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Do not be afraid to speak the truth or defend the truth

Do not be afraid to speak the truth or defend the truth
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March 01, 2024
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  الَّذِينَ يُبَلِّغُونَ رِسَالَاتِ اللَّهِ وَيَخْشَوْنَهُ وَلَا يَخْشَوْنَ أَحَدًا إِلَّا اللَّهَ ۗ وَكَفَىٰ بِاللَّهِ حَسِيبًا

‪Those who deliver the messages of Allah, and fear Him, and fear no one except Allah. Allah suffices as a Reckoner. (33:39)‪

In this ayah Allah is explaining the importance of delivering the truth. Nothing should prevent you from delivering the truth and the Prophet (peace be upon him) set an example for all of us. He was  the best of those who carried the truth and the flag of truth. Allah selected the prophets and messengers to carry the truth. They were the best of creation and those who follow their footsteps are carrying the flag of the truth, and defend it. Whenever their voices should be heard, they are at the forefront.

Allah is addressing the challenges which the messengers and truth-bearers face. Delivery of the truth is not free of charge. It is accompanied by fear, because people challenge it. Who challenges the truth? Evil people challenge the truth, because it is not in their favour to see the truth and be among the righteous. This is why all the prophets and messengers were challenged. It was not only the prophets and messengers, we still have these challenges.

When you read the Quran, you read about the strength of the truth and the importance of defending the truth and the delivery of the truth. In the sunnah, you find that even after the Prophet (peace be upon him) had gone, fresh challenges remain.

“Abu Sa’eed Al-Khudri (may Allah be pleased with him) reported that the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said:

‪عَنْ أَبِي سَعِيدٍ الخدري رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْهُ قَالَ: قَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ:‪” لَا يَحْقِرْ أَحَدُكُمْ نَفْسَهُ، قَالُوا: يَا رَسُولَ اللَّهِ كَيْفَ يَحْقِرُ أَحَدُنَا نَفْسَهُ؟ قَالَ: يَرَى أَمْراً لِلَّهِ عَلَيْهِ فِيهِ مَقَالٌ، ثُمَّ لَا يَقُولُ فِيهِ، فَيَقُولُ اللَّهُ عَزَّ وَجَلَّ لَهُ يَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ: مَا مَنَعَكَ أَنْ تَقُولَ فِيَّ كَذَا وَكَذَا؟ فَيَقُولُ: خَشْيَةُ النَّاسِ، فَيَقُولُ: فَإِيَّايَ كُنْتَ أَحَقَّ أَنْ تَخْشَى”‪رواه ابن ماجه بسند صحيح

‘Let none of you belittle himself (feel inferior and weak)’. They said: ‘O Messenger of Allah, how can one of us belittle himself?’ He said: ‘When he sees something clearly wrong which he should speak about to correct it, and he does not speak, (he’s silent where he should be vocal), Allah will say to him on the Day of Resurrection: ‘What prevented you from speaking about such-and-such thing?’ He will say: ‘The fear of people.’ Then Allah will say: ‘Rather, it is I whom you should have feared more.’ (Ibn Majah)

This is a textbook for what we are seeing in our reality. Many people are afraid of speaking the truth, because they fear the consequences. Thankfully there are still good people who have consciences, who still have their humanity, regardless of their faith, colour and background, unlike the evil people who are spectators, doing nothing to stop the massacres in Palestine. Allah will ask them on the Day of Judgment why they did nothing and their answer is given here, they will say it was because they were afraid of people. Allah will tell them that they should have feared Him more.

We still have brave people who are supporting the truth. The truth has no colour. People can recognise it easily. The purity Allah created in the hearts of mankind is the fitrah. We can all see that killing innocent people is wrong. It does not take a PhD to recognise this. Committing genocide is wrong. Killing children and civilians is wrong. But some people have decided that as long as it supports their positions and business, they will allow it to happen. They will be questioned about this in the dunya and akhirah.

إنَّ اللهَ تَبارَكَ وتَعالى لَيَسألُ العَبدَ يَومَ القيامةِ: حتى يَقولَ: ما مَنَعكَ إذْ رأيتَ المُنكَرَ أنْ تُنكِرَه؟

Indeed, God, Blessed and Most High, will ask His servant on the Day of Resurrection until he says: What prevented you, when you saw the evil, from revoke it? (Ibn Majah)

One of the decent people who was protesting against the wrong doings, is an American – he was not an Arab or a Muslim or a Palestinian. He was a person with a conscience, feelings and goodness.

When the Quraysh decided they had had enough of the Prophet (peace be upon him) preaching Islam, they wanted to kill him (peace be upon him) so they put him under siege for three years. However for three years some non-Muslims were not happy about what was happening to him and his people. They still had their humanity. They wondered how they could eat when the children under siege were not eating. The first person who protested about this was Hisham bin Amr, who went to Zuhair bin Abi Umayyah, who said they needed more people to join them, so they approached  Al-Mut’im bin Adiyy, who said they needed more, so they approached Abu Al-Bakhtari, and lastly they went to Zam’ah bin Al-Aswad. These five decent people, non Muslims, brought an end to the siege.

We have good people among us, who are not necessarily Muslims, so we should put our forces together to bring an end to this horrendous genocide. It is not in anyone’s interest to prolong the suffering and the killing. It is creating a new beast if it is not stopped now. It is not wise to let it continue. The longer they leave it,  the more it will come back and haunt them.

We should stop this genocide and join forces with those who agree with us, and do our best to stop this. Otherwise no one can guarantee what will happen in the future.

Abu Saeed al-Khudri said that the Prophet (peace be upon him) said:

‪قال رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم قال:  ألَا لا يَمنَعَنَّ أحَدَكم رَهْبةُ النَّاسِ أنْ يقولَ بحَقٍّ إذا رَآهُ أو شَهِدَه؛ فإنَّه لا يُقرِّبُ من أجَلٍ، ولا يُباعِدُ من رِزْقٍ؛ أنْ يقولَ بحَقٍّ أو يُذكِّرَ بعَظيمٍ.

Do not let the fear of people prevent you from saying the truth if you saw it or witnessed it. Because it does not shorten your lifespan, and it does not decrease your livelihood, to say the truth or to remind people about something great. (Musnad Ahmad)

Let’s put our efforts together and try our best to call for an end to the genocide. Most of our politicians are in lala land – they don’t care about anything except their elections. We will use our votes.

We will not elect those who do not uphold international law and do noting to stop the commission of war crimes against the Palestinian people.

We ask Allah Almighty for tawfiq. Ameen.

Based on the khutbah of Shaykh Haytham Tamim – 1st March 2024.

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