Hangout 03 – Said Rageah – Extreme In Deen

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			smilla hamdulillah salat wa salam ala rasulillah salam aleikum wa rahmatullah wa barakatu. This is
your brother Bowden Mohammed with another episode of hangout where we are hanging out and I have a
very special guest with us here today Sheikh Saeed raggy, who was about to lose in a game of 21. Oh,
I
		

			see that. I see that. Let's go. Let's go. Let's go.
		

			You know, I got the good stuff, man. Let's go.
		

			You see that?
		

			I'm working out.
		

			I don't know if you want to retire. Now. What?
		

			Five, let's go. Let's go.
		

			Let's go.
		

			I got I got irrigate. You see that?
		

			Oh, yeah. Good one good excuse.
		

			Lucky, shall
		

			we actually really great that, you know, it's really good to have you here On this episode, we have
an episode that we want to talk about some of the issues that are affecting so many of our young
people, you know, having to rely you do a lot of work with young people with you specifically. And I
know that especially with all the you know, crazy news and world events that are happening, Muslim
youth specifically are under the microscope. There's a lot of questions people have about Muslim
youth and Muslim youth culture, and what drives Muslim youth in these directions or that directions.
		

			Can you tell me for instance, some of the issues that you find, you know, dealing with families and
counseling, what are some of the common themes and issues that you deal with on a day to day coming
into your office
		

			of similar mana hemos salatu salam ala rasulillah Kadeem, Susan, Olivia Hamada audio Savio, Germain
shaka laka, for having me on the show, I'll let you take one shot afterwards, so don't have to
worry.
		

			So Muslim youth, like any other youth, they are affected by their environment, they are the product
of their environment. So whatever environment that they living in, that is how they're going to
respond and how this will impact them. Majority of the issues that we have youth in general and
Muslim music, specifically is
		

			the issue
		

			of radicalism, for example.
		

			There are a lot of young people who are a little bit confused, a little bit concerned about the
current affairs that is happening with the Muslim world, Muslim youth in general. And
		

			they don't really know how to react and how to act. Because of a lot of cons, a lot of things that's
happening. And they don't know what to make out of these seeking social justice, they seeking a way
out the seeking justification of what is happening in the world. However, they always find
themselves, you know, being a corner as simply because he's a Muslim. So now he's guilty is
automatically guilty. When he goes out with his, you know, Islamic, Islamic dress or something
outfit, people looking at him? Oh, is he going to blow up himself? Now? What is he going to do next?
Is he going to you know, when he puts his hand in his pocket? What is it going to take out of the
		

			pocket? So Muslim youth, they don't hear that home? And this is one of the biggest problem that a
lot of youth face. Is that okay? When we go like I have some people who came and their name or
Muslim names, like, for example, bonum, hammer, right, exactly.
		

			Right. So he may say, Can I change him hammer? Can I use, you know, Bona, Mo, or something like
that, because I'm afraid that if they see my name being Muslim, they may automatically reject my, my
* my
		

			application application or so on. And they also confused and frustrated with a lot of things that is
happening. If you come back to the current situation or what happened in France in comparison to
what happened in Pakistan. So we have 132 children, the children, we don't know the Muslim children,
you know, Christian children, and we don't care but we assume that they're all Muslim children. But
none of the Western government condemned are none of them come together say let us see what
happened. Let us visit the site. Let us go and see we have 132 innocent children who did not commit
any mistake they did not do anyone wrong yet they were killed by a wrongdoer. So let us stand you
		

			know against that and that's fine. They don't they didn't never saw that. But they saw a few people
kill in France and the whole world came together.
		

			So they now they asking themselves, wait a second is it, you know, fight against wrongdoing, or, you
know, terrorism or fight against Islam and Muslims. So when Muslims are killed, nobody cares about
one, then Muslims kill, wait a second, you know, the whole world is against Muslims. So there are a
lot of frustration that they facing. And I think, as a community we should be able to deal with, as
a country as a society we should be able to deal with, and so on. And this is for you.
		

			All right, as you got your game back.
		

			I know that, for instance, a lot of young people are very frustrated with, you know, current
situations, they look on the TV, they go on social media, they see Muslim bodies being desecrated,
seeing, you know, Muslim families being killed and tortured, what happened in folstein, over the
summertime, and they don't know what to do we understand, okay, you know, acts of violence and
aggression and things that are extreme, are not Islamic, and they don't have a basis within Islam.
But what can we do? I mean, is it enough for just, you know, tell our Muslim youth to stay at home?
And, you know, just enjoy your Western luxuries? And don't worry about the people overseas? What are
		

			some of the steps that we can take to actually help Muslims that are suffering, you know, unjustly
across the world? Number one majority of this practicing Muslims in the West, they can't do that.
They just can sit home and enjoy themselves. Because they think, oh, they assume they will be next
target. They assume that hey, you know, I didn't do anything. I'm doing well, in my school, and I'm,
I'm between the masjid in the school home, I don't do anything wrong. I just play ball here and
there. But he's on that circle, that any day he can be picked on and say wait a second, you have a
beer, you wearing a thorough you go to the machine you guilty. So so he can really enjoy that. And
		

			sometimes that frustrates them is okay, let me do something about it in a moment. But what can we do
for the people over there? I think we cannot do anything over there. But we can do something here.
Or we can do we can speak up, we can come together. We can unite. We can address the authorities, we
can say wait a second, this has been done not because of injustice, but it has been done because
against them. This is a phobia against Islam. So we need to work on that. Let me see if you can take
a shot.
		

			I think I haven't played in a while. So if I get this
		

			you'll know why.
		

			Oh, God, no, got it. I know that like, for instance,
		

			I myself, you know, run as young people all the time, who will tell me like Brother, you know, we
shouldn't even be living in these countries, this places, you know, it's the land of disbelievers.
And, and and they're supporting the terrorism of our people back home. And, and I know for a lot of
people, they kind of get caught up in that, you know, us versus them. And they're on that side, and
we're on this side. And a lot of young young people specifically don't feel like they can be Muslim
and be Canadian, or be Muslim, maybe British will be Muslim and be American. Can these two things
exist together? Is it possible for someone to be of a Western, you know, passport and still carry
		

			the flag of Islam in their hearts? Absolutely. I mean, there's no contradiction here. Islam is not
confined to a certain land or to a certain religion or to a certain group of people. Islam is
international. You can be French and Muslim. You can be you know, Danish, Danish or Muslim, you can
be American Muslim, you can be Canadian, Muslim at the same time. I don't find too many of those
people coming to me. I find a lot of people just saying, Okay, what can I do to be to be accepted?
Because in real, this is the core problem that a lot of people don't understand. These young people
don't feel that they accepted. They feel that they've been pushed to a certain corner. There. They
		

			feel that no matter what I do, no matter, you know, how good I behave, I'm still guilty at the end
of the day, you know, just because I'm a Muslim. You know, nobody will say hey, you Kenyan, Barnum
Hammond, born and raised in Canada, so he's a Canadian? No, they will say he's a Muslim. So they
feel that Wait a sec. I didn't do anything wrong. You know, I'm being a decent Canadian citizen. I
do my part. I try to protect my country. I feel about you know, a field concerned about the well
being of the whole society like any other Canadian, but why am I being picked on it just because I'm
a Muslim. Why the airport that computer will always pick on me and say, Hey, random, I call it love
		

			connection. You know, they always have the love connection. As soon as you come to computer the
falls in love with you. Thank you, I want you I love you. And I think that the VIP line
		

			Yes. And they say, sir, you randomly been packed. So not because of your citizenship is because of
your faith. And what we're trying to tell everyone Listen, we trying to be Muslim, Canadian, like we
have Christian, Canadian, Jew, Canadian, Hindu, Canadian, they all accept it. Why can't you accept
us? And then this will frustrate the youth, you know, when that happens to you once and twice, and
then that happens to your cousin that happens to your father, that happens to your sister, you know,
wait a second. And it's not only me, is everyone in my faith? So what I'm trying to say is if these
people wants to fix the problem, they should learn how to cheat Muslim youth, like any other youth
		

			who's trying to help and serve their country. And instead, in saying they're guilty, maybe we should
say, yeah, you know, you're doing well, let us see, what else can you do for us one more time? Let's
see, let's see what you've got, ah, ah, no excuses. Now.
		

			I know, I know that, for instance, when we look at social media, and we look at, you know, the power
that Facebook and Twitter and these things have, it's really the the focus point for a lot of these
groups, you know, they're recruiting people online, a lot of young Muslims are being, you know, kind
of swept up with the amount of videos and things that they're seeing.
		

			What can we do as a community, I know that, you know, maybe the the people in the media will come
out and say, you know, Muslims need to condemn the attacks, and they need to do more. And that's
fine. We understand that, you know, these are Muslims, and we don't agree with what they're saying.
But to what extent can we, especially as leaders, or as, you know, community members, as activists,
to what extent can we use our capabilities to help prevent this type of activity, this type of
behavior? Like, what are we supposed to do if I if I, you know, if I come across someone who I think
might have some sort of crazy beliefs or ideologies, is my responsibility then to go and, you know,
		

			beat him up? Or Or am I supposed to tell the FBI? Or am I supposed to like, I don't know, what what
should I do at that point?
		

			See, if you explain the true Islam teaches young people simply don't, you know, spice it up, don't
tell them anything else. just educate them about their faith about Islam, then they will do what is
right. The problem is, when we as moms and speakers, and that is, you know, caught people are
inviting people to Islam, or educating people about Islam, when we keep telling these young people,
listen, this is the true Islam, you know, this is how you should be and this young man says, okay,
you know, hands down this, I accept this, I want to be a decent, you know, citizen, I want to be a
practicing Muslim, I want to do what I need to do. But he got, you know, next thing that happens is,
		

			you know, from the other side has been attacked. So my words, you know, against the action of the
system against that, you know, the mass media, you know, CNN would call a fox news, all this, you
know, and then the action of these people of authority, then, that's against my word. So my words
means nothing, because I keep telling this young man, be a good Muslim, be practicing Muslim, you
know, feed God, you know, be a good citizen. But these people are not treating like a citizen. So
there's a conflict right here. But what we do, when they come to us, we tell them, this is the right
thing. And if we see the person, you know, are not following this 100% of the people that we met, we
		

			had some confusion and some concern, as soon as we explained what Islam said about these cases,
which have said, you know, this is Islam we accept, but how should we deal with these people? How
can I convince this guy that I'm not a terrorist? I'm not this, you know, I'm not here to kill them.
I'm not here to destroy them. You know, why do they take, you know, only a small group of people's
action and pain that over every Muslim that they see, we have 2.2 or 2.3 billion Muslims, and the
altars? Are they all bad? No, but how come the flip side? How come the people in Central Africa? How
come the Christian terrorists How come you know all these people doing crazy things, then
		

			terrorists? How come like right here, you know, you know, this, this guy's killed two police
officers or he killed three, you know, RCMP guys, you know, How come he's not labeled terrorists,
you know, simply because he wasn't Muslim. If that guy had, you know, once upon a time, once in his
life, he ever stepped into a mosque. Then there was a he was a Muslim, and he's a terrorist, you
know, but now he says he never went to a mosque. He never sat with Muslims. He never read a Koran.
He's not a terrorist. He's just a crazy guy. So there's no justice here. This I cannot explain that.
I cannot say to these young people who are frustrated or confused, you know, well, this is not
		

			terrorists. A one person
		

			Who did a mistake that he's not only him, but everyone on the faces of tariffs? That's a confusion?
Well, hopefully, inshallah
		

			I think I'm gonna get this shot and I feel I feel good right now I feel like I got something in me.
		

			You see that? Oh, Can I see it?
		

			I think somebody snuck up behind me. I don't know what happened. That was a gene. Okay, that's the
next episode. But I think that, you know, for the most part, I think a lot of people who interact
with Muslims, you know, our neighbors are, you know, co workers or, you know, co students
colleagues, they see that Muslims are decent people, they see that we are a community just like any
other group, you know, there are perhaps some people that don't represent the mass, vast majority of
us, but they see that we're just like, regular people, but some people actually are convinced that
within Islam, within the actual teachings, you know, in the Quran, and the Sunnah population, and
		

			that there are, you know, things which alert to the fact that we are just like, you know, waiting to
explode, like, you know, there are teachings that are being taught within Islam, people believe that
really justify these types of behaviors and attacks on innocent people. Can you comment on that? I
mean, is there a way for someone to find these texts or these particular passages and use that as a
justification for acts of aggression or radicalism against, you know, the regular people living in
these countries,
		

			majority of the people who are living in this country, they do hold that belief that, hey, I have a
Muslim coworker, he's a decent guy. I have a Muslim classmate, she's a wonderful young lady, of a
Muslim neighbor, you know, the very generous, very kind, very welcoming,
		

			it's only a group of people with agendas, I believe that, you know, in magnifying little mistakes or
little incidents here and there, and they say, well, oh, this is Islam. But if you interview regular
regular Muslims in the country, they will all tell you, the nice people. Now, when it comes to
teaching of Islam, teaching of Islam, you know, none of the things that you mentioned is in the
teachings of Islam. Islam teaches that, you know, we have to be civilized, we have to be peaceful,
we have to be decent people living with the rest of the people in peace. Islam is the only religion
that will the rules and land that allows the Christian the Jews and the Muslims of different faiths
		

			all of them to live in peace. It is the only religion read the history of Palestine, read when the
Christians are crusades when they took over pallisa What happened to the Jews and the Muslims,
worried about when the Jew took over Palestine, what happens to the Muslims, and read about what
happens to the Christians, the Jews were Muslims took over, read what Salah had been did with the
Christians in the US were living there. He was paying them if they want to live, you can live and
you know, run your business, running your farm, do whatever you want to leave this country that we
took over, you don't have enough money to travel. There you go take you know, whatever you need, and
		

			leave to whatever you sow. In Islam, we don't have that. Islam allows us to live together. However,
like any other religion, any other faith, any other group of people. If you are attacked, Islam
allows you to defend yourself. Islam allows you to stand for what you believe is right. without, you
know, transgressing without
		

			oppressing anyone without doing killing innocent people is not part of Islam. And if you don't
believe that read the seed of an abuse of the law. It was done. And that's why after September 11,
you know, we were in Washington, Maryland, in a Virginia DC area, and over 30,000 people accepted
Islam within two months. And these people were accepted. Some they were not, you know, these people
weren't, you know, sniffing drugs or you know, you know, on drugs, no, they were educated class,
they were people who said, Wait a second, let me read about this religion that is so violent, that
is allowing innocent people to be killed. And they went to the library, and they pick the Koran, and
		

			they read the Quran. And they were shocked that what the media is saying is one thing, and what
Islam is completely different. And all of them said, you know, this is what I was looking for. This
is the right religion, and they became it became a Muslim. Islam was calling to violence, and then
you expose them all this? Why would all these people accept Islam? Why? You know,
		

			I have no general found.
		

			That's the
		

			last question. Last question for you check. And then we'll wrap up
		

			with all the pressure that's happening right now, and a lot of Muslims feeling, you know, like, Man,
you know, maybe just like after 911, people want to take off the hijab, for the start wanting to
shave, people want to just, you know, change their names and all these types of things. What advice
can you give to the Muslims in terms of, you know, how to deal with the world around us these
troubling times? What can we do to make sure that we don't, you know, completely neglect our Islamic
identity, but at the same time, we're not completely always having to apologize.
		

			In the actions of others,
		

			number one, Islam is your dignity. Islam is who you are. The moment that you hold on to this
principle, the moment that you say, you know, this is what Islam is, Islam is teaching me this. This
is when the answer the honor will walk into your heart. This is what penetrate your heart. And as a
Muslim, regardless of what other people are doing, regardless whether they're doing the wrong things
or okay things, you as a Muslim, you should stand on your ground and you say, you know, Allah said
in the Koran, and in his, for the, for Allah, for his Mendoza Prophet, I'm for the believers. So
this is what you should worry about. And, you know, don't shave your beard, don't, you know, add
		

			little more color to your hijab, don't wear tight clothes, because you're afraid that people will,
you know, point fingers at you, but no dress modestly. And I believe I'm not talking about the
media, I'm not talking about these people with you know, hidden agenda. I believe when the simple,
normal, open mind Canadian sees that, or, you know, American, they would only respect you, they
would have no choice but to respect and say, you know, the following their faith, they're not doing
anything wrong. They you know, go to the mall like we do. They shop like we do, they play ball like
we do, you know, this is a lifestyle. You know, you have people with turbans, you have people, you
		

			know, wearing, you know, other things, why cannot we were where we want to work based on our faith.
You know, I always thought I mean, it's just a last final thought that perhaps there's some hikma,
you know, almost panatela, he's allowing certain things like this to occur as an opportunity for us
Muslims, he's testing, you know, not just us, but the society around us. Now, we have the
opportunity to teach people about Islam, you know, Islam is in the household of every single person,
you know, they turn on the TV, they hear about Islam, to hear about Muslims, do you think maybe this
is a good opportunity for us to also take advantage of that, you know, unfortunate reality, but also
		

			use it as an opportunity for doubt.
		

			It's funny that you presented you put it that way. Sometimes I feel called when doing
		

			the dour. We're not inviting people to some, we don't have to convert anyone. But we have to present
Islam to them. And since we're not doing this as Muslims, and each one of us is just you know, wants
to keep Islam to themselves. A lot of times, I say, perhaps a last panel without putting Islam on
every TV screen,
		

			presented to everyone because we're not doing our job. So our lesson Islam will be spread regardless
of what you do. And that's what the prophets all along it was an Islam with into every house,
through the wicked onto the righteous. So sometimes a wicked person who wants to, you know, you
know, put a dent on Islam on the faith of Islam may say something negative about Islam on TV, and
the next thing is someone accepted Islam because of that common. And I have, you know, there was one
of the when I was in Maryland, and one of the Islamic centers, they had a
		

			website, and this guy, he came in, he hacked the website, but he did not just have the website, he
pulled out, you know, crazy pictures, no pictures, I guarantee you there was no
		

			pictures.
		

			And then this guy, he called and he accepted Islam, and I said, How can you accept Islam? He said,
You know, I want to this website, and he had all his uh, what kind of religions is
		

			you know, and that's how we accept ourselves through someone who's trying to destroy the image of
Islam, you know, posting it, you know, an Islamic pictures through that someone accepted Islam, so
was a Muslim so we just say hamdulillah perhaps at Lowe's doing the work and
		

			excuse me, in the Quran, Allah subhanaw taala mentioned something called tummies. Tears means loss
of presence purifying you know when you when you when if you're a gold digger you know if you when
you bring out a piece of rock that is you know, mixed with wood, sand rocks, you know, metals gold,
and you you really put under the heat that rock and then you come up with a beautiful piece of gold
and the rest is just so useless. So maybe Allah subhana wa tada is looking for that small group of
people who will carry the message of Islam, like the province of Louis solomani inshallah, may Allah
subhanaw taala keep us steadfast and allow us to spread this beautiful religion, that philosophy of
		

			everybody tuning in, stay tuned for next episode of hang out where we have other great interesting
guests, and we talk about really cool interesting topics inshallah we'll see you all soon. Does that
feel okay after watching that I want to lie about again.
		

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