Zia Sheikh – Unity

Zia Sheikh
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The speaker discusses the importance of unity of faith and religion in unite under the one banner of Islam. The Prophet has given individuals the opportunity to stand up for their own political and cultural status and encourage them to unite under the one banner of Islam. The speaker also mentions the importance of community and religion in unite under the one banner of race or religion.

AI: Summary ©

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			This is Imam Zia speaking to you from
		
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			the Islamic Central Conference in Damascus, Syria.
		
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			And I'd like to talk to you today
		
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			about a very important topic, which is the
		
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			unity of the ummah.
		
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			And this is, you know, something that has
		
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			been emphasized right from the very beginning.
		
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			The Prophet ﷺ encouraged people not to look
		
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			at race, color, language, financial status, etc., but
		
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			rather to unite on the basis of the
		
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			faith.
		
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			And this is what Allah ﷻ commands.
		
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			Hold fast to the rope of Allah ﷻ
		
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			and do not differentiate.
		
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			So, this rope of Allah ﷻ, different opinions
		
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			of different scholars, but basically the Qur'an,
		
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			the Sunnah, the deen, the religion.
		
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			So, holding fast to it means that you
		
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			unite under the one banner of Islam, la
		
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			ilaha illallah.
		
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			We see from the actions of the Prophet
		
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			ﷺ that how he dealt with people from
		
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			different nationalities, for example.
		
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			He dealt with Bilal ﷺ in such a
		
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			way that he was regarded amongst the community
		
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			at the time as the lowest of the
		
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			low.
		
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			A slave from Abyssinia, dark of skin, and
		
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			a person who's in the status of slavery.
		
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			This was the lowest status that a person
		
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			could have.
		
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			Yet, when Abu Bakr ﷺ set him free,
		
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			the Prophet ﷺ gave him such an honorable
		
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			status that he became the mu'adhin of
		
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			the Prophet ﷺ from the beginning right to
		
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			the end, up to the death of the
		
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			Prophet ﷺ.
		
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			And he left Medina because he could not
		
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			bear to look at the same places that
		
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			he used to see the Prophet ﷺ, and
		
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			he moved to Damascus because of that.
		
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			There's a long story, but ultimately he had
		
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			a dream of the Prophet ﷺ, and he
		
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			came back to Medina to visit.
		
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			But, you know, the point of this talk
		
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			is to emphasize how the Prophet ﷺ took
		
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			the status of Bilal ﷺ and put him
		
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			to such a high status that he became
		
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			known amongst the people as Sayyiduna Bilal, meaning
		
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			our master Bilal.
		
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			So, Islam teaches this.
		
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			He did the same thing with Suhaib al
		
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			-Rumi, the Roman or Greek Sahabi who was
		
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			white skinned and had blue eyes.
		
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			And he did the same thing with Salman
		
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			al-Farsi, the Persian-speaking Sahabi who came
		
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			all the way from Persia, from modern-day
		
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			what we call Iran.
		
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			So, again and again, we see this.
		
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			So much so that the people around the
		
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			Prophet ﷺ, they were arrogant because of the
		
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			fact that they were Arabs.
		
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			And they said that if these people, if
		
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			these lowly people who speak different languages, they
		
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			don't sit with you, then we would be
		
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			interested in learning about Islam.
		
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			But the Prophet ﷺ didn't give any person
		
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			any kind of leeway in this respect.
		
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			He kept and held fast to this opinion
		
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			and to the viewpoint that everyone should remain
		
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			united irrespective of which background they're from.
		
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			And this is what we need to, you
		
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			know, put into our lives also.
		
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			If there was any superiority that anyone could
		
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			have had because of a language that a
		
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			person speaks, it would have been the Arabs
		
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			over the non-Arabs.
		
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			Why?
		
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			Because they speak the language of the Qur
		
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			'an.
		
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			They speak the language of the Prophet ﷺ.
		
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			They speak the language of Jannah.
		
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			But even the Prophet ﷺ closed the door
		
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			on this possibility by saying in the last
		
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			Khutbah, There is no status for an Arab
		
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			over a non-Arab except through Taqwa.
		
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			And he said the same thing opposite.
		
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			So my dear brothers and sisters, we need
		
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			to make sure we unite.
		
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			And we unite not on the basis of
		
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			our languages or the color of our skin.
		
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			Rather, we focus under the banner of La
		
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			ilaha illallah.
		
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			And we love each other for the sake
		
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			of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.
		
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			We spread Salaam to people that we know
		
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			and whether we don't know them.
		
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			We invite people towards our houses irrespective of
		
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			what language they speak.
		
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			And with this inshallah, we will find that
		
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			love will increase within the community, within the
		
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			ummah.
		
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			And we will unite once again under the
		
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			banner of Islam and not under the banner
		
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			of races or countries.
		
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			I pray that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala
		
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			gives us all the ability to understand and
		
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			practice what has been said and heard.
		
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			Assalamualaikum warahmatullahi wabarakatuh.