Shaun King – Why Im now glad Meta banned me from Instagram. 100s of you asked me to post this clip

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			I'll say to you something for those of
		

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			you who've stayed around.
		

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			Many people have recognized me here in Istanbul.
		

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			Even just right before I started filming someone
		

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			said, Sean, we miss you so much on
		

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			Instagram.
		

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			I miss being able to be there to
		

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			do what I did.
		

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			At first, I was bitter.
		

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			I spent over 10 years building, not an
		

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			account, I built a community of 6 million
		

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			people from 150 countries.
		

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			And it was some of my life's work.
		

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			I've raised millions of dollars for causes and,
		

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			and charity.
		

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			And at first I was hurt and I
		

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			was bitter.
		

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			But now I've, I've grown to think differently
		

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			about it.
		

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			I've grown to think that when I lost
		

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			my Instagram account, it removed so much noise
		

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			from my life, good noise and bad, that
		

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			I was able to hear and listen and
		

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			reflect.
		

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			I don't know that I would be a
		

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			Muslim today, had they not taken that account
		

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			away.
		

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			Alhamdulillah, because they took that account away.
		

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			I was able to consider, who am I?
		

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			Where am I?
		

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			What am I?
		

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			And who will I be for the rest
		

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			of my life?
		

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			I don't trust myself enough to believe that
		

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			I would have ever become a Muslim.
		

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			If I was, if I had never lost
		

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			that account, I would probably still be on
		

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			Instagram, chugging, pushing.
		

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			I was working day and night, sharing stories,
		

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			translating messages.
		

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			But they removed something and it was, what
		

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			they did was unjust.
		

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			But if you know Allah, Allah can even
		

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			use injustice to do something beautiful.
		

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			And people started telling me, they said, Sean,
		

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			you may have lost 6 million followers, but
		

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			you gained 2 billion sisters and brothers all
		

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			over the world.
		

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			MashaAllah.
		

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			And I would make that trade 100 times
		

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			out of 100.
		

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			If someone said to me today, Sean, you
		

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			could either accept Islam or be on Instagram,
		

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			which would you choose?
		

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			It's no choice.
		

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			I'm choosing Islam.
		

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			I'm choosing Allah.
		

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			I'm choosing the message of our Prophet Muhammad,
		

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			peace be upon him.
		

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			I'm choosing to learn about the companions of
		

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			the Prophet like Abu Ayyub.
		

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			That's richer, deeper, better than an Instagram account
		

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			with 100 million followers.
		

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			I would rather be a Muslim than own
		

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			Instagram.
		

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			I would rather be a Muslim than own
		

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			Meta.
		

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			This is no trade at all.
		

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			And so I won.
		

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			They meant it for wrong, but Allah used
		

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			it for good.
		

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			And so sisters and brothers, I'm going to
		

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			get ready for prayer.
		

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			And I'm going to wait here for a
		

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			few moments.
		

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			And for those of you who want to
		

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			stay while we hear the call to prayer,
		

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			I will, I'll continue filming, but I would
		

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			like to even begin getting myself ready, my,
		

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			my heart and mind ready for prayer.
		

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			I love you all.
		

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			I appreciate you.
		

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			This is, if my time is right, it's
		

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			about 46 minutes.
		

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			I don't know how to edit videos, so
		

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			I'm doing it all in one take.
		

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			It won't always be like this.
		

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			One day we'll have editors and one day
		

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			maybe there'll be a cameraman here on this
		

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			channel, but for now it's me and a
		

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			little camera that I have in my hand.
		

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			And, uh, but I'm happy, uh, in my
		

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			soul, I'm happy in my heart.
		

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			I'm happy in my mind.
		

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			I'm happy in my mouth.
		

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			I'm happy because, uh, we are with Allah.
		

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			The only thing that I, the only thing
		

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			that breaks my heart is that there's still
		

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			so much suffering and pain and evil and
		

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			ugliness in this world.
		

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			And I think even now, as I pray,
		

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			I will be praying for our sisters and
		

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			brothers in Gaza.
		

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			I'll be praying for you.
		

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			I'll be praying for our sisters and brothers
		

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			in the West Bank.
		

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			I'll be praying for our sisters and brothers
		

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			in Sudan, in Congo.
		

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			I'll be praying for oppressed people everywhere for
		

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			Kashmiris, for our Uyghur sisters and brothers.
		

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			Uh, I'll be praying for the Ummah.
		

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			And please, I ask that you also pray
		

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			for me and that you join me in
		

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			all of these prayers for oppressed people, that
		

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			Allah sustain them, provide for them.
		

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			Please, please Allah give them strength, give them
		

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			provision, give them freedom.
		

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			And, uh, I will say these prayers with
		

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			all of you.
		

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			Okay.
		

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			Let me show you, I'm going to, I'm
		

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			going to take a seat and I'll show
		

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			you around and then I'll be silent.
		

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			And when the call to prayer begins, I
		

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			was told it's best not to speak.
		

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			Salaam Alaikum.