Amjad Tarsin – Understanding Allah’s Promise of Victory
AI: Summary ©
The speakers discuss the importance of Islam and its double standard in many cultures, as well as the disturbing and sad reality of the "innix life" of the United States where thousands of people will watch videos and write names of people on it. They stress the need to be firm in helping those who are being oppressed and fearing the consequences of their actions, and to be mindful of their religious teachings. They also discuss the historical context of history and the importance of avoiding margins and the need for people to be aware of their actions. Finally, they encourage guests to visit the area and offer educational programs and devotional programs.
AI: Summary ©
Muhammad, Allah, ala Salatin wa salam and da
ima, Vida wami, munkillah wa ala anihi wa, Al asmaahi Wa, men Wada,
Arani, Sadri WA, Yasir. Lee, Amri, wahul datum, Min nisani, yaqahli,
wasad, Lee, Sani, wahdi, bihana, Muhammad, sallAllahu, alaihi wa,
Ali wa salam. It's once again, as I said before, a pleasure and an
honor to be with you all, and even though we don't get to necessarily
see each other face to face, it's always a pleasure and a joy when I
do meet someone in person and they say, you know, we follow celebrate
mercy, and we've been attending classes online, so we ask Allah,
subhana wa Taala to continue To place blessings and benefit in
celebrate Mercy's work, and that Allah subhanahu wa makes it a
means of the prophetic light to shine within the hearts of
countless numbers of people, the Ibn lahita Allah. And as we can
see, the world is changing. There's a lot going on, and the
story that we're about to cover really relates to that,
excuse me,
related to faith and how Allah, Subhanahu wa Taala will often give
victory and make his words supreme in the face of great tyranny and
oppression.
So the topic is understanding Allah's promise of victory,
the promise of victory that we have as believers is not
necessarily the worldly notion and perspective of victory, of
Overcoming an opponent and humiliating them and having this
dominance and control that isn't necessarily what it means for a
believer. There were many Sahaba, may Allah be well pleased with
them, all who never witnessed the conquest of Mecca. They never
lived that long, but they were still victorious. One of the
Sahaba, famously, he became Muslim. There was a man who
initially was antagonistic against Muslims, and when he embraced this
now, they asked him, What is it that inspired you to want to
become Muslim? And he said, I was actually fighting in battle
against the Muslims,
and I gave a fatal blow to one of the believers, and as he was
dying, he looked up and he said, fust, I've won by the Lord of the
Kaaba. I swear I've won.
And the man said it struck me, how could someone who has just been
martyred, but in his eyes, has just been killed, say I've won.
So he said, his faith must be true. This must come from a true
connection to Allah subhanahu wa. So he became curious and inspired
by that, and he eventually became Muslim
when we see what's going on in Raza, in Palestine, in Jerusalem,
when we see what's happening to many Muslim brothers and sisters
all over the world,
and we see the oppression, we see the facade of human rights and
equality. We start to see a lot of that language really have a double
standard. You know, we want equality, but I just want it for
my people,
so it already contradicts the very definition. We start to see that a
lot of these claims are not as genuine as they want us to
believe, and the victims, many times are people who don't really
have a voice. But that's changing, and ultimately, the affair belongs
to Allah subhanahu wa taala.
So when looking at, for example, surat al boruj, Sura 85 in the
Quran, it really struck me how Allah subhanahu wa taala tells us
a story, and surat al boruj, which is very similar to what we see
going on today in Palestine and elsewhere, where you have this
violent, tyrannical, aggressive, barbaric, inhumane.
Pain, force, fighting against the people and oppressing a people
just because they're believers, just because they're believers,
that they want to make it about us and them, but really, where their
hatred stems from is that they're Muslims, and there are also
Christian Palestinians who are suffering as well, but they have
this way of dehumanizing them and really hating them based on that
difference. So Allah subhanaw taala tells us in surat al buuj a
story which is really similar, and you have to follow the logic that
Allah subhanahu wa is teaching us in the Quran and the ultimate
outcome and consequence of each group, the believers and the
disbelievers. So Allah subhanahu wa says, was sama either till
buruj by the sky full of constellations, while Yom il
mahrud and and the Promised Day of Judgment, washahidim, wamesh hood
and the witness and what is witnessed on that day, utilah al
saabuld,
condemned, are the makers of the ditch. So this is a previous
people before the time of the Prophet Muhammad, sallAllahu,
alaihi wasallam and Allah is talking about a specific group of
disbelievers. What is it that they did? They would dig these deep
ditches and Narita, and they would fill it with fuel, and they would
make these huge fires, these blazing fires. Ilham alaiha, and
they would sit around the ditch, wahoma, ALA, Amaya, faguna,
watching what they had ordered to be done to the believers. So these
were a group of people who were disbelievers, and they had the
upper hand. What we're trying to understand here is Allah's promise
of victory. And as I said at the very beginning, it's not the same
understanding of victory as people who have a worldly and a worldly
point of view, and who are not based in faith, they're going to
think of it very differently. So people of belief, they have a
different definition altogether.
So Allah tells us of a previous people who they would make these
huge ditches and fill them with fuel, and they would throw the
believers in, and they would watch it.
I mean, it's something that seems so barbaric, and what is
just really wondrous, something that is so it's stupefying. It's
something that is so disturbing that it's stupefying is that you
find people today who will watch videos, or they'll write names of
people on bombs, say this is for so and so, and this is for so and
so, and they will celebrate a genocide and a massacre and the
destruction of innocent life, women and children and the elderly
And the laugh about it.
It's amazing, because if you look at the Quran, you would say, Oh,
this is at a bygone time where people were just much more
barbaric. No, it's happening today.
It's happening today, and there are billions of dollars supporting
that. And this is happening. What with countries would say, we have
progress. We are civilized, we're modern.
Yet their hearts are corrupt.
Their hearts are corrupt. And then Allah subhanahu wa says, Wama
nakamom in home, Illah and yoknilla in Aziz and Hamid,
they only resented them because those people believed in Allah
subhanahu wa taala, the Almighty and praiseworthy.
And then Allah subhanahu wa taala tells us now about the ultimate
outcome of
the ultimate outcome of believers and disbelievers in lalina, fatal
meaning,
those who persecute the believing men and women and then do not
repent, will certainly suffer the punishment of * and The torment
of burning.
So here Allah subhana saying, imagine, I want us all to really
think about this. Those people in their very twisted understanding
of the world, they think they have the upper hand. They think they're
superior as they're watching
the.
The mass burning of people who believe in Allah subhanahu wa
Taal, they are deriving a sense of entertainment from that. That's
how arrogant they've become.
And Allah subhanahu wa taala says, If you do not repent, and it's
amazing, because Allah subhanahu still leaves the door of mercy
open, despite the fact that you've killed the believers and you've
relished in their torture, you can still repent, but if you don't
repent and change your ways, and ultimately believe in Allah
subhanahu wa taala, they will certainly suffer the punishment of
* and the torment of money.
Then Allah, Subhanahu wa tells us about those same people who died,
those believers who've been killed. Allah says in a la Dina,
Aman WA, aminu, Saadi, Hati, Lahm, Jana tun tajirim, takti, Allah and
ha those who believe and do good deeds will have Gardens under
which rivers flow, the legal Foz Kabir,
that is the greatest triumph.
That is the greatest victory is to be from the people of Paradise
and the Prophet salallahu alaihi wasallam. He tells us in a hadith
narrated by Imam Muslim about these very people, that there was
a king who used to have someone who would do magic on his behalf.
So when his resident magician became elderly, he said, Give me a
young man that can be my disciple. He can be my understudy, and I can
teach him magic and sorcery. So then they brought a young man to
do that. But as the young man was coming to study with this
magician, he came across a man of true piety, a monk, and he was
interested, and he recognized the light and the guidance that this
man had.
So he's the the monk taught him, and he says, If you're worried
about making an excuse with the magician who's teaching you, just
say that my family held me back. And if you're when you're studying
with me, you're worried that your family will be upset that you're
late. Say that the magician held me back. So he would study
regularly with this monk. Tama, and then he said that the way of
the monk is more beloved to me than the way of the magician.
So eventually they figured out that he was a believer.
They figured out that this young man was a believer, and that he
didn't want to follow in the footsteps of the king, and he
didn't want to be engaged in this disbelief and this type of
behavior and lifestyle that was displeasing to Allah subhanahu wa,
so then they sought to kill the young man.
And and there were many miracles that took place. But to make a
long story short, every time they tried to kill this young man, the
people who tried to kill him would die by natural causes. Allah would
cause them to drown would cause all of these things to happen. And
the young man would survive, and he would come back to town, and
they would say, How did you do that? Say, Allah subhanahu
protected me. Then finally, the king tried to find a number of
ways to kill this young man. And then he said, you know, the only
way that you'll be successful, the only way that you can do what
you're trying to do is if you get someone to try to kill me. And
that person says,
I shoot this arrow. He had a bow and an arrow. He said, I shoot
this arrow in the name of the Lord of the young man, the one who
believes in Allah subhanahu wa and then he was successful
Tamam. So this is important.
The reason I wanted to share this is that when that happened, the
young man died. Now he died upon Iman. So he's victorious, and he's
a shahid, and he goes to paradise. The result of that was that all
the people who were watching and seeing how the King, who was a
disbeliever, couldn't overcome this young man, and that the only
way it would happen was in the name of the lord of this young
man, the one God. That's the only way things changed. They all
became believers. They even eventually all became believers
after they killed so many groups, multitudes of believers. So what
we're seeing now
is a manifestation of triumph. Triumph is not just outward. Now,
obviously we have to stop the oppressor. I.
Obviously we have to raise awareness that is clear, but it's
also important for us, because this might take a very long time,
and we have to recognize that we are people who believe in Allah,
and our intentions in doing whatever it is that we are doing
to help our brothers and sisters, is for Allah subhanahu wa. But
what we're seeing from the the faith,
the solid, iron clad faith of our brothers and sisters in
Philistine, is that the people who are watching what's happening, and
they're not in favor of it, they're fair minded people.
They're starting to say, I want to have the faith of that young man.
I want to believe in the God that that young man believes in. And
you're starting to see people open up to Islam.
So this tells us that those Shuhada, those people who've
already passed away. Inshallah, they're accepted as martyrs in the
sight of Allah subhanahu wa, and they haven't lost a thing. And
ultimately, those people, even though they think that they have
the upper hand, ultimately they will come to an end, and they will
meet their demise at whatever appointed time Allah subhanahu
wails, and that the word of Allah subhanahu wa will be supreme, and
that we will see inshallah as we're seeing before us now, this
phenomenon of people becoming Muslim in multitudes, and people
seeing the manifestation of true faith from those believers who are
dedicated to Allah subhanahu wa taala and not shaken by any
calamity and any difficulty, just like that young man, Rahima, Allah
wala, the Allahu anhu, we ask Allah subhanahu wa taala to give
us steadfastness, to allow us to have strong and deep rooted Iman
and certitude that is never shaken and that Allah subhanahu wa taala
brings victory in the truest sense of the word, in Philistine and for
the entire Ummah, Amin wa SallAllahu, taala, Sayyidina,
Muhammad wa ala alihi wa al habim alhamdulillahi Rabbil halamin, I
have one question so far. Well, two questions. So I will post them
separately. One of them's anonymous, and one of them's
public. But let's let's go. So one of them is some sister, Nabila,
amidst all the occurrences happening in the world, is it
prophetic to still have mercy and treat the oppressors with
kindness, or should we deal with them differently?
Yeah, mashallah, that's a great question for asking it, and really
it's it's important to understand these things. When you look at the
Prophet Muhammad and his example, they're very nuanced. Okay, so
sometimes people misunderstand when we talk about these things
that we're saying, to just overlook all wrongdoing and
oppression and harm. That's not what what's being said at all. So
that's one extreme, just overlook it and turn the other cheek
and so forth. And then the other extreme is damning those people.
Allah subhanahu wa Tala says in Surat Al boruj, in Nala Dina,
fatal meaning atubu, those who pressed
the believing men and the believing women, and they did not
repent. So Allah, Subhanahu wa gives us that balance is that
those people will be punished by Allah if they continue their ways,
but they also have the opportunity to repent. So we have to be open
to the fact that some of these people might change, and we
actually prefer that they change. It's better for those who are
being oppressed, and it's better for the oppressor in the akhirah
so that they're not punished and they go to *. So it's important
to understand that the Prophet sallallahu Ali wasallam said um
sur Akha vladim and omadhuman. Now this is in the case of other
Muslims, particularly, that you try to help your brother, whether
he is an oppressor or the one being oppressed. So it teaches us
that we should help our brother when he's being oppressed, as we
see currently happening now in Palestine and other places and
then. But they said, how do we help someone who is the oppressor,
and he said to stop him from his oppression, because that's better
for that person to say, you need to stop doing that. You that's
going to harm you, and you need to fear Allah subhanahu wa taala. So
there is nuance. There are a multitude of ways to.
Engage with that. But in the case of many people who are arrogant
and oppressive, sometimes one has to be firm. It doesn't mean that
you still don't you let go of mercy, or that you let go of good
character, but that situation calls for a firmness and a courage
and a resilience that may be other situations wouldn't necessarily
require so all of that to say that it is nuanced, and we have to
study the example of the Prophet Muhammad very closely, because our
new fools can easily take us to one extreme or the other.
I hope that helps answer the question.
We have one more in the it's it was saying anonymously. It's a bit
lengthy, so I'm going to read it out loud. Um, so Shaw, let's see.
So in the Quran, Allah discusses people of Israel and Jewish
people, and discusses their behavior toward prophets and
killing prophets. When Muslims are confronted with current issues in
Palestine, many Muslims generalize negative traits mentioned in the
Quran and generalized it to apply to current Jewish people. Where do
we draw a line about earlier Jewish people and current
political situations, and I'll expand on a little bit. How do you
navigate that? Excellent, that's also a very good question. So we
have to be fair minded. We have to recognize and understand that the
Prophet Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, was sent to all of
humanity. Allah subhanahu wa Tana tells us those stories because
they are historical facts and realities. Now the way that we
understand that and apply it here is, first of all, there are many
people, actually people who are devout and followers of the Jewish
faith, and Jewish people who are standing against what Israel is
doing, and they're saying, This contradicts our religion, this
contradicts our religious texts. And if you look at historically,
Zionism, so it's important, I think, for us to differentiate
between Zionism and Judaism.
Zionism is a very narrow minded, genocidal, arrogant suit
premises,
ideology that has taken from Jewish sources and pulled it into
its extreme. Okay, I've heard scholars say it's the Jewish
equivalent of ISIS, except they established their quote, unquote
Jewish state.
The founders of Zionism were atheists. This is, this is not a
conspiracy theory. You can go look it up. So there is a very clear
separation at the thought level between Zionism and Judaism.
The problem is that many people are have been
brainwashed and indoctrinated with a lot of that okay, and they only
receive their understanding of the world and news from sources that
are not actually allowing them to see outside of of that. So there's
a lot of internal
problems that are taking place. So it's important for us to
differentiate between Zionism and people who are potentially from
the Jewish faith, who are taking that very extreme approach against
everyone else, and the actual Jewish faith, which is rooted in
Revelation and people of the book and so forth.
And in every time, you'll find different types of people. So I
think it's important for us, as we navigate it, that we separate
those two things, and we are not against a people of other faiths,
we recognize that everyone is from the ummah of the Prophet Muhammad,
in that the message of the Prophet is directed to all of them. If
they believe, then they will be successful in the Hereafter. And
if they don't, we leave their affair to Allah, Subhanahu wa but
that this has idea Zionism has ideological roots in
a more political and fascist ideology than it does in in
religion. So I think it's important for us to know that. And
then, in addition to that, it's important for us to know our
response.
Stability of calling all people to Allah, Subhanahu, taala, and even
in the prophet's lifetime, there were people who were fighting
against him who eventually became Muslim, and that there were many
Jewish people in his lifetime who became Muslim.
So it gives us it's extremely difficult when we see a genocide
taking place before our very eyes and emotions are heightened, and
people are feeling grief and anger and sadness and all of these
things. Despite all of that, it is of the utmost importance that we
remained principled in our deen
and that we have a dean that guides us. We're not guided by
emotion, but we are guided by revelation.
Michelle, I'm like taking notes
that was very, very thorough. Um,
this question is a little bit off to the side in terms of like,
but it's more timely, I guess because many of us are noon end of
the year, and we know what end of the year means for many of us. So
this question is posed, are we allowed to say happy holidays to
colleagues and friends? I know Merry Christmas has a religious
connotation, or what about Happy New Year? How should we as Muslims
respond to these comments? Yeah, that's a great question. And in
what I've heard from scholars, I've heard
a variety a diversity of opinions. Okay, so on the side of caution, a
person could just say Seasons Greetings. You know, have a great
break. You know, winter break. You know, I hope you have a good time
with your family, wishing you all the best. So there's still a way
to respond without necessarily saying, your holiday is not my
holiday. I'm not I'm not of your faith. But there's still a way to
respond that is cordial and gracious and considerate, right?
And often times, people will say it not necessarily like I want to
convert you and I have to prove to you Christianity and Jesus and so
forth. Most people just say it culturally, right? It's that time
of the year, like Happy Holidays. And really what they meant. Mean
is just, you know, wishing you well. But if you want to remain
cautious, then you can find another very kind and polite way
of responding. Are you going to spend time with the family? I'm
happy to hear that. Hope you have a great break, looking forward to
seeing you. You know, Happy New Year, even happy new year is fine,
right? That's, that's if we intended that we wish well for
people. There's nothing wrong with that. There might be some people
who disagree, but with all respect, I would say that that
that one is a particularly more narrow approach, but if someone
wants to remain on that side of caution, they can do that. I've
also heard others say that there is room for wishing people well
regarding their religious holidays, and that doesn't
necessarily mean that you agree with them, right? That doesn't
necessarily mean that you agree with them so and that is a, once
again, maybe an approach that
has some flexibility and some breadth to it. If you want to be
on the side of caution, there's a way to do that. And if you want to
be,
you know, just but also when you, when you, if you do want to say
happy holidays to someone, also not to go to an extreme either,
right? Some people, they want to celebrate everything that's out
there, right? And I think that we have to be a little bit mindful of
that. And it's totally within the realm of respect to say you
believe in something that I don't believe in, and I believe in
something different than what you believe in. And maybe people
trying to be courteous, they think that it's okay to just die in the
name of diversity, that everything has an equal ground. But because
we are people of belief, and we revere the truth, and we revere
that we can graciously say, you know that I appreciate that, but I
let you, and I respect that you have the right to celebrate your
own religious holidays, but I don't have to commemorate that
with you, or necessarily take part, even verbally, in that so
once again, it's just nuanced, and I think for us as Muslims, we need
to remain grounded and principled while also maintaining beautiful
character and being courteous with people. Mm.
Um, I saw you really pulled your Chaplain goofy on for that
response. So it's it's incredible working in the religious spaces.
For those of you joining us, many of us might be the only Muslim,
or only Muslims in our workplace or academia or school or classes,
so to navigate that field, it's really tough, because we want to
retain and hold on to our faith, but also project that
that Islam is also welcoming, because it it is a welcoming
religion, and it's a beautiful religion to be able to say that
without demeaning others and saying your religion is not good
enough, it's that response was incredible to have more credit as
so I have another question from the audience. I actually had my
own. I'm going to save my own, because the audience comes first.
I got you guys. So let's see questions. Christians visited the
Prophet, saw them in his mosque in Medina, and interviewed him. They
were then granted permission to pray in the mosque. At what point
did Christians then become hostile towards the Muslims, to the point
where they turn to the wars and the Crusades? Yeah, mashallah, I
think that's more of a historical question than a religious
question.
And you know, in human history, you tend to find all kinds of of
things happening, not to say that it's not significant, and not to
say that it doesn't have a impact on even the modern world and the
way that we live today, I think that it does, but I think that a
lot of those considerations are of a more political and historical
nature.
And also as Islam spread, we also have to be fair, Muslims were
spreading throughout Europe as well. So, you know, there was also
jihad. So it's not necessarily to say that Christians only became
hostile. There's a lot there. The it's extremely difficult in
today's world to have nuance. You know, it's either one or the
other. The Muslims had a justified reason for spreading Islam and
having these expanding borders, which was part of the pre modern
world anyway. But once again, that's a very complicated and
nuanced conversation. But I would say, if you're interested in that,
to look to scholars of history
who could explain that with much greater precision and insight than
I can
what a
okay. So one next question, the historical context is important. I
feel like a lot of that also can be done if we do a little bit of
research on our own too. Because at the end of the day, yes, you
are our teachers, right? But Islam also encourages us to seek
knowledge, right? So we always need to back up anything that
we're learning. We also need to back up and find multiple sources,
right? So,
yeah, there are people who are more qualified than I am, just to
be just in all in all honesty. So unlimited for sharing that and
being able to say that that's not always easy to admit.
So one final one, salam alaikum. So this is, I think, just more
like
general but is the Hadith about the
or Fajr being better than everything in this world about the
supplementary prayer that's with Father Fajr, or is it related to
tahajjud? Yeah, that's a very good question. Wale Kum salaam
Barakatu, that hadith actually relates to the Sunnah prayer
before salatul Fajr. So some some scholars, would say that the
salatul Fajr, the name salatul Fajr is refers to the Sunnah
prayer, and salatul Subah refers to the obligatory prayer. I don't
want to confuse anyone, but to make a long story short, to
simplify the answer, that is the Sunnah prayer before Fajr, and
that's not related necessarily to tahjud itself. Tahid is extremely
beneficial and virtuous. And there are other Hadith about the unique
blessings of tahajjud, but the Hadith that you're asking about
relates to the two sunnah Rakas before the fajr prayer, the
obligatory fajr prayer.
I have permission from the audience to pose my question. So
let's see ismilah. This is just a little bit of background, but we
find comfort in joining sessions like these and sharing gems that
allow us to remain firm and turn to Allah and believe with all of
our hearts that justice will prevail. Right? So we are focused
on truth. We are focused on.
Justice. We are focused on the evidence before us. For many of
us, right, we like, as you mentioned earlier about the happy
break. Have a winter Have a good holiday break, spending time with
your family. For many of us, we return to a non Muslim majority
society, right? Whether it's in work, whether it's academia, and
over these past 76 days and longer. For others, I feel like
the truth has really come out about where our non Muslim
brethren kind of stand on this issue, the like wishy washyness,
the inability to stand with one side versus the other and or not
even being able to say, like, I support Palestine versus I support
Israel, right?
You know me, Chaplain Ustad like, or sorry, usad Amjad like, I work
at a university in a spiritual religious space, and I have to
work with various religious communities, including the Jewish
community, right? So I'm seeing students and even the Rabbi of
these organizations being subtly and firmly standing with Israel,
even though I've been working with them and collaborating and doing
interfaith and open events for Ramadan and things like that, for
a decade, for over a decade now, so there's this sense of like
betrayal, of like for a decade we were together. You know me as an
individual, you know my religion, you know where we stand, and you
know this issue and just how wrong it is how just completely wrong.
It is, how do you how do you navigate working or being on a
team or work, or being in a space where these individuals, like,
there's just this sense of betrayal, like, how do you
navigate that and continue working in that space?
Yeah, that's a really good question. And,
you know, there's a lot of just, I can hear, you know, from from your
question, there's a lot of personal history there, you know,
investing time and energy and maybe even feeling kind of like a
genuine rapport with people and so forth.
It's really, it's really sad to see that. And the Prophet
sallallahu, alayhi wa sallam, he told us that there would come a
time towards the end of time, that there would be two groups of
people, and that there would be a group of people who have faith
entirely, have faith without any hypocrisy, and
that the other group of people would be people of disbelief,
without the slightest bit of faith.
And these types of issues that arise really start to make you see
people's true colors, for lack of a better word, right? Like that,
that phrase that you start to realize, like, how could you, how
could we do a soup kitchen and talk about giving food and
clothing to the poor, and then you're okay with 1000s of women
and children being bombed into the Stone Age? Like, that's, it
doesn't make any sense.
And I think really, at one level, it's a blessing, because we're
able to sort of realize and reprioritize how we spend our
time. On the other hand, there might be other people who come out
and say, we've been working together. And they say, I stand
completely against Israel. And then you start to see, okay, this
person is a lot more genuine. This person, there's a lot, you know,
we can really build bridges with someone who is that fair minded,
whereas other people, unfortunately, I don't want to
say, you know, get into things that are too controversial, but a
lot of the a lot of the funding and focus of ministry work on
campuses is really to
to be a place to advocate for Israel. That's really what it kind
of comes down to, right? A lot, you know, if you, if you follow
that, you'll start to see that that's what a lot of the
conversations are about. That starts to be really, ultimately,
the goal of a lot of these initiatives, I'm not saying all of
them, and I'm not saying all people, and I'm not but the goal
of a lot of that is really to win friends for Israel.
Is
Yeah, it's just but. But this is why it's important, because if we
engage in those spaces based on the values and principles of the
majority of people in our society and really their their approach
and the outcomes that they're seeking, we're definitely going to
be disappointed, but if we approach it based on our
responsibility and our duty as servants of Allah.
SubhanaHu wa Tala as Muslims who want good for everyone, but who
will stand for the truth, even against our own selves. We want
good for everyone, but we'll stand against we'll stand against
injustice, even if it comes from our own selves, that we will have
a very different approach. We won't be surprised when people do
that, but rather, we are able to adjust. We are able to
reprioritize, and we still want good for those people. I truly
believe that there will come a time where it will become so clear
people will look back at this the way that they look back at other
genocides and other crimes against humanity, they say, Oh, I didn't
the veils been lifted. I just, I thought that it was, you know,
some battle between equals. But then when they start to really
realize many of them will, many of them will be very regretful, and
maybe they'll they'll be guided inshallah to Islam and and back to
Allah, Subhanahu wa and the principles of Revelation. So we
have to be open to that, and we have to approach
based on the values of our Prophet, salallahu, Alam and our
religion, and that will mitigate a lot of the disappointment and a
lot of the betrayal.
This is exactly why these sessions are so important, because
sometimes it's like a it's been a roller coaster for many of us,
right? And trying to find and stay firm and stay firm in the fact
that justice will prevail. A lot there will be Victor. A lot will
grant us victory, right? So in the face of justice. So
thank you for answering that question, because I've been on a
roller coaster of emotions, and I've been asked to like plan for
interfaith activities starting in January, and I'm like, can you
guys just sit for a minute with the fact that your stance is
supporting genocide, and our stance is freedom for people.
Let's just sit with that. And if we can come to terms that you are
literally demeaning an entire people, then we need to, like,
figure out a different way of collaboration. Because at the same
time, we can't push people into your room, into a room and be
like, okay, everything is fine. Get along, right? So I just does
sharing your answer because it helps reaffirm my decision to be
cordial, but also say no to certain things and no to certain
groups, especially if our moral values do not align, and that it's
okay that there are others like you said that there are others who
will support us, and other friends that come out of the woodwork that
I never knew existed, other people who are fair minded, right?
Because, you know, even in those even in those spaces, really what
we're not we believe in
everyone's right to practice their religion and to live a dignified
life, right? We all agree on that, and we as Muslims wholeheartedly
accept that premise as part of even the American values. Right?
At the same time, we're not here to play the diversity game. Yes,
we're here to be Muslim. Yes, we're here to be Muslim. And I
think if you approach it that way, and I just want to
live and imbibe and reflect my religious teachings, and if you
allow me to do that, and in a lot of those spaces, they just want
you to play the diversity game. They don't want to allow you to do
that, right? But if you allow me to do that, then I think it'll be
far more productive. And you'll, you'll, you'll have less of this
internal dissonance when you see people acting a certain way.
You just have to. You have to do what you know, Allah subhanahu
wa again, I'm always going to be like turning to you and chat with
Patty for advice, because it's there's just so much going on
today.
Can you make
absolutely I just want to say salaam to everyone online. I see
some of the comments and Michelle, I see that there's a lot of people
in Pennsylvania, so
where, where I teach, is right outside of Allentown,
Pennsylvania. And I know that there might be people who are new
Muslims, or people who might not be connected to kind of a larger,
broader community. If ever you're you're near Allentown, please feel
free to come visit us at inshallah. And anyone, anyone in
the world, we are
very, very happy to have you as guests and and we have.
Educational programs, devotional programs, Inshallah, so I just
want to support people, especially if they're close by, and we're not
that far from Philadelphia, too. Yeah, it's only an hour away. I
love the area, especially when you guys started the whole development
project for houses, I was on it, but may Allah grant me the ability
to buy a house in the future. But still,
you don't have to buy a house to come benefit from the programs,
but everyone, may Allah subhanahu reward you all for taking time out
of your day to follow along and to seek sacred knowledge and to spend
the day of Friday, really directing your hearts to Allah
subhanahu wa, so it is you all who are deserving of recognition and
thanks and thank you to sister noon and to everyone at celebrate
mercy. InshaAllah, wameka, dua that Allah subhanahu wa,
salallahu, taala, Muhammad wa, Allah. We ask you, Ya Allah, that
you bring relief to the ummah of the Prophet Muhammad, sallAllahu,
sallam. We ask you, Ya Allah, that you protect our brothers and
sisters in Aza and in the West Bank and in Jerusalem and all
across Palestine and all across the world. Yama Rahim, there are
too many places to name, in China, in Sudan, in various parts of the
world, we ask you, Ya Allah, that you protect them and that you
support them and that you ward off the harm of those who seek to harm
them. Ya Rama Rahi mean. We ask you, Ya Allah, that you allow the
light of truth and justice and guidance and mercy and blessings
and restoration and healing and human dignity. Ya our Hamar hameen
to shine brightly and to be supreme. We ask you, Ya Allah,
that you accept all of those who have passed away as martyrs. We
ask you, Ya Allah, that you protect and you preserve those who
remain and that you bring them peace and safety and security and
freedom. Ya Rama Rahim, we ask you, yah Allah, that those who, in
your knowledge, are not destined to be guided. We ask you, Ya
Allah, that you only bring harm, that you allow their harm to only
be deflected back onto them and not unto no one else. Ya Rama
Rahim, and those who and your will and your knowledge are meant to be
guided. We ask you, Ya Allah that you hasten their guidance and you
allow them to change. Yarham Rahim, and we ask you, Ya Allah,
that you bring the beautiful and the celebration and joyous
purification. Temesh Al Aqsa Yama Rahi mean, and that you bring
peace and stability to the region ya Rama Rahim, and that you allow
people to worship there without any harm and without any
humiliation and without any aggression and oppression. Yama
Rahim, and that you rectify the affairs of all of the Muslims, and
that you restore all that is good in the world. Yah rahmeen, and
that you allow the voice of truth and justice, whoever it may be
coming from, from Muslims, from Christians, from Jews, from other
people, to resonate in the world. Ya Rama, Raha, mean and those who
seek to spread falsehood and oppression, that you silence their
voices and that you allow people to see through their deception. Ya
Rama, Raha, mean, we ask you, Ya Allah, that you allow us and all
of the Muslims to turn back to your religion and the way of your
Prophet, sallAllahu, alaihi wasallam, and that you make each
and every one of us a key that opens doors of goodness and a lock
that closes the doors of evil. Muhammad, WA Allah Ali,
he was Hamdulillahi.
May you have a blessed, evening and a blessed, blessed weekend.
Um, all of you will be in all of our dua so please keep us in yours
as well as
Father. Bless you all.