Kashmir – Do not let your brother down
Be One Ummah in the Face of Adversity
A Muslim is a Muslim’s brother. He does not wrong him, or let him down, or hand him over to his enemies, or despise him. (Muslim)
Stick to principles
Going back to basics, sticking to our principles makes our ummah a special ummah. Unfortunately, with all the challenges our ummah faces, we have lost our principles. The Prophet (peace be on him) confirmed the importance of the unity of the ummah on an individual, community and national level. The Muslim is the brother of the Muslim. He should not oppress him. He should not let him down.
Do not let your brother down
Anas bin Malik narrated that Allah’s Messenger (peace on him) said: Help your brother whether he is an oppressor or an oppressed.
A man said: O Allah’s Messenger (peace be on him) I will help him if he is oppressed, but if he is an oppressor, how shall I help him?
The Prophet (peace be on him) said: By preventing him from oppressing (others), for that is how to help him. (Bukhari)
How do you let your brother down? When you could help him but you don’t. We see this painful scenario repeated over and over again. Today it is Kashmir. Yesterday it was Syria and Palestine and Iraq… and we have lost count.
Our brothers and sisters in Kashmir need our help and support in every way we can.
Do not side with the oppressor
The Prophet (peace be on him) said that we must not let our brother down. And that if we cannot support him, DO NOT MAKE ALLIES with his enemies against him. Unfortunately we see this today, as some Muslim countries and leaders are making allies against the Kashmiri Muslims. This is totally against prophetic command. Our leaders have let their brother down AND handed him over to the enemies.
‘Do not despise him’
We have seen stories, online and offline, spreading untruths on social media that they are breeding terrorism. It is the easy option today to accuse anyone you don’t agree with of being a terrorist. We are all against terrorism, but real terrorism. Not just false accusations of terrorism.
Witchcraft = Terrorism
False accusations are not new. They have been around since the dark ages – whenever people disagreed with anyone, they branded them a witch and called for them to burned. Similarly today, terrorism is the new label for the witchcraft of the old days.
Defending your rights is not terrorism. You cannot be called a terrorist for defending your land and your honour. How can you accuse them of terrorism? When they are the ones who are being persecuted. Of course we have in Kashmir the third party who will always play in the dark. The reality is that they are suffering when they only want to be able to live with dignity without oppression. Just as those suffering in Iraq and Syria.
People just want their basic human rights.
Oppression against anyone is forbidden
The Prophet (peace be on him) taught the ummah to stick together to support each other. The ummah is supposed to support not just Muslims but anyone who is oppressed.
In the holy hadith Allah Almighty says:
Oppression against anyone, regardless of their race, religion and nationality, is forbidden, from a legal point of view, from a shariah point of view and from a humanitarian point of view. It is our duty as humans always to support those who are oppressed and defend them against oppressors. No matter what. No matter who.
Muslims must not wrong one another and should not let one another down and they should not hand their Muslim brothers over to their enemies.
The deaf ears of the leaders
I am not sure if our leaders are listening. When it comes to economic interests all our principles are thrown out of the window. No one cares about principles. Politics, when it enters anything, pollutes it. People choose politics over principles.
The weak pay the price
Since 1947 there have been problems in Kashmir. The issues surfaced due to political and economic reasons. Kashmir got caught in the middle of the future plans, the silk road, new ports and struggles between China and the US, and their allies. Muslims happen to be located in that very focal point, in the strategic spot – an obstacle in their future plans. And it is always the weak who pay the price.
Had they been strong and supported by the ummah it would be a different story. If they were supported by OIC (Organisation of Islamic Cooperation of Muslim Countries) no one would dare touch them. But when while Muslims are squabbling among themselves, anyone can take advantage of them.
What can we do?
I wish I had the power to resolve the issue, but I don’t. At the very least we can:
1. Understand the situation
Be informed, gain a clear and deep understanding of the history of the conflict and the current politics of the region.
What is the issue? Read: BBC,
The Silence of the Oppressed in NY Times
2. Try to make your voice heard
Through campaigns and demonstrations and writing to your MP and the Foreign Secretary.
Write to the Foreign Secretary
Email the Foreign Secretary, Dominc Rabb: dominic.raab.mp@parliament.uk
3. Send charitable donations
4. Make dua from our heart
Ask Allah Almighty to alleviate the suffering, and guide our leaders
اِنِّىْ مَغْلُوْبٌ فَانْتَصِرْ
Inni maghlubun fan-tassir
O Allah! I am oppressed, therefore come to my help.
اللَّهُمَّ اِنَّا نَعُوْذُبِكَ مِنْ اَنْنَّزِلَّ اَوْنُزِلَّ اَوْنُضِلَّ اَوْ نَظْلِمَ اَوْ يُظْلَمَ عَلَيْنََآ اَوْ نَجْهَلَ اَوْ يُجْهَلَ عَلَينَآ اَوْ ضِلَّ اَوْ اُضَلَّ
Allahumma inna na’udhubika min an nazillaaw nuzilla, aw nadhilla aw nadhlima, aw yudhlama ‘alaina, aw najhala aw yujhala alaina, aw aDhilla aw uDhala
O Allah! I seek refuge in You from being over-powered by others, or that I would over-power others (unjustly), or that I should seduce or tyrannize others, or be oppressed by them; or that I be shown ignorance and vulgarity by others, or I be vulgar to them; or from going astray myself, or be mislead by others
رَبَّنَا لاَ تُؤَاخِذْنَا إِنْ نَسِينَا أَوْ أَخْطَأْنَا رَبَّنَا وَلاَ تَحْمِلْ عَلَيْنَا إِصْرًا كَمَا حَمَلْتَهُ عَلَى الَّذِينَ مِنْ قَبْلِنَا رَبَّنَا وَلاَ تُحَمِّلْنَا مَا لاَ طَاقَةَ لَنَا بِهِ وَاعْفُ عَنَّا وَاغْفِرْ لَنَا وَارْحَمْنَا أَنْتَ مَوْلاَنَا فَانصُرْنَا عَلَى الْقَوْمِ الْكَافِرِينَ
Rabbana la tu·akhidhna in nasina aw akhtaana, rabbana wala tahmil alaiyna isran kama hamaltahu ala alladhina min qablina, rabbana wala tuhammilna ma la þaqata lana bihi wa’fu anna waghfir lana warhamna anta maulana fa’nsurna ala alqaumil-kafiriin
Our Lord! Condemn us not if we forget or fall into error; our Lord! Lay not on us a burden Like that which Thou didst lay on those before us; Our Lord! Lay not on us a burden greater than we have strength to bear. Blot out our sins, and grant us forgiveness. Have mercy on us. Thou art our Protector; Help us against those who stand against faith (2: 286)
Don’t spare any opportunity to help. Do as much as you can.
What will you answer?
Our destiny is to be tested. As individuals. As a community. As an ummah. We are constantly being tested. But we must do our best not to fail these tests. When we present our case to Allah Almighty on the Day of Judgement, at least then we should be able to say that though we didn’t have the power to resolve the issues, we sincerely tried to through our support, donations and duas. We were not living on a different planet. We did not isolate ourselves from what is going on in the world.
We have a moral obligation to support those who are under oppression. Today Kashmir, tomorrow anyone who is under oppression. We as humans have to come together and prevent genocides and massacres. We cannot simply stand by as innocent people are being oppressed.
We ask Allah to enable us to stick together as one ummah, to stick to our principles and not to sell them. Ameen
Khutbah by Shaykh Haytham Tamim at Muslim World League on 23 August 2019
Transcribed by Ayesha Khan
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Shaykh Haytham Tamim
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.
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