Khutba on the Arrogance of Unbelieving Man
الحمد لله، الحمد لله الذي ملّك أرضَه أمما ودولا، وأملى لهم مدة ثم عزلهم عنها عزلا، نحمده تعالى ونستعينه، ونشكره تعالى ونستغفره ونستغيثه، نعوذ بالله من شرور أنفسنا ومن سيئات أعمالنا، من يهد الله فهو المهتد ومن يضلل فلن تجد له وليا مرشدا، ونشهد أن لا إله إلا الله وحده لا شريك له، له الملك و له الحمد، يحيي ويميت، بيده الخير، وهو على كل شيء قدير، ونشهد أن سيدنا و مولانا محمداً عبده ورسوله، وحبيبه وصفيه، بلغ الرسالة وأدّى الأمانة ونصح الأمة، النبي الأمي الذي أرسله الله بالهدى والدين الحق، بشيرا ونذيرا بين يدي الساعة، صلى الله عليه وسلم وعلى آله وأصحابه ومن تبعهم بإحسان إلى يوم الدين.
أما بعد! فيا عباد الله اتقوا الله حق تقاته ولا تموتن إلا وأنتم مسلمون. يأيها الذين ءامنوا اتقوا الله وقولوا قولا سديدا يصلح لكم أعمالكم ويغفر لكم ذنوبكم. ومن يطع الله ورسوله فقد فاز فوزا عظيما. اتقوا الله فيما أمر وانتهوا عما نها عنه وزجر.
This is a brave new world in which we live today, this is an evolved and advanced form of human society which has shed off its barbaric, unenlightened past and finally given the human being the respect and dignity he merits and deserves. This is the rhetoric with which we are bombarded on a daily basis, this is the thesis we are taught in school. Human beings the world over are finally equal and finally have rights. Everybody within society has a voice – justice is available to all. These are the claims made by our governments and politicians, but is any of it actually true or is it just a soundbite, a palliative for the masses, an illusion of liberty that serves not to free but to control and enslave. Let us take America as a case study, the so-called land of the free.
Civil liberties there have been so eroded that the government has claimed the right to listen in on anybody’s phone calls, read anybody’s correspondence, stop and search anybody on the streets on any pretext (as is happening in Boston today), arrest and hold people indefinitely on unproven and unfounded rumour and suspicion, and indeed, if they happen to be abroad, kill them and anyone who happens to be unlucky enough to be near them without proof or trial. These are not isolated occurrences but everyday practices – the new norm. And it has even gone to new levels in recent weeks with the FBI using lethal force in the midst of an interrogation on American soil.
And that is to say nothing of the banking fiascos and the theft of hundreds of billions of dollars from the pockets of ordinary citizens to pay for the excesses of the bankers and their political puppets and cronies, a theft that continues on a daily basis with what has been euphemistically called ‘quantitative easing’, whereby new money is printed and brought into circulation, thereby reducing the value of the money in people’s pockets. Or the extraordinary levels of taxation where people are taxed for whatever they do, wherever they live and whatever they buy. They are even taxed when they die.
This is with respect to their own people. As for other peoples, they are considered fair game. There are no limits to what they feel justified in doing, their interests are paramount. No nation has invaded so many countries, visited so much misery, death and chaos upon whole populations or stolen so many resources and commodities. And when it does not invade them militarily, it invades them economically, turning whole nations into slave labour camps. No nation before has visited so much destruction on the world around it nor had such a negative impact upon the environment.
The conductors of all of this, the bankers and ruling elites, have done all this in the belief that they are untouchable, and not answerable to anyone. That they are above the law, since the power of making laws lies in their hands. Every time they are called up on something they do, they can just introduce new legislation to legalise it. They are proof of the reality that the human being unfettered by belief in Allah and obedience to his Lord is not a moral creature but a selfish one. With nothing to hold them back, his whims and appetites hold sway and his self-interest becomes paramount. That is the essential flaw of humanism = the nature of the human being who has rejected his Creator. A society based upon such shaky ground is doomed to failure.
And indeed we have witnessed the first cracks in these previously impervious regimes, cracks that continue to widen and will continue to widen until they burst apart at the seams. Greece, Iceland and Cyprus are but the first casualties, others will inevitably follow. For example, the national debt of America has passed 2 trillion dollars and more and more are being rendered homeless every single day. But their true leaders fail to heed the signs and listen to the warnings. And instead they become more arrogant by the day and less and less cautious, no longer hiding in the shadows as they used to, but coming out into the open and flaunting their might. For the role of the banks in controlling the industrial nations is no longer the stuff of conspiracy theory, but something openly exposed and discussed in the mainstream press. That arrogance, that feeling of being totally untouchable, will bring about their downfall. That is the lesson of history and they would have known this if they had only paid heed and listened to the words of their Lord,
أَفَلَمْ يَسِيرُوا فِي الْأَرْضِ فَيَنْظُرُوا كَيْفَ كَانَ عَاقِبَةُ الَّذِينَ مِنْ قَبْلِهِمْ
the translation of which is, “Have they not travelled about the earth and seen the final fate of those before them?” They are not the first in the history of the world to revel in their power and see themselves as unstoppable. There have been many others, and they all – every last one of them – shared the same fate. Allah says,
دَمَّرَ اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِمْ وَلِلْكَافِرِينَ أَمْثَالُهَا
the translation of which is, “Allah destroyed them utterly. And those who are kafir will suffer the same fate.” For they are kafir/ the truly ungrateful – they take and take but do not acknowledge the One who gave it to them. They are the truly deluded, even more than the indoctrinated masses. They are like the people of Ad, about whom Allah says,
فَأَمَّا عَادٌ فَاسْتَكْبَرُوا فِي الْأَرْضِ بِغَيْرِ الْحَقِّ وَقَالُوا مَنْ أَشَدُّ مِنَّا قُوَّةً أَوَلَمْ يَرَوْا أَنَّ اللَّهَ الَّذِي خَلَقَهُمْ هُوَ أَشَدُّ مِنْهُمْ قُوَّةً وَكَانُوا بِآَيَاتِنَا يَجْحَدُونَ
the translation of which is, “As for ‘Ad, they were arrogant in the land, without any right, saying, ‘Who has greater strength than us?’ Did they not see that Allah, who created them, had greater strength than them? But they renounced Our Signs.” They thought they were too big and too powerful to fall and were blinded by their arrogance. They thought they could do as they wished and that their power would last forever. How wrong they were!
فَأَرْسَلْنَا عَلَيْهِمْ رِيحًا صَرْصَرًا فِي أَيَّامٍ نَحِسَاتٍ لِنُذِيقَهُمْ عَذَابَ الْخِزْيِ فِي الْحَيَاةِ الدُّنْيَا وَلَعَذَابُ الْآَخِرَةِ أَخْزَى وَهُمْ لَا يُنْصَرُونَ
the translation of which is, “So We sent a howling wind against them on disastrous ill-fated days to make them taste the punishment of degradation in the dunya. And the punishment of the akhira is even more degrading. And they will not be helped.”
Or take Pharaoh, whose arrogance led him to set himself up as an equal to Allah. Allah says:
وَقَالَ فِرْعَوْنُ يَا أَيُّهَا الْمَلَأُ مَا عَلِمْتُ لَكُمْ مِنْ إِلَهٍ غَيْرِي
the translation of which is, “Pharaoh said, ‘Council, I do not know of any other god for you apart from Me.’” He was blinded by the trappings of power that surrounded him and so:
وَاسْتَكْبَرَ هُوَ وَجُنُودُهُ فِي الْأَرْضِ بِغَيْرِ الْحَقِّ وَظَنُّوا أَنَّهُمْ إِلَيْنَا لَا يُرْجَعُونَ
the translation of which is, “He and his troops were arrogant in the land without any right, thinking they would not return to Us.” He failed to pay heed to the warnings of the Prophet Musa, and so his fate was sealed:
فَأَخَذْنَاهُ وَجُنُودَهُ فَنَبَذْنَاهُمْ فِي الْيَمِّ فَانْظُرْ كَيْفَ كَانَ عَاقِبَةُ الظَّالِمِينَ
the translation of which is, “So We seized him and his troops and flung them into the sea. See the final fate of the wrongdoers!”
They failed to see that power is borrowed, not owned. It belongs to Allah alone and He lends it to man on condition that he use it well and does not use it to spread corruption on the earth. If he does, then it is only a matter of time until Allah strips it away from him. That is as inevitable as night following day. A storm is coming and it will be a huge one, devastating and destroying all in its wake.
أقول قولي هذا وأستغفر الله العظيم لي ولكم ولسائر المسلمين من كل ذنب فاستغفروه إنه هو التوّابُ الرَّحيم
الحمد لله الحمد لله رب العالمين، وأشهد أن لا إله إلا الله وحده لا شريك له وأشهد أن محمداً عبده ورسوله، صلى الله وسلم وبارك عليه وعلى آله وصحبه، والتابعين وتابعي التابعين ومن تبعهم بإحسان إلى يوم الدين. أما بعد! فيأيها الذين ءامنوا اتقوا الله ما استطعتم واسمعوا وأطيعوا وأنفقوا خيرا لأنفسكم. يا عباد الله أوصيكم وإياي بتقوى الله وطاعته وأحذركم وإياي عن معصيته ومخالفته. قَالَ اللهُ تَعَالَى فِي كِتَابِهِ الْعَزِيزِ وَظَنُّوا أَنْ لَا مَلْجَأَ مِنَ اللَّهِ إِلَّا إِلَيْهِ
Allah says in His Noble Book, the translation of which is, “They realised that there was no refuge from Allah except in Him.” What do we do in the face of this incoming storm? What is the boat that will carry us through it? That boat is the Sunna and it is the only boat that will ultimately stay afloat. As Shaykh Muhammad ibn al-Habib says,
واركب سفينة سنة تنجو بها واسلك سبيل رئيسها في هواه
“Board the boat of the sunna and you will be saved by it. Follow the path of its captain and where he takes you.” The system created by these arrogant men is beyond repair -there is no way of working within it to set it aright. Its foundations are rotten to the core. It cannot be rendered Islamic, it cannot be made fair and just. Its principles cannot be purified and we cannot fall into the trap of thinking that they can just so that we can fit in and be accepted. There can be no Islamic banking, Islamic paper currency, Islamicised human rights, Islamic democracy. There is nothing worthwhile in this milla of kufr, and if we think there is, then we are no different to those people who looked enviously upon Qarun and said,
يَا لَيْتَ لَنَا مِثْلَ مَا أُوتِيَ قَارُونُ إِنَّهُ لَذُو حَظٍّ عَظِيمٍ
the translation of which is, “Oh! If only we had the same as Qarun has been given! What immense good fortune he possesses.” He too, like Aad and Pharaoh, had the trappings of success, he too appeared to have the dunya at his fingertips, so much wealth that even the keys to his treasure boxes were so numerous that it would have taken a company of strong men to lift them from the ground. And like them, he thought it was all down to him and his own cleverness and superiority.
قَالَ إِنَّمَا أُوتِيتُهُ عَلَى عِلْمٍ عِنْدِي
the translation of which is, “He said, ‘I have only been given it because of knowledge I have.” He thought himself above the petty concerns of other human beings – they were beneath him – he was special and unique and could do as he pleased. But he was wrong. There was nothing unique or special about him. Allah says,
أَوَلَمْ يَعْلَمْ أَنَّ اللَّهَ قَدْ أَهْلَكَ مِنْ قَبْلِهِ مِنَ الْقُرُونِ مَنْ هُوَ أَشَدُّ مِنْهُ قُوَّةً وَأَكْثَرُ جَمْعًا
the translation of which is, “Did he not know that before him Allah had destroyed generations with far greater strength than his and far more possessions?” Despite appearances, he had nothing, for it all belonged to Allah and Allah could take it back at any moment he pleased. His life was built on sand, indeed on quicksand, for he sunk into it without a trace. Allah says,
فَخَسَفْنَا بِهِ وَبِدَارِهِ الْأَرْضَ فَمَا كَانَ لَهُ مِنْ فِئَةٍ يَنْصُرُونَهُ مِنْ دُونِ اللَّهِ وَمَا كَانَ مِنَ الْمُنْتَصِرِينَ
the translation of which is, “We caused the earth to swallow up both him and his house. There was no group to come to his aid, besides Allah, and he was not someone who is helped.” His hadh – his fortune – was not immense as they supposed. It was based on batil, that which is zahooqa – ever bound to vanish, just like the system that has the world enslaved today. And no matter how much work you do to repair, clean and decorate a house, if its foundations are rotten, it will still inevitably collapse. We cannot repair kufr, but we can establish Islam, the milla whose foundations will never rot and cannot be destroyed. All we have to do is uncover them and build upon them. All we have to do is restore the Sunna that the ulama of every generation of this great umma have strived and worked hard to preserve. It is all there, stunningly clear and stunningly simple for those who look with pure and healthy hearts – everything we need to live properly and establish justice wherever we are. It is no utopian ideal, it is practical and comprehensive and has been done before. It is the model of Madinat al-Munawarra – the enlightened city of the Prophet. This is our task and it is in our striving to bring this about that our success lies. As the people of knowledge said to those who admired Qarun and were envious of him and what he had,
وَيْلَكُمْ ثَوَابُ اللَّهِ خَيْرٌ لِمَنْ آَمَنَ وَعَمِلَ صَالِحًا وَلَا يُلَقَّاهَا إِلَّا الصَّابِرُونَ
the translation of which is, “‘Woe to you! Allah’s reward is better for those who have iman and act rightly. But only the steadfast will obtain it.’” We ask Allah to give us the himma and the sabr to carry out this task of restoring the Sunna. We ask Allah to help restore true leadership amongst us and correct implementation of zakat, and free trade and real currency, free of riba. We ask Allah to open our eyes to the reality of the system governing the world around us, and the reality of its fragility and impermanence, so that we are no linger deceived into thinking that our salvation somehow lies in adapting it to our own ends. We ask Allah to establish the sunna of the Prophet in us, through us and by us, and keep us safe from the storms that are to come.
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، وعن أم المومنين عائشة التي أمرنا الله في سورة النور أن ندافع عنها، 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، 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.
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.