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, there is a sentiment that I want to immediately address that I think is on the hearts and minds of many people as we witness what is tragically unfolding in Gaza and in Palestine as a whole. And I want to mention the sentiment first so that you can understand bi'idhnillahi ta'ala where we are going as we start to navigate through the seerah of the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam to a moment that really resembles the moment that I believe much of us are in right now and the way that so many of us feel. And that is when you look around, you're at work, you look at what your corporations are saying, you look at what your favorite celebrities are saying, you're looking at what your politicians are saying, you're watching sporting events, you are seeing friends that you have on social media, and they are spewing some of the worst propaganda against the people of Palestine that you have ever seen. And you think to yourself, I thought this was a good person. You think to yourself, I thought this is someone that understood the plight of Muslims. I thought that this was someone who would not fall for the stereotypical racist framings about the Muslim community. I thought this was someone that could analyze a little bit deeper than the hoaxes and the propaganda that are out there. And there is a sense of loneliness. And that loneliness is even felt by our children when they go to school and even they're getting notices to stand with Israel.
When they walk around and they see the entire American public seemingly, at least at the corporate level, one-sided. The President of the United States, completely one-sided. And there is a loneliness there. There is an estrangement there. So I'm going to mention to you the last ayah which I feel like fits our moment right now. And insha'Allah ta'ala we can take some of the lessons from it. إِنَّ النَّاسَ قَدْ جَمَعُوا لَكُمْ فَخْشَوْهُمْ People have gathered against you. Look, everybody is against you. There are too many people on the other side of that trench. فَخْشَوْهُمْ So be afraid. أَيْ خَافُوهُمْ Be afraid. Now, before we get there, there is something deeply profound about the way that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala built the character of the Muslims and built their spirituality to become more and more dependent on Him alone and to be able to face what it was like to be estranged. When you go through the Qur'an and you go through the momentous incidents that are referenced, first and foremost Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala mentions to us in the aftermath of the battle of Badr. إِذْ تَسْتَغِيثُونَ رَبَّكُمْ فَاسْتَجَابَ لَكُمْ Remember when you called upon your Lord and He answered you. أَنِّي مُمِدُّكُمْ بِأَلْفِ مِنَ الْمَلَائِكَةِ مُرْدِفِينَ I am going to support you with a thousand angels that will be followed by another thousand angels, the rows of angels that will come. Now here's the thing, if you're in Badr this is your very first time experiencing what it is like to have that level of hostility, to be that outnumbered on the other side, to have that much more artillery on the other side. It wasn't just being three to one outnumbered, it was also the fact that they had their horses, they had their camels, they had the full equipment of war.
The Muslims had one or two horses available in the battle of Badr to them. Everything is stacked against you and Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala shows them the angels descending upon them. They could actually see the mala'ika themselves coming down, lined up. The signs of the angels were all around them and so they outnumbered them, the people on the other side, and they felt it, they felt it from the very beginning. They felt the push of the angels, they saw the effect of the angels on Quraysh. They saw every single moment of the battle that they were not alone, that they had divine support that was sent down to be with them. Now here's the thing, couldn't Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala have supported them without sending mala'ika? Couldn't it have been without the angels being visible to them as these things unfolded before them? Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says, وَمَا جَعَلَهُ اللَّهُ إِلَّا بُشْرًا Allah did not show that to you except as a glad tidings. وَلِتَطْمَئِنَّ بِهِ قُلُوبُكُمْ And so that your hearts could find some ease. It did something for you. It did something for you to be able to see the angels coming down, the miraculous signs that you were not alone on the day of Badr. But at the end of the day, وَمَا النَّصْرُ إِلَّا مِنْ عِنْدِ اللَّهِ Victory was only from Allah, it wasn't from Jibreel a.s. Victory was from Allah, it wasn't from Mikail a.s. Victory was from Allah, it wasn't from all of the angels that he sent to you. At the end of the day, victory came from God. Victory came from above. But Allah sent you that sign in that early journey of your Islam, of your faith, to let you know you're not as alone as you think you are. Then comes the battle of Uhud. They didn't see angels in the battle of Uhud. And I spoke about this a few days ago. The messaging that came down,
وَلَا تَهِنُوا وَلَا تَحْزَنُوا وَأَنْتُمُ الْأَعْلَوْنَا إِنْ كُنتُم مُؤْمِنِينَ Look, you suffered a blow, this hurts. وَلَا تَهِنُوا, don't lose heart. وَلَا تَحْزَنُوا, don't grieve. وَأَنْتُمُ الْأَعْلَوْنَا إِنْ كُنتُم مُؤْمِنِينَ You are still exalted, you are still victorious, so long as you retained your belief, so long as you retained your faith, so long as your principles, your purpose remained intact, you are victorious. Now this last point that I want to get to in the Quran connects to the very first sentiment. And that is خندق, the battle of the trench. If there is any moment that resembles what is taking place with our brothers and sisters right now in Gaza, it is خندق. It actually is خندق. Because it is a time where a tactic was used to specifically starve off Medina, cut all supplies to them. To where even the Prophet ﷺ, the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ himself, walks around malnourished. Imagine, Jabir ibn Abdullah r.a said, I saw the Prophet ﷺ walking around, he had stones tied to his stomach and he was bloated. Not the bloating after eating, the bloating of starvation. And it was 10,000 on the other side. 10,000 people that surrounded Medina from every direction. And they built this thin trench, only about 3 miles long. And between them and a massacre is this trench. And they are guarding every single point of that trench. They have to utilize every resource. You can't blink an eye. They were under siege for an entire month. خندق was a month. And the Meccans cut every single element of food and drink from reaching them in Medina. And so their food was running out. Their water was running out. And they couldn't take breaks.
The lack of sleep was getting to them. And as they are guarding every single form of that trench, they also come to know that there are enemies from within, that there are those that are plotting to attack them from behind. Imagine the رُعْب, imagine the fear that could penetrate you in those moments. I want you to picture yourself at that trench. And every few minutes, there is an attempt on that trench. And you're guarding, you're guarding, you're guarding. Don't blink an eye. Don't go use the bathroom. You might mess up. Make sure that you don't miss. Make sure that you don't flinch. And at that point, Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says, إِنَّ النَّاسَ قَدْ جَمَعُوا لَكُمْ الَّذِينَ قَالَ لَهُمُ النَّاسَ The people, the naysayers, the hypocrites said to them, إِنَّ النَّاسَ قَدْ جَمَعُوا لَكُمْ Man, you guys are done. Look at you. A few desperate people at a trench. Your leader, the Prophet ﷺ, his stomach is poking out and bloated. Look at you. إِنَّ النَّاسَ قَدْ جَمَعُوا لَكُمْ Look at all those people. You think you're going to survive this? فَاخْشَوْهُمْ Be afraid. You have no chance. All of the Arabs are gathering against you. And you're alone. And Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says what? Allah did not send them angels that time that they could look at visibly and see divine aid in front of them. Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says that that increased them in faith. فَزَادَهُمْ إِيمَانًا That actually increased their faith. They were at a point in their spiritual maturity where when people said, look at all the people against you, it increased their faith. وَقَالُوا حَسْبُنَا اللَّهُ وَنِعْمَ الْوَكِيلُ He said, you know what? Allah is enough for us. And He is the best of protectors. We've been with Allah long enough to know
that Allah has not forsaken us. We are not afraid of the number on the other side. We are not afraid of the artillery. We're not afraid of the odds. There is nothing that you can say to shake us because we're a people of faith. We believe. We're not alone. We don't need to see 10,000 angels come down this time. We know, وَمَا النَّصْرُ إِلَّا مِنْ عِنْدِ اللَّهِ That victory and help comes from Allah. That divine aid is on its way. Dear brothers and sisters, the people of Gaza are facing a genocide. It is a genocide that we have not seen the likes of for a very long time. And it is unfolding before the world's eyes. And the propagandists are doing everything they possibly can to hide the eyes of the American public, to hide the eyes of other people from that genocide, to justify it, to pollute. And the Prophet ﷺ mentioned, لَا يَضُرُّهُمْ مَنْ خَذَلَهُمْ These are a people that are not hurt by those who betray them. Because they have Allah سُبْحَانَهُ وَ تَعَالَى. Now here's the thing. We can be inspired as we should be when we look at the people in Gaza, and we look at the people of Palestine who have shown time and time again that the odds don't matter. The odds don't matter. But let's bring it back to us. Dear brothers and sisters, you are not behind the trench. You're not being starved. You're not having the water taken away from you. You don't have bombs dropping on you. Alhamdulillah. We have not been tested the way they've been tested. Different people are tested in different ways.
Now there are people that will continue to die in this entire process. And as they die in this process, guess what? Allah سُبْحَانَهُ وَ تَعَالَى mentions about أَصْحَابِ الْأُخْدُودِ the people of the trench. Not the people of Khandaq, that trench with the Prophet ﷺ. The people that were thrown into a trench and killed. ذَلِكِ الْفَوْزُ الْكَبِيرِ That they have succeeded. They attained success. They have held on to their covenant with Allah. They are now in paradise. Our dead are in paradise. We have no doubt about it. Every single one of our dead بِإِذْنِ اللَّهِ تَعَالَى that died on لا إِلَهَ اللَّهِ مُحَمَّدًا رَسُولُ اللَّهِ that suffered in that cruelty and oppression, they're in paradise. Their victory has been attained. But then the people that are behind that trench and continuing to survive and refusing to go away. And us. If you look around and you feel alone and you feel like the odds are stacked, I want you to know that you have a responsibility. You might not be in the trench but maybe you're one of the people on the outside of the trench that's trying to push people away, that's trying to make things easier for those behind the trench. Whatever platform you have, whatever voice you have, whatever money you have, whatever du'a you have, when you use that for Allah, you are not alone. Because it wasn't just the people that were standing next to the Prophet ﷺ that had the angels that were sent. وَمَن نَصْرُوا إِلَّا مَنْ عِنْدِ اللَّهِ And victory is only from Allah. It was also the poet Hassan al-Thabit رضي الله تعالى عنه who stood up and defended the Prophet ﷺ against the smears of the hypocrites. There are multiple fronts to this. It's not just the physical front of that trench.
You have a responsibility. And you have to do everything that you possibly can. And that is part of iman. That's part of faith. This isn't politics. That's part of faith when you see people being oppressed. And will there be consequences? Are our favorite politicians gonna turn their backs on us? Are you maybe gonna get a letter from your administration at a university? Are you gonna get slapped on the wrist? Will you have certain consequences that will be faced? Is your social media going to be taken down? Maybe. Who cares? Who cares? People are carrying their dead babies and saying, الحمد لله، لا إله إلا الله knowing that victory comes from Allah. Who cares if we face consequences for trying to be their voice outside of the trench? And if people say, إِنَّ النَّاسَ قَدْ جَمَعُوا لَكُمْ Look, Palestine is a losing battle. Palestine is not a losing battle. Palestine will win insha'Allah ta'ala. Palestine will win. Gaza will win. Al-Aqsa will be liberated. We have as much certainty in that as we do when we say, لا إله إلا الله محمد نصر الله that وَمَن نَصْرُ إِلَّا مِنْ عِنْدِ اللَّهِ That victory and help only comes from Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. It will win. They will win. When? أَلَا إِنَّ نَصْرُ اللَّهِ قَرِيبٌ When Allah wants it to happen. But it will happen. And subhanAllah I was reading and I'll end with this insha'Allah ta'ala. I was reading from the words and the literature of people that fought apartheid in South Africa. And when you talk about the odds being stacked against the people, the odds were stacked against those that were fighting apartheid in South Africa as well. But you know what? They persevered without iman. What about you when you have iman? What about you when you have iman? The narrative will change one day.
And all of these pro-apartheid, pro-occupation politicians and celebrities and voices, everyone that justified this genocide and madness will go down in history as an evil malicious human being, as a failure in history. And more than that will be raised up in front of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala and have to face the consequences of justifying and supporting and enabling this evil. What about us? I want to meet Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala on the day of judgment and say I did everything I possibly could to not let them be slaughtered in the dark. I did everything I possibly could to not let them be butchered without anyone watching. And I was willing to face whatever small consequences I had here. And you know what dear brothers and sisters, I want to fast forward to an image and it's one that I've been thinking about in these last few days. Some of us have family in Gaza, some of us have relatives. And even if you don't, your hearts have moved, you've shed a few tears I hope, you've made some sincere du'as for your brothers and sisters. I pray that's the case. Some of those people that you're seeing in those videos that you've never met in real life, I want you to imagine the scene when you meet them in the hereafter. Those people that showed up on your phone and you watched them pulling out their babies from under the rubble. Those people who cried out and said, where is the world? I want you to imagine when Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la puts you right in front of that person on the Day of Judgment and you recognize them and they recognize you. And they come up to you and they say, JazakAllahu Khayran. May Allah reward you. Oh Allah, this person saw me from thousands of miles away and did not back away from me. This brother, this sister was there for me. This person raised their voice. And all along, we knew that you would help us, Allah. We knew that victory was from you.
Palestine will win, Inshallah Ta-A'la. Gaza will win, Inshallah Ta-A'la. Al-Aqsa will be liberated, Inshallah. And we will not let propaganda and the machinery of propaganda with all of its establishments and powers intimidate us. In fact, it should increase us in faith. You know, it's one thing to not despair. It's another thing to be increased. Zadahum imanah. Be increased in faith. The more that you see them scrambling, they have to make up hoaxes about the Palestinian people. The more that they generate AI images and make up their slanders and their lies and frame and stereotype, the more that they have confidence, the more that we have certainty in Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta-A'la. Ala inna nasrAllahi qareeb. We're on the right side of history, bi-idhnillah Ta-A'la. And we're on the right side of this entire atrocity that is playing out in front of us. We ask Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta-A'la to guide us to that which is good, to be with our brothers and sisters in Palestine, to be with our brothers and sisters that are oppressed in any part of the world. And we ask Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta-A'la to increase us in faith, to increase them in faith. We ask Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta-A'la to protect the innocent and to make them steadfast. We ask Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta-A'la that as these days become difficult, that Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta-A'la allow us to come together as a community, come together as people of faith, come together as people of conscience, and support our brothers and sisters in any way. We ask Allah to guide us to be on the side of the oppressed, whether they're in the streets of Dallas or they're in the streets of Gaza, and to not make us amongst those that turn a blind eye to the oppressed. We ask Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta-A'la that in that process that we never become oppressors, either actively or passively. Allahuma Ameen. I say this, and I seek refuge in Allah from the accursed Satan, so seek refuge in Him. He is the Forgiving, the Merciful.
All praise is due to Allah, Lord of the worlds. There is no aggression except against the wrongdoers. And the end is for the righteous. Allahumma Salli wa Sallam wa Baraka ala abdika wa rasulika Muhammadin Sallallahu alayhi wa sallam wa ala alihi wa sahbihi wa sallam tasimun kathira. Dear brothers and sisters, I remind you that any time you hear of an opportunity or something shows its way, especially in this crucial time, support your brothers and sisters in Palestine. Do not be intimidated into not donating. Do not be intimidated into not using your voice. And do not forget to keep them in your dua. Your dua is the greatest tool at your disposal right now. Keep them in your dua. May Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta-A'la free them and liberate them. May Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta-A'la liberate al-Aqsa and allow us to pray in a free al-Aqsa in our lifetimes. Al-Fatiha. As-salamu alaykum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuhu, wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuhu.
Al-Fatiha.
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