Stand Together or Divided, We Fail

Opening — Praise and Testimony

الحمدُ لله وحده، والصلاةُ والسلامُ على من لا نبيَّ بعده، نبيِّنا محمدٍ وعلى آله وصحبه، وسلِّم اللهمَّ تسليماً كثيرا. أمَّا بعد، فأشهد أن لا إله إلا الله وأشهد أن محمداً عبده ورسوله، وأن خيرَ الكلامِ كلامُ الله، وخيرَ الهدي هديُ رسولِ الله صلى الله عليه وسلم.

All praise is due to Allah, and His praise and blessings and peace be upon our Prophet Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wa alihi wa sallam, his family, his companions, and his followers until the Day of Judgment. I bear witness that Allah is the only one worthy of worship, and Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wa sallam is His last and final messenger.

Lessons from History: Paralysis in the Face of Danger

My dear brothers and sisters, history has recorded for us interesting and actually strange incidents, and remarkable reactions from people in the face of injustice and danger.

For instance, when the Mongols conquered Baghdad and entered the lands of the Muslims, sweeping through the east side of the Muslim world going all the way to al-Sham, reaching even to the border of Egypt — at that time, many historians have recorded for us that sometimes a soldier would see a group of Muslims and that soldier would be wasted, drunk. And he would see this group of people and tell them, "Hey, I don't have my sword with me — wait here until I go get my sword." And he would go get his sword and come back and kill them all. Not a single one of them would move, not a single one of them would escape.

In contrast, in Andalus, as towns and villages fell one after another into the hands of the European crusaders coming from the east of Europe — what is today France and the north of Spain — do you know what the Muslim leaders were doing at that time? Cordoba was surrounded by an army shooting at the city using catapults, archers, and all kinds of weapons trying to conquer the city. And while the so-called "prince of the believers," the leader of the land at that time, was in his palace listening to a singer and indulging in entertainment — he even decided for three days not to speak to anyone, because by mistake one of his men accidentally shot his favorite dancer while she was dancing for him.

History has also reported that during the Crusader period in the Holy Land, when the Crusaders marched and captured so many major cities — and one of the most important cities was obviously Jerusalem — when you look at this period of time and you look at the reactions of the people who saw the dangers, who saw the massacres, who saw what was happening to their lands and the lands around them, what were their reactions? Internal fighting. The king of Aleppo fighting the king of Damascus, trying every trick to conquer Damascus with the idea of unifying them afterward. And some of them even conspired with the Crusaders against their own brothers, just because they were seeking political power and a greater kingdom.

It's strange, isn't it? But if we don't learn from history, we are doomed to repeat it.

The Wake-Up Call for American Muslims Today

And what I want to talk about is something so relevant to us as American Muslims today. I know many people might think that I'll take you to what is happening in Palestine — which is obviously absolutely our right to think about and make that connection. But before we go that far, I want to say that we as a community, as people who live in the United States, as citizens and members of our country here, we are facing a tremendous amount of change and, in my opinion, a tremendous amount of threat.

And sometimes I can see these kinds of reactions that I mentioned existing in our community — that we act as if nothing is happening, as if nothing is going to touch us, as if there is no need to be alert or even informed about what is happening. It is still business as usual. Which just means to me that what happens next might come and we will have to say we deserved it.

There is a fundamental change in the principles and the things that have made many of us — especially first-generation Muslims, immigrants who came to the United States — choose America to live in. Many of the privileges that we have today, that we enjoy, and that allowed us as Muslims to actually live in a country which is a majority non-Muslim country — the scholars, rahimahumullah, said that one of the most important reasons for you to be able to live as a Muslim is to live in a place where there is freedom, where you are free to practice your religion, free to stay and to protect your deen. And I would say these things are not something we came and found as a given, or that some of us were born into and grew up witnessing as permanent.

These things are not for granted. Anyone who studies American history understands that rights have to be fought for — and you have to continuously fight for them. Otherwise, you lose them. I am telling you, the cost is so high.

Addressing Those Who Have Given Up on America

And I will say this with a very painful voice. I know some people say, "I don't care." I know there are many people around the world who hate America, who don't like America. And I know people in America who hate America and don't like America. Some of them may have legitimate reasons for not liking the country. Some of them may be exaggerating, or their reasons may not be well-founded. And many are coming from personal experiences that led them to that conclusion.

But I am not talking to that category. I am talking to the vast majority of people that I know in my community. We all have our reservations. We all have our understanding of what is right. Nothing is perfect. There are so many problems, so many mistakes, so many of this and so many of that. But we also see so many opportunities. And we deal with society the same way the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam said:

"I came to complete the goodness that you have."

He was speaking to the people of Mecca — with all that you know about the people of Mecca. They had good and they had ugly and they had bad and evil. So it is going to be a choice that we have to make: What are we going to do about these changes?

No Community Is Immune

Just think about it. Don't think that our community as a Muslim community is immune. There are much bigger targets than us, and we see how they are targeted and clipped every day. Like the Democratic Party — I am not a fan of any political party — but that is a huge, powerful party, and you see how it is crumbling and trying to put its house in order. Can you imagine if that kind of pressure came to our community? The African-American community, the Latino community, the American community at large — our community is in no comparison in size, power, money, and numbers to any of these. But we still feel as if we are so immune, so secure, as if everything is perfect. And it is not fair. And it is not right.

That we became the kind of people who take the good out of this society, but when the time comes for you to stand for what is right — when the time comes to say, "That is wrong and this is not correct" — you just run away. You say, "I have a backup, I can leave." You know what? If you are that kind of person, I advise you to leave right now. Because that is not the kind of person we are going to need when we want to protect our community.

I am not trying to scare you, but I want us to be aware, to be alert, and not to wait until a huge crisis happens. Just watching how the Supreme Court is dealing with the issue of redistricting and voting — it is pretty alarming. The amount of attack on the First Amendment — the very amendment because of which you and I are enjoying our lives in America today — it is not acceptable, in my opinion, any longer.

Especially for young Americans — I have bet on you more than anyone else — for you to feel that you cannot be involved, that you can just stay on the sidelines. Because I believe this threat is greater to the young generation than to the older one. Things change over time.

Our Duty as a Community of Purpose

And I want to remind each and every one of us that this is our duty. Allah says:

We are an ummah intended to be brought out to the people — to lead people to what is good, and to stop evil, to stand on the side of justice, and to stand against injustice. Not only injustice in one part of the world. Not only injustice in some cases.

If we want to help so many places around the world — and at the top of that list is Palestine and what is happening there, and how it is now happening in Syria — we know how if this became an obstacle, everything could stagnate and not move. There is so much khair that can come if we are able to steer our country to have a just cause.

We have seen the reaction after these two years of genocide — a barbaric attack on innocent men and women, elderly and children. It has moved the needle. Politicians are saying, "I don't want to accept AIPAC money anymore." People have started speaking up. But what did we do to capitalize on this moment? That is a big topic. But I felt it is important to give a wake-up call. It has to be something we think about: What am I going to do to ensure that our country does not shift further? Because it can be way, way much worse. Didn't we learn that lesson? Not because something is bad does it mean it cannot be worse. No — it can be way worse than bad.

Practical Steps for the Community

And the duty falls on everyone at a different level. At the very least, as a community, we must make sure we do not just stay on the sideline watching. If there is a politician today — a member of their political party, working in the administration of the government — and in their chat group somebody writes, "I can't wait to see people in the gas chamber," "I can't wait to see people burned alive," and that gets no comment — that is the reaction — we cannot be silent just because we are living in Houston, Texas, while watching what is happening in Oregon and other places around the country.

We have members in our community — doctors saving lives in hospitals — who were arrested by ICE and are in detention centers. We have people who have a legitimate case for asylum who were picked up just because some malicious person made a phone call and said, "Hey, look at this Arab guy," or "this brown guy," or whatever else.

May Allah help us, protect us, and keep us strong.

If I want to be practical about this, I think it is important for our community that we demand strong, mature, wise representation for our community at all levels — politically and in civil rights. We should hold our existing organizations accountable and create more organizations to represent us strongly, fairly, and wisely. We should make sure our organizations understand that we have to be financially strong. Everything in this country is based on money, based on the ability to hire professionals and people like that.

We cannot afford to play a lose-lose game where everybody is opening a school, everybody is opening a masjid, everybody is opening a fundraiser — a million different organizations — and we drain our community. We have to have a tough love. This is not a time of luxury. This is a time of being very serious.

We should not allow negative voices and divisive messages to come into our community. We should be able to set our priorities straight, to empower our leaders and our community, and to build real, good strategic alliances and partnerships. And the most important thing is to be aware, to be alert, and to speak up.

The Foundation: Taqwa and Sabr

And one of the most important things to say in closing is what Allah said in the Quran:

We have to be a community of taqwa. A community of sabr. We have to be a community of strength — because that is what sabr is.

Our community, in my opinion, has one of the best opportunities to heal this country, to bring it together. Our community has so many qualities — and maybe that is another talk — but we have an opportunity to bring solutions, to heal the country, to bring it together. We are not motivated by partisanism, but by good, universal principles.

I want you to trust yourself and to trust your ability. And to act like an American — and not only an American, but like a Muslim American. Because that adds value.

Make a lot of du'a that Allah protects our community and protects our country from shifting further towards injustice, and brings justice to this place. Don't ever think that this is hard for Allah or not possible. We have seen things that you never dreamed you would see in your life. We have seen people in media and in Congress shift in certain areas 180 degrees. If you had told me a month ago that this person would say that, I would have said, "No way." But that shows you that it requires strategic thinking and strategic relationships to move people. We don't want any favor. We want good for all of us who live in this country. Because the reality is the whole world is connected — we are 25% of the world's economy. If it collapses, the whole thing collapses, and there will be chaos.

So ask Allah to increase you, and make sure you increase your du'a to Allah for protection for your family.

Du'a — Closing Supplication