Khutbahs
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Palestine Khutbah Outside the White House | Dr. Omar Suleiman
Thousands gathered at the national mall between White House and Capitol Hill for Jummah followed by a march. You are alive in this moment of Palestinian catastrophe. You are witnessing a genocide of Gaza. With that witnessing comes a great responsibility.
Transcript
This transcript was auto-generated using AI and may contain misspellings. By praising our Lord and bearing witness that Muhammad is his final Prophet and Messenger. And we ask him to send his peace and blessings upon his Prophet Muhammad, all of the Prophets that came before him, his family and companions that served alongside him, and those that follow in their blessed path until the Day of Judgment. And we ask Allah that he may count us amongst them. Allahumma ameen. Dear brothers and sisters, there is a concept in our faith of being a witness to something. And everyone bears witness in different ways. And when we go back to a very famous story of the father of the Prophets, Ibrahim A.S., when he was being thrown into the fire by his father and by his people. You have to imagine that as this fire was kindled and as a man is about to be thrown into that fire, that there are some who are paying attention and who maybe thought at that moment that this is inhumane. That maybe thought at this moment that Ibrahim did not deserve what was being done to him. And what the Prophet Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him, tells us, is that there are various creations of Allah, creations of God, that wanted to intervene and intercede on behalf of Ibrahim and cool down the fire. And there is one particular narration that I want to stick with you because it might feel like it at the moment. The Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, said that as the angels wanted to intercede with that fire, as the heavens and the earth are bearing witness and the various creations are bearing witness, that there are frogs that wanted to carry whatever water they could in their mouths
and go to the fire and extinguish the fire with that water. All of you have seen the size of a frog and all of you have heard of the size of the fire that Ibrahim was to be thrown into. But even they as witnesses were inspired, guided by their Creator to find a way to try to put out the fire. But of course the Creator, Allah, had a plan himself which was to make the fire cool and peaceful on Ibrahim. But I want you to think about the difference between those frogs that saw a huge fire in front of them and wanted to extinguish the fire to save this one man, a special man, the friend of Allah, Ibrahim, peace be upon him. And think about a story in Surah Al-Buruj, a chapter in the Qur'an in which God talks about the people of the ditch. A people of faith who were rounded together and thrown into a ditch of fire by a tyrant until the very last one was a mother who was holding her child. And Allah says to us in the Qur'an, God tells us in the Qur'an, وَهُمْ عَلَىٰ مَا يَفْعَلُونَ بِالْمُؤْمِنِينَ شُهُودٌ They were witnesses upon themselves as to what they were watching and what they were participating in. Those who were actively throwing them into it, those who kindled the fire, and those who sat back and watched silently. And Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala tells us, God tells us in the Qur'an, وَاللَّهُ عَلَىٰ كُلِّ شَيْءٍ شَهِيدٌ And one of the names of Allah is this name that he uses here that God is a witness upon all things.
That they are witnesses upon themselves. That the heavens and the earth, the animals and the angels were witnessing what was unjust. But upon all of that was Allah, was God himself witnessing everything. And he introduces to us a name, and he has multiple names, though he is one God. And attributes, and one of them is a shaheed, the witness. And of the implications of him being the witness, is that he witnesses everything on the heavens and the earth. Everything that is hidden and made public. Everything that is disputed and agreed upon. That which is concealed in the depths of our hearts, and that which is as obvious to us as the trees in our midst. He is a witness of all of that. And he is a witness when people fabricate lies, and then murder in the name of those fabrications. And he is a witness to those who do what they can to establish truth even when they are surrounded by falsehood. And on the day of judgment, he is a witness for the one who has no other witness but him. And that is one of the most profound things that we learn from our tradition, that he is a shaheed, he is the witness. And on the day of judgment, there will be people who have no one to witness for them. And if he is their only witness, that will be sufficient. And on that day, people will be called forth as witnesses. Tyrants will be gathered in front of those that they harmed. And those that they harmed will bear witness against them. And those who saw the oppression will bear witness alongside them.
When the Prophet Muhammad peace be upon him said that Noah peace be upon him is brought forth. And that this ummah is brought forth to bear witness on behalf of Noah peace be upon him. Because we have a trustworthy messenger. We know that Noah conveyed the message to his people. And we have the faculties that Allah has given to us, the faculties that God has given to us. We know what we are watching and we bear witness with our eyes and our ears and our hearts. Not just to his oneness, but to the aggressions and transgressions that are done that he did not sanction. And one of the names of those that are martyred. In fact the word that we use is a shaheed, the witness. Why? Because those children and those that are shuhada, they witness the generosity of Allah. The generosity of God, the promise of God. At the first strike, at the first moment that their souls leave this body. Even if a cruel punishment was carried out like that of the Pharaoh against his wife. They witness the paradise and the comfort and the compassion and the honor of their Lord. When they depart from this world. And the Prophet Muhammad peace be upon him said, أنتم شهداء الله في الأرض That when someone passes away, you are the witnesses of God on this earth. You witness whether or not they were people who brought ease and comfort and welfare to everyone around them. And you witness as well if they were people who brought harm to everyone that was around them. أنتم شهداء الله في الأرض You're all witnesses. And finally Allah tells us in the Quran, God tells us,
يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا كُونُوا قَوَّامِينَ لِلَّهِ شُهَدَاءٌ بِالْقِسْطِ O you who believe, stand firmly for your Lord and be witnesses to justice. Be witnesses to justice. وَلَا يَجْرِمَنَّكُمْ شَنَآنُ قَوْمٍ عَلَىٰ أَلَّا تَعْدِلُوا And do not let your dislike for a people, your hatred for a people, swerve you to injustice, lead you to be unjust with them. وَاتَّقُوا اللَّهُ Be mindful of your Lord. Allah loves those who are God conscious. Who stand firm upon His way and stand firm with the measure of justice that He has sent us with. Dear brothers and sisters, we are witnessing before our eyes the slaughter of thousands of people. A genocide on our screens. Many of us may have lived in the genocide in Bosnia, Srebrenica. When things showed on a TV screen or in a newspaper column. But never have we witnessed a genocide at this rate that we are exposed to at this rate. That some of you have been glued to a cell phone, have been glued to your computer screens. And so many of us have been watching every single moment, hours and hours a day. As innocent people, as children are pulled from under the rubble. With weapons that we pay for against our will. That are sanctioned from here. That go to kill them. And we can't even keep up with the death toll.
We are witnesses to the cruelty that has been inflicted upon our brothers and sisters in Palestine on a regular basis. We are witnesses to the cruelty of occupation. Witnesses to the cruelty of apartheid. Some of you closer than others. We have people in this community that have lost 40, 45 members of their family. Every single generation of their family wiped out. We have people whose siblings, whose parents, whose children, whose spouses. That are amongst us here in the United States. Have witnessed that massive cruelty. Have witnessed it personally. And will be calling their family members in Gaza. Calling their family members in Palestine. Even though they know that they're dead because it's instinctive. We are all witnesses to the lies that have been told by the Israeli PR machine. That always throws us into confusion and distracts people in public debate. About which civilians they killed. About the mechanisms and methods that they used to inflict that cruelty. But by the time we finish this prayer, the death toll would have been even higher. Because the airstrikes have not stopped. We are witnesses to the starvation. Witnesses to 2023. Where people can have water stripped from them. Power and fuel taken away from them. Crimes against humanity committed against them. While their humanity is called into question in our midst. All of you are witnesses. You have seen it. And I want you to take a step back. And I want you to ask yourself.
When you read the story of Ibrahim being thrown into a fire unjustly. When you read the story of the people of a ditch. And indeed the people of Gaza are dealing with all sorts of torture. Not one form of cruelty. But compounded cruelty. Various forms of torture. When you see that. Think of yourself as the frog that is trying to carry that water and put out the fire. I know it feels overwhelming. It feels like we don't have enough people. To overcome the lies. The fabrications. And the aggression that is being inflicted against our brothers and sisters. But just as Allah made miracles happen before. Through small dedicated groups. We pray that we can be that small dedicated group. That he is pleased with and proud of. And that we can amplify. And count on ash shaheed. The ultimate witness to amplify. I end with one tradition for you all. And it is what the prophet Muhammad peace be upon him said. That on the day of judgment Allah will say. Oh my servant. I was hungry and you did not feed me. And a person would say back to Allah. Oh Allah how could I feed you and you are the lord of the world. And Allah will say don't you know that so and so was hungry. And had you went to feed that person. You would have found my reward with him. And then. Oh my servant. I was thirsty. And you did not give me water to drink. Oh my lord. How can I quench your thirst and you are the lord of the world. Don't you know that so and so was thirsty.
And had you gone and provided water. You would have found my reward with that person. Oh so and so I was sick. And you did not visit me. Oh my lord how can I visit you and you are the lord of the world. Don't you know. That so and so was sick. And had you went to visit that person. You would have found me with them. If this is what Allah would say on behalf of one who is hungry. On behalf of one who is thirsty. On behalf of one who is sick. What then of the people of Gaza. Who are hungry. Who are thirsty. Who are sick. Who cannot get a break from the air strikes that are falling above them. What is our excuse. How are we bearing witness. We are bearing witness here. And we are going to keep bearing witness as long as we can on this earth. And we will bear witness on that final day. That we will not be silent and passive. While our money is used to murder people. Innocent people in the thousands. And to keep them starved under occupation and apartheid. That we will use every last bit of our breath. Every last one of our heart beats. Every last bit of our physical energy. And our emotional capacity. To fight back. So that our brothers and sisters are not slaughtered in silence. Because we know that one day we will be called to witness. And oh Allah bear witness. Oh Allah bear witness. Oh Allah bear witness. That we are trying to do the best that we can. For our brothers and sisters.
All praise is due to Allah, Lord of the worlds. The Most Gracious, The Most Merciful. Master of the Day of Judgment. It is You we worship and You we ask for help. Guide us to the straight path. The path of those You have blessed. Those who have not incurred Your Wrath. And those who have not gone astray. Ameen. Ameen. Ameen.
Ameen. Ameen. Ameen. Ameen. Ameen. Ameen. Ameen. Ameen. Ameen. Ameen. Ameen. Ameen. Ameen. Ameen. Ameen. Ameen. Ameen. Ameen. Ameen. Ameen. Ameen. Ameen. Ameen.
As Salaamu Alaykum wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuhu. As Salaamu Alaykum wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuhu. As Salaamu Alaykum wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuhu. As Salaamu Alaykum wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuhu.
As Salaamu Alaykum wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuhu. As-Salaatu Wa As-Salaamu Alaikum Wa Rahamatu Allahu Wa Barakatuhu As-Salaatu Wa As-Salaamu Alaikum Wa Rahmatu Allahu Wa Barakatuhu As-Salaatu Wa As-Salaamu Alaikum Wa Rahmatu Allahu Wa Barakatuhu Allahu Akbar, Allahu Akbar Allahu Akbar
Allahu Akbar As-Salaamu Alaikum Wa Rahmatu Allah As-Salaamu Alaikum Wa Rahmatu Allah Allahu Akbar As-Salaamu Alaikum Wa Rahmatu Allah
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