Suhaib Webb – Heavy Rotation Explanation of Sura alAsr
AI: Summary ©
AI: Transcript ©
So this chapter is a Mechon chapter.
And Mechon chapters was anything that was sent before the migration
to Medina, whether it was in Mecca or not.
Right, so whether it was in Mecca or not, is still considered
makiya. And the Meccan chapters that were sent to the prophet,
which are the majority at a Salam of the Quran have certain sorts of
characteristics. The first characteristic is that they don't
deal with law.
There's a big debate amongst,
you know, legal scholars within the Muslim tradition. Are there
actually any legal verses, meaning anything related to you have to do
this, you can do this
found in Meccan chapters.
But they're, at least we could say extremely rare. If they exist, to
the point that it's, it's debatable if one exists. Why?
Like, why why do you think
that went down that way? Like, why is it that these chapters St.
Louis 13 year period in Mecca,
are not dealing with law?
And how do you apply that to new Muslims now? And how do you apply
that to people who are be coming back to his son?
Because most of the time, what I see I have a 23 year old daughter
who tells me about this all the time. You know, there's a lot of
lawyers on social media. And everybody's sort of which the law
is important. But seems to be like a focus that may be out of place,
especially if you don't know what you're talking to. Like, you might
go and just like see someone just go off on somebody's social media
page, because how they look or something that they say or do, but
they don't even know where that person is coming from.
So why do you think so? question first 13 years Meccan surah. One
of the distinguishing characteristics of those chapters
is that there is no law.
Why?
Yes, sir. Sir, right? Try. I'm trying. Remember Imran Imran
right? Okay, I'm trying to do this serious.
I prayed that it's because in those early days,
it would have been too much of a deterrent to people who were just
learning about the faith and learning how to incorporate it
into their dating life. Absolutely. Like it can be
overbearing, I remember the night I became Muslim. This man told me
like, You got to pray five times a day and I was like, five times a
day. You got twice, you know, like five, how do you do five? Can you
like join them all together, though? Because I was that was a
lot on the bar. Right? If you look at life like a bar, that's a lot
of plates that you suddenly put on that deadlift, you know, the
deadlift of Eman so I remember myself sort of being like wow and
having to work into that that's a that's a good point say to Aisha
says as related Bible hottie she said Praise be to Allah Who said,
you know verses about belief in the hereafter good character
belief in Allah before he said, Don't drink and don't find a cake
because if he said don't drink it, they'll find a cake. We'd have
never been able to do the form like the first with of our human
wouldn't have like blossomed, right. So that's a good point.
What else? Like
yes, when I didn't hear your name, name. Okay. So kind of the the way
of like putting more importance to that section over the lowness at
that time, right? Building character.
Building commitment.
That's a good point. Yeah, absolutely. So sort of focusing on
the fundamental core issues and then that becomes a core issue
later on. But people are in the place, it's easier to accept it.
You know, there was an old man he came to the Prophet in Medina, who
became a summit in Mecca. And he said in Medina, the laws cathedra
to sunlight now, so a lot of stuff to do, like, these are just a few
things I can do you know, outside of the obligations, and the
Prophet told to like make thicker.
Like, just remember Allah keep your tongue moist with Allah's
remembrance. Yes, Mohammed finger
often says, just like we've heard, there's a dead crowd. Kadeem, the
idea of, if the if a journalist early years and Sam, there's law
and then you get a whole bunch of essential as they're trying to
improve their characters of looking another store, you
shouldn't do that. And you shouldn't do that. And that's
wrong. And the law says of oh, well, and that is not a very
invitee in any way, and everybody's still trying to figure
it out. So the last thing you need is to have to watch people going
around judging other people based on what's said, you can. My own
experience, I found the law. Good, because it gave me a framework
that I didn't have say in Christianity. So it provided like
a scaffolding, but like too much would have been hard right?
So there's that unique balance of like needing kind of a place.
There was a survey of Generation Z thinking the Washington Post about
their attitudes, why they're leaving the church. And one of
their responses was there's no there's no, there's no substance.
It's fluff. Right? So the the law is there, but it can be a burden
you will do a lot of equally you saw what I even called Alliant Is
it easy for you not hard for you? A hardship for you. Nice. Thank
you, Mohammed. Anyone else? If I don't know your name is because I
didn't hear your name. So just just joking, but anyone else have
any suggestions? Yes. Your name sorry. suffer. Okay. And then it
isn't the right hashtag on but just the idea that like, like the
first floaters on like a chat, just like adding them Besitzer to
understanding there's one guy that I thought he was super annoying,
as like that basic, you need to slow down and everything I'll take
I'll build this out to the offender, it'll flow so like to
bike that there are a lot like a mod is suddenly run into your
tuality. So they get that speed 6000 and haven't like had on the
other thing, it's like a loss and that get it thanks to Anita, her
father has a great definition of Islam. He said yielding to Allah.
Right. So to yield. Sometimes it's hard, you know,
you got to look in the blind spots, you got to make sure
there's no one there. You know, it takes a lot to yield in this this
commitment that Islam is ultimately demanding of us.
Absolutely. I think there's another point I'll make that I've
always thought about that Mecca was hard.
Like the Meccan experience was brutal, right? social suicide, you
know, to become Muslim in Mecca basically meant you lost your
tribe support, you lost your economic agency, potentially. And
then there was of course, the physical aggression. When people
were banished, like two people now Laza. You know, the people in
Shibby taught him who were abandoned. No one could do
business with them. No transactions. Like at that moment,
sending love would be hard, right? People are already kind of proving
themselves. And so I think it's also like out of a Rama. And we
should take that in consideration when we are. I know when I trained
as a Mufti. Were to actually ask a lot of questions just to make sure
that the answer that is given is the truthful answer. But it
doesn't lead to more harm,
that that person may not be in a place where they can perform those
things.
So So to answer is a Meccan, Surah, Mecca surah is tend to be
distinguished by a focus on character,
a focus on belief in Allah, the prophets and the hereafter, and
books and angels. And then whatever happens is good or bad.
And also making chapters focus on community
needing each other alliances, if you will, that are intra faith
oriented. Because the road is a hard road.
So So to answer comes in it kind of encapsulates all this. That's
why Imam Shafi he said that if so to answer was the only chapter
sent it will be enough for people I give if that was all that was
revealed. Like that would suffice people
so Allah subhanaw taala begins this chapter with an oath This is
called well well we'll Kasam what you find it especially in the last
part of the Quran, what Baja what Layli either such a great Allah
swears by you know, the morning light. Many places in the Quran
Watteau are keytab and must also poor and basically, if you find it
to get the meaning of what this wow,
it's like, I put that on,
or I swear by, that's really the feel of it. Right? And it's kind
of lost sometimes in translation, but that's the minute books in
beha. Like so I swear by this one of the my earlier teachers he was
from Brooklyn. He passed away in COVID Mela had mercy on it used to
say that this wow was like if you play basketball, congrats, no
one's gonna congratulate me on the Celtics. I still love you too.
That when someone fouls you, you're like, that's a foul. You
say like, I put that on this distance. You failed me. Right?
That's the feeling of this Well,
like I swear by this.
And when ALLAH SubhanA wa Tada swears by something in the Quran
is because it's important.
Ignore it, and he wrote a whole book just about these oaths. The
Divine Olsen like, what are the wisdoms? What are the lessons?
What are the implications? Why would Allah subhanaw taala swear
so what is not like the well, which means and this is the well
that means I put that on, you know what swear by.
Al Asad. alacer means time, there's a number interpretations
of what it means. Some people said to me set out to answer but that's
impossible to do.
As there was no slaughterhouse or Mecca
with respect, they don't go into people's head off if they say it's
allowed to ask her God bless, right? You don't need to go out
like just going, you know, Halau brisket on people you know, to me,
like, take it easy. Another interpretation is that alacer
means a dat
like all of existence from the time of Adam to ash era.
The other interpretation is that a law sort of means the time of the
Prophet SAW Allah when he was Saddam, because it's a blessed
time
since he was sent until the end of time, this is the Oscar Mohammadi
act. This is the time that the prophets message is permeating
amongst people.
So Allah swears by time we're going to talk about that we get
back to it in the word Inna, I want to do this so you have every
words when you pray you like now it's like it's pixelated, more,
you know, but do your own research. Don't restrict yourself
to my reflection is used to show like, if you think the person
doubts you,
if you think the person doubts you. So an example maybe an
Egyptian sling, they'd be good, be good. Like really, really.
And it's used when you think the listener either needs to be
encouraged. Maybe their their themselves are struggling, or you
think the listener doesn't believe you was called Jim lapada B and
rhetoric. It's a sentence where you're requesting something in
indeed translated like as indeed, there's other ways we could render
it. But you know,
in slang, we use a lot of these kinds of terms, but in music for
real without a doubt.
So, in that l incent l Insan. Means human beings is some gents
humanity
in that in Santa Luffy. This lamb is called lemma Tokita means it's
a language used again to show emphasis. So here we see in one
verse to emphasis in that and let which means for real for real.
Indeed, indeed. That's the feeling when you read it, and that's why a
good party will lead Salah like they'll read it with the rhetoric.
So they will read like about hellfire and some like super nice,
soothing voice not going to read about heaven and their sound like
you know, they're watching a horror movie. They feel the
language. So in null incense, indeed, all people levy are
without a doubt fee in the Quran uses fee Allah fee actually means
to be inside something literally of our fear. So Enough, enough you
send to DC. I'm now in central DC.
But here it's used in a rhetorical form to show depth
to give a feeling of of a bit of a sort of submersion. That's why
usually when Allah talks about disbelievers and people are
straight, he says field thought it will be they are submerged in this
guidance. And you lose this like a little bit. It's called esteana
bit of rhetoric, it's like a form of rhetoric related to articles of
preposition in Al Insana, indeed they are submersed hosts
hear the word holster means to lose. But the bigger meaning is
like failed to profit
failed to to bring about some kind of, you know, benefit from the
transaction that a person was engaged in.
And the transaction is time.
So these people that Allah is talking about here in this first
part of the chapter, I swear by time and the answer on the oath
sauna segment, I put that on something you found me it's like I
put that on something. Indeed. People indeed are lost.
Because every oath has to have an Arabic an object of the oath
julabo Casa
who speak Urdu you say? Joab ordered it Hamdulillah. So you
said Joab guy, right? So in Al Insana, Allah fie hoarser.
hear something cool, man.
And if it's too difficult, tell me but it's important, right? If you
look at the word holster, it's indefinite. It's not a definite
now doesn't have added phlegm. And usually in the Quran, I want to
teach you things that when you read on your own, you catch
things.
Like I don't want you just to come and have like you have your own
important relationship. We talked about this before with the Quran
that has to be meaningful for you. There are easy like skill sets you
can acquire to be able to you might not I'm not a Arabist. So
what? Well, most of the Sahaba they weren't Arabist there are
better ones.
Right? But here is this a indeed, humanity is in the loss. Fearful
serene. A
loss. Why is it indefinite because the loss cannot be defined. The
person who fails to use this life in the right way is committing
such an act of loss, that it can't be, it can't be cornered.
So the feeling here is like whoa, like real loss undefinable loss.
And that's the secret why sometimes added flame is used and
not used. So when Allah talks about the Prophet, now you do it.
Why does he call him what I've met? 10 not a Rama. The prophet is
an indefinite mercy, not a definite mercy. Why? Because the
prophets mercy cannot be limited or defined.
When Allah talks about the Quran, he says no room a light,
indefinite, it doesn't say unknown why, because the light of the
Quran, it has unlimited undefinable usages. It's actually
beautiful man. By here, it's used to say, you get in trouble. Right?
It carries a different meaning in Santa Fe, whose friend
and also it's meant to make the listener who's strong and Arabic
to say, what kind of loss
because it's not defined. So like if you if you if you are talking
to someone that you start with an indefinite, they're gonna be like,
Well, I don't know what you're talking about right now. Or also
sometimes the definite I don't know what you're talking about.
The Quran does this all the time, to as we talked about when we when
we explained soul to Fatiha to bring you into the narrative to
compel you to ponder and think about a failure to adapt Varun Al
Quran. Mr. pulumi him up refer to her the Quran says Will they not
to Dumbo to some Dooby Doo Burmese back? So it means Yetta Dubow
doesn't mean they think about the Quran. They think about it to the
extent they start from the front they go to the back and they come
to the front again. They know it like this
so here this is called Touch week a Senate to shoot it means to
entice the listener entice the listener to bring the listener
into the month Yes ma'am.
I don't remember what the the mifold instruction is called.
That's okay. I don't either
to be associated which I thought would work though. Like so was
there an indefinite right. So could it be a full suit all of us
are like love
well that Yeah, exactly like that. That you're the underdog that
undefinable loss is linked back to their failure to use can't time
credibly. He's he has a cleaves time it time completes that
phrase. They didn't beat at the end. No, me. Yeah, no, no, no, no.
That's not That's not Mo Da formula. That's it. But you know
what, I'm glad you're you're in it, man. You know what I mean?
Like, if I was gonna give an answer that may have been a little
off, it couldn't have been better than that answer. No, honestly,
like, that's a very good essence. No, say honestly. Like, like,
that's like a right answer, you know, in the wrong place. I'm not
trying to diss nobody don't please don't take it though. I'm saying
like, good. You don't want time in dollar Lifta. We had a Russian, a
Russian classmate from Dagestan. So he knew how to fight and just
you ought to fight and he had the Beatles hair cut the whole nine,
right? And so he memorized the Arabic dictionary. He was a
genius. But then he would say all these weird words, you know, and
articlestags was 90 years old, and he was like, the man of the jitsu
heavy cardio Myrtle about Ebell Kadima law to collect why you
always come with this weird words, man.
You know, like nobody who said, well let us Mahadeo Kelim I've
never heard this word before in my life, you know? And then he
started telling you making up words. He's like, No, I swear to
God.
But one time he said a word which is a vulgarity in, in Egyptian
slang, but in ancient Arabic, it has a positive meaning so that the
staff didn't know the ancient meaning. And he kept saying it and
saying it and finally he was like, listen,
that is the best wrong answer ever again. That's how you got in. But
here's not necessarily wrong because you're pushing through and
you get double the edge or according to the Hadith
Hamdulillah you know, I don't like religious studies that activity
people from trying.
That is unacceptable and that stars cut sometimes at home.
Right? Everything's haram everything's Halal unless you
prove it haram. But it can be reinforced by quote unquote,
teachers. And there's a place for that. I mean, if you have a really
crazy student, you might need to keep them in check. But in
general, people are not robbing banks, not me doing crazy stuff.
So in the inserra left here for serene here, Hosur is the object
of the preposition fee that was your question that's not well
dolphin yet ah module or be fee
laffy a wholesome they are submerged in this undefinable
unrestricted loss this is in rhetoric yes ma'am
because there is that similar Forel it's just it's just muster
it's a word holster is just a verbal noun
in send me is all all that's why has
that added for me is everybody like Oh Honey, I love these
questions they're like a child
yeah singular l incense is Medusa does a house called Islam Gemma
doesn't take a plural it's understood to be plural doesn't go
singular. It doesn't go it's just insane. Yeah.
It means everybody
means everybody. That's why has Edie like Al hamdu
all praise every type of priests. Yes, sir. What's the difference
between
NAS and insam? We'll talk about it we get to shortness. I don't want
to give away that Easter egg now and hold up hold up guys. Wait a
sec. No, I'm stoked. So in San is all humanity from the time of Adam
to the last person that will die.
Lafayette was it's very interesting in the rules of Kira
act. We are forbidden to stop on this verse.
Like we can say Bismillah R Rahman r Rahim Well, our three in Santa
Fe Of course, I'm out.
Because the light super depressing.
You know, like everyone's lost. Everyone's submerged in loss. You
have to continue. Illa is stiff NAT is an exception. One of my
teachers should say this is the exception of hope.
Like this the exception of Rama
Illa Allah Lena Amman, except those who believe
why middle Saudi height.
And you talked about Amil before who perform works of
righteousness. What Tao so we'll hop in here pay attention. Maybe I
didn't see how he translated it. But tell us always in the past
tense is not in the present tense. Tell us Sona for a while soul they
did.
They cooperated. What tell also bill how they cooperated with the
truth.
And there's a reason that bat is here. This bat is given you it's
different than Bismillah. This baggers giving a feeling like it's
stuck to them less
it's with them.
Sort of wherever they are in the situation there bill have a mental
health
whatsoever. So Bill, hack it for them.
So they cooperated not cooperate. That's the translation sometime
you missed something. What Tao solve it healthy. What lol solve
is sub.
And they cooperate and they work together they organize if you
wanna think about in contemporary language, on resilience, then he
translates it as perseverance. I don't like to translation patients
if you like it, it's fine. Not a fan of why is it in the past tense
though?
Because it is though these people are certain like they've acquired
this characteristic to the point that it's become like, if you tell
me Can you pick me up from the airport, I'm like it's done. Has
that feeling they've inculcated this quality in them.
So it's like it already happened. Like that's the kind of people
they are. So they're so consistent in the future that you talk about
it like it's already done in the past. This is rhetoric. Arabs like
to do this in classical language. If you want to praise the good
qualities of someone in the present. You mentioned it in the
past,
as though like your whole life, you've been like this. Guaranteed,
no doubt, done deal.
So that's like the simple meetings of this super important chapter.
It says everyone is going to be a loser, except those who believe
and those who do good, and those who work together towards
truth, and those who work together towards perseverance or
resilience. Here's something nice, is it perseverance and resilience
part of truth.
Again, the broader scale of things, persevering. To be a
righteous person in front of the tides of life, certainly is part
of truth.
The Prophet peace be upon him said nobody was given anything better
than resilience.
And in the Quran, you find something interesting, that
oftentimes when ALLAH SubhanA wa Tada talks about the people have
patience, the grammatical tense suddenly switches.
So for example, lace hubiera
unto World War geochemically Bella mush up will Melvin Obi Wan Kenobi
Rahman m&r de la la says now righteous that you turn to the
east or west. My righteousness is the one that's the object it's
more for just for into Arabic and I'll see we got some Arabic so I'm
gonna do it like that it's in this active I like to say a ruffle is
the doer I don't like this nominative and all these weird
words that mean nothing they'll refer case is the subject of the
verb or the subject of the of the noun sentence. So who believes
should have been the subject here doesn't because this month, but
then in the middle of this verse, it doesn't say wasabi rune says
what was sabe it changes, even though it's a conjunction, the
tense changes from being the subject to being the object, as
though Allah is saying, I pray specifically, and recognize
exclusively out of all of these noble qualities that are talked
about in this verse, the doer, the doer, the doer, the doer, they're
resilient is the object, because I'm the holy, I praised him. I
recognized him because people have resilience are rare. And people
have resilience that people have muck Lubenow, turning the world on
its head because of their resilience and preserve its
perseverance. So it's something important, so is it resilience and
perseverance part of truth? Absolutely. Now, why is it
mentioned in isolation? This is something that is unique to the
Arabic language. We do it a lot of sports. We say the Boston Celtics
and Jaylen brown isn't Jaylen brown part of the Boston Celtics.
The whole series there was saying the Boston Celtics and KP without
KP, they won't win. So they give say, Boston Celtics and Christoph
zingers. But isn't he a part of the team? Yes. Why is he mentioned
isolation, because he's so important to success, he is so
important to the goal. So as though Allah says help you do
whatever you need to do, please feel free. Now I got your back.
I've been there. My wife has to say go and she almost died. So
I've been there done it. You don't have to feel any inhibition, right
mothers on our heads. And Allah. What also will happy what Wow. So
this summer, as if to say, fundamental to your ability to
scale a life of truth, and a life of good deeds. And a life of iman
is resilience. Resilience is the key resilience is your starter.
And this is called the OP cos either. Well, you mentioned the
universal and then you mentioned something specific later to show
us importance, for example. And so the Bacara Allah says whoever is
the enemy of Allah, and his angels, and his messengers, and
Gabriel, and Michael isn't Gabriel, Michael angels.
Absolutely, why they mentioned the isolation cause of their
importance. So here it says those who work together in truth, and
those who work together in resilience, resilience is part of
truth, but it's mentioned in isolation to highlight its
centrality and living a life of ima.
And that's why Imam Al Ghazali in Manhattan LBD Inshallah, we can
teach you to hear the abridged version.
He says that one of the key components of faith, the seven
qualities of a person on the path of faith and adherence is
resilience.
They have to be resilient, resolute, it's hard.
Imam Razi offers some layers of reflections about this chapter
that I'll mention, and then we'll stop. But I think they're very
powerful because at a broader level, this chapter is giving us
everything we need in our individual
sort of commitment to Islam, but then as a community, how do we
scale community and we'll talk about it in four ways. rather
quickly. Number one is this chapter is an encouragement to
repent
because sometimes people if we take the initiative
interpretation, we're going with our means time.
And in fact, if you look at the 30th part of the Quran, it starts
backwards how we think about life, I was born, I was a toddler, I was
a pre K was K elementary school, middle school, high school,
college, emergent adulthood have all these terms now I had to learn
I did my degree in education I forgot them all. Right, then you
know middle age halfway middle age, tweens. Galis terminology.
But alas, our means time.
And
if we go with this interpretation, we look at the 30th part of the
Quran we see starts backwards, does it start with when you're
bored and starts the achiara? I may have to set a rune on it.
Nobody loves him. It begins the 13th part of the Quran. Not
talking about when you're born, talking about after you're dead
and
And then if you look at the 30th floor of the Quran, the whole part
of that Quran is going backwards, the Day of Judgment what happens
in the grave Heaven and *, this and that, this and that. And then
it gets to put up this mural because Allah the Halacha, call in
Salem, and read in the Name of your Lord, with the name of your
Lord, Who created you starts with creation in the ends by saying
what, what else? Sounds like backwards. So the way the 30 a
chapter 30 as part of the Quran is interrogating us to see how we
prioritize our life. Do I start with the hereafter? Would I start
like when I was a baby then grew up and this and this? What do I
prioritize? Because that's gone? That's done. What am I prepared
for that meeting with ALLAH SubhanA wa Tada. So we'll take the
here the meaning of Asa out of all the interpretations that we gave,
just for our sake, and for time and brevity will say Oscar means a
duck. Time
you in nil in Santa Fe, a closer Isla de una mano y mano slightly
healthier to also be healthier to ourselves. So it's great that this
chapter is only three verses. So we can all memorize it a
hamdulillahi rabbil aalameen is one of the first chapters I
learned and was very impactful in my life.
But a Razzie says something nice. Sometimes people they live lives
that are found that, you know, even Muslims admit like Muslims in
my life. And we all struggle not to live forever. Of course, not.
Well, very honestly. Then they'll say to you like, it's too late.
Like, I can't, I can't turn back to Allah. Like you don't know what
I've done. Or maybe they haven't lived a long time, but they've
done a lot of stuff, a lot of evil. And so their insecurities
will start to bubble. Their shaitan will start to mess with
them, things will happen and they will say like,
why should I repent? A Razzie says something beautiful. This oath
should inspire anybody to turn back to Allah. Because Allah
subhanaw taala didn't swear by your youth. He didn't swear by
being middle aged. He didn't swear when you're old. He said time
which means all the time you have in this world. And he says
something is kind of hyperbole. I put it on Facebook. I think
tonight, I'll put it there. He says, If you lived 1000 years of
sinful sort of like behavior, not hurting others. That's a whole
nother level of discussion. But a person has their their private
sin, their public sin maybe that doesn't like necessarily harm
people.
And you repented in the last months of your life, you will fall
under the promise of this chat.
So it's like an inspiration to always come back ill Alladhina
amanu while I'm in Saudi hat. And Toba of course means to live
right? To repent and then try to defer.
So at an individual level, this chapter should aspire us to think
about like, am I repenting? My turning back to Allah subhanaw
taala. My seeking Allah's forgiveness, my seeking Allah's
pardon, again, one of the qualities of Azadi benches out of
the seven, the second is repentance. Person has always
engaged not repentance, at least to guilt. And Islam. Repentance
isn't a synonym of guilt. And Islam repentance is the synonym of
emancipation,
to be free of dunya, to be free device, to be in a state of
Obadiah to Allah subhanho wa taala. So he says in null in Santa
Fe hawser. By time, people are going to be lost. So you know
what, let me use my time. Let me get back to Allah. Let me turn
back to Allah.
The second lesson that we take individually, is how we scale our
life and our time, consistently investing in our Amen. And
consistently investing in doing good. And sometimes it's hard,
especially where America is now. It's a very cathartic environment.
It's one that sort of breeds hostilities and breeds a lot of
anger. And that's amplified by social media. The algorithmic
suggestions are there to make you react methodically. You ever
wonder like, if you go online, you like, what do I see what I hate?
Like, you know, I'm just looking for some stuff about my kids money
to find some wood furniture. I got a Waldorf kid, I open up and say,
God, I hate these Moslems, and I freaking want to kill them all
boom, up and like, I don't even know how to do it. Like, why is he
on my feed? Because they know, psychologically that that may
cause me to want to comment to react, to block to Google ads, so
to speak.
So it can become difficult. This chapter allows you to center
yourself on two things, three things, four things. Number one,
amen. What does it mean to have a man with Allah? We talked about it
in the bus voila. But in general Eman with Allah means to affirm
his transcendence that he's not like anything and nothing is.
Nothing is like him.
So Hannah, watada beyond time beyond space, the Creator of all
things
Independent one in everything he does. Everything that happens is
because of his command SubhanaHu wa Tada. has to first SN.
To live a life as though I see Allah. Even though I cannot see
Allah I can see the rulings that Allah has put in front of me, as
we'll talk about in a second.
The second is that Ahmed
ML is not part of Imen This is the mistake sometimes the Tiktok
oxyntic
They see that people, people do something so Oh, that person is
Kaffir. Very rarely, there are a few actions that will make someone
Kaffir one of them is like if someone said, I am a disbeliever.
Right like Imam Abu Hanifa said no one leaves Islam except the way
they became Muslim. And we saw it in Maddie. In particular, what
happened in Malley, with these homology groups that came out of
Saudi Arabia, that had weapons and went into Maui, and committed
cultural genocide on the people have naughty that women who used
to sing praises of the Messenger of Allah, they killed. It said,
singing about the prophet is, what's wrong with you. There's a
great book movie called Timbuktu, a document sort of how all this
happened, that oftentimes religious extremism is also about
cultural appropriation, but in a way that's disgusting. It'll take
the culture it will tear it apart, destroy it, wreck it, in the name
of religion, sanitize it live that people with nothing. That's why
now, we see the influence of specifically extreme iterations of
certain Muslim groups. What happened to Muslim art, go to
Andalus you still see there are there.
You go to West Africa, Senegal, my teach from Cinna hut he used to
always sing, you know the poetry of Agra rumba for hours about the
messenger of allah sallallahu, Isa and Yemen. Right in parts of
especially east Africa, la Muhammad god no offense to anybody
right lot of artistic expression, the farther away you get from
Saudi Arabia, the more you find Muslim art. And this is not to be
anti Saudi or anti Salafi. This is just a fact.
Wherever you find, quote unquote, hyper literalism, wherever it is,
you find that its attack was to make tech theater people over
things like music like someone's a Kaffir because of music, like law,
how to what occurred to the biller will have inshallah hopefully in
the fall contemporary issues class, one of the things we'll
talk about as music
but Subhanallah
usually to fears made over Eman, not Amma. How do we know that
emotion and action aren't the same because of that? Well, either
Latina mo whammy or Saudi head there's a difference between being
sinful and being this believer
and he Mamata how he says in his famous al Qaeda we don't make up
fear of anyone over their sinful be. We don't say they're not
Muslim anymore. But now everyone's so one brother told me I wish
Muslims are more invested with people being Muslim, that they are
vested in Muslims not being Muslim, like the world will be a
better place. Illa Allah Lena Ermelo why middle and we say Allah
at the conjunction in Arabic to feed and Maha era. It means that
these things are different if you say so Hey, Juan, Mohammed is Mr.
Mohammed is Mohammed me. Of course. Now we're two different
people. That's the purpose of that. Well, if you say shy tea,
well, patois or tea, here, just have Taqwa for E, it's not the
same thing. So, amen. What am i That's why the majority of
Addison, they say that there is a difference between faith and
actions. Actions are the fruit of faith, but they're not faith.
And that's where we should be very, as we'll talk about in our
own space,
careful with ourselves, oh, I'm not doing this. I'm not doing that
I'm out of Islam. Don't make takfeer of yourself.
Oftentimes, I notice that Islam is more relatable to people than they
are to themselves. Subhanallah they have an imagination,
imagination, the popular imagination, Muslims have to be
challenged. That's why they hate scholarship, because scholarship
challenges that says hey, wait a minute where to anchor yourself
but because the collapse of the Islamic system, and colonialism
that went after as har went after those Duke seasons, Somalia went
after the traditional Islamic schools, destroyed them and
wrecked them because they knew that's what kept people focused
and firm. I mean, all the matches being bombed out in Gaza in even
the churches that's by design. Here in Washington DC years ago,
we tried to buy a church for Synod DC and what they tell us we change
the zoning so it can never be a church facility again, but it can
be a casino. It can be a liquor store, it can be a gun shop, it
can be a dispensary But God forbid God's house is used for God
because they know
that if you take people away from this is hard to navigate.
So Eman is not ama ama is not Amen. But we say of course, ama is
important because a tree without fruit.
It doesn't bring benefit and will be asked about how we translate to
our Eman and Tamil. So at an individual level once
I repent and I check my email then let me look at my practice.
Allah says E Lilla. Lina terrible were ostler who, those who repent.
And those who reform they do they improve themselves. What? Tao
sohbet Huck, let me look at the friends I keep individually if I
want to scale my faith, let me to call him around.
When I first became awesome, shut up that I mentor me, the guy from
Brooklyn. He said to me, bring your friends I said, Nah, shit, I
can't bring my first my shipment. He's like, why? I said, they're
not much to plant. No.
They're not like us. They're not like us shake. I just can't do it.
And he was like, grabbed me you know, it's good to have more be we
don't like that. But it was good for me to have someone grabbed me
said you show me your friends. I'll show you who you are. And if
you show me your friends, I'll show you where you're headed and
the Acura, I suck for my God. I'm in trouble. God, then my friends
became Muslim Hamdulillah. But like,
our friends are who we are. And they don't have to be Muslim or
non Muslim sometimes now muscles better than Muslims, to be honest
with you. We're not that simplistic. People around us who
reinforce good values good behavior sinteres on who you are
as people, and as well. So that's the friends we should keep. What
household Bill headquarter? Wow. So the summer. Secondly, let me
check my resilience. Resilience at an individual level is expressed,
as mentioned by Chef Zachary Al Ansari, in three ways. Number one
is to be resilient and doing good.
And now we see videos of people beating up protesters in a police
like helping the people beating up the protesters. Like there's a
level of resilience that's needed. There. We see what's going on in
Sudan and the Congo, like there's a level of resilience to push in.
But salatu Fajr? What am I teaching you to say? How you're
going to push the oppressors of the Muslims? If you can't push the
blanket off your body for federal?
Like, how are you going to push back all the evil in the world? If
you can't lift a little sheet?
One brother said to the shake, the sheet feels like 1000 pounds
shake.
He was like get strong.
But the point is, let me look at my amo Saudi hit my obligations.
filk isn't necessarily law. filk is what allows us to make sense of
existential chaos.
filk is what guides me to stay on the hook, when things around me
are pulling me apart. So where am I in that in my armor? And then do
I have a supporting cast around me? That helps me and then am I
resilient on obedience? The second aspect of resilience individually
is to be resilient from the Haram
out a very close friend call me yesterday been married for 25
years said his wife kicked him out of the house. He's not muscle so I
can tell the story. Because he has a * addiction.
I said to him, how long have you had a * ed? She said 35 years? I
mean, you never you never know what?
I'll call you, Mama. So you're not even Muslim? Yeah, but I know you
got some of that CGS. I said, bro, the only sages was the My God, I
shouldn't say check yourself get into some therapy. Maybe there's
some underlying childhood issues. He said, Absolutely. There was
something happened to me as a child. Was it ever addressed? No.
So you never put in the work to fix it, man. And I'm not blaming
you, but your wife just threw you out of the house.
Then I asked him what kind of people are around you? Oh, man, we
play pool. You know, we go to the bar. So one of my friends from
Oklahoma. We do this we go shoot guns. Like I mean, it's not Oh, I
probably shouldn't guns. But I'm saying that the bar and pool and
gambling is obviously not going to reinforce. You stayed away from
this kind of bad behavior. That's what one of my teachers used to
say If you REALLY REPENT, you repent from what triggers to sit
not just to sin.
So I think about like what leads to that evil. Then I begin to weed
that out. So now I've created a layer between me and the sin. And
one of those important layers is my partner's
Imam Shafi said there that he lived at a time where he was at
that time he traveled a lot. He lived in 10 years. He was like an
anthropologist. He learned Arabic from the Bedouins bento housing,
but then he would travel he said, I was in a city where there were
no good people. So I just talked to myself.
Then I said, after that I talked to Allah.
Just to you know, have the proper scaling to have the proper
supporting guests and sometimes it's hard like we have to be
honest. You know, we may be in situations where it's like the
lesser of two evils. Sometimes it's hard, you're not gonna find
shackle bukata Jilani DCEU, St. 14, a Saturday night, it's not
going to happen because it walking down the street in Silver Spring
or takoma park. You're not going to run into them there.
But let me choose the less of the evil meaning what to allow sub A
sub. So to be resilient away from evil, and that implies that I've
created the scaffolding ministry right before it that allows me to
do that. The third form of resilience is whatever Allah has
decreed. We talked about this a heck of a lot. What Allah has
decreed whether good or bad. Good is easy. Bad is hard, man.
Bad is tough.
Every morning, I experienced this man, a four year old. I want to
make this thing called beats a Baba one pizza. Hey, all right,
try this is a piece of cake trying to keep some time from my wife.
Should you learn to get some sleep? Because it's hard. Then the
two yo comes, I want berries of what this, I want that. I want
this. I don't want pizza. I want this. So here I am in the morning.
Allah give me patience. Resilience can play out in different ways. It
doesn't always have to be a catastrophe. There are micro
moments like that with our parents, as they get older, come
actually less understanding sometimes, right? The man's
resilience and also resilience within yourself. Every single one
of us has like evil that resides within us. And we have to be
resilient and push that away. And we ask ourselves that Allah Zadie
says Allah decreed that evil for you to test you so you can measure
yourself and know where you really stand.
That's like your one rep. Max. Where are you in this? So being
patient, not only with resilience with the good
but with the evil while this stuff has happened in the world, if
Allah was here, why is that happening? stay resilient. Wild
Allah. Yeah.
So the individual level, the chapter focuses on what reminded
me how do I use this time
as why LM episode when the great great scholars, he said that the
whole idea is like a person who didn't use their time correctly in
the transaction that Allah has given them the blessing of their
life.
They failed to profit because they were more worried about profits
with the SDN profits with a pH
to get caught up.
How do I rectify this? Repentance, faith, good works. Let me look at
the things around me that orbit my life.
And then let me see and examine my resilience
at a community level. This chapter also is very important. Because we
are here to help each other be resilient in what I guess time
like actually wanted to do day like check in like how everybody's
feeling because it's a lot of stress, man. So a lot of pressure.
If you're away from your family, I was away from my family for years.
I know how hard it can be. But time, maybe next time. But I felt
like we should do that. Because we need to be here for one another.
You should the bada bada prof said you support one another you
strength against what against difficult issues and time
difficult struggles and time. Without community is very
difficult to scale religion.
It's very hard.
Yes. I thought question kind of related to that. So when we were
talking about, like, mutually working together on truth, we
talked a lot about a lot of the examples we talked about were how
do you get to a place where you're kind of like,
living by the laws of Islam, like in that, you know, scale. But at
the beginning, we talked about how sometimes, either individually or
maybe in our friends or family or in our community?
Someone doesn't seem to be ready for that. Right? Like they're not
ready to maybe be in compliance with the laws of Islam. So how do
you? What's your benchmark for like, either individually
progressing towards that or like helping someone like Oman a friend
or family number? Like, progress to that? Get to that? And second,
I'm gonna get to I got a good question. Thank you.
So at acuity level, we want to think about the time we have
together
and by the robot arms, race to do good,
the good that we can do as a community, the good that we can
do, and bringing,
you know, the light of Islam to people as well as helping people.
Not everyone became Muslim in the time of the Prophet because of
Islam. Some people became Muslim because the Prophet fixed marriage
crisis, he got rid of interest, which was a form of oppression. He
did many things initially, some people became some to get married
even some of the Sahaba I will call her who became Muslim to get
married to them select
she said, I can't marry you're a non Muslim. Yes, okay. I shadow
Allah, Allah. Allah was Shalom and
he did. In fact, she said to him, that's your Meyer SubhanAllah.
At the sahabi see now my alma mater, Moromi Salam. The Sahaba
said the best mentor ever was the mob I'm saying
Malraux her Islam. Her motto was Islam nobody went there and said
stuff Allah sister Hagen bring this brother to the masjid trying
to hook it up. Look how we are weird because we were ratchet now
we're infected with wretchedness. But back then they were infected
with light. They saw that there's potential in him. And Abu Taha
became one of the great Sahaba he became because Islam is the
process of becoming it's not an event. And when I look at as a
process of becoming dead that sort of helps me answer the question I
can become now a pharmacist not simply a judge how much dose do I
give that person even to me a set amount have been a model call to
good to at least a good don't call to Goodwill leads to bad if you
break someone to destroy them? What did you get out of it? So you
got to you answer that question I can answer that question for you.
We all have our own weights and measures when we deal with
individuals in our own life and our family you know better than me
and I trust that you will give them proper answers because you
know the situation will tell how became Muslim to marry whom Salim
the mother and a symptomatic he became a step daddy and he became
a great companion of the messenger of allah sallallahu every battle
run out now trying to find somebody don't do that man.
They'll give me a trouble brothers. But But seriously, they
saw potential.
Sometimes we look for the final call. Right final call. For those
who know instead of like to Production The process, there's
potential you know, subhanAllah I don't think I told you the story.
I used to go to this flea market and Oklahoma sell mixtapes I was I
was attempt to DJ as a disaster by was a good producer used to
produce for people there's records online to look them up very bad.
And I used to go there and sell music, you know. And there was a
man the man from Brooklyn I told you about big turbine Sudan, he
told you know, I think he like even gave salaam like this, like,
you know, he was very influenced by Sudan and the scholars of
Sudan, even though he's from here.
And so I would go by there on the way to sell the music.
The worst music, you could imagine a bit like crazy stuff. And he
would see me and he was he was hit says like, Yo, sup? I was like,
what's up? But he had a turban and the toe ones big beard with henna.
And
then I'm like, How does he know how to talk like that? No, he's
from America. They had like the big cane, you know, and
everything. And he was selling instance, oils, of course.
And so find out what about him. I was like, man, like, Who are you
met? Like, how do you know how to talk like us young people. He was
like, I'm from Brooklyn. I was like, Oh, I thought you were from
like, the Motherland or for Oklahoma. I didn't know a lot of
countries back then. I was young night. 16 year old kid. He said,
No, no, I'm from Brooklyn, but I'm Muslim as oh my god, you're
Muslim. Don't you hate white people? Don't you believe that
there's a God of the spaceship. And like the mothership has landed
and George Clinton, I start going crazy.
And then he told me no, no, no, no, no read this. He gave me a
little pentacle, Islam at a glance. So I read it, I went home,
I was like, this is the truth.
Like at the I read, I was like, Man, this this accident what like,
we believe in all the prophets of the year I don't want to like not
want to believe in a prophet. You know, like, that's not a cool
thing. So I I read that then I would go back like every few
weeks, and he would talk to me in our slang of the 90s kind of slang
you know, Oklahoma street slang if that exists like a howdy with a
what's up? And
LA. He worked on me, but I didn't know it. Then I took shahada with
him. When I took shadow me started crying. He said, The first time I
saw you, I mean to offer you
the first time I saw you, I said, this kid can do something.
So you got to believe in people too. You got to believe not in
them and Allah as he told me, bring them to Allah Allah will
clean them up. Let's say your job. So you Leila Dina Amman why Mina
Saudi hat how do we help each other as a community? What Oh,
wow. So we'll help we encourage each other to be in the truth.
Maybe some people needed tough maybe some people needed soft
maybe some people like their coffee with you know coconut milk
whatever that bitter is.
And me Irish being Irish. I just like it black, no sugar, nothing.
Right Europeans, you know are there they got that issue. But
here
that's that's different. Some people like get bitter. Some
people like a sweet how do you how do you treat people differently?
What well, so we'll help but our goal is Allah. That's why I worry
about all the isms with an American out. neoconservatives
guide young Muslim boys militarizing women, neoliberalism
gotten Muslim women militarizing men. We forgot the word OMA, no
doubt we should be critical of one another. We need to be held
accountable. But I don't need to use a Kaffir psychology or
philosophy or framework to impose it on the Muslims and bring
disunity based on that. If a man is Thalys foul because Allah
clearly mentions the role of men. And the Prophet said Men should be
good to women. And on the other hand, also, if you're upset with a
sister, what are you upset about? Do you know her? You have
relationship with her? Are you sure you're not acting out?
Some kind of machismo thing is a really silly seriously something
wrong. Actually Islam will force us to be honest our critique of
each other, but the isms lead to schisms. That's been my
experience. Look at America now is destroyed. I mean, we have a
president who celebrates an infrastructure bill should not be
able to go down georgia avenue without popping a tire. And you
were celebrating that. Should it be Pete shouldn't people in
Anacostia and se not worried about being gentrified with a j, because
you put the right amount of money in the community, but we're going
to celebrate what is the basic obligation of a leader is to take
care of its people, but you can spend $18 billion to kill babies
in Gaza. And you tell me that you're pro life.
Like, look how messed up displaces we want to take their stuff. And
now we can be critical. We shouldn't be critical. By using
our hack. Now, it's what towel sold me I don't know.
So vs to learn and build to be committed to one another. Even if
we make mistakes, we're gonna make mistakes. I'm gonna say things
that are wrong. I'm gonna say things wrong. People make
mistakes. I had a heck of a long day too. I got jetlag with two
crazy kids changed more diapers today, then, you know, they change
tires at the local automotive store. This is this life.
We come here we come here with baggage. We come here with
experiences. And we want to help each other to the truth. And then
we want to help each other be resilient. We don't have Kancil
culture. We have retention culture. That's that's where we
differ specifically neoliberalism. It doesn't give the person the
opportunity. It says it does. It's a carry in certain communities in
America, neoliberal liberal liberalism as the brilliant
theologian Vincent Lloyd, brilliant black theologian from
Vanderbilt, now I think at Notre Dame, he said neoliberalism is the
promise to the black community of becoming.
And he speaks as a black theologian he says it's a
consummate lie. The projects were a project.
And now for us to poor people Oklahoma half outcomes, our
welfare all them got no teeth myth, my family meth addicts, that
caused a promise of becoming from neoconservatives. I have a
relative that told me the ocean should turn to fire because in the
book of Revelation, our preacher told us in church that until the
ocean burns, Jesus will come.
What? Okay, then you jump into ocean Brian.
We're gonna bring that into this light. So what Tao Saba Huck. And
that's why we find sometimes you see, the red pill was some guys
are upset about militarizing Muslim women been the object of
colonialism for the last 400 something years, they've been
beaten down by this, especially Muslim women, largely a women of
color. So you add that layer to it. And now you want to turn them
on to your enemy. And you'll be unused. And then you give white
neoconservatives a free pass who pulled me off of airplanes in 2003
to 2008, who had me banned from Canada for 10 years, quote,
unquote, the Tim Hortons friendly country who subpoena me in cases
when I was at Egypt that I knew nothing about. And now you know,
Madison,
isn't that selling out? But instead you want to go and attack
Muslim sisters? Really? No, I'm married to a Muslim woman. I have
three children. I'm a I'm a dad, I'm fortunate to have three girls.
I'm a dad. I'm a girl's dad, man.
You think I'm gonna let anyone or like the robot be around my
family?
One of the most important things I tried to instill in my young
children, especially my daughters, is confidence to make decisions
and not worry about the Muslims that they're around. We'll take
that from them. So today when I was reviewing the Quran in wash, I
told my four year old correct me if she opened the Kurama correct,
Bob. Right. Well, I told God but Allah Kitab she's that's a
mistake. It's a harder Yeah. So if your mom you liability acid
mistake, but she'll go out on me. Right? But the point is, I want
her to have that confidence. And now we got a group of young Muslim
men and almost a men that are boasting about tearing down Muslim
women. So what Allah saw Bill hack with the hack, and we can hold
each other accountable with the truth, but if we don't know we can
do that. So the first in scaling community is to learn what is the
truth? What is the truth? What Allah has said in his messenger 7%
of that is unassailable, immutable. We'll talk about our
class on Islamic law hopefully in the fall 7% of the Quran and
Sunnah is an interpreted it cannot be interrupted. Pray, pray hard.
hudge Be good to your parents. That's pretty clear. Be good to
your family. Pretty clear. No one's gonna say I think there's a
difference of opinion on being good to my mom.
Zika Zika but all of them at their head. That's differences.
Scholarly difference. That means there's leeway. Imam Ahmed had 13
opinions on one issue throughout his life. He changed 13 times
because his life changed Yom Imam Shafi has too many tabs. Why does
he have too many tabs because he said
genius. He understands my life change. He got new evidences,
mostly new evidences, but also certain social circumstances. He
said you know what? In my Malik took 40 something years. Some say
more to edit them off, but why?
But we've inverted it. There's no flexibility on issues. So the
truth
the filozofia man, pillars of Islam basically we'll argue about
that.
Other stuff we can differ what a while sober, sober. How do we help
each other be resilient? Why don't we have I did this when I was an
imam. Alcoholics Anonymous in the masjid because we're embarrassed.
But should we be helping each other? That guy that called me I
said, Does your church have some for * addicts? Nah, man, I'm
embarrassed, bro. Go to church. Tell him I got a * addiction to
where you gonna go?
Dr. Phil.
We're gonna, we're gonna turn to right. And so now you have this
new class of celebrities pushing in, right. So you have like, you
know, Marilyn Manson given advice on * addiction? Yeah, that's the
guy to turn to for that.
Right? So celebrities now because of those celebrities shine have
taken the role of even preachers and ministers and Xu can
psychiatrist tell us to do stuff to our bodies? All of our medical
professionals don't do that. But we do it because they did.
So what to allow so the summer, how do we create with our
community access and partnerships? This is an interdisciplinary
challenge with people who may bring about economic assistance to
people find in jobs training. When I was an imam in Boston, you know,
we did Mashallah. We opened up a center to get people their GED,
because we had a lot of brothers that got caught up in the system
never got the high school degrees. And we knew one of the greatest
causes of resistivity was what happened to education.
And also to give them confidence themselves. Yeah, minute that you
did your GED at 52, bro. That's incredible. We had a party for
brother 52 years old that his GED and then he went to junior
college. That might not seem like a big thing to you and me. But
that means I care. That means I'm invested in my community, not just
about the wealthy donors who write two checks for the nonprofit's
that's a lack of sincerity. That's why I left that work. It bothered
me. All the board is the rich people. Where's it rip? Was the
community representation everybody rich. But most of the people in
Fajr a rich, let's be honest, they're rich in their soul.
They're rich with Allah. They may not be rich in hypocotyl. So how
do we scale new Muslims like Senator DC is a great job of this.
The if Tarly exists, how you do resilience being together. Some
people told me that they love if Tara leaks, because they find a
sense of community and connection with one another. We should have
things for expecting mothers, my wife was terrified man. First time
I was to tear for a terrifying experience. We have a lot of Og
moms in the back right there. Chachi Sahib is here.
She can give you all know I experienced this dude in his drink
this whatever, go get a massage, blah, blah, blah, whatever needs
to happen, right? How do you scale resilience not just be strong. In
fact, what a therapist say when you tell someone be strong, that
basically means you're copping out. You don't want to get
involved. Yeah, be strong. Go to therapists botnets to see how the
Fed alpha beta will be. So at a community level so to us was
telling us how do we create programming that will help Amen.
How do we program you that will help Amen. Good deeds have Okay,
programming that helps us work together to the truth and not
divide and destroy us. We can be mad at each other, we can be
angry. I had a very cathartic conversation with evoking a
conversation with a sister last time I was here. She was like, I'm
sorry, like Stop saying you're sorry. If you if you're upset with
me upset with me, okay. I'm gonna take it personal. Unless unless
it's personal. I'm gonna I'm really bad about tissue. Okay.
Right. And then last, how to create systems within institutions
and nonprofits that are going to empower where's the services for
divorcees, man, we talked them with some divorcees. It's like
they feel like they're on an island all by themselves,
somewhere with Lauryn Hill.
All by themselves. Nobody there seriously. They're very down. And
then you know, they start to see their value. I'll never get
married again. No, don't marry me. Honestly, your head. Where's the
system of support for people with children who struggle for example,
or physical limitations? How many messages have been come become
compliant with say Muhsin to ensure that in Boston, another
thing we did, we started signing the football, people's tie, kind
of, we never thought that maybe we had to create a section for people
who would listen will see the football be assigned to them. And
one of the parents came to me and said this the first time in his
life he'd been to July
since he was diagnosed with his hearing issue. So are you scale
resilience is not just be strong, Abby, man. hamdulillah pray. Now
if you really want to be resilient and resolute, institutionalize it
and scale it and bring the talent that you all have here this roll
the mouse can do that. That's not my job.
And then you'll see a difference. Till now we haven't done that, as
well. A lot of us we go to messages we don't feel something's
missing. What's missing? Man, we need that support little bit that
that the issue I may be having. I'm not trying to make myself
selfish but this is hard
people that have been sexually abused and emotionally assaulted
and physically assaulted in the Muslim community. Where are the
services for them in the institutions? They have to carry
that until they get married? A lot of them and it pops up in the
marriage?
How do we support new Muslims and their parents and relatives and
spouses who aren't Muslims? When people used to become a similar
Masjid we used to say, how old are you a Monday team? Bring Bob and
Mama.
Their parents will come to the masjid terrified. And we should
tell them we are a partner in education with you and your child.
They say I like even though I hate your religion.
Right now we're a partner. What do you want for your child wants to
see this. We're here to help you. We're here to help you. Who is
that kind of services?
Where's our position on what's happening to black people in this
country man outside of lip service and it'd be in a fat and being
about that, you know, I was let go and one of the mustards I was in.
You know what they told me a board member will lie. You making it a
black Masjid.
Well, like I said, I'm out man. I quit. What the heck is this
shaytaan Jim Crow BIA Smith shaytaan Allah fo David Duke in
Athol Brahm out and I quit.
I quit. Then I said What neighborhood away in. So we
there's La Habra, shinies
lot of Sudan ease. I say, Yeah, where do you live? The board
member will lie. He said, I live 20 miles away from the mission,
then why do you even care?
If you're going to be an ally for people, you got to feel a little
bit of the pain and suffer yourself
to be resilient with them.
No Muslims, is so funny that we all love the celebrity, no
Muslims, but we got no Muslims, right in our Masjid nobody paid
attention to because we love dunya.
But if we really were happy that people became Muslim, we will be
there with those that aren't even heard a fer from the agenda. So we
talk about Soto answer now. It gets deep. How do I scale
individually my Eman and Muhammad and my contribution to community
and my persistence in the face of personal sin and struggle? And
then at a community level? How do I do this? And I make it such a
habit, that it's consistent that it's like it's in the past? I know
slave is good for this man. He did this before. I know slave is good
for this. He did this before. I'm not like that. I wish I could be
that way.
So So to answer is a reminder, man. And it gives us the
foundations of how to live our life. Faith, good deeds, community
organizing around the truth
and helping each other stay strong. When difficulty happens.
That's why I sought to look man, if you look at the advice of man,
as we finish my apologies. What does look man tell his son? The
first thing led to shoot Billa Illallah Deena Elena.
Don't associate partners with Allah. We have to remind these
kafirs in America that if you die like this, you're going to *
and Muslims are scared to do it. You know why? Because we're no
longer a prophetic community was something else. But those of us
who became Awesome, we got no problem telling people that you
better you better get it together. You're cruisin for a bruisin. And
what did the Prophet say in the hearth article? My dad Well, I'm
scared for you that the Hellfire because when we unlocated
ourselves as prophetic, then our concerns are no longer prophetic
concerns. We don't care about people's here Afters anymore, then
we're not going to talk about the hereafter. So what's our purpose?
What are the promises some say to the Quraysh when He ascended that
sofa? He was concerned about the social issues the political, he
dealt with him, but also he told them, he told them, I'm fearful
that you're gonna go to *.
For I know, if you say that now. Muscle fire, I get more mad at you
the non Muslims.
One time there was a brother came into the masjid in Brooklyn. He
was a drug dealer in Brooklyn, and he sat down in front of the Imam
Suraj and Imam Suraj told him if you don't stop selling drugs,
you're gonna go to *, uh, you know what he said, I needed to
hear this. I never framed it in this way. I always framed it in
what I get what I don't get.
Sometimes people need to hear that it's in their fitrah
second thing that we want to talk about quickly, and will finish is
what are the qualities and forgive me of the color? This kind of
touches on what you asked me. There are eight of them mentioned
the Quran are elaborate on them in the future, but just give them to
you now the first mission is to use of the second admission this
whole time that we talk about what tawassul will help what are the
conditions of working for the Truth Number one is sincerity.
I don't see a difference the separation between the IMA is firm
and being engaged
In healing, a fractured world and a fractured society, that's
secularism. I see it together as one.
But I have to be sincere in it.
It has to be for Allah. Number two, group work.
I have to be able to function with people, people have to be able to
function with me. We're not always going to make each other happy.
We're not always going to say what we want to hear, Oh, I'm out of
here. You know, I'm saying person says sometimes, like, I'm never
coming back again, really? Like, how are you gonna get married?
I'd honestly I found my wife at least every second. You know what
I mean? Like, it's just one life. She said, You know how much I love
you so much that I love you so much.
Allahu Akbar, Allah, we should not be right. That's love.
So groupwork is very important. And the dynamics of MSA was very
important for many of us, because MSA trained us to kind of learn to
work with people and engage and defer and argue and fight. Now we
see massages every year there's new director, new leader because
someone got mad and walked away.
That's not the sign of a mature community. Oh, my God, Apple Becca
didn't necessarily get along. But they loved each other.
And when we make mistakes, in a public setting, we make mistakes.
When he mounts I'll be I'm scared to talk. I'm scared to say
something wrong. People want to cancel me, you should feel like
that. They should be able to come to you say I don't agree with what
you said. I think who said it better. Maybe you should work on
this. You might want to say I didn't do anything. What can you
defer?
Okay, so what we defer peace out. The man can also heard you say
something outside I agree with you. Doesn't mean we're not we're
not connected anymore.
The third quality after that after group work, is
to focus on ourselves was SubhanAllah. He, the fourth
quality mission is what to use if like I pray at night or fast I
have my moments with Allah.
I have my moments with Allah. I have that deep connection to
Allah.
The last in this verse show to use a format and minimal chicane, the
way I call people, I don't have to be like evil people to call people
to good.
Goodness has its own unique beauty. Its own aesthetic. That's
why whenever you see it's crazy when you go to Spain, right? You
go to the masjid of hombre. You see all these law muscles, man.
They look like they're being charmed.
What are they looking at Lao? Hottie met Ulala there is no
victory except for the Allah just the most beautiful thing ever seen
man. Like yeah, what does it say? It says welcome. Nobody like, like
they're looking at this stuff right here. They're like, this is
incredible. Like what inspired them Islam. They start to ask why
why are these rivers still running? Why is his sister like?
Well, they thought about Jana TGD mentality. So they made this park
like this, like, wow, the Crohn's awesome backup need to cry on men.
Right? Like, they're amazed at our beauty. Why don't we need to be
like them?
We should have our own light. Doesn't mean also that I mean,
there's certainly customers that we're going to be like the people
around us for sure. But I'm talking about morality,
foundational issues, principles, standards. We have our own
prophetic standards. And our religious education has failed
you. It's not your fault. You'd have access to teachers. After 911
Everything was external. In the 90s. We had teachers and all the
message after 911 Most of them got kicked out of the country. We
couldn't we didn't have lawyers to defend them and keep them here.
Lawyers in Canada couldn't get me in Canada. I guess I drank
American coffee and Tim Hortons got mad. I don't know. It would
let me in for no reason. Then he told me are you a gang member? I
said when I was 14 Like that's why you can I'm like I'm 27 like
obviously I'm not I'm not in trouble now like Well, well,
doesn't matter. You know, we don't like gang members, a former gang
member to to shahada and went to college finished his degree to
care my parents pay for my children's education said I don't
care it was all an excuse but at that time we couldn't scale so
although them on teachers weren't allowed to travel so I moved to
Maine can't come to America move to Megan's dangerous I'll read
Mufti Miquelle down I just go read his tweets I'm like, Oh man, life
is good. Then people would mail it to me was like a cotton ball and I
was like God then he gets like getting a mask it's like getting a
mask you feel good
almost sorry man can't get in the UAE
but whatever country doctor you so he was banned? Why would they do
to people? Yes, we will guide his bit why?
So we have to be different. The last qualities were mentioned very
quickly. I went too long. Forgive me, but I miss you guys. So I just
you know, I'm gonna I'm gonna I'm in the mood. I'm in the rhythm.
Forgive me. You know, and their mission is salt on the head. And
this is also part of your question. That's quality is wisdom
odo Isla cibilia Rebecca de hikma be wise.
Don't break people don't destroy them if you know, because you
can't say to yourself, well, if I don't do this, Allah is gonna hold
me accountable. That's nonsense. You're not accountable for
anybody. People tell me and my daughter's dress better
had Alaska told me how this your daughter that eats you my son's
heard that it's your son that he left that had grown leave them
alone. Same thing with our family as well if I don't say the truth
to them Allah is gonna put another you ain't that important and
they're responsible for don't take people's utility.
God bless you guys. Good luck and Allah may Allah bless your future
childlike Santa Maria Mata has seminar.
The last two qualities which I didn't Well Maori, the table has
no when you talk talk in a nice way.
When you talk talk in a way that's evocative that impacts people may
need to be strong, they need to be soft, may need the message may
need to be firm may need to be nice. And the last. The last is
that when you push yourself into the argument you're prepared for I
saw this white supremacist these people are shouting and white
Muslim conference we need to press these people like black Muslims
pressed this country from there in white Muslims are kind of quiet on
this front. Now we need to be holding these capitalist feet to
the fire on this white supremacy stuff. This is a form of shirk.
Like you are your own. You're the embodiment of your own and we're
Moses in your house. But if Moses doesn't talk, nothing happens. But
I saw this guy, he's a white supremacist. He said he personally
goes to places where white people are and he reads for hours. And
then he goes into Bates. He said it's obvious most of the people
that are ready for it wasn't me what Jad you know, mobility asset,
the last quality is that I'm prepared correctly to step into a
situation. I have the knowledge needed to articulate positions,
clearly. So these are the conditions of calling to the
truth, sincerity groupwork focusing on my heart, my spiritual
growth, private moments with Allah being distinguished and honorable
and I have a fidelity in my Dawa the last wisdom then communicating
effectively being an effective communicator in my appearance, how
I talk all that is there. And then finally when I argue nothing, yo,
mela curse him.
Netanyahu in what he said an interview, I go and read, say to
put up I go and read Muslim stuff back in the days of AOL and he
said I will go on AOL Muslim chat and box with an anonymous name he
already has a Nam says that his real name anyways, we know that
right? His real name is like Greenwood or something. He changed
his name. Nothing. Yeah, it was not his real name. He's from
Philly. But he prepares
so so to answer is deep man. How you use your time, how you scale
your time in a way that allows you to be faithful, dutiful,
productivity and receipts. So may Allah subhanaw taala bless you.
We'll pray and if there's any questions we can take it after
sold out my apologies for taking too much time. Will Salalah
cinnamon I see them hummus and I'm like