Tom Facchine – Not In Our Name

			Within the last couple of weeks, two events involving the Muslim community have made the national
news. One, the author Salman Rushdie, infamous for his book called The Satanic Verses was attacked
with a knife, just a few hours west of us in New York.
		

			The other event was the arrest of someone who is suspected of murdering four Muslims in Albuquerque,
New Mexico.
		

			Now, we don't bring the news into a hookah just for a juicy story. We're not here to gossip or
speculate about things or to talk about somebody else's tragedy in a disrespectful way. But for us,
this type of event, hits close to home, and has a real effect on our lives first, because these
types of things keep happening once in a while, from time to time, of course, the big one was 911.
More recently, there was Dinesh or ISIS, there was the shooting of the nightclub in Orlando. Now
these two events, among others, there's a common thread running through these events. Somebody who
claims to be Muslim, or somebody who even is a Muslim, commits a shocking act of violence.
		

			The second reason it matters to us is that it changes how people interact with us on a daily basis.
Our co workers, our classmates, our teachers, they develop certain assumptions, or a certain
impression about Islam or about Muslims, because of these events. And we then have to take that into
consideration with everything that we do. And everything that we say, it might affect how we're
treated at work, it might affect how we're treated at school, or out in public.
		

			That's why when these types of things happen, the same questions come up. Do we have to apologize?
Are we required to condemn these actions publicly? How do we combat prejudice and prove that we
don't deserve prejudice? And most importantly, what does Allah azza wa jal want from us, in all of
us?
		

			Sadly, our media and news outlets, they're competing for ratings. And so their main job is to tell a
story about what was happening and make sense of events as they unfold. They are rewarded with more
viewers if they can break the story first. And that pushes the news outlets to jump to conclusions,
or to tell a certain story that either doesn't align with the facts on the ground, or is simply the
same story that they think their audience wants to hear.
		

			In the case of the killings in New Mexico, every one was in a rush to tell a story that pitted Sunni
Muslims against Shia Muslims. Even the Muslim organizations at the national level such as care, were
saying that the killings were motivated by anti Shia hatred.
		

			Before we had a full sense of what was going on, or what really happened, the hot take on Muslim
social media was that Sunni Muslims were to blame
		

			for teaching their kids to hate the Shia, that this was responsible for the violence, and that a
fundamental change was needed from Sunni Muslims. Some even went so far to say that something like
teaching the five pillars of Islam in Sunday school, something that we do here, was responsible for
planting hatred for Shia Muslims in our youth.
		

			But soon, details emerged that started to disrupt that narrative. One of the four victims in New
Mexico was a Sunni. The suspected attacker was accused of fraudulently trying to exchange food
stamps for cash. One of the victims was a grocery store owner that confronted him about it. The
suspected attackers daughter had married someone against the father's wishes. One of the victims was
a friend of her husband. Local detectives are now saying that the cause of the shootings was
interpersonal conflict. The suspected attacker actually had a caseworker and that caseworker is a
Shia and she said that quote, It wasn't about Sunni and Shia.
		

			One of the takeaways for us here is that we need to be very careful not to let our sympathy be
exploited and used
		

			against us in a way that undermines our deen the academia use this technique a lot. For those who
don't know that idea or a group that claims to be muslims and wants to be recognized as Muslims, but
they believe that there was a prophet after the Prophet Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wa salam when
they are with the biller. This obviously completely contradicts Islam right down to the Shahada.
		

			What happens is that if an act of violence occurs against someone from this group, they then try to
use the opportunity to force Muslims to accept them and their beliefs as part of Islam.
		

			They want other people to believe that whoever doesn't recognize them as Muslims is just one small
step away from committing an act of violence against them.
		

			The same thing happened after the nightclub in Orlando got shot up. LGBT groups attempted to
capitalize on our sympathy, they were saying that the violence done to them was a result of our
refusal to accept and embrace the sin that they openly practice and try to legitimize. They want
people to believe that whoever doesn't approve of same * relationships is just one small step away
from committing an act of violence against them.
		

			And we see the same thing happening here with the events in New Mexico, those national organizations
who rushed to label this incident as an example of sectarianism, those organizations who blamed
Sunni Muslims, for simply teaching our children what we believe. They want people to believe that if
we don't approve of certain beliefs held by the Shia, that we are just one small step away from
committing an act of violence against them. And all of these situations, we are being treated, like
our beliefs are responsible for violence. And we are being asked to give up our beliefs in order to
gain acceptance from certain sectors of society. We say to them,
		

			Why would you assume that if we disagree, that it means we hate each other?
		

			Why would you assume that if we disagree, it means that I want to harm you. If having a principled
disagreement with someone is hatred, or violence, then everyone must hate everybody else. Since no
two people agree about everything.
		

			But in reality, they do not hold everyone else to this standard. No, in reality, this is very, very
selective because they themselves are allowed to disagree with whatever and whoever they want. When
as people of faith. We say that a moral ethical life is not possible without belief in Allah and the
afterlife. They're free to disagree with us. When we say that there are two genders, created by
Allah azza wa jal, and they were meant to live in harmony with each other, not in competition. They
are free to get to disagree with us. When we say that alcohol and gambling and usury and fornication
are evil, and are destroying society. They are free to disagree with us. And they will never ever,
		

			ever be questioned about whether their disagreement is really hatred, or if their disagreement is,
will one day lead to violence. That's because the playing field is not equal. There is a double
standard at play, and that works against us as Muslims.
		

			And if it's true, that these groups among others have been victimized, and subjected to violence in
an unjust way, then we say to them, victimhood does not give you a free pass. victimhood does not
exempt you from scrutiny or criticism. You can be the victim and still be wrong. You can be the
victim today and turn into the oppressor tomorrow. Look at Benny Islamia.
		

			Weren't they oppressed, under funeral home delivered out of Egypt? And then how do they act? Most of
sortal to the Bukhara is about how ungrateful they were. They even complained about the food saying
that their food had been better when they were slaves with wisdom yeah Musa la nostra Allah for me.
Wow hidden feather with an Arab DACA you president I'm in tune beetle abdomen Buckley * for me
how honestly how bustle the
		

			stability lunula
		

			The who are the nobility who are hired?
		

			And recall when you said, Oh, Moses, we can never be patient with just one type of food. So Call
upon your Lord, to bring forth for us from the earth. It's screen herbs and it's cucumbers, and it's
garlic and it's lentils and it's onions. Moses said to them, are you trying to exchange? What is
better for that? Which is worse? Did it matter that they were the victims yesterday? Did it remove
responsibility from them, that they had been victims?
		

			How you deal with tragedy, and victimhood is a moral dilemma. There are those who bear their
tragedies with dignity and work towards justice honorably. And then there are those who try to
exploit their own tragedies for the benefit in this dunya mountain Canada you read Hafele Astra
Zilla houfy heartsie Well, man, can you read? Well, how's that? Dunya? Nope, to him in her? Well,
Mariela Horfield karate min asleep. Whoever desires the harvest of the Hereafter, we're going to
increase his harvest for him. And whoever desires the harvest of this world will give it to him. But
he won't have any share in the hereafter. We will not give up the covenants that we have with Allah
		

			azza wa jal. We will not exchange the guidance that we've gotten from a law for a small gain in the
dunya Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wa Salam is the last messenger homosexual relationships are sinful.
The Companions of the Allahu Anhu edge marine were faithful to the cause of Islam, despite their
differences, and we are just as capable as anyone else, if not more capable of disagreeing in a
principled and peaceful way. And colloquially ha That was stuck to the law HollyWell accomodates
sadly Massimino min Cooley them first up through in the whole of Otter Rahim.
		

			Alhamdulillah he Allah if Sony was shook Allah who Allah Topher up he wanted Ernie what it should
have Allah ilaha illallah wa so Allah should eCola hotel, the Manisha acne or shadow and the Navi
and our say Eden and Mohammed Abdullah Sudha, who had diarrhea with whiny sallallahu alayhi wa, he
was happy he was who he was selling Moses Freeman cathedra.
		

			On my path to becoming a muslim,
		

			the freedom to disagree without being accused of hatred, or violence was one of the first things
that was taken from me, even before I took my Shahada.
		

			And I'll tell you a story. And I'm only telling you the story so that you understand, and especially
those with young people who might one day go to college that you might understand what they might
encounter.
		

			I was learning about Islam, and I was in my bachelor's degree studies.
		

			I studied abroad in Turkey. And when I returned to finish my bachelor's degree, I wanted to take a
class about Islam at the college level that I was studying.
		

			The only course that was available at the time, was taught by a non Muslim professor. The name of
the course was Islamic autobiography. And during the course, we read autobiographies written by
various Muslim authors. Most of these authors, however, had a very questionable relationship to
Islam, to say the least. One of the books we read, was written by an American author who accepted
Islam, only to later leave Islam.
		

			In the book, the author takes a copy of the Koran, the Messiah, and he urinates on it.
		

			This was an assigned reading for class.
		

			Even though I was not yet a Muslim, this upset me. And there were a handful of Muslims in the class
that I imagined. This also upset them.
		

			When it came time to discuss the book in class, everyone was quiet.
		

			No one wanted to say anything. The other Muslim students, they were smart. They already knew that
they did not have the freedom to disagree without being accused of hatred, or violence. I was the
new guy. And I was about to learn. I raised my hand, and I told the professor that I didn't think it
was right. What the author did to the Koran.
		

			What do you mean? She said?
		

			I couldn't find words to explain it at the time. I just said that. I knew it wasn't right.
		

			Do you know what she said? Something
		

			In front of the whole class, she said, What would you like to do? Issue of fatwah to have him
killed.
		

			She was referring, of course to Salman Rushdie, the author of a book that indirectly makes fun of
Islam and the Prophet Mohammed alayhi salatu salam in the 1980s. When he wrote this book, the
Iranian government issued an edict so called fatwa calling for the author's assassination. As
someone who disagreed with this disrespectful action of an author towards something that is sacred
to Muslims, that day in class, my freedom to disagree, without being accused of violence or hatred,
was promptly taken away. The implication was that if I disagreed with the author's actions, I must
be motivated by hatred, I must want to see him harmed in some way.
		

			Putting aside the ridiculous idea that calling for someone's assassination could be called a fatwah.
It's important to remember how much that move backfired. That author became a hero in the western
world at book deals, speaking opportunities, professorships were handed to this person. non Muslims
in the West rallied behind him as a symbol of liberalism and freedom of expression. Every attempt to
stop him or harm him, including this recent attack was interpreted as further proof of Western
superiority, versus the supposedly violent and oppressive nature of religion in general, and Islam.
Specifically, it's worth it to ask and I encourage, especially our youth, to ask this question, this
		

			free speech that we have this freedom of expression that is held so dear, who does it target?
		

			Does it target everyone the same? Or do certain people and certain beliefs repeatedly find
themselves targeted, while others escape attention? The truth is what is called the freedom of
expression is often just an excuse to target Islam and religious people. As for the things that
mainstream society hold sacred if it's democracy, or European culture or anything else, you will
almost never find those things targeted by freedom of expression. Instead of standing for freedom
and truth, it's actually used as a tool to silence Islam and distort the truth. You'll be doing a
Leo Buffy owner Allah here for him Allahu multimo. Nori will carry health care for you rune. They
		

			wants to extinguish the light of Allah with their mouths, but Allah azza wa jal will perfect his
light, although the caffeine one dislike it.
		

			The next question for the youth why is it that when a Muslim or someone claiming to be a Muslim
commits an act of violence, it supposedly says something about all of us, or the religion that we
follow? is Islam a violent religion? That's the question that's always asked. And it's a trick
question.
		

			When another people or another nation commits an act of violence, nobody asks Is democracy violence?
Is agnosticism violence? Why are we the ones that only have to explain ourselves? Well then talk
about unclear who the one that saw that turns out to be a melatonin, call in the hood Allah He who
are the Huda water in a Tabata Hua Han Bader Lidija a community and Malik Amin, Allah He, meanwhile
you want NSC? And never will the Jews or Christians be approve of you until you follow their way.
Say, Indeed, the guidance of a law is the only guidance. If you were to follow their desires after
what has come to you, you would have against the law, no protector or helper, which is why I say to
		

			the youth, and anyone else that's put on the defensive when these sorts of situations happen, or
these sorts of questions are asked, which aren't really questions. They're really accusations. You
don't have anything to answer for. In this world. There are good people, and there are bad people.
There are people who do bad things in the name of good causes, religious teachings, even Allah azza
wa jal, his own words can be manipulated and misinterpreted.
		

			And if we want to stop the manipulation, and the misinterpretation of our own faith, and our own
tradition, then the answer is not less religious education, but rather more religious education and
better religious education. Parents. Nobody thinks that can be their kid.
		

			But neglecting your child's Islamic education leaves them vulnerable to other influences. You know
what the recent attacker of the author actually said. He said that he wished that he had had a more
religious upbringing, and his pathway to violence was his own
		

			misguided, and extreme attempts to compensate for that.
		

			And if we want to do something about these double standards that we are held to, we must take the
responsibility for controlling our own narrative. Everybody wants to talk about us, the Muslims,
everyone wants to theorize and write about us, the Muslims, it's a whole industry. Look at the
universities, there's departments of Near Eastern Studies and South Asian Studies and African
Studies, Islamic studies. We are the object of study
		

			were the specimen under the microscope, and they are the authors. They hold the pen.
		

			We can never expect fairness when we don't hold the pen. Allah azza wa jal told us that as human
beings, he taught us by the pen, and we need to take the pen back. We need to write our own story.
That means making sure that our kids are covering all fields of study, not just medicine, and
engineering. We need Muslim lawyers, we need Muslim writers we need Muslim journalists. If your
child comes to you with an interest in these fields, you should encourage it even if it doesn't earn
the highest salary.
		

			Another way we can take back the pen is through our actions through our community, involvements. We
can't hide away in our homes, we can't hide away in the masjid, we have to contribute. We have to
get out there. People need to know who we are. They need to know your face. They need to see your
good conduct. They need to be won over by the way that we conduct ourselves. And if we do that sort
of work, and if we do it consistently, it won't matter. If once in a while somebody acts out or
someone makes the news or someone does something crazy. People will know that they don't represent
us and they don't represent our deen. They will know better