Suhaib Webb – Friday Sermon Power, Purpose & Palestine
AI: Summary ©
The importance of strength in Islam is discussed, including the use of the holy spirit to protect and heal a fractured world and the need for people to show love and consideration to support their strengths. The speakers emphasize the importance of protecting oneself and not giving up one's utility or surrendering their, as well as preserving one's strength and using it in a deliberate way. Consistent and strength in community is also emphasized, along with volunteering to support people of one's strengths. The crisis assault on Israeli civilian populations and the war crimes and crime contributing to the destruction and devastation of the world are also discussed. The importance of community, not just people's strengths, is emphasized, along with the need to show love and consideration to support people of one's strengths.
AI: Summary ©
Allah.
We praise Allah
have
blessed and praised
and we beseech him to send his peace
and blessings upon
the prophet
upon his family, Al Ashraf,
his companions, the Sahaba,
and those who follow
them until the end of time.
Allahu
in many places in the Quran
commands us to be observant
of his religion
to the best of our ability.
As he says,
Be dutiful to Allah with all of your
might
as best you can.
And the prophet
he commanded us to observe the commands of
this deen,
also within the
framework of our ability.
When he said, What I commanded you,
perform it to the best of your ability.
The word encompasses
any
means we could use,
whether emotionally,
whether intellectually,
whether physically,
whether communally,
whether financially,
or whether physically
to improve things
and to be committed
to Allah.
As for
Allah says
Say, he doesn't say if you speak Arabic,
means say that my entire life
and my entire death are for Allah. Not
just a moment,
not just a part,
but everything.
In order to achieve
that type of relationship,
we want to talk about one of the
keys, and that is strength,
al Puwa.
And oftentimes
people misunderstand
the role of strength
and its relationship within religion. In fact, sometimes
we find people saying, you shouldn't work for
strength, you shouldn't work to be strong.
Just submit your affairs to Allah.
But this goes against the sunnah of the
prophet
salallahu alayhi wa sallam who said
That the strong believer, the believer who has
achieved strength,
is more beloved to Allah
than the weak believer, and each of them
are good.
And also the prophet
who taught us through his example
to put forth
maximum effort
and to never surrender
our utility,
our agency,
or our strength
to anyone but Allah.
And in fact,
the the Muslim that has basira,
the Muslim that has insights,
and sees when the light of Allah
understands that to have strength in dunya
is to be free to be the slave
of Allah.
That's the purpose.
And that's why the prophet sallallahu alaihi wa
sallam
hadith from ima Muslim, when he will walk
to the masjid,
he will say,
Oh, Allah, I seek refuge in you from
shaming anyone
and being shamed
by someone else.
And the prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam
in the hadith also from al Bukhari and
Muslim
used to say
regularly in the morning and in the evening
that he sought refuge in Allah.
I seek refuge in Allah from being overcome
by debt, because debt is a way to
take away someone's agency and strength.
And also I seek refuge in you, You
Allah, from being conquered
by anybody.
So there is a mistake,
oftentimes that we hear, that we should not
work for strength,
or work to preserve our independence,
or to work to preserve preserve our agency,
and this goes against the sunnah of the
messenger of Allah, salallahu alaihi wa sallam, which
is more than just to close,
which is just more than using a miswak,
which have their importance.
But the greater Sunan,
one of them is to have the freedom
to use
our agency
to worship Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala.
Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala end the Quran,
he commands us to work for strength.
He says
that you must prepare for them
from your strength.
It was also the way of the prophets
to make dua
for and work for strength.
For example,
we find
Sayid Nahudi says to his people, if I
had the strength,
or I had the ability to seek
security to push you away from harming me,
I would do it. And we understand that
the wishes of the mbyah
are part of our sharia.
Also, we find in the Quran
other examples
Allah
commands the prophets to achieve strength.
Alastus says to say to say to say
to say to say to say to say
to
say to claim to what we have given
you with strength.
Cling to the book with Puwa. Here Puwa
doesn't mean just Puwa to Idraq,
that you invest in understanding, but that you
create and you scale
around you a way that allows you to
cling to what Allah has commanded you with
strength.
Within the epistemology
of Islamic theology,
strength has an important definition.
Number 1 is the strength to worship.
The strength to worship freely. That's why from
the Maqas to the sharia is protection of
the religion, hifthuddeen.
And that's why the prophet sallallahu alaihi wa
sallamah,
he taught Sayyidina Muadh radiAllahu anhu after every
prayer to say what
Oh, Allah,
help me,
fortify me,
to remember you, to thank you,
and to perfect my worship.
And that's
why
in
every salah, we say, what?
You alone, we worship
and you alone, we seek for help. To
what?
To worship.
The second meaning of strength
within the epistemology of Islamic theology
is the strength to protect ourselves
from anyone that will harm us
or keep us from worshiping Allah and living
a dignified life.
Living a life of dignity, as we see
now, the massacre
and the genocide happening in Gaza.
We see every day today, 43 people
died in an intensive care ward in 1
hospital out of 63.
Infants and children are dying
because we don't have the ability to protect
ourselves,
and to be strong.
So the second definition, that's why Sufian al
Thawri
used to say,
That wealth
is the weapon of the believer.
Meaning that wealth can lead potentially
to strength, the ability to protect
ourselves.
And that's why Sayyid ibn al Musayid, Imam
al Tabein used to say, la khayra, there's
no good in someone
who doesn't have enough money to worship Allah,
to pay off her debts, his debts, and
to protect themselves.
The third definition that we find for strength
within Islamic theology
is the ability to use our strength
to heal a fractured world
and to bring good to society
and to help others.
As for Allah who subhanahu wa ta'ala
says
That you are the best community
sent to people
and hear the word
to benefit people.
To bring good to the world,
to heal a fractured world.
That's why Allahu Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala, he describes
the person who embraces Islam as dead and
then alive.
So our
discussion
briefly,
is on strength.
And in the context of the situation we
see at hand,
thinking about how we can build strength
to worship,
build
strength to protect ourselves,
and build strength
to spread the beautiful message in the light
of Al Islam.
That's why Allah
when something is very important in the Quran,
he commands the prophets,
Alaihi Musallam,
and he commands their followers.
So Allah
says to say in the Musa,
Hold on to it with strength.
Then later on, he says to the followers
of sayyda Musa,
give take what we have given you,
with strength. So just as he ordered Sayidina
Musa to cling to it with strength, he
orders his followers to cling to it with
strength
to show the importance
of strength.
Within Islamic law, we see Alkuhwa
min baba alwasa'id,
The strength
are what we call from means.
Means.
They give us the ability to do things.
Not the not the goal but the means.
And we have a very important principle.
That means take the ruling of their objectives.
So just as,
it became obligatory to pray
because without there's no prayer.
How many things in our life
without strength, we will be incapable
of performing them.
So therefore, we understand that there are times
where strength is
That there are times when strength is a
communal obligation,
an individual obligation,
a recommended
communal practice,
or an individual communal practice.
We ask
Allah We ask Allah
to give us strength
and to give us ability
and to give us higher.
In the first,
we talked about the importance of strength,
the importance of not giving up our utility
or surrendering Allah, his.
Allah is the only one we should be
completely
dominated by
And then we talked about the meaning of
strength within the Islamic epistemological
framework.
The strength
to practice our deen, the strength to protect
ourselves and our families,
and finally the strength to heal
our fractured world.
The Quran was sent to heal
and to bring remedies.
We have also another very important principle,
that strength is from the fable of Allah.
Allah gives strength to who he wants.
And for that reason, anything which is a
fable,
it comes with certain etiquettes.
It comes with Adam.
Like, for example, the blessing of knowledge.
If someone has knowledge
and they fail to use it, the prophet
said,
The person who will be punished the most
in the hereafter
is someone
Allah
gave them knowledge, and they failed to use
it.
Or wealth,
Allah will give someone wealth,
either they will be generous, or they will
be like qarun,
and they will be asked about their wealth.
The same thing also applies to strength.
So therefore, we wanna talk briefly, especially in
the context of what's happening,
the massacre
of Palestinians
and Palestinian children
and civilians
and society,
The
war crimes and war criminals
that are contributing to the destruction and devastation
through the Zionist state
of Palestinians.
The first
that we mentioned
is to know that strength is from Allah.
Allah says,
that they will know
those who are
Allah gives power and authority to who he
wants,
and he strengthens and lowers who he wants,
And he is the sole controller
of all things.
The second etiquette after understanding the Pu'u is
from Allah
is to believe it and to affirm it.
That's why the long hadith of Sayna Abu
Musa al Ashaari
who
And every time we would go up or
down,
people would yell Allahu Akbar Allahu
Akbar.
And the prophet said to them,
oh people, you're not calling someone who's dead
or who who who is absent,
but you're calling the one who's
the one who hears and knows all things.
So then Abu Musa said after the prophet
told us not to raise our voices so
loud, I started to say to myself,
That there's no
there's no strength, no howl, no change except
with with Allah.
And then the prophet said to
me,
The prophet said to him,
very nicely,
Say that
because that is from the treasures of Jannah.
And the prophet
said, whoever wakes up at night
and after saying a number of beautiful afkar
finishes by saying
that there's no change in strength except from
Allah.
If they
make dua, their dua will be accepted.
The second etiquette of is
to understand
where my strength lies as a person.
It's very important to know ourselves.
The prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam said
Everyone of Israel is a shepherd and everyone
will be asked about your flock. The first
is myself.
I have to
look into myself and see what am I
good at?
Where are my passions?
And then what do I have in my
life that will help me achieve
that strength?
That's extremely important.
Because if I don't understand my strengths,
and I don't know how to use them,
I will not be able to translate that
ambition for Allah.
And that's why Allah
says about
Allah
increased him in physical and intellectual strength. And
Allah called called physical,
emotional,
and intellectual strength,
mulk,
authority.
The third
is to work with others.
So no matter how strong I may be,
no matter how successful I am,
I have to understand
as the prophet said,
The hand of Allah is with the group.
And Sayidina Amrul Khattabradhiallahu
anhu used to say, Al Islam, Islam is
the group. And when there's no group,
there's no Islam.
And Allah
says The believers are supporters of one another,
men and women. And Allah who's Allah subhanahu
wa ta'ala says,
You must cooperate to good and obedience
and cooperate
against sin and disobedience.
And Allah
says
that you must cooperate
towards patience and the truth.
That's why unity
is one of the rare issues in Islam,
which is not only
but also Farda Kifaya.
It's not only an individual
obligation to work for Muslim unity, it's a
communal
obligation to work for Muslim unity. And we
wonder at this moment
why we're so weak.
Look into your heart and see how many
problems you have with Muslims.
Oh, Allah, don't put any anger
towards the believers in our hearts.
Don't divide.
So my ability to use my talents
in concert with others
is an indication of my adherence to the
sunnah of the message of
Allah. Who the sahaba said? The prophet forbade
us to be individuals.
Forbade us to have that individualistic
nature, the culture, the cult of this era.
And that's why we say,
And that's why I like to tell people
the word,
is a heavy word.
And to really be an ummah
means that we have invested in a very
deliberate process
of
unity
and accountability.
The last, because of time,
is 2,
the last 2 is to preserve it.
If Allah has blessed you with strength,
you have to preserve it. That's why the
prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam has said to
those who memorize the book of Allah, be
careful, memorize and and review the book of
Allah, because
And
is to give it to right causes. It
will come back to us for. Allah
says,
who her rope break, broke after it was
strong.
Here it means she's inconsistent.
1 minute she's strong, 1 minute she's weak.
We should work for consistency and strength.
And finally,
is to use it.
And to appreciate that people are different in
their strengths. And this is from the of
Allah.
That Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala has given strength
to different
people. Today, when I walked in the Masjid,
I don't know about a sound system. That
brother, he has the strength
to know how to use
the microphone to set up the camera. Someone
make sure the parking lot is organized.
Never underestimate, as our imam read today,
the importance of volunteering in community and bringing
your strengths to the community.
Manansari
ila Allah.
Who will help me with Allah?
Who will assist me with Allah? Who will
be there to help?
And that's why we find the sahaba with
1,
they did not allow
the absence of means to be an excuse
for seeing themselves
as weak.
That's why Sulayin,
the mother of Sayna Anish ibn Malik, radiAllahu
anhu man.
When the prophet asked for donations, she was
poor,
but she brought Anish
to the prophet and said, You Rasulullah,
I did not find anything to give ghayrat
mihara, except my son, take my son fisa
billi linda.
There were not a people who gave in
to excuses.
There were people who understood,
Allah has given you everything you need, so
what you have,
use it.
But sometimes we find we don't appreciate that
people articulate their strength in different ways.
And in this moment,
with what's happening, the massacre of Palestinians,
the genocide in Palestine,
everyone that has an ability
should be contributing in the best way they
can.
That's why Yaqob said to his sons,
Go through different doors.
Each one of them has a different talent.
When people would come to the message of
Allah
and they would say, ayu aamal al avdahl,
what's the best thing to do?
He would say, you do this, different answers,
because the people have different strengths.
I can give an example.
Even on Twitch,
on video games,
and games like, even like Minecraft
Palestine.
We're seeing artists,
artisans,
athletes,
Shu,
activists.
Everyone is contributing to amplifying
the true situation, and to support, and show
love, and consideration, and dedication
to people of
Gaza.
I say that because Gaza
is an Islamic issue.
Even though it impacts
non Muslims, that doesn't stop us from caring.
Number 1, the prophet
mentioned the virtues of this place in Hadith,
al Kalan specifically,
Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam.
Number 2, Abu Bakr radiallahu anhu, the first
army he sent to the north,
the first city that was opened
was Ghazal.
Even before that, the prophet's grandfather,
Hashim ibn Abdul Manah,
When he would travel
from Mecca to the north, Rechlatashita
iwas Saif, where he went to the north
is Gaza. That's why the real name of
Gaza is what? Gaza?
And that's why he's buried there, and that's
why his grave is there next to a
masjid. God knows if it's still there. In
the battle of Tabuk, the Christians came to
the prophet and gave him the belongings of
his grandfather.
And Sayidna Abbas he
distributed amongst Bani Hashan.
Sayidina Umar al Fattablah, the alawa, anhu, built
a masjid there called Masjid Amari. Yesterday, its
minarets were bombed.
Yesterday its minarets were bombed.
The first to destroy it were the crusaders.
Then our Turkish brothers and sisters,
as they have across the globe now, rebuilt
the Masjid under the Ottomans.
And yesterday, again, a Sahyuniya,
a shayateem,
kilab ulnar,
These dogs of *, the Zionists,
they shot at its minaret.
Are there Hamas people in the minaret?
Are there someone who's wanted for a crime
in the minaret? This is a war on
Islam.
And until you admit
that, you'll be weak.
But it is a war against Islam and
Muslim.
The history,
the historical presence of Muslims.
They shot at that minaret.
Say the imam al Shafi is from Gaza.
He said,
Then he made dua for Gaza.
Said the Imam ibn Hajr, the
name of Gaza
was
the place that seeds
and those who know Allah.
So the last etiquette of
is to use
it, according to our ability, and of course
within the confines of the law.
So if you see an opportunity to join
protests,
to call your governor, to tell him to
pull away this BDS
fascist law,
To put pressure on local
representation,
to be honest and truthful in demanding a
ceasefire?
To make sure that your children at school
are not being discriminated against?
To stand up in the voice of liberty
and truth and honesty
for Palestinians?
In the way that you can that conforms
with the law of the land,
you must.
And also for Muslim governments and leaders
across the globe,
enough is enough.
Enough is enough.
At least recall the ambassadors,
at least close the embassies,
at least support Palestinians with diplomacy.
No one's asking for anyone to start a
war, but at least show diplomatic
backbone
as millions of people are now under threat
of a 3rd world war,
and Christians and Muslims
and other dedicated human beings in Gaza are
being massacred
on our social media.
Because if you don't use the strength Allah
gives you, he will take it from you.
And if you don't use the blessing that
has been given to you, it will be
removed from you. And that's why the prophet
sallallahu alaihi wa sallam said, whoever Allah has
given a nama,
whoever Allah has given a blessing and they
failed to use it,
it will be taken from them. We ask
Allah
We ask Allah to bless our brothers and
sisters in Gaza. We ask
Allah to protect them and strengthen them. We
ask Allah
to to protect
the Muslim world. We ask
Allah to protect and strengthen the Muslim world.
We ask Allah to bless us here as
we face another round of illegal
discrimination and Islamophobia.
We ask Allah to bless our felonies and
our children to protect the weakest amongst us.
We ask Allah
to accept those who have died
in We ask Allah
to increase them and bless
them and strengthen them.
Them.