Salah Mahmoud – A Journey to the Land of Justice
AI: Summary ©
AI: Transcript ©
My dear brothers and sisters, in the beginning
as usual, just to remind myself and my
brothers and sister that we the fact that
you made the an effort to come to
the the house of Allah to
witness salat al jumah,
it it's it's a great it's a great
reward that you're getting from Allah
It's a great effort. You could have been
anywhere else. That's why,
we always remind ourselves in the beginning of
the Khutba that
listening to the Khutba is is is something
that you should be doing. But sometimes you
see some brothers and sisters on their phones
and always, you know,
advise and we say if you are in
the masjid, so just listen to the Khuba
because you get in their words because the
phone is going to distract you and it's
not allowed to talk. It's not allowed to
use your phone because you're going to to
lose their word, subhanAllah, and you're not here.
You already made the effort. Effort. So you
might as well just make the most out
of it. May Allah
accept from all of us. In
my previous quote by in this masjid, the
last quote by giving this blessed masjid,
I was talking about Rasulullah sallallahu alaihi wasallam
and the hard experience
that he faced for the first time he
saw Jibril alaihi sallam.
And then
when, you know, he was shivering, he was
really scared. He ran to the love of
his life, to his psychologist,
to the best in his life, Sayyidu Khadija
radiallahu anha. And then he told her that
I'm scared. Wrap me and you will know
the story without getting back to it. Then
Sayyidak Khadija radiallahu anha is a psychologist, as
somebody who loves the prophet sallallahu alaihi wa
sallam, she comforted him and she said, by
Allah, Allah will never forsake you. Allah will
never let you down. And she mentioned 5
qualities
because because of the qualities the prophet sallallahu
alaihi wasallam had that Allah will never forsake
them. And if we have these qualities, Allah
will never disappoint us or
or forsake us as well. So number 1
was
be you're being she said you're being kind
to your your family. You maintain that that
that, you know, the family, the good relationship
with your family. The second one that you
always tell the truth. You never lie. And
then she said, and you
help the needy people even without asking. And
then number 4, you're generous to your,
generous to your guests.
And number 5,
when someone is is hit by calamity, you're
always next to them. And because of that,
she she comforted him and she told him
that Allah will never forsake you. So the
prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam accepted the fact that
there is a message and it's really serious.
And now it's time.
Until the we know the surah. So rasulullah
alaihi wasallam started secretly,
right, calling and he conveyed the message of
Islam and they chose a small house of
a young man by the name of Al
Arkam of Nabal Arkam. And we know the
story. So for a couple of years, for
2 or 3 years, rasulullah sallallahu alaihi wa
sallam is building leadership in this small house.
And matter of fact, as we always say,
there is only one lesson we can learn
from rasulullah sallallahu alaihi wa
sallam is plan, plan, plan, prepare for everything.
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala could have just helped
the prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam could have
cast the iman in people's heart and that's
it. Right? But Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala wanted
to teach the prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam
and the companions that they have to plan
for everything in their life. And this is
what rasoolallahu alaihi wa sallam did. Why do
you think he chose the daughter of al-'Arkham,
not his house? Why did he had the
gathering in his in the the the house
of al-'Arkham of a young man? Because, of
course, if the prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam
had and he was, of course, escaping. Right?
It was secret dua. If the prophet sallallahu
alaihi wasallam had the meetings and the gatherings
in his house, this is the first houses
go that was going to be targeted. Right?
Because because if you are the leader, then
when they want to to, you know, to
arrest you or to get you, the first
place they're gonna check-in your house. Right? So
the prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam here misguided
them, misled them. Sallallahu alaihi wa sallam. So
for a number of years, the prophet sallallahu
alaihi wa sallam is instilling
in the hearts of his companions. It doesn't
matter how many they were. It does not
matter at that time. It did not matter
at that time because it's what it was
all about the quality, not the quantity. Not
how many people that we have in the
masjid. But what are we doing for Islam?
This is actually the question.
So and
the the iman in their hearts preparing them
for something great to come to come after
that in the future. Right? So he was
no rush calling people secretly, teaching them the
the, you know, the religion of
Then when Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala came and
said, fasta'bima tu'mar and now it's time to,
you know, to convey the message in public.
Right? Especially after Umar al Khattab
accepted Islam and they had some sort of
power.
Then, of course, the disbelievers because there was
another idea that going to eliminate their faith
and they, you know, the fact that they
were worshiping worshiping idols, they wanted to eliminate
that. Right? It's something dangerous that we need
to stop. So this started, you know, torturing
the prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam and his
companions and we also know the stories. But
I will tell you where I'm going with
this. Then Rasulullah alaihi wa sallam after years
of punish you know, being punished and tortured
and humiliated
here and there in his companions. When rasulullah
sallallahu alaihi wa sallam as a leader could
not stand the fact that his companions are
being tortured around him and he's not do
able to do anything but asking Allah subhanahu
wa ta'ala to help. Now it was one
of the qualities of a leader is you
always always put the interest
of your companions of your followers before your
own interest. Then Rasulullah sallallahu alaihi wasallam
command them and he said, now it's time
to go to somewhere, to go to a
ruler. He is just he's someone that no
one will ever be a person in his
land.
So brothers and sisters, this is what I'm
going to be talking about.
As a leader, Rasulullah
he
studied everywhere
and he found the safest place to his
companions ever. Where? In Abyssinia
He said there is a ruler in there,
a najashi or negus. Right? And najashi is
there. The prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam heard
about him. The prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam
read about him and studied him very well
because he would never jeopardize the life of
his companions. He loves them. He just wants
them to be safe. So he told them,
wouldn't you go over there, migrate? Because the
prophet had
some sort of protection in Mecca that he
could stand what is happening. But for his
companions, it was really much. It's it's gotten
really, really much at that point. So long
story short, they migrated
the one from from Mecca to Abyssinia, now
Ethiopia.
Right?
And with that,
there is another experience in there. There was
something happened over there, brothers and sisters, that
we need to reflect and we need to
talk about.
So Rasulullah
sent some of the companions. They were 40.
They were 47. There are different narrations in
here. Right? And they migrated to Abyssinia
trying to seek an asylum, basically.
Right? So they went to An Najashi, to
that land, seeking protection.
And do you think that the leaders of
Quraish would ever leave them alone? No. Because,
again, they're dangerous. Why? They didn't have anything
to harm the leaders of Quraysh but they
have the idea.
When you are someone of faith, when you
have an idea in your mind, you become
dangerous to people who do not like the
idea.
Right? That's why they could have just let
them, you know. They're gonna die in the
desert. Nothing something is going to happen to
them but subhanAllah, they went after them. We
do not want this group because this is
very unique group. They are ready to sacrifice
their
sacrifice anything for their faith and for their
religion.
And then brothers and sisters,
before talking about the debate and, you know,
that happened and the speech, the amazing speech
that Jafar Abu Talib. Yeah. Jafarib Abu Talib
was the one who was assigned
to talk to the al Najashi. And before
this happened,
the leaders of Quraysh
sent
2 of their leaders also, 2 conveyors,
convoys basically. Right?
They sent 2 of them, Amr ibn al-'as
and Abdullah ibn Rabi'ah.
2 of them.
To do what? For what? What was the
mission?
To convince al Najashi
to send the Muslim men back to Makkah
so they can take care of them over
there. They don't want them alive. They want
to harm them so badly. Anyway, it doesn't
matter.
So and they actually bribed the the clergy
of An Najashi.
They give them a lot of gifts
so that they can convince
An Najashi to kick the Muslims out.
But as he said before that Rasulullah
when he spoke about An Najashi,
he said, a just ruler.
Haqimun 'aadil. And this is brothers and sisters,
the first lesson I'm going to share with
you today,
the importance of justice.
The importance of justice in Islam.
When we talk about justice, the first thing
that comes to our mind is basically a
king or a ruler who is justice. But
what about you? As a regular person, are
you being just with your family,
with your coworkers,
in your work,
with your brothers and sisters in the masjid?
This is something that you need to ask
yourself.
Justice is a big thing in Islam, brothers
and sisters. Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala says,
stand firm firmly
to justice
and do not oppress anybody.
Do not be in do injustice to anyone
even your own self.
Right. Do not give false testimony.
Right?
Do not do injustice
to protect yourself or your family members.
And Rasulullah
he gave us a great an amazing example
also when he talked about the Sayida Fatima.
When someone came to him trying to enter
seat on behalf of a woman that a
haddi from was supposed to be applied on
her, Rasulullah sallallahu alaihi wasallam given a statement
that will never be forgotten. He said, you
are coming to intercede.
You're asking me not to apply a rule
from the rules of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.
I swear by Allah that even Fatima, the
daughter of Muhammad,
did the same thing. I will apply the
role of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala on her.
I will punish my own daughter. Justice is
justice.
This is the value of justice brothers and
sisters. Are you just are you doing justice
between you and between your kids, your children?
This is something we need to ask ourselves
moving forward.
So, basically, when Amr Abdulaz and Abdullah ibn
Rabia and that takes me to the next
lesson, the second lesson which is very important.
Amr ibn al-'asihwani
came to Al Habashah
with one goal,
is to harm
Muslims
and to kick them out of this land
and to
stop and prevent the Najashi
from actually protecting them.
Do we know Amr Abbas?
I was born in Egypt.
If Amr Abbas
If it hadn't been for Amr Abdullah if
it wasn't for Amr Abbas, I would have
been ended up being Coptic
or a Christian.
SubhanAllah.
What is the message I'm trying to give
you here?
What is the message I'm trying to give
you here? Do not give up on anybody.
Do not lose hope on your child because
he's not obeying Allah Subhana wa ta'ala, Ahmad
ibn al-'Haas going all the way to Abyssinia
trying to convince an
Najashi to kick the Muslimain out.
And after all of these years, he himself
accepts Islam. Who would believe that? SubhanAllah.
But he accepted Islam. Do not give up
on yourself,
on your child.
Make dua.
Allah
will accept your dua. Do not lose or
give hope on anybody. Don't give up.
Anybody can change. Umar al Khattab radiAllahu
an. Umar al Khattab changed and became Muslim
and he became Umar al Khattab radiAllahu an.
Hamzabda Abdul Muttalib and all of these great
leaders, they became Muslims. Amr Abdul Az, they
they, you know, they went to Egypt and
Egypt became rather than them being Christians, they're
they're Muslims.
SubhanAllah.
So this is zakkal lesson. Number 1,
justice
is the great value in Islam.
Number 2,
do not lose hope in anybody.
And that takes me to number 3, brothers
and sisters.
And Najashi,
when he heard from Ahmed al-'Aas
and when he heard from the clergy, they're
trying to convince him to kick the Muslimen
out. He did not want to do that.
He said I need to listen
to their side of the story first.
As they always say, there are always two
sides to the story.
And the problem is as community, we always
come to a conclusion, brother, sister,
before even listening to both parties.
If someone tells you that he said something
about you or this situation happened or this
brother or this sister is seeing something,
Listen to the to the other side of
the story.
It's very important.
Do not just jump to conclusion because you're
going to do injustice to people. Listen to
this and to that. Me when a when
a when a brother comes to my office
for counseling or a sister, I always say
I need to hear the other side of
the story. There's always, always two sides of
the story.
Right? So do not listen from one person
and just jump to a conclusion that he
is bad or she's bad or he is
wrong or wrong. Najashi,
he was a Christian leader
and he said, I will not kick them
out. I need to listen to their story.
Now Jafar ibn Abi Talib was the spokesperson,
the spokesman
Al As. Both of them are very smart.
Very smart.
And that's another lesson we learned.
Put the right person for the right place.
If you think you are qualified to serve
the Muslim community,
please come forward and say I'm ready to
to to serve the Muslim community.
Right?
Don't say no unless people ask me. If
you think you are you're qualified,
then do it.
Jafar ibn Abi Talib was assigned
to be to represent the Muslim community or
the Muslim group. And then Ahmed al-'As Ahmed
al-'As was very smart, very smart. And Najashi
was the judge. He was between them.
So now and Najashi was asking he started,
of course, the whole debate, the whole dialogue
between Amr ibn al-'Aas and Ja'far. So he
started with Ja'far
and he said,
Tell me, what is that faith and this
religion that
because of that you left the religion and
faith of your fathers and your families and
you divided your community and all of these
things?
And look, listen, Hwani. This debate, in my
opinion, one of the strongest, the most powerful
debates you ever hear in your life.
And the way
Ja'farb Nabi Talib
presented Islam,
I cannot imagine that anybody else can do
that. In this harsh situation, imagine
you have to build a case in here.
Otherwise, you're gonna be kicked back. You're gonna
go back to jail in Mecca.
Imagine this, how hard the situation is. You
have to build the case. You are the
weaker one. How would you start?
We'll go over it very quick, insha'allah, because
it's a very, very
long discussion, very long debate.
But there are a lot of things we
can learn here. As a public speaker, you
can learn a lot of things. As a
debater, you can learn a lot of things
in here. So Jafar ibn Abi Talm Elik,
he addressed him with his what? His title,
O king.
O king. Look how he's focused on the
emotions.
People like to be acknowledged.
If someone is a physician or a doctor,
call him doctor.
If someone is a professor, call him professor.
If someone has title,
give them the title.
People like that.
Even if they say, This is my name,
brother. My name is like that. But they
like this.
Right?
So said, Ayahu Al Malik,
Remember,
he did not now he's presenting the case
in front of the judge.
He did not jump to the, you know,
the the torture and punishment. He started with
something different. He said, we were very terrible
people.
We were very ignorant.
We used to worship idols. We ate that,
you know, the flesh of the dead animals.
When we see when all kind of morality,
we do that. We practice that.
Right? And then
the the stronger one would would always always
oppress the the weaker one.
And then
a man came to us from
us. So now he's starting he's building a
case right now.
He did not start with he did not
complain.
He's now being very intellectual.
He's saying we were bad. We were bad.
We used to do this. We used to
do that and we used to do this.
And he knows, he knows that Al Najashi,
the ruler, the just ruler, he knows that
that he does not like these things because
he was a true Christian.
So he said, And we were like this
until a man from us from us that
we know him. He wasn't like a random
person.
It wasn't a random person who came to
us with this faith. It was someone that
we know very well. Talk about the prophet
And then Fada'ana,
we knew that he was seeing the truth.
He was a sadiq al Amin.
Fada'ana illallah.
So he asked he
called us to worship 1 Lord
which is basically it matches our fitra, our
natural instinct.
Right?
Stop any kind of worshiping association, any other
partner with Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.
He He would commend us or he would
advise us to say the truth, nothing but
the truth,
and to be kind to our relatives and
families,
and to be kind to our neighbors.
And he started counting a lot of things
about Islam, numbering things about Islam.
And then he said,
We looked at our situation. We compared our
situation. We were bad. And someone came trying
to help us.
And we believed in him. And when we
did this, the ruler
when we did that,
these people,
you know, they say, Amr ibn As is
right there. These people,
they tried to harm us
and they tried to stop us from being
good human beings.
And when we could not bear that that
torture
and the punishment and all of this humility
in there,
our prophet told us there
is a just ruler in Abyssinia.
No one will be oppressed in his land
so go to him.
So we came to you.
Look what he's doing here.
Look how he's focusing the emotions
of a Najashi.
He's actually embarrassing him. He's embarrassing him. We
were good.
We were good
and we were bad, and someone tried to
make us good.
And when we became
good, these people trying to harm us.
And when we could not bear the harm,
our prophet told us, come to that land
because you are a just ruler.
So what do you think Najashi is going
to say
after that? SubhanAllah.
This is this is this is the the
the art of your public speaking,
debate.
You know, anything you can learn from this.
Although it happened 1400 years ago, but you
can always learn from the of Rasool alaihi
sallam.
I'm
about talking about the story of
An Najashi and the Muslim when they migrated
to, Basenia Ethiopia.
And,
there was a debate.
Jafar ibn al-'Azk presented the Muslim community
and then Ahmed al-'Azk presented the non Muslim
community.
Then in Najashi heard both of them, Jafar
ibn al-'Abi Talib said that we were bad,
and then a prophet came and he made
us good. And when we listened to him,
they harmed us. So our prophet told us
there will be a just ruler who will
take care of you. So we came to
you.
So Najashi continues,
and he says,
can you recite something from your book?
Then he chose the right passage.
The right passage.
Sawed
Suhart Mariam.
He's a Christian.
So which is you think which is he
needs to listen right now. It's Suhart Mariam.
It's common sense.
Right?
Then in Najashi, because he was true christian,
he told him that this is exactly what
the Isa came with. It's the same message.
He was true christian.
That's the same message.
Right?
Then this is the the very first round
who won Muslims.
But then, Umar bin Nas, remember, was very
smart.
Umar bin Nas was very smart.
He said, you know what?
The next day I'm gonna come to Najashi
and I will make him hate Muslims
and I will make him kick them out.
So he came to Najashi.
Again, this is the second round of the
debate.
He tells him, Aiyu al Malik,
their king,
ask the Muslims
what they believe about
Jesus.
I will conclude with this. Listen.
It's
a terrible situation.
Say the truth.
Maybe you'll be kicked out
or even harmed in Abyssinia
or lie and be safe.
So Jafar, it's your turn.
Can you tell
us what you guys think about Jesus?
Khwani, didn't I tell you in the beginning
of my khudbah that Rasulullah sallallahu alaihi wasallam
spent years
in Darul Alkham preparing them for that moment?
That
it doesn't matter what happens to me. I
will never ever compromise on my faith. Never.
Why? Because I have the the right
the truth to my side.
And what do you think Jafar ibn Abi
Talib said to him? He said exactly what
Islam says about Christianity
about Jesus. He said, we believe that he's
the messenger of Allah.
So imagine this situation. I'm trying to save
myself.
I'm trying to save myself and the whole
community. Imagine if a Najashi
imagine if a Najashi decided that they will
be kicked out.
Imagine what was going to to happen to
Islam. But again, Rasoulas alaihi wasalam studied. He
knew that Najashi would never do that.
Khwani, a lot of times we get questions
about Islam,
especially our youth. We get a lot of
questions that we don't know the answer, and
we try to satisfy and please people even
if we say something against our religion,
even if we do something against your values
and your principles.
And do you think people will respect that?
They will not respect that. If you are
someone who who sticks to his value, people
will respect you.
You say, I'm Muslim. This is my belief.
This is my belief. This is my faith.
They will respect you.
Something you don't understand the wisdom. Why Allah
said
we should do this that way because according
to our limited understanding as
human
human
beings, we don't know the wisdom. But we
keep on, you know, playing with words. But
Islam says that. But you don't have to
say that. Sometimes you just need to say
it to their faith. If this is what
Allah said, then say it to their faith.
And again say I am not in a
position to defend
Rasulullah sallallahu alaihi wa sallam. I'm not in
a position to defend the wisdom of Allah
subhanahu wa ta'ala.
It's not my business. I'm just delivering the
message. And this is what Jafar ibn Abi
Talib did. He did not try to sugarcoat
Islam because he wanted him to he wanted
to secure himself and the whole group.
He wanted to show the truth but nothing
but the truth. But guess what? When you
stick to your value, this is the end
result. And Najashi said, and this is what
we also believe, Allahu Akbar.
This is our faith and this is a
true Christianity.
After
that, kicked the the Amr ibn Haas back.
He lost 2 rounds.
All the gifts take them back. Muslims, you
are seeing and you are safe.
Brothers and sisters,
the biggest lesson we can learn today is
do not compromise your deen
and be confident Muslim. This is what we're
looking for.
A long.
A long.
A long.
A long.
Assalamu alaykum Warahmatullahi
wa sallamu alaykum Warahmatullahi wa sallamu alaykum Warahmatullahi
wa sallamu alaykum Warahmatullahi wa sallamu alaykum Warahmatullahi
wa sallamu alaykum Warahmatullahi wa sallamu alaykum Warahmatullahi
wa sallamu alaykum Warahmatullahi wa sallamu alaykum Warahmatullahi
wa sallamu alaykum Warahmatullahi wa sallamu alaykum So
alhamdulillahabbalahamin
since 2016
and I've been given khud by this masjid.
And matter of fact, I consider it my
community. And now alhamdulillahamin
I am,
I am actually serving as the imam of
1st school masjid.
So your brothers in 1st school, they are
saying
to the epic community, which I consider my
second home. Honestly, whenever they say come give
Khub and epic, I'm always here. I don't
say no. So
we have a big project coming up, and
we are actually expanding the masjid. We're trying
to have, mashallah, a nice gym like you
guys, you know, and some other classes for
the weekend school. It's it's really really tight
in there.
So,
the brothers are going to be outside. You
see the flyer with them. Alhamdulillah. Our fundraising
dinner is going to be on,
November 16th
at 5:30,
suite Embassy Suite by Hilton Frisco. But what
you can help with, inshallah, whatever anything you
can help with, you can purchase the tickets
and you can inshallah come to fundraising,
but help our community inshallah
The brothers will have this flyer
and please we need your help.