thank you so much for joining us here on
the dean show you're getting away from
the mtv from the pit my ride and all the
other distractions out there a lot of
things are just a waste of time but here
you're benefiting with your time because
you're here with us on the dean's show
and you're getting to learn something
here every week and today here on the
dean show we got an attorney on the show
an educator who we're going to be asking
some very important questions because a
lot of times you know what
mini mini mini
muhammad come over here you get randomly
selected two three times like what's
going on here you're a law-abiding
citizen you live by the law of the land
you're doing good and sometimes you know
you feel a little belittle you feel like
you know there's there's some eyes on
you and what do you do you don't want to
be in reactionary you don't want to
overreact and do the wrong thing you
want to do the right thing so we want to
get some good advice so we got someone
to give us this advice here on the dean
show don't go nowhere we'll be right
back
this is
the creator of the hemison earth who's
given us this platform here to meet
together i'm very excited thank you for
being with us thank you so much dr zaffa
safa so you just because time is short
so we'll just go ahead and kind of talk
a little bit about yourself you're a
doctor i mean you uh finished with the
juris in uh doctorate from the depaul
university you also teach law at uh
loyola university yes i do teach law on
part-time basis i teach one course on
non-uh public school law private school
law and one course on islamic law
masha'allah and you also have a master's
in education educating for a long time
yes for about 15 years i was a teacher
then a principal of one of the largest
islamic schools in the nation
you're keeping busy absolutely doing
good inviting the good yes absolutely
that's what it is about and that's what
muslims are about absolutely inviting
the good yes yeah so now you heard me
open the show you know and a lot of
times now there's a a misunderstanding
islam is the fastest growing way of life
in the world out there it's a way of
life that was actually lived by all the
messengers of god jesus moses abraham
it's not a new religion this is one
misconception it's been there since time
immemorial because god almighty he's not
the author of confusion he sent the same
message throughout all the messengers
submit your will to the owner of all
that exists the one god the one creator
saying god that jesus worship that's the
god that we're worshiping and we're just
continuing the legacy of pure monotheism
doing good and now you know sometimes
it's heavy it's heavy on a person
because you know what he's law-abiding
citizen he's a doctor he's an engineer
he's not talking about blowing nobody up
this is the furthest thing from his mind
terrorism and all these other things a
person just wants to live with his
family and peace peace with his creator
peace with himself he's in society so
he's getting randomly detected selected
three times he's getting what he feels
is harassed and looked down upon
we don't want people to lose hope in in
in in the system here we don't want
people to get discouraged you're an
attorney we want some good advice we
want some good advice how should a
person handle these situations when they
feel the heat is coming out true please
talk to us absolutely uh there's
three points that i would like to make
in that regard uh two of them really are
not legal rather relates to the fact
that
you know allah says in the quran
it's part and parcel of being a believer
to really have have things thrown at you
sometimes it can be thrown at you by by
by your job sometimes by your family
sometimes by people you live around
sometimes by your government sometimes
by whatever it is
so we need to understand that you know
we are not facing anything that that an
average believer faces everywhere the
second point i want to make is that also
as muslims uh in america we are not also
facing anything that other people other
minority religious and ethnic and
otherwise did not face it is part of
becoming part and parcel of this country
part of taking your place and and making
your contribution to the country there
is a time where you reach a critical
mass at which some people start feeling
threatened by you by your presence
and they start trying to find ways and
excuses to marginalize you to demonize
you to push you aside to say somehow of
all other americans that came
you know through and have managed to
make their mark on the society you are
different that you are too bad and this
is this happened to catholics this
happened to mormons this happened to
jews this happened to african-american
obviously and and they suffered perhaps
the most on this so it's not also any
different and every community that have
succeeded at the end stood its ground
didn't overreact as you said in the
opening but at the same time did not
bury it its head in the sand and just
walked away so that comes the third
point which is just uh go to places and
people who can give you advice here in
america we have many organizations
within the muslim community and without
that basically are there ready to help
anyone who
needs help in this regard
i mean if you are for example in the
airport and they stop you take the name
of the person who is dealing with you
for example keep track of what is
happening and then
you basically contact you know if if
someone is trying to you feel violate
your rights you have a right to ask them
uh uh to talk to an attorney and you can
also make phone calls to to
organizations that can help you here in
chicago i know firsthand that for
example care chicago is an organization
that can uh respond to you and can can
and and can tell you what is it that you
need to be doing to guard your rights
there are many other organizations that
do that as well uh and and and they put
on workshops they you can contact them
on your own time you can go on their
websites and they have plenty of advice
in that regard the key is that don't
don't feel that you are suffering in
silence that there's nobody who who can
support you and also more importantly
don't let it go without standing up for
your right but without again
overreacting without you know battling
wrong with wrong
now
you started off with point number one
and you quoted the verbatim word of god
the quran
it's was sent down over span of 23 years
tamper free temper proof is not edited
by a man it's preserved it's original
memorized by millions it's a living
miracle
and you said it in the original language
the arabic can you translate because you
talked about it being a test that's a
very key point
explain this verse here the verse says
do people think that they will say i
believe and they will not be tested
tested absolutely it's a test the part
of it this whole scheme here this scheme
of things it's a test so don't panic and
absolutely know that
god is is some people think now man is
god angry with me is he upset with me so
is is this you know how we should take
it and freak out just how should i
handle it when the calamity hits you
know you got the you pull to the side
you're like oh i'm you know my flight
i'm about to miss it you know my family
my job i'm gonna lose it and you start
the panic kicks in how do you handle
this moment you basically you remind
yourself that this is a test and you are
going to pass it with flying colors and
so you you keep your calm you keep your
politeness and you communicate with
whoever is is is across from you in in a
very uh uh assertive but very respectful
manner
and most of the time people get good
results with that i like that this is
very we're being optimistic absolutely
not pessimistic true yes definitely this
is beautiful we're gonna go ahead and
take a break and we're going to come
back
for more questions here i got i got so
many of them and we're blessed to have
you here with us thank you so much we'll
be right back with more here on the
dean's show death and the day of
judgment the mercy of allah these are
the things that finally made me realize
there is no time to delay anymore i
wanted to take my shahada the right day
the essence of spirituality is to become
more sincere to allah want to play death
itself it is very very scary but it
brings you back to reality there is a
life which is everlasting
and you have to make a conscious
decision of which group of people do you
want to be of the people of heaven or
the people of
stand hell
i am not afraid to stand alone if a lie
is by messiah i am not afraid to stand
alone
i am not afraid to stand alone if a lie
is by messiah i am not afraid to stand
alone
i am not afraid to stand alone if allah
is
back here on the dean show with dr zaffa
tell us
you you have your own law firm also
and you have done a lot of good in the
community heard you also got an award
from the mayor mayor daley of chicago
yes masha'allah
so
you're somebody who's respected in the
community and is your door open now
if you know we had these peter king
hearings lately recently now if someone
like that was to invite you because i
heard that many of the the muslim
scholars and people who who have a voice
in repeat the door was closed to them
so what you know now we have this
platform we want to speak
radical islam it seems like i always
call it they make it out like the
boogeyman is coming to get you everyone
they're developing this fear in the
hearts of people which islam when you
get to know it it eradicates any fear
it's something beautiful it's something
when you practice it brings peace in
your life peace in the community and
it's something that you know is so
beloved to our hearts so what are your
comments on this when you hear this term
being thrown around radical islam well
actually let me talk to you from from
experience about a year little over a
year ago i became the secretary general
of isla the islamic society of north
america and
though
i am a partner in my law firm i'm
literally an absent partner because i
devote all my time to the work of island
it it is very extensive and it requires
a lot of travel now the thing for for me
with is that we have really decided to
take the long term
approach to this issue and that is not
to necessarily react every time there is
an issue every time someone cries
islamophobia i mean an islamophobe cries
foul or starts attacking us calling us
radicals rather start to work with civil
society and interfaith community and
government to try to really explain to
them the facts because the beauty of
this is that the facts are on our side
they have to put on a pony you know show
to to basically pull what they are
trying to pull and it doesn't stand
because the facts don't support it give
you an example the hearings for example
for for peter king
we put together as an organization i'm
talking now about the islamic society of
north america we put together a
coalition of 24 religious communities
from you name it from from evangelicals
to baptists to mainline denominations to
to all four uh denominations of the
jewish community and they came together
and they formed an organization called
charlotte's shoulder
and
the rest of the name is combating
anti-muslim bigotry in america and what
they are saying is that what is being
said including peter king what he's
saying is not true in fact on the day of
his hearing we had a press conference in
congress we were joined by by
the second muslim congressman andre
carson and and we talked forcefully
about the fact that this is a show and
this is not going after the facts and
the the biggest proof of that is that
first i mean if you listen to the to the
uh to many of the congress people
especially the democrats on the panel i
mean they were they were you know
putting putting holes through the
argument of peter king like no tomorrow
but more importantly you know
the whole hearings supposedly were about
radicalization of muslims right so who
would you call for that to testify you
are supposed to call law enforcement
and the muslim community exactly grill
the muslim community on their supposed
radicalization and grill law enforcement
on their you know what did they find
what their investigations found well
no fbi agent testify no law enforcement
testified except for one who is the
sheriff of of of los angeles sheriff
bacca and he was invited not by peter
king but by the ranking democrat on the
on the uh on the panel and he sat there
to rebut and counter every assertion
that king made he said the community is
cooperative that the community is
peaceful that the community is law
abiding is helpful
and so and and the other thing is that
there were no muslim community members
there were some people in the community
that that are more self-haters than
anything else that were there but there
were no legitimate representative of any
legitimate organization in the nation he
just held his second hearing which went
without fanfare at all about supposedly
radicalization of muslims in prisons and
guess what no correctional facilities
you know or correctional officer was
called to testify nobody from the
department of corrections in any state
on the federal level was invited to
testify in his hearings so so luckily
again the truth in our side when you're
the truth in your side you are very
lucky and so all we need to do is build
those coalitions explain to that to the
average american who really is most of
our fellow americans come from
backgrounds that have gone through this
experience they can name somebody in
their family one day who was ostracized
who were considered not quite the right
american and so when you tell them your
story when you when they know who you
are all of these things fall by the
sideway and that's what we need to be
doing and that's what we have been doing
as an organization
july 1st to july 4th we have our annual
convention here in chicago we are asking
sheriff baca to come to the convention
he accepted and he will be there to be
honored for his courageous stand talking
you know truth to power uh to peter king
and and we have also a lot of panels on
how to combat islamophobia who who's
afraid of sharia trying to really
explain to ourselves to our fellow
muslims in america but also to america
at large
explain to them what islam is all about
it it's clear like they as he said islam
is the religion of god that has been
embraced by the prophets throughout
including abraham moses jesus and and
and muhammad and it is the same it calls
for the same truth
of of of being kind to your neighbors of
doing right of upholding what is right
of combating injustice standing up for
uh
for oppression and that's what we are
about and i think it's something to be
proud of and we should wear it in our
sleeves and and communicate with our
fellow americans and we'll be surprised
with the results absolutely absolutely
so eloquently put
shay tell us now the thing is that you
said a key point here it's it's that the
truth is on our side
and the thing is that many of us we know
what the purpose of life is it's clear
and we know that as those who have
submitted to the one god doing good
because god is good he only accepts good
and that's what we're trying to do we're
trying to stay away from from evil we're
trying to stay away from things that
aren't good for us anyway and trying to
sincerely humbly just submit to god
and the thing here is that many of us if
we were submitting to god as muslims
being
role models for the communities
educating the people our job is not to
try to convert somebody our job is not
try to force something down people's
throws but just to deliver the message
and to share the purpose of life with
the people if they want to accept it
they accept it if they don't it's on
them it's between them and their lord
many of us
as muslims we're not doing that we're
not educating the people so do we have
to look at ourselves first and foremost
talk to us what are your thoughts about
this to tell you the truth that's that's
the beginning of it and again if i may
quote the quran again uh
who believe why do you say what you do
not that it is an abomination in the
sight of allah to say what you do not uh
and so
really in a lot of time in a lot of ways
and the most the most distracting thing
for people out there
about islam who are not muslims is
sometimes the actions of muslims is
sometimes the way muslims behave
themselves and that includes the
radicals and the terrorists but it also
includes a lot of muslims who really
don't show a good example you know i i
can tell you about you know we live in a
suburb that today has quite a
few muslims uh people know who muslims
are we have comfortable relations with
our neighbors i can tell you 15 years
ago it was not the case and i remember
one time we were checking out of
dominic's my wife and i and and
we realized you know after we checked
out that everything is in the bag except
this over-the-counter medication so we
took it back to the lady and said i
don't think you checked this and she
checked it we paid for it
and and she said oh thank you this have
never happened to us before and i was
walking telling my wife because at the
time we had some issues and some
problems and people saying you know them
muslims you know what you know them
people
and i told her that that that enough of
these events and enough people will
start realizing that we have good people
living among us so that's what we need
to focus on not not to get caught up
with the slogans and with the you know
wearing you know uh
slogans on your shirt or whatever or
speaking out or being combative rather
with our behavior just going back to our
islam uh and living it every day leaving
it showing showing that you know i can
tell you i traveled one time i have
seven children alhamdulillah my oldest
is 17 i traveled a few years back and
uh you know on the plane some people my
wife couldn't travel with me they were
saying you know what did you give the
little ones they are so quiet they are
so you know
happy jovial we had you know
and that's what what matters because
people know what it means to have six
kids and then to see them alhamdulillah
will behave doing well etc that's the
kind of thing we need to show to people
what we do everything else falls in
place that's what our religion the way
of life all the messengers teaches us to
to do to be as the prophet peace be upon
him said the best of you are those who
have the best character so we need to be
living this way of life
so it can amplify in our behavior if i
can just invite everybody to come out to
the is to the islam convention in
rosemont july 1st to the 4th it's a
beautiful event over 200 scholars
everybody you know who's who in the
muslim community is out there
you name it they are there it's
beautiful we have a film festival over
18 films
meet the author program it's a beautiful
time to spend in chicago and they
culminated with with the fireworks on
the 4th i really hope that a lot of
people join us and we will put on a show
to the world that what muslim muslims
look like when they come together
absolutely we're going to be right back
to wrap it up and
you we're going to talk about also the
film dunya tadine is at the it's not
this year we'll be right back close it
up here on the dean's show don't go
to stand nowhere
i am not afraid to stand alone if allah
is by messiah i am not afraid to stand
alone
i am not afraid to stand alone
i am not afraid of
back here on a dean show with our guest
dr safa
and we started off and we talked about
being patient
as god almighty says in the verbatim
word of god do you think you'll be left
alone just saying i believe you know i
have to do some work you're going to be
tested and this life is a test you
eloquently explain that
and also
doing things the proper way not to be
reactionary
go
buy things according to the law take the
person's name
and go up to the higher chain and put
your trust in allah but
the second part educate
and share the purpose of life with the
people and live
as islam tells you to live with good
character noble character and then we
are wrapping it up now with the
convention that the not yet muslims that
are out there the non-muslims they're
welcome to come anyone if you got the
mayor if you got the politicians
whoever's out there in chicago even if
they're out of peter king could he come
absolutely let him come absolutely this
is when again he wants to show up he can
call anyone yes anyone they can ask for
you now they can they can ask for you
and yes the vip treatment
absolutely it's it's not net they can go
to it and and my email is there and they
can contact us and they can register as
well online so you're telling me that
even peter king you'll give the vip
treatment at this time why not why not
absolutely mr peter king come on down
sit with the muslims eat biryani with
the mushrooms like brianna you got some
food falafel
now before we close we also you
mentioned the film festival you know
what uh almost two years in the making
we've had this film people wanted to
know you know how the host of the deen
show came to being
to doing this and coming from another
form of life to this life and
alhamdulillah
a film producer came put this together
and it's called dunya tadine and you
guys are hosting it
and it's our pleasure and it's one of 18
works that are that are being uh uh
showcased in in the convention and this
this is growing every year i mean we
started out we had maybe four five
submissions the first year and now it
it's we got like over 40 and i think we
narrowed it down to 18. uh
the beauty of this is that and what we
tried to do at this convention i'll be
very honest with you some people say ah
you know why go to this convention you
know we're not they're not you know
there's not enough religious stuff well
what we are trying to do is to show our
religion with all of its beauty and
broadness we're not about just we're not
bringing people to just lecture them to
death or just ram lectures down their
throat the whole time we are there to
show an average person who will come out
this is the muslim community in all of
its diversity all of its uh
beauty and and so we have a variety of
things if you are the serious type we
have very serious lectures if you are
the activist type we have very workshops
that teach you that know how if you are
someone who likes the art we have an art
and calligraphy display we have the the
film festival whatever your take on life
is whatever you you know you want come
and see it it is the muslim community on
display and that's the whole purpose of
it to show the normalcy of the muslims
in america and that's the reality of it
so i hope you come and witness that and
be a part of it yeah and we got some
good news we're working behind the
scenes we're trying to get the dean show
live yes sir uh at the it's not this
year what do you think you think we can
make it
it's all gonna come down to
technicalities if we can work out the
logistics we are happy to do that i
promise you inshallah we're trying to
make it happen so that's all this year
at the isthna thank you very much may
god almighty the creator thank you allah
reward you thank you so much thank you
for having me you're welcome thank you
alaikum
and thank you for being with us here on
another episode of the dean show you got
to hear the good news if you're going to
be in chicago
that weekend of july 4th
dunya to dean
the longly awaited
anticipated film
is finally here so you can go to the
island to view it and we're working out
the logistics to have the dean show live
at the convention inshallah so hopefully
we'll see you there and remember as we
covered in the show noble character
developing yourself to be the best human
being that you can be being kind to your
neighbor if he's a muslim or even a
non-muslim islam calls you to everything
good and noble
being good to your parents
being good and this is what it's all
built on that pure monotheism of only
worshipping the one god the one who
created you and created this whole
universe and everything in it and if you
like what we have to say here today on
the deen shall continue to come back
and even visit us at the isla convention
we'll see you next time god will and
inshaallah until then peace be unto
am not you to stand alone if a lie is by
messiah i am not afraid to stand alone
i am not afraid to stand alone if allah
is by messiah i am not afraid to stand
alone
i am not afraid to stand alone if a lie
is by messiah
you