Trust Allah while protecting your community
“Tie your camel, and then trust in Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.”
True reliance on Allah (tawakkul) means rejecting superstition and omens while actively taking every lawful means, including self-defense, masjid security, and reporting hate crimes, to protect ourselves and our community, trusting that no harm reaches us except by Allah's decree.
The khutbah in 8 steps
- Warning against superstition, omens, and the evil eye (ayn/nadhar) as a disease in the community
- Replacing superstition with tawakkul, attaching hopes and fears to Allah alone, acknowledging whispers of shaitan as part of being human
- Citing Surah al-Fatihah ('You alone we worship and You alone we ask for help') as the daily formula of reliance
- The 'tie your camel' hadith: reliance is never passive, believers must take the means Allah provides
- Recent attacks on Muslims (Utah mall stabbing of Sayyid Suhailuddin; mother beaten in Moncton, Canada) as proof the community cannot be complacent
- Concrete application: self-defense training, masjid/school security, teaching children, reporting hate incidents, supporting advocacy institutions, making dua
- Closing with the hadith to Ibn Abbas on divine decree, no one can harm or benefit except by what Allah has written
- Closing dua for the oppressed worldwide (Palestine, Yemen, Lebanon, Sudan, Kashmir)
In the khateeb's words
“The Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam did not simply free us from imagined fears so that we would become careless and negligent of the real ones.”
“Famous example was from just last week when our brother, Sayyid Suhailuddin, was stabbed while working at his job at a kiosk at the mall in Utah.”
“Tie your camel, and then trust in Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.”
“We tie our camels and we trust in Allah.”
For the dinner table
Today Sheikh Anisul Haque talked about superstition and about truly relying on Allah. He reminded us that whispers and worries come to everyone, that is just part of being human, but nothing has any power over us except what Allah decrees, so our hopes and fears should be attached to Him, not to omens or lucky charms. At the same time, trusting Allah does not mean sitting back and doing nothing; like the man in the famous story, we have to tie our camel first and then trust in Allah. The sheikh shared heartbreaking recent attacks on Muslims in Utah and Canada, and said real tawakkul means taking every lawful means to protect ourselves, our children, and our community. He closed by reminding us that no one can harm us except by Allah's permission, yet Allah will still hold every oppressor accountable. That is the beautiful balance of Islam, not fear, and not carelessness, but trust in Allah while doing our part.
- What is one 'camel' in your life, homework, sports, a friendship, that you need to tie before you ask Allah for help?
- The sheikh said everyone gets worried whispers sometimes, what helps you remember Allah when you feel scared or anxious?
- If you saw someone being treated badly just for being Muslim, what do you think you could do to help?
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