Juma Khutbas

The election is over, and America has decided who gets the most powerful job in the country. That is why I thought it is important to put it in perspective.
قُلِ ٱللَّهُمَّ مَـٰلِكَ ٱلْمُلْكِ تُؤْتِى ٱلْمُلْكَ مَن تَشَآءُ وَتَنزِعُ ٱلْمُلْكَ مِمَّن تَشَآءُ وَتُعِزُّ مَن تَشَآءُ وَتُذِلُّ مَن تَشَآءُ بِيَدِكَ ٱلْخَيْرُ إِنَّكَ عَلَىٰ كُلِّ شَىْءٍ قَدِيرٌ
A’al Imraan 3: 26 Say, ˹O Prophet,˺ “O Allahﷻ! Lord over all authorities! You give authority to whoever You please and remove it from who You please; You honor whoever You please and disgrace who You please—all good is in Your Hands. Surely You ˹alone˺ are Most Capable of everything.

The earth belongs to the One who created the earth and everything it contains, the One who owns the heavens and everything that is in them and everything between the two, the One who created and sustains all that we know and all that we don’t know, the One to Whom is our return – He is Allahﷻ and He is the Only One we worship.
وهو الذي يملك الأرض وما فيها، وله ما في السماوات وما بينهما وما في العالمين. الذي خلق ويدبر كل ما نعلم وما لا نعلم، الواحد الأحد. فهو الذي إليه مرجعنا - هو الله - الذي لا نعبده إلا هو.
He introduced Himself and reminded us: Ayatul Kursi/Hashr/Ikhlaas. Someone sent me a TikTok interview where the interviewer asked a senior priest for advice to young priests. He said, ‘Tell them to forget seminary and all their seminary degrees. Tell them to read the Bible and pray a lot. Tell them that unless they develop closeness to God they can’t achieve anything. And the only way to get close to anyone is to spend time with them. So, pray a lot.’ Now, tell me if this applies to us or not in the same away?

So, let us remember the reality and the reality is that Allahﷻ is our Rabb and to Him is our return. As far as we are concerned, only what Allahﷻ wants will happen and if we have Allahﷻ's pleasure on our side, Allahﷻ will keep us safe. This is an opportunity to realign our focus and to repair our Aqeeda and remember that it’s only and only Allahﷻ who can do anything. Our real test is not this or any election. Our real test is when we meet Malakul Mawth. That’s what we need to prepare for. So, we say Alhamdulillah and we turn to Allahﷻ.

Allahﷻ told us the stories of His Anbiya to prove this point that only what Allahﷻ wants to happen, can happen. And that Allahﷻ protects His people wherever they may be in whatever condition, provided they behave like His people. Allahﷻ told us the story of Ibrahim (AS) and all that led to his being thrown into the fire. As he sat in the cup of the trebuchet about to be thrown into the fire, Jibreel (AS) comes to him and asks if he needs any help from him. I can see the smile on his face as he says, ‘Thank you, nothing from you.’ Jibreel (AS) goes to Allahﷻ and reports his conversation (which Allahﷻ already knows) and begs for His help. Allahﷻ says, ‘Tell him that I sent you and that I want to know what he wants from me.’ Ibrahim (AS) replies, ‘My Rabb doesn’t need to ask. I want whatever He wants.’ This conversation is my imagination based on the Hadith, but it shows the essence of the state of the Muslim. Ibrahim (AS) said this because he had said before this something that His Rabb told us about.
إِذْ قَالَ لَهُۥ رَبُّهُۥٓ أَسْلِمْ قَالَ أَسْلَمْتُ لِرَبِّ ٱلْعَـٰلَمِينَ
Baqara 2: 131 When his Rabb ordered him, “Submit ˹to My Will˺,” he responded, “I submit to the Rabb of all worlds.”

This is the position, the stance, the status of the Muslim. I have submitted. Not I will submit. I have submitted. When the Muslim submits, Allahﷻ takes direct charge of his affairs. Allahﷻ ordered:
قُلْنَا يَـٰنَارُ كُونِى بَرْدًا وَسَلَـٰمًا عَلَىٰٓ إِبْرَٰهِيمَ
Anbiya 21: 69 We ordered, “O fire! Be cool and safe for Ibrahim!”
No intermediaries. No Jibreel (AS). Nobody. Allahﷻ orders, ‘O fire! Become cool and safe for Ibrahim.

We must define ourselves in life because all our attitudes and actions, what gives us meaning, depends on who we are. Allahﷻ made the laws that run this universe, including our world. They include the laws of physics which we call natural laws, but those are not the only ones. There are others, equally powerful, non-negotiable and inescapable, that govern and determine the success, influence, and happiness of human life. Those who learn those laws and operate according to them, can have as much success, influence and happiness as they wish.

Are we Spectators or Players? The difference is skin in the game. Spectators can watch, scream encouragement or abuse, wear T-shirts and caps, and discuss the game, but they have no impact on the outcome. They don’t decide who wins or loses the game, because they have no skin in the game. They don’t bleed for the cause. They don’t invest time, money, sweat and tears to help their side win. They just scream from the stands. That is our situation today. We don’t want to invest. We don’t want to bear inconvenience. We don’t want to stand in the street in rain or sunshine to make our voices heard. We want someone else to do it for us. We want someone else to lose their job, get doxed, get brutalized by the police, even go to jail for our cause. But we don’t even want to be seen with them. Yet we want our cause to win. Well, all I can say to you is, ‘Good luck’. Because you are going to need a lot of it. Allahﷻ created a world of cause and effect. Those who benefit from a rise in share price are shareholders in that firm. Not those who read the Financial Times but have no money in the firm. Invest in yourself, in your family and in your society if you want influence.

If you want power, start contributing. It is like a tweet by someone against BDS and the boycott campaign. It said, “I want to boycott everything made by Muslims. Can someone please send out a list?” Remember, we came to give. Not to take. Our teacher taught us, and we were supposed to teach the world. But we forgot the teacher and his teachings and started learning from others. We didn’t even have the sense to ask, ‘Who am I learning from? What is his interest in me? Why would he teach me anything to benefit me?’

In the life of every man and woman comes a time when a window opens, and they have a unique opportunity to make an impact and influence others. To succeed we need to anticipate, prepare for the opening and act with courage when our window opens. Our window is open now. Once the window is shut, our life is over, even if we remain alive. To live is not merely to draw breath. That’s to survive. To live is to create a legacy of honor.

We hear two statements from well-meaning but confused people regarding politics. ‘I am not interested in politics’ and ‘Politics is dirty.’ Well, guess what? As someone said, ‘You may not be interested in politics, but politics is interested in you.’ It is like a deer saying, ‘I am not interested in the wolf.’ If the deer wants to survive and thrive, there is only one way; get interested in the wolf to influence him in its favor. That is what we must do with politics. Become interested, contribute, participate and become influential. As for politics being dirty, that is true as a description of the current state. But that doesn't mean that it must necessarily remain that way.

Anything dirty remains dirty for one reason only and that is because those affected by the dirt choose to remain with the dirt. If those affected by dirty politics do what they do when they encounter dirt in anything else, the dirt will go the same way. So, let us complete that statement, ‘Politics is dirty’ and add, ‘but we are going to clean it.’ Believe me, it will happen. It is waiting to be cleaned. That cleaning can’t happen without us getting our hands dirty. But once we start washing, both the fabric of politics and our hands, will become clean.

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