Reflections on Current Political Events – Ask Shaykh YQ EP. 217

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Sit on wanting her to law he will bought a couch what hamdulillah we began by praising Allah subhanho wa Taala that one and the unique It is He alone that we worship, and it is his blessing that we seek. He is the Lord of the oppressed. And he answers the day of the week. As to what follows today is our usual q&a. And I'm going to begin with a very difficult and awkward question. Over the last two weeks, I have been inundated with questions about my thoughts regarding the political developments in a particular Muslim land, where Western forces have withdrawn and the government that aspires to rule by the city or has taken over. Now initially, I have declined to

comment. But the the incessant messages and emails and Facebook, messages in Twitter comments and YouTube comments even all asking me to comment and wanting to know my thoughts, I feel compelled to answer. However, I will answer generically without mentioning the country by name for reasons that should be obvious and also to extrapolate more benefits or that insha Allah to other the generic thoughts that I share will be useful, not just for this particular scenario, you know, this lecture is being given in August of 2021. Allah knows how many more, you know years, people will be listening to the lectures. And I want to comment in a way that other incidents, maybe somebody is

living, listening 10 years, 20 years, maybe even 50 years from now, they didn't show low to either. The comments that I give today will reflect generic benefits for multiple scenarios, and not just specifically to this one particular incident that has happened in this particular month of this particular year. So I asked Allah for tofield and hedaya. It's a very, very awkward question. And that is why I hesitated to respond. But inshallah Tada, I hope there is clear and Bala can benefit in what I'm about to say. And if what I say is correct, it is from Allah. And if it is incorrect, then it is from myself and the whisperings of shade on my response will center on five points. The

first point, I must begin by mentioning that I find it very problematic. I'm frankly very troubled by a very common sentiment amongst our religious folk, that our scholarship that our odema that our clergy are the best political commentators. One of the main points that I have continued to drive home in all of my q&a, is that people should ask the specialists have their own speciality and that those who are specialized should stick to their own areas of expertise. And I would venture that one of our one of our problems, not the biggest problem, not a major problem, but it is definitely a problem is that large segments of the religious community and by religious I mean those that are

overall practicing and praying and Masjid going and enthused about, you know, the science is a religion that we thank Allah for them, and for that, you know, sentiment, but those that are so religiously inclined, because they're so attracted to their odema and scholars, and they listen to them, and they look up to them is that they feel that their scholars are qualified on all fronts, and in matters that are beyond the areas of expertise. And I say this, frankly, as somebody who has trained amongst through the AMA and is considered by some to beat them, even though I'm always going to say I'm a student of knowledge and miners should know knowledge. But as somebody who's been with

earlimart, for 25 years of my life was associated with them, who you know, considers them to be still my mentors and peers and I look up to them and and with our community. I say this loudly and clearly that specialists in Islamic sciences are specialists in Islamic sciences. They are not specialists in fields outside of those sciences. We are all human beings, all of us, no matter how much we've studied, we remain human. And that means we have our strengths. And we have our weaknesses. We have our areas of expertise, we have our areas of ignorance, just because one of us has studied the seal, or Sierra or fic or al Qaeda or any signs of Islam. It doesn't mean that that

person is more qualified to speak about psychiatry or investment you know, or even political analysts, then people that are trained in those areas.

In fact, let me state that generally speaking, not just clergy, religious folks overall, are not the best suited for political office and political institutions simply because religion by its nature is ideal and idealistic. religious folks are idealists. They're accustomed to piety and purity in their leaders and they should be. Politics is not idealism. Politics is compromised politics is the least of many evil solutions. Politics is dirty business, and therefore the world of ill and rula map. And the world of running countries and politicians has historically never been the same other than the time of the Hooda, Russia Dune. And that's why we idealize those 3040 years of our entire oma

otherwise, throughout the oma years and Abbas's throughout all of the rise and fall of all of these dynasties. politicians were one group of people and erla. And clergy were another group. And it is rare to find a merging between those two, let politicians be politicians, let the roadmap be roadmap and let the tensions between them be clear, because religion should be idealistic. And politics is far from that. In fact, dare I say that when roadmap and scholars get involved in politics, usually it's not a very nice business, you know, look at a land where Pharaohs once roamed and where perhaps many Pharaohs still roam, we would much rather that the scholarship of that country had not gotten

involved and justified what these mini Pharaohs do. So my my first point this is all part of the first point is that I want to explicitly reiterate what our Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam advised us 14 centuries ago in the Hadith narrated by our mother I showed the Allahu Allah that she said Amara narrow sort of like it's a little awful it he was sending them a New Zealand na semana Zilla home, that the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam commanded us that we put people in their appropriate places. We put people in their appropriate places, ask doctors about medicine, ask them about the religion of Islam and the Quran and the Sunnah, asked psychiatrists about human

psychiatry, but when you ask a person who's not a specialist of something outside of his area of speciality, then take it with a grain of salt. Now, I begin with this first point, and for sure one of you is already going to comment or think Hold on a sec. You're saying that, are you saying, Are you saying that people of knowledge should never talk about politics? And I respond? No, I didn't say that. I simply said that, to equate the scholarship of a scholar with his views on politics is the problem. So brutally honest, and very frank, when I speak in shallow data about the Koran about too soon, about the COO of the professors, and when I give you my personal opinion about a fatwa, I

genuinely believe that that's coming from years of research, it means something, it's not coming out of thin air. This is I asked Allah xojo for tofield confer hidin for your class. But when any scholar gives a verdict or an opinion, it is based upon years of research is based upon background information that takes a long time to acquire, it's not coming out of thin air. However, when I speak about the situation in this land, or that land, when I talk about the political parties in hearing there, it's not coming from the same area of expertise. And therefore, if I were to say something about politics, or about current affairs, or about situations that are dealing with

particular incidents of a modern time, then what I am saying is not as authoritative, if you like, as what I might say about the Koran and about the sooner. So am I allowed to speak about other issues? Of course, I am just like you're allowed. And you know, politics is an area where everybody talks, I'm allowed to talk, you're allowed to talk, I'm allowed to hold opinions, you're allowed to hold opinions. However, what I'm saying is that when a religious person, when a person of your intent, when a person of knowledge says something about a political analysis, please do not take it with the same level of authority that you would take that person's fetch work or from you will take

it as you will take any other opinion from any other person. It's not any more binding. So understand what I'm saying here. I will continue to talk about politics because I like politics. I read a lot and I, I talk a lot about these issues. However, my analysis is not any much greater or better than anybody else's, just because I've studied the Quran and the Sunnah. Now, I've said this to one of the brothers who came to me in our community, and I kind of you know, made this point and he goes, Okay, you know, I agree with all of this point, you know, but in the end of the day, Am I not allowed to know your opinion. I mean, I'm

curious. Okay, I agree with your caveats. I agree with your disclaimers that it's not affect what you're giving about that land, you're not giving me a verdict about that group and that party, but the brother said to me, this is what he said to me that, you know, I consider you to be more well read than myself. And I respect your analysis overall. So I just want to know your opinion. Like, I want to know the opinion of anybody who might have read more than me. And that's a valid point. So as long as that caveat is understood that an opinion of a scholar remains an opinion, it's not binding, it's not a fatwa. It's not a verdict. It's not, it's it doesn't have, it doesn't have the

authority over him, just because an alum says it about a political issue. And if you disagree, or if you reject no big deal, it's just an opinion. So as long as you have that caveat on understanding, then I don't have any problems, you know, sharing with you some generic points or comments that I have. And that's gonna then allow me to move on to the next point out of our five points. So the second point, still speaking about overall politics and talking about politics, when it comes to political analysis when it comes to taking sides when it comes to holding a position about a current affair about which party which bill to support about which tactic or what not.

This is not an issue, generally speaking of how Rahman hella it's not an issue of how can barter generally speaking, in reality, it's hardly ever a black and white issue. In the time of the Sahaba, when the Civil War broke out between the last one and the last one between Wow, it'll be a lot worse than the last one. When those civil wars broke out. You had people of piety in all of those camps, piety, transcends politics, piety, transcends political divisions, and it is very, very likely that on any given set stance, or any current event, you will find people arguing and bickering and disagreeing, and the both of them are people have agenda and will end up in gender. In this world,

they might even go to war as the Sahaba did. May Allah have mercy on all of them. They disagreements might be extreme, but they are sincere in their own views. And they think they're doing this for the betterment of the oma as long as their new year is for Allah subhanho wa Taala. And they genuinely think that this tactic or this group will be better for the deen of Allah subhanho wa Taala. If that's their worldview, even if they're mistaken, in their analysis, they are forgiven in the eyes of Allah subhanho wa Taala. And so just because somebody supports one side against another in any modern political scenario of any Muslim land of any country, as long as the both of them want to

support the deen of Allah. Now, again, I'm not talking about By the way, if one group says I don't want to support to run his messenger with a bit out with a Bella, if one group says that one person says that I don't want the laws of Allah and I don't want the shadow of Allah, that's clear cut that this might potentially be Cofer or even be, Cofer. But we're not talking about somebody about that worse. That was we're talking about somebody who says, No, no, this particular group, this particular group, it's not manifesting the shadow of this particular group. It's not applying the shadow properly. If somebody feels that rejecting a group of humans who claim to be applying the

*tier is not the same as rejecting the Sharia if you believe that that group is not applying this video, but I hope my my point is clear here is that when it comes to political fdlr fat, and I say this as somebody who has very clear stances in many Muslim lands in cases that have happened, where I believe that, you know, one side is definitely wrong, and the other side is definitely right. And yet I am aware that there are scholars whom I love, and I know are sincere on the other side, and they support a particular regime or a particular government or a particular rulership. And I am not, you know, generally I'm not somebody who's ever been a blind supporter, or flagbearer, of any of

these regimes or kingdoms. And I find myself always the the posing camp, but I'm not blind to the reality that there are pious rude ama, who genuinely think that the lesser of two evils is to be with the supporting, you know, regime or government or whatnot. And they think that that will be better for the oma as long as their Nia is for the oma and as long as their loyalties to Allah and His messenger and not to a courtesy or to an individual. And you can tell by the way, by the language and by the stances, and by their track record, it's very clear, there are those people who will go with the flow and go with the money and go with the power and those people have sold

themselves for a measly

Price, but there are those who might support the currency but not because of the currency. They support it because they think the corsi corsi, I mean, the current political establishment, they think that that is better for the oma, that is an interpretation. And that's exactly what happened in the time of the civil wars between the Sahaba. Why were pious people on all sides, because pious people thought this is best, no, this is best, no, this is best. And each one thought that one is best, and Allah as origin will judge them based upon their intention. So my second point here is that we have to be very, very careful about considering our opponents to be evil people, as long as

those opponents love Allah and His messenger and want the religion of Allah to benefit. I'm not talking about somebody who says, I don't want the deen of Allah, that person is not somebody I'm even discussing in this regard. That is almost a rejection. Or it might even be a rejection. If somebody literally says I don't want the religion of Allah, that's really a rejection of Allah subhana wa, tada directly. But if somebody says, I'm just giving an example, if somebody says, I love Allah, His Messenger, of course, I want to benefit the deen. But this group that you support, I think they will harm the dean, I think they're going to be detrimental to their religion. That's

their analysis, you might disagree. But you have to understand that the person who disagrees with you is not an evil person necessarily, or a Catholic or a baller moved out there or whatnot. So politics is a tricky business. And politics is not black and white, and supporting political parties, and supporting current events and disagreeing about the best analyses of this, these events should not lead to us considering the people on the other side to be necessarily evil people, as long as as as I said, their faith remains to want to benefit the religion, and their loyalties remain to Allah and His messenger. The only person whom if you oppose him, you are instantaneously

evil in a coffered is the Prophet Muhammad Sallallahu. It is the only person even amongst the Sahaba, there were those who opposed it to the loved one, there were those who were on the other side of it, there'll be a loved one, how did that make them evil? There were people on the side of while we're on the side of it on the side of it sure. All of them praying to God loving Elon is messenger. There were scholars on all of these sites. That was their analysis, if that happened during the lifetime of the Sahaba. Do you think in these gray areas where there are politicians of all stripes on all sides, that the issue is crystal clear, not at all. And if anybody thinks this,

then frankly, their understanding of reality and human history and of politics is not very profound and deep along with that. So the second point, I want to, you know, mention here is that, even if somebody analyzes, even if somebody does, you know, pontificate about these, and is very passionate, allow room for disagreement, and understand that your opponent in a political view, is not necessarily an evil or a bad person. The third point that I want to bring up about these difficult issues out of the five points that I'm going to mention is that we also have to be aware that our knowledge and our assessment of the situation is as good and as credible as our sources. And our

sources are only as good as what we ourselves want to trust. And what we want to trust is generally speaking, going to ally with and be in sync with our own preconceived biases. What do I mean by this? I mean by this, all of us have to be aware of what we call confirmation bias. Look it up if you don't know what it is. And that is that you selectively take bits of information that you already want to believe, and that reinforces your pre existing belief. And this especially applies to those of us who are speaking about issues from 5000 miles away on the other side of the world. And it applies to those of us that are not ethnically from a particular region. We don't have family

and friends over there, we've never lived over there, we should humble ourselves to our limited scope of knowledge. All of us are speaking from somewhat a position of luxury, a distant view, a bird's eye view, not a first hand view. We don't know who to trust about each news item. Each one of us including myself has our echo chambers, because we hear what our friends and colleagues tell to us and our friends and colleagues generally sympathize with us in the first place. That's why they're our friends and colleagues. Therefore, if you're with the far right, and your Facebook is full of far right, and your colleagues are all far right, don't be surprised when you get one skewed

viman image of that land or of any land and if you are a person who is sympathetic to the the regime where the people in charge and you want to get the good news about them, then don't

be surprised when your friends and your Facebook colleagues and whatnot are forwarding you the snippets that talk about the positives. And perhaps the truth lies in between those two. My point being that my third point is that we should not be so so arrogant as to presume that we actually know what is going on when we are so far away. And we are not connected directly to the circumstances, who really knows what is going on. Those who want to have a negative view will find plenty of quotes and stories that reinforce that image. And those who want to get a positive view will also find plenty to get that positive view. So be vigilant against confirmation bias, and

understand that our knowledge of the situation is only as good as our sources. And our sources are generally speaking, sources that we already are inclined towards. So there's somewhat of an echo chamber being created in all of our little bubbles and lives. And it is a little bit healthy, to be honest to step into other echo chambers and see what is going on. Because sometimes the truth transcends any one little echo chamber bubble. So be careful because your analysis of the situation is going to be based upon the facts that you believe. And the facts that you believe is going to be based upon the sources that you trust. And the sources that you trust is going to be based upon your

own preconceived biases. And so very likely, your analysis is confirming your preconceived biases. It's a vicious loop and cycle, just be aware of this. And sometimes it is healthy, to listen to other perspectives just to understand where they're coming from. And just to think about maybe some aspects of your own understanding, you might be flawed. And in the end of the day, it's very difficult to really transcend our own human biases. So these are my first three points that I have. Now we get to another very interesting point. And you realize, by the way, that's why I said, my answer will be generic, most of you wanted to specific happened bolted in right and wrong, and I'm

trying to explain to you, the world doesn't work that way. political analysis doesn't work that way. It's far more difficult than what we think. And perhaps in these words, in shallow data, there's some food for thought and rumination and contemplation, which is really what I want all of us to get to. Now, this leads me to perhaps my longest point over here.

And that is that what people have been asking me is about

this group's understanding of human rights and the Sharia and women's rights and what's going to happen. And this is where it was troubling for me to see how easy it was to absorb a set of questions, and a set of problems that are not coming from within our own paradigm. I advise all of us to not get caught up and become a pawn in a game that was not invented by us. And it is not being played by us. And in reality, it is being played against us. Our Prophet salallahu it who was sending him said, Leia could come in your own animal or nurse. And I said, and I said to when I said when I said was that to what I can walk in one foot second in us and a nurse and toys, you know,

when I saw Oh, fella, who in the reported and tell me the our Profit System said, I'll translate to lingue I need the meaning of it. Don't be a blind fool. Don't be like a leaf in the wind. If the people do good, he'll say I follow the people. If they do good, he follows them. If they do bad, he follows them. No, strengthen yourselves, fortify yourselves, anchor yourselves. If the people do good, and they speak good, they'll be with them. But if the people don't speak and don't do good, then don't do wrong. My point is, a lot of our brothers and sisters are getting caught up in questions and concerns that are not emanating from people of piety and integrity, but rather

emanating from people who want to play a very, very vicious game. What do I mean by this, I'm going to have to go into a little bit of a detail and tangent here. We are being told by the media and by our politicians and by many Western countries, that there is a great concern for the people of that country for the human rights of that country for the women of that country. Now, before I move on, on a personal level, I will tell you honestly, I too, am concerned about some of these things about what views this particular group might have of the *tier and if their policies might potentially backfire. We all know that if you're too harsh on the people, that if you're too strict on the

people and not they're not ready for that strictness, they might end up rejecting and rebelling and in rejecting you

You are who the biller some might end up rejecting aspects of Allah shadia. Even mistruths. rhodiola famously remarked, speak to the people at their level. Otherwise, you might end up causing them to reject Allah and His messenger. If this is mere speech, what do you think about policies and politics, if you're too strict with the people, and they're not ready for it, you might cause them to reject what they should not reject because of your foolishness. So at some level, I am actually concerned myself about some of these questions. And those in charge of any Muslim land need to be wise and gradual, even those that want to implement the Sharia. And start with the larger issues.

The most important issue is civic security. The most important issue is safety. The most important issue is the security of all of the people there they need to feel free and safe. And then after that, they need to have houses and food and shelter. This is far more important than implementing the tertiary issues of modesty and of dress code, or even the gray areas of what type of entertainment is allowed, and not so yes, I as well have some concerns, however, and listen to me carefully, dear Muslims, my concerns, as a Muslim, do not blind me to the reality of the sheer hypocrisy of this incessant chatter about human rights and women's rights by a group that cares

nothing about humans rights and women's rights, the same entities, our own countries of American Europe, our own countries of NATO, have invaded and bombed and destroyed this country for almost two decades, the United States of America, my country, the one that we live in, has dropped. And I calculate it today. And it looked up today at 1638 bombs on this particular country, a country that is one of the most underdeveloped in the world where people are living, as if almost a living 500 years ago, a country that has no military, no Navy, it doesn't have any air force, almost 100,000 bombs were dropped in the last 20 years, a country that was invaded, and the invading troops were

directly involved in the massacres of 10s of 1000s of people. We don't even know how many people were killed because the same country that is claiming, championing human rights, that same country has absolutely no idea how many people were killed. You know why? Because they announced as a public policy, that they wouldn't even count the number of civilian deaths that their own bombs caused, because they couldn't care. You're talking to me about human rights. You didn't even care about the humanity of the people whom you bombed, where was human rights back then the same country that is talking about women's rights and wondering about women's rights, we now know for a fact that they

supported. They supported the types of warlords and the types of mafias that were well known for engaging in child soldiers and in child rapes and in something called Bacha bazi. well known in that part of the world, this same country that is talking about women's rights, publicly supported those mafias and warlords that were rampantly guilty of that type of abuse, what happened to women's rights at that point in time, so really, it is distressing to see so many of our righteous brothers and sisters not understand the tactic, the screen tactic, it is a tactic of the boy who cried wolf to bring attention to a false reality, or one can say it is an intentional red herring tactic. Do

you know what a red herring tactic it is? It is a tactic to draw attention away from what you should be paying attention to, to something you should not be paying attention to. That's what a red herring is that you bring it into an argument you bring it into a debate so that you draw your attention away from something that you should do something that you shouldn't it is an intentional and deceitful tactic and frankly, it is a unique tactic that I was the one who mastered and invented this tactic perhaps even because when musoke comes to fit Alan and Moosa walks into the rounds palace right, will fit out and says to Moosa Frauen, says to Moosa, who are you to come back to me

after we raised you in our own palace, and you committed the murder that you did what file to file a tickler defaulter, you don't remember the punch that most I gave to the, to the typically the punch that he gave him that typically died? And so Sharon says to Moosa, that, who are you to come to us we were the ones who raised you and nurtured you along neurotic afina what Eden were they

Feed me normally Cassini wafaa altre phyletic Latif alto one terminal caffine. And how did moose respond? fit our own is telling Moosa what an irony that owl is telling Moosa You are a cafard will contaminate caffeine You are a rejecter, an ungrateful person. And Moosa responds indeed file to hate and you're right I did this mistake, why am I not balling and I made a mistake and I fled from you because I was fearful of you. Then Allah azzawajal brought me back to you. And then he said, What till Can you remember to enter mu her Allah and Bani Israel? You are considering it a favor that you raised me after you enslave the entire Israelites, 100,000 people, you killed them,

massacred them, enslave them. And then you say Oh, but I'm worried about you. I took care of you. Don't give me your you know, half baked.

confessions are your claims of wanting to protect your care. You don't care about humanity. You don't care about the children of Israel, you took care of me but you bombed and killed while you put on didn't bomb but he massacred 10s of 1000s of people. And this is the reality of our own lands, this RV this country that we are talking about? I don't want to go too deep right now. And not because I'm worried of anything but because of time. But what many people don't understand they do have to summarize a little bit brothers and sisters, because

some people they are not understanding why these questions are being raised if human rights and women's rights and what not in the book and all that they don't understand the reality of why the series of questions is being drugged out and constantly paraded in the media. What is happening to your brothers and sisters is that a vicious game has been played, it's already been played. So already done. A vicious game has been played the game of war. And it was the game that was done. Not for religion, not for human rights, not for women's rights, not to free women from the boycott, not even for democracy, not even for Western civilization. All of this is not correct. No. This game was

played because of money. Simple as that. greed for money. In a nutshell, very briefly so that we understand in a nutshell, our country of America raises almost $3.5 trillion in taxes annually. Do you how much a trillion is do you know on which a trillion is? a trillion is a million millions, a trillion is a million millions. It's just words, our minds go blank, we can't even envision how much is a trillion. There is no trillionaire yet on earth. And this government raises $3.5 trillion

every single year in taxes. Now, that is a huge pile of money. People are greedy for that money. politicians who control they can't just dig into that money put into their pockets that would be against that would be blatant stealing. They can't do that. So what do they do? greedy politicians figure out a way how to tap in to that massive treasure chest of $3.5 trillion. What do they do? One of the tactics that has worked very well for the last few decades, is to declare war on a country. War is profitable. For some groups of people. It comes at a cost. Some people die. Lots of people die. But some people become very, very wealthy. War is profitable for 1000s of politicians and 1000s

of companies. Why? Because when you go to war, what happens? The government has to purchase weapons, it has to purchase bedding and material and cloth it has to purchase food, it has to purchase everything. So the government has to enact treaties are not treated sorry. The government has to make purchases from private corporations that are producing for the government. And these corporations are going to supply the military and to supply the contractors in the countries that are being invaded. And of course, they're going to overcharge this as well known. The contractors have no oversight, it's going to overcharge. So well known there was an article about some of these

examples of overcharging for example, the screw might cost 20 cents and the contractor will charge the government $20 for a nail, you know a nail you will get a new local sir, for 20 cents, the contractor will charge $20 for that particular nail. What's going to happen, the government writes checks for millions of dollars to these corporations and lots of people become very wealthy. When they become wealthy, they will reward the politicians who made them wealthy as well. The politicians have direct contact with the corporations. So the politicians become wealthy directly by making those corporations wealthy. And perhaps the most obvious and blatant example was our form.

Mr. Vice President Cheney himself, who was the chairman and CEO of Halliburton from 1995 to 2000. Do you know our Vice President Dick Cheney had a severance package from how the Burton that was close to $36,000,000.30 $6 million. He was awarded when he went into the government service. And then what happened? He declared war on Iraq. And Halliburton was awarded a $7 billion contract in which only Halliburton had the right to bid for that contract. One man bid one, show it bid and it got it and no questions asked. Do you not see what is going on here? The politician gets rich, and the company he works for gets rich? And where does that money come from, from my taxes and your taxes. So the

fact of the matter is, those who vote for war, don't care about human rights. They don't care about the burqa. They don't care about democracy, they don't even care about American lives or Iraqi lives or have long lives. They care about money. And the tactic to go to war is to access that money and put it into their pockets and the pockets of their constituents. But see, there's one problem. It's a big problem, that money has to be justified to the people who gave it. That's me and you, that's the taxpayers, how do you justify the people paying that money, because in the end of the day, if you don't justify, then the people who gave that money will vote you out of office, because you're

not spending that money for my children's school. You're not spending that money for health care, healthcare, still not free. You're not spending that money for inner cities. We have so many problems in this country. And we are spending trillions of dollars in war $6 trillion were spent on in our false invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan in the last 20 years. $6 trillion. Can you imagine if that money were to be spent over here, this is where the narrative is created, the story is drawn, and the lie is sold. One of the greatest political thinkers of our time is Noam Chomsky. He calls this manufactured consent, you manufacture consent, people think that they are giving you consent,

but it is not real consent. What is the narrative or the lie that is created, you see the guy working in the factory, who is paying his taxes, working nine to five, whose son is going to join the army, you can't tell the factory worker that you're going to war to make his boss rich while he remains where he is because the middle class doesn't gain at all. It's only the rich that gains the CEOs is the business owners. You can't tell the factory worker that he's going to send his kid to die in a war so that his boss gets rich. That's not the lie. You can sell the factory worker. So what do you do? You tell that honest, hardworking worker, that you're the good guy, you're a nice

person, you're a patriot. And those guys over there, they speak a different language. They dress different than you. They're the bad guys, they're gonna kill you. They're all terrorists, you defame them, you dehumanize them, you make the religion look evil, you make fun of their practices, their cultures, their holy book, their Shetty and even their prophets a lot. Why do you say that? You frightened your own people by creating a monster out of those people, a bogeyman, and when they're frightened, they're like, what am I going to do? What am I going to do? You come along as the politician as the government, you say, Don't worry, I shall protect you. The same person who created

the myth of the enemy, and made you into an innocent, you know, Patriot, that same person will say, Don't worry, I shall defend you. Just allow me to do with your taxes as I please, your son shall go. And he shall fight not on behalf of the CEOs for his country, he's not fighting for his country is fighting for the rich, he shall fight for his country, when the sun comes back in the casket, he shall be given false honors and a medal and a flag and what not and the the innocent worker will feel proud my son died for my country, he didn't die for the country. Those people that were killed in those lands would never have hurt or harmed you they don't even know of your existence. But the

profit has gone, you know, the profits, meaning the money has gone to the CEOs. So you create this narrative. What is the narrative? Those guys are evil, they mistreat their women. They're barbaric, Sharia is bad. They're going to be head. They're going to put the burqa, we have to save those women, you create this myth. They don't care about human rights, what human rights are they caring about when their own bombs have killed 100,000 people? What women's rights? Are they caring about when their own troops have plundered and raped? So please spare me this drama of pretending to care about humans rights and women's rights. But you see, unfortunately, us Muslims, were also absorbing

the same media. And so many of us fall prey to the same lies as well. And many of us start thinking the same way. Oh, those poor people and human rights and whatnot. And as I said in the beginning of this point,

At some level, I too am concerned about some of these groups and how they're going to do that. But my concern is stemming from a very, very different paradigm, I'm not going to be a pawn in a game that is based on hedonistic capitalistic Neo con principles. And even if I have my concerns, they're coming from a faith based to another faith based and not because of a capitalist agenda that wishes to paint a picture that is very different than reality. So I hope that this point is clear with your brothers and sisters, that before you jump on this bandwagon of questioning, questioning, questioning, question the questions, ask yourself, where are these questions coming from? Ask

yourself why are we being spoon fed these questions at this point in time by a very group that has gone against the principles that they claimed to be defending? What human rights Can you be talking about, when you're the ones that have ravaged this country for the last 20 years, you didn't care about the people or the cultures? Or the religion or the women? Who are you to come and tell us about human rights and women's rights? So if you want to ask these questions asked from your paradigm, and don't just jump onto the bandwagon, because this is the essence of a red herring. This is the essence of distracting from the for bigger and more important issues so that we ignore the

war crimes we ignore the above arrives, we ignore the Guantanamo's, which is still open as we speak to this day, we ignore all of these had we concentrate on maybe even the mistakes I'm not defending I have not yet defended, you know, some mistakes that might have occurred. But what are those mistakes in comparison to the mistakes of the other side is not even apples and oranges, there is no way you can compete with 100,000 false debts or 100,000. At least civilians. Again, we don't even know how many civilians died. Because our government refused to collect statistics on civilians dying, they refused. They didn't allow any agency to do that he was not allowed to collect

statistics, if any party is doing that they're doing that on their own without any governmental support. But we know that around as I said, 85,000 bombs were dropped. And we know the number of soldiers killed from our site and contractors kill from our side, which is already in the 10s of 1000s. So if this is our numbers, then the Avalon population and civilians would be in the hundreds of 1000s in the very, very least. So because of this point number four is very simple. Don't jump on the bandwagon and be more cautious about parroting lines that are not coming from a script based upon the genuine care of the people of that country. And this leads me to my fifth point. And by the

way, I still haven't responded explicitly, because of the reasons I have mentioned. But still generically, let me conclude with this fifth point.

Any mainstream group that is affiliated with the religion should have some loyalties and be more beloved to us religiously, than a group that doesn't affiliate with the religion, I say mainstream to dissociate myself from terrorist groups and from fringe groups. Overall, any pie artistic mainstream group, we make draw for the people of piety, that they are successful, and we hope the best for them. But we also point out that piety alone is not enough to rule and that no matter how much dakwah you have, that doesn't substitute knowledge of governance, and that no matter how much Quran you know, in and of itself, that is not going to help you or your knowledge of Nigeria is not

going to help you and how to run a country. And the Sahaba understood this, by the way, you know, when the Sahaba conquered, Goodson and the Byzantine lands when they conquered the region of the visiting Empire and they increase their their their lands, you know, quadruple or fivefold, for the first generation, they did not change the bureaucratic infrastructure of the Byzantine lands. They did not change anything. In fact, the language of government remained ancient Greek, the language of government or Latin, it remained, they did not change because they understood that they can't just come in and change the entire system. They allow the infrastructure to remain, and they became the

rulers of that infrastructure. And for an entire generation. The infrastructure remained Byzantium Byzantine, until Abdul Malik Cuban but one one generation later about the Medicare but once they had a climatized once they understood what's going on, then in the pinnacle of the omiya power of dramatic a minimal one comes and he Arab assizes the government and he makes the language within the government Arabic and the the the bureaus and the registrar's everything was then adopted by a

The Muslim community after an entire generation, even the Sahaba, and they were infinitely more pious than any current movement or group understood that when it came to the minutiae of governance of these Byzantine lands, let the people do it in their own way, and they were the ones overseeing it. So, as we point this out, as we point this out, and again, you know, without mentioning, you know, any countries any country's name, we wish, you know, the people of all Muslim lands, that they live under a sensible rule that allows them to follow the laws of Allah subhana wa Taala, while protecting the lives and livelihoods of the people living there, we want to see every land flourish,

and especially Muslim lands, we want to see them flourish while balancing the obligations of their faith with the difficulties of their time. And we never wish any evil or destruction for righteous people, by siding with those who despise our faith. A flawed and mistaken believer is far more beloved to us than someone who rejects belief and Allah and His messenger.

but merely pointing out that piety is not the same as governance doesn't mean that we're siding with the other side. And if there's any skepticism or concern, then it is stemming from a real and authentic concern that the people of that region love Allah and His messenger and are not turned away by perhaps the overzealousness of one group of people who are who are at a different level of demand in Tacoma, and not yet, perhaps ready, the population is not yet ready to reach that level of emotion, and Dhaka. So even if we bring up certain elements of concern, it comes from a genuine love for the Muslims of that region and for the religion of Islam, and not the false concern that is

brainwashed into some of us about the alleged rights of some members of that society. And so these are some generic thoughts, and will they be Bukit hrtf mo, and that inshallah, in this generic talk, there is benefit from more than just this one particular scenario. So to conclude, this rather lengthy discussion, and I hope each other there was some benefit here, to reiterate my five points. Point number one,

don't assume that religious clergy are more qualified to give political analyses than others. And if they do so, take it as if it is their personal opinion, and not as if it's coming from their years of training and expertise. My analysis of politics is not the same level as when I tell you a verdict that I believe in about the Quran and the Sunnah about filk, about Hadith about tafsir, that is coming from an area of specialization and expertise. And as for politics, I have the right to hold it, you have the right to hold it. But my view is no more binding on you and rejecting my view, you know, the second point that I have disagreeing with the political analysis of an alum or of a

person doesn't make you a bad person. But that's my second point. There's, politics is a very gray area. And if you ask 10 people about a political issue and analysis, they'll have 10 different opinions, and maybe all 10 of them are people of gender. So disagreeing about politics, as long as your heart is with a London's messenger, and your loyalties are to the oma, it doesn't necessarily make you a bad person to point number three I brought up is that understand your own position of privilege and your own bias of knowledge when you speak about issues far, far away, and understand that your analysis and my analysis is going to be affected by our perception of what is happening

over there. And the fourth point was a very long discussion of the reality of the dynamics of why some questions are being raised. And some concerns were being asked by a group of people who don't have those issues and concerns actually in their hearts. So we need to be careful by becoming blind fools just jumping on and asking the same questions. Our concerns, even if they are somewhat similar, are not coming from the same paradigm. They're not coming from the same game, we have a totally different agenda and a totally different view. And so even if we have certain concerns of this nature, it shouldn't be done by siding with group of people who don't really have those

concerns. And the final point is that, as Muslims, we should want good for all Muslim people and really for the entire world. And we would love to see a modern, viable practical manifestation of the Sharia in any and all Muslim lands. And while piety is a very, very, very important factor, it is not the only factor that brings about political success. And yet still we pray for the success of all people of piety and taqwa and we ask Allah subhana wa tada to bless this oma with head and Baraka and peace and security and

allow each and every one of us to be a role model for all of those around us. inshallah with this we come to the end of today's weather lengthy q&a. And until next time Zakho Aloha, Santa Monica Rahmatullahi wa barakato

Amish

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