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Unity, Peace, & Love Conference, 2 of 2

The Status of Muslim Extremism Today

Mawlana Shaykh Hisham Kabbani

13 July 2010 Watford, UK

Peace & Unity Conference

Bismillahi 'r-Rahmaani 'r-Raheem. Alhamdulillahi Rabbi 'l-`Alameen, was-salaatu was-salaamu `ala ashrafa 'l-mursaleen, Sayyidina wa Nabiyyina Muhammadan wa `ala alihi wa sahbihi ajma`een.

A`oodhu billahi min ash-Shaytaani 'r-rajeem. Bismillahi 'r-Rahmaani 'r-Raheem.

Nawaytu 'l-arba`een, nawaytu 'l-`itikaaf, nawaytu 'l-khalwah, nawaytu 'l-`uzlah,

nawaytu 'r-riyaadah, nawaytu 's-sulook, lillahi ta`ala fee haadha 'l-masjid.

Ati`ullaha wa ati`u 'r-Rasoola wa ooli 'l-amri minkum.

Obey Allah, obey the Prophet, and obey those in authority among you. (an-Nisa, 4:59)

YaaSeen (s) wa 'l-Qur'an al-Hakeem, innaka lamin al-mursaleen,`ala siraatin mustaqeem.

YaaSeen. By the Wise Quran. Lo! You are one of the messengers. (YaaSeen, 36:1-3)

As-salaamu `alaykum wa rahmatullahi wa barakaatuh. It is my honor to be here, and don't be surprised if I say that I don't deserve this. What I deserve is to be at the door with the shoes. We are people who try to know ourselves and try to cut our egos down. Arrogance leads to Iblees and humbleness leads to Prophet (s). Allah said in the Holy Qur'an, giving a very nice example that we as Muslims have to understand and learn. When Sayyidina Sulayman (a) was coming into the Valley of Ants, Allah (swt) said in the Holy Qur'an,

وَحُشِرَ لِسُلَيْمَانَ جُنُودُهُ مِنَ الْجِنِّ وَالْإِنسِ وَالطَّيْرِ فَهُمْ يُوزَعُونَ حَتَّى إِذَا أَتَوْا عَلَى وَادِي النَّمْلِ قَالَتْ نَمْلَةٌ يَا أَيُّهَا النَّمْلُ ادْخُلُوا مَسَاكِنَكُمْ لَا يَحْطِمَنَّكُمْ سُلَيْمَانُ وَجُنُودُهُ وَهُمْ لَا يَشْعُرُونَ

Wa hushira li Sulaymaana junooduho min al-jinni wa 'l-insi wa 't-tayri fahum yuz`aoon, hattaa idhaa ataw `alaa wadi 'n-namli qaalat namlatun yaa ayyuha 'n-namlu 'dkhuloo masaakinakum laa yahtimannakum Sulaymaanu wa junooduhoo wa hum la yash`uroon.

And before Solomon were marshalled his hosts,of jinns and men and birds, and they were all kept in order and ranks. At length, when they came to a (lowly) valley of ants, one of the ants said, "O ants! Get into your habitations, unless Solomon and his hosts crush you (under foot) without knowing it. (an-Naml, 27:17-18)

Qaalat namla means one ant, not more, but when Allah wants to give power, He gives power even to an ant. When you humble yourself like an ant and do not be arrogant, your voice can be heard by millions of people! Allah said in Holy Qur'an, "One ant said," not more than one. You know these small ants, in Arabic they are called dhar, which means "atom," something you cannot see with your eyes. You cannot see ants with your eyes, but they are running and moving. One of these ants was speaking to millions of other ants. How were they were able to hear, and with what language? Was there a speaker or a microphone? No microphone! An ant was heard by millions of ants with heavenly technology.

Therefore, don't ask how can we bring the ten percent of extremists and identify them. You can identify them and know them, but people today are not believing in sainthood anymore. Allah (swt) said in the Holy Qur'an:

أَلا إِنَّ أَوْلِيَاء اللّهِ لاَ خَوْفٌ عَلَيْهِمْ وَلاَ هُمْ يَحْزَنُونَ

Alaa inna awliyaaullaahi laa khawfun `alayhim wa laa hum yahzanoon.

Verily the Friends of God have no fear on them nor do they grieve. (al-Anbiyaa, 10:62)

There is nothing to fear nor to be sad about as Allah is supporting them. He knows where the ant enters in its hole and how many ants there are. Don't underestimate the power Allah gives to His awliyaa, saints. There are rare awliyaa who are hidden.

O Muslims! We are sitting here, so would you like to hear a political lecture or a spiritual lecture? They talk about "prevent, prevent, prevent." How do we say "prevent" in Arabic? Man`a, forbid. One person, everyday sends his son to fill a jar from the well with water. Before the son goes there, the father hits him on his feet. "O my son, I'm going to hit you with this stick if you break the jar." The father does so because he knows that if he doesn't give him something to be frightened about, the son will break the jar, which means that he is not responsible. Extremists or terrorists are like that; they do not understand nice, gentle language. Ahlu ’s-Sunnah is on Haqq! Our problems come from the other people trying to make us kafir. And not from the Christian or the Jewish community, but from our own blood, our own brothers and sisters from within the Muslim community!

Why do you think there are verses about punishment in the Holy Qur'an? It is to prevent people from falling into the hands of Iblees or Shaytan, because Iblees is an extremist! He took Adam (a) from Paradise to Earth. These extremists are Iblees! Iblees dressed them and possessed them. So what do we have to do? Curse them! They say Shi`a are not on the right way. I'm not going to speak about madhhab or Shi`as, but when they listen to their scholars, you can see all of them saying, "Allahu Akbar!" They stand up! We are the lovers of Ahlu 'l-Bayt, and we are from the children of Ahlu 'l-Bayt. We have to stand for Haqq against baatil! So Allah (swt) said in the Holy Qur'an:

وَمَا نُرْسِلُ بِالآيَاتِ إِلاَّ تَخْوِيفًا

Wa maa nursilu bil-ayaati illa takhweefa

We only send the Signs by way of terror (and warning from evil). (an-Najm, 17:59)

It means, "We sent verses about `adhaab to frighten people and warn them not to fall into the hands of Shaytan," because Allah doesn't like anyone to fall into the hands of Shaytan. Does Iblees believe in Allah or not? Yes, he believes! But he did not make sajdah to Adam (a), he disobeyed one time. Those who are making strategies and conspiracies against the country are in are Iblees! Because Allah (swt) said, "Obey Allah, obey the Prophet, and obey those in authority among you." (4:59) Obey authorities, not only Muslim scholars. Where are the scholars today? Where are the Sufi scholars, I am asking. Two, three, five, or ten? They are there, but they are not given a podium. Where will they speak, in their mosques? Who will listen to them, BBC? Do they have cable stations like Zakir Naik or Bilal Philips, the biggest bashers of Ahlu ’s-Sunnah? No! What do they have? They have nothing (in dunya), but they have the love of Allah and Prophet (s)!

Prophet (s) said, "There will be coming a time when confusion is going to be like dark nights." Today you see confusion everywhere. There are difficulties, problems, confusions, and ignorance.

‏قال قال رسول الله ‏صلى الله عليه وسلم ‏إن من ‏أشراط ‏الساعة أن يرفع العلم ويظهر الجهل...

Prophet (s) said, yakthar al-jahl wa yarfa`u al-`ilm,

“From the Signs of The Last Day is that knowledge will be lifted up and ignorance will fill the Earth..."

(The ignorance will) not (be) ignorance of technology and science, but ignorance of religion.

What are the scholars doing today? They are giving fatwas,one day suicide bombing is haraam, the next day it is halaal. Why? Because they took money from the government and decided to change their fatwa. They had a conference in one of the Arab countries, and they had a fatwa to marry any girl while you are traveling and then when you are finished, let her go. They are talking about the marriage of boyfriend and girlfriend, this is what they are busy with! Are they helping you? No, they are sitting on oil money, not caring! Who is caring and getting the problems? Us! Who is getting killed in Pakistan? Can you tell me, is it Ahlu ’s-Sunnah or others? I cannot mention the others, they are not pure on my tongue. Who killed the Sufis? How they are going to stand up when they are being killed everyday? They also blew up Ajmer Sharif. Today every imaam of Ahlu ’s-Sunnah has 50 cars in front of him and behind him loaded with machine guns (for his protection)!

We had a delegation in Washington DC with three Pakistani ministers and this is what they were saying. In Somalia, there were 592 shrines and graves of awliyaaullah that passed away, and extremists destroyed the masaajid, mosques and shrines. I was there. They came to me covered (incognito), because they don't want to be known or extremists will kill them. It is the same in Iraq, Palestine, Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Kashmir. Who are they killing? In the beginning they said that Al-Qaeda is fighting the West. No, it's not true! The war is against Muslims! Who is behind the ideology of Al-Qaeda? From where has it grown up and where did it come from? Ask these people from where it came! That is the problem.

For one statue in Afghanistan, which we also do not agree with those who blew it up, the whole world stood up. Most of the Muslim scholars said that it is haraam to blow it up. So why then when the relics of Prophet (s) were being destroyed in Mecca and Madinah, no one said a word?! Ahlu ’s-Sunnah have been quiet, and now they are fed up. In Iraq, now they are retaliating, and it is being said that the Sunni Sufis are bad. You made them retaliate! Today in England I am worried; may Allah save this country, because Allah said to obey the authorities. But if the authorities are empowering one group more than the other, then it is their mistake, not ours. This message has to be known for the benefit of the country, the government, and for everyone, or else we will be falling into the traps of the other group, who is saying, "We can de-radicalize those who were radicalized." Who radicalized them in the first place? The Wahabis, and now Wahabis are saying they can de-radicalize them?! Why, their religion changed? They will come and kill you!

O Muslims! No one can change if Allah (swt) doesn't want. Whatever He wants will happen! Our duty is to help, not to sit and be part of these conspiracies. We have to stand up! Someone here was saying we have to stand up, but very masjid here in England must stand up.There must be a delegation from somewhere to speak with every masjid on Fridays, for people to be aware of what is happening.

O Muslims! Take an example. That ant is very small, we might see it running. Do we know where the head is and where the stomach is, and do we see how it's connected? The head must be connected to the stomach, but with what kind of pipe? A one-inch or perhaps a two-inch pipe? If we don't know anything about an ant, how are we going to understand Islam, a heavenly knowledge? Every letter of the Holy Qur'an is an ocean of knowledge. Allah's words never end. It begins with "alif" and ends with "yaa". The first letter "alif" represents "Allah"; no one can understand. The last letter is "yaa" for YaaSeen; that is Prophet (s). All knowledge is between Allah and Prophet (s)! If you don't reach to read from the heart of Prophet (s), you will not understand:

وَمَن كَانَ فِي هَـذِهِ أَعْمَى فَهُوَ فِي الآخِرَةِ أَعْمَى وَأَضَلُّ سَبِي

Wa man kaana fee haadhihi `aama fa-huwa fi’l-akhirati `aama wa adalloo sabeela.

For whoever is blind (of heart) in this world will be blind in the life to come, and still farther astray from the path (of truth). (17:72)

We are looking outward. When we look inward, we can fix our problems and then every one of you will become a messenger. But what happens when you are full of anger? What is the opposite of "prevent"? When you say "prevent," what are you preventing? You are preventing anger, what is making you to fight or do something wrong. You have to build the community and prevent them, first from being angry toward themselves.an anyone say they don't get angry? All of us get angry. What did Prophet (s) say about anger? He said to Sayyidina Abu Bakr (q), "Yaa Abu Bakr, al-ghadabu kufrun." Ghadab (anger) makes you drunk, an unbeliever. It does not make you non-Muslim, but takes you to the way of unbelief because you cannot think anymore. They were just telling us now about one of the seven. He was a very good person and then suddenly he blew up. He had anger, maybe for the community, for the family, for the poor, but some reason. He was seeing everywhere a mixed blend of different elements that makes you angry. When angry, they kill each other.

That's why Prophet (s) said, "Both killer and killed will go to fire, punishment," because both intended it. So you have to eliminate anger.

فالقاتل والمقتول في النار

Fa 'l-qaatil wa 'l-maqtool fi 'n-naari abadan.

The killer and the killed are in the Fire, forever.

There is a course they give you in school in which they teach you to always be laughing. They tell you to look in the mirror and laugh and smile. Don't be angry, anger is from Shaytan. Laughter and smiling comes from Rahman. So if you are a serious person, make sure that you don't have too much anger. If you see someone who is not serious, they are smiling, joking, speaking here and there, sit beside them, because rahmah, mercy is coming on them. There are two kinds of people for which rahmah comes: one who smiles and laughs for Allah's mercy, and another who cries to not be away from Allah's love. Try to be busy with one of those. When reading Qur'an, try to bring tears from your eyes; Allah will send rahmah on you. One tear of a mu`min will extinguish Hellfire!

O Muslims! Do not think Allah created us to punish us! Allah did not create us to take revenge. For what? He knows we are weak. Why did Allah leave Iblees in Paradise after he did not make sajdah to Adam (a)? Then he came in the picture of a snake, he was still in Paradise. Why did Allah allow him? It is Allah's wisdom; He wants Adam (a) to come to Earth.

Since the time of Adam (a) there has been a struggle of good and evil. Take Qabeel (Cain) and Habeel (Abel), for example: one is pure and the other is angry. Allah ordered them to sacrifice. Habeel brought the best ram and offered the sacrifice. Fire came and took the sacrifice. Qabeel brought the worst animal he had; it was sick and couldn't even walk. He offered that animal for sacrifice. Allah accepted from Habeel and not from Qabeel. So what happened then? Qabeel killed Habeel. This is our problem. We see something in someone's hand and we want to take it or kill.

Extremists want to hijack the voice of Muslims! They want to make an Islamic state. I will tell you the truth; the principles of an Islamic State today is not there anymore. Those who are calling for khilafah are trying to make confusion. Why make an Islamic state in America and England? Go make it in Pakistan! There is already an Islamic state there, so go there and sit! If not there, make it in Nigeria. If that is already an Islamic state, then go to Saudi Arabia. That too is already an Islamic state. They are not happy with either one of them since they are Islamic states. The first principle of khilafah is that the khalifah must take baya` from every Muslim. Unite Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, and Nigeria. Decide on one person and put one ameer. If you can't do that, why come to do it in England? If you are not happy, Muhajiroon and Hizb at-Tahrir, then go back home! O Extremists! If you are not happy in this country, go back to the land of Wahhabism, no problem!

Why do you want to do it here? With the best food and night clubs, they try to disguise themselves, doing haraam on the night before blowing themselves up. Someone said they all went to night clubs, then blew themselves up. That still poses a question for me. What were they doing there, dancing? Come and teach us dancing and then extremism will be gone from you! You will become a dancer like Michael Jackson.

Prophet (s) sent the Sahaabah (r) who were being tortured in Mecca to the west, to Abyssinia. He didn't send them to take shelter in the east, in China or Pakistan, he sent them west. Prophet (s) was indicating to us that in the coming days, shelter will be in the west. These countries of the west are giving you freedom. May Allah keep peace in these countries and bless these countries. And if you are not happy, it is your problem; go back home and do whatever you like there!

Wa min Allahi 't-tawfeeq, bi hurmati 'l-habeeb, bi hurmati 'l-Fatihah.

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