ISNA 2013: A Moral Vision For The Future

Transcript Details

Event Name: ISNA 2013: A Moral Vision For The Future
Transcription Date:Transcription Modified Date: 5/30/2019
Transcript Version: 1


Transcript Text

/p>

in Palestine tell them that tell the

muscles that he has come here can

distantly to be in solidarity with

Muslims from the Jewish tradition men

who men won't be known Allah says

amongst a lot they're good people

amongst them and we know that and we

shouldn't demonize the Jews just like we

don't like to be demonized there are

good people amongst we have natural

allies amongst many of the Christians

unfortunately we need to disabuse them

of their attitudes about Islam because

they have been brainwashed over a long

period of time and then we have too many

people in the Muslim world creating so

much commotion there's a lot of

instability but Muslims have been driven

mad by social conditions people talk

about human nature I just want to say

this if you take animals and you put

them in in cages in inhumane conditions

they don't behave like they would in

their natural habitat they begin to tear

each other apart they begin to fight

each other this is what happens this is

my swan song so I might not pay

attention to those little things she's

holding up they might not they might

they don't behave like they would in a

natural environment they start to kill

each other

humanely I lived with human beings I

lived with Bedouins I spent seven years

with Bedouins living in different places

with them I lived with them and I saw

how they interact how they love each

other

I saw how a human being behaves when

he's allowed to be human when you look

in the ghettos and say look at these

animals they're not animals they're

human beings that have been put in

inhumane environments and if you change

their environments you will change their

behavior really you will change their

behavior they're human beings and and

really it would break if dr. King if

Malcolm X could come back and see what's

happened in many of these communities

the degradation the social

disintegration if they could see it they

would weep tears of blood I believe that

I really believe that they would we

years of blood to see and look at the

successful Muslims the successful

african-americans in Hollywood that are

degrading themselves women that were

stripped their ancestors were stripped

of their clothes and now they're paid to

strip their clothes no they should be

honor themselves they've been given the

privilege of honoring themselves in a

society that will allow that now these

are these are the things that trouble me

about this culture and Muslims should be

a spark of hope we should be a beacon of

light not just for people overseas but

for people in this country when they see

the dignity of our dress when they see

the dignity of our behavior when they

see the excellence of our schools when

they see the professionalism of our

doctors of our healers of our lawyers

when they see people that are ethical at

the root and the core and they won't

inform they won't absolve themselves of

those ethical responsibilities then

we'll be a beacon of light and people

will say I want to be like those people

like that man we had a man in a in a

7-eleven store and a man came in with a

pipe I'm trying to steal money from him

and he said to him he took out a gun he

had a gun he pulled out the gun and the

man stopped he dropped the gun and he

said I'm so sorry I'm just desperate I

don't have any food that Muslim man gave

him 20 $40 and made him promise that he

wouldn't steal again and then the man

said this is this is this is something

that you can see because it was filmed

this meal of that man who was robbing

that man said I want to be a Muslim and

he said that she had a right there and

then that's like something you read in

the books because he treated him like a

human being too many people are

denigrated in this culture

you have now a culture that's emerging

where people live in these bubbles and

then other people live in another world

where SWAT teams invade their homes on a

daily basis where their children are

taking away from them because of these

protective services and they don't have

the lawyers that can prevent that from

happening

really there are two Americas that have

emerged the VIP America and the poor

America the middle class has eroded

immensely now you can if you have money

you can drive in the fast lane it didn't

used to be like that in America now if

you go to Disneyland or any of these

amusement parks you have fast tracks

because if you have money you don't have

to wait in line with the peons this is

different from the ideal that was

America so we have a lot of work to do

and finally in conclusion I want to say

to all of you I've heard a lot of

Muslims lately say I'm so depressed I

was in recently in Arabia and I have a

Muslim friend he was a very active

Muslim and I said what are you doing

these days he said no I'm I just I've

given up that's what he said to me he

said I've given up I've had enough you

know if there's no hope I grabbed him

and I shook him literally physically and

people who know me know that I'm very

capable of doing that I shook him and I

said to him what do you mean there's no

hope if you want a bit hopelessness is a

bit we're a religion of hope we live on

hope every time you're depressed or you

say there's no hope what you're saying

to every African that was brought over

in Chains and and survived the

transatlantic crossing and came here and

lived in slavery and marched to get

their civil rights you're saying to them

that was all a waste of time if you're

depressed you're dishonouring all those

Andalusia

who were chased out of what was called

paradise at the time they were chased

out of Andalusia but they made new lives

for themselves in Tunisia in Morocco and

today you have an to the sea and

families that hail from Andalusia just

like you have Palestinians here that

were chased out of their homes your

dishonouring all of those Indians that

migrated to Pakistan with the hope of a

better life

your dishonouring the Afghan ease that

have lived in over 30 years of war and

they're still trying to hold their heads

high we can't do that

there's no room for hope I'm in it till

the last breath I'm in it till the last

breath because in that last breath and I

pray to God that allah subhanho wa taala

gives me on my last breath a shadow and

la ilahe illallah WA ash hadu one

mohammed rasoolallah because I believe

in the promise of God I believe that his

prophet was true I believe that hell is

true and that the fire is true and that

the day of judgment is true and I

testify to the truth of the syrop that

we will be weighed in the balance and

there will be those who are found

wanting and there will be those who are

given grace and there will be the out

strippers these are all true things that

every prophet is taught and I believe in

them and I will hold to them till I die

and the struggle continues this world

was never meant to be paradise God has

created a world that is meant to drive

you to God and if you've been being

driven to the devil

you've been doomed my friends because

all of the hardships that you suffer in

your life if you believe in God you will

find those rewards on the day of

judgement I was in Abu Dhabi and a taxi

driver said to me and I'm done I was in

Abu Dhabi a taxi driver said to me I

said where are you from he said Dada and

I said to him I hope that your family's

safe he said the house caved in on them

my father was killed he said to me I've

worked 12 years every month I sent

everything I could back to my father to

build that house and it was destroyed I

feel like my whole life is a waste I

said to me a fee Vanara BIA testing

behind the law what law he Kentucky

bitterlin deewana dig you were in filial

piety to your parents believed in the

promise of allah subhanho wa taala

what you're doing is not to build in

this world when Ben le habia dunya

Sahaba Medina if you build for this

world what you build will go to not we

build for the next world not for this

world and if what we built if if my

college in California is destroyed by an

earthquake so be it so be it but we are

builders for the akhira and this is the

place we do it

Jews ah Kamala hey Thomas anomaly