Eid al-Fitr (Holiday of the Feast) Khutbah (sermon) for July 29, 2014

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AUDIO FILE LINK

Sermon given by  Yaser Ali 

At the  Islamic Center of the Northeast Valley (ICNEV)

Scottsdale, Arizona

..[Arabic].. That he guided you on the guidance of his “rahmah” (mercy) on the month of Ramadan.   [Arabic].  And that you may be thankful.  That you may be grateful for his bounties upon us.  Allah (SWT: Glorified and Exalted One) has given us so much in this month of Ramadan.  This is the day that is known as [Arabic]: the day of prize giving.  Because in the month of Ramadan, you planted the seeds of goodness. You planted the seeds by fasting in the long hot days of the Arizona summer. You stood in Qiyam, in Taraweeh, you recited Qur’an.  You made du’aa (supplication). You paid zakat. You gave charity. You were good to those around you. We avoided that which was haram (sinful). So for that, Allah SWT promises the reward today. Allah SWT promises us an abundance of reward. That’s why they say. [Arabic] That the Eid isn’t just for the person who wears new and nice clothes, but the Eid is a celebration for that person who in the month of Ramadan increases their good deeds.

 

For that we thank Allah SWT. We praise Him. We say Allahu Akbar (God is great), Allahu Akbar, Allahu Akbar. [Arabic] The Prophet (pbuh: Peace be upon him) of Allah SWT where he said when he said [Arabic] that the fasting person has two delights. Two delights. The first is at the time he or she breaks his fast.  Now each day, when we were thirsty, we were tired. We were hungry. At the end of the day, when we had that first date. When we had that first sip of water, how much it quenched our thirst.  How much we appreciated it.  That’s that “farha” (joy). But the important point isn’t just that it was a momentary delight, but that it made you forget all the difficulties that preceded it. And so this day of Eid, is supposed to be a celebration. The fatigue, the exhaustion, the exertion that we made and put forth to Allah SWT, that part is gone.  The reward sustains.  The reward remains.  So this, [Arabic] that delight when they break their fast, here today is a community when we collectively break our fast on this day of Eid [Arabic], and the delight when that person meets their Lord.

 

Imagine all the difficulties of this world when that moment we get to meet Allah SWT, all of them are forgotten.  Everything becomes worth it. Like a woman when she gives birth, all the pains of labor, of pregnancy, all of them are gone, because the result is there, and she has that tremendous love.  So, Allah SWT promises us, the people that fasted and took advantage of Ramadan, that for them is true ‘farha’(joy).  This day, today, and the day when we inshallah will meet our lord.  And Ramadan, my respected brothers and sisters and elders taught us how to enjoy worshiping Allah.  Look to subhanallah (the glory of God), we treat our religious duties outside of Ramadan as obligations.  (Oh, I gotta pray, I gotta do this, I gotta do this, I didn’t do this), but in the month of Ramadan we treated them with excitement.  I looked forward to going to the Mosque.  I look forward to fasting tomorrow.  So, Ramadan taught us how we can enjoy the ibadah (acts of worship) of Allah SWT. And this is something that I want you guys to remember here today. That Ramadan is over, but we can still enjoy the worship of Allah SWT. In Ramadan we fasted, the whole month. Your colleagues all thought you were crazy.  And yet, every single day you fasted, from the morning to the evening, from food and drink in the middle of the summer of Arizona, and we enjoyed it. So Prophet SWT promises us that the one who follows Ramadan with six days in Shawal, they get the reward as if the entire year they were fasting.  So we should resolve, because every deed is x 10, so 30 + 6 x 10 is 360, so the entire year of reward is given to us for fasting six days of this year, this month inshallah.  We prayed taraweeh, inshallah, we were punctual with our salah (prayer).  Let’s not give up on our salah, after the month of Ramadan.  We came in for fajr. We shouldn’t make it that we came and prayed and now we don’t get up for fajr. But we should be punctual with our salah.  We should populate the Mosque, just like you see it today. The spirit of Ramadan of community worship should be in existence all the time. And if we mutually support one another, “let’s go to the Mosque”, “let’s have these classes”, we will see that it will become easier. Just like it was easy in the month or Ramadan.  We gave charity, we should continue to do so [Arabic]. The most beloved deeds to Allah SWT are those done on a regular basis, even if they are small.  That one dollar a day to charity is worth so much to Allah.  We made du’aa for our brothers and sisters, for ourselves, to our brothers and sisters in Palestine and Syria, around the world, today, and now is the day we follow that up with effort.

 

The prophet, one of the companions of the Prophet [Arabic], he was in the service of the Prophet PBUH, and the Prophet (pbuh) asked him, asked for something.  Now imagine, imagine if we had one wish, what would we wish for? We all have these desires, what did he wish for? He didn’t wish for, you know, the best mansion, and the best car, and all this money, and good health. He didn’t even wish for Jenna (heaven). He was higher than that. He was a high level thinker.  He said [Arabic]. The Prophet of Allah, oh Prophet of Allah, I want your companionship in paradise. He was a high level thinker, and the Prophet PBUH could have said, “sure, I will make du’aa”. But he said something to him, and I want you all to remember this point. He said [Arabic], assist me by doing lots of sajdahs (prostrations). So we made our du’aa for guidance, but we have to follow them up with effort.  We made du’aa for guidance. We need to strive and struggle and make it a point to come to the masjid.  We made du’aa for our brothers and sisters.  We need to support them with our wealth by signing these pledge forms, by contacting our representatives.  This is the follow up that is required. A person, if they sat home and they made du’aa for a job, didn’t submit their resume anywhere, didn’t apply, they wouldn’t get the job.  So, similarly, the du’aas in Ramadan, they are not enough.  They need to be followed up with actions and this is the time when we do those actions.

 

Ramadan was about Qur’an and in inshallah in this masjid we are going to start classes for tajweed.  The sheikh and I will start classes on Hifz (memorization) for the children to memorize Qur’an, for adults to learn to read properly, and inshallah all of these things will take place.  So stay in touch with the masjid, come and attend these classes.  They will start very soon inshallah for your children, so that in a few years we will be producing young hifaz in this community inshallah. And this is the desire that everyone has in Ramadan. These good emotions, don’t let them die out after Ramadan, but let’s start immediately following it up. And in the month of Ramadan we avoided that which was haram.  Listening to, speaking to, looking at, so let’s not waist it. Allah SWT says what [Arabic].  Don’t be like the woman who unravels the thread after she has already spun it. Right, so we put forth, we put a lot of effort.  But let’s not waist it right after Ramadan. Shaytan (satan) was locked up for 30 days and he is coming back with a vengeance.  He is coming back with a vengeance. It is much harder to come to the Mosque.  It is much harder to wake up for fajr.  It is much harder to read Qur’an now.  But that’s the struggle.  That’s the beauty that Allah SWT charged us up in this month of Ramadan. And if we continue and work for the sake of Allah SWT the deeds will become easy.  The community will flourish and we will find tremendous good. [Arabic]. If you are grateful, I will surely increase my bounty upon you.  May Allah SWT accept from us all and give us the honor after Ramadan. [Arabic]

 

Respected brothers and sisters, and elders in Islam.  This is the day of celebration. This is the day of our Eid. You should take the day off of work.  You should tell your boss that I have to celebrate Eid today. You should take your kids and buy them gifts, take them to Toys R’ Us. Buy them some gifts. Take them go-karting. Have fun with them. Tell your spouse that you love them.  Have dinner with your family. Smile to one another.  The sahaba (friends of the Prophet) after this Eid, they would embrace one another. They would say [Arabic], that may Allah forgive you and me.  May Allah accept you and me. till after this salah and inshallah. Brothers, embrace the brothers, and sisters, embrace the sisters. Inshallah, meet new people.  In the spirit of community, go up to 20 people that you don’t know today, give them a hug, say my name is this, what is your name? May Allah SWT accept from both of us.  Such a beautiful thing in our religion.

 

Look at the diversity within the room. This is something, the day of celebration that we should make sure that our children enjoy this day.  Don’t be like the people who say, you know, “ok we gotta go to Eid”, “we gotta go to Eid, and then I gotta go to work”.  No, but celebrate it with your family inshallah, so that the children remember and enjoy this day.

 

But as we enjoy this day, let’s not forget our brothers and sisters who are struggling.  The prophet (pbuh) said that, he said [Arabic]. That the believers are like one body.  When the eye hurts, the whole body hurts.  When the head hurts the whole body hurts.  When you have a headache, you can’t just be chillin’.  You got a headache. Your whole body becomes unable to do anything, and this is the example the believers are like one body.

 

Those who aren’t concerned about our brothers and sisters. They are not from amongst us. Today there is an entire industry that is vilifying Islam and vilifying Muslims. And saying that Muslims are the aggressors, Muslims are the terrorists, well in fact, so many Muslims are the victims all across the world.  And we need to understand this. We need to make du’aa for this. There are people who are paid, even Muslims, who go on Fox News and speak ill against Muslims–who speak ill against our Muslim brothers and sisters.  And we need to ask ourselves, this is something that is really a problem, and we can’t just complain, but we need to ask ourselves, do we love Islam more than they hate it?

 

We should ask ourselves this question.  Do we love Islam more than they hate it?  People have spent their careers attacking Islam. The Islamophobia industry is huge today.  And their whole job is to vilify Muslims–make them look bad.  Make the masajid, look bad.  Well, in fact, how do we respond? Not just by complaining, but by taking proactive steps. By learning our deen (religion), right?  If we are not able to articulate and respond points to these people, we need to learn our deen. We need to study our Qur’an.  We need– there are so many– we need to come to the Mosque, we need to build positive Muslim communities. Invite our colleagues, our neighbors and say: “they don’t represent us”.  “They don’t represent us”. We, the Muslim community represent one another.

 

And we care for our brothers and sisters in Palestine deeply.  And that is why we have these petitions for you. That’s why we have these petitions because we care about our brothers and sisters who are being oppressed in Syria and Palestine in different parts of the world.  We ask Allah SWT to have mercy on them. We need to pool our communal resources to do better responses against this Islamophobia industry that main stream media.  We have people who are very eloquent.  We have people who are good writers.  We need to use these things.  You know, write up opeds to the newspaper instead of just posting Facebook statuses, right?  We need to engage, interact with our communities and inshallah engage our representatives, and most importantly we need to learn our deen.  The most important thing is we need to learn our Qur’an.  We don’t know what our Qur’an says.  So when they mis-quote our Qur’an, we are not able to respond.  So inshallah let’s all make that niyah (intention). Let’s all make that intention that I am going to study my religion. I am going to make my children and teach them my religion and then use whatever gifts Allah SWT has given, me for the sake of deen.

 

Everyone has that intention inshallah? (audience responds “inshallah”). So let’s make that our intention.  And if you can’t do it, but Allah blessed you with wealth, then support these institutions.  Support these institutions, these masajid, those advocacy organizations like CAIR and others who are supporting Muslims and Muslim civil rights around the country.  We need to support these groups.

 

So inshallah, this is the opportunity. We leave with this high in the month of Ramadan. Let’s not let it die down, but lets keep engaged. Let’s engage and fasting six days and come to the mosque and stay, like this beautiful community that we have established. Lets not let it fall apart after Ramadan.  So inshallah, this is the day like I said, as we finish this the khutbah (sermon), after the khutbah, make sure you embrace 20 people you don’t know here today.  Introduce yourself to them, introduce yourself to them and say may Allah SWT forgive you. May Allah SWT have mercy on you.  And may Allah SWT accept our deeds.  We ask that Allah SWT that all the efforts we made in this month, that Allah SWT accept them from us.  Whatever fasting we did that ya Allah, it was hot in this month of Ramadan. It was Arizona summer, but I fasted for you Allah, so accept it from me. Make it a means, a protection from the hell fire for us.  May Allah SWT make us a community of Qur’an. May Allah SWT make us a community that loves one another, that is a positive example for the community outside of us for our neighbors, for our friends, for our colleagues.  May Allah SWT bless each and every one of you. And like I said before: enjoy this Eid with your family. Buy them some gifts and say I love you to your spouse and to your family.  Call on your relatives that you haven’t called in awhile and smile at one another. Eid Mubara

AIFD Stands in Solidarity with Jewish Community Following Hate Crime in Kansas and Remains Committed to Freedom as Passover Begins

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The American Islamic Forum for Democracy (AIFD) wishes to express our deep sorrow and outrage at the news of the anti-Semitic attacks in Kansas yesterday. As more is learned about the individual who committed these attacks – from his history with white supremacist movements and his apparent admiration for Hitler –  we are reminded that our work to end anti-Semitism and all forms of bigotry is far from over. We at AIFD stand in solidarity with the Jewish community during this difficult time and always. We offer our condolences to the family and friends of the three innocent people who lost their lives in this act of senseless and barbaric violence.

The news of this attack against the Jewish community is especially troubling as this evening marks the beginning of Passover, when the Jewish people commemorate their freedom from bondage in Egypt. This year, as we wish our Jewish friends and allies Pesach Chag Sameach – Happy Passover – may we recommit ourselves to working for freedom for all oppressed and marginalized people everywhere. May our Jewish friends, supporters and loved ones have a blessed Passover season, and may we all remain steadfast in our commitment to freedom and ending persecution.

National Muslim organization tries to silence opposition

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CAIR’s attack on Dr. Zuhdi Jasser resembles a desperate schoolyard bully

PHOENIX (January 30, 2014) – The American Islamic Forum for Democracy (AIFD) released the following statement regarding recent attacks from the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) on AIFD president Dr. M. Zuhdi Jasser, author of “A Battle for the Soul of Islam: An American Muslim Patriot’s Fight to Save His Faith”:

 “In a stunning display of Islamist intimidation tactics, the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) released an unscrupulous attack on AIFD’s president, Dr. M. Zuhdi Jasser following Dr. Jasser’s appearance on the January 24, 2014 episode of Fox News’s morning program, Fox and Friends.  Dr. Jasser was invited to discuss the Department of Defense’s changes to their policies on religious dress for our military members.

 

During the interview, Dr. Jasser specifically discussed the value and importance of inclusion, and at no point suggested that Muslim servicemen and women be denied their religious rights, including the right to reasonable accommodations.  However, among other fabrications in their release, CAIR falsely claimed that ‘Dr. Jasser decried the expanding rights as they applied to Muslims’.

 

As a former Lieutenant Commander in the United States Navy, Dr. Jasser is familiar both with the culture of the military and its guidelines and the tenets of his faith.  Dr. Jasser served proudly in the U.S. Navy as a Muslim who prays five times a day, abstains from alcohol and pork, fasts during the month of Ramadan, and more. In his 11 years of service, Dr. Jasser found no conflict to between his personal faith and his service in the military.

 

Contrary to CAIR’s assertions, Dr. Jasser actively worked to create inclusive spaces for Muslim soldiers at both the Bethesda Naval Hospital and in Norfolk. Dr. Jasser welcomes the fact that the DOD’s move toward further inclusion will likely attract many religious Americans to serve proudly as Dr. Jasser did. Some Muslim women who wear the hijab, for example, may now see the military as a viable option for serving their country. Welcoming inclusion does not mean that every practice an individual deems ‘religious’ should be granted, however, and that is exactly what the policy continues to state.

 

The concern that Dr. Jasser expressed on Fox and Friends was not one any rational mind would understand as ‘anti-Muslim.’ Dr. Jasser’s concern remains that these guideline changes may be seen as a green light by those who seek to undermine our national security through radicalism and yes, predatory litigation. While we embrace inclusion, we always do so with a vigilant approach to opposing those who seek to undermine our values. Thus, any changes to uniform guidelines must be made with attention to unit cohesion, mission readiness and solemn dedication to our country’s foundational principles.

 

Dr. Jasser highlighted how these types of accommodations may benefit groups like Sikhs, for whom a beard is central to their faith practice, Jews who wear a yarmulke, or Muslim women who wear the hijab, but can be exploited by individuals who may seek to exploit the availability of accommodations. It is certainly within reason for Muslims to debate whether the beard is a required practice for Muslims as it is for Sikhs. It is also reasonable to debate whether Islamists would exploit the Sikh accommodation for their own balkanization. CAIR does not care about rational debate and discussion. They care only about spreading disinformation and defaming their antagonists. There is no better proof of Dr. Jasser’s concerns than CAIR’s rabid attack on even a religious Muslim who raises a reasonable set of questions for discussion. As Dr. Jasser wrote in the Wall Street Journal August 18, 2011, “our armed forces are ground zero in the struggle between Americanism and Islamism.” CAIR’s deceptive and malicious release on January 24th is proof positive of this.

 

CAIR has blatantly lied about Dr. Jasser’s position and engaged in reckless misrepresentation of his comments before. This latest smear crosses multiple lines. It is not just dishonest but attempts to sabotage Dr. Jasser’s professional work in defense of religious freedom.  CAIR’s inability to engage with integrity is not unexpected, and their desire to silence the urgently needed ideological battle within the Muslim community is legion.

 

CAIR’s strategy appears to have many malignant aims. Among these is the demonization of any Muslim who disagrees with them in order to alienate that individual from the broader Muslim community. Additionally, their bullying tactics ‘make an example’ of those who dissent with them, creating a chilling effect on the speech of American Muslims who seek to dissent with CAIR.

 

CAIR’s stated goal is to protect the civil liberties of Muslims and foster understanding between communities. These would be noble aims. Unfortunately, CAIR chooses to defame Dr. Jasser and others in the Muslim community while employing bullying tactics and rejecting ideological and fiscal transparency.

 

The DOD’s changes, while not significant, are welcomed – but there needs to be additional protections put in place for commanders who will be charged with the implementation of these guidelines. Mission, not political correctness, needs to drive the decision of the commander to grant religious exemptions. We have seen the impact of political correctness in the military. When Nidal Hasan referred to himself as a “Soldier of Allah” and murdered 13 of his fellow soldiers, he did so after concerns about his ongoing radicalization were dismissed.  The fact that Hasan’s colleagues at Walter Reed Army Medical Center may have hesitated to fully address Hasan’s disturbing behavior out of fear of offending ‘religious’ sensibilities demonstrates that CAIR’s silencing of this discussion harms both American security and casts a shadow of suspicion on American Muslims in the military. Commanders cannot fear legal or other retribution if they determine that a religious accommodation or behavior compromises a unit’s mission, cohesion or safety.

 

If we really want the military and the broader American community to truly embrace the contribution of American Muslims, we must reject the bullying tactics of organizations like CAIR, who claim to advocate for civil rights but really peddle a narrative of ceaseless victimhood while denigrating any Muslims who seek balance against the threat of Islamist ideologies.  Their approach belittles true transgressions against religious liberty and in fact ostracizes those Muslims who bravely serve of our country.”

 

About the American Islamic Forum for Democracy

The American Islamic Forum for Democracy (AIFD) is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) charitable organization. AIFD’s mission advocates for the preservation of the founding principles of the United States Constitution, liberty and freedom, through the separation of mosque and state. For more information on AIFD, please visit our website at http://www.aifdemocracy.org/.