A Cry of the Faithful on the Day of Arafat

By Dr. Mohamed Khodr

http://www.balochistanpost.com/item.asp?ID=3163    Thursday, January23,2003

LABIK ALLAH HUMA LABIK, LABIK LA SHARIK LAK LABIK!!!

Rise, O Muslims, and Raise Your Voices and Hearts on the Day of Arafat: "HERE I AM MY ALLAH"

ISSUE: "War on Islam: Iraq, Palestine, Chechnya, Kashmir, India, China, Philippine, Europe, U.S.A. etc."

PROBLEM: "Silent Ummah of Muslims"

PROPOSAL: On the Coming Holy Day of Arafat:

To Stand In Prayer with the Blessed Pilgrims in Arafat and to Peacefully protest and condemn the threats, wars, and shedding of Muslim and Non-Muslim blood around the world by misguided Muslims, western and Zionist "evildoers". To ask Allah (SWT) for forgiveness for time lost without faith, for squandered lives and wasted wealth, for a long history of SILENCE, for peace, courage, and justice. To cry to the heavens and earth that we are Rededicating our lives as true Muslims in faith and action. To put the world on notice that Muslims seek peace and mutual respect BUT will NEVER AGAIN remain idle in the face of Injustice.

On The Holiest Day in All of Islam, the Day of Arafat:

       Let Every Muezzin from Every Minaret around the world joyfully proclaim: "Allah Akbar, Allah Akbar, Allah Akbar: I witness there is no God but Allah, and I witness that Muhammad is His Messenger."

       Let Every Muslim after Duhr Prayer abandon all worldly duties and fill the streets with a unified heart and voice in a call to be heard around the world: LABIK ALLAH HUMA LABIK, LABIK LA SHARIK LAK LABIK"

On this Day of Arafat, we Muslims are reclaiming our faith, our lands, our resources, our right to study and worship our faith as revealed, to live in peace and justice in the world with honour, respect, and dignity. We, the Muslim Ummah, followers of our Holy Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, also do proclaim our unity, purpose, and full determination to defend against any threat or aggression against Islam, our lands, and our Ummah from misguided Muslims or foreign aggressors and "evildoers" anywhere, anytime.

Let the cry of the Muslim faithful from every Minaret's Adh'an and from the voice of every precious Muslim child boldly rise and shake the world into a new reality, a "New World Order", a "Regime Change" against any and all oppression against the poor and weak, against any injustice that violates all religious, moral, ethical, and international law.

"Our Lord!" (they say) "let not our hearts deviate now after Thou hast guided us but grant us mercy from Thine own Presence; for Thou art the Grantor of bounties without measure." (3:8)

 No greater awakening shall this earth experience than the earthquake of 1.2 billion Muslim believers around the world proclaiming their servitude to the One God, Allah (SWT), to His Messenger Muhammad (pbuh); proclaiming their independence from FEAR AND DOMINATION; proclaiming to the world their willingness to live in peace and respect with all of God's humanity; but with a fervent declaration that if Muslims anywhere are oppressed and killed---Muslims everywhere will rise to defend their brethren.

"Yet indeed, as for any who defend themselves after having been wronged--no blame whatever attaches to them: "Blame attaches but to those who oppress other people and behave outrageously on earth, offending against all right: for them there is grievous suffering in store!" (42: 41 - 42)

Allah's (SWT) promise to His Believers is clear and He never breaks His Word: --Help yourself and I shall help you. Succour Me and I shall Succour you.

"O ye who believe! if ye will aid (the cause of) Allah He will aid you and plant your feet firmly." (47:7)

"For, they who pay heed unto God and His Apostle, and stand in awe of God and are conscious of Him, it is they, they who shall triumph in the end." (24:52)

From the One, the Few, Came Success; From the Many Came the Fall

In 610 A.D., One Man, One Blessed Man, One Chosen Man, chosen by the One Lord of All Creation, Allah (SWT), was given the Final Message for humanity's salvation, the Holy Qur'an, to return mankind from the darkness of ignorance, immorality, greed, and idolatry to the light and enlightenment of worshipping the ONE and only true God of the universe who has shown His repeated mercy to the ungrateful creature through His many Revelations and His many blessed Prophets from Noah, to Abraham, Isaac, Ishmael, Jacob, David, Solomon, Moses, Jesus, and finally, the Seal of the Prophets, Muhammad, peace be upon them all. Allah's (SWT) merciful message to humanity throughout history has been the same fundamental truth: ISLAM: A message calling for mankind to submit, surrender, and worship only Him.

From One Man accompanied by the most pious, faithful, courageous, selfless, and learned men, rose a faith guaranteeing man the ultimate victory over worldly passions, weakness, greed, envy, immorality, racism, and hate of the "other" with a future reward in Paradise in the company of Allah (SWT), the Holy Prophet Muhammad (SAW), and all other Prophets and pious men and women.

From a small group of the faithful rose one faith, one Ummah, one nation under the banner of Islam, the banner of the Holy Prophet Muhammad (SAW). A nation and a civilization that straddled the world from the Atlantic Ocean to the Sea of China: one nation of brotherhood, sisterhood, classless and raceless with no borders, no visas, but with a burning fire for faith, worship, unity, knowledge, curiosity, and peace and justice toward all. One Ummah of believers, One Ummah of Nations (the first U.N.) bonding with God and one another. All who believed in the One God were members of the Ummah, including those of earlier Revelations.

"Behold, God enjoins justice, and the doing of good, and generosity towards one's fellow-men, and He forbids all that is shameful and all that runs counter to reason, as well as envy; and He exhorts your repeatedly so that you might bear all this in mind." (16:90)

"O my Lord! advance me in knowledge." (20:114)

From the few rose the many of today, 1.2 Billion Muslims found in every nation. Islam has seen its peaks and its valleys. For the last 500 years Muslims have disproved the axiom that there is strength in numbers. If one is to understand why a faith or idea falters one must look back and analyze the reasons for the inexplicable, rapid and glorious rise of such a faith in the first place.

Islam rose because of the strong belief of Muslims. Islam fell because of the fall of belief among Muslims.

Muslims today need only search their minds, hearts, and souls in truth and honesty to discover their poverty of knowledge ("Read, in the Name of they Lord"), of steadfast faith, worship, sacrifice, sanctity of life and brotherhood, hard work, patience, perseverance, and "Jihad" against worldly temptations and in defense of their faith, lands, property, and honor. Many of us who carry the "Muslim Label" on the outside fall short in our faith on the inside. We can fool the world but Allah (SWT) knows all that is within us.

"And God knows all that you keep secret as well as all that you bring into the open." (16:19)

"For many are they who say, "We believe in God and in the Apostle, and we pay heed," ---but then, some of them turn away after this assertion, and these are by no means true believers." (24:47)

"Consider the flight of time! Verily, man is bound to lose himself, unless he be of those who attain to faith, and do good works, and enjoin upon one another the keeping to truth, and enjoin upon one another patience in adversity." (Surah Al Asr: 105)

No one from the days of the Holy Prophet would recognize Islam in our time as practiced by the Muslims of today.

External Crusades of Commission, Internal Crusade of Omission

Today, Allah's (SWT) Message of Surrender, Mercy, and Light to all Mankind, Islam, is facing two threatening crusades that may temporarily harm the faith but will never succeed in defeating or diminishing the light given and protected by the One and Only God of the Universe as a gift of Love to All His Creations.

The External, Western, Judeo-Christian Crusade against Islam is an intelligent, well organized and financed "Pro-Active" undertaking that primarily depends on a most sophisticated literary, public relations and mass media defamation campaign that provides the cover and justification for military expansionism, economic blackmail, and the imposition of political will upon the world. Such a campaign has made a mockery of all legal, religious, moral, and ethical respect of human life, decency, and understanding of truth; while marginalizing as irrelevant all international organizations, conventions, treaties, and laws. Extreme power has allowed the Western "Civilized" nations the luxury of absolving itself of sin or hypocrisy. The west has gone to its man made confessional booth and absolved itself of wrong. The western man has crowned himself the world's savior by bombs and ads.

The Second Crusade against Islam is more insidious, yet more ominous, like a silent cancer spreading through the body or ummah of Muslims. It is an Internal Crusade by Muslims themselves against Islam through their ignorance of faith, its teachings and practices, widespread illiteracy, loss of self respect and dignity, a demoralized and defeatist existence, acceptance of corrupt dictators, and centuries of silence in the face of threats to their land, property, self, and even faith. This Muslim Crusade against Islam is a "Crusade of Omission", an omission of knowledge about Islam ("Read"--the first word of Islam), an omission of a strong faith in Allah (SWT) and His Messenger, Muhammad (pbuh), an omission of Trust and Respect amongst themselves, an omission of hard work and dedication to Islam manifested in perpetual self sacrifice of lives and wealth, an omission of acquiring knowledge on world affairs and preparing for all potential threats against Islam and Muslims, an omission of perpetual learning to advance the cause of Islam and Muslim lives, an omission of courage and strength in the face of adversity, an omission of patience and perseverance, an omission of the unity of the ummah where the needs of "me" are subservient to the needs of "us".

In short, Muslims have adopted the passions of the self and world and foregone the essence of Islam which emphasizes the beauty and goodness of the life to come over the game of life in this world.

We Must Never Despair of Allah's (SWT) Mercy

"You are to believe in God and His apostle, and to strive hard in God's cause with your possessions and your lives: this is for your own good--if you but knew it." (61:11)

Say: "Truly my prayer and my service of sacrifice, my life and my death are (all) for Allah the Cherisher of the Worlds: (6:162)

Somebody asked, "O Allah's Apostle! Who is the best among the people?" Allah's Apostle replied "A believer who strives his utmost in Allah's cause with his life and property." (Sahih Al Bukhari: 4:45)

No greater calamity has befallen upon us as Muslims than that we seem to be sidelined silent viewers when our faith, our holy sites, and our own brothers and sisters are being killed at will by those claiming a defensive "war on terrorism" when in reality they are launching an offensive "terrorism on legitimate wars for freedom". Our leaders are corrupt, oppressive, and dictatorial; while our Muslim masses are kept in ignorance and fear by our "elected" Muslims leaders, winning 110% of the vote, who support the powerful du jour who fear true Islam as a threat to their wealth, power, arrogance, and greed.

"Smart Bombs, Dumb Politicians, and SILENT Muslims" are the hallmarks of our time.

My Brothers and Sisters in Islam, we cannot turn back the clock of time BUT we are still the blessed Ummah of Islam, the servants of the One True Allah (SWT), the followers of the Most Blessed Honorable Prophet Muhammad (SAW), the descendents of Adam, Eve, and Abraham, peace be upon them all, and the believers in the Torah and Gospel of Moses and Jesus, peace be upon them. We possess a covenant and promise from Allah (SWT) that if we support Him, He will support us as He supported the small weak Muslims in Badr.

We have reached a Crossroad of Truth that will determine the future of our faith, our Ummah, and our children. We must not be the Muslim Generation to lower the Banner of Muhammad (SAW) that gloriously spread the Truth of Islam throughout the world.

We cannot and must not SUBMIT to anyone or anything in this world but to Allah (SWT). Our hearts must beat with the rhythm of love for Paradise to join ourselves with our Prophet. Close your eyes and ears to this world and open your hearts and souls to Islam, to one another, to a life of faith, worship, joy, peace, and charity no matter the sacrifice.

My Brothers and Sisters the "evildoers" are committing daily murder of Muslims around the world, they are viciously attacking what we hold Holy and Dear, they have and will continue to rob our lands and resources, they have imprisoned, tortured, expelled, and dishonored our homes and women, they have made each "Muslim" a pariah and potential "terrorist" on God's earth.

The time is NOW before more Muslim and Non-Muslim blood is shed to satisfy the greed after cheap oil and Muslim land by the truest "Axis of Evil": BUSH, BLAIR, AND THE MASTERMIND SHARON.

These "civilized" men claim they want to bring "freedom and democracy" to Iraq, Palestine, the Arab and Muslim world; all the while it is they who are camouflaging their evil, prejudice, greed, injustice, and murder of innocent Muslims with such well packaged lies.

"And when they are told, Do not spread corruption on earth," they answer, "We are but improving things. Oh, Verily, it is they, they who are spreading corruption---but they perceive it not. And when they are told, "Believe as other people believe," they answer, "Shall we believe as the weak-minded believe?" Oh, Verily, it is they, they who are weak-minded--but they know it not.........God will requite them for their mockery, and will leave them for a while in their overweening arrogance, blindly stumbling to and fro: for it is they who have taken error in exchange for guidance." (2: 11 -13; 15 - 16)

We must not let violent misguided and ignorant Muslims commit crimes in the name of our faith. How can we remain SILENT when Muslims are killing, robbing, and spreading hate against Muslim and Non-Muslim civilians? We must carry the banner of justice for all while defending our faith against all who aim to spread corruption, evil, and violence against humanity's innocent and faithful. Islam is a peaceful, tolerant religion that seeks to bring peace, justice, and rationality to humanity.

"O YOU have attained to faith! Be ever steadfast in your devotion to God, bearing witness to the truth in all equity, and never let HATRED of anyone lead you into the sin of deviating from justice. Be just: this is the closest to being God-conscious. And remain conscious of God: verily, God is aware of all that you do." (5:8)

Islam demands keeping an equitable balance between all extremes of the flesh and spirit while holding uppermost in one's conscience the God willed unity and purpose of both these aspects

"And thus have We willed you to be a community of the middle way; so that with your lives you might bear witness to the truth before all mankind, and that the Apostle might bear witness to it before you." (2:143)

How Will Each Muslim Answer This Hadith?

Mu'adh ibn Jabal said Allah's Messenger said: "The two feet of Allah's servant shall not move one inch on the Day of Judgment until that servant is asked about four qualifications (khisâl):

1.      His life: to what purpose did he spend it?

2.      His youth: in doing what did he wear it out?

3.      His property: from where did he earn it and how did he spend it?

4.      His knowledge: to what use did he put it?"

In Al-Tirmidhi and Al-Darimi

All of us must truthfully and honestly answer these questions recalling that Allah (SWT) knows all that is kept secret and all we announce. There is no greater glory, nor greater blessing, nor greater gift bestowed on humanity than the Message of the Qur'an and its Messenger, Muhammad (SAW). What will we take with us and how humbling our presence will be in front of Allah (SWT) when he asks us these questions and we are found lacking.

We want to live in peace in this world to worship Our Creator and follow the teachings of our Prophet. Yet it is our fault, not Israel's or America's or the Europeans, that today we are weak and fearful. These aggressor nations are simply following their interests as inhumane as they maybe, but it is US, us Muslims, who in our SILENCE, PASSIVITY, AND WEAKNESS allowed them to rob us of our faith, land, honor, wealth, and dignity.

WE have done nothing to educate and propagate the message of Islam, nor have we advanced our knowledge, our economies, nor applied our faith to our lives and governance. The wealth of oil, a blessing from God, has been squandered by the few for their selfish existence, power, and pleasure. We are stagnant while the world around us is moving rapidly into the technological age. We've adopted the negatives of the western culture but not its work ethic, knowledge, economic competitiveness, administrative and organizational skills. It's shocking to see a Muslim woman wearing hijab while her daughter is dressed like Madonna. Yet, on a daily basis we bury our dead and seek relief from the very nations attacking us rather than from ALLAH (SWT) and our faith, our only real source of comfort and assurance of victory.

Stand, my brothers and sisters, on the day of Arafat with the pilgrims and proclaim to the world, including our corrupt leaders before more Muslim blood is shed by American bombs and Muslim alliances and permission:

We Will Be Silent No More
ALLAH AKBAR

"He prayed: "O my Lord! I have indeed wronged my soul! Do Thou then forgive me!" So (Allah) forgave him: for He is the Oft-Forgiving Most Merciful. (28:16)