Detention of Immigrants

Imam Zaid Shakir - Detention of Immigrants

Opening Greetings and Acknowledgments

(السَّلَامُ عَلَيْكُمْ وَرَحْمَةُ اللَّهِ وَبَرَكَاتُهُ - Ass-salāmu alaykum wa-rahmatu Llāhi wa-barakātuh). And all of the other organizers and organizations which are working on behalf of Muslim detainees and others whose constitutional rights have been usurped.

These few minutes, (إِنْ شَاءَ اللَّهُ - in shā'a Llāh), I will address my comments primarily to Muslims. And I apologize to the non-Muslim guests if something that we say is of no relevance. But, (إِنْ شَاءَ اللَّهُ - in sha'a Llah), there will be benefit for the non-Muslim guests also in the meantime.

Speaking Truth to Power

Imam Siraj mentioned if I could go and talk to President Bush or Mr. Bush for 75 minutes. I said, I wouldn't go. He said, we have to go. And it reminded me of a story of Mu'awiyah, I think, was with Captain Pace, was sitting in his company and he was in total silence. And all the other people were chit-chatting. And he said, why are you silent? And he said, if I tell the truth, I fear you. And if I lie, I fear Allah. So, silence is probably the best course for me right now. So, we have to speak the truth.

There are many people who have, especially young people, who have a lot of fervor. And sometimes want to be involved in the struggle. But we're told that the best struggle the Muslim can engage in is to speak a word of truth in the face of a tyrannical ruler. So, if you want the best jihad, there's ample opportunity in these days and times. Because tyranny is stalking the land. And the truth is becoming a very scarce and precious commodity. So, if you possess it, you should share it with others.

The Necessity of Struggle and Planning for Survival

Brothers and sisters, we have to struggle. As Imam Siraj said, the legal struggle is an indispensable struggle. The struggle of advocacy work is an indispensable struggle. The struggle to establish schools and educational institutions is an indispensable struggle. We have to begin struggling and planning for our survival in this country.

One of the reasons that we're faced with the trials and tribulations of the last couple years is because we have not planned for our survival. We did not plan for our survival in this country. And as a result, when these problems came upon us, we had no legal endowments. We had no think tanks. We had no effective media institutions to present our story. And we lacked these things because we didn't even think about them. We did not even plan for our survival. And if anything, these events should wake us up to the fact that we have to begin, as Muslims, as a community, planning for our survival in this country. And that's going to involve a struggle.

Putting Religious Teachings into Practice

But it forces us to do the things the religion tells us to do anyway. We love to talk about what the religion says.

As Sister Aisha said, we give wonderful lessons about the rights of women. And sometimes we fall short. And in many times we don't. There are many Muslims doing wonderful things for our sisters. But many times we fall short.

In Ramadan, we love to give lectures about how Ramadan is the month of fasting where we empathize with the poor. We feel the pain of hunger. And then we proceed to eat more in the month of Ramadan than any other month. Ramadan, we wait to encourage our wives to make her famous basbusa. We have 11 months to eat the basbusa. But we wait till Ramadan. Ya Aisha, get in that kitchen please. I want that basbusa.

The Inevitability of Struggle in Islam

So the religion tells us what we have to do. Islam tells us we have to struggle. Islam tells us struggle is inevitable.

"You're struggling to meet your Lord, O human being, and surely you will meet Him."

You're struggling and toiling.

"Do the people think they will be left alone merely saying we believe and not be tested?"

So these tests are inevitable. These tests are inevitable. So we should begin working our way through them with our dignity intact.

Learning from the History of Struggle in America

One of the reasons that we thought, many of us thought that we would never have to struggle in America, that it would be the streets would continuously and perpetually be paved with gold. And there'd never be any need to struggle. But we forgot the struggle of those non-white people who preceded the Muslims here in America. And the poor whites. And the agitated whites. Such as John Brown. And before him, Daniel Shays. His famous rebellion. There have been people struggling in this country.

The Trail of Tears

As Imam Siraj said, the Indian Removal Act of 1830 precipitated what was known as the Trail of Tears. As the Cherokee and other eastern Indian nations were forcibly evicted. As the area east of the Mississippi was ethnically cleansed, to use one of today's terms. Many, many people died. So many died and so many suffered that the March of the Cherokee became known as the Trail of Tears. People struggled in this country. Indian people struggled.

The African American Struggle

African American people struggled in this country. The abolition movement and their allies, the Quakers and others, struggled with the forces of oppression in this country. And Frederick Douglass, one of the children of the abolitionist movement, said something that Muslims should never forget. He said, power concedes nothing without a demand. It never has and it never will.

What Muslims are confronting today is power. Concentrated, institutionalized power. And it will concede nothing without a demand. It never has from the beginning of this country. And it never will.

The Hawaiian Struggle

The Hawaiian people have struggled. Many of us forget the struggle of the Hawaiian people. The sovereign nation of Hawaii. Hawaii was a sovereign nation. Its constitution modeled after the British Constitution. Its flag very similar to the British flag. In 1893, the Hawaiian nation was stolen from their queen, Queen Lili'uokalani. It was stolen by a triumvirate that will sound very familiar to you. Big business, represented by the plantation owners at their helm, Sanford Dole. He of pineapple fame. Big business. The missionaries and the U.S. Marines stole the nation of Hawaii.

And Queen Lili'uokalani ordered her people not to fight. They had an army. It was a sovereign nation. They had a military. And she ordered her people not to fight because she relied on the goodwill of the President of the United States to correct this injustice. Unfortunately, an election occurred. And that goodwill president was replaced by a president not so inclined to do respectable and honorable things.

Ongoing Struggles of Various Communities

Brothers and sisters, the Indian people are still struggling. They're still struggling to get uranium dumps removed from their land. They're struggling to stop the people violating their burial grounds. People who are digging up their ancestral lands in seek of wealth. First they came for the gold. Then they came for the oil. Then they came for the uranium. They're still struggling.

The African American people are still struggling in this country. You may not know it, but African Americans have no constitutional right to vote. We vote based on a provision of the Voting Rights Act, which will expire in 2007. And if this cabal is still in power, you know, most African Americans are Democrats. You know, maybe we won't renew this right now.

So brothers and sisters, people have struggled, are still struggling. The Hawaiian people are still struggling for their sovereignty. You don't read about it. You read about the hula girls. But you don't read about a people so thoroughly exploited, they can't even live in their ancestral land. There are more Hawaiians on the west coast of the United States than in Hawaii. In Portland, Oregon and San Francisco and Los Angeles than there are in Hawaii. Because they can't afford to live there. Because the tourism and the expensive retirement homes and resorts and golf courses have driven up the land prices so high they can't afford to buy and build houses in Hawaii. So they're living in Portland and Seattle and San Francisco and Los Angeles. And they're struggling to get their land back. They're struggling, brothers and sisters.

Embracing the Struggle

So it's going to be a struggle. Allah Ta'ala told us it's going to be a struggle. The history of this country is telling us it's going to be a struggle. But it's a struggle we should embrace. Because if we embrace it, it will strengthen us. If we embrace it, it will allow us to discover that we have allies across the political, social and religious spectrum. There are a lot of good people in this country who are just as outraged and incensed by what's happening here as we as Muslims are. There are many good people. And we should reach out to them. And we should embrace them. And we should join our struggle with their struggle. Because we're all working ultimately for the same things. We're working for the same things.

Take a Stand and Stay

In conclusion, brothers and sisters, we want to remind you. And we say this at every opportunity. No matter where you come from, you shouldn't go anywhere as a Muslim. Don't go to Canada. Don't go to Pakistan. Don't go to Bangladesh or Egypt or anywhere. Stay right here. Make a stand. Take a stand. Because you have just as much right to be here as anyone else. Except the descendants of Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse. If they ask you to leave, think about it. Anyone else, you have just as much more right. Because Muslims were here before Columbus was here. And this is documented. And more and more evidence is emerging every day.

The Historical Presence of Muslims in America

Muslims were here. Muslims were suffering and dying here. Before America was even colonized. You have Muslims in the Spanish colonies. People such as Pedro Pilafo, who was killed in Mexico City in 1540 for propagating Islam. Or Luis Solano and Lope de la Peña, who were killed in Peru. No, one was killed and one was given a life sentence in Peru in 1560. Before America was colonized for teaching Islam to the indigenous people.

You have, during the period of colonization, you have people like Ayuba ibn Sulayman, Job ben Solomon, the fortunate slave. Taken, sold in Annapolis, Maryland in 1731. A religious scholar, whose story is incredible. And this isn't the time to recount it. But you had many Muslims during the colonial period.

And after this country was founded as a sovereign, independent nation, you have Muslims such as Ibrahim ibn Abd al-Rahman of Natchez, Mississippi. Sold into slavery in 1788 and liberated in 1828. And then throughout towards the end of slavery, the slavery period, in the 1850s and 60s, you have the record of people such as Muhammad Kaba or Omar ibn Said and others.

So Muslims were here. Muslims are buried in the soil of this land. And throughout the 20th century, you have the struggle of Muslim, waves of Muslim immigrants to work, to better themselves, and in the process to better this land. And you have the history of the African American Muslim communities that emerged throughout the 20th century. So Muslims have a rich history here. Muslims have been contributing here. Muslims have been uplifting people here.

Islam's Role in Rehabilitating the Incarcerated

If they want to call us terrorists, we should remind them who is giving humanity to those people that were terrorized, those young kids who are terrorized by being incarcerated in these concentration camps called prison because of a fictitious war on drugs that imprisons 17- and 18-year-old crack dealers or reefer dealers who never committed a violent crime. Sent to prisons hundreds of miles away from their homes. Thrown into prison with hardcore thugs and rapists. That's terrorism.

And when they're in those prisons, after being dehumanized on these streets, and after being dehumanized in the prison, and after being transformed into cold-blooded killers who will kill you as quick as you'll step on a roach, what gave them their humanity back by the thousands? Islam did. How many of these young kids have gone into prison as thugs and killers who had no concept of humanity and came out as an upright human being who

never read a book and started reading and reading and reading in those dungeons? Islam cleaned them up and Islam picked them up. Islam picked us up. Islam stopped us from our terrorism.

Conclusion: Standing Up for Truth

We were terrorizing these neighborhoods, terrorizing these streets, terrorizing your relatives, and Islam was the force that took the terrorism out of our hearts. So those people that are terrorizing the world, they need to stop and take a long, hard look at what's going on in this country because apparently they're out of touch with reality. We need to put them back in touch with reality, and the only way we're going to do that is by speaking the truth and standing up for the truth and joining forces with the people of truth so we can not only take back our humanity, we can take back this country.