Why Islam? - Ustadh Waseem Razvi

Khutbah Opening

أَمَّا بَعْدُ: فَإِنَّ خَيْرَ الْحَدِيثِ كِتَابُ اللَّهِ وَخَيْرَ الْهَدْيِ هَدْيُ مُحَمَّدٍ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ وَشَرَّ الْأُمُورِ مُحْدَثَاتُهَا وَكُلَّ مُحْدَثَةٍ بِدْعَةٌ وَكُلَّ بِدْعَةٍ ضَلَالَةٌ وَكُلَّ ضَلَالَةٍ فِي النَّارِ

I welcome all of you with Islamic greetings — Assalamu alaykum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh. May peace, mercy, and blessings of Almighty God, Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, be on all of you.

The subject that I want to discuss today is: Why Islam? We live in a time and age where Islam is continuously being questioned and challenged. Moreover, Islam is being scrutinized. It is being blamed and accused — that Islam, if it was a religion, does not belong to the time and age that we live in, that is the modern-day 21st century.

So let us discuss and have a quick rationale as to why would I and you — along with more than a billion people across the globe — practice Islam even today. And I would go further to add that we want to invite the rest, or rather the entire human race, towards this religion, towards this deen that is Al-Islam.

So the question arises: why should the world come towards Islam? What are the reasons? That's the subject that we have today — Why Islam? I'll present certain aspects, certain principles, on which we as Muslims and the rest of humanity together agree are some of the accepted norms of society. So let us see what Islam has to offer in that regard.

Reason 1: Islam is the Only Religion That Claims to Be the Religion of God

The first and the foremost: I say Islam is the only religion in the world. You might be thinking — outside we've got many religions: Judaism, Christianity, Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam, and many others. So how would I say that Islam is the only religion in the world?

When I say Islam is the only religion in the world, I say that with evidence — because no other religion claims to be the religion of God at all. And if you look at the scriptures which are meant to be the resource and the evidence of any religion, you pick up the scripture of any religion and you will be surprised.

Let me give you a quick example. You know the religion called Judaism, which is the religion of the followers of Musa (alayhi al-salam). Musa (alayhi al-salam) never said that the religion of God is Judaism. The Torah, or the modern-day Old Testament of the Bible — you open it and check — it never says that Judaism is the religion of God.

You go further to Christianity. You read the entire Bible, or any version of the Bible — the word Christianity does not even exist in any of the Christian scriptures. So if the scripture itself never says that Christianity is the religion of God, then how could I and you title Christianity to be the religion of God?

We move further to Hinduism. The word Hinduism does not exist in any of the dozens of scriptures of Hinduism. Rather, the word Hindu itself is a geographical term, according to the Encyclopedia Britannica of Religion and Ethics.

If you go further to Buddhism — Gautama Buddha, who was the founder of the religion of Buddhism, never said that my discipline, my religion, or my teachings should be called or titled Buddhism. It was a latter-day invention in the titling of these religions.

Let us now compare this to Islam. Islam is the only religion which has the evidence of it proclaiming to be the religion of Almighty God. If you read the Quran, Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says in Surah Al-Ma'idah (Surah 5, Ayah 3), in Surah Aal-Imran (Surah 3, Ayah 85), as well as in Surah Aal-Imran (Surah 3, Ayah 19):

"Verily, the only religion that is acceptable in the sight of Allah is Al-Islam."

That is why I say: the whole world, which is craving for a religion today — Islam is the only religion, because it alone is the one in this race. It alone is the one which claims to be the religion of God.

Reason 2: Islam is a Complete and Perfect System of Life

Some people turn to different religions for various benefits. Some look at religion for solutions for their personal life. Some for their health. Some for their wealth. Some for their political gains. People look towards religion to solve their problems and find solutions in their lives.

Some systems out there provide spirituality, but they tend not to address the social aspect of human life. Whereas there are other religions which happen to be too technical in socialization, but they have got no connection with the Almighty God. In the midst of these incomplete ideologies and religions, Islam is the only system, the only religion, the only ideology, the only entity that teaches you anything and everything related to every human being in this world — whether it be of the 21st century or you go back to the 7th century or even those before us.

Islam is the religion that provides everything. What I mean to say by that is Islam teaches you simple and minute things — as small as how to clean yourself when you go to the toilet. It has got the detail of it: how to enter the toilet, which hand to use and which not, what to read while entering, and what to do when you come out — entire minute details of how to clean yourself in the toilet — all the way up to, if you are a ruler, how to run a nation or an entire generation.

I say this is Islam — which is complete in all its aspects and affairs. It is for this reason that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala calls Islam not just a merely religion, but calls Islam a deen — the complete, the perfect system of life — as mentioned in Surah Al-Ma'idah, Surah number 5, Ayah number 3:

"This day I have completed My favours upon you, and perfected for you the religion — the deen — that is Al-Islam."

It is for this reason I say: when someone asks, why Islam? Only Islam — because there is no other religion that would give you the teachings in its entirety.

Reason 3: Islam Honours and Uplifts the Human Race

If you leave the masjid and look at the different ideologies out there about the human race and human beings themselves — there are systems out there that believe that we human beings are descendants of apes, or in loose language, monkeys. They degrade human beings to merely another animal, another creation of Allah.

If you look at other religions out there, they believe that we human beings are born sinful — what it means is they believe that every human being is a sinner by birth. What that implies is that a little child, a baby of a month old or a week old — if that baby dies, they believe the baby goes to the hellfire. SubhanAllah! A child which hasn't even started thinking — they believe that goes to the hellfire.

It is in the midst of this chaos and this wrong ideology that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala enlightens us with the deen of Islam, which uplifts the entire human race. Where Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says in Surah number 95, Ayah number 4:

"We have created you, human beings, in the best and the most perfect of forms."

You know, if you look at every single part of a human body — just take the eye itself. We've got all these latest gadgets these days, the smartphones with the best cameras on the market. What is their capacity? What's the megapixels? 10, 20, 40, 50 megapixels? The eye that we have — which we haven't even designed or shaped ourselves — has more than 500 megapixels. And the very eye that you see from — the vision centre — is in the brain. And the vision centre happens to be the darkest part of the brain. Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala has given the vision to our eyes to see the rest of the world from a place which is the darkest part of the brain.

How could it be that we were coming from so-called apes and monkeys? They degrade the human race to that level. But it is Islam that uplifts humanity, the human race, and human beings to the best of the creation of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.

That's why when someone says, why Islam? Only Islam — because it is Islam that knows the actual position, the honour, the dignity, the respect that human beings should get.

Reason 4: Islam is the Solution to Racism

People say they want equality amongst all human beings. They say that today the problem the world faces is so-called racism. Some of the most developed countries of the world are not able to cope with the problem of racism in their society. Even the most expected to be the safest systems — the universities or the police departments in various countries of the world — they all happen to be falling prey to the so-called disease of racism.

I say Islam teaches and preaches to be anti-racist right from the beginning. Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says in the Quran, Surah 49, Ayah 13:

"Oh human beings, oh entire human race — We have created you from a single pair of human beings, a male and a female, a father and a mother. You are all brothers and sisters in humanity. There is no one better or lower than you."

The Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wasallam) taught in one of his famous khutbahs:

"No Arab is superior to a non-Arab, neither is a non-Arab superior to an Arab. No black is superior to a white, nor is a white superior to a black — except by taqwa (piety)." (Musnad Ahmad, Hadith 22978; also reported in the Farewell Khutbah)

The concept of equality — the concept of completely destroying the ideology of racism — was inbuilt and programmed in Islam right from its inception. So today, any society that is facing its troubles, I say: why Islam? Only Islam is the one that can eradicate all of your problems.

If you remember the days when Malcolm X — one of the top American personalities known and popular in the world — when he went to Hajj and came back, the question asked to him by journalists in America was: what did you get from your Hajj, from your pilgrimage? He said, "The thing that I learned from there — I have got all the solutions to the problems for our country, America." The journalist was surprised and asked, "Did you get that at pilgrimage?" He said, "Yes." They asked how. He said: "The problem, the disease that America is facing today is racism — the problem between the whites and the blacks, the problem between different communities, different societies, and different cultures. The solution to that is Islam. It eradicates racism from the very concept of its birth."

Someone asks, why Islam? I say, only Islam — because it is the only religion that can remove all forms of racism from society.

Reason 5: Islam Truly Honours and Protects Women

Coming back to the last two concepts — the fifth principle: they blame Islam of subjugating women's rights. They say Islam is a religion which is violent to women. They say Islam is a religion which does not give equal rights to women.

Let me give you a quick example. The current statistics of domestic violence across the globe are alarming, and the majority of victims happen to be women. Even here in the United Kingdom, according to the Office of National Statistics 2015 census, it says every week two women are murdered in the United Kingdom by either their ex or their present partner. And according to the 2004 FBI report in America, the total number of rapes that take place in America over one year is 80,000. If you are a good calculator, you cut it down — that is every two minutes a rape is happening in America. Since the time I and you have been talking, there have been 15 to 20 rapes that have taken place there.

What's the solution? Governments are craving, spending millions and billions to find a solution. In my country, Australia, in September 2015, our new prime minister Malcolm Turnbull said that domestic violence has become a national disgrace of Australia. And he said one of the ways to solve it is: ask or teach your children to respect women right from the childhood.

I say: for this very statement — "teach respect to your children right from the childhood" — this is nothing different from the Sharia principle of Islam. Islam teaches its men and women to respect women right from the childhood. Do we not remember the ayat of the Quran from Surah Al-Isra, Surah number 17, Ayat 23 and 24, where Allah commands us not to be disrespectful to our parents — do not even say a word of disrespect? The word there is أُفٍّ (uff) — do not even say uff to your parents.

You know the hadith of the Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wasallam) — when a companion came and asked the Prophet whom he should serve, the Prophet asked him, "Is your mother alive?" He said, "Yes, my mother is alive." The Prophet said, "Go back and serve your mother." The companion asked, "Oh Prophet of Allah, who should I serve after my mother?" The Prophet repeated, "Go and serve your mother." He asked, "Oh Prophet of Allah, who should I serve after my mother?" The Prophet repeated it even a third time: "Go and serve your mother." It was only the fourth time he asked — "Oh Prophet of Allah, whom should I serve after my mother?" — that the Prophet said, "Your father."

(Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 5971; Sahih Muslim, Hadith 2548)

It is this deen of Islam that teaches the children right from the childhood that your pathway to Jannah is your mother. It teaches you that your service, your time, your energy — everything — belongs to your mother. And then the companion asked, "Oh Prophet of Allah, whom should I serve after my mother?" The Prophet, the fourth time, said: "Your father."

You know, in Islam, poor dads — we get the least! And then someone is blaming that Islam does not have equality? I say those who ask for equality for women in Islam are actually degrading women. Because in Islam, in certain aspects of life, women have a higher position than men.

What's the hadith of the Prophet regarding daughters? If you have three daughters and you look after them well, bring them up Islamically, and marry them off, you go to Jannah. A companion asked, "Oh Rasulullah, I've got only two daughters." The Prophet said, "Even you." Someone asked, "Oh Rasulullah, I've got only one daughter." The Prophet said, "Even you." So if you've got daughters, you've got the pathway to Jannah.

(Sunan Ibn Majah, Hadith 3669; also reported in Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 1418, with similar wording)

It is this religion of Islam — which you blame — so you ask: why Islam? Only Islam — because the respect for women is at its peak in Islam. Your pathway to Jannah is your mother, and your pathway to Jannah is your daughter.

Yes, I know in Islam we are blamed for not looking after our wives. In Australia, a woman asked me, "Why do you Muslim men beat your wives?" I asked her, "Have you visited a Muslim house?" She said no. I recommended her — rather, I requested her — that please make sure you visit a Muslim house sometime very soon. You will realize — rather you will start crying for the men — because the amount of bruises that we have, we don't count them!

But if you want to see what Islam teaches about the rights of wives, I'll give you a quick example. In the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, in November 2015, a woman complained to the police that her shoulder was hurt by her husband in domestic violence. So the judge looked at the evidence, and the judge gave the judgment: the husband will be lashed, will be whipped, in the middle of the town. Hearing this strict punishment, the wife was surprised and ran back to the police station. She said, "Give me my husband back, I take my case back." The judge said, "Your case can be withdrawn, but the punishment will remain. We will give you your husband back after the punishment is implemented." Why? Because in Islam, abusing or being violent towards women cannot be accepted.

So if you are a domestic violence perpetrator, you are better off here rather than in a place where it is ruled by Islam. So you ask me, why Islam? Only Islam — because Islam is a religion that not only upgrades, protects, and gives honour, dignity, and respect to the women that the whole world today is dying to get.

Reason 6: Islam Has Nothing to Do with Terrorism or Extremism

The last aspect: they say that Islam is a religion so-called related to violence, extremism, terrorism, and so on and so forth. I'll give you quick statistics which will give a clear picture as to whether Islam has anything to do with these subjects.

According to an article written on 28th of July 2011 in the Times of India — one of the leading newspapers in India — it quotes European statistics. It says that for four years, from 2007 to 2010, the number of terrorist attacks that took place in entire Europe were 1,565. And the number of attacks among those 1,565 done by Muslims, according to European Union statistics — I'm not talking about Muslim statistics or research — out of 1,565 terrorist attacks, only 6 were done by so-called Muslims.

I'll give you the latest statistics. On 22nd February 2016 — just that week — according to a Huffington Post article published in the United Kingdom, it says that according to the FBI's survey report on terrorism, the total number of terrorist attacks that took place on American soil from 1980 to 2005 — 25 years — shows that only 6% were done by Islamist organizations. 7% by Jewish extremists. 24% by left-wing groups. And 42% by American Latinos. Once again, Muslims happen to be the least involved in any form of so-called extremism and terrorism.

If people say why are Muslims so extremist? I say a Muslim cannot be an extremist and should not be an extremist. Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala commands in the Quran, Surah An-Nisa, Surah number 4, Ayah number 171:

"Do not be extremist in your religion."

Those who say that Islam allows the killing of innocent people — I say Islam is the strictest religion against any and every form of terrorism. Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala commands in the Quran, Surah Al-Ma'idah, Surah number 5, Ayah number 32:

"If you kill an innocent person — whether it be a Muslim or a non-Muslim — it is as though you have killed the whole of humanity."

What's the punishment that any country gives to a murderer? A couple of months, a couple of years? You know what Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is saying in this ayah? If you kill one innocent, it is as though you have killed the whole of humanity. What is the human population today? 7 billion. You break it down — 7,000 million. You kill one person, and the sin that you carry on your head is like you have killed 7,000 million people in the world.

I say, out of the 200 constitutions of the world, there is none that would match the strictness of Islam against any and every form of extremism and terrorism.

Conclusion: Islam is the Answer to the World's Problems

I would like to conclude by reminding the world to answer their question: Why Islam? A popular personality in the Western world, by the name Sir Bernard Shaw — the think tank and philosopher of the modern day — in the midst of the chaos of World War 1 and World War 2, when the entire Western world was burning in fire, when atomic bombs were being dropped in different parts of the world, in the midst of that bloody bloodbath, that genocide and massacre, that Holocaust of 6 million people — in the midst of that chaos, while Sir Bernard Shaw was propagating secularism and democracy — he says in one of his speeches, which is recorded in the book The Genuine Islam, published from Singapore in the year 1936, Volume 1, Page 8:

"If a man like Muhammad was to be given the dictatorship of the modern world, he would have solved all its problems and brought it the much-needed peace and happiness."

So I conclude: when someone asks, why Islam? Because only Islam is the one that can solve all the problems of the human race and bring it the much-needed peace and happiness — even in our time, that is the 21st century.

Final Reminder

A quick final statement that I want to make for my dear brothers and sisters who are here, or who might be listening to this khutbah: We live in a time, as we just discussed, where Islam is being challenged and scrutinized. Make sure that in the midst of this chaos, I and you not only live Islam, but we live for Islam. Make sure that whatever you do is representative of Islam.

Try to understand — I and you today are the face of Islam. Every move of ours, every statement of ours, every action of ours is being noted, is being noticed. Whatever I and you do is being related to the entire religion of Islam. I and you cannot afford to make a mistake these days. So make sure that I and you today are the messengers of the Messenger of Allah. I and you — we have to live Islam and live for Islam.

Du'a (Supplication)