Obedience to Allah in the Balance in the Undeveloped Islamic Community in America

WITH ALLAH’S NAME, THE MERCIFUL BENEFACTOR, THE MERCIFUL REDEEMER

Obedience to Allah in the Balance in the Undeveloped Islamic Community in America

Khatīb: Jibrīl Abdul-Hafīz (جبريل عبدالحفيظ)

E-mail: NewAfrica2@aol.com or new_africa_now@yahoo.com

Friday, January 9, 2009 / Khutba-tul-Jumu’ah, Al-Muharram 12, 1430

As Salaam ‘Alaykum: We thank Allah, we seek His help, we ask for His forgiveness, we believe and put our complete trust in Him, Mighty and Sublime is He. We witness that there is no G’d but Allah, He alone is without partners, and we witness that Muhammed is His Servant and Messenger, the prayers and peace be on him, on his descendants, his companions, and peace be on Allah’s Messengers (all of them), and what follows this noble invocation.

Allah (سُبْحَانَهُ وَتَعَالَى) has said in Sūrah 28:5,

وَنُرِيدُ أَن نَّمُنَّ عَلَى الَّذِينَ اسْتُضْعِفُوا فِي الْأَرْضِ وَنَجْعَلَهُمْ أَئِمَّةً وَنَجْعَلَهُمُ الْوَارِثِينَ

And We wished to نَّمُنَّ | na-mun-na | give Our favor to those who were considered weak in the earth; and We made them أَئِمَّةً | a-im-mah | Imāms in the earth, and We made them الْوَارِثِينَ | al-wā-ri-thīn | the inheritors. Where are the Imāms whom Allah (سُبْحَانَهُ وَتَعَالَى) has favored amongst poor people and what plans do they have to lead undeveloped Muslims into community development in this area? Imāms at Masjid ul Awwal, Dar-As-Salām, Masjid ut Tawhīd, Nur az Zamān, Masjid ul-Mu’Min, An-Nūr Islamic Center; hasn’t Allah (سُبْحَانَهُ وَتَعَالَى) favored us with the same revelation that brought about progressive civilized development in Mali, Songhai, Timbuktu, Spain and hasn’t Allah permitted major development in the some deem to be the secular world? Looking back on first generation Muslims at Masjid ul Awwal and An-Nūr Islamic Center, we have been around since the 3^rd decade of the 20^th Century which is enough time to foster four generations of Muslims. Where are they and what have they done to bring about a better life for those who have faith in Allah and His Messenger (ﺼﻠﻰ ﷲ ﻋﻠﻴﻪ ﻮ ﺴﻠﻢ) in the 21^st Century?

I believe we have leaders with good intentions, but a good intention without good development is like a mirage. It takes a lot more to satisfy the thirsts of needy people who are thirsting for more than a Masjid building for prayers. Our prayers, the readings that we quote from The Qur’ān is a system of education that brings to mind living pictures that we must understand if we expect to learn the reasons for the successes and failures of man going back to Adam in the beginning. Obedience to Allah (سُبْحَانَهُ وَتَعَالَى) requires demonstrable actions that translate into real results, not words that evaporate into thin air and leave nothing but traces of memories like a dreamer who has just awakened from a deep sleep.

Allah (سُبْحَانَهُ وَتَعَالَى) has said in Sūrah 28:6,

وَنُمَكِّنَ لَهُمْ فِي الْأَرْضِ

And نُمَكِّنَ | nu-mak-kina | We established | them firmly in the earth. This revelation points us to an earthly promise that will make our everyday experiences more than just a gathering of people who come together for prayer. Where are our strong establishments; where are our schools, hospitals, financial institutions, department stores, factories? Where are our marketplaces, where are our cultural institutions that accommodate our social life, do we have a social life? Are all of these things that make up being firmly established in the earth a scenario waiting for us to die to inherit? If all of this sound too good to be true, perhaps we truly are not the real believers that we think we are.

Is this some kind of holier than thou idea that makes us think that Muslims are waiting to die to experience paradise? Does this mean that we have to give up our citizenship as Muslims in America to achieve lofty ambitions? The inheritance that Allah (سُبْحَانَهُ وَتَعَالَى) speaks of is right here on this earth where we live. When are we going to get it? Do we think that because we speak of Islamic knowledge and contend about the authentic prophetic traditions that all of our cares and woes are going to go away by osmosis? Allah (سُبْحَانَهُ وَتَعَالَى) has answered this question, Sūrah 53:39,

وَأَن لَّيْسَ لِلْإِنسَانِ إِلَّا مَا سَعَى

That there is nothing for the human being except what سَعَى | sa-عā | he worked for. The purpose of our work is to: مَعَايِشَ | ma-عā-yisha | earn something for us to live on. Have we taken an honest look at ourselves and assessed our situation beyond the trappings of the places where we pray? Are we really firmly established in the earth? Is this the best that four generations can do? Allah (سُبْحَانَهُ وَتَعَالَى) has said in Sūrah 75:14,

بَلِ الْإِنسَانُ ﻋَﻟٰﻰ ﻧَﻓْﺴِﻪٖ بَصِيرَةٌ

Nay: Man will see clear evidence against himself. Allah (سُبْحَانَهُ وَتَعَالَى) will debrief our hearing, sight, hands, legs and soul as prima facie self evidence for or against us.

أَقُولُ قَوْلِي هذَا وَأَسْتَغْفِرُ اللهَ لِي وَلَكُم