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There are clear, black-and-white truths about the current conflict, but also many gray areas and political dynamics. How should Muslims navigate this?
Dr. Omar Suleiman reflects on leaning into your fitrah, the Qur’an’s guidance on conflict between Muslims, remembering the Names of Allah as you process the situation, and the reality that multiple things can be true at once.
This transcript was auto-generated using AI and may contain misspellings.
00:00So yesterday at the rally for Dr. Afia Siddiqui, may Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala free her, liberate her and all of the political prisoners, Allahumma ameen.
00:11I made the comment that Dr. Afia represents something greater than herself and that one of the things that she represents are the casualties of war that will disappear in the numbers and be forgotten.
00:24And particularly I mentioned the schoolgirls that were massacred in Iran. May Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala have mercy on them all and comfort their parents,
00:34all of the oppressed and all of those that have been murdered, Allahumma ameen. There is a question yesterday that came to me, how should we feel about all this?
00:44I know Shaykh Yasser addressed some of this, alhamdulillah, some ground rules yesterday. And I've been thinking about one dimension of how to address this tonight, bi'idhnillahi ta'ala, from a Quranic framework
00:56and surely there will be multiple angles by which this will be addressed bi'idhnillahi ta'ala in the weeks to come. And we make du'a for our Ummah through all of this.
01:08The sentence that I want you to remember, lean into your fitrah, lean into your fitrah, your natural disposition.
01:18A few khatiras ago I mentioned the du'a that people used to make, that they used to ask Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala for the iman, for the faith of the old Bedouin woman,
01:28who's not a scholar of the Quran, not a scholar of the Sunnah, who doesn't know law or jurisprudence, but her iman is very high. She knows what she perceives and she knows what she hears,
01:40and she naturally leans into that iman in Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, and there is something very beautiful about that. And I'll tell you what I mean by that. When situations like this arise, there's the black and the white and then there's the gray.
01:53There's the black and the white and then there's the gray. And I would argue that most normal Muslims just need to know the black and the white,
02:05and that without knowing anything about political analysis or being able to dissect a situation, can lean into their fitrah and can do what Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala demands of them in this moment,
02:17and can call upon Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala and act in the way that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala commands of them best in this month of Ramadan. Lean into the fitrah.
02:27The Prophet (ﷺ), in his time, had to navigate more political complexities than we can imagine.
02:36Like I want you to think about how many tribal complexities the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) has to navigate with the non-Muslims and dissecting the different tribes and who's related to who,
02:48and who has this motivation, who has this history, and who can be trusted from this direction, and who can be trusted from that direction. The vast majority of the Companions simply waited for the Prophet (ﷺ) to say, do this or do that, and they leaned into that.
03:02But it's the Prophet (ﷺ) who is with his select group of people, looking at Ghatafan, looking at Banu Khuza'ah, trying to navigate through all of the complexities
03:12that exist at the time of his undertakings (ﷺ). So what does this mean today for us, the black, the white, and the gray? I was thinking about this from a Quranic perspective.
03:25Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala gives us ways to deal with all of these different things. When two groups of believers start to fight, وَإِن طَائِفَتَانِ مِنَ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ اقْتَتَلُوا فَأَصْلِحُوا بَيْنَهُمَا
03:36If two groups of believers go into conflict with one another, then you try to do islah, you wish for restoration amongst them, you wish for reconciliation amongst them. فَإِن بَغَتْ إِحْدَاهُمَا عَلَى الْأُخْرَى فَقَاتِلُوا الَّتِي تَبْغِي
03:48And then if one of them goes back on the agreement or goes back on the agreement, reneges on the agreement between the two, then you go against the one that is refusing to reconcile.
03:58When there are two equally evil forces that are fighting against one another, اللَّهُمَّ اضْرِبِ الظَّالِمِينَ بِالظَّالِمِينَ وَاخْرِجْنَا مِنْ بَيْنِهِمْ سَالِمِينَ Let them destroy each other and let us come out of it in peace.
04:12When you have two forces that are fighting one another, and one of them, they're both evil, but one of them clearly in the moment is more evil than the other.
04:25And of course that's the classical example that we find in Surah Ar-Rum. وَيَوْمَئِذٍ يَفْرَحُ الْمُؤْمِنُونَ بِنَصْرِ اللَّهِ يَنْصُرُ مَنْ يَشَاءُ وَهُوَ الْعَزِيزُ الرَّحِيمُ There's a rule there.
04:35The day that the believers will find joy in the victory of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. Who is this talking about? Abu Sa'id al-Khudri (رضي الله عنه), he said,
04:45فَرِحْنَا بِنَصْرِ اللَّهِ لِأَهْلِ الْكِتَابِ عَلَى الْمَجُوسِ فَرِحْنَا بِنَصْرِ اللَّهِ لِلْمُسْلِمِينَ عَلَى الْكُفَّارِ قُرَيْشٍ We found joy in the help of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala
04:59coming to the people of the book, the Romans, over the Majus, over the Persian Empire at the time. And then we found joy, we found farah, we found joy of the victory of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala to the Muslims
05:11over the disbelievers of Quraysh, over the non-Muslims of Quraysh. When the Muslims were in Abyssinia and you have another political reality that's also complicated. You have Najashi (رضي الله عنه)
05:25who is concealing his Islam. And so he's not ruling by an Islamic framework but he's giving protection to the Muslims and he's concealing his Islam and the Muslims know about his Islam but his people do not.
05:38And there is a coup attempt on Najashi. And Umm Salamah (رضي الله عنها) narrates the way that the Muslims are on the side of that whole thing and they're watching it and they're praying to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala for victory for Najashi.
05:51To the point that Az-Zubayr (رضي الله عنه) swims to see who is winning between the two and then he comes back to give the Muslims the news of the victory of Najashi. And Umm Salamah (رضي الله عنها) says,
06:05there was nothing that made us more happy than that. There was a natural feeling, there was a natural sentiment. This man is protecting us, this is a good man, this is a Muslim. He's giving us our protection here.
06:19We don't need to get into the dynamics of what he's ruling by or who the other group is. This was a dynamic that was very clear and obvious. There's a black and white and there's a grey.
06:32And so how do we as believers deal with black and white versus grey? When you see innocent people being killed, when you see your innocent brothers and sisters being killed, there's no grey. You lean into that.
06:46You make du'a for your brothers and sisters. When you see what is as clear as night and day of an evil expansionist colonial enemy of Israel that is trying to expand and trying to disrupt the Muslim world
06:59and that's making its intentions very very very clear, I never want to be on the side of that regime. Ever. For anything. Nothing good comes out of that. Nothing good comes out of that. It is always evil, it has evil intentions
07:13and more and more Americans are waking up to the domination and the slavery of the political class to that colonial endeavor and what it is doing and the havoc that it's wreaking in the region.
07:27Black and white. I never want to find myself on the side of this evil. Okay, then what happens with the grey? Here's the thing that I want you to understand when I say you go back to the Muslim
07:41that simply leans into their fitrah. When you see what is taking place today, you can hold multiple truths at the same time and not forsake your principles.
07:54You can absolutely resent the crimes of the regime of Iran against the people of Syria and other places and still resent the crime that is being committed against the innocent people there right now. And understand very wide-eyed and clear-eyed
08:07that what is happening is an abject evil right now. You can resent the presence of American military bases in Gulf countries. I do. You can resent them. It's evil. And you can also be concerned for your brothers and sisters
08:20that live in those countries that are worried about shrapnel and drones falling on them. Those are two things that can be true at the same time. There's a fitrah element to this. That is just natural as Muslims.
08:33When it comes to the grey, اللَّهُمَّ مَنْ أَرَادَ بِالْإِسْلَامِ وَالْمُسْلِمِينَ خَيْرًا فَوَفِّقْهُ لِكُلِّ خَيْرٍ وَمَنْ أَرَادَ بِالْإِسْلَامِ وَالْمُسْلِمِينَ شَرًّا فَاجْعَلْ كَيْدَهُ فِي نَحْرِهِ وَاجْعَلْ تَدْبِيرَهُ تَدْمِيرَهُ
08:45Oh Allah, those that want good for Islam and the Muslims, then guide them to every good. And those who want evil for Islam and the Muslims, then ruin their plans, spoil their plans, and make their planning a means of their destruction.
08:59Ameen. You lean into your fitrah, dear brothers and sisters. And so I say take the step back in Ramadan. And again, this is a very short khatira to give just a bit of a framework of how Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala gives this to us.
09:13Take a step back and don't get so lost in all of the political dynamics and all of the contingencies that you start to step away from what Allah 'azza wa jall has just made so obvious to you.
09:26And make du'a with that fitrah. Make du'a with that fitrah. And ask Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala to protect the innocent. Wherever they may be. Ask Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala to protect your brothers and sisters wherever they may be.
09:38And ask Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala to destroy the evil intentions. That which we see and that which we don't see. When you see an abject evil and it's the black and white, then you rely upon Allah 'azza wa jall,
09:49Al-Jabbar, Al-Qahhar, Al-Wakeel, Al-Mawla, An-Nasir, to overcome the evil forces. And I can see that evil. And when there is evil that I can't understand, and there are certainly things that are at play,
10:01where even if we see evil, there are layers of evil behind that evil, then you go back to Allah 'azza wa jall, Al-'Aleem, Al-Hakeem, Al-Lateef, Al-Khabir, who sees layers that you can't see. And you turn that back to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.
10:15But don't step away from what makes you a believer. That pure iman that hurts when you see your brothers and sisters, wherever they may be, being hurt when you see evil forces
10:29that are trying to create a vision for a greater Israel. May Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala foil their plans in our lifetime, Allahumma ameen, and guide us to the most productive ways
10:40to where we can be a part of uplifting our Ummah and alleviating our Ummah. And may Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala give us rightly guided analysis as well. This is where you ask Allah 'azza wa jall for hidayah and rushd.
10:54Listen, politics in general, you know, a lot of people are talking about like local politics, and how should we get involved with this, and how should we get involved with that. Very good people are going to make mistakes sometimes.
11:06People that are really trying to get it right are gonna get it wrong sometimes. But do you believe that they're sincere? There has to be a domain here of sincere discourse and dialogue amongst believers that are trying to get it right right now.
11:21And that discourse is an important and a healthy discourse bi'idhnillahi ta'ala, because it is a messy arena. But the majority of it is actually black and white. And as a believer, you lean into the black and white.
11:34You lean into the fitrah. You lean into what is so obvious to you right now, as a Muslim in the world that you're seeing right now, your eyes wide open, and your heart bi'idhnillahi ta'ala beating for your Ummah.
11:46And the last reflection I'll give with you tonight is this. SubhanAllah, I was just in Doha a week ago. I was supposed to be going to Umrah in a few days. And I remember sharing with you all that my flight got...
12:00There were some flight issues, and I ended up having to come a day later, and I got to pray the first night of Tarawih there, and everyone was talking about, oh, mashallah, how beautiful Ramadan is there, and we're gonna go to Tarawih,
12:11and we're going to enjoy the beautiful spirit of Ramadan here. And subhanAllah, look how quickly things change. In the safest places in the world, and I say this today as I would have said last year,
12:25that a world that watched what happened to Gaza and did not do anything about it is a world that has to all be placed on high alert and urgency. All of us, our situation can change overnight.
12:39Our situation can change overnight. So don't think, oh, well, I'm here, and they're there, and they're there, and they're there, and none of this can come to us. Keep your faith steadfast and work on that. Keep your principles solid and firm.
12:52Keep your heart with your Ummah bi'idhnillahi ta'ala, and lean into that fitrah in Ramadan, where we're supposed to be feeling that sentiment of one body. May Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala uplift our ummah all over the world,
13:05and may Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala destroy those that wish evil for it, and those that inflict harm upon it. And may Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala allow us to see the gloating of our enemies turn into humiliation. Allahumma ameen. Jazakum Allah khayran. Wa assalamu alaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh.
