THE FEAR FACTOR

THE STREET MIMBAR Khutbah (28 September 2007)
webpage: www.geocities.com/khutbahs
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It is in such a manner that We make plain our signs so that the course of the
criminals may become clear.
Bismillah Ar-Rahmaan Ar-Raheem.
Alhumdulillah. Peace and blessings on Muhammad (sallalahu alaihi wa sallam), his Noble Companions and Family.
Ma’sharal Mu’minun; Brothers and sisters- Committed Muslims....

audio on http://www.islamiccenterdc.com/khutbassermons.htm (27-10-2006)

THE FEAR FACTOR
We live in a time (to put it mildly) that is very challenging. We need not go into the details of what is happening locally or globally concerning Muslims who are dedicated, sincere and struggling in the cause and sake of Allah; but there appears to be an element that is intruding on our pursuit of As-Siraatul Mustaqeem. That element is the element of fear. It is alien to a Muslim attitude; it doesn’t belong in a Muslim psychology; it is misleading in a Muslim social order and we have to surmount it. We all submit that our way out of the condition that some of us may find ourselves in is to follow in the footsteps of Rasulillah. We don’t know in his glorious and pace-setting lifetime and lifestyle that he had emitted one iota or one scintilla of fear and he had gone through trying times both in Makkah and in Al-Madinah. One of the most trying times is obviously when he was at the warfront and when the forces seemed to be overwhelming or over-running the Prophet and the committed and struggling Muslims with him and around him. When Muslims felt they were vulnerable at these times of sacrifices, the words of Allah were soothing to their hearts and they were enlightening their path. As these words go- this is the description and definition of those who have committed themselves and their lives to Allah even when it comes to the moments and the minutes in which they feel their power is less then the opponent, Allah says- here we have the band of committed Muslims under the leadership of Rasulillah
and they are told that the forces have collected themselves against you or the forces out there have regrouped to take you on (Surah Aal-Imran verse 173)
The powers that be- military and political powers; the power of the mass media and advanced military technology- all of this is arrayed against you. What do you suppose was the response? Did they feel that they had to negotiate their way out of this predicament? Did they feel that they had to go back to the drawing board and recalculate their policies and reconfigure their strategy? No- none of that! When these types of developments begin to unfold in the world around,
that only contributes to a further commitment or a redoubling of efforts (Surah Aal-Imran verse 173)
and not caving in to these Shayateen and their proxies around. This is the testing ground, time and field of all of those who say that they are committed to Allah. You are not going to be left to a verbalization of commitment. We are not going to have an excuse of saying “Oh- well we spoke the words of imaan.”
Do you think- do people think that they are going to be left alone just for the sake of verbalizing the words of imaan without being exposed to the elements of fitnah? (Surah Al-Ankabut verse 2)
This is not the way imaan operates; this is not the way the Prophet taught us? How many times do we read in the Qur’an (and most of us I hope are diligent readers and reciters and are attuned to the meanings of this holy script)
there is no fear that overcomes them nor do they grieve (Surah Yunus verse 62)
If we were to take it into medical terms they don’t suffer from any symptoms of neurosis nor depression. So why? The Prophet of Allah- as we are familiar with his history- was exposed to overwhelming forces and powers of the establishment and the status quo. Didn’t they come to him in the midst of the Haram and taunt him and say bad words to him? They even spilled the guts of a slaughtered animal upon him. Is there any indication in the books of Seerah anywhere (you can take your own book of preferred book of Seerah) do you sense an iota of fear in him? Never! He was excommunicated from his own society- the same society that acknowledged that he was as-saadiq al-ameen. For three years, when Muslims had to chew on leather as nourishment because they had no nutrition available to them, was there any indication or inference of fear in the Prophet or in those who were with him? To the contrary, the Prophets (alaihim as-salaam) themselves did not fear for their lives nor those who were with them. When the Prophet saw the torture of Ammaar and Aal Yaasir (radi Allahu anhum), he said bear it with steadfastness and perseverance- verily your promise is the recompense of Al-Jannah. He didn’t say “wait a minute here, this whole thing is going in the wrong direction, we have to think of a plan and infiltrate the establishment and the aristocracy of Makkah”; or “let us get our own Muslim people on the inside of the Makkan governing body.” Can anyone refer us to any incident in his holy life in which he contemplated these types of ideas?! These Prophets had fear, but they feared for society and the people around them. How many times is it stated in the Qur’an the words of these Prophets throughout history?
My people, I fear for you the torment of an excruciating day (Surah Hud verse 26)
There was no fear for self or for the committed Muslims; the fear was for those who have gone astray and wayward in life. Compare that qualitative fear with the cowardly fear that is expressed, especially by some people and individuals who are in positions to speak the truth but don’t have the courage to say and state the truth. The Prophet of Allah in a hadith (that is not quoted very often) says the best form of struggle is to express the truth in the face of a tyrant ruler. Where are the Muslims of this quality (we may ask)? They are far and in between and that may explain the cyclical reversals we are going through. This is not meant to point a finger at anyone particular individual, as much as it is to try to diagnose the condition that we are in so that we may by pass this and become the God-made leaders of humanity. It’s easy to quote an ayah which is quoted very frequently
You are the choicest of people evolved from amongst Mankind… (Surah Aal-Imran verse 110)
It’s easier said than done. Brothers and sisters, committed Muslims- we have a responsibility to the people around us. This responsibility is not going to be discharged as long as some of us feel inferior and others feel that they have to jump on the political band-wagon around. We have to do this job ourselves, and if we don’t have the confidence that comes from being with Allah, we disqualify.

Brothers and sisters, Muslims of commitment on As-Siraat Al-Mustaqeem…
There’s an ayah that says
Indeed, those who are muttaqis- who are ever vigilant of Allah’s power presence in human affairs- are as much as being passively influenced by Ash-Shaytaan, they regain their God-consciousness and that results in them becoming people with insight in
We are vulnerable to the passing influence of Ash-Shaytaan. We are human beings, but that results in us going up a degree and elevating ourselves a rank.
If we are passively or in a passing way influenced by Ash-Shaytaan, our consciousness is revivified. We ask Allah that the predicament that we find ourselves in (whether it is here, in this country or thousands of miles away across the ocean) and that what we are going through is only that passing influence of Ash-Shaytaan so that we may regain consciousness at a higher level and proceed with baseerah..

I just got a note here saying (obviously I’m not from this area) there’s a two year old from the Kaskas family who is in critical condition; a brother who passed away from the family of Ma’aali; another brother, Simon, who had a mental breakdown; Al-Imam Jaleel Al-Ameen who has been behind bars for 6 years and other such and equivalent conditions of the Muslims around the world that we should become cognizant of, therefore we raise our hands and plead and beseech Allah and say the following…