Omar Suleiman – Quran and Islamophobia

			Oh
		

			salam alaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakato
		

			I lost my hearing after that tech be at Mashallah. That was awesome. Can we do that one more time to
clear
		

			Salah we should just do that for the rest of the night. Smell now and hamdu lillah wa Salatu was
Salam ala Rasulillah while early he will be he will Manuela I want you to imagine the scene with me.
		

			Imagine going to the carrabba to Masjid Al haram in Mecca and you can put it in your head if you've
been to Omaha or been to Hajj, and that carrabba is right in front of you. And I want you to
remember the first time you saw it if you've seen it. Now I want you to imagine a carrabba that had
never had the Quran recited next to it. A cannabis surrounded by idols I care about that was nothing
like the kava that we know today. It was both
		

			it was both infiltrated with idols inside and outside.
		

			And I want you to imagine the very first time boron gets recited in public.
		

			And it wasn't by Alma, Bob, what are the Allahu Anhu like, you might think it wasn't by the rich of
Obamacare, or the Allahu Taala and hope it wasn't by illegal the Allahu Taala and Horace Mann and
her needle, the Allahu Anhu
		

			it was a little man by the name of Abdullah bin masu little, the Allahu Taala and who, who was very,
very short, physically, but a giant in Islam.
		

			A young man that had no tribal protection, whose mother's name is unknown to us, who belongs to the
lowest socio economic class in society. And he goes to he goes to the middle of the Hudson, right
next to the carrabba
		

			where reciting the Quran is banned.
		

			And suddenly he starts to recite and he starts to use his hands while he's reciting to describe His
Ayat. He goes to the middle of the Allahu Taala and who and the people are looking at him wondering
what he's going to do.
		

			And in the middle of it all, he starts to recite Bismillah R Rahman r Rahim. Al Rahim.
		

			Allah al
		

			Hol up on in
		

			Allama with
		

			us chanson welcome Obi
		

			Wan najem wash charger. Oh, yes, Judah. Was
		

			all of our world our enemies.
		

			As he's reciting Surah Rahman he's describing a rock man the Most Merciful. Allah Al Quran he taught
us the Quran holla call in son He created man. I lemme hold Diane, he taught him expression, a
Shamsul welcome our OB husband what Najma was Shujaat? Oh, yes. Juden the sun and the moon are in
orbits. Every system that Allah created functions in exactly the way Allah Subhana Allah created it
to function. And as this young man is reading, the people were not familiar with the Quran. And they
didn't know what he was chanting at first they thought it was poetry. Then they realized he was
reciting the Quran. And it's no secret or it's no it's there is no there is no reason why he would
		

			recite anything but Surah Rahman, of which the first verse after the Most Merciful is he taught the
Quran
		

			and they jumped on him are the Allahu Taala and who and they stepped on him. They tied him to the
ground, and they actually started to walk on his face. Abuja Hall who was the biggest one amongst
them, he had the size and the stature of ometer to hop out of the Allahu taala. And when he walked
up to him in Missoula, the Allahu Taala and while he was on the ground, he took his cursed foot and
he stomped in the collarbone of Yvan Masaru little the Allahu Taala and one broke it.
		

			And Abdullah bin Massoud was beaten unconscious.
		

			That was the first time the Quran had ever been recited publicly. When they've been mis Uchitel, the
Allahu Taala and who woke up after a long while and his wounds were being treated. He asked the
people what happens and they told him, You went to the caravan and you recited the Quran and
		

			The people jumped on you and they beat you unconscious and they broke your bones and even Masaru
little the Allah Tala and who says In sha Allah, I'm going to do the same thing tomorrow.
		

			He's still laying down. He has no protection in society. They almost killed him and he says, You
know what? I'm going to go and I'm going to recite the same thing tomorrow. They said to him, why
not smarten to home macaron? You already caused them to hear what they hate to hear you already did
your job. And he says Wallahi Makana Agha Allah He wanna Allah You mean Yomi Harada he said, I swear
by Allah, that the enemies of God have never been weaker and smaller in my eyes than they are today.
I'm not afraid of them. I'll go back and I'll read again.
		

			This is not some fictional story, or The Little Engine That Could this is a companion of the Prophet
sallallahu alayhi wa sallam who would one day step on Abuja hill the man who broke his collarbone
and and his life. This is the man who would become known for the Quran himself, man Arada and Yes,
man, Quran, puri and Kemah owns the prophets. lysozyme said if you want to hear the Quran, like it
was revealed, you know what that means? The Scholars say the way that it was revealed from Gibreel
salaam to the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam when you listen to Abdullah and Mr. Udo the Allah
unhurried it is as if it's not human.
		

			It's an angel reciting.
		

			If you want to hear the Quran, as if it was just revealed, listen to the Quran. Listen to the
recitation of the love and mystery with all the Allahu Taala animal, the fact that even after he
went out, and he recited the Quran, when it was banned, he was beaten almost to death. And after
that episode, not only not only was he not scared, he was renewed.
		

			Not only were his enemies not daunting to him, they were weaker. Because the sign of a weak person
is that the way they respond to Revelation, the way they respond to logic, the way they respond to
the words of the Creator, is insults and abuse because they have nothing intellectual to say. The
only way they can respond is with violence. The only way they can respond is with fear mongering,
because that's all they have. So they tried to ban the Quran.
		

			That didn't work. They tried to persecute the Muslims. That didn't work. They tried to ban the
Muslims. That didn't work either.
		

			He settled the Allahu Taala on her says that my father of Wilbekin love the Allahu Anhu just a few
months before the Hijra to Medina. It had gotten unbearable in Mecca, and he decided to migrate to
Abyssinia and as he was on his way to habita as he was on his way to Abyssinia where there was a
righteous Christian king that would recognize the revelation. Not everybody rejected the revelation.
Not everybody know Joshi when he heard it, a Sikh Eosin was saying a pure hearted person Tada Johan
Tuffy alumina dinner, you would see their eyes well up with tears. They know it's the truth. They
know it's the truth. They say it abana Amen. Oh Allah we believe fective nama Asha headin write us
		

			down from amongst those who have bore witness to the truth of this revelation. Some people heard it
and they were ready to go under Joshi about the Allahu Anhu who heard it a scholar of Christianity,
and he says as her do Allah Ilaha illa Allah well as hadoo Anna who rasool Allah, Allah the best
Surah be here E sub memorium well Lola and a fee him in Al molk la te to who the acmella Natalie he,
he said I bear witness that there is only one God and that Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wa sallam is
his messenger and had I not been in the state of being a king. If I had not been in the state that I
am in right now. I would have gone to him to carry his sandals for him. Now Joshy sat 12 priests
		

			according to say the banjo Babel the Allahu Anhu to the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam to
listen to him and the prophets I some recited Quran to them, and all 12 of them broke down into
tears.
		

			Not everyone responded to the revelation in such a way but some of them couldn't handle it. Because
the Quran was too politically incorrect. Because the Quran challenged their immoral ways of living.
They couldn't handle that. So I will back out of the Allahu Anhu just a few months before Medina he
set out to have a show to Abyssinia and on his way there a man by the name of Edna Davina, who was
the chief of a tribe he stopped him and he said where are you going? I will back it did not respond
with insecurity. He didn't respond seeking sympathy Abu Bakr Radi Allahu Anhu said My people have
turned me away. He's
		

			says for us to fill out, I'm going to go explore the earth while Abu Dhabi and I'm going to go
worship my Lord. He didn't respond with humiliation he responded with dignity. He said I'm gonna go
find a place where I can worship Allah subhanaw taala without being bothered. If not Davina said, a
person like you elbow back in law, your courage, your courage, that's beautiful. You should not be
made to leave, nor should you be allowed to leave even if you wanted to leave your two beneficial to
society. You take care of people, you take care of orphans, you're good to your neighbors, a person
like you should never be rejected from a society. In fact, we can't afford to lose you from our
		

			society. So he took up a bucket and he said, You're in my protection for the author, Allah Ashrafi
Christ, he went to that litres of rice. And he said, Listen, this man like Raj Wallah, your courage,
he should not leave nor should nor should he be allowed to leave even if he wanted to leave. And
they responded and they said, Look, if he's going to stick around, and he's not going to recite the
Quran publicly, he'll worship Allah in his house. We're fine with that. They don't care if you're
Muslim or not.
		

			As long as you're not challenging society's norms, recite the Quran in your house. But we're afraid
of our women and children being affected by evil Beckett will be allowed to hide who we don't want
them to hear his recitation. And I shall hold the Allah Allah says that Abubaker used to worship
Allah in his house the novel, Beckett came up with an idea. He turned half of his house into an open
courtyard. And he started to recite the Quran then reciting the Quran was an act of civil
disobedience. wotja hit home big hadn't Kabira one of the original mentions of jihad, the J word was
to struggle by reciting the Quran publicly. That's one of the original manifestations. The message
		

			isn't going anywhere. And he recited in his courtyard, and as he recited in his courtyard, the women
and the children and the people who had no agendas, they started to gather around and listen to the
Quran and they were affected by it.
		

			The Quran once again, was reaching the hearts of those who craved it.
		

			And so what did they do? They told him that Davina, you've got to give up your protection. You can't
do this. You can't let them do this. If an adult, you know went to the back and he said listen, I
can't be in this controversy. Either you stop reciting Quran openly or I'm going to have to give up
my protection. Apple Beckett or the law analyst says rue de la caja Aurich you can take your
protection back well out of lobby to out in LA. I'm pleased with the protection of Allah. I don't
need your protection. I have my dignity. I have my faith. I will continue to read the Quran
publicly. I don't care. And subhanAllah a few months later, they made their way to Medina.
		

			If you think about this, dear brothers and sisters every single time they stood up against the
prophets lie Selim, and stood up against Abu Bakr Radi Allahu anhu, and the urban mysteries of the
world. Every time they tried to kill the message, they ended up giving it more life. They ended up
giving the believers more resilience. They ended up empowering the message because their response
was a sign of their own defeat. Their response was there was the response of the weak minded and the
ignorance. And that was a show that they were scared. And you know why they were scared because the
Quran was coming to transform their society. They couldn't handle that. They don't want a message
		

			that's going to actually change society, that's actually going to affect people. And so they tried
the fear mongering and every single time it ended up coming back against them. And the Quran
continued to flourish. And today in that area, can you imagine next to the cabin, where a man was
almost beaten to death because he recited the Quran think about that. At what point in time is there
not a person reciting the Quran next to the cabin today? As much as they tried to stifle that
message? Look what happened to it you know why in hola hola. You a you do have the Dean Raju will
foger Sometimes Allah gives victory to the religion through it through a transgressor through a
		

			wicked man. They think they're hindering the progress of this deen and they're actually giving it
more life. You read on YouTube the owner Allah he be a fly he him well Lahoma Tim menorah he will
carry * caffeine on. They try to extinguish the light of Allah Subhana Allah to Allah with their
understandings, but Allah preserves it. It's still there, despite all the persecution, despite
banning Muslims in Mecca, despite banning the recitation of the Quran the message live on
		

			because persecution
		

			will not stop this message. Persecution will not stop it.
		

			Will soon allah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam was, was covered in guts and filth and his daughter
faulty model the Allah Tala, Anna had to wipe off the guts from his back. And he said, Don't worry,
this message is going to reach each and every single household and each and every single village and
each and every single tense. It will spread, it will reach nothing will stop that message. Now I
want to bring this to a current context.
		

			How many of you have heard of Martin Luther King Jr? Raise your hand.
		

			If you haven't heard of Martin Luther King Jr. Take your other hand and
		

			how many of you have heard of Malcolm X? Raise your hand?
		

			How many of you have heard of Medgar Evers? Raise your hand?
		

			Exactly.
		

			I want to tell you about a man by the name of Medgar Evers. I actually did a middle school project
on him in Louisiana and in Louisiana.
		

			Medgar Evers was a civil rights activist in Mississippi.
		

			And he used to fight for desegregation in schools and he used to bring people to the to the polls
and bring people to the voter boots and he fought for social justice. And he fought for
desegregation against all odds. He was met with all sorts of violence, all sorts of threats. But
that young man would not stop fighting for desegregation and for the rights of his people in
Mississippi.
		

			In 1963, at the age of 38 years old,
		

			Evers Medgar Evers came home, and he pulled up into his driveway. And he was just coming from an
activity and he was actually wearing a shirt that said Jim Crow must be stopped.
		

			And as he's in his driveway in Mississippi,
		

			a Ku Klux Klansmen walks up to him and assassinate him.
		

			In his own driveway at the age of 38 years old.
		

			Evers staggered for about 30 feet, they say, as he literally was bleeding to death. His family came
outside,
		

			they took him to a local hospital. And that hospital did not accept people of color, even if they
were bleeding to death.
		

			So he died
		

			two years later, Malcolm X Rahimullah at the age of 39 years old, he died.
		

			Three years later, in 1968, Martin Luther King Jr. At the age of 39 years old, was killed. All three
of these men were assassinated before they live to see the age of 40.
		

			And you might think to yourself, What a sad ending, ever his wife went on to actually become the
head of the NAACP. And she actually gave the invocation. President Obama's second inauguration.
		

			Evers has a comments that he made
		

			that lives with me and should live with each and every single one of us until today.
		

			He said that you can kill a man. But you can't kill an idea. You can kill a man, but you can't kill
an idea. You can persecute people, but you can't stop the message. You can persecute Muslims, but
you won't stop the Quran and the light of the Quran from reaching every corner of the earth. You can
assault the character of the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam.
		

			And you know what? It's only until recently that Islamophobes dare to insult the character of the
Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, because never in history did anyone have the audacity to open
their mouths about the character of the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam but every time you open
your mouth against him, you will only further expose people to his beauty those that need to find
him and those that crave the light of guidance will find it and you can't stop it
		

			dear brothers and sisters this is the meaning of in Hola Hola, you a you do have the Dean the Roger
and foger Allah will give victory to the religion even if it's through a wicked men. Even those that
think they're fighting Islam and fighting against our religion and trying to tarnish the character,
the beautiful character of our Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, all they are doing is they are
causing us to historically institutionalize and fight bigotry in ways that we should have been doing
a long time ago. The gathering that you saw here just about an hour ago, the US Council of Muslim
organizations that should have happened a long time ago, but sometimes adversity is what it takes.
		

			Sometimes the Islamophobes are what we need to get ourselves out of our comfort zone. So you know
what Alhamdulillah for Islamophobia. Thank God for Islamophobia that causes us to get our acts
together, and hamdulillah for the Islamophobia that causes us to organize the way we're supposed to
organize Alhamdulillah for the Islamophobia that causes us to develop a strong American Muslim
identity in the face of xenophobia. But we have to send a clear message to these people and to these
bigots that we are not fazed.
		

			We are not fazed. We have mashallah Tabata Cola in Texas,
		

			armed white supremacist militia groups,
		

			who ironically call us terrorists
		

			protesting in front of our masajid with assault rifles, and they dip their bullets and bacon grease
and, and
		

			a pig's blood so that if they shoot us, we can go straight to *.
		

			And you know what? My six year old daughter had to see that
		

			our children are having to see that bigotry, our children are having to see an America that embraces
a xenophobic or at least a man who can effectively pretend like xenophobia and normalize xenophobia
and Donald Trump, our children, I have to say are having to see an America that accepts a person
like that. But you know what?
		

			They're bullets that are dipped in pig's blood and bacon grease aren't going to send anyone to *.
But we have to stare people like that in the eye and say that your racism can go to *. It's not
welcome in our America.
		

			And whatever group it is, whether they were the white robes and whether they're the Ku Klux Klan or
whoever they are, we cannot show them that we are afraid. We cannot show them that we are afraid. We
are not aggressors, we are not transgressors. We are not people that want harm for this society. We
are people in this mini reconstruction of America that are pushing for the better vision of this
country, a country that accepts and embraces differences, a country that accepts every community, a
country that moves forward, a country that will no longer be be doomed by its ugly past a country
that will move away from it. When Oh, carry healthcare for your own. And even if they don't want to
		

			see it happen, it will happen. Whether they like it or not, it will happen to your brothers and
sisters. And we can't show fear.
		

			We can't show insecurity. Don't let them see you scared. Don't let them see you afraid. Don't let
them see you taking off your jobs. Don't let them see you afraid to pray in public. Don't let them
see you changing your names. Don't let them see you hiding your Islam.
		

			Because if they let you go, then they'll move on to another group. And you will be responsible for
that your job is not just to deflect racism and xenophobia from your community, but from every
community. So when you back away from your identity, then you're still allowing other people to be
targeted for their identity. And their brothers and sisters. I want to leave you with this one
saying or not this one saying it's actually an incident. So how I've spoken about it on social media
because it really deeply moved me. Wallah, he it really moved me. I was up all night that night. And
you don't have to believe that but it really really moved me to the core because it scared me.
		

			When I was at the World Religions parliament,
		

			a Sikh man walked up to me.
		

			And when he introduced himself to me, and I introduced myself to him, he said, I hope he said that
Islamophobia has made us Sikhs better Sikhs, I hope it's making you better Muslims. Islamophobia has
made a seeks better seeks I hope it's making you better Muslims. That's a community. That's a
community. That's how to struggle and face the ugliness of Islamophobia. And they're not even
Muslim. What about you? What about me?
		

			What does that say about our community? What does that say about the way we should move forward?
What it tells us is that we need to challenge bigotry, not with ugliness and hatred, but by reciting
the Quran and by showing that the message isn't going anywhere and you know how the message is going
to manifest itself it's not going to manifest itself with big scary Jihad these coming into your
into your home and shooting you with the behemoth you know, the big meat bullets or something like
that. That's not how it's going to manifest itself not with terrorist training camps and, you know,
not with any type of slavery coming back. No, none of that stuff you know,
		

			Oh, it's gonna manifest itself
		

			with feed the homeless programs, with people going out and serving their communities, with Muslims
being unafraid and unfazed to be to contribute to this community, even as they're told they're not
really a part of it, you are a part of it, the bigots will die out, the xenophobia will die out.
That's what's not welcome in our country. And we collectively have to stand against that and realize
the Quran has faced bigger challenges than this. Our Deen has faced bigger challenges than this.
Muslims has faced bigger challenges than this in the past. But here we are. 1400 years later, with a
conference about the Quran We ask Allah subhanaw taala to make us people of Quran and to join us
		

			with our messenger sallallahu alayhi wa sallam and the highest level of Jonathan for the dose and to
grant us firmness and to grant a sincerity and to grant us the strength to continue and we ask Allah
Subhana Allah to Allah to rectify us and to rectify through us and to guide us and to guide through
us Allah I mean BarakAllahu li Walakum wa salam aleikum wa rahmatullah wa barakato.