Tariq Ramadan – Ramadan Chronicles #18 Poverty

Tariq Ramadan
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The speaker discusses the importance of acknowledging the power of the people and their influence in society. They emphasize the need to fight poverty and change the perception of reality, and to pray for the right of the poor. They also emphasize the importance of local and international levels of acceptance for the people and their values.

AI: Summary ©

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			Among the phenomenon that we can find in
		
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			all societies, wherever we go you will find
		
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			poor people, needy people.
		
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			And this is the reality of our societies.
		
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			Poverty is everywhere.
		
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			Yet, what we need to understand when it
		
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			comes to Islam is that we have to
		
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			struggle against poverty, and poverty could be a
		
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			natural state. It's not an acceptable state. And
		
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			we have to struggle and we have to
		
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			fight against poverty, which is one of our
		
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			when it comes to resisting poverty and trying
		
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			to change,
		
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			the situation.
		
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			Knowing that from the very beginning, if you
		
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			come to the starting,
		
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			point of all the revelations in the Quran,
		
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			2 things were there. The first was to
		
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			help the prophet, peace be upon him, and
		
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			all the believers to change the perception of
		
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			the real and nature and creation that is
		
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			full of signs.
		
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			So look at what was invisible before, and
		
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			you will see the signs of the invisible,
		
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			meaning the creator. At the same time, when
		
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			you look at your society, what he said
		
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			is that look at the invisible people because
		
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			for the rich people, the poor people are
		
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			useless. They are invisible. They are not important.
		
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			When it comes to to to to come
		
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			back to the first,
		
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			he's
		
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			asking you to look at the last, the
		
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			last one, the people who are useless within
		
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			the society, and this is why you will
		
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			get the dignity.
		
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			So as much as they have no dignity
		
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			because in social terms, they are apparently useless,
		
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			in spiritual term, this is where you will
		
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			get your dignity because you look at them
		
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			and you see them. You make them visible
		
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			into,
		
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			within the invisible dimension of life. And this
		
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			is what we have in the Quran.
		
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			For those people who are not getting this
		
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			faith and not getting this closeness to god,
		
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			you don't give and you don't respect the
		
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			dignity of the poor people. Why it's so
		
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			important?
		
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			This is what we have to start with.
		
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			And within zakat,
		
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			the, purifying social tax, you have to pay
		
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			it, which is the right of the poor.
		
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			You have to pay this. This is a
		
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			a a duty. This is an obligation for
		
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			you, and it's not a gift that they
		
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			don't have to say thank you for that
		
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			because this is their right. So the the
		
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			the the the right of the poor, it's
		
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			essential in our tradition. So you have to
		
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			pray. This is the the vertical
		
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			relationship to god, and then the horizontal
		
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			relationship to humanity and to our brothers and
		
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			sisters in humanity out of, this dignified way
		
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			of dealing with justice and acknowledging the right
		
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			of the poor.
		
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			Having said that, you have to go beyond
		
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			that and to understand that even if you
		
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			are involved in this, don't expect
		
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			reward
		
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			or thanks coming from the people.
		
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			We are in fact, giving you food
		
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			for the face for the the the the
		
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			sake of god, for his face. We are
		
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			not expecting from you reward,
		
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			or, thanks. This is the way we have
		
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			to do, and we have to be involved
		
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			with parties. So it's our local level. It's
		
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			at the national level. Somebody or anyone who
		
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			is trying to come close to god has
		
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			to be and has to feel this concern
		
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			about poverty and the struggle and jihad against
		
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			poverty
		
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			at the local level, at the
		
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			international
		
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			level between the global,
		
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			north and the global south, these are concerns
		
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			that are so essential in our way of
		
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			dealing with
		
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			our faith. Faith is about
		
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			no
		
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			acceptance for poverty.
		
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			Faith means jihad against poverty.
		
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			And while it's everywhere, we have to change
		
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			it wherever we are.
		
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			Remember,
		
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			not do do not forget to tell the
		
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			people you love that you love them. Life
		
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			is fragile.