Maryam Amir – Interview @MansourShouman on Gaza
AI: Summary ©
The speakers discuss the importance of following the Bible and the use of the app for women's recita. They emphasize the need to use their experiences to empower others and encourage people to use their experiences to help others. They also discuss the success of the app and its use for women's recita, as it is a part of their culture. The speakers encourage people to use their experiences to empower others and share their experiences to help others.
AI: Summary ©
Can you see me?
Alhamdulillah. Alhamdulillah. Alhamdulillahi, we're so, so, so
grateful to be able to see and hear you again. Salman, So
alhamdulillah. I thank Allah from the depths of my heart,
Alhamdulillah, for the blessing of seeing you safely, Alhamdulillah,
and the blessing of being able to see you again. Alhamdulillah,
mean, salatul, we're so honored to have usad Mansour with us after a
long, long time of the whole world being worried about you, Assad
Mansour, Alhamdulillah, that you're back with your family, and
we pray for the same, for the the the safety of all of us, Ayurveda,
liberation of all of us, and Philistine and all this ummah and
me, how are you doing? Assad Mansour,
Alhamdulillah, just Mansour will suffice. Thank you.
Alhamdulillah, how. Are you feeling being being in the first
day of Ramadan and with your family?
So I just finished taraweh Alhamdulillah.
I really miss praying in congregation in Gaza. To be
honest, it's a very different, different feelings Subhanallah,
the level of
iman there and the level of closeness Allah is so, so
different. Yes,
I'm very happy, Alhamdulillah, to be in Qatar.
But Subhanallah, there is no place like the Holy Land, yes, and just
a temporary leave, and soon all of us will be back there in Gaza and
in Jerusalem and shot,
yeah. What time is it right now? There
Mariam, is it morning right now? Just Miriam and here, it's 11
o'clock in the morning in California. Yes. Okay,
so I'm gonna, I'm not gonna. I'm not gonna. No no, because people
are from, people are from all over watching. I was trying to make a
joke, I don't know. Don't worry about it. Oh, okay, yeah, don't
drink at all. Please. Don't drink at all. For especially for me,
especially for me, don't drink anything.
Um, Mansur, I can imagine that you being with your your wife and your
mother and your children, may Allah protect them all and bless
them all, like you mentioned, is like, of course, having that
you're there safely. But there's also an aspect that I think many
of us watching always feel like we wish we could be in Allah helping,
or we feel this guilt of not being able to help, and you having been
there and helping, and now being outside of it, how are you
navigating, how you're how you're processing it? Yeah, so just to
clarify first, a couple of things, my wife came to visit me for a
week, and now she's back in the United Arab Emirates. My mother is
still here.
She might also go back to a job in the United Arab Emirates. So still
I'm the phase of still resettling inshallah and and Inshallah, soon
I can see my kids, and we can all be united inshallah.
So to answer your question,
I remember,
like when I watched television here for the first time, when I
came back to when I came to Qatar, or I was in Egypt, watching
television for the first time there, outside of Gaza, I've
automatically felt depressed, and I remembered the messages I was
getting from people telling me that, you know, We feel so down,
we don't know what to do. We feel helpless. There's no hope. And a
lot of like, negative messaging, right? And I was wondering, like,
why was everyone like this? Right? I was watching the news in Gaza,
and I didn't feel that way, but, but all I left, and I also saw
this messaging that I understood Okay,
now I understand where they're coming from. So my apologies to
everyone if I if
my messaging maybe sometimes came across as not under understanding
your frustration, because now I can feel that frustration in me as
well. So what we're trying to do is we're trying to Sister Maria.
We're trying to continue the work we did in Gaza, but amplify it in
a different way, in a bigger way outside of Gaza. So in addition to
like, I have to do a lot of work now, in parallel, I have to take
care of my family, my mom. I have a job that I have to have to tend
to, but the priority would always be Gaza would always be Palestine.
So I'm trying to do more media appearances on different TV
stations. I'm trying to make connections with some of the big
names in in the world when it comes to
both that have their own TV shows or don't have a good Marshall.
Lot of social media presence for people like yourself, like have
daily lives on Instagram, on Tiktok, right trying to talk about
Palestine, trying to talk about what's happening there right now.
I'm getting daily, like news updates from the different teams
there on the ground, and it's really, really, really tough right
now.
So yeah, with in addition to that, Alhamdulillah, despite me being
away
for a few weeks, the charity work has expanded, has exploded,
actually, across Alhamdulillah, so we continue to monitor that. From
here, mashallah, I have a lot of people running the work and a lot
of volunteers helping me from the outside of Gaza to ensure that,
you know, we're able to get the funds there, we're able to
distribute it properly, and then we have people on the ground
managing the different projects. So,
so yeah, that that makes me a little bit feel a little bit
better about myself, but I know that at the end of the day, we're
all going to be asked on the Day of Judgment what we did during
these harsh times. And we also need to remember that, yes, Gaza
is is important, but there are many other people around the world
suffering, whether it's in the West, the east, the north, the
south, Muslim, non Muslim countries. And we need to all work
together, I think, to get some kind of order back to this world.
I know I touched on this many times when I was in Gaza, but I'm
a strong believer that, you know, these man made
laws that govern our day to day, lives, politics, societies,
economics. You know, they're all faulty, and they benefit some
people over others. We need the divine rule of Allah to come back
to this earth, and we need to all work towards the establishment of
that inshaAllah, one way or another,
Inshallah, like you've mentioned many times, that Inshallah, in
doing so, will will help with the liberation of all people.
Minsor, I know many of us have wondered what happened in khazad
when we didn't hear from you for some time, and the whole world was
looking for you. Is, is that something you're comfortable
sharing with us? What happened in that time, of course, the first
time, or the time,
both of the times we went from Ya Allah, where is Mansour? I
remember every day, every night, does Ya Allah, where is Mansour?
Ya Allah, only you know where he is. And then Allah, Akbar, you
were back, and there were so many conspiracy theories, but that's
not really him. It's actually AI. It's not actually him. Look at his
eyes. It's good, okay? And then Allah will sign his what happened
to be able to see you is such a gift from Allah for all of us,
truly. Alhamdulillah. So please share with us, if you're
comfortable, whatever you're comfortable with, sharing with
what happened.
No no issues at all. You can ask me any question you want. Sister
Marion, so the first time I went missing in quotations, so missing
means I'm not able to connect on internet. That's what missing
means. So the first time I wasn't able to connect on the internet
was when I was trapped inside hanus after checking on Tent City.
It was the morning when the Israeli forces basically made a
made a big 180 degree turn around hanus from its east side to its
west side, and
and basically we had to run for cover and stay in hanus for two
weeks until we were able to reach Nasser hospital safely. The second
time was when they basically attacked Nasser hospital directly,
and they bulldozed the front gates, and they they came crashing
in. So we just had to make a run for it,
because, trust me,
dying is better than being captured and humiliated by this
army.
So,
and the problem is, all you can see is like big bulldozers that
are like 10 meters or high and tanks around them. And the day
before, they actually told the doctors in the hospital that, you
know, NASA hospital is safe, the schools around you're all safe.
Why are you guys worried? You know nothing will happen. And I was
supposed to expect, I
was expecting a Canadian Doctor delegation to come to an asshole
hospital on February the 12th. So, so there was no sign that they
were coming to the hospital. So anyways, when they basically came
in, I had to leave everything behind and just we escaped through
the
through the west side of the hospital. We basically jump the
wall. And again, we were in hanus for a couple of weeks trying to
avoid
the IDF, And Alhamdulillah, we were able to reach this time, Al
mawasi On the beach area safely, after a couple of weeks of trying
and.
To do that, hold, it's safe by the IDF. And then they came in
physically, with the tanks, yeah, we were told that NASA hospital is
safe. Like, don't worry you, and 1000s of others like, therefore
the doctors, like, we have no interest in coming to NASA
hospital. And then they suddenly just appeared
after you haven't even made it to a malacy. What happened after
that?
So after that, I like I said, I had lost everything, everything my
university certificates, my clothes, my my toothbrush, my my
phone, my laptops. I just had my passport, my wallet and the key to
our house in Gaza City, so I made the Salat that Ya Allah.
Do I stay in Gaza, or is it time for me to to go out, to go to go
out and
And subhanAllah within, within a few days, you know, all the signs
and indications showed that it was time for me to temporarily leave,
was and continue the work we were doing outside, because I felt I
didn't add much value on the inside
and
and, yeah, that's that's what happened, yes, subhanAllah, that
must have been a very momentous istihara for you to come to that
decision, yes.
And
when I told the Canadian consulate in Ramallah, they were like, Are
you sure you've been telling us no for like, four or five months?
Like, are you is this Mansur, is this
an AI generated image? Are we getting
an AI? Are you sure? Okay, we're gonna send someone there tomorrow.
Just be there. Okay, promise us you'll be there
in the cinematic and May Allah take you back to help liberate
Rasayana in a safe way in all of us. Ya rame, I mean, Inshallah, we
do not need to be physically there. Inshallah, sister, we can
do a lot of work from the outside. Masha, Allah, with your efforts,
with everyone else's support, Inshallah, we can, we can help
them more. Inshallah, from dawnson, when you are mentioning
that we can help them more from the outside, I know all of us are
boycotting, donating, protesting, writing to our elected officials,
posting, and I feel like some of us you know are doing the same
actions, but we are struggling to see the results and what what
other or what further information or advice? Do you recommend for
those who are doing everything we know to do? Is there other things
we can be doing, or should we continue to just do what we've
been doing and know that the result is with Allah and that the
effort is happening?
Yeah, yesterday, I wasn't alive with the sister, Megan rice, and
she asked the same question.
I told her the examples of, you know, subhanAllah, ulila Rusul. So
as Muslim, we believe that five of the greatest people to ever walk
the Earth were Prophet Noah, Prophet Abraham, Moses, Jesus and
Muhammad Ali satu,
arguably three of these best people to ever walk the face of
this earth, if you look at it from a materialistic point of view,
failed in delivering results. So Prophet spent 950 years making
dawah to the people to leave worshiping idols. After 950 years,
how many people embraced Islam? Few dozen. Um, 1000
so he must have done, I mean, right? Prophet Moses, after doing
all the miracles and getting the people out and denial,
like everything, right, he and he leaves a prophet. He leaves his
brother with the people, right? He goes to receive Allah's
commandments. He comes back 40 days later. What does he see? He
sees these people melted their gold and worshiping a golden cow.
He must have failed, right? So, same thing, Prophet
Jesus, peace be upon him, and he was supposed to be killed, right?
Murdered? He only had 12 disciples and a few believers. What
like
if Allah asks us to do the work he does, does not
he does. He is not expecting. He does not expect us to expect
results. Yes, it's nice to see the results. Alhamdulillah, it's nice
to see the results of your efforts, but, but that's not what
we get rewarded, or it's not what we're going to be asked about the
adjustment. We're going to be asked about what we are doing
right now. So
I.
Some advice from what I think was right, you know, when it comes to
lobbying, demonstrating, social media, donating,
boycotting, you know, but I'm sure there are other ways to help and
and if anyone you know has a way that they can help Gaza or other
places on this earth, you know, please continue. Do it, right? Do
it. You're going to be asked in front of Allah, right? Not me on
your behalf, not anyone on your behalf. Everyone will run away
from your Day of Judgment, your mother, your father, your wife,
your children, your siblings. You're going to be there on your
own. So you have to have an answer, whether it's Raza or other
places on this world, make sure that you purify your intentions.
Make sure that you act according to the Quran and Sunnah do
stikhara.
You know, there are Canadians who are still in a lesson now, and
they've been trying to come out. Someone is asking, Do you have any
insight as to why the Canadian government isn't actually helping
them leave. Okay, so I can ask that person to message me, and
I'll send them the phone number and the email address of the
Canadian consulate in Ramallah so that they can connect with them
directly and see what's going on with their case
right now, we're seeing many cases.
I messaged sorry. I messaged the quota family. Many times they
asked me to help them. I messaged them. I told them exactly what to
do. I don't know what I don't know. They keep bringing up the
same message that they can't leave, even though I don't know
what's going on, right? No, of course, understandable
when we are hearing of cases of malnutrition and starvation right
now lahala, we are seeing cases, specifically of children, that are
happening in North LASA. Are cases like that also in other parts of
LASA, and is the North unable to receive aid the way that other
parts of lesser is? And is that why we're seeing it more there? Is
there anything that we can do to have aid get into North Russia?
We've, we've, I don't know if I don't know the name of this child.
I haven't seen a name mentioned, but there's a little boy who I'm
seeing pictures of him every day. He is wasting away and and we've
already seen like yes and of kefauna, Allah Rahul, are they
just these, these babies that are being just starving to death? Is
is
it different in different parts of Raza in terms of access to food?
Is there something that we can do on the outside to help get aid to
a specific area of a
the North is definitely getting the worst of all of it.
The North means Jabalia, bitlahi, a bit hanun, and was the city
Israel is is allowing only very, very few trucks to enter into the
north and when it's there, there is no organized effort to make
sure that it reaches the right people. You know, mobs of people
just attack the trucks, and sometimes a lot of it gets damaged
due to due to the overwhelming pressure from the people trying to
get what they need for their families.
The South has a lot more resources available.
But everywhere you know there is resources available, the question
is, at what price? So the latest number I got, for example, when we
were in our projects, is that
the bag of flour that's around in US dollars that it's around 40 US
dollars in the south, 25 kilograms is $400
in the north,
10 times the price. So products, supplies do get in, but in smaller
amounts and at bigger prices. And I think every day, people from the
north are leaving the north, unfortunately, and going to the
south due to the lack of food available there.
So
yeah, it's like every day, like all the time when I speak, when I
speak with my team, I'm like, Guys, North is the priority. North
is the priority. Anything we can get, any funds, anything at all,
north, the North.
So
you know,
the problem is, I'm not seeing a political solution right now in
the horizon. We were expecting some kind of ceasefire for
Ramadan, but again, that didn't happen.
And it seems that.
The civilians on the ground Yani are gonna, are gonna
like, they're gonna be fasting Ramadan, like victim,
unfortunately,
you mentioned Ramadan, and we are seeing that the people of us are
paying Tara. We are in the ruins of Al faral K masjid and just
praying between the tents that they're eating sahur and, you
know, breaking their fast over something small. How do can I ask?
This is a question I've been wondering, how did you make Waldo
with a lack of water? Were you making teyamum often? Or how do
you do the physical acts of Salah. What was the physical act? Was the
physical experience of like ay bada there?
So, so when I was in Nasr hospital, there was water
available, so we were doing normal wardrobe. But when I was in away
for a few weeks in hanus,
many times there wasn't water available. So we would do Temo.
Temo, basically, you hit your hand the sand a few times.
That's it, that that's, that's the Temo.
I remember we used to sometimes make a jammer for the salah. We
used to like pray the whole and ASAF together, orb and Aisha
together. Sometimes,
I mean, sometimes we used to go to homes that were like bombed the
ground and there was like, just a room left, right? So we used to,
unfortunately, go to the bathroom. You know, sometimes in, like, not
in the bathroom, because there was no place to go, right?
Sometimes we used to find water that was unclean, unpure to drink,
right? So we used to make these manual filters. We used to be
creative, like, put some sand, some rocks, if we find some
cotton, we try to purify the water and then drink it.
So,
so yeah, I mean, there were, there were some tough times, but Allah
also sent a lot of positive signs, a lot of karamat as well, to make
the the people fast Alhamdulillah during these harsh times, your
your, your people have changed all of us, and so all of us have
become different people because of rasa. And I know that mashallah
you have seen so many people accept Islam because of ghaza and
the the connection that all of you maintain in your faith, while so
many people are asking, Why is this happening? And all of the
people of Gaza that we are seeing are are showing us how to maintain
their faith through it.
Right now in Ramadan, I think it's even harder because we we see the
the the we see, we see the genocide. And at the same time, we
don't want to take the people of Laza as like someone use this
phrase a master class in faith they are being genocided. This is
not like a master class on how to maintain faith. But one of the
things I've been really amazed at is how often the people of Laza
mentioned the Quran, and how the Quran is maintaining their Imaan
through this time. And is there something, and especially in the
month of Ramadan, that a story or a moment that you witnessed, like
an ayah of the Quran, where you witnessed it happening in rasa
Paul? Reading the Quran and Raza during this time, this conflict
gave different meaning. Alhamdulillah, I finished reading
the Quran several times, and every time you would reflect, you know,
you would, you would read the ayah, and it was like talking to
you directly. You know, a lot of ayahs talk about the times of the
Prophet of the Sahaba, and what they endured during some harsh
times, in some of their battles, in some the, some of the, you
know, the tough times that they went through. You know, reading
the ayah
then Abu Asmaa, remember at one
point the Israeli soldiers, all they needed to do is just turn
their heads and they would have seen us,
subhanAllah, when you are also under continuous bombardment,
right? And
and you feel that you are surrounded by the enemy from all
directions, and there is no, no planned way out. And then you
read,
you know? And.
And it talks about how the Prophet and and the Sahaba Zul zero at the
that, you know, we were, it was like when the Prophet the Medina
and he was surrounded. So we were surrounded in a very similar way.
But alhamdulillah, you know, I remember that night, a very strong
thunderstorm came And
Alhamdulillah, we were able to escape that situation under that
severe weather because
it damages the technology. Sometimes it doesn't allow the
drones to see. It forces the soldiers to go back into their
tanks, into their bulldozers, into their vehicles, right? So it gives
you more freedom to move around
one of the karamat that we witnessed is that we were walking
into one of the ruins that were bombed by an F 16 fire jet five
days before, and we saw the bodies of two of two, two people, and we,
Inshallah, ask them that they are martyrs,
accept them. And normally bodies after, you know, they die after a
few hours, they start to stiffen up, right? So you're talking about
two bodies that have been under the ruins for many days now, and
when we tried to remove their bodies from under the rubble and
try to bury them, we weren't able to, but we were able to move their
hands and their feet. So I was moving their elbow like this and
their feet like this. So it was so their bodies were like room
temperature and and you can actually move their limbs up and
down, and you can smell the smell of musk from their blood. So
this, this, this caused us to be to remain steadfast in our path.
Alhamdulillah,
I remember
one of the people who were with us.
He was a 19 year old boy,
and before the war, he was a troublemaker, like he was known in
the neighborhood as the troublemaker whenever, whenever
something happened, it meant that this person had something to do
with it. So one war started, subhanAllah Allah put Imaan in his
heart, and he was one of the people that was helping the
charity work, and he was with me during the first time I went
missing,
and I remember him leaving one day after doing salatriam And being
and fasting. He wanted to go and bring us some food from somewhere,
and he didn't come back. So we thought, okay, maybe he's stuck
somewhere, and he'll be back the next day. So next day, we went
looking for him, and we saw his body lying in the middle of the
road
and
and he was basically we at that at that point, someone told us that
the sniper took him out, and at that time, the sniper wasn't
there, so we were able to move him towards the side of the road. And
subhanAllah. His face, subhanAllah was light, no, and all the, all
right, he had a lot of
a lot of
razor, razor, you know, he was a troublemaker, a lot of razor
injuries. We was like, the gun. His face was mashallah, like just
like this, pure, pure, like nothing on it, not only that.
When, when we were, when we covered him in a in a blanket, and
we left because it was dangerous to move around, we did the
flapping of a bird come down on his body behind us. It was a huge
white bird like we never saw something like this. We thought it
was like this big turkey, but turkeys don't have these, don't
have the size.
And then
suddenly this white bird, just like this. And then we realized
that's that's a peacock, that's a white peacock,
and white peacock in my life, and and, and it just covered his body
like this, and then it turned around, it made like a small place
to sit down. And just sat and looked at us like this. And we
were looking at each other like you see what we're seeing.
So So alhamdulillah Ra, all of these are, there's so many,
there's so many, so many things that Allah made us Alhamdulillah
witness that that.
Keep the people there steadfast. Alhamdulillah, you know, Allah
always sent to his Russ, to his and Bea maj to keep the people
steadfast. Remind that Allah, creator, you know,
Alhamdulillah, what was his name?
Um?
Me Once this war ends. Oh, no, you have to, yeah, of course. No, no,
of course. I'm sorry that I didn't realize just that calafina for
sharing, I mean, hearing stories like this, like panel law the I
don't think I don't have words to express the emotion
a lot more like the sister, and that's why that's that's why I
feel
so bad that I left Gaza because I'm back into This materialistic
world, world that relies on capitalism, world that, you know,
if you have $1 you're worth $1
back there all about who has more more? Iman, you know, yes, if I
was worthy, I would have accepted me as a martyr during those times.
It seems that long way from that.
Inshallah, you will be accepted as a martyr. After the immense amount
of work you still have to do Inshallah, Allah has left time for
you to work, to to allow for for you to witness Inshallah, the
deliberation and the freedom of the people of Philistine and all
of this ummah, and then accept you as a martyr and use your name to
be remembered for his sake, only for his sake that the angels
remember you, and that the generations like Salah Haden are
making to offer you, is something I think about. Allah Salahuddin is
always remembered, but nur adn, Imad Deen, all the people that
came before him, and all the names we don't even know that were in
their armies that we're making the material. And what Salahuddin
said, it's not just the people that were with us here on the
battlefield, but the people that were making dua in their homes in
the middle of the night that allowed us to to reach where we
needed to reach. And subhanAllah, you, you are. I'm sorry that you.
I'm so sorry that the that that feeling is very real. But for
everyone who is witnessing you, we see someone who Allah has chosen
in so many different ways. And may Allah choose you in the way you
want to be chosen after a long life of work for his sake and
health and energy for his sake. And me inshaAllah,
and
I remember the, you know, during the time of Omar Al hatabad, after
one of the the the battles against the Persians,
he was told, Alhamdulillah, Yamir al muminin, you know, we had a
great victory. He asked, okay, who or who are the martyrs? So they
mentioned to him, this person was a martyr. This person Martha, this
person was and many others who you don't know about. And then the
Prophet started crying. Like, why are you crying? We had just, we
just had a great victory. He's like Annie Omar doesn't know them,
but Allah knows each one of them,
but knows them.
And I love me of the story of one of the sahaba. I forgot his name.
He was a poor sahabi, and he wasn't good looking.
And the Prophet used to ask him, Why, why don't you get married?
Yeah, yeah. I forgot his name,
is it?
Yes, yes.
And then,
basically, the prophet kept asking Julie bib, you know, why don't you
get married? And then one day, he said, Okay, go to this family and
tell them that the Prophet, sallAllahu, sallam, orders you to
marry your lady to your daughter. And their daughter was one of the
most beautiful women in Medina at that time. So he knocked their
door and he said, the Prophet SAW, says salam and asks you to, you
know, ask me to ask you the hand for your doctor to get them
married. And when the mother heard that, she was like, she told the
father, like, how can, how can he? How can they do that? I mean, our
daughter is like this and that, and he's has nothing, and look at
him. And then the woman from the inside, their daughter said, how
can you refuse an order that Prophet Muhammad, sallAllahu,
alayhi was amended, you know, except to be his wife. So,
Alhamdulillah, he got married, and on the night of his marriage, the
night of his marriage, you know, there was a battle of the Prophet,
the Prophet sallallahu, sallam, against the Mushrikeen. So jalabi
left his wife on the night.
Of their marriage and went and fought in this battle. At
the end of the battle,
they found the lady's body. It was struck several times, and he's
been martyred
and end up in this. Haba came to the Prophet and told me, a lot of
people died, you know. And the Prophet asked him, What about
Habibi, you know? What about my my love? They said he was also killed
after this and that. So he went and saw him, and then he turned
his face away. And they told him, Why did you turn your face or
prophet? He said, I've seen his his wives for hulayin, you know,
cleansing him and carrying his body towards the sky. So
I never wanted to be known. I just wanted to be like jalabi, someone
that Allah accepts to go to ferdows, someone that
that doesn't have to face his wrath on the Day of Judgment.
Inshallah, you will still be of those people, and yet, Allah has
chosen this for you, whether or not it was something you chose for
you. So Inshallah, you will still have such a beautiful meeting with
the Prophet sallallahu, alayhi wa sallam and the angels. But
Inshallah, with
the problem is that this life has so much fitna. Sorry to interrupt.
There's a lot of fit you know, what is? Is there? Like an English
word for fitna, like trials, tests, tribulation, that can lead
you astray, right? So saying by the Alama or that Al hayla, it
fitna with arat Matador fitna, that if you want to follow
someone, follow someone who had passed away, follow his or her
footsteps because they they'll not change. They you already, you
already saw their good deeds. You saw how they lived their life and
they died. That's it. But if someone is alive at any time, they
can face trials and tribunals which can lead them astray. Yes,
so never say that xy is our own model if they're alive right now,
because they might get led astray.
That is, that is very real, subhanAllah mental, I think that
you know, I will say that when we are hearing the stories like you
mentioned, of the young man that noone knows the the moment that
the person is going to pass, even if their life looked a certain
way, what is their passing going to be like? And that can go both
ways. We we know that we see that in the time of the Prophet
sallallahu, alayhi wasallam, but I think that us in watching in
watching you and watching Lesa, it's a reminder for us that you
are someone who was in a genocide, there to amplify the voices of
people in genocide, and you are afraid for yourself. I mean, that
is, that is a that is Inshallah,
an example for us that we should always do nothing except work for
the sake of Allah. And that to be, to be so cautious, the way that
OMA RadiAllahu, Anhu described taqwa, that just the way that
you're grabbing your your clothing as you're walking in this way to
make sure that you are protecting yourself. And one of the things
that I think all of us are witnessing right now in this ummah
is yes, so many of us are turning back to the Quran and back to
Salah and becoming Muslim and turning back to Allah. But also
we're experiencing this collective shock or or lack of shock that
there isn't a huge return back to Allah, the way that we have a need
for the sake of the liberation of our ummah. We see so much and that
that I think for some of us, it's reached a level where we are
shocked to witness it. You are in you're following different
accounts of people who are online and they're posting their you
know, whatever they're posting. But it's very different from
witnessing genocide. And I know that I've heard people in vaza or
or heard people say that people in vaza are watching all of us and
what we're sharing and what we're doing, and what concert this
person went to, and how many bags that person bought, and you know
what, what people are doing while at the same time you are there
witnessing it. How do you have any Did you hear anything? Or do you
have any, you know, commentary on, on being on this side and
witnessing the world like the dunya of what people are sharing,
but at the same time witnessing what the world is really about.
It's mixed feelings. Like I said,
subhanAllah, you don't have to be there in Raza to help Raza, in my
opinion, masha Allah, there's a lot of great minds. There's a lot
of great people there doing great work on the ground. We can add a
lot of value from the outside.
And we can do it in different ways, and each one of us knows
what their strengths are and what they can do in their city, in
their country.
Yes, it's, it's for me personally, like I mentioned earlier in the
interview, it was, it was difficult at the beginning to
adjust and watching the news alone was was like impossible. I right
now, even sometimes I just ask my my like, my my colleagues at work
or or my friends at Al Jazeera or other news stations, what, what's,
what's, what's the latest about us? Because I can't watch or
listen to the news myself, and
they're like, shouldn't you be the one telling us? So
I try to get the news directly from the people on the ground,
because I feel it's much more reliable. And a lot of the news
out there is very directed.
Yeah,
no, I hear your frustration. I hear about, about, you know, being
involved in this dunya and and here's, here's, here's my fear
Sister, Sister Mariam,
is that
they're saying Arabic, dunya the water, you know, young,
you know history cycles. You know civilizations up and down, so the
civilization that's now doing great might one day start
collapsing, and vice versa, right? And and and on hot dog used to
give their give the Sahaba and the tar brain advice. Used to tell
them,
what's that word in Arabic
in the
name a letter Ali mulado come
many
that try to limit your pleasures in this life. Try to limit what
you buy, what you eat, etc, because, you know, the blessings
don't last, and hardships and hard times do come. Now, I do not want
to see other people suffer or go for hard times, but it's a
reality. It's a reality of history that what's happening to the
people in the now show Shin Shoshin in Annamalai Shoshin,
correct?
That what's happening can happen to anyone. Yes. So
are we ready? Are we prepared from always, physically, mentally,
psychologically, Islamically,
militarily, right? So that's something to keep in the back of
our minds. Um,
I want to also mention that I didn't know mokuta is nap wasn't
alive, it was. It's a it's an honor to have you and anyone from
who is watching. Thank you. It's an honor to have the work that all
of you do, and, Inshallah, it would be such, such a gift to hear
your voices as well. Thank you, Mansour, so much for taking the
time to share this feedback. I think one of the things that any
of us are watching, watching you and your demeanor see is that when
you were in hutza And you were doing lives, you were like, we are
going to, Inshallah, that's going to change the world and the the
level of heaviness that we collectively feel with you now is
one that I pray we can use that heaviness to be a means of the
liberation of ghaza from the outside Mansur. You have you, you,
your story. The way that you and everyone in ghaza has changed. All
of us is something that is not light. It's not a light change.
And in the beginning, when we first, when Raza first began, I
just kept waiting for the world to be swallowed whole like I couldn't
imagine that Allah would witness what's happening, that are in
action, and that we would still be able to walk the earth, and ya,
Allah, for us to be here still, after so many months, and see what
is happening so clearly and yet you are now continuing the work,
even though Hamza, you're safe and you've gone and you're, you're,
you're, you're, wish is to be there to keep helping. So may
Allah allow us to have that same level of love for the people of
Laza, for the Ummah, and to be able to use the safety and freedom
we have outside of it to be able to support our brothers and
sisters there and everywhere. I know we only have a few minutes
left. Is there anything that you wanted to share as we close?
I just wanted to thank you, sister Marion, for accepting this
collaboration,
for allowing us to use your platform, your voice, to to
amplify what's happening in Gaza. Thank you.
Can I, can I ask you to give us a few minutes just to explain a
little bit talk a little bit more about the work you do? Oh, no, the
application that you
please.
Only thing I will say is that Claudia. Claudia is an app that I
created hamdullah. It's Q, A, R, I, a, H, as a woman Quran
reciters. App, it's women's recitations from all over the
world. Hamdullah, we have about five and a half million streams
throughout the world. Hamdullah, may Allah bless every person who's
listening. And hamdullah, we have two reciters from Palestine, both
of them are blind. They graduated from the blind school for Quran in
Ramallah. Alhamdulillah, I had the honor of visiting them last year.
I was in mashalloksa last year, in the last 10 nightsham And Allah,
blessed, blessed, blessed us with being able to visit them. One of
the things for me that is so insane is just the that that that
intensity of the people of Gaza should be praying in mashallah
right now. That is where you should be, and the access of
people outside for it to be easier for us to go when people 15
Palestinians, 15 minutes away haven't been able to pray there.
So Allah must, Allah, may Allah help us to liberate up saw yaram
and Allah Philistine Yara bahamia has Palestinian reciters as well,
and all of the women are mashallah either memorize the Quran. Have
you Jazza, or have won international competitions? And
all of us who, who you know, are part of the app, are always
sharing your work and sharing the work of the people of Asa, and how
they are sharing their recitations and how they take the Quran as a
connection, and all of that connection with the Quran through
rasa is only amplified. So may Allah bless every single one of
you. So, so just, just, just a question to clarify, is there,
like, certain rules that are different for women who recite the
Quran from men, like, what makes it special? What's the or is it,
or is it just that, for the segregation, just for women to be
together and to have more to be able like, what? Why? Why is
there, like, a reason or a motivation? Why did you create
this app? What, what made what was, what made it different? You
know, what's interesting about your question? I don't know the
culture of Laza and Quran, but I have seen videos of women and men
reciting Quran on camera and sharing their recitations. It may
be that Vasa, or parts of Vasa where men and women can overhear
each other's recitation and it's not a big deal.
It is a deal.
They don't yeah. I'm asking what is, yeah. I just want to
understand your motivation and the differentiating factor that that
made your app second. So here, so here in the US. I was born and
raised in California, and I had never heard a woman recite the
Quran, really, before. Of course, my mom, I heard her recite the
Quran Alhamdulillah. My parents found Islam in college because
they read the translation of the Quran. So Quran was a part of my
life, but I didn't really hear like women reciting Quran. And
then when I wanted to memorize Quran, masha Allah, I found a
Quran teacher who was a woman, but after a few months, she would have
to stop, because one after another, they always had something
come up, totally understandable. So anyway, long story short, after
many years, I realized that there's a whole culture of women
being Quran reciters, that they recite and they teach and they
they compete, and they are really actively memorizers of Quran. And
so I started reciting Quran after I finished my memorization in
women, women's events in the UK, in the US and Sweden, in different
places. And so many women told me you're the first woman I've ever
heard recite the Quran. I had no idea that women can be a Quran
reciters, and that that experience for me from hearing from women who
were in their 50s, who were all, you know, grandmothers, who said
they had never heard the Quran being recited. They whispered the
Quran in their own room, that they had no idea they can even recite
the Quran out loud that it was only for men, I realized how much
misinformation there is about women being Quran reciters and
actually accessing Quran so that is why it's very short, short
story of how Korea started. It was just to make a space where women
can hear other women recur and so that they can realize they can,
Inshallah, also become Quran reciters. Thank you for allowing
me to talk about that. Because I also want to get some ajar people.
Please download the
app. Use it.
Sister women are like in historically, where women allowed
to give ijaza in Quran, reading the Quran to men. Yeah,
okay, some of that, some of the most famous Quran reciters, who
are men, have their Ijaz and through a woman. So it's kind of
like it's something that's there's a lot of misunderstanding about
the of it, but really it goes back to there's a difference of opinion
on whether or not a woman's voice can be
heard in recitation. And for those of you who want to learn about
what Islam says about this, the Quran, the Sunnah, what the
scholars have said, we actually have a very detailed discussion of
the film on karya. App.com,
dot, sorry, of Claudia. Dot. App, slash, FAQ, so key, Q, A, R, I, a,
H, dot.
A P, P, slash, FAQ, and it goes through where the the difference
of opinion comes from. So that's why I was asking about the culture
in abusa. Because if you go to Algeria or Morocco or Indonesia or
Malaysia, some parts of Nigeria, some parts of Yemen, depending on
the area, women recite the Quran and a public way. They recite on
television, they recite they're the judges of competitions. But
then if you go to even some other areas of that same country or in
other countries, it's unacceptable, and that's
impermissible. And so we have the scholars of the region follow
certain opinions and that they share the understanding of their
evidences based on that opinion, and then other regions have a
different understanding based on their opinion. That's why we made
the app just for women, so that we don't have to worry about the silk
women can access it and enjoy it. Inshallah. But all of the women on
the app recite on almost all of them recite on television. They
recite on conferences. So for them, it's not an issue, which is
why, when they asked me, What's the need for the app, these women
were like, Why do we need an app? We recite on TV. I said, you don't
need an app for your region, but our region needs an app
here for clarifying that, Aria app. Aria app, please, if you
haven't downloaded and you're a woman who wants to listen to
voices and want to learn the Quran Inshallah, please feel free to
download it and please follow sister Mariam Amir on her
Instagram, please don't mention me at all. It's an honor and sort of
to have you, hamdullah, sharing the work. We're so grateful that
you can Inshallah, continue the work for FSA. And if there's any
way all of us here can support in any way, if there's any way that
you would any words you can end with, please let us know what we
can do to continue to work Inshallah,
just again, I want to thank you all for for taking the time to
listening to us. May we all Inshallah, make, utilize Ramadan.
Alhamdulillah, you know, the haba used to, whenever Ramadan ends,
they used to make dua for the next 11 months for them, for Allah to
get them back to Ramadan again. So, Alhamdulillah, we're here.
We're alive.
It's the first day of Ramadan. Let's start capturing the benefits
and reaping the rewards that Ramadan gives us. This is like,
the bonus round for Muslims, right? Like, like, it's a time to
utilize inshallah. All the deeds are multiplied.
So Inshallah, that's and if we are not non Muslim, I take this
opportunity to invite you to learn more about Islam, read a copy of
the Quran, talk to your fellow Muslim friends, give fasting a
chance, you know, try it out, and visit your local masjid, and
listen to people like Sister Maria Amir Inshallah, who can help
educate us more about Islam and learn more about it.
It
was a blessing from Allah gift to see him, and So may Allah bless
you, and Inshallah, we see you again and again Inshallah, in this
work for officer and for Philistine, and on my own, after
the.