Tom Facchine – Muslims are not the PROUD

			It's been a busy month. And as many of you know, June
		

			in the United States of America and elsewhere is known as Pride Month.
		

			Within the last week or so, a lot has been happening in North America and within the Muslim
community.
		

			There was a Syrian boy, refugee, who goes to school in Edmonton, Canada. And in order to avoid some
of the activities in their school that promoted LGBTQ ideology and lifestyle, they were absent. They
skipped school that day, their parents wrote them a permission slip.
		

			When they return to school, the teacher confronted the student. Perhaps you've heard the audio on
WhatsApp.
		

			The teacher confronted the student and demanded to know why the student was absent.
		

			raising her voice at him
		

			wondering why you don't support this.
		

			And the language that she ended up using very, very telling things that all of us have heard before.
		

			If you don't believe in this, if you don't believe in these rights, you don't belong here.
		

			Those are her words. If you don't believe in this, if you don't affirm and celebrate this, then you
should go back to where you came from.
		

			It's what she said.
		

			This was not an isolated incident.
		

			Recently, we've also had perhaps you've been following in Montgomery County, Montgomery County,
Maryland,
		

			an imposition, the school board's introducing certain curriculum. So young young children,
elementary school children, certain ideas about gender, certain ideas about sexuality that as we
will see completely contradict the Islamic faith.
		

			And when the Muslims organized the form of protest,
		

			the school board accused them of siding with white supremacists.
		

			Furthermore, the school board said that simply not showing up, simply missing out on these
activities going home skipping school was actually hateful, bigoted, and harmful to the LGBTQ quote
unquote, community.
		

			These are things that are happening, not just in isolated areas. These are happening right here in
the Mohawk Valley. We have the front of the flag raising ceremony that the mayor participated in
raising the rainbow flag over the city last weekend. If some of you are familiar with the treehouse
reading center in New York Mills, they hosted a drag queen story hour last weekend as well.
		

			I'll spare you the details.
		

			Across the country, schools are changing their curriculum.
		

			They are attempting to indoctrinate our children, they are attempting to impose certain values,
certain ideas about gender and sexuality onto our youth.
		

			They are telling them from the earliest of grades, that you can have romantic relationships with
whoever you want. And you can be whatever you want, no matter if that's a gender of the two
traditional genders or something else entirely. And that nobody can tell you any differently. And if
anybody tells you any differently, that again, they are filled with hatred, and bigotry and
violence.
		

			Notice that the only valid criteria here according to this ideology is doing whatever you want.
whatever your heart desires, whatever occurs to you to want to do that thing is considered as
sacred. We could call it perhaps the golden calf of our age. We are taught and our children are
taught to identify with the desires that they experience. And not only to identify with the desires
that they experience, but to take pride in them.
		

			Islam and every other religion every other middler or community that Allah Subhana Allah Allah has
sent a prophet to Christianity, Judaism and those before they have all taught the same thing, that
you are not your desires. You are one thing and your desires are another thing entirely.
		

			And to identify with the desires that you have, whether they be sexual or otherwise is a grave grave
error and a horrible mistake. We should certainly not identify with them, let alone take pride in
them. Allah subhanaw taala said about a two minute talk about ILA who Hawa
		

			alpha and Kulu Allah you Akela
		

			Have you seen such a person who takes their own desires as if it were a god? How could you possibly
Allah's addressing the messenger alayhi salatu salam? How can you possibly be responsible for such a
person, meaning once a person gets to the point where they are ready to worship their own desires,
and by worship, we mean by obeying their desires at every single turn, that person is so far gone,
they're so far astray, that it's very, very unlikely that you will ever reach them, you're certainly
not responsible for them.
		

			Faith teaches us that our relationship to our desires is a relationship of discipline. Faith is
about discipline. It's about taming your desires, Allah subhanaw taala gave you every desire that
you have. Not so you would identify with it. Not so you would build a political platform around it,
not so you would take pride in it. But so you would struggle against it. And you would tame it and
discipline it and use it in the way that ALLAH SubhanA wa Tada wanted you to use it. That is how we
become virtuous. That is how we become righteous.
		

			And so faith is about taming your desires and bringing them into line with what Allah subhanaw taala
wants. And that goes for any desire that you could possibly have, whether it's whatever you want to
eat, or what type of work you want to do, or who you want to marry every single thing under the sun.
		

			We do not have complete control over our desires. And so Allah subhanaw taala won't hold you
accountable for the things that you feel.
		

			If you feel like you want to steal if you feel like you want to commit a crime, if you feel like you
want to cheat on your spouse or cheat in your business, Allah subhanaw taala will not hold you
accountable for the passing desires that occur to you. However, he will hold you account to what you
choose to do. How do you choose to respond? What will you do with this desire that Allah subhanaw
taala has decreed or willed in his infinite wisdom that you should have?
		

			People want to steal. Some people want to cheat. Many people would cheat on their spouses if they
were given the chance. But that doesn't mean that we take those desires and we lean into them and we
make them into an identity or take pride in them. Allah subhanaw taala will hold us accountable for
what we chose to do. We are expected by the Creator to control our desires and we are expected to
submit Allah subhanaw taala said call in solidarity one Uzuki Well, mahiya yo mama T Lai la Hera
Bill Alameen. Say it's an instruction it's a command, certainly my prayer, my rituals, my living and
my dying are all for Allah, Lord of the Worlds they're not for me. They're not for who I think I am.
		

			They're not for my identity they belong to Allah. The name of our deen is Islam. And Islam means
submission. Perhaps the very opposite of pride, submission to Allah's guidance, submission to the
guidance of the Prophet salAllahu alayhi wasallam and belief that they know better than we do, that
Allah azza wa jal, the One who created us and the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam the one that
was sent to guide us that they know better than we do what's good for us, better for our worldly
life and better for our afterlife. Pride is condemned, it's meth. Moom it's not something good. It's
the sin of all sins. Certainly, of course. Schimke idolatry is the worst, the worst, but how does
		

			one get to shirk? How does one end up worshiping something besides Allah subhanaw taala the vice
that's in the hearts that leads to it is arrogance and pride. Pride is what caused bliss to rebel.
Pride is what caused Benny Israel eel to reject Musa pride is what caused the downfall of feminine
wood and iron and every community that oppose their prophets. The prophet that Allah subhanaw taala
sent them Allah azza wa jal said for a Mullah Vina Amman or Amul saw the hottie for you with fee him
or Jorah home. Y Y Z the home mean family what am Allah Lena steckt What am Dina Stan CAFO was stuck
baru for you are the people who are there been around ima wala G doing alojamento nila, he won en
		

			Walla and also Euro, those who have believed and those who did righteous deeds, Allah subhanaw taala
will give them their rewards in full and he will grant them even extra from His bounty. But as for
those who disdained and were prideful, he will punish them with a painful punishment and they will
not find for themselves besides Allah, anyone to protect them or anyone
		

			To help them and the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam said law yet Hello Jana Turman can call him
miss bada Ratan min kebab. Who whoever has even a speck a SEEDS worth of pride in their hearts they
will not enter paradise.
		

			Pride is not something to celebrate. Pride has nothing to affirm pride and fact is something that
must be stopped Akula kolayca there was talk for the lolly Louella commonly certainly mostly minimum
column for stoke Pharaoh in the whole of the whole Rahim.
		

			Alhamdulillah he certainly was shook Allahu Allah trophy if he wanted and he was sure to
		

			Allah wa Aktueller should he going to tell the Manisha any white shadow and an OB and I was eaten
and Mohammed and Abdul rasuluh at their either with when he saw Allahu alayhi wa sahbihi wa when he
was a little too Sleeman kathira.
		

			The attitude for the Muslim community for the past 15 or so years towards these issues, has been one
of taking the back seats. Many of us thought that this thing would go away. Many of those of us
thought that maybe perhaps if we allied with this particular political group or this agenda that it
would return some sort of favor to us. But the tide is quickly showing and events are quickly
demonstrating that that approach has been completely wrong.
		

			Pride and everything around it, we've seen that it contradicts the most fundamental part of our
faith. It undermines the very thing that makes us Muslim, the very essence of Islam, which is
submission.
		

			The second thing why every single one of us should care is that this is being introduced at younger
and younger and younger ages. First it was high school, we thought that would stop there. Then it
was elementary school, some of us thought that it would stop there. Now it's even into
kindergartens. It's even into preschool, when children are most vulnerable and impressionable. This
is being forced upon them.
		

			There's even more reason why you should be concerned. It's not about live and let live anymore. That
was what we were told. It turns out that once power was achieved, that's gone out the window. The
claim that is being made right now is that if we as Muslims, do not affirm them, if we do not
celebrate them, if we do not fall in line with everything that they claim, that we are violating
their human rights, that we are filled with hatred and bigotry, and might be the cause of violence
for them.
		

			And we see this attempting to be enshrined in law, if you would like you can look up the Equality
Act, the Equality Act was introduced multiple times in Congress still has not passed by hand. But it
is attempted and attempted and attempted, I cannot make this more clear to you all. If the Equality
Act is passed in this country, as it is written, then this institution, and perhaps every single
machine in the country might be stripped of its 501 C three status, because it would subject us to
litigation, if they we are deemed discriminatory towards people because of their sexual orientation
or their preferred gender. Even in the things that we teach, I cannot ring the alarm bells loud
		

			enough. This is serious. Everything that Muslims have worked for in this country, every institution
that we have built, the ability to teach our children the ability to have some some degree of
freedom is under threat. I kid you not this is not an exaggeration. You can look up the ACT yourself
and the bill yourself and look at what people are saying.
		

			What can you do?
		

			The average person, what can you do, you have to be involved in your child's education. Many of us
it's difficult, we come to this country. We don't speak the same language. We have to learn English.
It's hard to understand what's going on in the classroom and at the school board meetings and things
like that. And many of us trusted and thought that if we just let our kids go to school and learn
and they would become successful, et cetera, you have to be more involved than that. You have to pay
attention. You have to make sure that you vote when it comes to the school board meetings. When it
comes to the school board. Excuse me when it comes to the school board elections. When it comes to
		

			the school board meetings. You should attempt to go to as many of them as you can. It depends on
which school district your child is in, show up, even if you don't understand the word. The fact
that a visible Muslim goes to these sorts of meetings will make them think twice when they're trying
to push certain things. Have frank discussions with your children's teachers
		

			And in principals, this is hard to do. Nobody likes confrontation, I myself am one of the least
confrontational people. However, when push comes to shove, you have to stand up. If you're not going
to stand up for the rights of your child, then who will to have a meeting in the beginning of the
year to explain to them, these are our beliefs. This is what Islam teaches about gender. This is
what it teaches about sexuality. And I expect that this be honored, I can't ask you, maybe as one
person to change the curriculum, but I expect that this be honored. And if something is coming up, I
expect to be able to take my child out. This is your constitutional rights. It is your right as an
		

			American, we still Hamdulillah we still have this right? Use it while you still have it.
		

			And if you can't do any of these things, or you're not someone with a child, or a young person in
your family that's in a school district, then you can speak up, you can spread the word. You can
share things on social media, they are counting on us being silent, the things that they have passed
up until this point, have passed because we were silent. Don't be silent anymore. Speak up, push
back, share things, expose what's going on. Many people still don't know what's happening. Many
people don't realize the severity of the threats that we are under. And do not be afraid of their
scare tactics. Do not be afraid if they try to label you as hateful, or telling you that you don't
		

			belong or telling you that you have to go back to a country guess what I was born here, and I have
nowhere else to go. And I will fight and even if you came from somewhere else. This is your fight to
no one has the right to tell you to go back to anywhere. You're as much a part of this country as I
am. You have rights and I have rights. And we are and they are there to exercise these rights. We
don't live to please other people. We'd like to please other people when we can but we do not live
to please other people we live to please Allah subhanaw taala
		

			as Allah subhanaw taala said, at the end of Surah Al Imran that's Ebola wanna fee mo le coma?
Infocomm? What are tests my own? I mean, I love you know, O'Toole, keytab Mihran kabiri Kamina
Levina, s Rocco and kathira.
		

			While in suspiro, what's a taco for in America? I mean, ask me a little more. Surely Allah promises
us you will be tested. You're going to be tested in your possessions. You're going to be tested in
your own selves. And you will surely hear from those who are given the Scripture before you and from
those who associate others with Allah, you will hear from them much abuse. But if you are patient,
and if you fear Allah, indeed that is one of the matters that is worthy of determination.