Iqbal Gora – On University Protests Virtues of Activism 245pm
AI: Summary ©
The ongoing racism and racism towards Muslims and non Muslims at the University of Calgary is discussed, including the incidents of violence at camp and the number of people arrested and punished. The speakers emphasize the importance of protecting one's identity and finding out which one is a Muslim person. The history of Islam is also discussed, including the protests and the upcoming Khutba in Khutba. The importance of nurturing future generations and making great change in the world is emphasized, along with the need for constant sacrifices and willingness to fight back against anything happening. The speaker also discusses the importance of learning the language and finding out who is a Muslim person.
AI: Summary ©
Yesterday
at the University of Calgary,
as many of us would have seen the
videos, an emulation of what is happening in
other universities
throughout Canada and the United States, starting with
Columbia University and then thereafter spreading like wildfire.
There were many people that set up encampments
at the University of Calgary demanding that they
divest from the
so called state of Israel. In this particular
incident that we see, we find
that when those individuals set up camp at
the University of Calgary,
they were met with fierce resistance last night
at 11 PM. The Calgary Police Service came
in with tear gas, with batons, with shields,
with,
even including flash bang grenades,
and rubber pellets, and, paintballs, trying to disperse
and eventually did so those protesters that were
there in that particular area. Now there are
a number of things that a person could
look at this scenario of what has taken
place and derive certain lessons therein.
The first point that we understand
is that
it has been a long time coming
because as a community, it has been 7
months of this ongoing genocide.
And in these 7 months, Muslims and non
Muslims who are against this particular,
regime and what they are doing, they exhausted
every single legal means, every single attempt at
trying to get them to stop going to
the ICJ,
trying to put resolutions against that particular country,
and nothing has happened thus far. So it
only becomes natural thereafter that a step further,
as which happened in 1985
in Columbia University
when the, apartheid South Africa, it is only
natural that something like that would thereafter follow.
We see in this particular incident when all
of these things took place.
There were certain people that were also wrestled
to the ground, people that were arrested and
fined. And,
all of these incidents, when they take place,
it reminds us of something important, which we
find to be the case whenever we actually
want change to take place. And that is
the fact that if you actually want change
to take place, there are going to have
to be certain sacrifices made. And what is
meant by this is that Allah Subhanahu Wa
Ta'ala says in the Quran, in Surat Aliam
Imran,
You're going to be have to certain people
would have to be harmed in the path
of Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala in order for
change to actually take place. This happened in
the civil rights movement. This happened at the
end of apartheid South Africa, and we see
this also happening in today's society in place,
as we are seeing in the University of
Calgary on our very shores in our very
city today here as well. When you look
at the Sahaba
we find something really interesting about them. The
first point is that when you look at
the total number of Sahaba that there were,
there were between a 114,000
and a 124,000 Sahaba. A 100,000 witnessed the
prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam at his farewell
sermon in the Khulbatulwada.
But with this number in terms of those
whose names we actually know, how many are
they?
According to, Ibnu Abdul Dour in his book,
Alastair Alif,
there are around 3,000 names alone that we
know. And from these 3,000, in terms of
those stories that we actually know, those that
were the actual difference makers of the Ummah,
they are very few. Perhaps 33100,
perhaps to a 1000 at its absolute maximum.
We know something about these particular individuals and
what took place within their lives. And when
it comes to those whom we actually know,
if we were to ask ourselves this right
now, this is an unfortunate question. An unfortunate
question is that we don't know many of
the Sahaba. We could perhaps list 10, 20
at the absolute maximum. The best from among
us could probably list 50 and what they
particularly did. But when it comes to those
names that were recorded, there's a reason for
this.
There's a reason for this. It is mentioned
by Abdul Al Mas'ud radiAllahu anhu who is
one of the first Muslims, the 6th Muslim
to enter Islam. And he was one that
entered Islam as a young kid as well.
And this goes to show that when we
see these protests happening, they are not happening
at workplaces. They are not happening at libraries.
They are not even happening in the masajid,
but they are happening in the universities, and
that is by design. When we see that
this is happening, we find that when you're
able to galvanize the youth, that is when
you will truly see societal change. This happened
in history, and this will repeat itself once
more. Abdul Nasirud, alayla,
was among the first to publicize his Islam.
For those that are practicing silently, it is
one level. But those who publicize their Islam,
this becomes another level. But he mentions prior
to himself, he was the first to recite
the Quran in public. Prior to himself, there
were other individuals that preceded him. And he
mentions in a hadith where he says,
From those that first publicized their Islam, there
were 7 of them. The first of them
leading by example was An Nabi sallallahu alaihi
wasallam. The prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam
was protected by Abu Talib. The second from
among these was Abu Bakr as Siddiq,
and he was protected by his tribe,
Banutayim Bin Murrah. The remaining 5, without exception,
all of these individuals,
they were tortured, and they were, severely tortured,
some of them. But we see that those
individuals that were at this level, as Allah
mentions
in the Quran,
Those that are sitting down, those that are
still at home, they don't have the same
degree of reward as those that are active
and doing things for the sake of change
in this particular way. There might have been
some people that they thought about going to
the protest, but they thought, maybe what happens
if I get arrested? And they didn't go.
But there were some individuals that still went
despite
this. And then you have another category
from among the 5 individuals
that remained here. We say that there were
7 that first publicized their Islam
and 5 of them they were tortured. These
5 have a high rank with Allah
Who are these individuals? We have from among
them, Ammar Mias
We have his mother, Sumayya
We have from among them, Al Nqdad
We have Suhayba Wum and
we have Bilal
ibn Rubah From among these, these five individuals,
they have a high rank with Allah Subhanahu
Wa Ta'ala. To the point that the family
of Ammar ibn Yasir, when his father Yasir
and his brother as well were killed by
the mushrikeen and his mother also Sumayyah, rillahu
anha, we all know her story. When she
was killed, the prophet
he told the family, he
said,
Be patient family of Yasir,
eventually your destination will be Jannah. Those individuals,
they publicize their Islam and they found no
problem with this. But from among this group,
there is still one individual that was distinct
among the rest, and that is a name
that every single Muslim, every single Muslim child
knows this particular name. When you mention this
name, there is one name that stands out.
And who is this person? This is Bilal
ibn Rubah radiallahu an. And the point being
here is that the remaining 5 of them,
when the mushakeen tortured them to a certain
point, eventually they gave them what they wanted.
But Bilal Murabbah he continuously
and persisted in saying,
even when a boulder was brought and placed
on his chest, as we know by Umay
ibn Khalaf. And this particular
idea or concept is known by every single
Muslim. What we see from this is the
protests which took place, there were people that
went out. This was level 1, those individuals
that went out. But then there were those
people that when the police told them that
it's over, go home or you're going to
be arrested. There were some people that still
stayed behind despite the threat of arrest and
despite the threat of fines and despite the
threat of sanctions and despite the threat of
being thrown out to the university and despite
the threat of
perhaps losing future job opportunities. Those
individuals are those that are remembered like Bilal
al Ruba
Those are the ones that when they take
the sacrifice, they will be the true difference
makers and change makers of this Ummah. As
we saw in South in in apartheid South
Africa, when it ended, a similar sin situation
unfolded in Columbia University.
History eventually will show that this side is
the correct side, but there are some people
that might be,
somewhat hesitant
because of these particular
reasons as we have mentioned.
But you need to ask yourself, to what
degree are you willing to put yourself on
the front line for the sake of defending
the Ummah of Islam? When it comes to
this as well, there are many things we
can do as believers, even those that are
not there. For those individuals that might have
been fined by going to this protest, why
is it not that this community cannot raise
funds and pay off their fine? For those
individuals that have been sanctioned from getting a
job in the future, why do we not
have a strong enough community that those individuals
could get a job from a Muslim businessman
or woman was able to give them a
particular job and consider the fact that they
went to this protest as an honor rather
than something against the record. And these are
things that we can do. We find that
when it comes to the Mu'addins of Islam,
you mentioned this 2 weeks ago, Bilal Murabbah
radiallahu an is not the only one among
them. Another one of them, his name was
Saad ibn Al Qarab radiallahu an. And this
individual Saad, it is mentioned of the prophet
sallallahu
What did he say about him? He said
to him,
If you don't see Bilal with you, you'll
be the Adhan.
You'll be the And this goes to show
that if certain people are arrested, there are
other people in the Ummah who are still
there that can sell both the banner and
flag
and ensure that justice is eventually achieved. We
see that
when it comes to these,
particular
protests, those individuals that are involved in this,
as we have mentioned, they are of a
particular age group. Generation z, these are the
youth that are involved in the protests, and
this is by design, this is not by
coincidence. And we look at the prophet sallallahu
alaihi wa sallam and what he did among
the Sahaba, among the youth, among the Sahaba,
then this becomes a model for us to
follow. Some examples that we can allude to
in relation to the life of the Prophet
sallallahu alaihi wa sallam.
The prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam, he told
Zay that you be the leader, if you
are to fall the flag bearer you you
are to fall as the leader and the
flag bearer, it should go to Abdulah Durawaha.
And then when he falls, it should go
to Ja'far, Radiullah. This all happened. And when
he passed away, the prophet
made his son Usama bin Zayed
Thereafter the next commander, he identified this trait
within him. The prophet in
another example, the example of Zayd
Abufabir
as a young kid wanted to be one
that was active, part and parcel of activism,
and he wanted to partake and participate in
the battle of Badr. The prophet, salallahu alaihi
salallam, he told him, you are too young
right now. Zaydum al Fabbid
started to cry. The prophet, sallallahu alaihi wasallam,
he identified a trait and a talent that
this kid had, and he told, Zaid ibn
Fabbid, he said, in the meantime, do something
useful. Go and learn the Syriac language, go
and learn the Hebrew language, learn how to
become a scribe. Eventually, he did so. And
he was among those that wrote down the
Quran and the revelation of Quran when it
was revealed. To the point that when the
prophet
passed
away,
and there was a battle which took place
called the battle of Yamama, in which many
of the kafal lost their lives. And in
the era of Abu Adul Sadiq, they
ordered the jama'at the Quran, the first compilation
of the of the of the of the
Mus'haf and the Quran so as to make
sure and ensure that future generations would not
be deprived of this. The prime scribe responsible
for this, in terms of its collection, the
one that was tasked with this was none
other than Zayd Mufabbat
And these are things that we need to
do as a community to make great change
in terms of the future. Make certain sacrifices
for yourself, and you will find that you're
going to be remembered most importantly by Allah
Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala. And secondly, this is when
true change will actually come. This is when
true change will actually come. We also find
the importance of nurturing the next generation if
you want this change to happen. These protests
are happening at the universities, not at the
Masajid. The final point we'll mention in today's
Khutba
is an incredible hadith of the prophet sallallahu
alaihi wasallam. And this hadith is, in fact,
one of the predictions of Yawmul Qiyamah, and
we have seen it, come to realization
within our lifetime. And this hadith gives us
indication of what we should think in relation
to what is happening around the world. And
Nabi salallahu alayhi wasalam in this hadith, which
is narrated in
He mentions regarding this Ummah, and he says
with respect to this Ummah, this hadith is
hadith from Sahih and authentic narration. The prophet
he says
was blessed 23 years. Thereafter, he says,
After this, it will be the era of
the Khalifa or Rashidun,
those, rightly guided guided leaders of Islam, and
there will also be mercy therein. Thereafter, the
prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam, he says,
after this point, it will be kingdoms and
mercy. We find
These particular,
caliphates of Islam, we find in this region
or time frame it was kingdom, meaning a
father would pass on leadership to his son,
and there were some bad, but at the
same time, the hadith very clearly tells us,
Thereafter, what is the next
stage?
After that stage will be certain Emirates, meaning
that the the the the nation and the
of Islam will be fragmented into smaller pieces.
And in fact, this happened even earlier on.
In the Umayyad era, when the Abbasids took
over from them, the Umayyads, they went to
Andalus. They went to Spain, and they set
up camp over there. There were some fragmentation
of the Ummah even within this time frame,
but nonetheless, the hadith very clearly tells us,
Thereafter, what does the hadith say?
The hadith says,
After this point, people will fight over the
the the Ummah of Islam, and the nations,
and the countries of Islam just as donkeys
fighting over food, and this is in reference
to the colonial period, wherein the Italians went
into Libya, and the French, they went into
Algeria, and the Dutch, they went into East,
Asia, and the,
Spanish, they went into,
the Philippines. And we can go on and
on and on. The British, they went into
the Indian subcontinent. This particular frame is referred
to
When this happens, what is the result or
what should the Ummah do? The prophet sallallahu
alaihi wa sallam, he says what?
He says, we are going to have to
fight back against all of this. And he
mentions, for example, an example of this is
in Libya when the Italians were attacking there,
there was the lion of the desert. Those
people that might have seen or know heard
about his story, Umar al Mustard
was fighting
on behalf of the Muslims against the Italians
in Libya, and this is being referred to
here. When
this happens, then
Thereafter, what does the prophet
say in his hadith? He says the best
type of jihad. He says,
The best type of jihad is a type
of jihad called a revolt. What is a
revolt? This concept is mentioned in the Quran
in the last ayah of Surat Aliam Imran,
where the Allah says,
All you who believe, have patience and be
from those
that guards and safeguards and garrisons the frontiers
of Islam. Arribal, essentially, is referring to the
fact that when you have
a a a a Muslim,
area or Muslims in general, and those people
that are at the front lines of defending
the Muslims against those that want to attack
them, This quality is called a rebalt, and
it is so beloved to Allah Subhanahu Wa
Ta'ala that it is mentioned in the hadith,
one night in one day of a rebalt
is greater than an entire month of fasting
and entire month of qiyam. One day in
one night of a rebalt is better than
the entire month of Ramadan which just passed
us. Imagine the great reward found in this
particular concept of Al Ribalt and garrisoning and
protecting
the fortress of of Islam. Another hadith, by
the way, it also mentions that there are
3 eyes that will not taste the fire
of Jahannam. They will not be burned. One
of them is that eye that lowered itself
for the sake of Allah
The second eye is that eye that shed
a tear for the sake of Allah
And the third eye is that eye that
engaged in a rebal and and was making
sure and watching whether the enemies would attack
the Muslims or not. We find that those
individuals
that barricaded themselves in the universities, this is
a type of rebal that they were doing
as well. But the miracle in the hadith
is the very last clause or section of
this hadith. The prophet
says,
The best rebart, the best type of garrisoning
and protecting
yourself
is the rebal of Askolan. Where is Askolan?
It is the city of Ashkelon,
just north of Gaza. And this is a
miracle hadith of the prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam,
which tells us what is happening right now.
And we need to ask ourselves, what are
we going to be able to do to
ensure
the
this eventually will become and come to an
end as it did with apartheid South Africa.
We find that in order for this to
happen, there are going to be have to
be people that
make those sacrifices, like the university students. But
they also require
our support as a community, as a whole,
to ensure that we support them in their
endeavor. And this is the right thing to
do, and we are taking every single legal
means possible. This is true. But at a
certain point, when people don't listen, when people
don't listen, then as what happened in Columbia
University, which eventually actually caused the ending of
apartheid South Africa, This is eventually going to
be the next step, and this also goes
to show that this is a good sign
of
things coming to an end for the oppression
of our Muslim brothers and sisters in Rafah.
We ask Allah to grant them ease in
Uzza. We ask Allah
to make us also agents of that change
and help as well. Whatever it is that
we can do, in this way, making dua,
going for these protests, ensuring
and ensuring, and we make these demands for
divestment,
against these universities that they stop all types
of relations
with apartheid pariah states and inshallah this will
cause a major shift in the Ummah.