Iqbal Gora – On University Protests Virtues of Activism 200pm
AI: Summary ©
The transcript discusses the protests and actions of several individuals protesting against the implementation of Islam in the United States and Canada, including those who attempted to encourage change and lost their lives due to their actions. The narration discusses the actions of some individuals, including a young Muslim who claimed to be one of the first to recite the Quran in public, and the actions of some individuals, including a man who was tortured and given a visa to protest. The speakers emphasize the importance of understanding the principles of Islam and the potential for community funding to help those affected by extreme oppression. The speaker also discusses various examples of Islam's rebirth and strength in numbers and community, including people being arrested for various reasons and a prediction from Hadith that people will attack people in the era of colonialism.
AI: Summary ©
Yesterday at the University of Calgary campus, an
emulation of what is happening in other campuses
across Canada and the United States. There were
some individuals that were
made encampments there as they had done in
1985,
when they were protesting
apartheid South African Columbia University. They made encampments
at the University of Calgary. Last night at
around 11 PM, for those that would have
seen the
Calgary police service came in. They came in
with their tear gas. They came in with
their batons and their shields. They came in
with,
they came in with, even flash grenades and
the like, and they dispersed this particular protest.
Now when we see this particular event which
took place, and this is within our own
city. It happened in other places, but this
is the first time we've seen it to
this extent happening within our own very city.
There are a few different lessons that a
person could learn from this and derive from
it and see what is the mechanism towards
change. The first thing that a person needs
to understand is that those that were protesting
there, they did not do this right away.
They waited 7 months. They tried, and they
exhausted every legal means, every avenue to attempt
to have politicians listen to our voices, none
of this worked. So it's not something which
happened right away, but rather it was a
long time coming because of the fact that
those individuals were in
these encampments which took place in the University
these encampments which took place in the University
of Calgary, we see that they were dispersed
last night. And from this, we also learned
something else, which is extremely important
and critical if we want actual change to
take place.
When you look at those and
the total number of them that existed,
in his book.
It's around 3,000 names that we could mention
about the Sahaba if we're thinking about the
names themselves.
Now when it comes to the specific figures
and their lives that they had lived, this
is even few. And if you were to
ask the majority of Muslims, unfortunately, we'd probably
be able to mention 10, perhaps 20 at
the absolute maximum,
50 individuals from among the Sahaba
and mention in particular stories. And most of
us could not even come close to this
number. However, having said this, there are certain
names from among the Sahaba that we do
know. Every single Muslim knows, every single Muslim
child does know. And
Ummah of Islam. Those were the individuals
that puts their lives sometimes on the line
so that Islam would propagate and so that
justice would prevail and so that oppression was
no longer the order of the day. When
you look at those
it is mentioned in one particular narration narrated
by Abdullah Masrood was
one of the early Muslims, and he was
a young Muslim as well. And this gives
us some indication
about the fact that change did not happen,
and it's not by coincidence that change happens
at the universities.
These protests, you know, did not take place
in the workplaces, nor do they take place
in the libraries, nor even the masajid, but
they take place in universities, and that is
by design.
Abdulan, mister Rodri Labuan, as a young kid,
he was among the first 6 individuals to
embrace Islam, and he was also one of
those to publicize Islam
very early on and was the first individual
to recite the Quran in public. But prior
to himself, he actually makes a comment in
a particular narration.
And he says that,
that the first
individuals to publicize their Islam, there were 7
individuals.
The first of them leading by example is
in Nabi
And the prophet he was protected as we
know by whom by Abu Ghalib who protected
him from any type of torture. The second
individual mentioned in this narration is Abu Bakr
Sadir
He was protected by Banutay bin Murrah, his
particular tribe took care of him and ensured
that although people were unhappy with his belief,
he was not tortured. The remaining 5 individuals
from
his mother,
all of these remaining 5 individuals,
they were tortured. And when you look at
these 5 individuals,
we find that from among them, the the
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the Allah
gives a
virtue to those people that fight and those
people that, for example, went to the protest.
They went to the encampments
as opposed to those that decided to stay
home and say, we don't want to be
there. Maybe we're going to get found out.
We don't want to go to those protests.
There are some individuals that went there. However,
having said this as well,
and the family that he had and the
fact that they were tortured.
His brother was killed. His father was killed.
His mother was killed. And the prophet
told the family of
Yasir. Be patient, oh family of Yasir, for
indeed, your eventual place will be Jannah. But
among all of these including
they
all when the tortured god too much, they
said we cannot bear it anymore.
And they gave the
what they wanted. There was 1 individual and
this individual is a name that all of
us know. That was one that did not
relinquish anything. And that is one of the
reasons why every single child in the Muslim
Ummah knows this particular. So, Habi, even if
we don't know Al Makdad, even though we
should, even if we don't know
even though we should, every single one of
us knows
and he was that individual that despite the
attempt to torture
and it is mentioned by Sahaba that they
used to ask him, we thought you were
going to die. We don't even know how
you are still alive. Despite all
of this, when when when
when the and,
used to torture him led by and
many among
the and place a boulder on his chest
as we all know, he would still consistently
say
and steadfast
to the tradition and the principles of of
Islam. What do we learn from this? We
find that Allah
mentions in the Quran about certain people. He
says,
He says, these particular individuals,
they are people that were harmed
in relation to the fact that they were
in the path of Allah.
There were people that were harmed because of
the fact that they were in the path
of Allah
These individuals have a high
rank with Allah
And he ranked above those that perhaps were
not
were not harmed in this particular way. And
those individuals eventually are those that are remembered.
Those that put their career on the line.
As many went to the protest, it could
be that they're blacklisted from certain companies in
the future because they partook in this particular
protest. There are some individuals and students that
went for the protest that the University
had tear gas thrown in their faces. And
other individuals that went to the protest, including
an elderly lady who was wrestled to the
floor by the Calgary Police Services. And all
of these individuals that put themselves on the
line at the end of the day when
you look into history and we see which
individuals are going to be remembered. The the
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they told these people
that after a certain while, we're going to
arrest you. About half of them, they left.
And those we could say are like the
example of those that are under the threat
of torture, under the threat of some ramifications
or retribution against them, they gave up, but
at least they were from those that as
Allah says in Quran as we have mentioned.
They
they said, we are not going to stop
unless our demands are met. We tried every
other avenue and nothing is working. Those individuals
will be that those that in 1980 5,
they went in Columbia University and is remembered
to this day when they used to call
Nelson Mandela a terrorist. It's remembered to this
day, the fact that they were on the
right side of history. So this is something
that we need to understand and have this
principle in place within our mind That there
are going to be people at different levels.
Ask yourself what level are you going to
be at? Are you going to be one
that sits around or are you going to
be one, Especially if you are young, that
is going to be active in doing whatever
it is that you can to remove this
type of oppression that we see happening to
our Muslim brothers and sisters in and many
other places in in.
So the principle here is is that there
are other things that we could do as
a community as well. For those individuals that
were fined, why is it not such that
we cannot fundraise among ourselves
so that we pay off any type of
fine that they may have? For those individuals
who are threatened with not having a job
in the future, why is it that we
don't do do not have Muslims within the
community that will look at the fact that
they went to this protest and look at
as a mark of honor that they went
to this protest and deliberately decide to to
hire those particular individuals. There are things that
we can do as a community. If there
are certain individuals that may be arrested, as
we mentioned in 2 hottwas ago, it is
mentioned regarding the first Muadbins of Islam.
Is one of them. But another one of
them
and it is mentioned that the prophet he
told him.
If you don't see with you, then you'll
be the. So for those individuals that might
have been arrested, there are many other Muslims
that can go and take their place and
say they are not going to stop until
this oppression is removed. This was the eventual
cause of apartheid South Africa falling as we
have seen in history. So let us not
forget this fact that we have a part
to play in history as well, and we
want to be from those that are recorded
firstly by by Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala as
being those that were on the right side
of history. We find that when it comes
to this particular group, the vast majority of
them are people that are young. Generation
z. These individuals
are those that are present in this particular
protest. And as we have mentioned, this is
not by coincidence, but rather it is by
design. Because when you see young people
become activated, you see the major changes in
the Ummah of Islam.
For those that are older, let us look
to the guidance of the prophet
that looked among the Sahaba and looked among
them. And when he identified particular traits, he
pushed those kids in that particular area until
they became the leaders of this Ummah. We
have people like the
father fell in the battle of Moat, a
famous story where he's holding a flag and
the prophet says, if you fall, then the
flag should go to who? Abdullah
And if you fall,
it should go to and this happened 1
by 1. This individual and his fell, the
prophet made his son, Usam
the next commander after his father. He identified
he had this particular talent and trade. The
prophet
when he looked at others from among the
Sahaba, like Zayd al
Mustafa as a young kid was very eager
to attend the battle
prophet Muhammad, the prophet Muhammad, the prophet Muhammad,
the prophet Muhammad, the prophet Muhammad, the prophet
Muhammad, the prophet Muhammad, the prophet Muhammad, the
prophet Muhammad, the prophet Muhammad, the prophet Muhammad,
the prophet Muhammad, the prophet Muhammad, the prophet
Muhammad, the prophet Muhammad, the prophet Muhammad, the
prophet Muhammad, the prophet Muhammad, the prophet Muhammad,
the prophet Muhammad, the prophet Muhammad, the prophet
Muhammad, the prophet Muhammad, the this is a
bright child. So what did he tell him?
He said, go and learn the Syriac language.
Go and learn the Hebrew language. Become a
master of language. And eventually, he became the
scribe of the prophet
writing down the Quran. To the point that
when many of the
fell
in the battle of Yamama. In the Arab
Abu Bakr
and the Muslims, they said, we need to
compile the Quran for future generations. Who was
the prime scribe responsible for this task? This
was none other than Zaid ibn Fabbat.
We find many, many more examples of this
from among the Sahaba. We could go on
and on and on about those individuals like
like who had everything the world had to
offer. His mother gave him everything. He came
from a rich background. And despite all of
this, he embraced Islam. He gave his life
in the battle of Uhud, and he left
with nothing. It could have been that he
lived a cushy, comfortable life, but he would
not have been remembered. And generations after him,
people would have not named their children after.
Ask yourself, where are you going to fall
in this particular area? The last point that
we will leave this Khutbah with is a
beautiful hadith of the prophet and
in this hadith is a beautiful prediction in
fact, showing the truthfulness of Islam and the
words of Anabis Sallallahu Alaihi Salam. The prophet
Sallallahu Alaihi Salam, he describes his ummah
in
the
of Islam will be prophethood and mercy in
the era of An Nasimullah.
After this, it will be the
kingship to his son, and there were some
bad, but there was still Rahma as is
mentioned in this particular hadith. Thereafter, the hadith
mentions
After this, it will be Emirates, but it
will also be
as well. We find later on, the Muslim
became very much fractured to the point that
the certain parts of
the
the the the
in fact, prior to them. In the in
the era, the, in that particular area,
the Umayyads, they went to Spain, and they
were still in existence. Although the the the
main, leadership at the time were the.
Nonetheless, it was sort of broken up and
fragmented to a certain degree, but nonetheless, there
was rahma in it. After this, the prophet
what did he say? He said
after this happens, people will attack you just
as donkeys attack food in the era of
colonialism.
We're in the
the the disbelievers, they went into Libya. The
the Italians went into there. We find the
French went into Algeria. The English went into
Egypt and many other places. The English went
into India, the subcontinent.
And the the Philippines, the Spanish went there
and many, many other examples that we could
mention about what had happened in all of
these particular regions and scenarios. The Dutch went
into the east as well in Indonesia and
other regions.
Referring to the colonial period. The prophet
says, when this happens, what is the job
of the believer?
When this happens, it is upon the believer
to fight back. As we saw with the
lion of the desert, Ram Al Mustard, Rahimullah,
in Libya against the Italians in the 1800
approximately at the time. He fought back against
them and you remember him to this day.
The prophet
says, and
he says,
a rebalte. The best type of jihad is
a type of jihad which is called a
rebalte. What is a rebalte? Allah mentions
as a defense against our Muslim brothers in
Gaza and the universities,
the prophet is saying, the best type of
jihad is to garrison and fort and make
a fort
for your for your Muslim brothers and guard
yourselves like this in this particular way. And
the hadith mentions, one night in one day
in a rebal is greater than than a
person fasting the entire month of Ramadan and
standing in
quality of a revolt. Three eyes will not
taste the fire of Jahannam. That's the the
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looked at Haram. That eye that guarded the
frontiers of the Muslim Ummah and that eye
that shed a tear for its creator. These
eyes will not face the punishment of Allah
ta'ala in this quality is called a rebalt.
The last part of this hadith is where
the miracle lies. The prophet says,
the best type of rebal is a rebal
rebal which is done in the land of
Askalan. Where is Askalan? It is the city
of Ashfalon, which is just north of Gaza,
and this is a miracle hadith of the
prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam. The people there are
doing their job. Ask yourself, are you doing
your job? And are you willing to do
anything to put yourself on the line? For
the sake of Islam, you will be remembered
if you do this. And as a community,
we have strength in numbers. We have strength
in the community of Islam that despite people
Allah for this.