Our practical duty towards the Denmark-Issue
http://www.amrkhaled.net/articles/articles1258.html
In the name of Allah, the All-Merciful the Ever-Merciful
All praises be to Allah, Lord of mankind and jinn and all that exists.
Assalamu alaylom (peace be upon you).
All Prayers and Blessings of Allah be upon the Messenger of Allah (SAWS)[1].
The dialogue on the Denmark issue continues. Today, actually I would like to talk about a different aspect. I would like to begin with a message that I believe will conclude with practical steps. We want to conclude this talk with something practical that our youth and our women can carry out. In order to reach the practical part, let me begin by saying that everyone is wondering and people are asking each other, "What shall we do?" "What are the practical measures that we can take after the protests?" "We have objected, but what should we do next?" We need practical steps; 1, 2, 3…
Everyone is asking, "Have we given the Messenger of Allah (SAWS) his due? Have we delivered?", "Are you satisfied O Messenger of Allah?", "Have we fulfilled our duty towards our beloved Prophet (SAWS), or is there still something we should do?", "Have we fully done our duty?" We have expressed our objection by spontaneous and immediate protests. People were moved to protest instinctively, although we do reject all forms of violence that took place. Eventually we all expressed our anger, our objection, our love and our defense of our Prophet (SAWS) in his absence. The media (the TV and the press) broadcasted this Muslim objection and the whole world heard, and realized that the Prophet (SAWS) is more precious to us than ourselves, our children, our lives, our fathers and our mothers. We have done that; we have expressed our objection in different ways, some of which were right and some were wrong. We have expressed our objection. The question is, have we fulfilled our duty towards the Messenger of Allah (SAWS)? This question has been on my mind since last week. One has been watching the TV and seen all the reactions around the world. "Are you satisfied with us, O Messenger of Allah?", "Have we fulfilled our duty towards the Messenger of Allah (SAWS)?" These questions should not just be on my mind, they should be on everyone's mind, because we will meet with the Prophet (SAWS), and we long for the joy of his intercession, and for him to take us by the hand.
The events of these days are historical events in the lives of every one of us. The day we meet the Prophet (SAWS) we will be asked about these events, "Such and such happened, how did you defend me in my absence? How did you express yourself on the matter?" Actually one asks, "Is this enough?" Have we fulfilled our duty towards the Prophet (SAWS)?" In my opinion it is not enough. Not yet. Surely a few days of protests and demonstrations are not enough to express our loyalty to the Prophet (SAWS). I believe our job is not yet done. It's true the objections were very effective and very important (taking into account our reservations about the unacceptable forms of protests). It is true that the objections were important but these objections were an _expression of our love for the Prophet (SAWS). There is still something missing, informing the other party, enlightening Denmark who does not know anything about the issue here.
A friend told me recently that schoolchildren in Denmark are asking their teachers, "Who is Muhammad, about whom this whole problem has erupted?" The teachers are saying they are unable to reply because they do not have a reply. They themselves do not know. Those are the children of Denmark. Those are the teachers who are well-educated, the senior members of their community, millions of people….
"Have we fulfilled our duty towards the Prophet (SAWS)?" "Has the world been enlightened?"
We have expressed our objection, but we have not introduced the world to the Messenger of Allah. Denmark still does not know why we are angry they are not aware of the greatness of the Prophet (SAWS).
Notice that the tone used to object is different from the tone used to enlighten, the tone used to object lets the other party know that there is a problem. However, that is not a message of invitation (to Islam). It is not a message of enlightenment, of who he is. That is why I say no, not yet; we still have not fulfilled our duty towards the Prophet (SAWS). All you young men and women who have objected and feel that you have done your duty, I am sorry, not yet; there is still a long way to go, for you to meet him at the hawd[2], and for him to embrace you and be pleased with you. If you are truly sincere, and it was not just a random reaction, an instinctive action, I am sure that every one of us loves the Prophet (SAWS), but I am also sure that we tend to cool down too quickly. What I want to say is, " No, not yet!"
Think, if the Prophet (SAWS) himself had been here with us now, how would he have dealt with this issue? Has anyone thought of that I wonder? If the Prophet (SAWS) himself had been here with us now, how would he have dealt with this issue? How would he have benefited from this issue to serve his message? How? How? How?
To answer that question, if the Prophet (SAWS) himself had been here with us now, how would he have dealt with this issue? I have to ask you another question, "What was the most precious thing to the Prophet (SAWS), the most important thing in the Prophet's (SAWS) life?" "Was the most precious thing in the Prophet's life, himself as a person or his message?" Do you see what I am getting at? His message, his message was the most precious thing to him. His name is Muhammad, Messenger of Allah. That is who he is. We worship our Lord with it. We bear witness that there is no God to be worshipped but Allah, and we bear witness that Muhammad is his Messenger. He is a Messenger of Allah.
Our objection was for the Prophet (SAWS) as a person and it was necessary. However, the rest of the name, Messenger of Allah, the Message…. "What is the greatest thing in your life O Messenger of Allah?" "My message"
"What is the greatest thing in your life O Messenger of Allah?" "Guidance of the world (to Islam)"
"What is the greatest thing in your life O Messenger of Allah?" "Introducing the world to my message, introducing the world to my religion, introducing the world to this message, this guidance, the good of this religion, the prosperity for the earth, the prosperity for mankind, and the guidance of mankind (to Islam)." That is his message, and we say Muhammad, Messenger of Allah.
All you who have objected, if you have fulfilled your duty towards the Prophet (SAWS) as a person, there is still a major role for you to play. You still have not fully fulfilled your duty. Fulfillment will be complete with Muhammad, Messenger of Allah. We have a major role to play. I say with feeling because I am afraid that people will feel that they are ok. The Messenger (SAWS) will be pleased with you, and will be satisfied with you when the enlightenment is complete; when you carry out this mission perfectly.
An important point I want to get across is that it is his due; it is the Messenger of Allah's due; it is Muhammad's (SAWS) due. It is the Messenger of Allah's due;
it is the Messenger of Allah's (SAWS) due, that we introduce the world to his message, that we introduce the world to our religion, that we bring good to the world. We bring prosperity to the world, we are guidance to the world, we are beneficial to the world, and we are a gift to the world. This is his message, that he is great he brings prosperity to the world.
We still have not fulfilled, we still have an important role. Take heed that we have two relationships with the Messenger (SAWS). I want to come to the practical part but this is so that we understand our position with regards to the Denmark issue. We are at the objection phase. Where do we want to go from here? What do we want to achieve? This way we can come to our practical duty, all convinced and in agreement. What I want to say again is that we have two distinct relationships with the Prophet (SAWS). The first one is that we are his followers, and we are proud of that, thus it is our duty as such to defend him in his absence. With Allah's will, we have done that and will continue to do so.
However we also have another relationship with the Prophet, do not forget that! It is very important. We have inherited the message, we have inherited from the Prophet (SAWS) that Prophets do not bequeath wealth, property, or money. But they left us this knowledge and this religion. We are the inheritors who will carry the legacy of his message, to introduce the whole world to him. They do not know him; the people of Denmark do not know him.
If there been true enlightenment and acquaintance between us and the Danish people, if they knew us and we knew them this would never had happened. Mutual acquaintance would have nipped this problem in the bud, because the people of Denmark would have said no, we know him and that is not true. The people of Denmark do not know him.
The opinion polls that were carried out were based on the opinions of people on something they had no knowledge of, and therefore were inaccurate. This is because they were asking them to give an opinion on something they knew nothing of. Thus scientifically speaking, they are incorrect.
This is very, very important we have two relationships; we are his followers and we are inheritors of the Prophet. We must take this on and inherit it. I want to stress that the Prophet's message was more precious to him than the world and everything in it and this is our duty. The Prophet's message was more precious to him than world and everything in it. Remember what he said to his uncle, remember from the program "On the Path of the beloved", do you remember how we shed tears during the program, and how touched we were, and how we wished to follow in his footsteps. People used to send me thousands of messages via the internet, saying we want to do as the Prophet (SAWS) did. Now we have a golden opportunity to carry his message and deliver it to the world which is saying, "Tell us about your Prophet."
Come on young men and women, come on share the burden with the Prophet (SAWS). Do not say this is the responsibility of the scholars, the scholars are doing their duty. However we are all, "You have been the most charitable nation brought out to mankind; you command..." (TMQ, 3:110),[3] all of you, all of you are responsible for your Prophet, not just the scholars, not only the religious leaders. That is why it is crucial for us to agree on how precious the message was to the Prophet (SAWS). Remember when he said to his uncle that if they place the sun in his right hand and the moon in his left hand, if they give him the night and the day (the sun represents the day and the moon represents the night) if they give all that the sun shines on and all that the moon shines on in return for forsaking the matter (delivering the message to mankind) he would never forsake it, until Allah makes it apparent or he dies for the sake of it. All Prayers and Blessings of Allah be upon you O Messenger of Allah.
I want to encourage you to use the Demark issue, in order to introduce and deliver the Prophet's (SAWS) message. We want to move on to that phase and act with utmost strength. We need to make a lot of effort and really feel that story, and say "At last I have been given the chance to carry the message and introduce it to the world, to the people.
I will never forget and neither will you, do you remember the journey to Taif to spread the message, 100 km on foot, O Messenger of Allah! 100km and we are unable to send a message to the people of Denmark to tell them that we want to enlighten them about the Prophet! The prophet traveled 100 km on foot! We want the women who are listening to me now we want the children who are listening to me now, the youth to do something to help deliver the message. At the end we will agree on practical steps to take. The day he set out for Taif, 100km on foot, his noble feet were injured. Talking about the abuse of the past few days, the Prophet was exposed to a lot of abuse the message was very precious. His feet bled, his feet were injured at the age of fifty. He invoked Allah with the well-known prayer do you remember, O Allah, to You I confide my waning strength, my helplessness, and people’s disdain. O Most Merciful of all, You are the Lord of the oppressed. You are my Lord. To whom are You leaving me, to a stranger to scowl at me, or to an enemy to badger my affairs? If this is not due to Your wrath from me then I am satisfied, but Your provision of well-being is preferable to me. . The Angel of the Mountains came to him and asked him not to be upset, for he is ordered to destroy them if only the Prophet orders him to do so, but the Prophet (SAWS) refused to harm them because their offspring may be guided. The Angel said, "He spoke the truth who named you kind and merciful."
Not just that, the Prophet (SAWS) while still in the midst of his crisis with Quraysh he (SAWS) communicated with the rest of the world. He sent messages to the Kings of the world. He sent them all messages to introduce himself, "From Muhammad, Messenger of Allah to Khusrau, Great Leader of Persia, to Caesar, Great Leader of Rome, and so on. To the King of Egypt to the King of Ghassasan, to the King of Bahrain, he sent messages to the East, to the West. He sent messages to the whole world to introduce himself and his message to them.
Moreover, he heard that there was a contingent of Christians from Yemen, therefore he hosted them in his mosque and opened a dialogue with them in order to communicate with them. See how many stages of dialogue there were, dialogue with Quraysh, dialogue with Christians, and dialogue with the whole world to introduce and deliver the concept and the message. All Prayers and Blessings of Allah be upon you O Messenger of Allah.
This was an introduction for me to reach the conclusion that this is our message, not just like the Prophet, it actually is our message. Now our turn has come to deliver the message to the whole world. We are carrying a message. Here is a Qur'anic message that can be translated as, "O you mankind, surely We created you of a male and a female, and We have made you races and tribes that you may get mutually acquainted." (TMQ, 49:13) Allah made this way in order to exchange benefits, cultures, to come to understandings and to co-exist. This is the Qur'an, this is our Qur'an, this ayah is in our Qur'an, and this ayah tells us that this is our role in the world; dialogue, communication and co-existence, "We have made you races and tribes that you may get mutually acquainted." (TMQ, 49:13). This is the next phase that we want to enter into.
There is another important ayah that says, "You have been the most charitable nation brought out to mankind" (TMQ, 3:110), in what way? Why? What is the good in this ummah (nation)? "You command beneficence, and forbid maleficence" (TMQ, 3:110), you spread good and prevent evil, and, "and believe in Allah" (TMQ, 3:110), you spread guidance, truth and prosperity. This is the nature of our ummah.
The Prophet's message is our message. I want to summarize the message into these two ayahs, I want to define it at this point in time with these two ayahs because we are in need of these two ayahs. One of them says, "We have made you races and tribes that you may get mutually acquainted." (TMQ, 49:13). We have read this ayah so many times without giving it a second thought. The Denmark crisis has made us notice this ayah. Read it, it is in Surat Al-Hujurat. It tells us to contemplate this ayah. This is your Qur'an, this is your religion, "We have made you races and tribes that you may get mutually acquainted." (TMQ, 49:13).
That is what is required of us, if this ayah had been carried out, the people in the West, the children of Denmark would not have asked, "Who is Muhammad?", the great Muhammad, the greatest of all mankind. The children of Denmark do not know him. Introduction of our religion, our Prophet; the phase of dialogue and communication with the West, the phase of understanding, the phase in which we can make, "We have made you races and tribes that you may get mutually acquainted." (TMQ, 49:13) This is our motto.
When everyone has done that only then can we sleep peacefully and relax and say with Allah's Will, I have fulfilled my duty towards you O Messenger of Allah. Until then it is not enough just to protest. It is not nearly enough! Don't let your conscience rest! Don't relax and say I have done my duty. My whole talk is headed in one direction; we now want to move on from the phase of protests to a more important phase.
We need to move on from the phase of protests to a more important one. We need to move on from the instantaneous, temporary protests, which represented our spontaneous sentiments (keeping in mind that we strongly condemn violence), to a new phase: the phase of carrying the message. This new phase is characterized by undertaking the burden of communicating the message; it is the phase of "On the Path of the Beloved". Time has proven that what has been said in the episodes of "On the Path of the Beloved" must now be transformed into action. This is to the young people, the children, the women, and everyone: we are all required to propagate the correct information about the Prophet (SAWS). We now have to move on to the phase of informing and conversing, with the intention of carrying our Prophet's message to the world.
What happened in Denmark was terrible, but what's worse than that is the fact that there are millions in the West who know nothing about the Prophet (SAWS). I believe this to be the consequence of two things.
First: We are negligent when it comes to representing our Prophet (SAWS). We are negligent when it comes to feeling that we are the inheritors of the Prophet (SAWS). We are negligent when it comes to taking the responsibility of communicating with the West, in the attempt of fulfilling the ayah in which Allah says, what can be translated as, "… We have made you races and tribes that you may get mutually acquainted" (TMQ, 26:13). We are talking to ourselves but not with the other. Where is the credibility? We need to communicate with the other in order to carry our voice to them. The ayah "… We have made you races and tribes that you may get mutually acquainted" (TMQ, 26:13) represents an Islamic obligation to communicate our Prophet's message.
Second: There are evil hands working forcefully to isolate Muslims from the rest of the world. Please understand this point clearly. Some hidden hands are working on increasing the gap between Muslims and the rest of the world, and preventing the peoples of the other nations to learn the true essence of Islam. When the great advancement in communication technology took place, the chances of communicating the true essence of Islam, its goodness and mercifulness to the rest of the world, increased dramatically. There was now more room for civilizations to communicate. Therefore, there were those who wanted Muslims to lose this opportunity, and so created disputes here and there among the two groups. What happened in Denmark and what happened previously in other places as well all aim at detaching Muslims from the rest of the world. The goal is that nothing but nasty information about Muslims should reach the rest of the world, while the goodness in them, and the great notions they live for must not be communicated to the West.
We are negligent and there are those who create disputes. Both what happened in London on the seventh of July, and the Danish caricatures represent extremism, and are leading the world into a pit of doom. They are hindering communication in order to prevent the Western nations from listening to what Muslims have to say.
As Muslims we have to ask ourselves, 'Are we going to allow ourselves to become isolated from the rest of the world?' This would not be in line with the essence of our faith, and would not allow us to communicate to the world the greatness of Islam and Prophet Muhammad (SAWS). We must not miss the opportunity to communicate and merge. The ayah in which Allah says, what can be translated as, "… We have made you races and tribes that you may get mutually acquainted" (TMQ, 26:13) does not address Muslims only, but rather addresses humanity as a whole. This ayah calls for the interchange between civilizations and cultures, as well as benefiting from each other. We have a lot of goodness that we must communicate to the world.
Do not allow those who want to isolate Muslims to prevent you from communicating your goodness to the other civilizations. I do not seek by this to convert the West into Islam, but I seek respect for our own civilization, as well as goodness for all humanity. The Prophet Muhammad (SAWS) was not sent to Muslims only; he was sent to humanity as a whole. The Prophet (SAWS) was sent even to those who do not want to convert to Islam, and to those who are furthest away from Islam. Allah says, what can be translated as, "And in no way have We sent you except as a mercy to the worlds" (TMQ, 21:107). He was sent to humans as well as to other creatures. He was sent as a mercy to Muslims and non-Muslims; to Christians, Jews, Buddhists Hindus, and all.
Therefore, I want you to understand now that our duty is to interact. Our obligation is to acquaint everyone with our Prophet (SAWS) and his message. Who will be able to carry the burden of this message? Who will have the honor to tell the Prophet (SAWS) that he or she fulfilled the following two ayahs, in which Allah says, what can be translated as, "… We have made you races and tribes that you may get mutually acquainted" (TMQ, 26:13), and "You have been the most charitable nation brought out to mankind: you command beneficence, and forbid maleficence, and believe in Allah" (TMQ, 3:110).
To be very pragmatic, what are the specific practical steps we have to take in order to acquaint the world with Prophet Muhammad (SAWS) and to communicate his message? I have two ideas, and I ask all of those who hear me to participate.
The first step is to send a message. Everyone must send this message; every man and every woman, and even every child. I know that you have already sent messages of protest to the different Western embassies, but this is a new sort of message. We have to start taking our roles as the inheritors of the Prophet (SAWS). We want to send short messages to the Danish people. These messages will not be of a condemning nature, but rather messages to acquaint them to the Prophet (SAWS). Tell them that our religion and Prophet (SAWS) instruct us to do this. "… We have made you races and tribes that you may get mutually acquainted" (TMQ, 26:13).
Send it in any form you like, and in any language you prefer, and we will deliver it to the world. You do not have to be a scholar or a professional writer to participate in this. Write a sentence or two, or children could even send a drawing. If you need any facts about the Prophet (SAWS) you can refer to the episodes of "On the Path of the Beloved" or refer to the works of any other of the many scholars who have talked about the Prophet (SAWS). Express your own emotions, even if in the simplest of words. This must be the work of the people themselves and not of the scholars. We want the Danish people to understand that we Muslims are talking about interaction and the merging of the civilizations. They must understand that this is an ayah from our Noble Qur'an: "… We have made you races and tribes that you may get mutually acquainted" (TMQ, 26:13). The Danish people do not know anything about our Prophet (SAWS) and never harmed us in any way. They do not comprehend the reason behind our frustration.
Send these messages to
www.amrkhaled.net and we will deliver them to the world. Do not send them to the embassies because if you do so they will get mixed up with those of condemnation, while this will not be the nature of your messages. Your messages will be ones of acquaintance. It is a message of informing others about the Prophet (SAWS). The messages will explain that we have been ordered to communicate, and will inform them about the Prophet (SAWS). These messages sent to
www.amrkhaled.net will be delivered, if Allah Wills, to the Danish people through the right channels. We want them to understand who we really are.
Send the messages starting from today. Recall all your feelings towards the Prophet (SAWS) and tell him that you are on his path. Nations will not necessarily understand each other through the sophisticated words of scholars, but will understand the simple words of the other peoples. You have a week to send us your messages, and we will work on delivering them.
The second idea is a very important one. I hope that we will be able to come together to make it work, and I hope that it takes place in the short coming few weeks. Let us organize a conference in Denmark. This will not be a conference by scholars, but rather a conference by the people. I am stressing the importance of our roles; the people's role. The people can do greater things than those that can be done by official bodies and scholars. Messages from ordinary people will have greater effects on the Danish people.
We need our Muslim youths to go to the conference in Denmark as ambassadors. This conference must be witnessed by the whole world, and must address several issues. The first would be informing everyone about our Prophet (SAWS). The slogan of the conference would be "This is our Prophet… This is our religion", and it would be the first issue to be addressed. The second issue to be addressed should discuss the means and ways of acquaintance and coexistence among nations. The third issue should discuss the definition of "freedom of speech" as understood by people
In order to make this work, we must choose some of our successful, outstanding, educated young people, who are in good command of foreign languages. They will not be scholars of course, but they will be supported by them and supplied with facts by them. The message sent by those successful, cultured young people will be stronger and more effective than that of scholars. They will impress people just like the young people of "Life-Makers" impressed everyone in Hajj[4]. This conference must be shown on the different television channels of the world, and discussed in the world's newspapers.
This conference is nothing but an idea until this moment. I need your inputs and feedback about it. Send your suggestions to
www.amrkhaled.net . I promise you that if there is sufficient interaction concerning this idea we will start moving in the direction of implementation, and will update you.
Finally, I just want to remind you that we have an obligation towards our Prophet (SAWS). We must carry his message to the rest of the world, and inform them about Prophet Muhammad (SAWS) and our religion. Messages of acquaintance must be sent to inform them about the Prophet (SAWS) and to explain that our religion urged us to communicate and promoted coexistence. Millions of messages must be sent. As for the conference, if we find that it is a welcomed idea, we will start working on it this week.
We will not accept a symbolic apology. We want them to take actions that prove their respect for the Prophet (SAWS).
Thank you all, and Assalamu alaylom wa rahmatu Allah wa Barakatoh.
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[1] SAWS = All Prayers and Blessings of Allah be upon him.
[2] The Prophet’s basin at which the true believers will meet him to drink from it on the Day of Judgment
[3] TMQ = Translation of the Meaning of the Qur'an. This translation is for the realized meaning, so far, of the stated (Surah:Ayah) of the Qur'an. Reading the translated meaning of the Qur'an can never replace reading it in Arabic, the language in which it was revealed
[4] the pilgrimage to Makkah during the first half of Dhul-Hijjah, and is the fifth pillar of Islam