Suhaib Webb – SWISS Community Night Surviving This Time of the Year
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AI: Transcript ©
We are live.
To
everyone.
I'm so happy to be here. I'm one
of your hosts. My name is Houdina El
Sayed. I'm a junior at NYU studying speech
pathology and Middle Eastern Islamic Studies.
I'm super excited to be here with you.
My name is Mariamah Stevenson.
I will also be your co host for
today.
And I'm also a junior at NYU studying
global public health
history as well, and human rights. And I'm
excited. Inshallah, let's begin for the night.
Inshallah.
So Alhamdulillah,
welcome to, you know, the Swiss community night.
This community is really built to a space
for where different members of the community, of
our Muslim community can come together so that
we can discuss on different topics and have
different perspectives.
And alhamdulillah,
this is a space where, really there's a
lot of intellectual
teachings and discussions happening. So we're very excited,
and and we hope you subscribe to this
first, Insha'Allah.
We have a wonderful group of speakers tonight.
We have Sheikh Suhayib Webb, Sheikh Hamran Salha,
Adisa the Bishop, Imran Yeh, Imri
well, whoops, Imran Yeh, and our beloved Afila
Quddus.
First up, we will be starting with the
awesome Sheikh Suhay. He is the founder of
SWISS and our dear teacher and scholar in
residence at NYU.
He will be discussing the importance of education
and accessibility to knowledge.
Without further ado, Sheikh Sahayd.
Thank you guys so much.
Everybody, and welcome to
our community night. Following a day of answering
questions on Instagram
as well as on TikTok about the spooky,
about everything related to the supernatural and superstition.
And we've actually had to extend it an
extra day just because there's been so many
questions. And that really gets me to the
core of what SWISS is about. SWISS is
about making sure that knowledge is rooted,
it's relevant, and it's accessible.
Accessible. The prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam definitely
was rooted. Allah
says, right? The prophet
doesn't speak from his desires. What he speaks
is from God.
The second thing is, of course, that the
prophet is able to speak in a way
that the people around him understand. And in
fact, the Quran
uses even things that were known to Arab
culture at that time. For example, swearing on
places,
swearing on certain natural scenes like, and
so on and so forth. This is something
that was very,
much known and and utilized in Arabic culture.
And then the third thing is accessible. The
prophet
is somebody that people can go to say,
Naray,
Karamalahuajah
said that anybody could approach the messenger of
Allah and anybody who approach the messenger of
Allah would love the messenger of Allah. So
Swiss is really about rooted
information, but then is relevant in speaking to
the contemporary issues that Muslims are faced with.
It's not caught up in romanticized
past, nor is it too caught up in
an imagined future. It tries to plant itself
and posit itself within their framework of what
the Muslim community needs
by providing
a foundational curriculum, but also a curriculum that
addresses the needs of the people.
And then thirdly, is that it's accessible in
a way that it speaks the language of
the masses. So I wanna encourage all of
you to sign up and support Swiss. So
hey web.com, $10 a month for your whole
family.
We are growing quickly, and we really appreciate
that growth. So remember that the prophet's teachings
are rooted in the truth.
They are relevant
to the situation at hand, but they are
also accessible
so that anyone, as they said, even
an older elderly woman could come and grab
the hand of the Messenger of Allah. Sallallahu
alaihi wa sallam take him and ask him
questions.
We know that oftentimes after salah, families would
the prophet would ask him about their sons
and daughters. He knew who the people were.
He was accessible, and that's extremely important.
I'm gonna turn it back over to our
2 amazing hosts,
2 brilliant, brilliant students at NYU, 2 great
students who study
numerous sciences and do a lot of great
work in the activism field.
And I welcome all of our guests tonight
to our first community tonight.
We really appreciate that.
Alhamdulillah.
Next up, we have Sheikh Imran Salah, Salha.
Sheikh Imran, is a half of the Quran
and teacher who has served the Muslim community
at several institutions across America in the capacity
in different in various capacities.
And he's a imam,
a youth director, and a chaplain for the
past 10 years. He is a Palestinian origin,
born and raised in New Jersey and took
advantage of the scholars in his locality while
growing up with them. He completed his text,
classical texts in various Islamic Sciences. He also
received a 1st degree belt in Twiqoqongo, and
and he,
and without further ado, we would like to
introduce him.
Salaam.
It's always a pleasure to be with the
Imam Sahib web and JazakAllah Khayron to the
awesome hosts for, you know,
organizing everything. May Allah reward you all. Alhamdulillahi
rabbil alamin. It's always a pleasure to, you
know, be among people who are seeking to,
go back to the foundations. And I think
SubhanAllah, when we look back in history, we
notice that, true revival happened,
when we did not isolate
political efforts from intellectual efforts, from religious efforts,
from financial efforts, etcetera. SubhanAllah. And,
that's why I really do love everything that
SWISS is about. It's because it's bringing, you
know, the traditional texts
to us in a language that we can
understand
so that we can be functional. And the
imam, Sohayb Webb always mentions this word, functional
literacy. So
tonight, we're here to get a little bit
spooked out and learn a little bit about,
you know, things from the realm of the
unseen.
And I was asked to speak on the
topic of,
finding a middle ground between
affirmation,
okay,
and,
and or or let me say, finding a
way to affirm
things from the realm of the unseen,
but also without over exaggerating
because we live in a time where most
people only believe in something
when it is tangible.
You have to be able to touch it.
You have to be able to feel it.
You have to be able to see it.
But we see that the difference,
when it comes to the believers
is that they believe in the unseen. Allah
says,
those who believe in the unseen.
You know? And because you're, like, constantly bombarded
by what I call, you know, the the
literature of practicality.
I remember once, like, I know the struggle.
You know, I gave a hutba, and I
gave a hutba with things that had to
do with the last, you know, the signs
of the day of judgment,
dajjal, etcetera.
So a man and I knew he meant
well. He came up to me after the
the hutba, and he said to me,
Yeah. And he talk about something more practical
more practical, like that. Right? And he said
it that way. And I'm just, you know,
saying it the way I heard it. Okay?
No problem. This is creative license. Okay? SubhanAllah.
And I said to myself, SubhanAllah, it's almost
as if that our minds have been so
colonized
that whenever something
is from the realm of the unseen and
we know that maybe a non Muslim would
find it impractical,
we also lose sight of believing in it,
and we start to doubt
it and we start to, like, almost disrespect
our own tradition
and look at our own tradition from the
lens of the outsider
rather than believing in and affirming that which
Muhammad
said as Imam Sahibweb said in the beginning,
Rasulullah Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam speaks the truth,
SubhanAllah.
As Allah says in the Quran,
Okay? Those who believe, they affirm that it's
the truth. But those who disbelieve, they will
keep asking, y,
z?
Is possession really possible?
Exorcism, xyz? Is possession really possible?
Exorcism.
I have no problem with disagreements and, really,
Islam would have no problem with disagreements in
the matter when they are rooted in the
tradition.
SubhanAllah.
But
Islam will have a problem with somebody who,
you know, wants to look at Islam with
this impractical,
okay, lens and try to understand it. In
that way, we do not need to justify
things that came from the text. There are
things that are understood by Aqun and there
are things that are understood by nothing. Okay?
By the mind and by the tradition. SubhanAllah.
So it's essential for us to affirm first
whatever we hear in the authentic literature. How
do you know whether something is authentic or
not? Guess what? Going back to the beginning,
you need authentic scholarship and teachers to be
able to tell you,
for you for you to be able to
filter what is like the truth from what
is a fabrication
Now with that in mind, I will say
that there are some people
who they over exaggerate
the unseen to a point where it becomes
obsessive,
And they literally, like like, the it's almost
pushes them into a realm of paranoia.
Okay?
Like, you know, I remember,
you know, people, like, looking for signs from
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. Oh, Allah, if this
girl is meant for me, then like, please
give me a sign. And then he sees
like her name in a random advertisement and
he thinks she's the one. You know what
I mean? Things like that.
You know, like another example is somebody coming
to, you know, a parent or a sheikh
saying, like, you know, like, I I can't
wake up for Fajr. You know, I just
can't. I can't wake up for Fajid, and,
you know, I feel like maybe somebody has,
like is giving me Nazar, bro. I feel
like somebody's giving me I feel like somebody's
jealous of me, and that's why, like, I
can't wake up for Fajr. And the reality
is he's up all night on TikTok watching.
Right? Like, dude, you have practical reasons
that are actually hindering you from your ability
to achieve spiritual success.
Don't blame everything on the unseen. Don't wait
for a dream. Don't don't blame it on
jealousy. Don't blame it on this and that.
You have as, you know, Sheikh
He used to say beautifully. He said in
Samuel fashion,
The the failure will always blame destiny. Oh,
it's out of my control. It's out of
my control. But the successful person will say,
I am the decree of God on the
earth. Like, I will work towards my destiny.
As imam al Shafair Rahimahullah used to say,
I will, you know, traverse the vastness of
this earth and I will travel through its
expanded lands.
I will accomplish my goal or I will
simply die a foreigner. Allahu Akbar. So while
it is true that you must affirm
these things that are from the unseen through
learning from a teacher, what actually happened to
the prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam? What happened
with Suratul Falaq? What actually is the impact
of jealousy on my life? What is, you
know, the realm of dreams?
Do jinn actually have power over me?
After you learn these authentic things, make sure
that you do not fall into the trap
of obsessiveness and paranoia
and what some scholars call,
that yields this point, alajz
alajz.
If you feel alajz,
then you should know you should know
that you are actually being tricked by shaitan
because the prophet used
to say,
I seek refuge in you from helplessness and
laziness. So if, you know, your belief in
the unseen
yields helplessness,
you're believing in the unseen the wrong way.
But if it yields empowerment,
then you are doing you're on the right
track.
May Allah reward the organizers and my dear
Sheikh, Imam Suhayb Webb, brother Ahmed, and, my
dear brother, Amrani, may Allah bless you as
well, and everybody else on this panel,
So far, we heard 2 amazing talks so
far. Miriam, what have your thoughts been?
You know, both of them, they they mentioned
really, really crucial parts, you know, just kind
of, you know, right now when when Sheikh
Imran mentioned, you know, not blaming everything on
the unseen
and understanding,
you know, the mind and tradition and how,
you know, it's important that in Islam it
teaches us to affirm, you know, the unseen
and, and to not, you know, to know
how to deal with this. So I think
that's very, very crucial knowing that, yes, like
prophet
like we see
was literally
given to given as a means of protection
from,
the evils of the unseen.
How about you, Houdina? What have what's what's
something that caught your mind?
So for me, I think I related a
lot more to the beginning part,
of talking about avoiding,
talking about the unseen and and, the super
natural and things like that. It's something, I
don't know, for me personally, I usually just
avoid. I think about, you know, just saying,
the
3 and just,
the
as, like, a way to, like, prevent,
this. I'd like just to prevent me thinking
about it, but then also it's very important
to also understand it.
And it's it was an amazing,
talk. So next up, insha'Allah,
we have,
Adisa, the the bishop.
Adisa Bongioko is an actor and producer known
for American Fighter 2019,
till infinity, the souls of missus 2013, and
living like kings 2014.
He currently runs a popular Instagram page called
real hop hop chess. His, he's a journalist,
academic
Brother,
Hey. Assalamu alaikum. How's everybody doing?
Great. Good to know.
I'm talking I'm talking about Tupac right now?
It's up to you.
Alright. So
yeah. I mean,
you know, I wanted to talk about, you
know, Tupac and and and his relationship to
hip hop and and what I got from
him in in my youth. You know? I,
in regards to the bio,
you know, I'm I'm I'm a hip hop
author. I'm not really an actor. I was
in a few leftover bit pieces in, in
some documentaries.
93 till, which is about one of the
greatest groups ever,
Hieroglyphics is one of them. But, you know,
it it it it my journey to Islam
came came through hip hop because of Public
Enemy.
There's a record that came out in the
ancient days when records existed, and it it
was it was called Bring the Noise.
And that song, started with,
the words of Malcolm x, 2 black, 2
strong.
And that,
that single
sentence, too black, too strong, led me to
my father's,
record collection because he used to play those
records for me when I was a young
boy.
And that led me
to,
listening to try to find a sample that
was better
than,
what Public Enemy had sampled, because at the
time, I was a young rapper.
And I'd never found a better sample,
but I learned about Malcolm x. And that
led me to reading the autobiography,
and that led me to take Shahada. Alright?
Now when I took Shahada,
it was 1989.
No. It was 1989 when I first really
started studying. It was 1990
when I took Shahada, and, you know, America
was crazy. It was almost as crazy as
right now. It was almost as crazy as
right now.
And at that time,
I didn't have any sense
of Islamic spirituality
beyond my melanin content.
You understand?
Meaning that Islam and my blackness were 1
and the same forever, and that's how it
was, and that's how it was supposed to
be.
I ran with a lot of Black Panthers.
I was taught mainly
by one of the first women in the
Black Panther party named Kili Nysha. May Allah
bless her. And
and
my work with her led me to work,
to free Jeronimo Jejago Pratt, who was Tupac's
godfather.
And
when I changed my name, he had a
hand in that.
And he was freed later because the government
put him in jail for a crime he
did not commit, and this is why we
have to try and work to free all
political prisoners always,
on North American soil for sure. And,
you know, my relationship with Tupac was,
in existence until he passed.
And,
the one thing that I can tell you
about Tupac. Right? Like, people ask me a
lot of questions
about Tupac and stuff like that.
And, I try not to get too emotional
when I talk about him because he he's
that important to me,
irrespective of the fame and and and stuff
like that. But there was there was there
was only one way in which I was
jealous of Tupac.
Tupac read more than me, and I read
a lot.
Tupac read more than me.
I mean, he read more than any
other
rapper that I know except
for RZA
of Wu Tang Clan. He's the only
person I know in hip hop
that
I'm sure reads more than me. Tupac was
that before. That was the only jealousy I
had. I never cared about his money. I
never cared about his fame. But every time
I would talk to him, be like, have
you read, Revolutionary Suicide? No. Have you read
Blood in My Eye? No. Have you read
Cell of That Brother? No. And, like, I'll
be, come on, man. Like, I I could
not keep up. I could not keep up.
And that's why when so many different rappers
today say they wanna be the new Tupac,
they pretend they wanna be the new Tupac,
they swear, oh, how come people don't love
me like they love Pac? Because you're not
being honest, and you don't study, and you
don't read. Because he read so much,
he had so many lyrics. Because he read
so much, he could write so much. And
so when I look at today's hip hop,
I see a lot of dryness, and I
see a lot of weakness, and I see
a lot of cowardice,
And and and that's not where hip hop
came from. You know what I'm saying?
And so, you know,
I I gotta shout out my brother, Shahid
Akbar. You know what I'm saying? AKA the
jacker. You know what I mean? Like, he,
he he was another Muslim brother who who
who was, you know, like me, supremely imperfect.
You know what I'm saying? Like, if you
know anything about me and you know anything
about my life, you'll know that I'm a
very flawed Muslim. You know what I'm saying?
But but but but but my sincerity and
my intent is always there. And that was
the same with Shahid Akbar. You know what
I mean? Ajakah. You know what I'm saying?
And, like, Tupac, even though he wasn't Muslim,
like, he loved Muslims.
Like, he loved Muslims. He loved Muslim people.
He loved Muslim culture. He didn't care if
he was in a nation. He didn't care
if he was orthodox man. Like, he had
love. He had so much respect for Muslim
women. He had so much respect. And and
it's, like, it's hard for
in the mythos around Tupac, it's hard to
understand those simple things.
It's very hard to understand those simple things.
But this was a young man whose passion,
you know, drove him
to to places that we just we just
cannot fathom. And there's so many young people
who love Tupac. There's so many young people
who appreciate
his work, But, like, you know, please understand
that, like,
your journey,
you know what I'm saying, is your journey.
And and the thing is is, like, he
didn't hide his flaws, but he didn't really
advertise his flaws. You know, you have to
give yourself space space to be a human
being. You have to give yourself space to
learn, to make mistakes, to grow. You know
what I'm saying? But it was it was
his, like,
unflinching,
pursuit of authentic knowledge that made him so
authentic.
You know? And so, like, if you learn
anything from Tupac, if you if you if
you if you
remember anything about Tupac, remember that he was
a student of authentic knowledge. Remember that, you
know, no matter what the media said, he
was compassionate. He liked to smile at people
and with people. He was a jokester.
He was a jokester. All the stuff you
see about thug life, I'm not gonna tell
you that he wasn't down for that, but
I'm gonna tell you that it wasn't his
first nature. It wasn't his first place. It
wasn't his first response. His first response was
to shake your hand and smile. His first
response was to laugh with you. His first
response was to be kind. Right? And you
had to provoke him and disrespect
him on all these other levels to even
remotely begin to see that other side. You
know what I mean? But I don't want
you to be
disillusioned about that. You know what I mean?
Like, that that wasn't that wasn't that wasn't
it. You know what I'm saying? He fought
for political prisoners. He fought for racial justice.
He he fought for the for
the self esteem
of the black man and and and the
respect of the black woman. And and he
was respectful to all women when I was
around him. I never saw him,
do anything off the chain. I never saw
him do anything,
disrespectful.
You know what I'm saying? But especially
when he when he was in the presence
of of women of knowledge,
he was quiet, and he was honorable. You
know, and these are the things that that
can get lost
in in in in the myths. And these
are the things that can get lost in
in the in the parade
of who he not only who he was,
but who he might have been. And, you
know you know, hip hop is so big
and it's so vast. I'm old. But but
but but,
you know, like, I'm old enough
so that, like, I remember pretty much when
hip hop started to really get its embryonic
legs in in the late eighties in the
in in the in the early eighties, to
be honest. You know what I'm saying? But
by the late eighties, like, it was a
full blown,
like,
unstoppable force. You know what I'm saying? And
and, like,
some of the stuff that was happening in
hip hop was wild, but but it was
new, and it was unknown, and there were
no rules. You know? And so I want
you, when you see people in hip hop
who are doing things that maybe you don't
agree with morally, just remember how you were
before you knew about Islam if you're a
convert.
Okay? And if you're not a convert, remember
that those who don't know, don't know, and
so they're gonna act in the jahiliyah
the way that they act. But if you
see somebody in the jahiliyah,
you know, who has that
remote spark of deen, who has that remote
spark of him, who have that remote spark
of a man, that, like, you should open
your heart to them. You should speak to
them with kindness. You should you know, and
I'm not saying that you should try to
make dua to them. You should just be
open to them so that if they are
interested, they can come to you. Make yourself,
approachable.
Make yourself,
kind, and and and not with a way
to to to make your a
way that you try to convert them so
you can take credit
for for their shahada and stuff like that.
Because that's like corny to me. I think
that's really weak. But what I'm saying is,
you know what I'm saying? If you reach
out to them in the name of Allah
and from a place of sincerity, you know
what I'm saying? Allah will show them what
it is. You know what I mean? The
best dua to me is just being a
good person. Most people who who I don't
even mention my my my fate to, be
like, man, you're kinda different. You're kinda whatever.
And then they figure out that it's Islam.
You know what I'm saying? But if you
come through showcasing and showboat and the dean,
man, like, you can mess yourself up. You
know? And I don't want that for you.
I don't want that for myself. And that's
why even being here right now you know
what I'm saying? Like, I'm a chess and
jiu jitsu instructor. You know what I'm saying?
You know, I was I would been teaching
at Zaytuna for the last few years, you
know what I'm saying, before COVID and whatnot.
And and and,
even still, you know, has as long as
I've been writing about hip hop and and
Islam and as long as I've been
sharing things about about, you know, the beauty
of Islam,
in in the space of hip hop, you
know, I still feel so,
unqualified
as a Muslim. You know? Not because I'm
out there wilding and knocking fools out. You
know what I'm saying? And and living crazy.
But just because
the the the depth and the breadth of
Islam is so big and I am so
small,
it it it can be
emotionally and socially overwhelming at times. You know
what I'm saying? But we need to be
patient with ourselves. We need to be patient
with folks in the hood. You know what
I'm saying? Like, just to be honest, like
like, how is it that, like, this is
one of the most
amazing times to be politically and socially active
and, like,
man, how many of of of our imams
are are on the streets with the people?
How many of them are speaking to these
issues? How many of them are actually speaking
contrary to Malcolm x? And he brought them
into this.
Tupac was like Detroit red. You know what
I mean?
Shahid Akbar was like Detroit red, and it's
like,
brother's out here slipping, bro. Not even giving
support to these dudes, man. I'd be in
the juvenile halls. You know what I'm saying?
Like, it's COVID right now, so I don't
be in there during the summers and and
during the holidays, but, normally, that's where I'd
be at. It's like I can't even see
him.
There's so many.
So
we need to be more mindful
because people are hurting.
The, you know,
election's coming.
Who knows what it's gonna be like after?
And,
too many cats out here
trying to buy and sell oud and look
fresh.
You know? And people are in the street
suffering.
You know what I mean? People wanna sit
around and, like,
just talk.
You know what I'm saying? And it's not
okay.
You know what I mean?
We need to be out there.
Not with guns,
not throwing stuff and burning things.
We need to be helping the people at
the bottom,
whoever they are. You know what I mean?
We got
we're in a world right now where, like,
people are,
getting upset how
people will draw the prophet Muhammad, peace be
upon him,
and they should be upset.
But they ain't doing nothing for the Muslims
in China.
They're in concentration camps right now,
Been in concentration camps.
We don't even remember them.
We don't even make for them
because we're so focused on our Instagram.
It's not right.
It's not right.
Pac always fought for the downtrodden.
Always.
And,
I feel like I'm never doing enough.
You know?
We shouldn't be complacent.
We shouldn't be at peace with with where
we're at as Anoma.
You know?
And
I want I want
I want you guys to understand how
how beautiful right now is,
how many opportunities there are for us
collectively.
How many
how many
young people out here,
look to these artists,
but that looking to these artists,
is only part of it. And that that
that rappers are not the revolution.
They're not.
Rap, you know, a song that makes you
feel good is not a system.
You know?
And and we need to
make sure
that we try to put
authentic systems in place.
You know? Inshallah, we gotta put systems in
place.
You know? We need better schools. We need
we need we need better,
hospitals. You know what I'm saying? We need
we need better,
more doctors, more healers, more teachers.
And, we need to be,
more proactive because no matter who wins in
November, man, like, we're still gonna be in
pain out here. You know what I'm saying?
Like, I vote pretty much all the time.
I skipped a few elections.
You know what I'm saying? But, like,
you still gonna be pretty much where you
at, and you gotta grind to get out.
You know what I'm saying? And if you're
at somewhere that's beautiful, then you're gonna have
to grind and just maintain. So you know
what I'm saying? Insha Allah,
you know, we can we can all do
that because these are these are these are
hard times. You know what I'm saying? So
be patient
with yourself.
Know that Allah is is is never never
abandoning you. You know what I'm saying? But
we need to really remember our brothers and
sisters all over. You know what I'm saying?
From Palestine to the Bay. You know what
I'm saying? From South Africa to South Central
Los Angeles. You know what I'm saying? From
NYC to everywhere. You know what I'm saying?
Like, straight up Philly, everybody. You know what
I'm saying? Like, we need to be more
diligent and,
and understand that, like, you know, there's so
many jewels in this music, but if you
if you let the mainstream
dudes,
if you let that that mainstream image
derail
the beauty of what hip hop has, like,
you won't get it. You know what I'm
saying? And, like, I know that there's all
kinds of different,
positions about, you know, whether
music is Haram and whatnot. You know what
I'm saying? I'm not that kind of scholar.
You know what I'm saying? I'm a black
man from the West Coast. You know what
I'm talking about? So I don't know about
all that. All I can tell you is
that if it wasn't for hip hop, you
wouldn't be talking to me right now. You
know what I'm saying? That hip hop is
is absolutely,
the cornerstone of my shahada. You know what
I'm saying? And I know too many brothers
who came in through that. You know what
I mean? So,
you know, you can't judge how I came
in, bro.
You can't judge how I came in. You
can't you can't judge how these other ox
come in. I don't judge how nobody came
into this dean, bro. You know what I'm
saying? If Tupac got you in, then that's
what it is.
If NWA got you in, that's what it
is.
You know what I mean? And so,
you know, if some 5% cats from from
Jerusalem New Jerusalem did it, then that's what
it is.
And and we need to be more compassionate
about that. You know what I'm saying? We
need to be more patient with each other.
We need to we need to understand that
this music is is is powerful,
but it's not more powerful than Allah. And
and it can call us to a duty,
but if we don't fulfill that duty, we're
just playing dress up. You know what I'm
saying? And pop was about action. You know
what I'm saying? Before he he was he
was he was murdered.
You know? He talked a lot about about
stepping into politics, about holding holding
so many of these politicians accountable.
You know what I'm saying? And there's so
much work that's gone in to not,
to not
make us be successful.
I I I was just on Facebook,
you know, and there was there was a
a black Muslim sister who was talking about
where black men were at and why she
was so hurt by it. And I was
like, yo. How many centuries have we been
under attack? Since we got here, there hasn't
been one second where the black man, woman,
and child hasn't been under attack. The only
people more under attack than us are the
Native Americans and they're barely alive.
The fact that we can argue about what's
wrong with us is a blessing because we
can breathe enough to have the discussion.
We can breathe enough to have the discussion,
and that's already that's
already
a problem for the white supremacy system.
The fact that we can have the discussion
is a problem. How many government ops are
on on Facebook right now?
I get I get upset about this, man.
Do you know in the sixties, COINTELPRO had
3,000
operatives?
Black Pro, another
operation, had several others. That was in the
sixties. What do you think they got now
between these satellites
and fiber optics and cameras
and phones?
What do you think they've got?
You think those things went away? You think
Black Pro stopped? You think Co and TEL
Pro stopped?
It never stops.
It never stops.
How many y'all watch Sabeep fight with a
broken foot?
Come on, man.
And y'all ain't even doing no push ups.
Y'all sitting around being hella lazy. This man's
fighting with a broken foot in the name
of Allah
to honor his ummah and his dead father,
And y'all on video games, man.
Y'all can't even go jog, man.
I mean,
may Allah bless you, man. Thank all of
you, and forgive me for any flaws today
because
I don't think I did too well.
May Allah bless you, though.
Thank you.
Stay blessed.
That was a really, really powerful
and well needed,
talk.
So may Allah bless you and bless
all our speakers for the night.
You mentioned you know, one of the things
you mentioned was we can breathe enough to
have these discussions.
SubhanAllah.
Just the the the fact that we had
breath,
we're able to speak out, it's a nema
from Allah, you know, it's a blessing from
Allah and to it's our duty to use,
you know, our the gifts that Allah has
given us to do good with that. You
know, you mentioned them, the importance of knowledge.
Now how can we go out? How can
we engage with communities
if we're not knowledgeable ourselves? We don't even
know the basics.
And and going out and approaching people, helping
people,
being involved in community activism.
It all starts with being compassionate like you
mentioned.
So
this was a very, very important,
discussion and talk,
Giselle Khalafik
Now next up, we have,
we have sister Aqpayla,
Khudus, who is a mother of 3 and
a grandmother of 11.
So she migrated to the US 51 years
back. She's an artist,
a businesswoman,
and a community worker.
Her community work involves her serving as a
board member of the American Heart Association
and Medical Auxiliary.
She is a board member of welcoming,
Gainesville
and, Alachua County, an organization which is a
part of the national organization, Welcome in America,
aiming to make America and Gainesville effective towards
immigrants and refugees. So, again,
doing important work,
and and and really,
making,
making an impact on the Ummah.
Sister Habiba, please take a look.
Thank you so much for having me. Thank
you,
ma'am. So I have
asking me to join you. The young man
was so beautiful in his words,
And I know we have a lot to
work on on the top, but I'm going
to speak to you as a mother and
a grandmother and the grassroots
so that when we get to this situation,
we can handle it in a better way.
So
taking into account all the situations,
at first starting in the name of God
most gracious most merciful,
I want to
tell you I don't speak as a scholar
in any way, but I am a person
of very firm faith Inshallah. And Allah keep
me that that way till the day I
die. I pray. I pray. I pray.
It's,
as a mother and a grandmother,
I feel the most important thing we can
do
to this world is
raise good children,
and parenting is a very, very strong part
of this. Parenting is most probably the most
important thing Allah
has blessed
to humanity when he gives them these souls
to raise.
And in the Quran, most of the situation
is, yeah, regarding parents and children parents. So
much of it is there.
But the parents also in raising the children
have to understand that
these children are souls. They're all souls. They
are souls sent to us in a body
that has a DNA and all these things,
And it's a it's, it defines them in
this world,
whose child they are, who they are. But
that is not what the soul is. We
have to and raising them, empower the soul,
not the strength of the physical strength or
the the beauty and all that. The physical
thing, all that comes, it's okay. It's there.
But the soul, if it's not empowered,
everything around that it carries outside
that carries the soul, but then it will
fall apart.
So this is what this young man is
talking about is this is what has happened
to our world. We have put so much
emphasis on the outside physical self
of the soul that our our soul is
not has just been overpowered with the physical
sense of what a soul is.
So when you have children,
the first thing we do is we we
of course, they need immense amount of love,
but they also need discipline. They need understanding.
They need to be loved for what they
are,
and they need to be encouraged.
They need to be raised in a very
strong way.
My I was raised by a very strong,
beautiful father, and I was raised as a
minority in India.
And I went to a Catholic boarding school
all my life. So I was raised with
all all religions,
Hindu, Muslims, Krish Christians, Sikhs, everybody.
But it did not take anything away from
my faith because my faith was empowered by
my parents in my house. We did not
look for outside people to empower our people.
From childhood, we just made were made to
feel like we were okay.
We were okay in whatever
body Allah has given us. And that is
very important for us to emphasize that for
our children. They don't have to be a
certain height, certain color, certain hair, certain this,
certain,
muscles, this, that, everything. Whatever they are, they
are. You'll notice that some of the strongest
souls have the weakest bodies
because they have to get through their life
with that body they carry. Some of the
strongest bodies have the weakest souls.
So it's empowering the soul soul and making
you feel comfortable within yourself.
So by the grace of god, I have
3 children and 11 grandchildren, and I took
on that same thing as a parent. I
made sure my children were never compared. This
is one thing a parent should never do
is compare the children amongst each other,
Empower them. Everybody has their strength and their
weaknesses.
Empower their strength and and and just let
them understand their weaknesses. I am 68 years
old, and I still have so many weaknesses
within me. And I have to deal with
it, and it's okay. I understand my I
just you just need to know you because
nobody is nobody is perfect far, far from
perfect.
And so we have to we have to
learn, know who we are, and empower. So
with this Halloween coming up,
Imam Sohrab was asking about
the situation, how a parent handles these things.
And to this, I say Halloween is something
that just comes once a year.
But our children are raised 247
in first in the womb of the mother,
then in the house, and then when they
leave the house. My mother would always say
that a mother can never rest till she's
6 feet under the ground.
And as a grandmother, I feel the same
thing.
I pray that my children, my grandchildren, all
the loved ones that surrounded
that are surrounded
that I'm surrounded with are children that will
grow up with strength.
And I can see goodness in them, and
they can carry themselves through this very challenging
world, which is getting more and more challenging,
but it's always been challenging.
I remember when we were big raised also,
we felt the challenges. But like the young
man was saying that this phone and thing,
of course but, you know, the challenges will
keep on getting more. It's not gonna stop.
But we have to empower our soul. It's
very, very important.
So
okay. There is there this is a commercial
thing.
People want the it's all about
commercials and they're saying, you see take take
into account small children.
You have small children and they'll look outside
and they see all these candies. Just imagine
a world of a child with candies around
them, and you tell them, no. You can't
go. You can't take the candies. I mean,
really, I'm not saying it's good, bad, wrong,
whatever, but everything is okay.
Deal with your child the best way you
can. If your child understands and it's okay,
it's okay. If the child wants
to get a free can, it's okay.
The most important thing is let them hold
onto the rope of
Iman
and let them feel strong. If they're not
looking at Halloween as, oh, this is a
weird this and that. It's nothing to do
with ghost and demon and everything. It's only
candy. I remember when I was a kid
and I used to love Cadbury chocolates. And
I always imagine when I would grow up,
I wanted a house full
of all all my cupboards will be full
of Cadbury chocolates. And now I can't even
eat one piece of it. But that's a
child's world.
So if a child wants to go out
and get a few candy, it's okay. Don't
judge them. Like, again, these young people are
talking so much sense. Don't be judgmental.
Don't be going judging people
and telling them, oh my god. You send
your child particularly.
It's everybody
is fighting a battle.
We are in an ocean swimming
with sharks and dolphins
and
and stingrays
and every creature.
We have to empower
our children
to be strong swimmers, ourselves including to be
strong swimmers.
A current can get us any time.
A shark can attack us any time. We
just have to be really strong.
And I urge you all to take parenting
very strongly,
to take marriages very strongly.
Do not be
into this world of of
of
looking you know, shopping for wives and husbands
with their heights and their sizes, with their
accounts. It this is just so sad.
Look for somebody who will be your friend
for life.
Look for somebody who will help you, and
the 2 of you can raise some wonderful
children Insha Allah.
Your life is about
your your existence and what you will leave
behind.
It is not your bank account.
It is not your degrees.
It is not what anything,
you know,
worldly that you have acquired. It is about
your savabhijarya.
What you have done, what you leave back.
Your children pray for you. You leave a
good name. You we respect behind you. And
this is the most important thing in in
the life you can contribute to.
It's just I really ask of you
to pay attention to your family values
and understand
that if suppose, okay, you're already raised and
you didn't have that and you're feeling all
this. Go back to your parents as adults.
Bring the change in your house. You can
do it.
You love your mom and dad
and it's okay if we
you you can but love change everything.
Come on, mom. Come on, dad. Let's change
this in our house. I don't let's not
be so judgment. If you see people judging
in your house, your mom, dad, everybody just
be nice. You don't have to be mean
or rude. Get together. Have dinners together.
Sit down. I I one of the reasons
I really had a very hard time with
Halloween is because my husband is a cardiologist,
and we are very health orient oriented.
And for me, giving,
that
much candy to my kids was like, oh
my god. I used to have a every
time Halloween came around, I used to have,
like,
it used to be just like I just
it was terrible. I just used to be
like, oh, god. What do I do? And
then people come to your door and trick
or treat, and you want your children to
give up candy and not be there. It's
just it was a very challenging situation. And
I didn't want them eating all that candy.
It's just so wrong. By the grace of
God, I grace children that did not really
have any cavities
because I used to want they didn't have
Coke. I was very it could I I
tried to make sure I made all their
meals.
We had a dinner at the dinner table.
We did all the stuff we could do.
But, you know, these are challenges everybody faces.
So let everybody face that challenge. Okay? Do
not judge people.
And if if my grandchildren sometimes we have
people in our community, they like the children
to go out. And, like, as Muslims, they
all get together. Some of them, they pray
Maghreb, and they go trick or treating. And
then they come back and they, you know,
look at the candy they share, and they
go home and have the candy disappears. The
parents have already sort of they they grab
some of the candy. It's okay. Just a
day out of the life. It's nothing connected
to any spend. When, you know, they grow
up, they don't care.
It's it's not important. It's not important. It's
really not important. Please believe me it's not
important. Don't get stuck in Surah Baqarah.
Surah Baqarah
we are stuck as as a Muslim,
we are stuck in Surah Baqarah.
We are always stuck what type of cow,
what thing, what does. Move on to the
rest of the Quran.
You have read Surah Fatih. Allah is giving
you the rest of the Quran.
Learn. Live it. Be an example of it.
Like the young man said,
be kind. It's all live live like the
prophet, sallallahu alaihi sallallahu alaihi sallallahu.
Imam Suheb is telling you day and night.
We have this beautiful scholar sharing his pearls
of wisdom with you. Listen.
Be like the prophet. You be like the
prophet and the world will be at your
feet. I promise you.
I promise you will have such a beautiful
life. You will be at peace. It's not
the home. It's not the bank account or
the car or what it is, your degrees,
the type of college you go to. It
will be the peace in your heart. I
promise you, Wallahi, I promise you, you'll keep
faith in that God of ours, the loving
God.
And Allah will bless you to everything.
Everything. Be like the prophet,
be like the mothers of the believer, be
like
all our sahabas,
and our world will change. Don't be color
oriented.
I am black and white in my I
don't see color. I was not raised to
see I didn't raise my children to see
color.
We'll we look at everybody as a soul.
And I pray till the day of of
of the judgment day till we till the
world ends. My everything that comes from my
lineage, it graces to know Allah
lived with the prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam.
And and lived and loved like a prophet
sallallahu alaihi wa sallam did. He loved the
poor. He loved everybody. He came and hugged
the people who would they said they were
ugly or whatever. It didn't matter. He came
and hugged them,
and he appreciated
them. Why are you so impressed with your
bodies,
with your weights you do, with your muscles?
Why? Why? Why? Your color of your hair,
that you're the spy. I have watched so
many bodies in my lifetimes and buried them.
They all
are the same. They go into that little
piece of 2
that little earth we put them in,
and they die with so much honor. A
good soul
ray
it shows radiance even when they when they
pass. My husband was one of the most
beautiful person,
and he died with the
most beautiful smile.
I had everybody come and see his smile
because I said I knew the prophet came
and took him. And he died with the
smile be buried. I I miss him after
49 years of my marriage. I miss him
a lot, but I know he's in such
a beautiful place.
So please be kind to each other, and
don't worry about it. Go there. And if
you have to get some candy, my grandchildren
go and go. The only one candy I
for nowadays is almond joy. I'm like, if
you get an almond joy, bring me one.
It's okay. They run, they bring another. Here,
Nana. This is for you. I'm like, okay.
Great. Thank you. Done. Finish.
And good night. Thank you so much. Thank
you so much.
And love bless you all for having me
over and and share letting me speak to
you all. I love you all so much.
I'm so proud of each and every one
of you. And I make dua that Allah
bless you all with the best of life,
best of spouses, best of children.
And may my my mom so have be
blessed for everything he does at NYU.
Him and Khaled, imam, Khaled Latif are my
2 radiant
souls over there, and my granddaughter did go
to NYU for a year. And I just
love all of them both of them. And
I love, bless, and protect them. Thank you,
I hope I didn't go too much over
my time.
First of all, may Allah
have mercy on your husband's soul, and may
he reunite
reunite you with him in Jannah
This topic, honestly, the way you discussed it,
I've never seen a perspective like this before,
and I really, really appreciate,
your input on this. This is, like, super
important, especially in the society we live. Like,
these holidays
are always,
like, discussed in so many different ways in
the Muslim community, and children are exposed to
this discussion.
And many families struggle with helping their children
navigate with what Islam is teaching us and
what society is teaching us. And this is
just amazing, and,
like,
you, like, you really
touched my heart with all of that, and
I really, really appreciate your time. You guys
like a little playing on.
Next
up
we
have Imran or Amronye.
He's an Internet content creator and the cofounder
of Fruits of Jannah. He's a Gen Z
Muslim,
clothing
brand. Oh, it's a gen z Muslim clothing
brand. Sorry. Outside of this, he has also
worked with the likes of Islamic Relief, Muslim,
Muslims of the World, Launchgood, and
5 Pillars, and more. You can find him
on all, social media.
And
we have some comedy
and some laughs.
Without further ado,
brother Imrani.
Alright.
Assalamu alaykum Warahmatullahi
wa ta'ala about Akattu. I hope everyone's doing
well. Just a quick sound check if you
can hear me, go ahead and drop something
in the comments so I know. So I
know anyway that was a beautiful introduction for
those of you who don't know me. I'm
actually a 6 foot 3. I memorize the
whole Quran.
I'm actually a practicing neurosurgeon,
and for those of you who do know
me just keep it quiet. Don't don't ruin
the surprise because I'm actually none of those
things.
Just, I wanna say thank you for having
me.
You know, it's a beautiful day here in,
California. I actually just moved back to California.
I, originally wanted to move to Mexico City,
but my Desi mom was, very protective. She
was very against it.
Couple of reasons she said it's crowded.
She said there's a lot of traffic,
really poor air quality.
Nobody's wearing masks
and they don't speak English and to which
I said, well, that's California. So,
they're both the same thing. Anyway, more seriously,
my name is Imran. I go by Imranay
on the Internet. I'm a full time content
creator and the founder of Fruits of Jannah
and a few other Muslim Internet businesses.
And actually, I wanna tell you guys a
couple stories about how, I used to be
a full time software engineer here in California.
Hence, why I'm moving back here. And, Alhamdulillah,
I used to hold the leadership position in
our, Muslim employee network which is a lot
like an MSA for adults.
And in this role, I found myself talking
to
a lot of non Muslims
about Islam naturally. Right? I'm a Muslim in
the workplace. I'm visibly Muslim.
There's a lot of questions that come up,
especially around times like this, especially around holidays.
And, you know, one thing that I found
myself doing that maybe some of you who
are in the work force might find yourself
doing is that sometimes we have to whitewash
our religion a little bit. We have to
use a lot of English words that are
technically English, but maybe words that aren't so
common in order to properly explain things that
are going around in the workplace.
So one example I have of this is,
you know, when I'm talking to my fellow
employees
about why they caught me with my foot
in the sink,
the technical term I give them is ablution
or pre prayer washing ritual,
though they don't really buy it. They don't
really know what that means. And when I'm
talking to HR about why I need a
3 and a half hour long lunch break
on Fridays, I tell them
congregational worship,
they don't really buy that one either. When
I asked about why some of my Muslim
friends drink and why I don't drink, I
say Islamic Jurisprudence.
I don't really know why they drink. And,
for those of you who have a little
bit more knowledge, you may use a different
word.
And the last one is, you know, when
my my non Muslim coworkers see my married
Muslim coworkers
flirting,
you know, I use the word polygamy. They
don't really understand it,
but that's kind of the only explanation I
got. But it got me thinking that there
are a lot of words and acronyms in
this language that
we use that, as Muslims that a lot
of people don't know about. So we got
ICNA for ICNA, we got ISNA, we got
SWISS for Swiss,
MAS for MAS, and if your name is
Mohammed,
Ahmed, Hussein, or Usama, you probably know a
really famous one, TSA,
it's one of my favorites. Anyway,
for having me.
Just wanted to let you guys know that
the SWISS membership is only $10 a month
per family
and there's actually like a really cool way
you can split that in half. If you're
single, you just get married and it's only
$5 a month for each person. So anyway,
thank you again to the Hey Web Institute
for having me. You can find me on
all socials at Imranye and without further ado,
I'll hand it off to our lovely host.
Sarawak.
Brother. Folks, you heard him. It's only $10
a month,
and it's for the whole whole family. So,
subhanallah, just like, you know, our beloved,
sister Athila, she said, you don't building a
legacy. So not only you get in the
knowledge, but spread it to everyone in your
household inshallah.
And I'm like brother Imran, you said,
if you're not,
if you're not married, well, at least, before
you get married, share with your family members.
But,
this is really sad because we are wrapping
up.
All our beloved speakers,
the gems that they were dropping,
like
is literally it. It's so much that we
can take from this. And especially to all
the
especially
to all the youth out there, myself included.
You know, these are are such respected,
individuals and scholars
who truly, truly are given such wisdom and
advice that we can take to
create a better, create a future generation that
is a generation of khair and will be
future, you know, activists,
future scholars, and and and and knowledgeable
Muslims that we can make a better impact
on this world that will be beneficial not
only to each other, but for our as
well. So
as well.
We really, really appreciate it. We're gonna hand
it back to chef Saeed for a closing
dua.
That's your we're we're your hosts for the
night, and we're done.
You guys, let's also give it up for,
Hudina and Mariana,
for hosting our first, Swiss community night. Something
that we try to do every month. We
try to take a topic on for a
week a day or so, answer questions
in different social media platforms, and then come
together and hear from
if you notice, like,
we try to bring people from every aspect
of the community so that we could all
learn new perspectives and see things anew.
So it was amazing having Imran who has
the Palestinian roots
and brings in that flavor
and that dedication and scholarship.
A decent man who just like,
man. You know, that reminds me of the
old, like, Amir Abdul Malik,
you know, in the Bay Area. That was
that was just
incredible. And then tying that to, for many
of us, what was our spiritual trajectory. Right?
I like to tell people, Adisa, my first
shit was Rakim. My first Sufi Trico was
public enemy.
You know? And and that's that's how, you
know, you really you really touched on that.
And then on the loyalty that many of
us,
especially converts, have to Malcolm and that we
can't sell out Malcolm's message. That that was,
yeah, that that was that was powerful. And
then,
of course, our beloved
auntie Akida, who I I I agree with
Hudina. Like, I've never heard anyone talk about
what she talked about in that way. And
then I'm right you know, I'm running just,
you know, I'm running a bring in the
the heat, man. May Allah bless you.
Before we go,
a quick du'a request. We have actually a
du'a coming from people in Southern California.
I just saw a tweet from our brother,
Ima Mark Manley,
who I think his neighborhood, they may be
forced to evacuate soon.
And as you know, there's evacuations happening because
of the fires there. That's impacting
that's impacting people that don't even have homes,
man. Right, let alone people that have homes.
Imagine having to evacuate when you're homeless. And
we know that the majority
of homeless in America are actually children.
So
we keep those people in our duas. We
ask Allah
by all of His names and attributes
to protect the people in Southern California,
as well as other parts of the country
that are impacted by this fire.
We pray for our brothers and sisters in
Nigeria
who are are, again,
involved in a struggle for human rights. Malcolm
didn't like to wear civil rights. These are
rights that people are born with, not rights
that we have to earn.
We pray for our brothers and sisters in
Palestine, in the Jarash camps. You know, these
are people that are forgotten.
Palestinian refugees all across the world who as
one Palestinian told me once, he's like, I
live the hadith, live in this dunya like
a stranger or a traveler.
Because either I'm a stranger or I'm traveling
somewhere.
And we ask a lot to give the
American Muslim community the strength and bravery and
fidelity to stand with Palestinians
and not to sell out,
and not to look for for some kind
of cheap gain.
As we ask Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala to
help them stand with
the migrant brothers and sisters in the in
this country, the first people of this country
who Hadis had talked about.
We asked them to help us stand with
those people where prophecy lies. Prophecy lies in
the statement of Khadija.
When the comes to her and she says,
you help the poor, you help the madum.
The madum are the people that are, like,
they're not they're non existent.
The prophet is with the non existent who
exist, but the people treat them as though
they're nonexistent.
We pray that
Allah help our brothers and sisters in Africa
and Egypt,
in the Congo where there's a lot happening
that that no one is talking about.
In Sudan,
in Yemen,
and all over the world where people, the
people that are forgotten, we ask Allah to
hear our dua for them.
We ask Allah to help this country,
especially for this young generation of generation z,
man, who are much more braver and articulate
and strong and intelligent. You know, give them
the wisdom and help us be there to
support them. We ask God to bless our
parents, to bless those who have passed on,
to help us as we've tried to raise
our children, to help this community as we
go through the challenges of COVID 19,
and to keep us strong. We pray that
Allah unite our auntie Aqida with her husband
in Jannah.
We ask Allah to unite you both,
in front of the hold of the prophet
with all of your beautiful grandchildren and your
family.
We ask Allah