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What If I Can't Look Anymore? | Khutbah
How often do I need to see images of tragedy? What am I supposed to do with them? Am I sinful for looking away? In this khutbah, we explore what meaningful consumption of the pain of others looks like according to the Sunnah.
This transcript was auto-generated using AI and may contain misspellings.
We begin by praising Allah and bearing witness that none has the right to be worshipped or unconditionally obeyed except for Him. And we bear witness that Muhammad (ﷺ) is His final messenger.
We ask Allah to send His peace and blessings upon him, the prophets and messengers that came before him, his family and companions that served alongside him, and those that follow in his blessed path until the Day of Judgment.
And we ask Allah to make us amongst them. Allahumma Ameen. Dear brothers and sisters, there was an auntie that spoke to me last week, and I want to start with her story and then come back to it.
And she conveyed a very interesting sentiment. She said to me, Shaykh, am I sinful if I don't look at the images that are coming out of Gaza anymore?
Because I can no longer consume those images.
Am I sinful if I don't look at those images anymore because I am on antidepressants, because I cannot handle those images?
I'm going to leave that inquiry for a few minutes insha'Allah ta'ala, and move on to a framing that I pray bi-idhnillahi ta'ala will help us address this question in light of a deeper question.
There is this sentiment that I can't look. And I can't look is not the same as I don't want to look. And there is a difference between not wanting to look because you feel helpless,
and you cannot do anything for the people that you are seeing on the screen, and I don't want to look because it ruins my own happiness, my own day, and my inability to function, and I'd rather not know.
Because out of sight is not always out of mind. Out of sight is not always out of mind. And so it brings us to this idea of meaningful consumption. What does meaningful consumption look like?
And I want to give you a few scenes that might seem like they're unrelated at the onset. I want you to first and foremost think about the Quran. Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says,
وَإِذَا قُرِيَ الْقُرْآنُ فَاسْتَمِعُوا لَهُ وَأَنصِتُوا لَعَلَّكُمْ تُرْحَمُونَ That when the Quran is recited, then listen attentively and be quiet so that mercy may come to you.
It may be that some people as they're driving to Jum'ah are having conversations and the Quran is on in the background. It may be that you walk into a store and the Quran is playing in the background,
while no one is actually paying attention to what's being recited, and there's no intention to pay attention to what's being recited. It may be that a few people are praying and it's been common in our gatherings that a group is praying Maghrib or Isha,
and the rest of the gathering is having their conversations, as if they are competing with the recitation from the salah. I want you to put that on the side.
And then I actually want to take you back to something, subhanAllah, I remember experiencing that I felt very strange, and I know it came from a good place, but I remember feeling like it was very strange.
I remember when I was studying overseas and the war of Iraq happened, and the scenes, which is very common now,
the news channels being turned on and the devastation playing in the background of a dinner gathering. And while you see people that are devastated on the TV screen, and everything falling apart in their lives,
another group of people having dinner, and inevitably in the very beginning when you get to the gathering, people sit on the couch, look at the TV, and they say, لا حول ولا قوة إلا بالله, and then they start talking to each other.
And eventually, the devastating scenes become background noise as well. I want you to think of another thing.
We have seen the uptick of homelessness in our lives, beggars, wherever you go. And we have accustomed ourselves that when you pass by those things, keep your head down and don't look at it.
And there may be some reasoning to it that you can't give everybody everything, and it's hard to really get into who's deserving and who's not deserving,
but the point is a very unnatural, intentional ignoring of what is happening. What is it with our attention span to what is meaningful? And why is it that eventually we tune things out?
And at what point does indifference become sinful? And so I want to give you a principle that to be meaningfully present with something for a short time
is more beloved to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala than to leave something on in the background for a long time. And so I actually start with the Quran.
When Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala refers to the idea that when the Quran is being recited, listen to it, فاستمعوا له, listen to it, وأنصتوا.
And Allah azawajal makes very clear, be quiet لعلكم ترحمون so that mercy may come to you. That it is indeed according to the majority of scholars sinful in fact
to have the Quran playing in the background just as background noise. This is different from someone that's reviewing hifz while they're going about their day and they have it on so that they can try to reflect upon it or try to review their hifz.
This is different from someone that is trying to reflect. The idea of just reducing it to noise could actually become sinful because it creates the wrong type of relationship between you and the Quran. The Quran is not meant to be heard in the background.
It's meant to penetrate deeply into your heart. And so to reflect and listen meaningfully for a few minutes is better than just having it on somewhere
and talking over it especially becomes sinful. If that's what it's reduced to. Because Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala doesn't want you to just hear it. Allah azawajal wants you to reflect upon it.
There's an attention span with divine revelation. The Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam had that attitude. The Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam had that approach to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala's word
being descended upon him and being recited around him alayhi salatu wasalam where it immediately caught his attention and it was as if nothing else. Was in the background once the Quran was being recited.
And subhanallah the ulama mention, look at the profundity of this, that the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam used to receive the Quran from Jibreel alayhi salam in a way that would flatten the mountains.
But if he heard Ibn Mas'ud (رضي الله عنه) or Abu Musa al-Ashari (رضي الله عنه) or Abbad ibn Bishr (رضي الله عنه) or Hudhayf ibn al-Yaman (رضي الله عنه) reading the Quran the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam was immediately penetrated.
He immediately stopped and he listened alayhi salatu wasalam and he paid attention and he interacted with it in a deep and profound way. But the idea of the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam hanging out with the companions
and the Quran being recited somewhere in the background, it's not there. Because that creates the wrong type of relationship. That's not mindful consumption and reflection of the words of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.
Those are the ayat of ar-Rahman, the ayat of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala as in the verses of the Quran. And there are also ayat as in signs of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala all around us at all times.
And there are different signs. And of those signs is tragedy. Of those signs is difficulty. And the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam wanted his companions to get the point
that never stroll or scroll past something without thinking about what just happened. Without being meaningful and mindful about what you just saw, about what you just heard.
Subhanallah, even when it comes to al-jana'iz, even when it comes to funerals, the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam was the one that would go, that he would be in the grave alayhi salatu wasalam to receive his companions.
And the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam told us to visit the graveyard because it reminds you of death. Go to it. The Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam would have frowned upon someone who was talking about something other than the affair of death during the janazah.
And you see it happening where people start their conversations. The body is not even buried yet. And people are already talking about something else. You see it all the time. It's strange. It's weird. It's counter-fitrah.
It's in opposition to who we're supposed to be. But that's not our Messenger sallallahu alayhi wasallam. He gave the sahaba an attitude where when the janazah was happening, it was as if there were birds on their heads.
Why? Because they were silent in their du'a, immersed in their individual du'a. Make du'a for your brother. fa-innahu al-ana yus'al. He's being asked right now. sallallahu alayhi wasallam tathbeet. Ask Allah to grant him firmness.
And people were in their du'a, immersed in the affair at hand. And the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam did not want people to lose that, even when it wasn't the janazah of one of the sahaba. So if there is an equivalent to scrolling,
the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam sitting with his sahaba, and the janazah of a Jewish man in Medina passes by. The natural Muslim reaction was, that's not our janazah. It's just like someone on a highway, right, coming by, the hearse comes by.
You don't interrupt your phone call. It's just something passing by. Something across our screen. Something across our sight. But the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam stood up. He stood up.
And he said, alayhi salatu wasalam, he's narrated three things. He said, number one, alaysat nafsan. Is it not a human being? Is it not a human soul? Number two, qumna lil malaika. We stood for the angels.
Number three, the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam was narrated to have said, inna lil mawti lafaza'a. Death is not a light matter. Death is severe. I don't want you to get used to this idea of sitting, and a janazah passes by,
even if you're not going to follow that janazah and participate in any ritual, and make du'a for the dead. I don't want you to get used to the idea of a janazah passing by you, and you just sit and continue on with your conversation, as if nothing just happened.
As if Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala did not just strike you with a stern reminder. Subhanallah. Something I witnessed just a few weeks ago. I was in a Muslim country. Let me not say what Muslim country it is.
That always goes the wrong way. I was in a Muslim country, and it was a tourist site. A big famous masjid, and it was a tourist site. And there was a janazah that was to happen in that famous masjid.
And so the body of the person that had passed away was outside in the courtyard of the masjid, and a few family members standing around crying. And because people were in their tourist mindset,
people were walking around them with their phones and filming them. If you've been to Jannatul Baqi' in Medina, people are being buried in Medina. You have a crying father burying his child.
You have people burying their brothers and sisters and their parents. And you have people with their cell phones trying to catch it all on footage. It's strange. It's not who we're supposed to be. There's a human problem, there's a Muslim problem
of how you interact with what is in front of you of a very serious affair. That you're supposed to look, but not just look. Look in a certain way. Look with a certain lens. Look with your heart.
And be mindful about what you're seeing. The Prophet (ﷺ) was not a person who could stroll by a person in tragedy.
Or who a person would come to, and he would do nothing for. SubhanAllah, a very powerful narration that comes to my mind sometimes in this regard. And I thought about it with this sister that I mentioned in the beginning of this khutbah.
There was a woman by the name of Umm Bujaid (رضي الله عنها). She's one of those who gave allegiance to the Prophet (ﷺ) early on. She was an Ansari woman. And the Ansar had that beautiful spirit. Giving, selfless spirit.
That's what they're praised for in the Quran. And she said, Ya Rasulullah, Inna rajula layaqoomu ala baabi. That a man comes and he stands at my door. A poor person comes to my door. And I don't have anything to give him.
What do I do? The Prophet (ﷺ) says to her, He says, even if you don't have in your house, illa dhulfan muhraqa.
Which is literally a burnt sheep's foot. Like what value is a burnt sheep's foot to a person? He's saying if that's the only thing you can find in your house,
then the Prophet (ﷺ) said, put it in his hand. Put it fi yadihi. Put it in his hand so that he doesn't leave your home empty handed. SubhanAllah, if that's all you have to offer in this situation,
is that you could go and you could find a burnt sheep's foot. Just don't let someone come to your door with their hand open. And then you send them away empty handed. That it wouldn't be good for you.
That is the prophetic ethic. How much we can act upon it, that's a different story. Now what does this have to do with the moment that we're in right now? Where things become so distant. Things become so digital.
Things become so extra. We are inundated with imagery of tragedy all the time. And sometimes we don't know how to interact with it anymore.
And SubhanAllah, I was heartbroken at the idea of a Sudan. All eyes on Sudan. It was a hashtag. Because no one's even had their eyes on a Sudan. Throughout this entire tragedy of devastation.
When people have to say, look at us. Look at what we're going through. Then that shows you the devastation in the world today. When you open up your feed on social media,
and you see another Palestinian's child blown off or in pieces. It's not normal. We've seen more people in pieces in the last year than we've probably seen in our entire lives,
unless we lived in a war zone. And you're trying to audition dead Palestinians for the empathy of heartless people in the West to say, look at this you hypocrites. Look at this.
This is your money. These are your weapons. This is your policy. Look, look, look. And eventually it gets exhausting. And you don't know what to do with that anymore. At this point now, what do I do when I'm inundated with these images,
and at this point I'm just shut off. I can't even look anymore. I scroll quicker. Because when I see it, it breaks me. I can't look at the video. I can't look at the picture. I don't know if I want to share it. I don't know if I want to see it.
At that point, dear brothers and sisters, and this is where I want to bring us to. I want to first and foremost remind you. First and foremost. It doesn't matter how much you stare.
What matters is how much you care. You're not sinful for the amount of minutes or hours that you spend watching that stuff. You're sinful for neglect.
And so it's not that Allah Azawajal will hold you to task for how many minutes you spent looking. Because just like if one ayah of the Quran passes you by, and you stop and you read that ayah of the Quran,
and you deeply reflect on it, and you make du'a for that ayah of the Quran. If you come across just one of those images, one of those stories, and you stop and you make du'a, you have the name of that person.
You put your phone to the side, you put your computer away, and you make du'a. And you exert that brokenness and emotion into a sincere supplication with Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala. And if the name of that person was mentioned, you mention that person's name in your du'a,
and you connect to that person, just like you would have gotten the news if your own son or daughter just died. Then that is far more beloved to Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala than...
You're not tasked for that. You don't have to do that part. And I'm not saying neglect it altogether. Nor am I inviting selfishness. Look, there is a reality here.
That it's important for us to consume of it what is necessary to activate us and to spread awareness. But you're not tasked with a certain amount here. You're tasked with how much you care.
You're tasked with how much you do. You're tasked with how much you allow that to activate you in a certain way. And if it shuts you off at some point, that's not where Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala's barrier is.
It's not where the threshold is met. But don't neglect it altogether. Don't neglect it altogether. Also, don't scroll. And this is the algorithm of the devil. It is the algorithm of shaitan.
That you scroll from people dying and crying to people laughing and in joy. You scroll from devastation to complete meaningless nonsense that's often degenerate.
Degenerate nonsense. And that's how the algorithm feeds you. Because it desensitizes you and it makes you indifferent to it all. That's not who we are.
Don't scroll from the dead baby to a laughing idiot. Scroll from the dead baby to some moments with the Quran and du'a. Go from that image to a moment of reflection.
Because otherwise that social media is going to kill whatever is left of your fitrah just like it's doing for everything else. Whatever is left of your natural goodness will go with that. Don't stop that human element that Allah Azawajal put inside of you
to meaningfully engage when you do see. It's far more beloved to Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala. And then I come back to this. The conversation of Umm Bujaid (رضي الله عنها) with the Prophet (ﷺ).
It's not just a burnt sheep's foot that you can physically give. Let not one of those images confront you. Except that you give something equivalent to the burnt sheep's foot
of your emotion, of your du'a, of your action. I know it's hard for us to continue to act. It's hard for us to continue to do whatever is in our capacity.
But Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala calls upon us to act within our capacity. Ittaqollaha mastata'atum fear Allah as much as you can. Jahidu, strive. Walladhina jahadu feena lanahdi annahum suboolana
And you'll be guided to the next path. Strive in your capacity. Keep on going and doing what you can.
Do not let the fatigue of emotion lead to the fruitlessness of your efforts. Don't let it crush your efforts. Keep going, doing what we can as a community.
And at the end of the day, we know that we see them and Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala sees them. And the difference between our sight and the sight of Allah,
and there is no comparison of our sight and the sight of Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala, but in this regard especially, is that Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala will compensate them accordingly.
And Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala will not let their pain go to waste. Watch that five-year-old boy breathe his last breath two days ago. Killed by devils, greeted by angels.
While we're grieving him, bi-idhnillahi ta'ala, he's already being greeted by Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala into his new abode and his new home.
If we don't have that tawakkul, we will shut down when we don't see justice in this world. But we have that tawakkul, that trust in Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala, that divine justice is inevitable and it's all-encompassing.
And that of his divine justice is that he would take us to task if we did not do what was upon us when we see such blatant injustice in front of our eyes. May Allah Azawajal forgive us for our shortcomings.
May Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala forgive us for our shortcomings. May Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala allow our hearts, our minds, our eyes, our efforts to be activated for his sake.
May Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala allow us to do for our brothers and sisters what will benefit them by his permission. And may Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala allow us to not be taken to task for the shortcomings that we have
and forgive us for our shortcomings. And instead, may Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala guide us to the tasks and to the ways that are pleasing to him. And may Allah Azawajal keep those intentions sincerely for his sake.
And may Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala keep those efforts blessed. And may Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala guide us to collective action that is good. And may Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala protect us from collective indifference. Allahumma ameen.


































































































































































































































































































