Islamophobia

I'm guessing. I don't know that. But if it was a Christian, and I don't know that it was.

Historical Context of the Word "Allah"

But if it was a Christian, I'd like to ask a very simple question. Or I'd like you to ponder about something very basic. You know, the Christian faith is an ancient faith.

It's not a new religion. And it predates the advent of Muhammad (صلى الله عليه وسلم). It predates it by six centuries. So it's six centuries older than the Prophet himself (صلى الله عليه وسلم). And Christianity came to the Arab world centuries before Islam came to it.

So Christian Arabs are some of the oldest Christians in history. They're some of the oldest Christians in history. And of course the original Bible, which we don't have much of anymore.

But the original, original Bible in Hebrew or Aramaic, as it's argued by different scholars, is the original. And of course now we have it in European languages like Latin and German and even in English, etc. But one of the earliest renditions of the Bible, pre-Islamic renditions of the Bible, one of the earliest translations of the Bible is in Arabic.

It's one of the oldest, oldest, oldest versions of the Bible. And guess what name for God is being used in the Arabic Bible? Allah. Allah.

The word Allah is being used by Christians centuries before Muslims are using it for God. Centuries before Muslims are using it. So when somebody screams out, it is God, not Allah.

The word God comes from the German origin, Gott. And it came into Christian tradition far later. So if you want to talk about a name that is original to Christian, or more original to Christian teaching.

And of course the Hebrew term used, if you look at Hebrew sacred texts, it's Elohim. Elohim, which is closer in root origin to the Arabic word Allah. These are sister languages.

Now what does the word Allah mean? The entity worthy of worship and obedience. That's what that means. That's what the word itself means.

So when we don't know these simple things, it's not some really crazy fact. It's a very famous word. So it's not hard to look up its origin or its history.

But yet we can utter these kinds of things without even giving them a second thought. But that was a tangent. I want to come back to the subject itself.

The Concept of Idolatry in Islam

All praise, all gratitude belongs to God. In other words, you can have two kinds of idols.

An idolatry, setting up an idol, setting up any kind of intermediary between yourself and God. Worshipping, appreciating, thanking, praising. Anyone other than God would be considered a form of blasphemy, according to this messenger.

And he claims this is exactly what all messengers taught. Have this direct connection with God. And he actually even claims that he's fulfilling the legacy of Abraham.

That's what he claims as well. (عليه السلام). May peace be upon him.

External and Internal Idols

So now, there are two kinds of idols, he argues. That is argued, essentially. There are external idols and there are internal idols.

The external idols may be there's some deity in some theology, may be, you know, be it. They had different kinds of idolatry in the time of the Arabs. And they had different gods for different things like the god of wealth, and the god of prosperity, and the god that gives you children, etc, etc, etc.

And depending on who you put the donuts and coffee in front of and pray, you know, different prayers get fulfilled, etc. They had different, you know, theologies. Now those gods, those gods, those are external idols.

But the Quran came and attacked internal idols as well. The idol of one's own ego. So when something good comes to you, you claim that this is because (إِنَّمَا أُوتِيتُهُ عَلَىٰ عِلْمٍ عِندِي) (Quran 28:78) - I've acquired all of this because of the knowledge that I possess.

It's because of my degree that I got my job. It is because of my incredible credentials. It is because of my excellent professionalism that I got my promotion, etc, etc.

You give credit first and foremost to yourself. You set yourself up as an idol of appreciation and worship. You're completely self-indulged.

And there the comparison made is between yourself and the pharaoh. You know the pharaohs? Right? The epitome of being self-indulged?

The Call to Gratitude

That's the comparison made in the Quran. So that's one call.

Not setting up an internal or an external idol between yourself and God. When praise and credit is to be given, whatever ability you and I have is actually not our own, it's a gift. And so when we're able to do something with that ability, the first credit should be given to the gift giver.

And then, it's not evil to take pride in what you've done after you've shown gratitude to the right source first. I give silly examples just to get the point across sometimes, but you know, when people have babies, and you go over to their house and see the new baby. We just had a baby sometime, my baby.

She's almost a month old. He'll come look at her. Oh, how cute.

And you know what Muslims generally do? We don't even think about it, we just do it. Oh, so cute. And then what do we add? Mashallah.

Oh, subhanallah. Oh, alhamdulillah. Oh, whatever God wills.

Praise and glory be to God. What a cute baby. In other words, that cuteness is not... And the mother, sometimes the mother goes, thanks.

Like she had something to do with it. Like she's sitting there in Photoshop. She had nothing to do with it.

This is one of the fundamental calls of Islam.

The Economic System of Pre-Islamic Arabia

And actually, that society even had a major problem with that. I already told you, accepting him as a messenger is a major problem.

But accepting the fact that all praise and gratitude should go to God, and we should accept him as our master, and accept his authority, and appreciate him before appreciating anything else, and nothing can be between us and them, that was a serious problem for that society. And I need to tell you why. Because religion, before Islam, in Arabia, was being used essentially as an industry.

As an industry. As it is today, by the way. Including Islam.

Some use Islam, Christianity, Judaism, Hinduism, as an industry. It's a money-making field for some people. And how was it being used then?

The Mecca Tourism Economy

Essentially, there was this Mecca, which you probably heard of.

The house built by Abraham, according to Muslim theology. And there's an interesting historical discussion about that, but I won't go into it.

And they had all these idols around it.

And these different idols were from different tribes of Arabia. So all these different tribes would make a sacred pilgrimage to come to Mecca to pay homage to their own god. Because the place to keep your gods would be Mecca.

But now all these different tribes, which were essentially warrior tribes, what they lived off of was beating each other up. It was a thing. None of them would mess with the Meccans.

None of them would mess with the people that lived in Mecca. Now you wonder, why not? Why would they have free passage, the Quran even talks about,

- For the accustomed security of the Quraish - Their accustomed security in the winter and summer caravan.

They could go on a caravan in the winter or in the summer. Why would it say that? Because most of the time, to be safe for business trips, when you take your caravan, because you don't have one-way flights back then, when you take your caravan, your camels and stuff, you'll fly either in the intense summer or in the freezing, the most freezing winter.

Why? Because if you go in the tough climate, it's hard for bandits to kind of be in the road and wait on you and stuff. So they would have to go in really intense journeys. But the Arabs would pick and choose, well, this is the best season to go here, and that's the best season to go there, and they would have no fears.

Why? Because if you mess with us, you know your idol back there in Mecca? You know what we're going to do with it when we get back? You know? So nobody would mess with them.

The Threat to the Religious Economy

Now if this call comes and says, you don't need idols. You don't need an intermediary.

You can have a direct relationship with God. This entire system that's set in place, people coming, and of course when people come, what comes with them? Money. It's a tourism industry.

I mean, after all, what is Orlando without Disney World? You think about that, right? So who would want to come here anymore? This is the middle of the desert. There's no attraction except this religious site. If we lose the interest of all the Arabs, we have no special status left, and the money that is coming in year round is gone.

So they see it as a direct threat. It's just this belief in a God directly is a direct threat. They make the connection between that and what they're up to.

The Radical Call for Social Justice

But the Quran goes even further, and what it does is something really powerful, and I dare use the word radical. This is the main point I want to share with you today. Though there's tons of stuff on my mind, I just want to get these 30 minutes to at least share something coherent with you.

So this call is made, and one aspect of this call, the Quran goes after this messenger who is at this point being deemed crazy, and very few people are following him, and there's basically warnings going out, don't listen to him, he's insane, etc. People are ridiculing him in the streets, etc. Part of the call that's given to him is to directly warn those that are the most powerful in that society about what they're doing.

The Practice of Female Infanticide

The Arabs had some really messed up practices back in the day. For instance, they thought that having a son is a sign of manhood, and having a daughter is a blemish on your manhood. It's like a shame that you have a daughter.

So a lot of Arabs, when they would have, especially higher ups in society, if they would have a daughter, I think the Muslims here know what they would do. What would they do? They'd bury the baby girl alive. It was a practice by the elite of that society.

It existed at that time. Now the Quran comes, and this man who's being claimed to be insane, claimed to be just brushed aside, this passage is revealed to him, and he recites it out loud in public. It's a passage about the Day of Judgment, when the sun is wrapped up.

And when the stars start falling apart. When wild animals are herded together. When the ocean boils over.

When the earth is stretched. When people start coming out of their graves. When graves are turned topsy-turvy.

And all of a sudden, in the middle of this discussion about Judgment Day, and this really cataclysmic stuff that's gonna happen, what is mentioned in the middle

- And when the baby girl that was buried alive will be asked, what crime were you killed for?

Or what crime was she killed for? In the middle of this discussion about Judgment Day, there's this talk about the evil that is happening in that society, and nobody dare question it.

Nobody dare question it before these verses. And he starts directly challenging those.

Treatment of Orphans

For example, another filthy practice, was the orphan has no backing.

You know, the orphan of that time was like basically the illegal immigrant. Has no rights. You can do whatever you want with him.

You don't have to pay him. What's he gonna do? You wanna stay in this country? Get to work. Maybe I'll give you some water.

You know, you can abuse the rights of those who don't have a certain status. And in tribal society, having parents, having tribe, having some backing, family backing, is your legal status. So in this tribal society, orphans were just pushed around.

Orphans were like the worst kind of victim. The Quran comes, and starts calling people out for pushing the orphans.

So that is the one who repels the orphan.

What kind of prayer does he make? You know, these religious, the economic elite, they had to show people that they're also very religious, because that's what gave them their legitimacy, and then they could do whatever filthy practices they had.

So the Quran talks about them praying to show off, and then they push the orphan around at the same time. What kind of prayer is this?

Prayer is supposed to soften your heart, and this is what you do with an orphan? You know,

Those who make show [of their deeds] and refuse [simple[ assistance.

They're so cheap, they don't even give a little in charity? That's what their reality is? Why is it that you find them talking to people about religion, their religion, and calling about their God, but you never hear them talk about the rights of the poor, and the rights of the needy, because they themselves are the oppressors against the needy.

The Integration of Faith and Justice

The point I'm trying to make is one of the first and most offensive calls made by Muhammad (صلى الله عليه وسلم) in his lifetime that is recorded in history, is that he called for social justice.

And he didn't separate a belief in God with a call for justice, he combined these two things. It was as though if you believe in God, there is no other way but to do what God demands, and God is a just, merciful God, and so we have to have a just, merciful society here. What he has in the heavens should be here.

That's what his call was. And that's what shook the Arab world.

The Unprecedented Transformation

And here's where I'm leaving you in my 30-minute split, even though I told you I'll talk about my other stuff, but I won't.

I'll leave you with this. How many years did I say the revelation came to him, and he made this call? 23 years. And I've given you some sort of a picture of what kind of society this was 23 years ago.

Within 23 years, within 23 years, the economics, the politics, the sociology, the way women were treated, the way inheritance was delivered, the way baby girls were treated, the way children were treated, the relationship between husband and wife, the relationship between people of different races, because there was extreme forms of racism in Arab society at the time, the way different races were treated, all of it was completely transformed. I mean completely transformed.

The Example of Islamic Prayer and Diversity

If you've ever seen a Muslim prayer, just to talk about racism for a moment, if you've ever seen a Muslim prayer, a Muslim prayer is Muslim men standing in a row, based on ethnicity, age, what's the standard? They're standing, is the time up? Okay.

Alright. I've done this enough times. Okay.

So you'll go to any average mosque in the area, for example, in Dallas. Dallas is less cosmopolitan. I come from New York City originally.

And in New York, when you go into a mosque, a masjid, you'll find like 50 nations represented in every row. It's extremely diverse. It's extremely diverse, right? Even prayer represents that.

Go to Hajj. Hajj is a pilgrimage every year. You might see some footage of it here and there, you know, on CNN or whatever, right? People from all over the world, all walks of life, that are sharing the same iman, and that are considered equals, just in regards to iman, you know.

Historical Precedent of Rapid Social Change

These, you know, in 23 years, this transformation takes place. It's not that people carry his message and give it strength and establish it in society way after he's gone. That's what happens with many philosophies, by the way.

A philosophical idea is generated, it's presented to society, society chews on it for a couple of years, maybe decades, maybe centuries, and eventually it becomes a reality in that society. This is almost an unprecedented historical incident, where the man presenting the ideals, the man presenting the claim, himself in his own lifetime, within two decades, has established a society based on those claims, based on those principles.

A Story of Justice from Early Islamic History

And the sensitivity, the justice these people had, what we read as Muslim children, what we read about the first generation of Muslims, is incredible.

I know I said this last thing, but let me show you a quick story with you. I promise I'll stop after that.

Who's not even here? Oh, it's here.

That's a challenge. The aura hasn't reached you yet. I'll show you this really quick story with you.

So one of the closest companions of the Prophet, very high up, very highly regarded in the community, he was living in Medina, and he ended up in a dispute with a Jewish man. He was walking by, and he saw the Jewish man hold a shield, you know, sword and shield, back in the day.

He looks at the shield and goes, that's my shield.

I've been looking for that for months. And the Jewish man goes, no, this is my shield. What are you talking about? So they get into it.

And they go to the ruler, who's of course Muslim. They go to Omar ibn al-Khattab. They go to him and they say, you need to take this trial before you.

The Trial Before Omar ibn al-Khattab

The ruler back in the day was also the judge. So they're at the Supreme Court at this point, and the Jewish man is standing there, and Ali is standing there, and of course, Omar knows which one really, really well at this point. He doesn't know the Jewish man.

And they go way back. They fought in battle together. They've lived many years together.

They've been by the side of the Prophet together. They're very close. And in the Arab world, one of the ways to give people a nickname is to call them by their son's name.

Oh, father of so and so. So instead of calling him Ali, he calls him Ya Aba Hussain. Ya Aba Hassan.

So what's the deal, father of Hassan? And that's a term of endearment. It's a term of endearment. So he, obviously, because he knows him, he used that term.

And he tells him his story. He tells him what his perspective is. The shield is mine.

I lost it. This guy had it. Clearly it's mine.

He makes his case. Now he goes to the Jewish guy. And he says, so what's your story? What's your story?

And Ali stops him.

Ali's Sensitivity to Justice

He goes, wait. You called me by a nickname. Why did you say to him, hey, what's your story? You should have called him by a nickname too.

You're not just. I don't want this case. You win.

He walks away. He walks away. They're sensitive to justice.

This is what we're taught as children. About how sensitive you have to be to principles of justice. How sensitive you have to be.

Because that is the backbone of this religion. What gave it its strength in the very beginning was these two things could never be separated.

You couldn't be a strong believer in God and then not be just.

The Day of Judgment and Justice

Because you have to answer to Him. There's a day of justice coming. You know one of the words for judgment day in Arabic is

.

In the first surah,

. Deen means when everybody gets exactly what they deserve. Exactly.

Penny for penny what they deserve. So a Muslim is cognizant of that and becomes extremely worried about delivering justice to others.

Delivering justice to others.

This is the heart of the religion. It's at the heart of the religion.

Conclusion and Recommendations

And this conversation, unfortunately, I'll be honest with you, isn't common.

Not among Muslims and not among non-Muslims. And it's a tragedy to the religion itself. I started by saying there's a distinction between Muslims and the religion.

The texts itself. The sources themselves. An honest study of the texts yields a very different picture than what you may be used to seeing.

So I would encourage all of you to take some time out and read about the book, read about the Quran on your own time, on your own terms, and make up your own mind. When somebody already has a conclusion made, I will present the religion from a point of view of iman because I'm a firm believer in it.

So I have what you call a faith bias.

But at the same time, somebody who hates Islam is going to talk about Islam and he has a hate bias. Bias is bias. So you need to come to it, leave us aside, and read up on it yourself.

Make up your own mind. Don't let anybody else make your mind up for you. And one of the books I'd really like to recommend to all of you, written by a wonderful professor of Youngstown University in Ohio, is Select Passages from the Quran.

Recommended Reading

Select Passages from the Quran. Easy reading. It's published, I believe, by the University of Michigan.

I could be wrong about that. But it's an excellent book. An easy read.

It's not preachy at all. It's just talking about the Quran from a literary point of view. So those who are interested in the book as a primer, as a first-time reader, it would be a phenomenal resource.

Closing Remarks

I sincerely thank you for paying attention even though food was here. And I apologize for taking over my time after the food is being delivered and you're munching away. Then I'll welcome any questions that I'm able to answer.

Thank you so much. (السَّلَامُ عَلَيْكُمْ - Peace be upon you).