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Afterlife

Media Martyrs and Symbolic Resistance | Khutbah

December 15, 2023Dr. Omar Suleiman

From Abdullah ibn Umm Maktoum (ra) to Wael El-Dahdouh to you, holding the banner and refusing to disappear is of the most noble forms of existence. As Palestinian journalists are killed, and symbols are banned, here's a reminder that you are Palestine.

Transcript

This transcript was auto-generated using AI and may contain misspellings.
We begin by praising Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala and bearing witness that none has the right to be worshipped or unconditionally obeyed except for him. And we bear witness that Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wa sallam is his final messenger. We ask Allah to send his peace and blessings upon him, the prophets and messengers that came before him, his family and companions that served alongside him and those that follow in his blessed path until the day of judgment and we ask Allah to make us amongst them. Allahumma ameen. Dear brothers and sisters, many of you are familiar with a companion by the name of Abdullah ibn Umm Maktoum radiyallahu ta'ala anhu, and as we are trying to connect the moments that we are living right now to the moments around our beloved messenger sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, I want to take you to the last episode of this man's life, radiyallahu ta'ala anhu. A man who Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala referred to in the Qur'an and exalted and جاءه الأعمى وما يدريك لعله يزكى A man who was coming to the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, who belonged to the downtrodden, who was blind and who came to the messenger of Allah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam seeking to be purified and Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala on his behalf reminded the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam of the value of a man like Abdullah ibn Umm Maktoum radiyallahu ta'ala anhu. Abdullah ibn Umm Maktoum radiyallahu ta'ala anhu lives his life feeling a great sense of pain that he cannot participate in what his companions are participating in and he's actually not feeling the pain that his companions are feeling and so when the battles of Badr and Uhud take place he feels a sense of exclusion because he is not injured by what they are injured by and he is not in his mind and in his heart rewarded with what they are rewarded and for many years he asks the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam to have a
different type of role and the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam seeks to protect him particularly from the battlefield, a man who was blind and so who would be a guaranteed casualty and after the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam he seeks from Abu Bakr as-Siddiq radiyallahu ta'ala anhu something similar, and then he seeks it from Umar ibn al-Khattab radiyallahu ta'ala anhu and over a decade into the Khilafah of Umar ibn al-Khattab radiyallahu ta'ala anhu or over a decade rather after the Hijrah soon into the Khilafah of Sayyidina Umar radiyallahu ta'ala anhu, the Battle of Qadisiyah unfolds and Abdullah ibn Umm Maktoum radiyallahu ta'ala anhu asks Umar ibn al-Khattab radiyallahu ta'ala anhu for the permission to just be with his brothers in the battlefield and Umar radiyallahu ta'ala anhu protects him as he always did but he comes up with a particular role that he plays He says to Umar ibn al-Khattab radiyallahu ta'ala anhu Alastum tahtajuna ila man yahmi al-raya Don't you need someone to at least carry the banner? I can carry the banner Go ahead and armor me up Protect me, put me in the middle of the lines and just put me in there and let me carry the banner because the banner represents a very particular type of symbolism And there is a reason why one of the ways that you demoralize your opponent is you go after their banner So he asks Umar radiyallahu ta'ala anhu, just let me be there and let me just hold the banner Let me be covered in armor and let me hold the banner And Umar ibn al-Khattab radiyallahu ta'ala anhu allows this man who again Qur'an was revealed on his behalf to stand in the very middle of the army and to carry the banner and That was the safest position that he could have and he couldn't see but as the battle unfolds
Abdullah ibn al-Maktoum radiyallahu ta'ala anhu can feel the presence around him He can feel what is taking place and Suddenly the enemy goes after him recognizing again. He is the one who is carrying the banner and They cut off one of his arms the one that he was carrying the banner with and he takes his other arm and he picks up the banner with his left arm and So they took that arm as well and this man subhanAllah who had nothing to swing Nothing to offer except for carrying a banner Takes what was left of his limbs and places the banner between them and hoisted up Until he is martyred radiyallahu ta'ala anhu while he is doing so and so subhanAllah You can imagine the sight of this man for whom Qur'an was revealed Missing his limbs, but at no point missing his heart and his function was carrying the banner I want us to think about The people that we're witnessing today for a moment insha'Allah ta'ala and come back to us The heroes that we are learning about Walad dahduh may Allah subhanahu wa'ta'ala give him full shifa last week We talked about the dua Allah mashfi abdak yanka ulaka aduwa Oh yamshi laka ila salah. Oh Allah give shifa cure your servants who Becomes a thorn in the side of your enemy and who walks for you to the salah We make that dua for walad dahduh who was targeted today May Allah subhanahu wa'ta'ala give him full shifa and of course his cameraman Samer abu dakka who was Unfortunately martyred today. May Allah subhanahu wa'ta'ala accept him as a shaheed and all of those Journalists all of those people who have been killed. I want you to think about in this targeted war against journalists
You know, there's a term that of course when Muslims use it it becomes Associated with a death cult. How dare you say the word martyr? CNN of all people had an article prior to this genocide called media martyrs analyzing the lives of 15 Journalists who were killed in war zones Yet, I bet you they would never call the 60-plus journalists who were murdered in Gaza media martyrs But in no time in history, have we ever seen a more targeted war against journalists Against people that are wearing press jackets press jackets have actually become targets for this genocidal army That does not feel any sense of shame Nor is it held accountable in the international arena of law? And I want you to think about what it takes to be a journalist in that space Not only that SubhanAllah Walid Dahduh, may Allah subhanahu wa'ta'ala cure him Was speaking about his most difficult job, which is as a journalist you cover the news And you don't expect to one day be the object of the news It's your job to tell the story, but it's difficult to be the story And of course this man who is the Al Jazeera head of Gaza Bureau chief of Gaza His entire family his wife and his children were targeted and imagine being on air when the airstrike hits Your family and then having the strength when you think about metaphorically cutting off an arm Having the strength with all of that emotional Wounding to still be able to stand in front of a camera the very next day because you feel a commitment That is that great and he still did it and as we've been getting to know these people I want to focus on them for a moment inshallah ta'ala and who we are to
Them and who they are to us. These are the people that are carrying the banners right now These are the people that are armored up yet unarmed in the middle of the most Devastating scene that is playing out in front of us and who are losing their lives in the process But bid me lucky to have a gaining paradise in the process. This is them our media Martyrs, but then I want to bring it to us. Why do you think Israel is targeting targeting these journalists? Why do you think they're going after them? Why do you think they're trying to psychologically torture them so that they won't tell the news anymore? So that they won't appear in front of a camera anymore because they do not want those crimes that they are committing to be known to the world and they also by Extension want to break the Palestinian symbolic resistance around the world This is not just a war on the inside on the people of Palestine It's a war on the people in Palestine that are telling the story of Palestine and it's simultaneous to a war against Symbolism around the world one that has exposed the hypocrisy of every so-called democracy in the world Including the one that we live in right now where suddenly These are becoming criminalized around the world. How ironic that in Europe of all places Where they seemingly at least once a year Have to tout their so-called freedom of speech by insulting our prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam will target young people for wearing the kufiya or Hoisting up this flag in the United Kingdom of all places people will be arrested for wearing this flag We see the videos coming out of the streets one of Germany's main newspapers Yes the same Germany where Nazism was born and
Where they continue to have extensions of it one of the main newspapers in Germany called the kufiya the problem cloth the problem cloth if You search it online Then this is the cloth of terrorists. I want you to think about what these flags and what these kufiyas mean in terms of symbolic resistance and How you carry your own banner? you know subhanallah, there's something about words and there's something about the insisting of The existence of what we know is so sacred even outside of the war zone and Even the Messenger of Allah sallallahu alayhi wasallam when you think about words the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam Distinguished the hypocrites by something that you could hear in their mouths. You could hear in their voice It would come from their mouths. He said sallallahu alayhi wasallam Ya quluna yathrib wahiya al-madinah. Just think about it. It might seem innocent Ya quluna yathrib wahiya al-madinah that the hypocrites would continue to insist on calling the city of the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam yathrib They would not be able to call it Medina and that was a symbol of their hypocrisy though. It seemed so innocent but it wasn't innocent and On the other hand dear brothers and sisters in this day and age that we are in right now I want you to think about yourself Your very existence as the existence of Palestine as the existence of Palestine You see the fact that they fear its existence so much the fact that they fear every symbol every banner every flag every slogan so much tells you how important it is and especially in the wake of September 11th for many years our sisters who wore hijab bore the brunt in the public space and they still continue to
But now each and every single one of us has to kind of take a step back and ask themselves, you know, if I've been Using a name that is different from my name because it's easier for people to pronounce if I've been shying away from This cloth or this flag or what we represent? Because I don't want to attract attention to myself You know what who gets to be the journalist of the journalist when the journalist is wounded Who's the voice of the voice of wallet that do it and these journalists that are being targeted? Who is the Palestinian on behalf of the Palestinian? That is being suffocated in their own homeland or being expelled to a place that is foreign to them Who is an extension of them? And this is a beautiful tradition from our messenger sallallahu alayhi wasallam a beautiful idea of a senate of a chain that everything is connected the ummah is like one body our cause is one Beautifully threaded cause and when they try to pick away Literally thread by thread and remove the thread of the ummah And when they try to pick away literally thread by thread and remove the symbols of who we are Then that's when we have to actually see a deeper meaning Dear brothers and sisters the message subhanallah that I have for this khutbah is be like what? We're reading so much About the Sahaba and Allah is blessing us with an opportunity to see the people That exemplify and manifest the Sahaba today for us be like those people Think about who those people are Ask Allah subhanahu wa'ta'ala to put in your heart what he has put in their hearts and ask Allah subhanahu wa'ta'ala to allow us to be an extension of them as they are an extension of the people that we used to only read about in books and
See something deeper With the insistence on the symbols of resistance that we have in the lands Far and wide away from the land that we hope will one day be in the lahi ta'ala be free from occupation We ask Allah subhanahu wa'ta'ala to have mercy on all of those journalists and all of those people that have been martyred We ask Allah to accept them as shahada. We ask Allah subhanahu wa'ta'ala to cure and heal the wounded We ask Allah subhanahu wa'ta'ala to protect the living We ask Allah subhanahu wa'ta'ala to guide us to the ways that are pleasing to him and the ways that are helpful to them Allahumma ameen Alhamdulillah Alhamdulillah As-salatu was-salamu ala rasulillah wa ala alihi wa sahbihi wa man wala Brothers and sisters before I start with the dua I just want to emphasize to you all as The protests are sort of waning and as the symbolic support for our brothers and sisters in Palestine is waning I don't just want this to be a renewal for each and every single one of us inshallah ta'ala to remain sustained in that But also be sustained in your dua if you find that your dua has become Robotic as of late if you find that it is missing the tears that it had in October in November If you find that your connection is waning then use this as an opportunity bi-idhnillahi ta'ala to renew that connection bi-idhnillahi ta'ala to renew The depth of your dua and to renew inshallah ta'ala your commitment to this cause all of us dear brothers and sisters
Have a responsibility and just as wa'il and these people subhanAllah with everything that they've been through they still found the strength to keep Going we have to keep going for them We ask Allah azawajal to enable us to do so we ask Allah subhanahu wa'ta'ala to put in a strength And we ask Allah subhanahu wa'ta'ala to maintain in us sincerity Allahumma ghufril mu'minin wal mu'minat wal muslimin wal muslimat al-ahya'i minhum wal amwat innaka sami'un qareebun wajeebun da'wat Allahumma ghufril lana warhamna wa'afu anna wa la tu'addibna Rabbana zalamna anfusana wa in lam taghfir lana watarhamna la nakoonanna minal khasireen Allahumma innaka a'afuun kareem wa tuhibbu al-afwa fa'afu anna Allahumma ghufril walidina rabbir hamuma kama rabbuna sigara Rabbana hablana min azwajina wa dhurriyatina qurra ta'ayun waja'anna lilmuttaqina imama Allahumma ansur ikhwanil mustad'afina fee masharikil ardi wa magharibiha Allahumma kunni ikhwanil mustad'afina fee falastin Allahumma ansur ikhwanil mustad'afina fee falastin Allahumma ahlik al-zalimina bil-zalimin wa akhrijna wa ikhwana min baynihim salimin Ibadullahi Allah ya'mru bil-adli wal-ihsan wa ita'idil qurba wa yanha'an al-fahsha'i wal-munkari wal-baghi Ya'idukum la'alakum tadhakaroon Fathkuru Allahi yadhkurukum wa shukroohu ala ni'ma'i yazid lakum wala dhikru Allahi akbar wallahu ya'lamu ma tasna'oon wa aqeem al-salaam
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