The Reasons For the Suffering of Muslims -By Murtada Gusau

In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful

All praises belong to Allah the Lord of all that exists. I bear witness that nothing has the right to be worshipped except for Allah alone without partners, and I bear witness that Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon him) is His Servant and Messenger. May the prayers and peace be upon him, and his family and his Companions, collectively. As to what follows:

Dear brothers and sisters! Today, Muslims are suffering from countless problems that can be analysed from the worldly point of view. What is, though, the Heavenly analysis of such problems?

* First – The law of hatred and enmity:

Dear brothers and sisters! Enmity between two persons, two friends, two brothers, two neighbours, two colleagues, two couples, two partners, two families, two tribes, two relatives, two nations, and even two civilisations can be explained according to one Qur’anic verse I frequently recite. Allah says in the Noble Quran:

“But they have abandoned a good part of the Message that was sent to them. So We planted amongst them enmity and hatred till the Day of Resurrection (when they discarded Allah’s Book, disobeyed Allah’s Messengers and His Orders and transgressed beyond bounds in Allah’s disobedience).” [Surah Al-Ma’idah, 14]

The Noble Qur’an contains ways and laws, one of which is the law of enmity and hatred:

“So no change will you find in Allah’s Sunnah (way of dealing), and no turning off will you find in Allah’s Sunnah (way of dealing.” [Surah Fatir, 43]

Now pay attention, when a Muslim is only a Muslim in his historical dimension (i.e. his parents are Muslims), his interests are shifted from the Hereafter to the fleeting worldly life, with all its competitions, conflicts, and quarrels. In fact, all wars which have been taking place in the contemporary era are nothing but the strife over natural resources. For the first time in recent years, a very powerful country stated that its permanence in Iraq is just for the sake of oil, which has been obvious enough. Hence, when Muslim’s interests are shifted from the Hereafter to this fleeting worldly life, they should know that this life is nothing but a place of conflicts, competitions, strife, enmity, hatred, fights, and bloodshed.

Narrated Jarir that the Prophet, May Allah bless him and grant him peace, in the Farewell Pilgrimage requested that he should ask people to listen to him, and then said:

“Do not revert after me to kufr (disbelief), killing one another.” [Bukhari]

Thus, the Prophet, May Allah bless him and grant him peace, labels Muslims as disbelievers if they resort to killing one another.

* Second – The law of controversy between innate and Divine assignment:

Dear brothers and sisters! I repeatedly mention the fact that as a human being you are molded to have both the innate and the Divine assignment, and if we look closer at this issue, we will find that the two are in conflict, as the innate urges you to earn money, whereas the Divine assignment orders you to spend it; the innate urges you to stay in your cosy bed on a cold winter morning, whereas the Divine assignment orders you to wake up and pray Fajr; the innate urges you to feast your eyes on beauty female, whereas the Divine assignment orders you to lower your gaze; the innate urges you to go wild, whereas the Divine assignment has established norms and set up limits you shouldn’t overstep, and here is the evidence from the Noble Qur’an which mentions this antagonism. Allah the Most High says:

“But as for him who feared standing before his Lord, and restrained himself from impure evil desires, and lusts. Verily, Paradise will be his abode.” [Surah Al Nazi’at, 40-41]

This opposition between the innate and the Divine assignment is the price for Paradise and it facilitates the way to it. How does it happen? The innate is individualistic, whereas the Divine assignment is collective, namely, you collaborate more with your fellow believers when you have greater faith, loyalty, and righteousness, and when you are closer to Allah. On the other hand, you struggle with them when your faith and righteousness weaken, and when you drift away from Allah. Allah the Most High says in the Noble Qur’an:

“And by the Mercy of Allah, you dealt with them gently…” [Surah Al-Imran, 159]

You are who you are Muhammad – the Master of mankind, Allah’s beloved one, the one through whom Revelation descended, the infallible, and the most perfect creature among Allah’s Creation, you are who you are. Allah says in the Noble Qur’an:

“…And had you been severe and harsh-hearted, they would have broken away from about you; so pass over (their faults), and ask (Allah’s) Forgiveness for them; and consult them in the affairs…” [Surah Al-Imran, 159]

Being close to people means reaching out, being merciful and being lenient, and it is due to that people gather around you. Whereas being distant from Allah, harsh-hearted, cruel and rude will make people break away from you.

* Third – The law of brotherhood in the Cause of Allah:

Dear brothers and sisters! We, as a Muslim community, are facing nowadays various challenges, one of which is the tangible relation between people, as one might sell one’s religion and one’s Hereafter and one’s Ummah for just a handful of the worldly life. Therefore, we are in dire need of the real interpretation of brotherhood in the Cause of Allah, namely, how to treat one another? How to understand one another? How to overlook one another’s faults? How to love one another? How to differ from one another? All of which are under the umbrella of love in the Cause of Allah.

Dear brothers and sisters! Brotherhood in the Cause of Allah is the firmest tie in faith. Mu’adh Ibn Anas Al-Juhani narrated that the Prophet, May Allah bless him and grant him peace, said:

“Whoever loves for (the sake of) Allah, hates for (the sake of) Allah, gives for (the sake of) Allah, and withholds for (the sake of) Allah, has sought the completion of his faith.” [Tirmidhi]

Abu Hurairah reported that the Prophet, May Allah bless him and grant him peace, said:

“Whoever wants to taste the sweetness of faith should love a person for no other reason than Allah.” [Ahmad]

Mu’adh Ibn Jabal said: I heard the Prophet say that Allah the Most High says:

“My love is due to those who love one another for My sake, meet one another for My sake, visit one another for My sake and give Sadaqah (charity) for My sake.” [Ahmad]

Thus, brotherhood in faith is one of the greatest blessings bestowed by Allah upon us. Allah the Most High says in the Noble Qur’an:

“And by the Mercy of Allah, you dealt with them gently…” [Surah Al-Imran, 159]

And He says also:

“…and remember Allah’s Favour on you, for you were enemies to one another but He (Allah) joined your hearts together, so that, by His Grace, you became brethren (in Islamic Faith).” [Surah Al-Imran, 103]

Dear brothers and sisters! Affection between believers will lead to Allah’s Shade on the Day when there will be no shade but that of His Throne, as one of the seven (types of) people whom Allah will grant His Shade on the Day with no shade except that of His Throne will be two men who loved and met each other and departed from each other for the sake of Allah. Indeed, the gist of faith is all about brotherhood and the evidence is to be found in the following Qur’anic verse, where Allah the Most High says:

“The believers are nothing else than brothers (in Islamic religion).” [Surah Al-Hujurat, 10]

If they aren’t brothers, then they aren’t believers, as ‘innama’ (are nothing else than) indicates this meaning in the Arabic language.

Dear brothers and sisters! This miracle (uniting believer’s hearts) occurred in the life time of the Prophet, May Allah bless him and grant him peace. Allah the Most High says:

“If you had spent all that is in the earth, you could not have united their hearts, but Allah has united them.” [Surah Al-Anfal, 63]

Therefore, loving one another is what identifies us as believers.

* Fourth – The law of adhering to unity and eliminating disunity:

Dear brothers and sisters! There must be a common denominator to unite us (as Muslims). Allah the Most High says:

“And hold fast, all of you together, to the Rope of Allah (i.e. this Qur’an), and be not divided among yourselves.” [Surah Al-Imran, 103]

Were it not for this Rope, the unity between believers would be impossible.

One more thing, unity is power. Adding zero to another zero yields nothing but another zero. By contrast, if you add numbers, you will be increasing the result, which means, more unity and more effectiveness.

Dear brothers and sisters! The most important thing you should know is that your fellow Muslim has a right upon you, whether you like it or not; agree with it or not.

Ibn Umar (May Allah be pleased with them) reported: The Messenger of Allah (May Allah bless him and grant him peace) said:

“A Muslim is a brother of another Muslim. So he should not oppress him nor should he hand him over (to his shaitan or to his self which is inclined to evil). Whoever fulfills the needs of his brother, Allah will fulfill his needs; whoever removes the troubles from his brother, Allah will remove one of his troubles on the Day of Resurrection; and whoever covers up the fault of a Muslim, Allah will cover up his fault on the Day of Resurrection.” [Bukhari and Muslim]

Abu Hurairah (May Allah be pleased with him) reported: The Messenger of Allah (May Allah bless him and grant him peace) said:

“There are six rights of a Muslim upon a Muslim: When you meet him, greet him; when he invites you, respond to his invitation; when he seeks counsel, give him advice; when he sneezes and praises Allah, say to him: ‘May Allah have mercy on you (Yarhamuk-Allah)’; when he is sick, visit him; and when he dies, follow his funeral.” [Muslim]

And in another Hadith he said:

“Four are Muslim’s rights upon you: to help the upright (among them), to ask forgiveness for the sinners (among them), to supplicate for the absent (among them), and to accept what is good (in them).” [Agreed upon]

Praise be to Allah, the Lord of the Worlds

This is the conclusion of my today’s Khutbah (Sermon). I ask Allah the Generous, the Lord of the great throne by His Beautiful Names and Lofty Attributes to benefit us all from what He has taught us, and to rectify all of our conditions. And I ask Him to guide us to the straight path, and to not leave us to ourselves even for the blink of an eye. Verily the Blessed and Exalted responds to the supplication and He is the One hope is placed in and the best to rely upon. And Allah knows best. May the prayers and peace of Allah be upon His Servant, His Messenger, and our Beloved Prophet Muhammad, and upon his family and his Companions.

This Jumu’ah Khutbah (Friday Sermon) was prepared for delivery today Friday, Rabi’ul Thani 6, 1440 AH (December 14, 2018), by Imam Murtada Muhammad Gusau, the Chief Imam of Nagazi-Uvete Jumu’ah and the late Alhaji Abdur-Rahman Okene’s Mosques, Okene, Kogi State, Nigeria. He can be reached via: gusaumurtada@gmail.com or +2348038289761.