Pay Attention to the Masjid Al-Aqsa Shutdown! | Ramadan Pause & Reflect #11 | Dr. Omar Suleiman

While the ummah searches for Laylatul Qadr, Masjid Al-Aqsa stands in silence. A place loved by the prophets, honored by Allah, and sacred to the hearts of believers—yet closed to those who long to pray within it.

In these blessed nights, as we raise our hands in duʿa and seek Allah’s mercy, let our hearts remember Al-Aqsa. Feel its absence. Let your duʿa reach it. May Allah protect it, honor it, and allow the believers to return to it again.

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

How much did Fira'un care about Masd al-Aqsa? Is there any indication in the Quran at all that Fira'un actually cared about Masdud al-Aqsa? I mean he's a tyrant and he's all about power and authority. Is there anything that he actually cared about Masd al-Aqsa or the Holy Land? No. In fact, in this juz, in Surah Zuqhruf, Alaih Sali Mulkumusr, right? All he cared about, don't I have the kingdom of Egypt? And that's an indication that all Firaun saw was his own authority, his own throne, and the only thing he really cared about in terms of regional dynamics and geography was what it meant to protect his throne. Of course, there's no equivalent to that today. But you know, in the past, if you can imagine, a ruler who only cares about his throne, and he only cares about his own power, and so nothing is really holy to Fira'un. He really doesn't venerate anything except himself. Nothing is really sacred. It's his throne. Alay Sidimul Q Masr. I have this, I have Musr, I have Egypt, I have these rivers that flow under me. No one threatened my power as long as I remain in my authority. Nothing is sacred to Fira'un. Musa alayhi salam. Did Musa care about Al-Aqsa? Yes. I know you're afraid to answer questions, but it's okay. Musa cared deeply about Mazul-Aqsa. Was Musa born in Jerusalem? Does Musa Islam's origin trace to that land? Did Musa ever see it? Did he ever even see a picture of it? No. But subhanAllah look at the depth of pain in his heart. And I want you to imagine this. Musa a Islam, who never saw Al-Majid al-Aqsa, who never saw Al-Bayt al-Makdis, who never saw any of it, he only knew of it what Allah Azza told him of it. The Prophet says in the hadith and al-Bukhari that when he was passing away, Sa'alullah and Yudniya Huminal Ardul Muqadda City, Ramyatan Bihajr. He asked Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala to bring him as close to the Holy Land as possible, to the point of it just being a stone's throw away. And the Prophet said that if you were with me, I would show you where Musa is, tahta kathib al-Ahmar under the Red Dune, right outside of Al-Baytul Mahdiz. It's actually deeply profound when you think about it. How much Musa loved a place that he'd never been to and he did not originate from for one simple reason. That the ulama mentioned that one of the signs of iman is Ta'alima Allah Mahullah. Is that you venerate what Allah venerated, that you honor what Allah honored. That is the sign of Iman. The lack of iman is the opposite. And so I want us to actually take a step back because it's the last ten nights, and masha'Allah, Imanyat, and we're talking about faith, and we're talking about rahmah, and all of these things are very important, and we're seeing the images of Al-Mazd al-Haram so full, record numbers of people, the millions of people that are there in the haram. You're seeing all of these sweet pictures of the people around the world worshipping Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. And let's just take a step back and sit with the idea that Mazd al-Aqsa is closed. For the first time in recent memory, I I've read enough to know that I'm not sure, but 1967, I don't know if it's precedented that you have in Al-Ashal Awaqr in the last ten nights no prayer in masjid al-Aqsa. Can you imagine the angels circling the earth, looking for the gatherings of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala's mercy, looking for the people worshipping Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, and we talked about the familiarity. The people that prayed in that masjid last year, not being able to pray in that masjid. Masjid al-Aqsa, the first khibla of the Muslims, the third most sacred place in Islam, is empty in these last ten nights. And a serious conversation we have to have with ourselves as a community is like, is that political? Are we bringing this in now? Like, why is this don't get don't bring this into Islam. This is politics. There's a problem with our Islam if it's divorced from Mazd al-Aqsa. It's a really bad practice of the deen, a fundamental misunderstanding of the deen. And we have to come back to ourselves at an individual level. And I'm going to keep this very short tonight, Bidn Lahi Ta'ala, in what might be Laylatul Qadr. If when I think about all of my priorities in the world right now and everything that's happening in the world right now, and where Masd al-Aqsa being shut down ranks on my list of priorities of things that are important to me right now. There's a barometer there. I'm not saying this to beat people down. I'm saying this so that we can extol what Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala extolled in our hearts in these sacred nights, so that we can extol his sacred places in these sacred nights and include this in our dua and include our efforts toward this. Musa alayhi salam also is teaching us another manifestation of Ittaqullah mastaatum, fear Allah as much as you can. Musa alayhi salam wanted to be as close to Al-Aqsa as he could, as close as he could. Fear Allah as much as you can, mastaatum meant be as close to Al-Mazd al-Aqsa as you can for him, as close to the Holy Land as you can for him. And so for us, dear brothers and sisters, in these last ten, there should be a renewal of effort and there should be serious dua in these last ten bidn alm. And I want to leave you with this thought as well. That every single time the enemies of Allah make a new incursion into Al-Aqsa, every time they build a new tunnel, every time they post another AI video of Al-Aqsa being blown up, every time they make a suggestion about the restoration of what never was in the first place and the removal of what Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala honored. Every single time they harass a worshiper, every time they shut a gate, every single time they make a new move of aggression against Al-Aqsa. They're seeing how much they can normalize with you still remaining numb. It's a test of our numbness. We already know what to expect from Muslim governments. A really, really angry statement of condemnation, masha'Allah. That's them. Allah will handle them. What about us? Every single one of us at an individual level. Where is your heart right now with Al-Mazl-Aqsa? They're testing the Ummah to see how much it can tolerate of aggression on an Aksa. And this has been what's been happening over the last few years. In a world where you can become numb to genocide and the Epstein files, surely you can start to tolerate the idea of the sacred place being taken from us. Laylatul Qadr. It might be tonight. Laylatul Juma'ah, a sacred night. Renew your du'as, dear brothers and sisters. Renew your intentions, renew your efforts. Keep at it. Keep at it in your capacity, in your capacity, because this is a sign of iman for us. And who knows? If we are still here next year, what we'll be looking at when we look at that compound, when we look at Mazul Aksa. May Allah protect it from our enemies and his enemies. And may Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala protect it from the aggression upon it. And may Allah Azza protect us from being numb to aggression on it. And may Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala allow us to see it free. And may Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala allow us to be a part of freeing it. And may Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala accept our du'as for it. And may Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala allow us to make dua in it. And may Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala as He's gathered us in these masajids. Gather us in Masdid al-Aqsa while it is liberated. Allah salam alaikum wahsu wa waq.