Khutba on True Tolerance

الحمد لله، الحمد لله الذي سهّل للإنسان سبل السلام، وحذّره من سبل الشيطان، 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 وأدى 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.

The deen is indeed ease as we mentioned last week, but that does not mean that everything goes. That does not mean that we always take the path of least resistance regardless of where it takes us, that does not mean we accept the unacceptable or defend the indefensible. There are limits, there are boundaries, within which lies the deen of Allah and outside of which lies something else entirely, within which lie the subul as-salaam and outside of which lie the subul ash-Shaytan, within which will be found guidance and outside of which lies only misguidance.
When we talk about ease, we are talking about ease within the parameters of Islam, we are not talking about adopting the position that everything goes. We must have furqan – the lines we draw cannot be blurred and indistinct, they cannot be drawn in sand. In our reaction against the extremist mindset, we cannot fall into the trap of accepting what is hateful to Allah. There is a difference between tolerance and tolérance, between accepting that there will always be people in our societies who reject the teachings of the Messenger, and accepting the positions of those people as having some validity.
We tolerate their existence and do not try to force them to abandon their beliefs. If they choose not to heed the call, that is between them and their Lord. Allah says,

لاَ إِكْرَاهَ فِي الدِّينِ

  the translation of which is, “There is no compulsion in the deen.” And indeed, we even undertake to protect them and their families and possessions if they enter into a jizya contract with us, but we never tolerate their beliefs or the open propagation of those beliefs. We, and by we I mean the Muslims, never declare those beliefs or the way of life that those beliefs underpin as being valid. To do so is to disregard the Words of Allah and the example of His Prophet. Allah says,

إِنَّ الدِّينَ عِندَ اللهِ الْإِسْلَامُ

the translation of which is, “The only deen with Allah is Islam.” And He says,

وَمَنْ يَّبْتَغِ غَيْرَ الْإِسْلَامِ دِيناً فَلَنْ يُّقْبَلَ مِنْهُ

the translation of which is, “If anyone desires anything other than Islam as a deen, it will not be accepted from him.” But an increasing amount of so-called Islamic thinkers and academics have started to talk of these other deens as being somehow valid, in the last few centuries but even more so in the last few years. For example, the late mufti of Syria, Ahmed Kuftaro, said in 1999 in a meeting with the then British archbishop. George Carey,

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.” Now this statement may sound perfectly reasonable and innocuous, but only until you look at the Arabic language and the difference between shart sihha and shart kamaal. He makes it seem like those religions are still valid, just somewhat less complete and perfected than Islam, whereas the truth is that they have ceased to have any validity whatsoever.
And, in the same talk, he continued 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, and saying, “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.” In effect, he was saying that Islam is a religion just like other religions and whichever you follow, you will be saved. If it was just this one man saying these things, it would not be such an issue, but he is representative of a school of thought that is becoming increasingly prevalent, with many widely-respected thinkers espousing similar ideas, such as Allama Iqbal, Sayyed Hussein Nasr, Maududi and others. And their views have leaked into the mainstream Muslim consciousness, to the extent that many of the bodies of scholars and ulama councils who claim to represent us in many countries of the world have become infected, referring to our brothers and fellow people of faith, and emphasising Islam’s compatibility with modern-day humanist doctrines and beliefs.
Firstly, there are no people of faith apart from those who believe in the Messenger of Allah, for belief in him is one of the two cornerstones of faith. Ashhadu an la ilaha illa-llah on its own is not enough to make you a believer, Ashhadu anna Muhammadan rasulu-llah must be added. Christians and Jews may be people of the Book, but they are not fellow people of faith. And we cannot consider them the same as us – to do so is to relegate belief to an optional extra, rather than the core determinant of worth that it actually is. Allah says,

أَفَمَنْ كَانَ مُؤْمِنًا كَمَنْ كَانَ فَاسِقًا لَا يَسْتَوُونَ

the translation of which is, “Is someone who believes like someone who is a deviator? They are not the same!” In the eyes of the law, there may be a difference in how people of the Book and idolators are treated, but in the eyes of Allah and in terms of their destination in the Next World, they all fall under the category of unbelievers. Allah says,

لَقَدْ كَفَرَ الَّذِينَ قَالُوا إِنَّ اللَّهَ هُوَ الْمَسِيحُ ابْنُ مَرْيَمَ

the translation of which is, “They are unbelievers – those who say that Allah is the Messiah, son of Maryam.” And the Prophet said,

والذي نفس محمد بيده لا يسمع بي أحد من هذه الأمة يهودي ولا نصراني ثم يموت ولم يؤمن بالذي أرسلت به إلا كان من أصحاب النار

“By the One in who hand lies the soul of Muhammad, any one of this umma who hears of me, whether he be Jew or Christian, and then dies without believing in that with which I have been sent, that person will be one of the inhabitants of the Fire.” And Imam an-Nawawi went further saying,
"Someone who does not believe that whoever follows another religion besides Islam is an unbeliever, or doubts that such a person is an unbeliever, or considers their sect to be valid, is himself an unbeliever (kafir) even if he manifests Islam and believes in it." In other words, the acceptance of kufr leads to kufr. Tolérance, perennialism, the doctrine of the brotherhood of man – they are not harmless philosophies, but rather are poisons that kill the heart and take the person away from Allah. If the heart of the mumin does not despise kufr, then kufr will find a corner in which to reside and grow and grow until it is all that remains. This is why Allah describes the only ones who are rightly-guided as being those whom,

اللَّهَ حَبَّبَ إِلَيْكُمُ الْإِيمَانَ وَزَيَّنَهُ فِي قُلُوبِكُمْ وَكَرَّهَ إِلَيْكُمُ الْكُفْرَ وَالْفُسُوقَ وَالْعِصْيَانَ

the translation of which is, “Allah has given you love of iman and made it pleasing to your hearts, and has made kufr, deviance and disobedience hateful to you.” We ask that Allah grant us those characteristics and safeguard our hearts from condoning any form of kufr or disobedience to Him.

أقول قولي هذا وأستغفر الله لي ولكم ولسائر المسلمين من كل ذنب فاستغفروه إنه هو الغفور 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.

Secondly, Islam is completely incompatible with modern-day doctrines and beliefs. Yes, the terms used may be similar, such as tasamuh and tolerance, but the meanings are not. When we talk of brotherhood, we consider the only thing aside from blood to create a bond of brotherhood to be iman/belief. Allah says,

إِنَّمَا الْمُومِنُونَ إِخْوَةٌ

the translation of which is, “The believers are brothers.” As for the brotherhood of man, how can that be when some are as angels in the eyes of Allah, and others lower than livestock. Allah says about those who are misguided,
أُولَئِكَ كَالْأَنْعَامِ بَلْ هُمْ أَضَلُّ

the translation of which is, “They are like cattle, rather they are even further astray.”  And no human being considers himself to be at the same level as a cow. When we talk about equality, we talk about equality before the law. In other words, no matter a person’s social position, he is tried in the same way and receives the appropriate punishment for the crime. Sayyidina Umar ibn al-Khattab had his own son flogged for drinking. But we do not mean that each person’s opinion is equally valid or each person’s religion. In our societies it is not wealth that gives a person superiority to another as it is in modern societies, but belief in Allah and His Messenger. Allah says, 

إِنَّ أَكْرَمَكُمْ عِندَ اللهِ أَتْقَاكِمِ

the translation of which is, “The most noble of you in the eyes of Allah are those with the most taqwa.” Similarly, equality does not mean the same. Men and women have different roles in society and have different rights. Some modernists, in their eagerness to make Islam pleasing to their non-Muslim overlords, have claimed that Islam came to abolish polygamy, and have brushed over other rulings relating to witnessing and the like. By doing so, they have invented their own deen. Allah says, 

الرِّجَالُ قَوَّامُونَ عَلَى النِّسَاءِ بِمَا فَضَّلَ اللهُ بَعْضَهُمْ عَلَى بَعْضٍ وَبِمَا أَنفَقُواْ مِنَ اَمْوَالِهِمْ

the translation of which is, “Men have charge of women because Allah has preferred the one above the other and because they spend their wealth on them.” Women have no financial responsibilities – they all devolve on the men, either their husbands or fathers, and in exchange leadership is left in the hands of men. They are different – not the same, and it is an unhealthy the society that seeks to turn men into women and women into men. Indeed, it was one of the hallmarks of Pharaonic society. Allah says that Firawn,

يَقْتُلُ أَبْنَاءَكُمْ وَيَسْتَحْيِي نِسَاءَكُمْ

the translation of which is, “He killed your sons and let your women live.” This obviously means that he killed the males and let the females live, but can also be understood in its metaphoric sense that he pushed the men in the society down and put the women over them, bringing about the destruction of his society.
Then there is the concept of liberty. Modern society grants people the freedom to do things which are considered crimes in the eyes of Allah, such as fornication, riba and insulting the Prophet, while taking away their basic freedom to earn a living by making it illegal to sell produce on the street, or take fish from the sea without a license. 
Not one of these values as understood by secular society is compatible with the great deen of Allah, and not one of these values brings any benefit to the human being. So to try and reform and reimagine our deen to come in line with them is ignorant and shortsighted in the extreme, and far from strengthening our position in society, weakens it immeasurably. If we want success, both for us and the rest of mankind, it is us who need to be teaching our values, and I use the term ‘values’ only because it is the language they understand, teachings would be more appropriate – it is us who need to be teaching our teachings to those around us, not letting them dictate to us and force their values down our throats.  They are falling into a deep abyss and are trying to pull us down with them. Be proud of the values of the deen and the teachings of the Messenger, not ashamed. Demonstrate them to the world, don’t hide them. We are part of the best umma ever placed on this earth, never forget that. The answers to all our problems and the problems of the peoples of this planet lie with us.
We ask Allah to remind us of who we are and what He has given us. We ask Him to make our deen uppermost in the land and our milla the one that governs the affairs of people, and bring down the milla of kufr. We ask Allah to guide us and guide by us, to make us strong and wise and join our hearts together in true brotherhood.

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