Zaid Shakir – Joining The Heart And Limb – Inspiring Leadership Through Faith #2
AI: Summary ©
The speakers discuss the challenges of developing a program to empower oneself and prevent voter fraud, as well as the need for a visionary group to address these issues. They emphasize the importance of balancing priorities and urgency, finding one's own values, and promoting diversity and advancing Islam. They also emphasize the need for funding mechanisms and leadership, and emphasize the importance of serving God and avoiding workplace exposure. The speakers emphasize the need for spiritual training and a focus on serving God, and offer advice on finding the right person to study.
AI: Summary ©
Think of those who are because we have that face. And we have that opportunity. Okay, y'all love this? So your question, how's that?
How's that doing? Not what not?
It's not gloomy because the law says in court.
Well, when the conditions are hope we'll do our knocks to limit and when and when we will enforce for Semoran. Well, that should solidly, we will surely test you with something, the shape
and depth of
hunger, fears and hunger and loss of
lives. Katelyn give glad tidings to those who patiently for you is not globally because the over over overwhelming majority of people aren't in that situation. I said, in this day, I'm not trying to be middle or dismiss those who are. What I'm trying to say is that if we think it's just so gloomy out there, despite the fact that the overwhelming majority of Muslims are confining those situation we can become so depressed and or think is so desperate that we have to take desperate measures. And we squander the opportunity to systematically put ourselves in a position to do something meaningful to assist those who are under those conditions. That's precisely like, why
things are so gloomy, because that type of
solution is just, that's not a solution. The suffering up there is the only suffering that counts is not violence, upcoming.
Human trafficking, we have people that are treated like slaves in debt.
We owe people like slaves here.
These don't want you that that's the human condition. So what I'm saying that was not a that's not a reason to think that things aren't blooming. I mean, I didn't, I didn't said I said, sure not everyone are in those gloomy conditions. You're not in those conditions. You don't go to bed at night with fear of someone kicking your door down. That's true and driving your your winter fall out into the yard, and they're they're nightclothes or they ransack your house, you know, no one in this room goes to bed, thinking about maybe bombs gonna fall in my house tonight. So that so I'm not saying there are not people who are under those conditions. I'm not saying that's not bad. I'm not
saying we're not obliged to do something. But sometimes we get an A mentality, that it's so bad, it was at least a desperate action. We have people leaving places like Princeton to go join ISIS, because it's so bad over there. I need to do something. And that's something couldn't be applying my mind to develop or position myself politically, to affect the political process here in ways that would resist would prevent some of those atrocities, and some of that negativity. So we saw but everyone hates us. How are we going to do that? This, everyone hated the Jews. That's my mother in law can't the kind of jokes they used to make about Jews in this society, and million of them? And
how Jews were so afraid here, they change their name from Goldberg to gold, and silver, stunning to silver. And now look where they are now. Because they've positioned themselves by systematically taking advantage of the opportunities, the same thing for homosexuals.
4030 years ago,
a homosexual in many places, what's what in the closet? What even publicly announced? They were homosexual? Where are they now?
They're determining.
They're having major debates with one of the two major political parties about what their stance is going to be on an issue favorable to them, after people hated them and belittled them. So as most of them we can, we could say, I'm not denying I did it, I split the good part of my life doing. We shouldn't be riled up and protesting, but at what point do we step back? Take a dispassionate look at the situation, and then began to systematically strengthen ourselves so that we can make a real difference in these issues. That's all I'm saying. So I'm not saying we shouldn't be concerned min OS will never be more than most Demeter Felisa be Muslim, one who wakes up in the morning and isn't
concerned about the condition.
The Muslim isn't a Muslim. I'm not saying none of that. I'm saying it's not so bad that Muslims here are Muslims in Canada with this. MSA, I'm not in Palestine saying this. I'm not in these areas that we mentioned saying this Somalia, India, Kashmir, here or there, I'm in the United States. And I think this is one of the challenges of leadership is beginning to systematically develop a program to empower ourselves so that we can do something meaningful to affect the direction of this world. Otherwise, I don't want to when I was when I was a student, the same approaches the same issues, the same methodology for dealing with it. We were engaged that I'm talking over 30 years ago.
And now we're in worse condition. So a what's what ploy and things you think things are gloomy now, things are really gloomy. Do we have a genocide in Bosnia, we are the beginning of the Somali crisis, which is far more violent than it is no, we had the 30 year we'd rather just recently completed, or it was the horrific bombing of Beirut by the idea. We had all this going on, it's far worse than it is now.
And so you think we didn't think it was booming, and we're gonna take desperate measures. But doing all that didn't change anything. So I wants to your generation 30 years from now, being in the same position we're into my generation is in today.
And so I'm just saying we have to begin to look at this situation from a different lens. And so
the solution is,
to this question, what is the solution? The solution is to take advantage of the opportunities that we have to become influencers in our society.
That's the solution. And this group right here has more opportunities to do that, than probably any other group of Muslims in this country.
And so that I think that should be a key part of influences doesn't mean everyone going into electoral politics. But it does mean having a vision wide enough to realize that collectively if we began to systematically position ourselves, I'll give you an example that it can be relevant or not to work. Use. What's your name, sir?
Rami.
Right now, if we had a mobilization
against what's happening in Palestine,
while well over the world's attention is focused elsewhere, ongoing, targeted assassinations, we recently witnessed land usurpation,
the continual encroachment against an oxide cetera, we're mobilizing.
And
some of our students in our MSA aren't participating.
Very prominent, very talented, very vocal, what we generally say about those students who didn't participate,
and not just those who don't come them as me, those who are actively involved in campus activities, who say above
nothing.
Shame who say Shame on them. They're sellouts. They were hanging out with the the Hillels students getting their brains washed. All right.
And what point do we start to say, you know, what?
This student, this student, this student, they're very intelligent, they're very charismatic, they're very influential. We're not going to let them go to these demonstrations, because we're going to groom them for career and electoral politics. And if they become associated with this hardcore, anti Zionist activism, they're never going anywhere and the electoral system
and so far from calling them sellouts or shame on them are cowards. We're going to protect them consciously, because we want to maximize their potential to become influential in this society, and not to end up lies
have a view of care. San Francisco. What happened is
that tossed off? Why?
But anti Zionist comments and activism. So does that mean? Oh, everyone, no one, we don't have no, some people we know that's the thing that hardcore. They don't they don't want to run for office, they don't even believe in the viability of the system. So that's their thing. But these students, we're going to protect them as part of a conscious strategy.
And so that's just an example of the beginning of a solution to answer my mother in law's question,
but
the question you get your questions at home.
Time is limited, and you want to catalog the questions. So So let's, let's hold on to the
comments or comments. Did you have a question for the person?
You can even ask just one of them.
I guess I'll ask one question.
First of all, thank you for being here. Really appreciate it. I think this was a great opportunity to really reflect and to apply some of the things,
some of the workshops that we did. In fact, one of the workshops was about having difficult conversations and how
these types of forums can be
difficult and feelings of uncomfort of discomfort.
But how necessary it is, we have to have love features. I never met Rami, I love you, brother.
We met a couple of times.
Read this, you guys write this down because it rhymes.
We have to be able to disagree and afterwards don't go out and
one, because because there's love between us. We're not enemies. We're all on the same team, with families that you sometimes your brothers and your siblings you like find out them and then you're like, Okay, Michelle law, let's go eat breakfast.
Dead, the love has to be there, then the conversation then becomes easier, because we know listen, people not gonna agree with me. But it's not the end of the world. I'm not gonna agree with everyone. It's not the end of the world, we're still on the same team. And we're trying to figure it out. So the team can go forward.
So
I was just saying, thank you again, for the presentation. And one of the questions that I was having is, as you, especially as college students, I think this is a time where we have a lot of ideas. We have a lot of passions, and we want to get involved and see what we can do to change things that are going on. But at the same time, this is also a time where we need to learn. And we need to gain knowledge and seek knowledge. And there's a lot of noise that that comes with, with that seeking knowledge because we know it's hard to tell what's right and what's wrong and who's right and who's wrong. So I think my question is, how do we balance the process, the time that it's going to take to
actually gain the knowledge and the expertise and what we want to what we want to accomplish and what we want to address with also having that urgency to do something now because things are happening. And we feel like we should be a part of
a thing. There's diverse answers in lambda so
that we can leave it up to the patient, you persevered. So the patience required to maximize your opportunities to learn
in order to be in a better position in the future to effectively do something, I think can help answer that question. So it's situational. Some situations can be so bad that we like listen, I know, I don't really know tomorrow, but this is unacceptable, why they go out there and have to be counted. And so it's not a question of in every situation. But as a general rule, I think we have to have priorities, like life involves prioritizing. And what what they say, as Sophie Evelyn worked, and Sufi in the meaning where as a very refined spiritually conscious God, totally committed to shuiyuan Muslim, that's the Sufi is a child of the moment. In other words,
If he or she tries to understand what does Allah want from me? And what is the most appropriate thing for me to be doing in this moment I find myself and so I am okay with Joe Xia. Instead of wisdom and hikma to
co2,
viola, the body during the most appropriately, the walk to lovey dovey at the most appropriate time below smooth bill, lady, young Barbie with the most appropriate method. And that's wisdom. And so what is the most appropriate thing for me to be doing? In this time I find myself in and what is the most effective
so that they we can begin to have that sort of, or similar calculus, have to weigh our actions, and you can begin to get insight into that question.
Allah, Allah knows best.
And the other
Oh, comments?
Oh, yes. Yes, sir.
So, increasingly, I think as we're talking about Muslims moving into more public positions in this country and elsewhere, there's a question whether it's okay enough to be just a Muslim in that space for someone who was using Islamic principles to guide their actions and reach a solution that some a non Muslim might not be. And so along with that, there's like a big quest to find whatever Islam says about a specific thing. As a community, how do we deal with disagreement and multiplicity? Because Islam doesn't say just one thing on so many of the issues that that are important. And for example, like maybe I don't really want to get into this example. But there's so many things about
abortion that are acceptable within our religious paradigm. Okay, we're asked to like, one, that's an excellent example. That's an excellent question. And example. Number one, like what is the more often than?
Like, there are all kinds of opinions, legal discussions, what is the abortion stance of virtually every Muslim country?
Life begins at conception and abortion at any stage or time is forbidden. And that's the opinion, the more attended the reliable patois of every significant method. And so I think we can get lost in your opinions.
And I think we have to be see what is the opinion that has been operationalized? And
is it due? Are we displaying wisdom and integrity to our tradition, when we go away from that operationalized opinion, to search for these opinions that exist in this very rich tradition of discussion that suits a passing contingency right now the passing contingency for the Muslims who are searching for the ideal abortion patois is what fatwah will make, bring the Muslim community into harmony with the liberal wing of the Democratic Party.
That's what we're looking for.
Why? Because
five years ago, Muslims weren't even talking about abortion is only when it became an issue does your for the Democratic Party. Now we're scrambling for that one that is compatible with the position they've arrived? That that's not integrity. And that's not being faithful to a tradition? That's political expediency? And then what happens when the Democratic Party decided decides Well, we really don't need Muslims at all?
Because Because now Trump is winning Muslims over, say, hypothetically, and so kind of Muslims are the anti Trump Trump is going to make a Muslim ban. I'm going to find a woman in hijab to sit next to me at the State of the Union address.
Now, that moment passes now we've rode roughshod over our tradition. The reason we did it have passed has passed where does that leave us as a community? So I think in looking at a lot of these issues, we have to see what is now a minute deep
for loneliness that now parlementaire Masha that authenticated chains of transmission the what has been transmitted for us towards the generation of the generation are
integral part of this religion more or not for those authenticated chains of transmission, anyone could have said anything and then passed it off as Islam. So thing we have to really be honest with ourselves and act on principle and not expediency. Again, there might be exceptional circumstances where expediency has to be followed. But if in every situation, in every circumstance we do that, we're just making a mockery of our religion, Allah, Allah will stand
up for issues where there isn't as clear but consensus where like, the different meta heads say different things. But because there's such a pressure to have like the one answer that Islam says our community should follow, people are keen to, like, toss out
those who hold other perfectly acceptable humans, how do we kind of create a community of Muslims where we're okay with the differences that are within the country, I think that's part of our strategic thinking, we have to begin to strategize in a way that unifies us at a certain level, there's certain levels, diversity is welcomed. But at a certain level, especially at how we engage with our society
in a productive way, there has to be a level of unity, and that unity has to be coupled with a strategic vision. And so our strategic vision that's cobbled out by are coming together and arrive at a consensus determines which of these viable opinions, we're going to events. And so what happens now, we throw them out. And then we debate them in the blogosphere, without never having sat down to try to develop a strategy to even determine which of these should we give priority to. So again, my thing, one of the challenges of your generation is that stop, that will happen. And I listen, we need to begin to sit down and develop strategies. And then the decisions we make in terms of quiet
opinions out of out of out of valid and legitimate contending opinions. We're going to pass
Yes, sir.
Like, how would you deal with like, for example, some people feel uncomfortable moving up positions in a certain company, or taking government office? Because because they feel like what the government or the company is doing, you have several haram actions that they don't feel comfortable with? Do you think in that case, it's good to move up into positions? Or is it good to like stay at a lower level? And like out of time you answer that question. We Tamia was asked about a Muslim
minority situation, who has an opportunity to move up
should he or she is doing if they have in the context of that opportunity, the ability to gain some tangible benefit for the Muslim community is a wedge of it's obligatory for them to move on. And if there's no benefit to be gained by that, then they should not do. And so the Muslim or the
clearly defined benefit, or interest that can be advanced, there is an ability to advance it is Whadjuk for that person, that's their jihad, dealing with the peripheral hassles, indignant and
six hassles and hardships that might be involved in moving up if they can gain some tangible benefit for the community as well. But how can we, but how would you differentiate between like your Neff and nefs and your desire to like get a higher salary or to have a better name for yourself and truly helping out the Muslim community? In that case, you shouldn't put yourself in a situation to even question it. Like if even if in moving up, there's a clearly identified benefit I can gain for the community. And I'm also going to make more money Nashoba.
Walmart, and how do you how do you keep your nets in check, give most of it away to charity.
This question, so you say like the solution to the problems of the Muslim ummah is to grow the current population so that we can present Islam at higher level? No, no way. No, no, not the whole Muslim population. So some people said
These three are for talented people we want to grow, these people are going to do something else. I think that's another strategic flaw. We haven't developed a viable division of labor, which comes directly from a lack of a strategy. If we strategize to say, no, these people are extremely charismatic, likable, very intelligent, we're gonna groom them for political office. Now, with that being the kind of benefits that we desire, we don't know, because we this is a multi decade project. These people know how to make money.
And know they did a startup while they were still students at Princeton. And they saw that startup for $50 million. Now they're working on a second one. And they got an offer of 100 million from Google, but they refused. Because they know if they refine it, and wait another 18 months, they can get $500 million for Apple.
And so
when I say no, we want them these guys to go into politics. We said, No, keep working on your startup. And we're going to bring in some people you can consult to make sure you get that $500 million IPO.
And so we not everyone is in that for politics, some people who have shown that extreme
potential natter those people for that these people have shown they have the ability to understand how to make money in this society halau money. That's what we're going to encourage them and try to strengthen them in a system and doing so we're going to try to develop our own So Korea, so we can fund them. And then the money is coming back to us. And then they're going to get their benefit from when they sell and we're gonna get paid back. So
that's their thing. Other people were encouraging them, this person can write I mean, they're this top writer on the rock into this town, the daily Targum What a name for newspaper at Rutgers. And it broke a student loan, do they still have
they do not called that I just started. So in other words, you would have heard about it, that's what the print the daily target. What is the target? That's like a buckeye.
From Ohio State, I'm sorry.
It's something of what I eat for dinner. Okay. But anyway, so So these people can write. So after they finish their undergrad, we're going to provide them scholarships to the Columbia School of Journalism.
So they can hone their skills. And when they graduate, we have a news paper waiting for them. We have a magazine waiting for them that was developed by these IT people it's an online magazine, like Breitbart and so we're developing our own Breitbart and so I'm not saying every one of these people that totality these people making money these people writing and and influencing these people just being good family people who are raising stable families and children who are gonna inherit it all because we could do all that and then all our kids are there's no Muslims out there are often the whatever and there's no one even inherited all
I got left my mother in law's
I won't get dinner tomorrow.
What's your question?
To ask a question? You have a question before Well, it may take you off the subject German so but I'll ask it.
in Arabia,
there is two sets of people or
MOS
I am most Muslim. And most what is the difference? Your your pronunciation?
No, of course you should ask like
we didn't have a conference. Yes. Okay. Okay. Okay. Here we go. Here we go.
First, we need a rumble
have the same thing.
There is absolutely no difference other than your pronunciation.
Well, why do they have the difference?
They don't have the difference in English speakers
those Muslims those Muslim Muslims
were
the MO and we have any any I mean it's behind us
thought there was
no
there was only one Muslim and Arabic is this
moose limb
now to the uninitiated English speaker out there this becomes this
this becomes this
this
video
Muslim is not making fun of this
all of these fine young people will you think they will try to deceive you
so know, people who will never deceive my mother.
Is this an exaggeration? In terms of pronunciation? Tell me though, what are your what what would you say to this question that I agree with?
I will try to pull
people who came from very far away, and so, we want to
return to their home safely tonight. And so I think what we'll do is we'll just, you know, if anyone has a question that they really want to get out there, we'll just take a few at a time and just give a final wrap up answer to that, and then inshallah we can. So these two sisters over here,
these two brothers over here. So we'll have the four questions together, and then you can kind of give a wrap up.
I just wanted to finish my question. So by leadership, I meant leadership in all fields. So how effective of a submission Do you think it is? Considering it's very easy to get corrupted when you're trying to get it to rise in their eyes? And the people who are already leading those positions are predominantly atheists or agnostic people with? How easy is it for Muslims to bring their ideas to the table so that they can change the situation
is not easy at all. And that's why it's called a jihad is
that when you say something's a jihad, and speaking figuratively,
it's, it's called a jihad because it's hard when you're out there on the frontiers. In the mountains, you're freezing, you barely have enough protein, there's monotony of just waiting for this random encounter with this enemy that's out there. And you're out there for months on end, and it's difficult. And so, going into the arena, trying to affect change, or a system that deeply entrenched
within institutional foundations is not easy.
I'm not trying to suggest this, but we can only try and this why I mentioned the spiritual assured of the spiritual foundation has to be there to understand if the prophets of Allah it was said in this tone, the lace and that can mean and reshape,
oh, you too Bye.
Come you just try one muscle in them in every leg again, but actual victory only comes from Allah the mighty the wise. So our responsibility is to try to try our hardest despite the obstacles, challenges and difficulties. The outcome is with Allah.
So my question is
about. So I guess I'll contextualize. So we live in
a non Muslim country.
So we don't necessarily have a lot of a lot of like laws in place that might follow, like the Islamic way of life.
And sometimes, I always personally, like, I feel like I've had to make certain sacrifices.
For example, I can give two examples. So one is like studying on loan. So there's a lot of interest, I'm going to be graduating and like $300,000 in debt.
Another example would be Oh, like I say, I want like a bigger house. For my family. Like, I don't have that money right now. But you know, I'm gonna get a mortgage, I'm gonna get a loan. But obviously, there's interest on top of that. Another, like, more low key example is like, Oh, the only networking event in my company, like takes place at a bar, like, should I go or not? So I feel
require a little bit of like, sacrifice and how do you suggest, like, navigate that? I think the first thing is to understand
the religion, the essence of religion is one of the foundational principles of religion is separate.
of
sacrifice. And so we have to begin to approach our situations with a willingness to sacrifice.
I don't know what you're studying or where you're studying. But I would say that $300,000 in debt to that,
or whatever that degree is, there, there has to be another way to attain it, even if it takes an additional 10 years
to do so.
As in the house, a lot of our desires are bigger.
You drive by like old neighborhoods, you seen these little bitty houses.
These houses were built like you go to a Long Island to live in houses, you go to leather town. And see these are California you go to the old parts of Berkeley or Oakland and you see the little bitty seven 800 900 square feet houses those houses will want people to have in five and six kids.
And so this whole idea of bigger now I have two kids now we have to get a 4000 square foot house why
I got we have a third kid we have to buy an SUV.
Like why we used to squeeze into a Fiat so many people
on this picture
what is the what are these these ideas this class materialism comes from, we have to begin the challenge
deemed to be necessary. And because they're necessary, they justify these kinds of situations we're putting ourselves in, like Why cannot the 700 square foot house and we'll have a more cozy relationship.
Every time I turn around and bumping into you
He's over there and she's over there. Now we'll see each other throughout the
Fancy meeting you in the kitchen
love going down often there.
Sumption doesn't need us to enter into into those situations. Why does it have to be? Why do I have to go into $300,000 in debt? It is nothing that I want. You know why? Why is it becoming such an imperative. Because after they suck at the Wall Street stopped all the money out of home mortgages and 2000 in the early 2000s, culminating in the crash of 2008 and nine student debt became the leading source of liquidity on Wall Street.
And that's why it's becoming such an imperative.
Because they benefit from it.
Not you.
If it isn't one of that be like a barrier to what some of the things we want to accomplish like going to med school or law school, you know, to become those leaders in your community. Do we sometimes have to sacrifice
Vegas and I understand what you're saying? I'm just saying I know people do.
I know a family, they have a doctor, they have a social worker, the PhD and
Social Sciences is in the making. And in terms of the husband's they have another couple of doctors, dentists, there's no debt. Because the dentist, his mother, who was ailing, came out of retirement and worked
the whole duration of his med school and put every penny towards his his school expenses, the end laws of
the one of them than the in laws pay for their son in laws that school, say pay us back from an ever once you get on your feet. And so I think, at a family level at a communal level, and at a national level, we have to begin to develop funding mechanisms, so that people who deserve and this is happening is still out of move. But you got the Islamic scholarship on now. We have several as a tone of our commitment is none of our students, Greg, we haven't had a single student that's graduated with a penny of debt. The last school in the wider academic community was Cooper Union and lower Manhattan, then Cooper Union started charging. But we made that commitment. So we have to as a
community began to make those kinds of commitments. In the meantime, what do you do while we're getting up?
You take the fact what's on your heart. So I'm not going to say you did wrong, and beautiful snow
and righteousness and took character. Well, if how Kevin nutsy were correct to get taller, Alexander's and sin is what causes agitation in your heart, and you want people to know about it. So if you're comfortable with that, then that's your password. In the meantime, having gone through that experience, and have experienced the internal trauma, and struggle and tension, for sure attention better word and trauma, the internal tension now, I think you once it's all said and done, and 25 years from now, you paid off that $300,000 I think you will be motivated to begin working on some sort of fund that will ensure those coming up to you don't have to be in that situation. So
that Allah gives you and everyone in that situation, hopefully
make it easy. And the two of you ask your questions.
So I'll make it quick. It's about leadership and being the spotlight that so many times like when you're in a big leadership position. Like everyone's looking at you and say like good things about you and overtime like this. And just like this feeling. So how do you like navigate this fifth now like being the spotlight?
And think very quickly?
Okay.
But I saw him on tape because he wanted us to do it together. So, I mean, when you think in an age where there is a call for leaders to emerge, you know, when you think the MSA should begin having conferences for the unexceptional life, because there does seem to be in in a lot of aspects in the tradition, the emphasis on the exceptionality or a different topic with the emphasis on you know, being away from positions of leadership or kind of being away from the wealthy to our answer that person and then they're the people who just want to raise good families. Can I say that?
It's so everyone doesn't have to be in the spotlight. But if you are, and you find yourself in that situation, that's why it's spiritual training is very important. No one should go into a public. That's why you see a lot of people get involved in things that end up becoming very scandalous and difficult
to go on to these spaces without a strong foundation in terms of their spiritual training.
And one of the objects of spiritual training
system the and again, is to get the zeitgeist of all our society. Our society says all about you, that you do you.
You do you
It's all about doing your thing. distinguishing what tradition has been the eradication of the eagle and the basement of the eagle. And ultimately just pursuing the love of God and doing things to please God and serve humanity.
Quantum chiropractic offering Jessalyn less you the best community raised to serve to serve humanity. Jana Palin, Nancy Lynn Nessie, the best of people for people will now call up from genuine incident Eliyahu doon I've only created the gin and Romans to be consistent in the translation to serve me that is service. And so that's that's our reason for existing. And when we find ourselves serving our nets
it's time to stop step back and work on the nuts then reengage and but if we find that extremely difficult, then we need to understand nothing we do is from us is all from Allah. For halacha Allah Tala loon he has created you and what you do. So we have immediate causation, but ultimately, if I have a string of dominoes,
and I knock over the first domino, and then the 15th domino knocks over the 16th What is the immediate cause of the 16th domino falling?
Being hit by the 15th was the ultimate cause.
me knocking over the first one. So there's ultimate causation there's immediate causation so we have an initiative
ultimately, is all controlled by law always best and so it's not from us. And so we should we have to constantly remind ourselves like this isn't for me.
And there's this beautiful Hadith. hadith is fairly long but one part the prophets Allah so Allah Bonnie will celebrate he says toolbar the toolbar in the update to will
be a Taurasi piece of beauty. And Kenneth the Safa T Canopus when counterfeit here also can have the terasa like paradise is for the the servant who seizes the reins of his steed and charges forth in the word of Allah. If he's in the front lines.
It gives it its full, right. So the valor is being established and these people allotted quite heroes and as he's in the rear guard, he's just mopping up he gives us it's all right. So we shouldn't see being in public. One of the hidden the average pilot, he says Johnny
I lose my movements past
man, you have the word for Abdo God one who loves to be seen as a slave of being single.
Okay, MATCOM No, you have to have that or up to her copy that one wants to be obscure. I don't want to be in the frontlines.
He's a slave or she of being a security woman is still wearing the Higher Learning for who Abdullah and the one home the two states are equal with him or her that is the servant of Allah. And so Quran HIFU according read the Quran, hyper karma Cola, beware Allah. If Allah puts you out front, and you're getting a lot of attention, then do that and give us his full right prepare your speeches, do your research. Be careful to avoid things that are going to be excessively divisive.
Give it his full right and then if people are loving it, understand it's from Allah. And if you're just in the background somewhere, putting folding chairs up after the conference, given this for right understand the best word allah decreed you to do
and they're both equal with you.
So just come hypokalemic Allah be for Allah's place for the sake of Allah and not for the sake of your nuts and you'll never be disappointed person. You know, I can give a better cook BOD and that lets you have next
or you know
Subhan Allah brothers so humble he could give a better cook by than me and look he's folding the chairs I wish I was folding the chair no Allah made you the Cathy be the hottie.
Allah put you in a situation of folding for those chairs and do a good job and don't share left behind
bless you guys bless your patients
family
got the tea thing is like off the dome on the spot. Someone should write that down to remind me but if you be upset each other Let's go drink some tea and get over it. And thank Allah praise Allah does go back to your schools have worked hard, but take time to worship Allah.
Because we're not in this world first and foremost to go to school, the secondary witness world to worship Allah and are what Vinnie yet saw tonight that a badass with good intentions, ordinary acts become acts of worship. So make a Nia that you're studying is to help you with your deen your study is to contribute to the uplift above the OMA and humanity you're studying is to help alleviate suffering.
You know, people people near I want my study, I want to be able to help alleviate some of that suffering out there. I want to I want to be a psychiatrist who like many of our brothers and sisters in the colonial center, are joining tradition, the traditional methodologies with contemporary therapeutic modalities to make a very solid, innovative psychiatric method rooted in tradition of benefiting from the tremendous insights of modern modern psychiatry to go heal some of those psyche as cyclists, damaged Muslims. We are Muslim kids who have grown up and all they've known as violence and strife
in Gaza, Afghanistan or, or Somalia, you think there's no Muslim exceptionalism in that regard? We have the man therefore, we don't have neurosis, psychosis, nervous breakdown, post traumatic stress syndrome, because we're most of them were strong. If you believe that, read the last show. How many of you have how many of you are familiar with Franz Fanon? The Wretched of the Earth?
Right? A lot of people read that for the wrong reasons. Yeah. Fresh No, no.
In his theories have a lot of insight into national consciousness, etc. But the most insightful part of the book is the last chapter, which is what?
psyche, borders and colonial war and he has all those case studies of these people went mad became suicidal because of this violence. Point is the rest of the book is good, too. And insightful. But
that actually
is a scathing critique of his thesis. What's his thesis?
What's his thesis? There's major thesis anyone finds
himself in it.
Exactly.
The anti colonial struggle is catharsis is going to cleanse the colonial subject and make a new post colonial man and moment. That's his thesis right? At the end of the book, colonial violence made people crazy made people neurotic, make people psychotic, make people have nervous breakdown, make people suicidal?
What does that say about this thesis?
You don't have to answer.
But the point is, there's no Muslim there Algeria. This is Algeria is 100%. Muslim for practical purposes. Who there is violence has affected like this. And this was what this continues for about 30 years in Somalia. 30 years in Afghanistan.
Between the Iran Iraq war than the American occupation and invasion twice 3040 years in Iraq
60 years in Palestine, what does this do to people?
And what can we do? The VA, some of the damage and people are strong people are resilient, no doubt and a lot of people as ever known. A lot of those case study you see and cry
Double strength, especially some of the testimonial people under torture. So there's no doubt that Islam gave them a resiliency to be able to stand up to those higher layer, hellacious conditions. But it takes a toll over time. And so we have an opportunity for some of us to do something to address that.
And so take advantage of those kinds of opportunities that will give you tofi
COBOL. And May we all be able to come together and start working on that unity and working on those strategies. I mean, my vision is that the Muslims will be heirs as a community to Dr. King's mission,
to mission against racism, and militarism, and materialism, and the three are interconnected and our religion gives us a strong position.
And if we can do that successfully in our society, we will make our contract contract
so long