In the Name of Allah the Compassionate the Merciful

 

Dear Muslims

Allah (swt) has promised in Surat Al-Hajj, verse 40, that He will aid, He will support, and He will champion those who champion Him.

ولينصرن الله من ينصره

Allah is the Truth, and He says nothing but the Truth.  He promises to champion us if we champion Him.

How can the creature champion the creator?  well, Allah made it clear to us in many Qur'anic verses that championing Him can be achieved through worshipping him.

Truly worshipping him through practicing our religion the way Allah prescribed it for us to be worthy of his support and championship.

In surat Arroom, Allah Says

وكان حقا علينا نصر المؤمنين

We Muslims are constantly wondering how is it possible to recover the status that once was enjoyed by the early Muslims?

How is it possible for us to stand tall against the enemies of Allah and the enemies of Islam?

But are not we already Muslims?  We do our prayers, we fast, we do zakat.  Isn't that sufficient?

The answer to this question can only be taken from our religion.  Prophet Muhammad says: "A person does not become a Mu'min until his desires, his ambitions, and his objectives precisely follow what I brought (i.e. my teachings)."

عن عبد الله بن عمرو بن العاص رضي الله عنهما ، قال : قال رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم : لا يؤمن أحدكم حتى يكون هواه تبعا لما جئت به.

It is the complete belief and sincere practice of the teachings that make us Muslims and thereafter worthy of Allah's champion.

We hear people argue.  Do not be naive about things.  Do not bury your head in the sand, look around you.  Wars are fought with laser accuracy nowadays not with swords.  Armies have supersonic planes; they do not ride camels.  They spy through satellites not by sending people on foot sneaking behind enemy lines.  For us to win we need the power of the atomic bomb and the influence of the dollar.

Well to some degree, such arguments are valid.  And, as we acknowledge their validity, we need to acknowledge that these same arguments are the reason for us lacking the championship of Allah.

If we really believe that these are the only means of power and winning, then we are lacking a basic understanding of our religion.  The understanding that victory and success are only from Allah, and what we do on the way to success has nothing to do with success.

If we lack this understanding then we are no different than those who are not Muslims, those who believe that it is what they do is what lead to success.

To believe that we can do it by our own hands and power, and not through our belief in Allah is a grave misunderstanding of the true essence of Allah's promise.

Some will argue, the era of miracles is gone.  What happened at the prophet's time and the battle of Badr is not going to happen again?  We have to be realistic.

They argue that we need a plan.  A sequence of 1-2-3 steps to achieve and reach our goal.

Allah has told us those steps: they all start with step number 1:  Be a true Muslim.  All the other steps are simple and easy; they follow naturally once we do step number 1 first.   This is a fact that is clear from Allah's promise:   walyansuran

Be a true Muslim, is step number one.  What is involved here? We get back to the Prophet's Hadeeth.  We need to have our desires, our inclinations, our wishes, our ambition to be all under control.  All need to coincide with what the Prophet brought to us.  Islam.

The problem is that we are not willing to acknowledge the vital nature of this first step.  Step 1 is costly, very costly and we all want to by-pass it. 

Suppose we were to start with step 2.  What would make us different from those in power now. (those whom we consider the enemies of Islam.)  They started with step 2.   If we follow their footsteps we would be just like them at best.  And the question becomes why do we want to fight them then.  Not for the sake of Islam, that is a fact.

Brothers:  Here is a simple analogy. You want to drive a car up a mountain road, first, and most importantly, you must learn how to drive.  You have to learn how to drive, how to drive the mountain roads, you need a map of the road, you need to be well prepared for the unexpected, you must have adequate supplies and resources.  Many many things, but first and most importantly, you must fulfil step one: learn how to drive.

Another meaningful analogy of this case is that prayer must be preceded by Wudu.  Wudu is step one that is essential to the correctness of the prayer.  This example here is unique because, it is not one of those to which you can apply human logic.  This is the way Islam is.  a prerequisite to prayer is Wudu, and without this purification you have no prayer.   Again you cannot by-pass step 1, in this case wudu.

In the same manner, becoming a true Muslim is a prerequisite Allah has prescribed to gain his championship.

Our problem, brothers, is that we want to skip step 1 and still expect Allah to reward us with His championship.  This is unrealistic.  Listen to Allah's words in Surat At-tawbah: Afamun assas bunianahu ala taqwan min Allah.

We cannot win Allah's championship if we do not become true Muslims.  and that is a fact.

In several Qur'anic verses Allah assures the we will never find any alliance or championship other than his.

Wama lakum min doonillah min waleyin wala naseer.

We cannot win Allah's championship if we do not submit to him

We cannot win Allah's championship if we associate with him.

And we do associate with him waliyazubellah.

We worship the enemies of Allah when we submit to them and compromise our religion to gain their favors.

We worship the dollar as we make so much considerations and accommodations for our income resources that result in our compromise of our beliefs and Islamic practices.

We worship our comfortable lifestyles as we make every effort in the way of enjoying it and experiencing its joys while putting religious aspects and practices to second or even lower priorities.

We worship our egos and our positions as we do what we can to have more and climb the ladders of command.

And the question before us is how are we different from those around us who do not claim to be Muslims?  The pitiful answer is that the main difference is our claim.

The main issue, which is our complete believe, trust, and submission to Allah, is lacking.  It is lacking because we have a different order of priorities than that implied by Islam.  It is lacking because we are associating with Allah many of our world desires and ambitions.

Some will argue again.  Are we to believe then sit back and wait for Allah to finish the job for us?  Again the response is if we truly believe, then we will never sit back.  Part of the true belief is work and hard work.  If we do step 1, steps 2, 3 and the rest come naturally in succession.

Belief is a prerequisite that makes this work effective.   Because Allah will accept this hard work and bless it and that is how we become worthy of His championship.  And without the belief, our work, no matter how hard it is, our work is in vain.  Even if we win a battle or two, Allah promises that without the belief the ultimate end is a great failure, and what failure is greater than hell fire waliyazu billah.

Brothers: let us all supplicate to Allah that He helps us understand and appreciate the vital nature of taking the first and most important step: Becoming true Muslims.

2nd khutbah:

Brothers:

We all live in this non Islamic country either for a short duration or for a long duration.  And in doing so we are supporting the system.  We are providing some form of power and support to sustain this system.  We all know that this system is not only non Islamic but also is determined to curb Islam and Muslim.  And supporting this system is a great crime against Islam and the Muslims.

We all do it in many ways.  In putting our monies in their banks.  In teaching their children.  In doing research to help their economy, their agriculture, their Industries, and armies.

We do it for reasons and excuses we have, some are valid and some are of our own making.

My purpose here is not to doubt our reasons or question them.   That is between each one of us and Allah.

My purpose is to remind myself and remind you to do our best and be cautious to minimize the negative impact of our support to the system here on Islam and the Muslims.

Let us review and examine the many ways through which a negative impact on Islam is possible and try to do something about them.

Let us also try to offset that negative impact to a positive one by becoming active in Da'awa.  Da'awa is one of the major reasons Muslim scholars have acknowledged for Muslims to live in non-Islamic countries.

Many of us get wrapped up in the system here and forget that they are Muslims.  They have a different belief; they have different commitments.

Many of us forget that in standing firm by the principles of Islam they must sacrifice some privileges of this non Islamic system and that this is a price we must pay

Many of us do not want to do that sacrifice and think that they can do so and still claim Islam.

Brothers:  Let me remind myself and remind you that we can not have it both ways.  One can not be one of them at the same time resent what they do.

One cannot play their game their way reaching for the same objectives and claim that he is different or he is a Muslim

We cannot raise our children their way and expect them to stand on Islamic grounds.

We cannot set for ourselves ambitions of their making and meet Allah on the day of judgement with any pride.

We cannot compromise on aspect of Islam using the system here as an excuse and claim that we are true Muslims.

We cannot skip our prayers because we have meetings, miss fasting Ramadan because it is hard in this country, and claim that we are Muslims working for Islam.          

We cannot hide our identity, and live a fake image because we are afraid others would alienate us.

If we are truly working for the sake of Allah and seeking only his satisfaction, then we have nothing to fear.

We have to present to this system an alternative.  The Islamic alternative which we believe to be the wright and only way. We have to present this alternative in our identities, our personalities, our behavior, and our actions.

We have to show them a clear correlation between the good work we do and Islam, the good values we stand by and how it is derived from Islam.  The good characters and discipline and how it induced by Islam.