A Qur'anic Odyssey: Examining the Imams in the Islamic Community of Prophet Muhammed and Examining Ourselves

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

A Qur’anic Odyssey: Examining the Imāms in the Islāmic Community of Prophet Muhammed and Examining Ourselves

Khatīb: Jibrīl Abdul-Hafīz (جبريل عبدالحفيظ)

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

Friday, January 30, 2009 / Khutba-tul-Jumu’ah, Safar 4, 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 of this traditional salutation.

Allah (سُبْحَانَهُ وَتَعَالَى) has said in Sūrah 2:285,

آمَنَ الرَّسُولُ بِمَا أُنزِلَ إِلَيْهِ مِن رَّبِّهِ وَالْمُؤْمِنُونَ كُلٌّ آمَنَ بِاﷲ وَمَلآئِكَتِهِ وَكُتُبِهِ وَرُسُلِهِ لاَ نُفَرِّقُ بَيْنَ أَحَدٍ مِّن رُّسُلِهِ وَقَالُواْ سَمِعْنَا وَأَطَعْنَا غُفْرَانَكَ
رَبَّنَا وَإِلَيْكَ الْمَصِيرُ

Upon review of Allah’s Messenger (ﺼﻠﻰ ﷲ ﻋﻠﻴﻪ ﻮ ﺴﻠﻢ) and his companions (ra) reaction to what Allah (سُبْحَانَهُ وَتَعَالَى) has revealed, what is the position of our Imāms and their companions? Is it سَمِعْنَا وَأَطَعْنَا | sa-miع-nā-wa-a-taع-nā | we heard and we obeyed? Commenting on this revelation the Messenger of Allah (ﺼﻠﻰ ﷲ ﻋﻠﻴﻪ ﻮ ﺴﻠﻢ) in response to his companions concerns (ra) that this would be too much of a hardship on them; he said,

«أَتُرِيدُونَ أَنْ تَقُولُوا كَما قَالَ أَهْلُ الْكِتَابَيْنِ مِنْ قَبْلِكُمْ: سَمِعْنَا وَعَصَيْنَا؟ بَلْ قُولُوا: سَمِعْنَا وَأَطَعْنَا غُفْرَانَكَ رَبَّنَا وَإِلَيْكَ الْمَصِير»

Do you wish to say what the people of the Two Books said before you? They said: we heard and we disobeyed, rather say: we heard and we obeyed, our Lord, grant us Your forgiveness and to You is the final destiny. Where are the Islāmic communities that we have developed in obedience to what Allah (سُبْحَانَهُ وَتَعَالَى) has said in Sūrah 3:104?

وَلْتَكُن مِّنكُمْ أُمَّةٌ يَدْعُونَ إِلَى الْخَيْرِ وَيَأْمُرُونَ بِالْمَعْرُوفِ وَيَنْهَوْنَ عَنِ الْمُنكَرِ وَأُوْلَـئِكَ هُمُ الْمُفْلِحُونَ

In following this line of thought about examining the reading that we just mentioned, I have yet to find after thirty-three years of khutbahs in Pittsburgh a true demonstration of hearing and obeying Allah’s guidance with regards to doing something for ourselves beyond giving sermons using Qur’ānic slogans, concluded by readings a few revelations in prayer, sajdah and never translating our sermons into facts on the ground.

Why do we talk like this? Because, if we are true to Allah (سُبْحَانَهُ وَتَعَالَى), His Book, His Messenger (ﺼﻠﻰ ﷲ ﻋﻠﻴﻪ ﻮ ﺴﻠﻢ), to the Imāms and our companions, we must hold ourselves accountable to the truth as Allah (سُبْحَانَهُ وَتَعَالَى) has said in Sūrah 61:2-3,

يَا أَيُّهَاالَّذِينَ آَمَنُوا لِمَ تَقُولُونَ مَا لَا تَفْعَلُونَ كَبُرَ مَقْتًا عِندَﷲِ أَن تَقُولُوا مَا لَا تَفْعَلُونَ

Qur’ānic sermons that is not translated into facts on the ground is condemned in the harshest terms كَبُرَ مَقْتًا | ka-bu-ra-maq-tan | most hateful it is with Allah that you say what you do not تَفْعَلُونَ | taf- عa-lūn | do! In a hadith commenting on the facts in this revelation, the Messenger of Allah (ﺼﻠﻰ ﷲ ﻋﻠﻴﻪ ﻮ ﺴﻠﻢ) has said,

«أَرْبَعٌ مَنْ كُنَّ فِيهِ كَانَ مُنَافِقًا خَالِصًا،وَمَنْ كَانَتْ فِيهِ وَاحِدَةٌ مِنْهُنَّ كَانَتْ فِيهِ خَصْلَةٌ مِنْ نِفَاقٍ ﺤَﺗﱠﻰ يَدَعَهَا»

There are four characteristics which if anyone has all of them he is a pure hypocrite, and if anyone has any of them, he has a characteristic of hypocrisy until he abandons it. I am reminded that Lady Ayesha (ra) was asked about the character of Prophet Muhammed (ﺼﻠﻰ ﷲ ﻋﻠﻴﻪ ﻮ ﺴﻠﻢ) and she said in essence: ﭐﻠﺤَﻲﱠ ﭐﻠﻗُﺭﺁﻦُ ﻜَﺎﻦَ ﻫُﻮَ | He is the living Qur’ān.

There are some sacred things that we must do on the ground to demonstrate that we have heard and obeyed Allah (سُبْحَانَهُ وَتَعَالَى) as the prophetic hadith from the Messenger of Allah (ﺼﻠﻰ ﷲ ﻋﻠﻴﻪ ﻮ ﺴﻠﻢ) point to in a sacred report,

Allah (Mighty and Sublime is He) will say on the Day of Judgment: O son of Adam, I fell ill and you did not visit Me. He will say: O my Lord how should I visit you when You are the Lord of the worlds? He will say: Didn’t you know that My servant so-and-so had fallen ill and you didn’t visit him. Didn’t you know that had you visited him you would have found Me with him? O son of Adam, I asked you for food and you did not feed Me. He will say: O my Lord how could I feed You when you are the Lord of all the worlds? He will say: Didn’t you know that My servant so-and-so asked you for food and you didn’t feed him. Didn’t you know that had you fed him you surely would have found that (reward for doing so) with Me?

أَقُولُ قَوْلِي هذَا وَأَسْتَغْفِرُ اللهَ لِي وَلَكُم