The Reasons We Stay Strong

The Reasons We Stay Strong

Ever wondered why the ummah stays strong regardless of what happens? Even though we see general weakness in the Muslim world and around the world as well. We see weakness in the Muslim world, but still, despite the weakness of leadership and the absence of it in some Muslim communities, ما شاء الله, الحمد لله — the Muslim communities are thriving and they stay strong.

Even for us here in the West, there is no unified leadership. There's no one person directing the whole community in one direction, but still you see pockets of these beautiful Muslim communities thriving and being strong, being strong and influential as well, regardless of how small they are. They have that influence in the society and around the world. Ever wondered where this strength is coming from? What makes the ummah strong? And what are the reasons for that?

I want to share with you a few of these things from the book of Allah and the Sunnah of the Prophet ﷺ so that even at times of hardship and difficulty, when we feel low and the morale is very low in the Muslim community, I want to bring you that glimpse of hope. So that regardless of what you see happening around the world — and particularly what's happening in Palestine today, and in Lebanon, and around the world — we can ask: what can we learn? How can we stay strong, إن شاء الله تبارك وتعالى?

You see nowadays many historians try to explain the world and the history of the world from a very materialistic point of view. No matter how much they try, they will fail to explain this phenomenon unless you believe in faith-based communities. Because civilization never flourished unless it had a book and a mission. If there is no mission or vision that you follow, you will never flourish. And as an ummah, that's what we have, and that's what makes us strong.

The Quranic Foundation: Allah Defends the Believers

From the book of Allah, He made it clear:

Indeed, Allah defends those who believe. Surely Allah does not like whosoever is deceitful, ungrateful.

Permission to fight back is hereby granted to those being fought, for they have been wronged — and Allah is truly most capable of helping them prevail. Who are they? Those who have been driven out and expelled from their homelands, from their towns, with no right except that they say: "Our Lord is Allah."

Had Allah not repelled the aggression of some people by means of others, destruction would have surely claimed monasteries, churches, synagogues, and mosques in which Allah's name is often mentioned. Allah will certainly help those who stand up for Him. Allah is truly all-powerful, almighty.

These ayat came as a result of what happened in the early years of the Prophet's life in Medina. When the people from Mecca — the Muhajireen — traveled to Medina, they were never called to defend themselves or fight. They were just supposed to avoid any conflict, until one of those expeditions or patrols around Medina clashed with a group from the Mushrikeen who were traveling in that area. It happened to be one of those sacred months which were considered very sacred to the Arabs even before Islam.

And then they started taunting the Prophet ﷺ: "Look what you did. You violated the sacred months. How could you call yourself a religious person who respects these months and these days?" So Allah revealed these ayat to the Prophet ﷺ defending the believers in that moment — like, what are you talking about? You talk about the sacred months when you have violated everything, every sacred thing in this life. You've killed the innocent. You went after the poor. You expelled them out of their homes. You destroyed everything. And now you're going to care just because this conflict happened in a sacred month?

And Allah says: Allah defends these people. He will defend them, and He gave them permission to fight back.

But then after that was established, what keeps the ummah strong? Allah says:

They are those who, if established in the land by Allah, would perform Salah, pay their Zakah, encourage that which is good and forbid that which is evil. And with Allah rests the outcome of all affairs.

My dear brothers and sisters, in short, what keeps this ummah very strong is that we are an ummah of purpose. If you have lost your purpose, there is nothing really to stand for. Then you stand for nothing. And you can always be confused and exhausted and tired because now you're pursuing illusions. If you have no real, true purpose, you're going to get lost. And if your purpose is not the reason why you've been created, you're going to get even more exhausted — because you're going to keep getting disappointed every time you follow and pursue a dream or what you think is your goal.

Obviously, there are goals that you need to accomplish in this life. But what is the ultimate purpose? You are an ummah of a message, of a Risalah. You've been purposely chosen to be the last ummah for a reason. No message is going to come after you. No prophets will come to lead the world after the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ. It was left for the followers of Muhammad ﷺ to lead the world to that which is righteous. And Allah made it clear that those, when given the opportunity, will worship their Lord — they pray, they give Zakah, and they also stand for justice and that which is right and forbid that which is wrong. You have a Risalah, you have a mission. And if you don't follow it, if you don't fulfill it, once again, you're going to get weaker and get lost.

The Four Pillars That Keep the Ummah Strong

So here is the summary of what makes us strong, my dear brothers and sisters. I want you to pay attention to this and keep this ingrained in your heart — to keep us strong as small communities, as families, and as individuals.

1. Aqeedah — Our Faith

For us as an ummah, the most important thing is our Aqeedah, our faith. We are a faith-based community. There are many other groups out there who call themselves faith-based communities. But how much do you feel or see that people are truly true to that faith? And what type of faith is that anyway? What does it promote to the people? Here we see that we are truly a faith-based community, and we are willing to sacrifice everything for that faith.

Rasulullah ﷺ — and although some of the ulema have noted it is not actually a strong narration — when the Prophet ﷺ was confronted by his uncle Abu Talib, who was being pressured so much by the Meccans: "Why don't you call your nephew to stop what he's doing?" Abu Talib said, "Okay, I'll try, but I don't guarantee any success in that." And he went to the Prophet ﷺ and said, "Ya Muhammad, look — your people want to bargain with you. They want you to stop what you're doing. And if you want my protection, then make it easy on me as well." And that is when the Prophet ﷺ told his uncle:

"Listen to me, my uncle. I swear to God — let them put the sun in my right hand and bring the moon in my left hand. If they give me both the sun and the moon in my hands to leave this, I would never leave it. I would never abandon my faith."

Can you imagine a statement like this, O Jama'ah? Someone says: "Give me the stars — I won't let go of this, because it is more important to me, more valuable than anything you could ever think to give me."

Look at Bilal, Bilal رضي الله عنه. What was he? He was a slave in Mecca. What did he have to lose? But he was sacrificing everything — and the dearest thing to him, his life at that time — for what? For his faith. When he was dragged in the sun and tortured to leave Muhammad ﷺ and this faith, what did he say? He said: "Ahad, Ahad." I believe in the One and only One. That's what made him strong. And that's what made his enemies weak — because when they saw that level of power they did not possess, that spiritual strength they did not have, they were struck with fear. Because they knew they could not withstand that kind of level of torture they were putting on Bilal رضي الله عنه.

Abu Sufyan رضي الله عنه, when he was standing before Heraclius in Ash-Sham, the king of the Romans — he was standing before him and the king was asking about the Prophet ﷺ because he had received the Prophet's letter. Abu Sufyan told him about the people who followed the Prophet. He said, "Those who follow him are the weakest among us and the poor." The king said: "Yes, of course — because those are usually the ones who follow the prophets first." He then asked: "Do they increase or do they decrease?" Because they never decrease — they always increase. Because this is the effect of the sweetness of faith when it enters the hearts. They had tasted the sweetness of Iman, and that is why they would never let go of it.

Can you imagine, my dear brothers and sisters, the sweetness of Iman that the Sahaba savored in that moment? And Abu Sufyan, the leader of the Meccans at the time, when he heard that from the king of the Romans, on his way out he told the people around him: "Don't you see that the honor of Muhammad has become so great that this man — the king of the Romans — is scared of him?" He wasn't scared of Muhammad the shepherd. He wasn't scared of Muhammad the illiterate. He was scared of Muhammad ﷺ, who brings a message that he knew was going to be so powerful that it would remove all the illusions they had been creating as an alternative to Allah's message to the world.

So we are an ummah of Aqeedah, my dear brothers and sisters. We are an ummah living for a purpose, with the Akhira always in mind. I'll tell you what — if you take the Akhira out of your mind, you're gone. You're going to live for your body, for your lusts, for your desires, for this world. That's it. And how much can you get out of it anyway, no matter how much you try? How much satisfaction does it give? That's why people get exhausted pursuing this dunya. But living with the Akhira in mind — that's powerful. This makes you above everything in this dunya that you think is sacred. Any position of this world becomes irrelevant, because I believe in something that is more powerful, way above that.

2. Our Identity as One Brotherhood and Sisterhood

Brothers and sisters, the second thing that makes us strong as an ummah is that we have an identity that we pursue. And what is that? We believe we are brothers and sisters. We are one family. سبحان الله — how many times do you travel, not even to a Muslim country, but anywhere in the world, and you meet a random Muslim, and just the kind of bond that happens instantly? It's just like something remarkable. Just by saying السلام عليكم — "Oh, you're Muslim too? ما شاء الله, what are you doing here?" — and suddenly you're having dinner together. Can you imagine how sweet and beautiful that is?

Where does this happen in an ummah, unless you are a people of purpose — whose connection is beyond blood ties, beyond the color of your skin? It is Aqeedah. It is that faith that we share together that bonds us as one community. That's our identity. If you start getting divided over interests, over skin color, over cultural boundaries, we get divided and we get weaker. But as long as we have that sense of brotherhood and sisterhood, the Prophet ﷺ says:

(Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 481; Sahih Muslim, Hadith 2585)

The believers are like one structure — يَشُدُّ بَعْضُهُ بَعْضًا — they strengthen each other. And he demonstrated this ﷺ with his hands interlocked, showing us that we are together like this, like one structure. This is how strong we can be if we follow and pursue that goal.

And الحمد لله رب العالمين, as a result of that, we always think of each other — versus what this culture is pursuing and promoting to society: the absolute radical individualism, where you live for your own reason, your own personal existence. That becomes the god they worship. And again, how much is that going to fulfill them? But feeling that you live for the community as well — that is very, very fulfilling, because we have been designed for this, to help one another, not to live independent from one another.

3. Knowledge — We Are People of Truth and 'Ilm

The third thing, my dear brothers and sisters, that makes us strong is that we are people of the truth, and we pursue the truth. Ilm — knowledge — is important for us in our deen. Unfortunately, we have fallen way behind on this as an ummah. And I mean by that the knowledge of the dunya — الحمد لله, we have many successful people in that regard. But in the past, the average Muslim's knowledge used to be way higher than many knowledgeable people of our time. The average Muslim's knowledge in their deen was way higher than many educated people of our time today. And why is that? Because we truly put ilm in the right order of priority.

You see, when Allah revealed the Quran, He didn't reveal "do" or "work." He said:

Iqra — Read. Brothers and sisters, can you even imagine? Just put that in perspective. What is the greatest miracle of the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ? You're going to say the Quran, right? I'll tell you what it is — it's a book. Kitab. That's what Allah called the Quran. He called it:

A book that was revealed to you. Allah's greatest miracle to the Prophet ﷺ was a book — and is a book. What does that mean? What is a book? It represents knowledge, power, all of that. And the first thing Allah says is Iqra — read it, read this book. And He says:

He taught the human being what he knew nothing of before. Knowledge is important.

My dear brothers and sisters, ask yourself about the level of your religious knowledge. Is it better than your grandmother's? Is it higher than that? If you're not really upgrading your ilm and your knowledge and you only expect it to grow randomly by itself — that's not going to help you. And with all due respect, our khutab al-Jumu'ah do not necessarily give you knowledge; they give you motivation. You need knowledge? You need to come and sit in the masjid, go to the halaqah, go to the ilm, stand for hours, read books. That's what you need to do. Learn with the Sheikh. That's how we do it. And that's how you stay strong. But when we lack our religious knowledge, you can see when the fault lines start being created in the entire ummah.

4. Commanding Good and Forbidding Evil — Our Mission

The last thing, my dear brothers and sisters, is that we are an ummah of a mission, having been given a responsibility. And that responsibility is:

Commanding good and forbidding evil. We are the last ummah, the last line on that frontier against chaos in this world. You stand for principles. You stand for justice. You stand for that which is right and that which is wrong. You defend the haqq. You are the only people who still stand for purpose, for virtue. When many other groups start crumbling under pressure, we still stand for virtue.

Can you imagine — الْأَمْرُ بِالْمَعْرُوفِ وَالنَّهْيُ عَنِ الْمُنكَرِ — when Allah gave us this responsibility, He says:

The best nation ever produced to mankind. For what reason? Because of the color of our skin? Because of our language? No — because you enjoin good and forbid evil. You promote that which is right and forbid that which is wrong. And you believe in Allah. He mentioned the result of that Iman first, which means: because of this Iman, you always promote good and forbid evil. Once you stop doing that — once we stop the da'wah in our ummah and in our community — we start falling behind in a very big way.

A Note on Optimism

Brothers and sisters, being strong in times of weakness is very important. And it was given to us clearly in the Quran. Make sure to stand firm in your Aqeedah and your Iman. Make sure that your hawiyyah — your identity as a Muslim, part of a community — is strong and complete and perfect, إن شاء الله تعالى. Increase your ilm and your knowledge in your faith. Don't settle on one level of ilm — increase your knowledge in your deen. Always learn something new, and make sure to promote that through your actions — enjoining that which is good and forbidding that which is evil, إن شاء الله تعالى.

My dear brothers and sisters, the last thing I want to mention that الحمد لله keeps us strong — we are an ummah of optimism. We always see the best out of everything. At least that's what Allah is promoting to us in the Quran. You might dislike something, and Allah is placing so much khair and good therein for you. It doesn't matter how hard it gets, how difficult things become in our society, in our personal life, around us — everywhere. We try to see the best out of it. What can we learn from that? How can I make it right?

And we have learned that from the Prophet ﷺ. When a companion came to him while he was resting in the shade of the Ka'bah and said: "Don't you ask Allah? Shouldn't you ask Allah for victory for us? Shouldn't you ask Allah to help us, ya Rasulallah?" The Prophet ﷺ sat up and said: "Look — those who were before you went through more difficult trials than yours." And he mentioned two examples: they were ripped, their flesh torn from their bones, and they were buried in the ground — but they would never quit their faith and their Iman. Because they knew that was the most valuable thing to them.

But then he said to us: "You are very hasty people. Everything has its time, and we are ready for it. Allah will deliver."

Brothers and sisters, it is your duty and my duty for this to be delivered — but we need to be at that level. So prepare yourself with the Aqeedah, with that true identity of a believer. Make sure your Ilm is where it should be and at the level it should be. And then participate in the khair — enjoin that which is good and forbid that which is evil.

Closing Du'a