Twenty-Third Ramadan Lecture Presented by Al-Sayyid Abdul Malik Badruddin Al-Houthi, 1443 A. H.
Faith-Based Brotherhood (2)
The Most Important Factor Essential for the Strength, Protection, and Independence of the Ummah
I seek refuge in Allah from Shaytan, the outcast.
In the name of Allah, the Compassionate, the Merciful.
Praise is to Allah, Lord of the Worlds. I believe that there is no god but Allah, the Sovereign and the Manifest Truth, and that Muhammad, our master, is His servant, Messenger, and Last Prophet.
O Allah, confer Your salat and blessings upon Muhammad and the Family of Muhammad as You conferred Your salat and blessings upon Ibrahim and the Family of Ibrahim. You are Owner of Praise, Owner of Glory! And be pleased with Muhammad's good companions and all Your righteous servants and mujahidin.
Brothers and sisters, peace be upon you and the mercy of Allah and His blessings.
O Allah, guide us and grant us acceptance, for You are the All-Hearing, the All-Knowing; accept our repentance, for You are the Relenting and the Merciful.
We are still in the context of the great Islamic principle: Holding firmly to the rope of Allah all together, the unity of word, and brotherhood among believers. This is one of the most important Islamic principles and the religious obligations repeatedly commanded and received great attention in the Holy Quran.
We spoke yesterday about some pointes, the first of which was the fact that this is one of the main principles, as Allah (Glory be to Him) says, {‘And all of you must hold firmly to the rope of Allah all together and do not be divided’}, adding , {‘Indeed, all the believers are but brothers’}. Because of the importance of this great principle and its effects, it is a must for establishing religion and justice, and the Ummah cannot move towards responding to Allah and establishing religion without this principle.
This is also an obligatory obligation at the level of faith, for faith and faith perfection cannot be obtained without it: {‘Indeed, all the believers are but brothers.’} So it is something that should go parallel with their faith, and this means if one does not pay attention to that and care about it and keeps moving individually away from his/her believing brothers, s/he is far from fulfilling this obligation of faith and comes short in his/her faith—s/he is sinful due to that.
The importance of this great principle represented in holding firmly to the rope of Allah (Glory be to Him) all together makes it impossible for the Ummah to gain independence and be free from subordination to its enemies and become immune to any infiltration without it. That is why the divine command says, {‘And all of you must hold firmly to the rope of Allah all together’}. Among other things Allah prescribed for the Ummah to protect it from being under the control of the People of the Book and the Jews and from being infiltrated by them is this principle, which comes as one of the main principles that protect and immune the Ummah from being controlled or infiltrated by its enemies and from being exploited and submitted to them. This is how important this principle is for the Ummah in terms of its religion, dignity, and might. It plays this important role in protecting, securing, and defending the Ummah. It is not an ordinary matter that is up to people whether to or not to care about, so if they turn away from it, the consequences will be normal and simple and won’t lead except to minor damage and limited consequences.
Falling short in fulfilling this great principle will help the enemies of the believers, the enemies of the Ummah, to gain strength, have control over them, humiliate them, impose whatever they want on them, make them accept their control, and exploit them. That is why this matter is very serious. This principle also represents the bedrock and foundation for fulfilling collective responsibilities, which are considered obligatory even at the individual level. That means every person has to seek to unite with his/her believing brothers and cooperate with them in fulfilling collective responsibilities. Therefore, s/he should not move individually, independently, or separately: S/he cannot say, ‘I will move alone. I should not care about others. I will move in the cause of Allah alone, and I do not need to care about others.’ This matter is not left up to the person: When you want to move according to Allah's instructions and teachings and in response to Him (the Almighty), He has shown you how to move when He said, {‘And all of you must hold firmly to the rope of Allah all together.’} The same is true when He said, {‘And do not be divided,’} and when He said, {‘The believers, both men and women, are Auliya of one another. They encourage good and forbid evil, establish prayer and pay Zakat, and obey Allah and His Messenger. It is they who will be shown Allah's mercy’}.
These characteristics are in contrast to the characteristics of the munafiqin mentioned before in some verses: {‘The munafiqun, both men and women, are of one another. They command to what is evil and forbid what is good, and they withhold their hands; they forgot Allah, so He forgot them’}. What brings the munafiqin together—even though they might not share the same motives, desires, ambitions, and whims—is their enmity and hatred towards the believers and their destructive efforts represented in encouraging evil, forbidding what is good, and targeting the Islamic Ummah from the inside. These efforts should be met with efforts on the part of the believers to stand up to the munafiqin and those who are behind them of the kafirin and the enemies of Islam. However, such efforts must be in consistent with what Allah commanded and instructed to: they {‘are of one another’}. Therefore, one row with the same position and attitude, and Allah has laid the foundation for the believers to have the same attitude when He presented one same reference which is His book (His guidance and His light) and one unified command so that the Ummah can move and make the believers move according to it while adopting the same position. There are also many other aspects that have to do with what Allah presented in this context, and we are going to focus on some of them.
In addition to the fact that this matter has to do with faith, without adhering to this matter, one cannot be a true believer with perfect faith, and s/he will fall short in fulfilling one of the obligatory obligations of faith that are very important. So his/her good deeds might not be rewardable or accepted because s/he falls short in fulfilling what it is of the main obligations that have to do with faith and obtaining Taqwa.
The principle of holding firm to Allah's rope: The important
factor essential for the might and strength of the Ummah
One of the most well-known things about this great principle and this sacred obligation is the fact that it represents an element of strength in everything: in facing dangers, enemies, and challenges. It is an element of strength when it comes to achieving great and challenging tasks in all fields, for cooperation and collective effort help achieve many big things and matters of great importance.
The current reality of the Ummah gives us a very great and clear lesson: This Ummah consists of one billion Muslims (or one and a half billion Muslims according to some estimations, one and a half billion!) and has a wide and important geographical area that is one of the world's most important areas with a strategic location and that has great wealth and economic capabilities, most of which are still under earth, but it lives a weak reality compared to other nations in this world. Even if Muslims keep growing in number or capabilities while not going out of this state of division and fragmentation, this does reflect badly on them.
However, when some of the Muslims move, because waiting for all Muslim to unite should not be a condition and is like waiting for the impossible to happen—when some of the Muslims move towards uniting with one another and having the same voice that is based on the right position, their strength, effectiveness, impact, and great achievements will become clear.
We can clearly see one of the best and most perfect examples: Hezbollah in Lebanon. They are a group of believers who moved together and united with one another based on the right position and the right direction, and they, as a result, achieved great results and showed great strength and very high effectiveness in standing up to the Israeli enemy. The same goes for any believers around the world when they unite with one another, close ranks, and join efforts—great and important results can be achieved.
Hence, it is an element of strength. In addition, one’s awareness of this and the keenness of the believers and the people of comprehension, insight, and wisdom to become strong in their positions and their actions and accomplish their tasks successfully and effectively is an important factor. Indeed, collective effort, cooperation, joining efforts, and real brotherhood—the faith-based brotherhood, which is the greatest brotherhood, greatest tie, and most superior tie that strengthens the state of cooperation built on harmony, understanding, mercy, etc.—all of that is an element of strength when it comes to standing up to the enemy and facing the threats in all fields. This is the reason behind the description mentioned in the blessed verse that compared the believers who fight in the cause of Allah to one row in terms of their cooperation, their attitude, and real brotherhood: Allah has said about them, {‘as though they are a structure joined firmly’}. Therefore, a person is obliged to seek to be a good brick included in this firmly joined structure.
In addition, it is, as we mentioned yesterday, an important factor for internal stability. At the practical level, the state of internal stability is a must, for it helps focusing all powers and efforts on taking the important position represented in standing up to the enemy and paying attention to what is important and should be accomplished.
If the internal reality is corrupted and affected by discord, problems, conflicts, and ill feelings, this leads to very serious consequences: Most mental effort, if not all, and a great deal of practical and verbal effort go into the direction that badly affects relationships and promotes strife, conflict, and discord. Some people might be more active in that than in the main, right direction represented in fulfilling responsibility. If the issue gets to be about discord, misunderstanding, or strife, they become active and sharp-tonged, move seriously, and show great interest. They become more active in the wrong direction than in the right direction and more bold and offensive than the right one. Then, the state of keeps developing in a negative way due to distraction, obstacles, and delay. This shows how horrible and sinful this behaviour is. It promotes division and has nothing to do with unity and strengthening brotherhood, faith-based brotherhood.
When a person is active in what separates, scatters, widens the gap, and strengthens the state of internal conflict and internal strife, s/he moves in the path of evil with Iblis. This is the job of Iblis, the job of Shaytan, the role of shayatain, and the role of their Auliya, who always work in disintegrating, supporting conflicts, separating, and strengthening the state of hatred among the believers. They also do that with evil goals, so this issue leads to very serious consequences that affect the practical reality and the souls, and it represents the essence of many sins: gossip, backbiting, lying, slander, calumny, and mistrust—many are the sins that flow from this issue! We are going to speak about that in detail (Allah willing).
The greatness of the principle of holding firm to Allah's rope
and its important indication
The importance of this great principle includes the fact that it is a factor of stability, as it prevents many unrests, problems, and worries for the sake of directing efforts, capabilities, and even feelings of anger to where they belong. Indeed, feelings of anger and rage, agitation, toughness, and boldness can all be directed into the right direction where you can be rewarded and thanked and where they lead to positive results against the enemies of the Ummah and the enemies of the believers—it is the right direction.
In addition, paying attention to this great principle and adhering to it show how mindful the person is. Therefore, it reflects one's reality that, if s/he adheres to it and takes it as a priority, s/he is mindful of the importance of this matter in all aspects. It also indicates that this person is a responsible person who pays attention to fulfilling responsibility and takes care of it and who is a real mujahid. S/he is mindful of the importance of this matter, its value, and its consequences and is faithful, too. Furthermore, it serves as evidence of the purity of the soul and how free it is from selfishness, grudges, and other issues that are the reasons why a person does not accept brotherhood, cooperation, or harmony and is not ready to exercise patience for the sake of that.
These are of the aspects that show how greatly important this matter is and how significant it is: The march of Islam was based on it. Indeed, the entire march of Islam was based on the principle of one united Ummah that sought to fulfil the same responsibility according to a divine source of guidance and under the command of the same leadership that moved according to Allah's guidance and was committed to faith-based brotherhood and responsibility. It presented a great, successful example that solved Arabs' problem at that time represented in division and fragmentation to a great extent and directed their efforts to where they should belong.
Arabs were scattered, divided, and at odds about everything, and they were tough in their disputes and conflicts. They might fight even over a camel hitch (what we use to tie a camel with) and go into a fierce battle. A word uttered by a poet or a preacher in a tribe could start a fierce conflict and a bitter battle. Any dispute could ruin relationships among them, expand the division between them, and lead to a fierce conflict among them. This is how they got themselves in so many conflicts, most of which were over trivial matters that were not worth getting oneself into trouble and could have been ignored or mostly solved correctly and positively on a basis of truth, justice, and equity or on a basis of conciliation and mutual agreement. However, such a problem remained in Arab society, and they have been accustomed to it again in later times. The Messenger (PBUH&F), in his movement in Islam, sought to get Muslims united by Islam and to establish brotherhood among believers based on faith. Indeed, he focused on strengthening this matter, making them take one another as brothers, strengthening ties between them, and encouraging them to do so. He spared no effort. Once there is a move, there is divine support.
This is what happened in the story of Aws and Khazraj. Before Islam, they were in serious dispute, conflict, fight, and hostility. Then, Islam united them, and they moved into the same direction according to a one source of guidance under the same leadership; therefore, Allah brought them together and reminded them of it: Allah (the Almighty) says, {‘And remember the favour of Allah upon you - when you were enemies and He brought your hearts together and you became, by His favour, brothers’}. Pay attention to what Allah has said in this blessed verse, for He has mentioned that brotherhood is a favour two times: {‘And remember the favour of Allah upon you - when you were enemies and He brought your hearts together and you became, by His favour, brothers.’} Indeed, faith-based brotherhood is really of the greatest favours that have positive effects on the soul, feeling, life, and reality. Its effects are very great. The dispute-seeking person, who is full of ill feelings, experiences a state of loneliness and alienation. His/her mistrust, bad view, and ill feelings towards others make him/her have a bad view of others. {‘And you became, by His favour, brothers’}: This led to great and big results.
Islam's educational approach and its role in uniting hearts
Islam with its great approach, as well as the results of the sincere efforts paid for the sake of its important principles, is a source of connection with Allah, for it guarantees for those who act according to its principles that they will receive divine providence that can reach the level of filling their hearts with love towards one another. However, people should seek the means that ensure them gaining divine providence. Above all, these means are to respond to these commands by Allah and to be sincere in your motive, which Allah surly knows well. Allah intervenes to remedy the hearts and help one control his feelings. (Some people are full of ill feelings, quick-tempered, irritable, and slow to be reconciled.) So Islam was established on this foundation, and as a result, it was able to have a great impact.
In addition to that, its educational approach helps achieving that: It purifies the soul and keeps it clean of many impurities that affect the person, for the roots of his/her behaviour, actions, and positions are seated deep inside his/her soul. Indeed, in the depth of his/her soul is where these roots exist. For example, selfishness, greed, arrogance, and the like of these bad traits can affect a person badly if they are deeply rooted in him/her, preventing him/her from accepting faith-based brotherhood or holding fast to Allah's rope together with others. S/he cannot stand that; s/he often has something to dispute about, refuses to change his/her mind, and gets into many troubles. Such a person cannot act according to the commands of Allah (Glory be to Him) that have to do with his/her actions and how they can be beneficial in strengthening faith-based brotherhood.
Faith-based instruction purifies the soul, remedies it, and keeps its feelings clean so that they become positive, good, and healthy feelings that are free from selfishness, ill feelings, arrogance, conceit, and other negative things that change one's behaviour and manner in dealing with others. Besides, it directs one's priorities to where they should be directed and become great since it makes them focus on great, important, and sacred matters: Allah's pleasure, Jannah, and salvation from Allah's torment. It is these goals that direct his/her feelings, motives, and actions, as well as his/her approach; as a result, s/he becomes tolerant, understanding, and responsive. Therefore, faith-based instruction helps gaining such results.
The proper way of dealing with people and its role in enhancing faith-based brotherhood
In addition to the principles and faith-based instruction, as well as what comes with being aware of this matter, Allah has guided to the proper way of dealing with one another that enhances faith-based brotherhood: {‘And tell My servants to say only what is best. Shaytan certainly seeks to sow discord among them. Indeed, Shaytan is ever, to mankind, a clear enemy’}. We mentioned at the beginning of the lecture yesterday that the principle of faith-based brotherhood, unity, and holding to Allah's rope all together is one of the things that is severely targeted by Shaytan and his followers—a full-scale war. They heavily focus on it and spare no serious effort to provoke division and discord and target the unity among the believers. That is why Allah has guided us in this blessed verse to what helps enhancing faith-based brotherhood: He says, {‘And tell My servants to say only what is best,’} referring to what they say, raise with one another, and discuss about their responsibilities.
In dealing with others and carrying out duties and responsibilities, one generally needs to pay attention to this: to say what is best and avoid bad, provocative, and hurtful words that have negative effects on the feelings of others. Some people are sharp-tongued and bold-tongued, and some have the nerve to be rude . Sometimes, a person might believe s/he is important or in an important position and think that s/he has the right to say anything no matter how offensive that might be. People should adhere to the important criterion mentioned in the blessed verse: {‘to say only what is best’}.
{‘To say only what is best. Shaytan certainly seeks to sow discord among them’}: Shaytan takes advantage of the way of talking with one another when it is really provocative. However, for some people, everything is provocative, even when others talk to them normally or in a responsible way. How can that provoke you? Acts like urging one another to the truth, advising, admonishing against what is wrong in a proper way should not provoke you—some words are, however, really offensive, hurtful, reproving, and insulting. Because some people are very sensitive or arrogant, they consider any word, even a kind word, very offensive, as if it were one of the worst words that might be said; however, when people hear it or are told about, they consider it is an ordinary word that cannot be provocative.
{‘To say only what is best. Shaytan certainly seeks to sow discord among them’}—he takes advantage of this matter—{‘Indeed, Shaytan is ever, to mankind, a clear enemy’}. So one of the most important things he focuses on is to stir up strife and problems among the sons of Adam out of his enmity towards them.
Yesterday, we spoke about Allah's saying, {‘compassionate with one another’}, and how mercy in all aspects of reality, all circumstances, and all situations that call for showing humanitarian attention has great importance in enhancing the bonds of brotherhood and in strengthening brotherly feelings.
The importance of sticking to humility, restraining rage, and controlling anger
The same goes for humility: Allah (Glory be to Him) says, {‘humble with the believers but firm towards the disbelievers’}. Humility is one of the most effective and beneficial matters. All people should stick to humility, including those in positions of responsibility. Indeed, they should stick to humility more than others. However, humility is required from all people no matter what their positions might be, and it must be the kind of behaviour that prevails in society.
Allah said even to the Prophet, (PBUH&F), {‘And lower your wing to the believers’}. Lowering the wing is an expression that refers to humility and politeness with people. This is a very important matter. Arrogance, pride, contempt, and self-importance, as well as any behaviour that reflects any of these traits, are usually provocative and create discrimination, while humility enhances brotherhood.
As mentioned yesterday in Allah's saying, {‘and restrain rage’}, restraining rage , for people are not infallible. Indeed, they may commit a lapse, say something provoking, or act in a provocative way; however, one should restrain his/her rage and avoid exploding like if s/he turned into a bomb full with ill feelings. Any word, no matter how simple it is, can cause such a person to explode and turn him/her into a person who is overwhelmed by wrath and ill feelings and who resorts to offensive words, inappropriate behaviour, or even crime. Indeed, some people might kill, fight, or commit a crime or offence that renders their deeds including Jihad worthless. People should restrain their rage and address problems in a pragmatic spirit instead of committing an act that goes beyond Taqwa and ethical limits, as well as faith-related and humanitarian criteria.
{‘And restrain their rage’}—restraining rage helps maintain brotherhood. If people do not restrain their rage (if they meet every simple problem, simple word, provocation, or annoying thing with a reaction, after reaction, after reaction), the practical reality and circumstances of this life, even at the level of one family, village, or neighborhood turn into a stage full with conflicts, tensions, and disputes. It becomes an environment full of anxiety, tensions, and annoyance. (This should never happen.)
Condonation—{‘and pardon people’}—is a constant characteristic . That is because many issues should be solved as soon as possible. One can ignore some issues to let go, but with those issues that cannot be solved by letting go, s/he must seek to put an end to them and solve them.
For some people, it is a habit to keep holding to a problem and offensive words and adding new ones to them. Such people have strong memory and never forget as long as the issue at hand has to do with ill feelings. Indeed, they can remind you of what you said long years ago: ‘On that day and at that hour, you said so and so.’ They might tell you that what you said is still hurting their feelings. They keep piling up word upon word. Even if such a word is not as they believed to be, but their bad understanding, mistrust, and poor judgment led them to make a problem of this word. However, some of these people may be right in their claim, but they are not of those who forgive. Indeed, they are not of those who {‘they forgive when angered’}. They never forgive, never pardon, never excuse, etc. In addition, so many things do not deserve to lead to a problem or an ill-feeling, but some people make them pile up and shape their reactions.
Some people, when engaged in some work, even work in the cause of Allah and Jihad in the cause of Allah, get affected by this even in their work and Jihad in the cause of Allah. Even when it comes to the matter of responding to Allah based on faith-based brotherhood and the principle of holding fast all together to the rope of Allah, such people cannot stand being united with his/her other brothers or taking them as brothers. That is because s/he has ill feelings towards those about whom s/he was told that they had said something bad or towards those who once had misunderstanding with him/her.
Condonation and forgiveness—{‘And they forgive when angered.’} Are you like this? Evaluate yourself: Are you one of those who forgive, who pardon, and who condone many things for Allah and for His cause, as well as for the sake of important matters, of major priorities, and of major causes? Or are you not one of them? Do you forgive? Evaluate yourself; evaluate yourself according to the book of Allah and the verses of Allah. Also, change yourself for the better, and let this be what you go by. Allah has promised in the Quran that He will pardon those who pardon others, so when you forgive the one who wronged you, Allah will reward you with forgiving your wrongdoing, which would have been counted against you in what is between you and Allah: {‘Do you not love to be forgiven by Allah?’}—this is what Allah says about forgiveness in Surat An-Nur. It is very desirable.
The divine command to amend what is between us and guard against division
Of what Allah has guided to in the Holy Quran is His saying, {‘So fear Allah and amend that which is between you and obey Allah and His Messenger, if you are true believers’}. When there is a misunderstanding or a problem between believers that can affect their relationships, they should seek to remedy the situation. This has to do with Taqwa and faith.
{‘So fear Allah and amend that which is between you and obey Allah and His Messenger, if you are true believers’}: Obey Him and fear Him by amending that which is between you. This includes striving to maintain good relationships among people. Before anything takes place, a person should seek to maintain a good relationship with his/her believing brothers and strengthen his/her faith-based brotherhood with them so it prevails among them. It also includes amending what has been corrupted: settling disputes among people. When there is a misunderstanding or a specific problem that can lead to a negative effect, a person should do his/her best to fix it. That is because some people persist in prolonging dispute with others. What is strange is that some people seem to like it and find comfort in that. However, in reality, they gain nothing but discomfort and distress. That is because ill feelings are tiring. Indeed, enmity, rancour, hatred, and constant rage that keep inflaming inside the human soul are all negative feelings. They are negative feelings that affect the soul negatively. They are tiring and disturbing, while having a pure soul (a pure heart and feelings) is what brings comfort and happiness.
{‘So fear Allah and amend that which is between you’}: A person is not allowed to be keen to spread dispute among people and to be eager to ruin the relationships of people. Some people are not satisfied enough to be of those who go into this direction , but they try to incite others to offence, dispute, chaos, and division. Those who do this kind of thing are on Shaytan's side and do his job: They are like Iblis. This is of serious consequences and represents one of the worst deeds that Allah despises. Indeed, it is one of the worst deeds that Allah (Glory be to Him) despises. It was narrated about the Prophet that he said, ‘It is not lawful for a Muslim to avoid his brother beyond three days.’ With time, the gap widens and the dispute grows even into the depths of the souls, which leads to bad consequences.
In addition, one of the most important things that can be useful in this regard is to comprehend the divine warning: {‘And do not be like the ones who became divided and differed after the clear proofs had come to them. And those will have a great punishment’}. A person must pay great attention to this verse, do great reflection, and comprehend the serious consequences this matter can cause to him/her. That is because the threat of great torment is made by Allah. So the one who takes this threat lightly and responds negatively to this matter is threatened with the great torment by Allah.
That is enough for today.
We ask Allah (Glory be to Him) to grant us success in seeking what pleases Him. O Allah (Glory be to You), have mercy on our martyrs, heal the wounded among us, set free our captives, and grant us victory. O Allah, accept our fasting, night prayers, and good deeds. You are All-Hearing!
Peace be upon you and the mercy of Allah and His blessings