By Shaykh Syed Anisul Haque
3 October 2025

﷽ 

In recent weeks, we’ve seen a rise in open hostility towards Muslims. In this very country, over 100,000 people gathered at what was described as a protest against immigration. But the speeches revealed something deeper and darker. 

Many openly promoted the “Great Replacement” theory – a racist and Islamophobic idea that claims Muslims are trying to take over Western societies and replace the native population. It’s a theory rooted in fear and hate. It suggests that Muslims, just by existing and practicing their faith, are a threat.

One Belgian politician said, “Islam is our real enemy… Islam does not belong in Europe or the UK.” This is not just politics. This is ideological warfare – an attempt to demonise Muslims, to make Islam appear dangerous and foreign. Since that protest, we’ve seen the real-world effects: mosques attacked, Muslim women harassed, and even a 12-year-old boy assaulted simply for being Muslim.

It’s painful. It’s frightening. But I stand here today not to spread fear or hopelessness. I stand here to remind myself and you of the words of our Prophet ﷺ:

Know that there is much good in being patient with what you detest, victory will come with patience, relief will come with affliction, and with hardship will come ease.

[Reported by Ibn Abbas (RA)]

This is not the first time our Ummah has faced hostility. In fact, this is how Islam began. The Prophet ﷺ and his companions were few in number, surrounded by hatred, and under constant attack. They were mocked, beaten, boycotted, and even killed. But they didn’t give up. And more importantly, they didn’t lose themselves in anger or bitterness.

Allah ﷻ tells us:

Islam started as something strange. The Prophet ﷺ himself said:

Islam began as something strange and will return to being something strange. So glad tidings to the strangers.

When asked who these strangers were, he ﷺ said,

They are the ones who correct the people when they become corrupt.

Our strength lies in the legacy of the Prophet ﷺ. When we face hatred today, we must ask: how did he respond?

Let’s go back to one of the most painful moments in the life of the Prophet ﷺ. After years of abuse in Makkah, the Messenger ﷺ travelled to the city of Ta’if hoping to find people who would support Islam. Instead, the leaders mocked him and sent gangs of children into the streets to throw stones at him. They chased him out of the city, wounding him so badly that his feet were stuck to his sandals with blood.

Exhausted and broken, he ﷺ found a small tree to sit under and turned to Allah. That’s when the Angel of the Mountains came to him. The angel said, “O Muhammad, if you wish, I will crush the people of Ta’if between these two mountains.”

Imagine what most of us would say in that moment. But the Prophet ﷺ replied: “No. Rather, I hope Allah will bring out from their descendants those who will worship Him alone, without associating anything with Him.”

SubhanAllah. This was the mercy of our Prophet ﷺ. He responded not with revenge, but with hope for their children and their future.

That is the model we follow. That is our roadmap.

The Prophet ﷺ taught us that this world is not meant to be a place of ease:

This world is a prison for the believer and a paradise for the disbeliever.

Allah warns us clearly:

The Prophet ﷺ never allowed pain to stop his mission. He continued to call people to Islam with clarity and conviction. Even when he saw the family of Yasir being tortured, he ﷺ didn’t promise them safety. He said:

Patience, O family of Yasir. Verily, your meeting place is Paradise.

Even when he was praying near the Ka‘bah and his enemy Uqbah tried to strangle him, he did not respond with violence. Abu Bakr (RA) intervened, crying out: “Would you kill a man for saying: My Lord is Allah?”

Time after time, the Prophet ﷺ showed us that patience is not weakness. It is strength. It is discipline. It is faith in Allah’s promise:

But he wasn’t just patient. He was also firm. When Quraysh leaders tried to bribe him, offering him wealth and status if he would soften his message, he ﷺ replied:

By Allah, if they placed the sun in my right hand and the moon in my left, I would not leave this message.

That is our role model. In a world that wants us to hide our Islam, to compromise our beliefs, to blend in by diluting the truth, we take our lesson from him. We stay clear, consistent, and confident in our faith.

Yes, we are kind. Yes, we are merciful. But we do not water down the truth. We do not change our religion to fit in. Because this religion is not ours to change. It is a trust, and we carry it with honour.

Finally, let us remember: the Prophet ﷺ never stopped giving da‘wah. From the private gatherings in Dar al-Arqam to publicly calling the tribes from Mount Safa, he ﷺ kept going. Even when rejected. Even when mocked.

Allah instructed him:

So let us be people who speak the truth. Who live Islam not just in the masjid, but in our workplaces, our homes, and our daily interactions.

Let us respond to hatred the way the Prophet ﷺ did – with patience, with dignity, and with unwavering clarity.

O Allah, grant us patience like the Prophet ﷺ. Keep us firm upon the truth. Unite the hearts of the Muslims. Protect our brothers and sisters around the world. Grant victory to the oppressed.

O Allah, be the Helper of our brothers and sisters in Palestine. Free al-Aqsa. Heal their wounded. Accept their martyrs.

Ameen.

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