hold classes for revert brothers and sisters.

They should be taught how to make tahara, how to make wudu, how to perform salah, and other aspects of Islam. They should also be taught how to read the Quran. They should be taught what is to be recited in salah. And they should be taught about the fiqh of the Deen. And this is the responsibility of masajid and Islamic centres.

Second: Social Gatherings and Events

Secondly, my dear brothers and sisters, we need to hold social gatherings and events for our revert brothers and sisters. Remember, they do not have any family, they do not have any household or any family members where they can socialize. So we as a community, as a masjid, as an Islamic centre, should hold social gatherings and events for our revert brothers and sisters — especially on special occasions such as the occasion of Eid.

On the day of Eid, me and you, my dear brothers and sisters, we go back after praying — we go back to our own family, we celebrate the day of Eid. What about the revert brothers and sisters? Have we ever thought about them? How can they celebrate their Eid?

And I remember one of our staff members who works for Islam Wise — the department that we have in this masjid which deals with non-Muslims and new Muslims — one of the staff members mentioned to me that when we held the Eid dinner last year in this masjid for revert brothers and sisters, one of the brothers who had converted to Islam three years ago expressed his feeling saying: "This is the first time I am feeling the happiness of Eid after three years." So in three years, he has probably seen and faced at least six occasions of Eid, but he never felt the happiness of Eid.

So this is the second thing that we need to do — we need to hold social gatherings and events for them.

Third: Financial Support Through Zakah

Thirdly, my dear brothers and sisters, we need to help them financially. And this is also very important. Why? Because Allah mentions in the Quran those who are eligible for zakah — which is an obligation upon Muslims — zakah is to be given to eight types of people:

The first of them is al-fuqara — the poor — and then al-masakin, the needy. And there is a difference between fuqara and masakin. The third one is al-amilin — those who are employed to collect the zakah. And the fourth one — Allah says those whose hearts are needed to be brought together. And the ulama of tafseer say these are the people who revert to Islam. They are newly into Islam; they must be helped financially in order to keep their hearts firm in the Deen. They are eligible for zakah.

And remember, my dear brothers and sisters, even if they are not poor, even if they are not masakin, they are still eligible for zakah under the category of al-mu'allafatu qulubuhum — those whose hearts are to be brought together. The newly converted brothers and sisters do not have to be poor and needy to be eligible for zakah. One of the categories of zakah is specifically for them.

And now I ask this question to the whole congregation, my dear brothers and sisters: how many times have you spent your full zakah, or a portion of your zakah, on new Muslim or revert brothers and sisters? How many times? You do take care of your own relatives — yes, it is good, there is a double reward for that. And you send money abroad to your home country — it is good. And you give zakah for Syria — it is good. You give zakah for Palestine. You give zakah for many Muslims who are suffering around the world — yes, it is good, alhamdulillah. But what about the obligation within the locality you are living in? Have you ever spent your zakah, or a portion of your zakah, on revert brothers and sisters?

You can spend a portion of zakah — or if you want, the full amount of your zakah — on providing them with Islamic literature. You can provide them with clothing. You can help them financially. Or if you think and believe that they are financially stable, you can still purchase gifts and presents for them from zakah money, just in order to act upon the ayah of Allah.

So these are some of the points that I wanted to share with you, my dear brothers and sisters. May Allah give us tawfiq and ability to understand His Deen, and may Allah allow us to be balanced in our practice of the Deen of Islam.

Announcements

Dear brothers and sisters, insha'Allah straight after Salatul Jumu'ah we will be praying Salatul Janazah for a young girl. So if you are not in a hurry, please wait for a couple of minutes insha'Allah. We will be praying Salatul Janazah straight after Salah insha'Allah.

Insha'Allah we are going to pray Salatul Janazah for a young girl aged 7. And mainly the du'a in the janazah will be for her parents, because she died before reaching the age of puberty. And this is the Sunnah of the Prophet ﷺ — whenever he used to pray janazah for a child, he used to make du'a for the child's parents.

The Salatul Janazah consists of four takbeerat. After the first takbeer, we recite Surah al-Fatihah and an additional surah from the Quran. After the second takbeer, we read:

— the Salah upon the Prophet ﷺ as we read in our Salah. And after the third takbeer, we make du'a. And after the fourth takbeer, we conclude the Salatul Janazah with Salam.

Just a few announcements: Alhamdulillah, the Task Force GLM team along with the Human Appeal returned safely from Turkey on Wednesday evening after a four-day trip to visit the Syrian refugees and to witness your donations being produced into bread. SubhanAllah, they heard some very harrowing accounts and saw images that left many of them heartbroken. 18 million packs of bread will be produced over the next three months to feed our Syrian brothers and sisters. We ask Allah to accept the efforts of each and every one of us, ameen. Please continue to make du'a for all our Ummah across the world who have been afflicted with hostilities.

Please also follow us on YouTube and Facebook to see all the footage regarding this trip. This Saturday's lecture after Isha is entitled "The Best of You Are Those That Bring Most Benefit to the Rest of Mankind" and will be delivered by Abu Abdullah Yunus. Tonight's Urdu lecture will take place after Salatul Isha. Our food bank service urgently requires food donations — please donate generously.