Thoughts on The New Zealand Mosque Shooting

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All praise is due to Allah subhanho wa Tada. We praise Him and we seek his help. And we seek refuge in Allah from the evil of our souls and the consequences of our actions. Indeed, whomever Allah subhana wa tada guides, none can misguide. And whomever he chooses to misguide none, none can guide him back to the straight path. I bear witness and I testify that there is no deity worthy of worship other than Allah subhana wa Tada. And I bear witness and I testify that Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wa sallam is his final prophet and his most perfect worshipper. As to what follows Allah says in the Quran, yeah, are you Hola, Xena, Manu, taco la hopko to RT wala Jamuna 11 to Muslim moon. Oh, you

who believe be conscious of a law the way that he deserves and do not die except in a state of submission to him. My dear brothers and sisters in Islam. All of us are painfully aware of the brutal terroristic attacks of the massacre on two masjids in New Zealand, a self identified self proclaimed white supremacist, he unfortunately live streamed footage of him entering the main Mosque of Christchurch, New Zealand, must you the nude, it is one of the largest messages of New Zealand, it is one of the oldest messages of New Zealand. And he live streamed himself on his Facebook account and the video is truly grotesque. And I have not seen it and I do not plan to see it. And I

do not encourage any of you to see it. But I have read descriptions of what is on that video. And it is truly grotesque. And from what is being reported. This person put a GoPro on his helmet, and he live streamed himself entering the masjid. And what is truly ironic is that the first person who turned around and saw him the first person when he saw him, he said, Sam, welcome brother. And he shot him cold right then and there. And we do not know did this person recognize this other person to be a shooter? Or did he say Sam welcome as his last act before he knew that he was going to be killed? We do not know. It is possible that he didn't recognize and he just turned on he did what

every Muslim does welcome said I'm Welcome. Welcome to our community, or it is possible that he saw this person to be a terrorist and a shooter and realizing that he couldn't physically do anything. He tried to appeal in the face of such irrational hatred with the with the calling of peace with the greeting of peace, he tried to appeal but no matter what you do, no matter how evil you are, I still recognize you to be a fellow human being a fellow brother at some level. Unfortunately, that feeling of sat down was not returned. And that person died. A Shahid insha Allah who to Allah, and it appears that this humanity that he wished to find in this other brother, this humanity has already

left him because this murder this terrorist continue to enter the masjid and shot down in cold blood at point blank range. 41 people 41 people walking through the masjid defenseless men, women and children, wounding at least 40 and killing 41. He then races back to his car, the GoPro is still running. And while driving to another msgid. He describes in chilling language in a completely calm voice. He describes the killings. And he says that there were bodies everywhere. And he describes the thrill that he feels the rush that he's getting. And he then goes to another question where he begins shooting from his car before he gets off and then enters the other machine and kills a

further seven people in that Masjid. And one person died in the hospital as of yet it is 49 but there are at least last I checked 40 people critically wounded and dangerous. Allah knows what the final tally is going to be in that second question.

A person who was responsible for caretaking the messenger, the janitor and the one who would take care of the traffic and it is those heroes that we don't look upon. They become heroes at times where we leave

Expect to panel as somebody who was in charge of the custodial issues of the masjid, that person was monitoring the the killer. And at a particular point, when he lowered his weapon to reload, this brother charged and jumped on him in a very brave and courageous act, because of which Allah xojo knows how many dozens of lives were saved. He tackled the person, he took the gun out of the killers and the killer in his fear runs away. And so the massacre stops here. Allah knows what would have happened if this brave brother had not intervened and jumped on him risking his life, risking his life, his body and his soul to save so many other people. Eventually, the police arrested him and he

is now under custody. This person whom I shall not name, I refuse to name I will not honor him by even mentioning his name. This person, he wrote a rambling manifesto that he posted to a far right network. And unfortunately, I felt compelled to read that manifesto as a part of what I do. And it is very, very clear that his motives, his agenda is not something that is new. We have been hearing this language, we have been exposed to this rhetoric for many, many years. This person believes that European civilization, whatever that is, that's besides the point, European civilization is about to disappear. Why he blames mass immigration. He blames Muslim fertility rates. He somehow believes

that Muslims breed like rabbits, and he blames the takeover of European culture, by Islam and by Muslims. And he said he targeted this particular Masjid because it used to be a church. And you know, these days, many churches are putting themselves up for sale because people are not coming. And it is common that Muslims or other faith communities, they purchase the church and everything is legal. It's not our fault that the church is for sale. And it's a perfect building. For us. It's not our fault. But he felt that this is a symbol and a sign of an Islamic takeover. What used to be a church had been converted into a mosque. And what used to be a place of worship for Christians is

now a place of worship for Muslims. And ironically, this person himself never went to church. This person himself was not a church going Christian, he does not resemble he does not he is not indicative of righteous Christians. Yet, for some reason he takes on a religion that he himself seems to have very little to do with and he takes on defending a community and a faith that he does not exemplify in his character in his teachings, even in his worship. And this person in his manifesto, he explicitly praises other right wing attackers, other terrorists, like Anders Breivik, the one who committed the massacre in Norway, like the attack in Quebec in Canada that killed six

people. He explicitly praises dylann roof who shot nine African Americans in a church in South Carolina. And he praises a whole long list of other radicals. And not surprisingly, at all. He praises the President of the United States by name, and he considers him to be a symbol of white identity, as well. He explicitly mentions that his goal, to do this terrorist act is to start a war between what he calls Europeans and what he calls immigrants, and especially in particular, Muslim immigrants. The sad part, my dear brothers and sisters, is that reading the entire Manifesto, beginning to end, I have to say, there was absolutely nothing that I hadn't read or heard before,

there was nothing shocking about the entire manuscript, the entire document, it's the same talking points that we have been hearing by so many different politicians around the globe. And this individual, this brainwashed individual, is symptomatic of what happens when you have years and years of sensationalized news that continues to promote a picture to perpetuate a false narrative. Eventually, somebody clicks because they believe that false narrative in this Manifesto, he says, Who is going to defend our culture, who is going to defend our civilization? I had it in my mind. He goes, if nobody else is going to do it, then I must do it to myself. And he mentioned specific

terrorist attacks that were done by radical Muslims. We will not deny there were people that have done engaged in the name of our faith as well. And he thought the best way to respond to that hatred and violence is to perpetuate

The same hatred and violence. And this is why brothers and sisters, we need to be very, very explicit and clear. I was wondering, should I even talk about this in so much detail in today's in today's sermon, because I knew that this is spring break, and I knew that some of our youngsters are going to be here. And it troubles me that I have to mention these topics. And then I have to talk about these realities. I know there are young children in the audience. I understand this. When I first told my youngest daughter about this incident last night, the first thing and I could see the fear in her eyes, the first thing that she said, Have they caught the guy yet? And if this is what

happens when you hear of an attack, literally 10,000 miles away across the globe. I mean, there's a worry, even though he's in New Zealand, what if he's still here? What if he's still loose? Unfortunately, we don't have the luxury to shield our community and even our youngsters from this reality. Because the stark fact of the matter is that that mosque could be any mosque, and that community could be any community. New Zealand is one of the safest places in the world. It hardly has any violent crime. If somebody pickpockets, his front page news almost it's such a trivial it's a it's a very, very laid back casual country. And yet still the rhetoric of the far right and the

hatred of the xenophobes is reaching such for countries, then what then do you think of the bastion of that hate where that hate is being propagated where that hate is actually being funded? Where that hate is being disseminated from what then of those places? It is just a few days ago, where one of the most prominent commentators on Fox News actually claimed that a more had Juba in our Congress, the first module and Congress could not be an American citizen, because she wears a hijab. And that hijab, according to this commentator, demonstrates that she follows Shetty law, and so she cannot be a Muslim, an American citizen. This is publicized hatred being spawned being spewed out

publicly on mainstream media. We are living in a world where xenophobia has now become mainstream Islamophobia in particular, has become popular, so many countries, their politicians are being elected on the bandwagon of Islamophobia. In India, the land of my own ancestors. In India, the concept of hindutva. And hindutva is basically a a radicalized version of Hindu nationalism, that it's a it's a very vicious form of Hindu Indian nationalism that was first propagated almost 100 years ago by a group called the RSS it has now been taken up by the BJP. And of course, the current Prime Minister of India is now publicly fomenting it. He is constantly perpetuating this notion of

India being for Hindus and others in that land are not meant to be a part of that land. And we see time and time again, that Muslims in that land are lynched just because of the whiff of them having eaten beef or having done something that is not even a crime is just a rumor, and mobs come about and they kill people. They Lynch people upon the rumor of God forbid they're actually eating meat, and as we speak, as well, potentially millions of Uighur Muslims have been rounded up and incarcerated. They're being tortured and forced to abandon Islam. They're being forced to eat pork, they're being forced to abandon the Salah. They're not allowed to read the Koran, and the world is

watching silently and we see camps they call them de radicalization camps, incarceration camps, the likes of which Harker and bring back the images of Nazi Germany back in the 1930s. The crisis in Myanmar has reached a stalemate. The demonization of Palestinians continues, and across Europe, for right parties are on the rise. And there is a general sense of tension in the air. The point is that this mass shooter, this murder is not coming out of a vacuum. He didn't just come out of nowhere. In his manifesto, he calls Muslims terrorists, even as he is the one committing acts of terror. And this is what happens when you create these demons. When you create these monsters out of others, you

then become a monster thinking that you have to defend yourself against that imaginary monster. And while I do not deny and none of us denies that there are some radical Muslims in the last 1015 years, they have committed acts of terrorism that they call jihad in western lands. We must also be frank and clear in the last two decades, what we've seen of the terror of the far right in these lands in our own lands is far more than the tear of those handful of jihadists and in fact, in the last year and a half, in fact, throughout 2018 up until now 2019 for the last year, and a half

Every single terrorist attack on American soil has occurred at the hands of the far right. Let me repeat that. So you understand what I just said, For the last year and a half 100% of terrorist attacks of mass shooters 100% has occurred at the hands of those that are called the far right. Not at the hand of Muslim radicals. Not at the hand of immigrants. Not at the hand of Mexicans, not at the hands of Brock. No, all of them without exception are coming from the far right. And we need to understand that we are all in this together. Each and every one of us we need to play a part and have a role to play. I don't want to sensationalize I don't want to create a sense of fear. But we

don't have the luxury to bury our heads in the sand. We have to create a sense of not fear, but at least urgency. The fact of the matter is that this attack could have happened in any Masjid like we are gathered here today for Joomla. Our brothers and sisters are gathered for this same Juma in New Zealand the exact same. They came wanting to just pray Juma going back to their work and they had no idea 49 of them that would it would be their last Juma. Ironically here in Memphis, we have a Masjid with the same Masjid name as that Masjid must you the nude, which is one of our first semesters in Memphis, may Allah protect it and all of the massages. But the point is, we all have to help out.

And in order to order to respond. My dear brothers and sisters, we need to have a number of tactics, a number of strategic issues that we need to think about. First and foremost, we have to begin as people of faith with our faith. We have to put our trust in our Lord in our God, we need to realize that we will not win this battle or any battle without Allah subhanho wa Taala now is not the time to become lazy with our faith. Now is not the time to hide our faith. Now is not the time to be embarrassed about our faith. We need to be proud of who we are. We need to be proud of our Islamic beliefs and heritage. We need to be proud of our rituals. We need to constantly engage in what Allah

has commanded us to engage in our rituals, our Salah, our Vicar, our charity, our slaughter, our Koran are all of them they have to be a daily part of our routine. Secondly, we need to understand where this hatred is coming from. The Islamophobic industry is churning out propaganda financed by hundreds of millions of dollars in which a false enemy is created. A false enemy is created that enemy is us and other immigrants. And the goal of creating this imaginary enemy. The goal of creating this imaginary enemy is to then allow a radical Neo fascist, pro white, openly nationalist racist bigot, to win the presidency and then to change the laws in accordance with what he wants to

do. By creating an imaginary monster. A real monster then becomes a savior for the people who look up look up to him by creating an imaginary Frankenstein, a real Frankenstein becomes a superhero in the eyes of those who want to be saved from the imaginary one, we need to understand that this brainwashed person has been brainwashed by a much larger network. And the problem is that the brainwashing continues while we are legitimately angry at this brainwashed person. And of course, we need to be angry at him at some level at some level. And I know this is gonna sound strange, there has to be some pity for him and his ilk. Our main anger should be reserved for those who are doing

the brainwashing financing the brainwashing, we need to understand there is a very clear agenda at play here. And that is to demonize minorities, that is to stigmatize faith communities and immigrant communities for a much larger political purpose. And therefore with this information, we need to respond with words and actions, we need to respond with words and actions. As for words, we need to counter these claims we need to take on these ridiculous and ludicrous accusations that are being hurled at us. There is no threat to Western civilization, whatever that is, a little bit of knowledge, a little bit of history, a little bit of education will teach you that civilization of

all types continues to change. Civilization never remained stagnant. We need to point out that this very person who is worried about immigrants taking over his land himself and his ancestors took over the land from other people. How dare a person who himself took the land from the native Aborigines, the native mores, the native native Indians over here, how dare a person then lecture to others about taking over land. This is something we need to point out that it is it is inappropriate for any group in the Western world, especially in America and in Australia and in New Zealand to talk about immigrants when they themselves

Are the immigrants to those lands as well, this notion of immigrants coming in and super imposing their values, and exaggerating the statistical quantity of these immigrants. All of this is, in fact hype. All of this is simply false. This person who committed this massacre, he writes in his manifesto, that he watched a particular YouTube video. Ironically, I would show this video in my own class at Rhodes, to demonstrate what Islamophobia is, I would regularly show this video to show them what you know how people hype up the threat of Muslims in Europe. And it is a fake video that is done by a far right Christian, a group, which basically has statistics from from sources that are

not accredited, that predicts that within 2030 years, Europe is going to be an Islamic land. It predicts that Muslims are going to take over America unless we do something and it quotes half baked statistics. It says that and I kid you not this is in the video. And every time I show it all my students burst out laughing. It says on average, every Muslim couple has eight children. Do you know anybody in our congregation that has eight children, eight children, that's the average. And then the average European has 1.1 children statistically, and so when you do the math at that rate, obviously in 20 3040 years, they say, Europe is going to be wiped out. And in the video in a very,

very demonic voice. France is going to become a Muslim state by 2047, whatever the date that they say. I mean, this is this is fear mongering of the highest order and magnitude here in America, Muslims are barely one at max 1.5%. And yet people believe that we are 30 40% of America, how can 1% of a nation affected so radically such that there is this paranoia and fear? This is what happens when you inflate numbers. And you perpetuate these stereotypes, these false narratives, people are going to believe the most ludicrous things we need to understand the root cause of this terrorism is actually fear and ignorance have some pity. I know this sounds strange. But we need to prevent these

massacres in the future. Understand that people who do these deeds, they're reacting out of fear and ignorance. These are the two main motives, you read his manifesto. And the person is scared that his culture is going to be disappearing, he needs to be taught, that's not going to happen. It's impossible for it to happen. But there is this paranoia that unless we stop these immigrants, these Muslims, then our society will be destroyed. And in order to eradicate fear. In order to eradicate these stereotypes, we need to respond with education and with action. And that is why it is so important that we mobilize our entire community, we all have a role to play it for only 1% or 1.5%.

What that means is that each and every one of you, your audience, your potential audience is unique. If all of us put our resources together, and we make an intentional point of trying to educate of trying to eradicate this fear, eliminate these stereotypes, perhaps we can cause some dent. And that is why every one of us, as I said over and over again, it is our role to play, nobody else is going to do it. Every one of us has to be engaged in outreach, we all have to engage in showing our neighbors, our friends, our colleagues who we are, if they don't even know you're a Muslim, much less they don't even know what Islam is, then those stereotypes are going to perpetuate those fears

are going to take root in their heart, we need to show them the reality of Islam. We need to invite our colleagues, our neighbors, our friends, to our houses, our mosques, our communities, all of us have to take an active role on Facebook, on Twitter, so that insha Allah who tada if there is another person out there flirting with these radical ideas, through our acts of hospitality, our acts of love and kindness, our acts of sharing our meals with them. This is our secret weapon, Muslims, it's not having eight kids, it's sharing our bibiani and our good food with our neighbors and friends. They just come and they see we're all there's nothing to be scared of. That's the main

problem. The notion that we are something to be feared they've never met us. If you and I are not going to go out of our way to make sure that they don't meet us. If you and I are going to hide if we're going to be embarrassed about our faith, then who else is going to tell them what our faith is? My dear brothers and sisters, those Muslims who died while they were praying this very Juma prayer in New Zealand, they weren't just victims of that one terrorist. They were the victims of an entire Islamophobic campaign that is being spearheaded by far right politicians and segments of the media. However, we all of us collectively are not going to back down. We are not going to be afraid

we will not cower down, we will not hide our identity. We will put our trust in Allah and we will continue to do whatever Allah wants us to do.

Do we will continue to be who we are come what may and we will put our trust in Allah subhana wa tada and we will make sure that insha Allah who to love will always overcome hatred that our mercy and compassion will always be the best antidote to the bigotry and xenophobia that they face. I pray that Allah Subhana Allah to Allah blesses me and you with and through the Koran, I pray that Allah subhana wa tada makes us of those who is versus they understand and who make us of those who is halal and haram they implement throughout our lifespan. I ask Allah forgiveness for me and you for and for the entire Muslim ummah. And you as well as for that forgiveness. He is the fool and the

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my dear brothers and sisters, we have to understand

that every single calamity that happens to us there is a wisdom in it. Every tragedy, there is a silver lining. Every single darkness there is a light at the end of the tunnel. We have to put our trust in Allah. We are commanded by Allah to be patient and to ask Allah for patience was spirit warmer. sobre Roca illa Billah we are commanded by Allah to remove our worries and to not grieve to not be scared while I tell him what I know what and tomorrow Alona in quantum meaning Do not worry, do not grieve you shall be victorious if you are true believers and we are told by Allah subhana wa Taala that in the end, it is our piety that will save us if not in this world then definitely in the

next world and that is our ultimate goal will allow people to live within and the end result is with them with Philippine May Allah subhana wa tada except those that have died as martyrs. May Allah protect every single one of us in our communities and faith. May Allah subhana wa tada bless us and this entire world with peace and with harmony. Aloma in NIDA and amino Aloma today if you had any reason Bonilla Fatah wa Hammond Illa for Raja What are they in an illogical data while Mr. De La Ilaha feta what I see it on Illa your SATA allama fildena What is one in the readiness of upon a beanie man? wallet HIV kuruvilla hyndland Linda Tina Amano robina in Nakuru for Rahim Allah who is

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