Yasir Qadhi – How Prophet Muhammad Dealt With Adversity
AI: Summary ©
The recent terrorist attack on Muslims in the United States is a result of the Prophet's actions, which include supporting and enabling wrongdoing, as well as testifying against racism and hate. The importance of acknowledging the negative impact of racism and not letting anyone's anger control actions is emphasized. The speaker also emphasizes the need to act with faith and ethics, be mindful of one's actions, and avoid false accusations. The future is a time to become active, rather than just a time to be caught, and learning from history and the seess of Islam is suggested.
AI: Summary ©
Dear Muslims,
the events of this last week
have been so traumatizing
for all of us that I know that
many of us do not even want to
watch the news.
The sheer level of evil,
the depravity,
the justification
of the onslaught
and massacre
of now almost 50,000
innocent
civilians.
Wallahi, we thought it would not get any
worse, but it looks like from some aspects
it has gotten worse.
And what especially
pains us
living in this land
is that it is obvious that it is
our own government
that is supporting and enabling this genocide,
excusing it, justifying it. And the blatant
disregard
for the value of Arab and Muslim and
Palestinian
blood is obvious for all to see.
It is at times like this
that we must channel our emotions
into knowledge.
We cannot act only based upon emotion.
We must channel that emotion
and learn from our tradition.
And so in today's brief khutba,
I want to look at some of what
is happening in light of the seerah of
the prophet salallahu alayhi wasallam. And to extract
benefits from the seerah, to act as guiding
lights,
to act as a role model,
a complete program about how we should take
comfort and solace
in the very best role model that Allah
Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala sent down to us. And
that is the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam.
Oh, Muslims, we learn from the Sirah.
We learn from the Sirah that life is
full of calamities,
that tragedies are a part and parcel of
iman,
that the more beloved you are to Allah,
the more difficult this life will be. If
anybody
would have had an easy life because of
their iman, it would be our Prophet Sallallahu
Alaihi Wasallam.
But Allah tested him, and Allah tested him,
and Allah tested him. Allah tested him in
his persona. He was physically assaulted.
Assassination attempts. Allah tested him in his family.
Allah tested him amongst his children. He lost
6 of his children in his lifetime. Allah
tested him with poverty. Allah tested him with
war. Allah tested him in every single manner.
So from the seerah we learn that just
because life becomes difficult, it does not mean
Allah has abandoned you. On the contrary,
on the contrary,
perhaps it is because Allah loves you that
He is testing you to raise your ranks.
And when the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam felt
down, Allah said to him, Mawad daakarabukaummaqala
walal akhiratukhayru
lakamina'ula.
Your Lord has neither abandoned you nor has
he shown you any anger, but be optimistic.
The future will be better than the past.
This is what Allah told our prophet salallahu
alayhi wasallam. From the seerah, we learn. From
the seerah, we learn that religion is not
just about theology.
It's not just about preaching aqeedah. It's not
just about prayer and ritual. From the seerah,
we learn that activism for noble causes is
a part and parcel of this religion. In
the earliest phase in Makkah, when Makkah was
immersed in many jahili practices, the prophet salallahu
alaihi wasallam was at the forefront, teaching them
to not bury their daughters alive, teaching them
that racism was wrong, teaching them that honesty
was a virtue. So we take solace from
this that we must do something regardless of
what is going on. Our religion also has
values we need to propagate. Remember, when the
Muslims were being persecuted, they were persecuted, they
were being tortured to death. Ja'far migrated to
Abyssinia. And he said to the Najashi, he
said to the nigas
summarizing the teachings of Islam, he said, Allah
sent us a prophet who commanded us to
speak the truth. He commanded us to honor
our promises.
He commanded us to be kind to our
relatives. He commanded us to be good to
our neighbors. He told us to not do
anything wrong, to abstain from immorality, to abstain
from bloodshed, obscenities,
and false witness, and to not take orphans'
property.
Understand. When is he summarizing Islam in this
manner of ethical code? When the Muslims are
being tortured to death
and Ja'far
summarizes Islam in a code of ethics and
laws. Regardless of what is happening, we have
the opportunity to call people to our higher
faith, to call people to nobility and virtue.
And we always utilize. No matter how difficult
life
bloodshed we see, there is still a message
that is a responsibility
on our backs that we convey to mankind.
So regardless of what is happening, in fact,
especially because of what is happening, it is
even more imperative that we call mankind to
the beauty of our faith, to the higher
nobility
of our virtues and ethics. We remind them
of what it means to be a worshiper
of Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala. From the seerah,
we learn
that hatred
drives people absolutely
blind. The people of Makkah turned against the
Muslims, brother torturing brother,
father torturing son. We have so many examples
of such cruel torture in early Makkah, and
the people doing it were the blood relatives
upon those whom they did it upon. How
much more so than when they are not
blood related. From the sira, we learn that
even mothers and children were separated. Ummi Salama,
who was married to Abu Salama at the
time, they forcibly
Umme Salama. That's the nature of depravity and
hatred. Don't be surprised when you see similar
hatred later on. It is the sunnah of
Allah that people who don't fear Allah, they
have a loathing and a hatred for the
religious people. This is the reality we learn
from the Seerah. From the Seerah, we learn
that our Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam
utilized
any and all tactics that were permissible.
He didn't just sit and do nothing. We
learned that he argued. We learned that he
negotiated.
We learned that whatever was at his disposal
at at times, he would go to other
leaders in Makkah to argue against Abu Lahab,
to argue against Abu Jahl. This is a
type. We can call it a type of
lobbying in between the elites of Makkah. And
the example of this when he returned from
Ta'if, when Abu Lahab put a blockade on
him, Abu Lahab did not allow him to
go. The prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam negotiated with
other leaders to make intercession. He went to
the other leaders
seerah, there So we see from the Sirah,
there's a whole array of tactics. And the
default, as I've said over and over again,
anything that is halal is permissible.
So we learn from the Sira that we
need to look at what we can do
to help the oppressed, what we can do
given our situation and time. We learn from
the Sira, o Muslims, that difficulty
is not going to be gotten rid of
except after pain and suffering. Fa inna al
usri usra. There must be the usr, and
then the usr comes. We learn from the
seerah that in the process,
before victory is achieved,
not everybody will see that victory. There were
many of the Sahaba who lost their lives
in early Makkah, in the end of Makkah.
Before the conquest of Makkah, there were many
Sahaba who lost their lives. None of them
are losers. They're all winners.
None of them are failures. They have all
succeeded.
We might not see success,
but as long as we give our 100%,
as long as we try our best to
bring about a better situation,
that is our victory. Our personal victory is
what is important. As for the communal victory,
it will come, but I might not see
it. You might not see it. The communal
victory for sure will come, and the people
that are being persecuted
for sure will be free. But the point
is we to whether we see that or
not is not our personal victory. Our personal
victory, did we contribute? Did we do something
to try to change the situation? From the
Sirah, we learn, oh Muslims, that during times
of difficulty,
during times of trial,
turning to Allah
and understanding
the wisdom of the hereafter
and consoling yourself about the existence of
the day of judgment, it helps you to
placate your anger. So many verses in the
Quran, Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala tells the people
in Mecca, wait until Allah's command comes. Wait
until the day of judgment comes.
Until Allah's command comes. Wait until the day
of judgment comes. Ask yourselves why? Why is
Allah telling the Muslims of Makkah, tarabbasu, go
ahead and wait? Because that anger, it needs
a way out. And the way out is
you remind yourself, there is something called yawmadeen,
yawmal kayama. There is something called Allah's hisaab.
There is something called judgment day, and every
vaniem, and every tyrant, and every killer, and
everyone who has done so much Dhulm, we
will see on that day in public,
every one of us will see Allah's
exacting of justice, and that will bring a
sense of joy and peace. This world will
never give you ultimate justice.
This world will never bring back those that
have been massacred, the children that have been
starved, the hospitals that have been bombed, the
universities that no longer exist, the mothers that
have become widows, and they see their children
massacred in front of their eyes. Who can
bring them comfort in this dunya? No one.
So we placate our selves. Allah is Malik
almul, and Allah is rabbul aalameen, and Allah
is watching, and Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala will
ask as Allah says in the Quran that
on that day, the mawoodatoo
suilat bi ayidham bin qutilal, that little child
that was killed, Allah will resurrect her. She
will be in a happy state, a blissful
state. And Allah will say, what? Who killed
you and why were you killed? And that
child will point to the one who killed,
and Allah will exact revenge. This is why
we believe in judgment day. This is why
we have a sense of comfort that Allah
Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala will deal with the Valiums
and the tyrants. But in this dunya, the
seerah teaches us, halal
and that is noble halal and that is
noble. We must do this. And in doing
so, we will channel our anger. We will
channel our emotion and rage, and we will
turn it into activity to do something. May
Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala bless me and you
with and through the Quran. And may he
make us of those who as verse they
understand and applies halal and haram throughout all
the Islam. I ask Allah's forgiveness. You as
well ask him for his and the Rahman.
One of the very awkward questions that comes
up. And unfortunately, in a khutba, I cannot
give it justice, but I need to verbalize
it in front of the public, and I
need to begin a response. And, insha'Allah,
maybe in other lectures, we can talk about
it in more detail. And I wanna say
as well, especially for the youth in our
in my masjidin community, that I'm always available
for you. Please come to me. I have
office hours. I am a part of your
community. Those that are watching online, go to
your scholars and ask these awkward questions, and
make sure you understand
Islamic wisdom and don't act upon emotion. What
is the awkward question? The awkward question, and
it has been asked of me by our
by our own youth. The awkward question is,
is it ethical for us to remain in
this land? Is it halal for us to
be here when our country and our taxes
are doing what they are doing? And even
more difficult questions about what is permitted and
what is not permitted that I'm not gonna
verbalize over here. But we saw this cycle
20 years ago when this country of ours,
which we love in some aspects and hate
in aspects. And we say this loudly and
clearly. There are positives in this country and
there are negatives. 20 years ago, this country
falsely invaded Iraq and Afghanistan and spent 1,000,000,000,000
of dollars, and 1,000,000 of lives were lost.
And they did this, and they did that,
and Guantanamo,
and all of that happened. And back then
as well, groups rose up, and many of
our youth were flirting with the idea, should
we join those groups or not? And my
message has always been consistent in this regard,
and that is we are opposed to the
policies of this country. And we say that
American foreign policy is a disaster of the
highest magnitude. And we say more people have
been massacred by our foreign policy than any
any of these acronyms and groups all combined.
But still, the Sharia teaches us that we
take that anger and we channel it with
wisdom in a manner that is permissible. We
don't do something that will bring harm to
innocence, and there are innocent people in all
of this equation. And we don't do something
that will result in a worse harm than
the harm that we are in. We must
act with wisdom. It is not as simplistic
as once upon a time George W Bush
said, you're either with us or against us.
This is not the Islamic methodology. It is
not the Quranic methodology.
It is not the methodology of people of
wisdom. There are in betweens. I can be
against the foreign policy of this country, and
I can also be against acts of violence
against innocent people. Both of these are not
mutually exclusive, and this is my path that
I've been consistently upon from that time frame
up until now. And I say loudly and
clearly that all Muslims of America, this is
a question you have to think about. I
cannot answer it for you, what you should
do or not do in terms of living
or not living here, But I will give
you some generic guidelines. The seerah teaches us.
The seerah teaches us that some people did
migrate from Makkah. But when did they migrate?
Did they migrate because Makkah was evil? Did
they migrate because there was faqisha? Did they
migrate because they were living in a culture
and society in which Muslims were being persecuted
and tortured? Don't
forget, Amari bin Yasir Yasir and Sumayyah Bilal.
So many Muslims, they were tortured. Some of
them lost their lives. And the Muslims living
in Mecca, in the end of the day,
they're a part of that society. And therefore,
whether one likes my saying this or not,
they are in some sense living amongst people
that are contributing to the Islamophobic
environment that was there. That is the reality.
In fact, even when the prophet salallahu alayhi
wasalam migrated to Madinah, and there was an
Islamic state, and jihad had been legislated,
we have incidents where the prophet salallahu alaihi
wasalam realized he couldn't do anything. Of them
is the Treaty of Hudaybiyyah.
Of them, the Treaty of Hudaybiyyah, when Abu
Jendal who had been tortured almost to death,
the scars were on his body and he
jumped into the army of the Muslims. He
jumped amongst the prophet salallahu alaihi wa sallam.
He said, You Rasulullah,
save me. The Quraysh are torturing me. But
the prophet salallahu alaihi wa sallam had a
treaty of Hudaybiyyah,
and he tried his best. He pleaded,
he begged with,
with Suhayl ibn Amr let him give him
one person. But Suhayl refused and said, No,
I'm not going to do this. And so
the prophet salallahu alaihi wasalam was not able
to help. Abu Jandil, a month later, fled
from Makkah, made his way all the way
to Madinah, and still the prophet sallallahu alaihi
wasallam did not hand him back, but he
didn't allow him to remain as well. He
realized he has a treaty to uphold, and
this is the awkward reality that needs to
be said here. Allah tells us in the
Quran. Look it up, O Muslims. Surah Anfal
verse 87.
Surah Anfal verse 87. Wainistan salukum fiddeen. If
fellow Muslims ask you to help them against
an invasion by non Muslims, if they ask
you in the name of the religion, help
us, give us naser, faalaykumun
nasr. You must help them. This is the
general rule. The Ummah is one body, but
then Allah makes an exception. Illa alaqawmin
baynaqumwa baynahumithaq
Unless they're asking you against another nation, another
tribe, you have a treaty with them. In
that case, Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala allows you
to not and you cannot break the treaty.
And if you want to break the treaty,
Allah says we cannot surprise break. Allah says
in the Quran,
wa'immatakha fundamentqawminqhuyanatin
fumbit ilayhim aala sawa. If you fear that
a contract is gonna be broken by a
treachery, then you must announce that you're breaking
the treaty. You cannot pretend to have a
treaty and then be treacherous. Why am I
saying this? Because I say loudly and clearly,
our heart is with ghazah. Our tongues, it
was is with ghazah. We criticize.
We completely castigate.
We completely say our country is guilty of
genocide. But still every one of us who
has citizenship, every one of us who has
a visa, we must abide by the conditions
of that. Islamically, we must. And that means
we are not allowed to physically harm other
people. We're not allowed to do anything that
will go against the general, in Arabic it's
called a'id. And our passport and our visa
is a type of a'id. When we say
this, we are not enabling and supporting war
criminals, astaghfirullah.
We are supporting Islamic principles as found in
the Sirah, as demonstrated in treaty of Hudaybiyyah,
as demonstrated in Surat Al Anfal and other
places. We have no choice. Our hearts hate
it. Our tongues speak against it, but our
hands are tied, and we obey the law
of the land, and we do not bring
about harm to innocent people. Now as for
living or not living, I say to you
very clearly, it is not obligatory
to live in any one land. So if
you really want to go live somewhere else,
it is up to you. The one allegiance
we have is to Allah.
Every other allegiance, it is conditional.
So I say this without any shame, without
any
Mujammed if you wanna say, that we do
not owe our allegiance to any nation state
unconditionally.
Our allegiance is to Allah alone. So if
you feel in your conscience that you don't
want to live here, that is up to
you. But I say, I also say, I
am somebody who can live in any land.
And alhamdulillah, I have many places to go
to, but I have chosen to live here.
Why? Because
my reading of the seerah, I could be
wrong in this, my reading of the seerah,
we don't just look at the negative,
we look at the potential for positive.
We don't just look at the evil. We
look at the effects of positive we can
do. And in my humble opinion,
the fact that we are in this land
and Americans,
the fact that this is our country,
we can achieve a positive
that no other community can achieve.
We can bring about an influence that is
legal, that is ethical, that is shari, that
is constitutional.
And I've said this multiple times. This isn't
some secret agenda. This isn't preaching some radical
jihad, radical sharia. I am telling you to
understand your responsibilities
as American citizens, to understand your civic duty
in shaping the law of this land and
the foreign policy of this land. This is
not some hidden agenda. This is the essence
of being an American citizen.
And we are the only people, American Muslims,
who have that potential and power. So I
say in my humble assessment, where will you
run away to? Which country is less guilty?
Wallahi,
so many of our own Muslim countries. I
cannot mention names here. They are even more
guilty than what our own country is doing.
And it hurts even more because their Muslims
are supposed to know better. Where will you
run away to? What will you do? So
I am telling you, this is my personal
suggestion. Don't just jump based upon emotion. Think
logically. Think 10 steps ahead. And don't just
look at the negative. Look at the potential
for positive. I say bluntly,
you should be angry. You should be ashamed.
Wallahi, it is disgusting
that even a small percentage of my taxes
goes over there. So when you give taxes,
I've said, you should make your niyyah. Oh
Allah, my niyyah is my taxes are going
for the roads, for the health services. My
niyyah is my taxes are not going for
foreign policy. You should and you must make
that intention because we don't want our taxes
to go there. But still, we look at
the positives. What can we do? And do
you know what, oh, Muslims?
Every single week, the percentage of the next
generation that is changing its mind is increasing.
I just looked at the surveys from last
week.
80%
of Americans
under the age of 35
have sympathies with the Palestinian people. 80%.
Do you not realize our government, the elites,
the powers are becoming paranoid and fanatical?
They're banning TikTok. Do you wanna know why
they're banning TikTok? Because TikTok is changing the
minds of the next generation. So they're introducing
legislation.
They have the most bizarre legislations
that are actually going against the first amendment.
They're losing track of reality. It is a
sign of desperation.
Wallahi, our hearts are bleeding because of the
deaths of the Palestinians.
At the same time, we see frustration
and desperation from the elites. We see on
the other side, the table is turning and
they know it. And I say, Alhamdulillah
thumalhamdulillah.
It is obvious that maybe, maybe the apartheid
regime might win the small battle. Maybe, but
they have lost the war.
Globally, they have lost the war. They have
lost the support of the majority, if not
all of mankind. And our one country is
left standing. All of the EU, all of
the other countries, they've withdrawn. It's only our
country. So this is the time to become
active. This is the time to tip over.
This is the time to do whatever you
can. We are the only Muslim community in
the world that has the legal and civil
rights to change from within. And you wanna
abandon and go somewhere else. No. Wallahi no.
My advice to you I'm not saying it's
wajib. My advice to you as somebody
who really does read and understand and think
it's my humble suggestion, take that anger, take
that guilt, and channel it to activism, to
social media, to changing the hearts and minds.
80%,
we wanna make it 100%. That's your goal.
We wanna make it 1 100%.
So go do that. Find your colleagues and
friends. Learn the history of that land, and
start preaching and teaching. Start changing the hearts
and minds. Victory is not achieved overnight.
It takes many, many years. Even the process
took 23 years. You think me and you
are gonna do it any faster? Even the
process assalam took it took 2 decades to
the conquest of Makkah. And of course, this
is just from the seerah. We're gonna learn
from history. It's more than this. So bottom
line, yaswallahi, it's awkward. Our hearts are very
hurt, but then it should motivate us. What
did our prophet, salallahu alaihi, salallam, say? Whoever
amongst you sees evil, try to change it
with your hand. What did he say then?
If you cannot do so. Okay. We cannot
do it. We cannot change it with our
hands. He gave us a way out. If
you cannot do so, change it with your
tongue.
This is what we can do. It is
our constitutional right to do so. That, alhamdulillah,
we have those freedoms. So go ahead and
use the tongue that Allah has given you.
Use the pen, use the social media, and
do your best to help our brothers and
sisters because insha Allah, the victory is close.
Oh, Muslims, we learn from the seerah
that sincerity to Allah is the most precious
commodity. We learn from the Sirah that worshiping
Allah is the most satisfying nourishment during times
of trouble and calamity. We learned from the
Sira that adversity
only increases the piety of the pious. We
learned from the Sira that victory only comes
to those who are tested and remain patient.
We learn from the Sira that with every
difficulty comes ease. We learn from the Sira
that the people of Iman and Taqwa will
always be victorious in the end. Allah has
promised this, kataballahu
la akhlimanaanaana
wa rusuli
Allah has decreed that I shall always be
winner and my prophets, meaning everyone who follows
Allah and the prophets. So we learn from
the Seerah. Victory is for the believers. Let
us be with the believers and let us
learn from the Seerah and follow the footsteps
of the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam. And from
the Seerah, we shall always continue to learn.
Allahuma innidaa'infaaminoo
Allahuma ladadrafayiomythambanillagafarta
walahhammanillahfarrajta
Allahum Mansuruhum You kawiyuyaAAazizibad
Allahumansuruhum
Alhamdulillahi
rabbilaaalamin