Suleiman Hani – The Price Of Living In The Usa For Muslims
AI: Summary ©
The speakers discuss the importance of addressing privacy and lack of understanding among Muslims living in Western countries, as well as addressing issues repeatedly and bringing up questions to improve their understanding. They stress the importance of engagement and passion for Islam, as it is beneficial for everyone, including protecting against disaster and empowering young people. The speakers also emphasize the need for universal justice, universal universal peace, and a long term vision. They stress the importance of protecting oneself and family members' political power, acknowledging the negative impact of pride and pride on society, and building and strategizing.
AI: Summary ©
Imagine standing on the Day of Judgment, waiting
in line and wondering, how will you respond
to the question, what have you done with
the blessings that Allah gave you?
What have you done with the blessings that
Allah ﷻ gave you in this world?
I landed just a few hours ago, alhamdulillah.
I was in Jordan for the last week
with a relief organization.
And we met a number of refugees, Ghazan
refugees, many Syrian refugees as well.
Some of whom have been dealing with systems
of oppression for over a decade now.
May Allah ﷻ alleviate the affairs of our
brothers and sisters in every land and place.
Allahumma ameen.
There's obviously always something to share when you
meet someone or groups of people who are
dealing with a lot of pain.
And that's not the objective of the khutbah
today, perhaps for another time.
That's not the focus the two-year-old
boy who came running up or the children
who have never seen anything outside of the
refugee camps.
Or people who for the last 10 years
have never seen anything in terms of a
bathroom other than a hole in the ground.
There's no shelter, there are no structures.
They are literally living in tents that are
torn, they are displaced, they are abused by
the man-made oppressions of this world.
When we talk about these painful stories, oftentimes
we want to process emotionally the topic of
gratitude, the topic of pain and suffering for
our brothers and sisters and loved ones around
the world and here as well.
But when you start to get past that
and start focusing on another angle, there's something
else that rises to the surface.
And this one boils the blood.
What starts to rise to the surface when
you see structures of injustice and you see
mass displacement and you see the byproduct of
zulm, of oppression in this world is a
question of Muslims and structures of power.
It's a question of where are Muslims at.
It's a question of what are we working
towards.
It's a question of long-term strategy and
short-term tactics as well.
And this should boil the blood.
This should anger the average Muslim anywhere around
the world when they're exposed to any situation
of injustice.
Yes, we know theologically the people committing injustice
will have their accountability with Allah on the
day of judgment.
And Allah is aware.
وَلَا تَحْسَبَنَّ اللَّهَ غَافِلًا عَمَّا يَعْمَلُ الظَّالِمُونَ Do
not assume that Allah is unaware of what
the oppressors do.
He delays them for a day in which
their eyes stare with horror.
This we know.
But here and now, Allah subhanahu wa ta
'ala commanded us as an ummah to strive
for certain things, amongst them universal justice, amongst
them unity and the means and the mechanisms
of getting to a place in which you
have the hand, the authority to facilitate justice
for others.
And so with that pain in mind of
every single person and we humanize every single
person, they are not numbers, our brothers and
our sisters old and young.
We also have to ask some of the
difficult questions.
We also have to bring up some of
the points that may be seen at times
as harsh points of a reminder.
And my objective with this is not to
be harsh, but in reality it pains me.
It really does pain me to share these
following sentiments.
But if we don't address these issues repeatedly
and we don't remind one another and these
reminders are for myself first and foremost, then
we will, unfortunately I fear, prevent ourselves from
progressing, prevent ourselves and our communities from benefiting
from the blessing of Islam.
So when we say things as Muslims to
one another, like where is the ummah of
Islam?
The ummah of Islam is alive in many
different forms.
The ummah is alive in terms of in
some countries economic opportunities, mashallah.
Some of the most educated in some countries.
Some of the highest income people in certain
lands or cities.
Numbers, we're not missing, alhamdulillah as well.
But when we talk about structures and we
talk about theories versus action, intentions and reality,
desires and then the work that is required
to execute to reach that outcome, the structures
of justice that protect all people.
We may ask these types of questions.
So where are those who criticize the state
of the ummah but they never show up?
They never volunteer.
They never give in charity.
They may not even maybe perhaps pray their
five prayers.
Where are they when the ummah is in
need of them?
When the campaigns are in need of them?
When the causes are in need of them?
We may bring up these questions for the
sake of improvement, but we also ask for
all the Muslims living in the United States
of America and all Muslims living in Western
countries, are we aware that there is a
price to pay for living here?
Are we aware of the responsibility that we
have before Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala when
we're asked, what did you do with the
blessings that I gave you?
Are we aware from a religious lens as
well?
And this is the main lens that I
can address here.
That in fact, to choose voluntarily to live
in this country or any similar country to
it, but especially in the United States of
America, knowing that we have a lot of
blessings, alhamdulillah, living here.
That there is a very heavy price we
have to pay.
So for the one who has options and
decides to live here, whether they are revert,
converts, born here, raised here, does not matter,
immigrated after many years of living in other
lands, this applies to all of us.
When we have choice, do we choose, despite
the economic opportunities here, to also take into
consideration the conditions that are required with it,
the responsibility that will be asked about.
When someone chooses to live in a land
like this rather than the extreme hardships found
in some Muslim countries, you may say it's
so much more difficult there.
This is true.
In many lands, this is true.
But are you aware that while you live
here, with the responsibilities of being a Muslim
here, you're required to do certain things in
order for you to be living here without
consistently being amongst those who fail in that
responsibility.
So for example, living here means if you
decide to have children or Allah blesses you
with a child or you're taking care of
some family members who are younger, that you
protect them spiritually as well.
That you protect them in terms of their
upbringing.
You teach them and empower them with what
they need at a younger age rather than
waiting for disaster to strike as they're now
in colleges and universities and saying, what happened?
Please fix the situation.
The situation is the reality of 18 years
of secularization, a colonized mind.
It starts very young.
So if you decide to be here because
it's economically better, you are required to put
in more effort perhaps than in some countries
in terms of protecting one's sons and daughters
from the problems that we see in this
land.
But what else?
Deciding to live here, we have to recognize
that one of the prices that we pay
and should be paying is for us to
be engaged with the system that is here.
Engage in a form that is permissible.
Engage in a form that is strategic.
Engage in a form that is long-term,
very beneficial for all people here and around
the world.
So when we say we have a price
to pay, we are also expected to be,
required to be amongst the most practicing of
Muslims on earth.
Why?
Because the country that we are in has
a lot of leverage in the world.
It has a lot of impact on perhaps
all countries around the world in some form.
But we recognize this.
When you live in a country that is
economically and politically one of the most powerful,
we are required as residents of this country
to ask what is required of me Islamically?
What am I supposed to do?
How do I invest my time in a
matter that is pleasing to Allah subhanahu wa
ta'ala?
The price of living here is that you
regularly invite others to Islam in some form,
whether indirectly through character or explicitly as well
because you care about their afterlife.
But how?
With wisdom.
Every situation is different.
ادعو إلى سبيل ربك بالحكمة والموعظة الحسنة Call
people to the way of your Lord with
wisdom and good admonishment.
The price of living here as well is
that we don't compromise on the truth.
Becoming an American Muslim does not mean assimilating
one's religion.
There's no assimilation with religion.
Because if you have to compromise on truth,
on what you believe as a Muslim, on
your identity as a Muslim, in order for
people to tolerate you, they are the intolerant
ones.
They are the illiberal people.
So we don't compromise on our truth.
We don't become desensitized because society, alhamdulillah, is
very mixed and diverse.
We don't give up on the religious principles.
We recognize the Izzah and the honor that
the Muslim has in having that truth.
And so assimilation is not the same as
giving up your religion.
Assimilation in terms of the urf of some
lands and the urf khas, the specific customs
of a land that are permissible in some
cases, is not an assimilation that causes you
to give up on your religious principles.
And sometimes we do become desensitized without realizing
it.
And Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala warns us,
lest we forget that we may have family
members who are not Muslim, co-workers, classmates,
people that we may even start to consider
very close to us.
And Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala warns us,
وَلَا تَرْكَنُوا إِلَىٰ الَّذِينَ ظَلَمُوا فَتَمَسَّكُمُوا الْنَّارُ Do
not become inclined to beliefs or actions to
those who oppress.
Oppress how?
Oppress their souls in terms of worshipping Allah
and oppress others as well.
Otherwise, you may be touched by the fire.
May Allah protect us all.
The price of living here, my brothers and
sisters, is that we are required to understand
to an extent every one of us in
our own form and capacity, the system of
this land and how it influences the world.
So, one of the saddest and most disappointing
things to hear from a Muslim living in
America is please stop talking about politics in
this country because all we care about is
Islam.
As though Islam is separate from politics.
As though genocide is separate from Islam.
As though the problems of this land are
separate from Islam.
As though justice for those who suffered for
300 years in this country's history, it's separate
from Islam.
What is Islam to us if not the
restoration of rights?
What is Islam to us other than the
structures that facilitate those rights?
What is Islam to us other than bringing
people together despite their differences, knowing how to
live side by side in peace?
But Islam is about justice at its core.
There is no separation between siyasa and Islam.
Siyasa is a part of Islam.
It's simply a means.
All politics is a means of facilitating what
you believe to be morally right.
Political philosophy is a moral philosophy.
So, there is no separation between the two.
We are not living in a country in
the gulf, for example, or in a sham
in which the dictators have betrayed the ummah.
And you are not allowed to talk about
politics.
We are not living there.
We're living in a land that encourages all
people to advocate for the rights they believe
to be morally true.
To advocate for those who are marginalized and
silenced.
And that is something we have to take
advantage of.
It is the fabric, the system, the structure,
the power, the means of this land.
And if we neglect it as Muslims, we're
neglecting an opportunity and a blessing in the
sight of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala to
change something within our capacity.
Even if it's at the local level.
Even if you don't live to see the
results.
That, oh Allah, I did what I could.
I couldn't change it, but I tried.
I facilitated.
I implemented.
I learned about it.
I asked questions of the experts so that
I could take action.
We are required to engage in some form
so long as it is Islamically permissible.
In addition to this, we care.
Contrary to the misconceptions non-Muslims have about
us and some Muslims may have as well.
We care as Muslim Americans about justice in
this country for Americans and for all people
around the world more than anyone else in
the world.
But that's a claim.
And our actions have to prove that.
Because we believe we have a divine command
to uphold universal justice.
And universal justice by definition is for all
people.
But that requires us to understand how Allah
defines justice and then the actions that we
are taking to facilitate that.
How can we see genocide and oppression and
then say there's nothing for me to do?
The Prophet ﷺ commands us, مَن رَأَى مِنكُم
مُنكَرًا فَلْيُغَيِّرْهُ بِيَدِهِ Whoever amongst you sees an
evil, a wrongdoing, then change it with your
hands.
فَإِن لَّمْ يَسْتَطِعْ فَبِالِيسَانِ If you cannot, then
with your speech.
If you cannot, فَإِن لَّمْ يَسْتَطِعْ فَبِقَلْبِهِ وَذَلِكَ
أَضْعَفُ الْإِيمَانِ Then at least hate that thing
in your heart.
Don't become desensitized.
And that is the least degree of iman.
That is the least degree of faith.
We're living in a time in which many
Muslims are afraid to address the sensitive issue
of politics amongst one another or with their
friends and their families.
Because we have obviously two very corrupt individuals
as the primary people running for office in
this country, for the federal elections.
But that's not our only option.
And that should not cause helplessness.
There are many third parties.
And there is another route that is long
term and not short term.
Sometimes the strategy is not for the short
term result that you desire to see.
But it's part of a long strategy.
It's part of a long vision.
It's part of also having a voice.
Quantifying a vote is very important in this
land.
We know this.
This is one of the basic principles of
politics in this country.
That your vote is a type of power.
So when these votes are quantified, regardless of
who the party is amongst the third parties,
when a million people, two million people, half
a million people come out on the day
of elections and say, I won't stand with
genocide as an example.
That number is now clear.
That many people were willing to go and
say, I'm not voting for two of the
primary candidates in this country.
So what's the result of that?
Long term, not short.
The result of that is that both parties
will start to address those demographics a little
bit more in the future.
But it also unlocks, as we know, federal
funding for these third parties.
I'm not telling you how to vote.
I'm telling you to understand the system and
to understand what Islam says and to engage
with the system in a manner that is
strategic and long term.
Because the despair that we hear sometimes from
Muslims, the hopelessness of people who say, there's
no point in doing anything, that is not
part of our tradition.
It's not part of our worldly to say,
I've given up.
There's a genocide happening.
They can't give up.
And the refugees that I mentioned, the Syrian
refugees that we met, not just in official
camps like the Zaatari camp, but the refugees
who have been displaced for over 10 years
in the deserts of Jordan.
There are no official camps for them.
There are no structures.
They have very little to go by.
They barely have clean water, no shoes, no
food at times.
They are struggling and suffering with the most
basic necessities of life.
When we see that, how can we say,
I feel like I've given up here.
I feel like there's nothing for me to
do.
How can we be complacent when this is
happening?
Because strategy and the art of strategy, when
it comes to the Islamic perspective and in
general, the psychological one, it's not just in
that one act of someone saying, checkmate, I've
gained the result that I wanted.
But all the tactics along the way that
led to that point.
For the believer, it's a lifestyle that you
see the world as it is.
There is clearly a battle, constantly a battle
between good and evil.
And we're not surprised by this.
The enemies of goodness and justice and truth
in the world would love for us all
and others who support truth to be people
who despair.
And sometimes people say, I'm just one person,
what does it matter?
But when you have a hundred million people
saying, I'm just one person, what does it
matter?
You have a hundred million people making a
difference.
One person is doing what they can in
the sight of Allah.
فَاتَّقُوا اللَّهَ مَا اسْتَطَعْتُوا So one person is
looking for what does Allah want me to
do?
What does Allah want me to do?
What can I do?
So that on the day of judgment, when
we stand, we can say, O Allah, I
was one person, I did my part.
Even if you don't live to see the
result that you desire.
Sometimes Muslims talk about living in some Western
countries when they go and visit other lands,
like it's a jannah over here, alhamdulillah.
There are many blessings we cannot deny.
We are happy for these blessings, alhamdulillah.
But are we using them wisely?
Are we actually using them wisely?
And do we recognize with this particular kind
of blessing, with this specific kind of blessing,
there is a very heavy price that we
have to pay.
And sometimes we slack off.
And of course, alhamdulillah, this is not to
say that it's black and white.
Our community is working very hard and striving
in many different ways.
But you know yourself, you know your family,
you know your networks, your friends, your WhatsApp
groups.
You know what's needed, where there's room for
improvement.
And the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam reminds us,
لَا يُؤْمِنُوا أَحَدُكُمْ حَتَّى يُحِبَّ لِأَخِيهِ مَا يُحِبُّ
لِنَفْسِهِ None of you truly has iman, complete
faith in Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.
Until you love for your brother what you
love for yourself, you don't love genocide for
anyone.
You don't love to be a displaced refugee
for 10 years, for anyone.
You don't want it for yourself, you don't
want it for your brother and sister.
And anyone here, there are many people who
have visited other lands and have been to
orphanages and refugee camps.
And one of the first things we hear
all the time is, you're looking at that
young girl who says, I wish I had
a father to protect me and a mother
to hug me and I wish I was
less vulnerable as an orphan in society.
You don't see her as just an orphan,
no, you see her as your daughter.
You see that mother whose husband was taken
10 years ago in Syria, disappeared.
You see her as your mother.
You see the children who are being killed,
these are your children.
You see the thousands of orphans as your
own sons and daughters.
And it's not just to humanize, we are
one ummah.
It is part of your body.
It is very painful.
You don't wish that for anyone.
Then how can you become complacent living in
a land that you find to be generally
a land of opportunities and a land in
which despite all of its oppression domestically and
globally is a land that gives you some
leverage around the world.
And of course we recognize, we recognize this
is a land that has a history of
oppression in many forms.
And this starts with of course the ethnic
cleansing of the indigenous of this land to
the transatlantic African slave trade that has evolved
in many forms and still exist in many
forms in this country.
So yes, we recognize a lot of things
are difficult.
It's an uphill battle.
But just because it's uphill does not mean
you don't try.
Just because it's uphill does not mean you
don't climb.
Just because it's uphill does not mean we
all give up at the bottom of the
mountain.
Something has to be done and giving up
is not an option.
But along the way, one of the things
that causes a lot of people to give
up is opposition.
When people are at the receiving end of
pressure, whether it's Islamophobia or falsely using the
anti-Semitism card or any kind of false
accusation, what happens?
Some people with pressure will buckle, they give
up.
And some people at the very first sign
of discomfort will give up.
Some people will see other people dealing with
pressures, so they won't even try.
And of course we saw and we see
many examples of this in the world today.
When false accusations and propaganda causes some people
to be afraid, that's not something new to
the world or new to human psychology.
We saw this sociologically in the seat of
the Prophet ﷺ.
There were some people who didn't act and
they stayed quiet and they refused to help.
Why?
Because they saw a lot of propaganda in
Mecca.
And some people, that's why they delayed their
Islam.
They didn't become Muslim until Muslims had more
political power.
So yes, when you advocate for the truth,
when you advocate for universal justice in a
country and a world that includes people who
don't want universal justice and they have a
political authority and they have a lot of
money, you may think there's no point.
I don't want to deal with this.
Because you see what it leads to.
It's not just talk.
We're not talking about media power alone.
We're talking about people being killed.
We're talking about the burning of Shaaban, a
young student who memorized the Quran that we
all saw in terms of his viral video
and pictures, burnt alive at the hands of
the US government in reality, at the kind
of complicity of the US government in reality.
You see what the Zionist soldiers are doing
to young boys and young girls, to men
and women of all backgrounds.
They don't care.
They don't care what your background is in
terms of your madhhab.
They don't care about your aqeedah.
They don't care which land you may have
moved to later on.
They don't want you in that land.
They don't want you to pursue self-determination.
They don't want you to be seen as
human in the world.
And they don't want Muslims to be considered
respectable people of society in any land and
place.
So when you see this happening in the
world, yes, we will see them killing people
left and right.
May Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala accept all
of our innocent brothers and sisters around the
world as shuhada.
May Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala grant us
a share of facilitating justice and relief for
them.
What a lot of Zionists don't realize from
a psychological lens as countless analysts and psychologists
have stated is that their narcissism and their
arrogance prevents them from realizing you cannot kill
an idea, especially when the idea is established
on truth and justice.
You can't kill a desire for self-determination
in the land that we know as Muslims
of two billion, is the land that is
blessed by Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.
You can't take that away by killing someone,
by killing two people, by ethnically cleansing an
entire population, by stealing more and more and
more land, by abusing men and women of
all backgrounds.
You can't kill an idea because ideas do
not bleed.
Ideas like this do not die.
Ideas like this may be pushed for, facilitated
by people around the world, and it may
fluctuate depending on the people's determination.
But in general, that idea will not disappear.
So when we talk about self-determination, we
have to recognize first and foremost as Muslims
that our belief in what is true and
our pursuit of that, it is bulletproof.
It's genocide proof.
So don't despair and lose hope.
وَلَا تَهِنُوا وَلَا تَحْزَنُوا Don't despair and lose
hope.
When you see oppression increasing in any land
around the world, recognize that Allah subhanahu wa
ta'ala already told you, a long time
ago told our ummah and the world that
there are people who will try to extinguish
the light of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.
But they will never be able to.
They will never be able to.
They will never be able to.
But make sure that as that's happening, that
it doesn't cause you to be afraid.
That it doesn't cause you to prevent yourself
from the opportunity to be amongst those who
are carrying that torch, that light forward for
the world.
That you are determined.
That you will have some share of that
reward as well.
And we will not stop until our last
breaths.
There are people who want the ummah to
have low ambitions and standards, to be distracted
by the pursuit of a dunya, just chase
after your desires.
They want people to spend hours on entertainment
and social media, to be consumed by useless
things, so they are not building for the
world.
So they are not facilitating justice for others.
So they are not strategizing.
So they are not united.
And sometimes those divisions are intentional.
May Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala protect us
all.
Allahumma ameen.
How can a Muslim possibly say, I feel
like there's nothing I can do for genocide,
to prevent another one in the world, for
suffering locally and globally.
But they can spend 3 to 4 hours
on entertainment every single day.
3 to 4 hours mindlessly scrolling on social
media, playing 4 or 5 hours of video
games.
When the world is burning, it requires the
people of conscience to use their time wisely.
And I'm not saying this to sound harsh.
All I'm saying is that we have to
get up and move.
We have to build and strategize.
We have to be active.
We have to initiate if we find that
there are gaps in our communities, in our
countries.
A Muslim cannot possibly say, there's nothing left
for me to do, so I'm not going
to get engaged at all with politics because
I've lost hope.
Get up and get moving.
Figure out what you need to do.
Ask if you're not sure.
Find your support.
If you need that advice, that reminder, the
optimism from a friend or family member, go
to the right people for it because at
the end of the day, we are not
living for ourselves.
We are not living for ourselves.
And the worst thing you can do to
a child raised in this country or any
country around the world is to make them
think that the entirety of their success is
individualistic.
Your job, which is money, which is your
success.
That is not the definition of success.
That is a vehicle to benefit other people
around the world.
That is a vehicle for your afterlife that
is eternal in a temporary world of opportunity.
We cannot possibly say there's nothing left for
us to do when the Prophet ﷺ tells
us, أحب الناس إلى الله أنفعهم للناس The
best people, and in another narration, the most
beloved people to Allah are those who are
most beneficial for others or to others.
So alhamdulillah that our ummah is not sleeping.
There are many people who are well alive
spiritually, who are active politically within the paradigm
of Islam, and they are working for noble
causes here and around the world.
Alhamdulillah for that.
We should never lose that optimism or look
at it as a matter that is black
and white.
They are doing what's required of them, but
we are all required to constantly assess, am
I doing my part?
Am I really fulfilling my role?
These are people who take the covenant with
Allah seriously.
We ask Allah ﷻ to make us amongst
them.
A brother asked me, how come we hear
all these reminders like in the last year,
for example, about being part of the ummah
and caring for the ummah, but we have
nothing practical to do.
And I'm not sure what he's been listening
to.
But to summarize, in almost every single Friday
khutbah or lecture in any community around this
country and around the world, in almost every
single article post, we have something practical for
everyone to do, and we're constantly emphasizing these
points.
So once again, if I were to list
a random examples, number one, strengthen your relationship
with Allah ﷻ, that's part of benefiting the
ummah, that's where it starts.
In tansurullaha yansurukum, it starts there.
Number two, educate yourself and others.
Number three, volunteer your time, your skills.
And we have alhamdulillah a lot of skills
in our communities.
Number four, use your wealth for good causes.
Number five, speak for justice even if your
voice shakes.
Number six, engage with the political system in
your land in order to bring about some
good or decrease the amount of evil in
that land.
And of course we need this year the
turnout to be extremely high amongst the Muslim
community.