As we swore in the 45 President, there were many changes that took place in only the first 6 days, including the normalization of Islamophobia. This week on the Raw Islam podcast we review these first 6 days and the use of the phrase Radical Islam and we ask, are you holding your values close to your heart?

But, what is Radical Islam? Is that a phrase that we should be using?

In your day to day life, next time someone uses the phrase Radical Islam ask them what that means. How do they define it? By using the phrase Radical Islam we are feeding the concept that those who engage in these beliefs are some of the many, rather than just a few on the fringes – and it is this message that needs to reach those in middle America.

When Imam Magid did the call to prayer at Donald J. Trump’s inauguration there were some that were happy that their faith was represented in this traditional changing of the guard, however, there are always two sides to every coin. However, the bigger question on this topic is why is the athan at the inauguration yet another topic that has driven a wedge into the Muslim community? With so much coming at us, as a community, from the outside, shouldn’t we be coming together to stand united regardless of our school of thought?

In times of great peril, like hurricanes and other natural disasters, communities come together to support each other. Imam Azhar tells the story of the time he lead an interfaith prayer at the request of, then, Governor Jebb Bush, after a hurricane struck southern Florida. But, do we have to be in a natural disaster to come together?

Hate for any reason – be it skin color, religion, place of birth – should be meet with love, this is the teaching of the Prophet Mohammed (pbuh) that we should live out day to day through our actions.

Do you have questions for the Imam or thoughts on the show?
Drop us an email at rawislam@vennnetwork.org

Raw Islam Podcast 3: Are You Holding Your Values Close to Your Heart?

Imam Azhar opens this episode of Raw Islam podcast with the question “A man in white suit falls in a hole, what do you do?” Do you help that person? Do you just call 911? Do you offer to clean them up?

If we accept that we are in this hole in our nice white suites, and we accept that we are going to be dirty and covered in mud, if we accept this as “just another day,” is that okay? Are we, are YOU willing to live your life in an abnormal situation as if it is just another day? Or should we be working towards it being a new day?

While the current hashtag and sentiment is to Resist, what is the follow-on action? It is fine to resist that isn’t normal, it is fine to resist what isn’t right, but shouldn’t we be doing more than resisting? Imam Azhar suggests that we should not only resist, but we should also preach and teach an alternative. We should resist and teach what is better. But who is going to teach? Who is going to preach this alternative way? Is there a unified voice that the those who support the resist concept can follow?

If we can find this unified voice, we need use it and we can start by holding our elected officials to do what they were elected to do. There are so many town hall meetings taking place where voters are angry and speaking out about what is going on in our government, but again that unified voice is missing.

Imam Azhar encourages us to act in a way that restores the humanity back to the masses. We are a nation of immigrants, and we work better together when we embrace our differences.

The podcast is wrapped up by Imam Azhar talking about his Friday khutbah which was based on Valentine’s Day, where he explores love and true love relationships, and telling the Stone Soup story.

Do you have questions for the Imam or thoughts on the show?
Drop us an email at rawislam@vennnetwork.org

02/28/2017

Raw Islam Podcast 4: Beyond Haram, What is Better?

In this episode of Raw Islam Podcast, B.C. Dodge and Imam Azhar discuss a scary word: kafir.

B.C. starts by sharing a Twitter exchange he had with a fellow Navy veteran who was shocked to find out he was Muslim. The man asked, “Are you a sharia Muslim or a Quranic Muslim?”

B.C. says, “In my head, I heard, ‘Are you a good witch or are you a bad witch?’ And I’m like, I’m a sandwich—that’s what I’m into.” Out loud, he said, “By your standards, I guess I’m a Quranic Muslim?”

The man then asked, “Don’t you think all infidels have to be killed?” B.C. says, “And I’m like Noooooooo!”
After countering the “which witch” idea with a laugh about sheikhs and shakes (strawberry or chocolate), Imam Azhar gets right down to it.

If you were to Google “What is a kafir,” he points out, you’ll find more from people who don’t understand Islam than from those who do.

Kafir doesn’t mean infidel, and it definitely doesn’t mean a Jew or Christian, he says. Infidel isn’t a correct translation at all. The word kafir comes from the root k-f-r, which means to conceal or cover up. A farmer is a kafir in a way — he’s covering up a seed in the ground.

In the Quran, the word referred to the type of people who would go listen to the Quran in secret but they rejected it in public out of pride. A kafir is someone who knows something, benefits from it, but then denies it, rejects it and condemns it, even works against it.

The Quran doesn’t refer to all people who aren’t Muslim as kafirs. It calls on people as mankind, Jews, Christians, and so on, Imam Azhar says.

“In the sight of Allah, every single human is a creation of Allah,” he says. “God didn’t send us down so we can fight or quarrel … we don’t demonize each other because of those differences.”

He continues, “We as Muslims have no right to call [another] person a kafir, forget retaliating or killing them. In Islam we’re taught to see the other as a human, not to see the other as a kafir.”

Imam Azhar tells a story of meeting a man who spoke his fears: “In ya’ll book I’m an infidel so you all are going to kill my family and burn my farm down.”

The imam points out that there IS one chapter of the Quran that is dedicated to kafirs. It tells the prophet Muhammad how to deal with them — what to say...but you will have to Listen to the podcast to hear what it says?

Raw Islam Podcast 5: Are You a Good Infidel, or a Bad Infidel?

From the Venn Network, where communities are brought together and gaps are bridged, comes another scintillating episode of the Raw Islam podcast with Imam Azhar Subedar, hosted by B.C. Dodge.

A vandalism incident at a mosque located in New Tampa, Florida, where Imam Azhar resides, is reported by our host, who calls it an atrocious occurring. With bomb threats towards the Jewish Community Centers and the desecration of their cemeteries in St. Louis and Philadelphia, this is a series of tragedies which are taking place with alarming frequency. And regardless of President Trump’s address in Congress to the Joint Session and the nation, the threats still persist. And the disturbing thing, as noted by Imam Azhar, is the neglect shown by President Trump regarding the Muslim incidents, whilst he in his own words denounces the ‘threats to the Jewish community, and the shooting in Kansas’.

A silver lining in this havoc is the coming together of the Muslim and the Jewish community, as they transcend beyond any religious or cultural barrier and offering a helping hand out of sheer humanity. By standing in solidarity regarding the Jewish tragedies and donating through the Go Fund Me website, the Muslims made the first step in standing up for the values of the entire humanity, which was returned by the Jewish who became the majority contributors towards the Muslim cause, wishing goodwill and Chai (long life) to those in need.

In relating a Hadith by the Prophet (PBUH), Imam Azhar allows the audience to see how creating a trend of goodness not only reaps rewards that are duplicated as someone else continues on the path, but this starts a chain of righteousness that is everlasting. And by inviting people towards animosity and rebellion, one has to carry the burden of the sin. Our host likens this to the concept of Karma and expresses his concern about the normalization and acceptance of these hate crimes, from which people are emboldened by the last person who did it, and so the pattern of viciousness continues.

By failing to educate people about the people of faith and allowing people to spike up hate and instill terror, it causes them to become intoxicated and respond in an aggressive manner. A very interesting outlook is brought to light by the Imam who says that history is repeated when we move backward, and recorded when we move forward. At the first sign of unrest and difficulty, people begin to retract and go backward where a lot of darkness lies. The need is to move onwards, by reaching out to those that are disturbed by the presence of other religions and practices, to reach out and engage them, for America will win not through the divide, but by standing in unison.

At the closing of the podcast, Imam Azhar encourages the viewers to keep struggling and to keep faith and hope alive, by praying to Allah and taking the first step. For by taking this step, we will bridge the void.

 

Do you have questions for the Imam or thoughts on the show?
Drop us an email at rawislam@vennnetwork.org