Usuli Institute Khutbah: On Injustice and Muslims Defending the Muslim Ban 11 October 2019

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