we see that the messengers of Allah
mainly spoke about two things Spiritual
Awakening and they spoke about social
reform no one is worthy of worship but
Allah subhah wa tala so this was the aim
of all the messengers of Allah to come
and rejuvenate the dead spirituality of
the people to come and redirect Humanity
to the right path and this was the
message of all the messengers of Allah
brother Yasir faga he would be speaking
on the topic activism for change as far
as brother yaser faga is concerned he is
an inspiring multilingual speaker sort
after from USA through Canada to the
middle East and Far East he has a
bachelor's degree in Islamic Studies
from Islamic Arabic Sciences in Virginia
USA in addition to his master's degree
in Psychotherapy from the California
State University of Long Beach at
present brother yaser is undertaking his
Masters in theology at lyola marimont
University he serves as the Imam that
the religious leader of the orange
country Islamic foundation in Mission V
California he's involved as a therapist
at faces where he helps families with
different challenges in life which
include domestic violence issues
communication problems marital matters
generation gap difficul te some mental
and personality disorders
divorce grief and single parenting among
others yaser faga has taught the Arabic
language and Islamic Sciences for the
past 8 years and has taught Islamic
courses on spiritual
exes and Islamic Financial contracts for
American open University brother yaser
has done numerous interviews about Islam
on television news stations and radio
stations around the globe he speaks on
Islam and related topics for conferences
churches high schools colleges and
universities he also participates on
behalf of his foundation in many
Outreach and Interfaith
events brother Yasir has this
charismatic ability to instantly connect
with audiences through his Lucid WID and
profound wisdom his timely humor and the
warmth that his presence
exudes though married a month
back he was kind enough to exceed to our
request to come to Mumbai along with his
wife and uplift his activism for dawa
alhamdulillah to speak today in a
contemporary context on the topic
activism for change brothers and
sisters let's all once again welcome
back on stage brother Yas faga
all praise is due to Allah and may his
peace and blessings be upon our beloved
Prophet Muhammad sallallah alaihi
wasallam I begin by greeting my brothers
in Islam and my brothers and sisters who
may not be of the Muslim faith my
brothers and sisters in humanity with
the greetings of peace
[Music]
peace brothers and
sisters Allah subhah wa ta'ala told us
many stories in the Quran related to The
Messengers that he has
sent and these stories that the Quran
tells us about these great men are not
bedtime stories they are not for the
sake of entertainment but rather these
are the stories that we are supposed to
learn from and when when we look into
the stories of The Messengers of Allah
we see that the messengers of Allah
mainly spoke about two
things they spoke about Spiritual
Awakening and they spoke about social
reform Spiritual
Awakening and we have not sent before
you Muhammad sallallahu alaihi wasallam
but men wisd the message
of no one is worthy of worship but Allah
subhanahu wa ta'ala so this was the aim
of all the messengers of Allah to come
and
rejuvenate the dead spirituality of the
people to come and redirect Humanity to
the right path to come and to liberate
people from all the nonsense beliefs
that they held back then and bring them
into the light of Islam have and show
them a proper way to have a proper
relationship with their creator Allah
subhah wa ta'ala and this was the
message of all the messengers of Allah
Spiritual
Awakening correcting the message that
was corrupted either by clergymen or by
the passage of time or the fact that
sometimes people were fooled inuth but
nevertheless Allah subhana wa tala sent
these Messengers to reawaken people and
to have have this spiritual
awakening however equally as important
as this spiritual awakening that the
messengers of Allah were bringing to
people who were spiritually
bankrupt is this idea of social reform
The Messengers of Allah came and they
taught they came and they preached but
their preaching and their talks and
their education did not stop only at ill
they brought something else with it they
did not stop there so give you a few
examples
M Moses peace be upon him when he came
to people he did invite them to Ill but
that was not it see one thing about The
Messengers The Messengers are sent from
the masses of the people to speak on
behalf of the masses of the people
because most of the time it is the
elites who do the talking
and when the elites talk in the Quran
you better pay attention because they
are about to
lie every time the elites open their
mouth they are about to lie so you pay
attention to what it is that they will
be saying and every time they open their
mouth they sound as if they are speaking
on behalf of the masses but they are not
speaking on behalf of the masses they're
only speaking on their own behalf they
may sound that they are talking for the
benefit of the masses but that is is not
the reality the elites only speak for
the benefit of their own
selves so here comes
Mam Mam is calling people
to but there is something else that is
taking place during the time of
mam besides the spiritual bankruptcy
that people are going through there is
political
tyranny a group of people is being
marginalized a group of people is being
exploited a group of people is being
downtrodden somebody is stepping on them
somebody is exploiting them mam cannot
come and say have a proper relationship
with your creator but he will not say
anything about the rotten condition that
the people are going through people
would not listen Okay so I believe in
your god what else are you bringing into
the table what else are you saying on my
behalf so mam came on the the one hand
he's teaching
people but also on the other hand m is
speaking on behalf of the masses whom
they had their humanity and their human
dignity and integrity jeopardized and
compromised in the example of Fon what
we see here is the
epitome of
dictatorship mam comes in and he cannot
be silent in front of this he cannot see
the wrong in front of his him and does
not address it so M goes and talks to
and by the way one of the most beautiful
debates that take place in the Quran is
the debate that takes place between M
and give you one example here Allah
commands Haron and MSA to speak softly
to F and to speak tenderly to him lest
that F may have a change of a heart and
become a better person and and if
Pharaoh becomes a better person then you
can count on the entire state of Egypt
to become better people as well so here
comes M and he speaks very nice to and
he invites
him we are The Messengers both of us
harun and M We Are The Messengers of
your lord they're making it a very
personal invitation they did not say we
have been sent by our Lord no they're
saying we have been sent by by your lord
F in a sense they are confronting him
but also in a sense they're saying that
Allah is equally interested in you as
Allah subhana tala is interested in us
he is still your lord you better heed to
this and you better pay
attention and May the peace and
blessings of Allah be upon all those who
follow the right
guidance F was a shrewd politician Fon
was a very smart man so how does he
reject this
invitation instead of inquiring and who
is this Lord of mine oh Moses he said
and who is your lord he is not mine he
is only your
lord fair
question
disrespectful impolite but it's a fair
question and here comes the answer from
he said our Lord is the one who has
created everything gave it its proper
form and gave it
guidance now this answer to Fon was very
puzzling how does he respond to this now
he claims to be God yet mam is
introducing a very different concept of
God the creator of everything the one
who has shaped everything the one who
has given due measure to everything How
can I compete with this listen to what
this shrewd Wicked politician does he
completely changes the subject and what
does he
say what about the previous generations
you look into the dialogue and you say
wait a minute this man is not following
we're talking about God why is he all of
the sudden jumping and asking about
previous Nations why is he bringing this
see many times this this is what
politicians do
distraction they distract they
immediately change the subject but mam
knows what's
happening asks he said what about the
previous
generations are you going to tell me
that our forefathers were lost are you
going to say that our great grandparents
were misguided are you going to tell
this to the masses how would the masses
feel if they were told that all their
great grand parents were misguided how
will they feel M was an extremely smart
man he does not go that route so what
does he
say he said the knowledge of this
Generations is with my Lord in a book
where my Lord neither s nor does he
forget so said change of the subject but
really let's go back to that previous
statement that you said you are
inquiring about Allah let me give you
more information about
Allah but the point is this
m ceased this oppression taking place
and he was not silent about it all the
messengers of Allah were engaged in the
reality of their
times they were head on confronting the
challenges and the problems of their
times they did not go back and try to
bring up a challenge from 100 years back
no we're talking about today's
challenges and we are going to confront
today's
challenges another example would be
Prophet
L Lam comes to his people and his
message is clear his message is worship
none but Allah and this is the spiritual
awakening aspect of it but during the
time of L
Alam there was also another problem that
was taking
place now not that only the people were
spiritually bankrupt but the people are
also now morally
bankrupt indecency is taking place
sexual immorality is taking place Lam
comes and he sees the social ills of his
community and he is not quiet about
it what does he do he tells people he
invites people to Ill but he also tells
people we need social reform
morality is bringing the entire
Community down I preach ill but at the
same time part of ill is that I have to
confront the ills of my society as they
are happening today so he speaks about
it he comes out and he confronts his
people and he speaks against their
behavior he speaks against their wicked
ways of
life and we can learn so much about Lam
and from l Alam in the days that we are
living today where sexual immorality is
the norm if you want to sell anything
use
sex you want to sell Tylenol your
advertisement your commercial must be
sexually appealing to people you want to
sell soda make it sexually appealing you
want to sell a bed in the hospital make
it sexually appealing somehow they are
able to put sex in every aspect in every
place to
sell and you see this and you say but
wait a minute you are dragging you are
making us morally corrupt you are
objectifying women you are commodifying
women you're using them as a commodity
we will not be quiet about this we are
going to speak against this as L has
done we see Muhammad sallallahu alaihi
wasallam he does come and he preaches to
people and remember this is the
spiritual awakening part of it but the
teaching of Muhammad sallahu alaihi was
does not stop there social reform needs
to take place people have been wrongly
enslaved women are wrongly oppressed the
weak are marginalized nobody's speaking
on their behalf nobody has a say about
their Destiny somebody else is making
the decision for them where they have no
say about anything people can wage war
and stop War at will and the masses have
no say they are asked to fight they're
the first to sacrifice and they are the
last to benefit from anything Muhammad
sallallahu alaihi wasallam comes and he
speaks on behalf of these masses
Muhammad sallallahu alaihi wasallam
comes and he speaks against
alcoholism Muhammad sallallahu alaihi
wasallam comes and he speaks against the
exploitation of the poor and the needy
he comes and he speaks against the
infanticide that was taking place in
fact in the fourth year of as his
companions are persecuted and tortured
and marginalized and all the terrible
things that are happening to them what
is the Quran
reveal have you seen the one who belies
religion who's the one that belies
religion you would think that the one
that belies religion is the one that
does not pray does not believe in the
day of judgment the Quan goes and takes
a totally different route who is the
person that belies religion the Quran
tells
us it is he or she who repels the orphan
with
harshness and he does not encourage the
feeding of the poor and the needy
unbelievable
unbelievable somebody is considered to
be a person that belies religion because
they being roote to the orphan because
they did not encourage the feeding of
the poor and the needy this is a Dean
from Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala
this is the teachings of Muhammad
sallallahu alaihi wasallam he comes in
and this is what he
teaches another example that we're going
to spend a little time with is the
example of
prophet and the had the prophet
sallallahu alaihi wasallam calls
him the orator of The Messengers
because of how compelling his argument
is the Quran tells us this story in
Surah HUD where it
says and to the people of Medan we sent
them their
Brethren the people of Medan had a very
geographically speaking a very strategic
location where Caravans and business and
and transactions were taking place
around their town and they knew the
Strategic location of their town so they
used to take advantage M of the people
they used to exploit the
people like all other Messengers he
comes to them and what does he
say he said oh my people worship Allah
for you have no other true God besides
Allah subhah wa ta'ala worship Him
Spiritual Awakening you are spiritually
bankrupt and I am going to awaken this
in you but by the way
you are also becoming morally bankrupt
what are you guilty
of speaks to his people and he
says said do not short change people do
not listen in measure or in
wait I see you in prosperity you don't
need to exploit more you already have
enough don't take advantage of the poor
and the needy what you have is enough
for you
and I fear for you the chastisement of
an encompassing
day does not stop there he goes on with
his people and what does he
say all my people give in just in due
measure and wait that which belongs to
people well
and do not short change people do not
deprive people of that which belongs to
them and do not go around the earth
intending
Mischief that which you earn in a proper
way a way that Allah subhana wa tala
approves of is what is best for
you but if you only people believe
me goes on with his people going back
and forth and and then they start
mockery of
him or they said oh are your prayers
telling you to tell us not to do in our
wealth as we please
Freedom goes on and he tells them about
his efforts of about bringing change to
bring change is
mandatory to bring change and to
eradicate the evil you cannot use evil
means you cannot eradicate evil with
evil you can only eradicate evil with
things that are better than evil so
tells them his plan how does he plan to
bring about this change what does he
say said to begin with oh my people
won't you consider the following I have
been given clear signs from my Lord I
don't say these things to make you look
bad I I don't say these things to put
you down I am here I have being sent by
Allah I am just fulfilling an obligation
that I was commanded to do by Allah
subhah wa ta'ala so please hear me out
hear me
out and then he
said and I wish not to do that which I
forbid you from doing meaning that I
will not tell you to stop doing one two
and three but yet I myself I do one two
and three I'm reminded of a story one
time said that a brother was watching TV
with his wife and it was news coming
from
Palestine and as they were watching TV
there was this Zionist Thug a soldier
with the butt of his rifle he started
beating on the head of an old
Palestinian woman she said that scene
was so sad my husband could not hold his
teeth and he started crying said my
husband was moved to tears he started
crying said I looked into my husband and
I started
laughing said why were you laughing she
said because last week my husband hit me
so hard he broke my ribs and I needed to
be taken to the emergency
room when he did it there was nothing
wrong with it yet when he saw somebody
else he was moved to tears and he
started crying
how do you explain
this how can you be moved to Tears by
the same action that you just inflicted
on somebody else a week ago how can that
be
explained so said people listen to
this I wish not to do that which I am
forbidden you of doing you will not find
me guilty of double standards you will
not not find me guilty of hypocrisy you
will not find me guilty of commanding of
one thing or forbidding one thing yet I
myself I will be guilty of it and
then makes one of the most beautiful
statements what does he
say I only wish for your betterment to
the best of my
ability he said my motto is that I am
hoping I am working for your betterment
to the best of my ability your
betterment spiritually and your
betterment socially whether people
respond to this or they don't respond
that becomes irrelevant but you have a
moral
obligation you have a moral obligation
that when we see the ills around us
these ills are not for us to curse these
ills are for us to address and to try to
fix as much as we can as much as we can
see brothers and sisters nowadays you
cannot help but admire these young
European boys and girls who will be
going out Marching In the Streets
protesting the war in Iraq protesting
the WTO protesting the G8 Summit these
are young Europeans who are living a
comfortable life in their own countries
they are living a comfortable life but
they are feeling the Pains of other
people and they go out and they March
more people marched in Madrid more more
people marched in London than in many
Muslim countries When The War of Iraq
was coming
about you look into this and you say
why part of our Dean is that when we
look into the wrong we address the wrong
are we not as Muslims supposed to speak
on behalf of those who are marginalized
and exploited isn't this the sunah of
the Prophet sallallahu alai wasam isn't
this what he taught you know what Subhan
Allah what's really interesting in the
fact
that the prophet sallallahu alaihi
wasallam gave the very last time that he
was performing Haj how does he address
people he
said I love that statement he said oh
people what happens is that he did not
say he did not say oh
Believers he did not say all Muslims but
rather what does he say he said all
mankind
because the message of the Prophet
sallallahu alaihi wasallam is a
universal
message and he spoke and the prophet
sallallahu alaihi wasallam in today's
terms we can say that he was the leading
activist of his time because the prophet
sallallah alaihi wasallam took the
issues that really mattered and the
prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam spoke
about it see in the Quran we have this
concept that we as an umah a body of
Muslims he said that we have been
appointed
as people who are
constantly constantly engage in the
eradication of evil and in the
progressing and in the enjoying of
goodness throughout the Quran you will
see that this is one of the Cardinal
absolute Cardinal stamps on the
Believers that they are people who do
not only live for themselves but rather
as they are living they ensure and they
make sure that other people are also
being given this proper life that is
equal to their human dignity and
integrity this is the message of Islam
that we as Muslims we have to be
activist doesn't the prophet sallallah
alaihi wasallam say if you see wrong do
something about it speak against it
eradicate it physically or at least do
not become desynthesized to it in your
heart at least denounce it in your heart
and then he sallallahu alaihi wasallam
said this is the weakest level
of Faith the point is my brothers and
sisters as we learn from the teachings
of Muhammad sallallahu alaihi wasam we
want to make sure that we become an
embodiment we take these stories not
just only to entertain us but rather to
look into these stories and we say h the
prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam is
really mapping for us a way of life he
is mapping for us a path to take so here
is what we ask for brothers and sisters
number one we must be engaged in
reality we have to get engaged we must
get involved that is not a suggestion
that is not a recommendation this is an
obligation we must get engaged and we
must get engaged in reality here is the
attitude sometimes that we use the
problems that we have today were caused
by our fathers and they will be fixed by
our
children what do we
do sit around and watch they were caused
by our parents and they will be fixed by
our children you're saying that you know
what I don't count and that is not
acceptable number two as we listen to
these stories there is a sense of care
that you can sense as these Messengers
are talking and you can feel it as they
are talking to their people and what do
they
say he said oh my people I am one of you
you are my people you are are part of me
and I am part of
you I fear for you out of concern I
speak out of love I speak you are my
people and I am one of
you you hear this made that statement H
made that statement and here we have
sham he made that statement he calls his
people and he said and I do this because
I care so there's got to be this sense
for Humanity there's got to be this
sense for the others if we only think of
problems as these are their problems
these are the Hindu problems these are
the cfir problems these are the European
problems it does not work out that way
the world is becoming so small nowadays
that any social ill will creep into any
community and no Community is immune
from this no Community is immune so do
not think that because these are their
ills they will never become part of
yours or they will it's just a matter of
time so there is this idea of sense and
care for
Humanity number three and this is an
extremely extremely important Point see
brothers and sisters when there are so
many social ills we need to get engaged
but we need to choose our battles
wisely we have got to be mature as to
which battle do we want to fight battle
here and I'm not talking about battle
feeli talking about Which social ill are
we going to confront
first Which social ills are we going to
speak about so you have got to be wise
about which battles are we going to
fight first see we Muslims sometimes we
are so easily offended so easily
provoked so easily instigated and that
is not very healthy appreciate the
passion but it's not very
mature it's it's not very mature that's
why we say we need to choose our battles
wisely we need to use them wisely me I
look into some of the things that
currently happened be the people that
write about the prophet sallallahu
alaihi wasam they write against Quran
they write against Islam and some of
them may even be Muslims why don't we
ignore
them if they are kicked out if they're
asked to leave if they stop writing
are our situations better do we have
less poverty are there less more freedom
for the people is the situation of the
masses has it improved because we
decided to fight this battle what was
the outcome of this battle what did we
win what was in it for us we made
somebody more famous we made them seen
as Heroes we definitely made them Rich
their books went on the best seller
overnight and what did we gain their
more famous their ideas are more spread
and more people are coming to support
them and more people are coming out so
we must choose our battles wisely and
when we look into the S of the Prophet
sallallahu alaihi wasallam we see that
the prophet wasam he addressed issues
but he did not address them immediately
his silence was not an approval of the
ill that was taking place but it's all
about
timing it's all about timing now is not
the time for this and I am not saying
this because I approve of it but now is
not the time for it there are greater
battles that needs to be taken care of
even in the dean remember this brothers
and sisters the teachings of Islam is
not one horizontal line but rather there
is a slope where some things are
important and some things are more
important where do we get this from the
Hadith of the Prophet
Sall where he say
he said faith is 70 some branches where
the highest branch of it
is and the lowest part of it is to
remove harm from the path of the people
and listen to this statement the highest
and the lowest there is a highest and
then there is a lowest to be occupied
was the lowest at the expense of the
highest is not acceptable we see in the
life of the prophet sallu alaihi
wasallam in the narrates
that amongst the first things that were
revealed to the prophet sallallah alaihi
wasallam were the statements ofah ill
calling people to Ill and then she makes
the statement and she
said then she said had the very first
thing been do not consume alcohol the
Arabs would have have all revolted and
they would have said we will never
abandon the drinking of alcohol this is
too
soon you are addressing this ill too
soon this is not the time for it and the
prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam lived
and he saw that evil that was taken
place he did not address it because
there was a greater evil that was taking
place the point is we must learn to
choose our battles wisely we must mature
as to which battle do we want to fight
and when do we want to fight it and that
is why the scholars speak about the of
determining
priorities and even the companions of
the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam
they practiced this so
beautifully there is an in that bukari
buari narrates in his book when it comes
to
the he said the chapter on the prayers
in Mina now when you go to mina people
shorten their prayers so they went
withman
and when they got to
Min decided that he was going to pray
either four instead of two so some
people came to him abdah came to him and
said you
know I have done Haj behind the prophet
sallallah alaihi wasallam and in this
particular place I remember so vividly
that Muhammad sallallahu alaihi wasallam
led us to two so please pray
two was of a different opinion and this
is not what we're discussing he was of a
different opinion and he decided that he
was going to lead the Believers in four
instead of two so everybody prayed
behind him including Omar himself so
when the Salah was over people came toar
and they said did you not say that you
saw Muhammad s alaihi wasallam and you
prayed behind him in this
place you should have waited Forman to
finish his prayers and then you come and
you pray as the prophet Sall alaihi
wasallam
prayed makes a remarkable profound
statement what does he say he said be
quiet he said shortening the prayers is
a Sunnah the unity of the Muslims is an
obligation you do not waste an
obligation to perform a
sun you do not waste an obligation to
perform a Sunnah that's what we do every
day we waste major obligations in order
to perform sunnas we are not saying that
the sunnas are not important but we're
saying that they cannot be at the
expense of the
obligations you cannot compromise the
obligation for sunnas you cannot
jeopardize the obligations for the sunn
is not
acceptable so there's got to be this
maturity when we choose our battles and
we look into the messengers of Allah and
we look into Muhammad sallallah alaihi
wasallam we have got to do this you know
people have so much appreciation for
values my opinion Allah subhana T knows
best I have great faith in humanity I
believe that humans are generally good
people and when they are shown the way
they even become better
people and many times people were
attracted to Muhammad sallahu alaih
wasallam so beautifully you know when
the verses were revealed inah
that Allah commands people of what
justice
righteousness and that is being good to
your and to your kin treating them with
liberality and Allah
forbids you know open
immorality and Injustice and
wickedness said when I heard these
verses I
said even though he was a Muslim so the
prophet wasallam said what happened he
said prophet of Allah you have
previously invited me to Islam and I
said ill because I was just embarrassed
because he kept talking to me talking to
me so I said okay fine Muhammad but he
said this statement is so beautiful now
from the very bottom of my heart I am
saying ill
what does he do he run to Abu Talib the
uncle of the Prophet sallallahu alaihi
wasallam who was not a Muslim and he
goes to him and he recites these verses
to him and he
said listen to what has been revealed to
your nephew beautiful verses and he read
it to him hoping that it will have a
similar impact on him Abu Talib heard
the verses and he said
he said people follow Muhammad
sallallahu alaihi wasallam you become
prosperous follow Muhammad sallallah
alaihi wasallam for he respects your
intellect he said even if he is telling
us lies and he's fabricating this and
this is really not a religion he said
these are good principles and values to
live
by that even if you choose to say that
he is fake he said what he teaches is
good follow Muhammad sallallahu alaihi
am he said and you become
prosperous what do we want we want to be
engaged in
reality many social ills that are out
there by which we can tell people about
Islam and by which we can also Aid and
help in the betterment of our fellow
human brothers and
sisters why don't we engage ourselves in
campaigns campaigns against
drugs drugs are consuming our children
young boys and girls be they Muslims or
non-muslims were they being wasted why
can't we as a Muslim Community say by
the way of the teachings of Muhammad
sallah alaihi wasallam he taught that
is that all forms of intoxicants they
are the mother of all evils he said out
of this the Muslim Community is hereby
holding a campaign against drug and
alcoholism why can't we do
this why can't we say the teachings of
Islam are so good we want it for you as
well when Islam speaks about you know
how we feel about alcohol and how we
feel about this and these are great
these are great values you know I had um
one time a sister she came to the Masjid
and she took her
shahada and I said we all like to hear
how do people become Muslims because
it's very inspiring and sometimes our
brothers and sisters who decide to come
back to Islam
sometimes they see in Islam things that
we really don't see because we take them
for granted so this sister I said well
how what happened how come you became a
Muslim what happened to you she said in
my company there is a Muslim man during
Christmas time in the states the company
sometimes decides to give people gifts
sometimes they give them money sometimes
they give them all sorts of
gifts and sometimes the company decides
to give everybody champagne
or they will have lots of champagne and
they'll just give it to people so she
said this man he had this look on his
face he was so worried I came to him
because he just did not look very good
and I said what happened to you and he
said I am afraid of the
champagne so what do you mean he said I
have never touched champagne in my life
I am a Muslim we are not even allowed to
touch champagne I don't want the company
to give me any champagne she said what
do you mean he said we're not allowed
she said you mean you have never had any
alcohol in your life he said never if
they give you the champagne you're not
going to take it he said never ever she
said I want to see this religion I want
to look into it and she started reading
about Islam but the point is this people
know the ill people know the impact the
very negative impact that it is having
on our communities Muslims and
non-muslims what benefit is it into us
that no muslim drinks alcohol but
somebody drinks alcohol and they go onto
their car and they become a hazard to
everybody else around
them so we as a Muslim Community we can
get engaged in this why not have AIDS
awareness
days why not we say as Muslim Community
you know what we do believe we know why
AIDS is spreading the way it's
spreading and we as a Muslim Community
we have a strategy and that is nothing
out outside of marriage nothing outside
of marriage we are going to hold
campaign awareness for the people who
are infected either with it or to
protect those who are not infected with
it they had a conference in Kenya and
one time they gathered about some
clergymen Muslim imams and rabbis and
Priests and they said you know we want
you to tell us your perspective as to
what does your religion say about the
people who are already infected with
AIDS or
HIV they said everybody
spoke and then came the Muslim
representative to
speak and the people commented and they
said it was the most useless 20 minutes
that were ever spoken in that
regard because he got up and he started
speaking about how fornication is Haram
in Islam and in Islam we're not supposed
to have any of these types of but that
was not the question the question is
these people are already infected with
the disease what can your religion offer
these people to tell them what you did
is Haram is too late that is not the
question the question is what are you
offering to these
people if a Muslim comes to our Masjid
today and he says I made a mistake in
the past and I have AIDS do you think
that the community will Embrace that
person and they will say may Allah give
you speedy recovery inshallah some cure
will be found but until then you are our
brother you are our sister we feel for
you you are a still one of us you think
our communities will do
this so we want to be engaged in these
things why can't we be engaged in
domestic
violence why can we allow so much
oppression to be taken place against
women and we don't do anything about it
where women are beating left and right
and the Muslim Community is
silenced and sometimes it may even be
that this is something that is happening
within our own Community but we do not
address it but the question is brothers
and and sisters is that we must engage
in reality and we very mature about
choosing what it is that we want to be
engaged in why don't we have campaigns
about child abuse why don't we put our
masjids into better use what's going on
in any Masjid between F
and from 6:00 in the morning all the way
to noon time what use are we putting our
masjids to they're empty what is going
on there why can't they be
clinics why can't they be a university
where people come and they are taught
why can't it be a place of Refuge to
people why is it just a building a
skeleton with no soul or no Spirit into
it and then we pride ourselves oh we
have got so many masjids in the area but
what kind of impact are they
making see the beauty of a Masjid is not
in just that scale skeleton that you put
together anyone can do
that and I am not undermining massit
here but saying unless we put our Mass
into better use they just remain a
building and I don't think Allah subhana
wa ta'ala would be interested in just a
building that won't be
acceptable I was hoping that
inshallah with this short talk that I
will provoke my brothers and sisters
inallah to further you know explore this
idea look into this you know are we
really doing what Islam said to be doing
or are we just talking about it a
brother tells a story he said that I was
once in
France and I went to the
hotel and in the hotel he said it was my
first time there and I asked I wanted to
pray so I said are there any Muslims
here he said this young man came to me
and he said muslim
he came to me and he said I am a
Muslim I am a Sunni and I am Maliki I
belong to the Maliki School of Juris
Prudence so I said I looked at him and
he said mashallah which way is the which
way is meca he looked at me and he said
I don't know I don't
pray did I don't know I don't pray yet
he claims and he says about himself I am
a Muslim I am I am Maliki yet I don't
pray if what you believe in does not
impact how you behave then what you
believe in is not
important we can say all the nice things
that we want to say about Islam but
unless we put it into action it just
remains nice words nobody is interested
in just nice
words people want to see and at this
time as a Muslim Community we have a lot
to show for but let us Begin by this
care for
Humanity we must care for Humanity
brothers and sisters and when we say
this we are not pretending to be
anything that we are not we are not
pretending to be like anybody else we
are just trying to be what Muhammad
s was to humanity
muham