"A-úthu billáhi minash shaytánir rajeem. Bismilláhir rahmánir raheem.

My Dear Brothers and Sisters

A Russian nuclear submarine sank recently, and attracted worldwide attention as the politicians and military made clumsy efforts to save the men on board. They failed, and the men drowned. But beyond the headlines, what lessons can we Muslims take from this incident?

Except by way of Mercy from Us and by way of (worldly) convenience (to serve them) for a time."

It is quite clear from this verse that we sink or swim, we live or die, only by the Grace of Alláh swt. Nothing happens without His permission.

When the Russians failed to save the crew of their newest and deadliest submarine, it was for them, a massive humiliation. The Russians regard themselves as a technological and military power of the first order, and this incident dealt a devastating blow to their national pride, and especially to the prestige of Vladimir Putin, who has been trying hard to project himself as a tough leader of a tough nation. Let's not forget that this man used rape and mass murder of thousands of our Chechen brothers and sisters, to promote his presidential ambitions. I doubt if there are many Chechens who grieved at the loss of those 118 Russian sailors. We should not forget that it was the Russian Secret Service that bombed and killed their own Russian people in their homes as an excuse to commit genocide in Chechnya. This one-sided war was carried out with a callous disregard for the safety of unarmed civilians, women, children and the elderly. Their behavior violates any standards of international law, of common decency and plain humanity. Indeed, the feeble and insincere protests of Western leaders should leave us in no doubt as to who our friends really are!

Does not the Holy Quran warn us in Sura Al Maa-idah....

"O you who Believe take not for friends and protectors those who take your religion for mockery or sport, whether among those who received the scripture before you, or among those who reject Faith. But fear Alláh, if you have Faith..."

But the most important lesson for us, dear brothers and sisters, is to realize how wonderfully Allah works His plan.

In Súra Al-‘Imran: 3:v54:

"The Unbelievers plotted and planned, and Alláh, too, planned. And Allah is the best of planners..."

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Islam, did we not pray and plead for several months, with our Lord and Maker, for relief and an end to the suffering of our Chechen brothers and sisters? And did we not send letters and email to Bill Clinton and Tony Blair, appealing to them to do their best to stop the killing? And when we found that they offered little more than empty words and gestures, did the situation not seem desperate? And if the help of Alláh was not forthcoming, then what hope was there at all?

In Súra Al-Baqara ch2:214, we are reminded:

"surely, the help of Allah is ever near...."

And, Who could have foreseen, eight months ago, that the huge Russian military will be so utterly humiliated, not only in the eyes of their own people, but in the eyes of the whole wide world! Despite their fearsome reputation as a so-called superpower, they were forced to accept help from lesser military nations like Norway and Britain.

Even so, the combined efforts of many nations could not save the submarine's crew. Clearly, when Alláh decides the time has come for his creatures to return to Him, no one can resist His call. Whether they believe in him or not, whether they call themselves Muslims or Russians or atheists, when Malaa-ikat Mawt, the angel of death comes, he finds his man, whether sleeping peacefuly in bed, or preparing for war, deep under the ocean.

Dear Brothers and Sisters

The Russian military high command and their political masters do not seem to have learnt much from history, or even from their own recent bad experience. They seem to think that their huge numbers and high technology will guarantee victory. Have they forgotten? They lost in Afghanistan, they lost the first Chechen war of 1996, and they have still not won the second Chechen war, even though they've wiped out the city of Grozny along with many thousands of old men, women and children. Our brave Chechen brothers still inflict heavy losses on the best Russian troops in the southern mountains. Can you imagine what a bitter humiliation this is, for a nation that considers itself to be a superpower? They considered the Afghans to be a third-rate nation, and the Chechens to be even less than human. Perhaps it would have been a lot easier on the national ego, if they were defeated by another superpower, like the United States, but certainly not by the likes of Afghans and Chechens. Chechnya is not even an independent country! Truly, Allah works in wondrous ways!

If the Russians had taken the trouble to study the history of Muslims in warfare, they could have saved themselves a lot of pain and humiliation.

In battles that changed the whole face of world history, Allah protected his beloved servants and friends against almost impossible odds. To mention just a few examples: At Badr, Muslims defeated a much better equipped army more than 3 times their number. Years later, in Khurrasan, Alb Arslan and his army were on their way home from battle when they were attacked by a Byzantine force under General Romanis. They were hugely outnumbered. Imagine, 16 thousand tired, wounded Muslims against nearly half a million. But when Alb Arslan changed his combat clothes for his ihraam, his burial shroud, all his soldiers did likewise. These men would rather die in battle, than surrender to the enemies of Alláh. It was victory or death. Alláh granted them victory.

The Rock of Gibraltar got its name from the Arabic, Jabr-al-Tarik, the Mountain of Tariq. Here, just 92 years after Hejira, Tariq bin Ziyad with 12000 Mujahids faced a fearsome Visigoth army 5 times their number. The Spanish king Roderick, expected a quick surrender. His army encircled the Muslims so that their backs faced the sea. Tariq could easily have ordered his men to retreat to their boats in the face of such overwhelming danger. To the astonishment of their enemies, Tariq ordered his men to burn their boats, before the battle commenced. Today, we speak of someone burning his boats, when we speak of a very brave, determined person who has decided there is no turning back. This brilliant son of Islám then led wave after wave against the enemy until Alláh granted victory. The battle of Medina Sidonia was a turning point in European history. In fact, it was a key event in world history, and it was fought during Ramadhan! What wonderful noble ancestors we have, dear brothers and sisters! What excellent role models for us and for our children! Tariq bin Ziyad and Musa bin Nurayr went on to conquer all of Spain and Portugal, across the Pyrennees and halfway into France. City after city opened its gates and the Muslims were welcomed, not as conquerors, but as liberators. We will discuss this in more detail in another khutbah, insha-Alláh. Because of the fearless devotion of believers like Tariq and Musa, the light of Islám shone in Southern Europe for over 800 years!

Dear brothers and sisters, our noble ancestors were often greatly outnumbered by their enemies, yet Allah granted them spectacular victories, so that you and I, and our children and grandchildren, could learn the value of iman and taqwa and of entrusting our affairs totally and wholeheartedly to Allah. These are only a few examples. The victory of truth over falsehood, of good against evil, of justice over oppression or Zulm, is guaranteed in Súra Al-Anfal ch8:v65:

"O apostle! rouse the believers to the fight. If there are twenty amongst you patient and persevering, they will vanquish two hundred: if a hundred they will vanquish a thousand of the unbelievers: for these are a people without understanding."

Thus we can see that Alláh empowers the Believer so that in strength each one of us is equal to ten unbelievers! The proof is there in history, and it is there today in Russia also. Today, it is the turn of our brothers and sisters in Chechnya to show us the meaning of iman and taqwa in the face of serious danger. Let this lesson not be lost on us, my Dear Brothers and Sisters in Islám. In Alláh we must place our trust, for He is the best to dispose our affairs.

Events of the last few weeks have also confirmed, if ordinary Russians still need any confirmation, just how little they know about their own affairs, and how little their leaders even care about them. In time those same leaders who behave like Firoan did, who think they can hold the power of life and death over others, without being accountable to Allah, and who rose to power using bloodshed, rape and destruction, in time. these tyrants may well be destroyed by the very same people who put them there, and whose popularity and adoration they courted so unscrupulously.

Already we hear that Vladimir Putin cannot safely walk the streets of Murmansk, without fear of being killed by the families of dead sailors.

Truly, Allah works in wonderous ways! Dear brothers and sisters in Islám, let us all work hard to become friends of Alláh. Remember Alláh’s promise in Súra Yunus ch10:62:

"Behold! Surely on the Friends of Allah, there is no fear, nor shall they grieve."

A few months ago, we all prayed passionately for help for our brothers and sisters in Chechnya. Surely we should now thank Allah for this outcome, and pray for further developments that will ensure justice for the Checheny shaheeds,

Let us pray: