Tom Facchine – Free Gifts & White House Iftars Power & Politics In The Quran

Tom Facchine
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The speakers discuss the concept of building power as a community and the importance of active participation. They use a story of a woman named[Saba] to explain the importance of not being bought and not being able to be bought. They stress the importance of affirming Islam's principles and not denying them, using the example of the gift of Hoping and the importance of being a person with a clear idea. They also discuss the use of " gifts" in Islam and the potential risk of being called on to do so. They emphasize the importance of understanding the dynamics of Islam and not relying on oneself.

AI: Summary ©

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			Last
		
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			week, we discussed
		
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			a concept and a story that came up
		
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			in the story of Dhul Qurnayn,
		
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			About how
		
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			building power as a community requires active participation.
		
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			It's not a spectator sport.
		
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			And in the story of Lululekharunain,
		
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			the last group of people that he met,
		
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			you know, they had this sort of attitude
		
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			like, Lululekhanain, you just do everything for us
		
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			and we'll just sit here and watch.
		
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			And how Lululekhanain actually educated them
		
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			and showed them that they needed to participate
		
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			as well.
		
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			No. You're gonna bring the Hadid. You're gonna
		
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			bring the iron. You're gonna do some work.
		
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			Well,
		
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			there's a flip side of that as well.
		
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			Right? We talked before about
		
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			the perspective of the people,
		
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			on how the people need to be prepared
		
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			to sacrifice, and the people need to be
		
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			prepared to get involved.
		
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			But there's also a dimension to it that
		
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			we can learn from Volkarnayn himself.
		
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			Recall
		
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			that they offered to pay him money.
		
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			They're basically like, we'll pay whatever it takes.
		
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			Just let us know. We'll send a check
		
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			in the mail. It'll be over. Forget about
		
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			it.
		
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			And he was basically like,
		
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			that's not how this works.
		
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			Right?
		
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			Now there's a very important dimension to this
		
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			that is really super important for leadership,
		
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			but is also applicable to everybody else as
		
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			well. And that's the concept of not being
		
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			bought
		
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			and not being able to be bought.
		
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			That when you do things,
		
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			it is on principle.
		
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			It's not because you're getting a favor.
		
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			It's not because someone is nice to you.
		
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			It's not because you're looking for a position,
		
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			or you're looking for a photo op.
		
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			Now this principle is illustrated again in the
		
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			Quran later in Surat Al Namal,
		
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			when Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala tells us a
		
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			story
		
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			of Saba
		
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			queen the queen of Sheba,
		
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			Bilqis
		
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			and Suleiman alaihis salaam.
		
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			Bilqis is wondering what to do with this
		
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			guy Suleiman. He he sends this letter. It's
		
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			a very strange letter.
		
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			And she turns to her sort of,
		
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			her inner circle
		
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			of advisors.
		
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			And she asked, what do you think?
		
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			And they tell her, look, I mean, we're
		
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			ready to throw down.
		
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			If you wanna fight, we can fight. We're
		
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			prepared for that. But whatever you want to
		
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			do.
		
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			And as a side benefit,
		
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			it's a very very interesting part in the
		
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			Quran
		
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			where she makes a remark about sort of
		
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			a lesson from history. It's like anytime 2
		
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			sides or 2 groups go to war,
		
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			usually
		
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			the honorable people or the dignitaries
		
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			of one side or the other, if not
		
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			both,
		
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			become
		
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			humiliated.
		
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			And so it's almost like a brain drain
		
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			that goes on. And Allah In one of
		
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			the tafasir, in one of the interpretations of
		
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			it,
		
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			is almost as if Allah is saying, and
		
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			yes, this is true. Now this is an
		
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			important principle
		
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			because even though she's a kafira and a
		
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			mushrika,
		
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			Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala didn't say, you know,
		
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			shut up you filthy mushrika.
		
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			The thing that she said was correct.
		
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			And so
		
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			it deserves to be recognized as correct. We
		
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			don't necessarily dismiss people due to their identity
		
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			or what they are if the thing that
		
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			they said is true.
		
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			Or
		
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			as
		
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			Malcolm X used to say, we're for the
		
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			truth no matter who says it. Right? Or
		
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			where it comes from. That's actually what makes
		
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			us unique as Muslims.
		
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			So anyway, so she has this attitude. She
		
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			she comes up with an idea. She doesn't
		
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			wanna go to war.
		
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			The idea is, let's send them a gift
		
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			Hoping that the gift is gonna ease things
		
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			up. Now it's very very interesting to see
		
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			Suleiman's reaction to this.
		
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			You or I, if we were given a
		
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			gift, we'd feel some sort of way. We'd
		
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			be kinda warm, fuzzy inside. But
		
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			Suleiman is after something completely different. Remember his
		
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			purpose when he sent his letter to Bilqis
		
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			in the first place. He's doing dawah.
		
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			He doesn't care about the trappings. He doesn't
		
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			care about the White House iftars,
		
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			or the,
		
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			the selfies in front of Congress, or what
		
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			have you.
		
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			He wants to do the work of Allah,
		
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			And so he almost even takes offense
		
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			that he would be given a gift in
		
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			the first place. And the language that Allah
		
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			Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala uses is very very interesting.
		
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			Right? Is that he says,
		
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			No. You guys are pleased by gifts.
		
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			Very, very interesting wording.
		
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			You guys are happy when you receive a
		
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			gift. You guys are happy when you get
		
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			a photo op. You guys are happy when
		
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			the administration throws you a bone or crumbs
		
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			from the from the dinner table.
		
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			That's not what I'm after, that's what Suleyman
		
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			says.
		
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			I'm after something much, much more. I'm doing
		
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			dawah. I care about the truth. I care
		
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			about the spread of the truth. And his
		
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			ultimate mission, as we find out, is that
		
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			he is trying to get Bill Keys to
		
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			accept a snap.
		
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			And every one of his tactics, and decisions,
		
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			and part of his strategy
		
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			is all comprehensively
		
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			folded into that goal. He doesn't divert
		
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			to the left or to the right. Everything
		
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			he does
		
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			is focused on the goal, which is trying
		
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			to get this person guidance.
		
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			And what's the best risk that you could
		
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			possibly receive
		
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			except for guidance.
		
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			So that's our first lesson for tonight. And
		
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			we'll only keep it to 2 because, you
		
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			know, we need to get back to salah.
		
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			The first is that,
		
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			as Muslims, we need to be people like
		
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			Suleyman that we can't be bought. We don't
		
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			have a price.
		
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			We don't have a price.
		
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			If somebody invites us,
		
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			we'd rather them come to us than us
		
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			have to go to them. You understand? If
		
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			you're not politically savvy, you don't realize how
		
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			these things work. Or as we say in
		
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			colloquial English, there's no such thing as a
		
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			free lunch.
		
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			If you get an invite somewhere,
		
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			there's usually some string attached to it. If
		
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			you're given a gift from somebody that doesn't
		
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			really have any business giving you a gift
		
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			in the first place, guess what? There's probably
		
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			a string attached to it.
		
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			Probably they're gonna be calling on you at
		
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			some point or expecting you at some point
		
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			to do something for them quid pro quo.
		
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			This is unfortunately how power and politics works.
		
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			So power is actually in a stigma,
		
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			a degree of self sufficiency and self reliance
		
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			that, no thanks, I don't need any of
		
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			that.
		
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			No thanks, I'm not going to accept your
		
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			invitation to dinner or a meeting or an
		
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			iftar or whatever when you're slaughtering my people.
		
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			And you can continue to apply that lesson
		
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			as you will. The second lesson for tonight,
		
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			we take from the story of Musa. And
		
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			in these sort of,
		
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			Surah, Shurah and Namalim. This sort of part
		
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			of the Quran
		
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			that I'm focusing on tonight.
		
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			We have the story of Musa told over
		
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			and over again. And it's always fascinating. And
		
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			one thing that I try to get the,
		
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			I know a couple of the young folks
		
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			here, if they're here, study with me in
		
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			Legacy study tafsir.
		
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			Is to always pay attention when Allah subhanahu
		
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			wa ta'ala tells the same story
		
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			across different chapters, because he tells it slightly
		
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			different in each way. Maybe he'll start earlier,
		
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			or he'll start later in the chronology of
		
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			the story. Maybe he'll emphasize certain things here,
		
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			and certain things there. And it's all part
		
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			of Allah's
		
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			point, what he's trying to drive at and
		
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			what he's trying to get to with the
		
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			story that he's telling.
		
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			Now when it comes to, the story of
		
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			Musa, I'm gonna focus in on Surat Ashura
		
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			because it's fascinating to me, and it's a
		
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			very empowering message, and we'll wrap up the
		
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			series with this and hopefully you'll feel a
		
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			little bit empowered.
		
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			That when Musa is given the duty to
		
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			bring the message back to Fir'aun,
		
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			in the beginning of Surah Teshu Ara,
		
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			his reaction is basically like,
		
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			are you serious? Like how am I supposed
		
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			to be able to do this thing? It
		
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			doesn't seem like it's possible. He has a
		
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			whole long list of sort of reasons why
		
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			it can't work.
		
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			Right? He says,
		
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			I'm afraid they're gonna they're gonna give me
		
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			the lie,
		
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			and that I'm not gonna be able to
		
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			say it, and I've got this thing, you
		
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			know, with my speech and make my brother
		
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			along with me. He keeps on going through
		
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			reasons why it can't work.
		
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			Now what's fascinating about the story arc
		
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			and the sort of character development of Musa,
		
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			and I know our sheikh is a literary
		
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			major, so you can appreciate I'm sure he
		
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			can tell you much more about the the
		
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			character development,
		
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			is that by the time Musa
		
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			is given the signs, and he confronts Firaun,
		
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			and he has the showdown with the magicians
		
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			and he sees everything happen
		
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			in front of his eyes. By the time
		
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			they get down to the Red Sea, he's
		
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			a completely changed person.
		
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			He's a completely changed person. And the language,
		
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			he says that his people are still not
		
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			sure what's going to happen.
		
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			What are the people Musa's people say when
		
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			they get down to the sea?
		
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			It's like, we're done for. They got us.
		
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			It's curtains.
		
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			There's no way out.
		
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			Look at the Musa now.
		
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			Look at how far he's come called
		
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			in the mayor of Biyi Adin.
		
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			He says, no. No. I know that my
		
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			Lord is going to guide us.
		
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			And this
		
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			is the lesson that Musa learned,
		
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			is that in the the old Musa,
		
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			thought that he had to do it himself.
		
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			That he had to
		
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			That he had just to rely on his
		
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			ability.
		
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			And if you or I rely on our
		
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			own ability, we're gonna fail every single
		
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			time. And what the mature Musa had realized
		
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			was that he's not relying on himself. He's
		
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			relying on Allah
		
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			That Allah
		
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			is capable of anything. Which is why I
		
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			say to anyone who will listen, do not
		
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			worry if you're 1% of the population or
		
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			point 1% or point
		
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			0.00001%.
		
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			Is that if Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is
		
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			with you, He is the one who's going
		
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			to do it. What's required of you is
		
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			the intention and the purity of of cause
		
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			and discipline and pleasing Allah and obedience to
		
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			Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala, and Allah can do
		
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			what he wills.