Commemoration with Circumspection
| Khatib : |
Sadullah Khan |
| Khutbah No: |
216 |
| Khutbah Date: |
11/10/06 |
[b]وَلاَ تَقْعُدُواْ بِكُلِّ صِرَاطٍ تُوعِدُونَ وَتَصُدُّونَ عَن سَبِيلِ اللّهِ مَنْ آمَنَ بِهِ وَتَبْغُونَهَا عِوَجًا[/b][b]وَاذْكُرُواْ إِذْ كُنتُمْ قَلِيلاً فَكَثَّرَكُمْ وَانظُرُواْ كَيْفَ كَانَ عَاقِبَةُ الْمُفْسِدِينَ[/b][i]"Cause not obstruction in every path, threatening others, hindering them from God's way and hindering those who believe in God, having ulterior motives. Rather recall your past and the little you may have had and how that has now increased. Keep in mind also the consequence of those who were mischievous throughout history" [/i][b][Qur'an 7:86] [/b]Veterans Day is the American name for the international day called Armistice Day. It falls on the closest working day to November 11, the anniversary of the signing of the armistice that ended World War One. It is both a federal holiday and a state holiday in all states. The same day is observed elsewhere as Remembrance Day or Armistice Day. All major hostilities of World War 1 were formally ended at the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month of 1918 with the German signing of the Armistice.The irony is that another World war was fought thereafter and war is still, unfortunately, a reality in the world we live in. What is more disturbing is that most of these wars are fought by occupying forcs that brutalize the innocent citizenry of the lands invaded or occupied.
Just Another StatisticIraq was invaded under the pretext of having weapons of mass destruction. Despite the unveiling of that lie, over 500 000 inncent people have died in the process; 98% of people killed being innocent Iraqis who were moved from the forceful yoke of Saddam’s tyranny to the indiscriminate brutality of foreigners.We proclaim that we want freedom and democracy for the world, yet we sit idly by watching hundreds of Palestinian civilians being killed by a well-armed, well-trained powerful army. People of conscience are shocked to utter disgust by the unchecked, blatant atrocities perpetrated by the brutal Zionist occupying forces against innocent Palestinians; while others are so desensitized that the killing this week of 20 innocent people in their sleep in Beit Hanun in north Gaza, Palestine; is just another news report.
What! Have we lost our sense of humanity?The sanctity of human life in Islam is paramount, without condition or qualification:
[b]ِ ذَلِكُمْ وَصَّاكُمْ بِهِ لَعَلَّكُمْ تَعْقِلُون وَلاَ تَقْتُلُواْ النَّفْسَ الَّتِي حَرَّمَ اللّهُ إِلاَّ بِالْحَقّ[/b][i]Say: "Come, I will rehearse what God hath (really) prohibited you from: Join not anything as equal with Him; be good to your parents; kill not your children on a plea of want--We provide sustenance for you and for them; come not nigh to shameful deeds, whether open or secret; take not life, which God hath made sacred, except by way of justice and law. Thus doth He command you, that ye may learn wisdom" [/i][b][Q 6:151]. [/b]Do we not realize that …[list][*]Life as sacred (5:32)(6:158)(17:33) [/*][*]Overcome evil with good (13:22)[/*][*]Neither be destructive nor malicious (4:29)[/*][*] No animosity to those who are not hostile to you (60:8)[/*][*]Do not be aggressive ( 5:87)) [/*][*]Pardoning is better than revenge (7:199)[/*][*]No compulsion in Religion (2:156) [/*][/list]
Celebrate with Circumspection~Celebrating Veterans Day yet involved in an unjust and brutal war that has caused the loss of over half a million innocent lives undermines the memory of those who truly fought for peace. ~Celebrate Democracy yet creating so many laws to curtail the freedom of innocent people undermines the very foundation of “democratic principles”. ~Celebrate our Liberty and point to the breaking down of the Berlin Wall as proof of our positive contribution to uniting the German people; yet provide $50 million of America tax payer money to build a wall to divide the people of Jerusalem and to entrench the occupiers while disenfranchising the dispossessed; this makes a mockery of the global “promise of liberty for all” ~Celebrate Justice For all for all yet unhesitatingly support a racist state that denies an entire Palestinian people their right and their dignity (on their own land); negates the very fundamental notion of justice.
Human DignityThe need of the hour is to transform the world (by removing the causes of the pervasive political hypocrisy; of state-enforced terrorism; of deliberately provoked violence; of selfish self-centered, self-serving economic and political objectives …) through an honest and realistic quest for social justice for all people wherever they may be and whoever they may be. I am not talking politics, I am talking human dignity. Allah Himself says
و لفد كرمنا بني آدم I have honored the human being. Every conscientious human being has the obligation of opposing that which undermines human dignity; just as every decent human being has the responsibility of upholding the honor of humans and of supporting that which promotes human integrity.
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