Suhaib Webb – SWISS Focus Group #1 Listening to College Student’s Needs

Suhaib Webb
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The speakers discuss the importance of finding balance between authentic religious practices and cultural delusion, trusting people, and learning from experiences to reach a new path. They stress the need for safe spaces, trusting people, and finding support from younger generation. The speakers also emphasize the importance of understanding intellectual and psychological needs and working on one's values and values to avoid cultural assumptions. They stress the importance of learning and working with people in one's life to become a fuller person.

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			Okay.
		
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			That was, extremely electrifying.
		
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			It's great to be with all of you.
		
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			Certainly, you know, young people teach us how
		
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			to live again, man. So it's invigorating
		
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			to be with you, and I'm very happy
		
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			that you came.
		
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			So let's let's talk about if we can
		
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			just share, because I think this is important
		
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			for me to learn as well. Like,
		
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			what are the most important
		
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			questions around Dawa? Those 2 that I ask.
		
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			If anyone would like to share what
		
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			what's there for you?
		
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			What showed up when I asked that question?
		
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			Right? The internal need to understand something and
		
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			then
		
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			at the same time being able to project
		
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			the needs around me. So dawah,
		
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			like, oftentimes and this is something to think
		
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			about when Allah talks to the prophet he
		
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			orders the prophet first. Right? Then his family.
		
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			Then the community. We tend to think of
		
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			that was being something strictly
		
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			projected.
		
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			Right? But there's also the thikr for ourselves.
		
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			So the first question was, like, what's important
		
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			to you? What questions on your mind that
		
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			you may be grappling with? And then second,
		
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			what's the important question that your immediate environment
		
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			may be either through pressure or genuine,
		
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			interest is asking you? Who's gonna set us
		
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			off?
		
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			Nobody? Can you repeat the question? Yeah. I
		
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			remember the 2 things I asked, like, what's
		
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			important to you and what's important to your
		
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			environment. So doubt what to yourself
		
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			and doubt what to people around you, Miriam.
		
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			Yeah. So
		
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			you can just give one, like,
		
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			something that people ask you a lot or
		
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			something that you may have thought about a
		
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			lot that you need to know an answer
		
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			to? Okay. When I think about law is
		
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			my parents because I'm from Pakistan
		
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			and they
		
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			they often,
		
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			they confuse a religion with culture. Right. So
		
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			I grew up thinking
		
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			a lot of cultural things were religious and
		
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			a lot of religious things were cultural.
		
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			So
		
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			at this point in my life, I'm trying
		
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			to convince, like I was raised I went
		
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			to Islamic school where it was all about
		
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			religion. So, like, at this point in my
		
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			life, I'm trying to convince them a lot
		
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			of things that is in our culture, isn't
		
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			Islamic. So I think it's an internal struggle
		
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			that I have because I of course, in
		
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			Islam, we have to respect our parents
		
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			100%.
		
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			So I don't know how to do that
		
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			without
		
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			low key being disrespectful.
		
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			Right. How do you find the balance between
		
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			authentic religious practices
		
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			and cultural delusion?
		
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			Yeah. And also sometimes what happens is people
		
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			go so so fast that they think, oh,
		
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			my culture is completely not religion. And then
		
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			they go so fast that they wipe out
		
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			aspects of their traditional culture, which are really
		
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			rooted Yeah. And founded in religion. That balance
		
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			is tough. How many of you struggle with
		
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			that? The issue of culture and religion.
		
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			Yeah. See, as a convert, that's something that
		
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			I struggle with maybe in a different way.
		
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			But
		
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			no one was framing
		
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			Oklahoma
		
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			culture as
		
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			Islamic. You know what I mean? Like, I
		
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			didn't have to deal with that aspect of
		
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			it. Awesome. Thank you, Miriam. That was wonderful.
		
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			Who else? I'm external thing too. Okay. Let's
		
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			hear it.
		
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			Basically, in, like, my classes, when they bring
		
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			up Islam and I have answers to their
		
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			questions, but I get so embarrassed or, like,
		
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			shy to answer. Even though I know what
		
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			the answers are, I know what Sharia law
		
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			is. I know a lot of, like I
		
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			know what jihad is itself, but, like, to
		
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			them, it's like holy war. So I don't
		
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			know. I don't answer the questions just because
		
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			I get, like,
		
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			shy, and then I and I feel guilty
		
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			because I know this is my job as
		
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			a Muslim to educate everyone else. I mean,
		
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			being vulnerable, like, thank you for being vulnerable.
		
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			That's dope. Like,
		
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			how many of you struggle sometimes with the
		
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			confidence to speak the truth?
		
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			It can it's there. Right? It's it's there.
		
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			Right?
		
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			Even some of us raised their hands kinda
		
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			like this. Someone's really like I mean, that's
		
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			just and we need to create safe space
		
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			for like, we need to talk about
		
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			love. Right? We need to
		
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			bring the sense of a loving community
		
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			so that we can be, like, vulnerable in
		
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			the way that we address our vulnerabilities. So,
		
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			like, thank you for, like, set framing that.
		
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			And,
		
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			like, the first question.
		
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			Just killing, Mariam. You got me from Brooklyn.
		
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			Right? Yeah. I know it. Alright.
		
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			Who else?
		
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			This is a safe space, Insha'Allah. I don't
		
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			know who else is in the room,
		
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			but I really I really need you to
		
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			share in order to, like, be able to
		
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			serve you.
		
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			When we talk about education, religious education often
		
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			in the Muslim community,
		
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			we commit a great offense that it's only
		
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			a one way street. Sheikh or teacher or
		
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			myself, like a student
		
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			just talking.
		
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			Whereas we should there should be a period
		
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			of intake.
		
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			Right? So that we learn from from you.
		
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			And then we're better able to serve you.
		
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			Yes.
		
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			Can you say your name? I'm sorry. Oh,
		
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			my name is Asma. Asma.
		
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			So for who I struggle with and what
		
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			I experience with is that, like, most of
		
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			them, they, like, come in the
		
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			Yeah, how's that feel? How does it feel
		
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			to have someone just call you out like
		
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			that? Because your hijab is low? What does
		
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			low mean? Your hijab is low? What does
		
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			low mean?
		
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			Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. That's I got daughters. I
		
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			asked her about it. But, like,
		
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			I'm just trying to understand it. Right? So
		
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			when that happens, you've been Yeah. Because, like,
		
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			all used weddings. Because before, I just started
		
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			writing the values when it's happened to the
		
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			This is a man?
		
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			Yeah. This is a man saying this to
		
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			you? Yeah. Why is he all up in
		
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			how you look?
		
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			A lot of people are like I don't
		
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			know how to come out there. I feel
		
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			like Yeah. I'm not supposed to do this.
		
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			I'm not supposed to do this. I'm not
		
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			supposed to do this.
		
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			And it's also creepy. Yeah. Like
		
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			so so what what
		
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			what would be something that
		
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			would work? Like, I'm not saying what I
		
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			I honestly don't think jeans are an issue,
		
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			and I don't think it's my business how
		
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			you dress personally. But, like, what would be
		
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			an effective way for someone to say approach
		
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			someone who
		
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			like, not this. Like, someone's doing something really
		
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			wrong.
		
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			I don't think calling them out
		
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			is effective. Like you said like you said,
		
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			like, I felt it. Like, it's humiliating.
		
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			I'm sorry, you you know, that you experienced
		
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			that. Yes. Your name? Sorry. Fatima. Fatima.
		
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			I was just gonna add to that. I
		
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			think, an internal struggle
		
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			I have as well is,
		
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			not trusting
		
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			the people I should trust within my community.
		
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			Right. Like growing up,
		
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			I just never had any I didn't have
		
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			a strong relationship with
		
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			the the shoe or the the Islamic, like,
		
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			leaders
		
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			in the community because
		
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			I felt like their advice came from a
		
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			place of pride and not a place of
		
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			love.
		
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			And what whenever What's that mean? It came
		
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			from a place of pride instead of a
		
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			place of love. That's
		
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			powerful. It's so light. Gracious.
		
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			It's like That's that's real.
		
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			Like, don't wear jeans because my daughter doesn't
		
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			wear jeans and my daughter does it the
		
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			right way. Or it's like,
		
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			I don't listen to music. Why are you
		
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			listening to music? It always places the burden
		
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			of a person
		
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			displaying their religion,
		
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			how much they love Islam or how much
		
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			of a Muslim they are on that person
		
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			and just limiting them to that sin even
		
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			though that person themselves may not view as
		
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			a sin, like listening to music.
		
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			A lot of people when they try to
		
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			give give advice about music, it's always like,
		
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			haram, bestaffarullah, what are you doing? And it's
		
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			always like, I I don't wanna be around
		
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			this or I don't wanna be in this
		
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			area. And it's like, nobody ever wants to
		
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			listen to that person. Like, maybe they have
		
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			a different opinion about it. So I always
		
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			felt like I felt constrained to what other
		
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			people had to say about me rather than
		
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			being given a safe space. And on the
		
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			comment about, like, you commenting about what women
		
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			dress, that's kind of what I felt was
		
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			always carry
		
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			yourself.
		
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			In a weird way, it was a very,
		
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			like, hypersexual,
		
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			like, are you dressed to, like It's objectifying.
		
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			I mean, it could be objectifying. Right? It
		
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			reduces a person's religious value to how they
		
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			look. Sorry. Exactly. And it's like, it's never,
		
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			oh,
		
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			other subjects. It's always about, like, all the
		
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			lectures about women or how to be a
		
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			good wife or how to not dress a
		
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			certain way. There was, like, nothing else. And
		
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			then for men, there's, like, so much for
		
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			them to explore. And for us, it's sometimes
		
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			it feels limiting.
		
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			Or even sometimes, and I'm I'm not saying
		
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			this to, to reduce what you're sometimes young
		
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			men are just ignored in the community. Right?
		
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			So you find a lot of young guys,
		
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			brothers can chime in, like just not even
		
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			connected to the community. Like they've they've just
		
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			given a free license. One share, I went
		
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			to school with, he said, we love our
		
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			boys, we raise our daughters.
		
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			That's a mistake, right? What he meant is
		
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			we should love and raise both. But oftentimes,
		
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			there's so much freedom
		
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			that you talk talk to some young Muslim
		
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			men and you just feel like neglected.
		
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			Anyone else? Yes, sir? Yeah, man. I definitely
		
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			want to chime in on living life. Alright.
		
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			Susan. As a young man? Yeah. Yeah. When
		
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			it comes to listening, man.
		
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			So, like, obviously, the the issue on the
		
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			sister's side 100% exists.
		
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			And
		
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			conversely, on the brother's side, when it comes
		
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			to some rapists and young men, not only
		
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			are they neglected, sometimes they're even, like, driven
		
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			away from the messenger. And since they're like,
		
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			why the messenger isn't for you. Like, it's
		
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			How are they driven away from why would
		
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			someone drive someone away from a message? Basically,
		
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			like, to them, the the the mindset is,
		
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			like, oh, well, you know, it's when you
		
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			get old. Right? For now, like, all of
		
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			your life,
		
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			I mean, how does it happen to my
		
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			You mean, like, become religious when you get
		
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			old? Yeah. Oh. Basically, go go go Go
		
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			sow your oaks. Yeah. But work on your
		
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			career now. Work on your money now. Have
		
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			fun now. That's kinda like the message with
		
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			a lot of,
		
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			families. Sometimes it didn't happen with me, but
		
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			a lot of people I know have just
		
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			happened to. And it's definitely a big problem
		
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			when it comes with brothers because they
		
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			end up really focusing on their careers or
		
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			having fun or, you know, doing whatever the
		
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			* they're doing, and they do it without
		
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			purpose or direction.
		
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			Mhmm. And that's, like, it's a huge problem.
		
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			That's a lonely place to be too when
		
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			you're living a life without purpose. Yeah. Exactly.
		
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			You know what I mean? Yeah. It can
		
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			be it can be a challenge. Masha'Allah, man.
		
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			This is gold. Like, this is really gold.
		
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			It's not like, oh, You guys are volunteers?
		
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			You guys are awesome, man. Thank you so
		
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			much.
		
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			I mean, I'm the last it's not easy.
		
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			As you get older, you realize time, you
		
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			know, time is is really important.
		
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			Anyone else,
		
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			wanna share before we
		
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			get into some of the theoretical, maybe optics
		
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			of of thinking about Dawa? These are really
		
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			I'm I'm grateful. You don't know me. You
		
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			know what I mean? Like, I'm very grateful.
		
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			Like like, I felt your pain.
		
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			You know? Asma when you said what you
		
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			said. Yes, sir. That one, sorry. Your name?
		
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			Aman. Aman. Aman. I don't want to chime
		
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			off, what Mary was saying right there about,
		
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			how I don't want to jump off, what
		
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			Miriam was
		
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			saying right there about how the aspect of
		
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			culture and also religion really intertwines and a
		
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			lot of
		
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			different backgrounds. So, personally, for me, I'm Bangladeshi.
		
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			So
		
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			Okay. A lot of the like, I've seen
		
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			it happen with my brother who married off
		
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			who's, married to
		
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			someone that's not from our background personally. She's,
		
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			a different ethnicity.
		
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			And, with our
		
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			well, with most Desi cultures,
		
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			they don't like it when you go outside
		
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			of your own, you know, your own group.
		
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			So, they don't like if you marry someone
		
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			even out of your own city, for instance.
		
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			Okay. Right? So, it's it's really a hard
		
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			road for me personally because right now I'm
		
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			struggling to give the dialogue to someone that
		
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			I'm in a relationship with, which I wanna
		
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			make it a a beautiful relationship. That's a
		
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			beautiful thing though. And it's beautiful though. Like
		
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			if you can marry, you know, and settle
		
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			down with a person that
		
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			shares your religious passion, that's like, that's like
		
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			dope. That's gravy. Well, she's not
		
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			a she's not a Muslim yet. Yeah, I
		
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			mean, I'm saying, but if she do I'm
		
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			with her, Lance. Oh, yeah. Beautiful, man. Now
		
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			I'll make it easy for you.
		
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			So, I know it's a like, I've seen
		
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			my brother go through that road and that
		
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			path where it was a lot of struggle
		
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			for him, but I also want to say
		
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			that it really helps if you have people
		
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			of your generation,
		
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			younger ones supporting you, where, like, we all
		
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			supported my brother and all the, you know,
		
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			older people with traditional mentality. They came and
		
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			they, you know, and they try to, you
		
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			know, stigmatize whatever it was or, you know,
		
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			attack him in a certain sense. You know,
		
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			we we'd be the ones that, you know,
		
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			come and back him up. And I'm hoping,
		
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			you know, the same thing happens for me,
		
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			you know, where my brother's is a big
		
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			family for us, where they would come and
		
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			they would, you know, support me in a
		
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			sense
		
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			where when that time comes that you know,
		
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			she's not a Muslim as of yet, but,
		
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			where they would support her to get to
		
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			a new path Right. To get on the
		
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			street path.
		
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			So, I just wanted to say that, you
		
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			know, maybe the best, you know, solution to
		
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			where you're coming from is also support from
		
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			the younger generation.
		
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			Because I kind of, you know, been through
		
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			my brother's side, and I'm going through it
		
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			right now.
		
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			And, I'm hoping, you know, the same thing
		
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			goes steadily with us, you know, as well.
		
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			But, support support is a great mistake.
		
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			And this is where, you know, what I
		
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			was always able to do is gauge
		
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			how familiar
		
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			the institution and religious leadership is with the
		
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			community,
		
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			by the Duas they make in Jumah.
		
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			Like have you ever heard someone in Jumah
		
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			say, Oh Allah, help people that may be
		
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			in a
		
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			that. Or help people that have, like, body
		
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			shaming issues, help people that go through eating
		
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			disorders,
		
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			like, help people that have, like, who've lost
		
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			family.
		
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			Like one time,
		
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			there was an imam in my old city
		
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			that I lived in in in California. And
		
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			this is where I learned this from. And
		
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			he was like, oh, Allah bless the parents
		
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			of converts. And this lady just start crying.
		
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			This older white lady. So she came up
		
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			to him afterwards and she was like, I've
		
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			been Muslim for 37 years. I've never had
		
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			anyone pray for my parents.
		
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			You know what I mean? So, like, may
		
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			Allah make it easy for you, man, and
		
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			for Asma and for Miriam and for everyone.
		
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			So what we'll do is we're gonna spend
		
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			a few weeks together, Inshallah.
		
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			And
		
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			I want to kind of frame this in
		
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			a few ways. Number 1 is, like, what
		
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			are the kind of intellectual raw materials needed
		
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			for dawah? Right? What are those intellectual raw
		
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			materials?
		
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			And number 2 is, and you touched on
		
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			it, Amari. Amari.
		
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			Amari.
		
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			That
		
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			what are the also the emotional and psychological
		
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			needs of doubt? Like having a strong supporting
		
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			cast.
		
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			Right? Not people that verify when I do
		
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			something wrong, but like people that are there
		
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			to help me, like your brother, when I'm
		
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			trying to do something right.
		
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			So today we'll introduce
		
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			the kind of intellectual, cognitive, if you will,
		
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			raw materials. And then,
		
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			cognitive,
		
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			if you will, raw materials.
		
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			And then over the few weeks, we'll break
		
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			those down and then go into some of
		
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			the psychological,
		
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			like, self care. Like, someone should you've seen
		
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			sometimes people in dialogue, like, they're mad. Right?
		
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			They're angry. Mhmm. And you ask them, like,
		
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			yo, have you tried yoga? You know what
		
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			I'm saying? Like, do you do CrossFit? Like,
		
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			like, are you are you engaged in any
		
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			type of, like are you engaged in self
		
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			care? Do you eat clean?
		
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			So what would be
		
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			the intellectual raw materials that are kind of
		
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			needed? And then what would be kind of
		
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			the self care support supplements if you think
		
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			about working out. What's like your protein shake
		
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			that's gonna help you maintain
		
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			your own kind of internal health. And you
		
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			don't have to be an activist to benefit
		
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			from these things. So the first is we
		
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			find, a number of characteristics
		
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			of people who are engaged in dawah. Of
		
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			course, dawah means a call.
		
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			Here we're talking about a call to goodness,
		
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			a call to Islam.
		
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			Right? A call to reform. It could be
		
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			a number of
		
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			things. But of course, the Quran says
		
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			right, call to god.
		
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			And
		
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			there are certain kind
		
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			of intellectual, theoretical, raw materials that we wanna
		
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			have in our minds
		
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			when we think about calling to god.
		
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			The first are found and there are 4
		
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			found in Sholto Yusuf,
		
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			Where,
		
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			Allah says in the 12th chapter after.
		
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			It says,
		
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			say, this is my way.
		
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			Okay?
		
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			I call to god.
		
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			Okay?
		
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			Upon
		
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			knowledge.
		
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			I, meaning prophet Muhammad alaihisar's son, and whoever
		
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			follows me
		
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			was
		
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			then
		
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			god
		
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			glorified be he.
		
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			And I'm not from the polytheists.
		
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			So these are the first five. Right?
		
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			Calling to God, knowledge,
		
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			group work,
		
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			spirituality,
		
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			and staying away from evil.
		
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			5 found in one verse.
		
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			So I call to god like the outcome
		
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			is the end of my call is god.
		
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			So that's sincerity.
		
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			It's not about my own personal
		
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			agency. You know what I'm saying? I'm not
		
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			doing it for the gram. I'm doing it
		
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			for a.
		
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			Right? No different. And Graham,
		
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			Like, I'm doing it for Allah, not for
		
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			the gram.
		
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			Secondly,
		
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			is
		
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			knowledge.
		
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			3rd,
		
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			I I have that supporting cast. I'm engaged
		
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			in group work. It's not I'm not alone,
		
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			like, on my own solo.
		
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			Spirituality.
		
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			And I don't do this like bad people.
		
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			What's called Tamiiz.
		
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			So I don't I don't sacrifice
		
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			my values and my principles
		
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			in this effort. So this is the first
		
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			five. The
		
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			Well, Allah says
		
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			to the way of god.
		
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			That's the 6th wisdom.
		
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			And in a way which is impactful, like
		
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			your communication is impactful.
		
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			Your
		
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			is.
		
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			You communicate in an excellent way. That's the
		
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			second, being able to communicate effectively and properly.
		
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			And the end is about being prepared and
		
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			qualified qualified to engage in those discussions. So
		
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			argue with them in a way that's better.
		
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			It doesn't necessarily mean, like, your character is
		
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			better than them. That's already understood. What it
		
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			means is that I've
		
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			taken the time to prepare myself and qualify
		
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			myself means is that I've taken the time
		
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			to prepare myself and qualify myself intellectually,
		
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			right, through my and through my actions. So
		
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			there's there's not a contradiction
		
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			to speak on the issues.
		
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			Right? So again, we'll review
		
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			them. Number 1 is sincerity. Number 2 is
		
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			knowledge. Number 3 is cooperative group
		
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			work. Number 4, spirituality. Number 5,
		
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			not suck not sacrificing values and principles.
		
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			Number 6 is wisdom.
		
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			Number 7 is
		
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			effective communication.
		
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			And then the 8th is being prepared.
		
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			So these are all found in the Quran.
		
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			What we'll talk about, today is is is
		
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			knowledge.
		
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			And and the word
		
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			used in this verse is. And we
		
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			should talk about sincerity too, though. Right? I
		
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			call to god.
		
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			I don't call to myself.
		
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			That's tough. Like, we all struggle with it
		
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			and I wanna say something briefly about sincerity
		
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			because, again, we often frame
		
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			these things as events instead of a process.
		
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			But sincerity is something I can say I'm
		
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			46, right, that I always struggle with. Like,
		
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			it wasn't like, you know, one day I
		
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			went and took a weekend course at at
		
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			a college. I'm like, no. I'm sincere.
		
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			Right? I'm so good now.
		
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			Right? You know, Sophia and Athori, one of
		
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			the great early scholars
		
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			said, like, there's nothing more subtly dangerous than,
		
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			like, believing in your sincerity. Lupe says, I
		
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			can't believe my own truth.
		
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			Right? So
		
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			we've always gotta question ourselves in a way
		
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			that doesn't become counterproductive,
		
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			but, like, just we check-in. You know, I'm
		
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			I'm not sure I'm doing this for the
		
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			right reason. It's like, what are the signs
		
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			that I'm doing this for the right reason?
		
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			But the word in Arabic for sincerity is,
		
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			like, everybody knows that, of course.
		
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			When you're finished with something in Arabic, what
		
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			do you say?
		
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			Halas.
		
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			Halas. Like, I'm down with it. I'm done.
		
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			I'm so done. That's really how you could
		
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			translate halas. Like, I'm so done right now.
		
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			I mean, that's really what it means. Depending
		
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			on how you say it. Right? But but
		
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			the word actually
		
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			means
		
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			from
		
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			is the word which means to clean something.
		
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			So I had a teacher from Eb Fatima,
		
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			who I studied with for a year. And
		
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			he used to say,
		
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			like honey, you clean it, you purify it.
		
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			That's called.
		
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			You it from dirt. You it from filth.
		
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			So
		
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			is doing
		
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			of the filth and dirt in my heart,
		
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			making sure that the reasons why I'm doing
		
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			something
		
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			are noble
		
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			and not about my own agency.
		
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			And nowadays, we live in an era
		
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			because of instant fame. Right?
		
00:22:14 --> 00:22:17
			Likes, attention. We all struggle with this
		
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			where if we're not careful, we may be
		
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			doing things for the wrong reason.
		
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			So it's important to check-in.
		
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			And that's why the goal of being sincere
		
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			or the means of sincerity is called,
		
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			right, to audit myself,
		
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			to make sure that I'm doing it for
		
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			the right reasons. Not to the point that
		
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			I become OCD
		
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			and incapable of functioning. That's a clinical problem.
		
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			Right? But to the point where I'm just
		
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			like, yo, make sure you're doing this for
		
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			a reason, dude.
		
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			Right? That's it. Not like, oh god. That's
		
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			not healthy.
		
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			And in the Quran, we find something. How
		
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			do we achieve sincerity is number 1, awareness,
		
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			mindfulness.
		
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			When I know something's wrong,
		
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			then I'm able to recognize my insincerity, my
		
00:23:00 --> 00:23:03
			mistake, of course. And then secondly, going through
		
00:23:03 --> 00:23:05
			life, you know, Allah says in the Quran
		
00:23:07 --> 00:23:09
			The Quran says that there is a
		
00:23:10 --> 00:23:11
			parable for you in cows.
		
00:23:13 --> 00:23:16
			We give you, we provide you drink
		
00:23:16 --> 00:23:18
			from what comes from the belly of the
		
00:23:18 --> 00:23:18
			cow
		
00:23:22 --> 00:23:25
			Right? It says between feces and blood came
		
00:23:25 --> 00:23:25
			pure milk.
		
00:23:26 --> 00:23:28
			So my sheikh from Absheh Abdul Hamud,
		
00:23:29 --> 00:23:30
			he used to say to me in Hamtramck
		
00:23:30 --> 00:23:31
			when I lived in Detroit,
		
00:23:32 --> 00:23:32
			that
		
00:23:33 --> 00:23:35
			you will go through life,
		
00:23:36 --> 00:23:38
			and life will have, like, feces and blood.
		
00:23:38 --> 00:23:39
			This is a great metaphor.
		
00:23:40 --> 00:23:42
			And just as milk comes through feces and
		
00:23:42 --> 00:23:43
			blood,
		
00:23:43 --> 00:23:44
			the test and mistakes,
		
00:23:45 --> 00:23:48
			and failures and successes that you experience. Right?
		
00:23:48 --> 00:23:48
			The blood
		
00:23:49 --> 00:23:51
			and the feces as a metaphor
		
00:23:51 --> 00:23:53
			are what's preparing you for purity.
		
00:23:55 --> 00:23:57
			So tests come oftentimes through
		
00:23:57 --> 00:23:58
			to adversity.
		
00:23:59 --> 00:24:01
			The second thing, and then we'll we'll mention
		
00:24:01 --> 00:24:03
			this and we'll stop and, you guys can
		
00:24:03 --> 00:24:04
			ask some questions.
		
00:24:05 --> 00:24:05
			Is
		
00:24:06 --> 00:24:09
			knowledge. The word means more than knowledge. He
		
00:24:10 --> 00:24:12
			didn't say. He didn't say on knowledge, he
		
00:24:12 --> 00:24:14
			said actually means to see.
		
00:24:15 --> 00:24:16
			But it doesn't just mean to see. That's
		
00:24:16 --> 00:24:19
			Rota. Here, Basira, as mentioned by some of
		
00:24:19 --> 00:24:20
			our scholars, is
		
00:24:22 --> 00:24:23
			to see with discernment,
		
00:24:24 --> 00:24:25
			to see subtleties,
		
00:24:26 --> 00:24:27
			right, to pay attention,
		
00:24:28 --> 00:24:31
			to be mindful, to be woke. Right?
		
00:24:31 --> 00:24:33
			And most of our scholars said that
		
00:24:35 --> 00:24:37
			involves 2 important things,
		
00:24:38 --> 00:24:39
			the marriage of theology
		
00:24:40 --> 00:24:40
			and sociology
		
00:24:41 --> 00:24:42
			and anthropology and history.
		
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			Meaning that I I should have foundational knowledge
		
00:24:46 --> 00:24:48
			of my religion. I would say
		
00:24:48 --> 00:24:50
			one of the greatest tragedies
		
00:24:50 --> 00:24:52
			in the American Muslim community
		
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			outside of great efforts within Islamic schools
		
00:24:56 --> 00:24:57
			is that we have not provided
		
00:24:58 --> 00:24:59
			your generation
		
00:24:59 --> 00:24:59
			a
		
00:25:00 --> 00:25:02
			curriculum for religious studies.
		
00:25:03 --> 00:25:04
			I'm not talking about for ulema.
		
00:25:05 --> 00:25:07
			I'm talking about, like, anyone here work out.
		
00:25:07 --> 00:25:11
			I'm talking about functional fitness, functional religious literacy.
		
00:25:11 --> 00:25:14
			Like, what's functional religious literacy? So how do
		
00:25:14 --> 00:25:17
			we gain functional religious literacy? By listening to
		
00:25:17 --> 00:25:19
			what's important to you. That's what's in your
		
00:25:19 --> 00:25:21
			life. That's why I asked you when I
		
00:25:21 --> 00:25:23
			walked in, I have questions for you because
		
00:25:23 --> 00:25:25
			I don't wanna be speaking, like, you know,
		
00:25:25 --> 00:25:27
			in, like, the cloud somewhere. I wanna try
		
00:25:27 --> 00:25:28
			to be able to speak to issues that
		
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			are important to you.
		
00:25:30 --> 00:25:32
			So so without the presence of, like, a
		
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			functional religious curriculum, I curriculum,
		
00:25:35 --> 00:25:37
			I would say and I say this respectfully,
		
00:25:37 --> 00:25:38
			ma'am,
		
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			that the functional literacy of most American Muslims
		
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			is suspect.
		
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			It can be replaced and buttressed sometimes by
		
00:25:45 --> 00:25:48
			cultural assumptions. Right? Cultural the cultural imagination
		
00:25:48 --> 00:25:50
			is a filler, but that tends to be
		
00:25:50 --> 00:25:52
			like processed food like like you experience with
		
00:25:52 --> 00:25:53
			marriage. Right?
		
00:25:54 --> 00:25:57
			Where's the real kind of religious voice
		
00:25:58 --> 00:25:58
			on issues?
		
00:26:00 --> 00:26:02
			So the first is that you gotta prepare
		
00:26:02 --> 00:26:04
			yourself for dawah, and that would involve,
		
00:26:04 --> 00:26:06
			you know, studying,
		
00:26:06 --> 00:26:07
			whether it's through
		
00:26:07 --> 00:26:11
			trying to fulfill that through, like, YouTube lectures
		
00:26:11 --> 00:26:13
			on topics that are important to you.
		
00:26:13 --> 00:26:15
			TED Talks on topics that are important to
		
00:26:15 --> 00:26:18
			you. If you're able to sit down, and
		
00:26:18 --> 00:26:19
			I know this is hard with, like, a
		
00:26:19 --> 00:26:21
			shayef or an imam and say, listen. I
		
00:26:21 --> 00:26:23
			just wanna, like, come to you, like, once
		
00:26:23 --> 00:26:25
			a week, man. Me and say, like, 5
		
00:26:25 --> 00:26:27
			or 6 of us and just study. Like,
		
00:26:27 --> 00:26:29
			in NYU, there's, like, 7 girls that came
		
00:26:29 --> 00:26:30
			to me. I was like, I can sit
		
00:26:30 --> 00:26:31
			with you twice a week.
		
00:26:32 --> 00:26:34
			And they're just, like, reading a classical Muslim
		
00:26:34 --> 00:26:37
			curriculum. I have, like, 30 other people, men
		
00:26:37 --> 00:26:38
			and women, who would read different text to
		
00:26:38 --> 00:26:40
			me. Right? That access
		
00:26:41 --> 00:26:43
			for people who are trained as educators,
		
00:26:44 --> 00:26:47
			we have to be accessible to you. Like,
		
00:26:47 --> 00:26:49
			there's no way we can say no unless,
		
00:26:49 --> 00:26:51
			of course, no, we have life issues.
		
00:26:51 --> 00:26:52
			So the first is
		
00:26:52 --> 00:26:55
			to learn your religion and don't assume you
		
00:26:55 --> 00:26:56
			learned it.
		
00:26:56 --> 00:26:58
			Because that will take you down that road
		
00:26:58 --> 00:26:59
			of
		
00:26:59 --> 00:27:01
			well, well, since you're not Bangali, you can't
		
00:27:01 --> 00:27:03
			marry this person. That's where that ends up.
		
00:27:03 --> 00:27:06
			Right? Those assumptions that haven't been investigated
		
00:27:06 --> 00:27:07
			or that I can go to a young
		
00:27:07 --> 00:27:10
			woman and just, like, put her on blast
		
00:27:10 --> 00:27:12
			because of her hijab. Is it being
		
00:27:12 --> 00:27:13
			low? Right?
		
00:27:14 --> 00:27:15
			That's an assumption.
		
00:27:16 --> 00:27:17
			Right? That's an assumption.
		
00:27:17 --> 00:27:19
			So when we learn
		
00:27:19 --> 00:27:22
			religious education, we're talking about really 3 or
		
00:27:22 --> 00:27:24
			4 fundamental subjects.
		
00:27:24 --> 00:27:25
			Number 1 is to learn how to read
		
00:27:25 --> 00:27:28
			the Quran properly. Like, that's very important, man.
		
00:27:28 --> 00:27:29
			That's something that you'll pass on to your
		
00:27:29 --> 00:27:30
			family.
		
00:27:30 --> 00:27:32
			Right? That's something that you can give to
		
00:27:32 --> 00:27:34
			others. That allows you say to teach other
		
00:27:34 --> 00:27:37
			girls, teach other boys to engage. Right? You're
		
00:27:37 --> 00:27:40
			there now as an asset to people. Number
		
00:27:40 --> 00:27:41
			2 is to learn theology.
		
00:27:42 --> 00:27:44
			And I can't stress how important that is.
		
00:27:44 --> 00:27:46
			That you should be able to sit down
		
00:27:46 --> 00:27:47
			and
		
00:27:47 --> 00:27:51
			go through, like, a series on functional religious
		
00:27:51 --> 00:27:51
			theology.
		
00:27:52 --> 00:27:53
			What do we believe about god? Why do
		
00:27:53 --> 00:27:55
			we believe god exists? What do we believe
		
00:27:55 --> 00:27:57
			about prophets? What do we don't believe about
		
00:27:57 --> 00:27:59
			prophets? What makes us different from other people?
		
00:27:59 --> 00:28:01
			How do we talk about those differences without
		
00:28:01 --> 00:28:03
			sounding crazy? Blah blah blah blah. Like a
		
00:28:03 --> 00:28:04
			proper education.
		
00:28:05 --> 00:28:07
			Number 2 would be, of course,
		
00:28:08 --> 00:28:10
			an education at ihsan.
		
00:28:12 --> 00:28:13
			Right? What are the internal
		
00:28:14 --> 00:28:17
			emotional components that Islam holds are very important,
		
00:28:17 --> 00:28:18
			like tranquility,
		
00:28:20 --> 00:28:20
			love, hope,
		
00:28:21 --> 00:28:21
			fear,
		
00:28:22 --> 00:28:22
			awareness,
		
00:28:23 --> 00:28:23
			mindfulness.
		
00:28:24 --> 00:28:26
			Right? Those kind of altruism.
		
00:28:27 --> 00:28:29
			What does Islam say about, like, kind of
		
00:28:29 --> 00:28:30
			universal,
		
00:28:31 --> 00:28:31
			right,
		
00:28:32 --> 00:28:33
			ideals and concepts
		
00:28:34 --> 00:28:35
			like justice,
		
00:28:35 --> 00:28:36
			community,
		
00:28:37 --> 00:28:39
			how do you formulate that in your internal
		
00:28:39 --> 00:28:40
			sphere
		
00:28:40 --> 00:28:42
			Right? So that you're able to think about
		
00:28:42 --> 00:28:44
			your own life, and then you automatically become
		
00:28:44 --> 00:28:46
			someone who advocates for that without having to
		
00:28:46 --> 00:28:47
			say it.
		
00:28:48 --> 00:28:49
			The third area, of course, would be the
		
00:28:49 --> 00:28:50
			life of the prophet,
		
00:28:51 --> 00:28:53
			peace be upon him, and Muslim history in
		
00:28:53 --> 00:28:56
			general. Because Muslim history is not perfect, not
		
00:28:56 --> 00:28:58
			romantic, not like people try to sell it.
		
00:28:58 --> 00:29:01
			That imagination again. Right? I mean, if if
		
00:29:01 --> 00:29:02
			Spain was so amazing,
		
00:29:02 --> 00:29:04
			why is Muslim Spain gone?
		
00:29:05 --> 00:29:06
			You know what I mean? Like, if it
		
00:29:06 --> 00:29:08
			was Wakanda, you know what I'm saying? Like,
		
00:29:08 --> 00:29:11
			if Andalus was Wakanda, it would still be
		
00:29:11 --> 00:29:11
			there.
		
00:29:13 --> 00:29:15
			But just like we see now in Yemen.
		
00:29:16 --> 00:29:16
			Right?
		
00:29:16 --> 00:29:18
			Who's attacking Yemen?
		
00:29:19 --> 00:29:21
			Yeah. It is. You know, they're using bombs
		
00:29:21 --> 00:29:23
			made in McDonnell Douglas and Boeing,
		
00:29:24 --> 00:29:26
			and they're paying people for that. But, largely,
		
00:29:27 --> 00:29:27
			you have
		
00:29:28 --> 00:29:31
			Iran, Saudi Arabia, you know, you have Muslim
		
00:29:32 --> 00:29:32
			players
		
00:29:33 --> 00:29:34
			in inflicting pain
		
00:29:35 --> 00:29:36
			on people.
		
00:29:36 --> 00:29:38
			You know what I mean? So
		
00:29:38 --> 00:29:39
			it's never been perfect.
		
00:29:40 --> 00:29:42
			That's important to know because when we tell
		
00:29:42 --> 00:29:44
			people like, yes, we're gonna go back to
		
00:29:44 --> 00:29:46
			these glory days and everything was fine.
		
00:29:46 --> 00:29:47
			We put too much weight on that bar
		
00:29:47 --> 00:29:49
			for you to hold it up because you're
		
00:29:49 --> 00:29:50
			like, I'm not perfect, dude. I live in
		
00:29:50 --> 00:29:51
			a, you know, I live in Brooklyn. I'm
		
00:29:51 --> 00:29:54
			trying to maintain my dean. Like, it's real.
		
00:29:55 --> 00:29:57
			The third thing I think that we should
		
00:29:57 --> 00:29:59
			familiarize ourself with or the 4th, sorry, is
		
00:29:59 --> 00:30:00
			Hadith.
		
00:30:01 --> 00:30:03
			Especially those Hadith that are foundational
		
00:30:04 --> 00:30:05
			points of Islam
		
00:30:05 --> 00:30:06
			and those,
		
00:30:06 --> 00:30:09
			hadith that talk about the, you know, like
		
00:30:09 --> 00:30:11
			the rulings, questions people have. And then the
		
00:30:11 --> 00:30:14
			5th would be contemporary issues. Like, what's important
		
00:30:14 --> 00:30:15
			to you?
		
00:30:16 --> 00:30:18
			What are the questions that you have?
		
00:30:18 --> 00:30:20
			So what we'll talk about quickly now is
		
00:30:20 --> 00:30:22
			knowledge. We just gave you kind of a
		
00:30:22 --> 00:30:24
			a kind of pedagogy. Like, how would you
		
00:30:24 --> 00:30:26
			approach it? What would you wanna study?
		
00:30:26 --> 00:30:28
			Right? And now let's talk about the second
		
00:30:28 --> 00:30:29
			component of Basirah.
		
00:30:30 --> 00:30:33
			That is after having some foundational knowledge of
		
00:30:33 --> 00:30:34
			our religion. Right?
		
00:30:35 --> 00:30:37
			Like, I think every Muslim should at least
		
00:30:37 --> 00:30:39
			know 2 parts of Quran, man. Like
		
00:30:39 --> 00:30:40
			2 just like
		
00:30:43 --> 00:30:45
			right? Sorry, I spoke speak in Egyptian. But,
		
00:30:45 --> 00:30:47
			like, you know, at least that
		
00:30:47 --> 00:30:49
			or at least the last part of the
		
00:30:49 --> 00:30:51
			Quran or at least the verses that, like,
		
00:30:51 --> 00:30:53
			Islamophobes are constantly invoking. Like, that should be
		
00:30:53 --> 00:30:55
			part of our curriculum for high school Muslim
		
00:30:55 --> 00:30:56
			students. How do you respond
		
00:30:57 --> 00:30:58
			to when Sean, you know, Sean Hannity
		
00:30:59 --> 00:31:00
			is trying to, like, drop bars
		
00:31:01 --> 00:31:02
			on Tops here. Like, how are you able
		
00:31:02 --> 00:31:04
			to now respond academically,
		
00:31:05 --> 00:31:07
			intellectually? We do a great job of respect
		
00:31:08 --> 00:31:09
			responding passionately now,
		
00:31:10 --> 00:31:12
			but we don't necessarily do a great job
		
00:31:12 --> 00:31:13
			of responding intellectually.
		
00:31:21 --> 00:31:22
			Sha'Allah,
		
00:31:22 --> 00:31:23
			is
		
00:31:23 --> 00:31:25
			the other component of knowledge is knowledge of
		
00:31:25 --> 00:31:26
			people.
		
00:31:27 --> 00:31:29
			So, Bolseera doesn't only mean that I have
		
00:31:29 --> 00:31:32
			like religious education that and we're not asking
		
00:31:32 --> 00:31:33
			you to be scholars. I don't like what
		
00:31:33 --> 00:31:34
			we tell people this.
		
00:31:35 --> 00:31:37
			That's like telling people become PhDs. Like, not
		
00:31:37 --> 00:31:37
			necessarily
		
00:31:39 --> 00:31:39
			functional
		
00:31:40 --> 00:31:41
			religious
		
00:31:42 --> 00:31:42
			scholarship.
		
00:31:44 --> 00:31:46
			Some of my worst teachers, necessarily functional religious
		
00:31:46 --> 00:31:48
			scholarship. Some of my worst teachers,
		
00:31:49 --> 00:31:52
			in Islamic studies were considered brilliant scholars in
		
00:31:52 --> 00:31:55
			a given subject, but they were horrible teachers
		
00:31:55 --> 00:31:56
			because they would always conflate
		
00:31:57 --> 00:31:59
			their focus with whatever they were trying to
		
00:31:59 --> 00:32:01
			teach us. And some of my best teachers
		
00:32:01 --> 00:32:03
			had, like, associate's degrees.
		
00:32:03 --> 00:32:05
			Right? But they were
		
00:32:05 --> 00:32:05
			seasoned
		
00:32:06 --> 00:32:06
			teachers.
		
00:32:07 --> 00:32:09
			So no one's asking you to become
		
00:32:11 --> 00:32:14
			so you can rock the r line hard
		
00:32:14 --> 00:32:15
			if someone asks you a question.
		
00:32:16 --> 00:32:17
			You know, you don't wanna be going to
		
00:32:17 --> 00:32:18
			Bay Ridge and you're like, well, you know,
		
00:32:18 --> 00:32:20
			I'm not a scholar, so I can't tell
		
00:32:20 --> 00:32:22
			you about this. Like,
		
00:32:23 --> 00:32:24
			and this happened to me. When I converted,
		
00:32:24 --> 00:32:26
			I said at the MSA booth. I don't
		
00:32:26 --> 00:32:27
			know if you have MSA booth on campus.
		
00:32:28 --> 00:32:30
			And there was this guy from Pakistan.
		
00:32:33 --> 00:32:35
			So, like, that's my boys. My boys are
		
00:32:35 --> 00:32:37
			all from Pakistan. We're not convert.
		
00:32:37 --> 00:32:39
			So people would come and be like, so
		
00:32:39 --> 00:32:40
			what's Islam? He's like, I don't know. I
		
00:32:40 --> 00:32:41
			have to ask a scholar.
		
00:32:42 --> 00:32:44
			So these non Muslims are like, I don't
		
00:32:44 --> 00:32:46
			need a scholar to know what your religion
		
00:32:46 --> 00:32:48
			means to you. We've made a mistake in
		
00:32:48 --> 00:32:50
			our community. We said that this voice, that
		
00:32:50 --> 00:32:51
			public intellectual,
		
00:32:52 --> 00:32:53
			that public advocate
		
00:32:54 --> 00:32:55
			has to be
		
00:32:55 --> 00:32:57
			a scholarly level of literacy. No. It needs
		
00:32:57 --> 00:32:59
			to be functional religious literacy.
		
00:32:59 --> 00:33:02
			And at times, a functional carrier may be
		
00:33:02 --> 00:33:02
			more impactful,
		
00:33:03 --> 00:33:04
			say like Linda
		
00:33:04 --> 00:33:05
			Sarsour. Right?
		
00:33:06 --> 00:33:07
			Then the the shei.
		
00:33:08 --> 00:33:11
			So the second component is crucial because as
		
00:33:11 --> 00:33:12
			young Americans,
		
00:33:12 --> 00:33:15
			living in perhaps the most important city in
		
00:33:15 --> 00:33:17
			the world, I mean, you're you're up on
		
00:33:17 --> 00:33:18
			what's going on.
		
00:33:18 --> 00:33:21
			And the ability to know people is the
		
00:33:21 --> 00:33:22
			second condition.
		
00:33:22 --> 00:33:25
			That's why when someone asked Imam Ahmed,
		
00:33:25 --> 00:33:28
			you know, what is a functioning scholar? He
		
00:33:28 --> 00:33:29
			said,
		
00:33:31 --> 00:33:34
			Right? To know the religion and to know
		
00:33:34 --> 00:33:34
			the people.
		
00:33:36 --> 00:33:38
			And knowing the people means to know their
		
00:33:38 --> 00:33:41
			as best you can, their emotional and psychological
		
00:33:41 --> 00:33:43
			needs and historical trauma.
		
00:33:43 --> 00:33:46
			Right? Or historical successes to be aware. So
		
00:33:46 --> 00:33:48
			we know the prophet forbid us to stand
		
00:33:48 --> 00:33:50
			for people, but we have narrations at times
		
00:33:50 --> 00:33:52
			when when people would come, he would stand.
		
00:33:53 --> 00:33:55
			And some of his students asked him, didn't
		
00:33:55 --> 00:33:56
			you tell us not to he's like, yeah,
		
00:33:56 --> 00:33:58
			but that's the chief of a certain tribe
		
00:33:58 --> 00:33:59
			and their tribe, you gotta stand.
		
00:34:00 --> 00:34:02
			So he knows the difference between, you know
		
00:34:03 --> 00:34:05
			what I mean, Brownsville and Brooklyn Heights.
		
00:34:05 --> 00:34:07
			He knows that in Harlem, it's different than
		
00:34:07 --> 00:34:10
			Brooklyn. He's aware how to deal, engage with
		
00:34:10 --> 00:34:10
			people.
		
00:34:11 --> 00:34:11
			The prophet
		
00:34:12 --> 00:34:14
			asked people how they are emotionally. He checks
		
00:34:14 --> 00:34:15
			in with men and women because
		
00:34:16 --> 00:34:18
			he cares about how they but he knows
		
00:34:18 --> 00:34:19
			that they have this need.
		
00:34:21 --> 00:34:23
			He always says to I love you. I
		
00:34:23 --> 00:34:25
			love you. Why? Because needs that. He's a
		
00:34:25 --> 00:34:25
			single
		
00:34:26 --> 00:34:28
			child. He was raised by a single mother.
		
00:34:28 --> 00:34:30
			So he needs that male to step in
		
00:34:30 --> 00:34:32
			and be like, yo, I love you and
		
00:34:32 --> 00:34:34
			to help model for him what it means
		
00:34:34 --> 00:34:36
			to be a a growing pre adolescent.
		
00:34:37 --> 00:34:39
			Now, we understand the prophet differently.
		
00:34:39 --> 00:34:42
			So, Dawah isn't just like, yo, that's haram.
		
00:34:42 --> 00:34:44
			Your hijab is low blah blah blah. Like,
		
00:34:44 --> 00:34:46
			no. If I really know Esma,
		
00:34:47 --> 00:34:49
			then I might say to myself, that's not
		
00:34:49 --> 00:34:50
			the best thing to even talk about right
		
00:34:50 --> 00:34:51
			now.
		
00:34:52 --> 00:34:54
			But maybe there's other issues that are, like,
		
00:34:54 --> 00:34:57
			that show I actually care about Esma, that
		
00:34:57 --> 00:34:58
			I'm worried about that issue.
		
00:35:00 --> 00:35:01
			We've all been there.
		
00:35:02 --> 00:35:04
			And that leads to the later condition that
		
00:35:04 --> 00:35:06
			we'll talk about, Hikma. How do we get
		
00:35:06 --> 00:35:07
			to know people?
		
00:35:07 --> 00:35:08
			Conversations,
		
00:35:08 --> 00:35:08
			man.
		
00:35:09 --> 00:35:12
			Live with them. Know them. There's actually a
		
00:35:12 --> 00:35:15
			famous axiom in Islamic law that says, you
		
00:35:15 --> 00:35:18
			know, you're not allowed to give a fatwa
		
00:35:18 --> 00:35:20
			to people if you don't understand the cultural
		
00:35:20 --> 00:35:21
			norms of those people.
		
00:35:22 --> 00:35:23
			Because you may destroy them.
		
00:35:24 --> 00:35:25
			You may wreck them.
		
00:35:26 --> 00:35:28
			You may cause great you may cause more
		
00:35:28 --> 00:35:29
			harm than good.
		
00:35:30 --> 00:35:31
			So by communication,
		
00:35:31 --> 00:35:33
			by learning their history,
		
00:35:34 --> 00:35:35
			right, by reading
		
00:35:36 --> 00:35:39
			about them. By building relationships with them. By
		
00:35:39 --> 00:35:40
			volunteering with them.
		
00:35:41 --> 00:35:42
			By working with them.
		
00:35:42 --> 00:35:46
			Right? Not just being the passionate person that
		
00:35:46 --> 00:35:47
			feels somehow connected,
		
00:35:47 --> 00:35:49
			but going to a deeper
		
00:35:49 --> 00:35:52
			level. So the process, Allah says about the
		
00:35:52 --> 00:35:52
			prophet,
		
00:35:54 --> 00:35:56
			like, he was sent in you, in
		
00:35:56 --> 00:35:57
			means
		
00:35:57 --> 00:35:59
			inside you. Like, the prophet was in the
		
00:35:59 --> 00:36:00
			guts of his
		
00:36:02 --> 00:36:04
			So he can better serve them.
		
00:36:05 --> 00:36:06
			We see our sister, Ocasio
		
00:36:07 --> 00:36:09
			Cortez. Right? Like, how does she win? She
		
00:36:09 --> 00:36:10
			knew her constituents
		
00:36:11 --> 00:36:13
			seat. She wasn't a an establishment
		
00:36:13 --> 00:36:14
			democrat.
		
00:36:14 --> 00:36:16
			Right? She didn't have a lot of corporate
		
00:36:16 --> 00:36:19
			funding behind her, but she knew people.
		
00:36:20 --> 00:36:22
			Right? She understood her constituency.
		
00:36:23 --> 00:36:25
			So to truly be someone in Dawa,
		
00:36:26 --> 00:36:28
			right, is to know that person.
		
00:36:29 --> 00:36:30
			So if I know that perhaps and I'll
		
00:36:30 --> 00:36:32
			give you an example. I I I was
		
00:36:32 --> 00:36:33
			in Boston for a number of years. Sorry.
		
00:36:33 --> 00:36:34
			It's 3 o'clock.
		
00:36:34 --> 00:36:35
			And
		
00:36:35 --> 00:36:37
			this brother came to me and he's like
		
00:36:37 --> 00:36:38
			imam. I don't think you know me. I
		
00:36:38 --> 00:36:39
			actually found out I was Irish at that
		
00:36:39 --> 00:36:41
			time. I didn't know I was Irish.
		
00:36:41 --> 00:36:43
			I did the *.com. You know what I
		
00:36:43 --> 00:36:44
			mean, hooked it up,
		
00:36:46 --> 00:36:47
			but he took me to a Irish pub
		
00:36:47 --> 00:36:48
			man.
		
00:36:49 --> 00:36:51
			They took me to Irish pub. They were
		
00:36:51 --> 00:36:53
			playing the ukulele and stuff. I thought I
		
00:36:53 --> 00:36:54
			saw Dwight from the office up in that
		
00:36:54 --> 00:36:55
			joint. Although Dwight was German.
		
00:36:56 --> 00:36:59
			Dwight was German, though. Right? So, like, I'm
		
00:36:59 --> 00:37:00
			up in there with all these like really
		
00:37:00 --> 00:37:02
			Irish folks, right?
		
00:37:02 --> 00:37:04
			And then he says to me,
		
00:37:04 --> 00:37:06
			I was raised a functional alcoholic.
		
00:37:07 --> 00:37:08
			I was raised in a pub from the
		
00:37:08 --> 00:37:10
			age of 5. And that's not to say
		
00:37:10 --> 00:37:12
			our Irish have had this experience.
		
00:37:12 --> 00:37:13
			But what he said is a lot of
		
00:37:13 --> 00:37:15
			us were converting were from this cultural group.
		
00:37:15 --> 00:37:15
			This is what we deal with and you
		
00:37:15 --> 00:37:17
			need to be able to group.
		
00:37:17 --> 00:37:19
			This is what we deal with, and you
		
00:37:19 --> 00:37:21
			need to be able to understand how to
		
00:37:21 --> 00:37:22
			serve us.
		
00:37:22 --> 00:37:24
			That's the point I'm trying to say. When
		
00:37:24 --> 00:37:26
			we talk about knowledge, we're talking about knowledge
		
00:37:26 --> 00:37:27
			of religion,
		
00:37:27 --> 00:37:29
			but then investing in community
		
00:37:29 --> 00:37:31
			and moving into community
		
00:37:31 --> 00:37:35
			and not appropriating that community's experiences like my
		
00:37:35 --> 00:37:37
			folks like to do. You know, Tom Cruise,
		
00:37:37 --> 00:37:38
			Last Samurai.
		
00:37:38 --> 00:37:41
			You know, appreciating and seeing, like, how I
		
00:37:41 --> 00:37:42
			can be an ally
		
00:37:43 --> 00:37:45
			to that community. So next week, Inshallah, we're
		
00:37:45 --> 00:37:47
			gonna build on this. If there's any questions,
		
00:37:47 --> 00:37:49
			we can take them. If not, I apologize.
		
00:37:49 --> 00:37:50
			We we finished a little late.