Ethical Dilemmas and Voting in US Elections - Sayed Saleh Qazwini

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[0:03][Music] allahar allahar [Music] [Music] ill [Music] [Music] [Music] as [Music] [Music]

[1:32]Sal [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] allahar [Music] [Music] alhamd ald sh muham

[4:23]my dear brothers and sisters when we look at the religion of

[4:29]Islam as a religion we see that it is is focused on

[4:31]community and community building and Allah subhah looks at us and our

[4:42]responsibilities with regards to the community and the society that we live

[4:46]in this is why you see all of the acts of worship

[4:52]most of the acts of worship they revolve around community and society

[4:57]and the environment that we are living in Islam teaches us to

[5:03]work on that concept of community and this is why you have

[5:05]the concept of the umah the umah is mentioned in the Quran

[5:11]Allah subhana wa tala tells us that we are one umah we

[5:13]are one nation We Are One Community this is why you look

[5:18]at Salah you could pray your prayer alone but the Tha the

[5:23]reward will be multiplied many times more if you pray in J

[5:27]this is why the importance of to gather with the community this

[5:35]is why we give zakat and we give to think of those

[5:37]who are in need when we go to Hajj the one of

[5:42]the main purposes of Hajj is to have that diversity and surroundings

[5:46]and look at the different people and interact with other people around

[5:52]you during the month of Ramadan we fast and we go through

[5:55]hunger so that we could think of community members so that we

[5:57]could think of those who are in need so as a Muslim

[6:03]I have a responsibility to care for my community not only for

[6:09]my Muslim brothers and sisters I have a responsibility to care for

[6:13]anyone that I live with anyone that I live around we know

[6:17]the story of he had a neighbor who used to harass him

[6:21]and abuse him and throw trash at him this neighbor was a

[6:27]non-muslim the neighbor used to abuse the prophet one day the Prophet

[6:30]leaves his home and he sees that this neighbor is not there

[6:34]so he asks his companions he tells them where's this man that

[6:37]used to harass me every day and bother me this non-muslim man

[6:40]they tell him alhamdulillah he's sick alhamdulillah this man he's ill and

[6:45]he's unable to leave his home he says let's go and visit

[6:53]him they tell him why this man bothers you this man harasses

[6:56]you he says this is the of Islam and Al he goes

[7:02]and the man he finds out that Prophet Muhammad has come to

[7:06]visit him he gets scared he tells him yah Muhammad stay away

[7:09]from me tells him I've come to visit you he says why

[7:13]he tells him because you're a member of my community because we

[7:17]live together because if you are suffering I will also suffer because

[7:22]we we are connected with one another and this is the concept

[7:29]of umah and caring for umah and caring for society that we

[7:32]have so we have that moral and ethical and religious responsibility to

[7:39]care for others and just as the actions of others impact me

[7:43]my actions also impact others this is why we have this concept

[7:49]in Islam which is probably foreign in this society that we live

[7:52]today in this Society in this community the way people are grown

[7:56]up the way people are taught is everyone is for themselves who

[8:01]cares about others let people die let people suffer let people go

[8:05]hungry sometimes you might see two neighbors they come and they go

[8:08]and they live next to each other but they don't even interact

[8:11]with one another family members don't interact with one another this is

[8:15]why Thanksgiving is such a big deal in this country because you

[8:18]actually get family members to eat together and to sit with one

[8:21]another whereas the the Islamic concept is every day should be a

[8:26]day where you gather with your friends and your family and your

[8:30]community and it's no nothing foreign to us why because our religion

[8:33]teaches us that we are responsible for others even people that don't

[8:37]have anything to do with me even people that are not my

[8:41]family even people that are not my blood relatives I have a

[8:44]responsibility towards them every single one of you is a shepherd and

[8:52]every single one of you is responsible every single one of you

[8:57]has their responsibilities and duties in another Hadith he says the one

[9:07]who does not care for the matters of the Muslims then this

[9:13]person is not from the Muslim Community and whoever hears someone calling

[9:23]oh Muslims come to my help come to my rescue come to

[9:27]my Aid and does not support this person then the person is

[9:29]not from the Muslim umah and Muslim Community so this is what

[9:37]our religion teaches us and this is what defines me as a

[9:39]Muslim my care and my compassion for others around me whether they

[9:46]are Muslim or whether they're not Muslim now we have this concept

[9:50]is it being implemented in the Muslim world today look at the

[9:54]Muslim world today you see the Muslim world is in a disarray

[9:59]you see the Muslim world is suffering the most profound suffering that

[10:04]we are seeing with our own eyes we're seeing a genocide we're

[10:08]seeing the suffering we're seeing bombs land on little children we're seeing

[10:13]little children lose their limbs all in front of our eyes you

[10:20]see it shared on New York Times you sh you see it

[10:22]shared on the Washington Post you see it shared on CNN all

[10:26]over the world everyone's watching this is no secret it's not something

[10:30]that people are not seeing it's not something that is hidden from

[10:33]the eyes but you see that there's no care there's no care

[10:39]within everyone politicians people that speak in the name of Human Rights

[10:43]and also with Muslims as well you see a lot of them

[10:49]are careless about the suffering of other Muslims and this is against

[10:52]Islam and this is against the teachings of Islam Allah subhana wa

[10:55]tala is not just going to ask me whether I read Quran

[10:59]or I pr prayed or I fasted Allah is going to ask

[11:02]me what did I do for the suffering of other people this

[11:05]is what defines whether I'm a true good Muslim or not and

[11:11]this is why we have a religious Duty we have an obligation

[11:14]before God it's not just a moral duty it's a religious Duty

[11:20]that we have to voice our opposition and speak out against the

[11:24]oppression and there are many channels and many ways in which we

[11:28]could do so there were protests that were called since the beginning

[11:33]of this genocide we went and we encouraged people to go to

[11:37]the protests they said you have to divest you cannot invest and

[11:40]you can't put your stocks you can't you have to boycott companies

[11:46]that are supporting and initiating the oppression this is something that our

[11:51]and our Scholars have said is a religious Duty upon us and

[11:54]there is also one method of change in this country and that

[12:02]is Through The Ballot Box that is through voting and in a

[12:06]few days as the elections in the United States and this brings

[12:10]the Muslim Community especially in this time that we are dealing with

[12:14]the suffering that we are seeing a lot of people they come

[12:19]and they ask should we as Muslims participate in the elections should

[12:24]we as Muslims participate in an oppressive system a system where the

[12:30]winner and loser they're both betting against me they both want me

[12:34]and my community and the Muslims they're both working against the Muslims

[12:38]so what role and what voice do the Muslims have and this

[12:43]brings us to a very important matter that we have a lot

[12:45]of Muslims today they ask what is our religious Duty what is

[12:51]my responsibility as a Muslim do I vote for this person or

[12:53]that person when they're both against me and they're both turning against

[13:01]us so here we see that there's an ethical dilemma that Muslims

[13:04]are dealing with right now should I stand with my ethics and

[13:08]with my and with my principles and values or do I participate

[13:14]in the in my civic duty of voting and participating in the

[13:20]elections and unfortunately it is a dilemma because usually you see in

[13:27]in many other countries when people have choices they either choose between

[13:33]the good or the better today Muslims are put in a position

[13:36]Muslims are put in a situation where they have to choose between

[13:40]worse and worse they have to choose between the bad or the

[13:45]worse or worse or worse and you don't know which one's worse

[13:47]anymore and this is a real dilemma today you look at both

[13:54]parties both major parties of course there are other parties in this

[13:57]country but you look at both major parties you see that they

[14:00]are both owned and controlled by the zionists and they're both working

[14:05]and they're putting out their advertisement as to who could be a

[14:09]better candidate for the zionists who could work better who could compete

[14:13]better and work better for the Zionist and you see both parties

[14:20]are dehumanizing Muslims both parties are spreading lies against Muslims and it

[14:24]goes all the way from the president to members of congress senate

[14:30]and and and the house they're all working for Israel and go

[14:33]and this is not something that you could take from me go

[14:36]and Google how much does this politician how much does this politician

[14:40]whether democrat or republican take from special interest groups that work in

[14:47]favor of Israel rather than working in favor of the that rather

[14:50]than working in favor of Americans so today people come and say

[14:55]why should I vote what role what responsibility do I have to

[15:00]vote when I see this one is bad and that one is

[15:04]bad what good am I going to get out of this my

[15:05]dear brothers and sisters despite all of that what we see we

[15:12]see our Scholars they tell us that voting is Still Remains better

[15:15]than not voting and I will explain to you why inshallah because

[15:20]when you vote you are already they're already taking your tax money

[15:24]from you your tax money in this country can someone get away

[15:28]from giving taxes no you you have to give taxes they're already

[15:33]using your money they're already taking it before even before even someone

[15:37]was talking about Islam and the zakat and the in Islam you

[15:42]give and zakat at the end of the year you take out

[15:44]your money and you give here before your check comes to you

[15:48]before your salary comes to you the the tax is already taken

[15:50]out of it and then later on they come and they ask

[15:53]you for more tax and then they come and they ask you

[15:54]for sales tax and property tax so you're already paying the tax

[15:59]so now that you're already paying the tax at least have a

[16:02]voice at least speak your opinion at least say that which you

[16:07]want to say you don't have to say what they want you

[16:09]to say at least you speak and I will tell you and

[16:14]I will explain how that is better than not speaking out first

[16:20]of all elections are not only about the president today a lot

[16:23]of people when they think of election they only think of it's

[16:26]a you're you're voting for who's the president in fact today there

[16:32]are some advocacy groups they say if you are really unsure who

[16:34]to vote for with regards to the president you could leave that

[16:37]part empty but you're voting for local elections you're voting for Schoolboard

[16:42]you're voting for your city the infrastructure local politics and this is

[16:48]something very important how are we as a Muslim Community supposed to

[16:51]grow how are we supposed to have greater influence and a greater

[16:56]impact if I am living in a box and I have nothing

[17:00]to do with anything that's going on around me your your the

[17:03]schools that you send your children to the the streets and the

[17:06]lights and the parks and all of that this is all it

[17:10]goes down to the elections so this is why it's very important

[17:13]there are many propositions that are passed you see them in the

[17:16]election ballot so you have a say not everything is bad and

[17:23]worse not everything is bad there are certain certain things that you

[17:26]could vote for that could be beneficial for you beneficial for your

[17:29]community and we are seeing it here in Michigan you compare the

[17:34]Muslim Community with for example other communities Across America you see that

[17:37]the Muslim Community we have in in Dearborne and Dearborn Heights and

[17:42]in other cities you have a mayor you have City Council Members

[17:44]you have people that are advocating for your cause so this is

[17:48]something that is better second here yes although there is a two-party

[17:54]system the Democrats and the Republicans and they're both you don't know

[17:58]which one is worse than the the other unfortunately especially when it

[18:01]comes to foreign policy however there are also other parties you don't

[18:07]have to you don't have to vote for democrat or republican there

[18:10]are third parties and even though they come and they try to

[18:13]discourage you from voting for a third party you do have a

[18:17]say and there are third parties that are speaking out against genocide

[18:20]that are speaking out against the suffering that's going on at least

[18:23]on the day of Judgment at least in front of people you

[18:26]could say that I voted I voted I did my civic duty

[18:29]you told me to speak you told me to give your opinion

[18:32]and I gave my opinion and third my dear brothers and sisters

[18:36]being involved and voting to promote the betterment of society and remove

[18:41]the suffering and speaking out the against the Injustice is always better

[18:47]than remaining silent because when I remain silent that means I am

[18:52]okay with what's going on that means I'm giving the green light

[18:58]to what's going on but I could protest I could speak out

[19:00]against what's going on by voting I don't have to vote the

[19:05]way they want me to vote I will vote even I heard

[19:09]someone today they say even if you turn in an empty ballot

[19:10]even if you turn in an empty ballot they'll say this was

[19:16]a voter this was a voter and this person missed out and

[19:19]did not earn our vote that means you're saying that you as

[19:24]a Muslim you are living here at least you are a person

[19:26]who votes and we have to be very careful not to remain

[19:31]silent to the level to the extent that we are going to

[19:36]be complicit a lot of times and we have many narrations about

[19:39]this when the people ofar when the people of the wrong they're

[19:43]doing wrong and they see the people of the H they're quiet

[19:48]they take that as a green light for them they take that

[19:49]as yes go ahead and do what I do this is why

[19:54]Allah subhana speaks about the people of Allah says in the Quran

[20:04]how many people killed the camel of there was one person that

[20:09]killed the camel of but Allah subhah wa tala says in the

[20:13]Quran Allah says they all killed the camel why because one person

[20:21]killed the camel everyone else was quiet everyone and everyone else did

[20:25]not object no one else voiced their opinion no one else came

[20:28]and said why are you doing this this is wrong this is

[20:33]they all remained quiet the of Allah Came Upon everyone the punishment

[20:37]of God Came Upon everyone so this is why my dear brothers

[20:43]and sisters we have to be very careful and we have to

[20:45]voice our opinion against the wrong that is going on we ask

[20:52]Allah subhah wa ta'ala to guide us towards the H and towards

[20:55]a better environment for ourselves a better Community for ourselves alhamd muhamad

[21:57]muham muham Muhammad muhammedi Muhammad Ali continuing the discussion that we were

[23:05]having in the first and that is about the elections that's going

[23:11]on and what is our role as a Muslim Community and today

[23:16]we see every day you go and you take your mailbox you

[23:22]check the mail and you see many papers that all get thrown

[23:25]in the recycle and they're being they're advertising Vote for This candidate

[23:31]or vote for that candidate and you see a lot of the

[23:34]advertisement is directed towards the Muslim Community a lot of the advertisement

[23:40]is directed towards Michigan and this is because and if you've noticed

[23:46]the candidates and even Obama and many others they keep coming to

[23:51]Michigan they don't go to other states as much why because Michigan

[23:57]is a swing state because here there is a powerful voice and

[24:01]perhaps it is the Muslim voice that could swing which way the

[24:09]election goes and this shows that this is the time that Muslims

[24:12]have strength and this is the time that Muslims should be very

[24:15]careful not to waste that strength that they have however we see

[24:22]that they come to the Muslim Community and they've been calling and

[24:26]asking the Muslim Community to get involved but when it come when

[24:30]it came to the Democratic National Convention the Democrats did not invite

[24:33]one single Muslim to go and attend where thousands they spoke and

[24:38]when it comes to the Republicans they're also the way that they

[24:42]speak and they're the representatives and the Senators the way that they

[24:46]speak against the Muslim Community against Philistine against Palestine against Lebanon against

[24:53]what's going on is very clear so continuing what we said earlier

[24:57]today there are some Muslims that come and say what should I

[24:59]be involved why should I get involved and if I do so

[25:04]I will be supporting the I will be supporting an oppressor and

[25:08]this is something that is obviously wrong Allah subhana tala says in

[25:14]the [Music] Quran and do not attribute yourself or attach yourself to

[25:24]the to the oppressor because the fire that burns them might catch

[25:29]on to you as well so here it creates a dilemma for

[25:35]many of us and that is what should I do how do

[25:40]I how do I have Bal a balance between my civic duty

[25:43]where I have that responsibility I have that moral and ethical responsibility

[25:47]to speak out to do what I can but at the same

[25:51]time I don't want to be a supporter of aim I don't

[25:55]want to be a supporter of someone I can't be it's Haram

[25:57]to be a supporter of someone who is an oppressor here let's

[26:03]look at the life of some of the imams and the companions

[26:07]of the imams IM he had two companions and each one of

[26:14]his companions he told his companions that you have one particular Duty

[26:22]and the duty was not the same because the reason was not

[26:25]the same there was a companion by the name of safan he's

[26:30]a companion of IM J means he used to have he used

[26:39]to own camels and he used to rent out his camels harun

[26:42]the Cale the oppressive Tyrant used to rent out his the camels

[26:47]of safwan and he used to go to Hajj with it IM

[26:52]he writes a letter to safan he tells him oh safan everything

[26:59]in you is is good even the Zara of IM Hussein you

[27:01]go and you look at the Zar of IM Hussein it says

[27:04]safan safan he was a camalier so he used to travel sometimes

[27:08]he travels with the IM and he hears the Zara from the

[27:10]IM Imam tells him safan everything in you is good except the

[27:17]fact that you rent out your camels to this except you rent

[27:20]out your camels and you're aiding and abetting the oppressor that is

[27:28]Haron so safan he tells the Imam he tells him what should

[27:30]I do he's going to Hajj with it he's not doing anything

[27:34]wrong with it he's going to Hajj the Imam tells him do

[27:36]you want harun to stay alive so that he gives you your

[27:40]money because you're he's renting from you do you want him to

[27:44]stay alive so that he gives you your money he thought for

[27:45]a second and he realized that yes he is in the wrong

[27:49]he goes to Haron and he tells him I don't want I'm

[27:51]I'm selling my camels and I don't want to be involved in

[27:55]this business and harun realizes he tells him it was M who

[27:56]told you to do this he ended up up selling it why

[28:00]did the IM tell safan not to participate in in in anything

[28:06]that has to do with the oppressive government here because it's very

[28:10]clear because it was a personal benefit it was a personal gain

[28:13]safan is just making his own personal gain the Imam tells him

[28:18]this is Haram you cannot be participating and you cannot be supporting

[28:21]an oppressor because it's only a personal gain that you're taking and

[28:24]today you see many Muslims because of personal gain because of power

[28:28]because because of a position because of money they come and they

[28:34]vote for a candidate not without caring about what crimes this candidate

[28:37]is committing without caring about anything just purely personal benefit and this

[28:42]is something that is Haram second there was another companion of the

[28:49]same IM IM IM he's in prison he's in the dungeons of

[28:54]Bagdad Haron is the Haron has imprisoned IM m jaar and the

[29:00]Finance Minister the Finance Minister of the government of Haron was a

[29:05]sh a follower of the by the name of he writes a

[29:12]letter to the IM he tells him I don't want to be

[29:15]in this position please I don't want to be in this position

[29:17]with Haron I'm supporting and I'm aiding and I'm a finance minister

[29:23]in his government the IM he writes him a letter he tells

[29:25]him you have to remain in your position you have to remain

[29:30]in your position so here why does he tell safan who's renting

[29:34]out his camels for this person to go to Haj to sell

[29:39]the camels and to stop supporting theim and at this time who's

[29:42]in the government he's a finance minister and the Imam tells him

[29:46]no you remain and you stay in your position here because it

[29:52]wasn't a personal gain for him Al he was caring for the

[29:58]Muslim Community Ali him being in the government was caring and preserving

[30:02]the lives of the sh it was a greater interest whereas the

[30:07]interest and the benefit of safwan was a personal interest so here

[30:12]we see the Imam he comes and he tells safan you don't

[30:15]participate and he tells you have to be in that position so

[30:20]my dear brothers and sisters when it comes to elections when it

[30:24]comes to participating Civic engagement we have to always put the greater

[30:29]benefit above personal benefit we have to put the greater interest of

[30:33]the Muslim Community of the greater of the community as a whole

[30:39]we have to think of the bigger picture I can't just think

[30:41]about myself and how I'm going to benefit myself and how it's

[30:44]going to be something good for me so this is how we

[30:50]bring change we have a moral duty my dear brothers and sisters

[30:54]we have a moral duty to vote against the genocide to speak

[30:59]out against the suffering and that doesn't mean that you vote the

[31:02]way they want you to vote there are many parties there are

[31:06]many ways that you could vote even by turning in a blank

[31:08]ballot that is a way of you protesting as long as you

[31:14]show that you exist and as long as you show that you

[31:16]are not happy with what is going on and you are protesting

[31:20]what is going on and this is the in this country this

[31:25]is the method of protesting if I get 10,000 people out in

[31:27]the streets they're not going to care but but if I get

[31:30]10,000 people out to The Ballot Box that is going to make

[31:32]a difference so we need to be smart and we need to

[31:37]think of the bigger picture and we need to work as a

[31:39]community to care for the greater benefit of our community and vote

[31:46]in a way where you let the money that is by Americans

[31:47]to be spent in America why should money go outside why should

[31:52]money go to other countries why should money be spent on bombs

[31:55]that are killing and maming young children we have to we have

[31:57]have to do what is in the best interest of America as

[32:01]a whole and this is in the best interest of America as

[32:04]a as a whole that is how we show our patriotism my

[32:09]dear brothers and sisters we vote we speak out and we continue

[32:18]to pray and our greatest form of influence and our greatest power

[32:21]is through Dua my dear brothers and sisters we have to continue

[32:24]doing Dua and we have to continue praying and the greatest hope

[32:31]that we could see the greatest change that we could see is

[32:33]the change that comes from the government of this is why in

[32:40]Du a beautiful Dua recited during the month of Ramadan we say

[33:05]we want to work and strive to establish a place where we

[33:12]live with dignity where people live with dignity regardless of their race

[33:15]regardless of their gender regardless of the religion that they have people

[33:20]are entitled people deserve to live with dignity and today you see

[33:23]oppressors today you see tyrants that try to create this Gap between

[33:29]people where some people are entitled to live comfortably some people are

[33:32]entitled to travel some people are entitled to do whatever they want

[33:37]and millions of others are suffering my dear brothers and sisters I

[33:41]know these are difficult times that we are going through and it

[33:44]seems that we are not seeing the light at the end of

[33:49]the tunnel but if we read the Quran if we read the

[33:55]life of we see that eventually there will be a light at

[33:58]the end of the eventually Victory will come to the and we

[34:02]have to be very careful and cautious that we are not from

[34:06]those who quit and not from those who give up Allah subhana

[34:10]wa tala says in the Quran even the prophets they reached the

[34:21]point where they lost hope in people do you lose hope in

[34:26]God you never lose hope in God you lose hope in in

[34:30]people yes we don't have hope in people people that come and

[34:32]speak in the name of Human Rights they haven't done anything people

[34:35]that are Muslim they haven't done anything many people only a few

[34:41]handful that are actually doing something so Allah subhana T says Victory

[34:53]comes in a time where many people they lose hope many people

[34:58]they start saying that's it we're not going to see Victory but

[35:01]Victory does come people come and they say when is the victory

[35:25]Of God going to come Allah tells us the victory Of God

[35:31]is close you have to have that faith in Allah subhanahu wa

[35:33]taala and inshallah we strive to never lose faith in Allah never

[35:40]lose hope in the mercy of Allah subhanahu waala my dear brothers

[35:57]and sisters we have have inshallah starting Monday nights until the end

[36:02]of the year Monday nights we have a Quran class and this

[36:06]is open to men and women we have a brother an an

[36:09]excellent Quran reciter say Ahmed Al musawi he's going to be here

[36:13]7 p.m.

[36:13]come and recite Quran if you cannot recite listen to the Quran

[36:18]being recited this is an opportunity for all of us to learn

[36:19]if I don't have a relationship with the Quran how can I

[36:24]expect the Quran to be my book and to be the book

[36:25]that guides me we have to have that relationship this is a

[36:29]course that is $50 until the end of the year every Monday

[36:33]and on Wednesdays every Wednesday until the end of the year as

[36:38]well at 700 p.m.

[36:41]same time we have a I'm teaching a course it's debunking the

[36:46]misconceptions about Shia Islam a lot of us we Shia but we

[36:48]don't know a lot of things about the religion about shiism there's

[36:53]a lot of issues that need to be addressed this is going

[36:56]to be an open discussion it's going to be a topic this

[37:00]is free for anyone to attend but please we we urge you

[37:03]to come and take advantage of this opportunity that is being offered

[37:06]tonight inshallah tonight at 7:30 p.m.

[37:10]there's a financial Wellness Workshop we have an expert who teaches us

[37:16]how to have financial management how to how to grow our money

[37:19]and and inshallah we encourage you all to come we will be

[37:21]here at Salah time we'll pray and this will begin right after

[37:27]inshallah Allah for The Souls of all of the for The Souls

[38:20]of all of the those who were unjustly slain and killed we

[38:25]ask you all to recite before it a loud

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Ethical Dilemmas and Voting in US Elections - Sayed Saleh Qazwini

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التالي

Ethical Dilemmas and Voting in US Elections - Sayed Saleh Qazwini

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