In Hadith #33 of the 40 Hadiths on Social Justice series, Sh. Omar Suleiman discusses the injustice of stereotypes and collective guilt.
Omar Suleiman – Social Justice – Episode 33 – The Injustice of Stereotypes and Collective Guilt
AI: Summary ©
The segment discusses the negative impact of stereotyping and racist behavior on society, as well as the potential for harmed personal and family outcomes. The danger of evil behavior from individuals who say they are done is discussed, along with the use of negative language and stereotyping in relation to groups and personalities. The speakers emphasize the importance of acknowledging one's actions and avoiding racist behavior, as well as the history of the Prophet's warning about "slack on the woman" and the diversity of their community.
AI: Summary ©
I want to come around for cattle.
Because right
now I have the Los Altos Mr. Sullivan, and he asked me he will Manuela. So tonight I have an interesting topic we covered two weeks ago, the topic of racism, tribalism, nationalism.
But today's topic is one that actually arose out of that. So one of the things that keeps on happening to me in the series, and I need you guys to make their own because we're at 33. Already, this is alpha 33. So we're coming to the end of the series, is that I ended up inserting a new topic, because I realized that there's a topic within a topic. And this is a very significant one. stereotypes. All right, racism is one form of stereotyping. It's the most evil form. And there's a connection between the two, they're interconnected. So it's not all stereotyping is racism and vice versa. Okay, but they are interconnected. But one of the ways that a person develops racist
tendencies is by taking the worst sample of a group, and then making that entirely representative of the race, right? That's how a person justifies internally, their racism? Well, of course, they're like this, because look at them, and then them is three people that represent somehow 300 million people, okay? But look at them, that's how they are. So by developing a, by characterizing an entire group of people, whether it's by their race, by their nationality, by their religious identity, by a small sample size, you get, you get to justify mistreatment of them, right, so that that then manifests itself in discriminatory policy, usually exploited by power structures to favor a
particular group, and in the process, bring other groups down. So are there ahaadeeth, specific to stereotypes and collective guilt? Because what if there is a sample size? Or what if there is a group of people that belong to certain race or certain religious group that act out in ways that are not praiseworthy? All right? And you could say, Well, look, there's a larger group here, this is a larger group there. Is there a justification for this in any way whatsoever? So today, we're talking about stereotypes, and we're talking about collective guilt. So when an action and evil action is actually done by an individual belonging to a group or by a group of people, how do we deal with
that? As as believers? How does this permeate the societal structure in a way that's toxic? And there's a beautiful Hadith? Because the prophets I sort of made a connection between the two, the Hadith from Angela Massoud, may Allah be pleased with him that the Messenger of Allah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, he said, let's do better the Koufax LD will burn to come, he called about, he said, do not return to unbelief after me by striking the next of each other. So he's talking about murder, right? People killing amongst themselves sectarianism, murder division, don't risk don't revert back to your days of unbelief, by fighting amongst yourselves, and by killing one another
than the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam he said, you have the Roger to be Jerry Avi Wiley while rbj read it as he read it again very slowly. La Yo, LA, Roger pujari rottie. avi, he will be jirachi a fee. The Prophet peace be upon him said that no man is to be punished for the crimes of his father, or for the crimes of his brother. What are the profits licensing conduct here, he connected the worst type of division, which is when people literally start killing one another to a mis understanding, or a misapplication of or actually applying collective guilt in a way that's an Islamic, where people start to apply collective guilt. So one person from a tribe This is even
getting personal, this is getting to a family, that a person is not to be held accountable for the actions of their father or the actions of their brother. You know, this is very powerful that you think about the profit slice on him and his society. Now, this is a really difficult generation to deal with in many different ways. I mean, they're the best generation ever. But if you think about all the emotional, you know, minefields that exists in this generation, let me tell you how, imagine if you became Muslim, and let's say the year 615, one of the early converts in Mecca, alright. And there's a particular family that used to oppress your family. All right, this person kills your
parents, kills your family runs you out of your home, and then you come back to Mecca later on, and they became Muslim in the year 618. And you have to eat with that person. Drink with that person. Not
Only not hold them accountable for what their families did or what they used to do. But you also have to treat them like family now, when that'd be really, really difficult to do. The difficult pill to swallow, even caring for emotional sensitivity. So economic in Abuja, Abuja is the Pharaoh of this, the owner of this oma, the Pharaoh of this nation was Abu jihad. Right? That's what the prophet slicin called him. He tortured the prophets lie Selim, he caused most of the great atrocities that took place in the early days of Islam. And then his son also was one of the greatest criminals, greatest transgressors and greatest oppressors of Muslims, and particularly the prophets
lie Selim didn't even become Muslim and further America and the conquest of Mecca, ran away fled. I mean, he was he was holding out until the very end, he becomes Muslim. And what does the prophets lie Some say? He says to the rest of the companions. Look, don't don't talk about a Buddha,
in front of a plumber,
don't talk about his father in front of him, because he knows that it would hurt him. But think about that, like your dad was the Pharaoh of the oma a new joins him in his for their own practices. You were a murder you were someone that killed us, you were someone that follows a herd. And now I have to cater to your sensitivities by not even mentioning your father because that hurts your feelings. So that's the that's the most
excellent way to practice this particular narration. That's excellent. That's excellent. That's going above and beyond, it's not technically wrong to say talk about Oh, john, but don't talk about him in front of his son, because that would hurt his son.
So Pamela, so that's the most excellent way of practicing this had Ethan it gets very personal. So there are things to take from this. There's some foundations that we take from the Quran and from the prophetic tradition. Number one, the idea of collective guilt. So we'll start with collective guilt, which the Prophet slicin just mentioned that that's not even to be applied to a family. Allah Himself mentions in the Quran, that no person what tells you otherwise, you know, with that no person is to bear the burden of another man. No one bears any burden except for his own burden. And if you think about what that leads to, now, let's look at the very beginning of creation of men. All
right, when Allah gave Adam alayhis salaam, the spot that he gave him or the position that he gave him as a halifa, on this earth, what did the angels say?
What did the angels say? This is really interesting. What was the response of the angels?
A touch Adolphe hum. And you've seen to see how as we could email Are you going to place on this earth, a creation that's going to spill blood spread corruption, they were basing that projection on humanity, by their experience with the Djinn another creation which like us, as choice, and use their choice for evil and for corruption. before Allah created Adam, it his Salah, before Allah subhanho wa Taala allowed for the offspring of Adam and Eve to spread through this earth. So the answer was, they projected everything that they dealt with, with the Djinn onto humanity, as well. Now, where they write about humanity, what are we witnessing now? When you have sequel? They're
exactly doing what the angel said. They're spreading blood and they're spreading corruption, setting blood and spreading corruption. That's exactly what humanity has done historically. What was the answer of Allah subhanaw taala. In the island woman on the moon, I know that what you don't know if you read how the early scholars of Tafseer interpreted this, what Allah is saying, I know that what you don't know, a lot was referring to the gems of mankind that from the offspring of Adam, yes, you will have people that will shed blood, yes, you will have people that will spread corruption, but from the offspring of Adam, you will also have Noah and Moses and Jesus and Abraham and Muhammad
Sallallahu wasallam, you'll also have prophets and righteous ones, and people of truth, the quality of which you did not find in the previous creation. So even though the jinn are like human beings, and that they have free choice, they're not like the angels. They're not, they're not created without inclination to their desires, and the ability to fulfill them. But still a lot is saying that basically the human enterprise is worth it's because of the good that would also come from mankind, right? So even the angels were projecting their experience with the jinn onto humanity. And largely we're right about humanity. Right. This also can lead to if you think about that from
ourselves, man car the HELOC cannot ask for a HELOC, a home over who Alico whoever says the people are done, the people are hopeless, the people are eating
Then he is the most evil of them all and he is the one that's causing them to be helpless and evil as well. He's the one that's that's putting them in that condition meaning what you're seeing in others is really just a projection of yourself. But the Hadith of the Prophet slicin um, that whoever says all people are like this, that's usually, you know, I don't go to the masjid. Why? Because the people in the masjid
I don't mess with Muslims. Why? Because Muslims are this, like, What?
You hear yourself, you realize you're really projecting this on, this is really you. You're seeing in them what really exists within you. So the danger of the, of just casting, that large cloud, over a group of people can strike us in interesting ways. So the Prophet sallallahu, wasallam, even when some of the companions, you know, when we talk about non Muslims make people really uncomfortable right now, some people grew up and it was like, don't talk to your non Muslim neighbor.
Watch out, they all have an agenda, it's evil. They want to convert you when in total la uncaria. Who do it and Masada had that that's it, I mean, that's a home, they will not be pleased with you until you follow their religion. Watch out, don't trust them. We can't have you interact too much. You know what Allah says in the Quran, Li su so
they are not all the same. And he specifically talks about minette, Lil Kitab, from the people of the book, and some of the scars of tough seed, say that this was in response to some of the companions.
Casting, you know, are saying about all of the people in the book, are speaking about all of the people of the book in a particular way, the Jews and the Christians in a particular way and allow reveals laces, so they are not all the same sort of adding around Allah subhanaw taala mentioned some of them are people who stand in obedience yet Luna Kitab Allah, they recite the verses of Allah during the night, and prostrating in prayer. And in another place, Allah subhanaw taala says that there are some from the people of the book that if you trusted them with a possession with something, you would find them to be very trustworthy, and from some of them, you would find them to
not be trustworthy. So they're not all the same. In regards to their where they are at spiritually, they're not all the same in regards to where they are at with their integrity. And it's really interesting, because if you think about that behavior, and this is where Miss contextualized decontextualized, versus becomes very problematic. I've had that experience, or had a brother, that was that had literally been Muslim for just a few months. And that's telling people outside the message is not this message, don't worry, telling people outside the messages, that you know, when until Byron Katie, who did an assault of
all Jews and Christians, they just want you to be like them. I know, because I was one of them. And so you can't trust them. You can't deal with them. And I'm like, do you realize you would have been talking about yourself three months ago? Like if that's your understanding of these verses? So what's the point of data then? What's the point of calling people to a life every Jew, every Christian, every non Muslim, has an agenda to destroy Islam? And has an agenda against your community? What's the point of doing Darrow? What's the point of doing good for people? What's the point of all of the other narrations? How is it that the Chief Rabbi of Medina became Muslim? If all
the Jews in Medina were a singular group, and they had this plot against the Prophet sallallahu wasallam. You see the problem with that line of thinking, and it sounds, it sounds silly when you when you talk about it that way. But then a lot of us also would apply that in our own capacities, and we might find ourselves guilty of those things. And let me show you an example where it even happened to the companions. This narration is really, really amazing.
What do you do when you read the verses about Benny saw in the Quran about the children of Israel in the
dome, and then he saw he was messed up? The Israel lights were messed up. They kept on doing this. And they kept on doing that, and they kept on.
And you know, what, what happens is that you're failing to actually understand or heed why Allah is talking about Venezuela in the nation that came before you, the Israelites in the Quran? What's the function speaking about them? And
what's the function
to learn from them the good in the bad?
To learn from them, the good in the bad, to be warned by their mistakes, by the collective deviation, which no one's nice, and to take examples from the rightest ones that held on as that deviation overtook the community, right? That's why it's there. It's not there for you to look at that and be like, man, Benny slay was bad. Thank God, I'm not from venomously.
That's not what that's about. Because you know what, on the day of judgment, the Prophet slicin said the largest nation after his that he would see as the nation of who Mossad is salam, he would see a large group of believers and followers and people that held on all right, but definitely the community as a whole deviated what's the function of having those verses.
They're so how are they going to be a man who is are they familiar man? are they for? May Allah be pleased with him is the secret keeper of the Prophet slice alum. He's also the one that the Prophet slicin used to confide in with the names of the hypocrites. And he used to particularly particularly as the prophets lie some about bad qualities so he could stay away from them and the characteristics of bad people so he could avoid those characteristics. In her they feared hypocrisy so much that the prophets lie some entrusted him with the names of the hypocrites, because he was so far from it. Alright, so are they. Here is these people talking bad about Benny is slightly. You know what he
says? He says, never mind if walakum venom is right you What great brothers you are to the Israelites.
All right, he says it is as if you claim every Hello, every sweet quality is yours. While at home koulamallah and every bitter quality is theirs. There's if you claim every sweet quality is yours, and every bidder quality is yours. I mean is theirs and he says what law he I swear by Allah, you will certainly tread their path, but step by footstep.
You're supposed to be heating lessons. You're not supposed to be, you know, casting that on them. You're supposed to be heating it for yourself, being careful of the collective deviation and that you are not a catalyst for that collective deviation of this nation not looking at a previous nation and saying they were all this, but you yourself being careful not to be a part of the collective deviation of this oma, which the prophets why Selim also foretold. So that's what made her they feel so special as a saying, look, no look at many aside and say they're all this, that is their problem. They also start to cast the blame on other people don't cast that on them. Right as a community
collectively, and recognize that there are righteous people amongst them as well. So learn from the righteous amongst them and avoid the the evil and the deviation. That's amongst them as well. The Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam he also said this hadith from eyeshadow, the Allahu taala. And
he said in the album and nursey video, he said, certainly the greatest liar amongst the people, the greatest liar amongst the people, that Roger stone had Roger Linn hudgell cabela bs via the Prophet sallallahu wasallam. He said that the greatest liar amongst the people is a man who insults another man by disparaging his entire tribe. And then who insults another man by disparaging his entire tribe. Okay.
The word he is like,
what's the word?
It's literally a dis. It's like smear poetry. All right, when you're smearing someone, but you're doing it like in a poetic way. All right. I'm losing the language here. I'm forgetting what it But anyway, think about this. Think about someone that's putting someone down and doing it in a poetic way. All right. That's what that is. So the Prophet sly someone saying the worst liar. The greatest liar is a person who does that to someone and insults his entire family, his entire tribe, in the process. Okay, so their various ideas. And this is basically the media of our time. This is basically what the media does, takes a small group or takes one individual, and then insults
everybody that belongs to the identity of that individual unless he belongs to a particular identity here in America. All right, if he belongs to any other identity, then everybody from that group is going to eat it. All right, and it's going to be insulted in the process and called into question and going to be treated in a certain way. So some thoughts. Number one, let's recognize that often the language of discrimination,
that is the underpinning of bad policy, okay, comes from this place of generalization, stereotyping, and collective guilt. All right. So for example, Muslims are terrorists.
What's the can we find bad representation of Islam today? Yes, will there ever come a time where you won't have terrorists acting in the name of Islam. Now, if you're waiting for that time,
where these groups stop arising, and when people stop doing idiotic stuff while chanting Allahu Akbar, that time will never come, only going to get worse. I hate to break it to you guys. That's just the way that we're going in. So we can hold our breath sometimes be like, I hope another one doesn't help another because we're good for two dumb Muslims a year in America in particular, right? May Allah protect us from evil and protect us from harm. But you know, out of the 350 mass shootings, you'll get two muslim terrorist attacks a year in America. And that's good enough to demonize our community and to and to and to influence all sorts of things in political waves and
whatever it may be.
But there are people that have that really do believe that we are more prone to violence than any other group of people, which is statistically and factually untrue. You could show them all
The data in the world about terrorism in America and terrorism overseas, but hey, it's an image that's settled in people's heads. That's the point. It, you know, you create enough suspicion in a person's heart. And even when they start to let down their barrier, okay? At the first instance, the first hint of it, when they start to smell it, then all of a sudden, all of those stereotypes are reinforced and validated. Okay. One of the, you know, I think one of the most touching, it actually gives me goosebumps to think about, I met one of the victims of the Boston bombing.
And he was at an anti Islamophobia rally.
guy was missing his leg.
I was like, so Pamela,
how beautiful is this man, you know, like, he didn't let the poison get him to people that acted in the name of Islam blew his leg off, and he's at an anti Islamophobia rally because he gets and he's saying that I don't want other people to be victimized by the same hate that I was victimized by. Right. You know, there was someone that was arguing with me the other day
about police brutality, right, basically saying police brutality is is
you know, it's it's necessary. So why do you towards communities of color, I said, Why do you say that? He said, because one time I got robbed by a black man, I said, well, that's, that's really good logic. Strong logic there. All right. I got robbed by an African American, therefore, all African Americans are to be characterized this way and treated this way. It's idiotic, but it happens. No offense to the guy who's probably watching.
But it happens, right, like people can characterize an entire group of Muslims, an entire group of African Americans, Latinos, whatever, maybe they're all like this. Why? Because something personal happened to me or I was fed a toxic notion about that group, on a consistent basis. What does that do? it justifies bad policy. So it has, you know, it's not just some cultural,
social injustice or something that hurts us in regards to our sensitivities, but it actually leads to bad politics. All right. So when you know, people cast Muslims in a certain way, if you look at how anti semitism function in this country, anti Catholic sentiment function in this country, right, the casting of disloyalty on Catholics and Jews in this country, or on Japanese, why were Japanese treated in a certain way? And how was that? How did that function? You know, how is it that Europeans did not go through internment, alright, with the rise of communism, and Nazi ism, and all those types of things, but the Japanese all had to pay the price.
Because they looked so different, that it was easier to portray them in a light of disloyalty and otherwise them to a point that you could throw them all in internment camps and people could go,
you know, it stinks that 140,000 of them have to suffer for a few, but we don't know which amongst those 140,000 is not bad.
All right, that logic worked in America. Right? It worked in America, how, okay, or the, you know, the casting, you know, what this current president, you know, said about Mexicans in the election, and, you know, characterizing Mexicans in a certain way, characterizing African Americans in a certain way continuing to do so. So that's number one, understand that the language of discrimination, that's often the underpinning of bad policies. So it starts with the stereotyping. And then that stereotyping, excuses, certain political behavior, the second thing,
this one might hurt a little bit.
Many times groups that are victims of this channel their frustration by doing this to other groups as well.
We so badly don't want to be Muslim terrorists. That when we see what happens with the Rohingya, we say Buddhist terrorists, Buddhist terrorism, why would we do that to another group, we don't like people ascribing the actions of some Muslims to Islam. We shouldn't do that to other groups, religious groups of people as well. That's a problem. To me. That's unfair. And I get the point you're trying, you know, you're saying that it's unfair that it's done to us, maybe you do it in light in a sarcastic way. But when people would actually cast that on other people, you know, you think about the pitting of minorities against each other in this country. All right. So
characterizing one group in a certain way, allows for those that have been characterized in another way, all right, mischaracterizing another way to lash out. they internalize it in a way that I don't like this being done to me or I hate how this has been done to me, so I'm going to do it to somebody else. Right. It's a very effective strategy of pitting groups against each other, so we shouldn't fall for that as Muslims. All right. And and I said, like, I get that at a winner. Some points sometimes, you know, trying to make a point out there, but we shouldn't fall for that as Muslims don't miss characterize or don't do to others. Exactly what we hate being done to our group.
The third thing is Allah subhana wa, tada distinguished even amongst people of evil, the degree of their evil is really interesting. All right, a lot distinguished amongst the brothers of use of Islam. Okay, the brothers of use of it Salaam, the nicest one. The nicest one, what did he say?
Don't kill them, throw them in a well instead. All right, that was the nicest one and he'll get picked up and sold into slavery better than murdering him. Alright, the nicest one amongst the best amongst those 10 at that time, says that, okay, but Allah made that distinction. All right, because if that guy if the brother of use of did not say that they would have just ended him right there, right. So because the rest of them were on board with simply killing him. But he said, No, let's up to the use of don't kill us if he had some sort of sympathy. So instead throw him into the bottom of a well, and it's okay tobacco siara and he'll be picked up by a traveling group. And, you know, he
didn't anticipate the future but obviously Allah subhanaw taala was planning the entire time over their plan. So a lot distinguished even the severity of evil, the profit slice on did the same. I bet that
you're looking at a group of people that are going to massacre you. Alright. And the prophets I send them says, and Jaco and Phil called me hate for his lockable armor. He says, if there's any good amongst these people, than the one that's riding the red camel. He's referring to wave No, hello. Okay. Well, maybe he was saying that may have no health was having second thoughts about going forth with that battle. The prophets lie, some sense, the hesitation so he said, You know what, I can see something in that person, something stopping him. He also saw a lot. It was something he also understood that sometimes people are pushed into evil and they they're, they're under compulsion.
And that should be taken into consideration. The profit slice of them said, Look, there are some people that have come to fight you in budget. They're literally on the battlefield. Oh, what do you do? Carol? Ha. They have been forced out of their homes, la hija de la home theater Italia come, they really don't want to kill you. The prophet SAW Some said, If you see someone who's surrendering quickly, who doesn't, then take that into consideration. Think about that. He named some of those people's life some one of them was his uncle vassal the law and who was on the other side. But some of these people really don't want to fight you.
The prophets lie some is teaching the Sahaba to make that distinction, even there. We too should try to have the wisdom or the expanse to understand when someone has been pushed into a certain direction. And how do we undo that messaging or that compulsion and bring them back to a place of balance? The next thing?
There should be in stereotyping. There should have been just like there should have been racism. All right.
What is it? All right?
The entire concept of Fitts law, the entire concept of a natural disposition towards good is that every human being was created with fifth law with a natural disposition towards good. So if you write people off,
based on their ethnic religious identity, whatever it may be, you're essentially passing a judgement on their fifth while you're saying they either weren't created with it, or it's not there anymore. Right. But a lot of junk created all of us with fitflop. So we recognize the profits license that every single child is born with that natural disposition, towards good, but it's influences. First, the influence of the parents that would direct that child to a religion or a path or a direction. That's not the way of a law, some kind of a town. Right. But still, what you're doing when you're dealing with people is you're trying to connect with their fifth law, you're actually trying to get
them to connect to that natural disposition of good. And that fifth law is the belief in the oneness of God, mercy, and justice, sense of mercy and a sense of justice and the law yet, it will excellent. All right. So you're trying to get people to be in tune with their fifth law. All right, with their natural disposition. So if you're saying that entire groups of people actually don't have that predisposition,
then you are claiming a deficiency in the creation of Allah subhanho wa Taala. All right, number seven. There's a hypocrisy on an individual level, which is the hypocrisy of the outward looking eye, where you see the evil of others, and you only see your own good right on an individual basis. That's one of the things that they're in and that the scholars warn about from a spiritual perspective from a Tesco perspective, that you see the evil of others and you only see your own good and because you're so focused on everybody else's faults, everyone else's or YouTube, then you're losing focus of your own review of your own flaws. So you're becoming obsessive with other people's
faults, and he
Have your own that's on an individual spiritual level, right? That's a spiritual problem.
In stereotyping, generalizing collective guilt in these discussions, we assume the best of ourselves and the worst of others.
Right, so we treat our groups with the best standard, characterize ourselves by the best of us, and treat others characterize others by the worst of them. Also a spiritual problem that grows out of that individual deficiency, and can lead to a collective deficiency, as well. Number eight, this can become a deflection,
a deflection, or a means by which you fail to do good for people, because you have internalized the idea that they are not so deserving of that good.
So why do good for these people because they don't actually deserve that much good? Because of how much you've demonize them, or you've allowed them to be demonized? What's the point of showing us on to these people? What's the point of doing good to these people? And, you know, we allow for ourselves, to deflect and to not to not accept our responsibility to seek justice for people and to do good to people. Because we actually start to believe that some people are less deserving of good. All right, number nine, and this is a heavy one. And I hope I can convey this properly. I think I had it right. When I wrote it down. We lose sight of oppressors who create conditions that make
people lash out. What does that mean? The same power structure that creates ghettos also creates war zones. And the same power structure that created the ghettos in America and created the war zones. And the Muslim world basically says, let them kill each other off, we don't have to do anything for them.
So we have to brutalize take advantage of exploit or we have to basically maintain our own security. And people lose sight of the fact that the same conditions were created domestically and for in the foreign sense. And the way that people are able to wash their hands of it is to say, they're killing each other. They're doing this, they're hurting themselves. Why should we get involved? Why should we do any good to them as if we didn't do any evil in the first place that created those conditions? How does this lead to stereotyping? And I want Muslims to understand that a lot of times, especially a person who may have migrated from another land, would see another community, and would not take a
step back to recognize that the same tools that have been used to demonize them and dehumanize them have been used to dehumanize and demonize that that group as well.
Alright, so just like you don't want people to ingest toxic notions about your community, and make it seem as if you're predisposed to barbarity. That same thing has been done to other communities. And we're not dealing with as a result of that the issues that create bad conditions that lead to bad behavior.
Poverty leads to we talked about this cohort of the Prophet slicin upset.
People put in harsh conditions and poverty.
And then intentionally divided and intentionally put in survival of the fittest atmospheres and environments,
as human beings are going to act in a certain way collectively.
So if you think about why when people talk, you know, somehow I can't tell you how many times I got calls today.
Honestly, from from well meaning people. It was it was interesting. A lot of people reached out to me today about Syria, I kept getting text messages all day. Hey, I want to talk to you about Syria. I'm trying to understand and grasp the situation. Right. Now. No, I do not believe that this President and this government that drones innocent people and bombs, innocent people all the time actually cares about the innocent people of Syria. I don't believe that. I'm not gonna buy it. Okay. The same time situation in Syria breaks my heart, seeing those Syrians, I've dealt with them a lot protect them. They're in the middle of these evil superpowers
that have completely disregarded their humanity.
And this horrible political football game. All right, their humanity has been disregarded. And you know, the main thing I keep on hearing is, well, they're killing each other. Why are we going to go get involved in it? Right. So at up at up, how many Americans believe that Iraqis were killing each other and we just went and jumped into a mess? No, we created that mess.
We created that mess, right? But the average American thinks, Oh, well, Sunnis and Shiites have been killing each other for ages over there. And then we wouldn't got ourselves involved. No, you made some these guys kill each other.
You bombed people back into the stone age's. Don't say that they're Stone Age like people you bombed them into the stone.
Right. So the stereotyping that people enjoy. Sometimes well meaning people like every, almost every interfaith dialogue, I go to that question comes up, you know, why have they been killing each other for so long? Because you started killing them and pitting them against each other. Okay? Like not like it deflects from the responsibility that the power structure has. And that's why this whole series I think, is tied together, it's important for us to reverse back and be like, what, wait, how is it being applied at the top.
So you can't just look at the bottom and diagnose surface level conditions, you have to actually walk back and see what puts people in these adverse conditions also, number 11. This This was revolutionary in Islamic war ethic, that the women were to be spared in a battle, the children, the elderly, the trees, and even the monks, worshippers there are but
why, why the worshipers they're kind of out of this, like they seem out of place here.
Because they had no interest in fighting you. They had nothing to do with the battle.
Right? Like the prophets lie, Selim is recognizing that these people had nothing to do with the battle. That was unheard of in the seventh century. When you attack a village, you attack everybody in the village. Okay, you inflict pain on everybody. And it's justified. Why? Because? Because they attacked us. We're in battle right now collateral damage? Oh, well, and this is why we are in the most barbaric state ever of mankind, because we've turned half of the world's population in collateral damage.
No, no Jenner, the Romans weren't as bad as us. When it comes to just turning people into collateral damage, the prophets lie, Selim was not just paying lip service and saying, Just try your best to miss the children in the women and you know, the worshipers. The prophets, I send them after a hood sees a dead woman from the other side. And he's infuriated. On the lines on his face turns red, and he demands answers. What did this woman do? Why did you kill her? Who killed her? He wanted answers. Like he just lost his family, he lost hands all the law on him. And he's worried about a woman from the other side. That wasn't part of the battle. That wasn't part of the battle. But she was from the
opposing side. And he actually has time to think about that woman and is outraged about her murder. Think about that. That's revolutionary. Right? But that that's where it comes from? Why would I hold all of them guilty over the actions of one group of them. So it's, that's also the you know, that's also it played out that importance of not holding people accountable as a whole. It played out in war ethics as well. Lastly, the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam,
he condemned people
or he condemned when people demean someone because of their identity. And that goes beyond just the race, the racist part of the the tribalism part. So, with Bilodeau, the Allahu taala, and who remember when, when abou Val said to be largely happiness, soda, and it raised the profit slice on him, right? It really upset him. Okay. I mean, think about not just the problem of seeing a black man is less than that case, again, an Abyssinian black man being called that by an Arab black man. Okay. But also like, What choice does any person have in who their parents are, what their identity is, and it's so lazy. It's so lazy to demean someone because of their parents or their lineage and
those types of things. You don't know who you are, because you're this, that there's an arrogance and there's a laziness on the part of people who demean right. And so here, you know, the prophets lie. Selim constantly warned about it. And by the way, I'm not above the law and the prophets lie. Some says that the world has never held a more honest and truthful man, Abu Dhabi alongside Abu Dhabi was new to Islam. And he said, what people used to this is how people used to talk in the days of ignorance and the prophets lie, some rectify that. But it's important for us to pay attention to this as much as we can. And sometimes we might fall into it.
Sofia or the LFO. And she complained to the prophets lie Selim that have sort of the alarm on her called her, the daughter of a Jew, the Sofia, wife of the Prophet, slice alum from the Jewish tribe, right? She was Jewish, and he called her the daughter of a Jew. What did the Prophet slice of them do? Not the prophets lie. Selim. did not say no, no, you're not the daughter of a Jew.
You know, that reminds me of.
You might remember when john mccain was running against Barack Obama. I'll never forget this. It was really funny. But it's amazing how amazing mccain is now since we have Trump in office. Right. But McCain was there was this woman that said about Obama. He's an Arab. And he goes, No, no, ma'am. No, he's not an Arab. No.
He's a decent man. Yeah, he's not an Arab. He's a decent man.
And people praise them for that. Like, wait, do you realize what he just said? He's not an Arab. He's a decent man. All right. So the prophets lie. Some of them could have gone to Sophia and said, No, you're not the daughter of a Jew, you're a Muslim. Now, you're a good Muslim woman. Right? But what would that have done? It would have reinforced the languaging behind what have sort of the law and center so what did the prophets lysozyme do? He said to her? Indeed, you are the daughter of a prophet. What can they say about you? You're the daughter of a prophet Musa alayhis. Salaam, your uncle is a prophet how only his Salaam and you're married to a prophet muhammad sallallahu alayhi wa
sallam, so on what basis? Does she demean you? Like he spoke to the best examples of Benny Islam to the prophets so you have the you're you're above everybody because you are a descendant of Musa, Moses and Aaron and you're married to Mohammed?
May Allah peace and blessings be upon them all. So the prophets lie Selim stepped back and he addressed the core of the insult as he did with banana without, it wasn't just you hurt those feelings. Go tell them sorry, it was you have jelly inside of you don't do this. We don't do this anymore. How dare you put him down because of who his mother is and what the color of his skin is or where the origin of his mother is. So these are the things that we have to take into consideration. It is very, we are a very stereotyped group, we are held collectively guilty or fanatics that usually kill more Muslims. We go through a lot, as a Muslim community, do not let that become an
excuse for you to wrong, any other group of people. And then of course amongst ourselves.
All right, all the ethnic conflicts you know, Mashallah. We're such a racially diverse community. ethnically, we're the most racially diverse community in America, we have to learn to live with that 50% of our community. All right, has immigrant roots we have lots of diversity. So when people start going into their corners, we like those Arabs again, those Pakistanis those Somalis those, like that is jaleo that that is the core of ignorance. It's the it is exactly what the prophet slicin eradicated. And it has real effects because you start saying, once those get on board, we know what happens then.
Once they start to get control of the masjid. Oh, no, we know what's going to happen now. All right. So I have no qualms saying that I love everyone's videos equally. Think I think both Hyderabadi biryani and biryani from Lahore have their beauties to them? And I don't discriminate. All right. May Allah protect us from division and May Allah protect us from wronging others as we have been wronged May Allah subhana wa Tada. Allow us to see the fifth or the good in everyone and to extract it and to see the the shortcomings of ourselves and to rectify them alone. I mean, questions.
Anybody Any discussion? Yeah.