Tom Facchine – Amassing Power Vs Awaiting Saviors – Power & Politics In The Quran

Tom Facchine
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The speakers discuss the importance of community power and community projects in building power and community projects, emphasizing the need for active participation in these projects to avoid back and forth. They use the words "will" and "willful" in these terms to refer to community obligations and emphasize the importance of regular engagement in building power. The speaker warns against taking one's eyes off the prize and building power together, emphasizing the need for active participation in building power and not just taking things for granted.

AI: Summary ©

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			This is part 2 of power and politics
		
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			in the Quran.
		
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			And before we get into some new materials,
		
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			so basically, last time we talked about the
		
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			story of tallut and
		
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			several lessons that can be derived from the
		
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			story of Talut.
		
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			Today we're gonna take one of those lessons,
		
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			the first one of those lessons, and we're
		
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			gonna travel with it throughout the Quran to
		
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			see where else it pops up. But first,
		
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			you have to point out that when it
		
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			comes to power
		
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			and how community power,
		
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			Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala
		
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			commands us in the Quran to build power
		
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			as a community.
		
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			He commands us both explicitly
		
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			and implicitly.
		
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			Allah says,
		
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			Prepare for them
		
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			what you're able to of power. Now then,
		
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			in the rest of the ayah, Allah continues
		
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			on with examples
		
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			that suited that particular circumstance
		
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			in which he was talking about. But as
		
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			we say in tafsir,
		
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			That when it comes to these sorts of
		
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			things,
		
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			that
		
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			Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala words things generally
		
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			for a reason.
		
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			So that they have broader applicability
		
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			than simply the very specific political context
		
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			in which they were originally
		
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			revealed. So in that particular ayah, Allah Subhanahu
		
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			Wa Ta'ala goes on to talk about horses
		
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			and swords and armies and these sorts of
		
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			things.
		
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			But if you find yourself in a situation
		
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			like we are,
		
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			when
		
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			building power looks like something completely different,
		
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			it might look like owning land. It might
		
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			look like delivering votes. It might look like
		
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			organizing money and organizing,
		
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			donations or things of this nature.
		
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			Now this is a communal obligation, a farqifa'
		
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			and that it has
		
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			an ala, there's a reason behind it, and
		
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			so that nobody messes with us. Right? Why
		
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			do we have these signs
		
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			on the other side of the glass door?
		
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			These premises are under armed guards or whatever
		
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			it says.
		
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			So that nobody messes with us.
		
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			And if we look at the Quran, this
		
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			is exactly what Lut
		
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			says. Right? When it comes to, in Surahood.
		
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			When the forces of evil who want to
		
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			do you harm and do your children harm,
		
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			and In the last 5 months, we've seen
		
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			plenty of them exposed. Have we not?
		
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			When they're banging down the door
		
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			and the only thing separating between them
		
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			and you or your children
		
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			is your ability to defend yourself.
		
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			This is a very scary situation. And what
		
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			does Zut 'alayhi salam said?
		
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			He says, If only I had some sort
		
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			of power that I could resist you all.
		
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			Or I could lean upon some sort of
		
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			firm support or firm pillar to prevent your
		
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			harm. As Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala says multiple
		
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			times in the Quran,
		
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			there's a certain aspect of deterrence that building
		
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			power as a community
		
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			serves. We don't build power because we're looking
		
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			for trouble. None of these
		
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			handsome security guards that we have build power
		
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			because they're looking for trouble. Right, Nadim? It's
		
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			because they're here to protect. They're here to
		
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			serve. They're here to actually keep a certain
		
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			type of peace, a certain type of just
		
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			peace.
		
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			Okay? And so that this is a community
		
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			obligation.
		
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			Whatever in our time and in our scenario
		
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			that we have to do to figure it
		
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			out, well that's what we have to do.
		
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			Now, the first lesson that we had talked
		
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			about last week in the story of Tallut
		
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			was that building power
		
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			is
		
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			a community project
		
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			and it takes active participation.
		
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			It's not a spectator sport.
		
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			Building power as a community is not a
		
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			spectator sport.
		
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			What was the problem of the people of
		
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			Saudut?
		
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			They had the right mission. They were wrong.
		
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			They were turned out of their homes and
		
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			they said, all we need
		
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			is the right guy to lead us, and
		
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			then we're down. We're ready to ride. And
		
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			then what happened?
		
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			They were given that leader and they chickened
		
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			out. They got cold feet. They said, no
		
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			thanks. Actually, we were just kidding. It was
		
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			an excuse. It was a front.
		
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			We see that this isn't the first time
		
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			that Bani Israel had this problem.
		
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			You go through
		
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			the rest of the surah, Surah Al Baqarah.
		
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			You go into Surah Al Imran. You go
		
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			to Surah Al Maidah, you see that Bani
		
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			Israel had this problem before.
		
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			When Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala talks about the
		
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			followers of Musa alaihi salaam, those who followed
		
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			Musa out of Masur, out of Egypt.
		
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			And they go through the desert, they have
		
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			all their sorts of trials and tribulations, they
		
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			get to firostihin.
		
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			What is the one thing that they have
		
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			to do? What does Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala
		
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			tell them they have to do? He said,
		
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			here it is. Here's the land I promised
		
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			you. Now you have to go and there's
		
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			people who Yeah. There's people living there already.
		
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			You have to fight and then it's yours.
		
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			And Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala promises them his
		
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			aid and his nazar and his help. What's
		
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			their reaction?
		
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			They basically have the same reaction. They say
		
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			to Musa,
		
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			how are we expected
		
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			to do this sort of thing? It's not
		
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			reasonable and there's a back and forth in
		
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			Surat Al Ma'ida that's well known.
		
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			They even are so bold as to say
		
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			to Musa,
		
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			They said, you and your Lord go. Tabid.
		
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			They're making distance between them and Allah subhanahu
		
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			wa ta'ala. You and your Lord go and
		
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			fight
		
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			and we're gonna stay here and wait to
		
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			see what happens.
		
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			Right?
		
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			So building power is not a spectator sport.
		
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			And equivalent to our times
		
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			is let's say if somebody woke up every
		
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			4 years
		
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			and they look at the who up Who's
		
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			up for election this time? Which one's the
		
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			least bad one? Alright Bismillah, here we go.
		
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			That's not how it works.
		
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			Building power as a community,
		
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			it's a weekly
		
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			project.
		
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			If not a daily project. It's Farud Kifaiyah,
		
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			which means that you can't just
		
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			hope some other guy's gonna do it. You're
		
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			gonna pick the right person, they're your savior
		
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			and then you forget about everything they do.
		
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			No. Politicians are like getting toddlers ready for
		
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			the masjid.
		
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			You know what I mean by that?
		
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			You say, okay, Baba, come get your kufi,
		
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			come your shoes. Okay. He maybe gets his
		
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			jacket, now he's toddling off this way. No.
		
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			No. No. Here Baba, you have to Every
		
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			step of the way, you have to make
		
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			sure they stay on task. Politicians are the
		
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			same.
		
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			They say here's the agenda, here's why we
		
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			put you in,
		
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			here's the proof that we put you in,
		
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			Here's what you said you were gonna do.
		
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			You haven't done it yet. When are you
		
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			gonna do it? Every week you're knocking on
		
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			their door. That's how it works.
		
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			So this is what is just one of
		
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			the things and there's other types of power
		
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			other than electoral power. That's just one tool.
		
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			But we're saying that this is what it
		
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			looks like. Power, building power is not a
		
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			spectator sport. It is not something that you
		
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			can just flip on every 4 years. It's
		
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			something that takes active,
		
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			regular engagement.
		
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			Now this story pops up another time or
		
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			this lesson pops up another time and that
		
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			is in Surat Al Kahf.
		
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			With Dhul Qarnayn. The last group of people
		
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			that Dhul Qarnayn go to. Very very interesting.
		
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			The interaction between them.
		
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			He comes to a people and the people
		
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			complain about
		
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			Yeah. Jews and Met Jews. So spreading fasad
		
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			on the Earth.
		
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			Things are not good. Dhul Qurnayn, come in
		
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			and save us, basically. They're turning to Dhul
		
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			Qurnayn as a savior. Say, build us a
		
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			wall. We'll pay you.
		
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			Right? They wanna be as uninvolved as possible.
		
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			What can I pay? What's the the price
		
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			tag? Just give me the bar code. I'll
		
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			scan it. I've got Google pay. Boom. And
		
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			it's done.
		
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			And what is the Lutlarnain's reaction?
		
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			He doesn't give them exactly what they ask
		
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			for. He says, basically, no. You're gonna help
		
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			build this wall.
		
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			So bring the iron, bring the molten lead,
		
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			bring whatever you're gonna do, and here we're
		
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			gonna build it together. So as they say,
		
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			you give a man a fish, you feed
		
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			him for a meal. You teach a man
		
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			the fish.
		
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			Right? He's set for life.
		
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			So Vod al Kharnein is actually teaching the
		
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			people that he goes to how power building
		
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			works.
		
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			It's not something you just find the right
		
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			person, we find the right candidate,
		
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			we get them in power, and then we
		
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			just go to sleep. That's not how it
		
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			works.
		
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			You have to learn how to actively participate.
		
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			We see especially in the first
		
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			10 aj zap,
		
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			a lot of examples of what not to
		
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			do.
		
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			And they need to be studied.
		
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			Al Imran,
		
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			Anisa,
		
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			Al Ma'ida, Al Anfal, Atawbah. They need to
		
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			be studied
		
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			about what not to do. Allah subhanahu wa
		
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			ta'ala, especially in Al Imran and Al Ma'idah,
		
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			warns us about putting our trust in the
		
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			wrong people. The people who were suffering from
		
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			Yatjuj and Matjuj were fortunate. They were blessed
		
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			because they could trust Lulkarni.
		
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			What if Lulkarni was not trustworthy?
		
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			What if he was a grifter?
		
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			What if he was somebody who came in,
		
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			he said, oh yes, Insha'Allah, and quoted a
		
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			hadith.
		
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			And then said, give me all your votes.
		
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			Right? We know that these people exist. Correct?
		
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			Correct.
		
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			So Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala has lots of
		
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			warnings for us
		
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			to not put too much trust.
		
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			Especially in people that are outside of our
		
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			community that we don't know.
		
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			And how many times does Allah Subhanahu Wa
		
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			Ta'ala say,
		
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			Do not take them as too close of
		
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			friends.
		
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			And he actually blames people for the internal
		
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			motivations that they would have.
		
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			Here you are loving these people.
		
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			Chasing their power, chasing their influence and they
		
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			don't love you back.
		
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			As we say. This is embarrassing as humiliation
		
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			or as Allah says in surah, anisa
		
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			Are you looking for Izzah from them?
		
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			All honor and dignity is belongs to Allah
		
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			alone. And Allah's found salah gives it to
		
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			who he wills, and he takes it away
		
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			from whom he wills. And so in our
		
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			project of building power, we can't lose
		
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			sight. We can't take our eyes off the
		
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			prize. We stick together as a community, and
		
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			we do what we have to do together,
		
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			trusting in one another and building that power
		
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			together.