Khutbah Palestine (fwd)

KHUTBAH JUMAAT FRIDAY
25th July 2008/ 22 Rejab 1429By Assoc. Prof. Dr. Omar bin Yaakob

My dear brothers in Islam,Today we are on the 22nd day of Rajab

In this month of Rajab, we commemorate an important event, asignificant happening, a landmark incident.

On the 27th Rejab the 11th Year Nubuwah (Prophethood) , ProphetMuhammad (saw) went of a night journey from Masjidil Haram in Makkahto Masjidil Aqsa in Jerusalem and then ascend to the highest heavens.

My dear brothers in Islam,
Yes the event of Isra' wal mi'raj is important. However, it is notthe purpose of this khutbah to dwell on the events of Isra' mi'raj.Instead today, the khatib wishes to share with you the fate of theHoly Mosque of Masjidil Aqsa which is closely asociated with theisra' and mi'raj and current events happening in the city of Jerusalemor Baitul Maqdis.It is this Masjid in Baitul Maqdis that is mentioned in verse 1 of Surah AlIsra'.

Glory to (Allah) Who did take His servant for a Journey by night fromthe Sacred Mosque to the farthest Mosque, whose precincts We didbless,- in order that We might show him some of Our Signs: for He isthe One Who heareth and seeth (all things)(AlIsra':1)

Masjidil Aqsa which is mentioned in this eternal words of Allah cameunder Israeli control Israeli control in 1967. Since then it was andis in perpetual danger.In 1969, an attempt was made to burn it down.Since then, various efforts were made by the Zionist enemies toendanger the mosque, demolish it and in its place establish a newjewish temple which they call the Beit HaMikdash.This planned destruction of Masjidil Aqsa by our enemies is associated with years of aggression against the Muslims of Palestine, continuedterrorism by Israel and its allies against the Muslims of Palestine.

Remember, that blessed Land of Palestine is ours, the Masjidil Aqsa is ours and the Muslims of Palestine are our brothers and sisters.My dear brothers in Islam,If any of us feels that this Palestinian question has nothing to do with us here in Malaysia, then think again. There is something wrong with our viewpoint as Muslims.

What do we say this?
First is, such a viewpoint is the result of the destruction of theconcept of "ummah", which has been replaced with the concept of"nation states", as forced upon Muslim countries by westerncolonisation for centuries.

This ummah has been acknowledged by the Qur'an as one united ummah.Allah s.w.t. says,

Verily, this Brotherhood of yours is a single Brotherhood, and I amyour Lord and Cherisher: therefore serve Me (and no other).(Al-Anbiyaa':92)

My dear brothers in Islam,
Due to the deeply-ingrained concept of "nation state" as introduced bythe colonists, today we no longer consider Muslims from outside ourcountry's borders as our brothers, worthy of being protected and defended. What is worse, sometimes we feel that we are superior and we look down upon Muslims who are of a different race or from a different country.

Because of the destruction of the concept of ummah, the enemies ofIslam have succeeded in their goal to shatter our unity. They clearlyrealise Unity is our strength and that the key to Muslim unity is notour economy, but the bond of brotherhood, the result of a firmfoundation of faith.The colonialist drew artificial political borders until 67 Muslimnation states came into being. If you see the Map of most African andMiddle Eastern states, you will know that the borders are straightlines drawn and divided on paper. Egypt and Sudan, Libya and Tunisia,Morocco and Mauritania, Somalia and Ethiopia, as are Jordan andPalestine, Syria and Iraq. Even Malaysia and Indonesia are separatedby an imaginary line in a British-Dutch treaty in 1824.

Thus the 67 broken up and separated Islamic countries around the world, home to 1.6 billion Muslims, are incapable of defending their brothers over in Palestine, unable to lift a finger against the enemies of Islam.

My dear brothers in Islam,
Our apathy, couldn't care less attitude, is worse than a failure to answer the call and obligation of brotherhood. This is becausePalestine is not only an Islamic territory under occupation; it isalso one of our holy lands.

We should be very concerned with the struggles of all Muslims all over the world. But, the position of the Muslims and the land of Palestinedeserves a special treatment.
Why special?
This is because the fate of the the land and the people of Palestinehas a lot of significance to us.Unlike Chechnya and Kashmir, the Muslims in Palestine are facing themost organised terrorist group in the world; the illegitimate state ofIsrael itself.Unlike the struggle of our brothers Rohingya Muslims in Burma orBangsa Moros Muslims in the Phillipines, in the case of Palestine the whole of the Western apparatus, the United States, the EuropeanNations and the United Nations are propping up and defending this illegal Zionist government at the expense of the Muslims and thePalestinian interest.Unlike Afganistan, Iraq and other places which are all still underforeign colonial domination, Baitul Maqdis, Jerusalem and MasjidilAqsa have relations to our religious obligation.

In the land of Palestine lies the blessed land.. alQuds, in whichthere is Masjidil-Aqsa, our first Qiblah and our third most importantmosque.
" Abu Huraira reported it directly from Allah's Apostle that he said:Do not undertake journey but to three mosques: this mosque of mine(Medina), the Mosque of al-Haram (Mecca) and the Mosque of Aqsa (Baital-Maqdis). Sahih Muslim

The fact that al-Aqsa Mosque is the transit point of our ProphetMuhammad s.a.w. in the remarkable Isra' Mi'raj journey signifies the enormous value of Jerusalem to us.

In addition, al-Aqsa Mosque itself is special in other ways, accordingto many related hadith. Praying at Al-Aqsa Mosque bestows upon theworshipper five hundred times the reward of praying in an ordinarymosque, as mentioned in the hadith by at-Tabrani:
"Praying at Masjidil Haram is the same as praying 100,000 times (atother places), and praying at my own mosque (in Madinah) is the sameas 1000 times of prayer, and praying at Jerusalem is the same as 500times of prayer."

My dear brothers in Islam,
This is the land. This is the City. This is the Mosque. It wasupon this land that the illegal state of Israel was established 60years ago in 1948. It is from this land that millions of Muslims were evicted.It is in this land that tens of thousands of your brothers andsisters lost their lives, children became orphans and wives becamewidows.It is around this Mosque that Muslims were terrorised, capture and torture of Muslims become a norm and order of the day. Muslims were subjected to incessant attacks using tanks and aircrafts. Children are prevented from going to schools and 8m concrete walls were erected to segregate and enforce ethnic cleansing.It is this mosque that the Zionists are planning to demolish and establish in its stead their Beit HaMikdash.They are not sitting quietly.If you search the internet, you will see various websites detailing plans for the destruction of the mosque and reestablishment of their temple.You will see various Jewish organisations, NGOs and societies commitedto the destruction of AlAqsa.Under the pretext of archeological excavation they have been digging around the Masjid, undermining its foundation. They are building more jewish homes in areas close to the mosque and evicting Muslims who have been living in the areas for many,many centuries.

My dear brothers in Islam,
Let us ask ourselves,Who amongst us are defending our Mosque? Who are making effort to rescue our Holy Land? Who are fighting to prevent the continuing killings, torture, rape and capture of the Muslims?Who are the persons answering the call of Allah:
How should you not fight in the way of Allah and of the feeble amongmen and of the women and the children who are crying: Our Lord! Bringus fort from this town of which people are oppressors! Oh, give usfrom your presence a protecting friend! Oh, give us from your presencesome defender! (an-nisa':75)

The answer is,
Not me and not you, but a dedicated group of brothersand sisters, fighters in Allah's way, lead by the HAMAS movement.These Palestinian brothers choose the noble way of defending our holyland with their life and blood in order to save our Mosque fromdestruction, to resist the continuing colonisation of our land.These brothers are fighting on our behalf. They are resisting aggression of the Israelis for Islam and for the sake and on behalf ofMuslims all over the world. They are at the frontline.For now at least, they have been successful in preventing the destruction of Al-Aqsa.

However, they are paying a heavy price.Because of their refusal to bow down to Israel and Western pressures,they are bearing the brunt of terror.Their homes are bulldozed, their lands confiscated, their families are separated, their men are killed, imprisoned and tortured.My dear brothers in Islam,Even after winning the 2006 election with more than 60% votes and forming their government in a democratic manner, HAMAS was not allowed to rule in peace. They were boycotted, sanctions were imposed and treated in the most despicable manner, by none other than the so-called democratic states of Europe and America,The citizens of Gaza now face fuel and medical sanctions, their electricity is cut off, no goods are allowed to be brought in or out,they are severely lacking in food and other basic needs, so much so that even chlorine for the treatment of drinking water is also deniedto them.

Today, patients die solely because hospitals lack electricity andcannot provide them with medicine for such chronic ailments as kidney failure, diabetes and cancer.Meanwhile, the Israeli army continue their attacks on civilians using tanks, mortars and helicopter gunships. In the first three months of 2008 alone number of those who were killed by these attacks comes upto 300. Yes 300 Muslim lives.

My dear brothers in Islam,
At this moment, while the Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza are besieged by their Israeli aggressors to the point of being murdered daily, should we turn a blind eye on the situation?Imam Bukhari reported that Abdullah ibn Umar asked Rasullah s.a.w.,"Oh Prophet of Allah, explain to us the ruling related to visitingJerusalem." He replied, "Visit it, and perform prayers there. If thatis not possible (visiting and praying) then send oil for the lamps (tolight up the mosque)."

If sending oil to light up the lamps in the Masjidil Aqsa is theresponsibility of the entire Muslim ummah, more so is the duty to freeit from the shackles of occupation.We may not be able to join physically the Jihad, fighting in the battlefield in Allah's cause, which is being carried out by our brothers and sisters in Palestine defending the Masjidil Aqsa and our Holy Land.But there are other ways for us to contribute within our means.

First, We need to raise our sense of awareness and sensitivity towardsthe threats posed by the Zionists to our Holy Land, and sanctity ofAl-Aqsa.We should feel hurt and sensitive by the continued oppression of ourbrothers and sisters, killings, torture and rape of our sisters, womenand children.Second, We must dessiminate correct information to the our friends andn eighbours and not fall into the trap of western media propaganda which regard Palestine and masjdil Aqsa defenders such as HAMAS as terrorists.Third, We must support the boycott of companies known and proven to bestrong supporters of the Zionist regime. We should not allow a singlesen of our money to flow to Israel to be used to buy the bullets andmissiles that will kill Muslims children and damage the MasjidilAqsa.Fourth, We must continue to contribute and donate to the Fund for theDefence of Masjdil Aqsa and to relieve the sufferings of Palestinian widows and Orphans.

My dear brothers in Islam,
We hope and pray that Masjidil Aqsa which we commemorate every yearwith the event of Isra' and mikraj will continue to exist and remainsin our hands.Let us work together to ensure that it will not be destroyed by ourenemies. We must not allow the Mosque only to be known by name andexist only in pictures for our future generations.May we all be included in contributing to the group that workstogether to liberate Palestine, the Holy Lands, Baitul Maqdis and theMasjidil Aqsa from the grip of our enemies.
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