Sikander Hashmi – First Step in Overcoming Oppression KMA Friday Message
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AI: Transcript ©
Respected elders,
your brothers and sisters,
my young friends,
We begin by praising Allah
the lord,
the master
of the universe, and everything that it contains.
He is our designer, our nourisher,
and our protector,
and of all that exists.
And we begin
by sending peace and salutations upon
his beloved and final messenger,
Muhammad, the son of Abdullah
It's a great pleasure to be with you,
my brothers and sisters, once again,
this Friday. Alhamdulillah.
This new,
tradition of having this Friday message, seems like
it's been going on forever.
But of course, it only started in March,
out of necessity,
and we still continue out of necessity. But
perhaps inshallah, once things go to normal,
perhaps this is also something we should continue
to do online inshallah.
Allah
knows best. I hope, that everyone as well,
that your family as well. We ask Allah
to keep you safe and to keep all
of us
protected from all types of harm, misfortune, and
trials.
My brothers and sisters,
today, you know, it's a beautiful day, inshallah,
outside.
The weather is, getting cooler and cooler. Summer
is coming to an end.
We look outside and it looks beautiful. But,
you know, the reality is
in, in many parts of the world, we
find
great oppression in different forms.
We are very fortunate. We are very blessed
that overall, you know, relatively we find ourselves
in a pretty good situation in terms of
our safety, in terms of our security.
That's not to say that things are perfect,
but, you know, overall,
we've we
Allah has blessed us. And when we look
at what is happening in so many parts
of the world,
we find ourselves
in a much better place.
At this very moment though,
there are many, many people
all around the world
that are right now, right as we are
speaking, right as we are listening right now,
there are many people, 100 of 1000, perhaps
even millions of people around the world or
even more
who are in pain, who are in
distress, or who are languishing in terrible circumstances.
And sometimes it's mind boggling, you know, when
I try to think about it, that at
this very moment
during which Allah
has blessed me to be in a place
that is safe,
to be in peace or relative peace, You
know, there's so much
pain and suffering going on at this right
very moment.
And at this moment, Allah
has decided
that I will be in a in a
place of peace,
in comfort,
whereas that is not the case for so
many others, brothers and sisters in faith and
in humanity.
And sometimes when we try to think about
it, it can actually be quite overwhelming.
It can actually be quite overwhelming because,
you know, we are taught to have a
heart. We are taught to be compassionate, to
be empathetic,
to be concerned about the well-being of others,
to be concerned about the rise of oppression.
And
the more we think about it, the more
we realize that we are actually quite helpless
in many ways.
And this can be a very troubling thought
for the believers
and for the people of conscience, generally, regardless
of their beliefs.
You see my brothers and sisters, Allah subhanahu
wa ta'ala told us in the Quran.
Do not think that Allah
is unaware of what the wrongdoers or what
the oppressors do.
Their eyes will stare stare in horror, rushing
forth, heads raised, never blinking, hearts void.
See, Allah
is telling us
that there is gonna come a time.
Allah is delaying them. He's not unaware.
Allah is never
unaware of anything. He is fully aware of
what everyone does, especially the wrongdoers, the oppressors,
and what they're doing.
But Allah
out of his infinite knowledge and wisdom
gives them time and opportunities
to turn back and repent.
And many fail this test and continue going
on with their oppression
until it's too late to turn back.
Right? They don't recognize the fact that the
time that they're getting or the fact that
nothing is happening to them immediately as a
result of their oppression
is not because they are correct in their
oppression. It's not because
the victims are helpless and that there is
no one and that Allah is not watching
them. That's not the reason. They think that,
but that's not the reason. The reason is
Allah
out of his infinite knowledge and wisdom is
giving them the opportunity to turn back and
to repent.
So they take that extra time.
They take that opportunity
as a free pass
to do whatever they want, but in reality,
it's not a free pass. It's actually an
opportunity
to turn back, to stop, to repent.
Now at this point, my brothers and sisters,
we are most likely
thinking about others. Right? So if you're listening
to this, you're probably thinking about others who
are causing oppression,
those who are causing.
But if what if we too are causing
oppression and committing wrongdoing?
And what if Allah
is giving us
an opportunity, a chance,
but we are not taking heed? So let
us reflect
upon ourselves and our conduct as well, especially
in our homes,
especially when we are dealing with our family
members,
especially when we are dealing with the people
around us,
especially when we are dealing with our colleagues,
our neighbors, our relatives, our friends,
or people we consider to be or that
we call our friends. Let us think about
our conduct and would this verse also apply
to us. The lesson that we are learning,
is it only for others,
or is it also for us as well?
Allah
protect us from all types of oppression, from
committing oppression, and from becoming victims of oppression.
Sadly, the reality is, my brothers and sisters,
that throughout the history of the world,
oppression has existed.
Sometimes more, sometimes a bit less.
We find examples
of people who triumphed over oppression
and examples of people who seemingly
didn't even though they tried.
We also find examples of people who felt
that they couldn't beat the oppression and the
oppressors,
so they joined the oppression.
Now let's look at the example of the
Bani Israel, the children of Israel.
These were people who were persecuted severely,
the most lowly members of society. They were
enslaved, and they were tortured.
And
was a vicious tyrant.
So the one who was,
the the pharaoh,
the who was actually
there at that time who was causing the
suppression,
he was a vicious tyrant.
He was killing their boys
because he was afraid that one of them
might eventually challenge him and take power. Right?
So his solution to protect his power
was
to kill the boys of the Bani Israel
when they were young, when they were born,
when they were very, very young so that
he could never be challenged by them because
that was his fear.
And he used every possible meaning
to demean them,
to disgrace them,
kept them in bondage,
used pegs and stakes
to torture them or torture the ones who
went against him,
and
he he
subjugated them. They were weak
and they were helpless. Right? So he went
out of his way to do everything he
could to subjugate them by torturing them, by
enslaving them in the worst possible way. And
not just the Bani Israel, but anyone who
challenged Firaun,
anyone who challenged
his claim,
to to being, God or to be worthy
of worship, anyone who challenged his power,
his, misguided ways,
he did not spread,
even
if it turned out to be his wife,
Asiya, who was mentioned in the Quran,
Allah be pleased with her and, you know,
someone who Allah has spoken very highly of,
you know, one of the, women that are,
that we are we learned have, you know,
has reached perfection.
You know, someone who was in the household
of Firaun,
his wife, but at the same time, who
recognized the truth and
rose up. And, subhanallah, if you read the
description of how he tortured her and how
he,
you know,
tried to to punish her, subhanallah, it's just
heartbreaking.
But she still stood up for the truth,
and she still stood up to challenge,
Firaun and did not give up till the
very end. And Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala talks
about the dua that she made in the
Quran, and Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala,
will reward her greatly in the best places
in Jannah. Inshallah.
Now the Bani Israel, they were too weak.
They were too weak to
rise against the oppression of Faraham.
K? Let alone even able to escape or
run away. Even that was something which is
not possible for them. K?
So they were not able to,
to escape. They were not able to run
away from the oppression,
And forget about rising up against the oppression.
And, like, they were they were just too
weak. There was nothing. There was no strength.
Musa, alayhis salaam,
said to them,
My people, if you have believed in Allah,
then in him place your trust if you
are obedient.
Right? If you are
from the Muslims, if you are from those
who submit. K? So if you have believed,
place your trust in Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.
If you are from those who are going
to obey, who are going to submit.
So they said in Allah, we have placed
our trust.
Our Lord, do not make us a victim
of the unjust people.
Our Lord, our Rabb, do not make us
the victim of
the oppressors of the unjust people. Right? So
this is the dua that the money is
made.
And
save us through your mercy from the disbelieving
people. K. So this was their response to
the call of saying that Musa alayhis salam
telling them that if they believed in Allah,
then they should place their trust. So even
in that situation, right, it was a hopeless
situation,
seemingly hopeless situation,
yet the command is place your trust in
Allah. Do not give up hope, and that
is how they respond.
Now when the misery and the suffering went
beyond, like when it got way too much,
Allah inspired
Musa alayhi salam, Haroon alayhi salam, the 2
brothers, the prophets,
with a plan of action.
Now when you think about this when you
look at this plan of action,
there were no weapons involved. K? It was
not a plan of attacking Firaoun or taking
out Firaoun, you know, or assassinating Firaoun. There
were no weapons involved.
There was no violence in this plan because
they had no physical strength. Like, it was
not possible for them. They were completely subjugated.
There was no physical strength. There was nothing
that they would be able to do physically.
The plan was for spiritual upliftment.
See, the the the circumstances
were physical and spiritual in nature, meaning
that there were restrictions on worship. Right?
Did not want anyone to believe in Allah.
He believed that he was the ultimate power,
the ultimate authority.
So that was the spiritual aspect of it,
but then the physical aspect was also that,
of course, they were subjugated and tortured and
enslaved.
But the plan was for spiritual upliftment first,
and the command was focus on the home.
Make the home a source of spiritual strength,
spiritual strength and conviction
and righteousness.
Allah
subhanahu
wa
ta'ala
says,
And we reveal to Musa and his brother,
appoint houses for your people in Egypt and
turn these houses into places of worship.
Establish prayer and give good news to the
believers. So here the believers are being told
to, by Musa alayhi salaam to have trust
in
and making their homes places of spiritual upliftment
into places of prayer, into places of worship,
and Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says, and
give good news to the believers. So this
is good news for the believers.
Right? These are glad tidings for the believers
that Allah
is indeed with you. And even during these
these physically difficult times and even spiritually difficult
times, Allah
has not abandoned you. Allah
has not abandoned
you. Refocus
and reestablish your relationship with Allah
beginning from the home. So when we look
at the situation of the Ummah today,
right, and we feel helpless.
Right? And indeed, the Bani Israel will it
were even more helpless.
Okay. What is the command? The instruction is
the plan of action starts from home. If
you want betterment, you start it from home
and you start it by making your homes
places of worship and establishing prayer, and you
take that as good news from Allah subhanahu
wa ta'ala.
So this is, my brothers and sisters, the
source of true,
long lasting and long lasting and effective strength,
and couple that with action. Right? So what
do we learn from this? Spiritual equipment,
the prayers.
Right? Making our homes places of spirituality and
worship.
This is fundamental
to the betterment of our community, our society,
and the state of the Ummah. Allah
tells
us, All you who believe, seek help through
sabr, through patience, perseverance,
and through prayer, through salah.
Okay. Now you think physically
right? Physically,
what is Salah going to do? And this
I remember mentioning this before as well. You
know, I was a kid. I hear about
challenges in many parts of the world that
the Ummah is facing. Some of our elder
scholars would say, we need to improve our
salah first,
or we need to respond by improving our
salah. And as a kid, I didn't get
it. I didn't understand. I'm like, okay. What
is the oppression? Whether it's Palestine or, you
know, anywhere else, Bosnia at the time and
other places. You know, what does that have
to do with our salah? Like, our brothers
and sisters are dying. They're being tortured. They're
being attacked. What does that have to do
with our salah? Okay. But Allah subhanahu wa
ta'ala tells us to seek help through salah.
Right? To seek help from Allah subhanahu wa
ta'ala through patience, through sabr, and through salah.
And we learned that the Bani Israel, the
plan of action that they were given also
had to do with salah. So, yes, the
efforts,
right, physical or any other efforts that are
reasonable and appropriate and permissible,
those have to be taken, but they have
to be backed with spirituality and salah.
If our salah is weak, and this is
unfortunately what we find in the ummah today,
widespread.
Right? And I'm included in that. May Allah
forgive me and may Allah improve
our our our salah and our connection with
him. Right? But if the fundamental
spiritual
building block, the fundamental spiritual foundation
is going to be weak, then
the rest will be very difficult. Right? The
rest is going to be very difficult. So
the establishment of salah and our spiritual upliftment
is fundamental.
It's
fundamental to the upliftment of the ummah. This
is this is there's no there's
no two ways around this. We will not
reach betterment as an ummah.
We will not improve our state or rather
Allah
will not improve our state and our
situation will not improve
unless and until
we start
building our spirituality
and focusing first on the spiritual foundation,
which starts with saw.
K? That is a given. And now as
I grow older, this is something that, alhamdulillah,
I begin to understand when I was a
child, when I was younger, I did not
understand.
So Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is the most
powerful. Never lose hope. Right? Because the Bani
Israel were also saved. The Bani Israel were
removed from their hardship. Allah granted
them deliverance.
But the key is that before anything, we
have to solidify our link with Allah
our hearts, our spirituality.
That has to be in order. We have
to be righteous and we have to be
just,
and we must not wrong others in anger
and frustration. Right? Because this is something we
learn. It's not something that has been taught.
This is not something which was allowed.
And, of course, we try to employ,
the best possible reasonable means
to find, relief from that particular situation.
Now, of course, as I mentioned, the Bani
Israel,
they were saved.
And we let the children of this, of
Israel
cross the sea. So they came to the
sea. The army is behind them.
The army is behind them. They're at the
sea.
If they go into the sea, they think
they're going to drown. Right? But Allah subhanahu
wa ta'ala
instructs Musa alayhi salam, right, to strike his
staff and
the sea separates and there's a pathway for
them to go through.
Chase them in transgression and
hostility
until when he was about to drown. Remember
what I said in the beginning? Remember what
we discussed in the beginning? Allah
gives time. Allah gives opportunities to turn back
until he was about to drown. Firaun
is about to drown. This tyrant is about
to drown.
This is it. These are his final moments.
At that point, he says,
He says, I believe that there is no
god but the one in whom the children
of Israel believe, and I am among those
who submit to Allah. I'm among the Muslims.
He says, I am from amongst the Muslims.
So Firaun actually said this.
Firaun, the tyrant who claimed to be God,
who did not allow anyone to worship
Allah
besides him, right, who who wanted all the
attention and had the claim to ultimate power.
He actually said, Anamin al Muslimin. He said
from, that I am from amongst the Muslims
that I believe
So he said he claimed he believed.
He said I'm from the Muslims.
But Allah says,
Is it now that you have come to
believe
while you were rebellious all along
and you were among the mischief makers?
Now you're believing when it's time for you
to go
when you know that you were wrong and
now these are your final moments, now you're
going to believe?
So
today, we shall save your body so that
you'll make may become a sign for those
after you, and this has happened.
This has happened. Right? Allah said. So today,
we shall save your body so that you
may become
a sign for those after you. And indeed,
Firaun
exist today as a sign.
And Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala says that many
of the people are heedless of our signs.
Right? So this is a clear example. This
is a clear story.
This is a clear less there's a clear
lesson here, but Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala says
many of the people are heedless heedless in
our sign. Now brothers and sisters, we learned
that this incident
of the deliverance of the Bani Israel,
the exodus of the saving of the Bani
Israel occurred on 10th of Muharram.
Just the 1st month in the Islamic calendar
which we are in now. So today is
9th of Muharram. Tomorrow is 10th, the day
of Ashura.
Tomorrow, meaning Saturday, is the day of Ashura.
And this whole special significance.
Fasting, first of all, is generally encouraged in
the month of Muharram.
It was narrated from Abu B'rahi, and
he said that the messenger of Allah sallallahu
alaihi wasallam said, that that
the best fast or the most virtuous fast
after Ramadan
is in the month of Allah, Muharram.
And especially on 10th of Muharram, the prophet
said,
The prophet
said that the fasting on the day of
Ashura,
I hope Allah will expiate thereby for the
year that came
before it.
K? So Allah
has given us multiple
opportunities to turn back to him, multiple opportunities
to reflect. Now whenever we start getting a
little heedless, whenever we start, you know, get
drifting a little bit away, right, there's another
opportunity to turn back to Allah and
another reminder. Then we see that. Ramadan comes.
Ramadan leaves. Boom.
Crash.
70 days later, you have.
Right? Or, you know, 60 days later, you
have. 2 months later, you have the 10
days of the Hijjah. Then, you know, start
rising. Passes, you get back to your normal
life, and then you start having a dip.
And then the Haram comes, and we have
the day of Ashura, we have another reminder.
So, you know, multiple times through the year
Allah gives us opportunities
to be reminded and, to reflect. Same thing
in the week. Right? Through the week, Friday
comes,
maybe, you know, you hear something which touches
your heart,
and then you feel a little bit of
a high, and then, you know, you get
into the weekend, you know, the week starts,
start drifting away, and then Friday comes. So
Allah gives us multiple opportunities through our day
as well. The the time for salah. Right?
When we have time for prayer, when we
offer salah, it's the same idea. So Allah
gives us multiple opportunities. Now
the Abbas
said that
That I never saw the prophet
to so keen to make sure he fasted
any day and preferring it over another except
this day, the day of Ashura. Right? So
it was something which was emphasized and practiced
by the prophet
Ibni Abbas
also reported that the messenger of Allah
came to Medina,
and he found that the Jews of Medina
were the Jewish people were fasting on the
day of Ashura.
So he asked them, he said
that what is the day that this day
that you are fasting? And they said that
this is They
said that this is a great day in
which Allah
saved Musa alayhi salaam
and his people.
And he drowned
and his people.
And Musa alayhi salam fasted on this day
due to gratitude.
So Musa alayhi salam fasted on this day
due to gratitude, and so we also fast
on this day as well. And the prophet
said
that we are more deserving and are closer
to Musa
than you, meaning in following the teachers the
teachings of Sayed Musa alayhi salam and indeed
all the prophets of Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala
because they had come with the same message
and they had the same religion. Right? It
was in different religions. All the prophets preach
the same religion, which was the religion of
Islam,
of course, with, you know, with in slightly
different,
ways of practice, but the basic fundamental message
and the beliefs were the same. So the
prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam fasted on that day,
and he commanded fasting on it as well.
Now to differentiate between the fasting
from that of the Jewish people, the prophet
sallallahu alaihi wasallam
recommended adding another day to it because differentiation
from the faith based practices of others was
something which was,
which we have been taught is very important
to the prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam. You
ready?
Yeah. I was in trouble.
So the differentiation was something which was taught
by the prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam and considered
to be very important. Then we find other
example as well.
Now some narrations mentioned,
therefore, fasting on 9th
as well,
or, you know, others either before or after
the day of Ashura. So maybe, you know,
on 9th 10th or 10th 11th,
and the Hajar Rahimahullah, he's, he says that
that the fast of Ashura
has three levels.
That the lowest is to fast one day.
And, the the next is to fast the
9th day along with it, and the next
That the next is, meaning the best is
to fast the 9th, 10th,
and 11th days. Allah says Allah knows best.
Now there are also a number of authentic
traditions that tell us that in the beginning,
fasting on the day of Ashura
was obligatory for the Muslims.
And later on, as the fasting of Ramadan
was made obligatory, then the fast of the
day of Ashura was
made, optional. And the prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam
used to fast on the day of Ashura
even after the fasting Ramadan was made obligatory.
So even though it was no longer obligatory
now to fast on the day of Ashura,
the prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam would continue to
do that even after Ramadan had become obligatory
and Ashura was no longer obligatory to fast.
Now my brothers and sisters, the story of
the Bani Israel
and
say the, Musa Harun alayhi wasalam was the
story with a happy ending.
They were saved.
But on this date on this date, the
day of Ashura, in the year,
6/80,
after hijra,
a terribly tragic incident also occurred, and that
was the martyrdom of the beloved grandson of
the prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam, Sayyidina Hussain
radiAllahu an. He was the most similar in
appearance to the prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam.
He was loved dearly by the prophet sallallahu
alaihi wa sallam, and he grew up to
be a man of great piety. And he
and his people, including women and children, were
treacherously deceived by a group of people,
and subsequently the men were murdered in a
very brutal manner. Right? So this was an
act of great oppression that occurred
against the grandson and the family of the
prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam.
Sayna Hussain was a man of honor,
a man of justice, a man of peace,
and this incident was a great view for
this ummah.
But you see, we don't mourn,
by wailing and showing grief, but we remember
and learn lessons
from this painful incident in history.
Now both of these stories,
say,
Musa Harun alaihi wa Salam, say, Hussein,
they were righteous and honest people. Right? Great
leaders, righteous honest people.
Allah
is the most wise. Sometimes oppression and justice
are a way of testing others,
and the means of reward and eternal uplifting
of those being persecuted. Right? And this was,
it, the the martyrdom of Usid Hussain is
a tragic example of that. And we learn
from his incident from from his story,
the importance great lessons regarding patience
and standing up for the truth and justice,
and standing up, speaking, and sincerely trying to
achieve a positive outcome regardless of what the
odds are against you.
A great lesson, example, and bravery and trust
in Allah
till the end all with the sincerest
of
objectives. So my brothers and sisters,
unfortunately,
there has been much oppression.
Sadly, it will continue.
Sometimes we will see triumph over oppression.
Sometimes
we will see triumph over oppression.
Other times, it may appear to be the
opposite.
It may appear to be the opposite that
there is there are people who are oppressed
or who are on the truth, and they
don't appear to triumph. They appear to have
lost.
But in every case, our responsibility
is to solidify our connection with Allah
try to be sincere and try a reasonable
best under the circumstances and then the rest
is up to Allah. The results are never
in our hands. It should be always be
clear in our minds that the results are
never in our hands. The results are in
the hands of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. Our
job is our intention
and our reasonable and sincere effort. May Allah
subhanahu wa ta'ala protect us, and may Allah
subhanahu wa ta'ala grant deliverance for all of
those who are oppressed that is made
Oh, Allah, we thank you for all of
your blessings,
Oh, Allah, please count us from amongst the
Siddiqeen, the Saliqeen, the Shakerin, the Muktaqeen,
upon whom your unseen help descends,
Oh, Allah, please grant strength to our ummah.
Oh, Allah, please grant us courage and strength
to stand up against injustice and oppression. Oh,
Allah, please grant relief to all of those
who are suffering anywhere in this world, You
Rabbi Alameen.
Oh, Allah, please grant
deliverance to all of those who are facing
hardships, You Rabbal Alameen. Oh, Allah, please grant
Islam defeat to all of the oppressors, You
Rabbal Alameen. Oh, Allah, please grant justice to
all of the victims of oppression
here and around the world, You Rabbal Alameen.
Oh, Allah. Please cure all of our brothers
and sisters who are ill, oh, Allah. Especially
our elder sister who is enduring pain and
hardship, oh, our brother and sister suffering from
long term pain and injuries, our brother who
is facing new and unexplained
symptoms,
Oh, Allah, all of those who are ill
or at risk of becoming ill. Oh, Allah,
you are the protector and the healer. Oh,
Allah, please grant them all and everyone who
is ill, speedy recovery and protect them from
all types of illnesses and pain and suffering.
Oh, Allah, please grant relief to all of
those who are facing grief and stress and
anxiety, Oh, Allah, please replace all of those
hardships with happiness and peace and joy,
Oh, Allah, we are your weak servants. Oh,
Allah, you are the most kind and the
most merciful. Oh, Allah, we make mistakes every
single day. Oh, Allah, we are living lives
of heedlessness. Oh, Allah, please forgive us and
guide us. Oh, Allah, please lift these trials
from upon us.
Oh, Allah, we are indeed very weak. Oh,
Allah, we feel helpless. Oh, Allah, but anyone
who believes in you and has faith in
you is indeed not helpless. Oh, Allah, because
you are the one with ultimate might. Oh,
Allah, you are the one in control. Oh,
Allah, please grant us the best.
Oh, Allah, please remove the trials and hardships
of this.
Brothers and sisters, please pray for a car
at home. For those who are staying at
home, if you have registered for Friday prayer,
please come at your allotted time stuff.