The Karbala Experience- Reverend Kenneth Flowers - Ramadhan Night 15

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The Karbala Experience Ramadan Night Fifteen Reverend Kenneth Flowers Muslim Youth Connection Ramadhan 2019

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[0:24]said I want it from one little area but I catch any

[0:28]on on behalf of the NYC I'd like to welcome you all

[0:33]to the my stamp 2019 shall move on program we hope that

[0:36]this month is filled with blessings upon fussing for you and your

[0:41]family before we begin tonight's program I'd like to mention that the

[0:45]summer retreat program is open registration and in shuttle I'd like to

[0:48]see each and every one of you there it is a once

[0:51]in a lifetime experience it will be open from June 27th June

[0:54]30th and it will be taking place at Lake Huron retreat center

[1:00]it is accepting ages 18 to 30th and it does cost around

[1:03]$250 for everything including transportation and lodging we will be joined by

[1:10]our religious scholars to say it's all because we need housing and

[1:13]you can see the NYC table outside for more information I'd also

[1:22]like to mention that tonight we are looking for a sponsorship for

[1:26]around $200 you can see myself ibw for any more information I

[1:31]will be around and I will be available all the time with

[1:35]that being said I would like to introduce each other in wish

[1:37]to vote for a beautiful and Honor citation with a little a

[2:07]third of our campus Allah Allah Muhammad Ali Mohammed I was building

[2:27]a shape on your GE bismillah r-rahman r-rahim subs be chasing mall

[2:41]baby a la la vie but no culture so let me find

[3:11]out Ozzie for Johnno Oh No [Music] me ah uh sorry [Music]

[4:21][Music] my wife for the Lavi [Music] my love to be I

[5:27]don't know how much as I love being me what thank y'all

[6:04]for thank countless amount of biggie folks one better - Fiona hi

[6:20]and what I feel right so clay you know that I love

[6:42]feels philosophy baloney my god I feel Scofield so holy Moses slavka

[7:16]mollari you know they practice a lot thank you very much darling

[7:28]for that beautiful recitation I'd also now like to welcome say them

[7:31]how about that for a few remarks it allows for the watch

[7:43]please ah hahaha mana Wahine I begin in the name of the

[7:50]Almighty God the compassionate the merciful the one who has created everything

[7:56]in utmost perfection and may the peace and blessings of the Almighty

[8:00]God be upon his pure and beloved messenger the symbol of humanity

[8:07]the holy prophet muhammad sallallahu aleyhi wa ali and his immaculate fraudulent

[8:16]of the elevate my respected father respected Reverend flowers my dear brothers

[8:20]and sisters I said I'm on a pony what I'm at allahi

[8:25]wa barakaatuh may allah subhanho wa taala accept your deeds in this

[8:30]holy month of ramadan we're halfway through this blessed month Shahla we

[8:36]have spiritually prepared ourselves to embrace this upcoming week in which we

[8:42]have the holiest nights and the month of ramadan the nights of

[8:47]bed through the nights of power my dear brothers and sisters tonight

[8:51]we have a very special guest with us and he is the

[8:54]Honorable Reverend Kenneth James flowers and he has an in a very

[9:02]interesting experience to share with us tonight I think it was about

[9:06]four or five months ago in January when we hosted the Reverend

[9:09]to speak here at a program to honor the legacy of dr.

[9:16]King and after the program we were giving the Reverend a tour

[9:20]of the Institute so he came to this blessed place this hall

[9:26]and he asked me there is an Arabic writing outside which says

[9:29]messages and Imam and Husain the mosque of Imam Hussain so what

[9:33]does this represent who is a man passing so we briefly spoke

[9:39]about imam hussain ali salaam what he stands for the values for

[9:44]which he sacrificed and I was telling the Reverend about his shrine

[9:49]in the land of Karbala in Iraq how imam hussain ali salaam

[9:55]throughout history has inspired millions of people every single year during the

[10:03]arba'een walk some 20 million people go to pay their respects to

[10:07]the shrine of imam hussain to honor his values of human freedom

[10:11]dignity justice and I was speaking to the Reverend I asked him

[10:18]are you interested in visiting Caribana the Reverend said absolutely I would

[10:23]be interested in going and experiencing Iraq Karbala the Iraqi culture and

[10:28]the legacy of imam hussain and that's how it happened subhanAllah worked

[10:33]out and once she made that decision and I think he told

[10:37]his mother and his church he is currently at the greater new

[10:43]Moriah a Missionary Baptist Church did I get it right Reverend so

[10:47]when he told his congregation that he's going to Iraq they got

[10:52]scared they were frightened because all they know about a lot is

[10:56]what they've heard from the media it's a land where there are

[11:02]terrorist activities it's not safe so one day the Reverend called me

[11:05]he's like Muhammad can you come to my church and speak to

[11:07]my congregation and tell them that you are you come from the

[11:12]city you know the city it's completely safe so I was on

[11:17]a Sunday I think back in April we had the honor of

[11:20]visiting that church and it was the 24th anniversary the 24th anniversary

[11:26]of the Reverend of his ministry at that church so I went

[11:30]there I spoke to his congregation I think that kind of is

[11:36]their their concerns and their fears and just two weeks ago Reverend

[11:39]flowers with his respected wife who is with us here tonight Terry

[11:46]Lynn flowers she also accompanied him on that trip and he told

[11:49]me that she'll be saying a few words as well so we

[11:53]would like to hear about the reverend's experience and also his message

[11:58]with that I would ask Reverend flowers to come to the podium

[12:01]and share with us his experience he also agreed to have a

[12:04]discussion with us tonight so if you have any questions you would

[12:07]like to have a discussion with him let's take advantage of this

[12:14]wonderful opportunity sallou ala muhammad ali muhammad please Reverend thank you sir

[12:35]good evening to everyone Salaam alaikum shall we pray I will lift

[12:43]up mine eyes unto the hills from whence cometh my help my

[12:47]help comes from the Lord which made heaven and earth eternal God

[12:55]our Creator our Redeemer and our sustainer anoint thy servant from on

[13:00]high to speak words to these died people regarding Kabul our Imam

[13:06]Hussein justice and freedom and equality repair the hearts and minds of

[13:11]these died people to hear to receive and to become doers of

[13:16]your holy word hear our prayer and accept our petition in your

[13:20]holy and righteous name we pray and give thanks a man you

[13:26]to my dear friend and brother Imam Hassan Hussein and I should

[13:31]say your mom say it Hussein to his beloved son Imam say

[13:36]it Muhammad Husain into all of you my brothers and my sisters

[13:41]he's indeed an honor and a privilege to be here tonight Muhammad

[13:45]asked me to share a few things about the trip to Karbala

[13:49]some of my experiences and then to talk about justice and how

[13:55]all of that applies to us tonight so I want to just

[13:58]begin by sharing with you that we left here on April the

[14:04]28th got to Najaf on Monday the 29th and we got there

[14:09]actually we changed planes in Qatar we had a two-hour delay because

[14:18]there was a major sandstorm and a Jeff we found out when

[14:21]we got there that was more than just a sandstorm it was

[14:26]more like a hurricane from what they shared with us four people

[14:29]died things were flying through the air and they said it was

[14:33]like nothing that ever seen before just before we arrived this is

[14:41]what happened in Najaf and in Karbala so we got to the

[14:43]hotel we rested the next morning Jafar the brother of a mom

[14:52]sire do the same arrange for us to come to the hospital

[14:56]Imam al hajar Hospital forgive me if I pronounced some of the

[15:04]names wrong Imam al hajar hospital founded by their father the ayatollah

[15:12]cyant Hussein cuz we don't say cos we nee I want to

[15:17]thank you all for the tour of that great great hospital that

[15:23]is a hospital which I'm sure you've heard about established by their

[15:31]father grandfather a great humanitarian because he wanted to make sure that

[15:38]in Karbala Iraq there would be a place for medicine medicine and

[15:42]health care for the poor for the oppressed for the downtrodden we

[15:47]had a chance to visit the hospital had a chance to look

[15:52]at the cardiac cath lab I found out that your dad had

[15:57]open-heart surgery had a stroke I had open-heart surgery back in 2015

[16:00]triple bypass I have four stents in my heart and so that

[16:06]Hospital meant a lot to me because I could relate to it

[16:12]from a cardiac perspective they had a chance to realize that there's

[16:16]a period of time where services are given not just to the

[16:19]poor but anyone who decides to come during a four hour period

[16:26]in Karbala to get free professional medical care that was something to

[16:32]behold we then went later that evening to the Blessed shrine of

[16:36]Hussain and I will say more about that but when I got

[16:42]there it amazed me at the number of pilgrims who were flocking

[16:45]to this place late at night because was hot during the day

[16:48]time we went late at night and to see the many pilgrims

[16:54]going there pressing their way touching the cage the golden cage where

[16:59]it underneath is where Imam Hussain Barry and I watched the people

[17:07]crying and weeping and wailing and I found out that they were

[17:11]not crying tears of sadness but tears of joy tears of reflection

[17:15]of what he meant to them and what he still means to

[17:21]all of you I then saw a a coffin being carried through

[17:28]the shrine and I looked to my wife and I said are

[17:30]they having a mock funeral because I did not realize it was

[17:35]a real processional and the gentleman who was there I met who

[17:40]was serving with us he said no no that's not mock that's

[17:45]real there's a real body in there and I said well why

[17:47]are they bringing it here into the shrine he said because the

[17:52]shrine is so important to us that when someone dies the family

[17:56]brings the body into the shrine and goes past it but they

[18:02]can touch it because when they do that it's somehow another connects

[18:06]the soul the spirit with that spirit of Imam Hussain and so

[18:11]throughout our visit I saw several coffins being brought past the shrine

[18:17]people crying and wailing and just reaching out and touching and so

[18:25]I have to share this bit my wife broke some barriers there

[18:28]as you know the men are on one side the wood or

[18:33]another side and so I'm exceda said I feel the presence of

[18:36]God because as I shared with mom cos weaning I said the

[18:41]bottom line is that if you're a man of God a woman

[18:42]of God the spirit of God recognizes the Spirit of God wherever

[18:48]the spirit is and so as a Christian minister when I walked

[18:51]into that shrine I felt the presence of God himself and so

[18:56]I asked Amit I said am I allowed to go in to

[19:02]pray to feel the presence of God he said yes just go

[19:05]into the the doors he said because you're not Muslim you probably

[19:10]shouldn't go all the way in so I said okay no problem

[19:14]I'll be respectful so I walked into the doors and I stood

[19:16]and I prayed and I felt the sides of the walls and

[19:21]I felt the power of God in that place I came out

[19:26]and I looked for my wife on the other side I did

[19:32]not see her so I began to wonder where is she he

[19:33]says she's gone into the pray and I said well I don't

[19:36]see her and I kept looking closer and closer I watched her

[19:41]she had gone all the way in and was actually laying hands

[19:47]and praying and touching the actual cage itself and I said Amon

[19:51]I said we're gonna get in trouble I said because she's not

[19:55]Muslim I said if she's touching the cage he said oh it's

[20:00]okay he said we probably needed a breakthrough anyway he said your

[20:06]wife has just done something by breaking through the barriers of religion

[20:11]so it's okay and she was really caught up in the moment

[20:13]but she can tell you more about it herself it was a

[20:17]moment of prayer where she felt the power of God we left

[20:21]there and went to dinner had a great Araki dinner a spread

[20:26]that was laid out under the stars and we had all of

[20:32]the lamb and the chicken and the kebabs and all of the

[20:35]salads that you could think of and all of the rice and

[20:40]all the other things so I became well-versed in my Iraqi food

[20:43]had plenty of hummus hummus with meat in it hummus with vegetables

[20:48]or garlic in it hummus hummus hummus and it was so good

[20:55]and tasty I enjoyed it I enjoy just the the culture and

[21:00]and one thing I have to say is that being there in

[21:03]Iraq it gave me a greater appreciation of the Iraqi people because

[21:08]unlike what you see on television unlike what you hear and you

[21:12]know this because your Iraqi but those of us who don't come

[21:16]from your culture we only go about what we see on television

[21:18]and so I felt at home there I felt loved I thought

[21:25]respect I felt so much togetherness there I felt our faiths coming

[21:31]together and even Muslim it was a powerful moment of powerful experience

[21:36]and I did not feel frightened or afraid at any point of

[21:39]the trip and so for all of the hoopla about oh it's

[21:43]not safe you're gonna be kidnapped Isis is there this and that

[21:50]al-qaeda it was none of that and I think and praise God

[21:52]for allowing us to be there we then went to the hospital

[21:58]the to the school I should say the I have to get

[22:04]the name right of the school it was house in the office

[22:06]of the lady fatima charitable organization and the development of relief foundation

[22:13]but it's the imam al-sadiq elementary school and as i was there

[22:17]and got a chance to watch the children to see the little

[22:24]children interacting and playing and it was just so powerful because when

[22:28]i look at the world today when i look and see so

[22:33]much division so much bitterness and hatred and vitriol I look at

[22:40]children children play with each other children don't get caught up in

[22:43]the color of your skin they don't get caught up in whether

[22:49]you're Christian Jew Muslim they just know that you are a child

[22:52]you're my friend and we can play together so I watched these

[22:55]children playing and we took pictures with the children and with the

[23:00]teachers and how we were able to talk and it was amazing

[23:02]just watching the children play watching them laugh watching them have so

[23:06]much fun I thank God for that as well at the shrine

[23:11]I also met she Kemal who's director of Religious Affairs of the

[23:15]shrine of Hussein he talked about his role as director of logistics

[23:22]said I'm so honored to have you here because it's our task

[23:25]to to teach other faiths about Imam Husain he said so anything

[23:32]that you need wild here in Iraq he said I'm just a

[23:34]phone call away he said the cause winning family he said they're

[23:38]well respected well revered he said if you need anything just have

[23:42]them contact me and I will take your IDs if you need

[23:47]to go to Baghdad I said I don't think I need to

[23:48]go to Baghdad he said if you want to go to Baghdad

[23:52]he said I will take you sir Baghdad is safe I said

[23:55]I don't think I need to go to Baghdad right now I

[23:57]think I'll stay in Karbala he said but if you want to

[24:01]go let me know it's ok I will let you know so

[24:06]I contacted Mohammed via whatsapp Mohammad said I don't think you should

[24:10]go to Baghdad so I said good choice so thank you Mohammed

[24:13]for that bit of advice on Friday was one of the highlights

[24:21]because Friday I got a chance to meet your father your grandfather

[24:25]the Ayatollah SIA cos winning I met your brother Hassan or Hussein

[24:33]Hussein I got a chance to meet him and to look at

[24:38]this 89 year old man who had had a heart attack who'd

[24:43]had heart surgery who had a stroke getting around with such vigor

[24:48]and such enthusiasm it was like standing in the presence of God

[24:52]as we sat there and your brother translated he talked to me

[24:58]about his faith he talked to me about when he lived in

[25:00]California when I lived in California talked to me about the need

[25:03]for our communities to come together I looked at all the books

[25:09]in his library I mean books to the ceiling and I took

[25:11]pictures how many books do you have and he told me all

[25:15]of these great texts and old ancient texts and it just inspired

[25:19]me I listened to him and he said you honor me with

[25:25]your presence I said no you are a meme with your wisdom

[25:29]and so I was just honored to be here be there I

[25:31]got a chance to dialogue and just to learn a little more

[25:37]about that whole experience and it was just powerful later on the

[25:42]next morning I met your nephew Hyder 18 years old who understandably

[25:50]graduating this year and coming here to Dearborn to go to school

[25:54]Hyder a dynamic young brother who was destined for greatness I see

[26:03]Haider I've adopted him as one of my sons and so he

[26:07]is my son and my wife he's she calls him her son

[26:12]as well we adopted him and he sent me a message and

[26:15]said you're my new best friend and I talked to him a

[26:22]young man who is committed to his faith committed to the tenets

[26:26]of Islam but committed to human human humankind committed to justice committed

[26:31]to making sure the world is a better place Haider became my

[26:38]translator when I went the next day and met with another Sheik

[26:42]Ayatollah Sheikh Abdulkareem el harem at the seminary of Karbala and he

[26:47]was able to share many things with me and Haider did a

[26:52]great job translating I felt like I was at the United Nations

[26:54]where I'm sitting there in the middle and the Sheikh is on

[26:58]one side and hiders on the other side and as the Sheikh

[27:00]is talking then Haider translates and I'm talking to Haider he translates

[27:03]back and it was a powerful moment there and as we talked

[27:09]I learned something new because in our Bible we've known about Ishmael

[27:12]and Abraham and Ishmael and Hagar but I did not know because

[27:15]our Bible just talks about when they left from Abraham and Sarah

[27:22]and that was it but the Sheikh Abdul Karim Karim shared with

[27:25]me he said no in the holy quran he said Hagar and

[27:33]Ishmael they ended up in Mecca and that's why Mecca is the

[27:36]holy city he went on to share with me that in the

[27:42]Quran that Hagar was married to Abraham because in our translation it

[27:47]just says that she was given to him as the handmaiden so

[27:51]we just figured ok that was he was married to a married

[27:53]to save Sarah and that was it but I learned that according

[27:59]to the Quran that Abraham and Hagar was married and Ishmael was

[28:03]the offspring of that relationship and they ended up in Mecca and

[28:06]that's why Mecca is the holy city the holiest city for Islam

[28:11]so I did not know that I learned so much about that

[28:15]and then we talked about our faith and I shared with him

[28:18]and he said you know he said we believe in Jesus we

[28:21]believe in all the prophets he said if we believe that Muhammad

[28:24]is one that comes after so he was teaching me some things

[28:28]and I share with ourselves in our translation and I tradition we

[28:31]believe that the Holy Spirit was the one to come after Jesus

[28:34]in your tradition Muhammad is the one to come after Jesus I

[28:40]said but guess what we all worship the same God the God

[28:45]of Abraham Abraham Ishmael and Isaac and Jacob and I thank God

[28:49]for that it was a great great learning experience and then hater

[28:53]haider told us about the you river Euphrates did not know that

[28:59]the little stream running in front of our hotel was that you

[29:02]river Euphrates a little canal so my wife says I want to

[29:08]see the whole river and so he took us to a place

[29:12]where we looked at the Hindi the Hindi ayah Hindi a bridge

[29:15]and we were able to look at the river Euphrates and cross

[29:21]over the bridge and experience that it was truly a moment in

[29:24]history for us who would have thought that we'll be standing there

[29:28]looking at the Euphrates River the river we've talked about and read

[29:31]about in the Holy Scriptures and here we are now standing there

[29:37]watching then you're Freddy's River we then went to the shrine of

[29:41]Ali the father of Abbas and got a chance to experience that

[29:47]and go inside and I must say that I'm just amazed at

[29:50]all of the the gold and the tapestry the the colors there

[29:58]inside the shrine but more than that what amazed me was the

[30:02]devotion the commitment to your faith and to God Almighty lastly we

[30:08]visited the Valley of Peace Cemetery the world's largest cemetery I never

[30:15]knew that it was there in Iraq but I found out that

[30:20]there in Iraq the land of or where Abraham came from that

[30:24]that city is still there and that there near where the shrine

[30:30]of ali is i believe is where they also believe that Adam

[30:33]and Noah are also buried and I did not know that but

[30:39]I learned that as well so I learned so much to strengthen

[30:43]my faith but also to strengthen the relationship with each other lastly

[30:47]my dear friend Mohammed asked me to say a word about justice

[30:55]and what took us there to Iraq I shared with you the

[30:58]little things that we did each day now I want to share

[31:03]with you the most important part of the trip for me which

[31:05]was visiting the shrine of Husain as you all know the story

[31:12]I don't have to tell you but just to get the context

[31:16]in case there may be someone who does not have the full

[31:18]story there prior to his death and you may have to correct

[31:22]them the names if I pronounced them wrong I apologized already forgive

[31:25]me but prior to his death the Myatt ruler moi Wow we

[31:34]are appointed his son yahzee as the successor in a clear violation

[31:44]of the hasan more are we treating when Walia died in 680

[31:50]Common Era ya see Ghazi demanded that Hussein would pledge his allegiance

[31:57]to him Hassan or Hussein refused to pledge allegiance to yazi even

[32:02]though it meant sacrificing his life so as a result to the

[32:08]consequence he left Medina his hometown to take refuge in the holy

[32:12]city of Mecca and while there in Mecca the people of Kufa

[32:15]sent letters to him asking him to help them and they pledged

[32:23]their allegiance to him so he travelled towards Kufa however at a

[32:28]place now known as Karbala his Caravan was intercepted by yah seeds

[32:35]are me hussein was killed and beheaded in what is now known

[32:43]as the Battle of Karbala on the 10th of October in 650

[32:46]Common Era killed by Yazzie along with most of his family and

[32:53]companions including his six-month-old son Ali who he was holding in his

[32:59]arms we saw images of that during our trip the women and

[33:04]children were taken as prisoners anger at Hussein's death was turned into

[33:10]the rallying cry that undermine yezi's legitimacy and ultimately resulted in his

[33:21]overthrow as the ruler moreover hamam Imam Hussein is highly regarded by

[33:28]the Shia community Shia Muslims for refusing to pledge allegiance to Yazzie

[33:34]who was a symbol of injustice and oppression Imam Hussain's actions at

[33:40]Karbala feud later sheer movements at the martyrdom of Hussein and it

[33:46]was a decisive in shaping the Islamic and Shia history the turning

[33:53]or the timing of Imam Hussain's life and his martyrdom were crucial

[33:58]in that they were occurred at the most challenging period during the

[34:04]7th century the record says that during this time there was oppression

[34:08]running rampant in the land and so the stand of imam hussain

[34:15]and his followers became the symbol of resistance the symbol and inspiration

[34:19]for future uprisings against oppressors and against oppression and injustice in the

[34:27]land even Nelson Mandela and Mahatma Gandhi have cited Imam Hussain stand

[34:34]against oppression as an example of their own fight against injustice so

[34:44]as I now reflect as I now reflect upon my visit to

[34:46]the shrine of imam hussain let me remind once again that I

[34:52]felt the power of God in that place as I stood inside

[34:59]the shrine and prayed I felt the holy spirit moving on the

[35:02]inside of me it was a spiritual moment that connected the three

[35:08]Abrahamic faiths together here I stand praying as a Christian minister tied

[35:15]together with Jesus who was Jewish and yet I'm now standing there

[35:24]praying in a Muslim shrine the shrine of imam hussein all three

[35:29]faiths connected together Christianity Judaism and Islam as I witnessed the unparalleled

[35:39]devotion of these Muslims praying praying to Allah we were all praying

[35:45]to the same God the God of Abraham Ishmael Isaac Jacob Jesus

[35:50]and Muhammad let me just say that prayer and fasting that you

[35:57]are going through right now during the holy month of Ramadan is

[36:01]so important but I witnessed the praying spirit of so many Muslim

[36:06]brothers and sisters for us prayer is central to our faith prayer

[36:12]changes things prayer changes hearts prayer changes people prayer changes mind and

[36:20]so when we pray to God it is our divine built-in communication

[36:27]system to God it is our way of talking to God and

[36:29]asking God to forgive us of our sins through our prayers we

[36:37]recognize the holiness of God through our prayers we recognize the frailty

[36:42]of humanity through our prayers we seek forgiveness for our sins through

[36:48]our prayers we recognize that God is still in charge of everything

[36:52]and so when I think about imam hussain when i think about

[36:58]his stand against injustice when i think about his stand against oppression

[37:02]I am now reminded of someone very dear to my heart who

[37:09]has pad in my life after and that is dr.

[37:10]Martin Luther King jr.

[37:14]like Imam Hussain dr.

[37:15]King stood against injustice and oppression right here in America dr.

[37:20]King quoted the biblical prophet Amos who said let justice roll down

[37:28]like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream dr.

[37:31]king also said to America and to the world that injustice anywhere

[37:39]is a threat to justice everywhere when I look around the world

[37:44]today when I look around America today I see so much injustice

[37:48]here in the land racism is still running rampant here in America

[37:54]anti-semitism Islamophobia still running rampant here in America black churches are still

[38:03]being bombed and set on fire synagogues are still being shot up

[38:08]mosques are being attacked as well all because of our faith our

[38:16]belief in God Almighty injustice continues to raise his ugly head right

[38:23]here in America democracy and democratic institutions are being trampled over day

[38:29]in and day out by Donald Trump who thinks he is a

[38:32]king who thinks he's an autocrat aristocrat and who thinks he is

[38:39]a dictator Donald Trump thinks he's a strong man Donald Trump thinks

[38:43]he can do whatever he wants to do and get away with

[38:46]it because he is Donald Trump but I have news for him

[38:52]the God that I serve sits high and looks low the God

[38:58]that I serve still has all power in his head the God

[39:01]that I serve has the power to put Trump in his own

[39:07]place the God that I serve still has the power to Trump

[39:10]Trump yes when I look at injustice here in America I see

[39:19]white supremacy I see neo-nazis I see skinheads I see Islamophobes raising

[39:24]their ugly hairs being emboldened strongly day-in day-out by Donald Trump but

[39:31]I have belief today that God will still make a way when

[39:36]I look at the black median family income here in America it

[39:40]is still 60% of the white median family income that is built

[39:45]into the Constitution of America because article 1 section 2 paragraph 3

[39:54]says that Negro slaves shall be considered 3/5 of all of the

[40:00]persons when you look at our black median family income 60% is

[40:03]3/5 20 goes into 63 times 20 goes into a hundred five

[40:11]times economically speaking black folk in America are still 3/5 of a

[40:15]person when I look at the car insurance rates right here in

[40:22]Detroit injustice still abound when I look at affordable health care here

[40:27]in America still being attacked by Paulist by a pilot or politicians

[40:31]in Washington DC it lets me know that injustice is still abounding

[40:36]when I look at college tuition running rampant and skyrocketing all across

[40:44]the land so that college students cannot even get an education so

[40:49]that those persons who are poor disenfranchised and oppressed college only becomes

[40:54]a dream and not a reality because of the high cost of

[40:57]college tuition when I look at incarceration here in America Amerika incarcerate

[41:03]the highest number of people in the world of any civilized nation

[41:12]how is that justice America does not engage in restorative justice but

[41:18]America engages in punitive justice when I look at African Americans making

[41:23]up 12 percent of the American population and yet we make up

[41:27]over fifty percent of the prison population in America something is wrong

[41:34]with that picture that is not just as my brothers and sisters

[41:37]that is not justice America continues to engage in poverty and homelessness

[41:43]it is a crying shame that in the richest nation in the

[41:49]world we still have such high rates of unemployment homelessness and poverty

[41:53]and despair dictators in Iran Russia and North Korea continually oppressed the

[42:01]people of the land and the list goes on and on and

[42:07]on when I think about injustice it lets me know that we

[42:14]need the spirit of imam hussain we need the spirit of dr.

[42:17]King to come alive in us right now we need our young

[42:22]people those of you who's in this room tonight we need our

[42:26]young people to now become young nonviolent activists who are not afraid

[42:31]to stand up for truth not afraid to stand up for righteousness

[42:38]not afraid to stand up for justice not afraid to use the

[42:41]system and the ballot box and not guns and weapons to bring

[42:47]about justice in the land yes we need Christians and Jews and

[42:51]Muslims to come together as the people of the book as the

[42:55]spiritual descendants of the Abraham and to put our spiritual differences aside

[43:01]and to stand together for the God and for the good of

[43:10]humanity yes as I take my seat now is the time now

[43:11]is the time for young people to rise up today now is

[43:18]the time for you to become empowered and emboldened to stand for

[43:23]truth and justice and equality now is the time for you to

[43:29]go out from this great place pledging to help somebody as you

[43:33]pass along one of my favorite song says if I can help

[43:40]somebody as I pass along if I can cheer somebody with the

[43:43]word our song if I can show somebody that is travelling wrong

[43:50]then my living will not be in vain if I can do

[43:55]my duty as a Christian or if I can bring back Beauty

[43:58]to a world once robbed if I can spread loves message as

[44:05]the master taught then my living will not be in vain my

[44:11]living will not be in vain as long as I can reach

[44:12]across racial lines my living will not be in vain as long

[44:18]as I can reach across religious lines my living will not be

[44:23]in vain as long as I can reach out to the left

[44:25]out the lock top the oppressed and the pitiful my living will

[44:30]not be in vain as long as I can reach out to

[44:34]my Muslim brothers my Christian Brothers my Jewish brothers and bring us

[44:39]all together my living will not be in vain as long as

[44:43]I can do whatever I can to bring about peace and justice

[44:47]in this world yes Stoney the road we tried bitter the chastening

[44:52]rod felt in the days when hope unborn had died yet with

[45:01]the steady beat have not our weary feet come to the places

[45:03]for which our father's side we have come over a way that

[45:10]with tears have been watered we have come treading the path through

[45:13]the blood of the slaughter out from the gloomy past till now

[45:20]we stand at last where the white gleam of our bright star

[45:23]is cast god of our weary years god of our silent tears

[45:30]thou has brought us thus far along the way that was by

[45:33]thy might led us into the light keep us forever in the

[45:39]path we pray lest our feet stray from the places our God

[45:43]where we met thee lest our hearts drop the wine the world

[45:50]we forget thee shadow beneath thy hand may we forever stand true

[45:55]to our God true to our native land glory hallelujah glory hallelujah

[46:04]glory hallelujah his truth is marching on god bless you and may

[46:11]heaven smile upon you [Applause] just before we take questions I like

[46:29]for my wife to come forward just to say hello well you

[46:32]can least see my wife and she can speak to you and

[46:37]say hello and then we'll open it up for questions this is

[46:40]my wife sister teri Lynne flowers I [Applause] Salam alaikum good evening

[46:55]our trip to our trip to Kabul Iraq was one that was

[47:07]most inspiring your country is very rich and culture and life and

[47:17]overall God is present everywhere and that is something that I found

[47:23]out very much in Karbala the shrines are so beautiful and magnificent

[47:28]it is a trip that I will never forget shokran to the

[47:36]family of the cause Sweeney's my husband and I were tremendously blessed

[47:41]and we so appreciate the kindness and our time that we had

[47:46]there it was a trip that we will never forget and it

[47:51]has made a mark in our lives that we will never ever

[47:54]ever forget shokran and we appreciate it and again we were tremendously

[48:02]blessed it was a very enlightening trip and again your culture I

[48:07]was just so moved how it is so rich in history god

[48:18]bless you [Applause] okay all right okay I apologize I appreciate the

[48:32]young lady whose ahora who helped me to pick out my so

[48:49]now we'll be opening the conversation to any of those who have

[48:54]questions and Reverend and his wife may answer them to the best

[48:58]of their ability if you have any questions please raise your hand

[49:07]say not all at once thank you so much Reverend for for

[49:12]your very beautiful and enlightening speech and I would like to welcome

[49:16]you on behalf of our congregation here at the Islamic Institute of

[49:22]America and your wife as well I have two questions one is

[49:29]do you see parallels there are parallels between the life of Jesus

[49:35]and the life of Imam Husayn yes for those of you who

[49:38]know Jesus in the Quran and for us in our faith Jesus

[49:45]went around doing good but Jesus also stood for truth truth justice

[49:51]righteousness freedom he stood against even religious leaders who did not do

[50:00]what were they were called to do and so when I look

[50:04]at Imam Husayn from what I have learned of his life and

[50:09]I'm by no means an expert on imam hussain but I do

[50:14]see similarities men of principle men of dignity men of truth and

[50:19]justice and men who were not afraid to give their lives Jesus

[50:26]gave His life in our tradition he gave his life for the

[50:29]sins of the world imam hussein gave his life for the people

[50:36]of Karbala which now has translated to the people of the shia

[50:40]muslims and so they are definitely similar in their context of their

[50:46]martyrdom and their cause for Humanity and reaching out to do what

[50:54]they could to help along the way given the opportunity in the

[50:58]future will you go back again to tell Bella yes by all

[51:00]means I and that there are those who would say you've been

[51:05]there once you don't need to go back again you had us

[51:09]nervous and worried and praying but I if I had the opportunity

[51:11]to go back I would definitely like to go back and I

[51:16]would like to take members of the african-american clergy community in terms

[51:20]of members of the Council of Baptist pastors betray the vicinity or

[51:24]members of my congregation or others so they could see the shrine

[51:32]of Hussein one thing I did not mention is the Beretta the

[51:36]miraculous water that flows around the shrine I learned that there's no

[51:42]river there's no Creek there's no lake there's nothing that leads into

[51:48]with the shrine and yet miraculously there's water there flows around there

[51:53]and I and I brought some water back and some little pebbles

[51:56]or rocks because I was told that if you put the little

[52:02]rock in the water and drink some of it that people have

[52:05]miraculous has been healed and infirmities have been wiped away and so

[52:08]I explained that when I taught about my trip to Karbala last

[52:14]week at our Bible study and I shared with my members that

[52:18]miracle of water flowing around the shrine and so yes if given

[52:25]the opportunity to go back I would definitely go back to learn

[52:32]more about Islam the Shia faith Husain and to learn more about

[52:36]the Prophet Muhammad as well and I would also like to visit

[52:41]the city of or Abraham's birthplace I'd like to visit some more

[52:45]of those historical or biblical places in the land of Iraq young

[52:54]people don't be shy the sister here has a question said I

[53:04]might come my question is for the wife when you entered into

[53:10]the shrine of imam hussain what did you feel when you were

[53:22]holding on to the shrine and praying it was the presence of

[53:25]God and to be to see your sisters and brothers my sisters

[53:34]and brothers as you all are to have to be on one

[53:36]Accord to be to have the same mind and to be there

[53:41]for one purpose and that was to pray and to lift up

[53:45]God Nichols alone to make one are the flag barriers of Islam

[54:11]and we're always pointed out in a crowd when I went to

[54:14]Iraq as my first visit I felt like the culture shock how

[54:19]was it for you as a woman that does not cover going

[54:21]to Iraq and covering day in and day out like how is

[54:26]it for you that was challenging two days the temperatures did reach

[54:32]over a hundred degrees and the remainder of the week the temperatures

[54:36]were about 90 degrees but I will say the lightness of the

[54:43]abaya it did help to be covered up to absorb the perspiration

[54:49]I did look at my husband on several occasions and say this

[54:54]is not fair however because of respect for the culture and because

[55:00]of the respect of the requirements it did not bother me it

[55:03]did not bother me because also in some regards when I attend

[55:09]church you must be dressed in a respectable way as well so

[55:13]to wear the abaya and the it was no problem at all

[55:25]repeat that again for me please what do you feel when you

[55:33]wear the ship like how do you feel I feel respected I

[55:44]feel respected I say daddy has a question how much how much

[56:00]do you eat they say how much hummus did I eat yeah

[56:07]I lost track of it but if we had it into for

[56:08]breakfast we had it for lunch we had it for dinner we

[56:14]ate it constantly and so I enjoyed eating the hummus so thank

[56:21]you that's a great question I did not know however that you

[56:24]could make hummus and add meat to it so that was my

[56:29]first time eating some hummus with lamb meat in it and it

[56:32]was very tasty it was very very tasty oh by the way

[56:38]let me say this I did see that they have the will

[56:40]be called a hookah here what are they called it the never

[56:47]give it a s she shop shisha I saw several people smoking

[56:51]the she shot there in in Karbala yes I did I tried

[57:01]it I I was debating whether to admit it but confession is

[57:09]good for the soul so my wife did not try it but

[57:10]at the hotel we were sitting there just relaxing one evening and

[57:17]we were up top and it was nice breeze and so these

[57:19]people were sitting there smoking there she shop and they came and

[57:26]asked me said that you want some and I said I'm like

[57:28]what's in it I wanted to make sure there was no cannabis

[57:32]or I said what's what's what's in this and so they told

[57:38]me they so we had different flavors so I tried some apple

[57:41]it was a apple flavor Apple what was it called Apple they

[57:48]were double apple do you know about that it was the devil

[57:52]it was the double apple and I tried that / me I

[57:56]think it was a little mint I just went I just spoke

[58:00]the one but the one thing I must confess because I had

[58:03]open-heart surgery 4 years ago and have four stents I didn't want

[58:06]to inhale too much then go into cardiac arrest over there so

[58:11]I just puffed on it puffed only but as we said if

[58:15]I was an hour so about an hour and so I saw

[58:19]a cup of people take these long drawers and brown all of

[58:27]his smoke so I tried to take a long draw but it

[58:28]was like okay I feel like going into my lungs and a

[58:33]couple times I coughed but it was interesting so when in Rome

[58:36]do as the Romans do when in Karbala do as the Cumberlands

[58:42]do so I tried the she shot and it was good it

[58:48]was good my daughter's I sent them a picture of me smoking

[58:52]it they smoked hookah my door I have three daughters 23 28

[58:57]and 30 and so when I sent the pictures are like oh

[59:04]my god daddy you're smoking hookah now if so I guess I'm

[59:08]cool with my children now smoking hookah shisha I noticed that I

[59:12]all the questions are coming from the young ladies except for the

[59:17]little fellow here does that mean all the brothers are shy and

[59:20]bashful and what they don't have any questions or the brothers know

[59:23]all the answers to everything already Reverend I have a question while

[59:27]you were in Karbala did you have any security concerns try me

[59:31]did you have any security concerns while you were there was that

[59:36]something on your mind initially when we get that we didn't know

[59:39]what to expect and so when we pulled up to the hotel

[59:44]they had this long pole with the mirror at the bottom of

[59:47]it and they went around that the vehicle were in to sweep

[59:51]for bombs and make sure there was no bomb so every time

[59:54]we pulled up to the hotel in whatever vehicle we were in

[59:59]they stopped because it was a big iron gate and they stopped

[60:01]and they would sweep the car to make sure there was no

[60:06]bombs and we did get stopped one time coming back from the

[60:10]river Euphrates and Hyder was with us and he had his dad's

[60:18]ID Mohammed and that is what saved us because at the crossing

[60:23]guard as a checkpoint they stopped and wanted to they saw the

[60:26]two of us in the back and they wanted to make sure

[60:29]we were not a part of Isis I didn't think Isis looked

[60:34]like us but they saw we were foreigners and so the driver

[60:37]of the vehicle I always kept my passport with me she had

[60:43]her passport had my passport but the driver for whatever reason said

[60:47]we did not have our passports and so they would continue to

[60:51]talk and talk and so I'm like is there a problem and

[60:53]Susi air they they asked for your passports but until you don't

[60:58]have myself but I do have my passport I have a passport

[60:59]so then the guy comes back and he was demanding we need

[61:04]to see passports now so by that time he said give us

[61:07]the passports I was like you just said we don't have our

[61:11]passports so now if we give them to you now it's gonna

[61:13]look like you were lying when we were lying he said just

[61:17]give me the passwords that I'll give him to them so we

[61:21]gave my passports they looked at him and they were still asking

[61:24]questions and so this is why it's good to know people so

[61:29]hide her then reached up and got his father's picture ID and

[61:32]showed it to them and told him in Arabic that this is

[61:38]my father Mohammed and I'm the grandson of the Ayatollah say it

[61:42]say it Mohammed I mean icon Sweeney and so cos we because

[61:46]we di understood that part cos we need cos weight is so

[61:50]at that point he said you can go so that was the

[61:55]only time that there may be a little nervousness there because they

[61:57]kept asking for the passport and they held us longer so of

[62:00]course as Adam blamed Eve for the fruit that he ate indirectly

[62:07]blame God have said that woman that you gave me she's the

[62:09]one that made me the fruit I didn't lifted my wife and

[62:13]I said if you had not had us come to the year

[62:14]river euphrates we would not be detained so I looked at her

[62:19]why would you have to go to the river euphrates at this

[62:24]time so that's the only question that we had about security or

[62:26]thankful that you came back safely we're thankful that you came back

[62:31]safely shukran shukran do we have any will grab up with us

[62:40]one last question one last question and then we will conclude the

[62:44]neck hello um well first I just wanted to say I'm sure

[62:53]everyone in this crowd is probably thinking we have a lot of

[62:55]respect for you I think it takes a very big open mind

[62:59]to be willing to go to Iraq and you know do these

[63:03]things and do them with the open mind and not be skeptical

[63:05]about it I have a lot of respect for you and your

[63:09]wife and I appreciate what you're doing for the community as well

[63:12]what I did want to say was how do you think that

[63:17]you achieved that state of open mind and how do you think

[63:19]is the best way to hopefully get other people to have that

[63:24]open mindedness to be able because I'm sure that you've told people

[63:27]in your community or your gym people were like what are you

[63:29]doing you're crazy you know and coming from someone who has Christian

[63:32]a Christian family I find myself very quickly trying to figure out

[63:36]okay how do I you know slip this in and have them

[63:39]not just shut down immediately when we have these discussions so how

[63:42]did you get to you think to your open mind and how

[63:44]do you think we can continue that and spread that to other

[63:46]people for me I grew up in a home where if I

[63:53]was Christian my mother and grandmother always taught me to love everybody

[63:59]to respect people when I went off to when I got to

[64:03]high school my high school teacher mr.

[64:05]Wendell Davis at Cass Tech High School he always talked about the

[64:08]unity of humanity and he always talked about making sure that we

[64:16]were connected to the human family then as I got to learning

[64:19]more about dr.

[64:21]King I realized that dr.

[64:22]King reached out to other faiths other people who were not the

[64:25]same as he as I read more about Jesus I realized that

[64:30]Jesus dealt with other people who were different from him and so

[64:33]as I got off to college I got involved with Coretta Scott

[64:38]King dr.

[64:37]King's Widow and mrs.

[64:40]King always would have an interfaith service in honor of dr.

[64:44]King that included rabbis Imams Buddhists Hindus other folk from different faiths

[64:51]and so I got a chance to experience that so for me

[64:58]I've learned just through my teachings to be open-minded and then travel

[65:02]God has blessed to begin traveling at an early age when I

[65:07]was in college at Morehouse College and I'm sure everyone has heard

[65:11]about Morehouse College numbers has been on the news about this billionaire

[65:17]Robert Smith who just paid off the all the student loans for

[65:22]every graduating senior on yesterday at Morehouse College that's mama Matta Morehouse

[65:26]College and I said why couldn't he have been there when I

[65:29]was there and paid off all of my student loans but at

[65:35]Morehouse College the Dean of the chapel talked about this Greek word

[65:38]called or too many which would be get the term ecumenical from

[65:41]and we would talk at Morehouse to embrace other faiths to learn

[65:47]about other faiths to learn about other religions so for me that

[65:51]gave me an open mind then I went to Haiti in 1982

[65:55]and I did a research project on voodoo I wanted to find

[65:58]out is voodoo what you see on television black magic because that

[66:01]know Haiti has a lot of Voodoo so I went there to

[66:05]learn with an open mind after I left Morehouse I went to

[66:11]West Africa Senegal Gambia Sierra Leone Liberia I went to Egypt I

[66:15]went to Israel and I was doing research from September to April

[66:19]on Christianity in West Africa and I wanted to find out is

[66:26]Christianity the white man's religion as so many people have said or

[66:29]is it a universe we saw there I got a chance to

[66:33]that's my first really encounter with the Muslim family because synagogue is

[66:38]a Muslim culture Muslim country Sierra Leone is Muslim and synagogue had

[66:44]a different language barrier so I couldn't really speak a lot of

[66:48]the French but when I got to Sierra Leone I ended up

[66:52]staying with a Muslim family and that was my first time learning

[66:55]more about the Muslim culture the Islamic culture and of my first

[66:59]time going to a mosque I was in Freetown Sierra Leone at

[67:04]the age of 22 years of age and I went to the

[67:10]mosque with them just to see how it would be and then

[67:12]I had to preach in Freetown and they came to hear me

[67:17]preach and so we began to sit and to learn about each

[67:19]other's faiths so for me I would say to any person young

[67:25]old maintain an open mind if you get a chance to travel

[67:31]your travel experiences will allow you to see things from different perspective

[67:34]because you discover that in America some people think that America is

[67:41]it that's that there is nobody but Americans but God has blessed

[67:45]me to travel as I stated to those countries and then to

[67:49]travel to South Africa Morocco to travel to London in Paris and

[67:52]Seoul Korea and the Caribbean islands and so when you travel you

[67:58]it opens you up you see people for who they are then

[68:03]all the way around the world people are still people children are

[68:07]still children and we have to learn to embrace each other and

[68:10]maintain that open spirit and just learn how to get along so

[68:16]for me having that openness being educated in a school and a

[68:19]house where we were taught to embrace people it does not mean

[68:25]that you denounce your faith by embracing others it does not mean

[68:28]that I have to stop being a Christian to embrace my Muslim

[68:31]brothers and sisters or my Jewish brothers and sisters or those who

[68:36]are Buddhist or Hindu or anything else it means I learned to

[68:40]respect them as part of the great human family [Applause] my dear

[68:57]brothers and sisters on behalf of my father Imam Sayed Hassan and

[69:04]cos weeny on behalf of the Muslim youth connection who hosted this

[69:08]program tonight on behalf of the Islamic Institute of America on behalf

[69:12]of all of you our beloved congregation we would like to thank

[69:16]the Reverend flowers and his respected Y for spending time with us

[69:21]this evening and sharing their beautiful wonderful experience we look forward to

[69:28]seeing you more Reverend and hopefully one day we can take a

[69:32]group and come to your church and get to know your community

[69:40]as well yes absolutely please I wanted to mention that that I

[69:47]have invited Imam Hassan cos we need to look at his calendar

[69:51]and to come over and to preach and our services are on

[69:56]a Sunday morning Sunday morning at 10:00 a.m.

[69:59]so I'm not sure what your schedule normally is on a Sunday

[70:02]morning but I would like for you are that when he comes

[70:07]to preach you all you always welcome to come when I'm preaching

[70:10]whatever has no problem but I would like for you all to

[70:14]come when Imam cause weenie is preaching if he can't come then

[70:17]we have Mohammed but I would like to have you all come

[70:22]to fellowship with us so that our members will get to know

[70:24]your members and we can fellowship together and build and establish a

[70:28]relationship that will last down through the years and the other thing

[70:34]I wanted to ask is I see so many young people here

[70:36]and it is 12 15 12 20 and I guess the question

[70:42]that I would like to ask you are how do you how

[70:47]do you get people to come out this time of night because

[70:51]in our tradition it would be like and I see two of

[70:56]my members back there thank you for coming tonight but to get

[71:01]our young people to come out for for Sunday morning service let

[71:06]alone to come out for a night service is like pulling teeth

[71:13]so I would like for you all to tell me what can

[71:18]we do to get our young people to be as committed as

[71:20]you all are to come out at 11:00 o'clock midnight on a

[71:24]Monday night your do you have school tomorrow do you go to

[71:28]school tomorrow what time in school tomorrow and you're here tonight that

[71:37]amazes me that Amazo can anybody tell me how to get our

[71:42]young people but but we want we want to get a date

[71:52]together where we could have a mom cause we need to come

[71:53]in to bless us and I would like for you all to

[71:57]come with him and so our people can get a chance to

[72:02]fellowship as well but I'm just amazed and Lotus and Evelyn you

[72:06]can see the number of people here in this room and in

[72:10]the other room and you see what time it is so please

[72:14]go back to Griffin Mount Moriah and tell them y'all need to

[72:16]be a church you come to Bible study [Applause] thank you so

[72:28]much Reverend so we sincerely thank you may God bless you and

[72:32]my message to all of our beloved brothers and sisters who have

[72:39]concerns about going 4-0 to Iraq you've heard the Reverend speak I

[72:42]know some our youth our concern Reverend oh yes just two months

[72:45]ago a sister was going to Iraq and when her friends found

[72:49]that she's going to Karbala most of them were very discouraging are

[72:53]you out of your mind are you crazy you're going to Iraq

[72:56]you're going to you know Karbala and they really don't know how

[73:02]beautiful of an experience it is and how safe it is so

[73:04]hearing that from you I think will be very encouraging inshallah we'll

[73:10]all have the opportunity to go this year thank you all my

[73:12]dear brothers and sisters Oh Salam alaikum warahmatullahi wabarakatuh

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