Islam is being attacked. It is being attacked from outside and from inside as well. There are some people who seek only to cause fitna - confusion, strife, discord. They go to one and say one thing - go to another and say something about the other side. Soon there is a fight. Just such a thing has happened to Islam. Enemies of Islam created a movement, whose purpose was to destroy Islam. Never did Islam harm or attack anyone. Allah said, “wa innaka la`ala khuluqin `adheem.” - “and indeed you (O Muhammad) are on a tremendous nature.” And He said, “al-yawm akmaltu lakum deenakum, wa atmamutu `alaykum ni`matee wa raeeitu lakum as-islamu deena.” - “Today I have perfected for you your religion and completed My bounty upon you and chosen for you Islam as your religion.”

Islam is perfect. It has everything in it and it is not in need of anything from outside it. Today you see Muslims running to imitate this one and that one; this way and that way, East and West. They have lost that understanding - that Islam is perfect and complete and needs nothing from outside it. We can realize from these two verses something very deep and subtle about Islam. The Prophet is praised by Allah as having a great pattern of conduct, kuluqin `adheem. And Allah affirmed that Islam is perfect, it has no comparison. So from this we know that perfect good conduct never allows harming or being harmed.

The Prophet (s) never came against anyone with a weapon. He only preached the religion.

Sayyidina Nuh (as) - did he attack anyone? No. He only called people to believe.

Sayyidina Ibrahim (as), did he harm anyone, did he attack anyone? No. He only called them. The king Nimrod tried to kill him.

Did Sayyidina Musa (as) attack anyone? No. He was attacked and his people.

Did Sayyidina `Isa (as) attack anyone? No.

Did Sayyidina Muhammad (s) come against anyone? No he did not. Only when he was attacked did he respond and fight with militancy. Islam allows militancy only when attacked - only in defense.

Sayyidina Talut (Saul) was ordered to fight - to defend his nation from the people of Jalut (Goliath). It took time to call his people to accept that order. His people did not want to fight, and therefore they asked for a sign. It was only after seeing that great sign that they were convinced to go and fight. Once they accepted then Talut gathered an army and came to fight with Jalut and his army. It was then that Sayyidina Dawud (David, as) slew Jalut and saved the believers from the harm of the enemy. That is the place of militancy in Islam - fighting off those who attack you. But Islam has many other forms of jihad; [of struggle. Jihad can be serving one’s parents. It can be correcting a tyrannical ruler.] Jihad against the self, the struggle to purify the soul is the most important jihad - struggle.

But today they are inventing a new sect in Islam. They mix militancy with religion and make a lethal combination. It is a cocktail of politics and religion, but missing any spirituality. We have to look who is behind that sect, what is their origin? If you will look there you will find the answer to the damage they seek to do. They are an enemy within Islam which has been designed to destroy Islam from within, while other enemies destroy it from without. They are very clever and patient. They began with Muhammad bin Abdul Wahhab, and his followers coming from Dariya in Najd. In the early part of this century, they and Ahl as-Saud, in alliance, actually caused blood to run in the streets of Makkah and al-Madina. Similarly they did that before, attacking the ruling Ottomans and causing great killing and mischief. That is something you could not have imagined before - the two holiest cities of Islam under attack. If not for the protest of all Muslims, they would have done worse [meaning destroy the Prophet’s (s) tomb] but Allah prevented it. It is well-known they were assisted by enemies - including Lawrence of Arabia - to create a division in the ranks of Islam. Then with the enemy’s assistance they fought the Sharif Abdullah, ruler of Arabia at that time. They were able to enter Makkah and Madina and to slaughter the inhabitants. Now that movement grew up this century and has spread everywhere. It is militant Islam that mixes Islam with politics.

Now they want to create a Khilafa state, to hold one country or another and to build their Islamic Khilafa from there. They don’t accept anyone who does not agree with their interpretation of Islam. They feel they can fight them and kill them, replacing the current political leaders with their own. They do not separate politics and religion and they do not follow authentic scholars of Islam. By mixing these two aspects they choose for their leaders those who are not qualified in either Islam or in politics resulting in a disastrous combination.

Now we have reached a time where we keep very low, keeping to our spiritual practices; praying; reading Quran; reciting our wird (daily spiritual practices); not going here and there but staying in our home. That is the way of safety

Khutbat al-Jumu`ah - Masjid as-Siddiq, Burton, Michigan, October 13, 2001

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