Shadee Elmasry – Dawah in the Caribbean Shaykh Jamaludeen Hysaw NBF 346
AI: Summary ©
The speakers discuss the importance of finding a way to achieve success in life using their heart, protecting privacy, and finding a way to achieve success in life using their heart. They also touch on cultural differences between the United States and Iran, the return of Easter holiday, and guest hype. The speakers emphasize the importance of learning and practicing the intentions of Islam in one's life, including finding the best results in life, humility, finding the best results, and learning from one's heart.
AI: Summary ©
slur Amanda Rahim Al hamdu lillah wa Salatu was Salam ala
Rasulillah. He will be here Woman Well, welcome everybody, to the
SOFIA society. Nothing but facts live stream on an absolutely
gorgeous, totally gorgeous day in this great state of New Jersey
where
the weather is perfect, the breeze is perfect. And I'll tell you what
happens in this part of the country. When you get the humidity
goes up, up, up and it becomes unbearable to be outside because
the humidity is so so high, then you get an hour to three hours of
really hard rain. The next day is always the prettiest day, the
humidity is low. Humidity is down and and that's basically how it
is. So that's what you look for you wait for the humidity go all
the way up. Then it breaks complete gush of rain. And then
all of a sudden, you get
you know, beautiful two, three days until the humidity humidity
goes up again.
Are we ready to do the Texas update? If not, I could start with
Khilafah
you could ever
alrighty this fella Rahman Rahim, let's talk about Khilafah. In the
Maliki school there is an organization called aromatics.
Maybe some people really don't know about it, but it organization
called aromatics, where they talk about they want to talk about the
affairs of the OMA in the same way that politics is the affairs of
the city. So pneumatics is the prepare the
essentially the study of matters of the OMA and here we're going to
talk about the Khilafah in the Maliki school. And nomadic school,
of course, is I would say no different as a summary of any of
the other schools, we believe in the Khilafah. We have the Khilafah
texts, many, many, many texts about the Khilafah. And basically,
I had the privilege really to do the research for this website, on
the Maliki authorities on the Imam eight, the Imam, he left the when
we save Khilafah and Imam eight. It's the same thing. It's a
mammoth Cobra. Although l imamo. This is broader than a Khilafah.
If Khilafah has some very strict conditions to be called Khilafah
element alpha. But anyone who essentially is the leader of a
group of people can be called there Imam.
So that's why Imam is big. But when we say Al Imam Al Calva or al
Cobra,
it oftentimes refers to the Khilafah. So we'll take a look at
these, you can get this on aromatics. Omar, can you post the
link, when you get a minute
on look at Africa and the Middle East does not like to talk about
this, the Arab countries despise this subject, because they know
that you inspiring any kind of Islamic governance, that you're
basically essentially saying that you guys need to go or you need to
change all your ways. So here, it's a prerequisite the Khilafah
is a prerequisite to or solta. In general, having a government is a
prerequisite to fill fulfill
a lot of conditions in the shittier commandments in the
Sharia, such as
holding court, such as the punishments, such as waging war
against the enemy. So just from that aspect, the proof for good if
it is rational,
there's a rational proof that's the rational proof that we can't
do it. We can do a lot of things Allah commanded without it. So the
the textual proof is the actual action of the Prophet and the
sahaba. There's so there's no discussion on that. There is each
mount the Sahaba have each map on this. In the end, of course, the
Prophet did it and that's what's what's the point
Allahu alayhi wa sallam ruled, and there was no other ruler besides
Him. And that's the the overarching politics, and the
political vision that Muslims have to have. And this is the type of
thing if you're in the Emirates, or these countries will basically
get you banned from talking or even setting foot in the country
is essentially what I'm about to say is all of these borders should
be dotted lines.
In the past, people used to say, erase the borders. No, that's not
right. dotted lines. These are thin lines. So these borders now
represent the borders between states in a federal union in a in
a unified Federation, which is the home of Islam. So Algeria, Egypt,
Sudan become states, in a federation, no different than
Arkansas, Alabama, and Montana, and Maine.
They have the rights to do whatever they want in their local
communities within limits, the federal government unifies the
currency sets the currency, the Federal Highway System, traveled
between each state. And also,
each state provides soldiers for the Army based on their
population. So if your population is a million, you provide x x per
every million.
That's it. For every million people that you have in your
country estimate, you provide X amount of soldiers, that's it. And
each head of the heads of these nations choose one amongst
themselves.
They choose one amongst themselves to lead for a set term. And each
one of these nations based on their population sends a number of
shooter members.
Let's say you want a 100 persons shoot a member, shooter committee.
Let's see. So you put it at that. And Algeria has twice the
population as to as Tunisia.
So Algeria will send twice the number of shooter members, Egypt
tests, one and a half times as Algeria. So Egypt will send that
amount and you you break it down in an algebra equation, right? 100
divided by the population divided by each person, so x per million,
whatever.
Okay, but let me tell you that this vision is nothing but a bunch
of talk and a bunch of hot air I'll tell you why. The condition
and the real way in which the change will happen is that hearts
returned to the love of Allah subhana wa Tada and I'd begin to
tell you the obedience because obedience, it may happen it may
not happen based on your strength.
Okay.
Obedience followed with the attempt to obey sorry disobedience
after the attempt to obey Allah Tala followed by Toba. So in the
beginning, I'm fully committed to obedience. I'm weak, I fall into
disobedience. I follow up immediately with Toba. You've
wiped out your sins and you are with Allah to Allah maboob Your
love by Allah? Why do I say that love is the key here love with the
attempt to obey? Because Allah subhanaw taala speaks exactly
about people who get replaced, and the people who replaced them may
or tagged them in command Dini for Sophia to let her become in your
head boom, or you hit bone.
The Latin album Janina is it's an Alkaff at uj doing a visa vie de
La Jolla, California, LA Matala him. People whose hearts are
enraptured with Allah and His Messenger is the precondition for
all this, you can take every single philosophy of
reestablishing the Khilafah and burn it.
If you don't have this condition, you're not going to get success.
And if you do have this condition, if you do fulfill this condition,
then you can have nothing and Allah will give you every single
one of them. He'll give you the vision, he'll give you the know
how. And I'll tell you who fails. The people who sit around and say,
you know, what, what are we going to do with the banking system?
don't establish anything, unless you have all the questions
answered. These people are failures in life, they don't do
anything except talk.
In in the world of achieving you, you just take the first step and
your heart is fully committed to this, you just take the first
step, I have no clue how this is gonna happen. I literally have no
clue. Except that in the broad sense, I know it's possible
broadly, it's possible
so that you do have to use a little bit of brains. But your
heart is like this thing, it will never come out of your heart. It's
almost like you take blue dye and put it in water, put it in milk,
mix it up, you're never taken extracting the blue dye out of the
milk. That's what we mean that heart has to be so in love with
its creator, and so committed to Him, it sees nothing else. That's
the heart that's gonna succeed and in anything you do, if you are in
love with the result, and that results can never be pulled out of
your heart, Ghana as long as you take the first step Allah provides
you everything you need, and you're gonna have Riddick
Give us obstacles and they're gonna go away over time. So that's
why I think that's far more important and proven precondition
that nobody talks about. If you get a speech right now to get all
the Islamists, Islamist is the one who he promotes in Islamic
political view. That's the term for this thumbs. That's what his
busy he's busy with the Islamic political viewpoint. And you gave
this talk, they'd be yawning. They'd be rolling their eyes.
They've said, what kind of dervishes this, right? This is a
bunch of Dawa. This is the reason we're here. Right? Because all
these dervishes sat around remembering Allah.
That's why Okay, well, let's turn the table. It's been how many
years since the Khilafah. collapsed? Where's your results?
It's just getting worse. Right? So the Islamist ideas, they're great
ideas. But oftentimes, and I'm taking this from chicken booty
share could booty and I know many people say he did this, that and
the other in Syria? I'm not going to defend everything. What I don't
know. I can't defend what I don't know.
Okay, and there are things I do know that were brought to my
attention because I didn't pay attention to the politics of Syria
at that time. That there's no, I have nothing to say, okay. So many
people can say oh, the moment you say she could Bucha his name,
they're going to a slew of attacks. I'm not making anyone
innocent. Okay. But I'm saying his scholarship is to be relied on.
And what happened before that nobody ever in Sham disputed that
he was one of their Imams. So we're not going to throw out every
single single thing he said because of a couple statements.
That yes, it's possible do we follow him because he's Muslim. By
the way.
There was a scholar one time he decided to test his moods.
So his sister came to visit
and he was seeing taking her out for me picking up from the train,
maybe take her out for coffee or something. Then ushered him in her
in from the back door. And for a few days people saw this
right and they word spread that he's consorting with a woman and
many people left the shake
but one didn't one youth became to the classes often it's just like a
small time shift he does not popular famous for anything.
So he said What's up with you? Why don't you go with everybody else
after he realized afterwards? Oh, they're all thinking I'm
consorting with a woman? He said no, no. Brothers This is my
sister. Right? Oh, we didn't know you had a sister that she was
visiting etcetera, etcetera and the chick was single.
So he said everyone was talking about me but you didn't small
group of mods.
What did you think? He said, first of all, I didn't follow you
believing that you're Muslim. You're not an OB metabo Takata and
that cannot be undone follow you that you're a newbie that makes no
makes doesn't make mistakes. You make mistakes. Sure, can both do
the same thing meant to buy now? I don't know maybe if he if he made
mistakes, he made mistakes. Right? There's no any if he made terrible
blunders, he makes terrible ones just always need really.
Abracadabra, J Danny does when he comes in can Abdullah Abdullah. He
said oh, can Umbra live patrimonial. So I'm saying test
Lehmann. I'm submitting to that all that you say about him is
correct. Let's say hypothetically, we didn't follow him that he's an
OB. His books are his books and they have his proofs. Right? His
books or his books, the proofs are in the pudding.
It's he speaks about matters that are objects that objectively we
can see if they're right or wrong. So if he's right about it, we
still read those books and listen to those lectures. Okay. shikhara
will bring you the hostel van with the shake arguments. All right, if
he brings it any finds that good.
I know sound off all of that. Now listen.
He said that. And I liked his perspective. He said that. Most of
the the conferences about the Khilafah are excellent
conferences, conferences about Islamic politics. Excellent. And
he loves them and supports them. However, they're missing this
prerequisite. They're missing this prerequisite. And Allah subhana wa
Tada says, Whoever turns their back on the dean.
It doesn't always mean apostasy. It could mean apostasy. And it
could possibly mean they no longer give Islam victory. And shiftable
he said that's all of us Arabs, the Arab world all of them. He
said give me 1000 Random Arabs I cannot find maybe maybe we'll find
one who cares about Islam want yeah, maybe they pray and fast.
Right? But to say all right, let's get together and elevate Islam.
No, that's dead in them. According to you know, general observation
about herbs. General adverse observation about those countries
gather up people make a YouTube channel hey, yeah, not far right.
Islam. Let's raise the flag of Islam. Firstly, the government
will shut it down. And that's one of the reasons the people have
been trained. They've been trained and inculcated in them absolute
fear of the subject.
Point being he said, The verse says that those who do not seek to
raise the flag of Islam. That's one of the meanings or those who
apostate
Get out of a slump though want no and not give victory to the dean,
we will replace you with a people. Now what is Allah is a trip
attribute here who have no *? No. They have a lot of FIP. No,
they know the Quran inside out. No, they have a lot of money. No,
they have an amazing vision. No, Allah says He brought you to the
root of it all. They love Allah and He loves them and Allah loves
them. They love Allah. Love is the root of the matter why? Because if
you love something so much, Allah gives you everything else after
that. That was it, the keys to Everything is love. It's not
saying we don't need a vision, it's not saying we don't need
answers to this.
Love also cannot be stopped. If you love something so much. And
you tell that person or wait. And let's analyze everything. Nothing
drives the lover crazy more than someone saying, let's have a
rational meeting, and let's discuss things. Okay? These people
are the killers of momentum, the killers of motivation. And they
sit around and say, well, the well okay, you want to do this, how's
the banking gonna work? How's the currency, and all this stuff will
figure itself out. If your heart is set on something, it's gonna
happen, whether you like it or not.
Those things will come.
So that's why the philosophy that backs that political vision of the
dotted lines or the thin lines between the countries, that should
be our political vision.
But the prerequisite of all this stuff going on and happening is
your heart.
And of course, at the end of the day, right? As the prophesy stem
said, you're just one man better than I knew it. And that's what
we're doing. There's a sphere of concern. And there's a sphere of
influence. You just you just put all your focus on the sphere of
influence, you know, one of the tricks of bliss.
And one of the tricks of bliss is to when when, with the new
convert, whether he's a convert out of Islam, or out of a Kafala,
heedlessness, and he's now cares about Islam, busy him with spheres
of concern.
Let him never think twice about the day to day things
that he'd never think twice about his mom, the monotonous actions
like making wudu properly praying properly fasting, taking care of
your neighbor, taking care of your mom, let them never worry about
those things, those monotonous things, let them only think of
these huge big picture things. Right. And there's a whole lot of
Muslims that are like that, and usually raised upon the raise that
way to care about the OMA so much. Yeah, but then you tell them hold
on a second, you can wipe over ankle socks, not in any method,
like socks that go under the ankle. Like even if we said okay,
that somebody have a saying in this, the hyperbola they say and
one time I told the guy this one time. So even even if we said
socks, okay in the humbly school, not ankle socks, it's gotta go
above the ankle, right? And he said, are you guys so that's a
problem with you fix students, right? We don't even have we got
wars going on in Iraq and Afghanistan you guys care about we
do. That's the kind of logic that shaytaan tricks them with, that
all they care about is the big picture. Now fast forward 20
years, and those guys achieve nothing, literally have achieved
zero. Talk, talk, talk, talk tuck. So the real precondition of the
establishment of the Dean are lovers.
And shifted boots. He went on to attend some of these conferences.
He's had wonderful lectures all day long, amazing discussions all
night long. Masala is empty. Before fridge and in fridge a
bunch of half asleep people mumbling to rock guys before they
turn over asleep again, they don't where is my habits Allah?
Where is the Corolla? Zero Islamic activism.
It's not Islamic, if you don't love the creator of Islam, right?
It's not Islamic. If you don't love the founder of Islam, the
Messenger of Allah when he was some activists, go and give this
talk to activists they will laugh at your face. That's why nothing
works. been active for 30 years. Nothing happened. Right? It got
worse.
Let's actually look at every successful movement, they love the
thing itself. They love the thing. They love it so much. So that's
where, honestly, the that's our philosophical difference.
philosophical difference, the emphasis on muhabba where is it?
That emphasis on muhabba? Let's go to
the first quote before we move on to a little summary of our trip to
Dallas.
Now by the way, there's a point someone gave up said should we
stop everything love Allah then continue? The answer is no. You
continue everything that you're doing.
You continue at all, but you're now you have to work on the
foundation. It's almost like the foundation we're building it
House but the foundation isn't done right. In this case, you can
build the foundation and continue building the house you don't. And
this isn't to put a damper on anything as I said that we have a
policy we support any Islamic
activity, any activity within the sound way of acting and doing
things and I'm a sada, we support it all, even if it has flaws
within it, but in general, the big picture is good. We have to
support it all. That's the ethic. That's our ethic and the ethic of
having matured had is no conflict with any Muslim. However, if a
Muslim speaks ill and is astray we talk about it. Okay, we they do
talk about and he has in the past.
He says even to us, firstly, who is in the unis he's from Sicily.
At least his origin is from SIS let's give a little biography of
ebony unis. If you are a medical student, then this is a very
important name for you to know. Signal Imam Abu Bakr ibn Abdullah
Abdullah Yunus.
Who's singing
All right.
All right. Someone's having an opera outside. I don't know if you
guys can hear it, but someone's
doing an opera outside. All right.
Yeah.
No, this is one of those things like if it was at night, and then
we find out No one's home. Right. The Gin.
Alright, I will Buck it. More Mohammed Abdullah Abdullah Yunus,
He died for 50 After the Hijrah 1060 in the Common Era, and he
studied with Abu Emraan and forsee and I will have Seneca BC. So he's
one generation down from Ivana Abbey's al Qaeda plenty. All
right, or to any author that Jim Alamosa, Elon Muda. Wanna,
which became known as the most half of the medic ease for its
authority in the med hub, clearly relied upon it.
Credited creditor relied upon it for his final summary of the
relied upon opinions in medical law, and called a outset about
even unis. He was a jurist and a mathematician who excelled in
inheritance law. So that's it new unis and he says we're in a coma
tell me mal Qudra tra he will in Kenya men who follow Donado multi
layer SATA alcohol, wallet, wallet, wallet a couple of Anhu
they're the karma of the Imam one imam for all of the Muslims as
well. Okay, followed al OMA 45 There is no reason ever to leave
it off. Why no homo mo coolin Illa l HollyWell. Up de doing not
similar results Allahu alayhi wa sallam. What does this phrase mean
doing and Nasim in order Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wa
sallam it means that the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam did
not specify an individual rather than at a Shia.
If the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa salam specified a Khalifa say
naughty at Ghadir home this area of land called the video home then
why would he need to write it later on? If he said it in front
of 10,000 Sahaba at a guardian home and they all understood that
it means it is the killer Khalifa How is it possible for it not to
happen? Say in North America and bully 10,000 people? All right,
then if let's use an ask another question. If said no matter Omar
allegedly stopped the Prophet sallallahu Sallam on Thursday from
writing down his well sia
which was assumed to be Sade, naughty to be the Khalifa. On
Thursday, we asked two questions. Number one, why would he need to
write it down when he already said it? That's number one. What's
stronger?
When the Prophet himself was writing it so that we know his
handwriting? Right? Someone else is writing it. And there are two
three witnesses in the house. Why would you need two three witnesses
when you have
10,000 Sahaba?
Let's go to the second question.
You are assuming then that say no Omar knew the prophet would die.
Then how was three days later when the prophets I said to him
actually passed away said Norman was in shock and said everyone's
spreading this rumor. I want to cut his neck off, cut his head
off. So therefore on Thursday, he didn't expect the profits. If he
shocked about it on Monday. He definitely didn't assume the
profit was going to pass away on Thursday.
So the argument makes no sense. The facts don't add up here. As
you guys say the math is it nothing here. Right. It doesn't
make it doesn't add up for him to be shocked on on Monday that the
profit passed away. But he was expecting the profits of SOA on
Thursday. Why would he be shocked on Monday
doesn't make any sense.
not making sense. So this phrase doing an LC Minar Rasul means
without any specification from prophesy Salam and therefore it is
the job of Al Khalifa well actually another phrase that you
commonly see in all the books and also in FIP l HollyWell act refer
to them which they demons but in Philadelphia not everyone has to
be much the head Imam that could have a say in who's the Khalifa
What's the proof of this set
up the ramen Abdullaev he went and he did is to Shara
is to Shara with everyone in Medina. He did not limit it to
them which said teams and not everyone even himself was not a
much said. Alright, so you could say oh, maybe he was asking
opinion but he himself has the decision. Show me one factor that
he gave. Um, but I remember now McCallum in which the hideous
Sahaba he was not from them which sides of the sahaba.
Okay
why don't we follow the career with routers and Belkin, everyone
should know the meaning of foreign key fi a communal obligation. If
some people do it, then it's not an obligation on other people to
do it. Why no words you won't die to imati what you Obama him what's
okay to him, and it is an obligation to honor your care
leaders.
You may be better than your leader but Allah put him there for a
reason.
And therefore you have to honor him. The one of these these texts
mentioned the inward attitude towards your head Eva, you have to
love Him to
you have to honor him.
And of course that's if He's righteous. If he's except if he if
what he's doing is valid in the show to
get so he says album him what's okay to him? How are you going to
have a grande someone and honor them without some love for them?
Well, ta T qualified him when not being on him. You have to obey. We
believe in law and order. In this religion, Law and Order begins
from the household. It begins really from the individual,
there's law and order within my own life
supplied by the Sharia. Then when I have an organization or I have a
home or have a family, there's law and order. There's Shura. We take
counsel with the people have who have an interest in the matter.
But the leader we will have responsibility the leaders got to
make a decision and it's on his neck. The leader cannot say what
basically happens here in the United States in democracies don't
really want to do it, but the Senate said I have to do it. No,
we can't have that. Good.
And we have obedience.
We gotta go to follow the leader. We don't follow him upon what what
is disobedience to Allah.
What's how to kill Musa Bucha de la homothetic emotiva Kona la
halen was the premium in home all of this is for the one who is a
bright, okay, leave off animosity towards him. Okay, and
disagreement with them if they are upright, and you just differ in
opinion.
By the way on this matter of opinion, I want to share something
that many people get told when they say hey, we follow a method.
Brother, here's the Hadith. Uh, yeah, but I'm Hanafi and the
ruling says this medic in the ruling says brother I'm giving you
a hadith and then the brother the the poor medic and one of you
doesn't know his evidences, he says, I'm just gonna go with the
method. And then the other person says to him in an automatic way
now the sad moto moto don't. Allah says in the Quran and Sunnah to
zakat, if I believe it is that
the messenger comes tells people about Tawheed and the pagan den
says, well, we find our fathers worshipping these idols, so we're
following them to
what's the difference? That's what they corny Are you gonna say
you're gonna follow the madhhab over the sahih Hadith? I had sahih
Hadith.
In no agenda, Abba and Allah Almighty and when Allah let him
know, because one is in something in which there is no opinion to
aid
the other, he can follow him at his mother on matters of opinion.
I can make tech lead on matters of opinion, I cannot make tech lead
on matters of Catia. That's the difference and that's why that
little trick that people use doesn't work. That little trick is
in an invalid it's a little logical trick in agenda about an
automatic we found our fathers doing all this so we're gonna keep
doing it. And what is the average meth heavy who was let's say he's
a Hanafi Hey is a study maybe he studies here and there but he's
honestly if he has a question, he just goes to the Hanafi Sheikh
where he read 100 view book or on a free website, right. And he
follows them we'll call it you can make tuck lead on matters of HD
head on one. You cannot make tuck lead on aka it
on also a dean. And so this matter has to do with Tauheed verse
Just paganism is not a PS on matters of HD head.
So take that and keep that in your back pocket for when somebody
shows you Hey, brother, there's here's the here's the evidence.
Yeah. I don't want you bringing evidence I'm going to follow
the method that's been doing this for 1000 years, not you. Now don't
come and tell me
in no agenda but not omitted.
All right, where do we leave off way? Mo is God who Billa you have
to remind the Imam of Allah and you have to make dua for her to
him. Do out and you have to invite him to obedience if he's straying.
Alright, we'll call Abu Muhammad Mokulua Lee and we're Coulibaly in
Muslimeen and Rila our annual gala baton fish that that what? What to
add to
it men Baron Alpha Jordan Falaya Raj. Ali, he Jaren Oh Andrew.
Wiles Zama hula Do ye how jewel beta what's a jewel Bay to my toes
fall sadaqa to La way
Mozia et al Tala ADA Tala boo wat to Salah khalfan al Juma to Salah
formula Juma? Well ADA in so he's basically saying here,
every leader of the Muslims established by the consent of the
Muslims or through force, such that his dominant is established.
No just or unjust person should rebel against him.
The enemy is to be fought with him how just to be performed with him
as a cat has to be paid to him. And it is valid if he asked for
it. In other words, to say, give us some of his give us the cat and
we'll distribute it. And Friday prayer and the two aids are to be
prayed behind him. Okay.
We'll read the last the rest later. Let's go to our summary of
our Texas trip.
And you could read the rest of the aromatics article yourselves
it's that
oh my Can you put the link up there?
Right
All right, Texas trip, I have to say was really great. I had a
really warm welcome from Epic. And here's a picture of
the Shabaab there. That stayed they stayed for mini hangout after
the talk. And Epic. The Masjid. It's something impressive. I have
to tell you. There is literally a strip mall on the masjid property.
And when you park there it says if you're parking a target,
and huge parking lots like mall, like the saying everything is
bigger in Texas is really true.
And the President of epic came
afterwards and we had a nice meeting and like very cordial,
very welcoming, very warm ship castle kludze, of course was there
and very welcoming and warm. And so epic. It's the masala is white.
It's about 100 person, people per row. And there's 11 rows, I
counted actually because we had prayed. And they were praying
Aisha
and we were travelers. So just like waiting in the back for them
to finish their Salah and make their announcements. And so they
told me 700 Sometimes it doesn't look like 700 but it was actually
it was there was 1000 people at Isha. Because I did a quick scan,
there's 50 heads to the Imam. And I just doubled it. And then I
counted 11 rows back. And for that Aisha it was 10 rows. So 1000
People that is when they're when mbyc is full. It has a actual
bigger appearance of fullness. Because the rows are maybe, I
don't know, maybe less than 50 people less than 100 people for
sure. So there's a lot of rows. It's like a rectangle this way.
Epic was a rectangle this way. Aside from the masala though there
was a massive gym there was in the masjid itself. You go to the
parking lot. If you were to take a lap around the parking lot, you're
gonna find a strip mall where you can get there's a UHF office.
There were some other stores. I didn't know what it was but it was
a strip mall.
You wrap around further, you see all the there's a fence and
they're all the homes, homes, homes, homes, homes, homes. And
this is not
efficiency homes, budget homes. These are big budget homes, like
gorgeous homes, mansions, you could say really McMansions right
literally, you open your blinds you see the masjid
and then you
Keep going. There's construction on a K through 12 School on the
same property.
extremely impressive. You come out immediately across the street is
another epic mall, which is another strip mall that has the
hurrahs coffee shop. Probably like a burger joint other stores. And
it says on top epic malls so they own that strip mall to
you got to be impressed when you get there. I was. I was totally
impressed. Shocked now that's on the east side. Let's get through
these pictures real quick.
Here. It's a house on the west side, which is Valley Ranch.
Valley Ranch is that's one of the brothers homes that had a Vicodin.
I'm open about that. I do that.
I'm open about it. It's I believe in it. What can I tell you? I
believe in that it's not only valid and good. And I accept that
it's more Salafi. I have no choice except that it is more Salafi.
Right. And particularly in the medical school by the way, let me
tell you good, particularly in the medical school accepting was out
of them, like accepting them.
And so we did it in the houses there. And we did that in that
house.
And it was a great reception. Now that house was on the west side of
tech of Dallas, which is Valley Ranch. Valley Ranch is another
amazing structure where you have a masjid then there's like a street
than across from that street you have three developments 50% I
would say are Muslims in these developments that were built by
Muslims but they're gorgeous developments. beautiful homes.
Beautiful construction, not cheapo stuff with with
siding, vinyl siding, no vinyl siding,
brick all around, and amazing designs and some Islamic designs.
Like one of them was
one house has like a rounded pillar with like an ottoman
looking cone.
Like one of those where you were What's that Disney character
Nutella or something? She puts her hair out? What's her name?
Yeah, you haven't you haven't watched Disney for a long time.
Rapunzel comes out and
puts her hair out. So it's so gorgeous structures, right?
Smaller plots but gorgeous structure. You see the prayer time
people a lot of people walking back and forth. So and that's sick
almost to the men's Masjid. Okay, then we went to another Masjid
Look at this guy on bulk get this guy married quick rather than
single. Get that guy married quick. He's gonna get me he's
gonna say oh my gosh, you're gonna give me a hazard. So we won't say
his name. All right, next picture. Alright, so this here was it seems
like every Masjid can probably make an argument for being the
biggest Masjid in the country. And this Masjid was massive. Literally
I'm telling you ShopRite parking lots ShopRite parking lots you
walk. And then this Masjid has a massive gym. Masala very, very
wide, private maybe wider than epic. This is called ici
used to be shocking. Oh man, Ali Khan's master. He used to be the
president of this Masjid.
All right, Mute. Mute us on.
On what you call it? Yeah. Okay, so that was a great message.
Maginnis with the youth. They're huge messages.
I'm telling you, Houston and Dallas have four masajid in them
that I went to in the past few months. All of them probably are
the top five biggest insights. Then we had Jo MA in another
Baptist mega church that was purchased by the Islamic
community. This is it right here called seksyen. Obviously you
don't see any size here. But this literally at campus. They have
five four buildings. Four buildings. Massive humongous
Masjid.
You need a scissor lift to change the lightbulbs up. You notice
there's a scissor lift is it's a it's a truck. Yeah, that has an
accordion lifts.
And you'd have to like with a remote control go up 1520 feet
that's how they change streetlamps.
Next picture
all right, that's meeting said Man, one of my hosts. He's He's
basically one of the epic youth essentially.
Next one, and the last one and that was the last one. So
I'm impressed with the hype. The hype is I would say very, very
real there. Yep. It is epic and
surprised that how they could have had such a great reception, to be
honest with you. Right.
invited to a number of podcasts and live streams there but
obviously couldn't do it at the time as a short short trip. What
was the one called Three Muslims or what? Three brothers
podcast three Muslim three Muslim podcasts. Okay, yeah. Couldn't
make it though.
Alright, ladies and gentlemen.
Yes, definitely.
Is this are these communities on like, like Muslim timing though?
Like is it like between Bogota Marisha sign on the streets and
like after fractured everyone's the masjid or is it still out
there yet? Schedule has become like some time
probably not that us probably still on a nine to five life
because of work and even the schooling is on that schedule. But
you could definitely see on the weekends
there was another Masjid in Plano massive it's like unreal how how
humongous he's putting masajid are that we went I went to before
shake up salons, masjid and I walked in and there must have
literally been no less than 2000 people in the building. But there
were there. It was like from Lodoss they had different events,
right? And then again also comes the numbers increase again, then
they decrease the NACA becomes a numbers increase again, and
they're there for different events. What is this Who are all
these? What proves this come with incidence and you are z or z to z?
And you are Hamza
now a joke there and you are Bobak so Zaidan Hamza and Abu Bakr Are
you from Caltech or Whoa, from Berkeley, Berkeley, we got some
liberals in the house.
If you get too close, you might get liberal. No, just kidding.
Just kidding. All right. So from Berkeley, California, yeah,
gorgeous area of California. All right, probably one of the
prettiest countries in part of you from Berkeley to Rutgers,
Berkeley, and Hamza
and what do you guys do in Jersey? We pull the first visitor cousin
once a masked man, mashallah, that's great. That's great. Akena
was had another huge event. Recently, everyone went there.
Mashallah.
So, you're doing an East Coast tour? Yeah. Until one.
Thursday night? Yeah. Thursday morning. Oh, too bad. You're gonna
miss my costume. Yeah.
Yeah. We I think we can make a tour package weekend. Right. We
can get data set up to make it right. Where people come to the
Friday to mbyc Joma. Lunch the Thursday. Thursday. They come in
flying Thursday afternoon. Go to Makkasan. Friday, come here.
Saturday, Wes will have shipped
yesterday to do something. Right. And then Saturday in New York
Saturday, go to New York, right? You gotta check out the city.
Right?
I should probably should go to the dude New York, New York first,
then get purified right at the thicker sessions.
All right. All right. Let's go to our guest today. We have an
amazing guest, who was Believe it or not my hosts over 20 years ago,
when I landed at Sana I was picked up by this beautiful brother.
The topic of today's livestream is Dawa in the Caribbean.
And let's go introduce our guests. Where is our guest?
Are you a che there is Allahu Akbar. Mashallah, he's muted.
Unmute him. Okay, unmute.
There you go. All right, masha Allah let's now if you can move
over slightly because you're on the one side of the camp there you
go. That way Yeah, you're good. Yeah, that way, Mashallah.
Mashallah, or you could zoom it into if you want, zoom in or zoom
out whatever you want.
Okay, you got Mashallah.
On the stream today, our guest is Jamila Dean hysol. He is a Sheikh
and he is and Delia and he is has done work in the Dominican
Republic. Welcome to the live stream. Welcome to nothing but
facts. All right, Omar, we're ready to put them on. Bismillah
Here we go.
And here we go. This is our guest for today's shift and Melody
Heiser Welcome to the Service it nothing but facts live stream. No,
all right. Nothing but facts like that.
Can you hear me okay? Yeah, we can hear you perfect. Cool. You know,
I came outside. Because I'm inside my house is like a cave. It's just
super dark. Lighting is terrible. Come outside. It was nice. Quiet
and then all of a sudden, people across the street started blasting
music. Oh my god. We can't hear so you guys know that you guys are
gonna hear him sitting sounds perhaps maybe.
But anyways, happy to be here. Thank you for having me. Where are
where are you recording from? Are you from Atlanta? Are you from?
Are you in Atlanta now? Are you still in the Dr? No. I'm in
Atlanta. Now. I haven't I left the VR in 2014 My show last year in
the Dominican Republic.
Way back then. And then you came back and you've been back in
Atlanta since then. That's correct. Do you remember that
evening when you picked me up from the Sana airport?
I do not. I apologize. You took me in Mustafa insana? That's right.
That's right. Must have when you start talking bottom line, I did
that. Yeah, that was you. I did do that.
Mashallah, Mashallah. No, I have my own experience with the
Dominican Republic. I spent
two weeks in the Dominican Republic last year. Right. And San
Domingo is the main city there. So tell us about then there is a
masjid. There are big mastertech. I would, I would say it's a pretty
big Masjid that has that now has a Yemeni Imam
which method were you at? At at the Dominican Republic?
I was there first. I was in Santo Domingo. I lived in a city just
outside of it called San Ysidro. And I would just kind of go back
and forth. And then I moved to Santiago.
And was working with the community up there.
Tell tell us or do you have a or you had you have a Caribbean
background that connected you there? Well, on my father's side,
my grandfather
is Dominican. Okay. So you're really going back to your roots in
a sense. Kind of just thought of, but I mean, being there showed me
how black American I really am. So, you know, I mean, my mother's
not Dominican. My father's mother is not Dominican. So you know what
I mean? And here's the deal, you know, wherever, whatever you when
you grow up and you have a one parent household and that one
parent happens to be mom, you are whatever mom is.
Yeah, I mean, no, there's there's no connection to pass anything
down. Yeah, exactly. So mom was speaking a different language,
you're gonna speak that language. You're gonna know all of mom's
culture. You know, in the Latino community, you know, why Allah?
Latina? Yeah, we're all out of Pinyon. You know what I mean?
You're just gonna be speaking Spanish. That's just how it goes.
You know? Did you learn Spanish? Or how did you pick it up?
learned a little bit here, but didn't really perfect it till I
got there. Okay, and to my ex wife. She's Costa Rican. Okay, so
a lot of Spanish in the household.
And so that's, that's what you used to do the Delta there? 100
hula? I mean, both English as well as Spanish because there are a lot
of English speaking people there on the island. So that, you know,
that message that I'm talking about in Santa Domingo. And that's
the message you are the Imam Ah,
no, I was never the Imam there. Okay. I just did a little work
there. Actually, to be honest with you, my, my goal when I went to
the Dominican Republic was not
honestly wasn't to work with the Maschmeyer my goal was going to
the Dominican Republic was to help
bring Islamic education to the Dominican people.
So that they can start feeling more empowered. I got you. Right,
because my first time going there
which was in 2000.
I'm gonna say 2008 Maybe 2007. And I kind of did not like
the way I saw Dominican people being treated by people from
indigenous Muslim countries.
And so what I felt was that they needed someone to help them learn
about Diem
not just kind of hearing them just kind of the spotty because there
really weren't any solid classes for the Muslims. Yeah. And so I
wanted to provide that solid class void and be able to teach the
Muslim or the Muslims there so they can feel again more empowered
about in terms of what they were doing and you know, it's not well
we know it's not you just follow what we tell you to do type of
stuff. You know, now we have sources we can go to on our own.
We, we studied Philip, we studied Hadith, we study language, we
understand what we need to do. Then it went from there, to you
know, what, maybe we need to start an all masjid, you know.
But we started out with that, but then it kind of crumbled and then
I decided, You know what, I'm not standing in Santo Domingo and I
went to Santiago and became the Imam there. So, how many what what
are the numbers there in terms of the indigenous people
as Muslims in terms of the population
The numbers and the percentage roughly speaking, yeah. And that
will be rough because you know, there are a lot of people that are
Muslim that are just like in little pockets, little small
villages and things like that. And you don't know. They're there
until you happen to visit and you have a Koofi on they see you and
they can give you Salam. Yeah, I mean, so I, you know, honestly, I
mean, the percentage is small. While I was there, I would like to
say there were about 500 Muslims that were immigrants.
Oh, you know, an entire country? Yeah. About 500 I would say, and
how many converts? Yeah, so when you look at the indigenous amount,
I would probably say then maybe about 100
between 60 to 100 Muslims tell me about the Dow How did they enter
Islam?
Most of them because they come to the masjid some of them you know,
may have read something here or there.
And, you know, they just kind of found Islam to be the you know,
the way that they you know, that resonates most with them like it
almost everybody else here in the US anyways.
That's pretty much how it happens. You know, in the beginning, then
somebody meet somebody you know, someone from you know, there might
be a Venezuelan Syrian, who moves to Dominican Republic, who now,
like, I met you, I'm doing some work done business or whatever.
You've been working with me? I want to bring you to the mass yet.
You know, you see it next thing, and now they've become Muslim. So
it's usually kind of like that. So sort of
random.
Yes. Very, very random. How about the internet? Does that play to
that have
a part to play?
Very little from the people that I met, and we're talking about then,
right now, I can't speak on it. But then it was It wasn't so much
the internet as much. I mean, people will do research, of
course. But my lot of people became Muslim because of basically
associations. Or they happen to see somebody they've learned about
the masjid got curious and wanted to come by and check it out. Okay,
good. So then did you end up teaching them like, copy it and
flip into self?
I want the teaching FIP I want the teaching some Arpita mainly
Tauheed, not as much I Peter, I focus more on Tauheed. And at the
south part, I didn't have to really talk too much about
to be honest with you.
You know, make no mistake, there is a
small selfie presence wasn't that great? Small presence. But for the
most part, everybody was kind of down with doing Vicodin and
involved with altcar. Now in Santo Domingo, however, where you have
more, you know, an Arab population. Now, some of them
weren't dealing with all of that. Even though brothers were still
going to the masjid on Fridays and do their their route out the dream
home.
That kind of thing. There was still some of the Arabs who were
like, you know, this has been yada yada, yada, but it didn't really
stop anything. Yeah.
All right, good. So
how are your students nowadays since you left? Well, one isn't
Tareen, masha Allah with he and his wife. The rest, you know,
still trying to make their way? Well, one is in New York, the
others in New York, another sister, she's still holding strong
and Punta Cana. And,
you know, the Masjid that I left, they're still really moving
strong. So in that case,
there is you did plan to cede someone studying with his wife
there. And he's going to come back and study. Right, yeah. Or teach
and be there to be their leader. There
is no long build. That's great. That's great.
All right, good. So now from there you went to with let's go
backwards now for you from your study experience. Okay, from
Atlanta. You are from the OGS
people who went abroad to study before it was really something
that took off. And Syria was the first spot. How did you end up
going from Atlanta to Syria?
I'll give you the short version. Yeah.
I met
at that time, he was just known chick. He was known as new a
hunting killer. Right. The translator now rewind for the
traveler. Yeah. You know, when the book was like this thick, and it
was like a brick, you know, and
he,
when I met him, he was the first knowledgeable person that I had
ever met. Like genuinely knowledge
Double Subhan Allah, I've been duped by a lot of people. But when
I met him,
he was doing a book tour. You know, and I asked the magic
question about the soul. Yeah. You know what I mean? And, you know,
that sparked a lot of things. And he wound up giving me his, his
business card mistake from what?
Because I was calling him every day. I mean, literally almost
every day, you know, to the point where I think he and his wife got
tired of it and was like, Would you like to come and study?
And my first answer was no.
I had other plans.
But then his wife said to me, if you are refusing to
come and study your dean, for some pursuit of this dunya, then no,
everything in your life is going to fail. So vinyl, right?
What do you do after that? Yeah, yeah. Yeah, I mean, outside of
that, okay. Let me get that passport ready. Yeah, let me get
my money ready. And that's what I did. And you're probably in your
early 20s. At this point. I was 25. You know, before 24th. That
book tour came through jersey to
the masjid that we're at that did that is here. mbyc was one of his,
I think his the first stop of that famous book tour on Reliance at
the trap, Mashallah. And it was a little nook and Remsen Avenue. And
I attended that lecture. And as I said before, it did not understand
a word from I was 13 years old when I attended that lecture. But
it gave me a pillow in my head a backdrop that, if and when I need
Dean, these are the guys who organized that book tour. I was
friends with their younger brothers.
And that's why young people attending stuff is beneficial,
even if they don't understand anything, because it gives them a
backdrop right when a time comes. These are the guys I'm gonna go
to.
Yes, right. Yeah. All right. All right. Okay, so you so you then
went to Jordan, I assume?
Yeah, I went to Jordan first to kind of like, get a, a briefing as
to what to expect. Yeah. You know, what we were going to do? And, you
know, I'll say something, you know, that I think I kind of like,
it's like, wow,
you know, Allah blessed me to be a lot of places before they were
really popular. Yeah. And so I've got to experience some things that
some people today will never get a chance to experience. You know
what I mean? Like, sitting in Sheikh knows home? Yeah, you know
what I mean? So cooking dinner in his kitchen, you know, and he
making rice in his kitchen. You know what I mean?
Going to see his little nook where his hammock was for resting and
where you have his waist to look workout with and things like that.
Some of those things students will never see today. You know what I
mean? It's just a different time, different plays, he's different,
different positions, different status. So life is different. I
was there when Sheikh Abdullah Manish woody Rahim Allah
gave Sheikh Abdullah the event to be a che Subhan Allah tell us what
that was like.
It was it was I didn't know what was happening. I didn't really
think about all of this. I didn't you know what I mean? I'm a New
I'm still a relatively new Muslim. I accepted Islam in 92. And here
it is 95 I'm in the Middle East. So three years later, I'm still
kind of a new guy in this thing. And still barely knowing alphabet
tat. So to be sitting in a room with my spirit, our at that time
our spiritual leader and you know, he hands his paper over and he
explains that you know, you are you know, you're a jazz as is in
Islam, what you man will ascend.
You know, I was like, whoa.
And I'm looking at Sheikh Jihad Brown, like, what what was
happening here, you know, and he's like, we're witnessing history
Subhanallah ya know,
I'm really sick. Most of Ferber was also there. And he was like,
Yeah, this is deep, somehow. Now, this is something that you don't
get a chance to really see it. I was like, subhanAllah this
you know, and then I remember I mean, it was a very simple
situation. It wasn't grandiose, you know, it wasn't rude burnin
and they're passing the oils around. It was just basic. We're
sitting in the room chairs there people his servants were helping
them out. And then he says that he says a few things. And then he had
to shake No, the the ijazah he looks at it, he reads it and
accepts it. And then boom, you know, that was it. You know, I
walked outside. I'm looking at shake. No, and I'm like,
I don't even know how to act with you anymore. I mean,
he was kind of like my friend. Right? So now my friend is now the
sharer and I can't treat you like a friend anymore. You know what I
mean? So it's just it was just, it was it was it was it was the was
the
Tell everybody what is any Jazza
okay for those who don't know yep
ijazah is basically saying it's like permission. It is something
that connects the individual it's like a chain like you know we have
the chain and Hadith on Alma, Iran, Abu so and so on, on and on
and on and I know Rasulullah sallallahu Sallam is the same type
of thing is that that he does a system that already Jezza system
connects us back to the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa aalihi wa
sahbihi wa salam. So through your knowledge, so as being stuff
that's been checked, because everybody says, Well, you know,
you say one thing and the era one guy by the time it gets to the
50th person has changed. No, not in a Jaza system. Because I like
if I'm if I'm talking to Dr. Sheldon, I said this. This is what
was said.
Dr. Shetty now tell me what I just told you. He repeats back to me
what I've just said, then I say, Okay, you're authorized to pass
that information. Because I know that you know exactly what I said.
And you said it the way that I said it. Yeah. In other words,
I've checked his knowledge. So there's no ambiguity, there's no
guessing there's no bigness or Oh, I thought, oh, maybe a word. No,
no, I checked it.
I affirmed it. And I gave him permission. And now he's in the
chain with me, to the team, the person who came before me, the
person that came before them than them than them than them, them,
them them to sha Allah, Allah back to the Prophet Muhammad said
Allah.
Or if it's in a book, it takes you back to the author. If it's in
dua, it takes you back to the originator, that dua, so on and so
on. So I hope that's clear for you. Right? So that's a jazz? And
is there a concept of any jazz to be a spiritual guide to somebody?
Absolutely.
You know, you can't be a therapist without being certified
Subhanallah
you know, I mean, is that not what a person of spiritual knowledge is
someone that's like, he's helping you as one told me, he's like the
police officer just kind of guiding you down the right path.
But you got to but you got to know the path if you don't know the
path, how you guiding people down the path. You don't know anything
about Subhan Allah. You know what I mean? We got a lot of shaky
shapes that are like that. But the reality is, is that you cannot be
guiding people unless you know the path yourself and you've been
given permission to guide others on that path. Period. Tell us
about some other shields that you met at that time that are formed
your early memories of that time period.
I mean, shakes a Schachter
shake to high brown shake. Most of Ferber
definitely my man the general che
amo CFO,
you know, who was my my companion even in premium?
Shake up the cream? Yeah, here?
Definitely. No,
no, that just names that you might know. But those were the people
that were there when I was there. There were a few others, some of
the Syrian brothers, Stockwell Allah forgive me, but I can't
remember a lot of their names. Now, I've got their faces here. I
just can't remember their names. It's been
decades since I've seen them or spoken to any of them. But there
are a couple of them that
have made a name for themselves and are doing very well.
hamdulillah they know who they are. So if they're watching,
please forgive me brothers. I just can't remember your names but, but
your faces are in my heart. How about some of the shoots that
passed away since then?
Dr. Ramadan butene. Tell us about that time period.
You know, I used to go to the masjid a lot. You know, what was
interesting, and it has masjid for Joomla. And there's a level where
you're looking right at him. I never like sitting there because
he's all because he's a very serious and intense man. So when
he's talking, he's like, look at you and has like, like, dang good.
I was like, You tell them talking to me. You know? I mean, like, I'm
the one to do it wrong.
I have to move you know what I mean? And I will see Dr. Saeed
walking sometimes
to his home from the store from the mass yet and and I would stop
it from time to time. And he's very approachable, even though he
didn't look like it. Right. His his son Sheikh tofield.
Beautiful Man, he actually came to our home one time we had a dinner
and he came over and
you know, one of the things he said to us that I remember, you
know, I've always kept with me, there's not as deep but it's not
that deep. He said to us about Saddam. No. He said when you go
into such that you have to love such deal like you love a woman.
Subhanallah he said big
because this is the time in which you are the closest to Allah
subhanaw taala.
And you should want to be there.
Like you should want to be in such that at all times. So that's
something he said to me that I thought was really profound. I
mean, I can say it, it still stuck with me. And that was like in 1991
and 1900s. So that was like, you know, 9090
Yeah, it was 1996 Yeah, it was like the spring of 1996 1996.
Yeah.
So tell me then, did you we did you attend mahute? Do what is it a
node or MA? I did fat. Yeah.
Jam,
jam, double node Maha the fat. And
the Omnia?
No, no. And I wanted to go to the m&m. I wanted to leave. I believe
it and go there.
But I wound up going to Yemen instead. So three years in Syria?
Yes.
Yeah. Tell us then how did you end up in Yemen then?
So Sheikh Nora had taken a trip to the terrain. And he came back and
you know, he did one of those monthly meetings, he would come to
Damascus and meet with all of us. And we'd all talk. Yeah, he shared
his knowledge with us. And he was telling us about his visit to
Yemen. And later towards that summer, I think he wanted around
the winter time. Yeah. So towards the spring summer, he had gotten
word from Habib Umar that they were having their daughter,
Sophia. And that if you wanted to send some students, you know,
please do. So when I heard that. I want to shake you up and asked if
I could go the first time. He said no. But then he called me back the
next day, I was like my wife and I spoke and we decided that might be
a good thing, because I just got married. But my wife was back in
the United States. And my plan was to go to Dominica for the summer,
and really practice and work on my Arabic and really try to perfect
it because it's subtle. And so I was like ready to get out and do
that. But then when I heard about Yemen was a good thing. And I
could get away from all these Westerners. That was another
thing. So what 9097 know about that? Yes. Yeah, the summer 97.
And he says, Yeah, go ahead and go, that's when I found out shake
up. The cream was going shake your hand. Well, CFO was going, and
another brother from strychnos. Community and navy Happy May Allah
be pleased with him. I already passed away. These are all your
classmates in Syria now. Right? Well, two were one wasn't.
Yeah. Okay. So yeah. So we went, all four of us went down, to
train. And to be honest with you was everything I thought the
Middle East was going to be because like when I first was
going to Damascus, I didn't even know where it was, you know, we
didn't have internet and go look up stuff and look on the map. I
literally had to pull up the encyclopedia the book, and open it
up and see what Syria look like. And start reading about it. You
know, I've been asking all these questions, everybody I could meet.
But when I got to Tareen, okay, now I'm in the desert.
Right now I'm in the desert. One of the we've met some young, some
young Hubei up in Santa, because that's where we went first. There
was a the airlines was having a strike. So we wound up having to
fly south McCullough. And that's where we met had been called them
as a cough. And he drove us all led to Treme. And then at that
time, they were having the disease in the viola hood. So the
visitation at the grave of the prophet hood. So we went to that
area. And that's when everything just blew open for me. Subhan,
Allah Sivan, and that was a Dota. There was no translation.
At that time, there's not the daughter, like, you know, now. Oh,
no, no, no, no, it's definitely not like what you know, now not
even close. Yeah, it was all Arabic. The majority of the
students were Yemenis from other parts of Yemen, because terrain
hadn't become known like that at that point. So it was just, you
know, trainees, other huddled armies, other people from like I
didn't and from Santa and they adore and
ties and other places, you know, Muslims, just from all over Yemen,
we're coming.
But they're already there. They're already there because they were
students already out the door. And so the Indonesian students were
there, the few African students who are already there that were
already students, so they didn't really have much of a choice but
to participate in the DAR
But at that point how many students are there?
And most of
not a lot because door Musa opened up when we got there.
At first there was just like a little building next door to Habib
Omar's house where the students were staying and then have classes
in there or in the most massive ad or in Habib Omar's home. So when I
got there, so there are probably about
not including the dollar suit. I mean, the daughter of students. I
want to say there were probably about maybe 50 students. Wow.
Subhanallah like that. So you had a lot of, I'm sure you had a lot
of time with this youth?
Absolutely. Oh, absolutely. Absolutely. Again, just I've been
blessed. You know, I could go to Habib, Omar at anytime. Somehow I
just walk right up to him and talk to him. After some years, I had to
start developing techniques, because everybody started doing
what I did and then didn't work anymore. So I had to come up with
different techniques to you know, if I need to talk to Hubby, you
know what I mean? Without having to speak to the Secretary and set
up appointments, you know what I mean?
So, you know, if you got big after get big, it was kind of hard, you
know? And then you? I don't know,
I'm sorry, I don't know, you don't take me as a person that watches a
lot of television. But if you have to catch a commercial or two,
there's a progressive commercial, right for car insurance. Where
this guy is standing out at this, on this view looking at this lake,
right. And it's a beautiful view trees nature and he's like, Ha
This is so wonderful. I'm so glad I had this moment right now. And
the lady from progresses. Why do you say that? He says because when
everybody finds out it's gonna be over. No phone as it says that
this lady pushes them up in the bags. Come on. Are you done yet?
turns around, I think the long line of people and then she turns
around with her social media phone on Hi, everyone. Yeah, you know,
found a place I just found. I'm out here practicing gratitude and
expressing abundance.
Subhan Allah. So that's how it was. That's how it was. The mask
is was That's how terrain became SubhanAllah. So tell me, tell us
about like, in that little Dota where there was constant and
regular interaction with the Hebei that inspired you to move there
permanently.
Let me tell you something. When I
well, I went we went swimming, we went to Lake
and no river, I'm sorry. And we were swimming.
And I was swimming all the students. And for some reason,
like the students start playing Duff's and they will go and plan
the music and sing and you know, cathedrals know like, what's going
on here? What What was this all about? And I started swimming over
to see what was going on. And somebody almost smacked me in my
face during the backstroke. I was like, you know, who's this? You
know what I mean? And I kind of watched that person to see who it
was when they got off the water and it was Habib Omar Savonarola.
So, first of all my first of all, what's the shakedown in the water
with students? I mean, that was the first thing Subhanallah that
was the first lesson. Right?
Then I was like, wow, this is a man of the people. I mean, I came
to that conclusion later. But I was just shocked because in
Damascus, you wouldn't see that. Right? And I was like, Huh.
We were getting dressed. And he walked upon me.
turban on all white,
blah, yucky. I cannot look at him.
i No exaggeration, I felt that was in the presence of Rasulullah
sallallahu SubhanAllah. It was at that moment, I knew. He's what I
want to be like, this is where I want to be Serato and this was
this was day three.
SubhanAllah. I had a mentor Treme and done the studies yet.
You know, I was in a room full of all of the Hubei of all the
scholars
and I'm like, I just it's just unreal. It was real. And then to
go into Dharma stuff or go into terrain go into the hydrothermal
go into the studies. You know, like I didn't want to study
Aikido. I didn't want to study I didn't want to hear stuff about
sunnah because where I come from, because I'm from I moved from
Chicago, and in the mass is there. The Salafi movement with some of
those brothers are so aggressive. I've seen brothers get beat up,
because they didn't have the same Akita. I've seen brothers get beat
up over the world sooner. I've seen people get knocked out. You
know what I mean? So I was like, Miss Me with all of this stuff. So
when I got to tutor him and started I read
Remember, we were studying PETA,
because I had no choice. But the things he started talking about
what things I was actually really interested in.
And I remember I got so overwhelmed. I screamed out in
English class. Yeah. Everybody looked at me. I was like, I was
like I fallen off when
I was just overwhelmed. You know what I mean? And then I watched
Habib, Umar, and the things that he did, and he was doing other
aspects of the Sunnah. He just made it look beautiful. I watched
him make we're doing a well, I have never in my life to this day
seeing will do look beautiful.
You understand? Some Harlem. So I was like, Yeah, you know what? And
I'm not, folks. I'm not just making this stuff up. I'm not
trying to be over intense to try and bolster my shack and all this
other stuff. No, no, no. We're on the show talking about the facts.
Right. So I'm only giving you facts. I'm only I'm not no chaser
here. No dilutions. This is raw. This is real 100 I don't believe
in being phony. I like to be transparent. And I'm transparently
telling you for me, Jamala Dean.
That was the place for me, based on the things that I saw. So yeah,
I wanted to learn more about the Sunnah. I wanted to learn more
about Tauheed and PETA and these things, because of what I
witnessed in Tunisia. And I didn't want to go back. In fact, when the
daughter was over, I was crying to her the subpanel tell him I didn't
want to go back to Damascus.
Wasn't even that I was going back to America. I didn't want to go
back to Damascus. SubhanAllah. You know what I mean? And he was like,
we just simply said,
Oh, my God, not that easy. Have you? I mean, that I had a wife who
doesn't know anything about this place. You know what I mean? I got
stuff, I gotta get, you know, gotta bring back I gotta bring
down I gotta pack up, gotta do all these different things. But I knew
that after that I was going and when I told my wife at that time,
about what I wanted to do, she was on board.
There wasn't there wasn't a fight wasn't fuss, you know, but a lot
of people tried to make it difficult. Some people did try to
prevent us from leaving, but a lot of plans, and he's the best
planner. So see, you then, are somebody who
did not go through many phases after you became Muslim.
I wouldn't say that. No, I did, bro. I mean, for a long time, I
was just a Muslim by name.
I was still in the club. I was still hanging out. I just wouldn't
drink. Right? I stopped eating pork. Right? I wasn't even
concerned about Allah, Allah, the visa. There just wasn't pork and
no alcohol. That was it. You know, I mean, I was still had
girlfriends I still was doing. You know, I was still just living
regular life with a few adjustments. And that's why I left
Chicago because my first name is Steven. So Stephen had to become
Jamal.
And Stephen could not become Jamal until Jamal left, Stephen. If that
makes sense. Yeah. And so that's when I moved to Atlanta. And then
you know, fresh start, nobody knows me. I don't know anybody. I
don't know where to go. I don't know what the happenings are. I
don't know anything. So for me,
I was an intentional Hijra for the sake of your dean that in other
words, leaving a place where everything's familiar. And all the
bad habits are set there to a place that's completely foreign
for you. Not really, for him. As you said, you don't know you don't
know where the happening places are, et cetera. Right. I mean, my
goal was to go to law school, right? I wanted to be a lawyer and
want to attend what we call an HBCU. For those that don't know
what that is, is a historically black which means that it's
it's not your traditional school. It's not like the University of
Illinois not Harvard is definitely not a
Southern Illinois University where I went to college. It's basically
a traditional school, which is like during a time where black
people cannot go to predominantly white institutions which we
Terminus PWI
black people had to have formulate their own institutions of higher
learning. And so that is a historically black college now.
Slash University. sorry, say again, please. The U is slash
University. Yes. Okay. Yeah. You're right. college or
university. Yeah. Alright. So
I have never been to one now. I mean, why students go there. A lot
of Arab students are Pakistani Pakistani students you will find
even here in Atlanta because in Atlanta, we have four
HBCUs, Morehouse, Spellman, Clark, Atlanta University and Morris
Brown University. And I'm all for those schools. And now
All right next to each other, you do have a diverse group of people,
but it's predominantly black American. So I came here because I
wanted to go to an HBCU. Because I went to a predominately white
institution, I wanted to go to a predominantly black one, to have
that experience, and then go to back to a PWI for law school. So
that was the plan.
And I chose to come to Atlanta because I had one friend here that
I grew up with from childhood. And that was it.
And then I could go to one of these schools and then go to law
school, yada, yada, yada. But what I didn't count on was coming here,
meeting a brother at the masjid that was teaching from Alliance of
the traveler getting in that class because I wanted to learn more
about Islam. And then from there, ending up in the Middle East.
So pretty much how it worked out, man, you know.
Now you go to Turkey. Now you move there, and you stayed for a long
number of years. Did you stay for the whole program? Did you stay
afterwards? No, actually.
Interesting enough, Sheikh Ibrahim had set up something for me
and 2002 to go to England because one particular Masjid needed,
their their Imam was traveling and they didn't have a main Imam. So I
got sent there
to Crawley England. And I lived there for a while as the resident
imam for a while then one of the Imams came back then I became
number two, okay. And then after that, I went back to touring. And
my wife at the time needed to come back to United States.
Because we were having our third child and I was like, I'm tired of
going back and forth. I'm traveling too much breaking up my
studies. I said we ever had to go back to United States again. We're
not coming back. Yeah. You know, she went back and then her family
demanded me to come back. I will say I'm not coming back and Stan,
and I want to help you learn more about it. He looked at me and
said, You're gonna go into our six month intensive program, and then
you're going home. Okay. I was like, well, Habib, I don't want to
do that.
You know, I'm looking for hubby to put the word down. So I can say,
well, beep said, I don't have to leave. You know what I mean?
That's what people would like to do. Right? Yeah. Blame it on the
shape. But
I dragged my feet for about two months. And then he asked me, Are
you in that program? I said, No. Getting the program model
of I said, What a very serious look on his face.
Nuff said. I got in the program finished it. And then I went home.
So I got as far as you'll put in the feasts, which is the text just
before
on the episodic which is related to the traveler, which is in the
book after that is the main hedge. So that's a six book and Chef, a
fact that six out of eight books and Chef effect. That's correct.
Yep. Good. Good. So, so then, so you came back to Atlanta, and you
started doing down here? Yep, sure. did.
I started I
started that, but I couldn't keep it going. I didn't have any
support. So it fell apart. And
which part of Atlanta Are you in?
Right now? Yeah, I'm in an area called Glenwood Park. So I'm just
south of downtown. Okay. And
there's a lot of stuff going on. Tell us a bit about the scene out
there in Atlanta.
Well, I mean, you know, this is the A right, this is the ATL spot
this is the place to be you know, if you want to make it on rap
movies, reality TV, whatever you want. Your desires can be
fulfilled right here. Yeah, I mean, this place will turn you out
if you're not careful. But having said that, you know, we have a
very strong with the strong communities here. Very strong.
We endearingly referred to as immigrant masjids you know, people
coming from indigenous Islamic countries, and we also have some
very strong indigenous masters meaning of black American descent.
And so, um, and then I'm not gonna say there's always things
happening here as always, I mean, that's the kind of the complaint
people come here from a place Hey, what's happening where the class
is, where's the moment was this? And it's kind of not like that,
you know? I mean, we do have some really nice molds. Thanks to a
particular family, the Cole family there, they've been very
instrumental and really reviving our our Molad gatherings and our
are in the sheet sessions and things of this nature.
We also have the CHE who Jamaat here.
And those brothers have been doing some wonderful things that the
robot that they've established an Islamic school here called the
robot.
So they've been doing a lot of wonderful things as well in the
community. We have the Atlanta Mattia, which is under the
tutelage of Imam working Muhammad.
They're probably the largest black community or Masjid in the city.
And that's one of the matches where you'll see a lot of people
becoming Muslim as well.
The West End Masjid under Imam Jamil al Amin. Free mm Jamil.
That community has also been striving and thriving and they're
growing and it's getting better for them. So you see a lot of that
and we also have here the medina Institute under Sheikh Mohammed
and Ninna we so very happy to have we're very blessed to have that
here.
And for me, I'm just happy because I get to go and flow between
everybody. So I have taught pretty much everywhere of the places that
I've mentioned.
And there are a lot of other masters that I hadn't mentioned.
More I've been double, which is our East African Community. One of
them we have about three or four of them. But that's the one I kind
of connect with the most
the Roswell community mass yet they're really wonderful. The
North Fulton Masjid of Atlanta of North Atlanta, beautiful building.
Beautifully, ma'am. Beautiful brothers and sisters up, they're
all doing some really great work. Tell us a lot of hints about Imam
Jamila mean, and how he who is he? What was his Dawa, like, and what
is his status right now.
So for those who don't know of Imam Jamila mean Is he was one he
was known as h rat Brown. He was one of the Black Panthers. And he
was incarcerated some years got out of prison. Now one of the
things about him when he became Muslim, he was a community leader.
Even in the prisons. He was the one that negotiated a lot of you
know, a lot of problems that were going on between different gangs
and rival gangs. Even skinheads and white supremacist groups and
these people, he still was the man who would negotiate peace and
these kinds of things in the prison system. So when he got out,
he helped to develop a massive community that stretches across
the country. And
but the thing is, the FBI because of his Panther background, never
liked him being set free. And Islamic part just was a bite in
there behind. So they really didn't like it. So they were
finding ways to catch him.
Unfortunately, I mean, there were a couple of times they tried to
set them up. There was one young man who got shot in the urban area
not far from their Masjid. The FBI tried to get that young man to say
that it was Imam Jamil who did it.
And that young man refused to do it in court. First he was going to
but when he got the court, he said, he didn't shoot me. It was
all made up. FBI tried to make me say it. That same young man came
to him and Jamil shop and accepted Islam Subhanallah it's a crazy
crazy, wasn't it? But much after that.
A police officer was shot. And they tried to pin that on the
mound, Jamil. He fled to Alabama and the police came to our
community and there was a shootout.
They wound up capturing him putting them back into prison. A
man came forth and said look confessed to the crime. But the
FBI and the government shut that down. Because they didn't they
just No, no, we want Jamil in jail. We don't want three. So all
the evidence and everything all the truth. All the facts we don't
care about. We don't want it. That's the That's your American
government. Right. So they threw that out. It's like a keeping them
in keeping them Gmail in prison. Now he's in solitary confinement
and has been for well over what almost a decade and a half.
Because he was arrested right after 911. Right. Yeah, not too
long after that. Yeah. Are you aware? Are you aware that they're
making a Netflix documentary about him? Or they're making HBO or
someone's making a documentary about him? Because I didn't know
people are realizing that the government pays attention when
this thing catches the media. When things catch on to the media, then
uncertain, for example, someone confessed to the killing to doing
the murder. Right. The reason they could put Shoo it away is because
no one is aware of that. And if you ask, if you ask nine out of 10
people who are aware of the Jamila means name, they don't know that
some that the the circumstances around his arrest are completely
fabricated. Right. And if we take this man to be true that this man
is
He genuinely is genuine and why would somebody this man has no
relationship is has no reason to take the hit for him. Right,
there's no connection and he's literally confessed to the crime.
That's gonna that's gonna cause the prosecutors to reopen the
case. And they by the way they want to, because you know,
prosecutors change over time. And there's people who put him behind
bars that are long gone. And there is a new batch of people who want
to rectify this. That's right. That's correct. You know, and I've
made obviously, my, you know, condolences and my heart goes out
to the police officer that lost his life.
And we feel bad for the family. But I would think
a family wants justice, and truthful. Justice, not just
somebody to say we got somebody. Yeah. But someone that actually
did the crime. We want that person off the streets. Yeah. Not just
revenge anybody? Exactly. Yeah. Right. We don't want to just kill
them. The first thing we see. Yeah, you know what I mean? We
want to get the one who actually did it.
And what was his Dawa? Like before he went into jail?
You know,
I like to consider him to be kind of I mean, I hope I'm not saying
this to be offensive, but he's a street dollar. Yes. Street dollar.
Yeah, I mean, he's, he's a die. Like he understands the people in
the urban areas. You know what I mean? And he understands how to,
to connect with the people, that that really hits them in the
heart. Yeah. Right. Because all data no matter what style has, we
know, there's all types of ways of giving Dawa all types of
methodologies. But what we're really looking for that data that
just penetrates the heart, and he was one of those people that can
talk to you in a way that makes it understandable, make it tangible,
and make it plausible,
you know, for you to implement into your life, no matter where
you came from. Yeah. And I think that and he also offered your
community
because it was very at that time, you have a very strong community.
So he offers you community, and I think that's something that a lot
of people, especially in urban areas really want and look for,
you know, and did he have a masjid and a center? Yes, yes. At the
West End Masjid. It was probably the date. I don't know all the
history, but I was told that that was one of the first matches in
Atlanta. Jean Michel. Yeah.
You all you have amazing experience. Let's start benefiting
from your knowledge here. And we'll open up the q&a for you.
How's that? We'll open up the q&a. And let's go with
Oh, hour. Let's get through a rapid fire q&a with a
shift Jamal, so start putting your posting in your questions here.
Let's post it. Let's start putting up your questions here. All right.
Just give it a second before all the questions come in.
All right, Somalia. Have you ever had any experiences with the Olia
of Somalia?
Allahu Akbar
once
I've been allowing a lot of Somalians.
Here in Atlanta, we have a very strong Somalian community. Yeah.
And one of the masjids the Clarkston Masjid
it's also our other East African Masjid. There are a few they used
to have a mullet. And there are a few brothers who
mashallah, you know, let me put it like this, you know, only a wily
knows Awali I'm not a wily.
So I can't tell you that person has been only out but I can tell
you that there's something that was different about this brother.
And he was one of those people that if he made dua for you, it
was gonna get answered Subhan Allah Subhan Allah, he was just
one of those people. And I haven't seen him in years but and I don't
remember his name. I never knew his name to be honest with you.
I think I was told him forgotten told him forgot totally forgot.
But I knew him when I saw him. You know, some people make draw to be
unknown amongst the people. And that's why I always forget their
names. And that could be it
for me, so I can I can literally be it but um
yeah, I want to say there was one brother came to terrain once.
But I never got to spend time with him. So I can't really speak upon
him. All right, here's the next question. Maghrib comes in late
Aisha comes in very late. I can never this person is basically
saying that they need to sleep can they sleep after maghrib set their
alarm and pray Aisha
afterwards because sometimes zones Ayesha comes in very late and they
end up being groggy all day the next day. Yeah, absolutely you can
alright, that's answer for Lexus KMM All right, can you explain
terms that you said Hydra?
What is it? Is it acceptable? Are there different types? What are
the rulings on that in Islam? This is a this is a question from
Habiba.
Have you bombed the Hydra Hydra Yeah, Hydra. Okay.
was the first part of the question. So what are the what is
how are there different types? Is it whirling dervishes? Is this
acceptable in Islam? Okay, so the first thing Hydra needs to do to
have presence
right to have presence with Allah subhanho wa taala.
Right. And our Prophet said arson, I'm told us to have Hello Rinna,
Salah. Right? Our presence because we're engaging in the conversation
with Allah subhanaw taala
for administrators, spiritual paths.
The hydra is one of motion.
And then alcohol and other trickles. The hydra is one of
stillness.
Okay.
And,
and some movement comes from
bouncing and breath
and I'm just saying, oh, Allah, just saying that SM Avi. Right.
some
help. Right there saying that hawk.
There are some where you see them stomping?
Side to side like the Chechens. Right, and you see them going in a
circle.
Right as they're doing there. But they're stomping and they're all
in unison going around, right.
And others, and all of them they're doing Victor. And in some
of them they're doing vicar and they're also doing facade, singing
Cassatt at the same time.
The ones are stillness usually is thicker, and concise or maybe
justified.
Now, in terms of permissibility, in Islam,
right.
It all depends on who you talk to.
So
it depends on who you talk to. Because someone says is haram,
Allah doesn't want you doing that. But Allah didn't say you couldn't
do it.
There's nothing that says that the movement is haram if you're
cutting yourself slapping yourself causing harm. Yeah, I would I
would. Me personally, I would stay away from that.
I don't see the fight, I don't see where the benefit comes in, in any
shape, fashion or form. As far as that's concerned, the breath in
the moving.
I can kind of understand that from a from a point of view of deep
breathing.
When you kind of studied some other little things like Kundalini
Yoga, things like this, now that you're in it, but you kind of
understand its principles. You see where it has a place, you mean.
A benefit? Exactly, exactly. Exactly.
So I'm not going to say so let me give you the short answer. I don't
know. It's permissibility. In Islam, what I do know is, is that
I have yet to come across anything that says It is haram.
But I have not concern myself with it enough to have to go and look
for the answer. Right? I'm just be honest with you.
For my path, the path that I'm on, we do not do hydro with motion.
Our Hydra is stillness and contemplation.
So we sit we listen to our car, we sit and we listen to the cathodic
That's it. That's, that's the other endogenous. Okay, right? So
for other groups, they do what they do. I don't say yes, I don't
say no. I have Yeah, and I've been in Honduras, and Damascus. I've
been in Hatteras, I've been in group how that like with different
Tooru come all together one mask yet to do a massive hug that I've
seen it with the other side, the shebelieves, the national bandys
and all these other groups all coming to one masjid. And I've
seen big, big, big scholars of FIP who are not even in sociated with
any traitors in the same room and not one person stood up and walked
out the room. Not one person got up and started screaming haram.
So to me, I'm like if these big scholars are here, and they're
serious people and they're not saying
anything against that? I feel like okay, well, then surely it was a
must do some permissibility to this. After that it's a preference
thing.
Good. Oh, no Harlem. Thank you for the answer. Thank you. Here's
another question. Do you think it's still beneficial for young
people now to go overseas the way you did in the 90s? You know, a
lot of change.
salutely
I'm sorry about
that anyway. Okay, good. Yeah, good. Absolutely.
And the reason being,
is because you have to be able to experience culture that's
different than your own.
Right, you have to do this, you have to be able to, it's like
justice had I not lived in England, and been around the
Pakistani community and Indian community as much as I was,
there's no way I could benefit them when they come to ask certain
questions, correct? Yep. Because I know nothing about your culture.
If an Arab person, specifically from Yemen or Syria asked me a
question, I couldn't answer it properly. Because again, yet we
have to understand there are cultural
aspects to life that take place and take part in our in the way we
do things, even our FIP. So therefore, if you're asking me a
question, and I'm not familiar with where you come from, then I
can't really give you a solid answer, or an answer that was
really beneficial because I'm just giving you a root book textbook
answer, and that's not sufficient. Yep. And sometimes the question
has an obvious answer, but the questioner is intending to get you
on his side in a feud.
Right. And I hate that, like you step on a mine essentially. Right.
And, you know, one of the things about that, too, is that people
want as a person when you do go study, you have to be careful. And
Doctor, I know you felt that you've dealt with this as well.
People like to formulate questions to get a certain response. Yeah,
yep.
Totality right, they're not gonna give it to you with complete
context. They're gonna give it to you in a way so that the answer
can only as you just said earlier, be on their side. Yeah, yeah.
Yeah, I mean, and that's That's bogus.
I have a lot of experience with stepping on Mines unfortunately.
Well, Hamdulillah you
come to LA and Chef a fix? Can you make dua in English and sujood?
If you don't know Arabic, yes. Okay. Answer is yes. Their same
answer. For big baller brand in same answer in the medical school
if you do not know how to express yourself in Arabic, you can say it
in English, or any language really?
Good.
You have a question? Oh, go speak
at Dominican Republic, did you go to any other Caribbean countries
for Dawa?
I've been to Chiapas, Mexico, which is not the Caribbean but
I've been to Chiapas, Mexico and I've also been to St. Lucia. So
Trinidad. So for people Oh, did you do for eschatology talks there
are what?
When I was in Trinidad was doing the Molad mashallah, good
I want to
I was doing the mold season. So we had a lot of talks going on and a
lot of defending of the moments.
Okay, here's the, here's the, what was what were we just talking
about? What did you just ask? Okay, the Caribbean, essentially,
for the British who may not know,
or people in America. So it's a set of islands from the tip of
Florida. Set of islands go all the way down to the northeastern tip
of South America.
And there's a and so these set of islands that go like this, the
they block the Atlantic Ocean.
Hence, the Caribbean is more still than the ocean. And because it's
more still because these islands are blocking the waves. The dust
and the dirt and the sand settle to the bottom. As a result of that
the Caribbean Sea or the Caribbean Sea depending on who you talk to.
It's like blue, it's Aqua. Okay. And the beauty of the Caribbean is
the for that ring of islands. The inside
the outside facing the Atlantic is still the Atlantic. It's not so
clean. It's the inside. Dominican Republic is like the first island
setting the block if anyone knows football terminology, right? That
is blocking the so that the Dominican Republic is the first
and it's one of the biggest and its neighbors
Cuba Cuba is probably the de Cuba. Yeah, Cuba is bigger. Cuba is
bigger. Hey, I'm gonna Can you get us a map of the Caribbean? Because
I'm telling you this part of the part of the world, maybe you can
argue is one of the prettiest parts of the entire world. The
Caribbean. Can you get us a nice map? Not a Google Map? Yeah, like,
Oh, there you go. That's a beautiful go back. Yeah, that's
pretty right there. Now zoom in on that on the right there. And
you'll see from Florida down to west northwest of Guyana. That
area right there is blocked by a whole bunch of islands.
No night, Puerto Rico setting a big block Cuba setting a humongous
block that causes the waves of the Atlantic to deviate decreased. Now
increase the zoom in there. On the right there.
Ama zoom
there's zoom in. There you go. You see all these islands. They're all
Cuba's huge. All the Look at that. See that? All those islands there?
Yeah, there you go. So you Montserrat, which is a font now,
Dominica, St. Lucia?
Come over to the right. So we could see all the names there.
Grenada, Grenada, Trinidad and Tobago. You see all that? There's
the DAR right above? Puerto Rico.
Right? Haiti right next to it. And the
pronounced circles are correct. Yeah. I can't remember how you
pronounce it. But
eautiful places. A Aruba probably has the prettiest water in the
world. That's why it made the song. And there's also easy that
mountain range. There's a mountain range in the sea.
Look at that there is a mountain range in the ocean that's blocking
all that those waves. Yeah. Now for those who don't know.
The Muslims had taken over Trinidad at one point Savonarola
Jeep, how, yeah, they took it over by force.
With this, you're talking way back in the day? Yeah, a long, long,
long time ago. But you know, one of the things the beautiful things
about Trinidad, and that was one of the places I actually literally
wanted to throw away my passport. Well, I mean, looping on purpose.
The Muslims are very, very, very, very well integrated into society.
I mean, you'll fall in places like I was walking around with a turban
on and told and no one was looking at me like, Oh my God, who was he?
Oh, my God, what's going on there? You know, it was natural. They had
a halau. McDonald's, and you're talking about, like DCS? Who went
there?
racy indigenous. Yeah. You have
a mixture.
Right, because all of these islands had enslaved Africans.
Yeah. So the indigenous people, if you will, are the TAT Danneels or
Tana tonight? Danneels, I think.
Yeah. And then black, Slate African African people. Yeah. So
the the Indians and Africans who come together and then whoever was
the colonizer kind of mixed in there. And then but in Trinidad
that's what you started getting a lot of the Indian today's
communities coming in. That's what you have what's called West
Indies, the west you know, and West Indian people. That's these
people. And so there's a point where there's there's almost a
point where you almost can look at the spectrum and you don't know
who's what. So that's all mixed up. Like Guyana is like that too.
Right.
A lot.
I've heard I've heard a lot of enemies. Let me tell people
something Omar, pull up the map real quick again. I want to tell
you guys not to be duped by Punta Cana.
I'll tell you why. Punta Cana.
They tell you it's in the Caribbean Islands, which is true
Dominican Republic. But what side of the island is Punta Cana Punta
Cana is on the
Atlantic facing side of the islands. So the water is not like
the picturesque water of Aruba.
Even even the Google thing has got a pool not the actual ocean. The
actual ocean is now highly polluted with seaweed. It's like a
natural phenomena no one knows why it happens. By the way, I love the
islands. It's a gorgeous island the the I loved everything about
it but the water Don't be fooled by the water because it's now on
the Atlantic side. So anyway, you want to go to a a Caribbean
island. Prices are nice seafood is amazing waters, amazing all that
stuff. Make sure you're going on the beaches that are on the inside
of that crust
and
That's a nice spot. Yeah, that's a beautiful spot. So the, the
inside, zoom out again, Omar. Okay, keep zooming out. All right,
keep keep going. Keep zooming out a little bit more. Okay. See all
those islands, the west side of the island St. Lucia, Dominica,
Anna Barbados, Grenada, the west side, stay on the west side.
That's where
and all of the northern South America. All of northern South
America is good, beautiful. Keep going east, going west. And then
all the west side of Central America. Central America, Costa
Rica, the West, the East Side. Sorry, the east side of Central
America. Gorgeous areas. Beautiful areas. Okay, so that's good enough
for in terms of
geography lesson there. We take geography lessons every once in a
while whenever it comes up, because it's always fun to look at
that stuff. Sure, if we kept you for a long time.
Tell us here's a question from Beto chi 1822. How do we enjoy
these public beaches as Muslims given that there will be *
there?
Go early. There you go. Take the early part of the day. Yeah, and
I'm sure there are parts of the beaches that are empty. If you
drive along the coast. Here's the thing, there are gonna be parts
where they're a little bit more private.
You know what I mean? And you can also look up private beaches,
right? If you want to go to these places, look at private beaches.
And I said the early ago, when you went to Santo Domingo, I don't
know if they took you to
the beach club Boca Chica. And Boca Chica is a nice place now
that water is blue. I used to go there a lot myself. And the key is
though, you have to go early, you have to be there like around 10 in
the morning. Because people go into the beach for what the
sunshine. Here's the thing, people aren't going to the beach to be in
the ocean, they're going to the beach to be out on the beach, walk
around sunbathe, do all these kinds of things, right? There are
a few people will go out and go snorkeling, some people will go
scuba diving, but those people are on other places. So the thing is,
if you come out at around 10am,
I almost want to say 11. And only plan to be there until about noon,
go home, go back to your room or whatever. Because one, two, like
if your wife is one, or your assistant is going and you're one
that does believe in modesty and covering up properly, it's going
to be too hot to be out there in the middle of the day anyway. So
the earlier part is better. And then maybe the latter part of the
evening, you know what I mean? Because then he gets a little
cooler, the sun's not beating a lot of people, I mean, you might
still say a few things, but some people move in St. Lucia, you can
actually take a little boat ride to a little small, private little
beach. I've done that. So you can go and take a little boat, little
mobile and get you around around around the mountains and then
boom, you're in a little spot little piece of land or a little
piece of beach all by yourself. You can also do that and the DR
may cost you a little bit but you can ask the doctor a little small
beaches, a lot of places we can do some private stuff and a guy will
come and drop you and whomever all and they'll come back and get you.
Right it's a service you pay for so it's not like they have to come
back and get you so you can't go to you know private spots. So
that's why we're five you want to enjoy this. Look up private
beaches, private spots. If you can't find any just go early in
the morning or maybe later in the evening. Beautiful, beautiful
question from Ryan to
turn Ryan's Vikon shake thank you for sharing all your stories. I
want to ask a very general question what would what would you
say is the point of seeking knowledge
to become closer to Allah
that's it if your reason for anything else I question you.
And well, let me let me say this, let me let me say it like this.
Why do I say that? Could you say no, but what about my community?
Let me tell you something that happens with this. Don't don't how
much time do we have? Do I have some time to go ahead?
Okay, I'm gonna put it like this, there was a story.
Our beloved brother, may Allah be pleased with a messiah, Osama
cannon told me this one time he said
there were two scholars, a chef at the Salaf Shankar for
the sake of Philip was in the doing is gathering the shake of
tech was going on talking about the knowledge and all this and how
it fit with the superior knowledge yada yada yada. So then the ship
it to solve said but you know, our beginnings are better than your
ends.
And even the second I mean, the second fifth was like Well, what?
What are you talking about?
out. How could this need to start going on so the shape of the South
says, Look, tomorrow come to my Zarya, and I'll show you what I'm
talking about. Next day comes right the secretary South is
sitting in AZZAWI and he says all he has a whole bunch of students
in there he says, listen up everyone.
He says,
today we're going to have this great buddy was going to come in
and share with us and dine with us. But when he gets here, I want
no one I mean, absolutely no one to give salaams
don't make myself clear if you give salons you're out of here.
Yes, yeah. So when the sake of fix shows up, right? He comes in a
salon why they come?
No one said a word.
I said I'm like them.
No sort of word a stock for a law, you know, and he's just gonna
throw out the outcome and all these different reasons why you're
supposed to return on Carlo Rasul Allah Allah Allah is Allah ma this
so the shake up to solve comes in so Oh, shake you're here my salah.
Please come have a seat next to me. So what is the what do you
teach these people here and he's gone off right? So he says no,
mahalo. Mahalo. And, you know, just calm down, calm down, come on
over and have a seat. So to sit down, having tea in the shake is
he still flustered.
The second to solve turns around he says, students listen up.
He says, Today we have a new a new student coming to Arizona.
And I want no one to return us an arms. He's been doing a few little
classes with us. But today's gonna be part of the Zarya. No one gives
him salaams don't make myself clear yesterday. So you know, the
shape of the salt was talking to the fapy And they're having a good
conversation, whatever. The student walks in.
He's all happy full of GLEDE. He says A salaam alaikum.
No one said a word. You
know?
Nobody said a word.
Please forgive me if I if I've said anything wrong. So far, I've
done anything wrong. If I've if I've found anyone if I've if I've
done something, Ill to anybody. Please forgive me, please. What am
I may have done? Please, I'm sorry, please forgive me. And a
second to sob looks at the puppy. And it says again, our beginnings
are better than your end survival. Ah, you understand what I'm saying
to you, brother, whoever asked the question. The thing is, when you
say you're coming to teach for your community, what you're doing
is you're opening up yourself to be bolstered, you're a member
phrase, you're setting up the stage for your eagle to become
bigger than it needs to be SubhanAllah. You understand? So
when you come back, some brothers and I'll be very honest, some
brothers come home and they expect to be treated a certain kind of
way.
I hate being called shake. It wasn't wasn't till recently, I
heard Sheikh Mohammed and anyway, he said I call people chef. Out of
respect. Give me he said anybody who has received some form of
Islamic teaching. I refer to them as ship but not shakez in an
island.
Because the majority of you are not islands. You are not of the
early amount. And I thought about that for a second. I said okay, I
can accept that.
Because I don't like being called chef because I'm not a chef. I
haven't spent 20 years of my life and studies.
You don't I'm saying? I sometimes the one of my Algerian teachers,
he says what is an lm n is when someone asks you a question.
And you're flipping through the pages of the book in your mind, to
find the muscle to find the answer to the situation that's been given
you. Right? Not someone who says, Hold on, let me get back to you.
I'm gonna check my books.
And he's got this massive library. I'm gonna check my books, bro.
I'll be back. That's not an island.
Right? He told me that Ireland is not a person who takes a lot of
books and studies. He takes one book, and he has Massey's read it
over 500 times. He said that is an Ireland. So my thing is, is that
when we're looking at people who, who likes to profess that there
are people of knowledge.
A lot of things just get opened up brother that are dangerous. So
your goal has to be Allah and only Allah and your acquisition of
seeking knowledge whether you go across seas, whether you're
sitting with Dr. Shadi whether you're sitting with me whether
you're sitting with shake up the cream, yeah, here Shaykh Yahya
Rhodus Kumar
for
whomever Allah puts you in front of right, no matter who that
person is, your intention has to be for the pleasure of Allah to
become closer to Allah to understand. Because another thing
we have to become people have you Balliol Jeffrey said this, we have
to become people of hockey.
Right? of reality of experience now people are sutra, the people
who look the part, I've got a few beautiful words. And I've learned
a few things. I read a couple of Hadith, but nothing has been
eternalized.
You understand brother, I mean, I can go on and on with this. I
think you kind of got it at this point. But it has to be
internalized. So when we speak, we're not speaking because we read
something and we're regurgitating knowledge. We're speaking from the
point of view of experience. And I even myself, I'm still at all
these years of being out removed from tutoring, because I left him
in 2003. Now, that doesn't mean you've arrived, the students, the
student really becomes a student when they start teaching
Subhanallah because that's when you really start learning because
now you're gonna get hit with things you weren't taught in
class, or you weren't expecting or maybe that day you didn't show up,
or you didn't pay attention, or whatever the case may be. Now you
got to go and find some answers.
You know what I'm saying? Now you can you say, I don't know, are you
gonna be one of those people that don't try and answer anyways, and
then find out you were wrong and have to come back home brother,
I'm sorry. Last time I told you this last week, I mean, which
happens, it happens. So Hamdulillah.
But my thing is, is that I want for all those who are thinking
about studying who are actively studying,
you got to watch your egos. You got to stay sincere. And this has
to be for the sake of Allah subhanaw taala really, it has to
be about the sake of Allah subhanaw taala and your personal
development with Allah. And if Allah chooses you to be one who
disseminate this knowledge and Allahu Akbar, but there are a lot
of people who have gone to train, and you don't know anything about
them.
And it's not about oh, like, like, our beloved doctor here has said
that
they may do are not to be seen.
No, no, no. I'll tell you right now, that ain't the case.
I can tell you right now, a lot of these brothers. They came, they
got what they came there for. And they left.
But yeah, I wouldn't know.
Gee, I'm just being honest. And just being honest.
You know, some people come to Dr. Mustafa, just so they can say I
was with the Hubei of those one brother and particularly tell
everybody I was Habib's top student.
You've been there cumulatively, six months, if that? Cumulatively,
if that one did what? How did you become student? You know, and
what's funny to us is that the FBI, the FBI of all tell us, the
ones who sit in the front row are the sickest ones SubhanAllah.
So they're the ones who have the most they're the sickest ones.
It's the ones that are far away. They're the closest to us.
And they all say this, and it's not trying to be, you know, like,
you know, to say something nice about the people sitting far away.
This is a reality. When I, you know, before we used to see when,
in our gatherings that Donald was stuff, when the moment comes.
Where was heavy Valley, Jeffrey sitting.
He was in the front row. He wasn't up there against the wall with the
rest of the hubbub. This man was out in the hallway sometimes
sitting down, or he'd been the very back with his head down,
basically, in a sense trying to hide
how he called them the same thing. That wasn't until Habib Umar told
them they had to sit in the front that they started sitting in the
front. So
they had to be commanded to do that.
Most of the hubbub especially younger ones, nobody was looking
to get up on the mic. Nobody was who Okay, I'm gonna say this
today. Woohoo. I can't wait to share this with everybody. You
know, I just read them. I dropped this bomb. Oh, it's gonna be deep.
You know what I mean?
No, no. And that's what I learned.
Right? The way of the bar Louie is that you learn is and will Amel
Wadala knowledge. And, well, I'm a works. So you can't just learn and
not do. You have to do what you learn. In other words, you become
what you learn, you become the experience. Right?
What that was, then there's the Dawa part. And that was given like
we said many many different ways. Many of our scholars have Oh used
to sit literally sit in the back at different gathers and not say a
word until they heard something wrong. Then they will say
something and they said they did speak everyone in the room knew
who the real fucky was.
I'm not looking to do that.
that, but I do sit in the back and I'm quiet. I'm not always want to
come and gather and I'm not trying to sit up in the front, I'm trying
to be in the back.
That's what I've learned. And I understand it. Don't want to be in
the front. I don't like being there, ma'am. Have a thought. Too
much pressure?
Just is it sorry, it is safer?
Safer. Thank you. So, so I give you a long answer here. Because I
really holistically want you and everyone else listening to
understand that this is not about becoming famous or popular, not
saying that that was your intention, or that was part of
your question or what you were thinking.
But what can happen
is what can happen to a lot of people
somehow, ya know, Allah knows best. That's a beautiful answer.
And that's a beautiful point to close on. Because that story was
very powerful between the 50. And the beginner and the humility
that's given as a foundation of those people who start and come in
with the intent of self purification and spirituality, if
they're malleable, to be taught about humility, that you're not
really that big of a deal. And better for it to be taught by a
che. And accepted, as I'm worried, then to be enacted by Allah to
Allah.
And Allah makes you humble, because of an incident that
occurs. Right? And that's,
you know, it's always better to be taught something and be humble
yourself, rather than having to be forced by humiliation and
embarrassment. Absolutely insane, that real quick, if I if you allow
me just a few more minutes before those out, I mean, you gotta go.
You know, when I went to do Dawa, in the Dominican Republic, right,
you know, and I have to admit that because of what I'm a lot of what
I'm telling you right now is because I was that guy, I wasn't
part of that problem. You know, and going to the Dr. Thinking that
I myself could, you know, really teach people something, because I
didn't go with organization, nobody was supporting me, I just
went. And my idea was, I'm gonna be like the old Hubei, you know
what I mean? They were the ones who went to Indonesia, and to
India and to Africa, and Malaysia, you know, because the people of
Hadramaut are responsible for Islam coming to these places. And,
or, I must say, East Africa, not Africa as whole, but like, East
African part, like, there are a lot of Hubei of that are
responsible for a lot of conversions in those areas, from
India announced to India but Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand,
Singapore, the Hubei of the people have had the remote are
responsible for the Dawa in that country from causing those
countries to become Muslim countries. And so I thought
myself, you know, what, I'm gonna be that guy. And so when I'm
there,
you know, it's kind of like you try to, it's like a relationship,
you try to force
you try to force someone to love you. You can't force someone to
love you.
You can't force a relationship like we're gonna be the most the
best. You're gonna love me. You know what I mean? You can't do
that doesn't work.
Everybody has to be in and when you force yourself into something,
you ruin things where before acknowledges yourself, but for
everybody else. And I think that I forced myself upon people. You
know, I came there with the best of intentions. You know, a man
said to me, I asked a guy one time I had concerned before I left I
said, I'm worried about the success that I may have. And he
said to me, your success depends on that Allah sin Salah solid, or
the solid, sound solid.
And I had to think about I didn't really understand it at first.
At the end, when it was all over, I realized, yeah, solid synth
solid. In other words I sent myself
yeah, I mean, I set it up so that I could go.
I made it possible for myself to go.
But the Tofik wasn't really there because I forced it. Because there
was a lot of things. I made a lot of mistakes. I made a lot of
mistakes. You know, there was some good don't get me wrong, because a
lot of people became Muslim while I was there, or Hamdulillah. But
there were a lot of things that didn't happen because I forced it.
You see what I'm saying? And I'm only sharing this with you.
Because I want you all to understand the importance of
sincerity and in everything that you do, and making sure that you
know, when it stops being about Allah and about you Allah as they
say, Allah walks out the door. You know what I mean by those
A guy who said to a man, he was like, you know, he was making
music. And he said, as long as you're doing this from your heart,
you're good. But the minute this becomes money, that's when God
walks out.
You know, I mean, and it wasn't that I was doing it for money,
because it was no money to be made.
But I wanted to do something, and create something because everybody
else around me was doing it too. And I felt like I needed to be
creating some doing something. So this was bigger than what they
were doing in my mind. And so I went there. And again, it just
blew up in my face because of that intention. Because of that true
intention. So the thing was,
and to, I think, if I had like, permanently lived there, then
maybe life would have been different because eventually, I
would have the simmer down, ease. And then,
you know, regroup and then get back to work and get back to work
the way it needs to be done.
Because now when you go to a city, a place that was doesn't happen in
two years, three years. That's a lifetime commitment. Yeah. It
really is. So 100 You love so I say this to all of you because I
want you. For those who want to do Dawa. Do it with your heart. So
those who are studying, do it from your heart. As we say, where's it
come from the heart, go to the heart words that come from the
mouth, fall upon death ears. So we want to go to the flows. So may
Allah bless all of you to build those people who are completely
sincere. And the words that you speak come from your heart and go
to the heart. And if all you do is all learn for yourself, and you
just teach us you've learned something to improve your
relationship with Allah and maybe your family's. Allahu Akbar.
So I like Mission complete,
masha Allah, that was
really touching story. And I think really an important one of the
most important lessons a person is going to have as a member of Azad,
he said you had well it is just all about the intention, the whole
book.
One of them I remember reading about once one of the ODA is very
well known story, he said that he he's, he's been worshipping a lot.
33 years working just on the intention. So model,
everything else, well, easy, you learn it and you practice it's
easy, but the intention can take 40 years to learn.
So in sha Allah, that anytime anyone's headed to Atlanta, how
can they find you?
Facebook, okay, your Facebook message?
Facebook, message me there.
And inshallah we'll be happy to receive you. Mashallah. Wonderful.
Thank you so much for coming on. Just really appreciate it. And
hope it's not the last time
I met the service whenever you need me just reach out. Thank you
so much barnacle afek. Well, yeah, come,
sit.
Right.
So there you have it,
you have now somebody is just gonna give it to you as it is. And
it's not going to be covered up in a turbine. And it's not going to
be given any sauce. And I'm not going to be given a lot of
terminology. But I'm telling you, like, if I had
a pupil, you'd be mandatory to go spend some time with him.
Because he's going to teach you what a colossus and you're gonna
go there, and there's gonna be no icing on the cake. You're gonna
learn what if losses, whether you like it or not, not by theories,
just the way he lifts. Like he's, as he said earlier on, he says, I
don't like phonies. I'm not a phony. And what you see is what
you get.
That's how it's gonna be you're gonna learn if loss in practice,
that's, that's my perspective on it. From hearing his story, see
how he talks about it and everything. And
it's so important to close solitude. Solitude, I think is so
important. You got to have solitude. And in that solitude,
you sort of have to pretend that this is it. This is gonna be life
forever. I don't have anything, nothing that I enjoy. None of the
people that I enjoy nothing. This is it. I'm all alone. Now. Imagine
yourself you've been plucked from here and flipped onto a planet all
by yourself, alright, live, the rest of your life here will bring
you food and drink.
Okay, live your life on this planet. You get sick, we'll send
you a nurse. But live you let rest of your life on this planet all by
yourself, or you're going to have a class
that's going to develop and then you have to ping pong back and
forth. That's the key. Because if you're always in solitude, you
don't know the diseases of the heart that you have. Until you
mingle with people. Then you realize, oh my gosh, I have a
temper problem. I have an envy problem. You don't know if you
have envy or not until someone
and slightly younger than you does better than you, or an equal to
you does better than you, you don't know that you have envy.
Until then, you don't know if you have arrogance until you see
yourself more successful than someone older than you. That's why
you need to be it those who are older than you equal to do and
younger than you. You don't know if you have desire until you're
around people who have who are presenting a temptation. You don't
know if you have love of dunya unless you're around your peers
who are wealthier than you
and you say to yourself, Wait a second, well he's no different
than me. Why is he well through the me and now you need to get
into the rat race for that. So you don't know if you have these
diseases of the heart unless you mingle but then now you need to be
cured then you ping pong back from that to solitude
to cure those sickness then you go back and you almost like test
yourself again. When you mingle with people do situations are
going to come up again. Now how to how's my heart reacting? Then you
ping pong back and forth better than solitude if possible is the
shoe themselves to be they're almost like emitting medicine in
everything that they do these are a few who have been have done this
been around the block been with the bigger shield and a full chain
of transmission back to the prophets of Allah when he was
there the doctors of the hearts so to ping pong between these three
between solitude between the shoe and between life and work and Dow
and everything you ping pong back and forth between these three
things that's going to bring the best result and Allah knows best
lot of stuff we have talked about if you want to attend the class
I'm about to teach right now in two so wolf reading the book of it
have you been would have been said have been Hafid go to arc view dot
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for that and then you can get on to the Zoom I'm gonna head on to
the right now which is Aqua lowfat and Subhanak Allah Who Moby Dick I
said the one Illa Illa and stuff we're going to be like what is it
in Santa Fe of course Illa Dena Mo Mo Salah had What's also been Huck
what's also have a sub was set at Qumran.
Job
know
who
God