Three Christians and the Prophet of Islam
Three Christians and the Prophet of Islam
Arshad Gamiet / Jurgens Centre 1st March 2019
“A-úthu billáhi minash shaytánir rajeem. Bismilláhir rahmánir raheem
Al hamdu lillahi nahmaduhu wanasta’eenahu, wanastagh-firuhu, wanatoobu ilayhi, wana’oothu Billaahi min shuroori an-fusinaa, wamin sayyi aati a’maalinaa. May- Yahdillahu fa huwal muhtad, wa may- yudlill falan tajidaa lahu waliyan murshida. Wa ash-hadu an Laa ilaaha ill-Alláh, 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, is truly 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 Muhammad, sws, is His servant, and His messenger.
Bismillahir Rahmanir Raheem! Ya Ay-yuhal-latheena ‘aamanut taqul-laaha, haqqa tuqaatihee wala tamu tun-na, il-la wa antum Muslimoon.”
O You who believe, – be aware of Allah, with correct awareness, 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.
In the opening verse of Sura An-Nisaa’, Allah says:
O mankind! Show reverence towards your Guardian-Lord Who created you from a single person, created, of like nature, his mate and from the two of them scattered (like seeds) countless men and women;― Be conscious of Allah, through Whom ye demand your mutual (rights) and (show reverence towards) the wombs (that bore you): for surely, Allah ever watches over you.
My Dear Sisters and Brothers,
In the verse I just quoted, the Holy Quran reminds us that we are all descended from common ancestors, we are all children of Adam and Eve, peace be on them. Yet today, there are still people who forget this. They treat others with hatred and contempt that sometimes leads to violence. These extremists say that they are defending their religion and serving God. But they’re not. They’re only massaging their false pride, bruised egos. Violence between followers of one great religion and another has nothing to do with real faith.
We think of the history of the Crusades as Islam and Christianity at war. But that’s not true. These were just rival empires, trying to expand their wealth and power. True believing Christians and believing Muslims still lived together in peace.
In today’s khutbah I want to focus on this topic. Let’s look at three remarkable Christians to illustrate the close connection between the followers of Jesus and the followers of Muhammad, may God’s peace and blessings be on both of them. We can learn some important lessons here.
They are Bahira, Waraqa and Najashi, the king, the Negus of Abyssinia.
Let’s begin with Bahira the Monk. As we know, Prophet Muhammad was an orphan. His father died before he was born, and his mother died just a few years later. So he was left in the care of his uncle Abu Talib. One day Abu Talib decided to take him along with a traders’ caravan to Syria. Along this route was a monastery. Bahira, a Christian monk lived there.
As the caravan approached, Bahira noticed a small cloud was shading it from the sun, in an otherwise cloudless sky. When the travellers stopped by a tree, the cloud also stopped. This tree, by the way, is still alive, subhanallah! It’s still there. It’s the only tree, in fact the only vegetation of any kind, for more than 100 miles in any direction, between Jordan and Syria. This tree stands all alone in the empty desert, the last living Sahaba, the last living entity still connected with our beloved Prophet, sws
Bahira invited the travellers to a meal, and after examining the boy Muhammad closely he recognised the mark of prophet-hood on his back. He advised Abu Talib to take good care of him, because his own people would seek to harm him.
Our story goes fast-forward to a mountain cave near Makka and Muhammad is now a man of 40. He often comes here to meditate, but tonight, one of the last 10 nights of Ramadan, a strange thing happens. Suddenly, the Angel Gabriel appears, and hugs Muhammad in a tight embrace, almost squeezing the life out of him, commanding him to read. He protests: I cannot read! I’m illiterate! But again and again he is commanded: Read! Until the very first, amazing verses of the Holy Quran come tumbling forth from his lips:
“Bismillaahir Rahmaanir Raheem! IQRA! Bismi Rabbikal lathee khalaq! Khalaqal insaana min ‘alaq. Iqra wa rabbukal akram; Al-lathee ‘al lama bil qalam, ‘alamal insaana ma lam ya’alam”
In the name of Allah, the All- Merciful, the All-Compassionate.
READ! In the name of your Lord Who created, (1) Created man from a tiny clot of blood. (2) Read: And your Lord is Most Generous, (3) Who teaches by the pen, (4) Teaches mankind that which they did not know!
This was the beginning of Muhammad’s mission as God’s last Prophet. Gripped by fear and dread, he rushed home to his wife, Khadija, pleading, “Cover me, cover me!” He feared that he was losing his mind. But Khadija reassured him, saying:
“You always maintain family ties, always feed the poor and you stand by the downtrodden. Allah would never humiliate you or forsake you.”
And where do you think she took him to find advice and consolation? To the rich and powerful grandees of Makka? No! She was rich and powerful herself. But she took him to her cousin, Waraqa, a poor man in failing health. A Christian. He was old and losing his sight, but he reassured Muhammad that this event was indeed foretold in earlier scripture. “If I lived long enough I would stand by you, even when your people turn against you,” said Waraqa. “Will my people turn against me?” asked Prophet Muhammad. Waraqa replied: “Never has a Prophet brought what your will bring without his people turning against him.”
We are reminded here, that Abraham, Noah, Moses and Jesus all met with ingratitude and violent rebellion from their own people, the very people who needed to be saved from themselves. Doesn’t that sound familiar? People of true faith have always been rejected by their own people who prefer to worship other gods. These are the false idols of power, of material wealth and celebrity.
Here’s another example of a great Christian of that time in the 7th Century. This was the king, the Negus of Abyssinia, who protected a small group of Muslims from persecution from their own tribe, the Qureish of Makka.
As soon as Prophet Muhammad started preaching his message, he made enemies, lethal enemies. He called on people to worship the One God of Abraham and Moses and Jesus, not the many idols, 360 idols of wood and stone around the Kaaba in Makkah. This was bad for business. Prophet Muhammad urged people to stop burying alive their baby daughters, for the strong to stop oppressing the weak, for the tribes to stop their genocidal warfare. He was calling for change, radical change, and of course, his enemies sensed a threat to their power and authority, so they started torturing and killing his followers.
Islam was now in real danger.
As a precaution, Prophet Muhammad sent a small group to Abyssinia/ Ethiopia. “There you will find a just and tolerant Christian ruler who will protect you,” he assured them. These were the world’s first Muslim Asylum seekers, given protection by a Christian king in Africa, 1,400 years ago! Remember that! Today, Good Christians in Britain and Europe are still following this noble tradition, taking care of asylum seekers who fear persecution in their own countries!
What about Muslim hospitality towards Christians?
While he was the Governor of Madinah, Prophet Muhammad received a delegation of Christians from Najran in Southern Arabia. When the time came for their prayers, they had no place to pray, so he invited them into his mosque and allowed them to pray in there.
My dear brothers and sisters! How many of us Muslims will do that today? Let’s “speak a straightforward word” (quooloo qawlan sadeedaa) as the Quran advises us. How many mosques anywhere in the Muslim world, will offer their Christian neighbours that courtesy shown by our beloved Prophet?
Here at the Jurgens Centre we do our daily prayers in a hall owned by the Catholic Church. 1,400 years after the Najran Christians prayed in Prophet Muhammad’s mosque, the Christians in Englefield Green, England, are returning the favour!
Remember that whenever believers of one faith treat believers of another faith with kindness and respect, they are also showing a courtesy to God, to Allah.
My dear sisters and brothers, let’s remember the Golden Rule, the Ethic of Reciprocity: Nabi Isa, Jesus saidl “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” 600 years later, Prophet Muhammad said that we Muslims aren’t true believers until we desire for others what we desire for ourselves. Let us pray that Allah will help us to live up to the fine example of Prophet Muhammad sws.
“Innalláha wa malaaikata yusallúna alan nabi. Yá ay yuhal latheena ámanu sallú alayhi wasalli mú tas leema. Allahumma salli alá Muhammad, wa ala áli Muhammad, kama salayta ala Ibrahim, wa ala ali Ibrahim.Allahumma barik ala Muhammad, kama barakta ala Ibrahim, wa ala ali ibrahim. Fil ála meen, innaka hameedun majeed.”
“Allah and His angels send greetings on Prophet Muhammad, O you who believe, send greetings on him, and salute him with a worthy salutation! O Allah, send peace on Muhammad and his family, just as you sent peace on Abraham and his family. O Allah, send blessings on Muhammad and his family, just as you sent blessings on Abraham and his family. In both worlds, You are Praiseworthy and Exalted.”
Second Khutbah:
“Soob’ hanallahi wal hamdu lillah, wala hawla wala quwwata illah billah yu althi yual theem”
Glory to Allah! Praise to Allah! There is no power and no strength except from Allah!
My dear sisters and brothers,
Exactly 1,440 years ago, Prophet Muhammad made his epic journey from Makka to Madina. Everyone awaited his first speech as their new Governor. As usual, it was short, eloquent, and powerful.
He summed up the entire teaching of Islam in one short sentence:
“Spread salaam (peace), feed the poor, keep your family ties; pray for a part of the night and you will enter paradise.” (repeat)
That’s all… That’s what Islam is all about: Spreading peace between people, not spreading mischief; feeding the poor, maintaining our family relationships and thanking our generous Provider every night, hoping for his good pleasure.
A few years ago my wife and I visited the Sinai Peninsula in Egypt. At the foot of Mount Sinai, where Moses received the 10 Commandments, we entered the ancient St Catherine’s Monastery. The monks showed us a small mosque which they built inside the monastery. Local Muslims have been coming there every day for over 1,400 years, to prepare the dough and bake the bread side by side, with their Coptic Christian neighbours.
But the monks showed us something quite amazing. High up on a wall is a gold-framed document: a Charter of Privileges to the Christians. It is written in Arabic, and it is signed by Prophet Muhammad, with the seal of his ring impressed on the red wax. The one we saw was a copy. The original Charter is kept in the Topkapi Museum in Istanbul. Here is the English translation:
—– Charter of Privileges to the Christians —–
“This is a message from Muhammad ibn Abdullah, as a covenant to those who adopt Christianity, near and far, we are with them.
Verily I, the servants, the helpers, and my followers defend them, because Christians are my citizens; and by Allah! I hold out against anything that displeases them.
No compulsion is to be on them.
Neither are their judges to be removed from their jobs nor their monks from their monasteries.
No one is to destroy a house of their religion, to damage it, or to carry anything from it to the Muslims’ houses.
Should anyone take any of these, he would spoil God’s covenant and disobey His Prophet. Verily, they are my allies and have my secure charter against all that they hate.
No one is to force them to travel or to oblige them to fight.
The Muslims are to fight for them.
If a female Christian is married to a Muslim, it is not to take place without her approval. She is not to be prevented from visiting her church to pray.
Their churches are to be respected. They are neither to be prevented from repairing them nor the sacredness of their covenants.
No one of the nation (Muslims) is to disobey the covenant till the Last Day (end of the world).”This charter of privileges has been honoured and faithfully applied by Muslims throughout the centuries in all lands they ruled.
This charter of privileges has been honoured and faithfully applied by many Muslim regimes throughout the centuries. Imagine that! Despite many wars between Crusaders and Caliphates, these Christians were safe here, making bread and breaking bread with local Muslims. There’s a powerful message for our troubled world today!
Those Muslims who go around killing innocent people are ‘spoiling God’s Covenant’ and disobeying clear instructions from Prophet Muhammad. They will have to answer to Almighty Allah. If we want respect, we must show respect. Let us therefore show respect and love for fellow believers among the ‘People of the earlier Scriptures.’ This is what Allah commands us to do.
“La ikraha fid deen,” (Let there be) no compulsion in Religion,” says the Holy Quran (2:256). And for more than 14 centuries, Prophet Muhammad’s letter has reminded us of this Covenant. ( I have a copy here. You my take pictures, if you like. You can also find it online. Just search for Prophet Muhammad’s Covenant to the Christians).
Brothers and sisters, to conclude our khutbah:
InnaAllaha, Yamuru bil adel, wal ihsaan, wa eetaa-i zil qurba; wa yanha anil fuhshaa-i, wal munkari walbaghi; ya-idzukhum lallakum tathak-karoon. (Sura 16:90),
“Surely Allah commands justice, good deeds and generosity to others and to relatives; and He forbids all shameful deeds, and injustice and rebellion: He instructs you, so that you may be reminded.”
Fadth kuroonee adth kurkum, wash kuroolee walaa tak furoon [2:152].
“and remember Me: I will remember you. Be grateful to Me, and do not reject faith.”
wala thikrul-Laahi akbar, Wal-Laahu ya’lamu maa tasna’oon.” [29:45].
“and without doubt, Remembrance of Allah is the Greatest Thing in life, and Allah knows the deeds that you do.”
Ameen. Aqeemus salaah
(If you found this khutbah useful, please leave your comments here: mail@khutbahbank.org.uk. Your feedback is important to us. We use it to improve future khutbahs. Also, tell us about your Jumuah congregation, its size and location, your Muslim community, city and country. Jazak Allah khair. – Editors)