إنّ الحمدلله نحمده و نستعينه و نستغفره و نوًمنوا به عزّ و جلّ. و نعوذ بالله من شرور أنفسنا و من سيّئات أعمالنا و من يهده الله فلا مضّل له و من يضلل فلا هادي له. و نشهد أن لا إله إلّا الله وحده لا شريك له و نشهد أنّ محمّداً عبده و رسوله صلّ الله عليه و سلّم و على آل ه و صحبه أجمعين و بعد

That is praise be to Allah. We praise Him. We seek His assistance. We ask His forgiveness. We believe in Him. We put our trust in Him, He that is Almighty and Perfect. We seek protection with Allah from the harm of our own ignorance and wrongdoing. Any who Allah has guided then none can misguide, and any Allah has left astray then none can guide that one. We witness that there is nothing to be worshiped except Him alone. He has no Partners, nothing to be joined with Him in His rule of all that He has created. And we witness that Muhammed is His servant and His messenger. We pray the prayers and the peace upon Muhammed, and what follows.

We are One Community

Dear believers, our brothers and sisters, Allah says in the Qur’an:

إِنَّ هَٰذِهِ ۦٓ أُمَّتُكُمْ أُمَّةً وَٰحِدَةً وَأَنَا۠ رَبُّكُمْ فَٱعْبُدُونِ

“This, your community is one and I am your Lord, therefore worship only Me.”

This statement from the Qur’an is a foundational principle for our Islamic unity. Our unity is based upon our recognition of G-d's Oneness and His singular plan for His creation. From that unity comes principles of equality, principles of justice that govern or should govern our world. G-d has said in the Qur’an, in another place, that He has made us the best community, خَيْرَ أُمَّةٍ, to be established, أُخْرِجَتْ لِلنَّاسِ, brought out for the good of all people. A model people, people inviting to the highest standards of human behavior and معروف (m‘aruf), the highest standards of excellence, a model like this model.

I've been introduced to your congregation here in the great City of Rochester with its important history in America and the contribution that is being made by your leaders here in Rochester. This is the example, the model example that G-d intends, and this is the cause or the foundation for us to progress in this world, in this troubled time. A time when we are seeing the disrespect and behavior that seeks to dehumanize a population. Certainly, coming from where I come from, my history in this country, I and my people are familiar with such tactics.

G-d’s Oneness (tauhid) and a Rational Love for One Another

Our unity, the affections, the sentiments, the strong sentiments that we feel for one another, we cannot escape obligation, responsibility that those sentiments open to us. Our unity cannot just be an emotional unity. It has to be a well thought out rational love. Our love can't just be, oh I love you for the sake of Allah. It has to be a recognition of what G-d has created when He created humans, the capacity for development, the capacity for growth, the the capacity for dignity, that has to be the foundation of our love for one another. We appreciate in each other the possibilities of our humanity and we are prepared to defend that humanity on behalf of one another. This is the important Islamic principle of unity, توحيد (tauheed), that G-d is One, our community is one. That if any member in our international brotherhood, international following of Muhammed the Prophet is feeling some disturbance then we also are feeling that disturbance. We are also registering that trouble in our souls, in our hearts and our response to it no matter what our economic situation, no matter what our social situation, our response to it first is respect for the destiny that G-d has created for mankind on this Earth and recognition in that and entitlement to it in each of us. So there's no possible way for us to turn away from human suffering wherever it is. No possible way for a conscious believer in G-d to turn from human suffering wherever it is and whomever it affects.

Prophet Muhammed’s Excellence is Established as the Principle of Human Excellence and Equality

Allah says in the Qur’an and I know that you are an informed congregation, an educated congregation and you turn to our Holy Book for its guidance. He says in the Qur’an:

لَّقَدْ كَانَ لَكُمْ فِى رَسُولِ ٱللَّهِ أُسْوَةٌ حَسَنَةٌ لِّمَن كَانَ يَرْجُوا ٱللَّهَ وَٱلْيَوْمَ ٱلْآخِرَ وَذَكَرَ ٱللَّهَ كَثِيرًا

“You have in the messenger of Allah, a beautiful standard for any whose hope is with Allah, whose satisfaction is with Allah and the last day and who remember Allah often.”

Muhammed صلّ الله عليه و سلّم، is established as a human model and his leadership of humanity is a recognition of man's common excellence, man's common possibilities. G-d puts in his mouth the words:

قُلْ إِنَّمَآ أَنَا۠ بَشَرٌ مِّثْلُكُمْ

“I am a mortal, مِّثْلُكُمْ (mithlukum), like you, like all of you. I am mortal like all of you.”

We acknowledge that what we recognize that is his superiority is his representation of a shared common human characteristic of excellence. That's why we identify with him. We celebrate him. We champion his cause, which is the cause of human equality and justice on this Earth.

Muhammed is the leader not just for the Muslims. G-d says in this verse that he is an example for any who believe in G-d in the last day, for any who seek to be approved by G-d on the Day of Judgment. Any that have a conscience to do right. Any who have a will to move against wrongdoing, Muhammed is their example. His thinking, his reasoning, his strength, his courage, his principles are principles belonging to the legacy of progress for mankind on this Earth. There is no recognition of universal justice except in Muhammed's commentary, except in Muhammed's leadership. He is أُسْوَةٌ حَسَنَةٌ (uswatun hasana). His excellence is established as the principle, the foundational principle of the equality of man. أُسْوَةٌ حَسَنَةٌ (uswatun hasana). The balanced human. The human with great symmetry, without extremes, without imbalance.

Equality and Justice is an Inherent Property in the Nature

Again, G-d says in the Qur’an:

يَٰٓأَيُّهَا ٱلْإِنسَٰنُ مَا غَرَّكَ بِرَبِّكَ ٱلْكَرِيمِ ٱلَّذِى خَلَقَكَ فَسَوَّىٰكَ فَعَدَلَكَ

“Oh mankind, oh humans what has deceived you from your Lord most generous and honorable? Him who created you, خَلَقَكَ فَسَوَّىٰكَ, then He balanced you. He made you equal and He gave you a natural, inherent sense of what is right and what is wrong.”

In our nature is our equality as humans, and a natural awareness of what is correct behavior and what is incorrect behavior. And our societies, if they are healthy societies, are built upon this recognition, what is just. We cannot go in the way of wrongdoers and the habit of wrongdoers and the decision making processes of wrongdoers to get at wrongdoing. We have to be in the conduct of the balance that G-d created us. And in that balance is our dignity, our common shared identity.

Shaitan’s Scheme is to Weaken our Perception of our Natural Shared Honor

And G-d says in the Qur’an, and I conclude with this (first part of the khutbah):

وَصَوَّرَكُمْ فَأَحْسَنَ صُوَرَكُمْ

“He has fashioned you, He has made you, He has given you your picture and this picture is singular. He has given you your picture and He has made your pictures all of them most excellent.”

Allah has put in our nature something that we share as humans, our human identity is a shared identity. And our progress for Islam (Al-Islam in the Qur’an) our progress is based upon our recognition of Allah's Oneness and His creation of us as a common human life. We progress upon our

common human identity. And all people, no matter what faith they have, no matter what religion they have, if they witness our devotion to human progress upon that principle of equality they will be our allies against the influence of wrongdoers. They will be our allies against the influence of the Shaitan, the rejected one and his reasoning and his logic and his scheme to weaken our honor. He is ‘The Ghurur’ (ألغرور) the Deceiver, that makes us think that our ethnicity trumps our humanity. He is the deceiver that makes us think that one culture is above another. He is the deceiver that weakens mankind's picture of itself that G-d created with balance and perfection.

A’udhu billahi minash-shaitanir-rajim (أعوذ بالله من ألشيطان ألرجيم). We seek Allah's Help against him.

Alhamdulillah rabbil 'alamin (ألحمد لله ربّ العلمين) (Praise be to Allah, Lord of all the Systems of Knowledge)

Part II

ألحمد لله. و صلوت و سلام على رسول كريم

(Praise be to Allah. Prayers and peace be on the Noble Messenger)

The Best Help that the Muslim American Community can Give to America is the Reminder of the Principle of the Dignity of Man

It is my great pleasure to visit you here today. I don't know if many of you know the great history of this city Rochester, New York in the tradition of the African-American people. One of the great leaders for our determination as a people lived in this city, Frederick Douglas. His memory was honored here recently I think and the airport was named for him, Frederick Douglas. He charged America with the shaming of its high ideals and said to America that your claim to high principles of democracy and your claim to be followers of Jesus Christ, ‘alayhi salaam (عليه سلام), peace be on him, in view of your treatment of your subjects that you brought here as slaves, to be slaves -your claim in view of your treatment is such a hypocrisy that it, your behavior, would shame a nation of savages. This was his comment.

The Muslim Community in these United States of America, immigrant Muslims, naturalized citizens and also indigenous Muslims, the best assistance that we can give our nation, this country, in view of the troubles of this world, is to hold up to it the dignity of our message of the equality of man. We live for that principle. And in recognition of that principle we are recognizing G-d's eternal Authority over His creation. And we shame America if it is moving in the wrong direction to stand upon its founding principles. We shame it to come back to its recognition that man on this Earth has been created with certain entitlements, entitlements that no government can guarantee, entitlements given to man by G-d Himself. These are the founding principles of this nation and in order for this nation to go forward there's a requirement in the recognition and the awareness and the witness of the Muslim Community in America to pay tribute to their own high principles and hold fast, hold strong, hold with determination, to the leadership of Muhammed the Prophet. And that that will be our great witness to America and to mankind.

Alhamdulillah rabbil ‘alamin (ألحمد لله ربّ العلمين) (Praise be to Allah, Lord of all the Systems of Knowledge). So we conclude. Our Imam, my Imam Muhammed Shafeeq, told me we're on a strict schedule here. So I'm keeping to the time.

رَبَّنَآ ءَاتِنَا فِى ٱلدُّنْيَا حَسَنَةً وَفِى ٱلْأَخِرَةِ حَسَنَةً وَقِنَا عَذَابَ ٱلنَّارِ

“Our Lord, give us the best of this world and in the Hereafter give us the best, and save us from the punishment of the Fire.”

رَبَّنَا لَا تُزِغْ قُلُوبَنَا بَعْدَ إِذْ هَدَيْتَنَا وَهَبْ لَنَا مِن لَّدُنكَ رَحْمَةً ۚ إِنَّكَ أَنتَ ٱلْوَهَّابُ

“Our Lord, do not let our hearts deviate after You have Guided us, and grant us Mercy from You, and You are the Bestower of all Good.”

رَبَّنَآ أَفْرِغْ عَلَيْنَا صَبْرًا وَثَبِّتْ أَقْدَامَنَا وَٱنصُرْنَا عَلَى ٱلْقَوْمِ ٱلْكَٰفِرِينَ

“Our Lord, pour out on us patience and constancy, and make our steps firm, and help us against the people who reject.”