Injustice Caused to the Innocent
| Khatib : | Sadullah Khan |
| Khutbah No: | 158 |
| Khutbah Date: | 07/15/05 |
- Dilemma 1: We have this dilemma that due to the preponderance of anti-Muslim imagery in some of the media, many assume that Islam is synonymous with terror and that whenever there occurs a terror attack, Muslims are considered guilty by association. This is highly unfair and immoral. Some Muslims, on the other hand, tend to cowardly be apologetic for Islam as if Islam itself is somewhat guilty. Islam is a comprehensive way of life that guides every aspect of human existence; Islam is Islam and there should be no apology for being Muslim, ever.
- Dilemma 2: That due to suffering and oppression suffered by Muslims in Palestine, Chechnya, Kashmir, Iraq … that such terror attacks (though condemned) could somewhat be understood. That is immoral too. The suffering of Muslims around the world pains people of conscience very deeply, and we must realize that the way to end that suffering is to work to end injustice across the globe. But remember, "Never let the hatred of a people toward you move you to commit injustice." [Qur’an 5:8] Earlier in the same chapter, Allah says: ...let not the hatred of some people in (once) shutting you out of the Sacred Mosque lead you to transgression (and hostility on your part). Help ye one another in righteousness and piety, but help ye not one another in sin and rancor: fear Allah, for Allah is strict in retribution. [Qur’an 5:2] This verse was initially revealed to the Prophet and his companions just after the conquest of Mecca, the inhabitants of which violently opposed the Prophet from the very beginnings of his ministry. They attacked, tortured, maimed, and murdered the early Muslims. They starved the Muslims for three years, directly leading to the deaths of some companions and tremendously affecting the Prophet’s two main pillars of support, Abu Talib and Khadijah. They killed Sumaya and Yasser in front of their son Ammar. They drove the Prophet (pbuh) and his followers from their homes and then seized their property to enrich themselves and their caravans. They led attack after attack against the Muslims in Medina, and they nearly killed the Prophet at Uhud. They treacherously violated the Treaty of Hudaybiyah, killing the Prophet's allies within the Sacred Precincts. Yet despite all of that, Muslims were instructed that they had no license to transgress against the Makkans. When the Muslims re-entered Makkah after years of persecution and attacks against them, one of the Prophet's companions yelled out, "Today is a day of slaughter! Today, God will debase Quraysh." When the Prophet (pbuh) learned of this, he became very angry and responded, "He has spoken incorrectly! Today is a day of mercy." The Prophet (pbuh) responded to all of the ugliness of Quraysh with mercy, forgiveness, and kindness. He did not take the opportunity of war to wantonly slaughter his bitterest enemies. Our faith does not allow us to undermine the sanctity of life --- period. Once we let the impropriety of others guide our morality, then we risk becoming completely amoral, and the Prophet (pbuh) was sent with the expressed purpose of اتمم مكارم الاخلاق implementing the highest standard of human morality.
Forgotten Tragedies & SrebernicaAs we condemn all atrocities perpetrated against innocent people, whether it be organizational terror, institutional terror or state-sponsored terror; people of conscience should remember the atrocities that has been suffered buy Muslims, especially in the last few decades …
- More than 3 million Muslims were killed / displaced by the European colonial powers during and after the occupation of Muslim countries after World War I and II.
- More than 6 million Muslims were killed / displaced by Tsars of Russia and subsequently killed / displaced by Communist Government of Russia
- More than 1.5 million Muslims have been killed in China, Cambodia, Vietnam since the world war II
- More than half million Muslims have been killed / displaced in Burma since W W II
- More than half million Muslims have been killed in India and Kashmir since 1947
- More than 250 000 Muslims were killed by Serbs and Croats in Bosnia during early 90s.
- More than 100,000 Muslims were killed in Kosovo and Albania during mid 90s and counting and over a quarter million in Chechnya, and counting.
- More than 5 million Muslims have been killed / displaced in Palestine since 1948 and counting
- More than 5 million Muslims were killed / displaced by the Russian occupation of Afghanistan
- More than 6 million Iraqis have died under Saddam, the sanctions and post-Saddam, and counting.
Ten years ago this week, over 8 000 innocent men and boys were massacred in a UN Safe Zone in Srebernica, Bosnia at the hands of the Sebian Army. The massacre is considered as the “worst massacre since WW2”; and thousands of bodies of men and young boys are still being exhumed and buried from that incident, deemed by the UN as the “worst case of genocide in Europe in the past 50 years”; the same United Nations that set up the court that convicted a Serbian General Krstic for that crime, also bears a measure of collective responsibility for the tragedy at Srebrenica. All 8 000 people innocently massacred were Muslims, lest we forget!