Zaid Shakir – Podcast #3 Rise To The Level Of Excellence

			But
		

			that was cinema, let's say diversity scene 101. And I mean he was he was selling Salam aleikum wa
rahmatullah Bearcat. We want to talk about domestic violence but not in the typical way, it's used
the approach that we're not going to try to determine.
		

			Because mostly you have read about these things, what does the doorbell mean and for the reboot
home,
		

			what does it mean? etc, but we want to talk about it from another angle, and to remind all of
ourselves not to sleep from this or other controversial topics, to deal with them, because these are
issues that are real. And they're issues that are eating away at our community, such as domestic
violence.
		

			And many, many other issues, drug addiction, we have drug addiction, amongst some of our youth. We
have
		

			illegitimate sexual relations, we have some of our girls coming up pregnant, we have all of these
problems that we find in the wider society, and we're not going to deal with them by pretending or
denying their existence. So abuse is inextricably associated with violence. It's usually the result
of violence. And violence is more than physical force. violence can be neglect, violence can be
shouting. violence can be subtle means of intimidation, violence can be psychological manipulation.
violence can be many other things. But violence has another meaning that a lot of us don't pay
attention to. And that is to distort something to such an extent that we no longer recognize it for
		

			what it is. We know this many of you study literature, and you've seen the phrase that the editor,
for example, the editor did such violence to the text, that we can no longer recognize the author's
original intent. How many of you have heard or usage something like that? Okay, so we have people
who are familiar with that. The reason I say that, is that when we allow abuse to exist in our homes
and our family and our relationships, many times as a result of the violence that we perpetrate
against each other. We in turn, do violence to Islam, so that it is not recognizable for what it is.
And this is consistent with what Dr. Yasir qadhi was saying, when these people in the name of so
		

			called Jihad inflict violence on innocent people. The majority of the Muslims inflict violence on
people who have nothing to do with harming Islam or Muslims in any way. They in turn do violence to
Islam. So that is not recognizable for what it is. And as Dr. Umar Castillo, Cassie mentioned, that
distorted image of Islam that Muslims in some instances are responsible for and term becomes the
basis for people hating Islam. And for people seeing Islam as something vile, and something ugly and
something despicable. But it is not Islam. It is that distortion. It is that caricature that is a
result of the violence that's been done against this land itself. And when we allow abuse and
		

			violence to exist in our home, we are distorting Islam, we're distorting Islam, and the people that
suffer the most as was mentioned this morning by more than one of our speakers are our children. Our
children. How many of you are from Vancouver? Vancouver? Are you familiar with I think I hope I
don't mispronounce Dr. Gabrielle naughty, who runs the free needle distribution clinic. You're
familiar. He's an expert. This is a Hungarian Jew in Vancouver.
		

			He runs a clinic where is the only clinic in North America Canada or the United States where heroin
		

			and addicts can come and shoot up with clean needles.
		

			And if they overdose, they can be revived because their medical staff and some p n Islamically. We
can discuss this, this will be a good case study as to the objectives of the law
		

			usually say alcohol and drugs affect the mind. And Islam has been instituted to preserve the mind.
So it's been instituted to preserve religion. And these things are ranked in a priority prioritize
scheme to preserve religion, to preserve life to preserve the mind.
		

			So the drug addict is affecting their mind immediately. So drugs are forbidden. But when they use
dirty needles, they're affecting their life. So by giving them clean needles, he's preserving their
lives, by bringing them into an environment where if they overdose, they can be revived by train
medical and competent physicians, he's preserving their lives. And that has a prior a higher
prioritization than preserving their intellect.
		

			So I'm not saying we should have noodle clinics, I'm just saying we should think about these things
at a deeper level. He also has a program to get them off of drugs, which doesn't work when they're
in the streets, because in the streets, no one has shown them compassion. And this is the point I
want to make. His his expertise is on the effects of abuse on children.
		

			And his research has shown that abuse is the primary in childhood is the primary cause of
addictions. And addictions take many forms for some people is drugs. For some people is shopping.
There are people addicting to shop the addicted to shopping, to some people, is sexual relations.
Some people are addicted to that. For some people, it's eating, they're addicted to eating. But he
does his research shows in every case, via addiction, as far as his research is concerned, results
from violence that was afflicted upon that child during their formative years. And that violence
creates a void in that child that they subsequently tried to fill with these various addictions,
		

			when he creates an environment of compassion, and for many of these people who have been abused in
their childhood, for the first time, they're in contact with compassionate people, he begins to
create in them the security and the sense of self and confidence that they need to escape their
addiction. And he finds that many of them go to the detox program, and are freed from the addiction
to heroin or other destructive drugs. Now the point brothers and sisters, when we are engaged in
arguing, when we're engaged in insulting, belittling and berating when we're engaged in physical
violence in our homes, our children are affected by that violence, and it creates a void within
		

			them. It distorts their development, it distorts their personality, and their violence.
		

			Doesn't have to be direct. Another thing he found in his research, and as published his experience,
as a Jew, in Nazi Germany, he was constantly crying. His mother took him to a doctor. And she said,
My child is doing something very strange. He cries all the time. The doctor told her is not it's not
It's not strange. All of the Jewish children are constantly crying. He says, this environment that
they're in, in Nazi Germany is so stressful for the parents that the children are internalizing the
stress of their parents. And as a result of that, they're crying because they don't know any other
way to express that internalized stress. Our children internalize the state of our homes and this is
		

			why it's so important that the love and mercy that was talked about by Dr. Omar and others Dr.
Muhammad and
		

			shear and others, it has to be present if we're concerned not only for our well being, but for the
well being of our children because just as our children internalize the stress and the tension from
the arguments from the the, the disputes from the anger and frustration they internalize the
positive energy that's created by the love and the mercy with Gianna then
		

			in the field Adicolor area to call me at effect guru. He's made between you love and mercy surely in
this are Signs. For those who reflect, we have to reflect on the teachings of our religion, Allah
Allah tells us to reflect, He tells us to think he tells us to use our intellect. And this is a
vital part of our religion because our religion is not a system of do's and don'ts. The do's and
don'ts in the Quran compared to the verses that contain of moral and ethical spiritual import are
very, very few and we all know that the same thing for the Hadith, this hadith of legislative
import, compared to the entire corpus of Hadith are very few. But we sometimes forget that Allah
		

			Tala mentions as was mentioned throughout the day while covenant Nukem without convert Eva, they've
taken you with a weighty covenant.
		

			The women the bonds between you are established on the basis of a weighty covenant. Allah Tala
reminds us is Dr. Omar gave a beautiful beautiful explanation I've hunted the vessel in the coma
into the vessel lagoon, their their garments for you and your garments for them. And he elaborated
far more eloquently and far more powerfully than I could but these are things for us to reflect on
as how the nature of our relationships with our spouses should be. Allah Tyler reminds us why she
wound the bill mouth and dwell with them in goodness. And as it was explained goodness that you
would show to a member of your very fair family you're very kith and kin, the same affection you
		

			would show to your sister.
		

			The same affection you show to your mother to your auntie's. That's the level of affection. That's
the level of tenderness that's the level of gentleness you should display to your wife.
		

			Women at hand Hello Carla Camilla,
		

			the test guru la wa jalla
		

			wa rahma in the Fidel Nicola area to call me at effect the room from the sides is made for you
spouses from yourselves, for what? To dwell with them in peace and tranquility. And he's made
between you love and mercy surely and this assigns for people who reflect
		

			this is our religion. Allah Tala mentions Yeah, a baddie Hadith Potsie not Quran. Yeah, he daddy in
the haram to Vermeil NFC, watch out to banal coma, Haryana fell out of volume on my servant, I
forbidden oppression for myself, and I've made it forbidden amongst you, therefore, Do not oppress
one another. This is our religion. And this is what we have to bring to life, in our homes, in our
schools, our massages, our institutions, our relationship with each other, we have to rid them of
any oppression. And this becomes the basis of our power as a community. This is what will speak for
us. This is what will delegitimize all of the negative things that are put out against our
		

			community. We don't we won't have to speak a word because our actions will be more powerful than any
words that we could ever speak. But our actions will never be powerful, they'll never be meaningful,
they'll never be able to repel all of the negative words until they're real, and they're deep and
they're sincere. And they're inspired, inspired actions that are motivated by a desire to articulate
to embody the lessons the teachings of our religion, in our lives, in our families, in our homes,
and our institutions, and our relationships with each other. Our coming together. This is an
articulation of what Islam is all about. Our ability to come here and share with each other
		

			To speak with each other to address each other around common issues, despite the fact we might have
different orientations in terms of how we see the religion. This is what United for Change is all
about. And this is what is going to change our Ummah, when we realize we might differ on some
particulars, but on the universals, we are totally united. And that only by being totally united on
the universals, are we going to do our part to hand this religion on to those who will come after us
because this is a communal project. It's not an individual project, it is not the project for
individual groups or organizations or institutions. It is a project for our community, just as it
		

			was the project of those communities that preceded us, collectively, they handed the religion on and
collectively, we have to take the responsibility to hand the religion on to those after us.
		

			Hydro the Ascalon he mentioned is in fact on Barry the his commentary on Sahara remembered Bukhari.
The phrase of related by my best believe was from the Prophet sallallahu, it was send them bendy who
only want to deliver this message for me even to the extent of a single verse you might know, he
said, if everyone conveys their verse, or two or three, the Hadith, or two or three, what they know
about this religion, collectively, we will pass the religion on. This is our communal
responsibility. Brothers and sisters. This is Islam. This is Islam. And if anyone wants to report
back, because there are people at the conference, who are doing reports and have to report to their
		

			superiors, what were they calling the people to put this in the report, they were calling the people
to be greater than what the world has made. This is what we're calling people to, to use this lens
to empower yourself to become greater than what the world has made you or me or us, the world might
have made some of us drug addicts,
		

			not our parents, the world, the conditions, the circumstances that we find ourselves in might have
made some of us drug addicts, the world might have made some of us racist, I can't stand people of
that race.
		

			The world might have made us races, the world might have made us so materially greed, that we can't
even begin to think of the rights that other people have in the material wealth of this world. We
want it all for ourselves, we want everything we can get our hands on. And if we you serve someone
else's right, to clean water, or to clean air, or to clean or to non genetically modified food, we
don't care we want everything we can get. That's what the world might have made us but religion. And
in our case, Islam is calling us to rise above what the world has made us is calling us to seek the
forgiveness of our Lord and Paradise. And if we really understood what that means, we will be
		

			empowered to overcome whatever the world has made us. All of us. This has been summarized in two
verses in Quran and we relate these verses to bring us back specifically to the topic of domestic
violence. Allah Tala mentions in the Quran was said he wrote in the mouth unity, Marathi comm where
Janet and Abu Hassan were to work out that theme hasten to forgiveness from your Lord, and a
paradise whose expense is as is greater than the expense of the heavens and the earth that has been
prepared for those who are conscious of Allah.
		

			So hastened to forgiveness and Paradise. And then he says,
		

			As
		

			a lady you will feel coolness to so raw, what Barack the first thing he mentions in terms of what
that hastening involve, what are the keys to forgiveness, enter Paradise, those who spend rather it
is easy or difficult.
		

			Now why is this important? What is the relationship? The relationship is until we let go of the
world, it will be difficult for us to
		

			Word, the deeds of those who are the people of paradise. Because until we let go of the world, the
world will not let go of us. And as long as we're holding on to the world, the world will hold on to
us. Spending is one of the immediate ways we let go of the world.
		

			This is set spinning. And our scholars mentioned this. When we spend our wealth, we're letting go of
the world. And when we condition ourselves to let the world go, we empower ourselves to do things
that are beyond our physical capability. We empower ourselves to do things that are predicated not
on physical strength, but on spiritual strength. This is the key. So when we spend when we let go of
the world, we're able to overcome our anger. So Allah Tala mentions and leadin use your colonists to
sell raw a Dora will kill the meaning of life and those who restrain their anger, because now the
world has let go of us. We see this in Ramadan and Ramadan, we let go of the world. How does the
		

			world hold on to us it holds on to us through sleep. It holds on to us through eating, it holds on
through us, to us through the connections we have with other people. It holds on to us through
talking.
		

			Ramadan, helps cuts down on our eating obviously, it cuts down on our sleeping, if we're staying up
late, especially this time of year, as Ramadan moves into the summer for taraweeh. We're not getting
home until after midnight, then a couple hours later, we have to get up for support. Right? It cut
down on our talking we don't have the energy and if we assert observe the etiquette of the fast we
know that we can't speak the way we usually speak because there's closer and other unacceptable
forms of speech that are against the etiquette of the fats. And if we're really serious about
Ramadan, we tried to do and take half 10 days, preferably two or three days a little bit in reviving
		

			the sunnah of our Prophet sallallahu Sallam and that cuts down on our worldly relationship and that
releases our spiritual power. So we find the energy and strength to do spiritual deeds we can't do
outside of Ramadan. Some of us we pray Taraweeh an hour and a half, two hours depending on the speed
of the Imams recitation outside of Ramadan, we can barely squeeze out five minutes pmla We start one
or contoura cards we start dozing off we go to bed, we read the Quran, two or three cartons in
Ramadan and the only thing restricting us we have to stop and go to work. If we had time we could
read Quran all day in Ramadan because we're cutting down on those things that chain us to the world
		

			and to our physical self. Outside of Ramadan, one page two page we're nodding off, we're drooling on
our phone and we close the most half we go to bed or turn on the television. So when we reduce our
connection to the world, and let them feel corner,
		

			then the world civility to hold us in restrained us is limited and then our spiritual energy comes
out and we can control our anger will count the meaning of life and how many how much violence and
abuse is exist in our homes, our relationship because we cannot control our anger. When I feel and
the nests and they pardoned people again, how many of our problems come because we can't pardon? We
were holding a grudge against our wife for our husband for something they mistakenly said 10 years
ago
		

			when I seen on the nurse will love who you bill Mycenae and Allah loves those who strive for moral
perfection. To use the translation Dr. Omar used earlier in the day for SN A beautiful translation,
moral perfection. We won't get there but we strive for it.
		

			And Allah loves those who strive for moral perfection. So if in our homes, were striving for moral
perfection, the man the woman, the children, the parents, if then our relationships with each other,
we're striving for moral perfection and our communities and our organizations and institutions.
We're striving for moral perfection, what kind of community what kind
		

			of marriages, what kind of relationship between parent and child, child and parents, friends and
neighbors? What kind of relationships will we have brothers and sisters, if we're striving for moral
perfection, knowing that this is something Allah subhanaw taala, something that he loves. So
brothers and sisters, this is our religion. This is Islam. Islam doesn't want us. As was mentioned,
I forget who said it to come to the minimum standards that the law introduces Islam. Islam wants us
to rise to the number of
		

			people who are striving for moral perfection. This is what our religion is calling us to. And when
we take this call seriously, we will be reformed, our families will be reformed, our communities
will be reformed and who our position in the world will be reformed. And it is not easy. It is not
easy. And that's why it's called the jihad to bring up the J word again. We mentioned it in Juma.
Yes, Dr. Yasir qadhi mentioned it and I'm going to mention it again. Jihad is a beautiful term that
we should reclaim it's been stolen from us. And not just by irresponsible, reckless and downright in
some instances, stupid Muslims. It's been stolen by some narrow minded bigoted people who want to
		

			paint Muslims into a corner that we cannot even speak in our own language. We cannot even take pride
in our religion, we have to reclaim and Allah Tala mentions in the Quran, when Medina Jahad, you
fina, then the unknown.
		

			Those who engage in jihad for our sake, and this jihad, one of his greatest manifestations is the
jihad against ourselves, to overcome the base inclinations of our soul to overcome those things, our
worldly circumstances have made us so that we can be those people striving for more excellence. It
is a jihad, and it's called the jihad because it is difficult. It is hard, it is intense. It
requires sacrifice. It requires energy and effort and focus. It requires knowledge and study and
commitment. But those who engage in that struggle, Allah Tala says that the unknown spool and we
will guide them in our paths, the paths that lead to a lot of time. And those are good paths. And if
		

			we're on those paths, and we're grabbing a husband or a wife, by the hand, if we're you're grabbing
our children or parents by the hand, and pulling them along with us, as we move down that path,
brothers and sisters, we're going to be a powerful community, we're going to be a beautiful
community. And we pray that this conference, we can solve the problems of the world in a conference,
but we pray that this conference has motivated you to look for the things that will help you to move
on those paths. We pray that this conference has motivated you to look at the religion as far more
than just a series of do's and don'ts, rules and strictures, but as something that is desirous of
		

			cleansing us and purifying us and elevating us and bringing out the best of who we are as a human
being and more importantly as a servant of Our Lord, and as a follower of our Prophet sallallahu
alayhi wa sallam aka Darwin Al hamdu Lillahi Rabbil Alameen wa sallahu nscd no Muhammad while early
he was so happy you were sending testament cathedra Assalamu aleikum wa