And the Final Outcome Belongs to the God-Conscious

Occasion: A summary of a Friday khutbah delivered on March 22, 2019, after the attack on worshippers in New ZealandSource: A transcription of a video khutbah by Dr. Ahmed Abouseif — Watch the original video on YouTube

All praise belongs to Allah; we praise Him, seek His help, ask Him for guidance and seek His forgiveness, and we seek refuge in Allah from the evils of our souls and from the misdeeds of our actions. I bear witness that there is no god but Allah alone, without partner, and I bear witness that our master and Prophet Muḥammad is His servant and Messenger ﷺ. To proceed:

I counsel you and myself to have taqwā of Allah and to prepare for meeting Him, Mighty and Majestic.

The New Zealand incident still occupies the thinking of Muslims in every corner of the earth, and we still feel the pain of what recurs of its like from time to time. Someone said to me: I am tired of talking about such topics; why not talk today about keeping ties of kinship? And I am ready for that. But the news comes to you one after another: the drowned, the killed, and tragedies that do not stop, and what remains is that you keep looking into the Book of Allah to know: do these trials that befall the Muslim community harm them and hurt them?

"They will not harm you except for some hurt"

Allah, Glorified is He, says: ﴿لَن يَضُرُّوكُمْ إِلَّا أَذًى﴾ ("They will not harm you except for some hurt") [Āl ʿImrān: 111]. Hurt (adhā) is less than a wound, a wound is less than an amputation, and an amputation is less than killing. It is as though what they do is a wind that brings a little dust against the wall of a strong house.

And the question remains: is the Muslim community truly strong from within, so that nothing comes to it from outside except hurt? Or are its bonds torn, and the factors that bring people together not such as to make them one word, one rank and one feeling?

As for what befell us last week, a young man attacking dozens of worshippers in their place of prayer, it is not the act itself that disturbed us, for it is something that recurs, and whoever says it is a shock is heedless of history, of reality, and of what happens anew every day. What is striking about it, as we mentioned last week, is the manner and the execution, and the slogans its perpetrators raise, through which they summon conflicts that passed centuries ago and battles that faded with time.

Do not burden me with a history I did not witness

Someone said to me at a dinner table: You killed al-Ḥusayn. I said: By Allah, I was not there! And if the subject is going to keep me from dinner, let us postpone it, for the food is fresh and getting cold. Why do we talk about an issue more than a thousand years old in which I was no party? The principle is that, whatever the mistakes of the past, we look with a mindset open to the present and the future.

The seriousness of the call and the frivolity of slogans

I read that Quraysh had more than three hundred idols around the Kaʿbah, and not one of their great men objected to any of them. The slogans raised at that time were slogans of freedom of belief: choose whatever god you like that you make with your own hand and worship it as you wish; we have no problem. But when Muḥammad ﷺ came and said, "There is no god but Allah," the world rose up and would not sit down! What? The man calls to a new god? Count him as one of the three hundred and fifty, and he will be god number 351!^[5] No, there is a great difference between seriousness and frivolity: between one who carries in his head a belief that he carries out as a life and a method, and one who walks at random; and between one who is content to keep his religion to himself and one who wants to spread good in people's hearts.

Quraysh grasped this dimension from the very first moment. The Prophet ﷺ said to them: «قولوا لا إله إلا الله تفلحوا» ("Say: there is no god but Allah, and you will prosper"), and one of them retorted: «تبًّا لك سائر اليوم، ألهذا جمعتنا؟» ("May you perish for the rest of the day! Is it for this that you gathered us?")^[1]. The man grasped that there was an overturning of the supreme authority in society, that the world would be governed by the method of justice, and justice is often not wanted. And he sensed a call to equality among people, and that is unwelcome to many rulers today.

And I fear that what happened will not be the last of what we see, for the first blow tests people's pulse: what will they do? Then those who carry the same thinking grow bold after him. And we seek refuge in Allah from any human being being attacked.

"Do not think it bad for you; rather, it is good for you"

I said at the start of our gathering that we look into the Qur'an, and there our Lord says: ﴿لَا تَحْسَبُوهُ شَرًّا لَّكُم ۖ بَلْ هُوَ خَيْرٌ لَّكُمْ ۚ لِكُلِّ امْرِئٍ مِّنْهُم مَّا اكْتَسَبَ مِنَ الْإِثْمِ ۚ وَالَّذِي تَوَلَّىٰ كِبْرَهُ مِنْهُمْ لَهُ عَذَابٌ عَظِيمٌ﴾ ("Do not think it bad for you; rather, it is good for you. Every person among them will have what he earned of the sin, and the one among them who took upon himself the greater part of it will have a great punishment") [al-Nūr: 11]. These are verses about an incident through which the enemies of this religion wanted to spread chaos within the community by a rumor attacking the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, his honor and his wife, and Allah said: do not think it bad for you; rather, it is good for you.

How do we see the good today? We saw the Friday prayer in that city move outside the mosque because the attendance was greater than it could hold. Is this bad for you or good? And we saw female presenters on television screens in that country appear wearing headscarves, even though they had not become Muslim, out of respect for this symbol that was hidden yesterday and has today become a prominent sign. This is a matter of the utmost importance. Some may say to you: Empty talk, she will take off the headscarf the next day! But these are media symbols that people today do not ignore, and signs pointing to a future. Then a woman of ours walks in this town and finds another woman patting her on the shoulder with a kind word, and this is a very great message.

And the number of messages we received in our modest mosque from priests, monks and neighbors, from those who wrote on Facebook or phoned, is astonishing. By Allah, had we spent a hundred years inviting them to hear the adhān or the verses of the Qur'an in gatherings and assemblies, they would not have listened, even if we had invited them to countless banquets. But they heard them with this incident. Glory be to the One who permits His religion to spread even when we did not intend it; glory be to the One who said: ﴿وَيَمْكُرُونَ وَيَمْكُرُ اللَّهُ ۖ وَاللَّهُ خَيْرُ الْمَاكِرِينَ﴾ ("And they plan, and Allah plans, and Allah is the best of planners") [al-Anfāl: 30].

Your presence is by your voice, not your number

International organizations came out with tweets on Twitter, which is today the accepted means of publishing, expressing a mental turn toward the idea that Islam is something that ought to be taken into account. But are we, on the strength of this, to remind once again that your presence in society is not by number, but by voice?

If each of us took out what is in his pocket of cash and credit cards, we would find that the cards outnumber the cash, because they have become the means of dealing. Likewise your presence: it is not counted by your physical frame so much as by your vote in elections, your influence on the movement of society, your attendance at the monthly meetings the city holds, and your participation in public contribution. Do those around me in the government offices know a person named so-and-so, at such-and-such address, who does such-and-such? Or am I present as a neglected number with no influence and no voice?

The event has awakened people once again to the fact that terrorism is not Islam, but a defect in the system of the soul's balance: in people who hate humanity and hate life, and so they attack, and their claim to belong to Islam is a lie. And there, the ḥadīth of the Prophet ﷺ was recited to the people by a senior official: «مَثَلُ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ فِي تَوَادِّهِمْ وَتَرَاحُمِهِمْ وَتَعَاطُفِهِمْ مَثَلُ الْجَسَدِ، إِذَا اشْتَكَى مِنْهُ عُضْوٌ تَدَاعَى لَهُ سَائِرُ الْجَسَدِ بِالسَّهَرِ وَالْحُمَّى» ("The likeness of the believers in their mutual love, mercy and compassion is that of the body: when one limb of it complains, the rest of the body responds to it with sleeplessness and fever")^[2]. By Allah, if the Muslims acted on this ḥadīth alone, we would find no problem on the ground.

And among some who are affiliated with religious knowledge an issue was raised: is the narration of a disbeliever accepted for ḥadīth or not? Imagine that this is the discussion going on! We have constants, a sacred law, a method, evidence and a Qur'an, and all of that is binding on the children of Islam; if they do not follow it, you do not need someone to attack you in the mosque, for you have already lost your religion and yourself by haphazard immersion in societies.

Reshaping

We mentioned before the Crusades that attacked Muslims in their lands, and then the military machine stopped with time. Why? Because when occupation entered many of our countries, it left after a while and left behind it its followers, who changed the way of thinking, of dress, of dialogue and of inner feeling, and replaced the ties of kinship with excessive selfishness. And those who return to their home countries after years realize this terrible gap.

I believe that our message today is that we need reshaping: reshaping what we believe in, what we have faith in, and what awaits us before Allah. Reshaping within ourselves. As for the constants, they are as they are; whenever you return to them you find them as they are, they do not alter or change.

That young man tried to attack people whose principle is: «اللهم أحينا ما علمت الحياة خيرًا لنا، وتوفنا ما علمت الوفاة خيرًا لنا» ("O Allah, keep us alive as long as You know life is better for us, and take us when You know death is better for us"), people whose principle is one of the two best outcomes: either a dignified life in obedience to Allah, or the Garden of eternity that Allah has prepared for the God-conscious. People whose principle is that the martyr intercedes for seventy of his family^[3]. Had that attacker known the good he did for them, he would have begrudged them this reward before the Lord of the worlds; but it is blindness, and refuge is sought with Allah.

I say these words of mine and ask Allah's forgiveness for myself and for you.

The second khutbah: praise be to Allah, and the final outcome belongs to the God-conscious

All praise belongs to Allah, Lord of the worlds; the final outcome belongs to the God-conscious, and there is no aggression except against the wrongdoers. I bear witness that there is no god but Allah, the King, the Manifest Truth, and I bear witness that our master and Prophet Muḥammad is His servant and Messenger ﷺ.

Our Lord, Glorified is He, says: ﴿وَدَّ كَثِيرٌ مِّنْ أَهْلِ الْكِتَابِ لَوْ يَرُدُّونَكُم مِّن بَعْدِ إِيمَانِكُمْ كُفَّارًا حَسَدًا مِّنْ عِندِ أَنفُسِهِم مِّن بَعْدِ مَا تَبَيَّنَ لَهُمُ الْحَقُّ ۖ فَاعْفُوا وَاصْفَحُوا حَتَّىٰ يَأْتِيَ اللَّهُ بِأَمْرِهِ﴾ ("Many of the People of the Book wish they could turn you back to disbelief after your faith, out of envy from their own selves, after the truth has become clear to them. So pardon and overlook until Allah brings His command") [al-Baqarah: 109]. It is as though He, Glorified is He, is telling us about great souls that embrace humanity and try to convince people, as far as they can, that this is a great religion.

Imagine a small child playing with his father and slapping him on the cheek, and the father grabs him and kills him! Could this happen? No. So too the Muslim mind and the Muslim soul: their principle is to embrace people, convince them and take them by the hand. The Prophet ﷺ met from Abū Jahl a hostility he did not meet from any other man, and the Lord of the worlds willed that the day would come when ʿIkrimah ibn Abī Jahl would stand before the Prophet ﷺ, and the reports say that the Prophet ﷺ granted him amān, that is, gave him safe conduct^[4], and he testified that there is no god but Allah and that Muḥammad is the Messenger of Allah. The spirit of revenge is not ours.

The Qur'an that said ﴿وَدَّ كَثِيرٌ مِّنْ أَهْلِ الْكِتَابِ﴾ ("Many of the People of the Book wish") [al-Baqarah: 109] is the Qur'an that said: ﴿لَيْسُوا سَوَاءً ۗ مِّنْ أَهْلِ الْكِتَابِ أُمَّةٌ قَائِمَةٌ يَتْلُونَ آيَاتِ اللَّهِ آنَاءَ اللَّيْلِ وَهُمْ يَسْجُدُونَ ۝ يُؤْمِنُونَ بِاللَّهِ وَالْيَوْمِ الْآخِرِ وَيَأْمُرُونَ بِالْمَعْرُوفِ وَيَنْهَوْنَ عَنِ الْمُنكَرِ وَيُسَارِعُونَ فِي الْخَيْرَاتِ وَأُولَٰئِكَ مِنَ الصَّالِحِينَ ۝ وَمَا يَفْعَلُوا مِنْ خَيْرٍ فَلَن يُكْفَرُوهُ ۗ وَاللَّهُ عَلِيمٌ بِالْمُتَّقِينَ﴾ ("They are not all alike: among the People of the Book is an upright community who recite the verses of Allah in the hours of the night while they prostrate. They believe in Allah and the Last Day, enjoin what is right, forbid what is wrong and hasten to good deeds, and those are among the righteous. And whatever good they do, it will never be denied them, and Allah knows the God-conscious") [Āl ʿImrān: 113-115]. And it is the Qur'an that said: ﴿وَاقْتُلُوهُمْ حَيْثُ ثَقِفْتُمُوهُمْ﴾ ("And kill them wherever you overtake them") [al-Baqarah: 191], in situations in which He commanded the Muslims to defend themselves, their homes, their families and their religion. And it is the very same Qur'an that said: ﴿وَمِنْ أَهْلِ الْكِتَابِ مَنْ إِن تَأْمَنْهُ بِقِنطَارٍ يُؤَدِّهِ إِلَيْكَ وَمِنْهُم مَّنْ إِن تَأْمَنْهُ بِدِينَارٍ لَّا يُؤَدِّهِ إِلَيْكَ إِلَّا مَا دُمْتَ عَلَيْهِ قَائِمًا﴾ ("And among the People of the Book is he who, if you entrust him with a heap of gold, will return it to you; and among them is he who, if you entrust him with a single dinar, will not return it to you unless you keep standing over him") [Āl ʿImrān: 75]. This is the issue of fairness, and this is the religion you embrace.

Questions for each one of us

I repeat what we mentioned at our last gathering: do you have a tongue with which you can speak about your religion? And behind this tongue, is there a mind that comprehends the Qur'an of your Lord and the Sunnah of your Prophet? And behind it, is there a heart that feels compassion for people and knows that they are a trust on my neck and yours, and that our existence in this period of time is a choice by the Lord of the worlds to see what we do? And do these hearts feel that mercy is the foundation of the message of Islam: ﴿وَمَا أَرْسَلْنَاكَ إِلَّا رَحْمَةً لِّلْعَالَمِينَ﴾ ("And We have not sent you except as a mercy to the worlds") [al-Anbiyāʾ: 107]? That is our message, which we want to spread.

But alongside that, we must be strong to a degree that matches the attack we may face. So use everything available to you within the legal framework to protect your home and your family, and do not hold back from that out of fear of what the media will say. And do not transgress, for that is our motto at the root of our religion, before the American Constitution or any other was laid down: ﴿وَلَا تَعْتَدُوا ۚ إِنَّ اللَّهَ لَا يُحِبُّ الْمُعْتَدِينَ﴾ ("And do not transgress; indeed, Allah does not love transgressors") [al-Baqarah: 190]. Part of that is security systems in homes and mosques, and knowing what happens around them: who came in, who went out and who passed by. And let us know the legal limits of what is permitted to us and what is not, so that we do not err even when our intentions are good, for the law does not hold people to account for their intentions but for their actions, even if the matter is different with the Lord of Might. And we must respect the land we live on and the law that shelters it, to the extent that it does not conflict with the foundation of our Sharīʿah.

And praise be to Allah that, by Allah's grace, we practice everything we want of the matters and landmarks of the Sharīʿah, and no one objects to us. So be upright, may Allah have mercy on you; seek Allah's help in knowing your rights; work earnestly to protect yourselves and your children; and be the best callers to humanity in the land on which you live. I ask Allah for safety and well-being for myself and for you.

--- ^[1]: Editor's documentation: The words «تبًّا لك سائر اليوم، ألهذا جمعتنا؟» ("May you perish for the rest of the day! Is it for this that you gathered us?") were narrated by al-Bukhārī and Muslim from the ḥadīth of Ibn ʿAbbās (may Allah be pleased with them both); the speaker in the narration is Abū Lahab, whom the khaṭīb left unnamed. As for the phrase «قولوا لا إله إلا الله تفلحوا» ("Say: there is no god but Allah, and you will prosper"), it came in other narrations (among them in the Musnad of Aḥmad (19004), from the ḥadīth of Rabīʿah ibn ʿAbbād al-Dīlī (may Allah be pleased with him) in the market of Dhū al-Majāz, and Shuʿayb al-Arnaʾūṭ said: "ṣaḥīḥ li-ghayrihi"), and it is not combined with these words in the narration of the two Ṣaḥīḥs. ^[2]: Editor's documentation: Narrated by Muslim (2586) from the ḥadīth of al-Nuʿmān ibn Bashīr (may Allah be pleased with them both); the wording given is that of Muslim, and al-Bukhārī narrated it with similar wording. ^[3]: Editor's documentation: In the Sunan of Abū Dāwūd (2522), from Abū al-Dardāʾ (may Allah be pleased with him): «يُشَفَّعُ الشَّهِيدُ فِي سَبْعِينَ مِنْ أَهْلِ بَيْتِهِ» ("The martyr's intercession is accepted for seventy of his household"), and the meaning is what the khaṭīb mentioned. ^[4]: Editor's documentation: Al-Nawawī mentioned in Tahdhīb al-Asmāʾ wa-l-Lughāt, with the formula "it is said," that ʿIkrimah's wife travelled to him in Yemen with the amān of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, brought him back, and he embraced Islam and his Islam was good; the origin of the story of his Islam is in al-Muwaṭṭaʾ from al-Zuhrī as a mursal report, and al-Nawawī said in al-Tarkhīṣ bi-l-Qiyām: "It was narrated mursal; it may be used as evidence because of its supporting reports." ^[5]: Editor's documentation: The khaṭīb mentioned that the idols around the Kaʿbah were more than three hundred, then gave the number three hundred and fifty as an illustration; what is established in the ḥadīth of Ibn Masʿūd (may Allah be pleased with him) in al-Bukhārī and Muslim is: «دخل النبي ﷺ مكة وحول البيت ستون وثلاثمائة نُصُب» ("The Prophet ﷺ entered Makkah while around the House there were three hundred and sixty stone idols"), and Ibn Kathīr and al-Qurṭubī cited it in explaining the verse: ﴿وَقُلْ جَاءَ الْحَقُّ وَزَهَقَ الْبَاطِلُ﴾ ("And say: the truth has come and falsehood has perished") [al-Isrāʾ: 81].