Black History & Islam

In Al Hamdulillah Muhammad who understood you know when I still feel when are all the biller him in short all the unforeseen our men say to

me you had the healer who for now Melinda, what made you glued for her the Allah wa shadow Allah Allah illallah wa de hula Shetty Cara. Why should one know Mohammed Abu Hora solo? Or Sofia hoomins Hello Okay, hello hello, Bella rissalah Eman on us. Hello OMA Turaco Hamada and Mahajan de la Nehru How can I hire you? Ha Allah is in LA Heydrich salatu salam who? rebelled Allah, Allah Allah azza wa jal vikita will carry Ambassador od bIllahi min ash shaytani R Rajim yo, yo holla Dena, mana taco la haka. toccata what? Tomato Illa and to Muslim moon, Allah says in the Quran, Oh you who believe fear Allah as he deserves to be feared and do not die except in a state of Islam.

And Allah says hiya Johan Nasser, taco Rob Baku levy halacha Kumi nursing Wahida wahala caminhadas o Jaha, while the Thurman humare Jilin cathedra when he saw what topple la Halliday at, Luna be here well our hub in Allah can it camera, Kiba Teva. Allah says, Oh, mankind all mankind Fear your Lord who created you from a single soul and produce from that soul its mate, and made from their combination many men and women. So Fear your Lord whom you ask each other by and by the ties of kinship verily, Allah is Ever Watchful over you. And Allah says, Yeah, are you gonna tackle Hola? Hola, Pulu Colin said EDA, useless. Hola, como Amala como Fila Coombs,

Allah wa Rasulullah who forgot the first supposin Alima Allah says Oh you who believe fear Allah and say that which is upright say that which is correct, he will correct for you your deeds and forgive you your sins. And whoever obeys Allah and His Messenger, then he is indeed victorious. As for what follows. I wanted to begin the school by mentioning a man by the name of AU surah. Eman the yellow Rahim Allah Allah also known as job Ben Solomon, and he was a famous Muslim who is a victim of the transatlantic slave trade. He was the descendant of imams in Gambia.

And he had gone to sell some cattle. And in the process, he was captured by a Mandingo tribe. And he was sold into slavery onto a boat

that was destined to Maryland, in the United States of America.

And so him being an imam himself

when he reached Maryland, and he was sold to a tobacco plantation owner.

His life had took very unusual courses. It's very strange. He was sold, and the physical labor that he was supposed to do. He couldn't do it. He wasn't fit for it.

And one day while He was praying,

one of the children made fun of him and ridiculed Him. And so he decided to flee.

And when he fled, you can imagine what would happen to a slave who was recaptured, and he was recaptured.

But all they did was put him in prison.

None of the beading and the torture. None of that happened to you, Rahim Allah.

He was in prison. And there he met a lawyer or British lawyer, who was impressed. He was so educated, he was so refined. He was so pious, this man. And he was impressed by the fact that he could read and write in Arabic. He was an Imam, after all, that he could speak Arabic that he was fluent in this language. And so he purchased him. And he took him with him to Britain.

And Ayoub even today, man, while in Britain became the talk of the town. People were so impressed with his eloquence, they were so impressed with the English that he had learned already. They were impressed by the fact that he could translate Arabic texts. And in fact, he wrote the Quran several times in Britain from memory.

In the 1700s, he was included into a gentleman Society of intellectual thinkers in Britain. And he was one of the few people who would eventually return home to Gambia from the slave trade. I wanted to begin sharing this story because a you have been today man, his his picture is famous, by the way, there's a famous portrait that was drawn of him. And when he was in Britain, and they had drawn his portrait, just think about that what slave has his portrait drawn? Like he's some sort of dignified person in the community, but that was him. And when he the portrait was being

drawn of him, he insisted on the painter, he said, you have to draw me don't draw me in these British clothes that I'm wearing, you have to draw me in my traditional West African garb.

And the painter said to him, Well, how am I supposed to draw you in that when I've never seen it? I don't know what it looks like you're not wearing it. And so you have Rahimullah began to describe to him what his guard was. And so when you see the painting the picture, the picture is actually on the screens. When you leave. It's a famous picture, you will see a man who is so dignified, and yet, he's wearing clothes that he described, but he was insistent on it, because of his dignity. And that dignity captured the imagination of Western abolitionists who used him as an argument and as a proof that the black man has a moral character that makes them deserving of equal rights of any white man

in society.

I wanted to talk today about history

for a number of reasons. One, we're in Black History Month, and it's important, but I wanted to begin by talking about general history. I know talking of history is old fashioned. Literally, for many people. It's not exciting. But there are a number of things I want to share three things why it's important for us to know history. Number one.

With history, you uncover the Sunnah of Allah.

With history you understand the laws of Allah so God has established on this earth, you recognize the patterns with which Allah has done deals with people and deals with individuals and deals with communities and deals with nations. And so you have a head start over everyone else. When you studied how Allah Allah has dealt with past nations, Allah azza wa jal says for her young Verona Illa sunnah and are waiting for an untidy daily sunnah Tila heeta de la when untidy daily sunnah Tila Huila, Allah says do they expect the way of the former peoples do they expect anything except the way of the former people you will not find in the way of Allah any change, and you will never

find in the way of Allah any alteration. The second reason is because through history, you are inspired, and you learn resolve, when you see what the human spirit has the capacity to overcome, when you see the trials that people faced before you, when you see the darkness that was met by generations before you, people who are no different than you and I, then you see the capacity of the human spirit. It gives you inspiration and it gives you resolve and that is the reason why Allah azza wa jal mentions that he revealed the Stories of the Prophets. He says, Well, Kula nakasu, Russell, man who took b2b He for other, Allah says, and we narrate to you the stories of the

prophets, to grant your heart result, when you see how the prophets, the trials that they met. And you see that the opposite is truly for them with Turkey, and you see that they were successful, even if it was not in this life, that they were successful by holding on to their Messiah, that they are successful by holding on to their, their virtues and their beliefs until death. You see, and you are inspired by their stories, and Allah so it doesn't just tell us the importance of the stories. But Allah azza wa jal makes a third of his final revelation stories for us to reflect upon.

The a third of the Quran is stories for us to learn about for us to draw parallels and to analyze and to be inspired by

the third point

of the importance of history is it gives you access to your identity.

It lets you know on whose shoulders you're standing, it gives you the ability to be proud. I met a young man who was at the time he was probably around 2425. And he was getting his PhD in African Studies. And I asked him, Why are you getting your PhD in this particular topic? And he said, When I was in high school, he was ethnically Somali. And he said, When I was in high school, and everybody on the news, it was all talking about the Somali pirates. So he said, one of the kids in my class, he said to me, what are Somalis ever produced for mankind?

What have your people ever done?

That was positive to mankind? And he said the question was very hurtful. But what was more hurtful was that I didn't have an answer for him.

And so there are many of us who grow up like that. We don't have access to our history. And so if anyone were to simply ask us that question in our schools, or high schools, or elementary schools or colleges even, and they asked us and they say, Well, what have you Muslims ever produced for mankind? What have your community Europe is a particular country? What have you guys done? How many of our children won't actually be able to answer confidently? And so this man was so inspired by that by not knowing that he made that the course of his study to the doctoral level

That's the importance of, of studying history that it

that we communicate these things to our children, you know, the children of the sahaba. They said, our fathers used to teach us side even embryo costs and his son and his grandchildren. They said, our fathers used to teach us malvazija, Rasulullah, sallAllahu Essen and they used to teach us, the seal of the prophets of Allah, they send them, and they used to say, ha, the shut off will come or shut off. This is, Your Honor. And this is your pride. And this is the pride of your forefathers. So don't squander it, don't lose it. And so one of the greatest gifts that we can give to our children is the gift of simply telling them who you are. And this is who your father is, and this is who your

mother is. And this is who your great grandfather is. And this is the town that we're from. I know sometimes it doesn't seem like they're listening, but they're absorbing, and days become weeks, and weeks become months, and months become years and years become an identity that is structured and confident and secure. I say what you have heard and ask Allah Azza forgiveness for myself and for you a code of massive maximal soccer Allah.

hamdu lillah wa salatu salam ala Rasulillah.

As for, in particular, African American history, or black history, why is it important a person can say, Well, why do we have to devote a whole lot to this topic?

Why this particular grouping, and

in particular, number one, is because

the African American community,

their history is our history.

When you read that 1/5 And these are modest estimates that 1/5 of the slaves were brought over to the United States were Muslim.

They were Muslim 1/5. You're talking about a community that built this country, over 400 years with their blood, sweat, and tears. And so I embrace my brothers and sisters and their ancestry, which is part of my history. Just as I embrace thought of them in the eye, from Western Africa, and I say that's part of my history, or the Romanians, and they were part of my history, or the Abbas's, and they were part of my history, or though nothing Robert Dean, and they were part of my history, or unnoticed. And that was part of my history. Why, because I am part of an OMA and we are all made of different parts and different lands, then similarly, so our brothers and sisters from West Africa,

whose story included them being shackled and placed on ships, and traversing an ocean, and building a nation that will now be the superpower of this earth. When we recognize that this is part of our legacy as well, then our roots become deeper in this land. And it becomes much harder for people to say that our presence here is unwelcomed. Our presence here

is illegitimate, becomes a lot harder for you to say that when you recognize the story of the Muslims in this land goes way beyond the 70s and the 60s and the 50s. But the second point, and the importance of understanding the history, black history, is to appreciate and to give credit where credit is due. Now, it is not a coincidence that the immigrant community that the majority of us came in the 60s and the 70s and the 80s and the 90s. Well, what was the trigger? America was there before? Why is it that the earliest Muslim communities that are you talking about immigrant communities are people from Syria and Lebanon? Why is that? What's the correlation? Well, the

correlation is that after the 50s and 60s, when the civil rights struggle happens, and America's public consciousness towards colored people change within the United States and beyond it, then America consciously began to open the doors to people to emigrate from the colored world. And so Muslims came from Africa, and Muslims came from Southeast Asia, and Muslims came from the subcontinent.

And so it is a direct result of the civil rights struggle that our brothers and sisters who are still many of them, mashallah still alive Hamdulillah. But it is a direct result of their citizens and their protests and them having dogs unleashed and then being attacked by fire hoses, and police. All of that is a direct result of us being able to come and live in this country and security and peace. And so that is a credit that we owe as immigrant Muslims, to our African American brothers and sisters. And the last point that I want to mention

why it is important to understand the African American history black history in this country is to build bridges of empathy and understanding cooperation with one of the largest minorities

In this country, I remember a brother once. He was confused.

When he had a brother approach him for sadaqa, he was a person who was in charge of charity.

And he said, I don't understand why this brother is asking me for charity. This country is their country, the brother was asking was African American. So this brother is an immigrant brother. He's like, I don't understand why can he pick himself up by the bootstraps?

But when you look at somebody, if someone were to say that about the Muslim world, if someone were to say, Hey, why are you guys all in such turmoil? Look at the entire Muslim world saw civil war and disaster and destruction and corruption.

There's such turmoil in your lands, we left your lands 50 6070 years ago?

Well, you would say to them, well, colonization, we were colonized for 200 years. Plus, that's not an injury that you can just walk off.

It requires serious physical rehab. It requires psychological rehab. It's going to take us a lot of time.

And so if you recognize that with regards to the effects of colonization in the Muslim world, then what do you think about a community that is still suffering from the ramifications of being enslaved for 400 years?

Doesn't that make you more willing to emphasize once you see that a community that is suffering from the PTSD of of slavery, it's not going to be resolved in one generation or two generations, or in certain in even three. And so we as a community should, should empathize with that should understand that and should outreach to that, to recognize that many of our brothers and sisters in humanity are coming from generations before where their ancestors were Muslim. We said one in five of the slaves who came over here, so many of them actually have answers to you that is Muslim. There is history there that is Islamic. And so when we outreach to them, we communicate these things to them, I want

to share with you.

I want to share with you a a song that is sung in churches. But I want you to just hear what the words are.

And I really believe that this must have been written by a Muslim as they were trying to hold on to their Islam. They said let us break bread together on our knees. Let us break bread together on our knees when I fall on my knees on my face to the rising sun. My lord have mercy on me. When I fall on my knees on my face to the rising sun, my lord have mercy on me. Person is describing a lot through fidget,

falling on their knees on their face. And so we have a vast community in this country that already has a Muslim history. They have the roots there, but they are the have nots, and they're the disenfranchised. And they're the weak and they're the undesirables

we may not want to approach them.

But they are also the ones who are most likely to follow the message of the prophets, because those are the ones the disenfranchised, and the poor and the weak and the subjugated and the oppressed. Those are the ones who follow the prophets in every day and age, as Heraclius told oh, Sofia Anissa Hello Hi.

We have May Allah azza wa jal grant us the ability and the wisdom to outreach to our brothers and sisters. May Allah azza wa jal to grant us a strong Islamic identity for ourselves and for our children. May Allah as we get benefit us through our history, may Allah as we generate for us a glue or a glorious future future. We ask Allah as we did for Paradise when will bring us close to it of actions and speech. We seek Allah's refuge from the hellfire and what will bring us close to it of actions and speech. Oh Allah as we purify for us our tongues in our hearts and our actions. Allah who may notice a local general malerkotla balay Hammond calling Muhammad an early becoming a now

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