Sikander Hashmi – Our Role in Conflicts Within KMA Friday Message
AI: Summary ©
The conflict between the community of the um rights and the Jesus Christ community leads to weakening of the connection and weakening of the community of the Jesus Christ community. It is important to verify and prove information before making conclusions and building common ground to avoid loss of the community of the Jesus Christ community. It is also important to settle outside of court to avoid going to court and settle outside of court. attendees are encouraged to contribute to their campaigns to fundraiser and donate to charitable projects.
AI: Summary ©
Respected elders,
dear brothers and sisters,
my young friends,
One of the realities
for this Ummah
since soon after the passing of the prophet
has been
the challenge of differences
and conflicts
within.
This is one of the trials
for this Ummah
and for us as believers.
And it is actually a fact
that such differences
will
arise from time to time. The prophet
told
us,
I asked my lord
for 3 matters.
He granted me
2 of them,
but he withheld
one of them.
The prophet
goes on.
I asked
my lord for my nation
not to be destroyed
by famine,
and he granted it for me.
I ask my Lord
for my nation not to be destroyed by
drowning,
and he granted it for me.
I asked my lord
for there to be no bloodshed
in my nation,
but he withheld
it from me.
Now, Allah
knows his wisdom best.
But one thing to know my brothers and
sisters is that the first two,
famine
and drowning
are directly in the control of Allah Subhanahu
Wa Ta'ala because the risk, sustenance,
and weather, the rain,
it's in the control of Allah Subhanahu Wa
Ta'ala. Nobody else has any say in that.
Drowning also has to do with water.
And that is in the control of Allah
Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala.
But
the third,
the bloodshed, the conflicts
that has to do with our own conduct.
That has to do with our own
discipline.
So we know
that these differences
will arise from time to time. The question
is,
what is our
response going to be?
Will we take
joy
in the chaos that ensues
and watch it like a show?
Enjoy it
and spread it, share it with others.
Or are we going to be one step
better
and walk away from the fitna?
Or are we going to take the best
course of action? And this is important
because this is a malady. This is a
challenge
that affects us globally
as believers,
affects us
nationally in places,
like, at high levels,
and it is something which can affect us
locally as well,
even within small communities.
So it's a widespread problem. It's a widespread
issue
that covers the range from the smallest
to the greatest.
So, wow. What is our response going to
be like? Are we going to take the
best course of action? And what is the
best course of action? Allah
says,
says, the believers are nothing
else than brothers,
so make reconciliation.
Make reconciliation.
Make peace, make correction between your brothers.
But Allah says that was in Surah Al
Hujurat.
Allah says first
have taqwa, fear Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala and
adjust
all matters of differences amongst you, and obey
Allah and his messenger, salallahu alayhi wa sallam,
if you are believers.
And the prophet salallahu alayhi wasallam
asked his companions, Alaaqbirukum
bi afghlimin daradatis syami was salati was sadaqah.
Qalu
Balaq said, that shall I not tell you
something
that is better
than
the status
of fasting, any voluntary fasting,
and prayer, and charity.
So they said, yes.
And the Prophet
went on and he said,
Prophet
said,
That action which is better than the voluntary
fasting, prayer, and charity is that of reconciling,
promoting reconciliation,
facilitating
reconciliation.
In the case of discord,
for the evil of discord
is the shaver. Prophet called it
shaver.
And it was narrated that the prophet said
that it is the shaver and I do
not say that it shaves hair,
but that it shaves meaning destroys
religious commitment.
It destroys, it shaves
religious
commitment. So the prophet
told us a great virtue associated with
reconciliation.
These types of conflicts and differences, my brothers
and sisters,
that create grudges,
they lead to unacceptable feelings and conduct.
The prophet
said very clearly,
Do not harbor grudges
against one another,
nor jealousy,
nor enmity, and do not show your backs
to one another.
Do not turn away from one another and
become as fellow brothers and slaves
of Allah.
We all understand
the seriousness of shedding blood, of murder.
Most of us, and I hope all of
us, would never think or none of us
would ever think of doing such a thing.
The prophet
said
that that the person who forsakes
his brother
for a year,
it is as if he has shed his
blood. The prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam also said,
it is not permissible
for a believer to forsake
his brother, meaning his Muslim brother for more
than 3 days. And of course, it applies
equally to sisters as well. So Muslims between
one another. It is not permissible for a
believer to forsake his brother
for more than 3 days.
If 3 days have passed, he should meet
him and greet him.
And if the other responds
to it, they will both share in the
reward. So if someone reaches out after something
has happened,
3 days have passed, he reaches out, says,
reaches out. The person responds
positively,
then they both share in the reward.
But if the other does not respond,
he will bear his sin, and the one
who has taken the initiative to reach out
to greet the other will be absolved
of the sin of forsaking
one's brother in faith.
So this is great motivation for us that,
yes, things happen sometimes.
But once, you know, 3 days have passed
and we've had time to calm down and
to reflect,
then that's the time to reach out no
longer than that.
And if a person in this situation reaches
out to you, respond positively. Otherwise, you will
be the one carrying the burden
of that sin.
Even more serious than that, it can also
affect
the forgiveness of our sins as well. The
prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam told us that the
gates of Jannah are opened on Monday Thursday.
The gates of Jannah are opened on Mondays
Thursdays.
And everyone who does not associate anything with
Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala is forgiven when the
gates of Jannah are opened.
Except
a man who had an argument with his
brother.
And it is said, they'll wait for these
2 until they reconcile.
Wait for these 2 until
they reconcile.
Wait for these 2 until they reconcile. So
the forgiveness of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala that
is being shared, that is being spread upon
everyone else who does not do ship with
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. Who does not associate
in associating partners with Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala.
That forgiveness is withheld
from
people in this situation
who have
a grudge
against another belief.
In addition, my brothers and sisters, amongst the
harms
of such
conflicts
is that they lead to the weakening
of the jama'a and the ummah. What does
it lead to? It leads to
the weakening
of the community
of the jama'a and of the ummah as
a whole.
Allah
says,
Do not dispute with one another
or you would be discouraged
and weakened. What's gonna happen?
If you dispute with one another,
you would be discouraged
and weakened.
Says,
will preserve.
Is with those who preserve those who are
patient.
So such disagreements
that
create grudges,
they lead to the weakening of the Jama'ah,
weakening of the community of the Ummah, especially
at a time when we are facing
so many different types of challenges.
So many different types of
challenges that we are facing. Right? As a
community, as an Ummah.
Right?
We cannot afford to be in a situation
where we continue to weaken ourselves due to
our own
disagreements
and grudges amongst ourselves.
Now, in order to reconcile
and before we do anything,
we need to know the facts.
Because there can be a lot of hearsay,
a lot of rumors,
a lot of misunderstandings
that perpetuate, you know, that go from 1
person to the another and they grow
as they are passed along.
Right? Every person understands some one thing and
said something else.
Right? So each time a person receives information
and passes it on to another, there's also
some
something that changes.
Right? That's when we play that game, was
it all telephone?
Right? When you go from 1 person to
the other, you tell them one secret and
you see what comes out on the other
side.
Sometimes
it's mind boggling. Right? That's how it works.
Unfortunately, that's what happens.
So there can be a lot of hearsay
and rumors. So first of all, remember the
instruction of Allah
that if
you
get
news
verify it.
Verify it so you do not harm people
unknowingly,
becoming regretful for what you have done. Because
if you don't know the full picture, you
don't know the full story. And then you
take action against someone thinking that you are
doing something good. And then you find out
what the real story was. What actually happened?
But your action has already been done. Then
you're rebutted afterwards. Allah
gives us a golden principle not to fall
into that situation of regret.
Right?
Verify first, understand exactly what happened. Right? Then
do what what needs to be done. But
first,
verify
and assure yourself that you have the right
information. You have the correct information.
Then base your decisions
on that. So know what actually happened before
jumping to conclusions.
And And once we know the facts or
we have investigated by seeking reliable sources,
then we try to build common ground and
remove these differences. Now to be clear,
it's fine to have differences of opinion
as long as they do not get to
the heart.
People will have different opinions. That's not a
problem. I remember when I first came to
Ottawa back in 2014,
I happened to be at a meeting. I
haven't really shared this, but it comes to
that. It's in a good spirit. So I
was in a meeting and mostly it's like
leaders in the community, and I think it
was
presidents and imams and so on. So anyway,
it happened to me in a meeting.
And, I think it was, like, for something.
I think it was for Ivy or something.
Anyways, so
everyone's in the room and, you know, it's
all good. And there's a there's a very
spirited discussion.
And there's a very spirited discussion. Like, people
are very passionate, and they're people speaking out
loud and all of those things.
And then the brothers come up to me
and they say, oh, you know, because this
is the first time I was there, so
they felt a little embarrassed. So that, oh,
you know, we're sorry that, you know, I
got a little heat and stuff. I said,
no. This is actually good. This is good
because the brothers feel safe enough to share
their opinions. And then after that, it was
all good. You know, they had whatever said
salaam, and they're laughing, and they're talking, and
they're eating together.
You know? So it's good that they're able
to voice what they feel. They don't keep
it in their hearts, but they let it
out and no one is getting offended. They
know that they just have different perspective and
they're hearing each other, and they're passionate about
what they believe in and what they think
is right. That's fine. There's no problem. It's
actually a good thing. Because the problem would
be is if they hold it in their
hearts, they don't let it out. They don't
feel safe enough to share it. And then
that creates resentment.
That creates frustration and anger and then other
types of negative feelings in the heart. So
I would much rather I'm actually happy
that the leaders feel safe enough with each
other that and respect each other so much
that they're able to say all of this
very passionately, but still they know that it
doesn't get to their hearts, and they still
love and respect one another. Like, that's actually
the way it should be. Right? So the
issue is not that we can't have differences
of opinion. We can have differences of opinion,
but you don't want that to get to
the heart. You don't want it to create
grudges and to create, you know, foster enmity
and hatred.
Now, this effort to reconcile is so noble
that it is permitted
to embellish the truth a bit.
It is permitted
to embellish the truth a bit in a
positive way in order to achieve this great
purpose.
Right? So for example, it is permissible to
tell each party that the other has said
good things about them and praise them so
as to encourage
reconciliation.
This does not come under the heading of
lies which are prohibited, which are haram. The
prophet
said,
That the one he he is not a
liar who seeks to reconcile
between people and says good things.
But as I said before, once be a
little bit careful when you do this, because
if they become such good friends and then
they discuss, oh, what did you say about
me? And they're in a good mood, and
then they find that you embellished a little
bit in the act. Actually,
wasn't you know, it wasn't that positive,
then you're gonna be in trouble. Right?
So use it sparingly, use it very carefully,
you know, to promote reconciliation, to promote the
feelings. So, yes, I think that is what
he meant. I I think that is what
she was trying to say. I think she
feels this way. So you do it in
a way that's not very direct so that,
you know, it doesn't become a liability. But
the point is it's okay to
inflict the goodness a little bit if it's
gonna help bring people together.
He wrote
to you know, as an instruction
that return litigants until they settle. Meaning, if
they come to court, return them until they
settle out of court.
But in the first that because the separation
and the rift that it that is caused
by being in court, you'll leave behind grudges.
So you try to avoid that as much
as possible. You know, even if it's a
matter we have to go to court, try
to avoid going to court and try to
settle outside of court. It's usually a good
idea anyways because
not all lawyers, but in in many cases,
they will want the conflict to proceed so
that, you know, it's more lucrative. Right? I'm
not saying everyone does this, but there are
those who will try to promote
differences and promote rifts so that it does
go to court and the case gets prolonged
and both sides end up paying more money
to the lawyers. Right? There are some good
lawyers who will not do that, some ethical
lawyers, but there are others who will do
something like this. Right? So it can be
very harmful. So always try to settle outside
of court not to take things to that
point because not only will it be a
financial loss most probably,
but it will also create this, these grudges,
which
talking about. So my brothers and sisters, the
question is,
you know, how can we try to make
things better?
How can we try to overcome these struggles
and these challenges in our own personal lives
and also when it appears in the community,
in the in the
So that we are not the ones who
are promoting chaos and disagreement, but rather we
are the ones who are facilitating
reconciliation.
Right? We ask Allah
to make us a source of reconciliation
and togetherness. That Allah
always keep our heights, heart, our hearts united
in goodness. We ask Allah
to continue to protect our communities,
and our,
and, and our congregations, and the entire Ummah
from all types of chaos and conflict and
grudges. I mean,
brothers and sisters, as you know,
our campaign is ongoing.
We are aiming to to raise $250,000
for our Masjid project by the end of
the year, which is December 31st, you know,
just a few days left. So please, everyone
who has not had an opportunity,
do contribute. We're looking for,
in total, 250 brothers and sisters to donate
a $1,000 each after your tax credit. It
is approximately
$640, which is about which is actually $1.75
a day through the year. So if you
can do that, inshallah for the sake of
Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala.
Please, do contribute,
on your way out or online on our
website, Canada Muslims dotca. You see, there are
many other causes, of course, that are very
important, right, throughout the world, even locally as
well. But the core of all of those
consolidates in the Masjid and in the Jamara.
If the Masjid community is strong, if the
is strong, if people are connected with the
that is the place where we can start
the concern and can start to help and
continue to help the other causes that are
in need. Right? But if the community is
is scattered and if the community is not
strong,
then it becomes very difficult. It becomes very
difficult to to collect
bring people together to support the other causes
that are important. And this is why all
of the major charities, the relief charities, the
shelters, the food banks, everybody is interested to
come to the masjid to fundraise.
Why? Because this is the place where the
jama'ah congregates. This is the place where the
Muslims gather. Right? So the masjid and healthy
strong communities
are at the core
of all the work that needs to be
done, whether it is charity work, whether it
is relief work, whether it is advocacy, education,
you know, dawah. All of those things are
gonna come from from the masjid. So that
is why the masjid is essential to everything
that we need to do as a community,
as in Humba. So please,
we appreciate all of your continued support. May
Allah bless you always.
May Allah increase you, and all that is
good. May Allah grant Barakat in all of
your affairs. May Allah protect you and your
future generations till the day of judgment.
I mean, if we'll take a little break.