| Introduction by Shaykh Dr. Abdalqadir as-SufiAlmost a decade ago when I came to South Africa I saw that while Islam had survived, indeed it had been respected by the previous regime despite the christian iniquities, it had lost its social dynamism. The Jumu’a had been robbed of its political authority, I mean the khutba from the Mimbar.
Modern capitalism had everywhere made two actions to put Islam out of action. Firstly, they doctrinally encouraged new mosques to replace the Mimbar with a christian pulpit. Secondly, cynically exploiting the need for an Arabic khutba they had replaced the fresh political discourse of our tradition with a formula repeated in Arabic and at the same time introducing a “pre-khutba talk” from a lectern. Thus, not only was the message reduced from its power-base, the Mimbar, but it robbed the jama’at of the vital ruhani time of reflection before the Imam is seated. For when the Imam sits the angels shut their book of records. Thus, both the time of Haqiqa and that of Shari’at have been taken from us.
It seemed that a properly mounted Jumu’a was the first step to Islamic awakening. I was helped by a generous gift to the Cape Town Muslims. Hajj Mukhtar al-Bukhari of Malaysia purchased for the city and our Jama’at a noble building in the heart of the downtown district. Once ready we then began to impose the living pattern of the Jumu’a according to the practice of the people of Madinah.
We are fortunate in having Shaykh Habib Bewley as our Imam Khatib, son of the distinguished Muslim scholars, Shaykh Abdalhaqq Bewley and Hajja Aisha Bewley. Shaykh Habib, himself a scholar of the Qarawyn Mosque in Fez and other distinguished Moroccan teachers, has made an impact on his Jama’at, and can now see before him a packed and attentive gathering every Friday. The following Khutba was enthusiastically received and there were many requests for its text. It’s my privilege to host it to the wider community of the Internet
Shaykh Dr. Abdalqadir as-Sufi
A Cape Town Khutba
الحمد لله، الحمد لله الذي جعل محبةَ الصحابةِ الكرامِ من محبَّةِ نبيِّه، وجعلهم كالنجومِ بأيِّهِمُ اقتدى الإنسانُ اهتدى إلى هَديِه، نحمده تعالى ونستعينه، ونشكره تعالى ونستغفره ونستغيثه، نعوذ بالله من شرور أنفسنا ومن سيئات أعمالنا، من يهد الله فهو المهتد ومن يضلل فلن تجد له وليا مرشدا، ونشهد أن لا إله إلا الله وحده لا شريك له، له الملك و له الحمد، يحيي ويميت، بيده الخير، وهو على كل شيء قدير، ونشهد أن سيدنا و مولانا محمداً عبده ورسوله، وحبيبه وصفيه، بلغ الرسالة وأدّى الأمانة ونصح الأمة، النبي الأمي الذي أرسله الله بالهدى والدين الحق، بشيرا ونذيرا بين يدي الساعة، صلى الله عليه وسلم وعلى آله وأصحابه ومن تبعهم بإحسان إلى يوم الدين.
أما بعد! فيا عباد الله اتقوا الله حق تقاته ولا تموتن إلا وأنتم مسلمون. يأيها الذين ءامنوا اتقوا الله وقولوا قولا سديدا يصلح لكم أعمالكم ويغفر لكم ذنوبكم. ومن يطع الله ورسوله فقد فاز فوزا عظيما. اتقوا الله فيما أمر وانتهوا عما نها عنه وزجر.
قال الله تعالى في كتابه العزيز: وَلْتَكُنْ مِنْكُمْ أُمَّةٌ يَدْعُونَ إِلَى الْخَيْرِ وَيَأْمُرُونَ بِالْمَعْرُوفِ وَيَنْهَوْنَ عَنِ الْمُنْكَرِ وَأُولَئِكَ هُمُ الْمُفْلِحُونَ وَلَا تَكُونُوا كَالَّذِينَ تَفَرَّقُوا وَاخْتَلَفُوا مِنْ بَعْدِ مَا جَاءَهُمُ الْبَيِّنَاتُ
Allah says in His Mighty Book, the translation of which is, “Let there be a community among you who call to the good, and enjoin the right, and forbid the wrong. They are the ones who have success. Do not be like those who split up and differed after the Clear Signs came to them.”
Muslims, during recent years, there have been concerted attempts to change the parameters of the Deen of Allah and turn it upside down, by bringing ideas, concepts and movements into the mainstream that have always been considered by the Muslim umma to be misguided innovation. This attack on the identity of the Deen has been two-pronged, being waged by elements within the Muslim Community as well as enemies without, and is exemplified by the attempt to grant the Shi’a deen (for that is how their own scholars, including Khomeini in his book Kashfe Esrar, refer to their religion) – to grant the Shia deen the same status as the four traditionally-recognised madhhabs, by referring to it by the misnomer of the Ja’fari Madhhab, whereas, in fact, Ja’far ibn Sadiq, rahimahullah, never established a madhhab but rather passed on his knowledge of fiqh matters to Imam Abu Hanifa and Imam Malik, who were both his students.
And indeed, this attempt to confer legitimacy on the Shi’a religion has met with some success in recent years, with the Amman Declaration of 2004 being followed by the ‘Sunni Shia Unity Declaration’ of 2008, both signed and supported by large numbers of Muslim academics and scholars.
While at the same time, Iran, and by extension, the Shi’a religion, has gained ground in the eyes of the wider Muslim by championing the Palestinian resistance and standing up for Islam in the face of American imperialism. Indeed, its status as Enemy Number One of the developed world has endeared it in the eyes of the downtrodden Muslim masses, many of whom are starting to view Iran as the means to the re-empowerment of the Muslim umma. And that fact has not gone unnoticed within Iranian and Shi’a circles, with Shi’a leaders now presuming to make statements on behalf of the Muslim umma and Shi’a missionaries making inroads into communities that previously shunned them.
These same Shi’a missionaries are at work here in Cape Town and are taking full advantage of recent trends to try to convince us that the differences between us and them are minor and superficial. They are Muslims just like us they say, the only difference is that they love the family of the Prophet more. This is a lie. They are practising what they call ‘taqiyya’. They are trying to worm their way into your hearts and gain your acceptance and trust, and will only reveal the extent of their deviation when they feel they have won you over. For the differences between our deen and theirs are far more fundamental than most of the Muslim umma realise. One of those I touched on last week when I discussed their practices on the Day of Ashura. Today, I would like to discuss another and that is the way they view the Companions of the Messenger of Allah, whom every right-thinking Muslim honours and reveres.
Qadi Iyad says in his famous book, ash-Shifa fi tareefi huquqi-l-Mustafa:
ومن توقيرِه وبِرِّه صلى الله عليه وسلم توقيرُ أصحابِه وبِرُّهم، ومعرفةُ حقِّهم، والاقتداءُ بهم، وحسنُ الثناء عليهم والاستغفارُ لهم، والإمساكُ عما شَجَرَ بينهم، ومعاداةُ من عاداهم، والإضرابُ عن أخبارِ المؤرِّخين وجهلةِ الرُّواةِ وضلالِ الشيعةِ والمبتدعين القادحةِ في أحدٍ منهم.
“Part of respecting and obeying the Prophet, consists in respecting his Companions, obeying them, recognising what is due to them, following them, praising them, asking forgiveness for them, refraining from discussing their differences, showing enmity to those who are hostile towards them and shunning the misguidance of the Shi‘a and the innovators and the reports of any historians or ignorant transmitters who detract from any of them.”
We revere the Companions because we love the Messenger of Allah and obey him without question. We are pleased with the Companions because Allah and His Messenger were pleased with them. Allah says:
لقد رضي الله عن المؤمنين إذ يبايعونك تحت الشجرة
the translation of which is, “Allah was pleased with the believers when they gave allegiance to you under the tree.” And Anas related that the Prophet said,
مثلُ أصحابي كمَثلِ المِلحِ في الطعامِ، لا يصلُحُ الطعامُ إلا به
“The likeness of my Companions is that of salt with food. Food is not good without it.” And Jabir narrated that he said,
إن اللهَ اختار أصحابي على جميعِ العالمين سِوى النبيين والمرسلين، واختار لي منهم أربعةً: أبا بكرٍ وعمرَ وعثمانَ وعليا ، فجعلهم خيرَ أصحابي، وفي أصحابي كلِّهم خير
“Allah chose my Companions over everything else in existence except for the Prophets and the Messengers. He chose four of them for me: Abu Bakr, ‘Umar, ‘Uthman and ‘Ali and made them the best of my Companions, although all of my Companions are good.” This is the exalted status of the Companions of the Messenger of Allah, men and women chosen by Allah Himself above the rest of creation; men and women in whose company the Messenger of Allah, the absolute pinnacle of creation, chose to be; men and women to whom everyone of us owe a debt of gratitude for the way they preserved the deen of Allah and passed it on to us whole and unimpaired.
These were the Companions of the Messenger of Allah, and yet those same Shi’a who come to us and say they are just like us, claim that all of the Companions were astray except for a handful. Those same Shi’a write books slandering Abu Bakr, Umar, Uthman and Muawiyya. Those same Shi’a claim that Abu Hurayra was a liar who fabricated hadiths. Those same Shi’a revile the wives of the Messenger of Allah, especially A’isha and Hafsa. Those same Shi’a disregard the direct instructions of the Messenger of Allah and bring down the curse of Allah upon them.
قال النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم: من سب أصحابي، فعليه لعنةُ الله والملائكة والناسِ أجمعين، لا يقبَلُ الله منه صرفا، ولا عدلا
The Prophet said, “Anyone who curses my Companions has the curse of Allah on him, as well as that of the angels and all people. And Allah will not accept any exchange or recompense from him.”
The view the Shi’a have of the Companions is repugnant, offensive and disrespectful, and no-one who holds such a view can be considered part of mainstream Islam. Ayyub as-Sakhtiyani said,
من أحبَّ أبا بكرٍ فقد أَقامَ الدّين، ومن أحب عمر فقد أوضح السبيل، ومن أحب عثمان فقد استضاء بنور الله، ومن أحب عليا فقد أخذ بالعروة الوثقى، ومن أحسن الثناء على أصحاب محمد صلى الله عليه وسلم فقد بَرِئ من النفاق، ومن انتقص أحدا منهم فهو مبتِدعٌ مخالفٌ للسنة والسلفِ الصالح، وأخافُ ألّا يصعُدَ له عملٌ إلى السماء حتى يحبَّهم جميعا، ويكونَ قلبُه سليما
“Whoever loves Abu Bakr has established the deen. Whoever loves ‘Umar has made the way clear. Whoever loves ‘Uthman has been illuminated by the light of Allah. Whoever loves ‘Ali has taken hold of the firm handle. Whoever praises the Companions of Muhammad is free of hypocrisy. But whoever disparages any of them is an innovator who opposes the Sunna and the right-acting Salaf, and it is feared that none of his actions will rise to heaven until such time that his heart returns to soundness and he loves every one of them.”
أقول قولي هذا و أستغفر الله العظيم لي و لكم و لسائر المسلمين من كل ذنب فاستغفروه إنه هو التوّابُ الرَّحيم
الحمد لله الحمد لله رب العالمين كما ينبغي لجلالِ وجهِهِ وعظيمِ سُلطانِه، أشهد أن لا إله إلا الله وحده لا شريك له وأشهد أن محمداً عبده ورسوله، صلى الله وسلم وبارك عليه وعلى آله وصحبه، والتابعين وتابعي التابعين ومن تبعهم بإحسان إلى يوم الدين.
أما بعد! فيأيها الذين ءامنوا اتقوا الله ما استطعتم واسمعوا وأطيعوا وأنفقوا خيرا لأنفسكم. يا عباد الله أوصيكم وإياي بتقوى الله وطاعته وأحذركم وإياي عن معصيته ومخالفته.
قال رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم: احفَظُوني في أصحابي وأصهارِي، فإنه مَن حفِظني فيهم حفِظه اللهُ في الدنيا والآخرة، ومَن لم يحفَظْنِي فيهم تَخلَّى اللهُ منه، ومَن تخلَّى اللهُ منه يُوشَكُ أَن يَأخُذَه
The Prophet said, “Protect me in my Companions and my relations by marriage. Anyone who protects me in them will be protected by Allah in this world and the Next. Anyone who does not protect me in them will be abandoned by Allah. and all those abandoned by Allah are on the point of being seized.”
It is our duty as Muslims to speak out in defense of the Companions of the Messenger of Allah and to warn those who speak against them of the consequences and implications of doing so for it warrants both punishment in this world and the curse of Allah. The Prophet said,
من سَبَّ أصحابي فاضرِبوه
“Whoever curses my Companions, beat him.” That was the position adopted by the Companions themselves and the Tabiun, for when Musa ibn ‘Isa al-‘Abbasi heard that a man had reviled ’Aisha, he said,
فَاجْلِدْهُ ثمانين، وَحَلِّقْ رأسَه
“Flog him eighty times and shave his head” And when ‘Umar ibn al-Khattab heard that his son, ‘Ubaydullah ibn ‘Umar, had reviled al-Miqdad ibn al-Aswad, he threatened to cut his tongue out, saying,
دَعُوني أَقطَعُ لسانَه حتى لا يشتُمَ أَحدَ أصحابِ النبيِّ صلى الله عليه وسلم بَعد
“Let me cut out his tongue so that he will never again revile any of the Companions of the Prophet.” And that was the position adopted by the major schools of Fiqh. Imam Malik said,
من شتمَ النبيَّ صلى الله عليه وسلم قُتِلَ، ومن شَتَمَ أصحابه أُدِّبَ
“Whoever reviles the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, is killed. Whoever reviles his Companions should be disciplined.” And Sahnun said,
من قال في أبي بكرٍ وعمرَ وعثمانَ وعلي: إنهم كانوا على ضلالةٍ وكُفرٍ قُتِل، ومن شتم غيرَهم من الصحابة بمِثلِ ذلك نُكِّل النِكالَ الشديدَ .
“Whoever says that any of Abu Bakr, ‘Umar, ‘Uthman and ‘Ali were misguided and unbelievers should be killed. And whoever curses any of the other Companions in the same way should be given a severe punishment.” However, it should be stated here that this is not a call to vigilantism, for such punishments may only be meted out by those in authority following the legal ruling of a qadi.
The reason why the prohibition against insulting the Companions is so strong and the punishment for doing so so severe is because they were the ones who transmitted the deen of the Messenger of Allah to the later generations and so if you call them into question, you call the authenticity of the entire deen into question. If they were not to be trusted, then all of the hadith literature would have to be discarded and we would be left with nothing upon which to base our lives apart from the Qur’an. So none of us would know how to pray or when to pray and none of us would be able to pay zakat. And there would be no unity among the Muslims as everyone would be interpreting the Qur’an according to his own appetites and whims and following his own path.
Criticism of the Companions is, by extension, a criticism of the Prophet himself, since it is an implication that he surrounded himself with hypocrites and liars and put them in positions of authority over the Muslims. And that is especially true with respect to his wives, for it suggests that he was totally lacking in good judgement.
And it is also a criticism of Allah since it is an implication that Allah is lying when he addresses them, saying:
كُنْتُمْ خَيْرَ أُمَّةٍ أُخْرِجَتْ لِلنَّاسِ تَأْمُرُونَ بِالْمَعْرُوفِ وَتَنْهَوْنَ عَنِ الْمُنْكَرِ وَتُؤْمِنُونَ بِاللَّهِ
the translation of which is, “You are the best community ever to be produced before mankind. You enjoin the right, forbid the wrong and have iman in Allah.”
So, whoever curses the Companions disparages Allah and His Messenger and provides ammunition to those who seek to destroy the deen. And this is just one of the tenets of the Shi’a faith that contradict the deen of Islam that we hold dear. But despite these views, we are being told that we should welcome them with open arms and give their deen the same status as our own! We will not do that! We will not take as friends those who accuse the Companions of willfully distorting the deen of the death of the Messenger and we will continue to warn against them until they repent. The Prophet said, as related in the Shifa of Qadi Iyad,
لا تسُبُّوا أصحابي، فإنه يجِيءُ قومٌ فِي آخرِ الزمانِ يسُبُّونَ أصحابي فلا تُصَلُّوا عليهم، ولا تصَلُّوا معهم، ولا تُناكِحُوهم، ولا تُجالِسُوهم، وإن مرضوا فلا تعودوهم
“Do not curse my Companions. A people will come at the end of time who will curse my Companions. Do not pray over them or behind them, do not marry with them and do not sit in their assemblies. And when they are ill, do not visit them.”
We ask Allah to increase us in love of Him and His Prophet. And we ask Him to increase us in love of His family and Companions and give us the means to defend them from any who seek to revile them and cast aspersions upon them. We ask Him to allow us to see the truth as being true and give us the strength to follow it and falsehood as being false and give us the strength to avoid it. We ask Allah to, by the rank of the shahadatayn that links us to them, to guide the Shi’a back to the truth. We ask Him to cleanse their hearts of hatred for the Sahaba and cleanse their tongues of the vile insults that defile them. We ask Him to join the hearts of the Muslims and give victory to His deen.
إنَّ اللهَ ومَلائِكَتَهُ يُصلُّونَ على النَّبِي يَا أَيُها الذينَ آمنوا صَلُّوا عَلَيْهِ وسَلِّمُوا تَسْليماً. اللهمَّ صَلِّ وسَلِّم وبارِك عَلَيْهِ وعلى آلِهِ وصَحْبِهِ أجمعين.
وارض اللهم عن الخلفاء الراشدين أبي بكرٍ وعمرَ وعثمانَ وعلي ، وعن سائر الصحابة أجمعين، خصوصا الأنصارَ منهم والمهاجرين، وعن التابعين وتابعي التابعين ومن تبعهم بإحسان إلى يوم الدين.
اللهم اهد ولاة أمور المسلمين لما يرضيك ولاتباع سنة نبيك صلى الله عليه وسلم وثبت أقدامهم على الصراط المستقيم وأصلحهم يا رب العالمين.
اللهم بارك على شيخنا، و على أميرنا، وعلى جميع أمراءِ وزعماء المسلمين.
اللهم بارك على المسلمين في هذه المدينة ووفقهم لما تحبه وترضاه يا أكرم الأكرمين.
اللهمّ أَعِزَّ الْلإسلامَ والمُسِلمينَ (3) واَخْذُلِ الكُفْرَ والكافِرينَ، وانْصُرِ المُجاهِدينَ في سَبِيلِ اللهِ. واجْعَلْ كَلِمََتَكَ هِيَ العُلْيَا وكَلِمَةَ الكُفْرِ هِيَ السُّفْلى.
ربنا ءاتنا في الدنيا حسنة وفي الأخرة حسنة وقنا عذاب النار.
اللهم لا تضعْ في مقامِنا هذا ذنبا إلا غفرْتَه، ولا عيبا إلا سترْتَه، ولا مريضا إلا شفيتَهُ وعافيتَه، ولا مسجونا إلا طلَّقْتَ سراحَه، ولا مسافرا في برِّك وبحرِك إلا سلِمتَهُ وغنِمْتَه.
إن الله يأمر بالعدل والإحسان وإيتاء ذي القربى وينهى عَنِ الفحشاءِ والمُنكَرِ والبغي، يعظكم لعلكم تذكرون، ولَذِكْرُ اللهِ أكبر والله يَعْلَمُ ما تَصْنَعُون. وقُومُوا إِلَى صَلاتِكُمْ يرحمكم الله
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The "thirteen million plus Ringgit" guy rambles.... 
