this
[Music]
is for
the people are you ready for
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the for the
with you please be with you too how you
doing Danny alhamdulillah great and how
you been alhamdulillah excellent you're
enjoying Chicago yes definitely I always
enjoy the the Windy City now I heard you
got into um some good conversations
before you came here alhamdulillah it
was uh very interesting how a
young Muslim who accepted Islam in
January
uh through the use of social soci social
media Facebook and YouTube you know
happens to be a follower of the work
that we do and to be able to impact
someone and then realize that uh they
you didn't realize that you been you're
impacting these these individuals you're
doing the work for the sake of Allah and
it's beautiful to see to see the
manifestation of the work in people that
you are serving and you're unaware that
you're serving so I think it's a a
blessed opportunity that we I came to
Chicago for for the amja conference to
join the other imams and to discuss
contemporary issues related to dawa and
these in incidents that occurred or
these uh situations that presented
themselves whether in the restaurant
whether in the mid whether outside of
the Masid these da opportunities that
naturally came to place were unexpected
not planned but they were they felt so
fruitful uh you weren't always Muslim
tell me we've had you on before we've
did a program kind of going over your
whole story but just in a summary what
had you accept Islam what was it about
Islam that had you come to it basically
uh the impact
of the Quran when I befriended the Quran
the impact that it had and what it pro
what it offered me of solutions to many
different of solutions to many different
challenges as a youngster growing up in
America that I experien I found that the
Quran the quranic remedy was the
solution and Trust in the Quran impacted
me to to the point that
didn't leave me with no doubt but to
accept the way of it the way of Islam
the way of life which is Islam that
Allah prescribed for us through the
Quran now now if someone says look uh
that's just another you know religious
scripture you know you have the uh
Christians who have the Bible you have
the Hindus the vas and whatever
scripture it's just like to each his own
what what what what would you say I mean
why is the Quran so unique are all these
books all these religions from God of
course all of see the Quran confirms
that as well the Quran confirms that
there are prophets that are mentioned by
name and there's those that are not
mentioned by name there are scriptures
that we know about and there might be
scriptures that we do not know about but
the what gives us certainty in the Quran
is its pre preservation the Quran being
preserved for let's say 13 years in
Mecca and then uh and then 10 years in
Medina so basically
1450 years approximately the Quran has
been preserved so the Quran
itself is the sole purpose for the
Arabic language to be
preserved so it's not vice versa the the
Quran being preserved for anyone who
wants to study
Arabic and if they really you go ahead
I'm saying if they really want to get
the the benefit of the Arabic language
one literature that is recommended is to
to explore is the Quran so the
Quran what distinguishes the Quran from
other scriptures even though the Quran
tells us that we should honor that we
should recognize that that that God
revealed different
scriptures but the what distinguishes
the Quran is that the Quran is preserved
in in difference from the other
scriptures that that's not the case
where uh many of the Bibles have been
changed by the hand of human beings
there's still some truth that it
contains we can't say that all of the
all of the scriptures are false or
they're all corrupted because we will
not be doing Justice uh to what the good
that Allah revealed that still remains
in it but if a person goes to that which
is pure which is the Quran uncorrupted
Allah says in Surah in Surah alah Allah
says Oh Praise is due to Allah the one
who has revealed the book and placed
therein no crookedness and then the word
that follows
after meaning it stands on its own the
Quran doesn't need somebody to support
it now yeah now you you weren't uh I
mean you're not Arab you're actually uh
what's your background Puerto Rican
you're Puerto Rican yes and you're
speaking Arabic which is the original
language that it was revealed in if
someone goes back to what we don't have
of what was given to Jesus peace be upon
him in Aramaic we don't have anything in
Aramaic that you can sit and recite in
Aramaic even if you wanted to but we do
have what you're saying the Quran which
is preserved in the Arabic and you're
Puerto Rican and reciting it that's a
miracle in Cell that's a I would say
that's a favor of Allah upon me and upon
all those who who were blessed with
learning the Arabic language which is a
tool I won't say that the learning of
Arabic language is to make you an Arab
but the learning of Arabic language is
to understand or to come to interact
with the Quran in the way that it was
revealed now miraculously historically
we find that
majority or a great number of Scholars
of great reputable scholars in Islam
have ended up being non-arabs yeah like
Al bukari IM Muslim they're all from
different lands but they learned the
Quran they learned the sciences and they
contributed for the for this cause now
myself being a Puerto Rican I love being
a Puerto Rican I love
myos I love the the culture that's my
culture but the filter of my culture is
Islam that's my priority because at the
end of the day submitting to God's will
is what will give me the Salvation And
so because of that I chose to not be at
the mercy and may Allah reward all of
the the the brothers and sisters and
those in the past who strove hard to
translate a lot of The Works to the best
of their ability but I uh I wanted to be
able to interact with the Quran the way
it was revealed to the prophet
sallallahu Al wasam let's stop right
there the way it was real to last and
final message of prophet Muhammad peace
be upon Him by accepting him you
accepted uh Moses Jesus abrah all the
preceding prophets so you're not doing
anything new you're living the same way
of life yes which you said you wanted to
submit your will to the Creator that's
I.E that's Islam and then the filter
we're going to talk about this
filtration system we come back here on
the dean show don't go anywhere let us
follow in the footsteps of Al the
trustworthy and be trustworthy ourselves
let us follow in the footsteps of
prophet Muhammad peace be upon him and
be kind merciful giving and charitable
morally upright and of noble character
of obliging to our neighbors and fellow
citizens let us follow in the footsteps
of the greatest men who ever walk this
Earth The Messengers that God Almighty
sent like Abraham Moses Jesus and
Muhammad peace be upon them all who all
called people to worship the Creator
alone and not his creation take a moment
now and fulfill one of those qualities
and that's of giving to towards the daah
something all these great Giants did and
called people to do help us reach our
yearly goal for Ramadan help be part of
sharing the truth support the dean
show back here on the dean show now
before we left you talked about a
filtration system we know that there's a
lot of things in culture that are good
now you're talking about like you know
Islam how how how how is it elaborate on
that how is it a filtration system so
basically
did you say that yes yes I did in Islam
in Islam we Islam teaches us that uh
culture is part of the signs of Allah
languages is part of the signs of Allah
as in Surah room when they mentions that
and from among his aats his signs is
your different languages and your colors
so these are the signs of Allah so
anyone that says you know reject
everything that's part of your language
your colors your culture you know this
is from Allah that's so we have to
accept that but at the same time we have
to also understand our religion or Islam
and culture has several aspects which is
uh which is a little bit different than
than in in in in general Islamic
Sciences so there is a there is a the
subject of Islamic culture which one is
you learned Quran Quran history of Quran
number two you learn the Sunnah number
three you learn the S the story of the
Prophet number four you learn the
history and number five you learn the
language so all these elements compose
the Islamic culture so now understand we
have a responsibility to learn it but at
the same time we should not just learn
one and neglect the other so I being a
Puerto Rican American Muslim I accept
each one of them and I have a
responsibility to learn my Spanish
language to polish myself up to learn my
culture my Puerto Rican culture as I
have a responsibility to polish my
English to polish my American culture as
well as I have a responsibility to uh
learn my Arabic language and learn my
Islamic culture what's like a popular
food in the Puerto Rican
culture rice and beans rice and beans
rice and beans now no problem with rice
and beans but also with that rice and
beans part of the culture might be that
what kind of uh other amenities comes
with it so that's where the the
filtration says no EXA right how about
some uh some alcohol they got alcohol
exactly so we can drink so I I so we say
that's where it's not it's not you it's
the Creator saying this is not good for
you cut it out we see all the evil
effect so what we do is we we we we look
at it in a way that we can drink so much
like we can drink all types of drinks
except alcohol okay and so it gives you
a lot of options you could eat all types
of meat all the rice and beans rice and
beans maybe slow down lot of
carbohydrates on the rice right so of
course now now the you made a very good
very important point which is that even
though you can eat all types of food you
still have to be eat healthy
cautious because uh uh taking care of
your health is a sacred trust yeah so I
like that so filtration system now for
what you can eat obviously and there's
not too many you mentioned the pork eat
everything the other kind of meat the um
the alcohol and we can see you know
there's nothing that the crater
obviously prohibited that it's not
harmful for you uh one of the greatest
things now I mean is there a lot of like
Saint worship a lot of superstitions
that's another filtration system that we
say we stop and we only turn our
direction of prayer and everything to
the one who created us yes so for
example in in in in in our culture in
our Latino Hispanic culture we have that
uh common because of of of the ancestors
also that came from some parts of Africa
right they brought in some of the we
call Sania which is like the white magic
so you have uh the the the different
Saints a saint for the rain and a saint
for money so in Islam we we only ask God
right God Only God that's it how you say
that in
spanishs only Yeahs onlys so now so we
we we filter that yes we have a need we
won't turn to other except God we only
submit to God's will we only like the
prophet peace be upon him um told his
son and this is good for for learners
for newcomers for new Muslims the
prophet gave a beautiful advice to his
his cousin and he
said oh oh child
preserve Allah and he will preserve you
now just this meaning and the had is
longer but this
meaning has that if you preserve
Allah if you preserve
Allah you preserve the prayer you
preserve the woodoo you preserve your
Chastity you preserve your tongue and
your senses if you preserve all these
aspects that's how you preserve Allah
and Allah will bless you with two things
in the Dunya Allah will guide you and in
the
Hereafter Allah will preserve You by
forgiving your sins and entering you in
Paradise this is according to the
explanation of IB rajab so I wanted to
share that we're we're going to take a
break you keep mentioning Allah and some
people that's foreign to him but I had a
guest and he actually showed that people
just unconsciously they actually say
Allah in the Puerto Rican in the Latin
uh language we'll be right back and
you'll tell us how that's done don't go
anywhere I've never seen this
before I've never done this for you
before okay
so I got a I got a nice nice little hole
there no no fake food for me no fake
food no only only real food from fresh
raw egg from a very healthy happy
chicken I know these chickens it's the
the Warriors way huh when you don't have
right the Warrior Way the ultimate fast
food and great
nutrition back here on the dean show and
we're with our brother Danny and happy
to have you back and you kept you kept
saying Allah you know people when
they're talking in the Puerto Rican
language they say what do they say deal
how do they refer to God we say deal but
sometimes when we want to say like uh
inshallah that means God willing yeah
God willing when we want to say God
willing inshallah we say oh I mean is
that sounds like Allah in there the
Creator yes OHA so how do you say that
ohala OHA oh Allah oh Allah Allah so
you're not even Muslim now but you're
Latin speaking Spanish speaking and you
Latinos say this and typically you say
it similar to as Muslims like for
example if I say I'm I'm going to see
you tomorrow uh like say I'm going to
see you tomorrow
OHA right I hope like if God we us we
understand it as if God Wills I will see
you tomorrow so that's the the beauty of
there's so many words in the Spanish
language that go back to Arabic and it
links us to the Oneness of Allah like
the Siesta that that midday nap that was
a religious practice that the prophet uh
Tau his companions so that they can be
able to wake up in the middle of the
night to pray and we in our in our
countries we do this our grandfather
used to do a siesta yeah that's deep but
tell us something else that the
Hispanics Community they they because I
I see this I mean there's a big Flux Of
Latinos coming to Islam what else do
they what do they resonates with them
that it connects them back to their
roots with Islam I I think
basically everyone is is yearning
for
certainty in their connection with the
Lord that that's number one number two
the sense of community Coming to America
we get involved in a lot of work and
sometimes we break away from our
families and our communities so now I
wanted to just share something very
interesting that uh we we were blessed
this January we're opening the Islam and
Spanish uh Centro islamico and and in it
alhamdulillah we have a Mah and we have
our weekly classes and it became
naturally an environment where parents
will come to take classes on Sunday they
bring their children and it formed in a
Sunday school so alhamdulillah we are we
are providing these Services now we have
the week theas in Spanish every week and
worldwide people are seeing them and in
places where they don't have access to
isit a Masid there this is in Spanish in
Spanish and and they're saying we we
appreciate from in Argentina and
different countries they're saying we
appreciate your contributions and Subhan
Allah we are just doing it because it
needs to be done we're putting it online
and hoping to benefit people and that's
an amazing are a lot of people outside
now in these different places cuz
there's a lot of brain brainwashing
going on a lot of people a lot of false
propaganda and you know you say Islam
people you know think uh some crazy
radical um you're going to turn into
some suicide bomber uh do are Latinos
more open to see this is a lot of just
false propaganda against Islam Muslims
are actually the most peaceful people
out there yes see
Latinos Latinos that immigrated to this
country they they know
about uh the history and they know about
the different uh ways of using that the
media is used for to Proclaim particular
messages so we have found a different
response when we did a class I mean a a
we give material educational material in
the flea market we F and majority of the
people in the flea market are Latinos we
find the respond amazing that people are
saying thank you for giving us this
material and honestly we didn't find no
backlash they they didn't come with
misconceptions they said this is
interesting thank you we said we just
trying to educate you so alhamdulillah I
think that yes the the the media they do
their job and there is some you know we
don't want to generalize there's a lot
of good also coming out and sometimes
out of the negative propaganda creates
an interest in people and it ends up
people sincere individuals start
searching so I think that it is a
perfect opportunity to use the media to
do the work never lose hope in in doing
the work and Trust God trust Allah what
is the main message that you would reach
out to the people Latinos who are tuning
in and watching and what what what's the
the main thing that you know uh you
think would interest them about Islam
for them to motivate them to look into
it
further I think what Islam offers as a
way of life a way of life for the
individual for the family for the
community for the society for the city
for the state I think that should to be
taken in consideration but with the
priority of being connected to God being
connected to Allah no Saints no Saints
no middleman no middle no confession box
only straight to God asking God seeking
help from God seeking forgiveness from
God trust in God the prophet Allah says
whoever puts his trust in God he will
suffice him how do you say that in
Spanish
they can understand that right yes
that's deep all right so any suggestions
any closing comments uh for the Latino
Community out there I I will say
please go to the YouTube page of Islam
in
Spanish subscribe subscribe to it not
not for the sake of subscription
subscribe to it because we have live
programs and you want to get the
notification of these programs that are
free of charge we have sometimes full
day seminars about woodoo about prayer
about worship about different uh aspects
of the religion so take advantage of
this and share it with others even if
you're not Spanish speaking know that in
in in America in major cities Latinos
are becoming a majority and your duty as
a Muslim is to for the sake of Allah to
Proclaim this message
and the way you proclaim the message is
you take the initiative to subscribe and
you share the the good with others and
trust God and may Allah accept from you
and from from us all thank you very much
started with peace and with
peace help us reach our yearly goal for
Ramadan help be part of sharing the
truth support the dean show