Khutbahs
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Al-Aqsa, Indian Muslims and Ramadan Silence | Khutbah
Why we are uniquely obligated in Ramadan to raise our voices for those harassed in the most sacred of places.
Transcript
This transcript was auto-generated using AI and may contain misspellings. Dear brothers and sisters, I wanted to give an entirely different khutbah today. But last night as I watched the scenes of a photojournalist in front of Masjid Al-Aqsa, literally hold his camera until occupation forces broke his arm, an old man pushed down the stairs and elderly women and children brave stun grenades and bullets to pray in the first Qibla of Islam in Masjid Al-Aqsa. I wanted to speak about this in a different way. And I'm always afraid of these khutbahs because the point of this is not just to politically get us engaged once again. And I myself, as all of us are to an extent, are guilty at times of being selective with what causes we choose to amplify, of not giving due proportion. So, I want to acknowledge that from the very beginning. But I was thinking about Ramadan, and when we're talking about Ramadan in particular, and there are several dimensions to this. Number one, that if it is true that our oppressors become more belligerent in Ramadan, which we know is true at this point, then it's only right that our voices only become louder in Ramadan. Not silenced because we want to focus on our ibadah, because we want to focus on just the spiritual upliftment and the taskiyah and the beauty of being able to be in the masjid once again. Guess what? They wanted to be in the masjid once again too. They also were hoping for a Ramadan in peace. They also were hoping for a Ramadan to not be harassed. Your brothers and sisters who do not have the luxury that you have right now, were looking for the exact same thing that you are looking for. Except they were holding it down in places that are more sacred than this one. And so that's the first element of this, which is when they are more belligerent,
we have to become louder in our condemnation and our opposition to their oppression. That's number one. The second thing to this is what kind of heedlessness would it be to literally come across the part of the Quran of surat al-Israa, at the same time as what's happening in al-Aqsa, and not make any connection to the land in which the followers of the Prophet Muhammad Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam are being put under boots and subjected to bullets and humiliation while we read about how Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala honored our Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam and raised him to the heavens from that spot. What would that say about our reading of the Quran and how disconnected we are from the reality of the Quran? And how disconnected we actually are in reality from our daily reading of the Quran. And subhanAllah I was just thinking about the sequence even that we get to. Surat al-Israa you have a scene of a Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam and all of the Prophets praying together in one place. Musa Alaihi Wasallam, Isa Alaihi Wasallam, Ibrahim Alaihi Wasallam, Yunus Alaihi Wasallam, Nuh Alaihi Wasallam, I mean the list goes on. All of the Prophets in one place praying there. And then you go from Surat al-Kahf to Surat al-Israa where you have Musa Alaihi Wasallam who is traveling around the world after he cannot enter into Al-Quds at the instruction of Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala with Al-Khadr Alaihi Wasallam and learning that not everything has to make sense to me right now. While he is forbidden from entering into that place. And then the next Surah, Surat Maryam, you have a single mother, Maryam Alaihi Wasallam. The true definition of a single mother. A mother who miraculously conceived a baby, Isa Alaihi Wasallam, Jesus Peace Be Upon Him. Carrying him with confidence, full confidence in the courtyard of Masjid Al-Aqsa.
And Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala giving her inspiration and support from above the heavens. All three of these Surahs give us a different dimension of the Prophet. All three of these Surahs give us a different dimension of the same place that we're seeing right now. But it's not just Masjid Al-Aqsa. It is also our brothers and sisters in India. And I was watching those scenes and Subhanallah, it struck me that as our brothers and sisters in India are entering into their Masjid for Salat al-Tarawih, there are parties and riots and the same types of bigoted sentiments that you see in front of Al-Aqsa. People holding sticks and guns and chanting out genocidal wishes. And pelting the Muslims as they go into their Masjid and we're having Iftar outside. And Subhanallah, this is not to do Inkar of the Ni'mah of Allah, to deny the blessing of Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala upon us. It's to actually make us think about the bigger picture of Ramadan, which is how are you connecting your blessing to those that don't have it? Your brothers and sisters in India are on genocide alert and it's very real. And Subhanallah, we were looking at this scene two years ago of COVID and Mazal Haram, the sacred house and the empty Kaaba. No one around it. And I want us to be reflective because by the way being reflective is Ibadah in and of itself. Consciousness is Ibadah, Taqwa is consciousness, right? But it leads to something greater than consciousness, but that's in and of itself. I was thinking, did that scene cause us more grief of an empty Masjid al-Haram because of a pandemic that the whole world was facing? Did that scene cause us more grief than the scene of Masjid al-Aqsa and the windows literally being broken and bombs and grenades and harassment and just
complete disregard for any type of human rights or human dignity in that sacred place? And I thought to myself, which scene is actually more problematic to the Muslims heart? Which scene should be more problematic? And by the way, I'm guilty. I'm guilty because when I saw the image of the Haram, I was grieved. Maybe more so than I was grieved by the images of al-Aqsa. I hope that's not the case. But sometimes you don't know your own heart, subhanAllah. And I had to ask myself, is it because I was worried that I wouldn't get to do Umrah? Because I wouldn't get to do Hajj? Is that why that gave me more grief? Because it was so directly relevant to my own experience? And it made me think about it. What I was seeing last night, what you were seeing last night, what we've seen in al-Aqsa, what we see in India. And then there's another element to this, the question of, is this the end of times? Is it Yawm al-Qiyamah? Is it a sign of the end of times? Why does it always have to be a sign of the end of times? For it to at least be recognized as pure evil, munkar, evil, that we are supposed to say something about. And yes, at this moment, subhanAllah, speaking in and of itself is ibadah. And it's actually a unique act of resistance that you have as American Muslims. It's stunning. Who would have thought that we'd reach a time where even Muslim governments cannot express concern anymore. They can easily condemn their brothers and sisters and normalize with their occupiers, but can't even express concern anymore. Outright disregard. What a time we live in. What a time we live in. Where it's you, living in the comfort, of your homes. It's me, living in the comfort of my home. And the risks that we take by speaking out for our brothers and sisters. What? Social media accounts? Your job? That's a big deal. Your job is a big deal. I know some brothers and sisters have actually lost their jobs over this stuff. You know what?
May Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala compensate you with something better. In this dunya and in the akhira. It's meaningful. I don't want to belittle it. But here's the thing. I don't want to belittle it. I don't want to belittle it. But here's the thing. We bring it back to putting it at the forefront of our minds and our hearts. Letting it occupy a considerate amount of our hearts. You know why? Because amplifying is a part of that ibadah. Again, our oppressors are belligerent. And so raising the cause of your brothers and sisters is ibadah. It's an act of worship. The point is you don't stop at amplification. You let that amplifying lead you to sincere dua. And just as we're talking about the importance of dua for forgiveness and dua for upliftment and dua for all the things that we're going to carry to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala in these sacred nights, especially as the last ten come. If your tears dry up once you get to the part about your brothers and sisters, indict your heart. Say, you know what? I need to connect myself more. Because if I'm not connected to that, how am I connected to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala? May Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala forgive us for our shortcomings and make it easy for our brothers and sisters in Al-Aqsa and in India and wherever it is, the places that we have not mentioned. May Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala alleviate their pain, their trials. May Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala allow us to be connected to them and connected to him through them. And may Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala use us for their cause. And may Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala uplift the cause of the innocent, the oppressed, our brothers and sisters all over the world. Ya Allah, the ones that we see and the ones that we don't see, the ones that we mention and the ones that we don't mention. And may Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala allow us to pray in Masjid Al-Aqsa free, truly free, where the name of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is raised and mentioned without the harassment of the people of Allah. May Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala continue to strengthen and give steadfastness
to our brothers and sisters that walk through hostility to enter into his homes in Palestine, in India, wherever it is. May Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala continue to grant them steadfastness. May Allah reward them for their struggle. May Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala protect them. May Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala give them victory. May Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala not let us ignore them, lest we be ignored by him. Allahumma ameen. Aqoolu qawli hadha wa astaghfirullah li ulakum wa nisa'ilun muslimeen. Faistaghfiru. Inna huwa al-ghafurur raheem. Alhamdulillahi rabbil alameen. Wa ala adwani ila ala al-dhalimeen. Wa ala al-aqiba ila al-matakeen. Allahumma salli wa sallim wa barika ala abdika wa rasulika Muhammadin. Wa ala alihi wa sallim wa ala alihi wa sahbihi wa sallim. Tasliman kathira. Allahumma ghufuru al-mu'mineena wa al-mu'minat. Wa al-muslimeena wa al-muslimat. Al-ahya'i minhum wa al-amwat. Innaka samee'un qareebun mujeebu da'wat. Allahumma ghufuru lana wa arhamna. Wa a'fuu anna wa la tu'adlibna. Rabbana dhalamna anfusana. Wa in lam takhfuru lana wa tarhamna. La nakunana minal khasireen. Allahumma inna nashku ilayka dhulman dhalimeen. Allahumma ahlik al-dhalimeena bil-dhalimeen.
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