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The Ummah Upgrade

The Ummah Upgrade

Smashing the idols

Allah Almighty said towards the end of Surat Zumar,

أَلَيۡسَ ٱللَّهُ بِكَافٍ عَبۡدَهُۥۖ وَيُخَوِّفُونَكَ بِٱلَّذِينَ مِن دُونِهِۦۚ وَمَن يُضۡلِلِ ٱللَّهُ فَمَا لَهُۥ مِنۡ هَادٖ

Is not Allah sufficient for His Servant [Prophet Muhammad]? And [yet], they threaten you with those [they worship] other than Him. And whoever Allah leaves astray – for him there is no guide. (39:36)

Ibn Ashur, the great scholar of tafsir, commented on this ayah, that when the Prophet (peace be upon him) conquered Makkah, he asked Khalid bin Walid to destroy Uzza, one of the trinity of idols in the Arab world at the time, which were Laat, Uzzah and Manat. The disbelievers of Makkah used to say to the Prophet (peace be upon him) that behaving insolently towards their idols would be his ruin because of how powerful the idols were and the miraculous powers they possessed. They believed that anybody who dishonoured the idols would be destroyed.

The Quraysh said to the Prophet (peace be upon him), “We fear that our gods will harm you, and we fear for you their disgrace”. Then Allah revealed this ayah, that He would protect the believers, so they should remove the rotten ideas that had prevailed. So Khalid began by breaking the nose of Uzza, and then cracking its head and then smashing the rest. Nothing happened to Khalid, he was perfectly safe from any harm. Rotten ideas and superstitions have no basis in reality. They lead to the corrupting of individuals and societies and nations.

Ibrahim (peace be upon him) did the same thing when he destroyed all the idols in the temple except the biggest one.

فَرَاغَ إِلَى آلِهَتِهِمْ فَقَالَ أَلَا تَأْكُلُونَ . مَا لَكُمْ لَا تَنْطِقُونَ

And he made his way to their ‘gods’ and said to them, “Why would you not eat?
What is wrong with you that you do not speak?”

فَرَاغَ عَلَیۡهِمۡ ضَرۡبَۢا بِٱلۡیَمِینِ
Then he attacked them striking with his right hand.
(Aṣ-Ṣāffāt, 37:91-93
)

إِذۡ قَالَ لِأَبِیهِ وَقَوۡمِهِۦ مَا هَـٰذِهِ ٱلتَّمَاثِیلُ ٱلَّتِیۤ أَنتُمۡ لَهَا عَـٰكِفُونَ

when he said to his father and his people, “What are these statues you are devoted to?”

قَالُوا۟ وَجَدۡنَاۤ ءَابَاۤءَنَا لَهَا عَـٰبِدِینَ

They said, “We found our fathers worshipping them,”

قَالَ لَقَدۡ كُنتُمۡ أَنتُمۡ وَءَابَاۤؤُكُمۡ فِی ضَلالٍ مُبِين

He said, “Surely you and your fathers have been in open error.”
(Al-Anbiyāʾ, 21:53-54)

وَتَٱللَّهِ لَأَكَيداً أَصۡنَـٰمَكُم بَعۡدَ أَن تُوَلُّوا۟ مُدۡبِرِین

And I swear by Allah that I will devise something against your idols after you have gone away turning your backs.”

فَجَعَلَهُمۡ جُذَ ٰ⁠ذًا إِلَّا كبيراً لَّهُمۡ لَعَلَّهُمۡ إِلَیۡهِ یَرۡجِعُونَ

Then, he turned all of them into pieces, except the big one of them, so that they might come back to it.

(Al-Anbiyāʾ, Ayah 57-58)

قَالُوا۟ حَرِّقُوهُ وَٱنصُرُوۤا۟ ءَالِهَتَكُمۡ إِن كُنتُمۡ فَـٰعِلِینَ

They said, “(O people) burn him and help your gods, if you are to take action.”

قُلۡنَا یَـٰنَارُ كُونِی بَرۡدࣰا وَسَلَـٰمًا عَلَىٰۤ إِبۡرَ ٰ⁠هِیمَ


We said, “O fire, be cold and safe for Ibrāhīm.”

وَأَرَادُوا۟ بِهِۦ كَيداً فَجَعَلۡنَـٰهُمُ ٱلۡأَخۡسَرِینَ

And they intended to harm him, but We made them the worst losers.
(Al-Anbiyāʾ, 21:68-70)

When the Prophet (peace be upon him) delivered his sermon during the Farewell Hajj, he was certain that believers would not return to praying to idols, but he was concerned about hidden shirk, which is associating others with Allah in your actions. For instance showing off in your ibadah, which is putting someone else’s opinion above Allah.

It was narrated from Shaddad bin Aws (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said:

عن شداد بن أوس قال: قال صلى الله عليه وسلم : (إن أخوف ما أتخوف على أمتي الإشراك بالله ، أما إني لست أقول يعبدون شمساً ولا قمراً ولا وثناً ، ولكن أعمالاً لغير الله ، وشهوة خفية) رواه ابن ماجه


“The thing that I fear most for my nation is associating others with Allah. I do not say that they will worship the sun or the moon or idols, but deeds done for the sake of anyone other than Allah, and hidden desires.” (Ibn Majah)

Islam came to destroy all idols, these are ideas and practices not just physical idols. In Palestine, we are seeing this. Everyone thinks we are so weak that we can’t do anything. Even on an individual level we hear the common statement being repeated, ‘You are only one person, you cannot change the world, it’s beyond your power; there’s nothing you can do, except make du’a’. In fact, change is possible. We simply have to do our best and then rely on Allah, and leave the rest to Him.

What we see is no doubt painful, but through this our Ummah will reach a new level. The whole Ummah is being upgraded. It is time for the Ummah Upgrade.

Allah has done it in His own way. Who would have thought that the ordinary Palestinian population would change history through their true imaan in Allah. When you are truly committed to Allah and have real reliance on Allah, He will support you. Who thought that the encampments in the universities would be a force of Allah, that He would mobilise overnight? No one. It was beyond all expectations.

Islam is the religion of Tawheed (monotheism) and by demolishing false idols (physical or ideological or customs) it liberates you from illusion.

Allah will never break His promise. We trust Allah and His promise. All those who passed away, lost nothing, instead they were elevated to the status of shaheed. One day our Ummah and Gaza will be restored to peace and justice

Based on the khutbah of Shaykh Haytham Tamim 10th May 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.