Brampton Faisal Hamid Abdur-Razak is the Ameer (Spiritual Leader) of the Ahlus Sunnah Council of Canada (CCAS), a Spiritual Guide of ASJA (Anjuman Sunnatul Jamaat Association of Trinadad & Tobago) and the founder of the Islamic Forum of Canada in Brampton, Ontario.
Here is an excerpt from Faisal Hamid Abdur-Razak’s sermon that was published on November 17, 2012:
Even in Islamic Sharia [Law] the act of stoning is also done to reject certain evil actions, evil deeds. If someone commits certain crimes in Islam, and he is found guilty by an Islamic court, one of the punishments is stoning to death, signifying our rejection of evil actions as well. But there is something else; there is something else that the stoning does to the believer. For Iblis [Satan], for the Shaytan [Satan], is rejecting him and rejecting his attempt to influence us. But for the believer there is an important benefit. Someone in the time of the Prophet, peace be upon him, committed an immoral act, which requires stoning, came to the Prophet, peace be upon him, and confessed the Prophet, peace be upon him, and the Prophet kept turning away from him, Glorious is Allah, as he didn’t want to hear it. But the companion [صحابي] he knew he had done something wrong, he kept going in front of the Prophet, peace be upon him, [and said]: ‘O Messenger of Allah [يا رسول الله] I did this, I must be punished. The Prophet, peace be upon him, kept turning away, moving away from him, as he didn’t want to hear this and the companion [صحابي] ] kept persisting, going and walking in front of the Prophet [saying]: ‘O Messenger of Allah [يا رسول الله] I did this, I must be punished. And finally the Prophet ordered that he will be stoned to death. And this was done, and the Prophet, peace be upon him, ordered that he will be prepared for [an Islamic] funeral [جنازة] and the Prophet himself prayed [in] his funeral [جنازة]. He told his companions: ‘he is in heaven [جنة], he is purified, he is purified’. So, this act of stoning now is also purification for the believer.
Below is the transcript of the entire sermon as provided by Faisal Hamid Abdur-Razak:
All praises are due to Allah SWT. We praise Him and we Glorify Him on this blessed day of Jumu’ah, and today is indeed a special day, this day of Jumu’ah. Many Fada’il, many virtues, are combined on this day today.
The day of Jumu’ah has its unique virtues. But today – it’s also the first Jumu’ah of the new Islamic year. Yesterday was the first day of our new Islamic year…1434 years after the Hijrah of the Prophet Alayhi Salatu as Salaam.
It is also the first Jumu’ah of the sacred month of Muharram. Sharulllah Al Muharram Al Muezzum. This great month of Allah SWT. The month of Muharram. So today is a special Jumu’ah, a special day, in the life of each and every one of us, in the life of this Ummah, the Ummah of Rasol’Allahi Sallahu Alayhi Wassallum.
This Ummah has always been known as an Ummah that is willing to make sacrifices, sacrifices for Allah (SWT). This is my first Jumu’ah here at the masjid after returning from Hajj. The Islamic Forum Hajj group returned successfully from the Hajj after completing the rituals of the Hajj, the Ziyarah to Prophet (SAW). And after this great achievement, there’s an incident — several of them — that I remember now as I’m thinking of the Hajj journey.
And those of you who’ve been to Hajj, you know that one of the required rituals is the Mina, that you stay in Mina in the tents of Mina, for three or four days and then a day before that, the day before Arafat. And while you’re in Mina, starting from Eid, the tenth day of Dhul Hijjah, you have to stone the Jamarath…
This outward rejection of Iblis, of Shaytan (“the devil’). Shaytan is described as Ar-Rajim…the accursed one, the rejected one. But the root word of Rajim — Rajjam means to stone — the one who is stoned. So Ibrahim (AS), when he was tempted by shaytan (“the devil”), by Iblis (“the devil”), Ibrahim (AS) stoned him. This is the expression of rejection.
Ismail Zabihu’Allah (AS), when he was tempted by Iblis, Ismail stoned him. This took place on three separate occasions, and the place where this action took place, the stoning of Shaytan by Sayyidna Ibrahim and Sayyidna Ismail, it’s represented by a concrete column, or wall, a small wall that’s there and so part of the ritual is when you perform this Hajj, you would walk from your tent, where you are in Mina, to the Jamarat, the places where these three pillars are, and you would stone them, this outward rejection of Iblis.
Even in Islamic Shariah, the act of stoning is also done to reject certain evil actions, evil deeds. If someone commits certain crimes in Islam, and they are found guilty by an Islamic court, one of the punishments is stoning to death. Signifying a rejection of evil actions as well, but there’s something else, there’s something else that this stoning does for the believer – for Iblis, for Shaytan is rejecting him and rejecting his attempt to influence us. But for the believer, there is an important benefit.
Someone in the time of the Prophet Alayhi Salatu as Salaam committed an immoral act, which required stoning, came to the Prophet Alayhi Salatu as Salaam and confessed to the Prophet Alayhi Salatu as Salaam. And the Prophet kept turning away from him – Subhanallah – as if he didn’t want to hear it. But the Sahaba – he knew he had done something wrong, he kept going in front of the Prophet Alayhi Salatu as Salaam, “Ya Rasollallah, I did this, I must be punished.” The Prophet Alayhi Salatu as Salaam kept turning away, moving away from him as if he didn’t want to hear this. And the Sahaba kept persisting, going – walking in front of the Prophet, “Ya Rasollallah, I did this I must be punished.” And then finally, the Prophet ordered that he be stoned to death – and this was done. And then the Prophet Alayhi Salatu as Salaam ordered that he be prepared for Janazah and the Prophet himself prayed his Janazah. And he told his Sahabas, he is in Jannah, he is purified. He is purified. So this act of stoning now, is also purification for the believer.