13 March 2020 Burton, Michigan
Jumu`ah Khutbah at As-Siddiq Institute & Mosque (ASIM)
أَلَمْ تَرَ إِلَى الَّذِي حَاجَّ إِبْرَاهِيمَ فِي رَبِّهِ أَنْ آتَاهُ اللَّهُ الْمُلْكَ إِذْ قَالَ إِبْرَاهِيمُ رَبِّيَ الَّذِي يُحْيِي وَيُمِيتُ قَالَ أَنَا أُحْيِي وَأُمِيتُ ۖ قَالَ إِبْرَاهِيمُ فَإِنَّ اللَّهَ يَأْتِي بِالشَّمْسِ مِنَ الْمَشْرِقِ فَأْتِ بِهَا مِنَ الْمَغْرِبِ فَبُهِتَ الَّذِي كَفَرَ ۗ وَاللَّهُ لَا يَهْدِي الْقَوْمَ الظَّالِمِينَ
Have you not considered the one who argued with Abraham about his Lord [merely] because Allah had given him kingship? When Abraham said, "My Lord is the one who gives life and causes death," he said, "I give life and cause death." Abraham said, "Indeed, Allah brings up the sun from the east, so bring it up from the west." So the disbeliever was overwhelmed [by astonishment], and Allah does not guide the wrongdoing people. (Surah al-Baqarah, 2:258)
قَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ: المَرْءُ مَعَ مَنْ أَحَبَّ
Allah's Messenger (s) said, "Everyone will be with those whom he loves." (Sahih Bukhari)
O Mu’mins, O Believers! Allah (swt) said in the Holy Qur’an, “Have you not considered the one who argued with Abraham about his Lord?” That is the characteristic of Namrood (Nimrod), the one that claims to have all power and to be almighty. Human beings have that characteristic. If left to himself or herself, human beings claim that they are almighty and all powerful, that they can do anything they want; anything a Lord can do, they can do.
That is a human being in his lowest level, asfali ‘s-saafileen, when he or she let themselves go down in the levels of jahaalah, ignorance, they claim to be all powerful and almighty, saying, “I am so great, I do what I want. I give life, I take life!” Human beings claim that they can take lives and give lives, as this Namrood, this tyrant, this one human being, a person claimed. His story is in the Holy Qur’an. He claimed that he is on top of this world, that he is the leader, king and emperor of this world.
Nowadays, you have so many of them! Human beings are like that one. Namrood, or Nimrod in English, was a human being in Babylon claiming to be god. Nowadays, so many human beings claim to be the same and they run the world as they like! They (think they can) give or take life from whomever they want. They restrict, punish, kill, prevent and give. Allah (swt) did not send Qur’an just as a story, saying, “Okay, listen to some stories.” There is a meaning!
O Namroods out there! O Human Being that has the characteristic of Namrood, the characteristic of “I am almighty and all powerful! I can do anything I want!” So you can do anything you want, O Human Being? Eh, Allah (swt) is sending you a lesson in Holy Qur’an.
The Messenger of Allah (s) was once asked, and this Hadith I heard from my teacher:
عن أبي هريرة رضي الله عنه قال: سئل رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم أي العمل أفضل؟ قال: "إيمان بالله ورسوله"
"Which deed is the best?" He (s) replied, "Faith in Allah and His Messenger." (Bukhari and Muslim)
As in the Six Pillars of Faith:
امَنْتُ بِاللهِ وَمَلئِكَتِه وَكُتُبِه وَرَسُوْلِه وَالْيَوْمِ الْاخِرِ وَالْقَدْرِ خَيْرِه وَشَرِّه مِنَ اللهِ تَعَالى وَالْبَعْثِ بَعْدَالْمَوْتِ حق
I believe in the Existence and Oneness of Allah, His Angels, His Books, His Prophets, and I believe in the Day of Judgement, and in Destiny, that everything good or evil is from Allah, and I believe in life after death (and resurrection.) All of them are true and right. (Imaan al-Mufassal)
[Video cut] ...as their destiny is from Allah (swt) and by His wisdom. If something bad is happening in the world, it is by Allah's Permission. If there is something good happening in the world, it is by Allah’s Permission.
Where is your imaan, O Muslim? Where is your imaan? Allah (swt) is saying, “You have to believe!” Aamantu billaahi wa malaa’ikatihi wa kutubihi wa rusulihi wa ‘l-yawmi ‘l-aakhir wa bi ‘l-qadri khayrihi wa sharrihi min Allahi ta`ala wa bi’l-ba`tha ba`d al-mawti haqq. The last rukun, pillar of Imaan is, “I believe in Destiny, that every goodness and badness is from Allah (swt).” That means, if Allah (swt) wants good for you, no badness touches you.
Eh, where is your imaan, O Muslim? If Allah wants for you khayr, goodness, no badness or harm, no matter how bad it is, can touch you, O Mu’min. If Allah (swt) wants to send harmful things on you because you were disobedient, He might do that; no matter how many people want to protect you, it will come to you. That is Namrood. Allah (swt) sent something bad on him. He surrounded himself by his armies, palaces and soldiers, but that thing that Allah (swt) sent found its way to him!
أَيْنَمَا تَكُونُواْ يُدْرِككُّمُ الْمَوْتُ وَلَوْ كُنتُمْ فِي بُرُوجٍ مُّشَيَّدَةٍ
Wherever you may be, death will overtake you, even if you should be within towers of lofty construction. (Surah an-Nisaa’, 4:78)
This is Qur`an. Even if you are in fortified castles and towers, if Allah (swt) wants to send something to you to take your life, it will come, no matter how many gowns or suits you put on!
Where is your imaan, O Muslim, O Mu’min? This Namrood, the one that denied Allah (swt), His Messengers and His Books, and masha'Allah, so many human beings nowadays deny Allah (swt), His Messengers and His Books, saying, “We are gods on Earth!” Mashaa-Allah, okay.
So what does Qur’an al-Kareem say to us? What does Allah (swt) teach us in Holy Qur’an? This one that denied one of Allah’s Messengers (a), denied the Message that he came with, said, “I am lord! I give life and I take life. I do as I like.” And it is said that Namrood challenged the Lord; he told the Messenger (a), “Go tell your Lord to bring His Armies and meet me.”
They are challenging Allah (swt) nowadays on Earth. They are not giving justice to people, they are not working for peace among people. Look at how everybody is eating each other. Justice has to prevail on Earth! Peace has to prevail on Earth! This is what we have to do, to be just, respectful, and peaceful with everybody.
So that one said, “Tell your Lord to bring forth His Soldiers, and I am going to come out with my armies. I deny the Message that you have brought. I deny there is another Lord. I am the lord, so let your Lord come with His Armies.”
This is the characteristic of a human being that is challenging Allah (swt)! How? By not following His Heavenly Messages. When a human being doesn’t follow the Heavenly Message and rejects it, he is challenging his Lord. Unfortunately, nowadays, that’s how it is on Earth. People have rejected Heavenly Messages; they have rejected peace that has come from the Lord of Heavens to inhabitants of Earth.
So what happened? Namrood said, “I don’t want You, I don’t want Your Messenger. I do as I like. Bring Your Soldiers!” Sayyidina Ibrahim (a) said, “Okay, my Lord will meet you. He will send His Army to a certain place.” Namrood came with thousands and thousands of soldiers, waiting for the army of the Lord of Heavens.
وَمَا يَعْلَمُ جُنُودَ رَبِّكَ إِلَّا هُوَ
And none can know the hosts of your Lord but He. (Surah al-Muddaththir, 74:31)
Nobody knows the Soldiers of your Lord except Him! This Namrood—this human being, this person that is proud, arrogant, unjust, corrupt—was waiting for a human being like him to come and meet him. Allah (swt) is not a human being; Allah (swt) is nothing you can think of. Laa ilaaha illaa Hu!
So Namrood was waiting with his soldiers to see the Lord of Heavens come with His Soldiers. As our teacher has told us, a big cloud came with lots of noise. This cloud became bigger and bigger and bigger. What was it? It was al-ba`ood. Allah (swt) sent an army of ba`ood, mosquitoes. Ba`ood is from the word ba`ad, meaning, a small one. What did they do? They came onto the army of Namrood with these little ones flying. They came and entered through their armor, sucked their blood and the meat with it, and left nothing on them except their bones! They all fell dead.
It was a little thing that came to whom? To the human being that claims to be lord of everything; the human being that claims to give life and take life; the human being that has become proud and arrogant. Eh, there is wisdom in everything that happens.
Look at the wisdom. Allah (swt) has sent an army on whom? On the bad ones! If you are good, it won’t touch you. If you have obeyed your Lord and been with the ones He loves—as the Prophet (s) said, al-mar’u ma`a man ahabb, “Everyone will be with those whom he loves"—if you are with those loved by Allah (swt), then you are safe as Allah (swt) protects you.
Where is your imaan? Allah (swt) has sent an army of His small ones entering the body, but these are invisible. Look what happened to them. They don’t know what is happening to them, they don’t know what to do.
Return to your Lord of Heavens! Return to the Lord! Repent, be just, be peaceful, be good! They don’t know how to deal with it. It’s an invisible army. Whatever they do does not make sense, it hits each other. They are even attacking each other instead of attacking that army, because they don’t know where the army is. Allah is Akbar, Great!
رَبَّنَا ظَلَمْنَا أَنفُسَنَا وَإِن لَّمْ تَغْفِرْ لَنَا وَتَرْحَمْنَا لَنَكُونَنَّ مِنَ الْخَاسِرِينَ
Rabbanaa zhalamnaa anfusanaa wa illam taghfir lanaa wa tarhamnaa la-nakoonanna min al-khaasireen
“Our Lord! We have wronged ourselves, and if you do not forgive us and have mercy upon us, we will surely be amongst the losers.” (Surat al-A`raaf, 7:23)
So what do we do? You have to come back to Allah (swt) and say, “Yaa Rabbee, forgive us. Rabbanaa zhalamnaa anfusanaa, we have done wrong. Wa illam taghfir lanaa wa tarhamnaa, if You don’t forgive us and have mercy on us, la-nakoonanna min al-khaasireen, we will lose, as we are losing now.”
Human beings have to come together. Don’t be like that Namrood, don’t claim that you are the lord, that you are god. Don’t claim, “I can do whatever I like whether it’s good or bad, just or unjust.” Allah (swt) will send something towards you like He sent something toward Namrood!
What happened to Namrood? His army had vanished and he ran away. Mashaa-Allah, the king ran away! He left the soldiers to die, but the leader ran away, hiding. Cowards hide. Eh, what happened? Allah (swt) sent that little one to him through the keyhole of his palace. That invisible one might chase you wherever you are! So it came through the keyhole, entered his body through his nostril, and after long suffering he died.
Allah (swt) is capable, He can send whatever He wants. What’s happening nowadays in the world is with Allah’s Wisdom and to strengthen the imaan of Mu’mins, and to show the ones that come against Allah. How do they come against Him? By suppressing and hurting people!
You have to be merciful, O people in leadership! You have to be kind to human beings, be respectful to their beliefs and help them in their needs! You cannot just throw them away, you cannot just neglect them, you cannot crush them. Everybody can see what’s happening around the world: human beings are being crushed, killed, separated, imprisoned, jailed. Why? They are human beings like us! Where is that tenderness in your heart?
The Messenger of Allah, Sayyidina Muhammad (s) has said:
ارْحَمُوا مَنْ فِي الْأَرْضِ يَرْحَمْكُمْ مَنْ فِي السَّمَاءِ
Be merciful to those on the Earth and the One in the Heavens will have mercy upon you. (Tirmidhi)
That is the way out. If you want to have the way out, get that mercy in your hearts for every human being, regardless of who they are, what color they are, what race they are, what religion they follow. These are the teachings of Islam!
لافرق بين عربي ولا اعجمي الا بالتقو
There is no difference between Arabs and non-Arabs (one race and another) except in piety. (Ahmad)
There is no difference between human beings, except in how much you love your Lord and love your Rasool (s), and that can differ. But race, color, gender, status, richness, money--that has nothing to do with anything, as that can come and go. You can be black one day and the next day you can be white. If you are albino, if you get that auto-immune disease, today you are black, tomorrow you are white. And if you get the other way around, you can be white one day and black the next day as Allah (swt) is capable!
So it’s not about color, race and wealth, it’s about human beings. Human beings need to be loved; that is the solution out of our problem. Don’t think there is another solution. The solution of our problems is to love human beings, respect them as they are, wherever they are, and to come to the house of worship and repent to the Lord of Heavens. Yaa Rabbee! We are asking forgiveness for all of us as we have all sinned!
[Khutbah end.] Du`a.
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