ISNA Convention 2018

Zaid Shakir

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Channel: Zaid Shakir

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Episode Notes

Imam Zaid Shakir explains that Muslims should be ambassadors of peace starting with As Salaam Alaikum and to exemplify dignity at ISNA’s 55th Convention (Islamic Society of North America) entitled, “In God We Trust.”

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Bismillah Al Rahman Rahim

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al hamdu Lillahi Rabbil alameen wa Salatu was Salam ala CD mursaleen say you didn't know Mohammed while earlier he was, he was

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Iran as well while a

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boy he will got a cat.

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And hamdulillah the lemon law reward all of you taking time out from your busy schedules traveling from far and wide to attend esna in Houston. In God we trust. When we say God, we trust God saying anything.

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We're reminding ourselves that this work

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is the work that we have inherited from the profits.

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Who know new shiny sunup, Noah, Prophet Noah peace, be upon him

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was commanded to build an ark, and to collect the animals. And when the waters started to rise,

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he trusted in the last panel watani trusted an almighty God, that his actions and everything happening around him, no matter how

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imposing the situation was that it was part of the divine plan. when Abraham I listen to Abraham, peace be upon him, he left his family in that barren Valley in the Arabian Peninsula.

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He left the there trusting in God, placing his trust in God and understanding that his actions were part of a divine plan and that his actions would lead to great good. And indeed, his action led to great good four out of that action

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would eventually rise. Our Prophet Mohammed Silla laborales was sending them

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when Musab Moses and a Salah

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when he was first being when his mother even before him when his mother placed that basket in the Nile River

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and left her babies she didn't leave her baby, to just drift down the river endlessly, not knowing not knowing if the baby was survive, she left her baby in the care of God, she plays her trust, and Almighty God, and out of that action, the great tyranny of fear or was undermined and brought to an end when Moses was fleeing from the army of Pharaoh. And when a plant went into the sin struck the sea, he placed his trust in God understanding that everything that was happening was happening according to a divine plan.

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When Mary

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found herself with child

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not being touched by any men, she understood that what was happening to her was part of a divine plan, the divine plan, she trusted in God the good would come out of what was happening to her no matter how unexplicable the situation was, when our Prophet Mohammed Salah lohani was sent them was in the desert, and his heart was extracted from his black breasts and cleanse.

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at that young age, he didn't panic, because instinctively, if not intellectually, he knew that a divine plan was unfolding when the angel came to him in the cave, and he was disturbed, and he was comforted by a loving, compassionate wise wife Khadija, he came to understand that everything happening to him the consultation

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of watercolor, it was part of a divine plan. When the prophet SAW the love line it was Selim was encountering difficulties when he was boycotted and blockaded by his own people when he was chased out of Typhoon his battle and stone and insulted by the children and embassies of the city. He did not panic. He did not despair, because he understood it was all part of a divine plan. And he beseeched his Lord Are you angry with me? If you're not angry with me, I don't care about

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This watch is transparent because he understood it was part of the divine plan. And he trusts he placed his trust in Almighty God, some brothers and sisters as the events of our time, unfold, no matter how imposing no matter how intimidating and sometimes, in some instances, no matter how unsettling those events may be, understand that they are part of a divine plan. They are part of divine plan. And it is our responsibility to trust in God, to trust in God and to understand that a divine plan is unfolding. And our part in that plan is to be steadfast. Our part in that plan is to continue to be proud to be strong, to hold our heads high, to understand that we are the heirs of a

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Prophetic Mission. And like the prophets, we was placed our trust in God and understand a divine plan is unfolding. And when we talk about that, we talk about our mission, we talk about the mission of the Prophet. First and foremost is not a political mission is not an economic mission is not a social mission. First and foremost, it is a moral mission. And if ever there was a time when our society, our country, even more so when de award Luther King, Jr. proclaim that change in this country will require a revolution of values. If ever there was a time when a revolution of values was needed. The time is now as we see the incivility, as we see the crudeness as we see the course

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is in our public discourse, as we see the the resurgent racism that's gripping our society, as we see the the gaping gaps between the wealthy few and the, the multiply multitude today tools of the poor, if ever, there was a time for a revolution of values, a revolution of moral morality, and ethical Revolution, the time is now. And if ever, there are people who dedicated themselves to the divine, to to the air, the mission of the Prophet, those people are us, brothers and sisters. So we have a responsibility to place our trust in God and not to despair. Understanding that despair is not a quality of God fearing people. It is not a quality of believing people despair, desperation,

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panic cannot be the way of our people because it is not the way of believing people. When the people in yaku instructed his sons to return to Egypt and to search for their brothers. At the end of his structure and structures, he said to the volunteers,

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in the hula, Moroccan learning in a poem, you can if you don't despair, of the mercy of God don't despair of relief from God, because no one despairs of relief from God. No one despairs of mercy from God except a disbelief in people, and they were believing people and we are believing people. And as such, we cannot despair of God's mercy. We cannot despair of the mercy of God. Brothers and sisters as we go forward. During this critical time we find ourselves in what as we say, try to place our trust in God.

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What does that mean for many people? God, Allah subhanho wa Taala. Almighty God becomes an abstraction and becomes something we might view as an intellectual construct what is not something that becomes internalized in the depths of the souls in the hearts of many people? How do we make it real brothers and sisters, one way that we make it real is by reflecting on the names and attributes of Almighty God. And when we read amongst the names of God, the names of Allah subhanho wa Taala are a man or a him the merciful. The we understand that God is merciful to us. Despite the challenges despite the struggles despite the difficulties, hardships, or obstacles we might find out in our

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way. If we look deeply at our situation, we can see in real, tangible, palpable ways, the mercy of God manifesting itself in our lives, and we realize the power of the truth of the statement of Almighty God the statement

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novolog subhana wa Taala we can have many no rahima we can have been menial rahima. Now he is merciful to the believers, his men, his Rahim. And one way to make that another way to make that real is not just reflecting on the reality as it pertains to our Lord, but to reflect that reality ourselves to the extent human past humanly possible. So as we see people struggling people challenged by the ravages of our time, then it is our responsibility to extend mercy to them. It is our responsibility to be individuals whose actions are qualified by mercy and to become a community that is around the value of mercy brothers and sisters. His name is Rahim is medic. He is the

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sovereign. He is the sovereign. And we are not the sovereign. We're not the owner of the heavens in the earth. But we have a responsibility we are placed in situations which demand us to respond and to carry ourselves with the dignity of a king. Each and every one of us must possess the dignity of a king. And the king is a noble person. We must have nobility who must hold our heads high and we cannot hold hang our heads in sadness and despair. Overwhelmed by the tsunami of negativity that sometimes washes over our community, we must hold our heads high, we must be manic in that sense. We must be in that sense we must be dignified people is alpha deuce. He is the sacred one. Allah

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subhanho wa Taala. And we have no human share of that sanctity. But we must honor and respect the sanctity of God, we must magnify the sanctity of God, we must commit ourselves to upholding in human societies as many people move away from God finding ourselves the people that Excel and magnify and honor the sanctity of God, that will put Deuce

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movement.

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He is the one that extends safety and security to others.

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And then a movement, the one who extends that, Amanda,

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and then and we must be a movement, we must be individuals that do not harm people. That profit reminds us something along the line he was sending me who met me the nazma avatar, the movement, the believer is what people are safe from any, any evil from that person. We must be individuals in the community, that not only pro speech, not only through our deeds, but for all of their state of being exude peace and security, safety and security to people. We must struggle. Because people are being increasingly rendered unsafe. We must be the people we must be the community that let people know it is possible to have an environment where people can see and feel safe and secure in their persons.

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They can feel safe and secure in their possessions. And they can feel safe and secure in their honor. And that as most of will not violate any of those in any of our fellow citizens, not just the citizens of our city, or the citizens of our state, or the citizens of this nation, the citizen of the citizens of this global community, we find ourselves situated in his center. He is the one free from defects and imperfections, SLM, and we will always be defective. As long as we're in this world. We're in genuine darkness. And that's the abode of imperfection. The defects that we exhibit in this world won't exist there. In this world. We get sick and there they'll be there. There'll be

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no disease in this world. We die there, there will be no death. In this world we eat and we pass ways there will pass waste. there that's the bowl of safe, where there'll be no defects and no imperfections. Our Lord is SLM he's free from defects and imperfections. We should be the bastions of cinema and when we say salaam aleikum say

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Your fellow Muslims. First of all, we're at a time we see Muslims, destroying the lives and homes and nations of their fellow Muslim. The bombs might be purchased from America. But the pilots dropping the bomb and far too many more instances are Muslims. The missiles might be purchased from America, but far too many incidences. The one pushing the button to launch the missile is a Muslim. The ships might be purchased from America but have far too many instances the one navigating the ships to enter to institute the white parts and the black black haze that result in entire nation starving or suffering from diseases ravaged by cholera as we see in Yemen and far too many instances

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the pilots are Muslim, we have to say no, we are the ambassadors of Suriname, the ambassadors, the people will render people defective. The people want to pose diseases and hardship, death and destruction on other human beings, the people of celeb we must be brothers and sisters. That is our calling. And that is how we internalize the meaning of the names and attributes of the law. And that's how a lot of times becomes more than an abstraction with us more than an intellectual construct with us, but a living God, a God who's living in a God whose presence in our lives, influence our actions, influence our decisions, influences how we interact with our fellow human

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beings, with our fellow definitions of this planet, humans, plants, animals, everyone the seeds, the wind, the air, the sky, this is who we are, this is who we must be brothers and sisters, and to can't be a loser can't be the one who who aggregates power to themselves. This is our Lord. And many people say How could a human being be able to Kabir if they are indeed godly people? And it has been up to send them in his book shed Shujaat or tomato? When he asked that question rhetorically.

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And he says it appears there's no human embodiment of multicap beard but in reality there is he'll be at the Capitol and the Rada in who's the person that advocates him or herself above Penny vile, unbecoming behavior.

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Yeah, we're too good for that.

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No, the young people they might be hanging out.

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And one in insults the other he says you know, in your head is so big and makes the Goodyear Blimp jealous.

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And now this starts to think, you know, man, how can I top that?

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Then he realizes I'm better than that. This is at the Capitol. above that. I don't need to respond to that. You know what the person has said my head so big and makes it a good year to tell that person I love them for the sake of Allah. Tell them I look forward to going somewhere to sit down to have a cup of tea and discuss issues of the day, see how they're doing catch up with them. Do that for me. There's multicap dear

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brothers and sisters, this is who we are. This is who we are, we should strive to be a people who to the extent humanly possible, reflect the names and the attributes of Almighty God and when we can do that. That's when it will be very easy to place our trust in God, because God will be living and hiding

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and hiding.

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Living and living will impact our lives impact our decision impact who we are, how we carry ourselves, how we conduct ourselves, how we, how we what we represent to our nation at this critical time in this position, and its history rather, brothers and sisters. In conclusion, let me say this trust in Allah subhanho wa Taala that he is the is a good orchestrator of history. Despite the challenges, despite the hardships and difficulties of Allah subhanho wa Taala is still the master of this ship is the master of our fate, not ourselves, not our government, not this year, that political party, not this or that politician. Those are all means that Almighty God uses to

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implement his will and his creation as he desires and we have done

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Understand that and understanding that we understand that this is just a test and a trial decreed by God, Almighty God, how will we respond? We respond with the dignity of kings, we respond with the mercy of the worst of the worst of all people respond with the responsibilities to others that's embodied in our breeding a Salaam Alaikum. Peace be upon you. Peace be upon you. Peace be upon you. I will not render you defective. I will not lessen your dignity. I will not usurp your wealth. I will not encroach on your property. I will not violate your honor. I will not do anything to lessen you in any way, shape or form, whatsoever. Peace be upon you. Peace be upon you. Peace be upon you.

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Assalamu aleikum wa rahmatullah wa barakato.