Changing the Narrative About Islam

Changing the Narrative About Islam

Opening: Gratitude and Introduction

(Allahu Akbar, Bismillahir-Rahmanir-Rahim, Alhamdulillah). I bear witness that there is no deity worthy of worship except Allah, and that Muhammad is His Servant and Messenger.

Brothers and sisters, every one of you, I am thankful to Allah the Almighty to have the privilege to address you tonight for just a few minutes.

The Central Question: Our Future in America

Everyone is asking the question: What will be the future of Muslims in America? Answer? What do you want it to be? What do you want the future of America to be? And what are you prepared to do to make it the way you want it to be?

You know who you are. You're a Muslim. You're a follower of Muhammad, sallallahu alayhi wa sallam. You're a human being. You're special.

A Story About Recognition and Purpose

I remember a few months ago I'm in the airport in Atlanta, Georgia, and I'm going through security. And as I'm walking through security I notice there was a security man with a dog, and the dog was smelling everybody. It even smelled me. And he's going around, and I'm watching. And it came across an African American man, and that dog responded as if it smelled something. And it was smelling, and it was making noise, and I knew that he found something.

It was a white security guard, and therefore when the dog did that, I took out my social media. I'm going to check this out. And I'm waiting for the security man to come out and beat down that man. I'm waiting, and I got my phone ready. And as I'm watching the man, he started laughing. And then he got out of line, and he walked away. And I knew what happened. Every once in a while they put a plant to make sure that the dog is aware and active.

And when I think about that, I think about what Allah said in Quran. I seek refuge in Allah from the accursed Satan:

"Do you not see that Allah has subjected to you everything in the heavens and the earth?"

Don't you see that Allah has subjected for you everything in the heavens and the earth? Do you know that dogs have a sense of smelling over 100 million times more than human beings? This is the gift that Allah has given to man.

My question is, what will be the future of America? And what do you want it to be? And what are you going to do about it? What are you going to do?

Understanding Who We Are

So brothers and sisters, I want us to take a moment to take a look at ourselves and who we are. Who are we? Can I be honest with you tonight? Can I be honest with you tonight?

Last Sunday I'm hearing the news that a church in Egypt was blown up while people were worshipping. And I cried, I cried for two reasons. Number one, I cried because there were human beings there worshipping God as they believed, the God that they believed in. Made me cry that they would lose their lives to such violent means.

And then I cried because people who did it claimed to be Muslim.

Facing Reality: Muslims Can Make Mistakes

Now, I am like the most of you. I am not a scholar of Islam. Sheikh Abdul Rahman Khan, you heard him earlier, he's a scholar. Sheikh Yasir Qadhi, you're going to hear him a little while, he's a scholar in Islam. I'm just a regular guy, I'm just like you. I walk the streets just like you, and you know what? I feel the same way you feel. I talk to you, I listen to you.

And you know what you're saying? And you know, you're so sincere, and you know, you're so pure, and so naive that you think that a Muslim couldn't do it.

I quote my mother. She told me, "Son, people are people." Is it possible that Muslims did it? Yes. Why? Because 1400 years ago, when Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) was Khalifa, we had a group there known as Khawarij. These were Muslim extremists who fought against other Muslims, who killed Muslims.

Media Bias and Double Standards

Monday I'm reading the newspaper: "Christians butchered and slaughtered in Egypt" – front line page. Every newspaper, "Christians slaughtered."

The fact of the matter is, every day Muslims are slaughtered, and you never see a sign "Muslims slaughtered." Why is it? Why is it the standard that we want to rise the people against the Muslims, but when Muslims are slaughtered nobody says anything? Muslims are slaughtered in masjids across the world, and every once in a while you look at CNN and you see a little scroll going by: "Muslims killed in masjid."

So the question is, what are we going to do about it?

First Response: Stay and Fight

Two things I have to say, and I'm going to say it in a couple of minutes and then I'm going to finish. What is our response?

Some of you are saying, "Oh man, I'm getting out of here." You know when Trump was running for president in the very beginning, we would joke: "Trump become president, I'm getting my passport and I'm getting out of the country." And we were joking. And when he became president, we said, "Oh."

An imam, a friend of mine from Pakistan in Brooklyn, told me with tears in his eyes. He said, "Imam, one third of my jamaat left and went to either Canada or Pakistan." And this was before the present administration.

Muslims are fleeing, Muslims are leaving America.

I'm not telling you not to leave. I'm telling you I'm not leaving.

America is Our Home

There's where I live, there's a Korean store that I go to. I go there every week to get one newspaper – can't get that newspaper anywhere else. Whenever they see me coming, they get the newspaper and they give it to me. Been going there for years. Korean store owned by Koreans, workers Koreans.

One day I go to the store to get my newspaper, and the worker said to me, for the first time she spoke to me, she said, "Where you from?"

I said, "I'm from United States of America."

She said, "No no no, where you really from?"

I said, "America."

"Where your parents from?"

"America."

She said, "But your dress, your clothing."

I said, "Oh, I'm a Muslim."

She said, "Ah, terrorism."

She was joking, but still it showed a mindset.

Learning to Fight Back

What are we going to do? I'm recommending to all of you: Don't go back home. This is your home. Stay here and fight.

How do you fight? How do you fight? I said Yasir Qadhi is a scholar, but we have Muslims in our ranks – real heroes. Can I tell you a real hero in our ranks? A Muslim sister named Linda Sarsour. She's a hero. She's teaching us how to fight back.

I watched her in Faiza Ali in New York City, and they were demonstrating, and they were arrested. And I was proud of them. When they were being arrested, taken to jail because they were fighting. The people in this country, America, they know how to fight back. They know how to organize. And Linda was part of a group of organizing women all over the world. She did it. She's one of us. She's one of us, and she's an activist.

Umar Suleiman is an activist. They know how to fight back. They ain't running away. They ain't eating – they're not eating no rabbit meat. You know what that means? Later on I'll explain what rabbit meat is. We're from Brooklyn, Linda and me, we're from Brooklyn. Brooklyn don't eat no rabbit meat. Brooklyn know how to fight back.

Understanding the System

So therefore you and I have to learn. You say, you know what? Understand how the system works. All these Republicans, you know, talk about "We're going to replace, we're going to repeal Obamacare." And the people in their district, they got together and had these townhouse meetings. And when those Republican leaders, Congressmen, stood up, the people told them what they wanted. And some of them changed their mind. They didn't change their mind because they changed spiritually, but they changed their mind because the people made them change their mind.

These are people that are Americans, and they understand how to fight back. Muslims have to learn how to fight back. We ain't going nowhere. We ain't going nowhere.

So one thing, the last thing I want to say and then I'm going to finish: Understand how the system works. Understand it. And once you understand how the system works, you should use it for the good, not only of yourself, but the good of the rest of America, like the African Americans did. We got to fight back.

Second Response: Speak Out Against Oppression

Number two, number two, number two. We must do what the Prophet said, alayhi salatu wa salam:

(Sahih al-Bukhari 2444)

"Unsur akhaka dhaliman aw madhluman" – Help your brother if he's oppressed or an oppressor.

And how you help him if he's an oppressor? Stop him from his oppression.

Muslims have to get out of the point to think that we can't condemn other Muslims. We will condemn other Muslims if other Muslims are wrong, whoever they are. We don't care because it's about Allah and His

messenger. It's about following the Quran and the Sunnah.

A Lesson from the Prophet's Time

And I'll tell you why. I'll give you something that happened 1400 years ago. I want you to think about as I conclude.

The Prophet, peace and blessing be upon him, sent an expedition out and put a man among the Ansar as the leader, and told them to obey him and to follow him. And he went out on the expedition.

A Muslim, who the Prophet, peace and blessing be upon him, told them to follow him – he's a Muslim – he got angry at them. And he asked them, he invoked the Prophet, peace and blessing be upon him. He asked them, "Did the Prophet say obey me?" They said yes. He said, "I order you to build a fire." So they built a fire. And then he said, "I order you to go into the fire."

And they were looking at one another and they looked at the fire. Some of them considered to go into the fire. One of them said, "That we followed the Prophet to avoid the fire, not to go into the fire."

So the fire went out and the anger of this man, this Ansar, went away. And they came back to the Prophet and told him what happened.

The Prophet's Response: Obedience is Only in What is Right

And let me tell you what the Prophet said, peace and blessing be upon him. I'll give you three narrations:

One narration is: "Had they gone in that fire, they would not have come out, because obedience is only toward what is right, what's known." (Sahih al-Bukhari 7257)

Second: "Had they gone into that fire, they would not have come out until the day of judgment, because obedience is only toward what is right."

And the third one is the scariest of them all: "Had they gone in that fire, they never would have come out, because obedience is only toward what is right."

Standing Against Injustice Everywhere

What am I saying? There are people in the name of Islam are doing things that are so outrageous. I don't have to look to the Quran and see if it's okay to get in a car or truck and run over people. My fitrah, my very nature, tells me that this isn't right to do.

Muslims must speak out against every kind of atrocity that exists, but not only when Muslims do it. We have to be strong enough that even in our country, our leaders are saying something that's wrong, we have to stand up against it. And we are against that – anyone who does any injustice everywhere. Muslims speak out against it.

Supporting Muslim Organizations

So now, in my opinion – this is my opinion, don't get mad – I have supported every Muslim organization in America. I love them. Islamic Society of North America, I love them. CAIR, I love them. Muslim Legal Fund, love them. MAS, love them. MANOR, love them. MUNA, love them.

My opinion: that that organization that does the most is ICNA, Islamic Circle of North America. And I say this without prejudice. I say this without prejudice. If you want to fight back in a real practical way, support all your organizations.

A Personal Testimony

I need your help. I see my daughter who's just sitting there. I need your help. Somewhere in this audience, I think my wife is, Sister Wadia. Is she in the audience? If anyone is near my wife Wadia, please raise your hand. Let me see where she is. You see anybody? Where? Can she stand up please? Where are you? Honey? Come up. Come on up. Yeah, come on up.

She's saying, "What in the heck is this man doing?" And this is unrehearsed. Yeah, come on up. Yeah, come on up. Come right this way. By the way, she's a very private person. This is killing her right now. Come on, this way. Oh what a wonderful woman.

Now let me tell you, let me tell you why, let me tell you why I brought her up here. Two weeks ago I was getting dressed Saturday. She said to me, "Where you going now?"

I said, "I'm going to ICNA, ICNA Relief in Manhattan, in the Marriott Hotel."

She said, "What is it for? Why you raise her money?"

I said, "A women's shelter."

And she said, "Here, here's a check." She wrote me a check, it was a thousand dollars. I didn't give her no sermons, no Hadith. I didn't ask for it. She just gave me a check.

The reason she's here today, I'm going to do something I never did before. I want you to have mercy on me, right? She is a contributor, a regular contributor to ICNA. I'm going to give her the mic. Whatever she makes a commitment for ICNA, I'm going to make the same commitment and add a dollar. Mashallah, I have no idea what she's going to say. Have mercy on me, right.

Mashallah, I'd like to contribute two thousand dollars.

Mashallah, thank you so much. I know, by the way, she already gave two thousand dollars at the luncheon. So that's two thousand, two thousand for me. That's two thousand, two thousand one dollars for me. Two thousand, four thousand and one dollar to me.

Honoring Community Leaders

I want to bring another person: Is brother Uthman Abdelkader. Where are you? Uthman, come. You don't even know why you're clapping. Why are you clapping?

I'll tell you something about this man, who he is. One of the most beloved brothers to me. I'll tell you who he is. How many of you, I've been to your communities, raise your hand. How many, raise your hand, I've been to your communities. Uthman look around, look at this.

You know why I'm able to do this and travel? This is my assistant Uthman, Abdelkader. This is the one who hold it down. This is the one who hold it down for me. Every weekend, every weekend in another city, another country – is this man who hold the masjid down. I love him. And without him I couldn't do what I do. This is the kind of people that we have.

Now I'm going to ask him a question. He's a naib, he's an assistant, and basically the people will accept me and him. I'm going to give him the mic, and I want him to tell me how much does he recommend that the Masjid al- Taqwa will raise. This is not rehearsed. He may say like, you know, a dollar, I have no idea. But I'm going to give him the mic.

Assalamu alaikum. Five thousand.

Thank you so much. Thank you, thank you so much. From Sudan, Uthman. Behold, Uthman.