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False arguments vs the truth

False arguments vs the truth

In Surat al Kahf Allah says

وَیُجَـٰدِلُ ٱلَّذِینَ كَفَرُوا۟ بِٱلۡبَـٰطِلِ لِیُدۡحِضُوا۟ بِهِ ٱلۡحَقَّۖ وَٱتَّخَذُوۤا۟ ءَایَـٰتِی وَمَاۤ أُنذِرُوا۟ هُزُوࣰا ۝٥٦

Those who disbelieve argue with false argument, in order to defeat the truth thereby. They take My Verses, and the warnings, for a joke. (18:56)

This ayah shows us that people of falsehood have the audacity to present their falsehood and promote it as the truth, perpetuating their lies and false narratives as the truth.

This recurring pattern has been a constant in the lives of prophets and messengers since Shaytan declared his challenge against Allah and it will not end until the Day of Judgement. Only on the Day of Judgement will it stop. Until then it is an ongoing battle.

At the International Court of Justice we saw these very scenes that Allah has described. The proponents of falsehood try to portray the truth as false and falsehood as the truth.

During the life of the Prophet (peace be upon him) following the brutal persecution of Muslims in Makkah, the Prophet (peace be upon him) instructed his followers to go to Habasha (later known as Abyssinia, and now as Ethiopia, Eritrea and Somalia) to seek asylum, as Najashi (Negus) was a just king and would not wrong them.

it was the fifth year after revelation, and among the eleven men and four women who migrateds were Uthman bin Affan, his wife Ruqayyah (the daughter of the Prophet (peace be upon him), along with Abu Salamah and Umm Salamah. The following year, eighty men and eighteen women, fled. The Quraysh felt the gravity of this situation because they felt the migrants now had an international platform, so they sent their shrewdest person who could twist reality – the spin doctor of that time – Amr ibn al-As (who was not Muslim yet) with Abdullah ibn Abi Rabia to present their case against the Muslim migrants and bring them back.

“O king, there is a group of evil persons from among our youth who have escaped to your kingdom. They practice a religion, which neither we, nor you know. They have forsaken our religion and have not embraced your religion. The respected leaders of their people — from among their own parents and uncles and from their own clans — have sent us to you to request you to return them.”

Despite their false accusations, they lost their case against them when Ja’far ibn Abi Talib, the cousin of Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) and one of the migrants, eloquently defended the Muslims and explained their situation. Najashi, after hearing both sides, refused to hand over the Muslims and granted them protection in Abyssinia. We pray that the truth will prevail today.

Even though Najashi was not a Muslim at that time, he was a Christian following true Christianity, who accepted Islam later and the Prophet (peace be upon him) prayed his funeral prayer in absentia, salatul ghayab. He is considered a Companion of the Prophet (peace be upon him) and his grave is in a place called the city of Najashi.

Allah Almighty said in the Quran that He launched truth against falsehood and smashed it:

بَلۡ نَقۡذِفُ بِٱلۡحَقِّ عَلَى ٱلۡبَـٰطِلِ فَیَدۡمَغُهُۥ فَإِذَا هُوَ زاهق وَلَكُمُ ٱلۡوَیۡلُ مِمَّا تَصِفُونَ﴿ ١٨ ﴾

Instead, We launch the truth against falsehood, which gets it smashed, and in no time it is gone. Alas to you for what you describe! (Al-Anbiyāʾ, Ayah 18)

The truth is so powerful it takes its power from Allah but it requires people to carry it. We are very grateful to South Africa for bringing the case and we are sad that the case was not put forward by a Muslim country. Although there is a lot of political pressure on the judges, inshallah this case will be victorious we need 8 judges out of 15 to win. As Allah facilitated Najashi for the oppressed and the truth to be protected Allah is facilitating now South Africa to carry this torch of justice

We put our hope in Allah that justice will be served.

Based on the Khutbah of Shaykh Haytham Tamim 12th Jan 2024

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Shaykh Haytham Tamim is the founder and main teacher of the Utrujj Foundation. He has provided a leading vision for Islamic learning in the UK, which has influenced the way Islamic knowledge is disseminated. He has orchestrated the design and delivery of over 200 unique courses since Utrujj started in 2001. His extensive expertise spans over 30 years across the main Islamic jurisprudence schools of thought. He has studied with some of the foremost scholars in their expertise; he holds some of the highest Ijazahs (certificates) in Quran, Hadith (the Prophetic traditions) and Fiqh (Islamic rulings). His own gift for teaching was evident when he gave his first sermon to a large audience at the age of 17 and went on to serve as a senior lecturer of Islamic transactions and comparative jurisprudence at the Islamic University of Beirut (Shariah College). He has continued to teach; travelling around the UK, Europe and wider afield, and won the 2015 BISCA award (British Imams & Scholars Contributions & Achievements Awards) for Outstanding Contribution to Education and Teaching.