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The Believers Are Brothers

Shaykh Nour Kabbani

21 August 2015 London, Ontario

Jumu`ah Khutbah at Islamic Center of Southwest Ontario

Salaamu `alaykum wa rahmatullaahi wa barakaatuh. (Recites du`a of Khutbah.)

As-salaamu `alaykum wa rahmatullaahi wa barakaatuh. Allah (swt) is reminding us in the Holy Qur’an in Surat al-Hujuraat: A`oodhu billahi min ash-Shaytani ‘r-rajeem. Bismillahi 'r-Rahmani 'r-Raheem.

إِنَّمَا الْمُؤْمِنُونَ إِخْوَةٌ فَأَصْلِحُوا بَيْنَ أَخَوَيْكُمْ وَاتَّقُوا اللَّهَ لَعَلَّكُمْ تُرْحَمُونَ

All believers are but brothers; hence, make peace between your two brothers and remain conscious of Allah so that you might be graced with His mercy. (Surat al-Hujuraat, 49:10)

Believers, mu’mins are ikhwah, brothers, so mend the fences between each other, reconcile and find out the differences and try to come together. It is an order of Allah (swt): fa aslihoo bayna akhawaykum, fix the problems between your brothers! We are brothers, not only by flesh and blood, but Allah is saying ‘by spirit’, because I am not your brother, cousin or blood relative, but I am mentioned in Holy Qur’an as ‘ikhwah’, fa aslihoo bayna akhawaykum , ‘in brotherhood’, which that means more than just flesh and blood.

The Guidance to Build a Strong Brotherhood

So Allah is saying, “Reconcile between your brothers,” and Nabi (s) is saying how to do that. We all want to have peace among each other among the Muslim Ummah. We look at the Muslim Ummah and we find a lot of problems, we want to fix it, each one of us is trying to fix it, he is doing his best, but we are not following Nabi (s). On the Day of Judgement we will be questioned, “Did you follow Nabi (s)?” and in this sahih Hadith, Prophet (s) says:

وعن أنس رضي الله عنه أن النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم قال‏:‏ ‏"‏لا تباغضوا، ولا تحاسدوا ولا تدابروا، ولا تقاطعوا، وكونوا عباد الله إخوانًا

Do not harbor grudges against one another, nor jealousy, nor enmity, and do not show your backs to one another, and become as fellow brothers and servants of Allah. (Bukhari and Muslim)

Laa tabaaghadoo. What does that mean? Don’t hate each other, don’t get angry at each other. Where is this following of this order of Nabi (s) when he says, laa tahaasadoo, “Don’t be jealous of each other, don’t envy each other”? Wherever we are, we are Muslims as Ummat an-Muhammad (s): we can be in the West, in the East, in the North and in the South, and Nabi (s) talks to all of us, saying, “Don’t hate each other, don’t be enemies to each other, don’t envy each other, don’t be jealous of each other and laa tadaabaroo, don’t turn your backs on each other, don’t walk away from each other. Wa koonoo `ibaadAllah ikhwaanan, And, O servants of Allah, be true brothers!”

Nabi (s) is ordering us to be brothers and in the Holy Qur’an, Allah (swt) is ordering us to be brothers; we must be brothers and the way to do that is by following the advice of Nabi (s) on these three things:

* Laa tabaaghadoo, don’t be angry with each other, don’t hate each other, which means don’t fight, hit, curse each other, which are all forms of anger.

* Laa tahaasadoo, don’t be jealous of each other, thinking, “His land is bigger than mine, his house is bigger than mine, he has more money than me, he has a bigger masjid than me, he has a better family than me,” which is all hasad, jealousy.

* Then comes the thought, “I am going to take what he has!” and that’s when Shaytan enters and starts to make fitna, problems!

The Signs of Yusuf and His Brothers

I entered this masjid and Surat Yusuf was being recited. Allah (swt) says in Surat Yusuf, asta`eedhu billah:

لَقَدْ كَانَ فِي يُوسُفَ وَإِخْوَتِهِ آيَاتٌ لِلسَّائِلِينَ

Certainly in Yusuf and his brothers there were signs for those who ask. (Surat Yusuf, 12:7)

“Verily in Yusuf and his brothers there are signs to those that are asking.” What is between Yusuf and his brothers? Allah (swt) is saying there are signs. We are ordered to find out the signs. What was between Yusuf and his brothers? What happens at the end when Sayyidina Yusuf brings his father, Sayyidina Ya’qoob (a) and his brothers into Egypt? He said, asta`eedhu billah:

وَقَدْ أَحْسَنَ بِي إِذْ أَخْرَجَنِي مِنَ السِّجْنِ وَجَاءَ بِكُمْ مِنَ الْبَدْوِ مِنْ بَعْدِ أَنْ نَزَغَ الشَّيْطَانُ بَيْنِي وَبَيْنَ إِخْوَتِي ۚ إِنَّ رَبِّي لَطِيفٌ لِمَا يَشَاءُ ۚ إِنَّهُ هُوَ الْعَلِيمُ الْحَكِيمُ

And He was certainly good to me when He took me out of prison and brought you (here) from bedouin life after Shaytan had induced (estrangement) between me and my brothers. (Surat Yusuf, 12:100)

Shaytan, the Perpetual Enemy

Who is between him and his brothers? Shaytan. Allah is saying in Surah Yusuf that there is a sign in Yusuf and his brothers and what came between Yusuf and his brothers was that he was saying, “Shaytan made problems between me and my brothers.” That means Shaytan is the one that makes problems between the brothers, Shaytan is at work between Ummat Muhammad (s). We believe in Shaytan. If you don’t believe in Shaytan you don’t believe in Qur’an, then if so, we are out of Islam! We have to be careful. We don’t see Shaytan, but he is at work between Ummat Muhammad (s). Here Sayyidina Yusuf is telling his father, “My Lord was very good to me, He took me out of prison and He brought you to me from the desert to the city after Shaytan made fitna between me and my brothers.” However, the fitna nowadays between Ummat Muhammad (s) is not us. We have to be careful here as we all believe in ‘Laa ilaaha illa-Llaah’ and in ‘Muhammad Rasoolullah (s), so what is the problem? The problem is that people are unaware, people forget about Shaytan because we don’t see him and when we don’t see Shaytan we think he is not there, but he is there. Allah (swt) is saying:

إِنَّ الشَّيْطَانَ لَكُمْ عَدُوٌّ فَاتَّخِذُوهُ عَدُوًّا

Verily, Shaytan is an enemy to you, so treat him as an enemy. (Surat al-Fatir, 35:6)

Wake Up! Know Your Enemy!

Alah (swt) is telling us, inna ‘sh-shaytaana lakum `adoowwun, “Shaytan is an enemy for you so wake up, O Ummat Muhammad (s), Shaytan is at work!” Allah, our Lord, is warning us against Shaytan, of whom we are unaware; we don’t think Shaytan exists, maybe once in a while here and there, but he is here on Earth to destroy our deen, our faith, our iman, to destroy our Akhirah! He doesn't care about us; he didn’t care about Sayyidina Adam (a) and all he cares about is that we don’t enter Paradise in Akhirah, that we lose our Akhirah like he lost Allah’s forgiveness and mercy! He lost it, he was cast away, so he wants to make sure that we, here and everywhere else, lose our Akhirah!

Be careful. Allah (swt) is The One Who is true. Haqq. He says, inna ‘sh-shaytaana lakum `adoowwun, He is your enemy, so take him as your enemy, not your fellow Muslim or mu’min who makes sajda like you, nor who fasts Ramadan like you; that is not your enemy, take him as your brother. Try to find the good things in him and try to forgive and pardon the bad things about him, and correct him in private, not in public, laa tuheen, don’t embarrass your brother, don’t bring down his dignity, correct him in private, not public. So he is not your enemy, she is not your enemy, Allah (swt) is saying your enemy is Shaytan, “Beware of Shaytan, he is trying to destroy your Akhirah.”

The Cost of Jealousy was Murder

So Sayyidina Yusuf told his father, “O my father, my Lord is very good to me and to you. He took Shaytan away between me and my brothers.” What did he whisper to his brothers? Mashaa-Allah, Surat Yusuf was being recited here today. What did Shaytan tell his brothers to do? How did he approach them? Recall in Surat Yusuf, they said:

إِذْ قَالُوا لَيُوسُفُ وَأَخُوهُ أَحَبُّ إِلَىٰ أَبِينَا مِنَّا وَنَحْنُ عُصْبَةٌ إِنَّ أَبَانَا لَفِي ضَلَالٍ مُبِينٍ

"Yusuf and his brother are more beloved to our father than we, while we are a clan. Indeed, our father is in clear error.” (Surat Yusuf, 12:8)

“Yusuf and his brother are more dear to our father than us.” What entered their hearts? Jealousy. Who was the first one to be jealous in front of Allah (swt)? Shaytan! So the first sign that Shaytan was working between Yusuf (a) and his brothers was the jealousy they had for him and Sayyidina Bin Yameen, Benjamin, his brother. They said, “They are more dear to our father than us, what should we do?” When jealousy enters you want to destroy the one in front of you to get rid of him. They said, “Let us kill him!”

اقْتُلُوا يُوسُفَ أَوِ اطْرَحُوهُ أَرْضًا يَخْلُ لَكُمْ وَجْهُ أَبِيكُمْ وَتَكُونُوا مِنْ بَعْدِهِ قَوْمًا صَالِحِينَ قَالَ قَائِلٌ مِنْهُمْ لَا تَقْتُلُوا يُوسُفَ وَأَلْقُوهُ فِي غَيَابَتِ الْجُبِّ

“Kill Yusuf or cast him out to (another) land; the countenance of your father will (then) be only for you, and you will be after that a righteous people! Said one of them, "Do not kill Yusuf but throw him into the bottom of the well.” (Surat Yusuf, 12:9-10)

Imagine a real brother in flesh and blood killing his brother! Look how Shaytan enters. So Shaytan ordered Sayyidina Yusuf’s killing by his brothers! What else did he order them? They said, “No, no, maybe we shouldn’t kill him. What should we do? Drown him! Put him under water.” This is Qur’an and it is happening nowadays. Wake up, O Ummat Muhammad (s), know your enemy! They didn’t want to kill him because one of them said, “No, let’s not kill him, but let’s drown him, throw him in the well, let him die under water.” That is nothing but Shaytan: “kill him, drown him under water!” So they threw him in the well, but after they had stoned him also, they beat him up because they wanted to kill him in the beginning and they left him for dead.

How to Effectively Fight Shaytan

That is the order of Shaytan to people! Be careful, let’s correct ourselves and let us know who our real enemy is. Allah (swt) is saying, asta`eedhu billlah:

وَإِمَّا يَنزَغَنَّكَ مِنَ الشَّيْطَانِ نَزْغٌ فَاسْتَعِذْ بِاللّهِ

And if an evil suggestion comes to you from Shaytan, then seek refuge in Allah. Indeed, He is Hearing and Knowing. (Surat al-`Araaf, 7:200)

If a whisper comes from Shaytan, fasta`idh billah, say, “A`oodhu billahi min ash-Shaytaani ‘r-rajeem.” The weapon against Shaytan is “A`oodhu billahi min ash-Shaytaani ‘r-rajeem.” We cannot fight him because we cannot see him, but when we disobey Shaytan and we ask Allah (swt) for help then we can get him under control or else he is running between Ummat Muhammad (s), ordering them every kind of bad action.

إِنَّمَا يَأْمُرُكُمْ بِالسُّوءِ وَالْفَحْشَاءِ وَأَنْ تَقُولُوا عَلَى اللَّهِ مَا لَا تَعْلَمُونَ

He only orders you to evil and immorality and to say about Allah what you do not know.

(Surat al-Baqara, 2:169)

His orders are harming, hurting physically and mentally; his orders are indecency and lies! “Tell them any lie you want about Allah (swt),” that is what he says. We ask Allah (swt) to wake us up so that we know who is our real enemy. My fellow Muslim is not my enemy, my fellow mu’min is not my enemy! If I see something wrong in him, I correct him in private, not in public. I love my fellow brother because Allah (swt) says, innama ‘l-mu’mineena ikhwah, all Believers are brothers. (49:10) And let us know that Shaytan is our enemy, like in the example of Sayyidina Yusuf and his brothers.

[Du`a of Khutbah]

[End]

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