Mustafa Umar – Why We Need to Tell People About Islam
AI: Summary ©
The speaker discusses the need for events like the Obalonians and Sundays in America to inform people about Islam's potential threat to the United States. They explain that the success of the video, which has over 750,000 hits on YouTube, is due to the use of the media and the ability to capture the event. The speaker also emphasizes the importance of sharing Islam in the current context of Islamophobia and offers to ask participants to raise their hands.
AI: Summary ©
One topic
that we really need to address today
in this fundraiser
is the events that are taking place today
in the world, particularly right here in America
and more particularly
right here in our very own backup.
How many of you have seen, either in
person or on the Internet,
the event that took place at the Obalonians
and Sundays with the family? Please raise your
hand.
Not for the event or for the fact
that people are watching. You know, there was
a time
not too long ago,
maybe about a year ago, maybe 5 years
ago, few years ago, is that the vast
majority of people, especially in the elder generation
or even the medium gen middle generation,
They won't even know what YouTube is.
You ask them what a video is, they
wouldn't know. And then how did it that
now we have an opportunity,
now we have an awareness, now we're beginning
to have this understanding
that through the use of this media, we
would capture this event
in such a way that people could not
simply shout down slogans.
They could not simply go and yell a
bunch of phrases and just say go home
and say this and say that. But now
we got them on camera. Now
our responsibility
becomes
to change this information
and make other people aware of it. This
video got
750,000 hits in YouTube within 2 to 3
days.
2 to 3 days. Can you imagine
can you imagine the opportunity? Do you know
what people were commenting? People were disgusting.
You go and you ask your Muslim friends.
You go you go and ask your non
Muslim neighbors and friends, and they were disgusted.
They couldn't believe that something like this was
taking place.
But now
there's a statistic.
There's a statistic
that shows
that a certain percentage of Muslims are are
people in America
believe
that Islamic
extremism
is a very, very dangerous threat to this
country.
Now can somebody guess?
Can somebody tell me what percentage of people
do you think
fall in that category?
What percentage? Can somebody can somebody guess for
me?
Yes.
Less than 1% of Americans actually think
that no. No. How many people in America
really think that Islam is a threat? This
is according to a Pew Research poll that
was done in 2010.
Guess how many people have this thing. They're
they're very concerned
with the spread of Islam, and they feel
that it could be a danger. Can somebody
give me a statistic? Please. 70%.
How much?
More people. How much? 70. More people. 70%.
Very, very close. Very close. 62%.
62%
of people
are concerned. 62% of people that feel that
is a very major concern. It's a major
issue.
And then you look at the percentage of
people that do not know that do not
know. Did I get this right? Is it
52?
Alright. 52. I'm a say
52%.
And how much how much percent
of people say that they've never met an
American Muslim ever in their life? They don't
know much.
I gave you a little hint before.
62%.
62%
of people say they've never met a Muslim.
They don't know Muslim.
Do you see the similarity? Do you see
the similarity in the statistics that if you're
looking at that percentage of people who are
concerned with Islam,
those are the same people who don't know
a single Muslim?
So let me ask you this question, to
be be very obvious. All of it's very
difficult for us to go and share Islam.
It's difficult sometimes to go and talk to
your neighbor about it because religion is kind
of like a taboo topic sometimes.
So let me ask you this question.
How many of you at least
know at least know on a fairly decent
level both of your neighbors on both sides?
Raise your hand.
Great.
How many of you
have spoken
or given in sentences,
in terms of a or whatever it may
be, more than 3 sentences, 3 or more
sentences
about Islam? Please raise your hand.
Yes. I humbled it.
I humbled it. That is what we need
to get.
That is what we need to do. Because
in this current
field, in this current time where Islamophobia
is rising,
we find that it's our responsibility
as average Muslims
that we need to go out and tell
people what Islam really stands for. It is
our responsibility and it's our duty to do
so. And this is one of the responsibility
and it's our duty to do so. And
this is one of the beautiful things about
why Islam. Why Islam is here to help
you. It's here to help me. It's
here to help every single Muslim, masjid,
every single Islamic center because they provide the
literature. They provide the copies of the Quran.
And they go and they have their the
literature. They provide the copies of the Quran.
And they go and they have their teams,
and they go out, and they perform this
effort on behalf of everybody,
and they help you facilitate to fulfill that
effort as well. And that is particularly what
we need to do and what we need
to understand.
So keep this in mind how important it
is to share Islam in the current context
of Islamophobia.
In order to enhance that, in order to
give you a more depth understanding
of how important it really is, I would
like to ask