The Pope Meets The Ayatollah - An Intro to Shi'a Islam | Hajj Jalal Moughania

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Transcript

[0:07][Music] me [Music] now [Music] a foreign [Music] m [Music] [Music] [Music]

[1:46][Music] my so [Music] [Music] oh [Music] i so [Music] [Music] [Music]

[3:44]is [Music] ah [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] can be muhammad thank you

[5:16]again everyone for joining us welcome again to our weekly friday night

[5:20]program i would just like to make a couple announcements before we

[5:25]begin first off please remember to keep your masks on at all

[5:30]time and sit if everyone could just please sit on a piece

[5:33]of tape so we can maintain proper social distancing next please remember

[5:38]to follow us on social media at nyc media and um i

[5:43]would also like to mention that on march 17th we're having a

[5:47]fundraiser for the nyc at sweet stacks in garden city will be

[5:51]wednesday march 17th all day so please join us then and lastly

[5:56]please help me welcome hajj jalal morganie for tonight's program he will

[6:02]introduce his book we will have a small discussion and then we

[6:06]will have a q a in sha allah muhammad and a third

[6:42]time in the loudest of your voices i sent him let's get

[6:52]some blessing in this place alhamdulillah it's a pleasure to be with

[6:57]you all today i begin in the name of god the name

[7:32]of god the most beneficent the most merciful we ask allah to

[7:35]send his greatest blessings again upon muhammad we praise allah for all

[7:44]the blessings he has given us and the greatest blessing being that

[7:45]he allowed us to be of the ones who remain steadfast dedicated

[7:48]and loyal on the path of our master after the prophet the

[7:52]commander of the faithful the prince of the believers the protector of

[7:55]the prophet and his message is we praise allah for this blessing

[8:01]and every blessing for without allah we would have nothing my dear

[8:05]respected brothers and sisters first of all i'd like to thank the

[8:14]myc and the iia for inviting me to discuss with you all

[8:19]this new and timely book that i co-authored with a dear brother

[8:26]and colleague of mine said hassan hakeem and we were honored with

[8:31]the the book actually being uh forwarded and written forward for this

[8:36]book by ayatollah said which was definitely a an honor and a

[8:41]privilege on our end i'd like to read some passages from the

[8:48]book to you all discuss a little bit of the background of

[8:51]the book in sha allah and then have it be more so

[8:54]of a candid and open conversation uh with you all whether you've

[8:59]read the book or you haven't um i'd love to engage in

[9:03]more of a conversation rather than me just getting up here and

[9:05]and talking so i do look forward to that i'm going to

[9:09]turn to the first chapter after the the preface um and i'm

[9:17]going to read the the beginning of the first chapter just a

[9:21]passage from the first chapter and then inshaallah give a little bit

[9:23]more of a background the first chapter is called and by the

[9:31]way if if you don't know the book is called the pope

[9:33]meets the eye to allah an introduction to shia islam and this

[9:38]of course this book actually was published right before the meeting between

[9:46]granite allah said ali sistani and pope francis of the vatican church

[9:49]that took place last weekend on saturday saturday morning march 6th uh

[9:56]in the holy city of najaf in the home of gran ayatollahistani

[10:02]for for those of you who may have missed the the the

[10:05]news over that weekend uh pope francis had gone on a historic

[10:09]visit uh to the republic of iraq and this was the first

[10:14]time that the vatican the roman catholic church had visited the republic

[10:20]of arak and one of the first meetings that he had on

[10:23]his visit he arrived on friday and the very next morning he

[10:28]flew down to the holy city of najaf and chapter one saving

[10:40]the cradle of civilization never inflict harm on non-muslims regardless of the

[10:47]religion and sect the non-muslims are under the protection of the muslims

[10:51]in their lands whoever attacks non-muslims is a betrayer and a traitor

[10:58]let no one think that there is a solution in oppression which

[11:03]cannot be gained by justice grant ayatollah said iraq's saving grace welcome

[11:17]the armed isis gunman called out to the young iraqi cadets the

[11:24]untrained recruits now wearing civilian clothing gazed back at the gunman worriedly

[11:28]they had changed out of their military uniforms that morning after they

[11:34]realized all their commanding officers had left the base they thought they

[11:39]were they thought they may be able to leave too but it

[11:42]was too late don't be afraid we're just here to escort you

[11:47]to the presidential palace they told them there you will simply give

[11:52]formal notice of leaving the iraqi armed forces after that you're free

[11:57]to go home to your families okay with none of their supervising

[12:04]officers in sight the young cadets just nodded their heads the unarmed

[12:10]cadets were made to walk in a single file line on the

[12:16]main road the onlookers watched they did not know what was going

[12:18]to happen to these young men but they knew it would be

[12:23]something unsightly they had no choice but to look away and carried

[12:30]on they were round up in groups and thrown in the back

[12:33]of pickup trucks down the road every truck had three gunmen one

[12:36]in the front with the driver and two in the back watching

[12:41]the cadets every single move the trucks did not take them back

[12:46]to their families or the presidential palace the young cadets were piled

[12:50]on top of one another they could not move they could not

[12:54]breathe they knew something was wrong then the trucks stopped some stopped

[13:00]at open fields while others went to a nearby riverbank the young

[13:05]men were dragged out of the trucks some of them having passed

[13:09]out the isis gunman battered them as they lined up before them

[13:11]hands tied behind their backs the cadets were ordered to sit on

[13:16]their knees and look out into the open fields and then the

[13:21]firing began one by one the men were shot in the head

[13:27]execution style the young iraqi cadets and soon-to-be martyrs from all walks

[13:31]of life had their lives flashed before their eyes as they watched

[13:36]each other die thrown to the rivers and the open fields hundreds

[13:41]of young men were slaughtered the fields of tikrit were stained red

[13:47]with their blood the massacre at camp spiker on june 12 2014

[13:51]was one of the deadliest acts of terrorism in history after the

[13:57]fall of mosul and the massacre at tikrit the world thought that

[14:03]iraq was doomed within hours they came with their black flags kidnapped

[14:07]the women and children and killed the men of villages in the

[14:12]north baghdad would soon fall to isis and the terrorist group would

[14:17]take over the rest of iraq so they fought the very next

[14:24]day on june 13th 2014 grand ayatollah sistani issued a fatwa calling

[14:29]on all iraqis to arms and join the iraqi military in the

[14:36]fight against isis we are calling upon all civilians who are able

[14:39]to carry a weapon to fight these terrorists to defend their country

[14:44]their people and their holy sites within hours thousands of men across

[14:49]iraq from different faiths and ethnicities heeded to the call of the

[14:55]grand ayatollah iraq would regain hope and the black flags of isis

[15:00]would fly over the sons and daughters of iraq no more with

[15:06]a single statement the grand ayatollah pulled arak from the brink of

[15:11]utter collapse and destruction mesopotamia in modern-day iraq is known as the

[15:19]cradle of civilization or the site of mankind's earliest developments in agriculture

[15:23]and settlement dating back to 10 10000 bc as the birthplace of

[15:29]prophet abraham the father of the monotheistic faiths some also call it

[15:34]the cradle of religion this cradle has seen turmoil war and bloodshed

[15:38]for decades it continues to suffer an array of challenges such as

[15:43]corruption stagnation and covet 19.

[15:45]but the pope is not visiting iraq to save it in fact

[15:50]it is safe enough that the pope is traveling to all different

[15:53]parts of the country for official meetings prayer gatherings and pilgrimages but

[15:59]if the pope is not saving the cradle of civilization who is

[16:05]that would be grand eye to the pope is meeting on march

[16:14]6th 2021 at his home in the holy city of najef salah

[16:22]so if you notice it was written in in the future tense

[16:29]right because we wrote the book before the meeting took place and

[16:32]some people asked well what do you mean you wrote the book

[16:36]before the meeting took place how did you write a book about

[16:39]something that didn't take place yet essentially what we did um is

[16:43]we looked at this important event that was to take place and

[16:48]before it we decided we wanted to provide a background a context

[16:52]to why is this meeting taking place why is pope francis coming

[16:59]from the vatican flying down to iraq and meeting with granite allah

[17:03]sustani and visiting iraq altogether why is it that after 15 months

[17:07]of no international travel given covet 19 iraq was the place the

[17:11]first place that the vatican would choose to travel to and break

[17:17]this 15-month hiatus of international travel for pope francis the book provides

[17:25]a background and a context in order for us whether shia or

[17:29]not muslim or not can understand the importance of this occasion and

[17:34]understand the crucial role that the marjaya plays that the seminary plays

[17:40]in the world today so the first part of the book provides

[17:45]a context to this meeting as in what's going to happen and

[17:49]what's expected from the meeting when it does take place the second

[17:54]part of the book and the third part of the book provide

[17:57]an introduction to shia islam and shia muslims and that's why hence

[18:03]the book was the pope meets the ayatollah an introduction to shia

[18:08]islam why is shia islam so important to the world today and

[18:11]why are these institutions that represent shia islam so important to the

[18:18]world today and why should the world care why should the world

[18:21]care to get to know who is grand ayatollah and who are

[18:27]the ayatollahs what is the house what is the marjaya what is

[18:33]the holy city of nejaf the one that was built around the

[18:39]shrine of amir al-mu'min ali the introduction the introduction to tashayo or

[18:44]shiazam or shia islam is crucial for anybody that wants to understand

[18:48]the religion of islam and the region of its birth so we

[18:53]wrote this book so that the informed individual or someone who would

[18:57]like to inform themselves can get a better understanding into what is

[19:03]this faith that is being represented today on the highest level by

[19:08]grand ayatollah sistani in the holy city of najaf being the destination

[19:15]of pope francis who is considered by many as a symbol of

[19:20]hope and peace and moderation around the world for catholics and in

[19:26]christians and non-christians alike so why is this all taking place that's

[19:30]essentially why we wrote this book and alhamdulillah we put this effort

[19:39]forward and are definitely looking forward to people's feedback and people benefiting

[19:44]from this book i would say that in addition to the context

[19:46]in which we wrote this book being the historic visit of pope

[19:50]francis to granite allah says in the holy city of najaf this

[19:55]book for shia muslims and non-muslims alike will give you a deeper

[20:05]understanding into what is shia islam and what is the world view

[20:09]of this religion and of its people of this faith of the

[20:14]school of thought and its adherence i'll stop there and insha allah

[20:23]would love to engage in more of an interactive conversation see any

[20:26]questions from the audience and have the discussion uh led by your

[20:33]questions inshaallah sallallahu alaihi muhammad at the actual meeting with so at

[20:55]the actual meeting on the side of uh the office of granite

[20:59]la sir um it was just it was just the respect to

[21:05]say it in that meeting i believe and you can look to

[21:10]some of the news reports and some of the pictures that were

[21:13]publicized there were some of the assistance and representatives coming from the

[21:18]vatican and the catholic church in iraq there was an interpreter there

[21:23]as well from the catholic church that were sitting alongside the pope

[21:27]but in the meeting it was grant allah said ali sistani pope

[21:32]francis to his left and those other individuals that were with the

[21:38]pope on the side of the catholic church yeah absolutely so um

[21:53]there was the the meeting itself was a meeting that took place

[21:56]some say between 40 to 50 minutes and what was done in

[22:02]the in that meeting after the meeting was that there was a

[22:04]public statement released from each of the the offices so from the

[22:10]um the press office of the holy see from the vatican there

[22:12]was a statement released you can look onto their website and see

[22:15]the official statement and then there was a statement released from uh

[22:19]grand eye to allah's office i'm not sure if it was officially

[22:24]translated last that i looked it wasn't officially translated into english but

[22:26]there were some unofficial translations floating around um and you can look

[22:33]those up both on sistani.org for the official statement from the office

[22:38]as in what is being said from the office and then also

[22:41]from the office of the holy see the press office of from

[22:45]the holy see no problem go ahead excellent question excellent question so

[23:04]what i'm going to do actually just to provide you a little

[23:06]bit more of a specific answer to your question is i'm gonna

[23:10]give you from the table of contents by the way for anybody

[23:14]that would like to purchase the book go straight to amazon straight

[23:17]to amazon you can get a paperback copy of the book or

[23:21]kindle edition download it instantly and get it and start reading tonight

[23:24]if you look at the table of contents the book is split

[23:28]into three sections part one is the pope and the ayatullah and

[23:32]there's two chapters on that in addition to the preface which provides

[23:37]a background to the book itself chapter one is what i read

[23:41]from saving the cradle of civilization chapter two is the historic meeting

[23:45]of the pope and the eye to law then part two is

[23:51]shia islam chapter 3 is the vice gerunds of god and human

[23:55]purpose what is the purpose of mankind from the shii view and

[24:01]the islamic view overall what is the purpose of mankind why are

[24:05]we here so we start from the very beginning at the creation

[24:09]of adam when god says to the angels we are going to

[24:13]create a vice gerund a khalifa on this earth then the chapter

[24:18]continues in describing uh what are the roles that we see after

[24:24]that from the vice gerunds into the sources of guidance and religion

[24:28]so it goes from the vice gerunds the roles of prophethood messengers

[24:32]and imams and then into the sources of guidance in religion from

[24:37]shia doctrine and the view then it goes into the discussion on

[24:42]faith and works faith referring to iman works being the practices of

[24:48]the faith what is the difference between iman and islam what does

[24:52]it mean to be a mu'min a believer in shia doctrine then

[24:57]it goes into the heritage of religious education the significance of religious

[25:02]education as held by the shia school of thought in islam generally

[25:06]is seen from the very first commandment to prophet muhammad where he's

[25:13]instructed by angel gabriel from allah the first thing that he was

[25:17]told is read read in the name of your lord and then

[25:22]it goes into the discussion of how important education is and how

[25:26]the school of law albeit emphasize education through a number of different

[25:31]mechanisms such as wills letters narration itself and then the establishment of

[25:39]certain institutions the following chapter goes into the establishment of religious institutions

[25:44]within tashayo going from the institution of the islamic seminary al-hazal the

[25:51]merjaya itself where the system of taqled during the era of the

[25:57]occultation took place and the heritage of that and the practice of

[26:03]the actually looking or going back to scholars was instructed from even

[26:07]the earlier imams not necessarily just during the time of the occultation

[26:11]when imam al-mahdi peace and blessings be upon him went into his

[26:16]major occultation al-khaibal kubra in 941 a.d after the discussion on islamic

[26:27]seminary mosques even for example look at the islamic institute of america

[26:30]islamic institute of america as a islamic center how do we see

[26:36]these islamic centers coming about and where did this idea of an

[26:39]islamic center coming come about versus technically a masjid or a mosque

[26:44]right a masjid a mosque has certain jurisprudential rulings that are very

[26:49]specific to and must be observed not necessarily is every islamic center

[26:53]or hussainia a mosque why for example did we see throughout history

[26:58]the rise or the coming about of hussein yet as an alternative

[27:04]alternative spaces for shia to practice their faith why it had a

[27:08]lot to do with the political context of the time in which

[27:11]some regimes ruling over shia populations made it illegal for them to

[27:18]establish their own masajid their own mosques as part of a campaign

[27:25]to disparage the image of shia in their in the public eye

[27:28]in a in communities that wanted to set aside shia or put

[27:33]aside the shia as looking as irreligious or not connected to the

[27:37]faith because the masjid the mosque is a central uh place a

[27:43]central uh piece of shia or excuse me islamic piety right so

[27:47]if shia don't have their own mosques then you're going to look

[27:50]at and be like oh wow these people are not necessarily religious

[27:52]right so and the book goes into more detail about how that

[27:59]developed historically then further part three uh goes on to discuss shia

[28:05]muslims and more so the practical engagement of from these institutions and

[28:08]from this theological background that was established going on to more of

[28:13]a practical conversation and seeing a lot of these things are implemented

[28:16]within shia communities as inspired and as directed by the shia school

[28:22]of thought as our scholars interpret the words of and what they

[28:27]gave so then the chapters follow in part 3 like this 1

[28:32]which is chapter [Music] 7 it goes into identity what is the

[28:42]identity of shia muslims how do shia muslims identify you and i

[28:46]today as followers of what's our identity there's many different labels that

[28:55]are given to given to shia throughout history what are all those

[29:03]things mean right and even some of the labels that gave their

[29:07]followers why did they give them certain labels and how do we

[29:11]feel about certain labels for example there's a narration from imam sadiq

[29:14]alayhi salaam and imam al-barter that tell their followers to be proud

[29:21]of their name i believe if i'm remembering correctly you'll see it

[29:25]in the book i believe it's a conversation between abu bakr and

[29:27]a companion of imam al-baqara speaking with imam al-baqr and imam al-baqarah

[29:33]tells him be proud of your name he says what is our

[29:37]name he says a shia he said but people mock us and

[29:44]ridicule us when we refer to ourselves as that and he begins

[29:46]to recite to his companion abu basir the great value of this

[29:52]name and recites the verses from the holy quran of the followers

[29:56]of the shia of certain prophets and then he emphasizes be proud

[29:59]of your name but even with that how do shia muslims let's

[30:03]say they are proud of their name in shia doctrine how do

[30:08]they see the rest of the world around them so you may

[30:11]be proud to be a follower of bait but how do you

[30:16]look at the non-shia how do you look at the non-muslim how

[30:19]do you look at the christian the jew the catholic whatever it

[30:24]may be how do you look at someone who does not believe

[30:27]in god we see from the framework given to us by that

[30:33]it is ruled by certain narrations from bait one of them being

[30:39]the instruction from imam ali alayhi salam to his governor malakal ashtar

[30:43]in egypt to treat people as one of two kinds recognize that

[30:46]they are one of two kinds either your brother in faith or

[30:50]you equal in humanity so in the book as provided by the

[30:55]work of our scholars we designed a framework to illustrate to people

[31:02]the four spheres of identity that are understood in our school of

[31:05]thought and those four spheres of identity being um as in being

[31:09]followers of advaita is that core identity islam is the second sphere

[31:14]of common identity that we share with other muslims the third sphere

[31:18]of identity being monotheism that we share with all those who believe

[31:21]in the oneness of allah and then the fourth sphere of identity

[31:25]being humanity as in we as shia muslims believe that there is

[31:29]commonality and identity with every single person on the face of the

[31:32]earth and thus every single person must be respected and regarded at

[31:38]the very least as an equal in humanity and equal in creation

[31:41]and cannot be disregarded for under their rights and our duties and

[31:46]responsibilities to people that are outside of our creed and outside of

[31:50]our school of thought and outside of our religion just for the

[31:53]mere fact of them having a different creed or religion but if

[31:56]you're to truly implement as shia islam teaches if you're truly to

[32:02]implement those teachings you're going to be one who is regardless of

[32:05]the society that you're living in regardless of the kind of people

[32:07]that you live amongst you're going to be an extension of that

[32:10]mercy to mankind that prophet muhammad sallallahu alaihi was sent as and

[32:16]prophet muhammad again emphasized in shia doctrine and islamic doctrine altogether as

[32:20]the chief of the religion the chief of the faith and the

[32:24]greatest muslim and the greatest person who ever lived on this face

[32:30]of the earth and the attachment of shia muslims to bait is

[32:34]one that is directed from the prophet himself as in these are

[32:39]the best adherents to this faith and these are the best examples

[32:42]and these are the individuals that i'm leaving behind as heirs as

[32:45]successors to manifest and implement this faith that i have brought forward

[32:51]to you sorry that was a long-winded area to talk about identity

[32:53]which i'm going to continue with the rest of chapters is just

[32:56]this identity part i'm especially passionate about and i uh was definitely

[33:00]pleased to make sure that we included this as a crucial point

[33:05]for shia and non-shia alike to un to understand and acknowledge this

[33:11]part of their world view as shia islam teaches the next chapters

[33:16]that follow um are community relations how do shia muslims look at

[33:23]their community so we talk about community all the time a lot

[33:26]of times the discussion on community involves problems and challenges that the

[33:30]community faces with problems and with challenges whether they're personal or you

[33:34]know within a collective how do you go about understanding the way

[33:39]we should be looking at the community to begin with so a

[33:43]lot of the discussions in the book are foundational to world view

[33:46]paradigms what is your paradigm when you look at your community what

[33:51]lens do you see it from when you look at the person

[33:55]sitting next to you right when you look at the person sitting

[33:56]next to you you can take a look at the person next

[34:00]to you go ahead just take a look it's okay yeah sounds

[34:02]like oh mario nice to meet you okay oh actually i know

[34:04]you we just came from home you're my sister you're my brother

[34:06]you're okay beautiful that lens that you're looking at that person next

[34:13]to you is so essential to the way you're going to interact

[34:16]with them the way you're going to treat them the way you're

[34:19]going to live your life if we don't have the right paradigm

[34:24]and lens that we're using you may actually be living something that

[34:29]is very different that was intended for you by this religion that

[34:34]you call yours the next chapter goes into integration it's called integration

[34:43]and coexistence it discusses the options of societal engagement that groups all

[34:49]around the world minorities and non minorities and majorities alike in fact

[34:52]in the chapter we we don't necessarily look at shia muslims as

[34:58]simply being minorities even though historically one may say that in many

[35:02]instances the shia have been a minority group but instead we analyze

[35:07]it and seeing the shia muslims are a group like any other

[35:12]group and every group in a sense and looking at some of

[35:14]the contemporary works of scholars every group in a sense is a

[35:19]minority and your majority depending on how you're looking at it and

[35:21]depending on the context the time and the place right so for

[35:25]every group there is a discussion of how do we engage with

[35:30]the rest of society so the previous chapters on identity on community

[35:35]relations before that on the institutions that shia islam has brought forward

[35:39]how we look at guidance what are the sources of god look

[35:45]at the progression of all of these topics and then you get

[35:49]to well now how do we interact with the rest of society

[35:51]so you're a shia muslim right and you live in let's say

[35:58]newark new jersey you live in philadelphia pennsylvania you look you live

[36:02]in pomona california you live in montreal canada quebec you live in

[36:09]any part of the world dearborn heights michigan there's a society that

[36:17]you exist within do you isolate yourself from that society in an

[36:22]aim to safeguard your faith your beliefs your culture your normative identity

[36:28]right or do you assimilate completely within society with the hopes of

[36:36]being one with that society melting into the fabric of society being

[36:40]woven into the fabric of society better said what is your option

[36:44]of societal engagement so that you are safeguarding let's say there's two

[36:49]interests here there's safeguarding one's religion one's identity one's culture one's faith

[36:55]etcetera etcetera as opposed to the major the society around them that

[37:00]may not necessarily practice the same faith the same culture the same

[37:03]uh religion or the second interest being but i want to be

[37:09]a part of the society because i want to progress i want

[37:12]to i want to get somewhere in life i can't be isolated

[37:15]from the society i live in i need to get somewhere i

[37:20]need to get educated i need to work in the society and

[37:22]in that process i may lose parts of my origin parts of

[37:28]my identity parts of my religion my faith my culture my customs

[37:32]my traditions etc etc right so every community every community this isn't

[37:38]something that's particular to uh muslims or shia muslims um every community

[37:44]you look at from a religious perspective in the united states we're

[37:49]american we're in the united states you look at the experience of

[37:52]catholics of jews of mormons these religious groups had these same very

[37:58]conversations and still have these conversations and then there's there's a spectrum

[38:01]right of how much do they engage in their society right with

[38:06]these two interests that we're discussing i want to protect my faith

[38:09]but at the same time i want to be part of society

[38:13]and i want to fit in if you will right i want

[38:15]to be a part of the society be successful et cetera et

[38:19]cetera even from a racial perspective so let's say even put aside

[38:26]the religious groups latino americans african-americans look at the experience the african-american

[38:31]experience is one that we refer to in the book and we

[38:33]discuss as well is one of the greatest experiences for us to

[38:38]learn from and for everyone to learn from looking at the experiences

[38:42]of others is something that our scholars definitely tell us to do

[38:44]right we as shia muslims have not lived as isolated communities but

[38:51]we discuss in the book the options and entertaining the options with

[38:55]societal engagement do you isolate or do you assimilate and then what

[39:00]we come to in in the chapter not to be a spoiler

[39:04]alert but what we come to is a middle path between isolation

[39:06]and assimilation which is called integration right and there's a reference to

[39:10]um the works of w just with regards to african americans uh

[39:15]for those of you who may have studied this in college or

[39:18]university with regards to the african american movement and the civil rights

[39:22]movement with w.e.b du bois and frederick douglass the program that was

[39:25]called assimilation through a self-assertion we distinguish from that but relate to

[39:30]it in a way where this idea of assimilation through self-assertion which

[39:34]in essence was an idea of proactive integration which is the terms

[39:40]that we use not assimilation through our self-assertion because the connotation of

[39:44]assimilation definitely has negative baggage to it shia islam does not believe

[39:50]in one to lose one's identity for the sake of having certain

[39:54]gains in society however there's a firm stance exemplified by the ahlul

[39:59]baits and by their companions to integrate actively within our societies and

[40:05]be at the center of our societies while maintaining our identity in

[40:12]our faith in our religion strongly strongly and that's something that um

[40:19]you'll see in in the chapter on integration and coexistence the chapter

[40:24]also continues into this idea of coexistence the idea of citizenship the

[40:28]idea and doctrine of heaven is the maintaining of public order as

[40:36]our scholars have referred to and how do all of these play

[40:41]a role into the way we see our societies and the way

[40:43]we exist in our societies and then finally the the last two

[40:50]chapters go uh and delve deeper into the discussions of the doctrine

[40:54]of occultation so us living in imam alayhi this occultation what is

[41:04]the doctrine of occultation here's a question for you all is he

[41:12]the only individual in history that has experienced an occultation is it

[41:17]something that was new that came with imam almati who thinks that

[41:21]imam al-mahdi is the individual who he's the only one who has

[41:26]had an occultation who thinks that no there's other individuals in history

[41:31]that have had occultations who here is just not sure honestly it's

[41:36]fine beautiful you'll see in the chapter an explanation through the holy

[41:43]quran showing a number of different occultations what were the occultations that

[41:49]took place for example and again i don't want to be spoiler

[41:54]alert but the companions of the cave are a type of occultation

[41:58]uh jesus christ prophet jesus a certain type of occultation prophet joseph

[42:04]alayhis salaam yusuf another type of occultation that he experienced prophet moses

[42:10]musa another type of occultation we'll see from the holy quran in

[42:16]the last two chapters it's heavily focused on the stories of the

[42:20]holy quran bringing forward the doctrine of occultation and then also distinguishing

[42:24]between the two major types of occultation that exist an occultation which

[42:30]is one of removing the individual from the society as for example

[42:35]was with the case of or even with the people of the

[42:43]cave and then the second one being that of a concealment of

[42:48]identity which one is peace and blessings be upon him experiencing today

[42:52]what kind of occultation is our imam in one that is removed

[42:58]from society or one that his identity is concealed you'll read the

[43:02]chapters in sha allah and you'll delve deeper into that but i'll

[43:05]mention a hadith from illinois where he is asked by one of

[43:11]his companions he's asked o imam how does one benefit from the

[43:14]imam because the discussions of the mahdi and being being concealed from

[43:22]the people existed as early as the prophet himself referring to the

[43:26]first imam for my followers will be the last will be depending

[43:33]on the narration al-mahdi my grandson imam assad is asked by one

[43:42]of his companions how do we benefit from the imam if he

[43:46]is concealed absent from us many of you might have heard this

[43:49]narration tells him he you benefit from him like you benefit from

[43:57]the sun concealed behind the clouds that should give you a little

[44:03]bit more of an inference into is the imam removed from us

[44:05]or is his identity concealed read the chapters and shall you find

[44:09]out the last final chapter is the practical impact the practical impact

[44:14]that people have on the occultation itself so some some of us

[44:19]may question and and see from the holy quran from the hadith

[44:26]what does shia islam say about individuals like us today do we

[44:31]have an impact on the occultation of imam al-mahdi peace and blessings

[44:38]be upon him do we have an impact who thinks that we

[44:43]don't have an impact the imam will come when the imam comes

[44:46]we don't have an impact who thinks we do have an impact

[44:52]on the occupation of the amount i didn't cheat by the way

[44:55]i raised two different hands you can do the same who doesn't

[44:58]know all you guys know alhamdulillah excellent you don't need to read

[45:02]that last chapter but i still encourage you just to like you

[45:04]know brush up on your information read the last chapter it'll still

[45:07]be good for you inshallah so that uh my dear brother what's

[45:11]your name mahdi mahdi um thank you for that question i hope

[45:19]again that was long-winded but i i wanted to provide again more

[45:24]of a context hopefully that will entice you to get the book

[45:28]benefit from it and read these chapters very closely alhamdulillah like i

[45:35]said you know this work was a an honor and a privilege

[45:40]to to be a part of and to make this happen and

[45:44]even honestly the the forward from uh allah says what she was

[45:52]so kind uh to write such a forward for this work and

[45:55]commending the work and alhamdulillah we're very blessed with our scholars we're

[46:03]very blessed with uh the leadership that we have in our the

[46:08]shia community and definitely it's something for us to be proud of

[46:13]not necessarily that certain meetings are taking place that this gives us

[46:21]value as shia this is something to to say you know very

[46:26]clearly that the imams when people speak of them in high regard

[46:33]that are non-shia non-muslims when people commend our scholars that are non-shia

[46:40]nine muslims that doesn't necessarily add value to their status it may

[46:46]be an inspiration for us to turn our attention say yeah you

[46:50]know our scholars our imams look at what look what this individual

[46:54]who is a christian or a hindu or whoever says about imam

[46:58]al-hussein look at the number of non-muslims that speak so highly of

[47:01]islam or look at the way individuals for example describe some of

[47:06]our grand maraja our scholars right and the respect that they are

[47:12]old to them it's important for us as shia to realize the

[47:14]value of our figures does not necessarily come from the outside but

[47:21]it's important for us to analyze world events to analyze the situation

[47:28]to be informed and see why are these meetings taking place and

[47:32]a lot of it has to do with these individuals like our

[47:37]scholars are at such a high level and a caliber of their

[47:41]impact on the world and the role that they played even though

[47:45]some for example may be really late to paying attention if you

[47:50]look at the the first chapter of the book after the prophet

[47:53]chapter on saving the cradle of civilization grant ayatollah said ali sistani

[47:56]has had positions since 2003 after the fall of the baptist regime

[48:00]has had some crucial positions since 2003 that has saved iraq and

[48:08]the region from utter collapse and destruction numerous situations the just the

[48:14]statement alone that i mentioned from ghana ayatollah says which i believe

[48:19]was from 2007 in a time where sectarian tension was at an

[48:24]all-time high when he is telling his own followers when he is

[48:31]telling his own followers you are to protect the rights of the

[48:34]sunnis and the non-muslims before you before not before you ask for

[48:41]your own rights before they ask for their own rights and a

[48:49]lot of shia may not even realize the role that granite allah

[48:53]said ali sistani has played again not just in iraq but in

[48:57]the region and the world these statements the fatwa alone in 2014

[49:03]experts all over the world that really understand iraq and really understand

[49:10]the situation that took place know that it was that fatwa a

[49:14]single statement from this man who does not live beyond the means

[49:19]of the humblest and simplest of citizens of his country that saved

[49:26]iraq from being completely taken over by the islamic state by daesh

[49:36]now it wasn't that too long ago it was about six seven

[49:41]years ago i don't know if you guys remember when isis just

[49:45]rolled in and took over mosul people were just what wait just

[49:52]rolled in and there's taking over swathes of iraq and syria it

[49:59]became an existential threat to the republic of arak and notice with

[50:04]granite allah sistani everything that he stated being what being the individual

[50:11]who is leading the holy city of najaf this islamic seminary of

[50:17]the holy city of najaf and considered to be allah the most

[50:21]followed jurist all around the world for shia muslims not once did

[50:26]he ever issue a sectarian statement but instead all of his statements

[50:33]were one bringing all people together and telling his followers that you

[50:39]have to protect the rights of others before they even ask for

[50:43]their own rights the call for example in 2014 that fatwa against

[50:48]isis to call up for arms was one for all able-bodied iraqis

[50:52]to join the iraqi national army even these nuances are extremely important

[50:59]that the marjaya has never been one to say we the shia

[51:04]are doing one two three for the world no in the societies

[51:09]that you're in in the communities that you and you belong to

[51:12]those countries that you are a part of we're calling on to

[51:17]all able-bodied iraqis to defend their country and the sovereignty of their

[51:22]nation against the terrorist menace called isis and who responded to the

[51:30]call iraqis from all across the country and mind you and we

[51:35]cover this in in the book as well this isn't necessarily unique

[51:38]to the individual of granite in the sense of the grand ayatollah

[51:45]has been one who comes from a tradition of maraja of grand

[51:51]scholars of gran ayatul laws that have had positions similar to this

[51:58]of course definitely unique circumstances and the granada to allah is one

[52:03]to be respected and regarded for the great triumphs that he's had

[52:08]during his leadership but throughout shia history this the very establishment of

[52:15]the islamic seminary dating back over a thousand years our scholars come

[52:20]from seminaries that have existed for over a thousand years between the

[52:23]holy city of najaf the whole holy city of com and the

[52:27]many seminaries that have grown across the shia world and com the

[52:38]first seminar of course starting with an imam and masjid kufa imam

[52:45]salek having had over 4 000 students at his time with the

[52:48]decline of the umayyad dynasty and the rise of the abbasids i'm

[52:55]giving you guys too much in the book next question no more

[53:13]questions us everyone's pumped to read the book excellent job done yes

[53:18]brother i have this one copy on hand yeah just this one

[53:27]copy on the hand um but yes they're they're available on amazon

[53:30]you get a paperback um i'll print a copy just like this

[53:34]and uh or you can get the kindle edition kindle edition i

[53:39]believe and it's you get the kindle edition you download immediately you

[53:44]can start reading it right away no problem yes matthew maddie come

[54:13]on um definitely with each chapter there's takeaways um worked very carefully

[54:29]to make sure that the world view of shia islam and of

[54:35]course this goes with the disclaimer and we say this in the

[54:39]very beginning of the book in our preface we do not claim

[54:43]to represent islam no nor do we claim to represent the community

[54:46]this is a very important point to make within scholarship right um

[54:52]we're presenting perspectives as we understand them from the scholars within the

[54:58]mainstream of the islamic seminary so that's a disclaimer that we put

[55:03]from the from the get-go because some people may say well you

[55:07]know other scholars may have this interpretation or this world view or

[55:11]this perspective and those are all respected and regarded however this is

[55:14]something that we put forward in consultation with our scholars in consultation

[55:18]with professors of the islamic seminary to present this as an introduction

[55:23]to an understanding of shia islam and its world view this isn't

[55:29]a a book that you'll find for example these are the uh

[55:35]deen even though of course there's footnotes on what are the solid

[55:37]when we refer to them you know these are the furu adin

[55:41]you know the ancillaries of the faith even though again there's footnotes

[55:44]referring to them this is the history of the message of the

[55:49]prophet this is what happened with imam mahali etc even though it's

[55:55]discussed instead the book is put forward and this is one of

[55:57]the major takeaways of the book is do you understand whether you're

[56:02]shari or not because this isn't written for necessarily just for shia

[56:06]this is an introduction to islam that i would encourage you to

[56:12]hand to anyone humbly of course like i'm not saying like oh

[56:14]this is the greatest work that ever came but alhamdulillah with um

[56:20]the work that we put into this book we believe that it's

[56:27]an essential work in understanding the shia world view how does the

[56:33]shire present himself or herself to the rest of the world the

[56:38]chapters the first chapters and understanding the institutions the practices the sources

[56:46]of religious guidance is foundational for them how the individual goes forward

[56:50]and says i'm a shia muslim how do i see other shia

[56:57]muslims how do i see other muslims how do i see non-muslims

[57:00]how do i see people that don't believe people that don't believe

[57:04]in anything and then further the idea of how do i engage

[57:11]how do you live your life what are you asking for when

[57:15]you come and you live in a society that you're a part

[57:19]of why do you go to school and which school do you

[57:22]go to why do you work and what kind of job do

[57:24]you have literally like this is paradigms right the lenses in which

[57:31]we use you wear glasses i wear glasses what kind of lenses

[57:35]are you wearing this hopefully insha allah allows you to put on

[57:39]the lens to see this is what shia islam expects of its

[57:43]followers and it's a very candid approach so that non-shia can also

[57:50]understand well so what are what are these shia all about what's

[57:52]what's shazam all about beyond what maybe they've been exposed to in

[57:59]certain political contexts a certain history right beyond that what is shia

[58:05]islam really about what do you guys really believe how do you

[58:09]really see yourself in the world is shia islam is it compatible

[58:16]with modern society even that question does islam better exist in certain

[58:23]communities versus others right the idea of a homeland and citizenship what

[58:32]does that mean to shia do you have a homeland you would

[58:38]call a certain place home why from a cultural perspective from a

[58:48]nationalistic perspective okay maybe let's say for example i'm lebanese my home

[58:52]is lebanon let's say right my home is right why let's say

[58:59]someone said i'm american why what islam tell you can you have

[59:04]multiple homes why is citizenship important to begin with and in this

[59:12]citizenship is it just a passport or do you see well how

[59:18]do i interact with the people around me that even expresses this

[59:22]citizenship maybe even called cultural citizenship let's say i got a long-winded

[59:29]answer to your question maddie i'm sorry man abdullah thank you i

[59:44]didn't get any questions from the sisters i don't want to bother

[59:46]the sisters sisters should not be bothered but if the sisters have

[59:51]any questions or maybe i'll just go back to mahdi how are

[60:07]you what's going on what's the situation we still have time guys

[60:13]i gotta fill the time give me a question alaikum uh beautiful

[61:17]did everyone did everyone catch eunice's question just to summarize real quick

[61:24]is there an ideal place in the world for shia islam to

[61:28]be practiced right unless basically right is there an ideal place in

[61:34]the world let's say for example dearborn michigan let's say somebody says

[61:39]all shia muslims must come to dearborn michigan or must come to

[61:42]new jersey or must come to california or must come to whatever

[61:47]country or place or region be more specific more general this is

[61:52]where the religion and the school of thought will be practiced the

[61:57]best i'll give a hadith a conversation he has with one of

[62:06]his companions his companion's name is hamad so hamad comes to imam

[62:09]sadiq al-islam one day complaining what's going on what's going on he's

[62:19]mad he's upset is telling the imam every time hamad by the

[62:23]way at this time in the hadith he doesn't live in the

[62:27]lands of the muslims right he's not living in arabia or iraq

[62:34]or anywhere right he's living in a part of the world where

[62:37]islam is not practiced there's no muslims there maybe hamad and some

[62:43]of his friends so hamad tells the imam imam every time i

[62:48]come back home every time i come back to these lands i'm

[62:54]ridiculed and mocked and chided reprimanded if you will by my fellow

[63:02]muslims telling me hamad you're going to be resurrected with those unbelievers

[63:06]disbelievers kuffar that you live with okay so apply to the modern

[63:14]modern day context right i remember by the way when some of

[63:20]the times where i traveled back to lebanon and i would meet

[63:27]with you know family friends and acquaintances in people and would be

[63:31]let's say you know a sister there and the sister you know

[63:36]extends her hand wanting to say salaam i put my hand on

[63:40]my chest i'm like you know trying to be polite in america

[63:45]you know the expectation being you're from america you're not practicing these

[63:52]things right they're more religiously observant in america than us here it

[64:01]seems right up i'm just giving this as an example apply in

[64:04]your modern day context let's say so hamad is complaining to the

[64:10]imam the imam listens to hamad he's venting complaining the imam tells

[64:14]him when you're there in your new home in the place that

[64:20]you're living now do you remember our cause he said yes yes

[64:27]i do he says when you come back here to the lands

[64:30]of the muslims do you remember our cause he says no i

[64:36]don't he says oh hamad if you die in those lands where

[64:43]you remember our cause you will be resurrected as a nation of

[64:49]your own and your light will be beaming before you or more

[64:57]accurately translation the light will be beaming before your hands is that

[65:05]enough for us to understand where we should be where is best

[65:10]for us to practice our faith that question is more of an

[65:15]application question the mukhellah may come the adult may come and say

[65:19]i am better to practice my faith in this place in this

[65:23]community wherever that community may be that's up to you the guidelines

[65:28]of provided for you go and practice your faith if you believe

[65:34]in a certain land in a certain place in a certain community

[65:36]it is going to steal away your your faith and your religiosity

[65:42]and your god weariness and your piety yes and you shouldn't be

[65:46]there but it may be in the very least expected places that

[65:54]your piety increases that your religiosity increases like hamad in the lands

[66:01]of the non-muslims the imam gonna tell them you're with a lot

[66:04]of muslims yeah they're right you're going to be resurrected with the

[66:07]disbelievers with the kuffar no that wasn't the standard the standard was

[66:11]wherever you may be and we discussed this in the book wherever

[66:15]you may be wherever you are in the united states of america

[66:24]arabia iraq canada the united kingdom australia singapore thailand china whatever it

[66:29]may be in the world wherever it may be in the world

[66:33]your citizenship you're calling a homeland you're taking refuge in a certain

[66:38]community the idea of migration we talk about migration the idea of

[66:46]migration in the holy quran and in the sunnah and the tradition

[66:49]of the holy prophet what is it what is this idea of

[66:51]migration my grandparents came to the united states in the late 70s

[66:56]escaping the civil war in lebanon was their migration to the united

[67:03]states a good one or a bad one my grandfather may allah

[67:07]rest his soul may allah bless his soul and speaking to my

[67:10]grandmother may allah prolong her life and prolong the lives of all

[67:17]of your grandparents and all of your parents i was speaking to

[67:20]my grandmother not too long ago and i was having a conversation

[67:21]with her i asked her i said tata why did you do

[67:26]allah why did he come and choose dearborn why was it southeast

[67:30]michigan for you he said you know we looked at different communities

[67:35]he looked at different communities including some some communities in the northeast

[67:39]like new york right where there were some small communities taking place

[67:44]but their decision to come to dearborn michigan was one based on

[67:52]they wanted a mosque even though they were a scholarly family they

[67:57]wanted a mosque from the school of the bait to be connected

[68:02]to and at that time there was the already developed mosque under

[68:06]the leadership of may allah bless the soul that was being developed

[68:13]islamic center of america originally the islamic center of detroit that was

[68:19]the decision that brought them or kind of like pushed them towards

[68:22]coming to dearborn beyond of course the job opportunities et cetera et

[68:26]cetera there is job opportunities in different parts of the of the

[68:32]country in that i look back at my grandfather i recite the

[68:41]fatah for him i pray for him i ask allah to bless

[68:44]his soul because that decision to come to this community might have

[68:51]been that blessing upon myself and his other grandchildren that stayed connected

[68:57]to the faith and made that migration a blessed migration brother units

[69:08]that i answer the question and again read read the book read

[69:12]the chapter in the book that discusses that all right maddie i

[69:19]think you had another question it's all right man i think you

[69:25]had a question the overall message what have i been doing with

[69:36]maddie you killed me man samurai okay summarize summarize well you want

[69:43]the spark notes i can't give spark notes guys you guys got

[69:45]to read the book come on give me a little bit of

[69:51]credit summarizing the book read the book huh i heard you um

[70:04]understand who you are understand who you are and understand how you're

[70:14]supposed to see the world around you if we as shia muslims

[70:21]as muslims as human beings as people around this world if we

[70:24]don't see things to the right lens you'll view people with suspicion

[70:31]you'll view people with negativity you'll view people in a way that's

[70:37]like the world is out to get you right how did albeit

[70:40]see the world around them the individual whom we when we just

[70:50]say his name our body is recharged why why is the central

[71:00]focus of the and at the same time he is never and

[71:08]cannot be an individual that is divisive and i challenge anyone to

[71:16]bring forward as a divisive figure why because of what he did

[71:18]and what he stood for the manifestation of tasha and the central

[71:29]focus of shiasm being what when people ask what is your relationship

[71:38]to muhammad sallallahu alaihi because he was praised in his status as

[71:44]one that had virtues greater than most of the prophets of god

[71:50]just look at history look at how he was born look how

[71:55]he lived not a single moment of doubt in alibaba's life certainty

[72:02]at the highest caliber of certainty from when he was a child

[72:07]he was the shadow of rasulallah but when asked what's your relationship

[72:13]to muhammad he is the manifestation of islam of what it means

[72:25]to follow rasulullah that's why we love him that's why shazam focuses

[72:30]on him because after muhammad say what do we do what do

[72:35]you mean what do we do islam teaches and looking truly into

[72:40]the corpus of islamic hadith the prophet continues to point to who

[72:45]ali ali ali ali why the concept the doctrine of imam is

[72:54]one to provide muslims this is the continued implementation of faith the

[73:02]prophet who was in imam and if if you get confused by

[73:07]this read the book again there's roles prophets messengers imams the prophet

[73:11]and by the way some other prophets were imams as well and

[73:14]we define what imam means in the book right as a divine

[73:19]leader implementing the religion of god right implementing the message of god

[73:22]prophet abraham was an imam prophet joseph was an imam yusuf alaysalam

[73:28]prophet muhammad in implementing this message of islam it had to continue

[73:34]because the entire implementation of the faith was not finalized with prophet

[73:40]muhammad the religion itself was finalized with prophet muhammad and he was

[73:42]the seal of prophets the seal of messengers but there was a

[73:45]continued implementation who would that go through the imams the first being

[73:52]alibaba the last being that he is in his occultation and inshallah

[74:00]when he appears and reappears to the world will continue that implementation

[74:08]as a summary as shia and as presenting ourselves to the world

[74:16]we say this is the way islam sees itself and sees the

[74:21]world this is the way muslims see themselves and see the world

[74:25]so if i'm presenting this for example to a catholic colleague a

[74:28]christian colleague a sunni brother and sister right and i say this

[74:34]is an introduction to islam definitely and most importantly i would want

[74:42]my shia brothers and sisters to have the understanding of their own

[74:46]paradigm their own world view and see how central you are to

[74:50]this world we're not isolated or not assimilated in a way we've

[74:58]lost our identity right wherever we exist in the world we're here

[75:02]to contribute in a very meaningful way as the companions of the

[75:09]imams did as the imam imams themselves taught and led by example

[75:13]you are here in this community for a reason there's a reason

[75:21]why you're here there's a wisdom for why you exist here there's

[75:25]a blessing a grace from god for why you're here a lot

[75:29]of us by the way especially in our community we have so

[75:33]many blessings here in dearborn dearborn heights in southeast michigan so many

[75:38]blessings but we take it for granted unfortunately how about you take

[75:44]from some of the strength that you have educate yourself further read

[75:49]more research more and allow the grace and blessings of allah upon

[75:53]you and your community to extend to the people around you and

[76:00]understand truly how are you supposed to engage with everyone behind around

[76:04]you of course engagement needs to come with education i would hate

[76:11]to see anyone from any faith in any background mind you to

[76:15]engage with other people of other faiths and other backgrounds not knowing

[76:20]what they're talking about if i sit and i want to talk

[76:23]to a christian brother or a catholic brother or sister or a

[76:26]sunni brother or sister or a jewish brother or sister anybody from

[76:30]any faith any background i would want them to be educated enough

[76:35]to educate me i would want them to be informed enough so

[76:38]that i can benefit from them so that's why our responsibility should

[76:43]be we educate ourselves we inform ourselves we read i'll tell you

[76:50]this brothers and sisters another takeaway from from this is even if

[76:57]you don't read this book read period if prophet muhammad sallallahu alaihi

[77:04]was told by his lord the first commandment read how significant must

[77:12]reading be how significant must reading be and i'll end with this

[77:19]as a general a general inspiration not to make us feel bad

[77:26]or anything what was the last book that you read inshallah maybe

[77:32]we have readers in our audience charla how many books did you

[77:41]read this month what are you talking about march 12th how many

[77:44]books did you read last month how many books did you read

[77:47]the first three months of the year 2021 let's say new year's

[77:52]resolutions right how many books have you read so far anybody throw

[77:57]me a number suffer nil four beautiful beautiful ascent be proud of

[78:03]it read read and share with people that you're reading one thing

[78:07]that i learned from one of my mentors who's had a tremendous

[78:10]impact on me wherever he goes he carries a book wherever he

[78:15]goes and i know when i'm sitting with him he's always going

[78:17]to crack open that book at least once no matter where no

[78:23]matter what that had a profound impact on me one who by

[78:26]the way just because i've written this book and again i'm not

[78:29]saying this out of humbleness or humility i'm a brother amongst brothers

[78:33]and sisters here okay for a long time i didn't read much

[78:38]what do you mean jalan you've written books what do you mean

[78:41]how did you read much well yeah there was a per period

[78:45]i didn't read much until i was like man this is getting

[78:48]kind of embarrassing i was in a gathering similar to this and

[78:52]i heard somebody saying you know how many books did you read

[78:55]this year and i'm like well what was this like then i

[79:04]began to challenge myself and i picked up book after book after

[79:08]book and it wasn't something that happened overnight it wasn't something that

[79:12]happened right away it was something that took years it was something

[79:23]that took a long time but it started with one book and

[79:28]the next book and the next book and the next book with

[79:33]with culver 19 for example this was definitely a very challenging time

[79:38]i had a lot of relatives that i got sick i'm sure

[79:42]you guys have had you know we've had a lot of deaths

[79:46]in the community from 12 19.

[79:46]it hasn't been an easy period of time this past year it

[79:51]marked a year since the first cases in michigan were detected two

[79:55]day two days before so two days ago was a year march

[79:57]10th right it's been a tough year but do you allow yourself

[80:04]to be like yeah man this year's been tough you know just

[80:06]just stop at that do you just stop at that life is

[80:11]tough get a helmet you guys ever heard that one i think

[80:14]it's from a show i can't remember which show anybody remember which

[80:19]show no okay bad joke it's okay move on let me pass

[80:22]let me pass guys let me pass life is tough trials tribulations

[80:26]they're going to be challenges for us what do we do what

[80:31]do we do give us example after example lesson after lesson the

[80:41]greatest individuals who walk this earth are the individuals that had the

[80:44]greatest trials prophet muhammed themselves said there was no prophet that was

[80:51]tried like me there was no prophet that faced tribulation like me

[81:10]who after the tragedy of the imam was found years later still

[81:18]crying over the tragedy of karbala anytime that he saw and he

[81:27]tried he just saw us a cup of water he'd remember imam

[81:30]and hussain ali salaam his uncle's his father his brothers how they

[81:35]died of thirst and they were killed and butchered but still al-imam

[81:40]zain al-abidin lived at the center of his community and always engaged

[81:45]with people imam zayn if you guys realize this in history imam

[81:54]said moved back to medina as soon as he got a chance

[81:57]as soon as he got a chance he moved back to medina

[82:01]the center of his society the center of the community he was

[82:05]present during some of the rebellions that took place against the umayyads

[82:09]that's a different discussion for a different day but going back to

[82:14]reading take the challenges that we have with covert 19 take the

[82:22]challenges of today say that you you don't have time right i'm

[82:26]not an example i'm not a role model okay again i'm a

[82:31]brother amongst brothers and sisters but i'm pretty busy like most of

[82:37]you i have a family i have kids i have my my

[82:42]work my legal practice i have my projects that i work on

[82:44]have a non-profit organization that i serve at alhamdulillah we're all busy

[82:51]we're all things that are going on but i make a priority

[82:55]in my day to read why that's my time and the way

[83:01]you should be looking at it moving forward with regards to your

[83:06]reading whether it's a page a day 10 pages a day a

[83:08]chapter a day a book a day you'll be like whoa a

[83:11]book a day yeah people do it warren buffett right financial giant

[83:20]you know how many hours a day he's reported to read someone

[83:24]throw me a number hours a day not minutes a day how

[83:28]many hours a day does warren buffett read five three ahmed kareem

[83:35]you guys probably know seven seven hours a day literally a job

[83:41]you go to work you spend seven eight hours at your job

[83:45]warren buffett is reading whoa maybe it's because he has so much

[83:52]money now he has leisure time to read nope he's always done

[83:57]it so one of the reasons why he's successful financially you and

[84:07]i brothers and sisters how are we going to attain our success

[84:14]good answer read read read a prophetic instruction not one coming from

[84:27]jalal any final questions before the mic drops again alhamdulillah muhammad

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