i was just with minister farrakhan not too long ago and the way he explained it to me made sense to me. and regardless of how we feel about him, i sat with him and he expressed his love, and he taught for three hours.

and he expressed his love and his desire to move his community that all islam. but as a little kid when he was very young, related a story where he praised allah. we're not understand you probably. please bless us to understand you properly. after he became the leader of the nation of islam, within a very short period of time, almost half a million people converted to islamic orthodoxy. this is a miracle and the shores of america. we are telling stories and we're deciding what's in it and what's not. what is this not in our story? white your children not know that this is the legacy that we inherited? why do we not see these people as our predecessors in the religion? why do we not see this community are see this community have not only the great scholars that we have, that we can ask to represent all of us, all of that community? i'm a european american person

but my community is the black american muslim community. this is how allah had to be. so when we talk about muslim culture, i'm just very, very torn up at our schizophrenia and at our amnesia. because i just, it's as plain as day to me with just my limited everything, that we're missing out on our humanity. this idea white supremacy separates us from our humanity. that's what it does. and, frankly, -- [speaking arabic] and our prophet muhammad addresses specifically in his farewell speech.

in our beautiful scholars, and i love all of them so much, they are masterful at addressing this in time, and being very, very specific about administering -- what do they call it when you have a disease and they tell you have the disease likes diagnosing. things like environmental issues. things like the foods that we are eating. all of these things are very specific about it. i bless them for that, but how will be able to have this conversation pretending that white supremacy isn't part and parcel of this modern world, but we don't look at the sun to do what time it is. we look at a clock that tells us what time it is in england. and that's how we know what time it is. i don't know how to -- i just learned how to measure, because my wife, they taught her how to measure for what time it is. i was looking at an app on the phone that told me by the

calendar that told what time was in europe, what time it is. so this is just all i want to offer, is that we're missing out on one of the most, if not the most, significant and important realities and wealth of strength and wisdom. i don't know the words but i know what i feel and what i recognize. we are missing out on a committee. we talk about malcolm, and thank god, i feel like malcolm -- i read his book and he predicted the sheikh and he predicted a lot and he predicted you. malcolm predicted you. he said if european americans would study islamic it would be cared from being white. predicted this. but he didn't come out of a vacuum. [applause] he didn't dissent out of

nowhere. there's a community of people who inspired him and who made his life matter. so when he spoke it wasn't just him speaking. there were men and women on the ground desiring a lot and lived their lives and ready to die for it. in the hood, in the slums of getting people who are hooked on drugs and freedom in the house. team and putting all of the basement until they get clean and putting them in the shower and teaching them that you are -- original language is arabic and you're a muslim. this is what made america face islam. that's what struck me. i'm through, thanks. [applause] >> thank you so much, brother ali. so something that kind of ties

in to what we've heard so far from the panelists. it's great we have all these ideas of what's going on with culture, where do we want to go with it, but there seems to be a huge disconnect between the generation that's coming up. a lot of those folks haven't no life before the internet your they socialize and interact online. there are lots of self-made facebook imams, and then there's this whole new trend that what it's like someone gets so many followers and all of a sudden they're an expert, and authority and people turn to them. so what is the solution to this kind of -- i don't know if i would call it a crisis but it seems there's a huge disconnect and there needs to be some way to resolve it and not ignore it. >> i would like to offer a thought on the. i guess, you know, it's very

interesting because brother ali and i are sort of coming at this from a position of people are trying to perform, these storytellers in the way and we have scholars and to top five of the most influential muslims, but -- i would offer this idea. we as muslim community when my observations of becoming a muslim was that this was a community that's culture you might say is very focused on scholars and scholarship and getting things right and really doing the rigorous work of that nature and that pursuit makes it sometimes may be afraid of, in essence, what i would call the marketplace of artistic ideas. meaning you are saying that there's a social media and it sort of chaotic and people can experts and they cannot followers, but i think that's

actually a good thing in the following way. because these voices, these ideas really get out there and they compete. some are hot for a little while, and it's the one that are saying something truthful that persist. the ones that are really getting a genuine human emotion that state. the term that i keep using, begin to expand the narrative. that's what i think we need to be doing is expanded the narrative as much as possible. i don't think that's a bad thing at a don't think there's quote-unquote a solution to it. i think it's actually a very good way that many people in our community are getting more power to express ideas and express thoughts, and begin some of those ideas will disappear because they are not worthy of it. but those that stake him just like the great works of art over time, have something to offer us all that are important. >> if i could say something.

i think one of the reasons we struggle so much is that we haven't developed, and that might not be the proper term, because social movements sometimes are not developed a sort of the product of a spontaneous the storable moment. we don't have to a certain extent mass movements that articulate various solutions or attempts at solutions to a lot of these bridging, a lot of these divides, overcoming a lot of these issues and questions. so i think to a certain extent we have to be confident that the demands of our day will give birth to the kinds of movements that are necessary to answer some of these questions and to bridge some of these divides. because they are bigger than one individual. one individual isn't going to send out the ultimate facebook

status or write the perfect article that's been peer-reviewed that's going to answer all the questions. to a certain extent it's going to be a product of a movement that brings activists, scholars, laypeople together, and then collectively, their collective effort and attempts to just live out a particular historical moment is going to provide the answer. so we just need to sit back and be confident that such movements will appear and they will take us a little further down the road. and if they don't answer the question or the questions per se, they will give us a little more insight into what's needed to begin to answer the question or to begin to bridge the gap. >> my point is really very

brief. someone an agreement with alex. i have some reservations about the chaotic sort of dynamic of the internet, but i think you are right that there is no one solution. you're not going to shut down. i think though that for me it's not so much a chaos. it's not even the fact that so much of what appears on the internet is unauthenticated, although those are problems. for me one of the problems that really worries me is come and speaking of something he was speaking about, our habits and ways of doing things is just the utter lack of civility. i'm a muslim on the internet. for me, it's just so damaging to the cause.

you can have constructive conversations with the best ideas rise to the top, where people are constantly, just insulting and attacking and disfiguring, dismembering people on the internet. and this is shocking. i don't come from tender background. i can deal with -- i can deal with it, but as a muslim, and i still remember this and i will say this and i will stop because i don't want to go on, but i remember in graduate school, you know, or even when i was abroad studying, i'm reading these guys and they're having like these knockdown drag-out debates in the books. and all they would say is that one of them would say, and i keep saying, will you tell me who this person is? and they would never do it. because the person is not the

issue. i'm not arguing with that person. i'm dealing with the idea. they would deal with the idea with such ability that coming in, i would be reading this up and i'm like, yeah, yes, yes. and then you get to the end of the page and say, this is wrong. and the point that i'm making is that there was so much integrity and fidelity in a manner which they would represent the views of adversaries, that you would almost be convinced by the adversaries argument until they came in to make their own. this is our legacy. this is our heritage. we should not be tearing each other down. we should not be misrepresenting each other. especially as people are leaders and communities, we should be modeling the civility of our power. we have to model civility.

in the civility is one of our enemies. it's really one of our enemies. and people's feelings are no less hurt because you fall in behind, the safe screen of the internet than they are to insult him to the face. to be very careful about that. that's all i want to say about that speed and i will add i think what everyone said. i agree with alex in terms of this idea of the possibility, but also sort of, i feel equipped to be honest about the limits of space. the internet is not a democratic space, right? we know about regulations, net neutrality. it really literate is that is based everyone has access to equally and has access to sort of amplifying their voice or their opinion equally. so it's not that kind of space but it is a powerful space for organizing. so while i agree that it's sort of, people such oh, my.com it's a crisis, what i'm going to do?

people will act out a face of fear and desperation. they don't act intelligently. they don't do the things, they react as opposed to being proactive. i agree so don't want to be in crisis mode. we want to understand young muslims as a part of sort of what's going on with young americans or america's more broadly. we don't want to particularize or single out young muslims that i'm some sort particular issue or problem that's particular to them. that isn't just reflective what's happening in society more broadly. at the same time went to recognize that all of us need people to sort of helpless see the way. we have to organize. we have to organize them have to come together with people who we agree with our we don't agree with but at least we can share to create an atmosphere and the space of critique. i recognized this is about the question of civility but i don't want civility to be this mask for the lack of a critical be either. the people say you're being,

because i've heard this and you end up feeling as if you can't criticize anything because it's so uncivil, right? there's a way in which the call for civility has to also be a call that does not dampen our damper critical conversation either. these are conversations we have to organize. i think we have to be very intentional about them. i think that's true for people and whatever your specific space is popular particular because to my mind, part of what is not happening on this that i'm sure they're part of an in sort of hedging my bets, right, is an elevated conversation, right? people want to talk about people's scarf but they don't want to talk about white supremacy, right? this is my problem. i want to elevate the conversation. in order to do that we have to organize. [applause]

>> so we have received a good question about putting muslims in the forefront through professional athleticism, any if we put muslims in the forefront of these fields is that the way to become i just more obvious in american culture, accepted and be a part of it? is that the way to move forward? >> no, ma'am. [laughter] >> i second that. >> should i quit my job? so i mean, like just putting muslims and more prominent positions and encouraging them to do so. >> i would say no. and no, you shouldn't quit your job either. but i which is having actually it's about putting muslims in less prominent positions, sort of in terms of, like this idea that again, that if we just have muslim newscasters.

so, for example, we have famous african-american women, beyoncé, for example. she is huge, famous, right? but why is she famous? what makes her famous? what are the types of aesthetics or priorities and principles that come out of a white supremacist framework that enabled beyoncé duet for frame -- fame? it doesn't matter that she's really famous and she is of african descent if, in fact, what we end up taking from her presence is a reproduction of a system of inequality. so i'm not really confident that having awesome faces and were is the image. i agree with expanding narratives, but i think that also has to happen like regular old people, regular people who do regular stuff, are the folks living in many ways are sort of a vanguard of that. that's both about telling a story, so to speak, but it's also about being active in

communities, community life, and respond to the needs of people. i feel it's not about the high profile figures but it's about sort of kind of the those sensibilities of muslims care within the everyday lives that i think is most impactful. [applause] >> anybody else? >> if i could add to that. your point about beyoncé i think is a very good one. innocents are getting back to the issue of storytelling, you know, just by the fact someone happens to be prominent, what story is that telling? it may be telling their same old story of starting or same old story of something. actually about the kinds of stories that people and prominence reflect. >> right. spent and i think that's why we have to be careful about saying, well, anyone profile will get the job done. >> there may be very prominent people. one of the things that prominent people do bring along with them is an added multiplier effect to

the number of people who will listen to them simply because they're prominent. i think it depends what kind of store you're going to tell. i remember reading a sportscaster who, because we're running short on time i'll be brief about my store who said basically his father was quite a white supremacist. and when muhammad ali said on television, big hat on and said, if you want to put me before the firing squad tomorrow, i'm ready to die before i abandon the artful mohammad and every village and of islam. this is what the man said. his father said to him, you know, i do know a lot about what this young man is talking about, but you get very few opportunities in life to stand up and be a man. and this been a standing up and being a man. and he said his father had voted for george wallace in the first election. and under the influence of what he heard from him at all the, he

voted for george mcgovern in the next election. so people in prominent positions, i mean, can be influential but it depends on the stories they're telling us i don't think it's either one or the other but i think it really is a matter of the story. >> i think also because it's very important for us to understand that there are certain fundamental principles in islam, such as the belief in the universality of humanity, human brotherhood or sisterhood, that life transcends the physical, and that there are some things worth dying for. and i think that was the power -- there are certain things worth losing it all for. and so it's not a question of having people and prominence. it's having people in prominence who are willing to give their

lives and to lose it all to be faithful to those higher truths and beliefs. that's why muhammad ali was so powerful. he was willing to give up the fame, the wealth, his notoriety. his career. everything to advance a set of principles that could resonate to any decent human being regardless of the race, ethnicity, class, background, et cetera. so if people of prominence can do that, perhaps they could help to move the whole conversation, social discourse forward and create different types of old shall understand the and realities. >> speaking of prominence, i think some people may be aware that the brother did issue some criticism of other organizations because they're not speaking of

enough about world events but my question is if we're supposed between this american muslim culture and be concerned about being american muslims can do have to take every single thing that happens overseas to like "defcon 4"? do we need to always be on this hyper alert, always reacting when they have a lot of issues here at home that we are not dealing with at all? are we just sitting ducks? what should we be doing? >> let me say doctor raman on is not here to represent his point of you edit a thing would be appropriate to engage him in absentia, the absence of visible to represent himself. i won't speak about that.

on the overall issue, however, up us as an american muslim community, quite frankly in my own attitude about this is that we as an american muslim community have to become a lot more self-respecting. we have to respect our own reality, our own priorities, our own values, our own issues. and we have to insist that we have not only the right but the responsibility to define out on agenda in terms of what prayers we set as a muslim community. and others who disagree with that, they may disagree with the. and maybe a point on which we need to come together and discuss these, we don't have to report to anybody because we are muslims who hold ourselves responsible before allah. and we have children, grandchildren, brothers, sisters. we have on reality or that we have to take responsibility for and we should not apologize

about that to anyone. [applause] >> i understand where the sentiment comes from in this question, this is a question, so for myself, for example, being raised a muslim, you know, in brooklyn, new york. i remember when we boycotted south africa because of apartheid. i always knew what was happening there and i also know about what was happening, but things are happening in my local community. so my perspective, and this is, so i think it's a little bit of a false choice between, do we have to care about everything? yes, we have to care literally about everything because our position as americans is that we are the beneficiaries of u.s. and put imperialism. so there was a photo that existed -- [applause] that was posted on facebook of -- what's the thing?

teargas canisters, right? there were three locations on the earth unadorned number the third, but two of them -- one was ferguson. the canisters were produced in a facility in kentucky, right? we know that the militarization of the police and the united states, right, files and copies the way to which the u.s. military is policing sort of non-american populations elsewhere. we know that personnel and information between the prison and thus a complex and the united states are shifted back and forth between the ways in which u.s. power operates elsewhere. so we get about everything, right? so i'm wearing this t-shirt, right? black lives matter, right? i'm wearing this t-shirt, black lives matter, not because only black lives matter only in the u.s., not because it's a program notion of what it means to be an american because the fundamental reality of black life is one that's about human life and it's

about like everywhere. i don't think we have to choose. i think the choices may come in terms of, as individuals or communities which causes, right, we end up, we end up spending time on for whatever particular reason, which may mean a whole host of things. but there's no choice your whether or not i care about what happens to someone in the evil outbreak in west africa. this is not a choice, right? yes, we get about everything. at least that's my perspective. [applause] >> so this question i was actually going to say something after this session was over to thank imam shakir, and this allows me to thank him in front of all of you for making another point win which would mimic this is religion and it's about our

souls, about the afterlife, not to forget the. when i became a muslim now so many years ago, politics was the very last thought in my mind that it was a very spiritual expense for me, very religious for me. it did something for my heart, and i sometimes feel as i progressed as a muslim over these years that increasingly i'm just engage in conversations that have to do with issues abroad and muslim political actions and do we put emphasis here, emphasis there, or what it is. and very rarely sometimes is the conversation brought back to really want our faith is about, which ultimately is about our souls and about connecting with the divine and realizing that whatever is happening here, it's temporary. we are passing through it and there's something that we all should be keeping our minds on and headed for. so i think to some degree i was so happy you said that, i think

it's something bears repeating because i think we need to keep that sentiment in mind as regard all these questions and all these issues. you know, that ultimately islam is about our relationship with god and where we're going. and it's also about this earth, but we shouldn't forget the other and i think sometimes we often do. >> i would agree with what everyone said. i think, and again it's not appropriate to engage someone in their absence. i think there's one thing we should keep in mind or bear in mind is that a lot of times these conferences are places of refuge for people who are out there during the year dealing with these issues, sometimes in very trying ways. they're working with drawbacks,

homeless folks. some are very deeply engaged in these political struggles under very -- with their children, as students, in the divestment movement, and very difficult and trying ways. and if we cannot have any spaces that can serve as a refuge where people can come together, and they can be rejuvenated spiritually so that they can go out into the world and engage it with new energy and with a new spiritual perspective that can keep them focused on the big picture, all of the spaces are taken away. and every space becomes a space of political contention, controversy, stress and strain.

then we're going to see the already dangerous trends of apostasy, people leaving islam because they can't find any relief except amongst the buddhists or amongst the christians. they can't find any spiritual meaning in the context of what has been defined as islam. we are entering into some very dangerous territory that is unprecedented in the history of this uma. because the uma was able to survive the political disasters because it had spiritual refuge. they conquered islam publicly but islam conquered of the mongols spiritually and brought them into islam. i think we have to be cognizant of those sort of realities, or else we're going to become a

very unique community in the history of this uma. [applause] >> just because i was listening to what you're saying, imam zaid, and i am i think toward about what you're saying in so much that i think 100% was agreeing with what you were saying earlier about, often times like american muslims need to give ourselves a break. everything is not defcon 40 the stakes are high. you need to take a minute. a lot is in control and you do what you can. it's sort of like what was this phrase that i created for myself, we're fighting for justice but we we put the reports in god's time. we don't know what will happen to we continue to fight. it's also spiritual refuge. if you don't believe that i am

fully human and like if you're my muslim brother but you don't, but how can i find spiritual refuge with you? so this question a spaces we create is one i think and false politics, right? and i don't believe in sort of bifurcation of politics, but if we did not create the space, right, to head on, deal with these fundamental sort of the lease that still and all sorts of ways become micro-aggressions at dr. jackson was talked about earlier. if we don't quit the space to do that i'm not sure the spaces, these bases may be spiritual rejuvenated for some people but other people do not for. so that for me is kind of what i don't -- >> i don't think i articulated it probably. i don't think we're talking about sort of a black and white, zero-sum situation. i am generalizing. so when we talk about spiritual refuge, it's not necessarily a

physical space that's 100% a conference dedicated to sort of recharging the batteries without confronting serious issues. i just think when politics becomes so hegemonic that we can't even begin to envision a place of refuge, that's when it becomes extremely dangerous. so not talking about any physical space, any physical geographical location, a center, a convention center or anything. just having the idea that there are some spaces where we can come together and even discourse on issues related to politics, but approaching them from a different premise. and that premise has to do with something you mentioned in part,

in that we don't know when relief will come, but we do know that part of dealing with the process of bringing about relief is cultivating a relationship with our creator that leaves no room for despair. i think a lot of times we can become so desperate that we will ensure -- interchange solutions that have no foundation in the religion. so how do we maintain spaces even while we're having those conversations that the atmosphere is unqualified by desperation? atmosphere is then qualified by such an intense urgency to come up with a solution right now that we can't, and even while very are having a conversation, you know, let's step back a minute and remember allah, and then come back to it.

so that's complex and nuanced antidote think i could articulate in the time allotted or even if i'd more time, but i acknowledge what you're saying. and it's very real and there are dangers in going too far in any direction. >> i think the danger is going too far in either direction i just think that, you know, many of us know people who are personally threatened. that has to be i think a priority as well. that might not engage our political energies in a typically we are used to talk about them being engaged, but these are sons and our daughters, our friends, people we have known for years and i think that has to acquire some priority among us as a commute. things are tough out there for muslims. things are really, really tough out there for muslims. i mean, i'm in university

studies and i say young muslims being challenged on a daily basis. and many of them are in crisis. and what's going on in this particular country or that particular muslim country, it's quite friendly not their priority. they are config a whether they still want to be muslim or not. i think us be lots of attention, quality attention at a don't think we need to apologize for that. >> well, unfortunately we're out of time, and we will have to say goodnight to you guys. thank you so much our panelists. [applause] don't stop tweeting. tweet all weekend. any thoughts that cross your mind. thank you, guys. [applause] >> more now from the islamic society of north america. this next panel looks at some

the challenges facing the muslim-american committee. it's one hour 20 minutes. >> can everyone who may? good. i have nothing interesting to say beyond that. welcome to generation rise. my name is haroon moghul. my job is to get the conversation going. we have a very distinct which panel here. went on to try to is each of them speak as much as possible and get the conversation dies down, your questions will be brought up to me and then also i will filter them for the most -- feel free to the big winner to keep them on their toes but if there is something you always wanted to know, not is your chance to ask the question because i will make sure to read it out loud. so how is everyone doing bikes

good. it took me two hours to get here from the airport which is as long as it took me to fly here. so that is generation rise on an american scale. the purpose of the nice conversation is to basically talk about the issues, dilemmas of opportunity and challenge is out of facing muslim committees going forward. so i'm going to be basically is start the conversation off by introducing mehdi hasan, the political director of "huffington post" uk, columnist for the new stable maxing at the present of head-to-head al-jazeera english. a government seen it could have wished. is the barter for of british opposition leader and has published an electronic book on the financial crisis. in 2012 in the guardian newspaper, trinity road the committee is at a tortured relationship with politician everything is. it has become a cliché that to say young muslims are alienated

from the political process. doesn't make it any less true. muslims are woefully underrepresented in political life. the number of muslim members of parliament in the uk for instance, stands at eight out of six and 50. that was about two years ago but when one to ask mehdi start with is come when we are constantly the committee being hacked by events overseas, most recently the rise of isis, the how do we as a committee focus on the domestic when there is so much pressure on us to talk about the so-called foreign? >> a lovely to be here in detroit. thank you very much, high room, for that kind introduction. in answer to not provocative question at all, i would say that's what a way to start. i will start by embracing the for muslims. look, my views on this but i don't think we should force a

choice when it comes to discussing issues that medic was interesting is we have this three-day event. i'm looking at the program. sure to get closer? okay. i won't start again. look, i don't think we should have to choose between foreign subjects and domestic subjects. if you look at you program you'll see isna put together an amazing range of panel events over the next couple of days. i will go to all of them and there are so many issues that we can cover, should cover, have the ability and intellect to cover come have the expertise to cover. i just don't buy this whole choices we people in our community old and uk were i live, in europe, and here in north america which is welcome we've got to have this debate about gaza and nothing else or about iraq and nothing else. we've got to go on immediate that talk about isis and terrorism to take it to me, i'm a journalist who happens to be a muslim. when i start out don't people want to talk to me about were these issues.

not just domestic versus foreign the islamic issues in general. i'm the guy who wrote the biography of the of the opposition, ed miliband why did you write a book about him he will not be prime minister. we will see next you. the first book i was going to write was not going to be a book about islam. it's easy to be pigeonholed. i wrote a column intellectual when george galloway was elected as a member of parliament, and my point was that muslims cannot keep going back to the ballot box and voting basically only on the basis of foreign policy issues, on the basis of which were is current right now. that doesn't mean foreign policy isn't important. of course, not. it is. take it from someone like me. you want to talk about palestinians. i spent the last month are going for his support of israel about gaza. i've been in greater shows with the israeli ambassador to the uk. talk about iraq, i've written things about isis.

let's go right now. we can refight the 2003 iraq invasion. but so what. what's the phrase? you can walk and chew gum at the same time. you can do both come you can also focus on issues at home the meta. issues and arguments that matter whether it's a high rates of muscle in prisons, the number of muslims nor disproportionally represent with mental issues in uk for several. all those other issues that the previous session was touching upon you. i just don't buy this false division between we must talk about foreign policy because muslims are dying, people want to talk about domestic politics are self-indulgent, middle-class, they don't care about their fellow muslims abroad. they are focusing of things that don't matter when people are dying now. yes people are dying but that doesn't mean other issues are not important. actually not just from a moral perspective but from a self-serving purpose, it would focus on issues at home and are a better community at home, and

more prosperous, more stable, more united at home we can do much more to help on those causes abroad that matter to us. >> thank you. to my right we have zahra billoo who is a committee organizer civil rights attorney. many of you have seen her adequately defending muslim civil rights, civil rights more generally in the united states and abroad. she served as executive director of the san francisco bay area chapter of cair, the council on american islamic relations, which one of the most notable or possessions we have an attorney. i wanted to ask you, the last few years it seems some really intense debates and conversation and a lot of muslim communities about where we stand as a country domestically and internationally. sometimes these conversations building off of what mehdi said can become kind of intense. they provoked sharp divisions and disagreements. there's nothing to say we as a community have to agree on where we stand, but how do we deal

with the divisions in our community that are inevitably going to keep coming up as these conversations from a special involving muslims, become more and more pointed, more heated? [inaudible] >> also not on. thank you to everyone on the panel for having this conversation. it's always difficult to talk about disagreements and then to give us all the stage and hope that we won't do it wrong. we build together over and over. one of the things that my parents always raised with is you fight more with your siblings then you will fight with anyone in your life. and then maybe when you get married you fight a little bit with your spouse, but never the way you fight with your siblings. you can't rid yourself of your siblings or your parents. they are your family. our community is one family. one of the things i remember post-9/11 that we talked about a lot was unity and unity and

unity. every kind of disagreement people that worry. they got scared. except where to realize that unity does not mean uniformity. we're going to disagree. we have to draw our lines in the sand. for some people that's going to be boycott investment sanctions. for some people it's going to be gender relations. i will tell you, personally i have trouble working with people who disrespect women. i have trouble being in separate spaces. i have trouble not being the imam. when i put in the space as my personal lines are tested. everyone has those. but i come back over and over. i was raised ago to the mosque everyday of the week and i'm grateful i so got to do that. i don't always agree. we are stronger together. one of the things that's easy to do is fall apart. how easy would it be to splinter this group in this room into 15

different conventions? we could probably find more ways to divide us. but the former president of the united states, jimmy carter, does it come speak to the convention of 50 muscles to he comes in the speaks to isna because where power when we mobilize together. and so i say, fight, put your opinions out there, work with any organizations and institutions to put forward your agenda, but also understand that unity is going to mean more than any divisions that we ever have. so if we don't have the disciplines to fall in line when it's necessary to fall in line when it's messaging to mobilize thousands, really millions of muslims. when you think about even how big this group is, take a second and think actually there somewhat about 7 million muslims around the united states if you could move 7 million muslims, we could probably fix our foreign policy and our domestic policies. but it takes discipline, teamwork and unity first. >> thank you.

i was using the broken mic because i'm very smart. that was a joke. nobody laughed. that's great. he's really not smart. it's still early, right? a long cab ride. hey man, i'm getting nothing if it is really terrible. i'm so sorry. i feel really bad. it's bad enough i'm not a doctor. so there is nothing wrong if you're not a doctor. your kids can pay for school themselves. it's true. so on my far right, imam mansoor sabree which i believe we've met for the first time in west virginia, not were expected to me, the resident imam, committed activist in the united states. is based in atlanta, georgia, area but if you don't own you should know them. and i wanted to ask you, we have a lot of big conversation. you are the imam of a very large, very significant, very

historic community. what are the issues you see on the ground? what of the conversations you think we should be having up here? >> listen, again, it's an honor to be here on stage with this distinguished panel and discussing some very heavy issues, big topics. and just to briefly comment on what has been said, i think for me personally, and for a segment of the muslim community, these are difficult or challenging sometimes to speak about international affairs when our concerns are very domestic. i read a report recently done by a isna research group just noting that 30%% of muslim community in america is made up of african-americans, those who converted the first and second generation at me personal am a second generation muzzle. my parents converted, my father in the late '60s, my mother in

the '70s, and it's a large segment of people who are not necessarily over concerns about global issues in the degree in which where dialogue and conversation. so it's good to kind of have this mix. and so for us understand the global position and understand the muslim world and how it affects us with this shrinking table that we all sit at as human beings. but i always pose the question, when we have this large segment of muslims in america who changed their religion, who converted, we should be asking what decision making process took place? why did they come to the fold of al-islam and continue to kind of use that as a way to have meaningful dialogue and conversation as citizens of this country? because as a face it's something that really engages all types of

people. and the diversity that comes with al-islam historically, within our theater, within the permission of the first community of medina, we have a replicate of that here in america that is profound and unique. that's unseen throughout the world to such as kind of college on the strength and allowing for what we're going to as a people to kind of dictate what the top priorities are. i am and imam. that means that i get abused a lot. used quite a bit. but as imam's we put ourselves in a position to be serviced is a site. when i think about really to be brief with it when i think about really watch so many people chose al-islam as the way from african-american immunity in particular but it was because islam present a solution to problem. and to believe in today's society we have to think about it that way. what type of problem is in existence and how can we pose a

suitable responsible solution for it, and by default you become the one whose foremost. you become the one who is often, the one who is leading. but it's that sitting back and having conversations about it but it is about being act. a lot of work we did isn't community government. seen the problems data comes in issues that come into the door from community members who are muslim and even those who are just neighbors who need assistance. we begin to think about as a muslim from the koran, from the traditions of the prophet muhammad, how do we formulate new ideas and new solutions for current everyday problems. and that, believe me, brings new muslims into the fold. >> and on my left ear we have maryam amirebrahimi. without you shared a cab ride here, and i got to hear her speak quite adequately and passionately about social justice and was going on in the united states today but i'm sure everyone has seen and been dismayed, concerned,

heartbrokheartbrok en, frustrated about what's happening in producing and the larger patterns in transit 60. sometimes it seems to me that we don't necessarily see things until they pop up on a certain kind of writer. things are fine if you're in the background and then they blow open and suddenly many people ask ourselves, did we really have a problem that big that we didn't see? maryam is working towards her bachelor's in islamic sciences, so she's a scholar of islam. just passionate about social justice. she's memorized the koran, the muslim scripture, as i wanted to ask you in the work that you do, what are the conversations that we are not having? imam mansoor spoke with a different to me that different attachments to islam. what i'm wondering conversely is one of the things that were not talking about that could lead to the opposite, to people perhaps drifting away from the committee or even from islam itself?

>> let me i should ask all of you a question. raise your hands if you know someone was dealt with depression in the muslim community? raise your hand. everyone take a quick look around the see how many hands there are. okay, hands down. depression or isolation to the point of actually attacking suicide or cutting our other forms of self harm, raised your hands. looked around to that's a lot of people raising their hands. hands down. how many of you know or have personally experienced race and -- racism in the muslim committee? look around, look around. hands down. as a woman compounded of you felt like you don't have a space in the muslim community? raise your hand. okay. as men, how many of you feel like you have issues they can actually be addressed in the muslim community? okay. you can't raise your head because you can't be addressed. that was a trick question is why did you raise your hands?

those abroad issues. but in a committee we do with people who leave islam completely come and it's not because islam is and this incredible religion but it's because our communities that have relevant conversation about what people are actually going through. some of these issues me started on him are in a person's home life, as you continue and do with the type of segregation, the type of sexism, racism and a lot of the focus that we have in our committees, it causes people to start getting an adequate as individual to it causes us to feel like we can't even be a part of a spiritual space that will help us to close to the one who created us to it's difficult to feel compassionate about issues that have to do with have to do with humanitarianism or political issues when we feel so broken. one of the things that i've seen in the works that i've been doing a different communities is that people are so in pain and so much pain, because for

example, a brother told me, he's an african-american convert. he's been muslim for almost 10 years. he told a black is the wrong color to be in the muslim community. another young person, a high school student, came up to me after a lecture and she told me that it was the first time in her life that she felt like god actually loved her. she thought god hated her her entire life because in the damage is problems. her mom is telling her there's no point in ukraine because god is acquainted sector in what because i'm always upset with you. many people told me that heard that from their parents before. they go in and there's no real tangible space. then they go to school and the people who embrace this sister were individuals were very, very strong, strong involved with drugs and she got involved with drugs and eventually she attempted suicide. why does that even having? because she was trying to fill a void that wasn't filled within our committee. so one of the things i think i appreciate about every

individual here who do a lot of work for building the community is that they follow a particular example and this is something i think we need to remind. a female, she converted to islam, she migrated, then migrated back to mcgee. this is seven years after the migration. she is coming in later how many of you guys are converts? raise your hand. may god bless every single one of you and every single one of the family members. [applause] how many of you came to islam later on in life? okay. and how many of you have ever felt lik like you are in for to someone else was muslim because they make you feel that way? that has happened to me many times. she comes in seven years after being an abstention. she is visiting her daughter. he walks in and he is like who she? his daughter is like, she's the

one who made the shrinking what he told her? he was like, we got to making the first. we got here first. so we have more of a right to the prophet muhammad than you do. in other words, we are sunni. with a majority of muslim communities we have more of a right to muzzle space than you do. we have more of a right to muzzle spaces and you do. we were born muslim. you are not the we have more of a right to muzzle spaces than you do. -- muslim spaces. we have discussed of late but what did she do? she used her agency applause. one thing to all of these individuals are doing, and i'm sure many of you are doing, this is what eluded to, is that she didn't just defend, you're right, and the woman, nothing to see. she was like, by god, i swear you are wrong and i'm not going to drink and tell each other what you said i'm going to tell it like it is. when she said that, he didn't

sake of your face and leave. he said i don't mean to say cover your face and oppressively. many women choose to do that, god bless and to do something that is the way we treat women who have something very important to say about the dynamics of our committee. instead he told her, omar doesn't more of a right to me than you. noted his companions. what he told is that you and your companions migrated twice and he only migrant once so they are rewarded more for him. when she used her agency of voice, she not only affected herself but she empowered the rest of the community of people who can do. the reason i want to focus on the phone quickly is because we have the collective ability like zahra mentioned to focus on only other areas like trade to mention. we need to make sure we as a committee can voice the issues we're dealing with and that we've accountable having the agency of doing that so that we can go into a committee like

imam mansoor as a convert for someone who gives a circle within oppressed in this country and we can say that we've issues we need to focus on that span beyond what fails or facebook feeds every few weeks and then changes. when people are dying inside. so the point is user agency of voice to every single one of us has that ability. [applause] >> i just want to pick up on that -- i agree with that. one is i think one of the reasons the behavior identified that we disagree, i think there's a lot of laziness in our community. not just physical lazy, although we are physically lazy, i include myself, but intellectually lazy. i use the phrase earlier, walking and chewing gum at the same time. i'm sure many of your listing right now and you would've heard as i did the passionate statement about depression, about self harm. a lot of you might say we can't be everywhere at once.

we can all do with these issues. i don't have expertise but i can go and protest about something happening abroad. we are too comfortable. we are in a comfort zone and one of the reasons for is because people say the middle east is complicated. i think in our minds it's not complicated at all. is an identifiable set of solutions. we are on the side of the good guys and, therefore, it's very easy to take a stance, speak of oakley, join groups, go on protests. ..