Sadullah Khan – Jumuah 14 Jumada Al Awwal 1444 9 December 2022
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In the name of Allah, most gracious, most
merciful,
all praise is due to our creator, our
cherisher,
our nourisher, and our sustainer.
We bear witness, there's none worthy of worship
but Allah.
We bear witness, we believe in all the
prophets who came in the great line of
divine throughout history.
And we bear witness to prophet Muhammad
ibn Abdullah.
He's the final of all the emissaries of
Allah.
Mister the elders, brothers,
youth,
I greet you with the Islamic universal greeting
of peace.
May the peace, the mercy, and the blessings
of Allah be upon each and everyone.
At this auspicious hour of Jum'ah, as salaamu
alaykum
It is expected that over 3,000,000,000 people
would have seen part of the Qatar World
Cup by the time it reaches the final
on 18th December.
No other human event
draws
a larger audience
than the World Cup.
It is indeed an event
that is noted,
noticed,
observed, and of which people are well informed
and well aware.
But
instead of it being a celebration
of the participation
of 32 of the
best footballing
nations coming together,
watching the most popular sport by people,
The event has become an excuse
for some,
particularly some Europeans,
to use this world stage
and its global attention
to deliberately to deliberately
bring into question
some fundamental
Islamic values.
So
in the run up to this global
globally watched tournament,
some Western media coverage
has been dominated
by controversies
surrounding the event,
more focusing on the controversy
rather than the sport itself.
One of the biggest broadcasters in the world
will make sure that they are there for
every major event
and more so
for sport, and more particularly for soccer.
The BBC
refrain from airing even the opening ceremony
of this
World Cup,
opting instead
to cover on criticism
of the host nation
and the Middle East.
Now besides the legitimate issue
of the treatment of migrant workers by all
the Arab states, the only Qatar, Saudi, and
the rest of them, Dubai,
Abu Dhabi, all of them,
Besides,
that legitimate issue
of the treatment of migrant workers, which needs
to be addressed.
The rest was pertaining to gender issues,
moral behavior,
modest address,
and the restriction of alcohol.
And this negative focus in the process
heightens somewhat a level
of Islamophobia.
When I say Islamophobia,
I mean that unfounded
irrational
hostility
arising from misunderstanding
or misinformation
or miscommunication
about Islam.
And therefore,
the spreading of
fear, suspicion,
dislike, or even hatred
towards Islam,
and obviously, through that, to the Muslims
as well.
Now you see this event, it's a sporting
event,
but it affects all of us in the
perception of how people see our faith.
This World Cup is certainly like no other
one before it.
It is the first to be held in
the Middle East,
more particularly
in a Muslim country.
And the host country have gone out of
their way to give an distinctly Arab, somewhat
Muslim flavor
from the Bedouin themed
opening ceremony with the female,
singer wearing a traditional kind of face covering,
which is banned in some part of Europe.
And of course, verse from the Quran being
recited about unity of humankind
and about nations and people getting to know
one another.
Let me just reiterate.
The concern here is neither Qatar
nor the World Cup,
But rather,
how some of the western media
is exploiting this most watched spectacle
bring into question
the compatibility of Islam
and of Muslims
with the modern world
and with Western values.
But from where does this Islamiophobia
stand?
Do not forget,
anti Muslim bias and
propaganda
date back
from the
inception of the Islamic faith. From the time
of the Rasulullah Wa Alaihi Wa Salaam in
the Arabian Peninsula. And at that time already
Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala cautioned us.
You shall certainly be tried and tested
in your possessions,
in your lives.
And you shall certainly hear, you shall certainly
hear
many hurtful things
from some of those who have given the
book before you and some of those who
may be polytheists.
But if you persevere patiently
and you guard against yourself engaging in wrongfulness,
then that would be a matter
of great resolve
and strong determination.
So we observe,
historically,
when Islam was confined to the city of
Makkah,
it was opposed by the real the ruling
elite. And the ruling elite at that time
were the Quraysh.
Family of course of the prophet, I mean.
The tribe which she belong to.
And they opposed Islam primarily because it would
undermine
their corrupt political
and
exploitative
economic
orders and agendas.
And as Islam expanded
beyond borders of Mecca,
it was opposed by a number of tribes
even within and outside Madina.
And when Islam grew into a major force
on the global arena
as a political and religious force, it was
confronted
by European Christendom
and it had many other rival empires, the
Roman
and the and so
on. Throughout the period of colonialism
and thereafter,
the orientalist
gaze became prominent
in the works of European
academics,
historians,
writers and artists.
And that pattern
of
looking at Islam as the other
continues to persist
through various
manifestations
even today.
So much of the weeds, not the plants
and of the the flowers, but so much
of the weeds of anti muslim racism and
bias
in the present context
has actually been sown in the previous centuries.
Let me remind ourselves.
While the 19th 20th centuries
witnessed the most unrestrained
assertion of Western powers
through colonialism,
through imperialism,
and through hegemonic
imposition
and dominance.
The 21st century has shown somewhat a retraction,
even
a deterioration
of such unchallenging power. In other words, there
are challenges now to this Western European *.
The emergence
of counter forces like Russia and China,
neither European really,
and some principled revolutionary Muslim leaders.
This
have led to them realizing that there's a
confrontation
of the presumption
of Western superiority.
Do not forget
that the main reason for colonialists
were economic and political dominance.
The Christianization
of people
and
the civilizing, so called civilizing
of those who are less civilized.
Europeans
perceive themselves
as a superior to the rest of the
world.
Even they introduce a theology of christendom
of a white god.
Jesus mother was from Africa.
So can you imagine the perception?
How white must God be? That if there
has a black mother, Jesus has a black
mother. How white must the father be for
the child to be blonde hair and blue
eyed.
A white theology was introduced. A white philosophy
was introduced.
Aisai alaihi salaam is a messiah. We honor
him but we're talking about the perception created.
The idea of superiority.
The colonized saw the colonizer and they saw
the picture they gave of Jesus. Well, the
colonizer looked like Jesus and Jesus looked like
them. He must have been one of them.
And this mentality,
they perceive themselves as superior to the rest
of the world.
And
Europeans consider themselves,
therefore,
as the dominant force.
And the world was to be of service
to them to meet their needs, to meet
their interests and their programs.
And as such, a eurocentric,
a European centered
world order was anchored in biased world view
towards,
the favored Europeans
or to the Westerners
to the disadvantage
of other people who are non Western or
non European.
Europe
was the world
and the world belonged to Europe.
By the turn of 20th century, let me
remind you
Europe
colonized so much of the world that though
Europe only
covers 8% of the world's land mass,
84%
of the world were directly under control of
European rulers.
Here we are speaking in English language. Shows
you how far they've colonized us.
We are the representative of Africa. Many of
us are from the Far East, or forefathers.
And the common language we have is the
language of our colonizers.
So colonialism
blew brutally conquered territories,
dehumanized those who were colonized,
robbing them of their land and stripping them
of their dignity.
It manifested the pinnacle of inhumanity
to man
by plundering the resources of the colonized lands
and carving it into artificial states like what
they did in Palestine
and other parts of the world. European colonial
powers created vicious cycles of violence,
of poverty, of authoritarianism,
of which we still suffer today.
Admittedly,
conquering the world in the name of either
spreading Christianity
or creating political and economic hegemonies
could not be sustained.
Even the christianization
waned eventually.
So it was replaced
by the notion
not evangelizing
Christianity so much, but now propagation
of a superior civilization.
And thereby,
camouflaging their political cruelty
and their economic exploitation.
The civilization mission was used
to self legitimize
the colonial ruler. And even when they left,
they left us as colonized minds.
Because the European colonizers
were materially superior.
Though in reality,
they were morally bankrupt.
And as we have learned here in Africa,
the nation the notion of European civilizational agenda
was in reality
the cultivation of racism.
The imposition of the conqueror over the conquered.
The exploiter over the exploited.
And the usurper over the usurped.
European over non European,
and frankly,
so called white over so called non white.
The European enlightenment
assumed to have been based
on liberty, equality, fraternity,
and infinite opportunity.
In reality, it was thuggery. It was butchery.
It was robbery, it was depauchery and slavery.
In the remnants of that European mentality,
it is now trying to dictate. That mentality,
that mentality is now dictating
morality to Muslims.
And this is where the issue comes in.
And such mentality
brings doubts and uncertainty
rather than peace and tranquillity.
And
the hadith in documented by Imamatirmid, he said,
leave that which brings about doubt for that
which does not cause you doubt.
Verily,
truth brings peace of mind
and falsehood.
Sow seeds of doubt and uncertainty.
On a side note,
we viewed on Tuesday, for those who watch,
a very pertinent when Morocco beats Spain.
And it's something very unique to understand.
Somewhat a religious lesson for us as Oman.
Not the gang itself. The celebration.
Palestinian flags everywhere.
And you saw people in every part of
the world. I saw video clips of people
in Indonesia.
People in India, Pakistan,
Uzbekistan,
people Muslims in America, in Europe, other parts
of the world throughout Africa celebrating.
That's very unique you see because
I haven't seen Australia or Austrians or Italians
or Greece celebrating with fraud.
I haven't seen South American people like the
Columbians or the Peruvians or the Chileans celebrate
in the streets when Brazil won.
I haven't even seen when the Japanese who
played so well. I didn't see any Asian
people celebrating
when the South Koreans won.
I know soccer is a game,
but it may seem
trivial.
But
when it comes to reflecting noble values, we
realize
how as an Umma, we are somehow still
united. We still feel a degree of pride.
It's a Muslim country.
We know the support of morocco or Qatar
or anybody but we're proud these muslim people
who won. That sense of
not arrogance or pride but sense of being
proud that Muslims
are are for. It shows the kind of
connection we have. Even if we are not
supporting people, but the religious connection we have,
when Muslims do well, we feel proud. We
feel good.
And that
should make us realize
that the hearts of the Ummah
somewhat
beats together.
Now imagine a world in which if you
could channel that camaraderie,
that feeling of interconnectedness
into our attitudes
and into our interactions with each other.
A soccer bring a soccer game brings Muslim
people together,
and we tend to find religious reasons,
excuses
to be apart from each other. Belitling each
other, berating each other, condemning each other. Unfortunately,
a reprehensible
guilt
not only borne by our Muslim political leaders
but also by our Muslim religious leaders.
You see the very spirit of Islam, whether
we are
exposed in whichever way.
But our very spirit of Islam is underpinned
by the Quranic conditioning of the Muslim
as a social being.
And irrespective of what people may say,
I want us to reflect on the following
5 points as
Quranic
conditioning
of the Muslim as a social being.
1, that life is sacred. All life is
sacred.
All life is sacred.
And that we are encouraged.
Overcoming negativity
and evil with goodness.
That we should neither be destructive nor malicious.
There's no animosity towards those who may not
be Muslim.
Our cause is justice,
not prejudice.
And of course, like Rafi Dean, there's no
compulsion in our faith.
But don't impose
corrupt values
as a superior way for us. We'll undermine
our faith by using opportunities like these to
belittle our faith, our prophet, and the
with that, a reminder
to all that is Islam.
It is Islam.
It is a comprehensive way of life.
Net irrelevant,
whether you deem it compatible with the west
or what East or whatever it may be,
is
a comprehensive
and a complete way of life
relevant
to all places
and to all people.
The Tanweel summer program will take place on
the 20 from 12th to 21st
December, Insha'Allah.
More information can be
on on the website,
the Dunwiddie Institute on Facebook and the Dunwiddie
Institute on Facebook and on Instagram, Insha'Allah.
So that is a youth program that will
take place of, on 12th from 12th until
21st December. Inshallah, that is a youth summer
program. And
as I said, quick for the people, as
you like, I see there's a lot of
double parkings outside. Last week was a bad,
last week was a bad incident.
Also, we some words was exchanged. We don't
need that in our
society,
in our community, inshallah. So park responsibility,
if you come late, walk outside, inshallah.
So don't try to double park, and those
who double park, if they're late, please leave
early to,
avoid, obstruction for other cars. And the name
of Dua for Hajj Ibrahim who passed on,
during the week. He's in as it was
yesterday. He's the brother of, Hajj Abu Hamid
who uses the day at the back. He
also had the operation.
And we just ask the brothers who've seen
there are quite a few people after
the Jum'ah as well as the
also. We just ask the brothers to stand
a bit tight today, so that all the
people can come inside. There there are space
upstairs as well, and there are quite a
few spaces in between here as well.
Just ask the brothers to stand and to
follow all the gaps.
Kindly fill
the gaps immediately.