Face to Face with Islamophobia

Face to Face with Islamophobia

Imam Zaid Shakir

Opening Greetings

(بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَٰنِ الرَّحِيمِ - bismillahir-rahmanir-rahim), As-salamu alaykum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh, which means peace upon you and the mercy and blessings of God. Before starting, I guess I'm starting. I was reflecting on something that Dr. Mattson mentioned.

When the lady was in her face, you've been brainwashed. And then when Dr. Ingrid stood up, she's very intimidating when she stands up. And the lady ran away. Instead of go to my website, I was thinking she should have yelled out, you've been brainwashed. It's all good.

Acknowledgment of Previous Speakers

So we've heard facts and we've heard experiences and deep insights from both Tori, who's good at throwing things. And we've heard from my two oppressed Muslim sisters, who aren't good at being oppressed. Perhaps that's why they're so powerful and moving. And may God bless all of them, all three.

Personal Experience with Islamophobia

So I want to start again on a personal note that many of the figures whose faces would adorn Mount Rushmore of Islamophobes have described me as a stealth jihadist. Seriously. As a violent extremist. As a, let me see on my notes, in case I missed something. Oh, a Sharia supremacist. A Sharia supremacist also.

And the sad part about that, there are a lot of folks who would believe those characterizations. And on the basis of those characterizations, would hate me. And the reason for that is ignorance and fear are probably the most fertile breeding grounds for hatred. And those who profit from hate are the merchants of ignorance.

So I want to speak probably to the Tories' six friends who might be scattered about the audience. And I'm looking forward to my copy of Glenn Beck's book. Actually, I already have a copy.

My American Roots

So who am I? You know, I've been, every time I go to Egypt, I become a Palestinian. They look at my name, Zaychak, yeah, there's some Philistini. Like, that's a Palestinian name. So I try in my very best American English to convince them I'm not a Palestinian. I am not a Palestinian. And a Philistini. No, I'm not a Palestinian.

Listen, Babe Ruth hit 714 home runs. Would a Palestinian know that? You know, Hank Aaron broke his record with 755 home runs. Would a Palestinian know that? And Barry Bonds broke Hank Aaron's records, but no one wants to acknowledge it because he allegedly used steroids. Would a Palestinian know that? And they look at me and scratch their heads. That's a Philistini. You're still a Palestinian.

So I want to tell you, I am the grandson of Lorleen Spence and Richmond Whittaker of Harris County, Georgia. And both of their, all of their grandparents, my grandparents' grandparents, were born into and lived their entire lives as slaves. And so that's on that side of the family. And I know the paternal grandfathers, Rich Eubanks and Will Spence. Rich Eubanks on my grandfather's side, hence his name, Richmond, Richmond Whittaker. And Will Spence, hence my grandmother, Lorleen Spence.

On my father's side, somewhere about four or five generations back, there's an Irishman. And I haven't been able to locate his records, but his last name was Mitchell. And he was the father of Matthew Mitchell, who was the father of John Mitchell, who was the father of Donald Mitchell, who was my father. So those are my roots, as far as I can locate them.

The Mystery of Ancestral Trauma

Now, there's mystery. I don't know that Irishman. I don't know Will Eubanks. I don't know Will Spence. I don't know anything about their lives other than their names and the names of their children and the names of their children's children. That's all I know about them. Their lives are clothed in mystery.

But I'm sure, and I think epigenetics, something I was introduced to by another oppressed Muslim woman, a world-class geneticist by the name of Dr. Fatima Jackson, formerly of University of Maryland and University of North Carolina. She's an amazing woman who fails and refuses to recognize her oppression. But she told me something about epigenetics and how trauma can be passed on genetically for four or five or six generations. And so I'm sure that a lot of what my ancestors experienced in mysterious ways affects who I am and what I do and what I stand for.

At the end of the day, though, I refuse to accept or capitulate to the base caricature of myself that's presented by those individuals who never bothered to reach out to me, never have spoken to me, never even sent me a text message. They don't have your phone number. That's what you think. They're like Mar-Bell. They know how to reach out and touch people. They prefer to do it via the internet in devious ways.

But if they won't give me the courtesy of speaking to me, asking me what I really believe or think, I won't give them the courtesy of believing anything they say about me.

Lessons from Rudyard Kipling's "If"

We're in this season of graduations. Shift gears a little bit. And usually somewhere, somehow, it's trite to some, appropriate to others. Someone's going to hear If by Rudyard Kipling. He of take up the white man's burden. That's another point.

I like If, though. And we, most of us have memorized, we've heard it so much, the first line. If you can keep your head when all about you, those are losing theirs and blaming it on you. Very appropriate for these times.

But the next line, I really, I like more than the first one. If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you, yet make allowance for their doubting too.

Further on in the poem, he goes on to say, this is something both Linda and Dr. Mattson can relate to. So can I. If you can see the truth you've spoken twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools. That's very appropriate in these days of Islamophobia.

Personal Reflection and Self-Examination

But in all seriousness, that line, it makes me stop. If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you, yet make allowance for their doubting too. It's a personal challenge and it makes me go back and consider maybe some things I've said in the past, once said in the wisest way, most appropriate way. Maybe they once said considering the sensitivities or the ignorance, which I've talked about, of those who might hear them. And perhaps given the opportunity in the future, things could be worded better. That's a personal challenge.

America at a Crossroads

But our nation is also challenged. In these days and times of flawed and imperfect, America is challenged. Can it trust itself? Can it trust the course it's charted? Since events like Brown versus the Board of Education, around that time the lynching of Emmett Till and the circumstances around that gruesome murder and the consequences of it.

Civil rights era ushered in to a certain extent by the heroic stand, or should we say the heroic seat taken by Rosa Parks. All of these events and many, many others, other communities, the work of the likes of Cesar Chavez, Dolores Huerta and others, have led us or pushed this country down a course. And that course is now challenged.

Perhaps more than at any other time in our recent history. Will the country trust itself? Or will it doubt itself? Will it continue down the path towards greater inclusion, greater understanding, more justice, more opportunities for all? Or will it doubt that course and allow the ship of state, a fitting metaphor, to run aground and be torn apart on the reefs of bigotry, xenophobia, hatred, racism, all of those things that Linda mentioned. Militarism, greed.

The Threat of Islamophobia

These are the threats that we face today. And these threats constitute the skeleton that the putrid flesh of Islamophobia is draped over. As people of faith, we must lead the way forward. We must continue to trust in the course we've entered upon as a nation.

If pragmatic politics is predicated on compromise, true religion is predicated on principle. We have to hold on to our principle. In saying that, I'm not just talking about Christian principles, Jewish principles, Buddhist principles. I'm talking about Muslim principles also. And this is something the architects of Islamophobia don't want the average American to know.

Shared Principles Across Faiths

As Torrey mentioned in those areas she was focusing on, there's so much in common. In terms of principles, Muslims believe that, aye, we are our brother's and sister's keepers. We believe as our prophet reminded us, peace be upon him, that we should love for our brother and love for our sister what we love for ourself.

The Quran and the prophetic teachings emphasize that life is sanctified and murder is an abomination, that love and charity are amongst the greatest of all virtues. In fact, we can't get into paradise if we don't have the ability to love.

You will not enter paradise until you truly believe. And you will not truly believe until you love one another. This is what the prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, taught us. And some people would say, people like Torrey's six friends, oh, that's loving your fellow Muslims. No, he didn't say love your fellow Muslims. He didn't teach us to just be merciful to our fellow Muslims. There's a lot more I wanted to say. I could scroll down for a couple minutes. I'll turn off the iPad and I'll say this in terms of loving and being merciful to those outside of our community.

Mercy to All of Humanity

The prophet Muhammad, he once said to, peace be upon him, a group of his assembled companions that you will not enter paradise until you're merciful.

"You will not enter paradise until you're merciful to each other." (Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 6011)

And they said, all of us are merciful, oh messenger of Allah. We're all merciful.

He said:

"I'm not talking about the mercy one of you shows to those closest to you." The father, the parents, the children, the children to the parents, the neighbors to the neighbors, the relatives to the relatives. I'm not talking about that.

"What I'm talking about is the mercy to the generality of people, the general public, the mercy to all of humanity."

Conclusion: The Path of Faith

So there are people who are going to do what they do. There are warmongers out there, there are hate mongers out there, there are fear mongers out there. But if we do what people of faith have been inspired by their respective prophets or their respective teachers or their respective scriptures to do, we shall prevail. It might take time, but in the end we shall prevail.

As-salāmu alaykum.