Islamophobia, Its Reality & How To Deal With It

Abdullah last minute Allah has gathered us here today. It's a real privilege to be here with you. And we are discussing something very important. The topic of Islamophobia. Now, unfortunately, I didn't understand the last three speeches, but I felt them, you know, if I didn't understand them, my, my, you know, my audio is limited to cover that and chakra.

That's about it. So I'll handle it that way. It's a real pleasure to be here.

Actually, brothers, you know, I want to go back to what as from Mende was saying I want to go back to a few important things that he was saying. But I want to think I want you to think about this whole issue of Islamophobia. From a completely different angle.

Imagine you're a girl.

Imagine you're Gora.

This is what I want you to do. Imagine you're a white man. Living in England, actually, let's do something easier.

Imagine you're back in Pakistan, or I know you're not

wherever. And the white man comes to actually this happened, didn't it. And a white man comes to Pakistan, a whole bunch of white people come to Pakistan.

You know, and they live in your town.

And you see these strange people walking around. They don't look like you. They don't smell like you. They don't eat like you. They don't talk like you. They dress different, they look different. But you know what? their guests you treat them nicely. You smile at them, you know, maybe behind you say you look at these people, you know, they're so dirty, that they're different. But maybe you smile like this.

You know. And then after a bit, they stay and you know, they come to your schools. And after a bit, they start building these big buildings. They don't like look like anything you've seen before.

They have rooms made up and bricks, and like a big thing. And then suddenly on Sunday, you never heard these things as Dong Dong Dong.

What's going on? You're saying what's what's happening?

You find they built a church. And then they start singing. And you know, then then on Saturday nights, they start parties with music and dancing, and

you get my idea.

Do you feel happy about this?

No,

no, no, no, no, you don't feel happy about this at all?

Right? So listen, if you didn't feel happy about English people coming over to Pakistan and building churches and you know, taking everything over? Why would you expect white people to feel happy about that if you come and do that here?

Because you're the same with this world, human beings really, we feel the same things. We feel this, it's not hard for you to imagine

what it must be like?

Because that's what we have to do. Brother Xena. Actually, I believe that this is what we call an English we call it empathy. Empathy is being able to understand how other people feel. You don't need to agree with it. But you should be able to know how they feel.

So when As I was saying, Look, it's 30% 30% of the problem. Yes, is the media or the politicians are the laws are, you know, other issues, but how much really, is to do with our behavior, how we behave? How many? How much of Islamophobia can we mitigate? How much can we do

to make non Muslims not be afraid of us not be afraid of our religion?

without compromising our religion?

I'm not asking anyone to compromise the religion. But let me ask you a question. Is there anything in Islam that orders us to have a green dome?

Or even to have a dome or even a minaret? Can anyone find me a verse of Quran or any habit to establish that a Masjid should have a minarets? Actually I could make an argument that both those things domes and minarets are bizarre.

There is no dome and minarets in the masjid of the Prophet.

Allahu alayhi wa sallam.

But the point I'm trying to make is that Imagine you're an English man. And you're walking down the street. And you see this building, we call it a Masjid. And you see this building, when you look at it and say, Oh, this looks like a nice place that I should go into.

If you think that brothers you'd be wrong, because most people, they feel that when they see our messages, it's, it says the opposite. It says, Don't come in here, keep away. This is not for you.

Not like our restaurants by the way.

Alhamdulillah we're very good at making our restaurants very welcoming. Mashallah.

It's a shame we don't sell Islam, the way we sell, you know, our fruits.

And we're very good at getting them to eat our food or hamburger that's, you know, top dish and UK now. Chicken Tikka Masala. Alhamdulillah. Although some you know, I hear they want to replace it with lasagna now. But I don't believe it's

not really seriously we have to we have a real problem. Because people don't have actually they don't have a problem with eating our food. They love it. So what's the problem? What's the issue? Why is it they are afraid of Islam? Why are they afraid of us? Because that's the reality. We haven't really made an effort

to show people how beautiful Islam is. We haven't really made an effort to demonstrate through our behavior through our actions, how Islam is, how beautiful it is. And I want to repeat what as it said, something very important that the people of this country feel that we care about this country. So if I go back to my analogy of the white people coming to Pakistan, if they take everything from Pakistan, everything they earn everything they get, you know, and they send it back to England, we know that's what they did, actually. They didn't invest it in India, they sent it off to England. So after a time, what did we do?

We decided to chuck them out.

We had the English call it the British call in history, the British call it the Indian mutiny. In Indian history, they call it the first war of Indian independence.

You see, and then they had the full war for independence because at the end of the time, people got fed up that these people were coming and raping and pillaging and taking and thieving and everything and investing nothing really a few buildings, maybe in a railway or something but what cricket

gave us cricket

was the only thing really not from the British cricket. Good. So really, how will you feel? And this is actually this is a little bit like our analogy. Imagine from your setup.

How much of your setup or do you give you sent back to

you know, another country

100%

but you live in here, believe me there are poor people in the streets here. There are people there are food banks, people have to go to food banks here. You don't need to look 1000 2003 miles away Oh miles away to see poverty. There are people taking drugs, people who have real problems with drugs with alcohol with many social problems.

Now you have to understand something my brothers This is very important. Right? When when your children walk out of the door and they go to school

there is no special thing protecting them from the drug dealers, from the prostitutes from the alcohol and from from all this stuff. There is no special like you know, I don't know what you think maybe you think that angels are working with them guiding them well, inshallah, maybe to some extent, but in reality, when our children go into the streets, they're gonna face the same problems every other children face. And if we don't invest in this society, our children, bad things are going to happen to them.

And I'm sure everyone, there's a lot of uncles here with gray beards, minds getting more and more gray, a lot of things.

So there's a lot of you with gray beards, you must have seen a few generations of kids being brought up.

Right, and I'm sure that you've seen some of your children and your grandchildren.

taking drugs, selling drugs, drinking alcohol during things that you know, your heart is broken, because you saw these things happening. Yes.

But the thing is, these are ills in this society, we're all part of the society, we need to invest. Now my wife tells me, my wife, her family, originally from Lahore, Punjab. So she told me that this is what she said, our people, that's when she says, our people, she means, you know, the Pakistanis. She said, our people, when we came to this country, we saw all these horrible things. And we try to create an environment that will protect us from it. So we live together in communities, we try to build machines and things to make it like back home and keep our kids away from all of that stuff. You see, but, you know, you can understand 100% why you would do that. But it's a very short term

strategy, that that maybe that's a good strategy, if you're going to live for, you know, 10 years, 15 years, 20 years.

But maybe you didn't realize that your children were going to be born here and your grandchildren,

and that they're going to look at this place as their home.

And what investment have we made brothers? What investment have we made into this society? So this is very important, please, this is so important, because for me, this is the key. This is the key.

We need to think of this place as our home and our children's home, and we need to start investing.

How many Islamic youth clubs Do you think we have? How many for example, in America, they have camps, summer camps for Muslim kids, you know, where they where they go, and they do activities. And they go outside and they canoe and they bike and they climb and they learn about their religion? Do we have anything like this year?

We have nothing. Nothing.

We have nothing. I was talking to one brother. I'm sure you know him. ilias Kimani, he's talking to me, he said, If I actually start to tell you the problems, I'm dealing with your you will have nightmares, you will not believe the things I have to deal with kids who are coming to me and the problems they are facing. I don't even want to say it's really as imagine, imagine the most horrible thing you can imagine. And it's worse than that.

You know, I mean, we're talking about psychotic murderers, horrible sexual things, terrible things. This is Muslim families, Muslim kids going through this Not to mention the drugs and alcohol. How many institutions do you think we have?

Right? to cater for our children who have mental problems, who have really mental problems who have not the thing that a man can deal with? I can't deal with it. I've been studying psychology, even before I was a Muslim. Since I was 13 years old, I've been interested in psychology, some of these things I wouldn't even need to begin. With all my experience, I wouldn't know how to start. How many institutions do you think we have? Nothing, nothing. Believe me? Believe me. I know I have in my own family, I have people who have problems. And there is no one to and they need special care. I don't want to send to say, oh, send this child to this psychologist or this psychiatrist because, in fact,

they'll make them worse.

How many do we have how many people institutions we have nothing because we haven't invested.

This has to change. We will not survive. Really? I'm looking in here. How many Shabaab are here today?

How many youth are here today?

You know what I think it is brothers. Honestly, brothers. I didn't I didn't understand the speeches. But I have a feeling that it's the same things being said every year over to the same group of people. And it's not that they're not important things. We need to know those things. We need to be reminded of those things.

But where are the youth? Where are the Shabaab

said we have to ask this court, what are we doing for them? What is this got to do with Islamophobia. It comes down to this very important concepts that we live in this society and we need to be seen, we need to contribute to it. This for me is the key.

And more than that, brothers, I really want all of you please, I think

This, believe me, I think of this all the time. I Oh, I mean, I constantly think what am I doing here? This is my country in the sense I'm white actually wasn't born here. I was born in Dar es Salaam in Tanzania in Africa. But you know, this is my country in the sense that this is my father's land, his father's father's land, you know, for generations. You know, that's where they came from. Right? For I don't know how many generations green is a very, very old English name. Right? Yet I asked myself many times, maybe not every day, but maybe every What? Why am I here?

Couldn't we go somewhere else? Oh, my kids safe. Are they safe here? No. Am I safe here? No. safe. What in the sense that I don't, my safety. I'm not Honestly, I am not afraid if someone kills me. And by the way, just to let you know, this is just to let you know, there's already been one guy who has been arrested who wanted to kill me. He wanted to kill me listening to this Tommy Robinson Robbins.

He wanted to kill me, the police are investigating it right now. A guy wanted to kill me. You know, and it's someone I spoke to. I spoke to him, I talked with him. But you know, His head was filled with this hatred.

But I'm not afraid of that. Honestly, that's not what I'm afraid of what I'm afraid of that my kids will go astray that we will go a strain. That's what I'm, that's what really makes me frightened that we will not be able to hang on to our Deen.

So I'm sure you think of that as well.

But what makes me stay here?

And this is something we have to think about.

As a Muslim, everything you do.

Everything you do is dependent upon intention.

Are you doing it for the pleasure of Allah? And you have to ask yourself, Is this correct? Is this something pleasing to Allah? So for me, the only way truly I can feel happy that I am doing something pleasing to Allah, the thing that really at the end of the day makes me justifies to me, why am I staying here is because I have one mission, that one mission is to invite those people who have not yet heard about the message of Islam, to Islam to show people, the beauty of Islam in whatever way I can. This is something that keeps me going. This is something that keeps me going. This is something that gives me purpose. And I believe this is so important. Again, when as I said,

most people, they don't know Muslims, really, they don't, they've never met a Muslim, they've never talked to a Muslim.

And that's why it's easy for them, some of these people to think of us not as maybe even being human beings. But when you talk with them, when you interact with them, and you deal with them, and you deal with them kindly, in a beautiful way as you should have as a Muslim, with honesty, with good business dealings with kindness and compassion.

hamdulillah I, I that and the evidence is that, that when Muslims are living together with non Muslims, so the places where the islamaphobia is the least other places where Muslims are concentrated living with non Muslims. So in London, Islamophobia is very low in Bradford, it's low in Birmingham, it's low. Why? Because they live with Muslims, they know them, that their neighbors, their friends, they with their colleagues, their work colleagues,

the places where Islamophobia is the worst, not just in England, but is in Europe as well. The truth is, the ones that that they don't know any Muslims, they don't actually know Muslims. All they know is what they see the lies, they see that 20 out of 21 negative articles they see on the news in the media. So we have to work hard. We have to work hard. So look, I I'm gonna finish now. So I'm gonna actually just give you three things I'm going to suggest three things. I want to suggest that after this conference, I want you to do three things. Three simple things.

Right, number one,

this is my challenge to you. Find some non Muslim, to invite your home for some food and sit down with them. Invite them and let them see you your family. You know that your human beings This is a very amazing thing to invite someone in to your house for food. Who is

Not Muslim.

If not for just tea and biscuits, right?

Firstly.

Okay, the second thing, I want you to take your obligation of inviting the non Muslims very seriously, even if you don't give down yourself, support the people who are giving down, it's very important in some way, shape or form. Make sure that you are connected to and involved in down in any way even either you do it yourself, you learn how to do it or you support those people who are doing it. And the third thing I want you to do is always walk around with a smile.

Yes. always walk around with a smile.

Yes, but uncle smile. Yeah. Cuz actually, sometimes we look like, I'm gonna murder you. People look at us, you know, we have the beard, and we should keep the beard. You know, we have the beard. They had the thing.

And they think oh my god, he's plotting to blow me up. He just looks at your face. He says he's thinking of it. Now. All those verses in the end about chopping the heads of the dude. He's looking at me and that's what he's thinking of now. But if you're smiling, I mean really genuinely smiling from your heart. Hi, no.

Oh.

Oh. Oh, he is not too bad. That one. He looks a bit scary smiling. You see Alhamdulillah just a little thing like that. Believe me, you could change the world with a smile Really? Alhamdulillah so this is my suggestions to combat Islamophobia. Three things Alhamdulillah and buy a new Muslim NGO? Get involved in dour and smile al hamdu Lillahi Rabbil aalameen Allahumma salli ala Muhammad wa ala alihi wa sahbihi salaam salaam aleikum wa rahmatullah.