Being Proud to be Muslim: a talk on the concluding ayat of Surat al-Hajj by Ust. Nouman Ali Khan

Bismi llāh, wa l-ḥamdu lillāh, wa ṣ-ṣalātu wa s-salāmu ‘alā rasūli llāh, wa ‘alā ālihī wa ṣaḥbihī wa man wālāh

Eight lessons from a recent talk by Ustādh Nouman Ali Khan on the concluding āyāt of Sūrat al-Ḥajj:

1. We Muslims shouldn't feel like we need to explain ourselves when our religious practices come into question. We shouldn't be on the defensive in such scenarios. Rather, we should be on the offensive. So when you're asked by your colleagues, "Hey, why don't you attend our Christmas party?", instead of going to the imam and asking for a decent response, we should turning the question back on them; we should be asking them questions like, "Why do you celebrate Christmas? Why do you celebrate God having a son? How can God have a son?" Our religion is full of reason whilst other people's aren't, thus, when people question our religion, we shouldn't hesitate to not only give them a satisfying response but also turn the tables on them and open their eyes to the truth.

2. Everything other than Allah is ultimately weak – including you. If you seek that which is weak, it won't make you any stronger – you'll still be weak. But if you seek Allah – the Strong, the Mighty – and internalise this in your heart, He will make you strong. If you seek wealth, a woman, a promotion, a position, a job, etc., and that object which you seek is all you seek, when that object is taken away from you or you are prevented from it, you crumble – and this demonstrates how weak you are. But if Allah is the One whom you ultimately seek, no matter what is taken away from you – whether it be wealth, position, property or anything else –, you remain strong. This is what īmān does to the believer – it makes him strong.

3. Allah chooses His Messengers solely because that's what He wills. In the ayah, Allah uses the word yaṣṭafī, which is derived from the Arabic tri-literal root ṣād-fā’-wāw (ص ف و). The use of this word denotes that in making this choice, Allah made the choice purely on His own, no explanation needed. It's a bit like your favourite food – you like it because you just like it. So there's no complaining about Prophet Muhammad ﷺ as being Allah's chosen one – because that's just what Allah willed, full stop.

4. Allah tells us to "strive in [the way of] Allah the way He deserves to be striven for." Now, no human being can actually do this – we'll never be able to worship Allah the way He deserves to be worshipped. But from the human beings, He saw certain ones from them who had some sort of "qualification" whereby they could fulfil this task, a qualification they don't even see in themselves. And it's these people He chose to fulfil this task – a task which was the legacy of Ibrahim (peace be upon him), a man who underwent many trials and hardships. Though Allah states that He'll make this difficult task easier for us; if Allah could make the task of Ibrahim (peace be upon him) easier, He can indeed do the same for us. Now, the word used in this ayah is ijtabā, which come from the Arabic tri-literal root jīm-bā’-yā’ (ج ب ي). The word jaby is used for tax collection. Taxes aren't collected from everyone; taxes are only collected from those qualified to pay them, i.e. those within the tax bracket. By using the phrase huwa -jtabā, Allah is saying that HE chose YOU, out of all the people on this earth, to be a Muslim. Not only that: ONLY ALLAH had a role in deciding that you would be Muslim. You weren't Muslim because you were born into a Muslim family or because of your nationality. You were Muslim because ALLAH CHOSE YOU to be a Muslim. Same applies to all the Muslims around the world. No Muslim is worthless. So if you're one of those chosen for this seemingly impossible task, you're actually one of the lucky few who were specially selected by Allah, one of those lucky few in whom Allah saw something special. Allah chose YOU to be from His Muslims. So be grateful for your Islam.

5. Allah named you as a Muslim. That's right, Allah Himself. Thus, it's a consequence of īmān that we shouldn't be embarrassed to be Muslims. Rather, we should be proud to be Muslims. We shouldn't feel shy about this gift which may often make us distinct and different from the society we live in. A Muslim was never meant to fit in with society. The chosen people of Allah were meant to stand out. Did any of the messengers of Allah (benedictions and peace be upon them all) fit in? Be proud to be Muslim. Those truly proud of their Islam will try and share it with those who don't have Islam. And that's our duty. Be outstanding Muslims!

6. The honour of us being Muslim should cause us to do something in recognition of this honour. Allah tells us to establish ṣalāh, give zakāh – which by the way can only be given on halal wealth, thus, our income must also be halal – and to hold on tightly for protection to the Rope of Allah – i.e. the Qur’ān –, in recognition of this honour. Holding on to the Rope of Allah is a life and death matter. So hold on for protection to the Rope of Allah and Allah will be your protector – and what an excellent protector He is!

7. Islam is powerful. Its ideas our powerful. Its truth is powerful. Living in our fitnah-plagued times, we shouldn't be so weak we run away from the fitnah. Rather, we should work to change to fitnah. (This links back to the point #1.)

8. Every congregational ṣalāh proves that we can be disciplined, organised and united. When the iqāmah is called, don't we see perfectly straight rows? When the congregational ṣalāh is taking place, doesn't everyone move at the same time in a disciplined fashion? Every congregational ṣalāh proves that we're capable of being a disciplined, organised and united people. So just like we're disciplined, organised and united in ṣalāh, we should be disciplined, organised and united outside ṣalāh. What we do in ṣalāh should inspire everything we do outside ṣalāh. The same way we ensure that we fill the gaps in our rows when we pray so that the Shayṭān doesn't pass through, we should do this with our communities.

The ustādh made several other excellent points, some of which can be seen here, though to hear all the point, you'll have to wait until the full talk is posted online, which bi idhni llāh should be soon.