Career Exploration | Shaykh Odeh Muhawesh

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Lecture by Respected Shaykh Odeh Muhawesh on Career Exploration on 12/29/2012 during the 29th Annual Conference in Chicago, IL, USA hosted by the Muslim Group of USA and Canada.

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Transcript

[0:00]Salaam foreign uh brothers and sisters I'm once again honored to be

[0:34]in your presence I am I have to apologize to you I

[0:41]think I have that call that everybody is getting and I'm losing

[0:44]my voice so bear with me please that our risk let me

[0:55]first let me explain what risk is before I translated into English

[0:59]our risk comes from two sources risk is often translated as sustenance

[1:07]or subsistence that's a wrong translation and actually searched quite a bit

[1:12]for what is a good translation of risk one of the problems

[1:14]in uh translating theology or religious text is that you can never

[1:23]really carry the meaning especially from Semitic languages like Arabic into Latin

[1:27]languages because they were created differently the words were created differently they

[1:31]were created with a cultural background behind them there is in Arabic

[1:39]contains an element that is divine an element that is comes from

[1:45]Allah but it's also risk is something that you Endeavor you struggle

[1:48]to achieve as well okay so when I say risk from now

[1:53]on I'm not going to use an English word for it unless

[1:54]I forget because we need to understand is whatever you gain by

[2:01]virtue of Dua gifts grants all your own work by way of

[2:07]career work Consulting whatever else you do Allah tells us through that

[2:14]our risk comes from two sources it is and for you to

[2:25]know all of us inshallah Shia is here and if we have

[2:29]Sundi Brothers they're welcome to to understand this concept when we say

[2:37]we eliminate the rest of the chain because in our theater and

[2:43]our belief is that if Imam said this then he heard it

[2:45]from bakar alaihissalam from Islam foreign this is called the Golden Chain

[3:00]this is called the golden chain that we she has pride ourselves

[3:06]in our the narration or The Narrative of whatever we say comes

[3:09]from Allah at the end of the day is two kinds of

[3:18]risk risk that seeks you a risk that you seek there is

[3:24]that seeks you even if you're hiding in a cave in the

[3:28]mountains of Afghanistan Allah will send that risk to you and as

[3:32]you grow older all the people who are old like me and

[3:36]some of the brothers and sisters here not the sister they're all

[3:39]young but the brothers we know that many times Allah gives the

[3:43]risk that you have absolutely no you had no expectations to receive

[3:49]but there is a risk that you seek let's talk briefly about

[3:53]the risk that comes comes from Allah that seeks you how do

[3:56]you how do you Endeavor to get more of this and I'll

[4:01]talk about that we want risk I'll talk about uh this uh

[4:06]you know concept of uh humbleness or humility where we don't want

[4:10]risk I'll talk about it in a second or we just want

[4:15]enough to live on the risk that you should go after or

[4:20]the risk that will come to you increases if you do one

[4:22]of the following things one prerequisite is that you are kind to

[4:28]your nearest you do this you're guaranteed risk was dying with the

[4:38]good Companions of the prophet salallahu and Earthman came to him and

[4:45]said had daughters only okay so he didn't have boys especially in

[4:49]that culture to carry on making money for the family so as

[4:53]man I mean our friend came to him and said I'll give

[4:55]you money I'll give you grants don't worry about your daughters after

[4:59]loving myself said I am not worried about my daughters listen to

[5:02]this okay I'm not worried about my daughters I've always taken care

[5:05]of them this is another aspect I'll bring the inshallah I remember

[5:10]the story of the love story because it affects all of us

[5:12]as well so when you do Allah will give you more risk

[5:21]will also give you a long life there are other prerequisites some

[5:27]whom we understand some whom we don't somebody approached him and said

[5:30]somebody approached them and said I can't I do everything I work

[5:36]hard I make a lot of Dua and still I'm poor what

[5:38]should I do he asked them a series of questions that I

[5:42]highly recommend for all of you guys and gayats sisters and brothers

[5:45]to look into he said he asked some serious questions he said

[5:50]when you comb your hair is your comb does it have all

[5:55]the teeth on it or does it does it have missing teeth

[5:57]what does that what does it have to do with risk I

[6:02]don't know and if anybody knows tell me but this is this

[6:06]he said yes I do he said do you do you make

[6:12]Dua for your parents in your punut and Salah all the time

[6:15]well here are some a number of series of other questions do

[6:21]you sleep during the federal time so you get up for Salat

[6:27]Salat now starts at 5 555 I think in Chicago in the

[6:29]morning right so if you sleep until 6 30 and still makes

[6:33]a lot still it's a lot of time for Fajr but if

[6:36]you sleep during the time of federal itself that lessens your risk

[6:41]that reduces your risk so Imam alaihissalam said don't sleep during the

[6:46]time the man said of course I I don't sleep during that

[6:51]time another serious questions then he came to the final question which

[6:56]is do you uh do you make Dua for your parents in

[6:58]your Knute all the time he said no he said that's your

[7:04]problem start making Dua for your parents alive or dead it doesn't

[7:07]make a difference make Dua for them in your gunwood all the

[7:09]time and Allah will open up your risk another man came to

[7:14]Imam also and said I do all of these things I do

[7:18]all of these things he asked a number of a series of

[7:21]questions and then he said do you do if you really are

[7:25]poor and you want to overcome your poverty and we're talking about

[7:28]that risk that seeks you because it makes a lot of Layla

[7:34]night prayers and the man said I do it said lying is

[7:39]a person who says that he keeps up the night prayer and

[7:44]is poor he didn't he didn't tell the man this is another

[7:48]lesson for us how to talk to people because you know many

[7:52]times we either say I don't know you know Imam didn't and

[7:58]didn't mince words he but he didn't tell the man to his

[8:03]face you're a liar he said lion is a man who says

[8:05]this so he got him the message told him to wake up

[8:08]anyway so that kind of risk by Dua by being a nice

[8:16]or kind to your nearest of kin by making Dua for your

[8:21]parents by doing all of these things by by the way not

[8:23]cutting off your fingernails and leave them around that house in the

[8:26]house a clean house is also is a house where Allah will

[8:33]send risk an unclean house is a house where Allah will not

[8:36]Sinners take these very seriously they didn't come from you know philosopher

[8:40]they didn't come from a businessman they came from Allah even if

[8:46]we don't understand the direct relationship even if we don't understand it

[8:53]that's what we're called Muslims we submit to Allah now there is

[8:58]that you seek what is the purpose of risk a lot of

[9:03]people say well you know I'm humble I just want enough I'm

[9:07]going to tell you something revolutionary today make as many millions as

[9:11]you can in halal way your purpose of work should be to

[9:21]make money your purpose of work should be to make money to

[9:28]make Halal money to make Halal risk to have gainful employment to

[9:34]start businesses to employ others to do to donate to our messages

[9:40]and centers and send people to Hajj to help the orphans to

[9:43]take care of your family the prophet sallallahu alaihi says that Jihad

[9:49]Jihad is seven parts six of which is to seek Allah risk

[9:59]Halal risk we have been trained think that wealth is bad we

[10:10]have been trained to despise the wealthy it's true brothers and sisters

[10:15]some of you say no no I haven't been but the truth

[10:18]is we have been we have been trained to hide the wealth

[10:24]says loves to see the effects of His blessings on his worshiper

[10:39]and the prophet salallahu alaihi tells us don't try to appear poor

[10:45]because if you try to appear poor you will become poor listen

[10:50]to this how many of you understand Arabic even if you don't

[10:52]know her we'll have how many roughly speaking you understand much I

[10:55]love the majority right the prophet salallahu alaihi said by the way

[11:04]he who always pretends to be sick will become sick it's amazing

[11:09]it's an amazing psychological Feast that we can understand from the teachings

[11:13]of Elizabeth he who pretend to be poor will become poor regardless

[11:18]of how wealthy he or she is don't do that so the

[11:25]purpose I'm going to tell you right now the purpose of you

[11:30]going to seeking education seeking new skills working starting a business is

[11:37]always to gain wealth that there is nothing wrong with that in

[11:41]fact that's a good thing to do it's what you do with

[11:45]that wealth brothers and sisters that's either good or bad I wanted

[11:49]to distinguish between the two because a lot of times that subconsciously

[11:52]affects how we move forward in our lives now what do we

[12:02]do why do we want to gain wealth the number one reason

[12:04]that you want to gain wealth is to take care of your

[12:10]self and family Allah does not like a Muslim especially a human

[12:13]being to be a burden on others don't be a burden in

[12:20]others work very hard not to be a burden in others bring

[12:25]dignity into your household bring dignity to your spouse and your children

[12:34]by not needing others by allowing them to get the education that

[12:40]they need and you can only do that by gaining the skills

[12:44]to gain the necessary wealth that at least you sustain your family

[12:51]but don't be selfish don't stop there we have brothers and sisters

[12:57]and this is a great motivator for me I will tell you

[12:59]parts of my life story insha Allah to be a motivational a

[13:04]cause for the younger people we have brothers and sisters young people

[13:10]we have 10 year old boys and girls who are said who

[13:16]are enslaved in parts of the world today because their parents cannot

[13:20]afford them they cannot afford to bring them up how many of

[13:25]you honestly believe what I just said right now some of you

[13:30]don't believe it right but it's true it is true Allah is

[13:36]my witness believers who are very good Believers told me that say

[13:41]it give up their children to go and work for wealthy non-muslims

[13:46]in India and elsewhere so they can't feed the rest of the

[13:49]family say it now if I want if I ask you made

[13:55]enough to sustain your family and I say now I want you

[13:58]to work a little harder put in a couple more hours a

[14:02]day to free that said would you how many of you would

[14:06]all of us would right some of them don't put their hands

[14:10]up I know you would I know you're just shy or just

[14:13]going with the floor right I definitely would I would work I

[14:19]would work double shifts I would work the graveyard shift to free

[14:24]that Sayed and it's amazing many times it is 10 20 a

[14:27]day or a month even that would free up that say it

[14:31]and send them back or send her back to their families truly

[14:36]amazing truly amazing stories that exist in the world today how many

[14:41]of us would work harder to gain wealth so they can we

[14:45]can build a center in our community that preserves our youth from

[14:48]misguidance all of us would let's make that part of our business

[14:52]plan because we all need a business plan if you go in

[15:00]life haphazardly without goals it's like driving a car with no destination

[15:07]in mind all of us brothers and sisters sisters you can come

[15:12]there's plenty of places here if you want to sit um all

[15:15]of us all of us need to have a business plan we

[15:19]need to have a vision in our minds that vision is defined

[15:26]in the Quran that Vision Allah wants us to understand that Vision

[15:31]by having tawa when you have taqwa you seek Allah taqwa is

[15:36]piety you seek Allah you think of Allah all the time and

[15:38]what does Allah want you to do Allah wants you to be

[15:42]a proactive member of every society you live in you need to

[15:44]be the perfect example in every society that you live in Allah

[15:48]wants us to be as American Muslims to be the hardest working

[15:54]the most honest most ethical smartest most productive most Innovative people on

[16:02]the face of the United States that's when Allah is happy with

[16:08]us other than that we're not good Muslims there are some brothers

[16:16]and sisters who are newcomers some very few who live on cheat

[16:19]in the system tell them that the fatwas of our marriages prohibit

[16:28]them from doing that many of the Muslims in this country are

[16:33]immigrants not all of them actually the picture is Shifting and where

[16:38]many of the Muslims are becoming first generation second generation Americans many

[16:43]Muslims which is good but many of the newcomers think that by

[16:50]cheating the system they're winning you're not winning you are earning an

[16:54]unlawful Haram risk and it will not last that's one thing the

[16:58]second thing is when you came to this country you signed a

[17:02]contract for a Visa that's a contract and Allah says in chapter

[17:06]five fulfill your contracts you cannot violate the contract even if it

[17:13]is with the worst enemy of Allah because some of them say

[17:17]well the United States allows its troops to go and hurt Muslims

[17:19]foreign policy is different than local policy you have to distinguish between

[17:24]the two anyway so now what do we do make sure that

[17:29]you understand your options that's difficult for younger people to do if

[17:34]you're in high school you have so many options ahead of you

[17:38]money actions but the number one prerequisite that you must do is

[17:43]to focus and study very hard in your high school so that

[17:47]you can go to a good college or a good University and

[17:52]when you get to that to a university the first year how

[17:56]many of you first year in college really know exactly what you're

[17:59]going to study very few people right very few people but most

[18:04]of us you know getting to college my parents told me you

[18:08]need to be a doctor so I came to the US 1977

[18:10]to be a doctor and it was rebellious so I didn't study

[18:14]medicine I studied computer science so I became an engineer I defied

[18:20]them right which is fine I went to tell the younger people

[18:24]something that the parents will not like parents are not islamically or

[18:32]let me reverse this you are not required islamically to go into

[18:37]the field that your parents wants wants you to go into okay

[18:42]so if your parents tell you you need to be a doctor

[18:44]and you say I don't want to be a doctor I want

[18:47]to be an astronaut go be an astronaut but don't defy them

[18:50]and say well you know Abu Muhammad Brotherhood I said I don't

[18:53]have to listen to you there go fly a kite can't do

[18:56]that you can do that you have to be kind to them

[18:58]you have to tell them that my passion is in this other

[19:03]field my passion is in this and take their advice to heart

[19:07]because your parents have a lot of wisdom but at the end

[19:13]of the day the teachings of Islam tell us that it's your

[19:16]choice it's your career that you have to go to parents please

[19:20]remember this please don't make your kids feel guilty about the field

[19:25]of study that they want to go into Islam doesn't require us

[19:30]to dictate our kids and tell them to be exactly like us

[19:35]or be exactly opposite to us because that's what parents do looking

[19:39]at me I'm successful I did everything you need to be like

[19:44]me that's wrong because they're not you or look at me I

[19:47]screwed up in life I don't want you to be like me

[19:51]son we've heard this I I to be honest with you I

[19:54]didn't hear this from my father my father said be whatever you

[19:56]want to be just have pie just be Pious fear Allah seriously

[20:00]he did encourage me to become a doctor honestly he didn't require

[20:05]me to be a doctor but that's how we need to be

[20:08]with our children because children are their own individual their own Universe

[20:11]says about human beings he said you're not just an individual you

[20:16]are a universe you are greater than that universe that you live

[20:22]in so just be a support system to them give them the

[20:25]best advice that you can but don't force them to choose a

[20:32]career or a field of study advising and it's their choice if

[20:36]they're making a deadly mistake a series if they're saying to you

[20:41]I don't want to go into college that's a different thing because

[20:44]younger people if you don't go to college if you don't succeed

[20:49]in college your chances of living a dignified life this is a

[20:53]very strong statement are a lot less than somebody who goes to

[20:57]college I'm gonna tell you right now I want you to do

[21:04]this younger people as soon as you can drive or if you

[21:10]drive in your city I want you to one day go in

[21:11]a safe way with other people to the worst part of town

[21:15]in winter at night and I want you to look for people

[21:22]who are homes I want you to look in the summer for

[21:24]people who work in the streets when it's really hard to fix

[21:28]the streets there is nothing wrong with this by the way if

[21:30]you failed at all other options then earning a living in any

[21:37]meaningful and Halal way is a good thing and Allah will reward

[21:40]you for it but try not to fall into that trap I

[21:45]want you to go and see look at these people and remember

[21:48]think about the people in your high school or in your circles

[21:53]and imagine who would be what would be the future of some

[21:57]of those people who would be become a doctor and engineer an

[22:01]astronaut a professor a leader in the community a CEO executive of

[22:07]some sort an attorney and who would be a homeless person at

[22:11]night if you really think about it you would know you'd identify

[22:15]the people Johnny I know he's going to be homeless one day

[22:19]unless he shapes up how many of us have the ability to

[22:23]do that many of us we just don't think about it right

[22:27]how many of us actually knew or know people who are like

[22:31]that all of us all of us know some people like that

[22:36]how many of us see a person and say Masha Allah this

[22:37]person is going to have a good future by the way there

[22:41]are no guarantees but you see the potential in people right you

[22:43]see this person Masha Allah is very bright this person masha'allah is

[22:49]very spunky this person masha'allah you know I talked to a lot

[22:53]of sisters and a lot of brothers here and I have a

[22:55]lot of Hope for this community especially the people who are present

[22:59]Masha Allah very very smart very dedicated very focused and I have

[23:03]alhamdulillah I feel very comfortable about your future as a father to

[23:08]you all and a brother to you all so make sure that

[23:13]you go into college how do you decide which direction you take

[23:18]in college it's very difficult because now our University system right now

[23:22]is a 500 year old University System 500 year old now universities

[23:28]existed before then the fatimis the shias created the first University Alaska

[23:33]right over a thousand years ago then after that there were universities

[23:37]in Morocco that can't the known thinker modeled universities after that but

[23:47]the way we choose Majors The Way We structure our curriculum the

[23:50]way we Define all the system is based on canned system which

[23:55]is 500 years old it's old so until this day in the

[24:00]21st century you which is a very daunting task you who just

[24:03]came out of high school who don't have much experience you hear

[24:06]people hear a lot of gibberish a lot of talk right you're

[24:09]required to choose a field of study you don't have any experience

[24:12]that's a really tough thing to do very tough thing to do

[24:19]but the truth is the world is changing there are no software

[24:21]there's no programs that will help you define this in the future

[24:23]the truth is those of you who are in college today you

[24:27]still have to make that choice and you have to make it

[24:33]how you know how choices are made today my friend went into

[24:35]this field I'll go into this field my parents like this field

[24:38]I'll go into that field I get accepted into this field I'll

[24:43]go into that field I couldn't get into that other field I'll

[24:46]get into this field with no evaluation of our true abilities to

[24:52]excel in that field or not I see some of the anger

[24:58]people smiling right I hear a spot with you guys right it's

[24:59]true it is true you know even even the older people like

[25:03]some of the people who I see here who succeeded alhamdulillah you

[25:06]know exactly this is true if you are if you come from

[25:12]certain societies it's very easy for you if you're running you have

[25:14]to be a doctor or an engineer so that's solved do a

[25:17]good job at it right right brother said I have you know

[25:21]when I see brother side I'm always happy so I have to

[25:24]take shots at him right but the truth is in our in

[25:29]our Eastern societies you have to be a doctor or an engineer

[25:33]that's what you have to be it doesn't make a difference what

[25:37]else you do it doesn't matter what kind of engineer you are

[25:40]it doesn't matter what kind of doctor you are but you need

[25:44]to be a doctor engineer which is good it's not a problem

[25:46]but let me give you the lay of the land my experience

[25:50]I want to share some my experience with you so that you

[25:52]take my experience into consideration because I don't know everything but I

[25:57]will tell you my experience so that you know where I'm coming

[26:04]from coming back from hausa in 1987.

[26:05]I started working for Control Data Corporation big Company software that broke

[26:13]up and became hundreds of companies today and I worked as a

[26:17]quality control engineer in the software engineering department in the project that's

[26:24]called Plato which is which was actually it still is exists as

[26:27]a company Plato software for testing High School College you know professional

[26:35]careers and everything like that and I'm kind of blind so I

[26:40]landed the job because they wanted me to test for cattle blindness

[26:42]the answer is when you click on the answer you can't see

[26:44]them if I couldn't see it see it they have to send

[26:48]it back to the development Engineers great job now seriously I loved

[26:54]it I had a boss a Woman by the name of Mali

[27:00]Raku I'll never forget her because she motivated me I the company

[27:04]was breaking up so I started applying for jobs there up there

[27:07]and I said you know Molly I'm worried I can't get a

[27:11]job she said why she I said look you know look at

[27:14]me right I live in Minnesota Scandinavian I don't look Scandinavian what's

[27:21]my name you can't even say it listen to this okay and

[27:26]I said you know so what what job can I get she

[27:29]said you know I'm amazed at you she said your name will

[27:33]help you get a job honestly and what I'm going to tell

[27:35]you you're going to laugh at it but it's true she said

[27:38]your name sounds Japanese tree but now and now it's Indian at

[27:54]that time people think Japanese people know math how we still think

[27:57]right I mean we still have those things they know math they

[27:59]know computers better than anybody else and they all know karate stereotypes

[28:04]are very powerful she said just don't worry about it and I

[28:09]applied alhamdulillah I got a job and I moved to a bigger

[28:14]company that recruited me I became a senior engineer software engineer there

[28:18]excuse me a Senior Systems engineer where I designed networks and I

[28:22]honestly and I'm telling you this not to be proud but I

[28:26]want to motivate you I designed some of the best wide area

[28:29]networks in the world honestly alhamdulillah at that time my wife is

[28:34]sitting here she knows the stories at that time I was making

[28:40]I reached 75 000 a year that was a lot of money

[28:43]back then for a systems engineer I became the eighth certified network

[28:50]engineer in the nation so I was proud of my accomplishments and

[28:56]I you know being from the Middle East and haven't been in

[29:00]Iran especially I was nice to people and I knew how to

[29:01]sell so I always you know when I went to clients big

[29:06]companies large corporations designed their networks I was very good with the

[29:10]executives I always met with them always met with the Chief Information

[29:13]officers and everybody liked my interaction so my clients the company's clients

[29:19]started telling me why did you start your own business I didn't

[29:23]really think of it to be honest with you and now I'm

[29:27]going to tell you this story and I'm going to tell you

[29:30]why I'm going to tell this story before I tell it younger

[29:32]people if anybody if anybody ever tells you that you cannot accomplish

[29:37]a goal fire them out of your life my general manager at

[29:44]this company which was microage I mean this probably will go on

[29:49]the internet so I'm not going to mention his last name but

[29:51]his first name is Dennis called me up one day and said

[29:54]I want you to come in my office I went to his

[29:57]office I remember vividly the table I remember his office I remember

[30:03]the conversation I remember his demeanor I remember the words that he

[30:06]said to me he said hola you have accomplished a lot in

[30:08]this company you are our Senior Systems engineer our clients love you

[30:14]the employees all look up to you you make a lot of

[30:19]money life is great I hear rumors that you're thinking about starting

[30:25]a business and actually I wasn't thinking about it he said you

[30:28]shouldn't do that I'm going to be honest with you I'm giving

[30:31]you good advice he was doing his job I don't blame him

[30:35]he said look at your name nobody can pronounce it look at

[30:38]you nobody's gonna buy from you people are not going to deal

[30:42]with you honestly he said exactly the same factors that Molly Reika

[30:45]told me will make me successful this guy told me will make

[30:48]me fail I Allah is my witness by the time I walked

[30:52]out of his daughter I had made the decision to quit my

[30:55]job and start the company brothers and sisters I started a company

[30:59]with a brother that first year we made a million dollars and

[31:06]you know how it worked I went home you need sisters you

[31:12]need a good spouse in your side Brothers you need a good

[31:14]spouse and your side I went home and I told my wife

[31:17]I'm quitting my job she probably doesn't remember but I do at

[31:22]that time I had a house mortgage oh two card payments and

[31:33]three children and she said are you sure I said yes we're

[31:38]going to start a business and inshallah it's going to be successful

[31:40]I'll never forget when she said that encouragement makes you strong so

[31:50]we did and I call a couple people that I know from

[31:54]my clients at microage and this is I want to tell you

[31:59]how Allah opens the ways for you one of the problems that

[32:04]I solved in a network was for Colgate are you familiar with

[32:07]Colgate soft soap they had a division in Minnesota where they had

[32:11]a problem with I didn't want to describe technical problems they couldn't

[32:14]solve it I solved it for them so I said you know

[32:16]hey I'm I started my own business if you have business send

[32:19]it my way of course so I got him as a client

[32:23]then I got a call at my house my office was a

[32:27]phone in my basement I got a call from another guy who

[32:32]was a Chief Information officer of one of the largest law firms

[32:35]he said we are counsel for soft soap we have a problem

[32:41]our sis our offices cannot talk to each other communicate with each

[32:44]other and nobody can solve this problem can you solve it they

[32:47]said I'll see I went equipped with the biggest weapon that everybody

[32:50]should have in their hands as I get into the elevators they

[32:55]were in the 51 floor 51st floor of the IDS building in

[32:58]Downtown Minneapolis that weapon that you should all and you already have

[33:03]but you should always use this Ayatul Kursi I read it I

[33:09]really am alhamdulillah I'm good because you know why you know I'm

[33:13]better than other Engineers because I don't drink the night before I

[33:16]don't seriously I don't do drugs the night before I pray I

[33:21]eat halal food all of us have this these qualities you know

[33:26]so we can focus went up there looked at the problem it

[33:29]was half an hour problem I solved it by the end of

[33:33]the year we had 52 of the top law firms as our

[33:37]clients still people started rumors some of the competitors that I inherited

[33:43]money that's how we did this which is fine you will hear

[33:47]a lot of things as soon as you find success you will

[33:49]see this now I want to remind you throughout all of this

[33:53]that you know the person will stand in front of you was

[33:58]a talabawande and hausa and we were poor right but that doesn't

[34:02]deter you that doesn't don't let anything deter you don't let any

[34:06]your name your looks your background your ethnicity the people that you

[34:10]work with deter you especially the people who come around you until

[34:16]you cannot do anything you cannot do something choose a field now

[34:20]the software field that I know very well is one of the

[34:25]best Fields out there Minnesota today has an unemployment record of zero

[34:33]point oh eight percent in the it field basically it doesn't exist

[34:39]if you are in the I.T field today you're almost guaranteed to

[34:45]get a job um I want to say you're guaranteed to get

[34:49]a job in Minnesota and I'm sure it is most other states

[34:53]so the I.T field is an excellent field to get into great

[34:59]field to get into you can make a lot of money I've

[35:05]managed in different companies what amounts to literally at one point we

[35:10]had 3 300 employees in our companies and if you're an if

[35:14]you are an I.T person if you're a software engineer even if

[35:17]you're a mediocre you could admit good money with us in the

[35:22]late 90s I lost a lot of sleep as a chief executive

[35:24]officer of one of the most successful companies in italic International because

[35:28]we just couldn't hire enough people I honestly hired people just because

[35:33]they walked in the door and they had a resume in their

[35:36]hands that's how desperate we were the situation is going to get

[35:42]better because this we have two factors that are at play one

[35:45]factor is that Outsourcing to India and to Russia and to all

[35:53]those places is regressing companies are starting to hire people here so

[35:57]they're looking for more people the second factor is that enrollment in

[36:01]I.T fields in it majors in the United States is decreasing H-1B

[36:09]visas the number of H1 which are working visas the numbers has

[36:15]been is reduced so if you get into the IT field if

[36:18]you're smart about it you and get in the I.T field you

[36:21]will earn a very decent living in Minnesota if you graduate with

[36:27]a master's degree in software engineering your entry 11 level position is

[36:33]ninety thousand dollars Imagine This I've had software Engineers work for me

[36:39]with three to five years of experience by the way some of

[36:44]them are here with three to five years of experience who made

[36:47]120 000 and we gave them bonuses the end of 150 000

[36:51]and they will end up making more many times software engineers make

[37:00]more money than their own managers and bosses but here's piece of

[37:06]advice to all software Engineers or people who are interested in into

[37:11]that field we have a brother here who has a PHD in

[37:13]software engineering a brother who I'm very proud of because he's he

[37:18]was suddenly became a shiyan I love all people who I love

[37:21]all she has but people who became who have Sonia became share

[37:23]I love them especially doctor can you stand up please Dr Abdullah

[37:27]Muhammad who's from Morocco and who will disagree with me on what

[37:36]I'm just about to say don't waste your time on a PhD

[37:41]in software engineering it actually becomes at one point counterproductive get your

[37:49]master's degree and stop there because your salary statistics show that if

[37:55]you get your PhD in software engineering your salary it doesn't necessarily

[37:59]go up many times our HR departments when they looked at somebody

[38:03]with a PhD we disqualified them we didn't want them to work

[38:07]for us because skill wise we didn't see that they really produced

[38:13]anything else more for us it's all Fury now and then because

[38:15]they have a PhD many times we have to give them a

[38:19]little more to distinguish them from other ranks but we didn't perceive

[38:22]value sorry doctor oh you agree with me there alhamdulillah excellent okay

[38:28]so that's one thing so now what if you want to go

[38:31]into other fields great I highly encourage you if you don't like

[38:34]software and by the way we have very brilliant Allah is my

[38:40]witness I'm not saying this because I am prejudiced towards shias and

[38:43]I am proud I love shias Allah is my witness Shia Engineers

[38:49]who have worked for me not because I love shias only but

[38:52]they produce the best product they had the best work ethics they

[38:58]were the hardest working and they were the most beloved in all

[39:02]of the organization another person who was a sunyan became Shia I

[39:06]think that's a qualification you have to be a Sunni you have

[39:09]to become sure you have to make a software engineer right now

[39:12]what if you don't like software what other options these are the

[39:17]fields that I recommend for you so that we can make an

[39:21]impact as Muslims if you're a software engineer make money donate money

[39:24]teach others how to be good software engineers produce good programs I

[39:32]am so proud when I hear Allah is when I hear from

[39:37]my peers other CEOs of other companies who tell me that when

[39:42]we hire people who are Muslims right usually they're very hard working

[39:45]they're very good they're honest they're dedicated and I want to see

[39:50]I want to tell them they're shias usually but that's not the

[39:53]case I mean even our Sunday brothers are good okay now the

[39:56]fields that I would recommend so that we can make an impact

[39:59]we can make an impact as a community our journalism la uh

[40:08]medicine is important and all other fields that you can get into

[40:13]but let me talk about each one of them briefly La is

[40:16]extremely important the people who run this country the people around this

[40:21]country are business people and politicians the good business people and good

[40:26]politicians are lawyers most of the time not all the time some

[40:31]lawyers are horrible horrible business people because they are so entangled in

[40:37]the letter of the law they can't think freely that's obscene that

[40:41]of lawyers but good lawyers bright lawyers who see a lot of

[40:46]cases a lot of business cases they see what what fails and

[40:52]what succeeds are the ones who become bright business people they are

[40:55]the ones who write the law they are the ones who Define

[41:00]the future of Allah they are the ones who Define the future

[41:03]of cases they are the ones who know how to litigate they

[41:07]know how to debate they know how to present and they understand

[41:10]Allah they know how to defend themselves so if you want to

[41:14]be a lawyer it's a great thing but I'm very close to

[41:17]the Lil industry I was as a mission to the CEO of

[41:21]network International for nine years where we sold to the legal industry

[41:27]document management case management security I personally actually did the security for

[41:30]the tobacco cases in Minnesota for the bad guys unfortunately but I

[41:34]made a lot of money on it you know you know so

[41:39]so I understand lawyers I'm also an arbitrator a commercial arbitrator I

[41:44]understand Allah I have to become certified I have to study the

[41:48]law I work very closely for with lawyers and I worked with

[41:52]them for a long time it is one of the toughest careers

[41:56]to have we have some lawyers here right I know some brothers

[41:59]and sisters we have some lawyers in the community here it is

[42:03]one of the toughest careers to have it is very difficult you

[42:06]have to get very high GPA to land a job at a

[42:10]good Law Firm and then you have to work as an intern

[42:11]for a while and then you start making little money and they

[42:17]work you those lawyers work you I had lawyers who called me

[42:20]up non-muslim lawyers Wallah called me up and they said I am

[42:24]just about to die they are requiring me to build 12 hours

[42:27]a day Bill 12 hours a day at 300 400 dollars an

[42:33]hour and I can't do it anymore that's what you should expect

[42:38]but if you can persevere if you can break into that industry

[42:44]do it don't stop there if you work for a law firm

[42:46]for a while make a good record for yourself as a Muslim

[42:51]you should always make a good record for yourself you should take

[42:54]the next step which I will talk about in a minute but

[42:56]be careful if you become a lawyer which cases to take as

[43:05]CEO of different companies I had many many instances where my sales

[43:12]people or managers came to me with fantastically big deals millions of

[43:16]dollars I'll give you an example I had an employee who came

[43:21]to me I think there comes a sister tells me that I

[43:22]have 15 minutes left right okay good all right so an employee

[43:28]who came to me and said Mystic Lake Casino how many have

[43:33]heard of it it's a favorite of kings and presidents of the

[43:37]Arab world they said they want us to design a network for

[43:41]the millions of dollars I said not a chance he said what

[43:45]do you mean I said not a chance it's Hara is it

[43:48]it's millions of dollars give some you know he doesn't give some

[43:51]charity help charity my commission is huge don't let I said I

[43:54]don't care if it is billions of dollars and one time these

[44:00]are true stories some of them are colorful but forgive me one

[44:03]time I got a call from uh Abbas when I before I

[44:07]started my own companies who said we have a great great job

[44:10]all the engineers are dying to have this job we're going to

[44:12]give it to you it's in Chicago I said well what is

[44:16]it they said the the Playboy Mansion needs a network design well

[44:19]this is true I said I don't care how much you give

[44:24]me they couldn't believe it well everybody is fighting for this it's

[44:26]an honor I said no it is not an honor it's a

[44:29]disgrace that it would even be you would even think of me

[44:31]for a job like that it's Haram I wouldn't do it so

[44:34]if you are a lawyer and you're presented with a case where

[44:39]you have to defend Haram don't do it if you have to

[44:46]defend a casino or a bar or weapons manufacturers or anything that's

[44:50]Haram you can you should be able to identify what is Haram

[44:52]don't do it if it's the end of the world the Ayah

[44:56]that was recited today by the beautiful voice of brother Mahdi and

[45:01]the sister who translated it who has piety will give him a

[45:11]way out and will give him risk from where he doesn't expect

[45:16]or she doesn't expect I guarantee you if you take a stance

[45:19]for Allah Allah will take a stance for you I guarantee you

[45:23]that why because the Ayah tells us but the field of law

[45:29]is very important we cannot be successful politicians and encourage you to

[45:32]be politicians if you are not if you don't understand the field

[45:34]all you don't have to be a lawyer but it's mostly lawyers

[45:37]who get into that field how do we share people's minds journalism

[45:43]how many of you are involved in the field of Journalism I'm

[45:49]looking for more nobody except sister Manar sister Manar she's my daughter-in-law

[45:55]by the way sister Manar was the first hijabi anchor woman in

[46:01]the U.S I'm not going to ask her to stand unless she

[46:04]wants to okay sister Manar is another convert she was suddenly became

[46:10]a Shia masha'allah I I honestly I didn't think of that it

[46:14]just happened okay by the way how many how many people who

[46:19]were sunnis before anybody martial I'm proud of you I'm really proud

[46:23]of Masha Allah blessing I'm proud of all shias alhamdulillah it's a

[46:26]blessing but sister men are was from kudz and I'm honored that

[46:34]she's part of my family she's married to my son Amir sister

[46:38]Manar landed the job as an anchor woman in Saint Cloud on

[46:44]TV where in hijab she always aspired to become a journalist people

[46:52]told her she can't foreign we all see media is controlled by

[47:00]the Jews well I mean this is not a secret we always

[47:03]say that right so there's no way they'll hire somebody from Palestine

[47:06]she's wearing hijab who would put a hijabi woman on TV especially

[47:11]in Michelle Bachman's District who is the most right-wing perceived most right-wing

[47:19]politician in the US and that's where Manara goes and she applies

[47:29]for a job and they hire her and she appears in TV

[47:33]she does such a great job that the stations around the state

[47:36]of Minnesota all go after and say would you come and work

[47:40]for us how many of you honestly before I told you this

[47:42]story if I said sisters you should become anchor woman how many

[47:46]of you would say I'm wearing hijab I have no child no

[47:47]chance of that how many of your sisters right you're completely wrong

[47:53]monar proved you wrong her parents and forgive me if you're saying

[47:56]this her parents told them man you have no chance people around

[48:00]her totally have no chance she asked my advice I said you

[48:07]have every chance because of that story my name sounds like Japanese

[48:11]people in the U.S like diversity they like people who are different

[48:18]they're like people who are creative and when otherwise creative Manar went

[48:26]to the veterans people who fought in World War One World War

[48:31]II and Vietnam in Korea and Iraq right Iraq Iraq she went

[48:38]and interviewed them and they were very nice to her we have

[48:43]a lot of perceptions that are messed up in our heads I

[48:48]beseech you brothers and sisters to get in the into the field

[48:53]of Journalism Manor didn't stop at that she had an idea the

[48:58]idea is to start a news organization she's crazy who would invest

[49:05]in a news organization in the US run by a Muslim woman

[49:09]who's wearing hijab Masha Allah should put her business plan together and

[49:12]she raised a lot of money and she's running mint Press today

[49:17]which is an up-and-coming news organization she hired people away from away

[49:21]from CNN BBC she has people who write for her from the

[49:24]greatest universities greatest writers around the world as soon as they hear

[49:27]there is a new organ now most people in journalism they heard

[49:31]about mint press and all of you will hear about mint press

[49:34]because they have a new way of looking at news at a

[49:37]fair way a fair way I don't want to say an Islamic

[49:38]way because it doesn't it's not an Islamic news organization from that

[49:41]perspective it doesn't broadcast Quran or anything like that but they look

[49:46]at news from an honest and dignified way and they look at

[49:50]what's behind the news and they give analysis that when you read

[49:53]it you know it's honest believe in yourself and believe that when

[50:01]you believe in Allah Allah will help you I mean many people

[50:05]told me now he can't do it she just doesn't believe them

[50:09]that's the number one factor that you need to keep in mind

[50:12]so journalism getting to journalism you know I have no doubt that

[50:16]if CNN if CNN gets a hold of a sister who's hijabi

[50:19]they would hire her at a heartbeat I have no doubt about

[50:24]that and if you don't believe me if you are a sister

[50:26]especially a sister in um we're in hijab in journalism and you

[50:32]want a job at CNN contact me I will help you I

[50:36]promise you I will help you it is time that we see

[50:40]hijabi sisters on TV National TV because we had a local TV

[50:47]Menard broke that and we want people like that now we know

[50:49]CNN hires Muslims Zakaria is a Muslim Ali welchi is a Muslim

[50:58]now I don't like their presentation I don't like what they what

[51:02]they report but we need more people like them we need more

[51:05]people like you who can say the truth and state the truth

[51:10]so get into that field don't let anybody tell you you can't

[51:13]fire them out of your life if people tell you you can't

[51:17]feel the medicine is a great field no question about it study

[51:22]hard do the best that you can apply if you are admitted

[51:29]that's fantastic I will be honest with you my kids come to

[51:33]me my children they come to me and say you know Baba

[51:35]you know Baba I'm thinking about going to this field what do

[51:38]you think I don't tell them good or bad I say well

[51:41]you know these are the good things and these are the bad

[51:42]things that we talk about and they decide I have not told

[51:46]one any one of my children what which career to go after

[51:49]but if they come to me and say I want to be

[51:51]a doctor I would say okay you can make money but expect

[51:56]from what I see from my brothers and sisters from the doctors

[51:58]that I you know expect a long academic career a difficult academic

[52:05]career and when you work expect a lot of work hours midnight

[52:11]hours grave yard shift always be on call very very stressful jobs

[52:15]a lot of money there is no question about it that's why

[52:19]people like the career and it's a very dignified and very knowable

[52:21]careers to get into because you can help people you can cure

[52:24]people if you become an actor as if you become anything else

[52:29]do as I'm going to give you an example of Two Brothers

[52:32]there are many brothers like this one is brother Abdullah in Minnesota

[52:38]he works works very hard as a doctor but he dedicates his

[52:43]life to helping people get better he doesn't care if they're Muslim

[52:48]or non-muslim I bring him cases from around the world I call

[52:51]him in the middle of the night Abdul Hussein I have a

[52:54]person who's sick the first thing that he says to me thank

[52:56]you for bringing him to me he doesn't get any he doesn't

[53:01]make any money in this he helps people day in and day

[53:05]out started the clinic in our Masjid open to everybody come and

[53:11]get treated for free and he recruits other Muslim shihad actors to

[53:17]treat people I'm proud of him that's what we should do as

[53:23]Muslims another one is Sayed Kashif from Pakistan he and his father

[53:28]his father was a doctor built a hospital in Pakistan in Sunni

[53:32]areas to help our Sunni Brothers then they went and kicked him

[53:37]out threatened him that they will kill him if he comes back

[53:41]and took over the hospital because he's Shia he didn't care he

[53:45]said I did it for Allah say it Kashif Dr Kashif GI

[53:51]specialist has his own Clinic has many doctors and he helps a

[53:53]lot of people I think he's in Indiana now he moved from

[53:59]Minnesota so be like that don't become selfish you don't have to

[54:02]do to donate money donate money I'm not saying don't but donate

[54:04]your time and the skill that Allah gave you so medicine is

[54:08]a great field if you go through college and you want to

[54:11]be a lawyer if you want to become a doctor if you

[54:14]want to be a software engineer if you want to be whatever

[54:17]it is and you couldn't make it don't disappear you know what

[54:20]you should look at you should look at one thing that Allah

[54:24]didn't want you to go down that path because it's not good

[54:27]for you somehow it's not good for you and Allah has a

[54:31]better plan for you refocus regroup and move on don't be don't

[54:40]be crushed I always wanted to be a doctor I can't be

[54:44]a doctor if you go back and look at your life there

[54:47]were many situations where you couldn't get something if you keep track

[54:52]of it you'd say alhamdulillah I did not get that whatever it

[54:58]is what direction Allah took me seriously you know what I graduated

[55:05]from high school in Jordan I was admitted to schools in Russia

[55:08]Germany England and the United States I have no idea why you

[55:10]chose the US honestly I was a kid my sister was dying

[55:14]of cancer my family didn't have time to pay attention to me

[55:16]it was my choice I have no idea if I went to

[55:21]Russia I don't know what I've would have become of me if

[55:24]I went anywhere else I don't know what would have come to

[55:27]me but alhamdulillah I came here alhamdulillah came here I discovered alhamdulillah

[55:32]I succeeded in my career alhamdulillah I have my Muhammad as my

[55:37]partner in life my wife she wouldn't have been Russian right she

[55:41]lived here right alhamdulillah for many many many things that Allah took

[55:47]me in this direction if I went to Russia I definitely would

[55:49]have been a doctor because I got accepted to medical school Germany

[55:53]and Russia I get accepted the medical schools there I would have

[55:56]been a doctor would that have been better for me I don't

[55:59]think so because I probably would be a hardware conductor today deal

[56:03]in a lot of cases making a lot of money guaranteed alhamdulillah

[56:07]actually I actually brothers and sisters forgive me for saying this I

[56:11]make a lot more money than doctors make no alhamdulillah but I

[56:17]would have been my life would have been taken in a certain

[56:20]direction you never know what Allah will do with you but what

[56:23]you need to do is trust Allah work hard and Trust Allah

[56:27]I need you to know this story that many of my non-muslim

[56:30]colleagues know and they love to mention it to me all the

[56:34]time because I tell them professors but are always professors who are

[56:36]around me are always talking about camels because camels have a lot

[56:40]of wisdom around them for those of you who don't know this

[56:42]Bedouin is a true story came to the prophet salallahu alaihi and

[56:48]said start talking to the prophet is all you know I asked

[56:50]about Islam and the prophet taught him and he became Muslim and

[56:52]things like that he went outside his camel was gone I know

[56:56]many of you know the story but those of you who don't

[56:57]it's a beautiful story because they can't go anywhere they can't stand

[57:08]he said no I I depend on Allah he said he said

[57:15]you know Bedouin right he said brother tie your camel and depend

[57:22]on Allah tell you Cameron and now many professors Allah knows they

[57:25]come to me and say today I forget to tie my camel

[57:28]and we know we're talking about you know tie your camera tell

[57:32]you can study hard work hard be dedicated to your job be

[57:35]the best employee if you are not the best employee you're you're

[57:38]a bad representation of Islam remember this Allah doesn't want you to

[57:43]be a bad employee Allah doesn't want you to be a bad

[57:44]student Allah doesn't want you to be a bad worker a bad

[57:49]thinker a bad Professor a Bad Doctor Allah wants you to be

[57:51]the best at what you do because Allah the prophet sallallahu alaihi

[57:59]said Allah surely loves when he sees one of you doing something

[58:02]that you do the best that you can at it do the

[58:05]best that you can have it now I didn't cover all careers

[58:10]there are many other careers that you can do teaching is a

[58:13]great I would love to see a dozen professors at every University

[58:17]every University we don't have professors I would love to see Pilots

[58:23]at every Airline we have some not every place I know we

[58:28]have a lot of Engineers alhamdulillah brothers and sisters it is Haram

[58:33]for you Engineers it is Haram for you to work for any

[58:37]company that produces weapons I don't care how much money you make

[58:43]I don't care what justification you give yourself it is Haram for

[58:46]you to do this if you do if you help in the

[58:50]design and by the way I forget to mention we have a

[58:51]professor of computer science here he's Iranian we're your Sunday brother before

[58:55]something's wrong right you should have been Cindy before right thank you

[59:02]Professor I apologize masha'allah we're proud of our dear brother Professor I

[59:07]I forget which university in Boston New Jersey you said I thought

[59:14]you said Boston oh you're teaching new okay all right Marshall okay

[59:19]so we need we need people in every career in every aspect

[59:23]and by the way it starts it doesn't matter where you started

[59:25]if you are a student you need to make money work as

[59:29]a restaurant drive a cab do whatever you can to help your

[59:31]parents it's okay the best thing that you can do is get

[59:35]good grades so you can get scholarships right that's the best thing

[59:38]but you know not all of us can't get those High grades

[59:41]it's okay it's all right like you could live alone ask us

[59:45]asks us for what he has given us according to what he

[59:50]has given us that's fine and if you are not good and

[59:53]good grades that doesn't mean that you're going to be a lesser

[59:56]a worker or a less worker or less skilled worker than the

[59:58]person next to you absolutely not always recreate yourself always in all

[60:07]of this brothers and sisters and all of this keep in mind

[60:12]that make a lot of money as much as you can so

[60:15]that you can help yourself and help others so you can pay

[60:17]homes you help the car you contribute to the community but sister

[60:19]how much time do I have okay five minutes is enough for

[60:25]what I'm going to tell you right now if you can not

[60:29]everybody's cut out for this if you can for Allah's sake don't

[60:32]work for others all of your life start a business start a

[60:39]business this is the best thing that you can do I will

[60:44]help anybody who wants to start a business through all the mechanics

[60:47]of starting a business through all the advice that they started the

[60:50]business I do a lot of work I Mentor a lot of

[60:54]people in that in that field and it's it's an art and

[60:58]a science I know how to do it alhamdulillah I started several

[61:01]companies that were all successful I can give you the same advice

[61:03]I will give you the advice look for people in your community

[61:06]who can give you the advice if you can start a business

[61:10]start a business so you can employ other people you can create

[61:12]jobs you can be creative you can innovate look people who started

[61:15]Facebook any Muslim kid who knew programming could have done Facebook people

[61:21]who did Google they took something from a university I think it

[61:24]was Michigan search engine that existed for a long time they wrapped

[61:28]it up commercialized it and they are worth billions of dollars today

[61:31]there is nothing wrong with making billions of dollars if you use

[61:34]it right if you do it harami if you go to Las

[61:37]Vegas if you do Haram stuff if you buy a private jet

[61:39]like Walid that's worth you know belism that's Haram that's rough that's

[61:47]tariff but live live a good life but make sure that you

[61:49]contribute to your community you give back to your community make sure

[61:52]you help the orphans if you can focus on one thing and

[61:57]one thing only help the orphans when we when I ran my

[61:59]companies I had some of the brothers work for me and I

[62:03]loved working with them we didn't make the non-muslim employees feel a

[62:07]second class employees absolutely not but we absolutely love we used to

[62:13]do so little Jamara in my office sometimes I work with Sayer

[62:16]Khalid brother Ahmed I don't know if he's here fell asleep this

[62:18]morning I was a very brilliant Engineers Allah is my witness very

[62:24]hard working Brothers I work with many others but I love the

[62:27]fact that we can work together I love the fact that being

[62:30]older than that I can mentor them so that their career is

[62:32]beyond my company because I sell all my companies I get him

[62:37]to a certain point I sell them you don't have to do

[62:39]that you can run a company forever if you want but this

[62:42]is what I chose to do but the fact that you can

[62:45]hire people you can mentor people you can help people that's the

[62:48]best Muslim in my opinion that you can be because at the

[62:50]same time brothers and sisters and I'll wrap it up at the

[62:54]same time that I was CEO you know I'll tell you the

[62:58]story and you'll get the message always invited as CEO to big

[63:02]Gale has big parties big dinners with big Executives who want you

[63:08]to buy their products or they want to sell you something or

[63:10]they want to sell your Professional Services whatever it was always said

[63:15]to them I am a Muslim I don't drink alcohol would you

[63:20]make sure that no alcohol is served not a single person ever

[63:26]said to me what we always drink except for one downtown Chicago

[63:32]a managing partner of one of the largest law firms in the

[63:38]nation invited me to come from Minnesota have dinner with him in

[63:41]a restaurant in the what was the Sears building forget the name

[63:45]of it now I think it was 65th floor restaurant and I

[63:49]said ahead of time to the person who coordinated an executive I

[63:53]said just tell him I don't drink alcohol so and I cannot

[63:55]sit around alcohol when it's served and he said what this is

[64:00]America I said you know I'd love to meet with him outside

[64:03]of dinner and um you know discuss whatever we want to discuss

[64:07]or I can have dinner with him and I can leave he

[64:10]can drink and when he's done I can come back is it

[64:13]none and I'll respect that let me tell you another I'll give

[64:17]you another example examples are best because I want to tell you

[64:20]people will respect you for who you are 2005 sold the company

[64:25]by the name of stratica did analytics software business intelligence software for

[64:30]the banking industry solid to a public illustrator company very large company

[64:35]very successful very well known and we had an annual managers meeting

[64:38]somewhere in the nation I didn't want to disclose it the company

[64:43]had 13 this is relevant 13 private jets for the executives so

[64:47]we get together 170 managers around the nation and they call the

[64:53]organizer who's an executive herself and I said look I don't drink

[64:56]so you want me to come I'll come but you have to

[64:59]have a table for me where an alcohol is served even if

[65:01]I sit by myself I don't care and the food these are

[65:07]my requirements okay no problem when you're a boss they listen to

[65:11]you right look at that I showed up there I was looking

[65:14]for my chair if it was full I said non-alcoholic table I

[65:17]started you know give me a chair pulled up my chair everybody's

[65:21]what's going on the pilots we're Pilots we can't drink thank you

[65:24]we couldn't sit there before instead of that so we're good alhamdulillah

[65:27]okay well I'm glad you don't drink because you're Pilots right so

[65:30]a huge table right next to me You're gonna laugh but it's

[65:35]really true honestly uh you know Oda thank you very much we're

[65:38]Mormons we didn't know that we wanted to know that we're more

[65:42]we don't drink thank you we're so relieved said okay that's good

[65:45]a couple of moments two guys managers next to me they said

[65:48]we're covering alcoholics thank you this really helps you know so I'm

[65:53]sitting there thinking that I was going to be by myself I

[65:55]had to compete for a spot to sit because I came a

[65:58]little late being a Muslim right you are I'm amazed how many

[66:04]people respect you and honor you for who you are be proud

[66:06]be a proud Muslim we had some of these brothers brother Ahmed

[66:10]I wish he was here was one time supervising a big installation

[66:14]for us at a law firm downtown Chicago a Jewish law firm

[66:20]many of us have a fear of Jews that oh they don't

[66:24]like Muslims that's not true American American people are American people they

[66:28]accept others yes we disagree with them from now until the end

[66:31]of day of judgment about Israel to me Israel does horrible war

[66:36]crimes and horrible things and but you know as Americans we get

[66:40]we work together right so brother Ahmad walks in there he's supervising

[66:45]a team so he looks at his time his wife is time

[66:47]for Salah he doesn't go and ask anybody you know around him

[66:52]where can I pray he goes to the secretary who's Jewish who

[66:54]asks the management partner who's Jewish she says we have a Muslim

[66:58]guy who is supervised an engineer who's supervising the installation he's looking

[67:01]for a Muslim prayer he says by absolutely by all means that

[67:04]conference room is dedicated for your prayer or you can pray there

[67:07]privately when you're done just leave the door open the door open

[67:10]that's how it is brothers and sisters be proud of you Islam

[67:14]many of us are not proud of our Islam I'm proud well

[67:18]I am so proud when I see a sister William hijab you

[67:19]know somebody said in one of the speeches or comments the other

[67:24]day that you know you feel bad you know when people look

[67:26]at you they look at an oppressed woman that's wrong wellahi that

[67:30]is wrong I had one of my students at the University I

[67:34]have her paper if you want to read it I will take

[67:37]out her name and you can say it she said I am

[67:40]jealous of Muslim women I am jealous of Muslim women because their

[67:44]faith allows him to be strong enough to cover their beauty she

[67:49]said I want to be the same way but my faith doesn't

[67:52]allow me to do that because people around me don't do that

[67:55]Allah is my witness this girl said this she said I'm jealous

[67:59]of Muslim women don't listen to when people say they look at

[68:04]you and they look down that's not true that's not true because

[68:09]the Quran says that the least that will be that you'll be

[68:13]identified about Muslim women and people know that Muslim women respect themselves

[68:20]respect themselves sister am I am I out of town time okay

[68:25]q a any questions anybody you know while you think about questions

[68:30]if you have any I want to tell the sisters story I

[68:35]managed people I managed Executives who were women I managed Engineers who

[68:42]were women I managed sales people who were women it is horrible

[68:47]it's absolutely horrible what men say about women in the workplace and

[68:54]I'm talking about professional not a lot of them obviously but some

[69:00]of them I should have said because many of them are very

[69:04]respectful very disrespectful of women I at one point sold the company

[69:10]and every company I sell become an executive for a while with

[69:12]the company because that's part of the requirement and I had a

[69:14]woman who was a chief I don't want to identify the position

[69:18]but she was one of the top executives and she was overweight

[69:23]the people who buy the company from me the chairman of the

[69:27]board and the CEO of the parent company told me one day

[69:30]they came to me and said you know you have really bad

[69:33]taste I said what do you mean they said you know this

[69:36]woman and they called her I'll call her Susan that wasn't her

[69:40]name ugly seriously they said she's ugly why can't you get somebody

[69:46]who's beautiful let's fire her and hire cheaper a couple of forgive

[69:49]me sisters forgive me Brothers hot looking chicks I couldn't stand them

[69:57]since that day I went into a lawsuit with them over a

[69:59]number of other things and I brought this into the issue as

[70:03]I cannot work for people like that or with people like that

[70:05]she wasn't a Muslim I didn't care she was a human being

[70:09]they disrespected for disrespected her I have never and you will never

[70:16]hear from a non-muslim comments like that about a Muslim woman regardless

[70:19]of what whether she was good looking or bad looking they'll say

[70:23]she's off limits she makes herself have limits she's very smart very

[70:31]intelligent hard-working absolutely but they will never open their mouths and talk

[70:35]about other women I have a lot of experience because I managed

[70:38]a lot of people brothers and sisters they talk about other women

[70:42]in a way that is so demeaning so demeaning so disrespectful every

[70:49]company has people like that they will never talk about you if

[70:54]you have questions raise your hand I'll stop okay we'll never talk

[70:59]about you like that in one of the companies HR people came

[71:04]to that to the company after I sold it because they everybody

[71:07]has to think or act the same way and this guy was

[71:11]saying we had a woman who converted to Islam she started to

[71:14]wear the hijab and we looked into country and of course by

[71:17]the bylaw she can and we all respect her she's a hard

[71:22]worker we cannot fight her she's a hard worker because they're in

[71:24]Missouri I'll tell you they were in Missouri when they were talking

[71:28]about this okay so we respect if she's hard working we cannot

[71:30]she's where's the hijab we respect her now before that she's like

[71:35]everybody else she's and forgive me for saying this she's a piece

[71:38]of meat unfortunately that's how we think about it inshallah stop here

[71:41]if you don't have any questions that's that means I did a

[71:44]good job an excellent job but if you have questions elaboration

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