THE STREET MIMBAR – Khutbah (10 December 2005)
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They want to extinguish the light of ALLAH with their mouths but ALLAH will complete and perfect HIS light, it doesn’t matter how averse the kaafirs and the mushriks are there-to 	
Bismillah Ar-Rahmaan Ar-Raheem. 
Alhumdulillah. Peace and blessings on Muhammad, his Noble Companions and Family. 

Brothers and Sisters whose commitment to Allah remains an unflinching one:

Allah Jalla wa Ala speaks to us through the Qur’an, a book that cannot be approached by any fault from any direction, hence, a book in which there is no doubt. In this book, Allah told us
Behold, you have in Allah’s Messenger (peace be upon him), a prototype, someone whom you can adopt as your role model,
But, for whom?
For those who are intent on wanting Allah and the final day, and
In whose conscience Allah is embedded. (Surah Al-Ahzaab verse 21)

Since we are in the reference of the Qur’an, these guiding words from Allah are directed to us. There is no space for indifference here. If we claim to be Muslims in the footsteps of Allah’s Messenger (peace be upon him), it is binding on us that we endorse his character as well as his will and determination, and not just his cosmetic features.

The issues, I in a humble way want to explain is the concept of wilayah or tawallah ie. Allegiance…

Little do the Muslims realise that Islam has become an empty shell that has been drained from its quint-essential meanings. Allah did not impose on us rituals that have no meaning to our responsibilities in life.

When we state our article of faith: 
ASH HADU AN LA ILAHA ILLALAH WA ASH HADU ANNA MUHAMMEDAN ABDUHU WA RASULUH
The practical meaning of that is that we have liberated our mind and our conscience from those powers that want to enslave them. When we make this statement, we attempt to break-away from the structures of kufr and shirk as manifested in the form of the UN, governmental structures, NATO, The World Bank, The International Monetary Fund, etc. Institutions in which and from which mushriks are sitting in the corridors of power and they are claiming sovereignty over Allah’s earth and legislating all sorts of things which makes the halaal haraam and the haraam halaal.
 
When Allah orders us to perform salaah, He doesn’t say to us “pray”. You read the Qur’an, we all read the Qur’an, has anyone seen a direct order from Allah saying to us “pray- Sallu”? In the overwhelming majority of ayaat about Salaah, He says:
AQI MUS SALAAH
Establish  your salaah, Make your salaah tangible, construct it.
Practical, that’s what our salaah is supposed to be. 

Allah says:
Proclaim what has been revealed and Establish Salaah, verily salaah is a protection against committing the fahsha ie. Great sins and the munkar, shirk, dhulm etc. and have Allah embedded in your conscience is greater in preventing the fahsha and the munkar. (Surah Ankabut verse 45)

In  a hadith, the Prophet (sallalahu alaihi wa sallam) says,
Whoevers salaah does not prevent him from the fahsha, evil acts such as immorality, oppression etc., that salaah only drives him further away from Allah
Or in another rendition of the hadith
Whoevers salaah does not prevent him from the fahsha, evil acts such as immorality, oppression etc., he has no salaah.

We all repeat many times that we are guided by Allah to do away with the fahsha, munkar and baghi. But, how can we do away with something that we don’t have a definition or a grip of. This is supposed to be a very basic and elementary issue, that people don’t realise is missing. One of the most apparent evils in our time is the dis-location of authority, the usurpation of power and the oppression of people on an ever expanding scale.

Allah Exalted and Almighty says to us in a number of ayaat in the Qur’an to have Allah, His Prophet and the Committed Muslims as our allies and authority to whom allegiance is due. In an ayah, Allah says:
And those who have as their authority or their allies or as their reciprocal counter parts of allegiance- Allah, His Messenger and those who are committed, then indeed Allah’s Hizb (party) are triumphant. (Surah Ma’ida verse 56)

In another ayah, Allah speaks to us saying:
Committed Muslims shall not have the kaafirs as their authority, their allies and those they reciprocate allegiance with or pay allegiance to, to the exclusion of the other Committed Muslims.  (Surah Ahl-Imran verse 28)

In another ayah, Allah speaks to you and to me saying:
O you who are divinely secure in your commitment to Allah, don’t take or designate my enemy (Allah is speaking) and your enemies as authorities and allies and sources of allegiance. You present yourselves to them cheerfully, you greet them with cheers, while they are kaafirs in the Haqq that has been presented to you by Allah.  (Surah Mumtahana verse 1)

We commonly identify Allah and His Messenger, but we can’t identify the committed Muslims, viz. those who haven’t lost sight of Muslims having a head, having a leadership and a direction. Why are we having millions of Muslims dying, and the issue of leadership, if it comes up, it comes up in the kaafir context. Not that we should get involved in the kaafir politics, but Muslims are not telling you to go and vote for your Muslim leader or Imam. It doesn’t bother them at all that Muslims should not vote for an imam or give bai’ah to an Imam. They will explain that away. They will tell you: “Oh- wait a minute, if we begin to talk about this issue, we will be inviting trouble because we will be generating a fitnah. Or, others will tell you: “No, no, no, no- if you come and speak about this issue, you are pre-empting the facts of life, because there cannot be an Imam in the absence of the twelfth Imam.” With all humility, both these approaches are off course. Allah did not give us this responsibility to be afraid of a so-called fitnah, and Allah did not give us this responsibility of Islam to put it on hold until the end of time. What does Islam become without this central issue?- the rituals and the mechanics.

The concept of Allegiance is not only cornered in one ayah:
O you who are firmly committed to Allah, don’t have as your allies or superiors yahud and nasara, Don’t ally yourselves to the political and the ideological expressions of Al-Yahud and An-Nasara, they are allies one to another. And, whoever from among you does that, he has become one of them, {it doesn’t matter who he is, it doesn’t matter if he’s praying night and day until there are holes in his musallah, if he is going to Hajj and Umrah every year, if he’s fasting days on end, if he’s making tawaaf of the Ka’ba and sajdah in the Haram, it doesn’t matter how much he’s outwardly behaviour appears to be “Islamic”, he has left,} he is no longer part of the Muslim crowd.  (Surah Ma’ida verse 51)

At this point, I would like to focus on the local scene, before expounding to the international scene. With elections virtually at our doorstep, you have Muslims looking around and wondering what should be done. Should Muslims vote or should Muslims refrain. This state of confusion, is not characteristic of one who is attached to the Qur’an and the sunnah. Another issue is that Muslims here, should not hide/flee from their responsibilities by citing “We’re a minority” as their excuse, and at the same time think that they can escape from their responsibilities in Muslim lands because they are thousands of miles away.

Let us take a look at a few instances from the life of Allahs final Messenger.

Remember, Muslims were always a minority, even in Makkah. But, the Prophet (sallalahu alaihi wa sallam) did not at any stage integrate into the power structures of Makkah. The parliament of Quraish was “Daar An-Nadwa”. This is where the power mongers of Quraish- Ubay bin Khalaf, Abu Sufyan, Abu Jahl, etc. were meeting. But, the Muslims didn’t participate in this gathering. They were not saying “We need a lobby within the Quraishi power structure.” The Muslims were learning, they were teaching, they were meeting and they were strategising. But they did this within their own “Parliament”- at “Daar Al-Arqam”.

On yet another occasion, when Islam was growing, the leaders of Quraish came to the Prophets Uncle, and they said to him “Why don’t you try and speak some sense into your nephews head.” And they made the following three proposals:
1.	If its an issue of position and status that you want, Quraish are willing to elevate you to the most luxurious and comfortable position that you wish,
2.	If it is a matter of being in-charge of the entire Makkan order, the Quraish are willing to appoint you as its supreme leader;
3.	If it a matter of you being possessed by uncontrollable spirits and forces, they will arrange the best physicians for you.
Under these conditions and in these circumstances, what was the Prophet’s (sallalahu alaihi wa sallam) clarion reply for all Muslims to hear through-out the ages and the years, He said:
By Allah, Oh my Uncle, were they to put the sun in my right hand, and the moon in my left hand, I would not forsake my mission, until Allahs word is supreme or I am no more.

Surely, he could have said: “Let me get in and then gradually change the system from within.” But he did not choose that strategy.

On yet another occasion, Quraish come to him and they say: “Why don’t you accept our system and regulations for one or two years and then we will accept your system for one or two years.” Allah didn’t leave this Quraishi offer un-answered. Allah, from above seven heavens answered this Quraishi policy with another policy:
Allah said:
Say to those who deny Allah His Power, and who reject Allah and His Messenger (say to them), I will not conform/agree/adapt with your system and you will not agree/conform/adapt to my system, and I will not want to conform/agree/adapt with your system nor will you agree/conform/adapt to my system,
To you be your way and to me be mine. (Surah Al-Kaafirun)

This is where Muslims need to demonstrate mental maturity. Quraish were offering Allah’s Messenger governance. To translate the word a’bud into worship deprives it of its meanings and almost automatically triggers the thought of rituals. But this was not the case. The word a’bud more correctly should reflect your coming to conform, to adapt, to agree to Allah. Hence, your every act, whether it is your walking, your eating, whatever you do, it becomes an act of ibaadah. 

Now, we ask, do we know better than Allah and His Messenger? He could have accepted such an offer, which would have been the perfect opportunity to express Islam and what it represented- but he did not do that.

When the Prophet (sallalahu alaihi wa sallam) was in Medinah, and all of the Arabian Peninsula had been aroused by an Israeli, to come and wipe Islam out. When the Muslims were under the pressure of extermination, one of the Prophets companions came to him and said: “Why don’t we get yahuds help?” By this time, two jewish factions were expelled from Medinah, and only Bani Quraidah were there. Under these conditions, the Prophet (sallalahu alaihi wa sallam) said: 
We don’t need the assistance of yahud.

All these decisions and events should make it very clear to all Muslims, that integration into an existing anti/un-Islamic political structure would not serve the Islamic course, or else Allahs Messenger would have adopted that strategy. But, he didn’t want us to be stabbed in the back. He knew that Muslims could not place their reliance on Al-Kaafir to implement an Islamic Order.

To return to the international scene.

The Prophet (sallalahu alaihi wa sallam), at no stage of constructing the Islamic social order and trying to undermine the Quraishi power structure said we need a lobby inside the super-power governments of the day. Remember, there was the Byzantine/the Roman Empire and the Persian empire. He never said, we need to lobby these governments to our course.

The Muslims at that time and that generation were successful because they were listening to Allah when He was guiding them, unlike today’s Muslims who seem to think they know better.

When Allah is saying:
And those who have as their authority or their allies or as their reciprocal counter parts of allegiance- Allah, His Messenger and those who are committed, then indeed Allah’s Hizb (party) are triumphant. (Surah Ma’ida verse 56)
Its as though this ayah says the exact opposite. Or else, why do we have the Saudi government and the Egyptian Government and the rest of these subservient rulers in the Muslim Lands going to beg these yahud and nasara for Muslim rights regarding various areas where Muslim blood flows.

Why don’t we have our respected Ulema present this Islam in its pristine form. When Allah revealed the ayaat dealing with the Bar’a, Allahs Prophet (sallalahu alaihi wa sallam) despatched Abu Bakr (radiallahuanh wa rahmatullah alaih) and Ali (radiallahu anh wa rahmatullah alaih) to go to Makkah and inform the pilgrims that were coming for the Hajj that Allah and His Messenger are annulling the contracts with the mushriks.
A Disavowal from Allah and His Messenger to those with whom you have allegiances (Surah Bar’a verse 1)
But today, what do we have? These rulers in Muslim lands want to build relations with these whom Allah is instructing us to cut-off relations with. And, with all this happening, our Ulema, who claim that they are the inheritors of the Prophets, they continue to talk about issues of najasah and wudhu and salaah- when this is the state that we are in. If you claim to be an inheritor of the Prophet, then tread in the footsteps of the Prophet. Or else, Islam will remain a private and personal affair and not the complete deen which Allah envisaged and His Prophet had in mind. 

For those, who continue and insist that we need to integrate into the existing structures, whether it is national or trans-national, I will cite a few examples which would hopefully- Insha-Allah- clarify why Muslims need to develop their own political program and be more assertive so that they may be Allah’s Khulafa Al-Ard.

A few years ago, when the saga pertaining to East Temur, in Indonesia had began, and the Christians in that place within that Islamic Land opted to have their own political- independent political- program, the Muslims were put on notice, “that if you do not accept the independent state of East Temur, then the United Nations will send in the troops to have East Temur break away from the Central Government of Indonesia. Yet, and we should ask, why is there double standards. If you want to be fair, then why don’t you send the forces into Chechnya and Kosova to have their own Independent Political Program. Or, if the Russians are saying that Chechnya is an internal Russian affair, then why was East Temur not an internal Indonesian affair. And again, we ask- what did all your lobbying do- these rulers in Muslim lands- what did all your lobbying do for the Muslims in Chechnya etc.

If these kaafirs claim that democracy is one of their fundamentals, and they pride themselves on free and fair elections, then why were Muslims who voted for an Islamic Program in Algeria not allowed to enter the corridors of power? What happened? Now, they forgot about their ideals of free and fair elections and democracy. Or, do they hate Islam more than they love their ideals?

Muslims in this part of the word, should also not forget all the anti-Islamic legislation that exists and that is being passed as well as the pending terror legislation.

The South African government has a “two-state “solution to the dilemma in Occupied Palestine. In terms of Islam, a Muslim land cannot be divided and given to kaafirs- the next time your Muslim MP comes to you, ask him what’s his position in regards to this issue!

The South African government maintained silence on the murder and persecution and rape of thousands and thousands of women in Bosnia and Chechnya and Kashmir, but made a big “Hu-Ha” about a women who was about to be executed in Nigeria, with statements like that conduct was barbaric.

For those who still think that they can rely on those “Muslims” who have integrated themselves into the existing political system, they should think and re-think their position through the vision of Allahs words and His Prophets example.

As an after thought, Muslims that have just passed the season of Karbala and Aashura should realise that this was not an occasion that requires the shedding of a few tears, not mutilating ones self nor remaining silent about. This event in Islamic History is about a man of principle and integrity, who did not negotiate away the issue of allegiance and authority, and he set out to correct the polluted political image of Islam. Even though there is much conflicting information regarding this issue, when it is put within the reference of the Qur’an and the sunnah, the fact that stares one in the eye is that a man of integrity and principle would not betray his allegiance to Allah and His Messenger. But, for those of us that are still burdened by tradition and cannot see Muawiyah and Yazid for who they were, can’t you see Bush and Blair and Sharon and Fahd and Mubarak and the rest of these enemies of Allah and His Messenger and the Committed Muslims today. And, one of the facts of that time that is still alive today is the fact that people paid lip-service. Remember, there was reason to believe that thousands and thousands of people/ Muslims at Kufa indicated that they were also for correcting the polluted political image of Islam- they understood Al-Imam Al-Huseins position, they sympathised with him, they were with him  all the way- short of the military responsibility. Just like the Muslims today, we are with the Palestinians and the Kashmiris and the rest of the oppressed peoples of the world in providing moral support and material support- what we cannot do is take that position to the battle-field.

I would like to end this khutbah with a hadith in which the Prophet (sallalahu alaihi wa sallam) says:
Whoever dies without having an allegiance to carry,(and obviously, an allegiance is to an Islamic Authoity) has died a non-Islamic death or on  a tangent of Nifaaq or hypocrisy.

Also, Allah says:
It is not befitting for any Mu’min or Mu’minah to have their own opinions, whims, fancies and reservations on a matter (such as the one we have been talking about) after it has been decided upon by Allah and his Messenger; and whoever dis-obeys Allah and His Messenger has gone astray in a manifest way.  (Surah Ahzab verse 36)