Zaid Shakir – What is Our Moral Vision
AI: Summary ©
The importance of Islam and its historical precedent of great political success have led to political success, as individuals can only achieve their political goals with it. The need for a strong moral vision to address racism is emphasized, along with the importance of showing faith in a culture to build a good society. The importance of faith and commitment to teachings is also emphasized, and the need for a strong message to avoid negative emotions is addressed. The potential for "immigrant migration" to affect one's experiences and values is also discussed.AI: Transcript ©
Alhamdulillah,
praises due to Allah.
The Christians say praise the Lord.
The Muslims say, Alhamdulillah.
Alhamdulillah.
That all praise
is
fitting
for Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala.
Alhamdulillah Allah
has blessed us tremendously.
He's blessed us with Islam
And blessing us with Islam
he's given us the ability
in simple terms, straight forward terms, unambiguous
terms
to understand something that philosophers
have struggled to understand
from the advent of human history to this
very day.
What is the purpose of life?
Allah
tells us very plainly as we said straightforward.
I've only created the jinn and the human
that they worship me.
That's the purpose of life,
to worship Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.
And as a function of our worship
of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala to serve humanity.
You're the best community raised up for humanity.
That is to say, to serve
humanity, to worship Allah and to serve humanity.
That's the purpose of life.
So we have to ask ourselves,
are we proceeding
with this mission?
To worship Allah and to serve humanity.
This is what made Islam great.
This is what gave the Muslims
the ability
to bring the people who had conquered them
into Islam.
Umni Khaldun,
the brilliant
Andalusian,
North African,
Yemeni ultimately lineal by lineage,
scholar.
In his Muqaddimah,
he mentions that there's a tendency
of conquered people to in to imitate their
conquerors.
So, the Muslim moral has been conquered
by the West.
So you go to most Muslim countries today,
those who can't afford it, they dress like
Western,
They strive to learn western languages.
They think along along the lines
of westerners,
and many their ultimate goal in life is
to go live in the west.
The the Muslims
defy
that great Muslim thinker.
When the Mongols
conquer the Muslims,
and you can you can examine this,
Excellent study of it in English
by sir Thomas Arnold,
written in the 18 nineties.
The Spread of Islam in the World, A
History of Peaceful Preaching.
You can probably find it
online.
In any case,
he studies
the Mongol
conquest of the Muslim and then the Muslim
response.
The Muslims
never saw themselves
inferior
to the Mongols.
They ridiculed
the the the Yasar, the Yasar, their their
code of law and ethics.
So this is
nothing compared to the Sharia of Islam.
This is nothing compared to ethics of Islam.
They ridiculed their their social customs and conventions
that were informed by a a form of
paganism.
They never saw themselves
as as inferior.
They they follow the order of
Allah
Don't be weakened and don't be saddened if
indeed you are Muslim are believers.
So, they never weaken in their resolve,
They never weaken in their faith.
They never weaken in their belief
that they were in fact
their their their way of life.
The deen of Islam was superior
to the way of their conquerors.
As a result,
within 3 generations,
all of those mongol hordes have been brought
into Islam.
Starting with the golden horde that went into
present day Russia.
They brought them into Islam,
even though they have been conquered by them.
Why? Because
they believed in themselves.
Secondly, they had a moral vision.
And thirdly,
they never saw themselves as inferior.
We should all ask ourselves today
these three questions.
Do we believe in ourselves
as Muslims?
Secondly, do we have a moral vision?
And do we see ourselves
as inferior
to other peoples?
The first
Umar addressed
When he said,
in fact all 3,
That we are people that Allah has ennobled,
made great,
Azzalallahu,
build Islam with Islam.
And whenever we seek
greatness
or honor
or all of the meanings embodied in 'is,
Allah will humiliate us. Allah will humiliate us.
So, in that that statement,
that's an encouragement to believe in ourselves.
And to believe that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala,
if he takes strength away from us,
It's not to take our dignity, our honor,
and power. There's a difference between strength and
power.
It's just a test for us.
These fortunes of strength, the weak weakness, victory,
defeat, this was revealed after Uhud.
Muslims are victorious at Badr.
They suffered a defeat at Uhud.
And they were told these fortunes, sometimes you
win
and sometimes you lose. That's the dunya.
But right before that verse, right before the
verse,
If some setback,
injury, difficulty,
defeat has afflicted you, your adversaries
have been similarly afflicted.
What you're suffering today, they suffer that battle.
But what's the verse right before that? We
mentioned it earlier.
That this victory or this setback rather,
it doesn't lower you.
It doesn't render you inferior.
It is your faith
that has elevated you.
It is your faith that has given you
victory.
It's your faith that allows you to deal
with defeat
because you understand
this is the way of the world.
When, Abu Sufyan went to and
asked him about the Muslims.
And among what amongst what he said
in describing their battles,
sometimes they win, sometimes we win.
In the end, of course, the Muslims won
definitively.
But sometimes they win, sometimes we sit down.
They go back and forth. That's the dunya.
But we're not told to be with the
dunya.
We're told to be with Allah.
And then don't worry about the dunya.
Be with Allah and don't worry about the
dunya.
Don't worry about the dunya. Don't worry about
anything
because there's a plan that's unfolding.
And what's the end what's the what's the
end of that plan after everything plays out?
Just as in the time of the Sahaba
and Rasulullah
Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam,
the battles went back and forth.
Even within a battle.
We had better they had Uhud.
They had the beginning of Hunayn, we had
the end of Hunayn.
Even within the battle, they're they're changing
circumstances.
But at the end what happened?
Allah
said, He has ordained
that he and his prophets will be victorious.
Immediately that's talking about Jannah,
the end of all affairs.
But in this world,
the end will be for the believers.
We have to believe it.
We have to believe in ourselves.
We have to have a moral vision.
What are we going to offer the world?
We're in an inflection point. Why are so
many people coming into Islam
despite the fact that generally peep
speaking, we're not calling them.
They're looking at what's happening in Gaza,
And they're seeing the people
in the face of all that suffering, displacement,
destruction of the health care system,
destruction of the university system, the elementary school
system, the junior high, middle school, high school,
the entire educational system.
Killing people, going to get
relief from a food truck or a water
truck.
All of the atrocities,
people still say,
All praise is due to Allah.
We belong to Allah, and unto him we
are returning.
There's no strength or power except with Allah.
And they see their faith
and people living in this sometime nihilistic
void.
This this abode
that strips us systematically of any purpose.
They see that resolve, whatever they have I
want.
How would it be if we're actively engaged,
systematic
and programmatically,
and calling people, and inviting people?
What would you see?
But to do that, we have to have
a moral vision.
We have to say there is something
that the world needs
that is right at this moment
that I, as a Muslim, and we, as
Muslims, can offer them.
We need a moral vision around racism.
You see, this country is about to be
torn apart
along along racial lines. There are people who
want to send America back to Jim Crow,
and there are others who are resisting.
And the polarization,
aided and abetted by the business model of
social media,
intensifies
day by day.
It's time for someone to stand up and
say, we were not created
to fight each other, just over the color
of our skin.
The the land of our origin.
Our lord tells us he made us into
different nations and tribes that we would recognize
in each other the power of of a
loss of
from that single pair.
He made all of this diversity.
That our differences,
our different skin complexion, hair textures,
eye shapes,
physical features
are glorification
of the creative
power of our Lord.
This is what the world needs.
And these these were never intended to be
the reason for all the division,
and hatred, and conflict
over
race. That's part of the moral vision of
Islam
that brought all of us together.
And these are moral vision
over drugs and narcotics and alcohol
that Satan uses
to destroy people.
That's what the Muslims
that is part of our moral vision.
And these are moral vision
that will govern how we even deal with
the truth.
Now we have the ability to make fake
fake news,
fake speeches,
fake lectures.
How can we sustain
a harmonious
society
where no one can trust
that anything, anyone says or do is truth?
Our prophet
who has
shown everything,
He was shown these times.
And he told us to pray in these
times.
Show us truth as truth, oh Allah, and
bless us to follow it. Show us falsehood
as falsehood and bless us to avoid it.
What does that mean?
That means a conviction
that we share with a conviction,
I wanna involve myself in these industries
and creating
these systems and paradigms
predicated on falsehood.
It means I will follow the teachings of
Islam when something comes to me
that
doesn't pass the smell test as they say.
And I will go to my brother or
go to my sister. Did you say
this? Did you say this? Did you do
this?
As we're commanded,
I will entertain a good opinion of my
brother and sister.
Because I know if I don't, shaitan will
exploit
my ill intentions
and exploit my poor opinion
and exploit
anything
that he can
to destroy
relationships
not just between the man and his wife.
This shayateen,
they learned from the 2 angels,
harut and marut,
adbabil,
that which destroys
the relationship
between the man and the woman,
but shaytoum must destroy
all the all relationships,
especially those that are established
through the belief
and the and the the vision given us
by Allah
between Muslims.
You ever wonder why sometimes it seem there's
so much tension
and strife between Muslims?
Like we see in Sudan right now and
elsewhere.
Shaitan
takes a greater delight
in destroying relations between Muslims because those relations
are established by Allah
It's part of his rebellion against the law.
And while those who aren't Muslim, their relations
are based on
transactional
relationship.
What can I get utilitarian?
How can I use this person? What can
I get from this person?
In many instances,
or based on love. It was love at
first sight.
But in most instances, not based on
a reality
established by Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.
What's the foundation about brotherhood?
What's the foundation of a marriage?
They're both consecrated
through Allah
they've taken away
covenant from you,
taking you with a weighty covenant
What's the foundation about brotherhood or sisterhood?
It's a brotherhood
established
through Allah
Therefore, it's a brotherhood that shaitan is going
to give
special attention to
to destroy.
We have to have faith.
We have to be committed
to the teachings of this Deen.
That's our protection.
And that's the foundation of our moral vision.
To give people an alternative
to the racism
that's destroying the world.
Destroy
the people in Philistine.
They're.
They're just a bunch of scum,
Amalek,
not deserving to live.
The Muslims don't say that.
We don't say that about our Jewish brothers
and sisters in humanity,
and in Abrahamic
faith. You say let's come together,
let's coexist,
let's build a good society.
And, Palestine was a good society
before these modern manifestations
and modern corruptions
of old
old old,
traditions and institutions.
May Allah give us tawfiq.
May Allah give us
taisir.
Then we have
to see ourselves
as being
superior. Not superior in arrogant sense,
but superior
in the sense
that we've been elevated through faith.
We've been cleansed
through faith.
And we won't descend
into those things that defiled us in that
sense.
We won't descend
into the pit
and the cesspool of racism.
We won't descend into the cesspool of greed
that says I should have
more food and more calories
than I can even process
how my brother or sister stars.
We're gonna descend
into the the the the the carelessness
that says,
if we destroy the earth, so what? I
won't be around to see it.
This is a mentality
some people say, you try to cultivate some
ecological
consciousness,
and then,
well,
you know, I'm making my money.
I won't be here to see it.
Don't be so sure.
Things gonna call fall apart
ecologically
faster than any of us could even imagine.
Every day, there's a new flood.
During times is traditionally historically not even rainy
season.
New devastation.
Sperm counts down 55 5%.
More than half.
Why did they collapse?
Primarily due to microplastics.
Yet our our whole
lives are filled with plastics.
At what point do we develop and cultivate
a consciousness consciousness
that says enough is enough?
Elevating ourselves
above the things that are destroying
us. This is the call that Allah has
given to us,
And may Allah bless us to respond, and
not in heroic ways.
People hear this kind of talk, I have
to go out. No, you have to go
out and just be a
Muslim. And your dealings with your neighbor,
your dealings with your wife,
your family, your children, your parents,
and collectively
those relationships
they're like a drop of rain.
We go to the Connecticut River, mashallah, this
big wide river, especially
this time of year when it's raining a
lot. Rivers filled.
Some are way upstream
in Vermont, New Hampshire, wherever
the Connecticut River starts, it started with one
drop of rain.
They came together with another and then another,
and all the streams and brooks
and rivulets and creeks, they came together,
and they combined their strength, and combined their
strength, their strength until you end up with
the Connecticut River.
So don't see what you might do as
needing to be the Connecticut River, see yourself
as one drop of rain,
but you're gonna be that drop,
and you're gonna hold on,
and you're gonna represent this religion, this deen
rather,
broader and vaster than a religion,
and you're going to and you're going to
believe in yourself,
And you're going to share
in the ways that you can in your
realm.
The moral vision of Islam.
And you're gonna commit yourself
to a better world,
to the extent
that our contributions
collectively
can make it better,
and then we die and we meet Allah
and we say, you Allah, I tried.
I did my best.
And that'll
be good enough.
Because ultimately the outcome is with Allah
Alhamdulillah.
Before we pray, let me make one thing
clear. You mentioned
people want to come to the west.
Allah's earth is spacious, migrate. So there's nothing
wrong with migration.
The the issue is
if we're trying to migrate
away
from our being
and be in an environment where we can
get away with things we might not be
able to get away with
when we're surrounded by Muslims.
That's the issue.
No one run from Allah, run to Allah,
says,
flee to Allah.
Flee to Allah
And make the migration
from that which Allah
has forbidden
to that which Allah loves
and is pleased with.
So geography
at the end of the day has nothing
to do with it.
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