Amir Junaid Muhadith – Speaks to my class during distance learning
AI: Summary ©
The importance of writing a biography to show how people evolve and learn from mistakes is emphasized. The speakers emphasize the importance of learning from past mistakes and rewriting oneself to achieve a new phase in life, helping children to overcome drug addiction and avoid complications, and protecting oneself and not abandoning things. They also express excitement to see a story of a brother's experiences and emphasize the importance of educating oneself and finding opportunities to excel in a certain area. The speakers emphasize the need for acknowledging cultural differences between foreign communities and serving and protecting communities, and offer assistance to those interested in their work.
AI: Summary ©
To be in this space. You know what
I'm saying? So, you know, this is something
for mala, subhanahu, wa ta'ala. So
I'm pleased to be here. I hope that,
you know, this is a benefit for you
guys. You know what I'm saying? And we
could probably do
more of these things, you know, just to
keep, you know, everything
flowing. Because I don't want I don't like
one offs. You know, sometimes a reminder is
good, but when it's consistent, you know, it
becomes a little bit more entrenched in, you
know, our hearts.
So Insha'Allah,
you know,
I'm here to do my part, which I
also had to be very mindful and very
grateful
for the teachers that you have because they're
there every day. You know, I might not
be here every day, but they're there every
day. Like the brothers said, they love what
they do. Mhmm. So, you know, they inspire
me, and I'm and I'm happy to inspire
you, but they inspire me.
So, Amir, let's,
you know, there is a lot of you
on the Internet. A lot of you talking
on the Internet.
And a lot of the kids have seen
stuff that are due at The Breakfast Club
or other things.
And, you know, a lot of what you're
talking about nowadays is it's it's stuff going
on with you more recently.
Yeah. But, you know, something we have the
kids do, you know, at this point in
their lives, we really want them thinking about
themselves
and getting to know themselves,
you know, thinking about their lives up to
this point
and what their experiences mean for them.
And then, you know, just trying to project
themselves into the future
and, you know, having a purpose and a
mission when they go forward in the future.
So the 11th graders, they've been writing their
own autobiographies,
this 1st semester. And you're writing an autobiography
too right now. Correct? Yeah. I am. I
am. Inshallah,
it should yeah. It should be,
by next year, probably by spring, inshallah.
We look forward to that. And,
you know, we're having them write those autobiographies
in different phases, you know, thinking about the
early childhood phase, the influence of their families,
then their their their older childhood phase, the
influence of school,
and then also the influence of where they've
grown up, their peers around them, how they've
changed through their high school.
And then, you know, the final phase, thinking
about what their future is gonna be like.
So, you know, life happens in phases,
and Absolutely.
And we're we're using the autobiography of Malcolm
x
as a way to illustrate I mean, first
of all, just to do a whole lot
of learning
about,
about history about the history of America because
it's an excellent book for that. But, you
know, it's also an example of how life
happens to us in phases in phases. Yeah.
It's interesting that you said that because
I've,
been inspired by, you know,
Malcolm X's autobiography
prior to Islam.
And
because I was a writer, you know, being
a writer, you know, and you guys in
school, you know, that
the the the fundamentals of writing is to
have, you know, a setting, a body, and
a conclusion.
And I've always took that format even when
I was in the music business, you know,
to have a setting, you know, a body,
and a conclusion. But when I looked at
Malcolm X's autobiography,
I looked at transitions,
multiple transitions.
He went from Malcolm Little,
you know, same one from Dirty Red
to Malcolm x to El Had Shabbats.
So you have 4 very pinnacle
transitions in his life.
And that's how you have to look at
this this particular project. This is the same
format that I'm using to do my autobiography.
You know what I'm saying? And it makes
it a lot more easier.
When you look at those pinnacle moments in
your life,
and you illustrate that,
and then you move to the next transition.
You know what I'm saying? The next phase
that came from that so that you don't
remain stagnated
and, you know, what what was perceived as
your past.
And this is how you actually show your
evolution or how you evolve
through this writing process, and it's very, very
therapeutic.
It's very, you know what I'm saying, enlightening
to look at yourself in a different light,
you know what I'm saying? And to allow
others to have the opportunity
to look at you as well.
And it brings a lot of closure as
well. Because, you know, a lot of times
we, you know, life is full of, you
know, choices.
Sometimes we make mistakes. Sometimes we do things
we wish we correct we we could correct.
But in all actuality,
you learn from those mistakes, and you evolve
into another phase where if you were ever
to encounter
that situation again,
you'll deal with it differently.
And that's how you rectify the past. You
can't go back.
So it doesn't make sense to, you know,
stretch yourself out, you know, lose your hairline
or whatever, worrying about some stuff that you
can't do nothing about. What you wanna do
is take the next opportunity whenever you encounter
that and
use what you learn from the previous mistake,
and that becomes rectification.
That's tangible, so to say.
So, you know, most recently, we were reading
the chapters of Malcolm x where he talks
about his life in Harlem.
And, you know, he he did not grow
up in Harlem. He grew up in Michigan,
and he end up in Harlem as a
young man, a little bit older than the
kids are now.
And, you know, that was when he was
known as Detroit Red and he had his
hustler face. And, you know, he gives a
certain picture of Harlem in the 19 forties,
which, you know, is really, really interesting.
So you grew up in Harlem in the
seventies, eighties, nineties. Correct?
Yep. So I was wondering if you could
talk a little bit about, you know, this
is back when you were Chauncey Hawkins. That
was your birth name. Correct? Absolutely. Yeah. So
I was you know, and it's the interviews
I've seen of you, this part is of
you isn't talked about as much, but, you
know, that age time period, it's relevant to
our kids now.
So I I want you and it's gonna
give us more information
on, you know, what Harlem
was like
after the time of Malcolm x because you
were there. So I was just wondering if
you could talk a little bit about what
it was like growing up at Harlem during
that time, and how that influenced you. Well,
Harlem,
even
stemming from the period of Malcolm X, it
always been a hustling city. It's always been
a city that's been, you
know, you know, extremely,
you know,
you know, there's a lot of opportunities as
far as hustling goes. You know what I'm
saying? Whether it was, you know, like me
as a kid,
you know, I actually
packed bags in the supermarket.
I wash cars.
I sold air fresheners. I pumped gas in
the gas station before they had, you know,
full service. You know, it was self-service. I
made it a full service.
You know, I had a paper write on
set on Sundays.
So all of these things,
you know, I was doing at the age
of 8 9 years old because these opportunities
were always, you know, available for us in
Harlem.
So, you know, we didn't have the same
influences, the same opportunities that many of the
youth have today. You know, y'all have a
way more broader reach
and accessibility
to things that we didn't have. So we
made the most of the environment that we
have.
But also, you know, Harlem was plagued with
drugs, violence,
and things of that nature.
And me as a kid, I kinda grew
up,
you know,
a part of a generation
of people who contributed
to
this, you know, this this this street life,
so to say. You know, my grandfather,
Rahimullah
Ta'ala, he he accepted Islam before, you know,
I left the country, and he passed away
at 96 years old, you know, 2 years
ago. And he was close friends with Bumpy
Johnson,
who was very known, you know what I'm
saying?
He was considered the godfather of Harlem.
Then my mother and my father He was
he was he was in the mafia, you
mean? Like Yeah. Well, well, he actually aligned,
you know what I'm saying,
the blacks in Harlem with the mafia.
But they had, you know, an organization of
their own, which eventually ended up merging with
the mafia.
And then my mother and my father, they
ran with a guy named, you know, Leroy
Nicky Barnes,
who was also, you know what I'm saying,
had a very, you
know,
strong organization as well during these times of
the seventies. Then I grew up in a
generation with a lot of young guys that
was known in the eighties and so on
and so forth. So this the generation after
generation that meet me exposed
to a certain environment
and a certain type of lifestyle.
So it was very difficult for children at
that age to elude this stuff because it
was so prevalent and so widespread.
So either way, you ended up even if
you took the route of playing basketball,
you were probably being funded by drug dealers.
You know what I'm saying? Who wanted to
see you make it to the pros,
but the affiliation was by default.
Even if this person had aspirations to abandon
all of those things and try something totally
different,
the affiliation was still present. You know what
I'm saying? Because you had these guys buying
your sneakers.
You had these guys making sure you had
all the things you
needed, you know what I'm saying, to acquire
success,
you know what I'm saying, in professional sports,
so on and so forth. So these were
the things that were definitely widespread
during my generation.
So, you know, growing up in that environment,
it prompt us to be men before our
time.
You know, it it put us in a
situation where responsibilities
that we acquire
were very immense for a child to have.
You know, my mom, she fell to drug
addiction and things like that.
And my grandparents raised me. So
a lot of my dealings
were under the intention that I was aiding
in the system. My grandmother,
who was a beautician,
you know, who spent 17 hours a day
doing hair, and she provided for the whole
family.
You know? So me as a grandchild,
looking at this woman who's not my mother,
but she took the responsibility of raising me,
nurturing me, cultivating me, and so on and
so forth. I felt a heightened responsibility
to contribute to that.
So being a kid, not having no opportunity
legally to do that,
I was compelled to do things that wasn't
legal
under the intention that I was doing something
good. You know what I'm saying? And then,
you know, later on we learned in Islam
that this this this system doesn't work. Now
this is not something
that's, you know, you know, logical, so to
say.
So, you know,
that was basically,
you know, the environment I grew up. It
was kinda unavoidable
for the most part, and many of us
fell into it, and many of us didn't
survive it.
Many of us didn't survive.
You know, so to stand here today is
a testament that Allah
is most kind. You know what I'm saying?
He's Al Walid. He's the protector and the
guardian of those who believe because
it it was I have many friends, you
know what I'm saying,
that didn't survive that generation.
Do you have, like,
you know, why was Harlem like that way
always? Like, do you have a historical perspective
on that at all as as to how
things ended up that way?
And, you know, we've learned about
and we've learned about, you know, the migration
north of African Americans from the southern cities
and how I mean, that was how so
many African Americans ended up in Harlem. But
why why was it always this place with
this type of corruption?
Well, the thing is, you know,
for that migration to the north,
it offered, you know, African Americans at the
time a lot more liberties,
a lot more opportunities,
and things that wasn't allotted to them in
the south.
So come into an environment
where, you know,
you're given these opportunities,
but still being stripped of a lot of
things at the same time.
This certain type of ingenuity,
you know what I'm saying,
came about and it became,
you know, consistent with the lifestyle,
you know, in Harlem,
is that we made things happen based on
what we had.
Whatever we didn't have, we made a way
around that.
And this is where the the hustling mentality
came from because you're only giving but so
much, and you have to make use of
the things that you're giving.
You know what I'm saying? Unlike certain, you
know what I'm saying, communities or environments that
where, you know, opportunities may be in abundance.
But in Harlem, you know, it was either
you were gonna be,
you know, a jazz musician, you know, saying
during the time of my grandfather and stuff,
you know, you were a jazz musician, you
was a numbers runner, you know, he was
in, you know, he was he was gonna
be involved in something that put food on
the table.
The honest working jobs, you know, they paid
pretty much enough just to get back to
work.
You know what I'm saying? So you're working
just to get back to work.
Because after all the expenditures,
you have nothing left, so you have to
go back to work.
So to get over, people played numbers,
which was like off track betting,
or people wrote dice. You know, people gamble.
People try to find a means at least
just tip the scale just a little bit.
You know what I'm saying? Maybe bring in
just a little bit more, you know what
I'm saying, than what was being brought in
from a legal perspective.
So this is something that always remained prevalent
and, you know,
it became
a custom,
you know, that you had to
involve yourself to some degree in some of
these other, you know, saying, non disclosed opportunities
or whatever in order to get by.
And that never left,
you know, it never left. So generation after
generation after generation, you know, we
were constantly
faced with
opportunities that may not have been in our
best interest,
but it was the only opportunities that were
present.
And it's easy for people a lot of
times on the outside looking in and say,
why you don't just do this or why
you didn't just do that?
You know, education costs. You know what I'm
saying? This is why I mentioned earlier why
people, you know, especially the youth need to
be grateful for teachers who stand in there,
and they're not there for monetary gain. You
know what I'm saying? But in a time
when
these things were a necessity,
you know, everyone couldn't afford it.
You know what I'm saying? Public school is
failing people.
You know what I'm saying? Drastically.
And, you know, to go to a private
school, to go to any other school that
may have, you know, more, you know, isolated,
you know, saying, environment,
they cost them money.
You know, a lot of us went to
school. We went to Catholic schools and wasn't
even Catholic
because of the opportunity that Catholic schools, you
know, provided. You know what I'm saying? The
network and the relationships that they had,
you know what I'm saying? That would, you
know, kind of propel you through your whole
scholastic career. Like, if you went to this
school, a Catholic school could refer you to
another
Catholic high school or better high school, or
that would be something, you know, saying praiseworthy
on your resume, so on and so. So
all you know, we were just limited
to having these opportunities.
So for the most part,
we made the most of what we had,
you know.
So when I look at this generation,
a lot of them don't have this excuse,
you know, especially when you have, you know
what I'm saying, a complete family, you know,
mother and father, both working, both bringing a
steady income, both able to provide, you know,
the opportunities
that, you know, you need to succeed in
this society.
You know, these are the things that, you
know, a lot of us didn't have. You
know, a lot of us fell victim to
parents who fell victim to drugs and violence.
You know what I'm saying? Incarceration,
death, whatever the case may be. So we
had to pick up the pieces of these
kids.
And, you know,
this is what kinda shaped,
you know, the mentality
that many of us had, you know, going
up in the streets of Harlem.
I had a question.
So, you know, you said, you know,
you know, influences and stuff is what, like,
made your past and stuff. And then this
is this is kind of related, but
so, obviously, you know, you grew up in
Harlem. You know? What did you know about
the nation of Islam growing up? Like, what
did you when did you find out when
did you find out about Islam? That's my
first question. Like Okay.
And then,
I know the Nation of Islam was is
prominent in, like, New York. You know? And,
like Mhmm. So, like, what'd you know about
them? Like, how'd you tell the 2 part?
Anyways, yeah, that's that's what my question is.
Well, when I was young, I actually had
a boxing trainer. You know, see, I used
to box when I was young,
and his name was Kenny Willis. He was
in the Nation of Islam.
And he used to try to take me
to the mosque and stuff like that, and
my heart never gravitated
to the Nation of Islam. Even though I
was aware of their presence, I looked at
it more so as a Black National in
school,
you know, and and not so much of
Islam.
Because, you know, we had in our communities
a lot of, you know, Muslims that were
from other, you know, from other ethnicities. Like,
you know, we had Lebanese brothers there. We
had Yemeni brothers. We had Pakistani brothers. We
had Pakistani brothers. We had a lot of
West African brothers. So,
you know, the identity of Islam
was still kind of blurry to me.
But because we had such a vast community,
you know, you didn't ignore these things, but
you never really read into it.
So my journey to Islam came years years
later, you know, I became Muslim at 33
years old.
And as I mentioned in some of my
YouTube interviews,
I don't have any problem, you know, you
know, reestablishing
in short how I became Muslim
was from traveling,
you know,
just traveling the world.
Not looking for Islam,
not looking for any of the Muslims,
just running around trying to salvage my career
after I had left Bad Boy Records.
So one of the first places I visit
was in West Africa with Senegal,
and I visited a place called Gori Island.
And Goree Island was supposedly one of the
first slave houses ever built in West Africa.
You know, it was it was dominated first
by the Portuguese, then the Dutch, and then
the British.
So long story short, when I went on
this little tour
of Goree Island,
in short, the man told me, he said,
you know, 60,000,000 people's passed no, 60,000,000 slaves
passed through here. He said, but only 6,000,000,
you know, never left the soil.
Meaning, they fought and they died.
To me being ignorant, I thought, man, they
must have been some real dudes. Like, no.
They must have been, like, you know, like
gangsters. They said, nah. They were Muslim.
They're like Muslim. He said, yeah. They wouldn't
submit to no one other than Allah, and
they fought and they died.
And he said the ones that were weakened,
you know, they were the ones who were
forcefully,
you know,
entrapped and, you know, sold into slavery.
So from that very moment, I was stripped
of that nationalism that I used to identify
with.
You know what I'm saying? Not saying that
I was pro pro pro black, but as
an African American in America, we have to
hold on to something. In order to have
dignity, in order to have integrity and all
these things, we have to hold on to
something.
So nationalism
plays a role.
But at that very moment,
I learned that what took place during the
transatlantic
slave trade was way more greater than just
being Black.
It was about a people
who chose to stand on something other than
a race,
other than a ethnicity,
but they stood on a belief.
You know what I'm saying? They stood on
a belief system,
which was none has the right to be
worshiped with Allah, that they believed in worshiping
God and God alone. So they didn't believe
to succumb into any other form of slavery.
Once the person becomes a slave of the
most high,
it frees him from any other form of
slavery. So this becomes the motivation in why
these individuals
stood so firm,
fought so hard,
and died in the process.
So that stripped me of nationalism,
you know.
Then secondly, I made a trip to Kazakhstan.
You know what I'm saying? I was introduced
to the president of Kazakhstan
and, you know,
preparations were made, and we went out there
for 9 days to do a show.
And, I mean, they opened up the whole
country for us, and it was just, you
know, a very
warm welcome,
very
regal and extravagant
embrace.
And
at the end of that trip,
I remember talking to the president, who is
a young guy, so, you know, I kinda
looked at him as a peer and not
this, you know, this this this this
this president or this type of figurehead.
And I remember, you know,
asking him a question
while I was in the process of smoking
at the time. And I was like, yo,
like, yo, how you say what's up when
you see somebody?
Like, when you see somebody in the street,
like, how you say what's up? So this
is me trying to get a piece of
the language. You know what I'm saying? So,
you know, if you know anything I know
you guys study. If you know anything about
Middle Eastern Asia, Russia,
not European Russia, but Middle Eastern Asia, Russia,
they have some kind of, like, oriental features,
you know, Russian genetics, so let's say I
guess they're, like, descendants of Mongolians.
So I was expecting him to say something
of that nature.
Maybe something sounded a little bit more like
a kung fu flick or something, but instead,
he said, Salaam Alaikum. So I'm like,
Salaam Alaikum, why not? That's what the Muslims
say. So I thought he was gonna say
like, you know, Poyon Shoyon song or Shoyon
or something like that. But he was like,
Salaam Alaikum.
So this was me
learning the diversity of Islam that surpassed the
diversity I thought I saw in New York.
Now, as you're telling me that all the
way across, you know what I'm saying, the
the the world, there's another group of individuals
who don't look like none of the individuals
that I'm surrounded by, and you're telling me
that they're Muslim too?
So now the 3rd trip
is when I went to Dubai.
I did a show in Dubai,
and after the show, I drove to Abu
Dhabi.
And when I got to Abu Dhabi,
I stayed at the Emirates Palace Hotel. It
was, like, the only 7 star hotel in
the world. You know, you get your own
butler, real fancy thing.
And
I remember as soon as I got into
the hotel, I put my bags down, and
I opened up, you know, the, like, the
shutters
or the door to the balcony.
And I saw, you know, something that
I've seen every day but never paid any
amount.
And that was the actually the sun rising.
So when I saw the sun rising over
the Arabian Sea,
everything that I experienced from Senegal to that
very moment made sense. It's something just clicked.
And I knew that what I was feeling
was real. It wasn't motivated. It wasn't inspired
by no man. It was something that changed
in my heart that very moment and everything
became extremely clear to me.
So I ran down to the lobby of
the hotel and the first Muslim that I
found,
which was in abundant, I'm in a Muslim
country,
and I asked him, like, how do you
become a Muslim? He was looking at me
like I was crazy.
That made me you know, he was kinda
thrown off. Like, what do you mean? I
said, I I wanna be Muslim. I said,
what do you mean you wanna be Muslim?
I said, I wanna be Muslim.
He said, you show him I'm looking at
him like, listen, man.
If you don't hurry up,
I'm a lose this thing. Like, you know,
what I'm feeling, I don't wanna lose it.
So it was kind of a urgency
to, you know, get some answers. And he
told me it's simple. He said, just raise
your hand and repeat after me.
And I repeated after him in Arabic,
and he said it to me in English,
and he said, Khilash, you're Muslim. He said,
you know, Ashaadu Allah ilaha illallah,
wa Ashaadu anno Muhammadir Rasulullah.
I bear witness that none has the right
to be worshipped in truth except Allah, and
I bear witness that Muhammad is the Messenger
of Allah. Then he said, salah, it's like,
yeah, you you done. You're Muslim. So I'm
looking at him like
like, no way.
You know, because growing up in Harlem once
again, nothing is simple.
And we all know for whatever life you
live, nothing in life is simple.
So that very moment
was simplicity
in its most, you know,
intense form.
And from that moment,
whatever
urgency I had
and whatever anxiety I was feeling,
it immediately got sufficed.
And from that moment, I never looked back.
You know, that was the last day I
smoked, the last day I drank, and the
last day, you know, I met I listened
to music, like, willingly.
So a lot of people wanna say I
don't listen to music, and they're like, yeah.
You're right. I mean, if I go into
a place where music is being played, I
can't
tell people to turn their music off, you
know. I'm a have to fight everybody in
the plate. So, like, you know, but So
I go uh-huh.
Oh, oh, I I thought you were going
to send this. No. But so, like, this
is you're, like, going this is you're going
on tour. Like, you're performing and stuff. And
and the moment you see this thing and
you go downstairs, you run downstairs, and you
take your shahada,
you're just like, damn, don't know what this
music stuff. Like
Yeah. Absolutely.
See, the thing about what y'all gotta understand,
and I'm a tell you this in all
fairness.
Each and every one of y'all
students
are men
and women
in the sense of
you are accountable.
So when a person is held accountable
you understand?
You don't have the liberty
of
making knee jerk choices.
You know what I'm saying? As adults, and
I know the adults in this room will
can text it. When we make decisions, we
have to think it all the way through
because we're responsible for other people's lives. Now
I have children. You know what I'm saying?
I'm pretty sure some of the adults in
the room have children as well. So we
don't only have the liberty of thinking for
ourselves. We have to think for others as
well. And those decisions become detrimental not only
to ourselves, but they come detrimental to those
who we are authority over or responsible for.
So the reason why
I try to explain it in this light
so that nobody erase me to a status
that I'm not worthy of It's just me
as a man
realizing that the trade off
for the lifestyle that I was living previously,
for the lifestyle
that is contradictory, you know, contrary to the
life that I've lived before,
and it's for my embedment,
and it's for everything that is good,
then at that point, any logical person can
make a sound decision on which has more
value.
And that's the that's the decision making process.
You know, we had to look at benefit
versus harm. We had to look at all
of these things.
So a lot of times,
some of us
going through our adolescent
stage,
we kinda lean on that as an excuse.
But many of y'all know, for those of
you who are here as Muslim, you know
that accountability
comes once we reach the age of discernment.
Once we reach puberty,
we're held accountable
for what we know.
Whatever knowledge doesn't reach us, Allah is merciful,
He forgives us for these things. But anything
that reaches us of sound knowledge or understanding,
we're held accountable for it. So we have
to adhere to it based upon the fact
that that information or that knowledge is clear.
So
at that very moment,
me already having this understanding
being raised in an environment where I had
to be a man way before my time.
But for many of you, you're being groomed
under,
an example of the best man
that ever walked this planet.
But for me, my environment
groomed me to be a man
that had to be mindful of the decisions
I made, the statements that I make, and
the actions that I've used. You know what
I'm saying? Because accountability
in the environment that I came from may
come in the form of a slug,
a knife,
prison,
violence,
something of that nature. That becomes the defining
factor of making bad choices, you know what
I'm saying,
in the environment I grew up.
Now as a believer,
you know, the ramifications are even more worse
than that.
You know what I'm saying? So now
the decision making process becomes
way more vital,
You know, that and this is what we
can't abandon.
When we face adversity
in life, we you can't abandon the fact
that we have sound intellect.
We're not idiots.
We know right from wrong.
We're not
oblivious.
So the process of making decisions have to
be based upon those tangible things that we
know for certain,
and we have to make decisions based on
that certainty.
So,
you know, how how did you make the
transition?
1st, I was coming out of Harlem
to becoming world famous,
and then the transition out of that. And,
like, how did the people around you take
that? You know? And,
I mean, you talked about how many people
didn't survive Harlem. So so how were you
how did you survive it
and
become world famous? I mean, how did all
that happen?
Well, being a product of that environment
and following
basically, you know, the guidelines
that says you're a stand up guy. Understand?
Because there's a certain, you know, higher echelon
of individual that comes out of the ghettos
of America, period. It's the stand up guy.
You know, the guy that keeps his mouth
shut. It's the guy that minds his businesses.
The guy that just sticks to, you know,
whatever it entails
as far as,
you know, how this lifestyle goes
when you stay within those boundaries,
then you're perceived as someone who is considered,
kind of a premier,
you know, inhabitant
of that environment, so to say. You know?
So
because I played the game the way the
game was supposed to be played, quote, unquote,
you know, people always respected me. People always
respected me. I respected people. I respected the
boundaries.
I respected, you know, consequences that, you know,
for certain things, certain actions, certain statements, and
I was known for that. You know, whenever
I had encounters or whatever the case with
law enforcement,
I never, you know, bend it or fold
it or felt the need to place my
burden on somebody else or so on and
so forth. I never had these characteristics.
So when I made it in the music
business, it was more of a celebratory moment.
People celebrated the fact that one that they
own,
one of the guys that stood for these
things that we ascribe ourselves to, he made
it out.
So there was never any pressure.
You know what I'm saying? There was never
any pressure that came with the success
that I acquired in the music business because,
one, I was never a follower.
You know what I'm saying? I was never
a follower,
you know?
I may have followed a certain particular lifestyle
and the boundaries and guidelines that came with
that lifestyle, but I never followed men.
I never follow you know, I had to
follow my own heart because I gotta be
responsible for myself.
I can't follow you and get killed.
I can't follow you and go to jail.
I can't follow you and harm somebody or
harm my family.
So that was and never a part of
my process.
So accountability is something I've always been big
on, even before Islam.
You know, because this is how you view
a man. You view a man by his
accountability
and, you know,
him staying firm upon what he ascribed himself
to.
So if you claim to be this certain
individual, then that's who you need to be.
Every time, day in, day out. Any variations
of people going to look at you differently.
So you say this is who you are,
then that's who you should be.
And I was firm on that before, you
know, Islam. So basically when I acquired success,
you know, I never had any pressures. It
was never like, you know,
people felt like I abandoned,
you know, the streets or, you know, the
code of the streets and all this crazy
stuff. It was more like, man, he made
it. He's one of the good dudes. He's
one of the dudes that stood for something.
So when I made it, I was able
to, at my own discretion,
without any pressure,
reach back and help others.
Because in that situation, you have individuals who
may not have been that stand up guy.
So when he make it, the stand up
guys put all the pressure on him.
Like, yo, you on these songs talking all
this crazy stuff about you killing and doing
all that. You wasn't out here doing that.
We were the ones out here doing that.
So now they feel entitled to your success,
and that's where the pressure comes with those
guys. It's like, no no no no no.
You out there talking about some stuff we
don't do.
You learned that from watching us.
So now that you got the world full,
we need you to hit our hand. We
need you to pay us. You know what
I'm saying? Oh, you need you need you
to make us a part of this movement
because this movement is being forged,
you know, based on experiences that we encounter.
That's where pressure comes from with God's in
that light with the music and all that
stuff. So now fast forward coming to Islam
with the same thing,
the same exact thing. The same guy I
was in the street was the same guy
I was in the music business.
So when I became Muslim, nobody looked at
me.
Like, it was no pressure. Like, I was
following anything. For anything, it inspired a lot
of people that knew me because they knew
me not to follow. They knew me not
to bend or fold to anything.
So if I submitted
to the will of Allah
then that was just an extension of the
character I had prior to Islam.
So most people looked at it like, if
he doing that, then it must be something
serious because I know him. He doesn't follow
anybody. He's not on that type of stuff.
He doesn't he doesn't been like that.
So for me to just been, give up
everything, throw everything away, and just embrace this
Islam, and, you know what I'm saying, in
totality to the best of my ability,
those that knew me
was respectful,
someone who were inspired,
someone who was disappointed,
you know, because they like having the old
me around,
you know.
But those guys that disappointed
gonna remain disappointed
if it brings pleasure to Allah.
Those guys gonna remain disappointed,
but the ones that's inspired,
then I try to invite them to the
same thing, you know, saying that inspired
me. You know? And that's our obligation.
We can't abandon it.
So, you know, growing up in America,
and, I mean, I felt it growing up.
You know, it feels like you get conditioned
in America to
to want fame
and and want celebrity
and to think that that's, like, the ultimate
goal, you know, to be rich and famous.
So, I mean, you you you you had
that. You you actually experienced that.
So, I mean, I'm I'm curious. I mean,
what is it like? You know, like like,
is it is it a thrill?
I mean, what's what's what's the stress? I
mean, what's what's the reality behind it?
The reality of it is
some people is fulfillment.
Because you gotta look at the barometer set
in society.
Society tells us if we don't achieve this,
then we're not successful.
Society tells us if we don't make this
much money, then we fall into this class.
If you don't make this much money, then
you fall into this class.
You know, like, what is middle class? You
know what I'm saying? Like, these are things
that society says you are either going to
be upper class,
middle
class, or
low class or whatever. You understand? Society
says these things,
you know.
But this type
of critique
should be based upon what's in a person's
heart.
Because I believe that a person whose heart
is pure
and he's content,
you know what I'm saying, with everything that's
good, then he should be considered high class.
You know what I'm saying?
And the person that has the lowly and
most despicable, you know what I'm saying, then
he should be considered low class.
But in society, you have extremely wealthy people
with low despicable, you know what I'm saying,
traits.
They have very poor people who have very
high, you know what I'm saying, standard of,
you know, tranquility
and harmony and harmonious, you know, they bring
harmony to, you know, environments.
No, they're just really good people, but they
don't have the capital.
So they fall into a lesser class.
So this is where all the confusion comes
with.
You know what I'm saying? Being in America,
is that you already have a barometer set
before you even set one for yourself.
You don't even get to set one for
yourself.
So the one that you set for yourself
has to be synonymous with the barometer that
is set by society
in order for it to make sense
in society.
Your parents, they're pleased with you. They're happy
with no, but no doubt you don't understand.
This is, I mean, the plight of the
youth, like, you don't understand.
Such and such, you know, Ahmed just bought
a BMW.
Okay. Hamdiullah,
Allahumma barakkalayu.
You know what I'm saying? Like, happy for
Ahmed. That doesn't necessarily mean that you have
to have
one. But because of everything, all the attention
and everything that comes with Ahmed and this
new BMW,
you want that now
Because society has shifted in his direction because
of this one little accolade or this one
little component of
success
that he's acquired.
Now,
society
has shifted
in his favor,
and you want that.
Meanwhile, you are willing to abandon your number
one fans,
who are your parents.
They are going to take you the way
you are.
You know what I'm saying? Win or lose.
You know what I'm saying? Broke, busted, and
disgusted. Your your family gonna always take you.
But we're willing to abandon that.
1st and foremost, we don't want to abandon
the security, you know what I'm saying,
but we also abandon the security, the love,
and the nurture when they come to our
parents
to chase these guys out in the street
who clout chasing.
You understand?
So this is misguidedness
that's, you know, established within society.
But
those of us who know what real success
is, that's what we're supposed to strive for.
We're not supposed to get sidetracked by this
temporary,
you know,
interpretation
of what success is. For example, I'll give
a quick example and we'll move on.
If you look at Michael Jackson,
Michael Jackson dedicated his whole life to entertainment.
From a child
to the day he returned to Allah, Subhanahu,
wa'ala,
right?
I remember
watching on the news the whole Michael Jackson
craze. There was people moonwalking in the street,
pot locking and everything. They had the Billie
Jean jackets, the Thriller jackets. Everybody was just
Michael Jackson crazy.
Guys had Jerry curls. People who had hair,
I didn't even know even, curl had curls.
It was just a real big deal.
Then they had a earthquake
in Tokyo or something.
2 weeks.
Then this turn of events, no one even
thought about Michael Jackson anymore.
So out of everything he gave society,
from his childhood
all the way to adulthood,
got wiped away with news of an earthquake
in Tokyo.
That's a good way to think about things.
Very clear. Yeah. That's how temporary that's how
temporary fame is.
You know?
After, you know, the the body is lower
than the ground,
it's over.
Yeah. Yeah. You know, maybe a few weeks
of grieving,
maybe some, you know, sporadic moments here and
there down the road.
But it's not even like what what you
know, okay. You get a street named after
you
or something like that.
Mhmm. But at the end of the day,
what is it all for?
So that's the point I'm hinting to.
What is it all for? Then for those
people who have emptiness
and they acquire success, their success becomes fulfillment.
But now for La Trobe to take that
success from them, what do they do? They
go kill themselves.
Yeah. You come home, he's hanging from the
ceiling.
Because his whole life revolved around fame.
He did not appreciate the life that he
had prior to that.
He only appreciated
being loved and revered
by fans.
You had a great point you had a
great point about
classes
and how they put labels on you before
you even start. You know? And and you're
a 100% right about that. And I don't
know if this really correlates.
And you said we talked about the transition
that you had in Islam and and the
transition
from
music and all that. And I had a
question about, like, the reality of, like it's
like the evilness of just, like, music labels
and all this and and how they drag
people in and how they they slave these
people away. These people sign these horrible record
deals,
and and it's not it's like they own
them at this point. It's like a sad
sad reality about entertainment.
Well, those people and their evil plots
cannot,
you know, prosper without you agreeing to it.
You understand? If y'all listen to the interview
that I did in The Breakfast Club, like
their brother mentioned,
I kinda freed
Puff from
this false perception that people have about him.
I did great business for him.
You know why? Because I was focused on
the business.
But those who are misled and misguided by,
first and foremost, their own desires,
and then you want to align yourself with
someone
who's amassed wealth and success.
So blinded by that,
if you feel like that would be jeopardized
or taken away in a snap,
then that means any contract or anything comes
your way,
you don't think to rock the boat and
say, you know what? I don't agree with
this. I don't agree with this. I don't
want to rock the boat. I'm having so
much fun.
You know what I'm saying? I'm so inspired
and just, you know, I'm I'm just in
this this this state of bliss right now
hanging around all these big famous people and
all that. The first contract come, I'm signing
it because I don't want this to stop.
And I'm saying that in general of the
motivation
behind why people make stupid decisions
and sign,
like you said, horrible contracts that place themselves
in a situation
because,
first of all, they don't know their own
wealth. They don't know their own worth.
You know what I'm saying? So in that
interview, I tried to make it clear that
I wasn't a part of that repetitive
cycle of,
you know,
disappointed,
you know, artists.
I wasn't disappointed. I owned all my publishing.
I owned everything I was supposed to own.
I did great business. I traveled the world.
I was good friends with a mogul. We
had our differences
sometime, but in all actuality, we had a
lot of great times. So those are the
things that's my takeaway. That's what I walked
away with.
So, you know,
that's why, you know, to hear you say
that means that you are aware
of
the ills and pitfalls that come with that
business.
Mhmm. So only a person with that understanding
will understand why
it is incumbent upon a person to abandon
that for something better.
Mhmm. Alright or wrong? And you said you
you own your masters. Right? You own all
that stuff. So was it easier to get
it all taken down? Because, obviously, you know,
you're a Muslim, you know, and and, you
know, the music thing, you know, it just
doesn't align, you know, how how Well, the
thing is I only own my works. You
know, the production is owned by, you know,
Sean Combs.
And taking everything down, you know, if you
know anything about the Internet, my brother, it's
like, you can't control
other people's hopes. You know what I'm saying?
So it's like when you see,
you know, even pictures of me,
You know, I try to avoid pictures to
the best of my ability.
You know,
from what I understand from the early mind
is that, you know, videos
are are more permissible. You know what I'm
saying? Because it's in real time.
So, you know, these are the things
that I try to post the most, things
that are, you know,
you know,
contingent upon, you know, obeying the law.
But a lot of things you can't control.
You know? Like me being here today, I
can control this. I wanna be here. This
is who I wanna be. You know? I
don't wanna be chasing down people for stuff
that's in the past floating around, and then
that's a waste of time. I'd rather be
here. You know what I'm saying? Trying to,
you know,
bring about some benefit.
So, you know, I try to focus on
what's beneficial
and and not fall into, you know, the
tricks of the shayton.
But chasing that, I may end up chasing
something else. Right?
And, you know, Amir, like, you had success
in business. You you know, that is something
with the education system
that kids pretty regularly recognize
we don't do a good job of of
teaching them how to be successful,
economically
successful in business.
So,
you you know, for these kids these days,
and you mentioned that they have more opportunities
available today
than you had in Harlem growing up.
Like, you were limited in the routes to
success.
So what is so for kids who who
they wanna make they do wanna make money,
they wanna be successful in business when they
grow up, what advice would you give to
them?
Well, one thing I can say, I've seen
definitely
an immense
entrepreneurial
spirit,
you know, with these millennial kids, you know.
I definitely can say that, you know, that,
that entrepreneurial
drive that many of the youth have today
is something that should be nurtured. And as
you said, we may have failed in that
department because,
you know, us being a little older, we
may look at, you know, all the time
being busy on social media as a waste
of time.
But, you know, it's also a platform to
utilize other things as well. You know what
I'm saying? If someone was to step in
and try to, like, you know, navigate that
to some extent.
But I think that, you know,
if you look at all the opportunities,
and the opportunities are abundant,
but the opportunities
are only something that, you know,
is attractive to you.
You know what I'm saying? So for example,
you know,
when I was incarcerated, I took a course
on contemporary logistics. You know what I'm saying?
Import and export.
But I wanted to learn about the whole
supply chain. You know. I heard about a
lot of guys that want to come home
and drive trucks, and I'm saying to myself,
I'm not coming home and drive no truck.
You gotta be somebody over the truck. And
then when I learned it was somebody over
the the guy that's over the truck, then
I learned there's another guy that's over the
guy that's over the truck. So it's like
you started I started processing
how the whole supply chain works.
So that education became essential to me now
making a sound decision if I wanna get
into logistics.
So studying is something that you're not gonna
be able to abandon. Even with all the
opportunities presented, you still have to study.
So I'm not going to sit up here
and tell you that you can just get
on the Internet and find your niche. At
some point, you're gonna have to go back
to these teachers. You're gonna have to you're
gonna have to revert back to some form
of study.
You're gonna have to invest some type of
time,
you know what I'm saying, and and less
busying yourself with things that's not productive in
order to do something productive.
And that's why I say a lot of
the opportunity that you guys have today is
that you have all these vehicles and all
these components in place. So if you don't
revert to these things,
then clearly,
you know, your your your your position is
clear.
You don't wanna learn.
You don't wanna be successful.
You only wanna chase the wave that everybody
else is on.
So how could you, you know what I'm
saying? If I grew up in an environment
where you're limited to, like, no
Biggie said in one of his songs, you
know, either you're singing crack rap or you
got a wicked jump shot. He said these
two things, you know what I'm saying metaphorically,
but at the same time there's a lot
of truth to it. He was either gonna
sell drugs or he was gonna play basketball,
you know.
So now
that opportunities
have been, you know,
you know,
increased,
you don't have that option or that excuse
anymore
to say I only have to do this
or do that.
You have now in your possession the opportunity
to do this, this, this, this, this, this,
this, this while doing that, that, that, that.
You can actually multitask now.
You can actually do multiple things,
you know.
But once again,
you're gonna have to study
because America is a very competitive place.
You know what I'm saying? Economically,
very competitive.
You know what I'm saying?
So, you know,
I would say find what fits you.
Not what not what you think somebody thinks
of you. Like, what do you like to
do? You gotta start with yourself. You gotta
start assessing yourself. You have to be real
with yourself.
Understand? Because that's the only way you're gonna
be able to enjoy the process. You're not
gonna enjoy the process if you fake it
or if you're telling yourself, you know, saying
something other than the truth. So you can't
say I wanna be, you know, a architect,
but you just like the way buildings look.
You really don't want to go through the
tedious process of being an architect. So the
process is gonna be uncomfortable for you. It's
gonna get boring. It's gonna get dull. It's
gonna be all kinds of things. But whatever
your heart is attached to, and you know
that it's beneficial and it's good,
then you'll be able to appreciate the process,
getting to where, you know, that point of
success.
See, I didn't know these things going to
the music business. But when I went into
the music business, I studied in music business.
That's why I was able to have ownership.
I learned about
the rights of artists. I learned the things
that I was entitled to. I learned all
those things before I got into the business.
So now I can navigate through all of
these
attractions,
you know what I'm saying, without being derailed
from my objective
was to be a part of the music
business.
I don't wanna be a part of the
music lifestyle. I knew that was coming.
You know what I'm saying? I didn't wanna
be a part of the success. I knew
that was coming.
I knew that I had to have my
business in check
before
all those other things that come become a
distraction to my business.
So you have to respect the process. It's
something that you really wanna do, and there's
a lot of good stuff out there. There's
a lot of young kids out there that's
millionaires. I was reading the Forbes, and they
had a whole article
on kids y'all age
that was multimillionaires
that built, you know what I'm saying,
mobile apps or, you know what I'm saying,
doing web development, coding, all kinds of stuff.
Y'all y'all have so much stuff
to y'all discretion.
To fall into these
old eighties, nineties, seventy traps, it it it
would just be, you know,
it would be disappointing.
You know, it'd be very disappointing.
I
mean, I mean, we we have been joined
by our history and and social studies teacher
here at heritage, mister Skelly. And mister Skelly,
I saw you virtually raised your hand through
the Google Meet. Was there something you want
to say or ask?
Oh, you're on mute.
Story of my life. Thanks.
I just had a a question. You know,
obviously,
you're a writer and you're really talented, and
you had a lot of success with your
gift.
But I I was thinking through the process,
like, what you're describing
in your experience. And I was wondering,
how much did your ability to write
get you to that point
to that hotel room.
Like,
because, you know,
we talk to our students about writing, and
I know Michael is a really love loves
to write.
And, you know,
writing is kind of to me could be
a major,
breakthrough for people just individually,
you know, in their own psyche or in
their own development. So I was just curious,
just being a writer itself,
how did that
did did that play any influence
in getting you, like, being able to reflect
and see things
and get you to that point?
That's a that's a excellent question
because you hit the nail on the head.
When I first started writing, it was for
therapeutic,
you know, same reasons.
Because some of the things that I encountered
in the street, you know,
they go unsaid,
you know, you'll be breaking
a lot of codes,
speaking on certain things.
So what I did,
I dealt with those things
by writing. You know what I'm saying? I
used to write in the form of poetry.
I actually had a 3 step process where
I would write like I would write into
a teacher.
Because I enjoy handing in, you know, like
I was, I really enjoyed handing in writing
projects
to teachers because I was always interested in
how they receive my writing
or how they receive my expression
of whatever
task is put in front of me, because
I always attempted to put my own twist.
You know, you had the guys that used
to take the back of the book
and just read the back of the book
and try to do a whole book report
off of that. I I I wasn't that
guy. I actually wanted to get into the
meat and potatoes and no. So I wrote
the first phase, like, I was writing it
for a teacher. Then I wrote it like
I wrote writing a letter to one of
my homeboys that might be locked up. So,
you you know, when you write a letter
to them, it's like giving them current events.
Like, yo, you ain't heard, like, such and
such pregnant. Yo, this guy got hit. This
guy got so it was more
using slang.
And then I wrote it in rhyme.
So these became
these therapeutic
steps that I took to get into writing
rhymes. I never aspired to be a part
of the rap game or the business. It
was all so that I can, you know,
shoulder some of the things that I was
dealing with in the street.
And then,
certain things that I couldn't change
because of the greater home,
I would just use my imagination and deal
with it the way I wanted to deal
with it. You know what I'm saying? So,
for example, if I was cheated out of
something, but I know if I go do
something this way, it's only gonna make the
situation worse, so maybe I should just write
it off as a loss. That's a reality.
But now writing is, like, I might go
back in my mind, and writing is, like,
I'm gonna do this to him, I'm gonna
do that, I'm gonna do that, and and
it became a means or outlet for me
to just get certain aggressions and certain things
off my chest.
So it was me in my own little
world. It was me in my own little
space, and it was the method that I
used to deal with my issues. You know
what I'm saying? I didn't have any other
escape.
That's why fast forward years later, when I
found this ultimate escape, I embraced it right
away because of what I endured prior to
that. So
you're absolutely right.
Writing
is somewhat almost
obsolete because of computers. It's like
I've seen No. No. No. Don't don't don't
say don't say that. Don't say it's absolute.
You mean writing by the hand. Correct? Yeah.
That's what I mean. Yeah. That's what I
mean. Yeah. Let me be clear. Appreciate that.
I'm not trying to say
that writing in itself is obsolete. It's just
writing with a hint. Even writing cursive. Like,
we had to do that in school
in order to get that good grade.
You will lose about 10 points,
just soft punctuation and stuff like that. So
like I said, these were the things that
were more challenging when I was younger,
going through that writing process and learning about
writing is that all of those things had
to be in place. So what happens with,
you know, the youth today, y'all spend, you
know, abundance of hours
on the Internet.
You know what I'm saying? So it's not
that you don't have the ability to write,
but, you know, like creative writing and things
like that. If you got spell check and
all of these things working in your favor,
it's like, you're gonna remove yourself from the
process of
the therapeutic
aspect of writing because the connection is not
there. There's no intimacy in it if you're
not touching it some so to say. And
I'm just saying from my perspective, don't don't
take this as
this is how it goes. I'm just saying
that
what, you know what I'm saying, mister Schenley
was saying was something that resonated with me
because what I took away from writing
definitely was therapeutic, and it helped me through
a very pinnacle phase in my life. You
know what I'm saying? It helped me to
have a voice
when I didn't wanna speak. It's not that
nobody wouldn't listen.
It's just the stuff that I would have
been talking about when there'd been no benefit,
but I needed to get it out and
write and did that for me. So with
this project that the brother mentioned in the
beginning, his autobiography,
I'm telling y'all this right now, I would
love to be present when it's time to
present those autobiography,
and if we can
get together
as adults and create an incentive
for the ones who write, you know, the
best five
or, you know, so on and so forth.
I would love to be a part of
something like that because
it would show me that
I'm not just rambling right now, that you
guys are actually listening
and that you understand,
you know, saying that the therapy that we
need
you know what I'm saying?
For most of us here that's Muslim, you
know, our our therapy, you know, and, you
know, our salvation and everything is with Allah.
But we also gotta tie a camel. So
that means that there are other, you know,
methods of, you know, solidifying,
you know, saying that that that that that
harmony that we're looking for. And writing is
definitely a bet like, it it's definitely a
tool for that. You know? It's definitely a
tool for that. So
I'm excited, and I'm interested to see
what some of you guys' stories
are like. Because for many of y'all, it's
from, you know, Somali descent, you know, you
have a lot of civil strife in your
country. A lot of y'all was affected by
that. Your parents was affected by that. Grandparents
was affected by that. So y'all have a
very compelling story to tell
leading up to now.
And if you max if you look at
the opportunities
that were present during those times
that your parents or grandparents had to flee,
you know what I'm saying, from your land,
to now the opportunity that you have now
in this country,
You will actually see or produce a proof
against yourself
that you don't have an excuse
to fall into anything
other than that which is good and that
which is better. Because I know, like I
mentioned to the brother, you know, my youngest
son, you know what I'm saying? He's half
Somali. His mother's Somali. So I'm very familiar
with the culture. I'm very familiar with a
lot of, you know, things that transpire
before you guys' time. You know what I'm
saying? Because everything with me is a study.
You know what I'm saying? I like to
learn. You know what I'm saying? From my
my my
my my son and grandfather, Abdul Ahmed.
And, you know, and, you know, it's just
it's just things you learn even from the
Somali community in Atlanta. You know what I'm
saying? I've learned a lot of things. So,
yeah, I have a very compelling story, and
I'm very interested to see how you articulate
that
until current times.
You know, saying how you transition from your
knowledge of what took place
with your ancestry
to the opportunity that you have now, and
you'll see
that those decisions that were made to flee
may have been for your benefit and not
for you to be out here
doing nothing crazy. You know what I'm saying?
It's
like for us, the African American, we ain't
have no country to run to. We didn't
know where to start.
But many of us don't even know which
one we came from.
So migration is always north, east, west, or
south, and that, you know, to the magnitude
that, you know, many of you guys had
to experience, so your families had to experience.
So there's a lot that comes with, you
know,
this opportunity to, you know, write this autobiography.
And I and I hope that y'all take
it, you know, on full stride.
We're 100% gonna take you up on that.
I'm also gonna be unpacking everything you just
said about writing
for the students.
Some great lessons there. I think I'll be
like, man. I'll I'll be the exact raise
his hand. Yeah. And Kat too, I think,
raised her hand. I think she had first.
So, Kat, did you wanna unmute?
Ask something?
Yeah. I had a question. So
if, like, do you regret anything? And if
you did, why did you do it at
that moment?
Well,
honestly,
I have no regrets
because everything led to today.
And that's, you know, accepting a law of
decree, you know, the good of it and
the bad of it. And many of y'all
notice, you know, from the usul of our
deen
is that, you know, we have to accept
what a lot of the creed,
because had not those things take place or
taken taken place,
we would not be here today
to discuss these matters that we discussed in
the day. So I have no regrets, you
know,
because
the guidance that I received
was not foreseeable.
So even if I changed or arranged anything
in the past, Allah is the best of
planners.
Eventually,
by His infinite wisdom and knowledge,
guidance would have still reached me if He
will or not.
So the fact that
everything that led to that
was a particular way, I would not change
it
for anything because it led to something great.
So
I have another question. So what does success
mean to you?
Success means to me,
and and let me be clear
because,
you know, I never,
you know,
run from,
you know, what it is to be Muslim
and what we understand to be success.
You know? And I don't compromise that and
no speaking engagement and no speaking forum,
you know, regardless of who's present.
But success to me is the same success
to you and everyone here, you know, that
believes in the law in the last day,
is that we meet our lord, you know,
with good deeds that outweigh our bad.
That's success.
And by his mercy, enter in his paradise,
which he created for the believers that no
eyes have ever seen, no ears have ever
heard, no tongue has ever tasted.
That's success.
So, all of these things that are comprised
in this worldly life, they're only temporary.
You know what I'm saying? They're only temporary.
So, one cannot
hold on to something
that eventually
will
flee from you.
You know? Allah says,
You know, verily every soul will taste death,
so we know there's inevitable and know it's
inescapable.
So how we
live will determine how we'll succeed
in the hereafter,
and that is success.
Abdul Zach, did you have a question?
Yeah. Thank you, mister Abraham.
I just have a.
Get get yourself louder, Abdur Zak. Get closer
to the laptop or whatever needs to happen.
Do you hear me now? Is it Yeah.
There you go. There you go.
I'm not familiar.
A couple of times the questions. I wanted
to say something about success.
I think your mic's
Yeah. Yeah. Mike Yeah. We're still having trouble
out there, Zach.
Let me try to log in from my
phone. Maybe that's better.
I don't know. My HP computer? Can you
hear me now? It's no.
That's better. I can hear you now.
Okay. Yeah. What are the topics you've touched
on it?
Is the concept of being successful,
you know, here in this world,
and hereafter as well. Because,
in Islam,
success is connected very much to hereafter
because this world, as you mentioned, is temporary.
So,
the other part that I wanna talk about
is,
and the the reason that we bring more,
like, new here to our process is to
get the motivation
and to work better and and past their
classes
and and set a feature for themselves.
I part of the things that you mentioned
is,
many many children, you know, in Somalia,
they don't have the opportunity they have right
now.
The last statistics I look at was
80%
of children living in Somalia,
they don't have access to education.
The only education system that exists in there
right now is through the private sector.
The government is so weak.
They don't have but they have a government
schools
as,
more budget than the entire government of Somalia.
So you can imagine how much will be
allocated to education.
So this is an opportunity that our children
have here right now, but many of them,
for some reason,
they are not taking full benefit of it.
So,
I want your advice to our students towards
that, something that you can, elaborate more
on that issue.
Yeah. Definitely. I'm glad you brought that out
because, like, for me, when you say
success, that's just the first thing that comes
in my heart. But I don't wanna discourage
that any that there is a success that
exists in this worldly life. You know what
I'm saying?
And there are certain boundaries that's established for
us
that we did not exceed,
but there's
plenty of room,
you know what I'm saying, to acquire, you
know what I'm saying, things that make, you
know,
life better for us, you know what I'm
saying,
in this life.
And, you know, there's a balance between,
you know, matters of and.
You know what I'm saying? It matters between
the religion and between, you know, worldly affairs.
And, you know, it's essential that we, you
know, we eat, we need food, we need,
you know, we need, you know,
currency or money in order to survive and
thrive,
you know, in this worldly life.
But
in doing that, we know that there's, you
know, things that are prescribed for us to
do
to acquire those things without transgressing beyond the
boundaries that Allah has set forth.
And then there's also things like I was
privy to or exposed to in abundance
that don't constitute any good, even if my
intentions were good.
So I say that to say
that,
you know,
this is why I challenge a lot of
you young guys, and I'm a I'm a
reenter this space.
Because
in order to really advise in this matter,
first we had to look at
what do you see in yourself, like, what
do you see yourself
achieving
that couldn't be achieved
prior to certain things or certain contingency that
were put in place or obstacles that were
put in place that wouldn't allow you to
achieve those things.
And that's only expounding from what Abdulaziz was
mentioning about the conditions in Somalia.
So, I'm pretty sure many of you brothers
and sisters
are not oblivious
or ignorant to some of those things that
took place,
you know, saying, in your country, whether you
were born there or not, I'm pretty sure
these stories have been passed down.
So to motivate you to take advantage of
the opportunity that you have here.
So, you know,
there are an abundant opportunities
that are permissible for us to obtain.
So if it doesn't, you know it's saying,
exceed the boundaries
that are put in place for us,
then these things are permissible for us to
acquire and obtain,
and the list is abundant.
So
once you become clear
of what those boundaries are, then it becomes
easy
and essential for you to look or sift
through everything else that remains
and find something to attach your heart to,
and attach yourself to, and educate yourself to,
and try to, you know, excel in that
space.
You know, many of you already know your
age, y'all into this social media, this tech
stuff and everything.
There's nothing that is prescribed to my knowledge
and the law of those best that would
impede you from growing
in that space
or achieving success in that space.
You know?
Teaching history as well, you know.
Like some of the teachers you have here,
you know. We need more.
Yeah. We definitely need more. We need more
we need more young teachers. Yeah. Definitely need
more teachers. Because like I mentioned earlier, I
speak to, like, 60 teachers, principals,
you know, mayor, you know,
Mount Vernon, senator Eddie Knowlton, and, you know,
saying Indiana, congressman, you know, saying Andre Carson.
I speak to a lot of politicians,
and everything that they're stressing
is about education,
because education
has been abandoned through the course of many
years of issues that's plagued this country.
You know what I'm saying? And education has
been overlooked and overstepped.
Educational funding has been chipped away. You know
what I'm saying? In order to spend funding
or other things that this government may deem
to be more relevant.
But in all actuality,
it should be at the forefront,
like other countries and other nations who put
education
first.
So
many of you guys
have the ability to fill that void.
Teaching is something that, you know, it exceeds
your lifespan.
And I'm going to repeat that. Teaching,
in most cases, exceeds your lifespan because what
you teach someone
after you're gone
is continuously
taught.
Hey, Mir.
You know, we got about 11 minutes left
scheduled with you. You know, again, just thank
you so much for the time you're giving
us. No. I'm I'm happy to be here,
man. Like, I really like you know, like,
got sad children of my own. You know?
My oldest daughter will be 29 this month,
and I got adults.
I do want the you know, our our
avid ten our avid ten class. They're looking
at some specific things relating to the criminal
justice system.
You know, we've had a lot go on
in our city this past year.
Yeah. I mean, George
Floyd. Killing George Floyd and everything.
So I'd be remiss if we didn't get
chance to ask you to talk about some
of the work you're doing now as far
as prison reform and criminal justice reform, and
if you could just talk about that work.
Well,
I've recently,
you know, signed on as an inaugural fellow
for Reform Alliance.
Reform Alliance was established by Meek Mill, Jay
Z,
you know what I'm saying, the owner of
Philadelphia
76ers,
and the president of this organization is Van
Jones,
you know, who many of y'all might know
from CNN.
And these people have been very adamant, you
know what I'm saying, in trying to reform
the criminal justice system because it is a
broken system. It's an extremely broken system. You
know what I'm saying? My 9 years in
federal prison
only solidified
that fact
through, you know, consistent experience
and how, you know, the criminal justice system,
you know, warehouses,
you know what I'm saying, millions of men,
you know,
but don't provide anything
essential for them to reenter society and be
productive citizens.
So what happens is it becomes a revolving
door. You have a high recidivism rate where
individuals end up just going back or resorting
back to what they know best,
Whether it be selling drugs, stealing,
killing, whatever the case may be because there's
no contingencies put in place
to aid and assist these individuals in reentering
society.
So with Reform Alliance,
basically we're trying to partner
with the offices
of community supervision
and pretty much change them into the office
of community
because the community
office of community supervision, it only entails that
you're leaving one system and going to another
system. Because you have 2 point I believe
2.6 to 2,700,000
people that's incarcerated,
and you have more than double of that
that who are on supervised release.
You understand?
So you have over 4 you know, almost
5,000,000 people who are on supervised release. So
what we're trying to do with Reform Alliance
is actually try to play liaison between
men leaving the prison system and reentering,
you know what I'm saying,
and reentering society
and, you know,
probably,
and trying to lessen some of the impact
of going into supervised release.
Now,
the other area is my own organization,
you know what I'm saying, which is Lumen
Tamir Foundation.
I'm focusing on police reform.
Now police reform, of course, like the brother
mentioned about some of the horrific acts that's
taken place
with law enforcement,
you know what I'm saying, using, you know
what I'm saying,
extremely abusive
and brutal tactics
and labeling it under the guise of, you
know, policing or law enforcement,
this is something that also has to be
addressed and also has to be changed.
And
I believe that, you know,
my approach in trying to first and foremost
establish dialogue
and clarity on
the the cultural,
you know, discord,
you know, between,
you know, people who are placed to enforce
or serve and protect, so to say, communities
that are foreign to you.
So for example, you know, I can't come
to a community
that I'm not familiar with
and serve and protect those people or provide
the service,
you know what I'm saying, of serving and
protecting properly without understanding that culture or that
community.
That in itself, you know what I'm saying,
is a fallacy.
So, now what we have is
many of
these incidents
are reoccurring because you have police getting placed
in communities that are foreign to them.
And certain things that may be harmless
is perceived to them as threats.
You know what I'm saying?
And this type of discord has to be
addressed
1st and foremost by, you know, saying acknowledging
that it's a problem, and secondly, working towards
what would be a better solution.
And one of the things also
is something that many of you young kids
need to, take in consideration
is that when you see these issues taking
place and you're seeing the the the the
the constant consequences
and detriment that comes from these situations,
it would definitely behoove you to wanna take
some of these roles,
meaning take some of these positions as well
in law enforcement,
because what's better
than serving and protecting the community that you
own?
Serving and protecting the community that's your own
can bring about way more benefit
than the moral aspect of the job is
being implemented
because these are your own people. These are
your own community heads. These are your own,
you know what I'm saying, pillars
of your community
that you're safeguarding and protecting.
You know?
So, you know, and that and that goes
with, you know, everything else, you know what
I'm saying, that contributes to that. Yeah. I'm
saying.
I had a question. Before you leave today,
can you, like, put your contact like, your
business email or, you know, in the in
the chat before you go?
That's okay. No. I have no problem with
that. I definitely have no problem with that.
Because I don't know if any of y'all
have my own
I think any of my social media because
I answer it a lot.
You know what I'm saying? To the best
of my ability. I know a lot of
people would be shocked. Like, they're hitting, like,
this even leave messages. Like, I know you
probably ain't gonna get this. I know you're
probably not gonna answer it.
But one thing I'm kinda playing with is
the right to them believers is that I
have to return to salah. So that's my
soul spot. So anytime somebody come on and
say salam alaykum, I feel compelled to return
to salam. So
I'll do that. Or,
I can leave,
everything with the brother,
Michael in sha Allah.
And most of his, like, on YouTube, it's
Amir to Lune or or I'm sorry. Lune
to Amir. Correct? Mhmm. Or real or real
Lune to Amir?
Yeah. Which,
that that's YouTube and Instagram. Hey. I think,
Hassett,
you raise your hand. You will have one
last question. We got 4 minutes. You know,
I'm sorry. We're always up against the wall
with these things. But Yeah. That's cool. Hassan,
do you have another do you have one
last question? No. And then if we have
to end it with that, Amir will be
following up on everything you said. Thank you
so much. Go ahead.
Oh, no. I don't have a question. I
don't. Okay. Okay. Thank you. Uh-huh. And then,
yeah, the reason I asked for the business
email, because this is a business thing, from
from my loan. Okay. It's like a community
thing. It's pretty cool. It's pretty cool. She
asked me to ask you because it was,
like, a great opportunity too. But,
yeah, I mean, everything that you said today,
it was like
yeah. It was very, very, very beneficial to
me. You know? Like, I learned a lot
here today
from all the stuff you did. I'm glad
that I'm glad, you know, that you was
able to benefit because I benefit from this
as well. This is not a, you know,
one way street.
Like, you know, I you know, I've been
going for a while,
So I can assume things
are the same, but that that that'll just
be, you know, ludicrous. I know that a
lot has changed,
you know, since I've been gone. So to
be able to reconnect with many of you,
you know, guys, it it does a lot
for me as well.
So I left the email up there, and,
if if if if if you have anything
that can contribute to some of the things
that I'm working on, that'd be excellent. And
if I can aid and assist you in
anything that will help you as well, I'm
I'm definitely open to doing that as well.
And, also, you know, the teachers as well,
you know,
I I don't mind if the brother circulates
my communication
or my, you know, my information with you
guys. And if there's anything that I can
do, you know what I'm saying, for you
and, you know, your respective,
you know, flock,
you know, then I would definitely, you know,
love to help you with that as well.
Yeah. I I really appreciate this invitation, you
know,
And the prophet says some say, you know,
if you don't thank the people, you know,
you don't thank a lot. So, you know,
I thank you
very much for inviting me.
And Abu Ghazal, inshallah, you get the number
from the brother inshallah.
We we thank you too. Students, can we
just get you to unmute your microphones again
for a moment and say thank you to
to Amir? Give him one last time, please.
Thanks, Ibrahim. Thank you, Amir.
No.
No.
Right.
Yeah. I I pray that y'all, you know,
y'all be safe out there. You know? And
I know many of y'all may know certain
individuals
in y'all community,
you know, that may not be doing the
right thing, you know what I'm saying? You
have to take consideration the ID for the
Prophet When
he mentioned that when you see an evil,
you try to stop it with your hands.
You know, if you can't stop it with
your hands, you stop it with your speech.
If you can't stop it with your speech,
then you stop it with your heart.
You know, don't abandon any of these things
because I know how it is. Some of
y'all may know some, you know, people that's
doing whatever, you know, we you know, you
know, advise them.
You know, sometimes try to remind them
that, you know, the things that they're doing
don't just impact them and their immediate family.
It impacts all of y'all.
You know?
And this is how you protect yourself as
well.
You know? And I know how it is.
You know? Sometimes,
you know, we we turn a blind eye
on certain things because we know each other.
But, you know, we have a obligation to
enjoy what's good and forbid what's evil.
You know, that's what a lot of people
don't know
about us as Muslims. You know, that's our
obligation for us,
to enjoy what's good and forbid what's evil.
And there's no political position with that. You
had to be a republican, a democrat, none
of that to do that. You just gotta
be Muslim.
You see something? You know, we try to
enjoy what's good, and we try to forbid
what's evil,
you know?
And that applies to everyone, you know? Men
in general, and it shouldn't be a man
standing around allowing things to happen.
You know what I'm saying? Especially when it
happens to women and elderly people and children
and so on and so forth. No man
should stand around and allow those things to
happen.
So, we have a lot of responsibilities.
All of y'all are adults. I'm not talking
to y'all as children, I'm talking to y'all
as young adults
who have a lot of responsibilities.
Pretty soon, a lot of y'all are going
to leave the nest.
Everybody will have some responsibility. Then, you'll then,
you'll really start understanding
some of the plight
of us parents. You know what I'm saying?
When you when you guys have to embark
on that journey and be responsible for somebody
else's life, you're gonna see. But right now,
y'all got y'all got it good, you know.
So take advantage of it while you have
it. Do the right things. And inshallah, you
know
you know, stay firm, you know, hold on
to the rope of Allah.
Thank you. What are you talking about?