Islamic Civilization

AS-SALAAMU ALAIKUM, WA REHMATUL LAAHI WA BARAKAATUH,

Wait for adhaan

Standard Introduction:

AUZO BIL LAAHI MIN ASH SHAYTAANIR RAJEEM,

BISMIL LAAHIR RAHMAANIR RAHIM

AL HAMDU LILLAAHI RABBIL ‘ALAMEEN. WAS SALAATU WAS SALAAMU ‘ALAA ASHRAFIL MURSALEEN. SAYIDINAA WA NABI YENAA WA MOULANAA MUHAMMADIN WA’ALA AALEHEE WA AS HAABEHEE WASALLIM.

All praise is due to Alláh, the Lord of all the Worlds; may the greetings and peace be upon the best messenger, Prophet Muhammad (SAW), and upon his family and upon all of his companions.

AL-HAMDU LILLA HIL LAZI HADAANA LIHAAZA WAMA KUNNA LANAHTADIYA LAW’LA ANN HADAANA ALLAH. (You must expand this Arabic portion of Khutbah, depending on the month/season, e.g. Hajj, Ramadaan, etc.)

Meaning:

Praise is due to Allah,

Praise is due to Allah who guided us to the righteous path, and indeed we wouldn’t have attained this state of guidance without Him Allah,

AMMA BA’AD.

English Part of the Khutbah:

IKHWATI FIL ISLAM, ASH-HAAB AL ILM, WA RUWAAD AL ILM, Brothers in Islam, Learned Colleagues and Scholars,

The recent world events have portrayed us as only terrorists.

Furthermore, they say that if you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it.

Therefore, I thought it would be good to redress the balance and so in today’s Khutbah we will concentrate on how many, many eminent non-Muslims have rated the Muslim Ummah.

First of all, lets see what Napolean Bonaparte had to say as Quoted in Christian Cherfils, ‘Bonaparte et Islam,’ Pedone Ed., Paris, France, 1914, pp. 105, 125.

Original References: “Correspondence de Napoleon Ier Tome V pièce n° 4287 du 17/07/1799…”

“Arabia was idolatrous when, six centuries after Jesus (H. Isa – AS), Muhammad (SAW) introduced the worship of the God of Abraham (AS), of Ishmael (AS), of Moses (AS), and Jesus (H. Isa – AS).

The Aryans and some other sects had disturbed the tranquillity of the east by agitating the question of the nature of the Father, the son, and the Holy Ghost. Muhammad (SAW) declared that there was none but one God who had no father, no son and that the trinity imported the idea of idolatry…

I hope the time is not far off when I shall be able to unite all the wise and educated men of all the countries and establish a uniform regime based on the principles of Qur’an which alone are true and which alone can lead men to happiness.”

Sir George Bernard Shaw wrote in ‘The Genuine Islam,’ Vol. 1, No. 8, 1936:

“If any religion had the chance of ruling over England, nay Europe within the next hundred years, it could be Islam.

I have always held the religion of Muhammad (SAW) in high estimation because of its wonderful vitality. It is the only religion which appears to me to possess that assimilating capacity to the changing phase of existence which can make itself appeal to every age. I have studied him – the wonderful man and in my opinion far from being an anti-Christ, he must be called the Saviour of Humanity.

I believe that if a man like him was to be in charge of the modern world he would succeed in solving its problems in a way that would bring it the much needed peace and happiness: I have prophesied about the faith of Muhammad (SAW) that it would be acceptable to the Europe of tomorrow as it is beginning to be acceptable to the Europe of today.”

Bertrand Russell wrote in ‘History of Western Philosophy,’ London, 1948, p. 419:

“From India to Spain, the brilliant civilization of Islam flourished. What was lost to Christendom at this time was not lost to civilization, but quite the contrary…

“To us it seems that West-European civilization is civilization, but this is a narrow view.”

Now lets see what H.G. Wells had to say:

“The Islamic teachings have left great traditions for equitable and gentle dealings and behaviour, and inspire people with nobility and tolerance. These are human teachings of the highest order and at the same time practicable. These teachings brought into existence a society in which hard-heartedness and collective oppression and injustice were the least as compared with all other societies preceding it. Islam is replete with gentleness, courtesy, and fraternity.”

With regards to equality, Dr. William Draper wrote in ‘History of Intellectual Development of Europe’:

“During the period of the Caliphs the learned men of the Christians and the Jews were not only held in great esteem but were appointed to posts of great responsibility, and were promoted to the high ranking job in the government. Caliph Haroon Rasheed never considered to which country a learned person belonged nor his faith and belief, but only his excellence in the field of learning.”

With regards to the challenge and responsibility faced by Prophet Muhammad (SAW) , Thomas Carlyle wrote in the ‘Heroes, Hero Worship, and the Heroic in History,’ Lecture 2, Friday, 8th May 1840:

“Wild Arab men! They were wild men bursting ever and ever into quarrel, into all kinds of fierce sincerity; without right worth and manhood, no man could have commanded them. They called him prophet you say? Why he stood there face to face with them; bare, not enshrined in any mystery; visibly clouting his own cloak, cobbling his own shoes; fighting, counselling, ordering in the midst of them: they must have seen what kind of man he was, let him be called what you like! No emperor with his tiaras was obeyed as this man in a cloak of his own clouting. During three-and-twenty years of rough actual trial. I find something of a veritable Hero necessary for that, of itself.

These Arabs, is it not as if a spark had fallen, one spark, on a world of what proves explosive powder, blazes heaven-high from Delhi to Granada! I said, the Great man was always as lightning out of Heaven; the rest of men waited for him like fuel, and then they too would flame”

With regards to our contribution towards humanity, Phillip Hitti writes in the ‘Short History of the Arabs.’::

“During all the first part of the Middle Ages, no other people made as important a contribution to human progress as did the Arabs. For centuries, Arabic was the language of learning, culture and intellectual progress for the whole of the civilized world with the exception of the Far East. From the 9th to the 12th century there were more philosophical, medical, historical, religious, astronomical and geographical works written in Arabic than in any other human tongue.”

With regards to the Muslim Moghul rulers, who ruled India for several centuries, Carra de Vaux writes in ‘The Philosophers of Islam,’ Paris, 1921:

“Finally how can one forget that at the same time the Mogul Empire of India (1526-1857 C.E.) was giving the world the Taj Mahal (completed in 1648.), those poets those philosophers knew how to deal with the world or matter. They observe, classify, calculate and experiment. All the ideas that occur to them are tested against facts. They express them with eloquence but they also support them with statistics.”…the principles of tolerance, justice and humanity which prevailed during the long reign of Akbar.”

With regards to the development of science and law; Marcel Clerget wrote in ‘La Turquie, Passe et Present,’ Paris, 1938:

“Many proofs of high cultural level of the Ottoman Empire during the reign of Suleiman the Magnificent are to be found in the development of science and law; in the flowering of literary works in Arabic, Persian and Turkish; in the contemporary monuments in Istanbul, Bursa, and Edirne; in the boom in luxury industries; in the sumptuous life of the court and high dignitaries, and last but not least in its religious tolerance. All the various influences – notably Turkish, Byzantine and Italian mingle together and help to make this the most brilliant epoch of the Ottomans.”

Now here’s the SHOCKER! Lets now analyse how the Muslims actually returned the Churches to the Christians, as documented by Michael the Elder Quoted in ‘Michael the Elder, Chronique de Michael Syrien, Patriarche Jacobite d’ Antioche,’ J.B. Chabot, Editor, Vol. II, Paris, 1901.

“This is why the God of vengeance, who alone is all-powerful, and changes the empire of mortals as He will, giving it to whomsoever He will, and uplifting the humble beholding the wickedness of the Romans who throughout their dominions, cruelly plundered our churches and our monasteries and condemned us without pity, brought from the region of the south the sons of Ishmael (AS), to deliver us through them from the hands of the Romans. And if in truth we have suffered some loss, because the Catholic churches, that had been taken away from us and given to the Chalcedonians, remained in their possession; for when the cities submitted to the Arabs, they assigned to each denomination the churches which they found it to be in possession of; nevertheless it was no slight advantage for us to be delivered from the cruelty of the Romans, their wickedness, their wrath and cruel zeal against us, and to find ourselves at people.”

Michael the Elder, Jacobite Patriarch of Antioch wrote this text in the latter part of the twelfth century, after five centuries of Muslim rule in that region.

With regards to science and learning Sir John Bagot Glubb wrote:

“Khalif (Caliph) Al-Ma’mun’s period of rule (813 – 833 C.E.) may be considered the ‘golden age’ of science and learning. He had always been devoted to books and to learned pursuits. His brilliant mind was interested in every form of intellectual activity. Not only poetry but also philosophy, theology, astronomy, medicine and law all occupied his time.

“By Mamun’s time medical schools were extremely active in Baghdad. The first free public hospital was opened in Baghdad during the Caliphate of Haroon-ar-Rashid. As the system developed, physicians and surgeons were appointed who gave lectures to medical students and issued diplomas to those who were considered qualified to practice. The first hospital in Egypt was opened in 872 AD and thereafter public hospitals sprang up all over the empire from Spain and the Maghrib to Persia.”

Now lets say a few words about the Holocaust of Baghdad in 1258 perpetrated by Hulagu:

“The city was systematically looted, destroyed and burnt. Eight hundred thousand persons are said to have been killed. The Khalif Mustasim was sewn up in a sack and trampled to death under the feet of Mongol horses.

For five hundred years, Baghdad had been a city of palaces, mosques, libraries and colleges. Its universities and hospitals were the most up-to-date in the world. Nothing now remained but heaps of rubble and a stench of decaying human flesh.”

Who could ever forget the Civilization founded by our Moors Brothers!

“The Muslims of the Iberian Peninsula, who ruled Spain between 711 and 1492 C.E., are commonly known as the Moors. The word Andalusia is derived from the Arabic word Al-Andalus which has several meanings. One of them is ‘to become green after a long summer or drought,’ and the history of the Iberian Peninsula over the ages attests to this phase when Muslims ruled Spain.

The word Moors is a corrupted word referring to the people who came from Morocco.

When Muslims first arrived in Spain in 711 C.E., they constituted mainly Arabs. Within two decades a majority of the inhabitants of Andalus, especially most of the Unitarian Christians and the oppressed class, accepted Islam freely in recognition of the peace, security and the freedom of religion and expression under the Muslim rule. By 770 C.E. people of all races from North Africa and Arabia migrated to Andalusia (Spain and Portugal). They intermarried with various nationalities including the native Spanish-Muslim population, with the result that Spain became a fairly homogeneous country within a few generations. During the reign of Abdur-Rahman, the ‘Falcon of Andalus’ (755-788), they began the work of building an Islamic civilization similar to the one already flourishing in Damascus, Baghdad and its many regional centers. Within a century of their activity, they had developed a civilization far in advance of any in Europe.”

Stanley Lane-Poole writes in ‘The Moors in Spain’: Introduction:

“For nearly eight centuries, under the Mohamedan rule, Spain set all Europe a shining example of a civilized and enlightened state.

…..To Cordoba belong all the beauty and ornaments that delight the eye or dazzle the sight. Her long line of Sultans form her crown of glory; her necklace is strung with the pearls which her poets have gathered from the ocean of language; her dress is of the banners of learning, well-knit together by her men of science; and the masters of every art and industry are the hem of her garments.

“Art, literature and science prospered as they then prospered nowhere else in Europe.

Mathematics, astronomy, botany, history, philosophy and jurisprudence were to be mastered in Spain, and Spain alone. Whatever makes a kingdom great and prosperous, whatever tends to refinement and civilization, was found in Muslim Spain…

With Granada fell all Spain’s greatness. For a brief while, indeed, the reflection of the Moorish splendour cast a borrowed light upon the history of the land which it had once warmed with its sunny radiance. The great epoch of Isabella, Charles V and Philip II, of Columbus, Cortes and Pizarro, shed a last halo about the dying monuments of a mighty state. When followed the rule of inquisition and the blackness of darkness in which Spain has been plunged ever since.

In the land where science was once supreme, the Spanish doctors became noted for nothing but their ignorance and incapacity. The arts of Toledo and Almeria faded into insignificance.

The land deprived of skillful irrigation of the Moors, grew improvished and neglected, the richest and most fertile valleys languished and were deserted, and most of the populous cities which had filled every district in Andalusia, fell into ruinous decay; and beggars, friars, and bandits took the place of scholars, merchants and knights. So low fell Spain when she had driven away the Moors.”

Conde as Quoted in Prescott, ‘Philip II of Spain,’ Vol. III:

“The Arabs suddenly appeared in Spain like a star which crosses through the air with its light, spreads its flames on the Horizon and then vanishes rapidly into naught. They appeared in Spain to fill her suddenly with their activity and the fruit of their genius, and endowed her with a glorious glamour which enveloped her from the Pyrenees to Gibraltar and from the oceans to the Barcelona.

Martin Hume wrote in the ‘Spanish People’:

“The Sultan Abd-er-Rahman was one of the Heaven-sent rulers of men. Prompt yet cautious in council and in war, unscrupulous, overbearing and proud, he was as ready to wreak terrible vengeance, as he was political to forgive when it suited him. Berber and Yamanite alike acknowledged that at last they had found their master. He ruled until his death, in 788, with the tempered severity, wisdom, and justice which made his domain the best organized in Europe, and his capital the most splendid in the world.”

S.P. Scott wrote in ‘The History of the Moorish Empire in Europe.’

“Yet there were knowledge and learning everywhere except in Catholic Europe. At a time when even kings could not read or write, a Moorish king had a private library of six hundred thousand books. At a time when ninety-nine percent of the Christian people were wholly illiterate, the Moorish city of Cordova had eight hundred public schools, and there was not a village within the limits of the empire where the blessings of education could not be enjoyed by the children of the most indigent peasant, and it was difficult to encounter even a Moorish peasant who could not read and write.”

H. Kamen, write in ‘The Spanish Inquisition.’:

“As a result of his (Cardinal Ximenes’ coercive) endeavours, it is reported that on l8th December 1499 about three thousand Moors were baptized by him and a leading mosque in Granada was converted into a church. ‘Converts’ were encouraged to surrender their Islamic books, several thousands of which were destroyed by Ximenes in a public bonfire. A few rare books on medicine were kept aside for the University of Alcala. Ximenes claimed the Moors had forfeited all their rights under the terms of capitulation (of Granada). They should therefore be given the choice between baptism and expulsion…At Andarax the principal mosque, in which the women and children had taken refuge, was blown up with gun-powder. All books in Arabic, especially the Qur’an, were collected to be burnt. Cardinal Ximenes was reported during his conversion campaign among the Granada Moors in 1500 to have burnt in the public square of Vivarrambla over 1,005,000 volumes including unique works of Moorish culture.”

Alhamduallah, Islam has grown in the world and the population has increased vastly from the time of Prophet Mohammed (SAW). How can Islam, in today’s society and life grow and become a bigger part of the world’s civilization? Answer is by the establishment of the Ummah based on the better understanding and application of the Qur’an and the Sunnah.

Conclusion of the First Part of the Khutbah:

NAD’OO ALLAHA AN YAGHFIRA LANA ZUNUBANA

Meaning: We make Duas to ASWT, so that he will accept all our Ibadat & forgive our sins.

WA AAKHERO DAA’ WAANA ANIL HAMDO LIL LAAHEY RABBIL AALAMEEN

Sit down & make a du’a yourself.

Second Khutbah:

Globally Standardized Conclusion:

AL HAMDU LILLAAHI NAHMADUHU WANAS TA’EENAHU, WANASTAGH-FIRUHU, WANATOOBU ILAYHI, WANA’OOTHU BILLAAHI MIN SHUROORI AN-FUSINAA, WAMIN SAYYI AATI AA’MAALINAA.

MAY- YAHDILLAAHU FA HUWAL MUHTAD, WA MAY- YUDLILL FALAN TAJIDAA LAHU WALIYAN MURSHIDA. WA ASH-HADU AN LAA ILAAHA IL LAL-LAÁH, WAHDAHOO LAA SHAREEKA LAH, WA ASH-HADU ANNA MUHAMMADAN ‘ABDUHOO WARASOOLUH

All Praise is due to Alláh, We praise Him and we seek help from Him. We ask forgiveness from Him. We repent to Him; and we seek refuge in Him from our own evils and our own bad deeds.

Anyone who is guided by Alláh, he is indeed guided; and anyone who has been left astray, will find no one to guide him.

I bear witness that there is no god but Alláh, the Only One without any partner; and I bear witness that Prophet Muhammad, SAW, is His servant, and His messenger.

YA AY-YUHAL-LATHEENA ‘AAMANUT TAQUL-LAAHA, HAQQA TUQAATIHEE WALA TAMU TUN-NA, IL-LA WA ANTUM MUSLIMOON.”

O You who believe, – Fear Allah, as He should be feared, and die not except as Muslims.

YA AY-YUHAL-LATHEENA ‘AAMANUT TAQUL-LAAHA, WA QOOLOO QAWLAN SADEEDAA. YUSLIH-LAKUM A’MAALAKUM WA YAGHFIR LAKUM THUNOOBAKUM, WAMAY YU-TIL-LAAHA WARASOOLAH, FAQAD FAAZA FAWZAN ATHEEMAA.”

O You who believe, – Be aware of Allah, and speak a straightforward word. He will forgive your sins and repair your deeds. And whoever takes Allah and His prophet as a guide, has already achieved a mighty victory.

INNALLAAHA WA MALAAIKATAHU YUSALLÚNA ALAN NABI. YAA AY YOHAL LATHEENA AAMANU SALLÚ ALAYHI WASALLI MÚ TAS LEEMA.

ALLAHUMMA SALLI ALAA MUHAMMAD, WA AALA AALI MUHAMMAD, KAMAA SALLAYTAA ALA IBRAHIMA, WA AALA AALI IBRAHIM. ALLAHUMMA BAARIK ALA MUHAMMAD, WA AALA AALI MUHAMMAD, KAMA BAARAKTAA ALA IBRAHIM, WA AALA ALI IBRAHIM, INNAKA HAMEEDUN MAJEED.”

Behold, Allah and his angels shower blessings on the Prophet (SAW). O you who believe! Ask for blessings on him, and salute him with a worthy greeting.

The Du’a – before the Khutbah Ends:

Again, for the sake of global standardization using the global “Islamic Language”, one uses a standard and brief du’a:

ALLAHUMMAGH FIR LIL’ MUSLIMEENA WAL MUSLIMAAT…. Stop for the congregation to say AAMEEN

WAL MOAMINEENA WAL MOUMINAAT…STOP FOR AAMEEN

AL-AHYAA’EE MINHUM WAL AMWAAT…STOP FOR AAMEEN

INNAKAA SAMEE’UN MUJIBUD DA’WAAT… STOP FOR AAMEEN

Meaning:

Ya Allah, forgive all our Muslim men and women,

Forgive the believing men and women,

Those who are alive and those who died,

You are indeed the One who listens and accepts all supplications.

RABBANA LAA TUZIGH QULOOBANAA, BA’DA ITH HADAY TANAA WAHAB LANAA MILLA DUNKA RAHMA. INNAKAA ANTAL WAH-HAAB.

O Allah, do not let our hearts deviate from the Truth now that we have been guided , but grant us Mercy from Your very Presence, for You are the Grantor of bounties without measure.

RABBI JA’ALNI MUQEEMUS SALAATI, WAMIN DUR-RIY-YATI, RABBANAA WATA QABBAL DU’AAH.

My Lord, help me to perfect my salaat, and of my descendants, Our Lord, accept this dua.

RABBIGH FIRLEE WALI WAALI DAYYA, WALIL MU’MINEENA YAWMA YAQOOMUL HISAAB.

My Lord, forgive me, and my parents, and all Believers until the Day of Reckoning.

SUB’ HAANAKA RABBEKA RABBIL ‘IZZATI ‘AMMAA YUSIFOON, WA SALAAMUN ‘ALAL MURSALEEN, WAL HAMDU LIL-LAAHI RABBIL AALAMEEN.”

Glory to Allah, Lord of Majesty and Honour, and Peace on the Prophets, and Praise to Allah, Lord of all creation!

Other Duas you could make:

Ya Allah, accept our Ibadat and forgive us.

Ya Rabb, have mercy on us. Help us obey you and praise you.

Ya Allah, we stand before you having observed all the tenets of Islam, so lead us to prosperity and growth, to triumph and solidarity, to unity and wealth beyond our imagination.

Ya Allah, we beg for your MAGFIRATAK, and ask you for success, health and wealth for all the brothers who are present here and now in this blessed room.

Ya Rabb, increase our love that binds us together now, and in the future to come.

With regards to their dear beloved ones who have passed away, Ya Rabb, may you grant them a place in Jannatul Firdaus. May you forgive all their KHATAYAA, KABEERA WA SAGHEERAH. May you fill their Qabr with your holy noor and light. Ya Rabb, may you also save us from ADHAAB AL QABR. Ya Allah, grant their rooh, eternal peace, AR RAAHA AL ABDIYYAA on the YAWM AL HISAAB.

Ya Allah, accept all our duas, fulfil all our righteous wishes, fulfil our dreams,.

Ya Allah, may your rehma and safety encompass all our families, wherever they may be.

Ya Allah, grant these brothers who are present, here and now, SABR that is YUHIB HUM AS SABR.

Ya Allah, make the Prophet Muhammad (SAW) intercede or YASHFAAH on our behalf on YAWM A QIYAAMAH.

Globally Standardized Conclusion:

IBAA DAL LAAH:

IN NAL LAAHA YA’A MURU BIL ADLI WAL IHSAN

WA EE TA’EE ZIL QURBAA WA YANHAA ANIL FAHSHAA’EE WAL MUNKAREE WAL BAGH’YI

YA EE ZUKUM LA AL LAKUM TAZAK KAROON.

FAZ KU ROONI AZ KUR KUM WAS KU RU LI WA LA TAK FURUN.

Then you conclude by saying to the mu’azzin:

WA AA QIMUS SALAAH