My experience giving Dawah in Ireland – Abdur Raheem McCarthy

Abdur-Raheem McCarthy

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and from the people who warned me not to go was a chef who suggested saying this. He said the same people who are supporting you now continue to come. He said, they're the ones who are going to stab you on your back when you go. But they say, what's the main problem? When it comes to, you know, Islam in Ireland? I said, the fact that we have Muslims podcasts.

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So, yeah, you you tell us about what you've been doing recently, please. I mean, you, you moved from me you grew up in? People know, you grew up in

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the USA, you're born and raised Irish kind of extraction. You went back home to Ireland? For a while? Yeah, actually, it was it was very interesting, because when I decided to move back to Ireland,

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I call it back. Yeah, but even though you were born and raised back to the homeland.

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So the I asked different Musharraf and different, you know, people have experience and who lived in the West, and, you know, should I go back or not. And I knew when I was when I turned eight, when eight when I was 18, I became Muslim. And then I went out to study Oh, and I stayed overseas, studying for over 13 years. And then I ended up going to work in Sudan. And you know, worked in started my, my Dawa career, I guess there are very minor when I first started, my dad was there, and then it started International, international,

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lecturing, traveling or what have you and internationally to extend on PCB and PCB, that's when it started 2009. And then, you know, who did TV and other TV channels. And then I moved to Dubai and stayed there for about three and a half, almost four years, and had this dream or this, you know, inspiration to kind of build and do things in Ireland because there was no English speaking do out. There are students of knowledge, you know, there's some people giving Dawa. But you know, to like, as a thought of as a student of knowledge. There's no one there who was an English speaker. So I would have been, I was the first and from that aspect. So I decided to go back and build there. And

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from the people who warned me not to go, was she a few semesters, if he has the experience, he said, Now it looks good. And he said, the people I know promising you this and you're saying this, we said the same people who are supporting you now continue to come. He said, they're the ones who are going to stab you on your back when you go, they're the ones gonna cause you problems. And he said, You're going my son through a midlife crisis. And he said, Don't do it. He said, You're comfortable where you are living in the Middle East. So you're doing well, there, you and your family said, Stay there. But obviously, sometimes, as you say, you know, you have to go through something, learn

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yourself in order to experience it. That's it. So I didn't listen to his advice. But every now and then I go back to his email, it was actually much deeper than that, at everything. He said, What happened to me from the Muslims in Ireland or in the West, that happened, just kind of rewinding back a bit. You mentioned, maybe something be controversial, when you're saying shift use of STS was saying, you know, the people will, what do you say, Sally will stab you in the back stab you in the back? What's that about? Getting? Because obviously, you'll find like, especially if he's Masters is still in the US. Okay? And because obviously, you know, you'll find that a lot of times, you know,

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that, you know, people who say they want to support the dollar when they're behind the dollar. And then once you start, you know, to come into especially in the massage and for some reason to massage it in the West. You know, I reached the conclusion that you know, the massage in the western Fortunately, you know, some of the probably the biggest barrier between us and giving Dawa. Wow, you know, even now when people

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do come to them, or when I when I travel across the world view, oh my gosh, Ireland, and look at people like Irish people, Irish people are nice people. So how is Islam in Ireland? Ireland is beautiful. Ireland is wonderful. The Irish are or, you know, fantastic non Muslims, they, but they say what's the main problem when it comes to, you know, Islam in Ireland, I said, the fact that we have Muslims there, there is no Muslims, it would be a fantastic place to live. You know, unfortunately, this is this is the reality. So it's a huge challenge for a reverse, obviously, because you see in the book certain things and you read about it, it's amazing. Then also even in

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the Quran, the ayah

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Robina Allah Tatiana fitna and Latina Cafaro. And then that you could take that as well. Don't make us a tribulation or trial for the disbelieving people. And that's the reality because when we give we give that with sometimes to non Muslims, and they read about Islam, or they hear about Islam, they talk to you about Islam. They see how that makes sense. And I could understand that, but they say if it was truly beneficial, it's truly good. Why didn't it benefit you guys? Why are the Muslims in the situation there? Why this country is like that. That's country why the immigrants when they come to our countries, they're doing this and that. So this is the thing is that they see that and

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that's actually spineless. It's a beautiful example. Any that we really need to think about in any Muslim living in the West needs to always remember that I that he doesn't become a fitna tribulation for the non Muslims because they see Islam through us. And I'll tell you a story. Subhanallah when we first when I first moved to Ireland, one of the tests I had with one of the brothers, he asked me to come here, Mission limited. May Allah bless him. He had a former and he was a hospital. And he actually gave him all the things away for charity, all the all of the things that Aziz entered the vase, and he paid for that and then he opened up his center to be a mosque, or to be in an Islamic

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Center.

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And then when he went for the planning permission to open it, he didn't get the hours you know, so he couldn't like use it for a shell, we couldn't use it for Fudger. So as a masjid or to pray in any ways, we could use that as a masjid. So basically, it was an information center, but obviously we're using it to pray five times a day, but we weren't able to use it when we opened it. And one of the main things was, is the we had one of the neighbors who was so against us. Yeah. And she was like, you know, just her, you know, she had this vendetta against Islam and Muslims. So we just you know, figured you know, stuff Allah, this, you know, Kathira hater. You know, there's everybody's

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thinking, but Subhanallah when we actually found out what the problem was, I guess, can I guess? It was people parking outside of a driveway, when life started in a parking

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parking spot with one of the brothers who was living there next to the next to the man in masjid. And he disputed with her over who had the more right to the certain parking spot. And the brother yelled at her, raised his voice to her, and then raised his hand.

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And, like, threatened to hit her, she jumped back and she was like, Well, you know, so it escalated to that. So then what did she see? Muslim beard, Arab guy, you know, in she just mark all Muslims with with with the same color, you know. And then later what happened, like when I moved in there, she's like, looking at me, you know, a beard. Another one. I see my wife like with the niqab. And

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so she's looking at us, but um, you know, I'm generally I'm, I try to always be nice to everyone. So I'm just this, you know, Hi, how you doing this type of thing and raise your hand. Just Hi. Very nice. Hi. But I'm the law. So I never had any issues with her myself. But I never actually, you know, spoke with her. But one of the brothers who was better than me, may Allah bless him. He was living next door to one of our neighbors, he actually started to speak to her start to be nicer to try to, you know, fix the situation. And he found out this story from her. She said, after meeting with you and speak with you, she said, I've changed my mind about Muslims. And she says, Unless she

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said, No, she does this.

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She said, You know that I've changed my mind about Muslims because of how nice you are. And I've seen you know, Muslims really are but your friend from your country, same and same Arab countries, that he did this. And this. I mean, that's why I labeled all Muslims being the same. So I look out now. And it just how you can combine the two.

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And you see now that he truly as they said in the verse, they became a fitna. For those individuals. No, they became a trial and tribulation for her where his actions push her away from Islam where another brother with true Islam and good manners and being like a Muslim shooting, a main thing is a HELOC. For the four people around you. I mean, if it was like, if it happened in England, I would maybe give some explanation maybe about, you know, hundreds and hundreds of years of indoctrination of with racist stereotypes. But in Ireland, I've seen that just generally non Muslim Irish people, they don't have the same kind of stereotypes generally against Muslims. Is that a fair kind of

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assessment, in terms of until recently, recently, they've kind of they've been on the receiving end of English. That's why you'll find for example, when I think the stereotypes it is there because of the media. And I would actually find that interesting enough people seem to like my wife within the club. I think she found that it was very challenging for obviously, but maybe it was sometimes less challenging for me than if I were to come like wearing a thought. Because they see me and they know, I'm Irish, you know, and I'm one of them. But I'm wearing the closest one of them, you know, St. Patrick.

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Maybe they know it, but they don't they don't get it. So like, if you would see them. Like they would be scared, you know, oh my god, you know, it's one of them. But he's one of us at the same time. So what's going on? There was a bit of shock. My wife they probably assumed she was out of or something like that. So they wouldn't, you know, think about this. One time when she was going with she, she had we had our son there. She was in the hospital, she comes up. So the lady looks at her and she's like, Do you speak English? And she's like, Yes, pretty good.

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But she assumed obviously she's not from them. So the Irish people, they're amazing. But you'll see that when they like you said because they went through that for 800 years. So that's why you'll find that when it comes to when it comes to the ISRAEL PALESTINE. One of the most countries who know behind Palestine,

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they're fantastic. They're always, you know, you know, you know, demonstrating and the oh, you know, even even I remember one politician when he won the elections, as a TDP put up the flag, you know, and even if you look at like the some of the government, they had a meeting with Israeli ambassador, and they roasted him and they really gave it to him. Yeah, I've seen like clips and stuff and viral clips.

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But But why is that because they went through the same thing. They were occupied colonizer and colonized for over 100 years. So when they see with the Palestinian Palestinian people are going through, they have to have that feeling for them. So I'm delighted for the Irish it was an it was an amazing experience. But anyways, even with all the difficulties that I went through, and all of the knives that I received in the backs, were just saying, What was the reason not just I mean, one thing is bad luck. That's unfortunately probably everywhere. But do you think what is there a unique issue with Muslims in the West I mean,

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Maybe like disunity or sectarianism? What do you mean? Why?

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Why do we they look at us in a negative light? Not I mean, because someone could say, you know, it's unfair to say the Muslims in the West will stab you in the back or, you know what? You have good people, they were a Western Muslim, right? You don't stab people in the right. But I think a lot of times, I mean, it could come from people who came from different countries to be there. Because honestly, this massager we have is like these monopolies on the massage we have a bunch of, you know, Qaddafi is ruling the massage but who the only way they'll leave from their administrative position is if they were to

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steal anyway, way they're going out. Right? So it's just like, and they hold on to and they fight for it, you know? And, and sometimes they're like, it's a masjid. Or wouldn't, wouldn't, wouldn't wouldn't the better thing to do be stay there, work hard and try and reform that community?

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You can look at it like that. But I mean, for me, honestly, when I looked at the situation, I didn't see that people were serious enough. I've had some serious people around me who were really striving really want to benefit really wanted to gain knowledge and learn that I would have you know, been patient, but you how long did you stay in it for five years? Five plus, actually, I say after five years, you can have the luck of Ireland The

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have that anyways.

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From my blood and yeah, I remember that one time we went in there and she's like, What do you come in here? I said, Well, I'm originally from here. I'm just coming to visit. I was I was just to go for visits. So your Irish look at the name McCarthy's Oh yeah, no doubt.

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They know right away. So there's,

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I mean, there's good everywhere. I mean, we have to be fair, there was a lot of lot of good brothers and sisters who are trying to do what they can