The Reality of Muslim World
The Reality of Muslim World
All thanks and praise are due to Allah, from Whom we seek help and forgiveness. We seek refuge
with Allah from the evils of ourselves and the evil consequences of our deeds. Whoever Allah
guides will never be misled and whoever strays from Him will never find a guide. I bear witness
that there is no god except Allah. Likewise, I bear witness that Muhammad is the servant and the
Messenger of Allah.
Dear brothers and sisters: Undoubtedly the Muslim Ummah is suffering from many problems.
Analyses for these problems are a many. However, as Muslims, we should depend on the texts of
the Qur’an and the Sunnah.
Why do Muslims hate, fight and kill one another? Palestinians fight against Palestinians, Lebanese
against Lebanese, Somalis against Somalis, Sudanese against Sudanese, etc. There is a verse in the
Qur’an that provides the reason. The Qur’an declares:
“…they forgot a good part of the Message that was sent them: so We estranged them, with
enmity and hatred between the one and the other, to the Day of Judgment.”
So they forgot part of the message. They do not follow the whole of Islam. They seek official
positions and high status. They are interested in worldly pleasures, wealth and property. The
Prophet [pbuh] warned Muslims in his last speech [Farewell speech] against such fighting, saying:
“Don’t be a kuffar after me by fighting against one another. The Prophet [pbuh] described enmity
and fighting amongst Muslims as a kind of Kufr.
Dear brothers and sisters: Another analysis is that human nature usually contradicts divine
obligations. For example, human nature always prefers to keep money whilst the divine obligation
is to spend it. Human nature always encourages one to look lustfully at women whilst the divine
obligation encourages one to lower his gaze, and so on. One must face the human self that
encourages that which is prohibited. The proof of this in the Qur’an is as follows:
And for such as had entertained the fear of standing before their Lord's (tribunal) and had
restrained (their) soul from lower Desires, Their Abode will be the Garden.’ [An-Nazi’aat]
The reward for facing that is paradise. The divine obligations are collective whilst human nature is
individual. By acting according to the former and cooperating with you brothers, you will be the
winner. By following your desires at the expense of your brothers because of weak faith, you will
be the loser. Be gentle with your Muslim brothers, not harsh or severe. Allah guided the Prophet
to do that:
“It is part of the Mercy of Allah that thou dost deal gently with them. Wert thou severe or harshhearted,
they would have broken away from about thee: so pass over (their faults), and ask for
(Allah's) forgiveness for them; and consult them in affairs (of moment). [Al-Imraan]
Dear brothers and sisters: There are many challenges facing the Muslim community. The most
serious challenge is material relations amongst people. Nowadays, some people sacrifice for the
sake of wealth or position. Muslims today are in urgent need of the moral teachings of Islam. The
Muslim community urgently needs to know and learn the value of Islamic brotherhood, how to
treat one another, how to understand one another, how to excuse one another, how to forgive one
another and how to make dialogue with one another for the sake of Muslim unity; not for the sake
of position or wealth. I mentioned in the last Khutbah that the disasters afflicting the Muslim
Ummah and the wars they fought and won through history were because of differences and enmity
amongst themselves.
The Qur’an emphasises the importance of Islamic brotherhood and the importance of mutual love
for the sake of Allah, Who said, ‘The Believers are but a single Brotherhood: so make peace and
reconciliation between your two (contending) brothers…” The Islamic brotherhood is a favour
from Allah as he mentioned in surat Ala-Imraan:
And hold fast, all together, by the Rope which Allah (stretches out for you), and be not divided
amongst yourselves and remember with gratitude Allah's favour on you; for ye were enemies
and He joined your hearts in love, so that by His Grace, ye became brethren …” [Ala-Imran]
The Prophet [pbuh] also focused on the importance of brotherhood and mutual love. He said,
‘whoever gives for the sake of Allah, prevents for sake of Allah, loves for the sake of Allah or
hates for the sake of Allah fulfils his faith.” [Collected by At-Tirmidhi] He said also ‘The Muslim
is a brother to another Muslim. Do not be unjust to him, abandoning him to the enemy…etc.’ The
Prophet also emphasised the rights of a Muslim over another Muslim. There are many ways to
make this love grow and develop. The first is to love for the sake of Allah. The second is to
remove rancour, envy, hostility, ill-will and to think good of your brother as the Prophet [pbuh]
mentioned in the Hadith. Thirdly, do not boycott your brother for more than three days as the
Prophet mentioned in the Hadith. Fourthly, offer sincere advice. Fifthly, know the value and
bounty of brotherhood. Sixthly, be clear and honest. Seventhly, be forgiving and tolerant.
Ninthly, recognise the etiquette of dialogue. All these means are quoted from authentic hadiths of
the Prophet [pbuh].
Dear brothers and sisters: What are the fruits of the Islamic brotherhood and love for the sake of
Allah? The most important fruit is the unity and coherence of the Muslim community. As a result,
no one can corrupt relations amongst the Muslim Ummah. Among other fruits is to feel that you
are not facing life’s challenges alone. So, brotherhood is part of faith. You have to believe in that.
Dear brothers and sisters: Muslims have to understand that the most destructive and dangerous
thing for them is to differ or fight amongst themselves as we have seen. We must return to the
teachings of Islam and of our Prophet by strengthening the relations amongst ourselves,
supporting, forgiving and loving one another. This is the way to a successful community.
Maintaining the status quo of Muslims requires forgiveness, agreement, co-operation and
closeness.
Finally: We ask Him to reform all affairs of Muslims, to provide us with strong will to change our
situation for the better and to provide the entire Muslim Ummah with glory, strength and unity. We
ask Him also to accept our deeds, prayers, and supplications. Ameen
:tti_sister:
Something along the line of muslimer.com/.net/.org if those are available, or islaminorge.com or something... (Remind you, there is a site called IslamNorge.cjb.net, just so you dont "steal" their name hehe)
