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[FRIDAY SERMON] THE EARLY EXTREMISTS (KHAWAARIJ) AND THE BOKO HARAMS OF TODAY
BY
IMAM MURTADA GUSAU
First Sermon:
In the name of Allah, the Most Merciful, the Bestower of Mercy
Alhamdulillah. Indeed, all praise is due to Allah. We praise Him and seek His help and forgiveness. We seek refuge with Allah from our soul’s evils and our wrong doings. He whom Allah guides, no one can misguide; and he whom He misguides, no one can guide.
I bear witness that there is no (true) god except Allah – alone without a partner, and I bear witness that Muhammad (saw) is His Servant and messenger.
“O you who believe! Revere Allah the right reverence, and do not die except as Muslims”. (Al-Imran, 3:102)
“O people! Revere your Lord who has created you from a single soul, created from it its mate, and dispersed from both of them many men and women. Revere Allah, through whom you demand things from one another and (cherish the ties of) the wombs, indeed, Allah is ever watchful over you.” (An-Nisa; 4:1)
“O you who believe! Revere Allah and say just words. He will then rectify your deeds and forgive your sins. He who obeys Allah and His Messenger have certainly achieved a great victory”. (Al-Ahzab, 33:70-71)
To Proceed:
Indeed, the best speech is Allah (swt)’s Book and the best guidance is Muhammad (saw)’s guidance. The worst affairs (of religion) are those innovated (by people), for every such innovation is an act of misguidance leading to the fire.
O Servants of Allah,
The khawaarij or kharijite as written in many books, were the first group in history to deviate from mainstream Islam. The Prophet Muhammad (saw) warned of their appearance and explained how dangerous they will be: “they kill Muslims and leave off the real enemies of Islam”; (Bukhari) he also said: “If I live to see them I will kill them like the destruction of the people of Aad”. (Bukhari) knowing the motives and methods deployed by the groups of extremists such as Boko Haram and others who excommunicate Muslims from the Islam will aid future Generations and the World in general.
My respected people,
Today’s Khutbah (sermon) will involve comparative analysis – a technique which will be particularly useful when making the comparison between the extremists responsible for the violence we witness today and the early khawaarij sect.
This khutbah (sermon) will discuss who they are, and a brief mention of their history, appearance, characteristics and dangers. Their pride and honour in violence against the state demonstrate similarities as well as differences between them and those contemporary Boko Haram extremists. The issue of haakimiyah (i.e. Governance or rule), which was the central argument of the khawaarij against Ali (R.A), will be discussed to show the similarity between them and the today’s Boko Haram extremists.
Brothers and Sisters,
Khawaarij is defined as “those who render Muslims apostates because of sin and who rebel against the Muslim leaders and the state”. (See the book, Al-Khawaarij Auwalu firaq fil-Islam, by sheikh Nasir Al Aqal p. 28)
They are commonly known today as takfiri (i.e. those who rendered Muslims infidels). Extremists are defining in Islam as ‘those who go beyond the prescribed limits, in excess of the boundaries laid down by Allah”. (See Religious extremism, by Dr. Abdurrahman al mutairi, P. 67-74)
* A BRIEF LOOK AT THE KHAWAARIJ ORIGINS
The first trial to befall the Muslims which lead to sectarianism within the Ummah was the trial during the caliphate of Uthman. This ended in his murder and division amongst the Muslims. After this period some new Muslims with a lack of knowledge of Islamic sciences followed their desires and from them appeared the kharijite or khawaarij.
The kharijite (khawaarij) were the first group in the history of Islam to separate from the main body of Muslims. The name kharijite comes from the Arabic name ‘khawaarij’ its plural is ‘khaarijah’ which means to ‘go out’, or ‘those who went out’, technically it means ‘to form a sect’. (See Haqiqatul khawaarij, by Sheikh Faisal al-Jaasim).
Thus the khawaarij went out from the main body of Muslims to form a separate sect, party or group. They appeared after the caliphate of Uthman, though their origin can be found during the time of the Prophet Muhammad (saw).
Respected Listeners,
A hadith narrated by Ibn Sa’id: ‘’When the Prophet Muhammad (saw) was distributing some gold which was sent back to him by Ali Ibn Abi Talib, a man called Abdullah ibn Dhil Khuwaysara at-Tamimi came to him and exclaimed: “be just oh Messenger of Allah”. This man was unhappy with the portion he was given by the Prophet (saw). His description in other narrations say he was sunken-eyed, had a bulging forehead, thick beard, fat, raised cheeks and clean shaven head. The Prophet (saw) replied: “woe to you! Who will be just if I am unjust?” upon hearing this Umar Ibn khattaab (R.A) said: “Permit me to strike his neck”, the Prophet replied: “leave him, for I do not want the people to say Muhammad kills his companions”. Then he (The Prophet (saw)) continued to say: “Verily from the progeny of this man will be a people who will leave the religion as fast as an arrow leaves the bow. Your prayers will not equal their prayers. Your fasting will not equal their fasting”.
The following verse was revealed regarding this man, Dhul khuwaysara: “and from them are men who accuse in regards to charity”. (At-Tawbah, 9:58)
There are a number of different narrations of the above hadith. It is known that the Prophet Muhammad (saw) prophesized the forth coming of this sect because ibn Sa’id the narrator of this hadith also added: “I testify that Ali (R.A) fought those people while I was with him”. (Muslim)
* THE KHAWAARIJ REVOLT
After Uthman was killed, Ali became the caliph, though Mu’awiyya refused to acknowledge this until Ali would bring to justice those who killed Uthman. Ali was unable to do this and demanded that Mu’awiyya pledged his allegiance in order to unify the Muslims and prevent discord. Mu’awiyya refused, thus difference appeared which ultimately resulted in war.
Servants of Allah know that, there were three groups in this Calamity; the first was Ali the caliph in Madinah who had the support of kufah. The second was A’isha with Talha and az-Zubayr in Basrah. The third was Mu’awiyya in Shaam (i.e. Today’s Jordan, Palestine, Syria, Lebanon, and some parts of Iraq and Iran).
A war broke out between A’isha and Ali in which Ali was victorious and az-Zubayr and Talha were killed in battle known as the battle of the Camel (waqa’atu Jamal). Ali was then left with fighting mu’awiyya.
A group from amongst Ali’s army insisted on taking the booty from the victory of the battle of the Camel and they insisted on taking the women as slaves. Ali (R.A) refused this, saying we do not take booty or slaves from Muslims. They argued saying we had always fought with the Messenger of Allah and took booty and slave girls. Ali tried to make them understand that this was not permissible but they did not inwardly accept his ruling, thought they followed him at that moment. This was the first discord which appeared from the Kharijite.
The battle against Mu’awiyya was called the battle of Siffin (waqa’atu siffin). In it Ali was winning until Mu’awiyya’s army called for arbitration and a group of Ali’s army insisted on accepting it. This group was the same group who did not accept they were not allowed the booty from the battle of the camel. They were fierce fighters on the right flank of Ali’s army.
Brothers and Sisters,
In his book called ‘al Bidaayatu wan Nihaaya’ Imam Ibn katheer narrates that, the army of Mu’awiyya began to lose the battle, so they raised the Mus’haf (AL-QUR’AN) above their heads on their spears saying, “let the Book be Judge between us”. The leader of Ali’s right flank army led by Ashta al-Nakha’i, which was the section of the battle which inflicted the worse casualties to Mu’awiyya army, came to Ali. He said: “They are asking for Allah’s book to arbitrate us; let us allow the judgment of Allah to settle this dispute and stop the spilling of Muslim’s blood”. Ali said to him: “It is for Allah’s judgment I am fighting in the first place. Indeed I called them to consultation and dialogue before, but they were bent on fighting, so fight them now and do not leave anyone alive. They only call for arbitration because they are loosing the battle, so fight them”. The leader of the right flank and the group who came with him to Ali were known as the ‘reciters’ due to their constant recitation of the Qur’an. They refused to fight, and disobeyed Ali’s command. Ali was forced to accept the arbitration against his will which he made clear. His right flank was his strongest and he had no choice but to accept or loose the battle.
O respected people,
The two sides agreed to appoint a judge who would meet and agree to a solution to end the calamity amongst them. So Mu’awiyya appointed Amr Ibn A’as and Ali appointed Abu Musa al Ash’ari. They wrote an agreement between them stating:
“This is what Ali Ibn Abi Taalib Chief of the believers (Amirul Mumineen) agrees to”. Then Amr Ibn A’as said: “if I believed he was the chief of the believers I would not have fought him so write his name and his father’s name as he is your chief not ours”. Upon this Ali said: “write this is what Ali Ibn Abi Taalib agrees to and omit the words chief of the believers”. The scribe then wrote as he was instructed. The reciters were agitated and rejected this action of Ali arguing that being the chief of the believers is a cloak which Allah gave to Ali and he should not remove it. After the agreement had taken place, each party went back to where they came from. Mu’awiyya went back to Damascus and Ali headed back to Kufah. On the way to Kufah, Ali faced enmity from the reciters and false accusations began to spread in his army causing disunity. When they got close to Kufah, a group separated from Ali’s army and left, claiming Ali had done much wrong and accused him of not judging by the Book of Allah. They committed what is called ‘Khuruuj’ (went out) from Ali’s army and settled in a place called ‘al-Harurah. Thus the kharijite sect was established. Some scholars called them al-Haruriyah after the name of the place which they separated to. They totally disassociated with Ali and accused him of a number of transgressions against the Shari’ah. They openly spread propaganda against him and denounced his right to be caliph. This was the first sect in Islamic history to be separate from the main body of Muslims. (See al-Bidaayah wan-Nihaaya of ibn Katheer, P.283)
* THE KHAWAARIJ KILLED COMPANIONS OF THE PROPHET (SAW)
My beloved and respected listeners,
Sheikh Ubaykaan quotes a narration from Ibn Katheer’s book al-Bidaaya wan-Nihaaya also showing how the khawaarij spread corruption on the earth, shed blood, obstructed the paths, and made lawful the prohibited. Among the many Muslims and innocent non-Muslims they killed was an illustrious companion of the Prophet (saw), Abdullah ibn Khabbaab ibn al Arrat. They captured him and his wife while she was pregnant. They asked him: “who are you?” he replied “I am Abdullah Ibn Khabaab, a companion of the Messenger of Allah and you have terrorized us without right” they said to him: “do not be afraid, narrate to us something you heard from your father”, to which he replied that he heard his father say that he heard the messenger of Allah say: “there will come a tribulation (so severe) during which a person sitting will be better than one standing, the one standing better than the one walking, and the one walking, better than the one running.” So they led him by the hand. While he was walking with them, some of them found a pig that belonged to some of the non-Muslims living under Muslim’s rule. One of them killed it with his sword, so another one asked him “how could you kill it when it belongs to a non-Muslims living under Muslim’s rule?” the man went to that owner to put things right and he paid him for it. Later, while they were walking, a date (Dabino) fell from a palm tree so one of them took it and placed it in his mouth. Another said to him: “you eat it without permission or paying for it?” so he spat it out. Even with all these seemingly good deeds they still came to Abdullah Ibn Khabbaab and slaughtered him. Then they went to his wife while she was saying: “I am a pregnant woman! Do you all not have any fear of Allah?” they slaughtered her and cut open her stomach exposing her unborn baby. (See the book, the khawaarij, by Sheikh Ubaykaan, P.49-51)
Fellow Nigerian Muslims,
How great is the need today from the bearers of the Islam to coordinate their efforts and unite with their sincere leaders and scholars to ward off the danger of Boko Haram that surrounds them?
O Ummah of Islam, O bearers of the truth, O lovers of the Prophet Muhammad (saw), is it not time for us to recognize the danger that surround us and threatens our spiritual and worldly interests? Is it not time for us to give up all useless and unnecessary speculations and senseless battles and minor differences, and instead to focus our efforts on defending and propagating the true Islam, and to unite with our truthful leaders and scholars so that we may all walk together on the path of truth and guidance, and also show to the world that Islam does not have anything to do with Boko Harams, extremists, khawaarij and their actions?
Who will do that, O Ummah of Islam? Who will stand up for the pure and peaceful Islam, adhere to it call others to it, rally all the Muslims behind it strive for its sake and defend it – after Allah- except you, O Muslims? So be as Allah wants you to be and He will fulfill His promise to you. And help, guidance come only from Him.
May Allah benefit me and you with the guidance of His Book and the Sunnah of His Prophet (saw). I say these words of mine and I ask Allah to forgive us and you and all Brothers and Sisters, so ask Him for forgiveness, for He is the oft-forgiving, most Merciful.
Second Sermon:
Praise be to Allah who has shown the way and made the path clear, who sent His Messenger with glad tidings and warning so that human kind should have no plea against Allah after the messengers (An-Nisa’, 4:65). I bear witness that there is no god worthy of worship but Allah alone, with no partner or associate, and I bear witness that our beloved Prophet Muhammad (saw) is the slave of Allah and His Messenger. He clothed him in a garment of Prophethood, which increased him in honour and dignity. May Allah send blessings and peace upon him and his family and companions, who offered their souls and everything precious that they owned to protect him and defend his message, and upon the taabi’een (generation following the companions) and all those who followed them in truth until the Day of Judgment.
To proceed:
Fear Allah, O slaves of Allah, and adhere strictly and firmly to the true teachings of your messenger (saw). Understand that the best of speech is the Book of Allah and the best guidance is the guidance of Muhammad (saw); the worst of matters are those which are newly invented; every newly invented matter (in the religion of Islam) is an innovation, and every innovation is a going astray.
Respected Brothers and Sisters,
Do not forget that we are still in the issue of khawaarij, ‘SHARRU QATLAA TAHTA ADIIMUS-SAMA’I’, ‘KILAABU AHLIN-NAR’.
* ADVICE GIVEN TO THE KHAWAARIJ BEFORE FIGHTING THEM
Imam Ahmad brings the three main claims against Ali (R.A) that he sources from the book of Majma’ al Fawaa’id in the narration of Ibn Abbas who said:
“After they separated to al-Harurah, I went to them to call them back. When I got there they welcomed me and I asked them; what is it you have against Ali which has made you separate from him and his governance?” they said: “Firstly, he called for judgment of men in the religion of Allah, and Allah states in the Qur’an “Verily Judgment is for Allah alone”. (Al-An’am, 6:57)
Secondly, he fought and did not speak badly about the enemy nor take booty even though they had become disbelievers. The wealth of the disbelievers is permissible to take and if they were believers then the shedding of their blood is impermissible in the first place.
Thirdly, he removed his name as the chief of the believers during the writing of the agreement”. So I said, “If am able to narrate to you from the Qur’an and the Sunnah of the prophet that which you cannot reject, will you return to his (Ali) governance?” they said “yes”. Then I said to them:
“As for your complaint that he called for judgment of men in the religion of Allah, Allah states:
“O you who believe do not kill prey (hunt) whilst you are in the state of Ihraam”; to His saying “just people from amongst you will judge by it” (Al-Ma’idah, 5:95); and Allah, most High, said about a man and his wife, “If you fear a separation between them both then send a judge from his side and a judge from her side”, (An-Nisa, 4:35) may Allah guide you, does the judgment of men regarding their blood and their lives and fixing affairs between them have more right or the profit of rabbit is four dirham?” (He means if we can bring men to judge whether the profit on a rabbit is correct, then we can do so more importantly in affairs which concern spilling of Muslims and innocent non-Muslims blood and fixing of their affairs). They said: “By Allah the spilling of blood and fixing affairs between them has more rights.” So I asked; “are you free from this now?” they replied: “yes”
I then asked: “as for your complaint that he fought and did not speak badly about the enemy nor take booty, will you speak badly about your mother? Or will you make halal, to do with her what you would make halal, to do with other than her?
If so then you have disbelieved and if you believe she is not your mother then you have disbelieved also. Verily Allah most High States:
“The prophet is foremost from the believers than themselves and his wives are their mothers” (Ahzaab, 33: 6)
You are stuck in between two deviations so choose which one you want. Are you free from this also? They replied “By Allah, Yes”.
[And] as for your complaint that he removed his name as the ‘chief of the believers’ then indeed the messenger of Allah made an agreement with the Quraish in Hudaybiyyah and removed his title of Messenger of Allah for Muhammad Ibn Abdullah. Who is better, the Messenger of Allah or Ali?” They replied: “the messenger of Allah” I said “are you free from this also?” they replied: by Allah, Yes”.
So twenty thousand of them returned [to us], four thousand remained and were fought by Ali (ra) and defeated in Nahrawaan.
Ali did not fight them until they began to spread mischief in the lands and spill the blood of the innocent people, the same thing Boko Harams are doing today. As mention above, Abdullah Ibn Khabbaab ibn al Aratt passed by them while he was an appointee of Ali in some of those lands. He had with him his wife who was pregnant. They killed him and cut open the stomach of his wife. This news reached Ali and he sent an army which met them at Nahrawaan. After the battle was over and Ali annihilated them, he sent a party to search for the one whom the Messenger of Allah described as having a hand which was like a small breast of a woman. When this man was found Ali exclaimed: “Allahu Akbar I have been utilized to fulfill the prophecy and you all know the hadith (A hadith in Sahih Muslim in which the prophet (saw) prophesized that the khawaarij will be killed and among the killed ones will be a man whose hand will be like a breast of a woman)”. After Ali demolished and finished them, they lived under his caliphate in hiding. Some of them still spread their corruption in secret, until Abdur – Rahman Ibn Muljam from them killed Ali (ra).
*THE DIFFERENT TYPES OF KHAWAARIJ
According to Qadhi Abu Bakr bin Arabi al-Maaliki, the Kharijite were two types. One type believed that Uthman and Ali and those who fought in the battle of al Jamal and al Siffin and everyone who accepted the Judgments of Arbitrators were disbelievers. The other type believed that who ever committed a major sin is a disbeliever, who shall reside in hell fire (Jahannam) forever. Others claimed, the first type are a branch of the second because the reason for them believing the rest of the Muslims were disbelievers was that they sinned by supporting Uthman and Ali. According to Abuu Mansur al-Baghdadi the khawaarij split into twenty different sects.
My respected people,
The khawaarij ideology and creed will continue to appear until the last hour. The impact of the khawaarij, which was the first sect to split from the Muslims, had far reaching effects. It encouraged many other rebellions to take place in history, even though in later cases they had different political reasons.
Today a number of different sects evolved from the khawaarij throughout history. They either gave themselves other names or they were exposed by the righteous scholars of Islam in the past. Today they are known by various names and exist in all parts of the world. The righteous scholars of this day also expose them by their names and features.
The mere fact that the prophet Muhammad (SAW) informed us that they would continue to appear up to the last hour is enough reason for us to believe it. The prophet (SAW) prophesied in the previous famous hadith of Dhul Khuwaysara at-Tamimi that “Verily from the progeny of this man will be a people who will leave the religion as fast as an arrow leaves the bow,” (Muslim) referring to the Khawaarij, the extremists and Terrorists of today. Therefore, as Muslims, we have faith in his prophecies believing ultimately the information came to us from our Lord. Also, Abdullah Ibn Umar Narrates from the Messenger of Allah that: “they will continue to appear until the last of them joins the anti – Christ (Dajjal) fighting against the Muslims and their leader”. (Ibn Maajah)
Brothers and Sisters,
The following are some of the characteristics of the khawaarij:
1- They (Extremists) Misinterpret the Qur’an.
2- The extremists distort the concept of Jihad.
3- The extremists spill Innocent Muslims and non-Muslims blood.
If we can remember respected Brothers and Sisters, Boko Haram in our country (Nigeria) are always and everyday killing and slaughtering Innocent Citizens, both Muslims and non – Muslims. Destroying and burning villages and towns, they are also stealing and robbing people of their valuables. Because we don’t have a sincere, good and competent leadership in Nigeria that would listen to the advice of the experts on security, elders and clerics/scholars, the leader of the sect “Abubakar Shekau” even appeared in a new video release on Sunday in which he declared Gwoza in Borno state as part of an “Islamic Caliphate”, saying and claiming he has excised the town out of Nigeria. And also if you did not forget, among the prominent people they mentioned, those they called infidels and deserved to be killed are:
– The Turaki of Adamawa and former vice president of Nigeria Alhaji Atiku Abubakar.
– Former President of Nigeria General Ibrahim Babangida.
– Governor, Dr. Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso of Kano.
– Former Governor of Kano and Education Minister Malam Ibrahim Shekarau.
– Governor Kashim Shettima of Borno.
– Former president of Nigeria General Muhammadu Buhari (he was recently attacked the same day with Sheikh Dahiru Usman Bauchi in Kaduna).
– Sheikh Sani Yahaya Jingir Jos.
– Sheikh Dapchia of Maiduguri.
– The late chief Imam of Borno Wapchama.
– Shehu of Borno.
– The late Emir of Kano Alhaji Ado Bayero.
According to “Abubakar Shekau”, the Killer, Murderer, Marauder, Kidnapper, Destroyer, Torturer, Slaughterer, Vampire, Blood-Sucker, Mad, Crazy, Insane and highly demented criminal, they are all infidels (Kafirai) because they believed in Democracy. So, they have to be eliminated. (See the Premium Times of February 20, 2014, March 24, 2014 and Sahara reporters of February 20, 2014)
4- The Extremists (Khawaarij) call to disobeying the leaders.
5- The Khawaarij, extremists Justify revolting against Muslim leaders.
6- The Khwaarij extremists arouse emotions by openly speaking ill of the leaders.
7- The extremists, khawaarij call for abandoning the Muslim communities (Ummah).
8- The extremists, Khawaarij do not give precedence to Islamic Knowledge.
9 The khawaarij methodology strives on immature, young and emotional youth.
10- The extremists are easily infiltrated, used and dumped by the enemies of the
Islam.
11- The khawaarij, extremists abandon the scholars.
My beloved ones,
Here are some circumstances which cause the khawaarij and extremists ideology to breed in society:
1- Lack of understanding the religion, weakness in legislative knowledge, or taking the knowledge from untrust-worthy sources.
2- Extremism in following the religious principles and over strictness in the religion.
3- Unbalanced love and jealousy for the religion (i.e. extreme emotions without knowledge and wisdom)
4- Abstaining from the scholars, taking knowledge from them and following them.
5- Learning for deception in order to earn more respect than the scholars and other people.
6- If speakers are young in age and lack wisdom and experience.
7- The widespread of evil, corruption and oppression in the communities and the abandoning of youth and abandoning of enjoining good and forbidding evil.
8- Resentment of the social situation and those responsible for it.
9- Exciting the youth and the callers to Islam to dispute and argue with the authorities – this is a big plot against the religion and its people.
10- Little patience and weak wisdom in propagation.
11- Taking knowledge from the wrong people and wrong sources.
12- Muslims Indulging in disobedience and distancing themselves from Allah.
13- Muslims turning away from their religion and over-indulging in the worldly delights.
14- Widespread of oppression, injustice in all its forms and kinds from the leaders and those whom are led.
15- The dissention between the scholars and the youth.
16- Mistakes in methodology of contemporary da’awah movements.
17- The emergence of the young and foolish or inexperience and incompetent leaders of the people.
18- Corruption of the media.
19- The internal fight, skirmishes and crisis among the Muslims.
20- Widespread injustices and oppression of the Zionists, imperialists, neocolonialists etc over the Muslims and their lands.
Servants of Allah,
We find most, if not all of these conditions, some of them in almost every Muslim land as well as in non – Muslim lands in contemporary times, for these reasons, there is no doubt that the khawaarij (extremists) ideology will continue to exist for many years to come, as long as these social conditions are present. In fact, these conditions will remain until the last day and the khawaarij methodology will appear and re – appear and people will rebel and fight the leaders, shed blood until the last hour. The prophet said: “a tribe will appear during the end of the world young in age and foolish. They will speak well. Their Imaan (faith) will not go further than their throats; they will leave this religion (Islam) as fast as an arrow leaves the bow. So where ever you find them fight them, for indeed in fighting them there is a great reward on the day of judgement” (Bukhari)
* SIMPLE, SURE AND CONFIRMED WAYS INSHA ALLAH TO ERADICATE AND END BOKO HARAM INSURGENCY, TERRORISM IN NIGERIA.
First and foremost the authorities must understand that this problem of insurgency was the issue of ideology and creed and force alone cannot and will never defeat ideology/creed. Apart from the use of military force, to eradicate Boko Haram Insurgency and all kind of Terrorism entirely in Nigeria, the authorities must try as much as possible:
1- To engage the young population through education. To make education very easy and accessible to the masses and to help them, enlighten them on the importance of knowledge.
2- To build the trust between the Nigerian leaders and citizens.
3- To ensure justice.
4- To Promote equality.
5- To stop the stealing and looting of public money.
6- To engage the youth by bringing an end to unemployment.
7- To encourage and support the moral and religious teachings so that people will have the strong fear of Allah with them.
8- To sincerely reconcile, arbitrate, dialogue and have a concrete and strong peace treaty with the insurgents. With the condition that if they can drop their weapons and stop fighting the state.
Finally, for more information and understanding of the khawaarij /Extremists or Boko Harams ideologies, I am referring you to some very important books as follows:
1- Boko Haram in Nigeria: its beginnings, principles and activities in Nigeria. By Dr. Ahmad Murtada, Islamic studies department, Bayero University Kano, Northern Nigeria.
2- Boko Haram: Islamism, politics, security and the state in Nigeria. By African Studies Centre, (ASC), French Institute for Research in Africa.
3- 58 Descriptions of the khawaarij (the Non – conformist/Extremists). By Sheikh Aadil Bin Aliyu Al-qaridaan, (Saudi Arabia). Translated into English and Hausa languages by Islamic Awareness forum (IAF),
Anything good I have said is from Allah, and any mistakes are my own and I seek refuge in Allah from giving wrong advice and from all forms of Calamities and fitnah. And I ask Allah’s forgiveness if I stepped beyond bounds in anything I said or I do.
O Allah! Guide us and protect us from the causes of ignorance and destruction! Save us from the defects of ourselves! Cause the last of our deeds to be the best and most righteous! And forgive all of us, amin.
O Allah! We invoke you to set aright the affairs of Nigerians and provide them with righteous leaders who abide by the truth and lead by it. Grant us righteous leaders who are competent and never fear the blame of anyone in their duty. Give us leaders who never favour their relatives, families, tribe, region, party, religion, cronies and friends. Just and competent leaders, who are ready to apply justice to anyone irrespective of his religious affiliation or tribe, we ask you O Allah! To protect us from calamities of any kind and make us firm on the truth until the day we die. You, verily You are the Most-kind, Most Generous.
With this I conclude my khutbah (sermon) and ask Allah, the Almighty and the Sublime, to forgive all of our sins. So seek His forgiveness. He is all – Forgiving Most Merciful.
Ma’assalam,
This khutbah (Friday sermon) was prepared for delivery today (Jumu’ah) Dhul – Qi’dah 4, 1435 A.H. (August 29, 2014) by Imam Murtada Muhammad Gusau, the chief Imam of Nagazi Jumu’at Mosque Okene, Kogi State, Nigeria. He can be reached via 08038289761 and murtadagusau2@gmail.com or murtadagusau2@yahoo.com