Now in terms of the American foreign policy, we also have to have a voice here. We need to have a voice it's important Muslims cannot be silent about what is wrong but we need to do it intelligently we need to do it with discipline and I appreciate when chairs send these things out it says respond courteously and that is the way we'll do it. I mean you read some of these things that Muslims write on the internet and it's shocking you wonder what where do people grow up did they have their parents, where did they learn that language? I mean why are Muslims speaking like that? Because a believer does not have foul language and then also the good honor of Muslims if we're told to defend the honor of Muslims if you speak about people you speak generally you don't speak specifically unless somebody has clearly done something that's condemnable that needs to be and you have to be careful with that because what you might think is condemned from your lack of understanding 1:16:17 1:16:18 1:16:23 how many people find fault in a statement and the fault is in their lack of understanding and then about the foreign policy I think we need to remind Americans what George Washington said so I want to read in a tone for the finish line. This is from the farewell address of George Washington to the American people and I think that he George had they taken his advice there wouldn't have been a September 11. He said observe good faith and justice towards all nations, cultivate peace and harmony with all religion and morality enjoying this conduct and can it be that good policy does not equally enjoy it. It will be worthy of a free enlightened and no distant period a great nation to give mankind the magnanimous and two novel examples of a people always guided by an exalted justice and the benevolence.
Who can doubt that in the course of time and things the fruits of such a plan would richly repay any temporary advantages which might be bought by a steady adherence to it.
Can it be that prophets meaning God guiding force has not connected the permanent soliciting of a nation with its virtue? In other words the well-being of a nation he's saying that God has connected it with the virtue of the nation. If the nation lacks virtue then God's guidance and his protection is no longer there. The experiment at least is recommended by every sentiment which in nobles human nature a last is rendered impossible by advisors. In the execution of such a plan nothing is more essential than that permanent inveterate antipathies against particular nations and passionate attachments for others should be excluded and that in place of them just and amicable feelings toward all should be cultivated. Well that is all that we could ask of this country that's all we could ask is if they live up to this. The nation which indulges towards another a habitual hatred or an individual abominace is in some degree a slave and this is getting back to that likes and dislikes. You become a slave to your likes and dislikes it prevents you so these people studied ethics, they knew ethics that's where it all comes from. I've actually seen mind I know what's in his brain. I've seen and read the same books that he read and where he's getting his stuff and whether he lives up to it or not that his own business not my business.
He's speaking the truth, this is true it is a safety animosity or to his affection either of which is sufficient to lead it astray from his duty and interest and tripathy and one nation against another disposal each moreover insult and injury to lay hold of slight causes of numbers and to be haughty and intractable when accidental or trifling occasions of dispute occur.
So likewise a passionate attachment of one nation for another produces of variety of evils sympathy for the favorite nation facilitating the illusion of an imagined common interest in cases where no real common interests exist and infusing into one the entities of the other betrays the former into a participation in the quarrels and wars of the latter without adequate inducements or justification. Does everybody understand that? That means if you're passionately attached to a nation without thinking and thinking do you have some common interest that nation will draw you into its war with its enemies who are not your enemies and into your detriment. It leads also to concession to the favored nation of privileges denied to others which is asked doubly to injure the nation making the concessions by unnecessarily parting with what ought to have been retained and by exciting jealousy, ill will and a disposition to retaliate in the particulars from whom people privileged in the parties from the legal privileges are withheld and it gives the ambitious corrupted or diluted citizens who devote themselves to their favorite nation, facility to portray or sacrifice the interest of their own country without 1:21:27 sometimes even with popularity 1:21:31 with the appearance of a virtuous sense of obligation, a commendable deference for public opinion for allowable zeal for public good, the base or foolish compliances of ambition corruption or infatuation against the insidious rival foreign advancement. I endure you to believe me 1:21:53 . The jealousy of a free people ought to be constantly awake. So history and experiences 1:22:01 is one of the most painful pose of recovering policy. Now listen to this they get so caught up they want to see danger from the enemy of that bigger nation. They don't see that that bigger nation might be dangerous as well and then what happens?
Real patriots who may receive the entry of the things are liable to become suspected and obvious while its tool and duties certainly applaud and confidence of the people to surrender their interest. The great rule of context for us in regard to the foreign nation is extending our commercial relations to have with them as little political connection as possible. So far we have already formed engagement let them be fulfilled with perfect good faith, let us hear stop. That's very well addressed. So that's what we should just tell them. Listen to your founding president. Listen to him that's all we want it just must be fair. Right across the board, treat everybody the same. And Alexander the great they asked him how he became such a great empire by such a young age he said "I made my enemies my friends." And that's a challenge because we need to recognize that Islam needs new blood and we hope that new blood will come from these people, come from other people around the world. There are many areas that the messages haven't been taken to and we need to take it to those areas and we need to have a Broadbent understanding and allow people to come in at their own time in our own paces and not to expect everybody to be at the same level of commitment and find out the same. We need to treat each other with respect, mutual dignity and just do the best to satisfy our differences fortunately now in this difficult time case we're in a troubled time and I hope that we can all do that 1:24:30. 1:24:35 1:24:36 1:24:37 The first question what did the Quran says regarding man to turn the other cheek.
Like I said earlier the Quran has two approaches; 1 is the approach that give the right a mess of the mess 1:24:56 a sin for sin, an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth and it gives that way but can follow those verses and then it says after that and those who forgive is closest. So you can take both paths but what did the Quran say? 1:25:11 1:25:12 1:25:13 those who listen to the Quran and they follow the best of it. What do they say about the best of it? They say to forgive it's not for want and vengeance, its not o want retaliation. That's the way it's focused to life now. But rightful retaliation, that next 1:25:27 You have a right in this mosque to get recompensed financially if there was manslaughter you have a right if somebody kills somebody that their life is taken or you can forgive them. It would solve the death penalty problem in this country. If people want to forgive they can forgive. People who don't want to they don't have to I mean that's a fair resolution to that problem.
You said in a transcript that ended with Michael Enright you said that were jihad is probably one of the highest concepts that the by the highest concepts that the Arabs and Muslims have in the Quran. It's never once used to express a military meaning not once. What I meant by that is there is nowhere in the Quran where jihad is used to mean chilling and I have put that another is that going out in the way of Allah 1:26:28 that a military expedition is the jihad but when Allah speaks about confronting the enemies working these tendencies the word 1:26:41 is not Jihad. Jihad encompasses is a comprehensive meaning and certainly one of the meanings is defending the land Islam or pre-emptive strikes under a balance have you done something like that. So that's the point that nobody can say that that military struggle is not part of Jihad. It is part of Jihad and I would never say that but it's not used to mean children in the Quran. It is not. You can't find that. When Allah says 1:27:18 and that's what he says 1:27:21 1:27:22 1:27:23 1:27:24 1:27:26 1:27:27 1:27:29 1:27:31 1:27:32
That is the idea Qetal and Jihad are two different things. One is s specific and the other is universal. Jihad has a much more universal application than just fighting the way of Allah. And certainly meeting the enemy is called Pitab. You try it, get up there and be interviewed on a radio where you're having to think on your feet and I'm sorry I did my best if I made mistakes my Allah forgive me. But you want to go and sit around and look at everything I said and criticize it all, have a nice life. I'm not gonna waste my time. Somebody said if you're gonna rant and rave you should go home. People should go home. People that don't want to be here just leave. That doesn't mean we don't have to be responsible and I said that but we shouldn't be ranting and raving. And I was speaking specifically about there are some people out there in some places that literally say the most unbelievable things on television. You know the Prime Minister of England should be killed and this and that and it is just unbelievable and that's what I'm talking about. I'm not talking about legitimate descend about Muslims speaking out. And with some people it’s like I joined a new world order sound inner peace. I'm 1:29:01 I was in a situation that I did not want to be in and I did my best and that's all I can do, do my best and if people want to take me to account for that I'm glad that your not Lawyer. Seriously, I'm glad because he looks at what's in people's hearts and good Muslims tend to do that. They try to have a good opinion of people like Iman Seras.
I mean when I saw him in New York and we did that 60 minutes and people got upset at 60. You ask him what I said on that 60 minutes and then you asked them what was cut. Alright and that's the problem and there have been things said in these in these articles if you want to believe that man in the Quran said 1:29:46 1:29:47 if a fasiq comes with news you better find out if it's true or not.
So just because it's in the Washington Post or The Wall Street Journal whatever that's not 1:29:58 1:29:59clothes. You know, you should find out I mean I was like in a mystical sect or something like that I never said that somebody else said that to him. So there are things that are said I don't know where they came from that's the truth and did I regret saying what I said? I would say that the only regret I have is not universalizing it, that's all and the whole world is condemned. If I have any regret about that it's just that I'm looking out at the world. I just met Abubakka Seraudin this summer and he said the wrath of Allah is reaching the brim because there's just so much disobedience on the planet and we hope it doesn't spill over.
These things that happened in a traditional understanding are signs, they're warnings.
It doesn't mean that Islam condones September 11th but it does have a metaphysical import it has a metaphysical important and if you ignore that, if you deny it then you're an earless you just believe that you events have no meaning and those lives that died were meaningless deaths no they have meaning. No you have to try to understand the meaning because we have a just God. You said the street that blame we are right, they are wrong dark versus light seen in this world. We know there is another world Asa powered it all shake down in 1:31:33 . Well the 1:31:36 is one of the things that one of the founding fathers said here that is consistent with Islamic doctrine George Mason. He said that God does not take nations to account in the next world he takes individuals to account. So his punishment falls on nations in this world. So if a nation is unjust they suffer calamities and that a founding fathers said that. I didn't say that. That was their understanding because they were still in a religious perspective and a metaphysical view of the world now there is truth to that because the hadith says that an affliction will come to a people and then and they'll all die but then they're raised up according to their intention so Allah can take a whole people to account for the actions of some of the people but then they're raised up as individuals and that's important because what is being said in the Quran is 1:32:41 1:32:42 1:32:43 1:32:44 1:32:45 Fear calamities that don't just afflict the wrong ruler, they afflict everybody even innocent people. And the reason that Allah allows innocent people to be afflicted because it forces innocent people be vigilant about wrong in a society. If only the wrongdoers got punished nobody would be troubled about what wrongdoers do because they know because they know they're going to get punished but when innocent people get affected by the wrong of bad people then you have an interest in being vigilant about prevent preventing wrong in a society. Things that you think are we can do to improve our image as a whole and image is substance.
See we don't want image we want substance I mean we need to improve our substance and the image will take care of itself. I mean part of the problem too much concerns
with image and that's what this whole society is obsessed with image. We need to
have substantial changes and I think if we just behave properly and there are
many good Muslims in this country I know that and a lot of people have come to do
that because of the fact that there are so many with Muslims in this country
there are many Americans now have a reasonable good opinion about Muslims
because they know people that are Muslims, they have traditions that are Muslim, they
have a worked with an engineer's who's a Muslim. So that's an important thing of just
being an upright person and Allah says 1:34:16 1:34:17 1:34:19 that maybe Allah will put between you and those who have animosity between you love 1:34:26 1:34:27 Allah is capable of doing that and the Poet 1:34:32 said 1:34:32 1:34:33 1:34:34 1:34:35 1:34:36 that don't hate a person to where the won't be your friend one day. If you have animosity towards somebody keep it in check because they might be somebody that you love. In the Ashara just to answer that question people are going to judged as individuals and then they can't 1:35:01 1:35:02 don't blame me. 1:35:04 you're just blowing your stuff. Shefan say he won't let you do that. Here he'll let you do it he had fun. That day he blames you only once but in 1:35:12 he won't and he says they call it 1:35:16. He gives hope to all the people in hell. It's a great cookba like 1:35:23
So in terms of changing things we have a lot of things we do. The media is a
double-edged sword but the media not all evil. It is not an evil Empire. There are
people in the media that have agendas and there are other people that are
generally trying to do something fair but pardon the nature of the media even a
fair-minded one they have to do this it's like they're training to do a certain thing. They like to have some controversy they like to bring out, I mean that's a part of the whole media game. So when you go into that arena you just have to deal with the facts and that's why I printed media tends to be better visual media especially in America because it's very superficial, it's very quick and things like Fox News I man that's moronic television and I'm sorry with all due respect to people who watch that you know if you can watch those things I mean that that's just eating your brain out.
I would really avoid that type of stuff if you can and then also reaching out to
the communities. One of the things that we have made a serious blunder and I
really believe this is the reddit we've had with the Jewish community just been
wrong, it's been un-Islamic and it has to do with political circumstance and I believe that I wasn't raised like that and I don't see any justification for it in Islam that people that normally that has not been part of my teaching but I have made remarks that I feel that they were inappropriate as men on Islam because the promo item one of the most powerful things about personas you can't find anything in his Hadees or anything that you did you have to explain or that you have to I mean the probable incident everything that he said he said with absolute consistency with his principles and unfortunately we're not up to that level, as simple as that like what would I have said? Do I have contradictions? Yes, I have contradictions.
So there many people in this country that are actually very disturbed by Palestine
amongst the Jewish communities and they don't like what's going on and they see
the irony, they see that the elements in there of what was done to them in Europe
and this is in their literature you can find it in there literature and some of the most
powerful critics of Israel are Jews in this country people like Finkelstein and Chomsky and ColonI mean there's some very powerful critics.
For us to use an anti-jewish type of rhetoric is just wrong alienating is wrong. We should be against oppression whether it's Jews, Muslims, Christians, Hindus whoever had it we're against it. Because the Quran will be witnesses even against yourself and that's how we should be so if people are oppressing we're against. It doesn't matter what race or creed or color they are, it's as simple as that.
That is a good question it's about trying to get the major organizations to
work together and I'm in Charlotte I know that there are some efforts to make
that happen, it's going to take time but it needs that, it really needs to have more of an
unified voice and I think that that could happen there always be people dissent and things like that and dissent is healthy it's not a bad thing as long as it's with 1:39:08 and I want everybody agree with me you know, I don't get everything right I know that and I've talked to people I take feedback from and I have teachers when I discuss things with. I don't expect them for the release it was that but I would hope but as a Muslim, they would adhere to the ethics of Islam in their disagreement that's all. That's what I'm hoping it would also I mean you can read extreme Islam now that which is a book that somebody just went onto the internet pulled off all this Muslim material and made a whole book out of it now it’s on the best seller thing you know. They're just reading what we're saying; Muslims on the internet and they give you the websites to look up and that's another thing we need to speak with the assumption that we're
speaking to everybody and that's something that we have also done wrong and the
Prophet I think when he spoke he spoke that's why Hadid you can read them anybody can read them. He spoke and women understand him. It's a universal message and we're not secret society ad we shouldn't have a secret discourse we should be open and clear about what our aims and objectives are. Do I see a future in Muslims in this country? I don't have a crystal ball and I don't know what's going to happen. I hope and at a loss without a doubt, there's no more madness that occurs and certainly not from the Muslims but I think a lot of people were surprised at the genuine outreach of a lot of people here somebody was in Athens Georgia was right on the road and they told me that on that Friday after the event they were worried about going to the Mosque but they went to go to Jamaa and there are all these flowers on the mosque steps with notes from people that had come and it just really instructed this person that happened in our community as well.
I think that happened in a lot of communities, whoever did that those are good people Those are good people and we shouldn't alienate those people and our rhetoric is often confrontational and it alienates people and it's not the Sunnah of the Prophet and a few times he doesn't have strong rhetoric it was very specific instances and it's always been
understood and when you want 1:41:33 1:41:34 he said that habib but he said it, he was dealing with these mockers. They used to mock to 1:41:41 and he was warning them that if you keep this up you are in big trouble and they were. Now the mockers they were finished because they attack it was too heavy in the Quran we will deal the people who mock you that's from Allah. So he warned but and also when he made a joy against eclam and the tribes that have been treacherous that du-ha is not meant to be universal all. He didn't make 1:42:07 like that there's a very strong duality that they made because they chilled Quran teachers. They ask for these Quran teachers and he sent them they actually killed them. And so he made very strong to odds against them at 1:42:20 . But you read those Juhads, those Juhads were for a specific situation. It was an absolute worse type of treachery. I mean Muslims yeah there's a question about you know, Muslims our identity, we have a worldly identity and then we have an otherworldly identity. The wordly identity is finite. The otherworldly identity is infinite and ultimately our allegiance is to our otherworldly identity. We are Muslim above and beyond everything else including being a father, a mother, a daughter, a son so that's our identity - what we are Muslim. If we're citizens of this country we are citizens as well and not as a temporal identity and you're expected to behave as a citizen.
A citizen has rights and responsibilities and we're expected to maintain those rights and responsibilities it’s as simple as that but our identity is that we're a little more servants of God and that should be our identity ultimately but we do have temporal identity among them is being a citizen. You can also migrate, you can leave a place to go to another place and Islam is permitted like divorce. You can divorce and always Allah gives us options always you only have options. And that's why the expectation is to do the appropriate thing. If you're in a bad marriage you have certain options you can be patient. If your husband's horrific, if he's terrible, he's abusive, if he doesn't wash you can be patient. You can try to get him to change, you can bring in your male relatives, with some muscle to say this is my daughter you better treat her right. You can do that, the Quoran says that - bring in the male relative you can bring in an arbiter you can do all of these things. Can she start poisoning him with arsenic? No that's not an option.
She didn't get that option. She can get a divorce - the options are all there so in every situation you have options. The intelligent person is the one that tries to do the most intelligent one. Now you might make mistakes but as long as they're still within the Halla you're all right because it's finishing you Hannah and you have your proof so we have options in this country to do certain things. One of the things that we cannot do is be violent or disruptive it's just not an option. Obviously, unless you're physically defending yourself that even this country gives you the right to defend yourself and we can do that. If somebody breaks into your house you have a right to defend yourself. If somebody accosts you on the street you have a right to defend yourself. That's true right?
Somebody said I believe in 1:45:32 1:45:35 show me in anything where I said that. I don't even understand what to do how can you believe in something you don't understand? Like Einstein's theory of relativity for me, it's just another I mean if you mean Allah is one I believe Allah is. If you mean this is Allah I don't believe that. But that I mean I've seen said that she's probably somebody has got the shahid that you said people worship me then. If you look at that I should say if there were martyrs they would be that's called a conditional statement in English all right that's all I said.
And if you understand English you know what that means and martyrs if you look it up in the Webster's dictionary is somebody who sacrifices his life for somebody else. So
somebody died trying to pull somebody out of a fire inefficiencies she's a martyr in English. She did nothing and there were Muslim a fireman in there as well. People don't know that I know that for a fact there were Muslim firemen in there that pulled people out. So that was the point it. Martin Luther King he was a martyr for his cause and for his people it's as simple as that.
Now in Sharia is a Muslim who dies 1:47:11 so that has a shraper but a martyr in the
Greek language matieros which means witness. It had the same meaning as Shaheed in Arabic but if somebody dies witnessing what he believes so he's a martyr to his cause. It's like suing Mecca. People here they say Las Vegas mecca of sin you know now, it's not nice to use the word but if you look up Mecca in Western dictionary it's an English use of the word. Whether you like it or not it's not Mecca of Saudi Arabia but Siobhan has a throne that he imitates and if you go to Las Vegas it looks just like Saudi Arabia. So Chebang went out there and built his own little chocolate like structures where people go in there and do their Fallah and things like that. That's what he does, he likes to imitate. So that's their warship and he has children he's probably every year we have three millions children this year. I mean they call it pilgrimage as well so that's what Chefon does he imitates. He likes to imitate and it’s a bad place. There's some good Muslims there I told him to leave but I mean I went there and at the airport it says submit to your desires. That's what it says.
And that's the Creed of the devil. If you chant that in Arabic 1:48:43 1:48:44 become a Muslim of your desire and that's what Allah said. You know people 1:48:51 1:48:53 there are people that take their desires as their God. Exactly what gambling is. So can you explain different types of jihad? Jihad, the struggle of jihad which is in the book Seth called bhava jihad imam attic put it in their Iveta in the section on worship he considered it an act of worship. There were basically three levels of jihad in the Quran. The first level, well I mean there's jihad of the nos which is in the end of sort of around Kabul which is a mecca diet and levena 1:49:40 1:49:41 1:49:43 those who do jihad for our sake we will guide them to our ways 1:49:49 1:49:50 with the people of 1:49:531:50:161:50:18 1:50:19 that's amongst Muslims you struggle with that and the prophet Elisha said if you see something wrong change it. With your hand, you're in authority, with your tongue if you're a scholar and with your heart if you're an ignorant person but you know it's wrong so those you can't change something with your hand if you don't have authority to do that unless there's something obviously two people fighting you can pull them apart but like if there's a bar in Cairo you can't go and burn it down or something it's wrong to do that. Only the government can shut down that is harmful for people to do that. And then you have the jihad which is there are two times of jihad. Defensive and offensive jihad. Defensive jihad was given when the profile migrated to Medina and it
was 1:51:17 1:51:18 1:51:19 1:51:22 1:51:23 1:51:25 1:51:27 1:51:29 1:51:31 1:51:32 1:51:35 1:51:36 1:51:37 1:51:39 1:51:41 1:51:42 1:51:44 That Allah says that permission has been granted to people who are oppressed because they've been driven out of their homes to fight. They've been granted that permission, they've been driven out of their homes to fight and Allah has given them victory and the only reason they're doing that is because they say our Lord is God and then Allah has had it not been that I'll believe some people to defend other people holy places would be destroyed Church and in synagogues temples and mosques wherein Allah's name is mentioned so I mean that's the purpose of the struggle is to protect worship and to protect people's right to be safe in their homes in their places and then the next verse that came down meant to be designed in your possible become what affected in the LA City
fight the fight of the way of Allah those in the fight you and don't be aggressive because Allah does not love aggressors. Now the last stage which came slow to Toga it's called 1:52:52 1:52:53 1:52:55 1:52:56 that kills the mushriks wherever we find them that verse came after with breaking of the treaty and when it said wherever you find them it meant even in the sacred with the sanctuary of Mecca the public was giving permission to fight them even in Mecca and they were people are broken a treaty and they were treacherous and 1:53:19 and he declared a four-month period them to either become Muslim or they would be fought as simple as that.
Now there are a number of reasons for that and this is the opinion of 1:53:32. There's other scholars that think that that applies to anybody who's an idolaters but the opinion that was it practiced in the history of Islam in India and in North Africa was that idolaters can pay just like Jews and Christians and that's what the hannasseys used in India with the Hindus and that was the appropriate position and the best position. So the idea of fighting people total wars is not it's not part of Islam.
So there is and also their diversity 1:54:04 1:54:05 1:54:07 1:54:10 1:54:13 1:54:14 1:54:15 1:54:16 1:54:18 1:54:19 1:54:20 1:54:21 1:54:23 1:54:25 1:54:27 1:54:28 that you will buy and sell the credit, when you follow the ways of the world like agriculture geology and you leave struggling for the sake of God which is jihad then what will happen is you'll have enemies subjugation that you will be subjugated to and you will be humiliated and that humiliation will not be removed until you change your condition or return to that state. Now that is human being prepared and Muslim countries where Muslims are majority they have a right to defend themselves and be military to be prepared and history shows that if you're not prepared people commonly take you over. It's just like the colonialist did if when and they just took the Muslim world over and did terrible things to them I mean Lord Kitchener I had the great Lord Kitchener who went to avenge the death of General Gordon in Sudan. He had the message body, this is an enlightened Christian Lord from Britain in 1885 he had the mathís body dug up and then he mutilated it and had it destroyed and dispersed and then he wanted to use the skull as an inkstand. And this is a man who was a general in World War one with Winston Churchill. So the idea of not
defending the Sudanese I mean he went killed him just because the man he was trying to defend his land and people. People have the right to defend their land. That's why the Quran said 1:56:04 1:56:05 1:56:07 1:56:08 1:56:09 That Allah doesn't prohibit you from the friending or doing good better-showing righteousness, feeling piety, al these things to people who do not oppose you in their religion and don't force you out of your homes that you are good to them and you actually can share in your money 1:56:25 1:56:28. You can actually give them money, show then your money during and that's why in Cheria if somebody holds you up and said give me your money it's permitted to give them your money because you can just put them in a shape with Allah and just say here take it. Or you can fight and defend yourself. So either way that's acceptable.
So jihad is a very misunderstood concept most of the time. Well thank you very much and no father images or anything and shall I really hope we need to move to a higher level and
I hope all of you I this has been some benefit to you and even if it's just things I thought for more reflection thank you very much.