Islamic Sharia Law An Opportunity or Threat to America

Islamic Sharia Law: An Opportunity or Threat to America?

By Imam Siraj Wahhaj

Opening Greetings and Introduction

(السَّلَامُ عَلَيْكُمْ، بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَٰنِ الرَّحِيمِ، الْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ، أَشْهَدُ أَنْ لَا إِلَٰهَ إِلَّا اللَّهُ وَحْدَهُ لَا شَرِيكَ لَهُ، وَأَشْهَدُ أَنَّ مُحَمَّدًا عَبْدُهُ وَرَسُولُهُ، الْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ - As-salamu alaykum, bismillah ar-rahman ar-raheem, alhamdulillah, ashhadu an la ilaha illallahu wahdahu la sharika lah, wa ashhadu anna muhammadan abduhu wa rasuluhu, alhamdulillah.)

Brothers and sisters, I am so grateful for ICNA and MAS for convening us together to come here this weekend, a weekend of fellowship, getting to know one another, to be with one another, going shopping in the bazaar and praying together. But most of all, we thank ICNA for bringing these speakers, the scholars, the teachers, the shuyukh to teach us. It's been a wonderful two days, and now the question is what do we take back?

Personal Disclaimer

I would like to prefix my comments that what I speak here today, don't blame ICNA, don't blame MAS. I don't speak for Sheikh Bukhari. Even though I am the Amir of MANA, what I say today doesn't represent the position of MANA. I am the Imam of Masjid At-Taqwa, but what I'm about to say doesn't represent the Masjid. So those of you in the media, what I'm going to say, don't blame them. Everybody's nervous now.

Exposing the Magic: A Magician's Secret Revealed

Friday 2008 was an historic program on TV. And I know none of you watch TV, but if ever I were to get you to watch a television program, it was a series. And the name of the series was Magic's Biggest Secrets Revealed. And the star of the show, Val Valentino, did something that no magician is supposed to do. He exposed the tricks. He did some programs, some tricks that had been done for centuries. He did it and then after doing it, he exposed how it was done. Anybody see it? It was on Fox. Fox preceded by a warning telling viewers that they should not watch if they do not want to know how the tricks are performed.

Tonight, I'm going to expose the tricks. If you don't want to know how the tricks are done, you should go now and leave.

Personal Experience: The First World Trade Center Bombing Case

Eighteen years ago, there was a case in New York City, the first World Trade Center bombing. During the trial, Mary Jo White, U.S. attorney, said this. Before I say that, let me say what Muawiyah said, he said, that there's no real wisdom without experience. And what I'm about to tell you is not based on something that they told me. It is based on personal experience.

Listen to what her words said, word for word, verbatim: "Ladies and gentlemen, enclosed is the list of unindicted persons who may be alleged as co-conspirators. The list is not exhaustive and as always is the case, the government's investigation is continuing. If we discover missing names, they will be added." Mary Jo White, U.S. attorney.

On the list of 171 Muslims, some very prominent Muslims in America, number 158 on the list was a man by the name of Siraj Wahaj, me. Number 159 on the list is the Sudanese mission to the United Nations. Hocus Pocus, a trick. How long ago was it? Eighteen years ago. And the words "may be alleged as co-conspirator," has become "co-conspirator," have become "the conspirator of World Trade Center." And all of these things that they have said about me.

Why This Conference Matters Despite the Challenges

Imam, why you mentioned that? Because as well meaning as this conference is, it's a great conference. The topics were wonderful. To talk about the Sharia is great because the Sharia is being attacked. All of that is great. ICNA has done a wonderful job. But the magicians are here and they're coming to do their magic.

The Magic of Media Manipulation

After that list came out, I was on the front page of some of the local newspapers in New York City. ABC contacted me. They said, "Imam Siraj, we want to come and do a story about your name being on the list of 171 people co-conspirators of the World Trade Center." I said, "You can come, but I have to give a lecture tonight so I only have a little bit of time." They said, "Okay."

They came to my office and they interviewed me for two hours. Brother Yassir will tell you and others that whenever you are being interviewed by the media, you have to be real careful because things they can take out of context. And sometimes we don't do pretty good, but that day I did great, if I must say so myself. I was in real form, boy, I was ready form. I was fighting them. Two hours. And you know what? Allah blessed me, they could find nothing in two hours.

So what they said, "Oh, Mr. Wahaj, we want to get one more shot of you as you're going into your car." I said, "Okay." And as I took my car on the way to give a lecture at a university, they were filming me as I got in my car and drove away.

That night the word went out, Imam Siraj is going to be on WABC. And they're going to have an interview with Imam Siraj. Everybody, calling everybody, you know you got to turn on 11 o'clock news. Imam Siraj is going to be on. They interviewed him. My family got around, we all got together. You know, two hours of interviewing, it's got to be something good and positive.

Headlines, story: Imam Siraj Wahaj on the list, unindicted co-conspirator. And so when it came on, you know what they showed? They showed me with my back to the camera, running to my car as if I had nothing to say. That's magic. That's magic. You couldn't find anything because you had an agenda. It's the magic of the media.

The New Terrorists: Modern Day Witch Hunt

And so today, I want to expose the magic of the media. Now, I was hoping that my good buddy, Numan Ali Khan would be here by now and he's not here. I want to talk about him. Because Sheikh Numan Ali Khan, are you in the audience? You got to hurry up, get up here. I want to talk about you. Because Sheikh Numan Ali Khan, you know him? Beautiful brother? Well, be careful, he's the new terrorist. Oh, yeah.

Now, you know, by the way, any of you want to make money? The sure way right now, the greatest industry to make money is to write a book against Islam, guaranteed to make money. So Bridget Gabriel wrote a book called, "They Must Be Stopped: A Survivor's of Islamic Terror." And in this book, she names one of the new terrorists, Numan Ali Khan. And why? Why is he a terrorist?

You know what I did? I got the book, I read it, I turned on the index and I looked for the usual names. Okay, Siraj Wahaj, all right. I know, I know Siraj Wahaj, he's a terrorist, I know. But then I saw Numan Ali Khan. I said, wait a minute, page 105. Oh boy, here's the evidence.

Numan Ali Khan, the new terrorist, what did he say? Listen carefully, he said, "Preparation for Death" in the sermon. Preparation for death, that's it. And oh, Dr. Jamal Badawi, he's also a terrorist. What did he say? He gave a talk entitled, "The Life in the Grave." Wow. Hocus Pocus. Ah, Jawad Ahmed. What did he talk about? He gave a speech to the youth entitled, "Do You Want to Go to Paradise?" And then she said, he began his lecture with the words, "This should be the goal in life of every Muslim, I want to go to Jannah."

Our Response to Opposition

So brothers and sisters, what am I saying? There are those who don't like us. It's okay, I don't mind. But at least be honest. You want to do something with Numan Ali Khan? Let him give lectures in colleges and universities. Let him go to the synagogues and the churches. Let him go to the politicians. Let him go to the government. Let him go to the President of the United States of America and let him teach Islam and you see America will be a better place.

Lessons from Prophet Musa and the Magicians

But I learned something. I learned something. I learned something. Prophet Musa, he had to deal with magicians. Allah blessed them. They said, "Should we throw first or you throw first?" He said, "You throw first." And when they threw down their tricks and their deception, Musa alayhi salat wa salam, Moses, came and ate up their deception and those magicians then accepted Islam and they followed Prophet Moses.

Transforming Hearts Through Direct Engagement

And I learned something. One of the local television stations, I'm not going to mention his name because I don't want to get him in trouble. He said something negative against Imam Siraj. And I have a brother in my

community named Ali Abdul Kareem, may Allah bless him, Hafizahullah. This is the kind of brother, every time something negative is on TV, in the newspaper, he calls them up, he talks to them, he goes to see them and he goes to correct them.

So this man who did the story, the negative story against Imam Siraj, Ali Abdul Kareem challenged him. So the man came to see me and did an interview with me. And in the end of the interview, he said to Ali, "That's a good man." And then he made a new story and he put it out on television, a very positive statement about Imam Siraj Wahaj.

Continuing Our Work Under Strong Leadership

So what do I say? What's my point? My point is, is we must continue what we're doing under the capable leadership of President Bukhari and ICNA and MAS and all of us, we must continue to do what we're doing.

But I would like to end with this, something for you to consider.

The Real Question: Sharia as Threat or Opportunity

The question before us, is the Sharia a threat to America or is the Sharia good for America? You see brothers and sisters, the trap that we fall into is having a premature discussion about Sharia when we're not there yet.

A Letter That Changed Everything

And I'm finished with this. I got a letter in the mail a few weeks ago. And the letter was written by a Muslim sister. She said, "Imam Siraj, you don't know me. I'm married to a Muslim man who just got out of prison after spending 12 years in prison. He just got out, he's practicing his Islam after being 12 years in prison."

And she said, "Imam Siraj, while he was in prison, he got a hold of your tapes. And he said, for those 12 years in prison, he existed off of the tapes of Imam Siraj. You helped him, helped him to learn about his religion." She said, "Imam, here is his name and here is his phone number. If you would call him, it would make his day." And then she said, "No, it would make his month." And then she said, "No, it would make his year."

So I'm driving to Maryland and I get the number and I call. The brother answered the phone. I said, "This is Imam Siraj Wahaj." He said, "This is who?" I said, "This is Imam Siraj Wahaj." "No, it's not." "Yes, it is." So after doing that for 10 minutes, he realized it was me.

He was so happy to learn just that Imam Siraj took the time to call this man that he doesn't know, he just came out of prison and yet Imam Siraj, the celebrity, is calling him. And then he told me that he was part of a gang. He was in prison. He told me he had committed murder but now he's a Muslim and now he wants to go and get all the gangs and teach them Islam.

Islam: The True Solution for America

You know, brothers and sisters, I'm telling you, Islam is great for America. We have brothers there from Masjid

At-Taqwa, brother Ibrahim Abdul Hakim, one of my great companions, sitting there in the audience. If you ask Ibrahim or ask Uthman Abdul Qadir from Masjid At-Taqwa, the Naib of Masjid At-Taqwa. If you ask them, how many Muslims do we come to our masjid every week coming from prison? First thing they do, they want to come to the masjid. They're coming from prison. We have 350,000 Muslims in the prisons of America and every day they're coming out.

A Recent Transformation Story

Two weeks ago, Tuesday, ten minutes before Salat al-Dhuhr, brother came knocking on my door, said, "Imam Siraj, there's a man, a stranger, a non-Muslim who came into the masjid, took off his shoes, sat in a chair and started crying. And he said, I need help. What should we do, Imam?" I said, "You bring him to my office." And they said his wife was sitting in the car parked outside, so they both came into my office. And I told them that we're about to make prayer. "You make yourself comfortable in my office and when prayer's over, I'll come back to you."

First thing I did with the brother, the big man, African-American, 22 years in corrections. First thing I did, I stood him up and I hugged him. I said, "You're a nice man and I'll be right back." We went and made prayer and we came back. The man was crying because he said, "I have to guide my family. I need to be a Muslim."

He took shahada Tuesday, gave me his phone number, his address, his apartment, said, "Imam Siraj, make sure somebody come get me Friday. I want to go to the prayer." Uthman will tell you, he came to the masjid last Friday. We gave him Islamic literature. I wasn't there Friday. I don't know whether he came back Friday or not. I'm not sure.

The Daily Transformation Happening Across America

And this is happening all over America. People coming out of prison, drug dealers, drug addicts, heroin addicts, cocaine heads, all of them coming. They're coming into Islam. Prostitutes are coming into Islam every day and they're being cleaned up all over America. You don't know what they used to be like. We know what they were like. And now they're Muslims. Outstanding Muslims in America are in some of these masjids and you would never recognize where they came from unless they told you. That's the beauty of Islam.

Understanding the Real Point: Message and Method

And I close with this. You talking about, you talking about sharia, you're missing the point, man. You know, sharia is this some like impersonal kind of, you know, cutting off the head and as the sheikh said, you know, and stoning someone to death. But you don't see the beauty of Islam.

I close by an opinion of Aisha radiya Allahu anha. I agree with her 100%. And think about this. One of my sheikhs, Sheikh Jafar Idrees from Sudan, he used to tell me, he says, "Siraj, Al-Quran is a message and a method. It is a message and a method. It's not only a message, it is a method."

The Wisdom of Aisha: Allah's Methodology

Aisha radiya Allahu anha, she said, "If the first thing that was revealed by Al-Quran, if the first thing that was revealed, thou shalt not drink wine. The people would have said, 'I don't drink. We will never stop drinking wine.' And if Allah had revealed that you should not commit adultery, the people would have said, 'We are not going to stop committing adultery.'''

What does that mean? It means Allah is showing us how to do it. America won't be successful because they bring sharia. America will become successful because they bring down the very foundation of faith.

Building Strong Foundations

Someone asked the question, "How long will the building stand?" Answer: "How strong is the foundation?"

Our children in America, Muslim children, trying to be Muslims in America, sometimes it's difficult for them because they want to fit in, be like their schoolmates. They want to be like everybody else, so sometimes it's difficult for the Muslim children to fit in. And therefore, when a Muslim child does something against the parents, against Islam, when they smoke reefer or they drink wine or they drink beer or they go to the club, then the parent, they don't know what to do.

The True Method of Change

But as long as you remember that Al-Islam, that Al-Quran is a message and a method, how you get them from stop smoking reefer is not telling them stop smoking reefer. How you get them from stop smoking weed and going to the clubs and drinking wine and getting high and going to the prom, how you stop them is teach them as the Prophet did, the very foundation is the love of Allah and the love of the messenger and the foundation of Islam.

And if you give them the foundation of Islam, I promise you, sooner or later, they'll stop smoking reefer and they'll start making prayer again because they have to be back connected to Allah, the Almighty, and when they're connected to Allah, the Almighty, they'll be alright and they'll be in America and they will be example for their schoolmates and those other non-Muslims in the society. They will be the best examples for them.

Closing Remarks and Call to Action

Now brothers and sisters, wonderful conference, wonderful conference and it's not over yet. I'm going to take my seat. But before I do, I want to do something that we've never done before in my estimation at an ICNA conference.

I think that ICNA is a wonderful organization. It has grown, it is powerful, it's attractive, it brings scholars, it brings the people, they got good ideas and they got wonderful programs and they're working and you've seen

them work for years. I would like to take maybe five minutes to show our gratitude for ICNA for the work that it's done, number one, and number two, the partnership with ICNA.

Supporting Serious Work Requires Serious Commitment

I'm going to ask you for some money, but I'm not going to ask you for a lot of money. I want to just put this figure in front of you. I'm going to ask you and see if you agree with me. I needed that takbir. I need that one too. I probably need one more. All right.

Now brothers and sisters, I think, see if you agree with me. I think that ICNA is a very serious organization. Yes? Okay. I think that you're serious people.

Examples of Serious Institutions

I'm going to quote two things, let you think about it, and then I'm going to ask you for some money for ICNA. Not far from here, there is a school called Phillips Academy. It's in Andover, Massachusetts. They have 1,100 students. It's a high school and they're serious. You know how serious they are? Their tuition is $41,300 a year. Serious? But you know what? They pay for it. They pay for it because what it brings to them, number one.

Number two, Le Rosey High School, a private high school in Switzerland, you know how much their tuition is? Their tuition is over $85,000 a year. $85,000 a year. $85,000 a year. That's $85,000 a year. And you know what? They pay it. And you know why they pay it? Because they're serious.

Are We Serious About Our Work?

The question is, are the Muslims serious? Lip service doesn't mean you're serious. Clapping doesn't prove that you're serious. Saying Takbir doesn't prove that you're serious. One of the ways to show that you're serious is coming to the conference like you did. But another way to show how serious we are is what we give.