Muhammad H. al-'Asi
Malik Shabazz, Islamic Election And The Islamic Center
https://www.icit-digital.org/multimedia/malik-shabazz-islamic-election-and-the-islamic-center
This khutbah was presented by Imam Muhammad Asi on the occasion of Jum’ah on 21 February 2020 on the sidewalk of Embassy Row in Washington D.C. The Imam previously led the daily and Jum’ah prayers inside the Masjid. His speeches were revolutionary and thought provoking, and eventually irritated and threatened the Middle-East Ambassadors who control the Masjid. Finally, the Imam, his family, and other Muslims faithful to the course of Islam were forced out, into the streets. This khutbah originates from the sidewalk across the street from the Islamic Center, currently under seige.
Muhammad H. al-'Asi
Jumada' al-Akhirah 27, 1441 - 21 February 2020?
Dear brothers and sisters, committed Muslims…
There’s a couple of ayat in Allah’s Guiding Book that I want to be the spotlight of this khutbah. The first one says,
أَحَسِبَ النَّاسُ أَن يُتْرَكُوا أَن يَقُولُوا آمَنَّا وَهُمْ لَا يُفْتَنُونَ
وَلَقَدْ فَتَنَّا الَّذِينَ مِن قَبْلِهِمْ ۖ فَلَيَعْلَمَنَّ اللَّهُ الَّذِينَ صَدَقُوا وَلَيَعْلَمَنَّ الْكَاذِبِينَ
Do people figure that they will be left at ease if they say We believe, and they will not be tested? Lo, we tested those before you, so that We may know those who are sincerely committed from those who are phoney. (Surah Al Ankabut verse 2-3)
The other ayah, and I will translate the general meaning of both of these ayahs following this one,
وَالَّذِينَ جَاهَدُوا فِينَا لَنَهْدِيَنَّهُمْ سُبُلَنَا ۚ وَإِنَّ اللَّهَ لَمَعَ الْمُحْسِنِينَ
And those who make an effort (or) those who endeavour (or) those who struggle for Us, for Allah (jalla jalaaluh), indeed, emphatically, We will show them Our Way, and certainly Allah is with those who constantly seek to improve. (Surah Al Ankabut verse 69)
Both of these ayat deliver the meaning that the guidance that we seek from Allah can come only through the effort that we expend for Allah. No person can expect guidance from Allah if they are either indifferent to Allah and His Prophet; (I mean), they could be practicing Muslims in the sense that they are doing their personal responsibilities, like they may be fasting or they may be praying and they may be doing these personal issues, but Allah (swt) wants us to understand that if we are not involved in some type of effort (and) this effort may demand some sweat, it may demand some patience, it may demand some tears, and it eventually may demand some blood. But this is the type of effort that begets guidance.
وَالَّذِينَ جَاهَدُوا فِينَا لَنَهْدِيَنَّهُمْ سُبُلَنَا ۚ وَإِنَّ اللَّهَ لَمَعَ الْمُحْسِنِينَ
And those who make an effort (or) those who endeavour (or) those who struggle for Us, for Allah (jalla jalaaluh), indeed, emphatically, We will show them Our Way, and certainly Allah is with those who constantly seek to improve. (Surah Al Ankabut verse 69)
And you can take Allah’s Prophet, (may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him and his), as a reference point. Did Allah’s Prophet receive revelation from Allah (swt) and open up a school or a teaching center or a university or a seminary and then begin to teach individuals how to be good Muslims? And then after they graduate from the courses of Islam (and) after they understand the Qur’an let them go into society and begin to change society? Was that how it was done? Ask yourself. Or what was done was the instructions were revealed from Allah pertaining to the real issues of life and the Muslims were tasked (and) they were held responsible- the first one being Allah’s beloved Prophet (saws) and then the rest of the Muslims who were involved in this lifelong struggle. Notice, (with me), there was no cutoff age. None of these individuals that we know said “well, right now I’m sixty years old or seventy years old. Ah well, I did what I could do and now I’m going to take it easy.” This doesn’t exist in the way Allah’s Prophet taught us to understand the information coming to us from Allah (jalla wa’ala). So if we can understand Islam like this, let us speak about just that. (And it’s very cold out here for those who are listening in other places of the world). Let’s take three stops. We’re going to make three brief stations, approach three brief occasions and comment on the effort that is needed (or) the endeavor that is required.
The first one is (that) today marks fifty-five years since the assassination or ash shahada of A Hajj Malik Al Shabazz. On this day, fifty-five years ago in New York City he was gunned down. He was probably the best exemplification of understanding what these ayat, (the ones that I cited at the beginning a few minutes ago), mean.
وَالَّذِينَ جَاهَدُوا فِينَا لَنَهْدِيَنَّهُمْ سُبُلَنَا ۚ وَإِنَّ اللَّهَ لَمَعَ الْمُحْسِنِينَ
And those who make an effort (or) those who endeavour (or) those who struggle for Us, for Allah (jalla jalaaluh), indeed, emphatically, We will show them Our Ways… (Surah Al Ankabut verse 69)
You can’t make an effort for Allah (swt) when you don’t get tired, you don’t tax your body or you don’t tax your spirit. Some effort requires patience. Some effort requires you to flex your muscles and everything in between what is in your nervous system and what is in your muscular system requires this effort. Maybe we can summarize, because of the time issue, his life and his struggle and the honor that he received at the end in maybe two sentences. The first one is, (you know, a lot of times when Malcolm/Al Hajj Malik Al Shabazz is mentioned they mention Martin Luther King and then there are preferences- who was more sacrificing for their principles and all of this; we can summarize this comparison in two sentences. Martin Luther King spoke about truth and power, Al Hajj Malik Al Shabazz spoke truth to power. It’s a major difference there. And then a statement attributed to al marhoom Malik Al Shabazz is “it’s better for a person to walk alone than to walk with multitudes of people who are going in the wrong direction.” These two sentences or these two citations sum up how a committed Muslim should be. The other issue that falls under the rubric of
أَحَسِبَ النَّاسُ أَن يُتْرَكُوا أَن يَقُولُوا آمَنَّا وَهُمْ لَا يُفْتَنُونَ
Do people think that they are going to be left alone and be satisfied with verbalizing words of iman and they’re not going to be subjected to trials and tribulations? (Surah Al Ankabut verse 2)
(Do) you think this is how Allah (swt) is going to interact with you? Oh, it’s enough for you to say “I’m a Muslim and I pray and I fast and I do a couple of other things and so I’m going to al Jannah, I’m going to Paradise.
أَحَسِبَ النَّاسُ أَن يُتْرَكُوا أَن يَقُولُوا آمَنَّا وَهُمْ لَا يُفْتَنُونَ
Do people think that they are going to be left alone and be satisfied with verbalizing words of iman and they’re not going to be subjected to trials and tribulations? (Surah Al Ankabut verse 2)
No! You’re going to be tested if you live up to your stated iman. There’s no dodging this issue.
وَلَقَدْ فَتَنَّا الَّذِينَ مِن قَبْلِهِمْ
We have tested those before them… (Surah Al Ankabut verse 3)
Before us there were individuals and there were societies who were put to Allah’s test- the test that requires your effort (and) your exertion in life. Not daydreaming. Not theorizing. Real life!
فَلَيَعْلَمَنَّ اللَّهُ الَّذِينَ صَدَقُوا وَلَيَعْلَمَنَّ الْكَاذِبِينَ
… Allah indeed is going to know and verify those who are true to their commitment and Allah indeed is going to verify those who are not true to their commitment. (Surah Al Ankabut verse 3)
So in this second citation of the meanings of these ayat, today is an election day in the Islamic Republic of Iran and because it is an election day for their majlis, meaning their parliament, it is probably going to determine much of what will develop or unfold in the coming four years. Now, (before I go on), very briefly, (and I say I have to be brief because of the weather), some Muslims who have been brainwashed by establishmentarian powers say, “why do you speak like this in your khutbahs? Why do you evoke such citations and refer to such incidents and developments? These don’t belong in the khutbah.” The response to that is they absolutely belong not in a khutbah (but) in the core of the khutbah (and) in the heart of the khutbah.” Whenever you encounter some people who object to this, ask them why does Allah (swt) in the Qur’an speak about people who have money? That doesn’t sound religious. According to the way they understand Islam, Allah is not religious?! Allah didn’t intend for people to be religious when He speaks about
إِنَّ قَارُونَ كَانَ مِن قَوْمِ مُوسَىٰ فَبَغَىٰ عَلَيْهِمْ ۖ وَآتَيْنَاهُ مِنَ الْكُنُوزِ مَا إِنَّ مَفَاتِحَهُ لَتَنُوءُ بِالْعُصْبَةِ أُولِي الْقُوَّةِ
Qarun belonged to the people of Musa and he aggressed against them and we gave him of the treasuries and the wealth and the budgets untold. The powers of that day could not (load), or would be pressed to load and unload the type of wealth this person had. … (Surah Al Qasas verse 76)
Why is Allah (swt) speaking to us about a very rich man? Because He wants this to enter into the way we understand ourselves and the world around us. Because many of us may not be very versed with the longer surahs, the short surahs that you have memorized speak about this issue of wealth and rich individuals- affluent, influential, tycoons, businessmen, entrepreneurs. All of this should be within our Islamic vocabulary. Who are you? You are reducing yourself when you take this necessary component out of understanding what Allah is telling you, you’ve automatically marginalized yourself.
أَلۡهَٮٰكُمُ ٱلتَّكَاثُرُ
You have been distracted by your habit of trying to accumulate more and more. (Surah Al Takathur verse 1)
That’s one.
وَيۡلٌ۬ لِّڪُلِّ هُمَزَةٍ۬ لُّمَزَةٍ
ٱلَّذِى جَمَعَ مَالاً۬ وَعَدَّدَهُ
Woe/the most miserable condition belongs to al humazah and lumazah. Al Humazah and Al Lumazah are people who have accumulated wealth and he keeps on counting his profits, his shares, his stocks and whatever there is that keeps on generating more of that type of wealth. (Surah Al Humazah verse 1-2)
See? Allah’s speaking about these individuals who not only have the power in the media to change the imagery of people, but Allah also describes them- such a person who accumulates wealth and counts. How much do I have at the end of the day (ad) at the end of the month when my bank statement comes in when I look at my investments? This is part of who we are. Our understanding of Allah’s Words is supposed to penetrate the facts of life. We’re not living in some daydream world.
أَرَءَيۡتَ ٱلَّذِى يُكَذِّبُ بِٱلدِّينِ
Have you considered he who is conflicting with ad-deen? (Surah Al Ma’un verse 1)
All of this goes, comes with people who have and don’t want to give.
تَبَّتۡ يَدَآ أَبِى لَهَبٍ۬ وَتَبَّ
مَآ أَغۡنَىٰ عَنۡهُ مَالُهُ ۥ وَمَا ڪَسَبَ
Wretched are the hands of Abu Lahab, whatever wealth he has, is not going to do him any good. (Surah Lahab verse 1-2)
Allah (swt) is not giving us some stories to sleep by. So with this type of (maybe) excursion, we come back to the point. Today, Friday is an election day (in) the Islamic Republic of Iran and some people are confused- whether they come from Iran or they are from outside of Iran, they’re just confused. There’s so much misinformation and disinformation and mal-information. There’s so much of this all around the place that it’s hard to get a very clear image of what’s happening over there. What is happening is very simple. A people have an Islamic leadership- unlike other peoples in the world. Unfortunately, this is not easy to say, brothers and sisters, I’m not saying this comfortably. Other Muslims and non-Muslims around the world don’t have a leadership that represents them. Even here in the United States where there’s supposed to be civilized democracy you can hear voices, independent voices, analysts, (and) commentators who are not bought and sold saying that there’s not really any representation. Well- let’s take the last election; we don’t have to go very far away. The person occupying the White House right now did not receive the overwhelming majority of votes yet he became the president and they want to skim over this and not have us realize what is happening in the real world. This is true. We’re not making things up here. But over there, in the Islamic land of Iran, there is an election and in this election – the enemies of it are trying to undermine it from within the country and from outside of it. They’re giving it all they have. Why? Because it all boils down to one issue that upsets these common enemies- that issue is the liberation of the Holy Land. If that leadership in the Islamic Republic did not have a maintained and sustained strategy to liberate al Quds and colonized Palestine it would not have been presented the way it is. Whatever media source you go to- whether it’s the press, whether it’s radio and TV, whether it is social media- most of these mouthpieces all around misfigure and disfigure what is happening there. We don’t know the results. We’ll probably, in the coming twenty-four hours, have a much better understanding of the new parliament that will decide future policies concerning this strategy that has been pursued in the past forty-one years.
And then finally we here in a couple of weeks are going to begin thirty-eight years of praying here on the sidewalk in Washington DC. Thirty-eight years!
وَالَّذِينَ جَاهَدُوا فِينَا لَنَهْدِيَنَّهُمْ سُبُلَنَا ۚ وَإِنَّ اللَّهَ لَمَعَ الْمُحْسِنِينَ
And those who make an effort (or) those who endeavour (or) those who struggle for Us, for Allah (jalla jalaaluh), indeed, emphatically, We will show them Our Way, and certainly Allah is with those who constantly seek to improve. (Surah Al Ankabut verse 69)
Why are we praying here in the street? What’s all of this about? The answer is simple. We get this question. Some people ask. This is a very transient city. A lot of individuals come here for a few weeks or months or years and then they leave and they see this. We’re praying. What’s this all about? It’s simple- we’re here outside for the past almost going on our thirty-eighth year. We’ve been outside because they don’t let us go inside the Masjid. Does it take a genius to figure that out? If they allow us inside the Masjid, we go inside the Masjid- finished! But they don’t want contact. The issue is not us going in the Masjid, etc. The issue is us meeting other Muslims and other Muslims meeting us. They don’t want that to happen so we are left here. What type of democracy (and) what type of electoral system (is this)? If they just have an election inside the Masjid and if they elect king so-and-so, or the proxy of king so-and-so, to be the Imam in the Masjid- Alhamdulillah. We have no objection to that, if that’s what the Muslims want. If that’s what the Muslims want and if that’s what happens then we can begin to educate ourselves as to whether we made the right decisions of having a tool on the mimbar on Friday or having an independent voice, a clear conscience and a thinking mind on the mimbar on Fridays. What do you want? Let us decide for ourselves. We are not permitted to decide for ourselves. What do you say about a country, here in the United States, (where) a couple of Muslim individuals get elected to Congress but no Muslim individual can be elected to a Masjid? What do you say about that? Look at the way the Masajid are run in this country? How are the Islamic centers (and) Islamic organizations run? Open your minds! That’s what is required of us, and not only just understand this in the academic sense, no! After we understand, we follow that by the necessary action that goes with that understanding.
My dear committed brothers and sisters on as Sirat al mustaqim, on our way to Allah (swt)…
We’ve said many times that we the Muslims in the world don’t have self-determination- that’s the simplest way of reducing all the problems that we have to a bottom line. We don’t have self-determination and what is required of us is to regain that self-determination and if we can’t look at our internal selves; the world is full of problems and part of the problems in this world is our internal selves. We have to take a look at our internal selves. Charity begins at home. Let’s begin by solving our indigenous issues. We’ve been taking a look, and we will continue to do so as long as Allah gives us life, at those who are misrepresenting us, in as far as Makkah and Al Madinah are concerned. We don’t care about Ad Dar’iyyah Najd, we don’t care about Ar Rub Al Khaly, we care about Makkah and Al Madinah, first and foremost. What are you doing to that land that is supposed to be a springboard for our intentions and determination? This is what we want to know and this is what should become public information.
In the recent few weeks there’s been something like a stampede of Israelis who want to go to Saudi Arabia because something was worked out between the colonizers in Palestine and the colonizers in Arabia that the Israelis can obtain Saudi visas on Israeli passports and go. You see this is how they work, they work this thing incrementally. They gave them nine days. They said you can go as tourists, as entrepreneurs, businessmen, whatever (and) you stay nine days and you return. This is what they tell us. This is what the news items put out there so they’re beginning to go. This is the beginning. What do they want to do? Follow up with this and next thing we’ll know a few years down the road and some of these Zionists Israelis will come and say, “we had a presence in Khaybar. We want to return to Khaybar.” What are the Saudis going to do? Their survival depends on the Zionists and Imperialists. Are they going to say, “no, you can’t come to Khaybar”? This is the direction we’re going in. Then after Khaybar they’ll say, “oh, but we also lived in Al Madinah.” Banu Qaynuqa’, Banu An Nadhir, Banu Qurayda were the three tribes or factions of the Zionist Yahudis at that time. What will they do? OK- We’ll settle you here. You can live here. You can come here. Right now they’re giving them 9 days, then they’ll expand that to some months, then years, then permanent residency and eventually they’ll become Saudi citizens and with the money and the wherewithal that they have they’ll wreak havoc. Forget about Makkah and Al Madinah. This is how it all begins and we made room for it because we didn’t want to speak about it in our Masajid (and) from our manabir. No one’s supposed to speak about this?! No! We’re going to speak about it even if it’s going to be in the street as it is here.
Then in the past week the Saudi regime began to raise the price of oil at the gas pump. That’s the land of gasoline and petroleum. Well, they’re raising the prices. The prices in the world are going down but the prices in that defeated kingdom are going up. What does this tell you? Are we supposed to have thinking minds, or not?
Then the Foreign Minister of that decrepit kingdom is appealing to Germany to lift the ban on arms. Because of the war that this regime has been pursuing almost for five years now in Yemen, Germany said we’re not going to sell you anymore weapons. So now he’s saying “oh please, you know we need defense. Iran here is our enemy. They’re threatening us and all of this. We’re not going to use these weapons against the Israelis. We’re going to use them against the enemy of all of us. Please sell us these weapons”. Of course, he doesn’t say it like this. There’s diplomatic language but that’s what he means. Then the same Foreign Minister says there should be direct talks between the Israelis and the Palestinians. As if there haven’t been talks?! Haven’t we heard of Camp David? Haven’t we heard of Oslo? Haven’t we heard of bilateral meetings and sessions and diplomacy in all of these years?! What are you talking about?! This is what happens when they take away this information from your heads, especially when you enter a Masjid, and they don’t want anyone to have this type of information circulating in their minds.
Then the previous Saudi Ambassador here in Washington, Khalid ibn Salman, who left his ambassadorship because of the crime of killing Khashoggi in Turkey, became, (what is he?), Minister of Defense or Deputy Minister of Defense or whatever it is? Remember in 2005 the Prime Minister of Lebanon, Rafick Al Hariri was assassinated; now he’s saying it was the treasonous Iranian thugs and people related to them who assassinated him- as if he’s coming out and telling us something that we don’t expect him to say. You’re going to throw out many other innuendo, accusations and claims- none of them have any basis to them.
In the past week, the war criminal regime of Saudi Arabia bombs Yemen (and) the United Nations said 35 people were killed- most of them children. In today’s news, there were ballistic missiles fired from Yemen into Saudi Arabia. For your information, there are Ministers of Finance meeting in Ar Riyadh from the G20 countries and as they are meeting these ballistic missiles have targeted Aramco. By the way, this news does not come from Yemen. It comes from either neutral sources or foreign sources.
Today, at noon time in Al Madinah Ar Rasulullah (saws), there was an exchange of fire. This news comes from the Saudi officials. Three policemen were injured, one civilian was run over and killed, and another civilian was injured, and this person who shot at the policemen ran to his apartment or drove to his apartment and the last news said there was some exchange going on between both sides.
In this past week images are emerging from Saudi Arabia of Saudi women publicly smoking. Some of you might not know but in the strict Wahhabi understanding of Islam smoking is almost equivalent to drinking alcohol. It’s not exactly that but some of them make it to be almost at that level. Imagine, from the taboo of smoking several years ago and now you have women, not men, in public puffing cigarettes, maybe cigars, maybe pipes! Who know, what else we have coming down the pipe?
Then the Secretary of State here goes to Saudi Arabia and he wants to assure them that we are with you. Don’t fear. We will protect you from Iran. Look, the number one enemy now of the Saudis has become Iran. Israel is no longer on their radar. We’re friends now! There’s visas. There’s tourism. There’s secret meetings and exchanges. Netanyahu the war criminal who is the Prime Minister of Zionist Israel, has been bragging in these days and weeks past about the fraternal diplomacy that is going on between his staff or his government, his regime, and many other governments in the Arab countries and in Muslim countries. For the first time we had an Israeli plane flying this week in the air space of Sudan and Saudi Arabia, according to some reports. This normalization is going on and they want us to come to the Masjid (and) go to sleep (as if) none of this is happening. Then you come out of the Masjid (and) go into real life (and) they want to kill you.
The freedom fighters in Yemen shot at and brought down a Saudi fighter plane. As all of this is happening, the Saudis are cozy with
أَشَدَّ النَّاسِ عَدَاوَةً لِّلَّذِينَ آمَنُوا
… those who are most intense in their hostility towards the committed Muslims … (Surah Al Maa’idah verse 82)
The Saudis are very cozy with them, buddy-buddies. Netanyahu, the war criminal there, decides to build 1,900 live-in units (it could mean apartment, it could mean a house, it could mean a townhouse, whatever it is), in Eastern Jerusalem. That’s not to speak about expanding their colonies in the West Bank. These are not settlements. These are colonies. The Zionists want to expand their colonies in the West Bank.
While all of this is going on, Egypt has a debt of $250 billion, Jordan has a debt of $42 billion, the Palestinian Authority has a debt of $5 billion, Lebanon, we don’t know whether it’s going to survive because of the debt crisis it is in. All of these issues that have to do with wealth and power. They don’t concern us?! While Egypt is in the state of the debt that it is in, they’re trying to provoke policies from Ethiopia, (because Ethiopia is the source of the Nile River), that will strangulate the lifeline of the Egyptians which is the Nile River and they want Egypt to get involved in a war with Libya. As all of this is going on, look at the type of Islamic spokespersons in Egypt. What did we have in the past couple of days? We had an Azhari, a graduate from the Azhar, say that divorces that take place in Egypt are not shar’i divorces. They’re not divorces! Ask him- ok why do you say that? He says that because when the Egyptians say talaq or tallaqtuki they say tala’ or talla’tuki; they don’t pronounce the qaf or it wasn’t pronounced correctly so there’s no divorce! Look what’s happening?! (Take a look at) what the forces are doing on the outside from Southern Egypt to the West of Egypt to the North of Egypt and (look at) what an Islamic scholar is saying?! Where is he living? You ask yourself where do you live?!? Where are you?!? Are you in the real world?!?
Then in Morocco, (in the) last Jumu’ah, in the city of Wijdah- that’s a city that’s known for a Sufi flavor to it, in one of the Masjids of that city, the Imam spoke from the mimbar about the importance of Al Quds, he spoke about the importance of Al Masjid Al Haram, Al Masjid An Nabawi and Al Masjid Al Aqsa and after he spoke about the importance of all of this he added just a sentence about the danger of what is called the “Deal of the Century”, which means that the Palestinians and the Arabs and the Muslims have to surrender to the Zionists. He didn’t say this. He just said the “Deal of the Century” is a threat to Al Quds and Al Masjid Al Aqsa. What happened after that? He was relieved of his duties- you can no longer ascend the mimbar and give a khutbah. This is the real world we are living in. We ask Allah that our efforts for Allah will liberate us from the lethargy, the isolationism and the inactivity of those who should know better.
This khutbah was presented by Imam Muhammad Asi on the occasion of Jum’ah on 21 February 2020 on the sidewalk of Embassy Row in Washington D.C. The Imam previously led the daily and Jum’ah prayers inside the Masjid. His speeches were revolutionary and thought provoking, and eventually irritated and threatened the Middle-East Ambassadors who control the Masjid. Finally, the Imam, his family, and other Muslims faithful to the course of Islam were forced out, into the streets. This khutbah originates from the sidewalk across the street from the Islamic Center, currently under seige.
Muhammad H. al-'Asi
Imam Muhammad al-Asi is Research Fellow at the Institute of
Contemporary Islamic Thought. He is currently working on the
first-ever English Tafsir of the Qur'an titled: The Ascendant Qur'an:
Realigning Man to the Divine Power Culture. Eight volumes of this
Tafsir have already been published.
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