startled my neighbor actually what I got
$100 sought out to a cinema and out or
sweetie now and addy here woman wada
and i home did it's a blessing to be
here
it's an extraordinary crowd when you come to New York you have to change your state of mind. you have to enter into a New York state of mind things are
different here people are different time is different you have a different set of
criteria for time you called a New York
minute we don't have that in California
I'm gonna have a San Francisco minute or
a Los Angeles minute but you have a New
York minute this this citymy father actually went to Columbia so I have
roots in New York my my father actually grew up here he was born in Minnesota but grew up here.
When I first became Muslim I came to to this city from California. I was very young and it was very overwhelming to be in this city. You can go outside now (ed: 2005) it looks as crazy today as it did back then it's just different but it's still crazy. And when I came here I hooked up with the Muslim community that was here and amongst them was Imam Talib Abdur-Rashid.
I was actually caught in the middle of a gunfight in Harlem, I'm not making this up you couldn't make this up and he remembers too. I was like selling books and suddenly some people start shooting each other say welcome to New York that was my welcome I'm coming from California people smoked marijuana in California everything's slow we have medical marijuana and everybody's sick in California so everybody's stoned right.
So that was my welcome to California welcome to New York and then in order to survive here I people used to sell jewelry so I actually went and they taught me how to do silver from the Koreans went down to Greenwich Village I was there with a man named Abdul Qadir although I don't know if he's still alive he got stabbed while I was here but he was from Georgia and we were walking one day this is a true story we were walking one day and there was a prostitute and there was four or five guys from New Jersey they had Jersey plates white guys in his cars african-american prostitute and they started talking to her and we walked by and this guy Abdul Qadir who I'm with says, "Sister don't get in that car". She said I'm not getting in that car.
Well this one of the guys gets out of car with a baseball bat and said to him "what's it to you" and I swear to God he was probably six foot three or something he looked like a ex-football player he walked up to this guy he'd been in prison he walked up to this guy and right up to his face and he said "I'm a Muslim we don't hit first so you go ahead and take your best shot" and this guy just got in the car and with their tail between their legs drove back to New Jersey so that's a New York state of mind right that was the state of mind that I was getting into a little scary so I was ready to go overseas to the Middle East study Arabic right seriously I was here studying Ebonics but I went over and studied Arabic but it was a good experience for me to see this community here because I was part of history.
I was at State Street I went to Atlantic Avenue I saw Muhammad Abdi when he used to give those Qhutbas there and and there was a brother african-american very light-skinned Imam Ibrahim who had studied overseas I met Shaykh Dawood sister Khadija and I went up to Shaykh Dawood's room and saw this incredible looking man dressed in a Moroccan robe and had his got a Burnoose on
and his yellow sandal I'll never forget this first time I ever saw Bullgah yellow sandal looking down saying you went up there was like the you know that it was a ritual to go up and visit Shaykh Dawood but that was history and I was with people in Harlem who had lived with Malcolm X they were that was only ten twelve years after he died.
I mean these are people that went that was where they went and heard the Qhutbah that's what's happening here so you have to understand where you're from and what's your part up this is a historical transition that's happening Islam at that time was an African American phenomenon with a certain level of immigrant coming into the scene but Islam was very much an African American phenomenon in the United States this is what the Muslims here the African American Muslims were right there on the front lines and they were taking it to the streets they were talking about Islam with people selling incense and giving Dawa that's what was happening in New York.
Now a lot of people have come to America
from other places and one of the great
crimes of the immigrant community and
I'm going to say this one of the great
crimes of the immigrant community is
failing to recognize the importance of
Alliance and allegiance with the
african-american Muslim community this
this is something that we all have to be
aware of you see because you can't say
to an african-american go back from
where you came from all right right here
from the start
in fact long before many of the
right people walking around because they
came later we're talking about 500 years
this is when it begins so it's very
important for people to recognize that
an allegiance with the african-american
Muslim community is only going to
strengthen the Muslim community in the
United States of America there's no
other way to strengthen this community
the african-american community is also
the canary the in in the coal mine of
America if you want to see where America
is going you look at the
african-american community they are
going to tell you where this country is
going and you can see two clear roads a
road of construction and a road of
destruction within the community Islam
will help people make those u-turns on
that road of destruction it will help to
reunite the African American community
with an incredible tradition of family
because this is a community that
survived the destruction the
institutionalized destruction of the
family and despite that these families
were thriving in this country for a long
time in spite of all the
institutionalized attempts to destroy
those families but there are many people
today within that community who are
suffering from the breakdown of the
family Islam is rooted in family it can
reunite it can reinvigorate these people
need Islam these people need Islam and
that is why a strong african-american
community is a strong American Muslim
community but it's also a strengthening
of the overall african-american
community in this country a community
that is the first to suffer when there's
economic hardships in this country it's
the first to suffer people talk about a
depression go in to some of the inner
cities in a matter
can tell them about depression they've
been in depression for decades it's not
something new in that community and
that's why beacons of light and hope
like mushy the taqwa are what we need to
strengthen in this country these are the
beacons of Hope in very bleak and
desolate places and it's important for
the American immigrant community to be
aware of that the first time I heard
imam suraj was in Los Angeles and I know
for many people that in if you're old
enough there's there's you can you can
ask people from a certain generation
where were you when Kennedy was killed
I'm not from that generation I wasn't
old enough but there are people that
remember there are people that remember
exactly where they were when they first
found out about 9/11 but if you think
you can remember where you first heard
him I'm sad because Imam Suraj is a
voice that's powerful it's a voice that
resonates it's a voice that speaks the
truth he's been attacked he's been
slandered he's been maligned he's been
vilified but despite that he struggles
on imam suraj like all of us is a work
in progress this is the human condition
there's people that want to say that
something you said twenty or thirty
years ago
you still say today no there's something
called human evolution people transform
people become more aware especially
inveterate and permanent student like
imam said i've every time I've ever seen
him like Ingrid Madson earlier dr.
Mattson said he's always got his bag of
books he's always gotten his pens he's
always got his dictionary he's one of
the scholars of the American Muslim
community he's had a lifetime of
scholarship and his community to me is
one of the most important communities in
the United States of America and helping
it is
most important things we can do as a
community and our community has to
recognize this and this has two strands
send this this ballroom it has to
transcend this ballroom it is a disgrace
for the overall American Muslim
community that the Imam of a Masjid that
has raised more money for the American
Muslim community than other any other
Imam in the United States of America I I
can guarantee you that if you had a flow
chart you would see how much this man
has raised going all over the country to
the neglect of his own community to
raise money for other communities and
it's time that all of our communities
paid back it's time we all pay back this
is this is the way it goes this is the
way it works you have to pay back and so
it's very important that you deliver
this message to other places we need to
support and institutionally Imams Aid
and I here we don't have a quorum but I
can say we will make that commitment to
support within our own institution what
we can for this institution here now the
prophet sallallaahu what a deal said
them was a community builder and we are
in a time when community is threatened
we've never been in a time like this
really in human history as far as I can
tell we have right now in this country a
breakdown of communities on all the
strattice of this society we have
children who are texting in their own
homes they don't talk to their parents
anymore they're talking to their friends
online
we've got predators online praying in
the homes you'd never have anybody knock
at your door and you go and you've never
seen it before and you say I'm gonna
complete
changer but I'd like to entertain your
children for a few hours is that alright
and you oh come on in yeah here they are
I'll see you later but everyday people
turn on the television and that complete
strangers entertain their children and
if you look at what they're entertaining
them with and then you wonder why we've
got little girls walking around with
juicy on their bottoms if you want to
see the port of occasion of a culture
the degradation of a civilization just
look around look at what has happened to
us as a species as a people because the
human project the human project right
now is under serious threat it is under
serious threat we have law breakers
making the rules we've got rulers
breaking the laws we've got banksters on
Wall Street we've got gangsters on Main
Street and we've got heads of football
teams with charitable organizations that
are used as fronts to molest children in
showers at those same football stadiums
what's going on in this country we've
got one out of five women being raped in
this country right now this is their own
statistics this is what's what we're
being told what is happening what's
happening to us as a species as a people
what's happening to us we have to ask
these questions what kind of a society
do we want our children to grow up in
what kind of a culture do we want to be
part of I want to be part of a culture
that elevates people that illuminates
people that gives them language to speak
with power like that beautiful spoken
word that we heard earlier poets a
culture of meaning this is what I want
to have from my children and my
children's children and the people
around me the other day I came into New
York from Abu Dhabi on an airplane and I
was there and I and I was waiting for
somebody to pick me up and people were
coming off and airports are amazing
places beautiful metaphors for life on
Earth
comings and goings separations and
reunifications people smiling with love
people with signs looking bored out of
their gourd wondering who's going to
come around the corner there were two
little girls and and they were beautiful
little girls it couldn't have been more
than five years old
they were Asian American and they came
around the corner and I saw him
immediately and they saw their
grandfather and their eyes lit up and
they ran and they just had grandpa and
they hugged him and then a few seconds
later the mother came looking harried
and disheveled she came and she gave her
father a hug
and I actually told him I said you're a
lucky man because they just was so much
love they went up to their grandfather
and then the the woman started
frantically looking through her purse
and then a woman came up to her and she
said did you lose this and she handed
her an iPhone and she said oh thank you
she said I found it in the bathroom and
I saw you leave so I thought it might be
yours and then she turned to her father
and she said I lost my tickets at
Starbucks and somebody brought them to
us and now I lost my phone and this
person brought them to us thank God for
the good people and this little
five-year-old girl said hurray for the
good people hooray for the good people
and this little five year old girl said
hurray for the good people hurray for
the good people I mean really that just
floored me this little girl
recognizing goodness and saying hooray
hooray for the good people we need the
good people to wake up because the bad
people are there out there wreaking
havoc on this planet and the good people
are either sitting by silently shaking
their heads wondering what's going on or
they're fast asleep and there's too many
Muslims fast asleep we have moral
corruption we have bankruptcy in our
community
how can we speak the truth when we have
some of the worst most corrupt countries
in the world how can the Muslims call to
good forbid evil really think about that
we need moral capital we need to look
ourselves in the mirror and we we should
look in the mirror to change ourselves
to look at what needs fixing because we
as a community we are failing humanity
we were given an extraordinary task and
we are failing humanity allah subhana wa
tada said in the quran come tomorrow
omote an Orisha the nest you were the
best community and that kuntum is in the
past tense for a reason because it
referred specifically to that first
community kuntum hiya
Oh Martin Oakley Jaclyn as you were
brought forth for all of humanity
Lynne ass top maroon have been my roof
but an honer and in Mongkok what took me
no Nabila you enjoying what is right you
forbid what is evil and you believe in
God any community that has these three
qualities shares in that excellence of
that first community that's what we need
to be doing as a community Thank You
minkum omelette when you donate a little
Haiti
let there be amongst you a community
that calls to good that calls to good
top Moroni Yammer on have been my roof
yn Hana and in moon wahoo let it go
home and moon they enjoin what is right
and they forbid what is evil and these
are the successful ones well at a corner
Kalinina tougher aku
well terraforming body major Omar biggie
not and don't be don't be like those
those people who went into sects and
divisions and differ after these clear
signs had come to them wahoo let you got
a home I that wanna leave
these will have a painful chastisement
the only way this community can be
United without the divisions is by
recognizing the nature of humanity which
is to differ about things Muslims have
always differed we incorporate a
difference into our religious ethos we
have different ways of viewing things
each of our groups has their scholars
there are rightly guided groups and then
there are misguided groups
unfortunately there's differences about
who those rightly guided groups are and
who the misguided groups are there's
where the problem arises but if you take
a broad-based criteria a broad-based
criterion a generous criterion of our
Imams who are well known in our
community throughout history we can
unite as a community America the
American Muslim community the Canadian
Muslim community these can be beacons of
light for other places the fact that the
Mudge's Council of scholars in this city
is one of the most extraordinary
accomplishments in the Muslim world I'm
not talking just about the United States
of America a group of Imams from diverse
backgrounds different geographical
locations to come together to work
together that's what can happen in this
country we have the potential to change
the world that we're in and there's no
other reason to be in this world unless
you're here to change it for the better
because there's enough people out there
changing it for the worst and you need
to choose your sides choose your battles
but start the struggle because the
struggles if you don't go to the
struggle the struggle will come to you
it's the nature of life on this planet
if you don't go to the struggle the
struggle will go to you but this is a
long train and it's been moving for a
long time Rosa Parks went to jail in
this country so that these people could
be sitting at this table together that's
right
that's right Medgar Evers took a bullet
in the back Martin Luther King
malcom-x these people their sacrifice
their lives for a different America and
there are many positive and good things
about America today it is undeniable
some of the achievements that have
occurred in our lifetimes and we need to
acknowledge that and recognize that but
there are other things that are deeply
troubling and if we don't look those
things straight in the eye and deal with
them as a community recognize that we
have allies in the greater community we
have good people that are standing by us
that are defending us we have people on
the Left like Chris Chris Hedges
a pew litter Prize winning journalist
who's willing to speak the truth for the
Muslim community on our behalf and those
people need to be recognized we have
people like Robert George who's on the
right
one of the most significant legal minds
in the in the United States today
teaching at Princeton defending the
Muslim community we need to recognize
who our allies are and those out there
who are attacking this community there
are some of them who are simply ignorant
they need to be educated there are
others that are educated but they have
an agenda you cannot blame the Jewish
community not all of the Jewish
community but a certain segment of the
Jewish community in this country does
not like the idea of a strong Islam in
America because the Jewish community has
worked very hard to be enfranchised in
this country many of the Jewish
community has a tribal allegiance to
Israel just like many of the people in
this hall might have some tribal
allegiances to places they came from -
that's human nature that's human nature
so you have to be aware there are people
that are deeply disturbed by the idea of
a powerful vibrant Muslim community that
is going to engage the dominant
community in new discourses but there
are people within the Jewish community
that have stood by our community
defended our key
unity so it's important for us to
distinguish friends from foes right
friends from foes recognizing who our
friends are who our enemies are
and unfortunately we have amongst
ourselves amongst the Muslim community
what I would what I would call frenemies
right we've got a lot of those shooting
us in the foot as a community
unfortunately god bless you all god
bless imam suraj in his community we owe
them our support Saruman Akuma