Khutba on Bilad ash-Sham

الحَمْدُ لِله، الحَمْدُ لله الذِي بارك في بلاد الشام، وَجَعَلَهُ عُقرَ دار الإسلام، نَحْمَدُهُ تَعَالَى وَنَسْتَعِينُهُ، وَنَشْكُرُهُ تَعَالَى وَنَسْتَغْفِرُهُ وَنَسْتَغِيثُهُ، نَعُوذُ بِاللهِ مِنْ شُرُورِ أَنْفُسِنَا وَمِنْ سَيِّئَاتِ أَعْمَالِنَا، مَنْ يَهْدِ اللهُ فَهُوَ المُهْتَدِ، وَمَنْ يُضْلِلْ فَلَنْ تَجِدَ لَهُ وَلِّيّاً مُرْشِداً، وَنَشْهَدُ أَنْ لاَ إِلَهَ إِلاَّ اللهُ وَحْدَهُ لاَ شَرِيكَ لَهُ، لَهُ المُلْكُ وَلَهُ الحَمْدُ، يُحْيِي وَيُمِيتُ، بِيَدِهِ الخَيْرُ، وَهُوَ عَلَى كُلِّ شَيْءٍ قَدِيرٌ، وَنَشْهَدُ أَنَّ سَيِّدَنَا وَمَوْلاَنَا مُحَمَّداً عَبْدُهُ وَرَسُولُهُ، وَحَبِيبُهُ وَصَفِيُّهُ، بَلَّغَ الرِّسَالَةَ وَأَدَّى الأَمَانَةَ وَنَصَحَ الأُمَّةَ، النَّبِيُّ الأُمِّيُّ الذِي أَرْسَلَهُ اللهُ بِالْهُدَى وَالدِّينِ الحَقِّ، بَشِيراً وَنَذِيراً بَينَ يَدَيِ السَّاعَةِ، صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ وَعَلَى آلِهِ وَأَصْحَابِهِ وَمَنْ تَبِعَهُمْ بِإِحْسَانٍ إِلَى يَوْمِ الدِّينِ.

أَمَّا بَعْدُ! فَيَا عِبَادَ اللهِ اتَّقُوا اللهَ حَقَّ تُقَاتِهِ وَلاَ تَمُوتُنَّ إِلاَّ وَأَنْتُمْ مُسْلِمُونَ. يَأَيُّهَا الذِينَ  ءَامَنُواْ اتَّقُواْ اللهَ وَقُولُواْ قَولاً سَدِيداً يُصْلِحْ لَكُمُ أَعْمَالَكُمْ وَيَغْفُرْ لَكُمْ ذُنُوبَكُمْ. وَمَنْ يُطِعِ اللهَ وَرَسُولَهُ فَقَدْ فَازَ فَوْزاً عَظِيماً. اِتَّقُواْ اللهَ فِيمَا أَمَرَ وَانْتَهُواْ عَمَّا نَهَا عَنْهُ وَزَجَرَ.

قَالَ اللهُ تَعَالَى فِي كِتَابِهِ الْعَزِيزِ: وَنَجَّيْنَاهُ وَلُوطًا إِلَى الْأَرْضِ الَّتِي بَارَكْنَا فِيهَا لِلْعَالَمِينَ

Allah says in His Noble Book, the translation of which is, “And We rescued him and Lut and brought them to the land which We have blessed for all peoples”
In this ayat and many others in the Quran, Allah refers to a land that is blessed. This land is generally interpreted by nearly all the mufassirun to refer to the land of Sham, the land of Syria, a land that is of prime importance to the Muslim Umma. So much so, in fact that the Prophet referred to it, saying, 

عقر دار المؤمنين الشام

“The heartland of the believers is Syria,” and in another version, he said, “The heartland of Islam is Syria.”
And, on another occasion, he said, 

صفوة الله من أرضه الشام و فيها صفوته من خلقه وعباده

“The choicest of lands with Allah is Syria and in it reside the choicest of His slaves and creation.” Syria is a land inhabited by people of Allah – in it are buried a great many of the Prophets, Companions and Awliya.
And, on another occasion, he said,

يا طوبى للشام يا طوبى للشام يا طوبى للشام، قالوا: يا رسول الله وبم ذاك؟ قال: تلك ملائكة الله باسطو أجنحتها على الشام

“Blessings to Syria (al-Shâm), blessings to Syria, blessings to Syria.” When the Companions asked why, he replied: “These angels of Allah, spread their wings over Syria.”
The primary importance of Syria to Islam, both spiritually and geographically, was recognised by the early Muslim community, for even within the lifetime of the Companions of the Messenger of Allah, Damascus was made the administrative heart of the khilafah of the Muslims and remained so throughout the duration of the Ummayad khalifate. It is a land that lies at the heart of Islamic history.
And yet, today, this great nation is in great plight, a plight that many of the world’s Muslims are almost totally unaware of. Since 1963, when the Ba’ath party took power in a coup d’etat, a party set up by Michel Aflaq, a staunchly secular Christian Arab socialist, with the express aim of avoiding any form of Islamic rule, Syrian has been under the thumb of an extremist Shia minority known as the Alawiyya, a sect clouded in secrecy and surrounded by misinformation. Throughout the late sixties, these Alawis consolidated their hold on power by flooding the military with their own people and purging everyone of a true Muslim background, until eventually only Alawis remained in positions of authority and Hafez al-Assad was able to take full control of the country in a bloody coup in 1970. And since that time, his regime and that of his son who followed him into power 10 years ago, have been marked by cruelty, genocide and savage repression. Indeed, their regime has had no equal in that regard with tens of thousands of people having been murdered, imprisoned or simply disappearing without a trace.
But that is hardly surprising when you look at the sect from which they come, a sect that until recent times was known as the Nusayriyya and was only given the name of Alawiyya to make it more palatable to the Muslim majority. For the name Alawiyya implies no more than a kinship to Ali and thus makes it seem like they are no different from the Alawi kings of Morocco or Jordan. But the truth is far more sinister. The Nusayris are named after Muhammad ibn Nusayr, a companion of the man the Shia consider to be their eleventh Imam, al-Hasan al-Askari, and they believe in the same chain of twelve imams as the Ja’fari Shia in Iran, and so may be considered to be an extreme version of Shi’ism. And it was based upon those shared characteristics that Hafez al-Asad was able to persuade the Lebanese Shi’i cleric, Musa as-Sadr, to issue a fatwa declaring them to be Muslims. But in reality they are not Muslims, for their beliefs have nothing in common with Islam whatsoever. Firstly, they believe in a trinity with Ali being the embodiment Allah on the earth, the Prophet being His Name and Salman al-Farisi being the gateway. Indeed, this is voiced in their shahada for they say there is no god except Ali. We seek protection in Allah!
Secondly, they deny the Resurrection, the Garden, the Fire and many other things relating to the Hereafter.
Thirdly, they make halal much of what Allah has forbidden such as wine and zina, while at the same time denying all the pillars and practices of the Deen, saying they are only allegorical. For example, they say the five prayers are simply another way of saying ‘the’ five names: Ali, Hasan, Husayn, Muhsin and Fatima. Thus, mentioning those names spares one the need of making wudu, ghusl or doing the prayer. And, indeed, whenever mosques were built for them, they would use those mosques as barns and places to store their animals, as has been narrated by Ibn Battuta. 
Fourthly, taqiyya, deception, is a primary and essential feature of their religion, so when it suits them they pretend to be like other Muslims, when it suits them they pretend to be like Christians and when it suits them they pretend to be like Jews. There is a saying among them that whoever does not practice dissimulation is a fool. So sometimes they can be seen praying side-by-side with Muslims, even though the whole time they are following their religion’s instruction to curse Abu Bakr, Umar and Uthman.
When Ibn Taymiyyah was asked about them, he said,

هَؤُلَاءِ الْقَوْمُ الْمُسَمَّوْنَ بالْنُصَيْرِيَّة هُمْ وَسَائِرُ أَصْنَافِ الْقَرَامِطَةِ الْبَاطِنِيَّةِ أَكْفَرُ مِنْ الْيَهُودِ وَالنَّصَارَى ؛ بَلْ وَأَكْفَرُ مِنْ كَثِيرٍ مِنْ الْمُشْرِكِينَ ، وَضَرَرُهُمْ عَلَى أُمَّةِ مُحَمَّدٍ صلى الله عليه وسلم أَعْظَمُ مِنْ ضَرَرِ الْكُفَّارِ الْمُحَارِبِينَ مِثْلَ كُفَّارِ التَّتَارِ والفرنج وَغَيْرِهِمْ

“These people who are known as the Nusayris, they and all the other types of esoteric Qaramatians, are more kafir than the Jews or Christians. Indeed, they are even more kafir than many of the idolators. They have done greater harm to the umma of Muhammad than that caused by the warring kafirs such as the Franks, the Mongols and others.”
And if that were not enough in itself, there is also the fact that this sect has, since the time of their inception, actively helped the enemies of Islam to defeat the Muslims, helping the Mongols take Baghdad, the Crusaders take Jerusalem and the French Colonialists take control of Syria in the early part of the last century. And this is the group that has been in control of the great land of Syria for the last forty years, a group that is in many ways worse than their Israeli neighbours. A group that has recently been accepted into the main body of Shi’ism and has formed close ties with the anti-khalifate regime of Iran. The true Muslims, the wonderful people of Syria, are being crushed under the thumb of these deviants and desire nothing more than to be able to live. No question of democracy just living as a Muslim society. And it is our duty to help them, for their plight is our plight. The Prophet said, addressing the Muslims,

إذا فسد أهل الشام فلا خير فيكم

“If the people of Syria become corrupted, then there is no good among you.” Our own good is incumbent upon that of the people of Syria, the land of Prophets and awliya. As Shaykh AbdalQadir said in his latest article, 
“We must act now – not by violence but by sheer superiority of intellect and character on the front line – I mean Kashmir, East Turkestan and Syria. Allah – we call on You to rescue the Muslims of Syria.” Allah is with those who call on Him and turn to Him in their time of need.

أَقُولُ قَوْلِي هَذَا وَأَسْتَغْفِرُ اللهَ الْعَظِيمَ لِي وَلَكُمْ وَلِسَائِرِ المُسْلِمِينَ مِنْ كُلِّ ذَنْبٍ فَاسْتَغْفِرُوهُ إِنَّهُ هُوَ التَّوَّابُ الرَّحِيمُ.

الحَمْدُ لِله، الحَمْدُ للهِ رَبِّ الْعَالَمِينَ كَمَا يَنْبَغِي لِجَلاَلِ وَجْهِهِ وَعَظِيمِ سُلْطَانِهِ، أَشْهَدُ أَنْ لاَ إِلَهَ إِلاَّ اللهُ وَحْدَهُ لاَ شَرِيكَ لَهُ وَأَشْهَدُ أَنَّ مُحَمَّداً عَبْدُهُ وَرَسُولُهُ، صَلَّى اللهُ وَسَلَّمَ وَبَارَكَ عَلَيْهِ وَعَلَى آلِهِ وَصَحْبِهِ، وَالتَّابِعِينَ وَتَابِعِي التَّابِعِينَ وَمَنْ تَبِعَهُمْ بِإِحْسَانٍ إِلَى يَوْمِ الدِّينِ.

أَمَّا بَعْدُ! فَيَأَيُّهَا الذِينَ ءَامَنُواْ اتَّقُواْ اللهَ مَا اسْتَطَعْتُمْ وَاسْمَعُواْ وَأَطِيعُواْ وَأَنْفِقُواْ خَيْراً لِأَنْفُسِكُمْ. يَا عِبَادَ اللهِ أُوصِيكُمْ وَإِيَّايَ بِتَقْوَى اللهِ وَطَاعَتِهِ، وَأُحَذِّرُكُمْ وَإِيَّايَ عَنْ مَعْصِيَتِهِ وَمُخَالَفَتِهِ. قَالَ اللهُ تَعَالَى فِي كِتَابِهِ الْعَزِيزِ: إِنَّ الدِّينَ عِندَ اللهِ الإِسْلاَم، وقال: وَمَنْ يَّتَبِعْ غَيْرَ الإِسْلَامِ دِينًا فَلَنْ يُّقْبَلَ مِنْهُ

Allah says in His Mighty Book, the translation of which is, “The (only) deen with Allah is Islam”, and He says elsewhere, the translation of which is, “Whoever follows a deen other Islam, that deen will not be accepted from him.”
The parameters of Islam are clearly laid out for us by the Messenger of Allah in the course of his life and its boundaries are clearly delineated. And these boundaries have been acknowledged and adhered to by Muslims throughout the ages and have been set out in the books of the four great madhhabs. 
But in recent years there have been concerted attempts to change the parameters of the Deen of Allah and turn it upside down, firstly by making Islam a deen of principles and grand ideas rather than laws, thereby conferring legitimacy on other deens such as Christianity and Judaism; and secondly by bringing ideas, concepts and movements into the mainstream that have always been considered by the Muslim umma to be misguided innovation, thereby conferring legitimacy on the Shia, the Ibadis, the Zaydis and many other obscure misguided sects. These efforts have principally been championed by the Catholic church, but also by many so-called ulama, and the Muslims of Syria have been unfortunate in having had two such alims as grand muftis during the course of the past forty-five years. The first of these was Shaykh Ahmad Kuftaro who was appointed to the post by the secularist Ba’athist administration in 1964 and who died in 2004. He habitually referred to the Christians as his brothers and fellow believers, considering the two faiths to be as kindred brothers, and would often talk about their shared values in his speechs, such as love, tolerance and co-operation, giving quotes firstly from the bible and then from the hadith and Quran. In a meeting with Archbishop George Carey in 1999, he said,

والحقيقة أن الإسلام لم يأت ليلغي الأديان السماوية التي سبقته وإنما جاء مجدداً ومتمماً لها

“The reality is that Islam did not come to abrogate any of the World religions that preceded it, but only came to renew and complete them.” This may, at first hearing, sound reasonable to some, but it is part of aqidah to believe that the Quran abrogated all previous Scriptures and that the Law of our Prophet abrogated all previous laws. Abrogation of previous religions is an integral part of our belief. 
And then, in the same talk, Shaykh Kuftaro went on to stress the importance of Muslims, Christians and other faiths working together to restore the true shared spirit of religion, for they are all from the same source. And he concluded by referring to the adherents of the other religions as brothers and fellow believers. This again may sound reasonable to some, but if you truly reflect on the implications of what he said, it is horrific. In effect, he is saying that denying the second part of the shahada, Muhammad rasulu-l-lah – for no Christian or Jew affirms that, he is saying that denying it is of little importance since you can still be a believer even without it. In effect, he is saying that obeying the commands and prohibitions of Allah is unimportant when it comes to achieving salvation, it is only what is in your heart that counts. And indeed, in case there is any doubt about that, he said,
“I repeat that Islam agrees that the followers of other religions may continue in their beliefs, for the rudiments of all religions are alike or rather the same.” For more information about Shaykh Kuftaro’s perennialistic views, I advise you to read Umar Vadillo’s Esoteric Deviation in Islam.
And he held a similar view with regard to the Shia, for he saw no difference between their deen and that of the Muslims, seeing them as being two manifestations of a single reality. Indeed he said, addressing the assembled Shi’i dignitaries in Tehran University, “If being sunni means acting by the Book of Allah and sunna of His Messenger, we are all Sunni, and if being Shi’a means loving the family of the Messenger of Allah and respecting their history we are all Shi’a”, totally ignoring and disregarding the fundamental differences that separate us from them, such as their belief in Imamate and hatred of the Sahaba of the Messenger of Allah. He welcomed them with open arms into his country and indeed praised the character and deen of his president, Hafez al-Asad and we have seen in the first khutba how far the beliefs of his Shi’i sect are from the deen of Allah.
And the man who followed him into office, Shaykh Ahmad Badr ad-Deen Hassoun, went even further in his proclamations, following these positions to their logical conclusions, saying in 2009,

إن المسلمين في سوريا يعتبرون كل المذاهب الاسلامية من الجعفرية والاسماعيلية والموحدين والعلويين مسلمين، والمذاهب التي يختلفون فيها هي مذاهب فقهية لا مذاهب عقائدية

And then saying last year, addressing a delegation of American academics,

أمرنا الاسلام بالمحافظة على المسيحية واليهودية لو طلب مني نبينا محمد صلى الله عليه وسلم، أن أكفر بالمسيحية أو باليهودية لكفرت بمحمد. لو أن محمدا أمرني بقتل الناس لقلت له أنت لست نبيا

“Islam commands us to look after Judaism and Christianity. If the Prophet Muhammad had asked me to deem Christians or Jews kafirs, I would have deemed Muhammad himself a kafir… If Muhammad had commanded us to kill people, I would have told him he was not a prophet.” Audhu billah! These are the words of the current grand mufti of Syria. These are the words of a man who purportedly represents the Muslims of Syria! No, he is a traitor to the deen of Allah. We ask Allah to purify Syria of such charlatans and restore their true ulama, men of furqan and correct discrimination, to positions of authority. And we ask that He protect the deen from all the false doctrines and esoteric deviations that have besieged it in recent years. And we ask that He rescue Syria and liberate it from His enemies and their allies and restore in its role as one of the great hubs and heartlands of the Muslim umma.

إِنَّ اللهَ وَمَلَائِكَتَهُ يُصَلُّونَ عَلَى النَّبِيِّ، يَا أَيُهَا الذِينَ آمَنُواْ صَلُّواْ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلِّمُواْ تَسْلِيماً. اللَّهُمَّ صَلِّ وَسَلِّمْ وَبَارِكْ عَلَيْهِ وَعَلَى آلِهِ وَصَحْبِهِ  أَجْمَعِينَ. 

وَارْضَ اللَّهُمَّ عَنِ الْخُلَفَاءِ الرَّاشِدِينَ أَبِي بَكْرٍ وَعُمَرَ وَعُثْمَانَ وَعَلِيٍّ، وَعَنْ سَائِرِ الصَّحَابَةِ أَجْمَعِينَ، خُصُوصاً اِلأَنْصَارَ مِنْهُمْ وَالمُهَاجِرِينَ، وَعَنِ التَّابِعِينَ وَتَابِعِي التَّابِعِينَ وَمَنْ تَبِعَهُمْ بِإِحْسَانٍ إِلَى يَوْمِ الدِّينِ.

اللَّهُمَّ اهْدِ وُلَاةَ أُمُورِ المُسْلِمِينَ لِمَا يُرْضِيكَ وَلِاتِّبَاعِ سُنَّةِ نَبِيِّكَ صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ، وَثَبِّتْ أَقْدَامَهُمْ عَلَى الصِّرَاطِ المُسْتَقِيمِ، وَأَصْلِحْهُمْ يَا رَبَّ الْعَالَمِينَ.

اللَّهُمَّ بَارِكْ عَلَى شَيْخِنَا، وَعَلَى أَمِيرِنَا، وَعَلَى جَمِيعِ أُمَرَاءِ وَزُعَمَاءِ المُسْلِمِينَ.  

اللَّهُمَّ بَارِكْ عَلَى المُسْلِمِينَ فِي هَذِهِ المَدِينَةِ، وَوَفِّقْهُمْ لِمَا تُحِبُّهُ وَتَرْضَاهُ يَا أَكْرَمَ الأَكْرَمِينَ. 

اللَّهُمَّ أَعِزَّ الإِسْلَامَ وَالمُسِْلمِينَ (3) وَاخْذُلِ الْكُفْرَ وَالْكَافِرِينَ، وَانْصُرِ المُجَاهِدِينَ فِي سَبِيلِ اللهِ. وَاجْعَلْ كَلِمََتَكَ هِيَ العُلْيَا وَكَلِمَةَ الْكُفْرِ هِيَ السُّفْلَى.

رَبَّنَا ءَاتِنَا فِي الدُّنْيَا حَسَنَةً وَفِي الآخِرَةِ حَسَنَةً وَقَِنَا عَذَابَ النَّارِ. 

اللَّهُمَّ لاَ تَدَعْ فِي مَقَامِنَا هَذَا ذَنْباً إِلاَّ غَفَرْتَهُ، وَلاَ عَيْباً إِلاَّ سَتَرْتَهُ، وَلاَ مَرِيضاً إِلاَّ شَفَيْتَهُ وَعَافَيْتَهُ، وَلاَ مَسْجُوناً إِلاَّ طَلَقْتَ سَرَاحَهُ، وَلاَ مُسَافِراً فِي بَرِّكَ وَبَحْرِكَ إِلاَّ سَلِِمْتَهُ وَغَنِمْتَهُ.

إِنَّ اللهَ يَامُرُ بِالْعَدْلِ وَالإِحْسَانِ وَإِيتَاءِ ذِي الْقُرْبَى، وَيَنْهَى عَنِ الْفَحْشَاءِ وَالمُنكَرِ وَالْبَغْيِ، يَعِظُكُمْ لَعَلَّكُمْ تَذَّكَّرُونَ، وَلَذِكْرُ اللهِ أَكْبَرُ وَاللهُ يَعْلَمُ مَا تَصْنَعُونَ. وَقُومُواْ إِلَى صَلاتِكُمْ يَرْحَمُكُمُ اللهُ.