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Friday Khutba
Prepared by MWL
In the name of God,
Most Gracious, Most Merciful …..
May God guide us to
the right path and give us the strength, wisdom and foresight to act in
the most wise way and with compassion for others, seeking His grace.
God reveals in the
Quran, the verse: re: the creation of Adam and told the angels to give
him the due respect. We were created as vicegerents on Earth to be
responsible representatives and carryout the necessary steps to protect
the Earth and humanity to enjoin what is right and to shun what is evil.
We are to act in the best possible manner and to constantly reflect on
God’s signs and think of Him to avoid evil. Our 5 prayers are reminders
of Him and what He has bestowed on us in terms of Divine Revelation, -
the Quran. The Quran is our source of guidance and
gives us direction in general and also outlines specifics as well. The
Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) was the last of the messengers sent as a role
model for the believers and he was quoted by Aisha to have been the
embodiment of the Quran.
With this, I begin the topic of today, that we as Muslims, as believers
have a responsibility to God first and foremost and in turn our kin
including our parents, families and then the needy/wayfarer/poor. We are
responsible for our communities, neighborhood, society and world as
torch bearers of peace, justice and promoting the truth……..
God admonishes us in verses of the Quran to pray and follow up our
prayer with good deeds (works of righteousness) and what could be more
righteous than to be good to others, bring people together (as a
peacemaker) and have compassion for our kin, neighbor, the needy etc as
well as to give charity.
The Quran reveals, “Let there arise out of you a band of people inviting
to all that is good enjoining what is right and forbidding what is
wrong: they are the ones to attain felicity.” (3-104)
As Muslims, we try to strive to be close to God (become God-conscious)
through our daily actions and God in turn gives us guidance and outlines
how we can become not just Muslims but believers (a higher degree of
faith) in the following verses:
He also details our creation in the beginning of men and women by the
following verses:
“O Mankind reverence your Guardian Lord, who created you from a single
person, created of like nature, his mate and from them twain scattered
(like seeds) countless men and women; reverence God, through whom ye
demand your mutual rights, and reverence the wombs (that bore you): for
God ever watches over you) (4:1)
And outlines how men and women should relate to each other in the
following verse:
“God hath promised to Believers Men and women, Gardens under which
rivers flow to dwell therein, and beautiful mansions in gardens of
everlasting bliss. But the greatest bliss is the good pleasure of God:
that is the supreme felicity” (9: 72)
Diversity began with the creation of gender:
“O human beings! We
have created you all out of a male and a female, and made you into
(various) peoples and tribes so that you may come to know one another.
Surely, the most honored of you in the sight of God is the
one who is most conscious of Him. Behold, God is All-knowing, All-aware”
(49:13)………
Yet in this current day and age, approximately half of our fellow
believers suffer oppression because of cultural restrictions that are
not Islamicly justified. This must come to a stop. We must start to
dialogue about these oppressions that occur not only around the world
but here in our own communities.
Women have suffered for thousands of years even from before the time of
the prophet and continue to suffer until today – with female infanticide
marking the attitude of Arab society to females which led tribes to
treat women as subordinates (like property) to the cruel treatment of
women with regards to marriage and divorce etc.
It was not until the Quran was revealed that female infanticide was
considered a crime and laws regarding marriage and divorce were outlined
to give woman the rights that they had been denied. But even so, a
cultural attitude towards women has persisted throughout the years, we
see in practice even here in our own communities whereby certain Islamic
centers/mosques discourage or even restrict women from attending and
some women are intimidated by fear of rejection and humiliation to enter
God’s house of worship. Some mosques do not allow women to enter the
mosque from the front doors etc.
In a 2001 CAIR study of 416 American mosques - 2/3 of mosques women were
not allowed to pray in the main hall, 1/4 of the mosques did not offer
programs for women, 1/3 did not allow women to sit on the governing
boards. This is in sharp contrast to the time of the Prophet whereby
there was no segregation of sexes, women were encouraged to participate
at all levels including voting ("bayeh") etc and the Prophet was not
known to have denied a woman participation because of her gender.
Women until today still are not educated as to their Islamic rights in
marriage (their rights to include various conditions in a marriage
contract etc). There have been cases where marriages are not registered
with the state and thus denying the woman the legal right of protection
in cases of divorce.
Some women are restricted from higher education which is contrary to
what the teachings of the Prophet. Women are discouraged from education
because the families fear this will decrease their ability to marry and
others who are even less fortunate are restricted from even a basic
education in other countries. A young woman living in Florida at the
time was told she could not pursue a medical education because that
would restrict her ability to get married. Some women are restricted to
pursue careers as well. This is in contrast to the Prophet himself who
married a successful business women and was not known to discourage her
from that pursuit.
Some women are beaten in the name of Islam by their male counterparts
when we know these were not behaviors modeled by our dear Prophet
Muhammad (PBUH). One woman living in the San Fernando valley was punched
in the head causing her to be rushed to the Emergency Room because of
blood coming out of her ear. Another woman was forcefully shoved out of
a room while she was instructing her son to work on his homework
apparently because her husband wasn't able to listen to his television
program. In another case, a man used the Qur'an in a court of law to
explain to the judge why abusing his wife was a right afforded to him by
the religion. In other scenarios, some religious leaders have advised
women not to report the abuse to the authorities or blame the woman for
breaking up the family. Islam is often used to justify the abuse or
blame the victim.
God created mates for the following
reason:
“And among His wonders is that He created for you mates from among
yourselves that you might find restfulness (and satisfaction), and he
has engendered between you affection, and tenderness; surely, in that
are signs for people who think….” (30:21)
Let our Prophet be our example of behavior as detailed in this hadith:
Narrated Anas ibn Malik: “I have never seen anyone more kind to one’s
family then (the Prophet Muhammad) Sahih Muslim, Hadith 1077
Our prophet was a man of character, honesty and integrity – he treated
his family with kindness and his wives in specific with justice and
wisdom - Let us remember the example of Aisha (riding with the man on
the camel) the Prophet was not harsh with his wife despite the prospect
of not knowing Aisha’s innocence during a time when members of the Ummah
spread gossip accusing Aisha of “adultery” at that time.
The prophet was known to have listened to advice from his wife and to
address women’s questions/issues with patience and knowledge of the
Quranic revelation – across the board the Prophet was not known to say a
word of contempt or physically strike any person family or non family
member. How many of us believers strive to be like the Prophet – the
essence of his behavior (his soul) – some of us emulate his physical
characteristics and may grow a beard or use the miswak etc but it was
his character that made him what he was with the guidance he received
from God.
Muslim women around the world are suffering because many are raising
children single-handedly in the war torn countries and are struggling to
make ends meet. Others suffer oppression at the hands of the system in
cases of rape where there is no just legal recourse to this crime for
them or from unjust family laws that leave a woman high and dry without
any support
In the last sermon, the Prophet advised us on treating women in most
kind manner:
“Do treat your women well and be kind to them for they are your partners
and committed helpers.”
As believers, men and women, we have a responsibility to counter this
oppression and right the wrong. Even the smallest of good deeds will not
go unrewarded if we have good intentions.
Take it upon yourself to encourage your mothers/sisters/nieces to attend
the mosque and help to make your mosque “women friendly” – make it a
point to ensure the prayer facilities are up to standard with the
facilities that the men pray in and that women are welcome to
participate on every level. Greet your sisters in Islam with the best of
greetings when they enter the mosque and facilitate the Islamic
education starting with your daughters/sisters of their rights
especially when it comes to marriage and divorce. The leadership has a
responsibility to educate the community about affairs of marriage and
divorce and provide access to samples of marriage contracts. The
leadership also should encourage couples to discuss important issues
prior to marriage to encourage healthy communication as part of
community building process. The Ummah must realize the importance of
brotherhood/sisterhood and support each other especially in the United
States where there is a lack of extended family - this will ensure
stability of families and provide the necessary psychological/moral
support that many families need living in a society as a minority.
Women as well have a duty to educate themselves and their offspring and
know that their participation in mosques and Islamic activities is their
duty. We need to combat domestic violence occurring in our communities
by participating in awareness campaigns and advising these families to
seek professional help to avoid the tragic consequences that result and
passing this behavior down from one generation to another. The Islamic
leadership including the Shura council must realize the necessity of
professional training by experts re: the handling and recognition of
domestic violence in the community. In one of the Los Angeles mosques -
two brothers on the religious council doubted the fact that domestic
violence exists. We need a public discourse and a forum to hear the
concerns of Muslim women and to express our outrage at oppression when
we witness it.
If we struggle together, men and women to combat oppression against our
fellow believers around the world – internal and external oppression –
we will be the victors and our Ummah will be a stronger one for that………
God reveals:
“And their Lord hath accepted of them, and answered them: “Never will I
suffer or be lost the work of any of you be he male or female; ye are
members, one of another………” (3:195)
The vision of our Ummah is one of men and women, sisters and brothers,
male and female believers side by side, working for the cause of God to
bring justice and peace to the rest of mankind. Men and women acting as
vicegerents to fulfill our responsibility to God in the best possible
manner, inviting those to the truth, spreading good and working for
justice around the world. |
