Donald Trump inauguration was very upsetting for Muslim leader Shaikh Yasir Qadhi, a Pakistani American Islamic scholar, theologian and preacher, who has since 2001 served as dean of academic affairs at the Al-Maghrib Institute, an international Islamic educational institution with a center in Houston, Texas. The title of the lecture is Positives in Difficult Times (Donald Trump inauguration) – Dr. Sh. Yasir Qadhi Jan 21 2017. Below is a partial transcript of the lecture. Included on this article is a link to the complete 30 minute lecture.
How many famous people, celebrities, journalists, politicians have come out publicly defending us, criticizing the people who are more powerful than them, how many? So at these times of crisis [Donald Trump] we see who are true allies are. And that is a wisdom and a Hikma [Knowledge together with action.] that we have to grasp and take advantage of. As well, we see the opposite. Just like we see our true allies at times of crisis, we all see – what? – our true enemies. And the worst enemies are whom? The ones who are from within our own ranks. Opportunists who want to sell themselves and their families and their community, who want to betray the very religion that they were brought up in, who want to go against everything that Islam stands for… Sellout traitors who are willing to discard their own community, to claim that the majority of mosques are hotbeds of radicalization. And they know that that is not the case because they grew up in the mosques… And these are the people – we need to know who they are for future reference… Political crisis bring about in us an enthusiasm for activism, a sense of identity. We need to show our Islam. [“ISIS published its manifesto in which it cites verses of the Quran, the Hadith and rulings of Muslim scholars, and citations from tasveer, commentary on the Quran, to justify their position.”] You know at times – and we’ve all heard stories like this – that there are people – you don’t think them to be very pious, very righteous – but something happens, somebody says something about Allah’s Messenger, something negative happens and all of a sudden this person whom you had dismissed, you shouldn’t have, but you had dismissed. O! this guy has no Iman [belief in angels…]. This guy doesn’t pray. This guy drinks. All of a sudden when the pressure rises this person, whom you thought had no iman, turns out he has more iman than you when it comes to fighting against Islamophobes [Activists response in France to blasphemy]. That level of spirit, of activism – we need a struggle and we’re going to face the struggle in the coming years, coming ahead. Each one of us has a role to play as we see in the history of Mecca, early Mecca. [Early Muslim-Meccan Conflict refer to a series of raids in which the Islamic prophet Muhammed and his companions participated. The raids were generally offensive.] Some people financially they freed the slaves. Others are giving da’wah. Others amongst the nobility, teaching and preaching. Others going to… Everybody has a role to play. And we need that sense of spirited community. And yes, a struggle which means a political crisis. So that we come together and have a strategy, long-term thinking. What are we going to do? Once again 9/11 was a wakeup call for many of us and now this [Donald Trump] is round two.
screen grab from cpac#donaldtrump