The Minaret #3
“This was a heartfelt moment from the podcast I wanted to share. Share it and let's make the Qur'an go viral,” — Mohammed Hijab. Happy to oblige, brother. Insha-Allah.
As-salaamu-alaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatu. Brothers and sisters, in today’s khutbah, insha-Allah, I want to talk about the stubborness of the kufaar. My beloved Muslim brothers and sisters, Allahu-subhanallahu-wata-aala he tells us in the Qur'an that we, the Muslims, are the best of people raised up for mankind. We are the marvel of creation. The Almighty Allah azawajal he has chosen to test us with two problems when we give da'wa to the kufaar: the first problem is, brothers and sisters, that the kufaar they do not know what we Muslims believe. If they did, they would immediately embrace Islam, because no one can resist the power of the Qur'an. No one. When the kufaar they do not immediately embrace Islam, it can only mean that they do not know what Muslims believe. No other explanation is possible. If the kufaar they fail to embrace Islam even after they have been given da'wa, then they are either a bit slow (Allahu-subhanallahu-wata-aala he created them that way and if it makes our da'wa harder, then we must be patient, for Allah he knows and we do not), or the kufaar they do know the truth but still refuse to accept Islam, or the Islamophobes they got to them first and poisoned their minds. 'A'uthu-billah!
The second problem we face, my dear brothers and sisters, is that the kufaar they do not know that the Qur'an it is divine. Up till recently, brothers and sisters, we had this problem well under control. All we had to do was to recite some verses from the Qur'an, even just one verse, and the divine power of Allah's language, as written down in the Qur'an and recited, will draw the ear towards it as it draws the bee towards honey. The kufaar they who hear the divine sweet sound of the Qur'an say, "beautiful!" "wonderful!" Some are even lost for words and say "awww!" with their mouths hanging open. Did you see that? Their minds do not understand Arabic, but their souls remember, because every soul is Muslim.
When the Holy Qur'an is recited, my dear brothers and sisters, even the angels come down from Jannah, to listen to the divine beauty. But now, it pains me to say, my dear brothers and sisters, now, more and more, the kufaar they say, "why you recite in Arabic? What is wrong with you? Just tell me the translation." What the kufaar they are saying, brothers and sisters, is "We don't want da'wa. We don't want to understand. We don't want to know the truth. 'A'uthu-billah! And this problem happened just ten days ago to our dear brother Mohammed Hijab, when he was giving da'wa to Dr Jordan Peterson. He is a big shot in one of their universities. He is supposed to be a clever man, but even he does not understand. Our brother tried bravely, masha-Allah. Look at this video, brothers and sisters, insha-Allah.
Now, my brothers and sisters, do never go onto a murtadd website. If you do, Shaitan will come to you in the form of a mouse and enter your computer by your own hand. Inside, he will go viral. You do not have the protection of a scholar. Our esteemed scholar, Sheikh Dr Yasir Qadhi, went on one of those murtadd websites where they wrote what happened. He printed out what they wrote there on that haram website, and I will read it to you, insha-Allah:
'A'uthu-billahi minashaitan-nirrajeem. Bismillahi-rahmani-raheem.
Mohammed Hijab: So what I can do, in fact, is: I can recite for you a couple of verses from the Qur’an, because what we believe is [that] they are known through the revelation, and I can recite for you maybe ten, twenty second verses and translate for you and show you what —I think it will give you more of a flavour of what we believe.
Jordan Peterson: Sure, okay. Do what you will.
[Tacky lion-roar clip insertion signalling that Mohammed Hijab (the lion) is about to recite the Qur’an]
MH: So the Qur’an states in the end of Chapter 59:
[Pretentious (and painfully tedious) Arabic chanting]
[MH Translating] "He is Allah; that there is no God worthy of worship, except for him, the king, the holy the one free from all defects, the giver of security, the watcher over his creatures, the mighty, the compeller, the supreme. Glory be to him. Glory be to god. High is he above all that they associate as partners with him. He is Allah, the creator, the inventor of all things, the bestower of forms. To him belong the best names, all that is in the heavens and the earth. Glorify him. And he is the almighty, the all-wise."
So these are, I would say, potentially the two best verses that summarise for us—
JP: So right. So it's an attempt to use a multiplicity of virtues to decide to define a supreme source of good.
MH: [Deflated] Yes.
JP: So okay, I have a technical question for you, a procedural question, I guess. When we're talking, so, you sang those verses and then, so, here's what happened: I asked you that question, you sang those verses, or chanted them, or a combination, okay, but there's a melodic element to that, and I don't understand the language, and then you translated them. So why approach the answer to my question in that manner?
MH: Because we believe that the Qur’an in its original language has an element in it or has a virtue, if you like, to it, or an attribute to it, which cannot be felt or experienced phenomenologically, if you like, through, um, just mere translation, we believe.
JP: So yeah, and so what purpose does that serve in the discussion with someone like me?
MH: What it would do, hopefully, because we believe the Qur’an has divine qualities itself. The Qur’an itself has divine qualities. So we believe, number one, it's a cure. We believe there's a physic— it's actually a physical cure as well as a spiritual cure. We believe that it's a guidance. We believe that it's something, which will literally put you in a psychological state of ease. So in a sense, what it will do, it, hopefully, you know, will have an effect on you which is physiological, maybe psychological, and in a sense, it's like giving you something to taste, rather than just explaining what it tastes like, you know, and um, so that's why I feel—
JP: How do you know when that's appropriate and when it's not? It's, I mean, you obviously don't …[inaudible (MH talks over JP)] …obviously you're making distinctions. You're not doing what you just did with me…[inaudible (MH talks over JP)]
MH: What it is, I want to give you the full Islamic experience, you see.
JP: Yeah okay, okay, fair enough.
MH: You know what I mean, so—
JP: Yeah okay.
MH: Part of it is to, part of it is to let you hear what the Qur’an sounds like.
Yes, brothers and sisters, giving the kufaar the full Islamic experience when giving da'wa, that is what we must do. Our beloved and brave brother Mohammed Hijab he did not succeed with this filthy kafir, as Allah willed it.
But imam, please excuse me. Did Brother Mohammed Hijab not read the two best verses that summarise what we believe?
After our sheikh, Dr Yasir Qadhi, he saw that video, he abrogated those verses, saying that they have holes in them. Allah he willed that Sheikh Qadhi he give me a better one, this khutbah, to read to you. It says:
Say, the very sound of the Qur’an being read not only attracts angels, the sound of the recitation provides incontrovertible proof that the Qur’an is divine. The marvellous harmonics and creative vocal dexterity with which a man is told to beat his wife, or kill his wayward daughter, or rape his sex slaves, or behead transgressors, or crucify people, or chop off hands and feet and fingertips, or violently subjugate unbelievers, or lie, or extort money from Christians and Jews, or not reconcile with his divorced wife until another man has had halal with her, ah, why would the angels not rush down all the way from Jannah to bathe their ears in such divine beauty?
Recite this, and no kafir will be able to resist the call of Islam.
Brother Mohammed Hijab, I hope that helps, insha-Allah. It's the least I could do for the deen.