Ethnic Jihad

Ethnic Jihad - The Struggle of Minorities in America

Opening

(بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَٰنِ الرَّحِيمِ - bismillahir-rahmanir-rahim)

As-salamu alaykum wa rahmatullah wa barakatuh

Bismillah ar-Rahman ar-Raheem. Wa sallallahu ala sayyidina Muhammad wa ala alihi wa sahbihi wa salam taslima wa la hawla wa la quwwata illa billahi al aali al azeem. Allahumma iftah alayna hikmatak wa inshara alayna rahmatak ya zalal jalali wal ikram wa sallallahu ala sayyidina Muhammad wa ala alihi al kiram warbut ala qulubina ya arhamal rahimin. Rabbana atina minazunka rahma wa hayya' lana min abrina rashada.

The Five Essential Questions of Life

I would like to talk about a few things but one of the things that I would like to talk about is all of you who are you, where did you come from and where are you going, because ultimately the important questions in life can be reduced down to five, that's it, just five just like the five pillars, there's only five questions and that's another lecture to actually deal with those questions so I'm not going to do that, but what I'm going to talk about is who you are, where you came from and where you're going, because you are an extraordinary group of people just as Dr. Omar said, for those of you who have come from other lands either because of your parents' migration and you were born in this country, which is probably the case for a lot of people in this room who were actually born in this country and this country has become their land.

America's Racial Identity and Early Immigration

This country has almost entirely identified itself since the revolution as a white country and there was a naturalization act in 1790 prohibiting citizenship for this country for anyone other than a white person and the Irish just barely were able to get in the back door because although they were considered savages by the Anglo-Saxons they're actually whiter than the Anglo-Saxons the Irish are pale as moons, which is why they historically were noted to drink a lot because it reddened up their face a little bit and matched the hair and I have a grandmother who's a field so I've got enough Irish in me that I can tell an Irish joke.

The Concept of Ethnic Jihad

I want to talk about ethnic jihad this country is a country of struggle there's no people that have come to this country historically that have not had to struggle, including oddly enough the Anglo-Saxons in 1607, if some of you remember your high school history, there was a colony founded in a place in Virginia, Virginia wasn't called Virginia before the English got there, the native peoples had their own name for that and that's one of the odd

things about this country is that all the names of the places were changed, at least most of them Massachusetts is actually an Indian name and there are a few others but Columbus who arrived in Hispaniola actually thought he was in Japan which is very interesting because he was just lost and he was asking for directions and he's called the discoverer of America as if the people that were here hadn't discovered that they were actually here so Columbus did not discover America, Columbus stumbled on to this country and there's evidence now that it was actually seen before by a Muslim Chinese explorer in 1421 and there's a book that's just come out with extensive research on that, when the Chinese discovered America and the head of that naval expedition was a Chinese Muslim.

The African Presence from the Beginning

So I want to talk about the false identification of America as a white country because America is not a white country, it was not a white country before the Europeans came here and Jamestown which was founded in 1607 had 20 black people that were brought from Africa, so the black people have been here right from the beginning, before the pilgrims arrived at Plymouth Rock by one year there were African peoples here in this country there were Turkish people at Jamestown and if people know the history of Captain Smith, Captain Smith was actually captured by the Turks, he fought with the Turks he's also one of the people that began to import coffee into Europe which was called the Devil's Cup because a lot of English people that were drinking coffee were actually began to convert to Islam and there was rumors in England that the Ottomans were actually putting magical spells on those beans and there was a move by the Christians to get coffee outlawed but he brought the coffee beans to America and South America is very fertile soil for that so early on there was Africans that came with the whites that came here, they did not come in the same compartments, they came in the hull of the ship as opposed to being on top of the ship, but they were here from the start.

The Changing Demographics of America

Now one of the things about this country is it's radically changing and we're celebrating Martin Luther King's 40th anniversary of the March on Washington and Dr. King said somewhere we must come to see that human progress never rolls in on the wheels of inevitability it comes through the tireless efforts and the persistent work of dedicated individuals who are willing to be co-workers with God, Ansar Allah, and with this hard work time itself becomes an ally of the primitive forces of social stagnation, so we must help time and realize that the time is always ripe to do the right.

So if we look at minorities in America what we find is an ethnic struggle an ethnic jihad, now if you look where we are today and where we're going 72% of this country right now is considered to be of European descent, by 2050 and then you have Africans, 12% Hispanics have actually achieved parity according to the latest statistics with the African American actually surpassed and then Asian, and then other, that's us I always put other on those things because we don't, traditionally the millet system is to identify you according to what you believe, not according to something as arbitrary as the color of your skin, because Caucasian is Caucasus Mountains and I'm not from the Caucasus I'm not a Russian, with no offense to the Russians Haji Murad.

The Future Demographics

In 2050 and some of you in this room will probably be alive at that time and I hope you remember these words because I probably won't be around to see that, in fact I'm almost positive but Allah knows best you are going to see a shift in this country in which half of the population of this country will not be European their origins will be from Africa from Asia and then from Mexico, Mexican Indians, native peoples, Arabs and the Asians are included, the South Asians if you look presently at where we're at, obviously the white community is still more educated with the exception of the Asian community, 46% graduate from college in the Asian community and they're considered to be a model community in these pundits that study minority groups the Asians are considered to be a model community, an example for other communities including the white community they have become a model community and you have to understand the significance of that in relation to the history of the Asian peoples in this country.

Again, white people average 40,600, the Asians now are earning more money than white people, again you have to remember this in relation to what the Asians went through now the foreign born in 1998, the Asians still had large numbers of foreign born so there is an immigration of Asians and this includes the South Asian if you look at the minority groups again, 1850 3%, if you look here 1890 we had the Ellis Island when a lot of people came in from Eastern Europe Poles and Jews, Italians began to come in in larger numbers it goes down and there was a lot of backlash during that period and my grandfather on my mother's side came through Ellis Island and I heard stories of it they had to eat horse meat on the ship my grandfather actually told me those stories of them coming to this country and going through Ellis Island, so this is not ancient history.

Geographic Distribution and the Trail of Tears

If you look at the demographics here, African Americans look at these areas, there are whole areas up in that white part of the map they're lacking color and color is beautiful, nobody wants black and white TV they want color TV in living color seriously nobody wants black and white TV, look at the Hispanic is all in that area and then the Asian and Pacific Islanders largely in California but in other places as well and these are mainly in the major cities, Native Americans if you notice they've been moved west you see because they were literally during Andrew Jackson's period there was a movement just to move all of the Indians and the Trail of Tears is part of that and if you're here you should know about the Trail of Tears you should know about the five civilized nations, you should know about the six Iroquois nations, you should know about Daganawida, you should know what these people did and who they were and you should also know why the Iroquois nation was destroyed, it was destroyed because of breaking the promise that they had made with the peace giver Daganawida, he made them promise that they would never ally with anyone outside the six nations against a member of the nations and if they did he said God would destroy your strength and in the French-English war this is when they split, the tribal council split and the Iroquois nation some sided with the French and others sided with the British and they began to fight each other and that was the end of the Iroquois nation although there are still Iroquois people in America, the nation as a political entity that was actually very sophisticated is no longer in existence.

The Native American Struggle

The Native American struggle, you should know about this struggle because the Native Americans and there were belligerent tribes, there were also very Irenic tribes, there were beautiful agricultural tribes and the Flames Indians were largely a benevolent people, the Horons for instance, the people of Daganawida were actually quite belligerent and he got so fed up with them and their inability to recognize that alliance with other Indian peoples was a good thing and not a bad thing, that war amongst people was a negative thing and this is what he was trying to teach people and the man that heard it from him, Kayanwatha who listened to this message, he was not a Horon so Daganawida was a stranger who came to the Iroquois people and gave them a message of peace and allying with each other in order to prevent bloodshed because it was a Jahili system of blood vengeance and endless cycles of violence and this is what he ended and it's a glorious history.

Lewis and Clark's Journey

The Native American peoples, if we look at Lewis and Clark, Lewis and Clark understood the Native peoples very well. They traveled during Jefferson's administration from the east coast all the way to Washington state, unchartered. Why did they do that? Because they knew that the Native peoples in this country were by and large a benevolent people and one of the things that they did to ensure the safety of their trip was they took a Native American woman with a child because it was well known that Native peoples if they traveled with women and children were not a war party. They were not a malevolent force and for that reason they took a woman and a child and there is an extraordinary scene where they meet some Shoshone Indians who are carrying their weapons and they see them and Lewis and Clark are terrified and they think that because these men were dressed for hunt, they were terrified and there's the point where this chief comes up to Clark and embraces him and in his language said welcome and he'd never seen a white person because that is Beni Adam.

That is essential to our nature. We are Insan, we're people of Unce and we're largely people of goodness and this is why they were able to make it all the way to Washington State.

Chief Joseph and Native American Leaders

They met with what were later termed the Nez Perce Indians and one of the great leaders of the Nez Perce was Chief Joseph and people should know about this man. They should read his speech when he said where the sun now stands I shall fight no more forever when he finally surrendered after several years of resistance against colonization of his land and his people and he refused to become a Christian because he was a Unitarian and most of those native peoples were Unitarians. They did not believe in a Trinity. Chief Sitting Bull, one of the great warriors and these people at the time were considered terrorists. They were considered evil people and now they're being lionized. Geronimo was considered a terrorist during his time and now he's seen as somebody who was nobly fighting for his people and he was an extremely noble person. Many of these people, if you look at Crazy Horse who was one of the leaders of the resistance against General Custer.

Crazy Horse, his war cry on the day that General Custer, with all respect to my dear brother, on that day Crazy Horse's war cry was this is a good day to die and because he refused to be humiliated he was actually stabbed once he was in captivity. But there were many noble peoples amongst these people and their resistance is in essence still going on.

The Wounded Knee Massacre

In 1891 this is a massacre. So this was going on. There are people alive today who heard stories of those wars against the plain Indians. The Native Americans were put on reservations. Their lands were taken from them. Many of them still live on these reservations and unfortunately have learned the ways of gambling and other things.

The African American Struggle and the Transatlantic Slave Trade

The African struggle. And I want to really focus on this in order for you to understand a few things that I consider extremely important and great lessons to be learned. The slave trade, the transatlantic slave trade, we cannot imagine the horrors of that trade. If you look at this man in this picture in the back with the chain around his neck he's wearing a turban and it is estimated liberal estimation is that about 20% of the people that were brought over here at certain periods of time were Muslim. But at least 10%. That means 1 out of 10 people of African American descent here and probably almost all of the African American peoples in this country now have Muslim ancestors. Because of the nature of lineage and marriage. Every one.

And that is probably one of the secrets for the return of many African Americans to Islam because of the prayers that were made by many of those people. That their offspring would be Muslim and some of these people suffered death to preserve their religion.

Early African American Resistance

Bought and sold. There were people from early on. This was actually a group of African Americans that decided they wanted to actually migrate and they would go to establish their own places and get their land. And so there were always, in the African American community there has always been resistance. Always. And the history of the resistance has not been well studied. But there has always been resistance.

Islamic Perspective on Slavery

And the Muslims were particularly intractable. They were considered to be very difficult slaves because one of the things about Muslims that makes us difficult people is that we are taught that Allah is our Lord. And we can be slave to no man in reality. And even the bondsmanship in Islam was never understood to be understood to be riq. It is an economic weakness. And the Prophet (peace be upon him) said in a true hadith:

لا تقل عبدي عبد ولكن قولوا غلامي غلامي فكلكم عبيد الله

“Do not say my slave my slave. But say my servant my servant. My boy, my boy or my youth. Because all of you are slaves of God.”

And that is the reality. And Muslims had a very different conception of the idea of riq. And that's why slavery is a problematic word for us to use.

Jim Crow Era and Southern Migration

This was happening. My mother lived during this period. My grandmother because the south was so unbearable to my grandmother she migrated from Atlanta, Georgia with her brother to San Francisco and they were interested in Buddhism in the 1930s and literally were so distressed. And this is a story I heard from my uncle. They migrated to San Francisco and my uncle opened up the first metaphysical bookstore that's still there. Fields Bookstore. And one of the sections he had was Islam and he actually said his shahada and he was very happy when I became a Muslim.

So they moved because the south was unbearable. And they went to San Francisco because it was considered to be one of the most progressive cities in America. But this is what was happening and this did not happen to everybody. And I've spoken, taken oral history from people that grew up in the south. People that grew up in the south in the 40s and 50s that I've spoken to this was not the norm but this became increasingly common as black people in the south began to desire an equitable situation. And this is why people that were called uppity ended up often at the end of a rope.

Imam Nafi and His Legacy

And one of our great Muslim people from this country is Imam Nafi' whose was the father of Anwar Abdul Muhaiman and Anas in Philadelphia. He was having such a difficult time living in the south under those conditions. His family feared that he would get lynched because that injustice was intolerable to him. And so they actually sent him to Philadelphia and he ended up becoming a Muslim, moving to Medina and his son is probably one of the first and certainly we consider him the first until there's evidence of other hufadh. He's probably the first hafidh of the Quran from that generation of people that became Muslim.

Frederick Douglass and the Fight for Education

Despite all of those conditions they had people of intellect, people of desire to learn and you should read about Frederick Douglass, read his own autobiography and what he went through just to learn the alphabet tricking other white kids that knew how to read and write to teach him the alphabet. He was a brilliant man and people should know their stories because their stories are inextricably bound with your situation today. The people that have come to this country and found this country reasonably welcoming have largely found it so because of these people and what they went through and we honor them by knowing their stories and knowing who they were.

African Americans Building America

These are the people that built the railroads, African people. John Henry is a story that every child used to learn in this country about a man who wants to outdo the machine to prove that human labor is better than mechanical labor and kills himself proving it.

The Civil Rights Movement and School Integration

And Elizabeth Eckford, this is one of the first women who was, this is the beginning of the forced integration. This is her first day in school and look at the hatred. They had to bring police out so that she could go to school and look at the dignity of that woman. This is not that long ago people. Death to all race mixers, keep white public schools white. This is what people went through so that people could eat in restaurants, that they could actually have the right to sit where they wanted to.

Jewish Solidarity with Civil Rights

And two thirds of those white people that were down there were Jewish people because the Jews were also people of struggle in this country. And what they've earned in this country they are entitled to because they earned it with incredibly hard work and with massive effort, with extraordinary generosity creating endowments that are now worth billions of dollars.

The March on Washington

And this was a great day for this country. And we're celebrating the 40th anniversary of ISNA and the 40th anniversary of this march and they're related because these struggles are related. They're the struggles of minorities in this country to be full members at the table of this continent. To have complete enfranchisement rights to do what they want and this was struggle people and we have felt nothing and the complaints of Muslims, Muslims should stop complaining because we don't know what difficulty is. If you've had a knock on your door if you hear clicks on your phone you don't know what struggle is. And that's the truth.

Muhammad Ali's Principled Stand

These people struggle and people like Muhammad Ali who had his title stripped and this was not a coward, this was a brave man. He did this on principle. He had his title stripped from him and he said I have nothing against the Viet Cong because no Viet Cong ever called me a nigger. That's what Muhammad Ali said.

The Irish Struggle and Intermarriage

And the Irish just to let you know that this is also a white struggle and I was once with an Irish man who an African American man was asking him whether he was a Muslim or not and he asked him are you the grand inquisitor and the African American man became quite belligerent with him. He said don't play games with me, just tell me what you are, you know this and that and became quite and immediately he said listen, get your

white people right. I'm Irish, you got a problem, go find an Anglo-Saxon and vent because most African American people in this country have Irish blood and the reason they have Irish blood is because Irish men were not allowed to marry Anglo-Saxon women and so they married Native American women and they married African American women and that is why most of the African Americans in this country have Irish blood and many of the Native Americans have Irish blood and it's not from rape, it's from marriages that were lawful marriages.

Irish Discrimination

The Irish were looked down as barbarians when the British initially did not allow them to dress like British people. They were treated horrifically, no Irish need apply. And this is where they went to, they went right to the top because they persevered and people that persevere overcome obstacles. People that give up don't.

The Hispanic Struggle

And the Hispanic struggle is another extraordinary struggle. We serve whites only, no Spanish or Mexicans as if they could tell the difference. I'm surprised they spelt them right. But that's the truth and the Mexicans are also part of the history of this country. The vaqueros who were the cowboys who taught the white cowboys how to, why is lariat and lasso and stampede all taken from Spanish because that's where they learned it. They learned it from the Mexican cowboys. That's where that came from.

Cesar Chavez and the United Farm Workers

And then this great man Cesar Chavez who went out and struggled and marched. They were beaten, they were repressed, they were attacked. This is a United Farm Workers this man was beaten by the police for striking. Why? Because they wanted rights for the farm workers that were picking the vegetables and the fruits that all the white people in this country were eating.

The Dignity of Labor in Islam

And my own wife and I have told her never be ashamed of the fact that your mother worked in the field. It's nothing to be ashamed of because honorable work is honorable and the Prophet (peace be upon him) said the best that a son of Adam will ever eat from is from the work, the labor of his own hands and even Dawood (peace be upon him) the Prophet of Allah worked from the labor of his own hands and Islam never demeans labor never demeans labor. Many of the sahaba were laborers. Sayyidina Ali collected wood. That's what he did as a job. He collected wood and sold wood.

And now the lieutenant governor and possibly I mean see I'm from California and we're flexing our muscles. Now Bustamante was asked about Arnold Schwarzenegger because apparently in an interview he said that he'd been in orgies and done drugs and Bustamante said well I can honestly say I've never been in anything like that and I've never done drugs and I don't exercise.

The Chinese Struggle and Exclusion Act

The Chinese struggle. This is an amazing struggle. The Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 was the first act in which people were actually prohibited from immigration on the basis of race because there were people in Congress that felt that the Asians were such an alien culture. Their religion was alien. Their language was alien. Their look was alien and they were dangerous to the homogeneity of this culture. And this is very interesting in terms of how the Muslims are being looked on now as an alien culture as a culture that cannot adapt to the Judeo- Christian culture which is the Judeo-Christian Islamic culture. And anybody that studied the history of Western civilization knows the impact of Islam.

Violence Against Chinese Americans

The exclusion fence. This is how they were looked on as demons. Chinese attacked at Rock Springs. They were called coolies. Shot at. Killed. That man being shot in the back. These things happened in this country. Chinatown attack at Denver. They used to go in and attack these places where the Chinese lived. And in Chinatown in San Francisco there are still fifth, sixth generation Chinese that only speak Chinese in that city. They've never learned English. And now the governor of Washington State is a Chinese man because they persevered and they struggled.

Japanese American Internment

The Japanese Americans, another extraordinary case. The Jap. The Nip. I mean you've even got Bugs Bunny from the 1940s with Japanese being portrayed as vicious and vile creatures and him bombing them and making racial slurs that people watched in cinemas. Japs keep moving. This is a white man's neighborhood. The reason I'm telling you about this is because what it says now is Muslims keep moving. That's the message that some people out there are trying to put out. But it's nothing compared to what these people went through. Because by and large this country has changed incredibly. And if you don't recognize that you're doing a great disservice to the leaps and bounds that this country has made. But we know that it still has not gone far enough. And that's where you come in. Because this is the new struggle to take this country to another level.

Our Shared Struggle

And that is why our struggle is bound with the Asian Americans. It's bound with the African Americans. It's bound with the Native Americans. It's bound with the Mexican and Hispanic Americans. We have to see that. That we are bound to these people and ultimately the future in this country is not white. The future is brown. And that is a fact. And it's a fact that many people in this country are lamenting. But I believe it's a fact that we should not lament. That we should celebrate it. Because our religion is not a religion of race. It's a religion of truth and principle that puts spirit above mud. It puts the human soul at the center of human beings. It does not allow people to look at other people with contempt because the color of their skin or the language that they speak or the creed that they believe in.

The Nobility of All Humanity

"We have ennobled all of the children of Adam."

This is our Lord that did that. And so in acknowledging these people and their struggles we are acknowledging the most noble qualities of people. And the people that died in these struggles died for you. They died that you might live with dignity. And if you study the history of what people went up against. The suffering that they bore so that their children would not have to live in the same conditions that they lived in. Or their children's children. And this struggle is continuing on and the Japanese are one of the great success stories of this country.

Japanese Internment Camps

They're the only people in the 20th century in this country that were interned in camps. And there was a plan to intern German Americans but it was never done. And we have a Japanese congressman now in congress who was interned as a 6 year old child in California. Their lands were taken from them. They lost their farm lands. They were expropriated by, misappropriated by peoples who bought up the lands. This happened. And there are people alive to tell this story. People that we know.

Japanese Cultural Values

Japanese people who, these people were gentle people. They were people that did not rock the boat. In Japanese culture here they say the squeaky wheel gets the grease. But in Japanese culture they say that the nail that sticks out gets the hammer. But they got the hammer anyway. But now they've learned to squeak even though their cars don't. Which is good. That's a good lesson to learn. This is all the internment there. And now here we have the head of the Department of Transportation. We have congressmen now. Japanese Americans. We have heads of universities.

The Jewish Struggle in America

And the Jewish struggle is an extraordinary struggle in this country. And it's worth our study because of all communities we are most like the Jews. And that is a sound hadith:

"My ummah is most like bani Israel." (Hadith)

And so we have to really consider that hadith very carefully because look where bani Israel ended up. In Europe. And like Dr. Abda Hakim Winter said the path from Auschwitz to Srebrenica is not a crooked one. That in our lifetime we've seen Muslims interned in camps. Rape programs against them in Europe. And the neo- Nazi movement now the new anti-Semitism is being against Muslims. And you should recognize that. And

Leo Frank and Jewish Labor Activism

This is Leo Frank the founder of the Anti-Defamation League lynched up. The Jews have struggled for their rights and the Jews also. They were squeakers early on. They went into the camps and they were considered agitators because they fought for just work wage. They fought for just hours. They created the unions. This is all from the Jews. And they worked very hard at it and they didn't just do it for themselves and that's what you should understand. And this is one of the powers of this community.

Jewish Solidarity with African Americans

They worked with the African American community. Many of the Jewish jazz musicians refused to play unless blacks were allowed to play with them. This is well known. Also Hollywood if you look even though there's a lot of racism there was still an attempt to bring the African American into Hollywood. And there's some interesting stories that have been done about that.

Anti-Semitic Stereotypes and Parallels

These look now like that guy looks like he's Hamas. If you the recent cartoon just put a little turban on his head and that's this is how they're portraying and that's the fat Saudi. Seriously just put a little eagle and a hike and it'll look exactly like the cartoons out there today because we're the new Jews. We wear the same kind of caps. We dress funny. Our women don't wear wigs but they wear headscarves. We have funny dietary laws. What's wrong with pork? You know well I mean you call it devil's ham don't you? That's what it's called a little devil on that on the pork thing. That's true. You can go to the grocery store and I you know Iblis has a sense of humor.

I once got Dr. Owen to laugh so hard because my boy had a cape on and he jumped into the room. He didn't see me but he said I'm back Muslim and I'm going to kick Shaitaan in the butt and I came. He was five years old and I said how do you know Shaitaan has a bottom? He said everybody has a bottom except Allah. I said Alhamdulillah he's not an anthropomorphist.

Modern Hate Groups

This is going on today and it's happening in our mosques as well. Ignorant people stupid people foolish people. These people are so dumb they call themselves Aryan nation not knowing that Aryan is from Iran. I mean seriously that's how stupid these people are. You know oh are you Iranian? No I'm Aryan. What do you think Iranian means? It means Aryan. This is what we're dealing with type of mentality and study their history.

Jewish Contributions to America

Now you don't have to be Einstein to know the Jewish contribution in this country. Just that phrase alone tells

The Muslim Struggle - A Multiethnic Movement

And now we come to our struggle. Now what's interesting about our struggle that I like is it's not an ethnic struggle. You see it's not an ethnic struggle. It has an ethnic component to it because the majority of our peoples are off-white. So it does have an ethnic component. I will not deny that. But Dr. Omar and I are living proof and evidence that it's not entirely ethnic. Although somebody once asked this Protestant lady from England. She kept saying how did you become Muslim? How did you become Muslim? And she kept prying and prying and then she said well what were you before? And I said well I was Christian. And she said what branch? And I said well actually I was baptized Greek Orthodox. I'm a quarter Greek. She said oh of course. In other words a Greek. Of course. Makes sense. They're almost like Turks anyway. Right.

Cultural Borrowing and Shared Heritage

I mean we stole everything. I grew up thinking baklava. I thought that was Greek. I was proud that at least we make good pastry. We don't have a Socrates anymore. But we make good pastry. And then I found out it's all Arabic. But the Arabs got it from the Persians. Seriously. And feta cheese. I thought feta cheese was Greek. That's what I grew up thinking. It's feta. It's crumbling cheese. And then even the dancing. I had to learn Greek dancing when I was because that was part of what you did at church. I mean you didn't do it in church. You did it. But I had to do that. And then I realized it's Lebanese dancing. I thought it was Greek. And I was just learning Lebanese dancing.

Worry Beads and Cultural Exchange

And then we had worry beads. I had worry beads. Seriously. I literally was given worry beads. And why they call them worry beads because when Greeks worry they pull out their beads because they used to see the Muslims always doing them. Whenever they got worried they pulled out their beads. But the Greeks just flip them around. They don't actually do dhikr. So it just makes them worry more. But it's good for the worry bead sellers. The people that sell worry beads make a bundle because everybody's worrying. And increasingly so. That in fact Muslims should start importing those things. 911. That was bad. Have you ever tried worry beads?

Early Muslim Americans

The Muslim struggle. Allahu Akbar. This is amazing. These people, we should, everybody should know I want to see Yaro Mahmoud on the cover of Time Magazine. I'm serious. I want to see him on the cover of Time Magazine. Because Time does historical stories. They've had Native Americans, Columbus. I want to see Yaro Mahmoud or Omar bin Said. I want to see. People have to know about these people. And it's our duty that these names are in every history book in this country. Because these were great men.

Demographics of American Muslims

Look at the composition here. 24% Arabs. And the majority of Arabs in this country are Christian. And we also have an alliance with those people. We should recognize that. And then we have South Asians, Europeans 2%. 32%. And then African American. What a wonderful pie. It's humble pie. Whoever humbles himself for Allah, Allah will elevate him. So let us be a humble pie. Instead of having to eat crow or Jim Crow. People don't get those jokes because they didn't grow up with all that stuff that we got when we were young. Jim Crow. You should know Jim Crow. Other face. My goodness.

But look at that slice right on top. And I'll tell you something. That slice is getting bigger. Because the other part of that circle is hungry. They're hungry. And I'll tell you something about the struggle. The only thing that makes struggle real is God. Everything else is just empty and false. And that's the truth. And that's the power of Martin Luther King. The power of Martin Luther King is that he struggled he always mentioned God. He ultimately was a preacher. And he was calling people to the moral conscious. The moral component in them. And reminded them constantly that we hold these truths to be self evident. That all men are created equal. And are endowed by their creator. And that's providence that that is in the founding document of this country. That is providence.

Najee Laifullah - The Palestinian Martyr

And this is Najee Laifullah. This is the first person killed in the United Farm Workers struggle. A Palestinian. And this is what Muslims should be doing. We should be at the forefront of what is right. Not because it involves Muslims. But because it involves the conflict between right and wrong. And we should always be on the side of right. Because the side of right is the side of Islam. That is the side of right. It is the side of Islam.

Standing for Justice for All People

And Muslims stand by right. And the Prophet (peace be upon him) said in a sound hadith: If anyone is treacherous to a dhimmi. Which is a person of a non-Muslim faith. According to Imam Malik. It can be any faith. Not just Abrahamic faith. But any faith. Buddhist can be dhimmi. And that has been the active practice of our tradition. He said if anyone is treacherous to a dhimmi. Any Muslim oppresses a dhimmi. I will be the dhimmi's advocate on the day of judgment.

Our Prophet (peace be upon him) will stand next to the non-Muslim. Against the Muslim. Because we are not about tribe. We are about principle. And if the principle goes against the tribe. We say goodbye to tribe. And that's the truth. And that is Islam.

Being Witnesses for Truth

And we have to be witnesses unto humanity. For the sake of Allah. Even if it's against yourselves. And we've got plenty to testify against. In our community. Too much. But it's time that we stop being in denial. Or

pretending people say to me. You shouldn't tell people about the problems of the Muslim. Don't say that to the non-Muslim. They read it every single day in their newspapers. They see it in the Muslim world constantly. And when we sit there and pretend like these things aren't happening. We look like fools. We look like hypocritical lying fools. And they see right through us. And it's people that will stand up for the truth. In spite of all these things. That will be recognized as people that those people want to listen to. And ultimately that is what we want. We want the ears. Because the ears are the inroads to the hearts. And if you shout at them. They'll plug their ears. Just like anybody that goes into a room with the music's too loud. They cover their ears. If your shouting's too loud. They'll cover their ears. Like Ralph Waldo Emerson said. I'm sorry I can't hear you. Your actions are shouting much louder than your words. And that's the truth.

Remembering Malcolm X and Betty Shabazz

And then our Shaheed. This noble man that died because he was a man of principle. Like Dr. Omar said. May Allah ennoble his face. And elevate him in the highest ranks of the people of paradise. And his wife. Who died a Shaheed in a fire. Because the death of fire is the death of a Shaheed. And how fitting for the wife of such a great Shaheed. To die a Shaheed. His wife. Betty Shabazz. Oh that was Malcolm. Right. Malik Shabazz.

Malcolm X on Islam and Race

Al-Hajj Malik Shabazz said America needs to understand Islam. Because this is the one religion that erases from its society the race problem. Why is this still significant? Because this problem is still deeply significant in this country. The problem has not gone away. And we are facing it today as a community. This is the fundamental problem. After faith itself.

The Disease of Iblis - Arrogance

If you look at Iblis. The disease of Iblis was you created me from fire and air. You created him from mud. That is the devil. And anyone that says that is a demon. Anyone that thinks he's better than anyone else. Because you don't know. And if you come into a room and think you're better than anyone in that room you're a fool. That's a fool who has that attitude. Because only Allah knows. And even a beggar on the street might be better in the eyes of Allah than the worshipful person in the mosque. Only Allah knows that. And we are not allowed to judge people's inner realities. And that's why race is something that needs to be eradicated.

Arnold Toynbee on Islam's Solution

And it is the Muslims according to Arnold Toynbee. The extraordinary English historian. It is the Muslims that can offer a solution to European and Western peoples to the race problem. Which he wrote in his essay Islam and the West. He said that we can learn from the Muslims and benefit from them. And the two primary things that we can learn from them is the solution to our race problem. Because he believed that the world was heading to an inevitable race war if something was not done. And we are here to stand as obstacles to people that want to see that. To the war mongers out there. We're here to stand as obstacles to that. Because we are people of peace.

Imam Zaid Shakir's Warning

And Imam Zaid Shakir may Allah preserve him said it would be one of the greatest travesties of history if the Muslims are torn and separated and sunk into the quagmire of racism ourselves. And if we as Muslims let any force Muslim or non-Muslim transform us into racists who are incapable of bringing this message to America, we have betrayed Islam and we have betrayed Malcolm.

Meritocracy and the Rise of Women

And that is why we cannot allow race to be an issue. We are a people of meritocracy. May the best Dawah win and may the best Insan. And if it's a woman then let her rise. If a woman is more capable let her rise. And this is an age when the women are making the men look pathetic. I'm serious. They come with notebooks you don't have to remind them to sit up with comportment. I'm really serious. It's the women. And I'm not just saying this to make the women feel good. But I want to see the men I want to see you outdo these women and prove that you deserve 2 to 1 in inheritance laws. I'm serious. Really. Prove it. And you're certainly worthy of it. You young men all of you. I look at you and I see a potential in this country really to go out there and transform this country.

The Power of MSA and Student Organization

There are 150,000 members of MSA is that what it is? 150,000 is that correct? How many? And how many members around? 50,000? Okay. We always exaggerate so let's say 100,000. There's 100,000 MSA members. And if there aren't then let's make it so. I was with an Afghani group a couple of weeks ago and we were in one of these rancho type places where you can go ride horses and I actually grew up riding horses because my grandfather was a horseman had a cattle ranch as well. And so I'm not a great rider but I can ride. And those horses that they rent out are so broken down you don't have to worry about it anyway. So I said let's go ride horses. And I looked at them and I said do you know how to ride horses? And one of them, he kind of did a feta thing. He said do we know how to ride horses? We're Afghanis. Of course we know how to ride horses. And if we don't know we'll pretend we know. And that should be your spirit. Wallahi that should be your spirit. To go out there and if you don't have 100,000 members pretend you have 100,000 members.

Financial Sacrifice and Commitment

Four dollars. And a biskate. So a latte and a biskate is how much? Mule. Seven dollars. Seven dollars a day. Right? That's what college students do. They go down and have a cafe and seven dollars. Seven dollars a day. Huh? Can you do that? I mean seriously that's over 200 dollars. Give your latte away. For the sake of Allah. If everybody did that, you know how much money you'd have? You can go back to drinking after a couple of years. Latte. Not the other kind. Don't do that.

Humorous Advice on Intoxicants

That's what they said. People, and I was in New Jersey and I was saying that I would prefer that they allowed marijuana to be smoking on airplanes than alcohol. Because marijuana cools people out. Alcohol gets them riled up. And they get belligerent. Because I was on a plane where this man was drunk. He was very belligerent to the stewardess and I told her they could really solve this problem. Just pass out joints for people that want them. And they'll just kind of chill out. They might get the munchies and want a couple extra bags of peanuts. But basically they'll be cool, calm and collected. And it's a double high. Because you're 30,000 feet up there. So I said I'm worried they're going to say Imam Hamza is promoting marijuana use. So I'm not promoting marijuana use. Don't use it. Don't abuse it. Don't use it. Stay away from it. And don't be like the guy that said I never inhaled. And don't go to places where they smoke and you inhale. Right? I didn't smoke any but it's called secondary smoke. When you hang out with people that are doing that. You don't want to do that. So stay away from that.

The Fityah - The Youth of Faith

May Allah give you all tawfiq. And increase you and make you fityan. Allah when he mentioned the people of Fatah. When they went to the cave. And that's what you have to do. You have to go to the cave of Iman. In the midst of this plane of Jahiliyya. Go to the cave of Iman. Which is in your heart. There's a hollow space in your heart. And that is a cave. And seek refuge in that cave. And say:

"Faqalu rabbana atina min ladunka rahma" - "They said: Our Lord, grant us mercy from Yourself."

Ask for the grace of Allah. That's what the fityah do. They ask for the grace of Allah.

"Wa hayya' lana min amrina rashada" - "And prepare for us from our affair right guidance."

And guide us to do the right thing. And then when they came out of the cave. What did they say? They told them:

"Fa ba'athu ahadakum bi waraqikum hadhi lal madina" - "Send one of you with this silver coin of yours to the city."

Send some of you with this money to the city. And then what does and he says:

"Fa lianzur ayuha azkat ta'ama" - "And let him see which is the best of food."

Make sure your food is pure. Because that will give you spiritual strength. This pure and halal food. And that's very important that that's in there about the fityan. And then also Allah says when he mentions them, he tells them:

"Fa liya talataf" - "And let him be gentle/courteous."

And let him be gentle and take care. Don't go out belligerent. Don't go out with anger.

The Manners of Activism

Anger and perturbed states are not the states of people that have sakina in their hearts. Don't go out angry. If you demonstrate, demonstrate with dignity. Never shout in a demonstration. I'm serious. It's not a sunnah. Don't shout. Don't shout takbir. People don't know what that means. You scare them. And really, it's not good to scare people.

"Don't let any of you cause them to know who you are."

Why? Because they'll stone you and try to force you back into their millah. So be careful. Because you might get tribulations that you can't bear.

Tribulations and Wisdom

And there are reports of suicides in Guantanamo Bay. You don't want to get tribulations that you cannot bear. It's not the sunnah of the Muslims. If they can avoid those type of things, they don't put themselves in the line of tribulation. If they come to them, then may Allah give all of us perseverance to take what comes from Allah. But may He give us wisdom to avoid what does not need to come.

Closing

جزاكم الله خيراً

Jazakum Allah khairan

وَالسَّلَامُ عَلَيْكُمْ وَرَحْمَةُ اللَّهِ وَبَرَكَاتُهُ

Wa salamu alaikum wa rahmatullah wa barakatuh