Yasir Qadhi – Islam in Germany- History Challenges and Potential

Yasir Qadhi
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AI: Transcript ©
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Today's lecture will be, inshallah, informative and useful.

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I have just returned from a tour to

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Germany, first time I was visiting Germany as

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a tour, and so I wanted to explain

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to you the reality of Islam and Muslims

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in Germany.

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As you know, I do these types of

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series.

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We talked about Islam in Nordic countries, Islam

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in Australia, Islam in multiple places.

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The purpose is so that we broaden our

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horizons and benefit from their experiences, they benefit

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from us.

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We realize the problems and the positives and

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the negatives, and we feel a connection with

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our Ummah across the globe.

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So a brief summary of this journey that

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I had and also the reality of Islam

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in Germany.

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Germany, out of all of the superpowers of

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the 18th, 19th century, actually has a unique

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history.

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It was the only major superpower that did

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not colonize a Muslim land.

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Italy colonized a Muslim land, France colonized, England

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colonized, Germany did not colonize any Muslim land.

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In fact, Germany, generally speaking, was far more

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sympathetic to Islam and Muslims in the 17th,

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18th, 19th century than the other superpowers.

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In fact, they were the ones who invented

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the term the Orient in order to kind

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of romanticize the Orient, meaning us Muslims, and

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to put us on a pedestal.

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Their most famous intellectual philosopher of the 17th

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century, Goethe, he actually has a book, if

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you know your Persian history, the Divan of

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Hafez, right?

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So Goethe, who is the most famous German

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poet philosopher, wrote a book similar to the

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Divan of Hafez, and he called it the

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East-West Divan.

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And in it, he praised Islam, and he

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mentioned that Islam, out of all of the

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religions, is the most global religion.

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So in the 17th century, one of the

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most greatest minds from this region is actually

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praising Islam when England and other countries had

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nothing but disdain for Islam.

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So from the beginning, generally speaking, the German

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mindset was more sympathetic to Islam and the

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Ottoman Empire, and this is actually demonstrated even

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in political ties.

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So in the 19th century, the Ottoman Empire

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actually established ties with Germany, and the German

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Kaiser, the Emperor Wilhelm II, actually visited Istanbul.

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So the German Emperor Wilhelm II visited Istanbul

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1898, and he met with Sultan Abdul Hamid.

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There's a famous place in Istanbul, if you

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go there, they constructed an entire mini, if

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you like, podium, which is still there, one

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of the iconic sites that you will find.

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And there's video footage of the Emperor coming,

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because it's 1898, so black and white video

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footage.

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And he gave a lecture in which he

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said, Germany will remain an ally to the

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300 million Muslims, back then Muslims were 300

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million.

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He literally said, Germany will be your ally.

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These other superpowers, forget about them, we will

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be your helpers.

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And he established a strong tie with the

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Ottoman Sultan and Empire.

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And that is why German scholarship about Islam

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was always radically different than English scholarship.

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Perhaps some of you don't know this, but

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even when I went to do my PhD,

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I realized this very early on.

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The bulk of writings in the 17th, 18th,

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19th century about Islam that are even a

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little bit positive, relatively speaking, are in the

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German language.

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And the English language did not have even

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anything equivalent.

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And the German orientalists, back then they were

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called orientalists, were far ahead of the British

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equivalent.

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German scholarship on Islam left a mark in

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the Western Academy that we still feel to

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this day.

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On a personal note, when I was doing

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my PhD at Yale, both of my professors

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were German.

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As you know, the Ivy Leagues hire the

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best professors.

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Both of my Islamic studies professors had studied

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in Germany, PhD in Germany, and they're brought

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to America because that level of scholarship, it

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is difficult to find over here.

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And they are accomplished scholars in their own

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fields.

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So German scholarship about Islamic studies has always

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been light years ahead.

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This isn't before the modern times, now things

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have changed, but we're talking about until the

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1950s.

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And in fact, when Nazi Germany came into

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power, many scholars of Islamic studies fled to

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Ottoman lands, and they took refuge in Ottoman

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lands.

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And some of them trained a new generation

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of Muslim scholars because they were now based

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in Istanbul and other regions.

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So Germany therefore has always had a slightly

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different relationship back in the past.

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And this was also demonstrated in their converts.

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A number of famous people from Germany converted

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to Islam.

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Of them, somebody by the name of Hugo

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Marcus, this is in World War II, you

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probably don't know his name, maybe one day

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I'll give you a whole talk about him.

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Hugo Marcus, he converted, and he went to

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the Ottoman side, and he fought against his

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own people.

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He became an ally with the Muslim Ummah,

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and he called himself Suleyman al-Franconi from

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Frank, Suleyman al-Franconi.

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There's a famous story about him, maybe one

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day we'll mention that.

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But all of you know one convert from

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Germany, he has left a mark on the

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world a hundred years ago, and that is

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Leopold Weiss, Muhammad Asad.

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Muhammad Asad, the famous person all Pakistanis should

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know him, he was the first foreign minister,

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the first foreign minister of Pakistan, Muhammad Asad,

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because he took Pakistani citizenship, believe it or

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not, right.

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The German convert, he was born in the

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German lands, he spoke German as his mother

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tongue, of course he's Austrian, Polish, German, you

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know back then it's all one, but he's

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German, he's German, and he traveled in Arabia,

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he interacted with King Abdul Aziz, right.

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He at the time was a non-Muslim,

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he became very well known in Arabia, he

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converted to Islam in Arabia, he married a

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lady from Mecca, he married a lady from

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Mecca in Arabia.

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His son, his son is a very famous

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professor in New York, Talal Asad.

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So Talal Asad is a famous anthropologist, one

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of the most famous in the world.

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His mother is a Meccawi, and his father

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is a Jewish convert, because Muhammad Asad was

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a Jewish convert.

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One of the most interesting cases, maybe one

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day we'll talk about Talal Asad, that's another

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case.

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Muhammad Asad then migrated to Pakistan, he took

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on Pakistani citizenship, he died in Pakistan.

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There are interviews that he has from Pakistan

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because he died in 1981-82.

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So there's interviews of Muhammad Asad, again a

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German convert to Islam.

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So Germany has always had a very different

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relationship in this regard.

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As for German migration, the Muslims migrating to

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Germany, this too has a very unique history.

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After World War II, when Germany of course

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is completely demolished, when their male population is

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dwindling, so they open up a program, they

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call it guest workers in the German term,

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guest workers.

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They want people to migrate.

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And because they have close ties with Turkish

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Ottomans, they actually opened the door for the

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Turks to come to Germany.

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This is a historic connection, that they now

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open up the door.

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And so 1961, they want Turkish people to

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come and work, because they need workers, they

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don't have workers, factories don't have men, they

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needed people to run the businesses, they need

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people.

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So perhaps a million people came, that is

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a massive number, a million.

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Those one million, their descendants are now five

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million or something, six million, like massive amounts.

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This is in the 60s.

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So in the 60s, Germany opened the door

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for Turkish Muslims to come, and because of

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this, as we're going to come to, large

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groups of Turkish Muslims came, and now their

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third generations are in Turkey, are in Germany

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now.

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Not their children, their grandchildren and great-grandchildren,

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because this is a migration before America.

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American migration, you know, took place primarily 80s,

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some 70s, very few 60s.

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80s and 90s is the main migration.

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In Germany, the migration is one and a

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half generation before.

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So when I went there, the majority of

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the Turkish Germans that I met, their grandfathers

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had come.

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Their fathers and mothers were born in Germany,

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their grandfathers had come from Turkey to Germany.

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So this is the largest group of migrants

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that have come, and we're going to come

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back to them.

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Along with this, in the last 20 or

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30 years, Germany has also opened the door

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for migration from other lands, and especially from

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war-torn lands.

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And so Afghanistan and Syria, perhaps a million

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each, massive quantity, the largest group of migration

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from Afghanistan to any Western country has taken

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place in Germany.

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And the largest group of migration from Syria

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to any Western country has been Germany.

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And this is recent, i.e. the last

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20 years, right?

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Since the war of the last 25 years.

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And especially Syria, the last 10 years.

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So you now have massive populations of these

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lands, you have smaller pockets as well, and

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that is, you have also North Africans, Moroccans,

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you have Bosnians, you have Pakistani Indians, we

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go everywhere, mashallah, but not like here.

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We're not, our percentages are nowhere there.

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In the whole audience there, they were probably

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less than 5% of our ethnic background,

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right?

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So I did miss not having enough biryani

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when I go over there.

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Generally, I always make sure I have some

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biryani.

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So the Pakistani said, next time you come,

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we'll take you to our restaurants, because there

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are not as many as the other groups

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over there.

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Currently, how many Muslims in Germany?

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Unbelievable, unbelievable.

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It is estimated that up to 8%

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of the country is Muslim.

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8%.

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And this 8%, as is always the case,

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you cannot say 8% for the whole

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country.

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Cities, the bigger cities will have what?

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More or less?

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More population.

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I was completely blown away.

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Hamburg and Berlin, more than 10% Muslim.

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When I was driving down Hamburg, my host

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said to me, in this one street that

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we're driving, there are over 50 musallas.

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50 in this few miles, one street, one

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main street, 50 areas to pray.

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I said, no, no, you've got to be

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15.

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No, 50, he said.

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Frankfurt, which is the hub of international trade,

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you will be completely blown away.

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It is estimated 15% of Frankfurt is

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Muslim.

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Unbelievable.

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Again, statistics are, and you see this because

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everywhere you go, everywhere you go, there are

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literally like corner stores that are selling halal

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products, selling stuff from the Middle East, corner

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stores that are Afghani in origin, or Syrian,

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or Iraqi, shawarma places everywhere, and you know,

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all the different cuisines and all the different

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people.

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Everywhere you go, the major cities, you find

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the presence of Islam very, very clear, very

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palpable.

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However, obviously, as with all, there's positives and

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negatives in each one.

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And the fact of the matter is that

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it was eye-opening for me to hear

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from the German Muslims the reality of life

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in Germany.

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There is a sentiment of fear.

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There is a climate of intimidation right now.

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Alhamdulillah, I was allowed to go preach there.

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There are many preachers that are banned for

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the most trivial reasons, number one.

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Number two, me, myself, and you know my

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track record, I'm not involved in anything radical

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or whatnot.

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It wasn't about me.

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We couldn't rent a single university campus or

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a public hall for my talks.

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I said, why, is there any issue with

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me?

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No.

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Everybody is scared to rent to Muslims.

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The non-Muslims, they don't want to be

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involved with the Muslim population, despite the fact

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we're 15%.

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But they don't want anything to do with

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having anything Islamic, anything public to do with

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Islam.

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Why is this the case?

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Let us now deconstruct.

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And I say this with love and respect

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to my brothers and sisters in Germany.

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The goal is to benefit.

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There's no criticism here.

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We're all in this together.

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We want to help each other out.

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We want to make sure that we learn

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from you, you learn from us.

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The biggest impediment that I have seen, 60

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% of the Muslims are of Turkish origin.

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And the Turkish masajid are run directly from

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the government in Turkey.

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The construction, the imams, the climate, the khutbas,

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it is as if you're in Turkey.

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And that community, 60%, is disconnected from the

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rest of the Muslim groups.

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They have their own.

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So in the audience that I came to,

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a few token Turkish brothers that are involved

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outside of their groups.

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Otherwise, I am not going to be in

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that 60%.

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And because these masajid are controlled literally by

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the Turkish government, literally, like there is a

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department, the Anad Center, which again, it's great

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they're doing it.

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I'm not criticizing that.

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But what's going to happen when the government

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is going to be directly involved in the

00:13:10 --> 00:13:11

masajid?

00:13:11 --> 00:13:17

No politics, no khutba, nothing about, you get

00:13:17 --> 00:13:19

the point, like no political engagement.

00:13:20 --> 00:13:22

Just pray, go back home, pray, read Quran,

00:13:22 --> 00:13:23

do dhikr, go back home.

00:13:24 --> 00:13:26

So 60% of the population of Muslims,

00:13:27 --> 00:13:31

they're completely disconnected from civic society.

00:13:32 --> 00:13:34

In fact, what is even more, like I

00:13:34 --> 00:13:35

need to say this a bit bluntly with

00:13:35 --> 00:13:36

love and respect.

00:13:37 --> 00:13:39

Still, that's that 60%.

00:13:39 --> 00:13:43

Many of them don't even want to take

00:13:43 --> 00:13:44

German citizenship.

00:13:45 --> 00:13:47

They are not German citizens.

00:13:47 --> 00:13:50

There's a permanent green card category that this

00:13:50 --> 00:13:50

group has.

00:13:51 --> 00:13:52

And it's both ways.

00:13:53 --> 00:13:55

Members in the government as well don't want

00:13:55 --> 00:13:56

them to become citizens.

00:13:56 --> 00:14:01

And they themselves, many of them are very

00:14:01 --> 00:14:03

happy, because the version that they're being taught

00:14:03 --> 00:14:06

is their pride of their ancestry and whatnot.

00:14:06 --> 00:14:07

And so there is this limbo.

00:14:08 --> 00:14:10

You're neither here nor there, because they're not

00:14:10 --> 00:14:12

living in Turkey permanently.

00:14:12 --> 00:14:13

They visit every few years.

00:14:13 --> 00:14:15

They speak the language fluently.

00:14:15 --> 00:14:16

This is by the way, unique.

00:14:16 --> 00:14:19

I haven't seen any other country in Europe

00:14:19 --> 00:14:22

or in the Eastern Western world.

00:14:22 --> 00:14:25

The third generation is still speaking the language

00:14:25 --> 00:14:27

fluently, only happened with them.

00:14:27 --> 00:14:27

Why?

00:14:27 --> 00:14:29

Because their communities are bubbles.

00:14:30 --> 00:14:31

Their communities are cut off from the rest

00:14:31 --> 00:14:32

of the society.

00:14:33 --> 00:14:36

So within their community, 100% Turkish.

00:14:36 --> 00:14:39

Khutbas to this day, third generation Turkish.

00:14:40 --> 00:14:42

The whole ambience is Turkish, which is I

00:14:42 --> 00:14:43

guess fine culturally.

00:14:43 --> 00:14:45

But then what happens with that?

00:14:45 --> 00:14:47

You are not taught that you are German.

00:14:48 --> 00:14:49

You are not taught you should be a

00:14:49 --> 00:14:51

part of society, to do anything with society.

00:14:52 --> 00:14:54

It's literally you come into the masjid, you

00:14:54 --> 00:14:57

are Islamic, you go outside, you forget about

00:14:57 --> 00:14:57

this reality.

00:14:58 --> 00:15:00

When you have this mindset, then what's going

00:15:00 --> 00:15:00

to happen?

00:15:00 --> 00:15:03

So the groups that invited me were the

00:15:03 --> 00:15:04

other masajid.

00:15:05 --> 00:15:08

Because the government control, obviously, I'm not from

00:15:08 --> 00:15:09

that land, so I'm not going to be

00:15:09 --> 00:15:10

in that system.

00:15:10 --> 00:15:12

So who invited me?

00:15:12 --> 00:15:15

The masajid that are from the more immigrant

00:15:15 --> 00:15:15

community.

00:15:16 --> 00:15:18

Those who came from Arab lands and some

00:15:18 --> 00:15:19

Pakistanis here, they're like that.

00:15:19 --> 00:15:21

They're the ones who were active and doing

00:15:21 --> 00:15:22

these types of duroos and halaqat.

00:15:22 --> 00:15:25

So the main issue is that automatically, that

00:15:25 --> 00:15:28

15% we're talking about, more than half

00:15:28 --> 00:15:31

of them, they have nothing to do with

00:15:31 --> 00:15:34

politics, with the political system, with engagement in

00:15:34 --> 00:15:36

public, and they're simply living their lives.

00:15:37 --> 00:15:41

Another issue is that the large percentage, even

00:15:41 --> 00:15:44

of the other half, are absolute fresh immigrants

00:15:44 --> 00:15:46

10-15 years ago.

00:15:47 --> 00:15:50

A million and a half or two million

00:15:50 --> 00:15:53

from Afghanistan and Syria in particular, these two

00:15:53 --> 00:15:54

countries.

00:15:54 --> 00:15:55

And they came when?

00:15:55 --> 00:15:56

10-15 years ago.

00:15:57 --> 00:15:59

So do you think they're going to speak

00:15:59 --> 00:15:59

fluent German?

00:16:00 --> 00:16:02

Do you think they're going to get the

00:16:02 --> 00:16:02

top-notch jobs?

00:16:03 --> 00:16:06

So then they are fresh immigrants, they are

00:16:06 --> 00:16:10

being discriminated against, they don't understand the system,

00:16:10 --> 00:16:13

they have come from war-torn zones, and

00:16:13 --> 00:16:16

obviously they're living disconnected lives right now.

00:16:16 --> 00:16:17

But there is hope in their children.

00:16:18 --> 00:16:19

Some of their own children, now they're in

00:16:19 --> 00:16:21

university, they're the ones coming to my lectures.

00:16:21 --> 00:16:23

So we have a person, his father came

00:16:23 --> 00:16:25

from Syria, another, his parents came from Afghanistan.

00:16:25 --> 00:16:28

The children of that batch, they are now,

00:16:28 --> 00:16:30

inshallah ta'ala, they're the ones, they were

00:16:30 --> 00:16:32

the main ones who are hosting me now,

00:16:32 --> 00:16:32

the children.

00:16:32 --> 00:16:34

But this leads me to point number three.

00:16:35 --> 00:16:37

And this is something us American Muslims don't

00:16:37 --> 00:16:38

understand.

00:16:39 --> 00:16:41

Generally speaking, and I say this with love,

00:16:41 --> 00:16:43

trying to be factual, I'm not trying to

00:16:43 --> 00:16:44

be dismissive.

00:16:44 --> 00:16:49

Generally speaking, European Muslims socio-economically are at

00:16:49 --> 00:16:51

a different status than American Muslims.

00:16:51 --> 00:16:52

Why?

00:16:52 --> 00:16:56

Because where did the visas come from in

00:16:56 --> 00:16:57

Europe?

00:16:57 --> 00:16:59

Who was the visa given to in Europe?

00:17:00 --> 00:17:02

To the workers.

00:17:02 --> 00:17:06

And in America, who was the primary recipient

00:17:06 --> 00:17:06

of visas?

00:17:07 --> 00:17:09

Students and skilled workers.

00:17:10 --> 00:17:11

Students and skilled workers.

00:17:12 --> 00:17:13

The primary, we know this, we all know

00:17:13 --> 00:17:14

this, right?

00:17:14 --> 00:17:19

This makes a massive difference in mindset and

00:17:19 --> 00:17:21

in socio-economic clout.

00:17:22 --> 00:17:25

And I cannot impress upon you the reality

00:17:25 --> 00:17:25

of this.

00:17:26 --> 00:17:32

Most Muslims in Germany are socio-economically, not

00:17:32 --> 00:17:35

middle class, if you get my point.

00:17:35 --> 00:17:37

The majority of them.

00:17:37 --> 00:17:40

And this also reflects in education.

00:17:41 --> 00:17:43

The people that I told you were third

00:17:43 --> 00:17:45

generation, I was shocked.

00:17:46 --> 00:17:48

They are the first people to go to

00:17:48 --> 00:17:50

university in their line.

00:17:51 --> 00:17:53

Their grandfather and grandmothers are workers.

00:17:54 --> 00:17:57

Their parents were social, were working menial jobs.

00:17:58 --> 00:18:01

It's this generation now that they're just beginning

00:18:01 --> 00:18:02

to go to university.

00:18:02 --> 00:18:05

The culture of education is not the same

00:18:05 --> 00:18:06

as over here.

00:18:06 --> 00:18:09

You know, for most of us, our children

00:18:09 --> 00:18:11

cannot even think of stopping after high school.

00:18:11 --> 00:18:13

It's not even an option, right?

00:18:13 --> 00:18:14

Straight to university.

00:18:14 --> 00:18:15

It's not even an option.

00:18:16 --> 00:18:18

You have to understand that's not the case

00:18:18 --> 00:18:19

for most of Europe still.

00:18:20 --> 00:18:21

It's still not the case.

00:18:22 --> 00:18:25

And this has impact because your socio-economic

00:18:25 --> 00:18:27

clout, your political clout, is all going to

00:18:27 --> 00:18:29

come with education, with integration.

00:18:29 --> 00:18:31

So when the bulk of these 15%

00:18:31 --> 00:18:35

are not economically empowered, they're not even some

00:18:35 --> 00:18:37

of them speaking German fluently, what is going

00:18:37 --> 00:18:38

to happen?

00:18:38 --> 00:18:40

And there's not a culture of education.

00:18:40 --> 00:18:43

Rather, there's a culture of isolation, which leads

00:18:43 --> 00:18:44

me to another negative.

00:18:44 --> 00:18:46

And again, I say this, all Muslims of

00:18:46 --> 00:18:49

America, we really have a lot of positives

00:18:49 --> 00:18:50

we should thank Allah for.

00:18:50 --> 00:18:52

When you're living in Europe, when you're living

00:18:52 --> 00:18:56

in Germany, for example, America is a land

00:18:56 --> 00:18:57

of immigrants.

00:18:58 --> 00:19:00

We are all immigrants.

00:19:01 --> 00:19:05

And the diversity of languages, skin colors, ethnicities,

00:19:05 --> 00:19:07

it's something we use to our advantage.

00:19:08 --> 00:19:10

Europe is not a land of immigrants.

00:19:11 --> 00:19:15

And when Muslims are the only immigrants, they

00:19:15 --> 00:19:17

have a different religion, and a different skin

00:19:17 --> 00:19:20

color, and a different cultural identity.

00:19:20 --> 00:19:24

It is very easy for the dominant group,

00:19:24 --> 00:19:26

because it's only one group, and one culture,

00:19:27 --> 00:19:28

and one skin color, and one language, right?

00:19:29 --> 00:19:32

It's very easy for the dominant group to

00:19:32 --> 00:19:34

put you down, demonize you.

00:19:35 --> 00:19:39

We know this in this country, that the

00:19:39 --> 00:19:42

people that are looked down upon, they're divided

00:19:42 --> 00:19:43

into different categories, right?

00:19:44 --> 00:19:45

I don't want to be too explicit.

00:19:45 --> 00:19:47

Some have to do with south of the

00:19:47 --> 00:19:48

border, some have to do with the skin

00:19:48 --> 00:19:50

color, some have to do with immigration, some...

00:19:50 --> 00:19:52

So the hatred of the dominant group is

00:19:52 --> 00:19:54

split amongst multiple people.

00:19:54 --> 00:19:55

Do you understand what I'm saying here, right?

00:19:56 --> 00:19:57

The racism is split.

00:19:58 --> 00:20:04

Imagine in Europe, in Germany, in France, all

00:20:04 --> 00:20:07

of that racism against immigration, against the wrong

00:20:07 --> 00:20:09

skin color, against the wrong this, against...

00:20:09 --> 00:20:12

all of that combined against us.

00:20:13 --> 00:20:14

That's the reality.

00:20:15 --> 00:20:18

So the reality therefore is that that 15

00:20:18 --> 00:20:21

percent, that 10 percent, they're not equal to

00:20:21 --> 00:20:23

the rest of the 85-90 percent.

00:20:23 --> 00:20:25

They are living like second-class citizens.

00:20:26 --> 00:20:29

Education, it's not in your face, but it's

00:20:29 --> 00:20:30

not as welcoming.

00:20:30 --> 00:20:33

Jobs, you apply, and the other person applies

00:20:33 --> 00:20:33

this.

00:20:34 --> 00:20:35

They said the same thing to me, like

00:20:35 --> 00:20:39

the name, the background, that hidden racism, right?

00:20:39 --> 00:20:43

That second-class citizenship, it is very clear

00:20:43 --> 00:20:44

over there.

00:20:44 --> 00:20:46

And therefore, this leads me to my next

00:20:46 --> 00:20:48

point, one of the most awkward points, but

00:20:48 --> 00:20:49

it needs to be said here.

00:20:49 --> 00:20:54

When you have a large group of disenfranchised

00:20:54 --> 00:20:57

young men and women cut off from the

00:20:57 --> 00:21:00

broader opportunities in public, right, what do you

00:21:00 --> 00:21:03

think is going to happen to that group

00:21:03 --> 00:21:05

in terms of their understanding of Islam?

00:21:06 --> 00:21:09

Which strands and versions of Islam will appeal

00:21:09 --> 00:21:13

to them more, the mainstream ones or the

00:21:13 --> 00:21:15

more hardline ones?

00:21:15 --> 00:21:18

Again, we need to understand human psychology, right?

00:21:18 --> 00:21:21

When you are persecuted, even a little bit,

00:21:21 --> 00:21:25

you like ideologies that seem to give you

00:21:25 --> 00:21:28

extra power, make you more elitist, make you

00:21:28 --> 00:21:29

look down at everybody else.

00:21:30 --> 00:21:33

And so, not surprisingly, I don't want to

00:21:33 --> 00:21:38

mention too explicitly, very hardline groups are popular

00:21:38 --> 00:21:42

amongst the youth, some of which are banned

00:21:42 --> 00:21:42

by the government.

00:21:43 --> 00:21:44

And of course, when you ban the group,

00:21:44 --> 00:21:45

what's going to happen?

00:21:46 --> 00:21:47

What's going to happen?

00:21:48 --> 00:21:49

Even more popular.

00:21:49 --> 00:21:52

When the government bans the group, right, there's

00:21:52 --> 00:21:54

a group that wants to call for Khilafah

00:21:54 --> 00:21:54

all the time, right?

00:21:55 --> 00:21:57

That is the most common group in that

00:21:57 --> 00:21:57

land.

00:21:58 --> 00:22:01

And they have protests with their faces covered,

00:22:01 --> 00:22:03

waving the flag that we want the Khilafah.

00:22:03 --> 00:22:05

What do you think is going to happen

00:22:05 --> 00:22:08

when the fellow German people see this reality,

00:22:08 --> 00:22:09

right?

00:22:09 --> 00:22:11

Covering their faces and waving the flag and

00:22:11 --> 00:22:13

whatnot and we want to establish the Khilafah

00:22:13 --> 00:22:13

and whatnot.

00:22:14 --> 00:22:17

I don't blame them because that's their education,

00:22:17 --> 00:22:18

that's their...

00:22:18 --> 00:22:20

But what is going to be the backlash?

00:22:20 --> 00:22:23

The backlash is, listen to this, one of

00:22:23 --> 00:22:26

the most popular political parties is a resurrection

00:22:26 --> 00:22:27

of the Nazi party.

00:22:28 --> 00:22:28

It's called the AFD.

00:22:29 --> 00:22:33

The AFD is now winning more and more

00:22:33 --> 00:22:34

elections.

00:22:34 --> 00:22:36

It is likely within a few years it

00:22:36 --> 00:22:38

will be one of the largest parties and

00:22:38 --> 00:22:41

they are a resurrection of Nazi party but

00:22:41 --> 00:22:45

not against the other group, against us.

00:22:45 --> 00:22:48

And it's a two-way street because when

00:22:48 --> 00:22:51

that becomes more popular, the Muslims become even

00:22:51 --> 00:22:53

more, some of them, become even more radical.

00:22:54 --> 00:22:56

That feeds into them, that feeds into their

00:22:56 --> 00:22:57

vicious loop.

00:22:57 --> 00:22:59

And this was very painful to me.

00:23:00 --> 00:23:02

I asked them how many politicians, you have

00:23:02 --> 00:23:06

15 percent, how many politicians are representing Muslim

00:23:06 --> 00:23:07

interests?

00:23:07 --> 00:23:10

They said zero or maybe one out of

00:23:10 --> 00:23:10

all of us.

00:23:11 --> 00:23:12

I said how is this possible?

00:23:12 --> 00:23:14

15 percent and you don't even have a

00:23:14 --> 00:23:15

single person.

00:23:16 --> 00:23:17

And they told me a few months ago,

00:23:17 --> 00:23:19

in this debacle of what's happening in the

00:23:19 --> 00:23:21

Middle East, a few months ago a Muslim

00:23:21 --> 00:23:23

was running for office.

00:23:23 --> 00:23:24

I'm going to say this bluntly because it

00:23:24 --> 00:23:25

needs to be said here, we need to

00:23:25 --> 00:23:26

learn from this.

00:23:26 --> 00:23:29

Muslim was running, mashallah, votes coming whatnot.

00:23:30 --> 00:23:32

They came to the masjid, they kind of,

00:23:32 --> 00:23:36

this group basically stood outside the masjid, started

00:23:36 --> 00:23:37

protesting, giving flyers.

00:23:38 --> 00:23:39

It is haram to vote, this person's a

00:23:39 --> 00:23:42

kafir, he's running in a democratic election.

00:23:42 --> 00:23:46

And so they're running and the police had

00:23:46 --> 00:23:48

to be called because they're causing a chaos

00:23:48 --> 00:23:50

outside the the masjid I was at.

00:23:51 --> 00:23:52

They told me this happened a few weeks

00:23:52 --> 00:23:55

ago, that our Muslim candidate is running.

00:23:55 --> 00:23:57

We got the protest from the youth of

00:23:57 --> 00:23:58

our own community.

00:23:59 --> 00:24:00

You cannot run, it is kufr to run,

00:24:00 --> 00:24:01

it's haram to run.

00:24:02 --> 00:24:03

And we had to bring in the police

00:24:03 --> 00:24:05

because they're getting physical and whatnot.

00:24:05 --> 00:24:06

And then the media got involved.

00:24:06 --> 00:24:07

Now, what do you think is going to

00:24:07 --> 00:24:09

happen when the media comes, right?

00:24:09 --> 00:24:11

So we have a lot of internal, and

00:24:11 --> 00:24:14

I say this wallahi, not to istaghfirullah, to

00:24:14 --> 00:24:16

make it worse amongst them, but to make

00:24:16 --> 00:24:19

us realize, to make us realize like, how

00:24:19 --> 00:24:21

long are we going to have this debate?

00:24:22 --> 00:24:24

The people don't even view themselves as being

00:24:24 --> 00:24:25

a part of society.

00:24:25 --> 00:24:26

So what's going to happen then?

00:24:27 --> 00:24:28

Where are your rights going to go?

00:24:28 --> 00:24:32

And therefore, don't be surprised, in multiple municipalities,

00:24:33 --> 00:24:37

there are clear Islamophobic politicians in multiple areas,

00:24:37 --> 00:24:39

they have attempted to ban the hijab.

00:24:39 --> 00:24:43

They've attempted to, here's another point, Germany, churches

00:24:43 --> 00:24:46

and synagogues get funding from the government.

00:24:47 --> 00:24:49

Mosques, zero funding.

00:24:50 --> 00:24:51

I said, how can this be fair?

00:24:52 --> 00:24:54

How is it fair for a secular land?

00:24:54 --> 00:24:55

You can go and sue and whatnot.

00:24:56 --> 00:24:57

Nobody's done that.

00:24:57 --> 00:24:59

The mosques get zero funding.

00:25:00 --> 00:25:03

And there's a special tax, everybody pays, the

00:25:03 --> 00:25:06

state will help build the church, the state

00:25:06 --> 00:25:07

will help finance the synagogue.

00:25:08 --> 00:25:11

And if the Muslims came together, legally, they

00:25:11 --> 00:25:13

could petition to get money because it's a

00:25:13 --> 00:25:15

general, you know, all faith based communities, but

00:25:15 --> 00:25:16

they're not doing that.

00:25:16 --> 00:25:17

Why?

00:25:17 --> 00:25:20

Again, this internal issue, not coming together, not

00:25:20 --> 00:25:21

petitioning, not whatnot.

00:25:22 --> 00:25:24

And subhanAllah, in the last 11 months or

00:25:24 --> 00:25:27

12 months, because of Palestine and Gaza, you

00:25:27 --> 00:25:30

realize out of all of the European countries,

00:25:30 --> 00:25:32

out of all of them, Germany is the

00:25:32 --> 00:25:36

most pro-Israel, the most pro-Israeli.

00:25:36 --> 00:25:38

There is not even any competition.

00:25:39 --> 00:25:42

And the reason for this is obvious.

00:25:43 --> 00:25:45

They think they need to make up for

00:25:45 --> 00:25:46

what they have done in World War Two,

00:25:47 --> 00:25:47

right?

00:25:47 --> 00:25:50

They feel that because of World War Two,

00:25:50 --> 00:25:54

because of what our ancestors did, we have

00:25:54 --> 00:25:57

to be the most pro-Israeli.

00:25:58 --> 00:26:00

And this is reflected in their policies top

00:26:00 --> 00:26:00

down.

00:26:01 --> 00:26:04

To this day, Germany has not given even

00:26:04 --> 00:26:07

a modicum of humanity to the Palestinians, not

00:26:07 --> 00:26:10

even a ishara, not even a gentle nothing.

00:26:11 --> 00:26:14

To this day, they have always said Israel

00:26:14 --> 00:26:15

has rather defend itself.

00:26:16 --> 00:26:19

And when the issue started 11 months ago,

00:26:19 --> 00:26:22

12 months ago, first thing Germany did, they

00:26:22 --> 00:26:23

banned protests for Palestine.

00:26:24 --> 00:26:27

Complete ban, blanket ban.

00:26:27 --> 00:26:29

The Muslims, alhamdulillah, at least they sued.

00:26:30 --> 00:26:31

And they told me a few months ago,

00:26:32 --> 00:26:33

that has been lifted, but then with conditions.

00:26:34 --> 00:26:36

So they told me, from the river to

00:26:36 --> 00:26:40

the sea, that phrase, if you had said

00:26:40 --> 00:26:42

it up until two weeks ago, you would

00:26:42 --> 00:26:43

be put in jail and fined.

00:26:44 --> 00:26:45

You could not say it.

00:26:45 --> 00:26:48

Then another court case, and they just got

00:26:48 --> 00:26:50

that lifted as well, that from the river

00:26:50 --> 00:26:51

to the sea is allowed to say.

00:26:52 --> 00:26:54

Palestinian flag was banned, they got that lifted

00:26:54 --> 00:26:54

as well.

00:26:55 --> 00:26:57

Everything the government, here's another difference, their government

00:26:57 --> 00:26:59

has a very different system of laws than

00:26:59 --> 00:27:00

our government does.

00:27:00 --> 00:27:03

The government has the right to pass laws,

00:27:03 --> 00:27:06

and then if the police or if the

00:27:06 --> 00:27:08

people challenge them, then the laws are withdrawn.

00:27:08 --> 00:27:10

But the government doesn't need too much approval,

00:27:10 --> 00:27:11

they can get it done.

00:27:12 --> 00:27:14

And so this is reflected in their anti

00:27:14 --> 00:27:16

-Palestinian policies.

00:27:16 --> 00:27:20

What the government has now done, basically, basically

00:27:20 --> 00:27:23

began to intimidate the Muslim community.

00:27:23 --> 00:27:26

It was very sad for me to hear

00:27:26 --> 00:27:30

that what this entity does, what the government

00:27:30 --> 00:27:33

is like a secret police, if any person

00:27:33 --> 00:27:36

is becoming too active, if they're giving Palestinian

00:27:36 --> 00:27:40

protests on Facebook or whatever, because look, Germany

00:27:40 --> 00:27:42

is supposed to be a democracy, supposed to

00:27:42 --> 00:27:43

be freedom, technically.

00:27:43 --> 00:27:45

But here's how that country is different than

00:27:45 --> 00:27:46

ours.

00:27:46 --> 00:27:48

And this is so sinister, wallahi.

00:27:49 --> 00:27:50

The friend told me this, that if you're

00:27:50 --> 00:27:53

active, the police will call your boss.

00:27:54 --> 00:27:57

The police will literally call your boss and

00:27:57 --> 00:27:59

say, we want you to know that your

00:27:59 --> 00:28:01

employee is being investigated.

00:28:02 --> 00:28:03

Thank you very much, bye-bye.

00:28:04 --> 00:28:04

That's it.

00:28:05 --> 00:28:07

We want you to know, so and so,

00:28:07 --> 00:28:09

he's on a list, and we're just looking

00:28:09 --> 00:28:10

at his record.

00:28:10 --> 00:28:11

That's it.

00:28:11 --> 00:28:13

Now what's going to happen, you tell me.

00:28:14 --> 00:28:16

You're going to get let off the next

00:28:16 --> 00:28:16

time.

00:28:17 --> 00:28:20

The intimidate, now you cannot sue the police

00:28:20 --> 00:28:22

because what have they done?

00:28:23 --> 00:28:25

They've intimidated, but they haven't literally said anything,

00:28:25 --> 00:28:26

right?

00:28:26 --> 00:28:28

You're not being charged with a crime, it's

00:28:28 --> 00:28:31

just like we're investigating him.

00:28:31 --> 00:28:34

And that's why the entire, and I asked

00:28:34 --> 00:28:35

him permission, I said, can I say this

00:28:35 --> 00:28:36

on your behalf?

00:28:36 --> 00:28:37

I asked, I went to multiple cities, every

00:28:37 --> 00:28:39

city I met with the shiukh and scholars

00:28:39 --> 00:28:41

there, every city I spoke with the activists

00:28:41 --> 00:28:43

there, they all said the same thing.

00:28:43 --> 00:28:46

We are under a climate of fear.

00:28:47 --> 00:28:49

We are under a climate of fear.

00:28:49 --> 00:28:52

We're worried about what to say, not physically

00:28:52 --> 00:28:53

you're going to get dragged off, but we're

00:28:53 --> 00:28:54

going to lose our jobs.

00:28:55 --> 00:28:57

And like I told you, even my lectures,

00:28:57 --> 00:29:00

I was like never, in no country is

00:29:00 --> 00:29:01

this the case.

00:29:01 --> 00:29:03

They couldn't hire a hall for me.

00:29:03 --> 00:29:06

A thousand people coming, 800 people coming, there's

00:29:06 --> 00:29:06

no space.

00:29:06 --> 00:29:06

Why?

00:29:07 --> 00:29:09

Because anytime we say Islamic lecture, they don't

00:29:09 --> 00:29:10

even care who it is.

00:29:11 --> 00:29:13

No university and no hotel.

00:29:14 --> 00:29:16

It's like I said to them, Yahi, this

00:29:16 --> 00:29:18

looks like what happened in 1920s to the

00:29:18 --> 00:29:20

other group, looks like that intimidation is happening

00:29:20 --> 00:29:21

to you guys.

00:29:21 --> 00:29:24

The irony out of running away from what

00:29:24 --> 00:29:27

they did, what are they doing?

00:29:28 --> 00:29:29

Do you understand?

00:29:29 --> 00:29:30

I cannot be too explicit, you understand what

00:29:30 --> 00:29:30

I'm saying here?

00:29:31 --> 00:29:34

The irony out of running away from what

00:29:34 --> 00:29:36

they did back in the 1920s, 30s and

00:29:36 --> 00:29:36

40s, right?

00:29:37 --> 00:29:39

It's not as bad as 1940 yet, but

00:29:39 --> 00:29:42

Wallahi this is 1920, like 100 years ago.

00:29:42 --> 00:29:42

Where?

00:29:42 --> 00:29:43

That second class.

00:29:43 --> 00:29:43

Where?

00:29:44 --> 00:29:46

If you're a Muslim, that separation begins.

00:29:46 --> 00:29:46

Where?

00:29:46 --> 00:29:47

The mark is very clear.

00:29:48 --> 00:29:51

Social pressure, education pressure, job pressure.

00:29:51 --> 00:29:52

And it hurt me.

00:29:53 --> 00:29:55

So many questions were about hijrah.

00:29:55 --> 00:29:56

Can we leave?

00:29:56 --> 00:29:57

Should we leave?

00:29:57 --> 00:29:58

Really hurt me.

00:29:58 --> 00:30:01

15% of the city and they're wondering

00:30:01 --> 00:30:02

should we leave or not?

00:30:03 --> 00:30:04

And I said to them, I cannot tell

00:30:04 --> 00:30:06

you that because I don't live here.

00:30:06 --> 00:30:08

I don't know the pressures, but I'll tell

00:30:08 --> 00:30:10

you generically from the seerah and with this

00:30:10 --> 00:30:11

we conclude inshallah.

00:30:11 --> 00:30:15

Generically from the seerah, we learn you stay

00:30:15 --> 00:30:17

in your land as long as you have

00:30:17 --> 00:30:19

the freedom to worship Allah and you fight

00:30:19 --> 00:30:22

back within the system and you keep on

00:30:22 --> 00:30:23

preaching and teaching.

00:30:23 --> 00:30:25

As of yet, it's a nuisance and irritation.

00:30:26 --> 00:30:28

You're not being physically persecuted.

00:30:28 --> 00:30:30

You're not being dragged away and thrown into

00:30:30 --> 00:30:30

jail.

00:30:31 --> 00:30:32

As of yet, it's intimidation.

00:30:33 --> 00:30:35

And if you were to combine together, if

00:30:35 --> 00:30:38

you were to get that 10-15%, you

00:30:38 --> 00:30:41

could create a ripple effect and a change.

00:30:42 --> 00:30:43

And they all recognize this.

00:30:43 --> 00:30:45

So I said I cannot give you a

00:30:45 --> 00:30:48

specific verdict, but generically speaking, I said to

00:30:48 --> 00:30:51

them, my gut instinct would be your main

00:30:51 --> 00:30:54

job right now is to mobilize, is to

00:30:54 --> 00:30:56

come together, is to tap in.

00:30:57 --> 00:31:00

No city has the entire Muslim community under

00:31:00 --> 00:31:01

one banner.

00:31:01 --> 00:31:06

They are divided ethnically, divided socially, divided into

00:31:06 --> 00:31:07

these firaq as well unfortunately.

00:31:08 --> 00:31:10

And so this group of 10%, 15%

00:31:10 --> 00:31:12

is just a statistic on paper.

00:31:13 --> 00:31:14

I said to them, if you can get

00:31:14 --> 00:31:18

rid of the internal divisions and come together

00:31:18 --> 00:31:21

because your group is one and the Islamophobia

00:31:21 --> 00:31:23

is against all of you, if you can

00:31:23 --> 00:31:26

do this, then SubhanAllah, what force can stop

00:31:26 --> 00:31:26

you?

00:31:27 --> 00:31:28

So I want to conclude with this point.

00:31:29 --> 00:31:32

First and foremost, we thank Allah for whatever

00:31:32 --> 00:31:33

issues we have here, very different.

00:31:34 --> 00:31:36

We don't have 15%, no doubt about that.

00:31:36 --> 00:31:38

We're less than 1 or 2%.

00:31:38 --> 00:31:39

In Dallas, we're 1.7% by the

00:31:39 --> 00:31:41

way, which is more than the rest of

00:31:41 --> 00:31:41

the country.

00:31:41 --> 00:31:44

Greater Dallas area, we're relatively higher than the

00:31:44 --> 00:31:46

rest of the area, but still 1.7%.

00:31:46 --> 00:31:48

By the way, that's all of Dallas.

00:31:48 --> 00:31:50

Maybe Plano, might be a little bit more.

00:31:50 --> 00:31:51

Somebody should do some surveys on this.

00:31:51 --> 00:31:54

I think Plano is probably 5%, I would

00:31:54 --> 00:31:55

assume, like good amount.

00:31:56 --> 00:31:57

Plano is a good amount inshaAllah.

00:31:57 --> 00:31:59

We are relatively good percentage in this part

00:31:59 --> 00:32:01

of the country, but 15 is beyond our

00:32:01 --> 00:32:02

imagination.

00:32:02 --> 00:32:04

No part of the country is 15%.

00:32:04 --> 00:32:07

We benefit from them and then realize, oh

00:32:07 --> 00:32:09

Muslims, the whole world is having its own

00:32:09 --> 00:32:09

issues.

00:32:10 --> 00:32:11

There is no Jannah on earth.

00:32:11 --> 00:32:12

There is no Jannah.

00:32:12 --> 00:32:14

And I said to these brothers, Hijrah where?

00:32:14 --> 00:32:14

Where?

00:32:15 --> 00:32:16

Name me a country.

00:32:16 --> 00:32:17

And they named a few and I pointed

00:32:17 --> 00:32:19

out problems in each one they named.

00:32:19 --> 00:32:20

For how long?

00:32:20 --> 00:32:20

For what?

00:32:20 --> 00:32:20

No.

00:32:21 --> 00:32:23

The general rule, as much as you can,

00:32:23 --> 00:32:25

you stay where you are and you fight

00:32:25 --> 00:32:27

for your rights and you preach and teach

00:32:27 --> 00:32:29

Islam and you make sure you're able to

00:32:29 --> 00:32:30

pass this religion down to your children.

00:32:30 --> 00:32:32

So I hope inshaAllah that was of some

00:32:32 --> 00:32:34

benefit to study about the Muslims of other

00:32:34 --> 00:32:36

lands and I make dua for them and

00:32:36 --> 00:32:36

for all of us.

00:32:36 --> 00:32:38

May Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala keep our

00:32:38 --> 00:32:40

hearts united and cause us to benefit the

00:32:40 --> 00:32:40

ummah.

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