Islam in Search of Muslims- What Can We Learn from the Life of Nelson Mandela

Islam in Search of Muslims: What Can We Learn from the Life of Nelson Mandela

By Imam Zaid Shakir

Opening Remarks and Introduction

Please help me welcome to the stage Imam Zaid Shakir. So as you saw in the film, we're greatly appreciative for all the support we've gotten from the North American Muslim community and we invite all of you, those of us at Zaytuna College, to become part of our 12,000 strong campaign. And that's not a fundraising initiative per se, but it's actualizing the promise of our Prophet, (صلى الله عليه وسلم), that 12,000 believers who come together for an endeavor, they will never be defeated.

So if we can get 12,000 supporters, monthly donors, we believe that we'll be able to push this project forward and build something of lasting significance and a lasting source of pride for the Muslim community. So visit the booth. Also another sponsor of the program, in addition to Zaytuna College, is Islamic Relief, so encourage you to visit their booth.

And those of you who are still here tomorrow to go, they're having a fundraising dinner for refugees and assisting those who have been displaced in Syria at the Intercontinental Hotel right up the hill here, so please check them out also. So to start my presentation, and alhamdulillah we appreciate the incredible and very powerful remarks of the previous speaker, whose name I forgot, but we've been bumping into each other, and maybe a stage fright, senior moment, but may Allah reward him for that very powerful and moving speech.

Correction Regarding Malcolm X

First of all, I'd like to start by making a correction. I said something yesterday that, extemporaneously, that wasn't totally accurate. I said that Malcolm X, when he said, by any means necessary, hadn't learned Islam, wasn't familiar with Islam, but in fact he was, and in fact from his early youth, actually his mother had exposed him to the teachings of Islam, and I was unaware even that his daughter was here at the time, and she's the best one to speak on that, so I just want to, we look forward to her book. And so a lot of things concerning the life and times of Malcolm X can be clarified from an inside perspective, so I wanted to correct that.

The Islamic Foundation for Learning from Historical Events and Personalities

Before starting, when Nelson Mandela passed, there was great controversy, even some saying, oh, you shouldn't even talk about Mandela, he's going to hell, and some of you are familiar, most of you are familiar with those kind of discussions that possibly even transpired in your local community centers and masjids, so I want to take a moment to point out that the idea of taking lessons from significant events and personalities, this is something that lies at the heart of Islam.

The Example of the Romans and Persians

Allah Ta'ala mentions in the Quran, by way of example:

"Alif-Lam-Mim. The Romans have been defeated in a nearby land, and after this defeat of theirs, they will soon be victorious in a few years. To Allah belongs the command before and after. And on that day the believers will rejoice in the victory of Allah. He gives victory to whom He wills, and He is the Exalted in Might, the Merciful."

So the Romans were not Muslims, they weren't Muslims, but Allah Ta'ala caused our attention to this event in the Quran, because it's a momentous event, it's an event that has tremendous import for all of the peoples in the region, and so the Muslims were concerned about the outcome, and even it's related that Abu Bakr, when this was revealed, he made a wager with the Quraish that the Romans would be victorious, and it didn't happen right away, and they started to ridicule him, and then the victory came, as Allah Ta'ala prophesied.

So the point though is, the Romans and Persians, these weren't Muslims, but Allah calls our attention to them, because they were in the region, and their affair was an affair that affected the life of people in the region.

The Example of Dhul Qarnayn

Similarly, personalities, Allah Ta'ala says concerning Dhul Qarnayn:

"And they ask you, [O Muhammad], about Dhul-Qarnayn. Say, 'I will recite to you about him a report.''"

So Allah Ta'ala says, they ask you concerning Dhul Qarnayn, say to them, I will recite something of his story. So Dhul Qarnayn, most opinions say it was Alexander the Great, there's difference of opinion, but no one says he was a prophet.

Imam Jalalayn mentions: اسمه كان اسكندر ولم يكن نبيًا - "His name was Iskandar, Alexander the Great, and he wasn't a prophet." But Allah relates his story, something of his story in the Quran to present lessons for us, to provide a context for presenting lessons. So as we look at the life and times of Nelson Mandela, there are lessons that we can take, and that we should take.

The Importance of Understanding History

And there's another point to be made here, and that is, as Muslims, we have to have a rich, deep, nuanced understanding of history. Because as they say, those who don't know history are destined to repeat its mistakes. The mistakes that people made, if we don't know about them, if we don't know what facilitated the success of people, then we're destined to repeat the mistakes, and we're destined to let the factors that led to success pass us by.

And this isn't the kind of ummah that we are. We're people of reflection, we're people of contemplation. We should be familiar with the biographies and stories of great personalities like Nelson Mandela, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., and others.

We should be, we should read the literature of peoples. We should read the great literature that conveys insight into the depths of the struggles of people. We should be familiar with people's struggle.

Understanding North American History

No Muslim should come to this land and be oblivious to these lands, and be oblivious to the history of these lands, to the struggles, the struggle of the native people, or as you say here, the first nation people. Those are the people who preceded us here. Those are the people whose lands we're occupying.

Those are, you talk about occupied territory, all of North America's occupied territory. We should know that. We should know the, who are the Iroquois, who are the Navajo, who are the Hopi, who are the Nez Perce, who are the Arapaho, the Sioux, the Comanches, the Apache.

Who are these people? Who are their great figures and personalities? Who was Chief Joseph? Who was Geronimo? Who was Cochise? Who are these people?

An Islamic Principle in Native American Practice

Who was the guide that led Lewis and Clark across this country? And why was she able to lead them? Because none of the tribes, none of the tribes would transgress against someone who had taken the protection of a woman. This, and this is an Islamic practice.

On the day of Fath Mecca, the cousin of the Prophet, (صلى الله عليه وسلم), she gave her personal oath of protection. There were some of the Quraysh that actually fight. Two individuals, Umhani, her name was Umhani. Umhani gave her personal aman to two people that fought on that day.

And no one touched them. No one touched them. And the Prophet, (صلى الله عليه وسلم), he said, the one who Umhani has given an oath of protection to, all of the Muslims respect.

ذِمَّةُ الْمُسْلِمِينَ وَاحِدَةٌ - "Dhimmatul Muslimina wahida" - The protective oath of a Muslim is one. It extends to the entire ummah.

So this, but the native people, they had that principle. And so Lewis and Clark were able to go across all of these tribal lands. And everyone they met, when they saw that they were being escorted by a woman, they let them pass. And they were able to go from the East Coast to the West Coast.

Knowing the Struggles of All People

So we should know the history of the people. We should know their literature. We should know their struggles. We should know the struggles of the African American people. We should know the struggle of the Irish people.

We should know the struggle of Afro Canadians. We should know the history of the Underground Railroad. How did you get African populations in Canada? We should know that history.

Because it's our history. If indeed we are now the sons and daughters of this land. And I don't say now for me, my people were here. Some came as slaves. Some were here welcoming Lewis and Clark.

Lesson One: Allah Elevates Whom He Wills

Nelson, so Nelson Mandela wasn't a Muslim, but he was a great historical figure. And we can take lessons from his life. One lesson we can take, Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, he elevates people. So no one in Nelson Mandela, the village he grew up in, Qunu, he was born in a nearby village.

But most of his childhood, and he says in his autobiography, The Long Walk to Freedom, that most of his formative years and his best memories are in Qunu. And that's where he's buried. But this skinny kid running around those dusty pathways, they didn't have paved streets.

If someone said one day he will be honored by kings and presidents, no one would have believed him. They say, Nelson, you lost your mind. Were they burning grass and you imbibed some of it? No one would believe it.

But Allah elevates whomsoever he pleases. We mentioned yesterday, in the talk last night, you elevate whomsoever you please and you debase whomsoever you please. So Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, if he desires to elevate some skinny kid in a village in South Africa, to be honored by kings and presidents, to reconcile between a struggling people, there's only one thing, kun faya kun.

Preparing for Greatness

And if Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala chooses to elevate any one of you out in this audience, he can do it. It's not something one should long for, but it's not something you should want to run away from. Be where Allah places you.

But you should always be prepared for greatness. Some people are afraid of greatness. Don't be afraid of greatness.

Because through your greatness, Allah ta'ala might choose to do great things, to use you as a means to do great things, to use you as a means to save lives, to use you as a means to help to cleanse this planet. As you saw last night, of the death and the disease that's being rained down on it. So don't run away from it.

Prepare yourself for it, but don't run to it. But if Allah ta'ala brings it to you, that's a sign you have tawfiq, and it's humility.

Lesson Two: The Power of Humility

And one of the things that cultivated humility in the prophets, our prophet, (صلى الله عليه وسلم), instructed us, and we see this in the lives of many people:

مَا تَوَاضَعَ أَحَدٌ لِلَّهِ إِلَّا رَفَعَهُ اللَّهُ - "No one humbles themselves for the sake of Allah, except that Allah elevates them."

So humble yourself, and Allah might choose to elevate you, and use you to do great things.

Mandela's Humility: The Shepherd Experience

But one of the things, Mandela had humility, and he was stubborn for justice. But he was very humble. And one of the things that inculcated humility in the prophets, including our prophet Muhammad, (صلى الله عليه وسلم), was that they were shepherds. And they learned to be compassionate, and to care for animals.

It takes a humble spirit. Arrogant people, they're the people that kick cats, and they throw rocks at dogs, and they torture frogs. It's arrogance.

It's a humble spirit who has the power. They're larger than many of the animals. They have weapons. They have bows and arrows. They have firearms. It's a humble spirit that deals compassionately with animals.

And Mandela was a shepherd. A lot of people don't know that. Nelson Mandela started his life at about five years old. He tended sheep, and he tended to cattle. And one of the things he says in his autobiography, we'll just quote briefly. He says that, and this is a quote, he says, "I discovered the almost mystical attachment that the Xhosa people have for cattle. Not only as a source of food and wealth, but as a blessing of God and a source of happiness. As a blessing of God and a source of happiness."

Teaching Our Children Compassion Through Animals

So we should encourage our children to visit farms. Get animals. You can have, most places, animals in your backyard. You can buy a sheep.

He might only last until Eid. But until he does, to treat him gently. And then he'll love you. He'll love to be your zabihah. He'll love to know that he's going to give you energy to worship Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. Because that's what he was created for.

And he loves to be in the care of a compassionate person. You should give him a name. Give the sheep a name.

The Prophet, (صلى الله عليه وسلم), gave names to all of his animals. And that was part of his compassion to them. They weren't just things. This is what the commodification of everything. It makes everything a thing. It even makes people a thing.

You know, people have, like they have a starter house. So I get this little cottage, this little bungalow. That's my starter house. And they have their starter cars. Now people have starter wives. Now you've heard the expression, right? Oh, this is my starter wife. When I get established and I get my practice off the ground, then I'll get my trophy wife. Am I making these terms up? Then the commodification. A trophy.

A starter. No, we're human beings. And compassionate treatment of animals helps to bring out the compassion in us. This is a lesson we can learn from definitely, certainly from our Prophets, (صلى الله عليه وسلم). But from people like Mandela.

The Hadith on Shepherding

The Prophet mentioned:

كُلُّكُمْ رَاعٍ وَكُلُّكُمْ مَسْئُولٌ عَنْ رَعِيَّتِهِ )Sahih Bukhari 893, Sahih Muslim 1829(

"All of you are shepherds and each of you will be asked concerning how they treated their flock" - to translate it along those lines. All of us are shepherds.

How do we learn to be a good shepherd? Start in the youth with the children and animals and compassionate treatment of animals.

Lesson Three: Struggling for the Dignity of All People

Mandela's struggle was for the dignity of all people. And that's why all people love Mandela. He struggled for the dignity of all people. Not just the dignity of the African tribes, the Xhosa and the Zulu and others. For the dignity of all people.

And the Muslims supported, lot of Muslims, not universally, in South Africa. And some are in this audience. I've talked to some today. And they told me their stories concerning Nelson Mandela. And as they were speaking, they had genuine love in their hearts. Genuine love in their hearts.

The Story of Shapiro the Cartoonist

A lesson from that we can learn. One sister from South Africa told me this about two hours ago. Or her husband. She told me another story. That one of the political cartoonists, he was lambasting Mandela in the Cape Town newspaper. Printing derogatory cartoons.

Ridiculing his political positions. Giving him a really hard time. His name was Shapiro. Giving him a really hard time. And the newspaper, they stopped this cartoon. Nelson Mandela called this person.

He couldn't believe it. They said, the president's on the line. He wants to talk to you. He said, you know, what happened to your cartoons? He said, how come they're not being printed? And he said, I thought you should be happy. I was giving you such a hard time. He said, that's your right.

This is a free country. We can't be a democracy if we don't respect people's right to freely express themselves. And Mandela won this man's heart over.

He would come to praise Mandela and to appreciate his openness and his honesty and his humility. It's a humble spirit who can humble himself and say to someone, how come you're not insulting me anymore? That's the humble.

The Prophet's Example of Checking on His Opponent

And so our prophet, when the person would put garbage and debris in his doorway and he came out and wasn't there, he went to check up on him. Now what's going on? I didn't see the garbage and thorns in my pathway. You're okay. And the man became Muslim because he knew what he knew.

This heart is not the average heart. This heart is not the average heart. We have to have hearts like that, brothers and sisters. And people like Mandela, he's not a Muslim, but they remind us of this. They remind us of this.

Human hearts have been naturally predisposed to love those who do them good, who treat them well. This is a natural predisposition in the human being. So you want people to love you, treat them well, and they'll love you.

Lesson Four: Muslim Participation in the Anti-Apartheid Struggle

So, but Mandela worked for all people and many Muslims stood toe to toe with Nelson Mandela. So for example, the Muslim Judicial Council, the Cape Town Muslim Youth Association, the Young Men's Muslim

Association, the Muslims version of the YMCA. They had the YMMA. We had the Young Men's Christian Association.

The Muslims had the Young Men's Muslim Association, the Cape Vigilance Association. They all joined together in 1961. When the struggle was really heating up, they issued a proclamation called the Call to Islam.

And they said, I quote again, they said that "we stand with our brothers," referring to their African brothers and fighting the evil monster that is about to devour us. So they understood apartheid wasn't just destroying the lives of African people. It was destroying everyone's lives.

If you want part of the very small white minority, it was an equal opportunity destroyer. And it called for a joint movement, a collaborative movement, a cooperative movement to fight against it. And that movement produced many Muslim martyrs.

Muslim Martyrs of the Struggle

Many Muslims were martyred in the anti-apartheid struggle. There was a sister, she might still be here. I met her yesterday. She was incarcerated. One of my very dear family friends, their mother was incarcerated in the struggle, standing in their Muslim family, standing with Nelson Mandela. So there were many Muslims.

And they're probably the most famous martyr of the movement was Imam Abdullah Harun. Abdullah Harun was taken into custody, tortured for several months, and then died under police torture in police custody, September 27th, 1969. A martyr, a Muslim martyr, an Imam in the community, an editor of one of the major Muslim newspapers, a martyr in the struggle to end the racist system, the satanic, demonic system that our brother was talking about previously.

Lesson Five: The Need for International Solidarity

All of us have a responsibility. Mandela was part of the Third World Movement, a movement of all peoples who are being systematically denied their rights, their property, their resources usurped by the imperialist powers of the world. So as nations decolonized, primarily in the aftermath of the Second World War, their struggle was a global struggle.

It was a struggle of Muslims. It was a struggle of other people in the formerly known as the Third World, the Third World Revolution. So Mandela was part of that Third World Revolution.

And many Muslims were part of that Third World Revolution. They stood toe to toe because they realized that the Muslims alone are not, their power resources are not sufficient alone to escape the oppression, to escape the clutches of imperialism, that they have to stand toe to toe with their African and Asian and Latin American brothers and sisters who aren't Muslims. This is what the kind of struggle that Nelson Mandela urged.

The Freedom Charter of 1955

In 1955, for example, Mandela joined with Asians, with people of mixed race background, colored as they were called at that time in South Africa, to start what he called what they called the Freedom Charter. So it was the Muslims, the Hindus and others. It was the coloreds, the Africans, all coming together to demand a freedom, a free society.

And the Freedom Charter called for a democratic, non-racial state that strove for economic justice for all of its members.

The Problem of Islamophobia as a Term

This is the kind of movement that Mandela was involved with and is one of the great tragedies of our age, is that when Muslims, when we experience something, it's like no one else has experienced it. When Muslims in the United States are confronted with the racism and bigotry that the people who preceded us have encountered for over two or three centuries in some instances, it becomes our unique struggle.

So we give it a unique name. We call it Islamophobia. We don't call it racism. We don't call it bigotry. We don't call it by a name that will instantly unite us with the struggle of the Native American people who preceded us, with the struggle of the African slaves and then the African American people who preceded Muslims, with the struggle of the Chinese and Japanese American people, the Chinese Americans who faced the Chinese Exclusion Act in 1888, and the Japanese Americans who were interned in concentration camps during the Second World War, and the struggle of the Latinos, of Cesar Chavez and the farm workers. It's not oppression.

It's not racism. It's not bigotry. It's Islamophobia, as if Muslims were the first people to encounter brutality, oppression, prejudice, and racism in America.

That's wrong, brothers and sisters.

The Arab Spring and the Need for Building Bridges

And the Arab Spring was not the first uprising against authoritarian regimes. We had the European Spring, where all of those former Eastern European nations of the former Soviet bloc cast off the yoke of totalitarianism. We had the African Spring, when the nations, many of the nations in Africa, stood up and challenged the dictatorship and the authoritarian rule that they were subjective to. And then we had what we call the Arab Spring.

And I will argue that one of the reasons the Arab Spring has encountered so much difficulty is the failure from the outset to build bridges of solidarity with the Africans and others who preceded the Arabs in the struggle against authoritarian dictatorships.

International Solidarity: The Divestment Movement

We have to have solidarity, brothers and sisters. And this is something Nelson Mandela taught us. If it were left to the people in South Africa, we might still have apartheid.

But you have solidarity with people all over the world. You have solidarity with African Americans. It was people like Maxine Waters, and people like Randall Robinson, TransAfrica, and people like Jesse Jackson.

And people were struggling on these campuses to create a powerful divestment movement. I was personally honored to be one of the leaders of that movement in the New York, New Jersey area at Rutgers University. And then our movement, we were able to build solidarity with students at Princeton, and then with Columbia University.

And then all through three universities joined hundreds of others, if not thousands, in divesting from companies that do business in South Africa. That was international solidarity.

Standing Together

Brothers and sisters, we need international solidarity. And believe me, when people know about the brutalities that are being inflicted on the people of Syria, when people know about the massacres that have transpired in places like Egypt, or in Yemen, or Bahrain, when they know, they will stand with you. They will stand with us. They will stand toe-to-toe with Muslims, because they understand from their struggles the odds that we face in these various countries.

And the odds are daunting. So brothers and sisters, take a lesson from Nelson Mandela. Look beyond the confines of these borders that are artificial entities in any case.

Look beyond those borders, and look to your brothers and sisters in Africa. Look to your brothers and sisters in Latin America. Look to your brothers and sisters elsewhere, because they will stand with you.

Mandela's Stance on Palestine

And one of the first people to stand with you will be the people of South Africa. Nelson Mandela was ridiculed. Now he's a hero. In his life, there were people who distanced themselves from Mandela, for one reason, because Mandela would not distance himself from the Palestinians.

He said, the Palestinians stood with us when no one would stand with us, and I'm not going to. Now that our people are free, we will continue to work for the freedom of the people of Palestine.

That was a stance Mandela took. So brothers and sisters, stand with others. They will stand with you.

And if we stand alone, we'll find ourselves facing all of these authoritarian, oppressive powers alone. And either we, as they say, either we hang in there together, or we simply hang separately. May Allah give us strength.

Lesson Six: The Power to Forgive and Pardon

In conclusion, we just want to say that we mentioned humility, the ability to pardon. Mandela was tortured, and you can read about the torture, if you choose. Hey, read about the torture. It's like, read about the good ship lollipop. But you should read the life and the struggle. And in that context, you will read of the torture.

You will read of the hardship. You will read of the difficulties. You will read of the people that were assassinated, the assassinations.

Forgiveness as a Higher Moral Path

Despite all of that, Mandela found within himself, within himself, the wisdom and the power to forgive and to pardon when he was free. Realizing to do otherwise not only would be a lesser moral course, it would lead to a bloodbath. Because as we mentioned at the retreat, we are manipulated by powers that are working for our destruction.

The Balance of Terror

And one of the things, and we have to be wary, they create what are called in political terms a balance of terror. They'll take a small minority, and they'll provide them a disproportionate amount of weaponry. And then the majority will be relatively unarmed or lightly armed.

So the majority has the number, the minority has the weapons. In South Africa, the white majority had the weapons. The African peoples and others had the numbers.

And so when they come in the conflict, it's a balance of terror. The ones with the weapons don't have the numbers to overwhelm the ones with the numbers. The ones with the numbers don't have the weapons to overwhelm the one with the weapons.

And so there's a balance, and it keeps going on and on and on until they either destroy each other or they decide that they're being played like the proverbial fiddle and they back down and say, you know, what we're after isn't worth destroying everything and everybody for. And Mandela realized that this balance of terror was being set up in South Africa. And he said, I'm not going to have a part of it.

The Hadith on Pardoning

And he forgave. And one of the reasons he was elevated, we mentioned, the same hadith:

(Sahih Muslim 2588)

"No one finds within themselves the power to pardon except that Allah exalts them."

So brothers and sisters, don't look at a calculation based on just material means, material resources. Factor Allah Ta'ala in the power of Allah into the calculation. Factor Allah into the calculation, and then you will see amazing things happen.

Conclusion: Meeting the Challenges Ahead

In conclusion, brothers and sisters, there are difficult and challenging days. We meet them with our dignity. We meet them with a smile. That's the way of our Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam.

But our smile doesn't lessen the daunting nature of the challenges before us. And those challenges are going to have to take, or overcoming them would take serious individuals. Individuals who, if necessary, are willing to go to jail.

Individuals who, if necessary, are willing to put their life on the line so that others may live. And this was something Nelson Mandela was willing to do. He was willing to go to prison.

And he was willing to die so that his people could live. If you kill me, if you incarcerate me, and this allows my people to live, then I'm the first one to say, put me in jail. Take my life.

Ibn Taymiyyah's Description of the Believer

Ibn Taymiyyah said something once. He said, he was asked to describe the believer, al-mu'min. He said:

سِجْنُهُ عِبَادَةٌ وَنَفْيُهُ رِيَاضَةٌ وَقَتْلُهُ شَهَادَةٌ وَفِي الْجَنَّةِ لَهُ الْحُسْنَى وَزِيَادَةٌ

"Sijnuhu ibadah wa nafyuhu riyada wa qatluhu shahada wa fil jannati lahul husna wa ziyada."

That if you put them in prison, it's an opportunity for intense worship. Sijnuhu ibadah. If you exile him for the land, it's an opportunity to travel and see the world. Wa nafyuhu riyada.

If you kill him, it's martyrdom and he has the fast lane, express lane to paradise. Wa qatluhu shahada wa fil jannati lahul husna wa ziyada. And in the next life, you'll have good, which is jannah. He'll have ziyada, which is the ru'yah, the beatific vision. So there's nothing better than that in existence.

Taking the Dangerous Position

So brothers and sisters, don't hesitate to take a dangerous position. Don't hesitate. If it means that someone can be freer, if it means that the earth can be cleaner, if it means that our future generations will have an opportunity to live a dignified life with an environment that can sustain them. If opposing the forces that are undermining that means that we go to jail, it means that we lose our life.

Ahlan wa sahlan.

Mandela's Famous Statement

And this is what Nelson Mandela said on the eve of his incarceration for 27 years, almost 28 years when he was sentenced. He said a famous quote. Many of you are familiar with it.

"During my lifetime, I have dedicated myself to the struggle of the African people. I have fought against white domination and I have fought against black domination. I have cherished the ideal of a democratic and free society in which all persons live together in harmony and with equal opportunities. It is an ideal which I hope to live for and to achieve. But if needs be, it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die."

So that was Nelson Mandela. And may he be an inspiration for us, may he be an example for us, and may history continue to remember him in a good way.

Final Reminder: The Test of Faith

We will be tested. It's inevitable. Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala mentions in the Quran:

"Alif-Lam-Mim. Do people think they will be left alone merely saying we believe and not be tested? We tested those who preceded them. In order that Allah will show which of them are truthful and which of them are liars."

May Allah ta'ala bless us to be amongst the truthful. May Allah bless all of you. May this conference be a source of inspiration, motivation, but also guidance.

And in the final session, all of us have things to share in terms of practical steps you can take to take that inspiration and that motivation and translate it into positive action.

As-salamu alaykum wa rahmatullah.