The State of Muslim Life: Reflecting on 1,430 Years of Religion in Al-Islaam

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

The State of Muslim Life: Reflecting on 1,430 Years of Religion in Al-Islām

Khatīb: Jibrīl Abdul-Hafīz (جبريل عبدالحفيظ)

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

Friday, January 2, 2009 / Khutba-tul-Jumu’ah, Al-Muharram 5, 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 after this noble invocation.

In the Opening of the Qur’ān, Sūrah 1:4, Allah (سُبْحَانَهُ وَتَعَالَى) has said

مَـلِكِ يَوْمِ الدِّينِ

Allah (سُبْحَانَهُ وَتَعَالَى) the Ruler of the Day of Religion, has said in the Qur’ān, Sūrah 59:23

هُوَ ﷲُ الَّذِى لاَ إِلَـهَ إِلاَّ هُوَ الْمَلِكُ الْقُدُّوسُ اﻟﺴﱠﻶﻢُ

We are blessed to be gathered here alive in peace as scores of people are dying because we have not learned to live together trusting the Creator enough to show us how to reconcile our ethnic, political, and cultural differences without bigotry and attempting to annihilate one another. It is said that the day of religion is a time of judgment wherein our deeds will be weighed according to what we do with the life that we have been given responsibility for.

A narrative from the prophetic traditions gives us a position on the issue of sovereignty, Prophet Muhammed (ﺼﻠﻰ ﷲ ﻋﻠﻴﻪ ﻮ ﺴﻠﻢ) has said:

«أَخْنَعُ اسْمٍ عِنْدَ اللهِ رَجُلٌ تَسَمَّى بِمَلِكِ الْأَمْلَاكِ وَلَا مَالِكَ إِلَّا اللهُ»

“The most despicable name to Allah is a person who calls himself the king of kings, while there are no sovereigns except Allah.” One Thousand, Four hundred and thirty years ago Makkan Arabs gang bangers forced Muslims into exile trying to keep them from living a life in obedience Allah (سُبْحَانَهُ وَتَعَالَى). An important lesson from this historical calendar setting event is that history was standing still for Muslims until took a stand on this earth and said, no more running: “Surely my prayer, my sacrifice, my life and my death is for Allah, He alone is without partners and by this I commanded!”

In the Qur’ān, Sūrah 7:10, Allah (سُبْحَانَهُ وَتَعَالَى) has said:

وَلَقَدْ مَكَّنَّـكُمْ فِى الاٌّرْضِ وَجَعَلْنَا لَكُمْ فِيهَا مَعَـيِشَ قَلِيلاً مَّا تَشْكُرُونَ

Allah (سُبْحَانَهُ وَتَعَالَى) advances us with His knowledge by upgrading our language and when we do diligent research our understanding of the revealed scriptures is increased; thus: مَكَّنَّـكُمْ |mak-kan-nā-kum | We gave you authority along with earning مَعَـيِشَ | maﻉā-yi-sha | livelihoods is a means to provides income to live on, especially paid work; this issue is addressed in scripture to remind us that we will remain undeveloped as long as we idle our lives away on the margins of society. In the Qur’ān, Sūrah 8:24, Allah (سُبْحَانَهُ وَتَعَالَى) has said:

يأَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ ءَامَنُواْ اسْتَجِيبُواْ ِللهِ وَلِلرَّسُولِ إِذَا دَعَاكُمْ لِمَا يُحْيِيكُمْ وَاعْلَمُواْ أَنَّ ﷲَ يَحُولُ بَيْنَ الْمَرْءِ وَقَلْبِهِ

اسْتَجِيبُواْ | is-ta-jī-bū | respond! and يَحُولُ | ya-hūl | He (Allah) comes in between our hearts; therefore, understand this message in the context of the imperative order: اسْتَجِيبُواْ | is-ta-jī-bū | respond communicates that the answer is obedience to Allah (سُبْحَانَهُ وَتَعَالَى) and His Messenger (ﺼﻠﻰ ﷲ ﻋﻠﻴﻪ ﻮ ﺴﻠﻢ) if we want a successful victory over our emotions and protection for our soul from the hellfire in this life and the next. In traditional prophetic narratives it is recorded that the Prophet (ﺼﻠﻰ ﷲ ﻋﻠﻴﻪ ﻮ ﺴﻠﻢ) questioned someone he had spoke to, asking: Why didn’t you answer me? Afterwards, he recited Sūrah 7:10 which is mentioned above; and followed that by saying:

«لَأُعَلِّمَنَّكَ أَعْظَمَ سُورَةٍ فِي الْقُرآنِ قَبْلَ أَنْ أَخْرُج»

“I will teach you the greatest Sūrahs in the Qur’ān before I leave.” The Messenger of Allah (ﺼﻠﻰ ﷲ ﻋﻠﻴﻪ ﻮ ﺴﻠﻢ) recited the opening of the Book slow and clear, letter by letter, saying:

«الْحَمْدُ للهِ رَبَ الْعَالَمِينَ أُمُّ الْقُرْآنِ وَأُمُّ الْكِتَابِ وَالسَّبْعُ الْمَثَانِي وَالْقُرْآنُ الْعَظِيمُ»

Al-hamdu-lilāhi Rab-bil عā-la-mīn is the mother of the Qur’ān and the mother of the Book is the seven oft-repeated Ayah of the Qur’ān. It is said that there are 1.5 billion Muslims in existence; if we had a half of that number obeying Allah (سُبْحَانَهُ وَتَعَالَى) we would not be as incompetent as we are today. A narrative outlines Prophet Muhammad’s (ﺼﻠﻰ ﷲ ﻋﻠﻴﻪ ﻮ ﺴﻠﻢ) position: “Seeking knowledge is an obligation on every Muslim.” I say this and I ask Allah’s forgiveness for me and for you.