Jummuah Khutbah-Br. Sadullah Khan
Islamic Center of Irvine
7/15/05
Take not life - which Allah has made sacred - except for just cause.
And if anyone is slain wrongfully, we have given his heir authority
to demand qisas or to forgive: but let no one exceed bounds in the
matter of taking life; for he is guided by Law). [Qur'an 17:33]
Sanctity of Life
The sanctity of human life in Islam is paramount, without condition
or qualification:
Say: "Come, I will rehearse what God hath (really) prohibited you
from: Join not anything as equal with Him; be good to your parents;
kill not your children on a plea of want--We provide sustenance for
you and for them; come not nigh to shameful deeds, whether open or
secret; take not life, which God hath made sacred, except by way of
justice and law. Thus doth He command you, that ye may learn wisdom"
[Q 6:151]
Two Major Dilemmas
As the death toll of the London bombing rises and the eyes of
suspicion fall ever more sharply on Muslims, we can't help but
despair at the ever spiraling violence in our world today, and it
pains us deeply that a significant portion of violence that occurs
is attributed to Muslims and seemingly in the name of Islam. Of
course, Muslims world-wide condemned the attack in London; have
stated that Islam is a religion of peace; that "Islamic terror" is
neither sacred nor Islamic.
Dilemma 1: We have this dilemma that due to the preponderance of
anti-Muslim imagery in some of the media, many assume that Islam is
synonymous with terror and that whenever there occurs a terror
attack, Muslims are considered guilty by association. This is highly
unfair and immoral. Some Muslims, on the other hand, tend to
cowardly be apologetic for Islam as if Islam itself is somewhat
guilty. Islam is a comprehensive way of life that guides every
aspect of human existence; Islam is Islam and there should be no
apology for being Muslim, ever.
Dilemma 2: That due to suffering and oppression suffered by Muslims
in Palestine, Chechnya, Kashmir, Iraq
that such terror attacks
(though condemned) could somewhat be understood. That is immoral
too. The suffering of Muslims around the world pains people of
conscience very deeply, and we must realize that the way to end that
suffering is to work to end injustice across the globe. But
remember, "Never let the hatred of a people toward you move you to
commit injustice." [Qur'an 5:8] Earlier in the same chapter, Allah
says: ...let not the hatred of some people in (once) shutting you
out of the Sacred Mosque lead you to transgression (and hostility on
your part). Help ye one another in righteousness and piety, but help
ye not one another in sin and rancor: fear Allah, for Allah is
strict in retribution. [Qur'an 5:2] This verse was initially
revealed to the Prophet and his companions just after the conquest
of Mecca, the inhabitants of which violently opposed the Prophet
from the very beginnings of his ministry. They attacked, tortured,
maimed, and murdered the early Muslims. They starved the Muslims for
three years, directly leading to the deaths of some companions and
tremendously affecting the Prophet's two main pillars of support,
Abu Talib and Khadijah. They killed Sumaya and Yasser in front of
their son Ammar. They drove the Prophet (pbuh) and his followers
from their homes and then seized their property to enrich themselves
and their caravans. They led attack after attack against the Muslims
in Medina, and they nearly killed the Prophet at Uhud. They
treacherously violated the Treaty of Hudaybiyah, killing the
Prophet's allies within the Sacred Precincts. Yet despite all of
that, Muslims were instructed that they had no license to transgress
against the Makkans.
When the Muslims re-entered Makkah after years of persecution and
attacks against them, one of the Prophet's companions yelled
out, "Today is a day of slaughter! Today, God will debase Quraysh."
When the Prophet (pbuh) learned of this, he became very angry and
responded, "He has spoken incorrectly! Today is a day of mercy." The
Prophet (pbuh) responded to all of the ugliness of Quraysh with
mercy, forgiveness, and kindness. He did not take the opportunity of
war to wantonly slaughter his bitterest enemies.
Our faith does not allow us to undermine the sanctity of life ---
period. Once we let the impropriety of others guide our morality,
then we risk becoming completely amoral, and the Prophet (pbuh) was
sent with the expressed purpose of implementing the highest standard
of human morality.
Forgotten Tragedies & Srebernica
As we condemn all atrocities perpetrated against innocent people,
whether it be organizational terror, institutional terror or state-
sponsored terror; people of conscience should remember the
atrocities that has been suffered buy Muslims, especially in the
last few decades
More than 3 million Muslims were killed / displaced by the European
colonial powers during and after the occupation of Muslim countries
after World War I and II.
More than 6 million Muslims were killed / displaced by Tsars of
Russia and subsequently killed / displaced by Communist Government
of Russia
More than 1.5 million Muslims have been killed in China, Cambodia,
Vietnam since the world war II
More than half million Muslims have been killed / displaced in Burma
since W W II
More than half million Muslims have been killed in India and Kashmir
since 1947
More than 250 000 Muslims were killed by Serbs and Croats in Bosnia
during early 90s.
More than 100,000 Muslims were killed in Kosovo and Albania during
mid 90s and counting and over a quarter million in Chechnya, and
counting.
More than 5 million Muslims have been killed / displaced in
Palestine since 1948 and counting
More than 5 million Muslims were killed / displaced by the Russian
occupation of Afghanistan
More than 6 million Iraqis have died under Saddam, the sanctions and
post-Saddam, and counting.
Ten years ago this week, over 8 000 innocent men and boys were
massacred in a UN Safe Zone in Srebernica, Bosnia at the hands of
the Sebian Army. The massacre is considered as the "worst massacre
since WW2"; and thousands of bodies of men and young boys are still
being exhumed and buried from that incident, deemed by the UN as
the "worst case of genocide in Europe in the past 50 years"; the
same United Nations that set up the court that convicted a Serbian
General Krstic for that crime, also bears a measure of collective
responsibility for the tragedy at Srebrenica. All 8 000 people
innocently massacred were Muslims, lest we forget!
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{Invite (mankind, O Muhammad ) to the Way of your Lord (i.e. Islam) with wisdom (i.e. with the Divine Inspiration and the Qur'an) and fair preaching, and argue with them in a way that is better. Truly, your Lord knows best who has gone astray from His Path, and He is the Best Aware of those who are guided.}
(Holy Quran-16:125)
{And who is better in speech than he who [says: "My Lord is Allah (believes in His Oneness)," and then stands straight (acts upon His Order), and] invites (men) to Allah's (Islamic Monotheism), and does righteous deeds, and says: "I am one of the Muslims."} (Holy Quran-41:33)
The prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: "By Allah, if Allah guides one person by you, it is better for you than the best types of camels." [al-Bukhaaree, Muslim]
The prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) also said, "Whoever calls to guidance will have a reward similar to the reward of the one who follows him, without the reward of either of them being lessened at all."
[Muslim, Ahmad, Aboo Daawood, an-Nasaa'ee, at-Tirmidhee, Ibn Maajah]
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