Mohammad Badawy – 1444 AH Resolution Don’t be an Oppressor
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We begin as always in the name of
Allah Subhana Wa Ta'la, the Exalted Sublime,
the King of Kings, and the Creator of
all things. Whoever Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala sing
goes out for guidance,
none can lead astray. And whoever Allah subhanahu
wa ta'ala chooses to lead astray, none can
guide. And I testify and bear witness that
there is none worthy of worship in all
of existence except Him subhanahu wa ta'ala. And
I testify that the Prophet Muhammad
was his final prophet
and messenger.
Asking Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala to send his
finest peace and blessings upon him,
and his wives, and his family members, and
his companions,
and all those who choose to follow his
footsteps until the day of judgement, begging Allah
Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala
to extend his favor and blessing upon us,
as he's done over and over again in
our lives, and include us a Muslim, Allahumma
Ameen.
My dear brothers and sisters in Islam, Allah
subhanahu wa ta'ala has truly extended his favor
on us over and over, and we praise
him for that,
and we thank him for that, and we
acknowledge
the fact
that the blessings that we recognize and are
able to see and count
are only a fraction
of the reality
which is that he has surrounded us by
blessing and favor, subhanahu wa ta'ala.
And of the main blessings is that he
has brought us here.
Not just to another holy season,
not just to another opportunity
to worship him, to come closer, but here
into the masjid. Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala has
given us life, and health, and well-being,
and interest in being here, and that is
a blessing. Because from the previous holy season,
from just the Hajj season that has passed
a few days ago,
or Ramadan a few months ago, there are
people who are not here to witness this
coming season, but we are.
There are people who are alive, but they
are not healthy, they are not able to
perform acts of worship. There are people who
are alive, and are healthy, and are able
to perform acts of worship, and they are
here in this holy season of Muharram, this
holy month, but they are not interested.
So we pray and we beg Allah
The way they have made us healthy,
and able, and present in this holy season
to guide our hearts, and to make us
interested,
and willing, and encouraged, and enthusiastic to worship
him, Allah Muhammed.
Because as we were discussing last week, this
is the holy month of Allah subhanahu wa
ta'ala,
Al Muharram.
The 1st month of the hijra calendar,
the new year
1444,
since the hijra of the prophet Muhammad sallallahu
alaihi wa sallam that he spoke about last
week.
And
you should consider
making resolutions.
You know how every new year they say
new year resolutions?
Commitments,
ideas, concepts that people
are passionate about maybe for a week or
2, or a month or 2.
But the idea here is that you
reevaluate
and reconsider
your worship towards Allah
and pledge to do more, pledge to do
better.
The beginning of the year is a good
time for that because it is a
event in which we turn over a new
leaf. We look at things
in new perspective.
When you have a business,
when you have files for any type of
work or project, you arrange them very often
by year.
A new year, a new project, a new
outlook,
new opportunities.
We should consider that now as we come
to the Hijiji New Year.
And
the
focus
should be
in our approach and our relationship with Allah
Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala as always.
The binding material
that makes the rest of life make sense,
that makes the rest of life form order,
be beneficial, be successful.
And it's it's as if Allah
wanted us to begin the new year
refocusing
and reevaluating
these concepts.
One of the wisdoms that the scholars have
said that he made the 1st month of
the year a holy month.
That the 1st month of the year is
a holy month, a sacred month. Allah subhanahu
wa'ala told us,
That the Allah subhanahu wa'ala created
the creation attending, willing for it to be
12 months. This was the time that he
chose for us to
count the days, and the months, and the
years.
Of those 12 months 4 of them are
sacred.
The hija, the lukada,
and rajab.
4 sacred months that have special rules,
increase in good, decrease in evil. Evil is
especially evil in these months.
Punishment is increased for violating not just the
sanctity of the ancient, but the sanctity of
the month. And the good
deeds are rewarded extra
because it is a special time, a special
opportunity in which Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala increases
the reward.
Abu Bakr
who he narrated the prophet Muhammad
said,
That the month he said salallahu alaihi wa
sallam is 12, the year is 12 months.
This is what Allah subhanahu wa sallam has
decreed. Of them are 4 4 secret months,
3 in a row which are and
then one on its own which is Al
Arab between Jumaydah and Sha'aban.
And Al Hasan
al Wasli, he says that Allah
specifically made the last month and the 1st
month of the year, holy months for us
to
wake up and reevaluate. He says,
Allah
chose to end the year with a holy
month, and begin it with a holy month,
and there is no month that is more
sacred with Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala after Ramadan
than the month of
Muharram. And in Rajab he says,
Ibn Rajabi says that
by fasting some of the lijja
and forming acts of worship therein, which is
the last month of the year, and then
beginning the new year with another act of
worship which is fasting as well, which is
recommended in all of Muharram, and especially the
10th day as we'll come to.
When a person does that, then it's as
if they are
making their entire year
worship and obedience. Because when you begin when
the beginning is worship and the end is
worship, then it's as if its entirety is
worship. It's as if you're worshiping in its
entirety. The first thing you did of the
year was worship, and the last thing you
did was focus on worship, then as if
everything in the middle would be considered worship
as well. It is hoped. It is expected,
he says, that that was
that is how this person will be looked
at. That is what this person will
achieve by aiming to worship in the beginning
and the end of the year.
It's as if Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala want
us to remind ourselves, this is how my
life begins and this is how my life
ends. This is what I'm doing all the
time. This is my focus. The worship of
Allah
the month of Muharram is a huge opportunity
for that.
And one of the main themes of Muharram
that could be your resolution, that I want
to make my resolution for this year 1444,
is
to be an agent
of justice.
Don't
be
an oppressor.
And
I'm not making this my resolution or my
goal for 1444
because it is popular
to speak about justice, or that it is
something that will propel me forward
for popularity or for fame, to be woke,
to be accepted. But this is a rather,
this is a central theme the Allah Subhanahu
Wa Ta'ala mentions over and over in the
Quran. The conduct of oppression and justice.
Juxtapose with one another constantly for us to
see the difference,
to consider our own lives and how we
implement these lessons.
And that is what the highlight of the
month is the 10th day,
which will be
Monday.
The highlight of the month, Muharram, is holy
month that begins the year. That was meant
to be a reminder for us that we're
seeking to make resolution then. One of the
main themes and the focus is the 10th
day.
The day of Ashura, the 10th day of
Muharram in which Allah
saved prophet Moses Musa alaihi salam from Faraun,
and ended his tyranny, ended his oppression, and
gave victory
and salvation to Bani Saleel.
So don't be an oppressor, be an agent
of justice. The hadith tells us the Prophet
he came
to Medina, and he found the Jews were
fasting. The Jews that lived there were fasting.
So he asked them, why do you fast
this day? And they said, this is a
day of victory. In which Allah Subhanahu Wa
Ta'ala saved Musa and the children of Azrael
Bani Israel from
Firaun.
And so he fasted in gratitude, and likewise
we fast in gratitude. So the prophet said,
We have a bigger priority to Musa alaihis
salam than you,
because we're actually following his teachings.
We're seeking to follow his example,
or we should be.
We didn't change any of his revelation, it
is exactly as Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala intended
it. So that gives us a closer connection
to him, a bigger priority over him.
And so the prophet
fasted and taught everyone to fast. And there's
many narrations of this habod
encourage even their children to fast, and as
madr ibnared and began to, you know, complain
as children often do often do, they would
give them toys and distraction just to make
it entire family, entire community
thing that we worship, and we fast muharram
the 10th day of muharram together. And there's
another nation that tells us that it was
mandatory before Ramadan.
It was the original obligatory fast, and then
Ramadan was mandated after they came to Madinaba
a couple of years, then the fasting of
10th day of Maharam was made a sunnah,
and Ramadan became the obligation.
So it's a special day that we were
encouraged to mark with gratitude and worship, and
the reason being the salvation of Musa alaihi
salaam
from oppression
and injustice.
And this is
the theme of the month of Muharram.
This is the theme of the story of
Musa alaihis salam, the end of the tyranny
and the oppression.
And I just want to focus on 2
quick messages from the ayat that tell us
the specific story, And it's one of the
most it is the most repeated story in
the entire Quran.
As you well know, the story of Musa
alaihis salaam. And the first set of ayat
are a message
to the oppressed.
And Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala wants the oppressed
to know something very clearly. Allah Subhanahu Wa
Ta'ala is with you.
Your dua has a special connection to Allah
Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala as the prophet told us.
It will not be left unaided even if
the answer comes after centuries or
generations. Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala wants the oppressed
to know that these circumstances are guaranteed to
be in your favor
if you simply hold on and be patient.
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, he want the oppressed
to know that the difficulties that they endured,
the difficulties that you go through because of
oppression, because of injustice,
they will be your badge on of honor
tomorrow, on the day of judgement.
That victory and relief around the corner, in
fact, they're part of that same process
of suffering
and patience as the prophet
told us again. All these meanings of the
ayat and the hadith
that tell us this side of the story.
Allah
tells us
the
conversation that highlights
this feeling.
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says,
Allah is recounting to us the story of
the oppression of Bani Israel,
How the people of Fir'aun, they came to
him
and they told him
that,
will you leave Musa alaihis salam and his
followers to abandon you, abandon your forefathers and
your religion
and your worship. And he said, we will
subjugate them under intense oppression. We will kill
their
male children, and leave alive their female children,
as you know, in alternating years to decimate
their numbers, to break their resolve, to ensure
that none will rise up amongst them,
and we are over them.
We will be completely
subjugating
every single one of them. This was the
announcement that Fir'an made. So
Allah said to his people,
be patient. Seek aid with Allah
He's your lifeline.
He's the lifeline of the oppressed. He is
able of all things. Seek aid with him
and be patient. Indeed, the earth belongs to
Allah
He will inherit it
to whom he wills. Today belongs to Firaun,
tomorrow it can easily belong to you. This
is the message Musa alaihi was giving them.
And the best of outcomes is exclusively
for
the righteous.
It doesn't matter what it appears to be
right now.
The positive outcome, the success,
the
salvation,
the well-being in the end
is exclusively for the righteous.
They said, We've been harmed before you came
and after you.
Before you came, al Prophet,
and challenged Faraun,
we were being harmed. He was subjugating us,
killing us, decimating us, imprisoning us, and saving
us. And now we've been harmed after you
came as well. You came to save us,
but now he's chasing us, and we're being
further subjugated. Now you're antagonizing him. What's the
difference? This was their attitude at the moment.
They were defeated. They were downtrodden. They were
oppressed for generations.
They were pessimistic.
They told Musa, what has changed since you
came? Oppression before, oppression after.
But Musa as salam told them, perhaps soon
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala grant you victory. It's
right around the corner.
Why are you talking like this? Why do
you have this attitude?
Why
are you defeating yourself?
Perhaps very soon,
Allah
will grant you victory,
and grant grant you succession in the land,
and then observe how you will act.
Because a lot of people they say, if
it wasn't for the oppression, if it wasn't
for the difficult if we were in charge,
if I had the command if I was
able to call the shots,
I'll do so much better. I would lift
all of this oppression. There would be an
ounce of oppression in my home, or my
business, or my community, or the Ummah.
But Musa alaihis salam sang them, Allah subhanahu
wa ta'ala will give you the leadership. He'll
give He'll allow you to call the shots,
then you'll see what you'll do. And we
know that Bani Israel fell into oppression thereafter
amongst themselves.
So the oppressed need to have the proper
mindset. They need to recognize who caused the
shots, who is in charge, and that he's
able to turn things around
in an instant, so we should act accordingly.
Now to the oppressed, another set of ayaat
in which Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is now
addressing the oppressor rather. This first message was
to the oppressed, and now Allah Subhanahu Wa
Ta'ala addresses
the oppressor. He says in the story in
Surat Hud, Wa laqadarsana
Musa'i aatin al Sultan al Mubin,
We have certainly
sent Musa alaihis salaam
with our signs and a clear authority to
Firaoun
and his people, his society, but they follow
the command of Firaoun, and the command of
Firaoun was not at all discerning. It was
not something that leading them to the truth
or leading them to righteousness. They were oppressors.
They chose a wrong path. Despite the clear
signs and authority coming to them from the
revelation,
from their prophet, they chose to be oppressors
instead. So what is the result of that?
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says,
He will lead his people, he will precede
them on day of resurrection, leading them to
the fire, and what a rich place
to be led.
He chose
to
take command and they followed. So likewise, when
they judge me, he'll take command and and
they will follow. But this time will be
the * fire. May Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala
protect all of us.
And they will follow in this world with
curse in the day of
resurrection, and wretched is what they have been
given,
that they bring curse for generations
amongst different religions,
in different traditions, as we remember their oppression,
as we remember what they stood for, as
we remember what they did to other people.
That is from the news of the previous
cities which we relate to you.
Some of them still standing, and some of
them mowed down as if a harvest.
Some of these people, we see the remnants,
and there is all of their oppression.
Their cities are ghost towns, monuments,
ancient relics of what they used to have
and used to do.
And we did not oppress them. They oppressed
themselves.
Because when you oppress others,
the first victim is you. What you do
to your own heart, what you do to
your own situation,
what you do to your own well-being in
this world and hereafter.
You're sinning against yourself first and foremost before
the harm spreads to others.
So,
says, we didn't oppress them, they oppressed themselves,
and their false deeds had no
ability to help them because they were not
real.
And then finally,
the
warning,
and thus is the seizure of your Lord
when he seizes the evil cities as they
are oppressing.
This story, this end of Firaoun,
where the Prophet says, I wish you could
see him as Jibril wasalam was stuffing the
mud from underneath
the sea into his face, just so he
doesn't make tell at the last minute. You
don't deserve it. So Jibreel He knew that
if you make tell at the last minute,
Allah would accept it. This is who Allah
Subhanahu wa ta'ala is. Even Firawn.
From how Jibreel alaihis salaam, the head of
the angels, understood
the mercy of Allah that it could potentially
reach him, but he didn't want it to,
so he
physically prevented him.
Thus is the seizure of your Lord when
he sees the cities
as they are committing oppression. Indeed his seizure
is taking is painful and severe. And then
finally, indeed this is a sign for those
who fear the punishment of the hereafter.
This is a day that people are promised,
and this is a day in which they'll
be collected, and it will be witnessed. May
Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala not raise us on
the side of the oppressor. May you allow
us to rid our lives of any
shape, form, or type of oppression.
My dear brothers and sisters in Islam,
number 1, be an agent of justice. The
Prophet says, if you see evil, you change
it with your hands. If you're unable with
your tongue, if you're unable with your heart,
meaning you hate it, you despise it, you
don't accept it, and that is the weakest
of faith.
The Muslim is an agent of change. Any
opportunity that presents itself could be on a
small scale like sharing post, or just having
discussion with someone who's unaware.
And maybe in the future, Allah give you
a bigger scale, an opportunity to raise funds,
to build some kind
of relief to people who are suffering from
oppression. Or in the near future, sometime after
that, maybe Allah will make you directly an
agent of chain, a leader of communities,
who caused the shots, who's able to make
major decisions on a community or country level
even.
We don't know who amongst us will be
given that test given the opportunity.
But if you reach that station, be an
agent of justice. Implement the justice that Allah
Subhanahu wa Ta'ala taught you. And if you're
unable to, the prophet in a lengthy hadith,
people were asking him, what's the best kind
of good? He said, do this. And if
I can't, then he said, do that. If
I can't, if I can't And people were
saying, what is less than that? Someone's unable.
And finally he said, if you're unable to
do any categories of good, then the least
you can do is save people from evil.
If you can't present any good to others,
the least you can do is make sure
no harm is reaching them from your end.
So if you can't be an inch an
agent of justice and change, don't be an
oppressor.
It's not just people who run countries in
your home, to the fathers, to the husbands,
to the managers, to the leaders, to the
teachers,
to anyone in any type of authority,
they'll be an oppressor.
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala told us that that
the prophet told us that the oppression, the
darkness that you bring into other people's lives
surrounds you in the day of judgement if
you're an oppressor. May Allah protect all of
us.
Go out of your way to be an
agent of justice. Go out of your way
to make sure no harm reaches others from
your end. May Allah
make us a month of victory for the
Muslim Ummah. May Allah seal in the hearts
the strength and the tawfeeq and sincerity to
be agents of justice, and to not allow
us to be a president in any way,
shape, or form.