Dr. Abou El Fadl reminds that the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) in his persona sums up the entire legacy of the entire line of prophets. He has embodied all of them in his single being as the last and final prophet. All of the prophets came with a singular message to humanity, and it was perfected over a long, protracted educational process about the implications of creation and being God’s creatures. Muslims are told that the Prophet Muhammad perfected the message, and that after the death of the Prophet Muhammad, the Muslim nation or ummah, are the necessary inheritors of the entire legacy. They bear the heavy responsibility of carrying this message. If no one bears the responsibility for this message, then it is as if the prophecy of Muhammad and that of all the previous prophets are extinct.

The Muslim Ummah is not a tribal, ethnic, racial or nationalistic category but a moral and ethical category. God reminds in the Quran that Muslims are the best of nations because of ethics; and also in direct proportion to the command to enjoin the good and resist the evil.

In order to fulfill this command and take the responsibility seriously, Muslims must first be able to recognize what is good and the opposite of good in the first place. There are two parts to this process. First, is substantive: it is analytical, critical, and philosophical--being able to investigate and understand goodness in the first place. The second is determining how to actually implement or make effective the results of that inquiry. The prophets were the embodiment of Islam - both in the recognition of the maker of the universe, and in living a life worshipping the maker of the universe, which meant not being subservient or slave to anyone or anything else other than Allah - not even personal desires. Allah tells us to turn our compass towards a higher purpose and higher reason.

The common bond that unites all is the pursuit of good and the avoidance of what is not good. At a minimum, this means goodness should fulfill the objectives of Sharia: the preservation of life, the intellect, honor, etc. In addition, as are apparent in the laws of nature and creation, every living being wishes to avoid pain, and to live in freedom, justice and dignity. These God-given intuitive states of being should also be affirmed, protected and elevated as a matter of the responsibility of pursuing good and avoiding evil.

So how is it that this nation of Muslims could fall so far behind when it comes to principles of social and political justice, and upholding the rights of the poor and destitute, and human rights at large? How could it be that the Muslim world suffers from the most genocides, and has the highest percentage of political prisoners in the world? Muslim theologians and imams defend despotism, authoritarianism and injustice, and justify unjust imprisonment, torture and rape. Every imam or theologian that does this is effectively saying there is no more philosophical justification for the Prophet Muhammad to be the last prophet.

As the line of prophecy concluded with the Prophet Muhammad, Muslims have inherited the Islamic legacy and the Islamic message from Prophet Ibrahim to Prophet Muhammad. It is their responsibility to carry the torch of the Prophet. What happens if Muslims fail to do so? Muslim leaders today have instituted dictatorship, despotism and suffering. If Muslims accept this, then what is the Ummah about?

Usuli Institute Khutbah: More Lethal than Islamophobes- The Modern Day Murji'ah 20 September 2019 by The Usuli Institute

Dr. Abou El Fadl begins with a reminder that the quintessential truth of being a Muslim is to walk in the path of light in order to attain light, live in light, die in light, and be resurrected in light. So much of the Quran warns us about the darkness within us and that human beings are capable of creating. Darkness is the absence of God or the corruption of the divine. The Quran portrays to us the difference between the path of light and the path of darkness in two powerful parables.

In Surah Al-Baqarah (2:16), one of the most powerful parables of the Quran calls us to ourselves: “Those who purchased error at the price of guidance” tells of those who start out with an aspiration toward guidance, but become distracted, confused and lost. The Quran explains, “Their parable is like that of a person who lit or kindled a fire; and when that fire lit up what is around them, God took away their light and left them in darkness, unseeing.” (2:17) A person may have the intention or intuitive desire for light. Yet, the fire they light in fact results in blindness. The fire one lights could be that of religious rhetoric, material wealth, law, public adoration, or prestige. Human beings often forget that true light comes from inner light, and true guidance only comes from one’s intimacy and relationship to God. God does not take away one’s light unless they are responsible for it. God tells us that God is closer to us than ourselves, but we don’t know.

Allah comments on people who fail to build an intimate relationship with God. Despite this fire they lit to give them the blessing of light, they exist in darkness as if deaf, dumb and blind (2:18). For every trial and tribulation in their life, they are gripped by anxiety and metaphorically put their fingers in their ears, exactly like a person who loses sight of Allah.

However, no human being is left without grace and the possibility of light. Allah sends signs of Allah’s blessings on a person’s path. Every time there is lightning, one can see for a bit and might start walking towards the divine. However, if one’s inner light is not developed where they see through the heart rather than through the physical senses, they may walk in the light and be close to God for a short while only to fall back into the darkness and old habits when the hardship wears off.

Why be a Muslim? Because Muslims are the people of light, and a true Muslim emits light. This light manifests itself in everything that is characteristic of the Divine. If a Muslim doesn't manifest the attributes of the Divine, then they are like the person who lit the fire, but exists in darkness.

To be a truly guided Muslim, the inner light should emanate from us, and characteristics of the Divine should be visible in our behavior. We should leave on the world an imprint of mercy, kindness, beauty, justice and equity.

Another powerful parable in Surah al-Nur are the verses 24:39-40.

We live in existence, oblivious to the inevitability that we will die, and that the only truth that will remain after the death of generations to come, is God. It is as if God is telling us, believe whatever you want. All of it is like a mirage in the desert; it has no inner truth to it. When all is said and done, God will be there. God will receive you, whether you believe or not.

Those who do not want to think about death, who distract themselves, and who ignore the truth exist within layers of false perception get to the point that one doubts their own reality as if they can’t even see their hands in the darkness.

The only way out of the darkness is to be touched by Allah's hand so that the light grows within and your heart is with Allah. Seek the light, not the mirage. Don't light the fire and then become blind because you are distracted, resentful, hopeless or angry. The fire itself could be a deception because you though the light would come from the fire and not from Allah.

Description forthcoming

From Dr. Abou El Fadl's Commentaries on the Qur'an (tafseer).

From Dr. Abou El Fadl's Commentaries on the Qur'an (tafseer).

From Dr. Abou El Fadl's Commentaries on the Qur'an (tafseer).

From Dr. Abou El Fadl's Commentaries on the Quran (Tafseer).

Dr. Abou El Fadl reminds that Allah has given us the Shari’ah, a path, a guidance, like a map. So follow it and do not follow the whims of those who do not know. If you enter into a relationship with the Divine, you will feel the Divine and the Divine will guide you.

The unjust are supported by the unjust. The nature of injustice is like an infection. It starts small but grows and extends, and when supported, results in further injustice. This is precisely why Allah warns us that if you support injustice, you are unjust; and if you aid the unjust, you are unjust.

A professor from Zaytuna, who holds the great responsibility of teaching many of our Muslim youth, wrote an article defending the Muslim ban, enumerating why Muslims are wrong in their negative reaction to the ban; and arguing that it is important to not just speak truth to power, but to speak “truth to pain”, an unclear concept. This professor compares the family separation caused by the Muslim ban to the family separation that Allah (SWT) ordered of prophets; argues that the ban is not specifically targeted towards Muslims; justifies the ban’s policies; and urges Muslims to be patient for the eventual lift of the ban. This professor also defends the incarceration of children in the same article. This is the relationship of some people to power--that they equate between Trump and Allah (SWT)--this is the level of twisted thinking.

Dr. Abou El Fadl quotes and criticizes the article by elaborating on the Supreme Court decision itself; various circuit court opinions; the evolution of the Muslim ban legislation from the first to the last iteration; the manipulations of the technicalities of law used to get the ban passed; and conventions of international law, human rights law, civil rights law, and even American law that answers whether or not immigration to America is a human or civil right. It is clear that the author is not well versed in any of these critical areas.

The Supreme Court is clear that there was overwhelming evidence that Trump’s executive order was motivated by anti-Muslim animus. The inclusion of Venezuela and North Korea in the ban was solely to protect the Muslim ban from being declared unconstitutional. America has the right to regulate immigration but does not have the right to do so on the basis of religion.

This professor ignores the overwhelming Islamophobic rhetoric that Trump used to get elected as well as to pass the Muslim ban and calls it a mere inconvenience. If this is Muslim compassion; if Islam doesn’t lead to justice and if justice doesn’t lead to Islam, then who wants to be Muslim? An Islam that tells a victim that is suffering beyond endurance to suffer in silence is not a morally upright or ethical Islam.

In recent weeks, Israeli settlers have repeatedly violated the sanctity of the Aqsa mosque, most recently on Yom Kippur. Israel razed to the ground new homes of Palestinians, confiscated new farmlands, decreased the amount of water Palestinians can use to irrigate their lands. India is finishing its concentration camps for Kashmiris. Amidst these and the ongoing devastations in China, Myanmar, and elsewhere, the Muslim response has been absolute silence. The allies of the unjust are the unjust. Philosophizing injustice is worse than any other crime, because it's a crime against history and generations.

Pray for Sheikh Salman al-Ouda who is in a Saudi prison for his beliefs and writings, suffering injustice, and awaiting a possible death sentence on October 30th. Every minute this man and others like him are in prison suffering, is a dishonor upon us all. If he is put to death, his blood will haunt us for eternity.

A just non-Muslim is more respectable than an unjust Muslim. An ethical religion of any name is superior to an Islam that teaches passivism before injustice and suffering. Delivered at the Usuli Institute, 11 October 2019. www.usuli.org

Dr. Abou El Fadl reminds that in the age of information, when we live in a frenzy of data, and claims and counterclaims, the anchor of one’s life is one’s relationship with God. It is often difficult to navigate through the seismic activities of data that come like endless floods. If one’s relationship with God is built on sound foundations, then one has the ability to stand strong in the face of trends, fashions and intellectual pretenses that human beings are prone to engage in. If one’s relationship with God is flawed, then the impact of the opinions and whimsies of human beings falls upon you in a very different way.

In this khutbah, Dr. Abou El Fadl focuses on Surah Al Nur (The Light), one of the chapters in the Quran that deserves to be studied and reflected upon.

One can read endless volumes about Surah al Nur and Ayat al Nur in particular. Dr. Abou El Fadl relates that his own journey with understanding these verses did not come from an understanding of the countless texts he read on these verses over the years, but rather from developing his own relationship with God. He counsels that one does not get a sense of what “Allah is light upon light” means until one worships Allah and pleads with Allah for Allah's love, meaning that one should ask God for love with all sincerity and with all of one’s heart. He references Ibn Arabi’s writings on this surah and discusses Ibn Arabi’s point that everything that comes to its true divine nature becomes true light. And as it travels away from its divine nature, as it distances itself from its divine nature, it becomes something other than light.

Dr. Abou El Fadl shares his own understanding (tafsir) of the structure and verses in this surah, and why the surah begins with regulations and laws that arose from specific problems, which is then immediately followed by an extremely nuanced and sophisticated lesson about where and what God is. It is as if to say that one can study the laws of God, but that is not God nor the path to enlightenment. The path to God is not through laws. Similarly, the path to God is not through a detailed understanding of history, as many modern Muslims seem to believe. Laws and history, like reality, are often a construct.

The path to God is through light. The surah ends by bringing the reader back to the example of the Prophet, which is the path to light, enlightenment and God. One can best understand the example of the Prophet through understanding his love for God through his dhikr (remembrance of God); his salat (prayer and supplications); and his intimate relationship with Allah. Dr. Abou El Fadl gives examples of those who have God as an anchor and those who do not. He provides tangible actions to take for developing one’s relationship with God, and seeking light upon light with God. Delivered 6 September 2019.