Mohammed Faqih – Jumuah 30-08-2024
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Praise be to Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala.
We seek His help and guidance
and we ask for his forgiveness. We seek
refuge in Allah azzawajal from the evils of
our own souls and from the evil of
our deeds.
Whomsoever Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala guides,
none can misguide.
And whosoever
Allah the Almighty leaves to go astray, none
can guide.
And I bear witness that there is no
God worthy to be worshipped except Allah alone.
And I bear witness that prophet Muhammad sallallahu
alaihi wa sallam
is his serving slave and his final messenger.
O mankind, be mindful of your Lord who
created you from a single soul and from
it, he created its mate.
And from them both,
he, Allah
created many men and women.
So be mindful of Allah through whom you
demand your mutual rights as well as
the rights of your kinship
for Allah is watching over you.
All you who believe,
be mindful of Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala and
say the right word.
And Allah Azzawajal will rectify your affairs for
you,
forgive you your sins.
And whosoever obeys Allah and His messenger sallallahu
alaihi wa sallam
will indeed win. My dear brothers and sisters,
in Western countries,
there is a day that is celebrated known
as
Labor Day.
As a matter of fact,
this is a long weekend
and it's called Labor Day weekend.
Now, in many of these countries,
this day wasn't recognized
right away.
The day
that we call Labor Day,
which is a day to honor and celebrate
the contributions of workers,
it is rooted in
a history of
labor movement.
Labor movements that fought
for workers' rights, fair wages, reasonable working hours,
and safer working conditions.
It took a lot of fight,
a lot of struggle. It wasn't easy.
The sacrifices of those early
labor activists
were the ones that paved the way to
improve the working conditions
that many enjoy today,
including many of us here.
Someone had to pay the price. Someone had
to sacrifice. Someone had
to really suffer
in order for later generations to come. And
in that, there's actually a lesson for many
of
us, but we'll leave that for
another day.
And due to the lack of time,
I can't go into details of the history
of Labor Day or the labor
rights movements,
but things weren't like this.
And
on Monday Monday night,
after Isha, we'll shed some lights and share
some interesting
numbers and
facts.
But in the past, especially during the Industrial
Revolution,
workers in the West
faced severe exploitation,
long hours, unsafe working environments,
and child labor.
Here in the West, child labor
were rampant.
Events like
there are many events. We'll we'll talk about
them actually on Monday. I'll have to fast
forward,
so let's talk about present.
Now when we look at the current conditions,
there have been notable improvements
in worker protections, minimum wage laws,
occupational safety
standards, and social security benefits.
These are norms that we take for granted
now.
And it wasn't like that.
But even those amazing
laws and amazing
realities that we're enjoying today,
there are still challenges that persist
until this day.
And
the fight continues.
Now this is not unique to the West,
but, obviously,
when you look at
places or countries
that are the best for workers, you'll find
that
some of these Scandinavian countries
and many Western
countries
are ranked to be the best or amongst
the best.
And, unfortunately,
the Middle East
and the Eastern countries
are ranked
as the worst.
As a matter of fact,
the country that
was in 2023
the worst country for workers
has, Alhamdulillah,
witnessed an amazing and inspiring revolution
that got rid of
the head of the
regime
that induced or that produced
these conditions.
And I'm hoping, Inshallah,
in 2024
or 2025, Inshallah,
Bangladesh will be amongst
one of the best countries for people to
live, Inshallah,
by the grace of Allah. But
that is a reminder
of what happens when people
continue to be exploited
and abused.
Eventually,
they will have enough
and then they will react and organize
and take down any regime or system or
entities or individuals that continue to abuse them.
Things here in the United States of America
in the 1800s
and the early 1900s
were also very bad,
especially for the African Americans.
And especially for those
who had to
face
systemic racism
and have to deal you know, whether it's,
by the way, from slavery and until onward.
Because we think that some of these conditions
have changed and things have changed. No. They're
they just take different forms.
But what got to me
was the fact that some of the most
obvious
conditions
for workers around the world are being ignored,
while some
are being intentionally highlighted.
So you have people producing movies,
singling out certain countries
and the worker conditions. And I'm not denying
that there are abuses
and violations that actually
will go
that go against
what we are taught as Muslims.
And we'll explore that insha Allahu Ta'ala
in a minute.
But you have to wonder,
why is the plight of Palestinian workers in
the West Bank and occupied territories ignored?
Because really, we must
also turn our hearts to the Palestinian workers
in the West Bank and the occupied territories.
The military occupation has severely restricted their freedom
of movement.
Access to resources,
and employment opportunities, and rights.
I myself witnessed some of these atrocities
being committed, and it's the norm.
And people have been living under these conditions
for decades.
But dare anyone on Netflix or in Hollywood
talk about this or produce
a documentary
to highlight the plight,
the existing, the ongoing
with no
light at the end of the tunnel
of the population as well as the workers.
Hardworking people who are trying
to make a living for themselves and survive.
See many of us, unless you're from there
and unless you know someone who's from there
and unless you've been there or you were
born there,
many of us do not understand.
Or we we're not able to relate
to the daily
hardships
that Palestinians face, including
passing
through multiple checkpoints
to reach their places of work,
encountering
arbitrary detentions and
enduring
limited access to essential services.
As a matter of fact,
some of these distances when you ask someone
from there as to how long it takes
them to go from one place to another,
just to go grab something and come back,
or just to go to report to work.
You see, some of us when we get
stuck in traffic because the left lane was
closed
and we have to get stuck in traffic
for 10 minutes, we get
upset and angry
and frustrated.
But at least, you know, at the end
of this stretch of 1 or 2 miles,
you're going to get to work.
But imagine standing in lines for hours not
knowing whether you're going to actually finally
be allowed to go or not.
And imagine people making the tough choice
of actually going to a particular
portion
of their own ancestors'
land, by the way.
And then decide not to go back home
because they don't know whether they're going to
be allowed to come back the next day
or not, so they decide to stay,
like homeless people,
closer to work,
so that they can
finish the week.
This is their reality,
but nobody's talking about it.
So my dear brothers and sisters,
what does Islam really teach us
about
labor rights,
about workers'
rights?
First of all, my dear brothers and sisters,
we have a beautiful religion. And this didn't
start in the 1900s.
No. This is started
when Allah Azzawajal sent a man
who once upon a time was himself a
shepherd.
Sallallahu alaihi wa sallam.
Once upon a time he himself was an
employee.
Sallallahu alaihi wa sallam.
When that man received
this beautiful message
that we know as the Quran and this
beautiful religion that we know as Islam
that came to liberate mankind
and looked at us,
we human beings, be it Muslim or not,
as humans
that deserve to be treated with dignity and
respect.
So the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam
taught the sahaba the following.
And I want everyone to hear this, especially
if you I mean, many of us here.
You either you're you're someone's boss
or you're someone's employer,
and you have
control,
some sort of control or power over someone.
Or, by the way, you're someone's spouse
because some people are working for their spouses
as well.
And inshallah, we'll talk about that on Monday.
Because there are some laborers that are that
get they don't get recognized. They don't get
thanked. They don't get praised for what they
do, for their sacrifices.
As well as there are many hardworking
heads of household that they don't get the
respect and the appreciation that they deserve.
You have people who leave the house
not knowing whether they're gonna make it back
or not. And at the end of the
day when that person comes back home,
they don't get, jazakallahu khayran yaatiqal aafiya. May
Allah
bless you. Alhamdulillah.
You're safe.
And for those who take this for granted,
go and ask those individuals
who lost their loved ones
on their way back
from work or on their way to work
due to an accident
or wal-'aadhu billah
due to gun violence.
Ask them what it's like
not to be able to open the door
for that person that works so hard
to put food on the table for his
family or her family.
And I want to salute and give a
shout out to every hardworking head of household,
be it a husband, a wife, or a
single parent. May Allah
bless you. May Allah
reward you for your hard work work and
for your halal earning. Ameen arabile alameen. The
prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam tells us a hadith
that should terrify
all of us.
I want everyone, every employer out there, every
person that that
that has someone working for them to listen
to this hadith.
Abu Hurayyah radiAllahu anhu
reports
sallallahu alaihi wasallam. And Nabi sallallahu alaihi wasallam
said the following. And Nabi
sallallahu alaihi
wasallam aqal qalallahu
who is speaking.
Nabi sah salam says, Abu Hurayrah said, the
messenger of Allah, the prophet of Allah salallahu
alaihi wa sallam said that Allah
the exalted subhanahu wa ta'ala says.
So this is hadith Qudsi attributed to Allah
Azzawajal Himself. This is Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala
speaking.
3 individuals, Allah Azzawajal says. 3 types of
people.
I will contend.
I will be their prosecutor.
I'll be standing out against them.
I'll be charging them.
I'll be indicting them. I'll be holding them
accountable, Allah Himself.
If anyone
has Allah on the Day of Judgment as
his opponent will indeed
lose and is doomed.
1 who makes a covenant
in my name and then breaks it.
And a person who sells a free man,
kidnaps or takes a free man and by
the way, until this day slavery and human
trafficking is an issue affecting
millions of people. Not not not, you know,
tens of thousands or 100 of thousands. No.
Millions of people.
The prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam says, Allah
says, a man or a person or an
entity or a group of people or a
government agency or anyone who is involved in
taking free people, enslaving them,
and then selling them,
and devouring
that income.
And then listen to this
And a person
who hires a worker,
having, you know and then end up take
taking everything
end ends up getting the work done
in full and does not pay him his
wages.
This hadith should terrify us. Allah will be
their opponent on the day of judgment.
The Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam taught the
sahaba. Abdullah ibn Umar says,
The
Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam taught the sahaba
this culture. That anytime you help your worker
or someone that you hire or back in
the days when they used to have slaves.
The slaves by the way, they were treated
like family members. And I will share with
you a hadith. The hadith of Abu Dharr
radhiallahu an about that.
The prophet said, Anytime you help someone who
is supposed to serve you, someone that you're
paying
to do this. Be it a wait you
know, a waiter.
Be it a worker, a secretary.
Anytime.
A driver. Anyone. When you help them.
When you help them,
anytime you do that or you're lighten their
burden, it will actually be written for you
as a sadaqah, as a source of reward.
You know sometimes you see people who can
who can easily, you know, help, you know,
the person who's helping them or whom they
hired. They can just lend them a hand,
help them,
offer them water, offer them breaks.
Is there anything I can do for you?
And they don't realize how much they're missing
out.
We are told in a hadith that Allah
subhanahu wa ta'ala accepted a man
and took him out of a predicament.
Because that man saved the money that his
worker left behind. Not only did he save
it but he actually invested it
for him.
I'll conclude with this. There's more to be
said, by the way. The teachings don't stop
right here.
And remember that Allah Subhana Wa Ta'ala says,
walataqhasunasaashiahum.
Walataqhasunasaashiahum.
Do not withhold people's
wages.
Doesn't only mean merchandise,
but an individual's time, an individual's
talent,
and an individual's
skill. All of these things should be valued.
And should be appreciated.
And if a person does something for you,
you should pay them. As a matter of
fact, the hadith tells us that pay the
person,
Pay the person their wages
before
their sweat dries.
These are the standards.
These are the prophetic standards.
So the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam taught
Abu Dharr the following regarding slaves, let alone
workers that you hire.
Slaves. Imagine a slave that that is owned
as a property. The prophet, shalallahu alaihi wa
sallam, this is his declaration.
These are your brothers, the prophet sallallahu alaihi
wa sallam has said.
These are your brothers.
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala gave you control over
them.
Allah placed them under your authority.
Your brothers are your your slaves are your
brothers.
The Prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam said to
them,
He who
has his brother under his
authority,
let him
make sure that he feed him, that that
he should feed him
from whatever he eats.
That's that's Islamic standards, the slaves.
And dress him,
And he should dress him
whatever he wears. Same standards.
You wear Gucci?
They should wear Gucci as well.
And he said, do not overburden them with
something that they cannot handle.
And
If you overburden them with something, then assist
them and help them.
This hadith was shared by Abu Dhar when
one from the
after the time after the prophet's passing,
one of Abu you know, one of the
Muslims that came after that time, one of
the Tabirun,
the successors of the Sahaba,
saw Abu Dhar. And he saw with him
a slave that was dressed just like Abu
Dhar. They were both dressed the same.
And Abu Dhar was treating him like his
own son or brother or
family member.
So when he inquired as to why he
was doing that, he said this is the
prop this is what the prophet taught us
and he shared this hadith.
So imagine someone who's a free
individual
that has rights, that should be treated with
respect and dignity.
Imagine how that person should be treated. Keep
that in mind, my dear brothers and sisters.
My dear brothers and sisters,
there are many people in the world that
are living the goat life.
We ask Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala to ease
their
hardships.
We ask Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala
to
ease their hardships.
We ask Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala to ease
their hardships and reward them for their struggles.
We need to ask ourselves
before pointing finger at anyone or any
specific cultures. And by the way, as I
said, unfortunately, and Insha'Allah on Monday, maybe I'll
share some of this information with you. Unfortunately,
we have some Muslim countries that have really
bad records when it comes to workers' rights.
But guess what? It's not unique to some
of these countries
that sometimes, you know, people target specifically.
Unfortunately, it's it's it's everywhere. It's happening everywhere,
including,
you know, places where where people are. You
know, sometimes people complain about being mistreated somewhere,
where in their own countries they get mistreated.
Now I was just reading about some of
the of of of the numbers of of
of people who are committing suicide.
In the tens of thousands,
tens of thousands
farmers
and workers who are being exploited
in their own countries, in their in their
own their farms are being taken away from
them.
For instance, more than 45%
of farmlands in India were in Punjab.
They were taken
from the people
by bankers
under the supervision
of these governments.
They are supposed to be advocating for the
people and protecting their rights
to the point where people are committing suicide
because they lose they they they they end
up losing everything that they have.
So
we have to ask ourselves,
really,
who's going to
revive
these prophetic standards, these Islamic standards? It's not
us Muslims.
Because on the other hand, we have great
examples of people who follow the prophetic
path. And subhanAllah,
their workers are so inspired by their akhlaq,
by their demeanors that they themselves inquire where
this these standards are coming from. And then
when they're taught
about Islam and about Islamic standards,
some of them, you know, actually or many
of them actually end up embracing this this
deen. So we have to ask ourselves, am
I really a reflection
of that rahmah of Prophet Muhammad salallahu alayhi
wa sallam in my treatment of my employees
and my workers?
Do I have deep sense of appreciation for
their hard work?
Do I have the capacity to overlook their
mistakes and their shortcomings?
Do I have compassion and mercy?
Because some employers are merciless.
They're merciless.
And they miss out
on Some employers have have no decency.
They have no,
sense of of of of of shame or
appreciation.
People work for them for for for years
years years years and they just cut them
off. Cut them loose. I don't care.
This is not what we are taught in
this beautiful religion of ours. And remember that
everything that you do for the sake of
Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala, you will be rewarded
for it. I will conclude by saying going
back to that story of the man. The
prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam told us about
a man that found himself stuck in a
cave.
And he was told that the only way
out of this cave is if he was
to pray, Ask Allah azza wa Jal by
the virtue of the best deed that he
has ever done. And that man was able
to recall that he once hired a group
of people, a group of workers.
And he paid them all whatever they agreed
upon except one
worker who was very upset, wanted to pay
to to be paid more. Yeah. And they
had an agreement to be paid a certain
amount. That worker came to him. He said,
Listen. I worked harder than everyone else. I
want you to pay me more. This man
being a very principled man, he said, No.
It's not fair. I will pay you whatever
I paid everyone else. Whatever we have agreed
upon, this is your money. You wanna take
it? Take it. Please take it. And the
man refused. He said, no. I don't want
it. And he left.
Yeah. And he insulted him and he left.
What did he do?
He did. Yeah. And he could have said,
Who cares? No. He takes that money of
his
and he doesn't take this personally.
And he says, you know what? I will
invest this money for him. So he isteth
maralahul mal.
He invested the money for him. That
that small amount of money he actually manages
so well and Allah blessed it because this
man was sincere that it became a huge
amount of wealth.
And after some years this man comes back
to him and he says, You, Abdullah, Adi
laihaqqi. Remember the money that I left behind?
You know, I you know, sorry for what
I said. Can you please pay me whatever
you owe me? He said, Oh yeah. Sure.
For sure. Come.
And he takes him and he says, You
see everything between these two mountains.
They all belong to you. They're yours. He
said, Yeah, Abdullah let us kharbi. He said,
Please do not make fun of me. I
don't have time. Please give me my money.
Let me go. He said, No. This is
your money. I've invested it for you and
Allah blessed it and this is all yours.
He took it all. He did not spare.
He did not even leave
one goat.
He's like, O jazakallahu khair for doing this.
Here. Here's a goat.
He didn't leave it. He took everything. I
did not stop him. He said, Oh Allah.
I didn't stop him. He took everything.
Oh Allah. If I had done that for
your sake. Oh Allah save me from this
predicament. And Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala saved him.
The rock
moved
because this man
went above and beyond the call of duty.
May Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala make us live
according to these standards.
May Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala make us of
those who seek His pleasure, Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala.
May Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala make us of
those who fear Him in our treatment of
our loved ones, our children, our spouses, and
those who are in our service. We ask
Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala to make us of
those who appreciate the hardworking of those people
in our lives. May Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala
bless them and protect them and reward them.
And may Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala forgive them
for their shortcomings. May Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala
open our hearts for one another. May Allah
Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala
make us a source of blessings. And may
Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala honor our brothers and
sisters who are struggling for their rights. May
Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala
strengthen them. May Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala make
them victorious.
Next weekend, we have a packed weekend, alhamdulillah.
We have a conference
full weekend called It Takes a Village, Activating
Our Community. That is the theme of the
week.
So all of the talks and speeches throughout
the weekend will be focused on that theme.
And we have a lot of guest speakers
coming in. Imam Suhaib Webb is one of
them, who'll be giving the chukpa that Friday,
and will be on the panels throughout the
weekend. Sheikha Hayfa Yunis, will be in Memphis
as well for our Friday night program
with the sisters, as well as the Friday
night panel.
We have former NBA player Tariq Abdulwahed, who
used to play with the Dallas Mavericks and
Sacramento Kings and some other NBA teams back
in the nineties.
We'll be here on those panels to talk.
Part of the weekend, there's a plan for
a qiyam night from Friday night to Saturday
morning,
with how we did it during Ramadan. If
you guys remember the grand where we had,
who will also be in town,
leading. And then in between that, there'll be
talks from different speakers. We have local speakers
coming in as well, our own
and others,
such as,
and,
brother.
So it's gonna be a full weekend. We
look forward to seeing everybody there. The flyer
is out. The details are out. All we
ask for you is to show up.
We'll send out the schedule, and then also
spread the word around to everybody else inshallah.
And then also on that Sunday, we're gonna
be having the MIC heartsong annual blood drive,
which we have every year in September, and
that'll be going on from 11 AM to
4 PM. If you're able to come donate
blood, you can set up an appointment. There's
a link to reserve your time,
and it's in 15 minute increments.
So like I said, it's a packed weekend,
but we look forward to seeing you there.