Tom Facchine – Are Wildfires a Punishment from Allah

Tom Facchine
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The conversation discusses the potential risks of forest fires and the need for individuals to take initiative in addressing them. They also discuss the responsibility of municipalities and governments to improve society and advocate for a new framework for living life. The speakers emphasize the importance of community involvement in addressing issues and making changes for oneself.

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			Fear and concern is growing tonight as flames
		
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			light up the Los Angeles hillside.
		
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			With the California fire still raging, it's something
		
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			that obviously is on a lot of people's
		
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			minds.
		
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			We've seen mosques burn to the ground, a
		
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			lot of people's homes have burned to the
		
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			ground, and it's a terrible tragedy.
		
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			Now, there's a lot of different dimensions to
		
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			this, and it's important to go over some
		
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			of them because, you know, you get people
		
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			that want to jump in and say this
		
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			is a lot of punishment, and you know,
		
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			there's individuals who might have done certain things
		
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			in the past that we might get very,
		
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			very happy and gleeful at their downfall.
		
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			And there might be some degrees to which
		
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			that's valid, but I think in SOF, you
		
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			know, being well rounded about it and being
		
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			mature about it, we have to recognize holistically
		
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			all the different dimensions to that.
		
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			So one of them, I mean, is something
		
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			that I have not seen a lot of
		
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			people talk about, at least in mainstream circles,
		
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			which is unecological nature with which we build
		
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			housing in America.
		
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			Now, I know that's not a very popular
		
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			topic, but there are ecosystems in the country
		
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			where forest fire is a natural part of
		
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			the cycle where the ground regenerates.
		
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			Being from southern New Jersey, the Pine Barrens
		
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			are like that.
		
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			I know there's places up in Oregon like
		
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			that.
		
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			I know a lot of places in California
		
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			are like that.
		
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			And many Native Americans in different areas like
		
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			this, they actually practiced controlled burning because that
		
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			was just part of the natural cycle.
		
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			Now, what happens is with the way that
		
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			we do urban planning, we just continuously sprawl
		
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			and expand and sprawl and expand and sprawl
		
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			and expand.
		
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			And you've got people building houses and leveling
		
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			earth, leveling, you know, land from trees and
		
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			everything to build homes in places that those
		
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			fires are part of the natural cycles.
		
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			And we do things to try to keep
		
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			those fires at bay.
		
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			But it seems that the more we try
		
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			to keep those fires at bay, they just
		
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			get bigger and bigger and more dramatic.
		
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			Maybe we delay it for a little bit,
		
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			but it comes back around again.
		
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			Allah's creation is undefeated.
		
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			This is just a structural thing.
		
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			And I think that it is important that
		
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			we talk about the structural elements as well
		
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			as the individual elements that we need an
		
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			intelligent and respectful philosophy when it comes to
		
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			where we build our homes and how we
		
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			build our homes.
		
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			And I think that as Muslims, as people
		
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			who are supposed to be conscientious of nature
		
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			and the sunnah of Allah, nature's cycles that
		
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			Allah subhana wa ta'ala has put in
		
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			the creation, I think that's something that would
		
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			be wonderful.
		
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			We don't think in the enlightenment tradition that
		
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			we are masters over nature and we torture
		
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			nature for its secrets and we just are
		
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			here to dominate nature.
		
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			And that's not going to work.
		
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			We don't believe in that.
		
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			So I would like to see Muslims actually
		
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			contribute to this contribution of sustainable housing and
		
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			intelligent urban design.
		
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			And I don't see a lot of people
		
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			talking about that.
		
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			So I hope that we can add something
		
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			to that conversation.
		
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			The other aspect is that, OK, anything that
		
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			happens can be a punishment from Allah subhana
		
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			wa ta'ala.
		
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			It can also be a test from Allah
		
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			subhana wa ta'ala.
		
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			It's both at the same time.
		
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			And you're not safe from it.
		
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			Right.
		
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			So even in a place like in the
		
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			east coast, like New Jersey, Pennsylvania, this year,
		
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			there was a water shortage.
		
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			And this is a place where it doesn't
		
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			often have risk of forest fires.
		
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			But there were there were wildfires and there
		
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			was a risk because things had gotten so
		
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			dry.
		
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			So don't ever think that you're safe.
		
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			Don't gloat to the point where you think,
		
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			oh, you know, these rich Hollywood snobs are
		
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			finally losing their third vacation home.
		
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			It's like even if you're right, the same
		
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			thing can happen to you.
		
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			And there are statements of the setup saying
		
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			that, you know, we've never criticized somebody with
		
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			a certain flaw, except that we've seen it
		
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			come back around and happen to us.
		
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			Or as they say, what goes around comes
		
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			around.
		
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			So just know that.
		
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			Just be careful.
		
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			Just be careful with that.
		
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			The other dimension to it is that we
		
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			have a responsibility to ensure that our municipalities
		
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			and our governments are spending resources wisely.
		
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			There's a lot of talk going on about
		
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			the L.A. Fire Department and budget cuts
		
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			and things that were taken, money that was
		
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			missing or mismanagement.
		
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			Now, I know just from studying the numbers
		
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			over this past 12 to 14 months that
		
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			most Muslims aren't involved in civic engagement and
		
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			they're not looking into city government and they
		
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			don't really know who's on their city council
		
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			or what they do or things like that.
		
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			Well, if righteous, God-fearing people don't pay
		
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			attention to this stuff and make sure that
		
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			corruption and graft doesn't happen, then what do
		
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			you think is going to happen?
		
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			You're going to see all sorts of nonsense
		
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			in the government at the local level, at
		
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			the state level, at the federal level.
		
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			So I do believe that Muslims need to
		
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			take more initiative when it comes to being
		
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			involved in these conversations to demand better and
		
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			to try to keep elected officials accountable and
		
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			to push policies that make sense for everybody.
		
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			We as Muslims are supposed to contribute to
		
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			society.
		
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			We believe that we have something special.
		
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			We believe that Allah gave us something special
		
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			and it would be selfish if we didn't
		
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			share that with other people.
		
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			And that is not just about tawheed.
		
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			It's not just about the Qur'an.
		
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			It's not just about the messengership of the
		
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			Prophet ﷺ.
		
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			It's also about the content of that guidance
		
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			when it comes to how to live justly,
		
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			how to live rightly, how to exist in
		
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			a space that's deferent and respectful to your
		
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			creator and also taking full measure to be
		
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			just to the people and the plants and
		
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			the trees and the ecosystem around you.
		
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			That's part of our responsibility.
		
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			And the final thing is that everything's an
		
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			opportunity.
		
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			Right now, whenever there is a need, whenever
		
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			there is a calamity, if Muslims are on
		
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			the ground helping, then that is something that
		
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			is part of dawah as well.
		
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			Even if they're evil celebrities?
		
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			Yes, even if they're evil celebrities.
		
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			By the way, people are losing their homes
		
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			that are normal people that are not just
		
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			evil celebrities.
		
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			But I'm saying even if we're all just
		
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			evil celebrities losing their third vacation homes in
		
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			Beverly Hills or Hollywood, then even then, if
		
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			Muslims get involved to try to alleviate the
		
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			situation or to help out, then this is
		
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			dawah.
		
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			And sometimes it's when people are most vulnerable
		
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			that they are most open to seeing a
		
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			new framework and a new way of life.
		
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			And considering making a change for themselves.