Transcription
We are all aware that a few days ago, our masid, our community, was unprovoked, targeted by people whose hearts were so full of hatred, whose ideologies were so misguided that if anything, we felt more pity for them than anything else. They came from out of the state. They flew in and they brought their buses and they thought they would get a massive crowd because they had campaigned for weeks wanting to protest not just against us but against our faith, against our God, against our prophet sallallah.aii wasallam, against our presence in this land. They came thinking that the world, the community, this country is behind them. And they showed up with barely 50 people from different places, not even from around Plano. And they shouted and ranted and they screamed and they raved and they left within 15 minutes having made nothing but a comical failure of their own efforts, having embarrassed themselves and the cause that they allegedly stood for, having shown that they neither represent the teachings of the prophet Jesus, nor even do they have the support of the broad-minded, the greater community of this city or of this country.
Now that that debacle is over, let us now assess some of what our religion teaches us we should be doing. Because even though they have gone, unfortunately, that hate, that misunderstanding lingers on and that type of ideology will continue to be showing itself from time to time and we will have to face that reality. So what do we do in light of this new understanding? What will be our response? I will lay out from the Quran and Sunnah seven practical steps that we should always have in mind that should guide us not just through this type of bigotry, this type of hatred, this type of Islamophobia, but frankly through any crisis that happens in our lives. Much of this has been said in different ways, but reminders are always beneficial. And I ask you to think about these seven points and apply them to your own lives as you go through one struggle and trial after another.
The first of these is to remind ourselves of the fact that Allah has already told us that life is going to be difficult. That we will face bigotry and hatred. That we will face people who hate us for no reason. As Abu Bakr stood up when the prophet sallallah.aii alaihi wasallam was persecuted, when he was beaten, stood up and said, "Are you going to hit and try to kill somebody simply because he's reminding you to worship your God?" Abu Bakr couldn't understand why are you so full of anger? Where is this hatred coming from? It's nothing new. And the Quran and the Sunnah remind us this shall be a part and parcel of being a person who walks in the footsteps of the prophets. Allah says, "You will be tested. You shall be tested in your persons, in your bodies, in your families. Your wealth will be tested and you're going to hear from those who have rejected Allah. You will hear things that will hurt you." This is in the Quran, Baqarah. Allah is being very explicit. Nothing new. And in fact, broader than this, not just Islamophobia, not just bigotry, we are reminded in the Quran that in fact, life itself will have difficulties. Not just from those who reject our faith, in our personal lives, we will have financial crisis, health crisis, family crisis, societal crisis. Why? Allah reminds us in the Quran, "Do you think you'll be left alone and Allah hasn't tested your faith?" So, point number one, understand every trial, every calamity, every difficulty, whether it is public like what happened last week, or whether it is private, all of us have our private difficulties. Understand that the wisdom for that calamity is to test your iman and to raise your ranks. The goal of being tested by Allah is not to fail you. It is to raise you up. And you will only be raised up if you answer that test the way you're supposed to answer. Remember, there is no failing in the exam of Allah. If you put in your best effort, if you tried and you wanted to pass and you had the sincere desire to pass, then you shall pass the exam of Allah. So, point number one, be prepared. This is going to happen. It happened last week. It's going to happen again. And our lives, all of it. "Did you think you'd be left alone and we wouldn't test you? No. We tested the people before you. We're going to test you as well." And through those tests, what is the goal? Allah will see who is speaking the truth when they say, "We believe," versus those who say they believe but they're not really believing. The goal of the test is to rise up and act in the appropriate manner. And alhamdulillah, last week we acted in that manner. That was one of the ways we passed the test.
Point number two, one of the wisdoms of these trials and tests, one of the Quranic and Sunnah commandments is that when the going gets tough, the tough get on their knees and they pray to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. I know this is generic, but I ask you bluntly, when was the last time as soon as a news came to you that hurt you, as soon as you heard of a tragedy, as soon as you found out something painful happened, instantaneously, instead of thinking about the dunya, your heart turned to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala? That is the sign of iman. When the calamity comes, when you find out they're going to be picketing outside the masid, they're going to be saying slurs, they're going to be threatening our women and children, they're going to be burning the Quran. The first reaction of the believer should be to turn to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala to say, as the Quran says, that when the believers were surrounded in the battle of Uhud, when the believers were surrounded, they said, "Aren't you scared?" Be scared. And Allah says, "But the believers, their iman went up and they said, 'This is a sign of iman.'" When news of a tragedy comes, when you find out a loved one has died, when you hear about a personal loss in your wealth, in your family, next time that happens, rewind the tape in your mind. Go back to that instantaneous moment and see, examine, did you actually turn to Allah? Allah says in the Quran, "What is the characteristic of the believer?" Learn this reality that the believer turns to Allah the second he hears of a calamity and tragedy. Why? Because without Allah, we will never pass. Without Allah, we will fail. Without Allah, there is no hope. And so when the world seems hopeless, when the world seems full of anger and hatred, our hearts have to turn to our Lord and creator. And if we find that there's a lag, there's a time, if we find that that's not happening, we need to work on that, rectify it. Because honestly, that is a sign of weakness of iman. If we take hours, days, weeks to remember Allah, without a doubt, this is a sign of weakness of iman. And that is not healthy. So, point number two, learn from the Quran and the Sunnah that at times of difficulty, at times of tragedy, instantaneously our hearts must turn to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. Make dua to Allah, reach out to Allah. That is the essence of iman and tawa.
Point number three, the Quran teaches us, the Sunnah teaches us, the Hadith teaches us that you have to make a decision. We didn't know what to do last week. How do we respond? Three and four, points number three and four, you respond in the following manner. Number three, you yourself pray and ask Allah to guide you to the right decision at an individual level. And then point number four, at the community level, you bring the people involved together. Or if it's a family matter, you bring the people involved together. Or if it is an issue of the business, you bring the business partners together and you make a decision not single-handedly, not thinking you know best, but as the Quran says, you consult the people that can give you ideas. So, point number three and four, you're faced with a calamity. You don't know how to react. We have mobs coming outside the mosque, burning the Quran, throwing pigs at us. What to do? I had an idea. He had an idea. She had an idea. First and foremost, pray. How to do so is another topic, but that's you can log on and check it online. Turn to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. Raise your hands to Allah and make a sincere dua. "Ya Allah, whatever is the best way forward, guide it to me." Our mother Aisha said, I would hear the Prophet (PBUH) in the Ruku' and in the Sujood, he would be making dua to Allah. What was his dua? "Oh Allah, guide me in that which everybody's confused about. I don't know which way to go. Guide me to the right decision." Ifam is saying, "Ya Allah, in matters that are confusing, in matters that there's multiple ways to respond, ya Allah, you I need you to tell me what is the best way forward." So individually, ask Allah for the right decision. Then when you have pure hearts, you've eliminated your ego, then go to the people that are also going to be affected by this decision. Go to the people that are experts. Go to the people that know and then bring out opinions, ideas, discuss and then follow the consultative body. Our scholars of the past said, "Whoever consults Allah and then consults the people shall never be distressed or sad at their decision." Whoever consults Allah and then he made sure will never be disappointed in what they have done. Unfortunately, all too often, all too often we neglect both of these and we think we know better without even once raising our hands to Allah. "Ya Allah, this is confusing. I don't know what to do. Ya Allah, tell me what I should be doing. Guide me to the best decision." And then asking the people, asking the experts. Do I need to go back to the Hadith that you all know? Every single major decision that affected the community, the Prophet sallallah.aii wasallam gathered the people that will be affected. What should we do with the battle of Badr? What should we do when Abu Sufyan and his caravan are outside? What should we do when the confederates have come? What should we do when they're negotiating the treaty in this manner? Every time, and he is the Prophet of Allah sallallahu alaihi wasallam, and yet he asks, "What should we do?" And they collectively talk and back and forth. And subhanAllah, last week as well, there were three or four different opinions out there and I had an opinion and others had an opinion and we discussed and we debated. We brought in the lawyers, we brought in the PR experts, we had a meeting and then we collectively said, "This is the best decision." And that, alhamdulillah, turned out to be the best decision: to fight that hatred with love, to respond to that anger with politeness and kindness and to show them who we are and to have positive signs and let them rant and rave. Do not resort to their level. And that turned out to be a massive victory after shura had been done. Even though some had other ideas and they were also good because here's another point. When it comes to these gray areas, every idea has pros and cons. Every idea has some good to it. So when you pray to Allah, point number three, and then you make shura with others, that is your biggest mechanism that inshallah, the decision will be the best decision to be done. The same applies when it comes to decisions related to the family, decisions related to any other project. Ask the experts. Ask those that have traversed before you. Ask the people of wisdom and ask those that will be affected and then make the collective decision.
Point number five, Allah says, "Once you have done all of this and you've gotten the opinion that you want to do, then go ahead and do it and put your tawakkul in Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala." Realize you can only do so much and you need Allah to help you. So once you make that decision, do not go back, do not hesitate, do not, you know, double-guess yourself. Once you have the means, now you have the decision, it's going to be done, go ahead and do it and put your trust in Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. Because every time we have an ambiguous issue in our lives, we're not 100% certain, should we do this? Should we do that? And Allah is saying, "It's okay. Once you have followed the protocol, go ahead and put your trust in Allah and do the decision that you have collectively come to." And that decision will be the best decision in the long run. There should be good thoughts of Allah. There should be tawakkul in Allah. No matter what the decision was, even if you don't see the impact immediately, if you followed the right protocol, that will be the best decision in the long run. We see this in the treaty of Hudaybiyyah when Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala told the Prophet (PBUH) what to do, he did it. Some of the Sahabah didn't understand and the Prophet (PBUH) said, "Allah will not misguide us. Allah will not take us to places we should not go." And that is exactly what happened. That Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala blessed the treaty of Hudaybiyyah and it came to be the biggest victory. Even though when it happened, so many of the people were confused, "How is this a victory? We've lost." But they followed the protocol. They did everything they were supposed to do. This is what Allah is saying. Once you do it, then bismillah, it's done. Put your trust in Allah.
And this leads to point six. Alhamdulillah, we didn't have to do it for this issue, but point six, it happens in our lives. What is point six? This is a satanic trap. A trap of Shaitan. The Prophet (PBUH) said, "Never open the door of 'what if'." Because the door of 'what if' is a trap of Shaitan. What does this mean? Point number six is the following: Once you have done everything and it turns out in your minds that the decision wasn't right, you see that your decision actually turned out to be a failure. You regret it in your mind. Alhamdulillah, last week that didn't happen. But sometimes it happens that you follow the protocol and you think that it was the wrong idea. "What was I thinking?" As long as you followed the correct protocol, the Prophet (PBUH) said, "Do not ever go back and rethink, double-guess the Qadr of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. Do not say, 'What if this? If only I had done this.'" And this is what the hypocrites did in the battle of Uhud. When the battle of Uhud seemed to be a setback, even though in the long run, because a minor setback sometimes leads to a big victory in the end, seemed to be a setback at the time. Of course, later on it turns into a victory for the Ummah. But what did the hypocrites say? Even though the protocol was followed, what did they say? "If they had followed our plan, the disaster wouldn't have happened. If they had only listened to us, if they had obeyed our plan, then none of this would have happened." And Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala criticizes this in the Quran. Once the protocol has been done, do not double-guess and go back because this means it was Allah's Qadr, as the Prophet (PBUH) said. Rather say, "Allah's Qadr has happened, and whatever Allah decreed, that is going to happen." And put your trust in Allah that what will happen will be for the good in the long run. So, point number six, do not play the double-guessing game. Do not go down the path of self-doubt. Do not open the door of Shaitan. "What if this? How about that?" It's a done deal. You made the decision. And maybe in the short run, some negatives will happen. Maybe. But point number six, put your trust in Allah. And do not let Shaitan win you over because the Prophet (PBUH) said this is the door of Shaitan opening up. Once you get there, then alas, you will become demoralized. You will start thinking about everything too much. You will have a type of spiritual crisis. That's not what we do. We shut that door and we say, "Inna lillahi wa inna ilayhi raji'un."
And point number seven, the final point, once everything is done, no matter what the outcome, there should always be humility and thankfulness to Allah. Once you have done the decision, everything is finished. Make sure you thank Allah specifically for what happened and your actions. As the Prophet (PBUH) multiple times, when everything was all done, he would fall down in shukr, he would thank Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. When he entered Mecca finally, having done the conquest of Mecca, he didn't enter with his chest puffed up, he didn't enter bragging and boasting. He entered with his head down in humility. He entered, as Malik said, his head was so low that it was touching the back of the camel. Nobody rides a camel with your neck so low, but showing shukr to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. When there is victory, when there is alhamdulillah, positive outcome, thank Allah for the good. And if the outcome was not positive, still thank Allah and expect Allah will bring good from that outcome. Your heart should always be humble. Never ever give the credit to yourself. It is all from Allah. If a person feels, "I did this, this was my plan, this was my idea," this is a sign of arrogance that goes against the essence of iman. It is Allah who gifted us. It is Allah who guided us. It is Allah who protected us. And if we thank Allah, He will give us even more. But the minute we take credit and the minute we start attributing it to our ego, then we have failed the test of iman.
These are seven basic lessons that I want us to absorb and implement not just for Islamophobia but for any aspect of our lives. Point number one, realize that tests and trials will happen. Point number two, turn to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala for spiritual strength. Point number three, ask Allah to guide you physically what to do best. Point number four, ask the experts and the people of knowledge and make sure. Point number five, understand that once the decision is done, then Point number six, do not blame yourself. Do not double-guess yourself even if things don't go the right way because Allah will bring something positive. And point number seven, throughout all of this, show humility, show dignity, show the proper adab and be thankful to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. Inshallah, because we followed these things collectively, inshallah, Allah blessed us to follow these steps. What happened last week turned out to be a massive failure for the other side. Every single news article without exception, every single source that mentioned what happened, they portrayed those people the way they deserve to be portrayed, like a raving lunatic mob, like people that were doing things that were unreasonable. And they portrayed us the way that we acted, alhamdulillah, with dignity. And all of this is from Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala because we acted the way that Allah has taught us to act, the way that the Sunnah has taught us to act. May Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala bless us with the Quran and may He make us of those who His verses they understand and apply halal and haram throughout our lifespan. Ask Allah's forgiveness. You as well ask Him for His mercy. Alhamdulillah. All praise is due to Allah, the one and the unique. It is He whom we worship and it is His blessings that we seek. He is the Lord of the oppressed and He hears the prayer of the weak. As to what follows.
One very observable fact about last week's media coverage and protests was that every single article that mentioned the protest also mentioned the good that Epic is doing for the community. And the fact that we are at the forefront of feeding the hungry, of offering food pantries to everybody who needs it. For years, we have offered more than 300,000 meals to the needy, of opening our own facility when the temperatures become sub-zero. The homeless have one place they can come to. No other community center as large as ours. No other faith community opens its actual faith service. Our own gymnasium is open and hundreds of people over the course of 5 years. We have catered to over 8,000 people have alhamdulillah come to our actual facility because they're sub-zero temperatures outside. And every article that mentioned the protesters also mentioned, "But this is the community that is doing all of this." And the irony of ironies, as the protesters were protesting, subhanAllah, at the exact same time they chose to protest was the time that we offer our regular weekly Saturday food pantry. And they were standing in the road blocking the poor people from being fed by Epic. It was Allah's plan. Photographs were being taken that those people are ranting and raving, getting angry at us for doing what? Our job as Muslims, feeding the hungry. They were literally the cops had to tell them, "Get away. There's people in line." There were long lines of cars. As you know, every Saturday we have hundreds of people come. We don't ask where you're from, what ethnicity, and we all know the majority of them are outside of this community. That's fine. We want to feed everybody. At the same time they're protesting, literally 20 feet away was our free clinic that was offering its services for anybody who's walking in. And this was something that every article without exception reported. Now, I have to be very clear here. We should not and cannot do these services in order for the PR. That will be against our faith. Allah clearly says in the Quran, "They give of their food and they share with their with the needy and they say, 'We don't want any thanks from you. Our Lord will thank us.'" Our intention cannot be for PR, it has to be for our Lord. But at the same time, if Allah blesses us with a positive image, alhamdulillah, that is great. We're not going to say no to that. So when we give to these causes, our intention should be, "This is what Allah wants us to do." Feeding the hungry, taking care of the one who doesn't have any shelter. Literally, our mother Khadijah, what did she say to the Prophet (PBUH) when he came back? What did she say describing his life? "You feed the hungry, you give shelter to the one who has no shelter, you take care of the orphan and you help in every noble cause." This is what Epic and every Muslim community must be doing. And alhamdulillah, I thank Allah, I belong to a community that is doing that. And may other masjids also do this. But I'm happy we are alhamdulillah at the forefront. But after having said that, I will say to you as well, we also have a problem. And that problem is, and I will be blunt here, Pew, you know that survey organization, they did a survey in the Western world about which community is the most generous. We didn't need that survey, but we found out because of them. But we don't need it. That the Muslim faith is the most generous when it comes to charity. We don't need them to tell us that. We already know that. We give more than any other faith community. And we know this because it's our religion, our Zakat, our Sadaqah. No other community gives as much as us. But there is one problem, my dear brothers and sisters, and I will be blunt here. That problem is, for too long, we have thought that giving is something that is done to causes overseas. Our problem is that because there's so much poverty around the world, because there's so many crises around the world, we have prioritized fundraising for issues far, far away. And psychologically, I believe it's now embedded in us that, "Oh, there's a famine somewhere in the world. Bismillah, $1 million. Oh, there's a crisis over here. Ya Allah, let's have a massive fundraiser. Oh, we need to build shelters for orphans around there, a school for there." Now, that's great. Excellent. But we struggle, my dear brothers and sisters, when I tell you we have a food pantry literally in downtown Plano. I know you guys are giving so much to other places. We all know this. But why is it when we tell you there's a food pantry in Plano, rather than sending thousands of dollars around the world, which is good, a portion should also go locally? It is as if we feel that this is not as important as the poverty overseas. And I'm not trying to say don't give there because I know, yes, wallah, I fundraise for causes around the world, for Gaza, for Syria, for Sham, for Kashmir. I fundraise. I know it's important. I've been there, I've been to the refugee camps. Yes, there's so much. But technically speaking, all the madhahib agree without exception that sadaqah should be prioritized and Zakat should be prioritized where? In your locality. In fact, some madhahib say, I don't want to be too strict. Some madhahib say it is not allowed to transfer Zakat outside of the place you're living until everybody there has been taken care of. I know it's a bit of a strict opinion. I'm just saying it exists. In the past, there are positions in the madhahib that say don't even send overseas if there's poor people over here. Now, I am reminding you that it is our obligation as Muslims to prioritize the poor people around us, the people in need around us. And tomorrow, we were having a fundraiser for a project the likes of which I am not aware of any other masjid is doing. And I wish the best for all masjids. But I'm obviously proud of my masjid, Epic. We should all be happy about what Epic is doing. But Allah's blessings, we are doing something no community has ever done. We are building from scratch. We're getting a building. We're going to be housing it. 20,000 square feet. We have space available for homeless, for pantry, for counseling. We have showers for the people that don't have any place to live. They need to be clean. We were going to provide it for them. And there's not going to be any overt dawah. That's not our religion. We're not going to give them pamphlets about Islam. That's not who we are. But it will be Epic, East Plano Islamic Center's facility, and there will be Muslims volunteering. That's what we're supposed to do. So my dear brothers and sisters, allow me to be blunt as your own resident scholar here. Why is it that we can gather millions for causes overseas and yet when it comes to something that we have seen the tangible benefit and we have seen last week Allah averted from us a massive PR calamity primarily because we followed the Quranic injunctions and one of those injunctions we're at the forefront of taking care of our own hungry. Why is it then that maybe we're going to be struggling for the fundraiser tomorrow? My dear brothers and sisters, we have an annual fundraiser. Almost all the time it is for an internal cause. Whether it's our school, whether it's our gym, whether it's our facility, and mashallah, hundreds of thousands and millions come in. Excellent. Tomorrow, for the first time, we will be fundraising not for us. All of our money, for the city we live in, for the fuqara and the masakin around us, for the sake of Allah. But yes, there will be also a positive image of our religion, which is so important as well. Even though that's not our intention, you saw what happened. So I encourage every one of you to understand this is for the Ummah as a whole to have a place, a center that is doing the Sunnah, doing what the Prophet did, at the forefront, just for the sake of Allah, not for any shukr, not for any Kodak moment, but we're doing it because Allah wants us to do it. I urge all of you to attend, to be generous, to understand this is what we need to do as a community. And in fact, let me just add here, I know it's going to be controversial, but maybe I'll give a later lecture after this. There are opinions amongst classical and yes, amongst modern scholars. It is one of them. The fatwa council of Egypt, they gave a fatwa. Don't quote me, 5260, I forgot the number right now. They gave a fatwa in which they said, for such types of causes where the poor and the needy have no food, you don't ask whether they're Muslim or kafir, you give even Zakat. Now, I know some people will say, "Oh, how can they say this?" I'm telling you, there's a fatwa. I'm not necessarily saying you have to follow it. But it is common sense to be honest. And I actually am very sympathetic to this that when it comes to these issues, when it's for the sake of Islam, for the sake of dawah, for the sake of, in this case, yes, we open the door even for Zakat. There are fatawa like this because the community is benefiting, because people are seeing the beauty of Islam. And one of the categories of the Quran is to bring the hearts and show them what Islam is. But even if you don't want to follow this opinion, it is a minority opinion, without a doubt. It is halal. Without a doubt, charity is there. And so, my dear brothers and sisters, to conclude, it is essential as we have risen for all of our causes, we must rise up for a cause that is bigger than us as a community. It is a cause that represents our faith and follows the Sunnah of the Prophet sallallah.aii wasallam. May Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala allow this community center to be a massive success, not just for Epic, but for the entire Ummah.