Zaid Shakir – Reflections With – The Gods Have To Go

			Islam is not a popularity contest.
		

			If a war our ancestors would have won it, because our prophets, Allah Selimiye tells us Muslims will
be the majority of gender. Muslims are found in every race, ethnicity, on the face of the earth.
Islam is very popular. But Islam is not a popularity contest. In other words, we're not out to get
the most followers. It's not like Facebook,
		

			who gets the most followers when we're out to please our Lord, and to adhere to the instructions
that Our Lord has given us to live our lives. And so if we can do that, is just about us and God,
ASAN, Allah subhanho wa taala, I think Muslims have to be very, very careful in terms of how we
negotiate the cultural landscape up there.
		

			Because we believe in Revelation, and we believe in the unchanging nature of Revelation. Now how we
engage revelation is constantly, our understanding is constantly filtered through a prism that's
constructed by the context we live in. But that prism can only be
		

			shaped to a certain extent.
		

			And I think there are a lot of pressures on Muslims
		

			to conform to certain cultural mores that are totally against our religion. You know, 2010, the
first year in American history, more couples were living together outside of wedlock than inside,
united by the bond, the sacred bond of marriage. So do we say, you know, well, that's what everyone
does. And also, brothers and sisters, you find a sister, you find a brother, you like just shack up,
you know, no one gets married nowadays, it's the popular thing to do. You know, the economy really
can't take care of, so you just share, and when it gets becomes too much of a hassle, everyone's
free to go their separate ways. You know, is that the position we end up in? And are we we're, we've
		

			always believed and been taught as Muslims, we should dress modestly.
		

			And we shouldn't wear form fitting clothes. And now see Muslim squeezing in the skinny jeans, even
people that are identified with leadership of the community. And because that's the hip thing to do,
		

			showing your hips is hit. So
		

			Where's that coming from? Negotiation involves two sides, each of which is willing to make a
compromise. So the Muslim is put in a position where only he or she will compromise.
		

			And the negotiating partner says, No, there's no compromise here.
		

			And so that means the steady erosion, and chipping and chiseling away of Islam.
		

			If we look at
		

			some of these issues have been talking about when we try to identify the source. I think at the end
of the day, the source is a crisis of faith.
		

			Because when people have faith, they can, they can walk through walls.
		

			And they can be alone. And so if we can do that, is just about us and God, that's gonna last
subhanho wa taala. We're going to stand before Allah Tala alone. And so all of those crowds, that we
might have even compromised, the very essence of our religion with they're not going to be there.
And we're not going to be judged based on how many people we kind of sorta got into something that
kind of sort of resembles Islam. Our Prophet Ellison was blessed with a lot of followers. But there
was a time he had very few hours.
		

			And at that time, when he had very few followers, that was the time he is related to have said, if
you were to put the sun in my right hand and the bone in my left hand, I'm not going to turn back
from this path. So in other words, you know,
		

			no matter what you offer, and that was in the context of compromise, you worship Allah one year and
will worship idol gods the next year. So every one of
		

			Be happier at the end of the day he says no The gods have to go