Sikander Hashmi – Rights & Responsibilities of Protesting KMA Friday Message
AI: Summary ©
The speakers stress the importance of respecting and respecting rights of others, particularly those who have wronged others. They stress the need to be careful with language and avoid harms, and warn against purposely honking and harassing people. They also emphasize the importance of minimizing harm and returning it to others, as well as the rights of animals and the creation of Allah. The speakers warn against gathering in public and not allowing people to sit and talk, as well as mention protests and protests in Ottawa.
AI: Summary ©
Respected elders, dear brothers and sisters, my young
friends,
My brothers and sisters, as we know,
Allah
has sent us
to this world
or has sent us
here in this worldly life for a test.
And Allah
tests us
in different ways.
Sometimes
through what we desire, sometimes with what we
want.
People want wealth, people want power, people want
fame.
And Allah
test them through that.
And sometimes Allah
test us through the things that we dislike,
that we do not want. Hardship, difficulty, loss
of life, loss of income,
injury, oppression, and so on.
One of the ways,
as I just mentioned, that people can get
tested
is through injustice and wrongdoing.
Now indeed, Allah
has commanded justice.
And our deen puts a great emphasis
on honoring and respecting the rights of others.
Not wronging others.
Not oppressing others
in the slightest of ways.
And not just between human beings, but also
with animals and the other creation of Allah
Not to wrong anyone or anything.
And we are taught that we will be
held to account
for even the smallest of wrongs
that are committed towards others.
So respecting
and honoring the rights of others
is a very serious matter
with implications for us. If not in this
duniya, then definitely in the hereafter. May Allah
forgive us and protect us all.
The truly bankrupt person, as the prophet sallallahu
alaihi wasallam has told us, will be the
one who shows up on the day of
judgment
with many good deeds,
but who has wronged others.
And will have a long line of people
waiting to get their rights,
because that is the ultimate day of justice.
And Allah
will start dishing out to this person's good
deeds
to his victims.
And when there is nothing left, he will
start taking on the sins and burdens of
his victims.
Until he has nothing left and he is
only in debt.
And then he will be thrown into the
hellfire. So this is the person who the
prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam described as being truly
bankrupt.
So we are to respect we are taught
to respect the rights of others
as individuals.
And when we have authority, when Allah
has given us a position of leadership,
has given people who we are responsible for,
then the emphasis is even greater.
Thus, the rightly guided
caliphs,
the,
they used to take
the burden of leadership very seriously.
Right? They would directly look after the needs
of
of the vulnerable and those in need.
The Khalifa himself,
the famous story of Sayedna Umar
right, going around doing the rounds at night,
hearing, crying from a house, investigating why are
their children crying. It's because they don't have
food.
Right? So great
feeling of that burden of responsibility
towards
those under one's care
or under one's under one's authority. It's how
we word it. Right? We think, oh, we
have authority.
But rather, we are supposed to
rather, they are under our care.
Right? It is the burden of leadership and
of authority.
But while the teachings are there, instructing justice
and respect
for the rights of others,
sadly of course, injustices
occur,
and oppression takes place.
Everyone wants fairness and justice for themselves. Who
doesn't want fairness and justice for themselves? Everyone
wants their rights.
And sometimes people even want
beyond that for themselves. What is not fair?
Of course, which is wrong.
Now when a person
feels that they have been wronged,
if you feel you have been wronged, someone
has taken your rights,
what should you do?
And how should you respond?
Now, of course, it depends on the seriousness
of the wrong or the nature of the
wrong that has been committed or that has
been allegedly
committed.
That has been allegedly
committed.
The first option,
almost always,
is to resolve
the issue
in the best way possible,
in the easiest way possible,
with the least,
you know, least problems, least
difficulty.
And then if it doesn't get resolved,
then escalate step by step.
If there is no response, if there is
no remedy.
If it's a civil matter or a human
rights matter, maybe it has to do with
your job, your employer,
or has to do with school,
or with a business,
or a business partner, or another person,
then first, of course, the easiest thing to
do, the natural thing to do is to
reach out,
to try to talk it out,
maybe to write a letter to the business
or to the organization, to those responsible.
Right? And make your case.
Right? You don't go from
0 or 1 to a100 right away. You
go step by step,
gradually.
If
it doesn't work, then you report to the
relevant authorities.
Write to your public representatives,
or take the matter to court.
If it is a criminal matter, of course,
you report to the authorities
and push them to take action
and to prosecute.
Because in Arden, there is no room for
vigilantism,
for people to take matters into their own
hands.
Because if everyone starts doing that,
then what happens? There is public disorder and
there is chaos.
And that goes against
the objectives.
Right? Or that goes against the interests of
society and of the community
because it causes or has the potential to
cause harm.
If there is no remedy still, after taking
these initial
reasonable steps,
then
a person
can go public, maybe share with the media,
post on social media, whatever
means is best and appropriate.
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says,
That Allah
does not like
the negative thoughts or the evil and unpleasant
things
to be
voiced
to be voiced loudly, publicly, except by those
who have been wronged.
Allah
doesn't like
negative things being discussed
publicly, except
for those who have been wronged. And indeed,
Allah is all hearing and all knowing. Now
the and the commentators of the Quran,
they mention, you know, different,
explanations,
of, you know, of of what is being
referred to here.
The suit. What is this evil or unpleasant
things?
So some of them mentioned that perhaps it
is backbiting,
meaning talking about the alleged wrong
and the wrongdoer
behind their back.
It is a form of backbiting, but because
this person has been wronged,
it has allowed for them
to do that
or cursing them. Right? Not in the sense
of using bad words or profanity,
but in the sense of
praying against them for their deprivation
or using harsh words
against them. So it seems here, my brothers
and sisters, that Allah
has in a way recognized
the pain and the feeling of helplessness felt
by the one who is wronged.
Right? Because the victim
feels normally feels,
you know, great frustration.
May feel frustration or anger.
Right? So Allah has allowed them
to share and express
their frustration, their anger, and to make their
case.
So while there is some leeway for the
one who has been wronged,
we still have to be very careful about
language. Because the prophet
said that
That the believer is not a slanderer
or one who curses much or one who
indulges in obscenity
or who engages in foul talk. These are
not from the traits of the believer.
So we have to be very careful about
our language
even in times of anger and frustration.
Now in contemporary times,
protests
and rallies,
shows of solidarity,
marches, these have all become
a main form of activism
for raising awareness on a large scale.
Because when people gather in large numbers,
it gets attention.
It gets the attention of the media. It
gets the attention
of the people in authority of the leaders
and so on, and, of course, of citizens
as well.
Now it goes without saying that such activity
should not contain anything that is haram. If
there's an activity that is happening that is
haram, then, of course, that is not permissible.
But they should also not hurt others
who are innocent,
whether
hurt in terms of their body, their well-being,
or their properties.
The people who are innocent, who are not
directly related to the issue.
Because
in doing so, the victims or the supposed
victims can also become wrongdoers then.
Right? If a person has been wronged,
yes, you have a claim against the one
who has wronged you,
the one who has committed the injustice or
the oppression.
But if you cause harm then to others
who are not related, who have nothing to
do with your issue,
who are not related to the other party,
then you are also committing wrongdoing as well.
The prophet
said, as related by
The
prophet said, beware of loitering in the roads,
sitting on the roads.
So the companion said
that we have nowhere else to sit and
talk.
We have nowhere else to sit and talk.
This is where we sit. We sit on
the road, we sit and talk. So the
prophet
said
that if you insist
That if you insist
on sitting on the roads and loitering on
the roads, then give the road its rights.
Give the road its rights. Subhanallah.
So here we learn that in our deen,
even the roads have rights.
We talk about the rights of people, the
rights of animals, the rights of the creation
of Allah.
But even the roads have rights.
And the prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam was asked,
what are its rights?
The prophet said, lower the gaze.
Refrain from harm.
Return
greetings
of peace.
And enjoin good and forbid
evil
as reported by Imam Bukhari and Imam Muslim
Inder Sahih.
Now
here, we find very clearly the prophet has
mentioned amongst the rights of the road is
to not
harm, to refrain from harming others.
Now if there's a large gathering, of course,
it can overflow onto the streets.
Maybe people are not able to gather in
a park or in a place,
and there's too many people and it overflows.
That's understandable.
However, every effort must be made
to minimize
the harm to others.
Because the prophet
said,
Do not cause harm
or return harm. And the prophet
goes ahead and says,
That whoever harms others,
Allah will harm him.
Whoever is harsh with others, Allah will be
harsh with him. And we learn this from
other teachings of the prophet as well. We
get this principle
that the way we treat others is the
way we can expect Allah to
treat us.
The way we are to others,
we can expect that Allah
will treat us in the same way. So
do not cause harm or return harm, and
whoever harms others, Allah will harm him. Whoever
is harsh with others,
Allah will be harsh with him. May Allah
forgive us and protect us. Now my brothers
and sisters, for the past 2 weeks, we
have been we have seen
escalating protests starting
from Ottawa
and now spreading to other parts of the
country.
Overall, there have been nonviolent, meaning there has
been no riots. No one has been killed.
No one has been seriously injured.
But a number of protesters, not everyone,
but a number of protesters have been causing
harm,
either purposely or indirectly.
To many residents,
causing intimidation,
harassment.
For example, purposely honking while driving in residential
areas,
not allowing people to sleep, honking in the
middle of the night,
harassing people who are wearing masks.
You know? It's a free country. If you're
fighting for freedom, people have the freedom to
wear the mask as well if they want
to. You No. Blocking roadways, ambulances not being
able to pass where they need to go.
People's livelihoods being affected.
Right? All of this is unacceptable and actually
does more harm than good to the cause.
Among the supporters
of these protests
or of this cause
are some Muslims as well.
And there's nothing wrong with supporting the initial
grievance
regarding
vaccine mandates or related grievances. This is not
a matter which has been ruled by Allah
and his messenger,
and people can have different opinions. Right? Not
everyone's gonna be the same. People will be
affected differently. We'll have different types of knowledge,
levels of knowledge, different perspectives, and that is
okay. We cannot expect everyone to agree on
everything. So there's nothing wrong with having a
grievance. Maybe someone has been really affected
by these rules.
In a way that has really hurt them,
and they're Muslim.
So that's fine, and that's understandable if they
have grievances and they want to protest. However,
be aware, please, that some
of the key people
in these protest movements
are those
who hate Islam and Muslims,
who slander our leaders
and our and our organizations,
and are doing everything they can to hurt
our community and our deen in this country
and elsewhere.
And this is not something that I've just
made up. This is fact, and I'm not
saying this because I don't want people to
protest her because I support the government or
anything like that.
I'm just saying that we have to be
very careful that while we protest against the
government
or for a cause,
we are not indirectly helping
such people
who harbor hate and animosity towards
our deen and our community
and helping them rise in terms of legitimacy
and power.
So, yes, their views are not directly related
to the protest and what is happening. But
at the same time, they are very much
at the forefront
of organizing this thing, of driving this thing,
and
we must be mindful and careful
that we do not
help them
in their illegitimate
goals.
If
a person feels
that they have been wronged,
certainly,
use the correct avenues of protesting
in ways that are legitimate,
but also be careful not to harm others
directly or indirectly. And this goes for this
protest or any other protest for any other
cause. May Allah
grant justice to all of those who have
been wronged. Ask Allah
to protect us from injustice and oppression.
We ask Allah
to protect us from becoming those who perpetrate
injustice and oppression.
Amin My brothers and sisters,
we have some sad news.
The,
other
of our sister,
Deepa Khan, passed away. Sister Rabi Khan in
Bangladesh,
and also the uncle of our brother, Mohammed
Mamoun, passed away in Egypt.
So make dua, for them, for them both
and all of those who have passed away.
I
mean, And our dear brother Mohammed Rashad Salim
requested the for
his 1 week old niece in Egypt. She
has been admitted to the ICU and is
in serious condition. So we ask Allah Subhanahu,
Tala.
But now Swashree Hunt to Shafi. She found
that she found that she found that.
Make it easy for her and her family.
May Allah subhanahu Wa Ta'ala grant her speedy
and complete recovery. And for all of those
who are ill, I mean, I
mean.
Yes.
And also sad news regarding the father of
our,
my respective colleague,
Delich, the imam of S&MCE.
Also, his father passed away,
last, yesterday,
in, in Bosnia.
So we ask Allah
to elevate his ranks and to accept all
that his son has done in goodness. May
Allah
shower his mercy and forgiveness upon him.