Remember Oppressed Muslims

Khalid Mustafa Abdul Kader/Royal Holloway College/Univ. of London /UK.

Al hamdu lillahi rabbil ‘alameen. Was salaatu was salaamu ‘alaa ashrafil mursaleen. Sayidinaa wa nabi’na wamoulanaa Muhammadin wa’ala aalihee wa sahbihee wasallim.

My Dear Brothers and Sisters in Islam,

 ‘Verily, O man, you are working (toiling) toward your Lord

a work which you will meet in His presence’ 

It is one of the numerous mercies of Allah that we, human beings, can and do forget; we forget unpleasant or painful situations or events just as we forget happy ones.  The memory of the painful or sad events do not have the same degree of feeling of sadness as when the event occurred.  We say time is a great healer – this is a blessing from Allah. 

But as true believing Muslims, there are many things in this life that we cannot or should not forget or lose sight of.  The ayah recited earlier is a reminder to all mankind that when Allah wills it we shall stand in His Majestic presence to account for all our deeds – the good, the not so good, the bad and the evil.  The question that every person needs to ask himself/herself is ‘how will I fare on that Day?’ 

Whenever a calamity befalls a section of the Ummah, you may witness a flurry of activity on the part of the rest of the Ummah, to support their stricken brethren. As time goes by, the feeling of the sharing in the misfortune of others who live the pain and misery on a daily basis diminishes. You may recall that some months ago during the Holy month of Ramadaan, we were talking about the suffering of our Muslim brethren in Chechnya. At that time and maybe for a short while afterwards we made an effort to provide some relief…….After that we have probably even forgotten to make dua’a for them….but suffering is a daily fact of life for them.   The same applies to our Muslim brethren in China, the Philippines, Kashmir and Palestine.  Geographical distance and the passage of time may make the pain and suffering less for us but does not diminish it for them.  Not only do they have to suffer their conditions but also to endure the feeling of being forsaken by the rest of the Ummah – and this hurts even more than the physical suffering! 

Some relief organisations are being more innovative nowadays not restricting their activities to the provision of basics such as shelter, food, medicine and clothing but follow the Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah, Muhammad (pbuh), in providing the tools and equipment for the people to provide for themselves. Allah has bestowed on the Sons of Adam a great blessing – the human mind, intelligence, to see how we use it.   Let us remind ourselves of this example not only to illustrate the use of human intelligence for the good of the Ummah but also to show how goodness overcomes greed.  A Jew had monopoly of a water well in Al-Madinah and used to charge Muslims dearly for the water he supplied so much so that they complained to the Messenger of Allah  (pbuh).  When the Muslims gathered, he said: ‘Whoever buys the well for the Muslims, Allah will grant him Paradise’ Othmaan ibn Affaan said:  ‘I shall’.  But, the Jew refused to sell preferring to exploit the Muslims and earn more money selling its water for as long as he had ownership of the well……On the other hand some lump sum would also be welcome, thought the Jew. So he came up with what he thought, an ingenious proposal ‘I shall sell you half the well’ he suggested. 

But Othman was blessed with greater intelligence and presence of mind.  He accepted the proposal on the understanding that one day the Jew would have ownership and obtain all the proceeds from the sale of the water and the next day Othman would have ownership and benefit from the water.  On the day Othman had ownership he offered all Muslims to take all the water they needed for that day and the following day free of charge.  Soon afterwards, the Jew came to Othman and offered his share of the well. 

 ‘Nay, we hurl the Truth against Falsehood and it knocks

 its head off and behold, falsehood perishes’.

Second Khutbah:

Sub’ hanallahi wal hamdu lillah, wala hawla wala quwwata illah billah yu althi yual theem

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Islam,

With all this in mind, it is, perhaps, fitting that we remind ourselves of Surat Qaaf – for according to the Imam Ibn Qayyim Al Jawziyeh, may Allah have mercy on him, it contains a great deal of the roots of faith – its most fundamental tenets such as the creation and resurrection, tawheed, prophethood, belief in the Angels and the description of the winners and losers on the Day of Judgement.  It also contains proof of the Perfection of the Most Perfect in every respect and a mention of the minor and major days of Judgement and of the world of this life and the world of the hereafter.  It also mentions the creation of man, his death and a description of the state of man at the hour of death and on the Day of Resurrection.  It also describes how Allah has complete knowledge of all His servants’ conditions, even the whisperings of the soul and how the Angels note down every word he speaks.   All this will be presented to each and every one of us on the Day of Judgement when every person is driven by an angel (a driver) and accompanied by another angel – a witness.  All these details will be considered in a future Khutbahs, by the Grace of Allah, when Surat Qaaf will be the topic.   For now let us consider this: 

As believing Muslims who are certain that they will stand in the Majestic presence of Allah, the Most Exalted, to account for their deeds, what will be our answer to some simple but extremely serious questions:

- How did you spend your time on earth?

- How did you spend your wealth?

- How did you earn your wealth?

- How did you use your knowledge and intelligence?

- What did you do for your Muslim brothers in Kashmir or Palestine(for example)?

- What did you do for you’re the Holy City of Al-Quds?

- Did you remember the hungry when you over-indulged in food?

- Did you remember the sick when you were healthy?

- Did you not know that your return is to Us?

Ameen!                     Aqeemus salaah!

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