Abdullah Oduro – The Longevity Of Integrity
AI: Summary ©
The speakers discuss the need for a culture of self-improvement, acknowledging one's identity and living in a centered way. They stress the importance of affirming one's own values and avoiding racist behavior. The speakers emphasize the need to act in a fashion that is century to their own values and not share their own experiences. They also stress the importance of faith and support from others to strengthen their individual identity and avoidoppression.
AI: Summary ©
Alhamdulillah, we praise Allah. We seek his aid
and forgiveness.
We seek refuge in Allah from the evil
of ourselves and of our shortcomings.
Whomsoever Allah guides, none can misguide.
And whomsoever Allah allows to be led astray,
none can guide aright. And I bear witness
that there is no one worthy of worship
except Allah, the exalted that Muhammad is his
last messenger and servant. Oh, you who believe,
be mindful of Allah and die and accept
in a state of submission to him alone.
Oh, humanity, be mindful of Allah who created
you from a single soul and from that
created its mate, and from that scatters many
men and women. Oh, humanity,
Be mindful of Allah and do not cut
off relations with your relatives. And indeed Allah
is a Raqeel. He's a monitor over you.
Oh, humanity. Be mindful of Allah and speak
the truth in order for him to accept
of our accept accept of our of our
deeds and forgive us for our shortcomings. And
whoever obeys Allah and his messenger has indeed
achieved the greatest achievement. As to what follows,
indeed the best speech is the book of
Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala.
And the best guidance is that of Muhammad
peace and blessings be upon him and upon
all of the prophets. And of the worst
affairs in our doctrinal system of Islam
are the newly invented ones. For every newly
invented affair in this situation is an innovation,
and for every innovation is a form of
going astray. And from every form of going
astray
is in the fire of *.
You know, I want to be a lawyer
when I grow up. I've been thinking about
becoming a lawyer.
This was a statement that was said by
a young man
when he was alone in a classroom
with a teacher that he somewhat admired.
But at this moment, some could consider this
the moment of truth or an awakening or
a moment of introspection
for this young man. Where the teacher responded,
a lawyer,
that's not a realistic goal for
an n word.
I'm so hesitant. I wanna say the n
word to bring the impact to all of
you. But some of you know what the
n word is. When you leave, ask what
the n word is, because the impact needs
to be felt,
as it was felt by this young man
who grew up to be Malika Shabazz, Malcolm
X, Rahimh a long
time. A young boy
mentioned an aspiration that he had that he
had, And his teacher said, you're you're you're
a black person.
You're the n word. You're a *.
Let's be mid midway. You're a *
in a demeaning fashion.
Don't think about being think about something else.
He said, think about something that you can
be.
You can find this in the biography of
Malcolm x in the second chapter entitled the
mascot, in the third page in the thirties.
I I advise all of you to read
this because the similarities that was felt from
Malcolm x and in the sixties with the
civil rights movement,
the joining together, the organizing,
the mobilizing for a greater cause
is that which we have faced, which we
are facing now. And guess what? We will
continue to face as human beings.
We will continue to face as an ummah.
We will continue to face
as Muslims.
This is very important.
There is a concept called nigrescence
theory.
Nigressence
theory.
This theory is where it describes a process
of becoming black or developing a racial identity.
And this racial identity extends through history and
impacts those victimized by racism or white supremacy.
It was an incident that you faced in
your life
that you encountered.
And in this particular situation,
as a black man
or as a black boy,
that made him have introspection.
Who am I really? What is my real
identity? And how do I live that identity?
Many of you parents came to this country
and had a rude awakening that you are
not an American.
I can't understand your English. Can you repeat
that again?
It's a rude awakening,
And that could be similar to this experience,
the niggresence theory. It shows you who you
are by them
showing who they are.
Sometimes you realize, wow. I was really trying
to be like them. Who am I?
We find that this is happening with a
lot of our brothers and sisters that are
in college now. May Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala
guide them and bless them and keep them
on the straight path and make them strong
and firm. Ameen.
This is important. Each and every single one
of us, whether it's through puberty, being a
teenager, and asking questions about ourselves,
we will have this awakening.
This introspection
that we will have is good for us
because it makes us do
to review. Who am I and what does
that really mean?
What is happening in Gaza now, may Allah
protect them.
To make their hearts firm.
Upon faith in Allah
What we see is happening now in these
campuses.
What's taking place?
It is similar to this nigristic theory. Nigro
it's similar to this nigristic theory. Excuse me.
To where they realize
the person that was my instructor or my
friend, they have another allegiance.
Where is my allegiance? What is my allegiance
to ultimately?
Is it to my nationality?
Or is it to the creator of nationalities?
Is it to the creator of the heavens
and the earth?
I'm realizing that there was a long history
of this coloniality,
of people taking over a people and oppressing
them.
And then creating a narrative as though they
are the other or lesser of a people.
Each and every single one of us have
a responsibility
in regard to what is taking place.
And that is what is important for us
as Muslims today.
To act in accordance to that identity. But
again,
again,
what is your identity? Who are you? And
parents, it's important
that we understand our children, our young men
and women,
they're still searching for their identity.
And there can be ways that they look
for and actualize
the realization
of their identity.
And it's important that we as parents
and that we as leaders,
make sure that they do it in a
fashion that is befitting to their iman in
Allah. Firstly,
firstly in Allah, subhanahu wa ta'ala.
That it coincides with Iman and it coincides
with the deen of Islam
and the spirit of Islam. And what is
being done insha Allah
coincides with that with our brothers and sisters
what is happening. And what we constantly when
we constantly raise our hands up to them
in dua.
This reminds me of a statement of Musa,
alayhis salaam, a beautiful statement that he mentioned,
and it's so comprehensive.
In the chapter of Qasas, chapter number 28
verse number 17, where Musa alaihis salam after
he, by his love for justice,
his love for love,
His love for healthy cohesion.
When he accidentally killed someone accidentally,
and he recognized the the act that he
did, and he fled.
He fled to Madigan from Egypt.
But what did he say right after this?
SubhanAllah. He makes a beautiful statement. It was
a dua where he mentioned,
He said, oh, Allah. From what you have
blessed me with, do not make me of
those that, that act in accordance or that
shall support
the guilty.
We want to separate this into 2 parts.
Oh my lord, from what you have blessed
me with. Each and every single one of
us,
literally now, are living through numerous blessings. Health,
wealth, and most importantly,
brothers and sisters,
iman.
Iman
iman iman. Faith in Allah.
So using that faith and using what he
has given you
to support Allah
If you help Allah, meaning the religion of
Allah, which is ultimately helping yourself, Allah will
help and assist you.
And he will make you firm.
Firm.
Why? Because throughout this trial of helping the
dean of Allah, helping the religion of Allah,
there will be tribulations.
There will be narratives created.
There will be things that are said about
you individually or you collectively, Mohammed Khadija or
Muslims
or a certain nationality.
A narrative will be created, but what's most
important is that your heart is firm with
Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala. And you fear none
initially
and ultimately
none but him.
This is what is important now and what
we are seeing, what is going on.
That Musa alaihi salam firstly said,
recognize the blessings that Allah has
given you. Every time you recite Al Fatiha,
you say, Alhamdulillah.
Allah is worthy of praise because of what?
Remember those beautiful names and attributes.
Ar Rahim, he has mercy on me, just
as he had had mercy on Roshar Rosh,
for example. The father that was holding his
daughter,
kissing her eyelids,
Saying that this is my soul.
What do we say when someone passes away?
Rahimahullah.
May Allah have mercy on
them. Someone passing away is a mercy.
What did the prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam
say when his son Ibrahim died in his
arms? And he told Ibn Auf when he
was crying.
And said, oh, you're Surah. Even you? He
said,
verily this is a mercy.
Remembering these beautiful names of Allah
when we look at
when Musa said,
the blessings that you have given me. So
brothers and sisters, in these times now and
in every single time, remember the blessings that
Allah
has given you,
and use those blessings to help yourself and
help the dean of Allah
So when we look at the statement of
Musa Alaihi Salam, he said
The first portion. Oh, Allah, from what you
have blessed me with,
how do I use it?
That I
shall never support
the guilty.
Brothers and sisters,
whether we are in our classrooms or at
work or outside at a rally,
and we want to make a point clear,
Firstly, know that in each one of these
ways, we can help the religion of Allah
subhanahu wa ta'ala. But firstly,
it's 3 things. Firstly, the intention.
The intention.
When we speak out,
whether online or offline, about what is going
on in Gaza,
about what is going on in Sudan,
about what is going on in Yemen,
about what is going on in China, about
what is going on in Bangladesh,
what is going on around the world. Whenever
we speak out,
we want to make sure that it is
ultimately to help the religion of Allah subhanahu
wa ta'ala. It is to uphold justice. Because
when we say uphold justice
and safety
and honor, realize that each one of those
are from the of the Sharia, from the
Islamic objectives.
Anything you see within the Quran and the
sunnah is there to make to establish
and maintain
justice.
Honor.
Preservation of the honor. Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala
says,
Adam.
And we have made we have made the
the son of Adam noble, the most noble
of creation, Al Aya.
So when we establish this identity,
parents, students, youth,
firstly knowing who we are and upholding that
and not be of those that are the
oppressors.
That what we do, are we assisting ourselves?
Were we assisting the religion? Which leads to
the second thing, assessment.
To assess the situation.
When we look at what took place in
the civil rights movement, they just didn't go
out there They
didn't go out there unorganized.
They mobilized and came together, but they were
very clear on what they wanted as we
see
with our brothers and sisters now.
Very clear.
They want to stop the violence.
They want this message that there is oppression.
Using this word of genocide,
That there is a form of. And we're
not gonna sit back and not say anything.
There is a form of oppression.
And we speak out or we do what
we can to the best of our ability
from what Allah
From what Allah has given us. From what
Allah has blessed us with.
And also ending with the statement of Harun.
When Musa alayhi salaam, the story of Musa
is so beautiful. When we look at the
chapter, Musa al Araf,
chapter number,
chapter number 7 verse number 150,
when Moses comes back and he sees that
they were worshiping the golden calf, and he
took his son,
He took his by his beard or his
head, and then he said, oh, how could
you how would He
told them, how could you rush
from the order of your lord? But Musa
Harun, he said something beautiful.
He said, oh, the son of my mother.
They took oppress. They oppressed me and they
they they they they tried they were making
me weak because they they were so much
more and many.
And what he said,
do not let the enemies rejoice over us.
Remember this, brothers and sisters. Whether you go
out on a protest,
whether you speak out at a at a
wherever you are,
remember this. Whatever you do, maintain the integrity
of who you are,
but do not make the message something that
is oppressive.
Get your point across.
Be firm. Be strong. Be educated.
But do not do something
that allows the enemies of those that do
not want to see Islam exist.
Muslim exist Muslims exist.
Do not allow that to be a means
for them to rejoice over us. And that
is important for you to understand the narrative
of your religion. For all of us to
understand the narrative of our religion and to
understand the oppression that is taking place.
And to speak out to the best of
our ability.
And those that have the zeal
in doing so,
remember that.
But sitting at home and not saying anything,
now is not the time.
Now is not the time. Now is not
the time. Having the intention to please Allah
through this and speaking against oppression, speaking against
injustice,
this is what is needed from us now.
And that
is what will help strengthen
the identity
of those that say,
Those that say, my lord is Allah. May
Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala make us firm on
this journey of life. May Allah Subhanahu Wa
Ta'ala make us firm on this message of
Islam.
May Allah make us firm on learning justice,
what it's about, and how to uphold the
justice in the land.
Oh, Allah help the weak and destitute in
every single place around the earth in the
far east and the far west.
Oh, Allah make the iman firm in the
hearts of our brothers and sisters in.
Make the resilience in their hearts.
Keep them resilience on the challenges that they
may face.
Make us of those that increase our self
in your remembrance to make us of those
that increase in our dua and our good
deeds and standing out for the truth and
faith in a manner that does not allow
the enemies to rejoice over us.
Brother and sister, just move forward, please.