Khutbaaz

Wednesday, January 15, 2020

Ditch Muslim Scholars Mute on Iran War



You'd think it was U.S. scholars and not U.S. soldiers who hit the bunkers last week when missiles went flying after U.S. President Donald Trump's de facto declaration of war on Iran.

Usually tripping over each other to be the first to condemn/support the social issue du jour, influential American Muslim scholars' voices were nowhere to be heard in the aftermath of Trump's drone assassination of top Irani and Iraqi military brass on January 3.

That's even though the martyrdoms of Irani General Qassim Suleimani and Iraqi Commander Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis shook the Muslim world to the core, bringing millions to the streets to mourn and seek vengeance for heroes who protected the shrines of holy personalities from ISIS and buried the terror group in Iraq and Syria. Iran swiftly retaliated by destroying U.S. military base Al-Asad in Iraq--the first time a country has attacked America since WW2--and vowing to kick out all U.S. military presence in the region.

After bombing to bits Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, Libya, and Somalia in front of our very eyes, America now declared war on Iran and threatened to attack 52 of its cultural and religious sites, which could include the shrines of family and companions of Prophet Muhammad (S), and not even a tweet out of our so-called Muslim "leaders"?

Where were Yasir Qadhi, Omar Suleiman, Hamza Yusuf, Imam Zaid Shakir and all the other scholars who otherwise love pontificating on "social justice" and "standing up for justice" in Islam.

Upon hearing about the assassinations--considered an act of war by international standards--these scholars should have immediately organized, strategized, and mobilized to educate and guide Muslims, the American public, and the U.S. government on understanding the geopolitical situation, avoiding further conflict, bringing home our troops, and working towards peace and justice for all.

But, as usual, our most influential leaders are silent when it comes to PREVENTING death and destruction. It's later that they like to show up to guilt-trip us into donating to their favorite charities and love getting their pictures taken flying around delivering water bottles and blankets to desperate war refugees.



Here's Shaikh Omar Suleiman in a 2019 video appeal for donations to Yemen: "I want to focus on the name of an organization Human Concern. If the Prophet (S) was alive and he saw the image of the young Yemeni child whose rib cages were so pronounced and then dying because they don't have proper food and drink, what do you think the Prophet (S) would do?"

Please tell us, Sheikh, what Prophet Muhammad (S) would do. Would he be running around trying to save babies drowning in the river or would he have been upstream stopping those throwing babies in the river in the first place?

From his Facebook status updates (which did not mention the Iran flare-up at all), we know Shaikh Yasir Qadhi was in Turkey passing out winter packs to refugees from the previous war while we were on the brink of World War III.



"If only I could explain how sad their stories are and how pathetic the situation is," Qadhi wrote. "On average, they [Syrian refugees]  have been living in shanty tents for around five years, with no idea of what awaits them next. They rely almost totally on aid to survive."

Qadhi added: "We desperately need more funds to deliver more packs."

A breath of fresh air, Imam Muhammad Al-Asi of the Islamic Center in Washington D.C. is one of the few Muslim leaders in America who discussed the assassinations during his January 3 Friday khutbah. He lamented that not enough people speak up on issues afflicting the Muslim world.



"There are no Abu Dharr's [an outspoken companion of Prophet Muhammad (S)] in today's world," Al-Asi said.

The first step to fixing our problems is booting spineless, gutless "scholars" from leadership positions, according to Al-Asi.

Al-Asi: "You go to their [scholars who are silent] functions. You attend their programs. You are part of the crime. It's not easy to say this. It's the fact and it is the reality. Some humans can speak truth to injustice and others remain silent. If this continues like this there will be other martyrs. If you continue to be silent or passive to all of this, you will be on the wrong side of this issue. I don't care how you perform your prayers or which masjid you go to. The marytrdom that has taken place is a testimony to all of you who have been absent in reality.

Do we want to kill ourselves with our silence in addition to their bullets and bombs?" 

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