WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.259 Okay, so picture this. You're at a dinner party. 00:00:02.419 --> 00:00:04.960 It's a, you know, a nice polite gathering. On 00:00:04.960 --> 00:00:07.259 your left, you have a chemical engineer from 00:00:07.259 --> 00:00:10.929 Houston. Okay. A STEM guy. Logical, systems oriented, 00:00:11.150 --> 00:00:12.910 speaks perfect American English. He probably 00:00:12.910 --> 00:00:15.550 has very strong opinions on the best barbecue 00:00:15.550 --> 00:00:18.109 in Texas. I can see him. Yeah. Standard suburban 00:00:18.109 --> 00:00:21.309 success story. Yeah. Grounded, relatable. Totally. 00:00:21.390 --> 00:00:24.350 But then on your right, you have a graduate from 00:00:24.350 --> 00:00:26.710 the Islamic University of Medina. And I don't 00:00:26.710 --> 00:00:28.890 mean someone who just like took a semester abroad. 00:00:29.050 --> 00:00:32.369 Right. I mean someone who was immersed in 1990s 00:00:32.369 --> 00:00:36.030 Saudi Arabia. Deeply traditional, rigid theology, 00:00:36.469 --> 00:00:40.469 long beard, robes, the works, a hardcore Salafi, 00:00:40.469 --> 00:00:43.030 as the term goes. OK, wow. Those are two very, 00:00:43.109 --> 00:00:45.429 very different vibes. One feels very modern and 00:00:45.429 --> 00:00:47.509 Western. The other feels, well, very ancient 00:00:47.509 --> 00:00:49.890 and Eastern. Exactly. Now imagine they are the 00:00:49.890 --> 00:00:53.590 same person. Oh. And just to make it even messier, 00:00:53.670 --> 00:00:56.250 drop that person in the middle of a Ph .D. program 00:00:56.250 --> 00:00:58.710 at Yale University, one of the most liberal, 00:00:58.869 --> 00:01:01.909 secular, critical environments on Earth, studying 00:01:01.909 --> 00:01:05.010 the very religion he holds sacred. That's a recipe 00:01:05.010 --> 00:01:08.349 for an identity crisis. Or an explosion. Or, 00:01:08.430 --> 00:01:10.989 as it turns out, a recipe for becoming one of 00:01:10.989 --> 00:01:13.349 the most influential, and let's be honest, controversial 00:01:13.349 --> 00:01:16.250 figures in Western Islam. Sheikh Dr. Yasser Qadhi. 00:01:16.329 --> 00:01:18.650 We are talking about Sheikh Dr. Yasser Qadhi. 00:01:18.650 --> 00:01:20.909 And today we are not just doing a biography. 00:01:21.310 --> 00:01:23.890 We are looking at a brand new piece of research 00:01:23.890 --> 00:01:27.170 that uses him as a kind of master key to unlock 00:01:27.170 --> 00:01:29.909 this massive shift in how Muslims in America 00:01:29.909 --> 00:01:32.640 see themselves. It really is a fascinating case 00:01:32.640 --> 00:01:34.840 study. The article we're diving into today is 00:01:34.840 --> 00:01:38.180 titled Between Religion and a Crisis, Yasir Qadhi's 00:01:38.180 --> 00:01:41.239 Dawah as Islamic Practical Theology in Post -October 00:01:41.239 --> 00:01:44.120 7 America. It was published just last month in 00:01:44.120 --> 00:01:48.019 January 2026 by the scholar Elad Ben David. 2026. 00:01:48.140 --> 00:01:50.640 So this is fresh off the press. Very fresh. And 00:01:50.640 --> 00:01:53.140 the core mission of this deep dive is to explore 00:01:53.140 --> 00:01:55.900 a specific evolution. We're looking at how American 00:01:55.900 --> 00:01:57.879 Muslim leadership has transformed from the post 00:01:57.879 --> 00:02:00.260 -911 era, which, as we'll get into, is largely... 00:02:00.299 --> 00:02:02.620 defensive, apologetic. Keep your head down. Yeah, 00:02:02.659 --> 00:02:06.120 exactly. From that to the post -October 7, 2023 00:02:06.120 --> 00:02:08.800 era. Which, as the source argues, is so much 00:02:08.800 --> 00:02:11.020 more assertive, politically engaged, and frankly, 00:02:11.139 --> 00:02:14.039 completely unapologetic. Precisely. And we're 00:02:14.039 --> 00:02:16.199 going to do this by unpacking two concepts that 00:02:16.199 --> 00:02:18.060 might sound a little academic, but are actually 00:02:18.060 --> 00:02:21.639 very, very grounded. Dawah and practical theology. 00:02:21.979 --> 00:02:24.120 Okay, Dawah and practical theology. I want to 00:02:24.120 --> 00:02:25.560 get into those definitions in a second because 00:02:25.560 --> 00:02:29.199 they are clearly the pillars here. But first, 00:02:29.300 --> 00:02:31.219 I think we need to set the ground rules. We are 00:02:31.219 --> 00:02:34.159 dealing with some really heavy topics today. 00:02:34.219 --> 00:02:37.599 The Gaza War, U .S. politics, theology, identity. 00:02:38.219 --> 00:02:40.539 It's a minefield. Absolutely. And it is so important 00:02:40.539 --> 00:02:44.139 to stay right up front. Our role here is to report 00:02:44.139 --> 00:02:47.120 on the analysis that's provided in Elad Ben -David's 00:02:47.120 --> 00:02:50.120 article. We are exploring how he interprets Yasir 00:02:50.120 --> 00:02:52.199 Qadhi's sermons, his millions of YouTube views, 00:02:52.439 --> 00:02:54.879 his public actions. Right. We're representing 00:02:54.879 --> 00:02:56.939 this work material. We're staying impartial, 00:02:56.960 --> 00:02:58.680 objective, just trying to understand the ideas 00:02:58.680 --> 00:03:00.680 being presented. We aren't here to debate the 00:03:00.680 --> 00:03:03.240 theology itself, but to understand how it's being 00:03:03.240 --> 00:03:06.060 used to move a massive community through a time 00:03:06.060 --> 00:03:10.300 of crisis. So we aren't taking sides. We are 00:03:10.300 --> 00:03:13.439 taking a deep dive into the text. Let's start 00:03:13.439 --> 00:03:16.639 with those terms then. Dawah. I feel like I've 00:03:16.639 --> 00:03:18.599 heard this word before, and it's usually used 00:03:18.599 --> 00:03:21.000 to mean missionary work, like trying to convert 00:03:21.000 --> 00:03:24.060 people. That is the most common literal understanding. 00:03:24.860 --> 00:03:28.099 Dawah comes from the Arabic root da. which means 00:03:28.099 --> 00:03:32.000 to invite or to call. And historically, yes, 00:03:32.099 --> 00:03:34.840 it often refers to calling non -Muslims to the 00:03:34.840 --> 00:03:37.240 faith. The source actually has a term for this. 00:03:37.300 --> 00:03:40.319 It calls it extra -Umayyadawa. Extra -Umayyadawa, 00:03:40.319 --> 00:03:42.780 meaning outside the Ummah or the global Muslim 00:03:42.780 --> 00:03:44.759 community. Correct. You can think of it as like 00:03:44.759 --> 00:03:47.020 external marketing. You're trying to get new 00:03:47.020 --> 00:03:49.360 customers to buy the product, so to speak. Right. 00:03:49.419 --> 00:03:51.830 The have you heard the good news. Approach that 00:03:51.830 --> 00:03:54.430 you see in a lot of religions. Exactly. But there 00:03:54.430 --> 00:03:56.330 is a second type, which is absolutely crucial 00:03:56.330 --> 00:03:59.169 for our discussion today. Intra -umeic dawah. 00:03:59.430 --> 00:04:02.490 Intra? Inside. Inside. This is preaching that's 00:04:02.490 --> 00:04:04.710 directed at Muslims. It's about guiding the community, 00:04:04.969 --> 00:04:07.650 correcting behavior, or strengthening faith from 00:04:07.650 --> 00:04:09.590 within. So if the first one is sales and marketing, 00:04:09.770 --> 00:04:13.960 this one is, what, HR? Internal comms? That is 00:04:13.960 --> 00:04:16.819 actually a perfect analogy. It's internal comms 00:04:16.819 --> 00:04:19.319 and HR. It's not about getting new people in 00:04:19.319 --> 00:04:21.240 the door. It's about managing the people you 00:04:21.240 --> 00:04:24.000 already have. It's saying, hey, the world is 00:04:24.000 --> 00:04:25.879 scary right now. The company is going through 00:04:25.879 --> 00:04:29.139 a spiritual merger. And here is how we are going 00:04:29.139 --> 00:04:31.439 to survive this as a team. That makes so much 00:04:31.439 --> 00:04:33.920 sense. Because if your internal team is falling 00:04:33.920 --> 00:04:36.019 apart, it doesn't really matter how good your 00:04:36.019 --> 00:04:38.240 external marketing is. Not at all. And the source 00:04:38.240 --> 00:04:41.220 gives us a really interesting quick history lesson 00:04:41.220 --> 00:04:43.589 here. If you look back at the... classical period, 00:04:43.709 --> 00:04:46.550 we're talking 7th to 17th centuries, Dalwa was 00:04:46.550 --> 00:04:50.199 often political or theocratic. It was state -sponsored. 00:04:50.259 --> 00:04:52.399 The government's job. The government's job. But 00:04:52.399 --> 00:04:54.439 fast forward to the modern era, especially in 00:04:54.439 --> 00:04:56.420 the West, and it changes completely. It becomes 00:04:56.420 --> 00:04:59.199 about institutions. Things like the Muslim Students 00:04:59.199 --> 00:05:03.180 Association, the MSA on college campuses, or 00:05:03.180 --> 00:05:06.100 ICNA, the Islamic Circle of North America. So 00:05:06.100 --> 00:05:07.860 it becomes grassroots. It moves from the palace 00:05:07.860 --> 00:05:10.120 to the people. And then the Internet happens. 00:05:10.379 --> 00:05:13.439 The source quotes Muzamil Siddiqui way back in 00:05:13.439 --> 00:05:16.889 1998. 1998. Yeah. Pre -social media as we know 00:05:16.889 --> 00:05:19.490 it, predicting that digital media would inject 00:05:19.490 --> 00:05:23.269 new life into Dawei. And my God, was he right. 00:05:23.389 --> 00:05:26.250 It moved from street corners and, you know, cassette 00:05:26.250 --> 00:05:28.110 tapes. Remember those? Oh, I remember the cassette 00:05:28.110 --> 00:05:31.129 tapes. Yeah. From that to a global virtual enterprise. 00:05:31.449 --> 00:05:34.250 A click away. Which brings us right back to Yasir 00:05:34.250 --> 00:05:38.850 Qadhi, who is an absolute titan on YouTube. But 00:05:38.850 --> 00:05:41.430 before we get back to him, what about this second 00:05:41.430 --> 00:05:44.740 term? Practical theology. That sounds like an 00:05:44.740 --> 00:05:48.019 oxymoron. Theology is usually abstract, right? 00:05:48.350 --> 00:05:50.949 Angels, the afterlife, the nature of God. It's 00:05:50.949 --> 00:05:53.050 stuff you talk about in a library, not in a trench. 00:05:53.310 --> 00:05:55.470 Usually, yes. That's what we call dogmatic or 00:05:55.470 --> 00:05:58.250 systematic theology. But practical theology is 00:05:58.250 --> 00:06:00.110 where the rubber meets the road. It's not just 00:06:00.110 --> 00:06:02.569 about Akita, which is your creed or your doctrine. 00:06:02.750 --> 00:06:04.689 Those things tend to stay pretty stable. You 00:06:04.689 --> 00:06:06.269 believe in one God. You believe in the prophet. 00:06:06.490 --> 00:06:08.250 That doesn't change day to day. Right. That's 00:06:08.250 --> 00:06:10.589 the bedrock. That's the bedrock. Practical theology 00:06:10.589 --> 00:06:12.509 is about the interaction between that belief 00:06:12.509 --> 00:06:15.589 and praxis. Praxis is just a fancy word for action. 00:06:15.930 --> 00:06:18.220 Practice. So it answers the... Question, okay, 00:06:18.259 --> 00:06:20.420 I believe all this stuff. Now what do I do? Yeah, 00:06:20.540 --> 00:06:23.899 exactly. When the world is on fire, when you 00:06:23.899 --> 00:06:26.980 are facing a crisis, abstract doctrine is not 00:06:26.980 --> 00:06:30.000 enough. You can't just say God is one and leave 00:06:30.000 --> 00:06:32.360 it at that. You need to know how to navigate 00:06:32.360 --> 00:06:35.560 trauma, how to navigate social tension and political 00:06:35.560 --> 00:06:38.279 upheaval, all while keeping your faith intact. 00:06:38.720 --> 00:06:41.439 So the source argues that Yasir Qadhi is using 00:06:41.439 --> 00:06:44.399 his platform, his dawah, as a vehicle for this 00:06:44.399 --> 00:06:46.839 practical theology. He's helping his followers 00:06:46.839 --> 00:06:49.899 figure out how to live as Muslims in a very, 00:06:49.939 --> 00:06:52.620 very turbulent America. It's almost like it's 00:06:52.620 --> 00:06:55.439 a form of crisis management. It is exactly crisis 00:06:55.439 --> 00:06:58.300 management. It's spiritual triage. And he's the 00:06:58.300 --> 00:07:00.199 chief medic. That's a great way to put it. OK, 00:07:00.279 --> 00:07:02.019 so we have the tools. We have the context. Now 00:07:02.019 --> 00:07:04.339 let's meet the protagonist properly. We teased 00:07:04.339 --> 00:07:06.120 his background in the intro, but let's really 00:07:06.120 --> 00:07:08.839 unpack who Yasir Qadhi is, because his origin 00:07:08.839 --> 00:07:11.680 story, it just seems to explain why he's so uniquely 00:07:11.680 --> 00:07:13.600 positioned to do this kind of work. It really 00:07:13.600 --> 00:07:15.579 does. I mean, his life is a series of contradictions 00:07:15.579 --> 00:07:18.420 that somehow resolve. He was born in 1975 in 00:07:18.420 --> 00:07:20.819 Houston, Texas, to Pakistani immigrant parents. 00:07:21.060 --> 00:07:24.040 American kid. American kid. But he spent his 00:07:24.040 --> 00:07:27.050 early life in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. The source 00:07:27.050 --> 00:07:28.810 does note, though, that he lived in a Western 00:07:28.810 --> 00:07:32.170 bubble over there, an expat community. Okay, 00:07:32.230 --> 00:07:34.930 so not fully immersed in local Saudi culture. 00:07:35.029 --> 00:07:36.949 Right. Then he comes back to the U .S. for college 00:07:36.949 --> 00:07:38.829 and gets that degree in chemical engineering 00:07:38.829 --> 00:07:41.550 from the University of Houston. A STEM guy. Uh 00:07:41.550 --> 00:07:44.290 -huh. And I think that matters, right? I mean, 00:07:44.310 --> 00:07:46.290 engineers think in systems. They think in problem 00:07:46.290 --> 00:07:49.750 -solution. There's a logic tree for everything. 00:07:50.089 --> 00:07:53.720 Very much so. It gives his theology a certain 00:07:53.720 --> 00:07:56.500 logical, almost flowchart -like structure. It's 00:07:56.500 --> 00:07:59.139 very systematic. But then comes what the article 00:07:59.139 --> 00:08:01.860 calls the Medina phase. Right. He goes back to 00:08:01.860 --> 00:08:04.459 Saudi Arabia, this time not to an expat bubble. 00:08:04.680 --> 00:08:07.199 He goes to the Islamic University of Medina for 00:08:07.199 --> 00:08:10.339 a decade, a full 10 years. A decade. And the 00:08:10.339 --> 00:08:12.660 source, it pulls no punches here. It describes 00:08:12.660 --> 00:08:16.399 him during this time as a hardcore Salafi. Hardcore 00:08:16.399 --> 00:08:18.550 Salafi. Let's define that for the listener who 00:08:18.550 --> 00:08:20.009 might not be familiar with the term. We hear 00:08:20.009 --> 00:08:21.689 the word a lot, especially in the news, but what 00:08:21.689 --> 00:08:24.170 does it actually mean in this specific context? 00:08:24.529 --> 00:08:28.050 So Salafism is a strict traditionalist movement 00:08:28.050 --> 00:08:31.569 within Sunni Islam. The goal is to emulate the 00:08:31.569 --> 00:08:34.580 Salaf, which means the ancestors. Specifically, 00:08:34.740 --> 00:08:37.460 the first three generations of Muslims. So it's 00:08:37.460 --> 00:08:39.620 about getting back to the pure, original form 00:08:39.620 --> 00:08:42.000 of the religion. Exactly. It's often characterized 00:08:42.000 --> 00:08:44.340 by a very literal interpretation of the Quran 00:08:44.340 --> 00:08:47.299 and the Sunnah, and a rejection of later innovations 00:08:47.299 --> 00:08:50.299 or interpretations in the religion. The source 00:08:50.299 --> 00:08:52.940 notes that during this phase, Qadi's views were 00:08:52.940 --> 00:08:55.799 quite rigid. How so? Well, he was harsh on other 00:08:55.799 --> 00:08:59.460 Islamic sects, like Shias and Sufis. And the 00:08:59.460 --> 00:09:01.399 article mentions he made some very controversial 00:09:01.399 --> 00:09:03.750 statements regarding Jews during that time. He 00:09:03.750 --> 00:09:07.049 was very much inside a specific theological silo. 00:09:07.070 --> 00:09:09.470 He was playing by a very strict 7th century rule 00:09:09.470 --> 00:09:11.870 book and applying it to the 20th century. That's 00:09:11.870 --> 00:09:13.529 a good way of putting it. But then he comes back 00:09:13.529 --> 00:09:15.750 to America in the early 2000s and eventually 00:09:15.750 --> 00:09:18.149 lands at Yale. The Yale phase. And this is the 00:09:18.149 --> 00:09:19.990 part of the story that just blows my mind. He 00:09:19.990 --> 00:09:22.789 goes from Medina where the text is the final, 00:09:22.870 --> 00:09:26.269 unquestioned, divine authority to Yale, where 00:09:26.269 --> 00:09:28.669 that same text is just another historical artifact 00:09:28.669 --> 00:09:31.409 to be dissected and critiqued. It's a massive, 00:09:31.490 --> 00:09:34.490 massive jump. He enrolls in a Ph .D. program 00:09:34.490 --> 00:09:38.769 in religious studies from 2005 to 2013. And this, 00:09:38.909 --> 00:09:41.409 combined with the reality of post -9 -11 America, 00:09:41.750 --> 00:09:44.470 triggers this huge transformation in him. Wait, 00:09:44.549 --> 00:09:46.269 pause for a second. That sounds like a strict 00:09:46.269 --> 00:09:48.850 young earth creationist deciding to go get a 00:09:48.850 --> 00:09:51.470 Ph .D. in evolutionary biology at Oxford. Chuckles. 00:09:51.610 --> 00:09:53.909 It's not far off. I mean, Yale is the Ivy League. 00:09:54.070 --> 00:09:56.330 It's the home of critical historical analysis. 00:09:56.669 --> 00:09:59.669 They don't treat religious texts as divine truth 00:09:59.669 --> 00:10:01.809 in the classroom. They treat them as history. 00:10:01.799 --> 00:10:03.840 historical documents written by human beings 00:10:03.840 --> 00:10:06.440 in a specific time and place and context. Which 00:10:06.440 --> 00:10:08.940 must have been unbelievably jarring for a guy 00:10:08.940 --> 00:10:11.700 coming from a theology that says this is the 00:10:11.700 --> 00:10:15.519 direct, unchangeable, eternal word of God. Jarring 00:10:15.519 --> 00:10:18.000 is an understatement. The source describes this 00:10:18.000 --> 00:10:20.759 period as his great transformation. He couldn't 00:10:20.759 --> 00:10:22.379 just quote scripture anymore to win an argument. 00:10:22.539 --> 00:10:24.860 He had to engage with Western philosophy, with 00:10:24.860 --> 00:10:27.360 historical criticism, with deconstruction. He 00:10:27.360 --> 00:10:29.519 had to defend his faith using the language of 00:10:29.519 --> 00:10:31.620 the academy. And the source says this broke him 00:10:31.620 --> 00:10:35.360 or made him. It evolved him. He moved from that 00:10:35.360 --> 00:10:38.659 rigid Salafism to what the article calls mainstream 00:10:38.659 --> 00:10:42.179 American Islam. He started to realize that the 00:10:42.179 --> 00:10:45.419 strict seventh century style rulings he learned 00:10:45.419 --> 00:10:48.840 in Saudi Arabia just. They just didn't work for 00:10:48.840 --> 00:10:50.940 a Muslim kid growing up in New Jersey or Houston. 00:10:51.139 --> 00:10:53.519 The context was totally different. You can't 00:10:53.519 --> 00:10:55.340 tell a kid in Houston to live exactly like someone 00:10:55.340 --> 00:10:57.899 did in the 7th century Arabia. It's a hard sell. 00:10:58.059 --> 00:11:00.480 It's an impossible sell. Exactly. And I imagine 00:11:00.480 --> 00:11:02.259 that didn't make him very popular with his old 00:11:02.259 --> 00:11:05.200 friends from the Medina days. I bet. So he ends 00:11:05.200 --> 00:11:08.039 up in this fascinating and probably lonely position 00:11:08.039 --> 00:11:10.759 where he's criticized from both sides. To the 00:11:10.759 --> 00:11:13.639 really rigid Salafist, he's a sellout. He's too 00:11:13.639 --> 00:11:15.580 liberal, too watered down. He's compromised. 00:11:15.879 --> 00:11:17.539 And to the other side. But to the American right 00:11:17.539 --> 00:11:19.419 wing, or even the moderate center sometimes, 00:11:19.700 --> 00:11:22.179 he's still seen as a radical because of his past. 00:11:22.379 --> 00:11:24.000 his beard, his rhetoric. You know, they'll pull 00:11:24.000 --> 00:11:26.299 up quotes from 20 years ago. You can't win. He 00:11:26.299 --> 00:11:29.759 can't win. Yet, despite that, or maybe because 00:11:29.759 --> 00:11:33.779 of it, he becomes a massive influencer. He occupies 00:11:33.779 --> 00:11:36.080 this middle ground that so many American Muslims 00:11:36.080 --> 00:11:39.129 actually live in. He bridges the gap. He can 00:11:39.129 --> 00:11:41.389 speak Sheikh and he can speak American. He's 00:11:41.389 --> 00:11:43.629 fluent in both. Precisely. And now, you know, 00:11:43.649 --> 00:11:44.889 he's the chairman of the Peak Council of North 00:11:44.889 --> 00:11:46.970 America. He's the dean of the Islamic Seminary 00:11:46.970 --> 00:11:50.769 of America. And he has over 730 ,000 YouTube 00:11:50.769 --> 00:11:53.929 subscribers. He is the voice people turn to when 00:11:53.929 --> 00:11:56.750 they are confused, when they are in crisis. So 00:11:56.750 --> 00:11:58.769 he's got the credentials, he's got the platform, 00:11:58.909 --> 00:12:01.269 and he's got this hybrid identity forged in fire. 00:12:01.870 --> 00:12:03.950 Now, let's look at how he handled that first 00:12:03.950 --> 00:12:07.179 major crisis, 9 -11. The article calls this the 00:12:07.179 --> 00:12:10.139 first crisis. Right. And to understand Qadi's 00:12:10.139 --> 00:12:12.200 response then, we have to remember the context. 00:12:12.600 --> 00:12:15.740 The scholar Larry Poston describes 9 -11 as a 00:12:15.740 --> 00:12:18.320 watershed moment. You had the Patriot Act. You 00:12:18.320 --> 00:12:20.740 had surveillance of mosques. You had Islamic 00:12:20.740 --> 00:12:23.159 charities being shut down overnight, their assets 00:12:23.159 --> 00:12:25.580 frozen. It was a terrifying time for American 00:12:25.580 --> 00:12:28.460 Muslims. I remember that time well. The feeling 00:12:28.460 --> 00:12:30.919 was very much about keeping your head down. Don't 00:12:30.919 --> 00:12:33.179 speak Arabic on the plane. Don't wear the hijab 00:12:33.179 --> 00:12:35.519 too conspicuously if you can avoid it. It was 00:12:35.519 --> 00:12:38.419 pure survival mode. But actually, the source 00:12:38.419 --> 00:12:41.600 points out a supreme irony here. 9 -11 didn't 00:12:41.600 --> 00:12:44.220 just force Muslims to hide. In a strange way, 00:12:44.340 --> 00:12:47.159 it actually forced them out of isolation. It 00:12:47.159 --> 00:12:49.240 increased Islamic visibility because they had 00:12:49.240 --> 00:12:51.259 to explain themselves. Oh, that's a really interesting 00:12:51.259 --> 00:12:53.159 point. So they couldn't just stay in their ethnic 00:12:53.159 --> 00:12:55.960 or religious enclaves anymore. Exactly. Before 00:12:55.960 --> 00:12:58.500 9 -11, many immigrant Muslim communities were 00:12:58.500 --> 00:13:01.840 content to just live their lives quietly, you 00:13:01.840 --> 00:13:04.080 know, raise their families, build their mosques. 00:13:04.960 --> 00:13:06.960 Afterwards, the media was at their door. The 00:13:06.960 --> 00:13:09.340 FBI was at their door. They had to engage with 00:13:09.340 --> 00:13:12.100 mainstream America. And Cottey's response during 00:13:12.100 --> 00:13:14.820 this era, the article says, was defined by what 00:13:14.820 --> 00:13:18.309 it calls civilizational bridge building. Bridge 00:13:18.309 --> 00:13:20.429 building. That sounds nice, but it also sounds 00:13:20.429 --> 00:13:22.549 defensive. It was entirely defensive. It was 00:13:22.549 --> 00:13:24.769 apologetic. The goal was to protect the image 00:13:24.769 --> 00:13:27.389 of Islam. The message was, please don't hate 00:13:27.389 --> 00:13:29.909 us. We're good Americans, too. We pay our taxes. 00:13:30.009 --> 00:13:32.450 We mow our lawns. We salute the flag. We are 00:13:32.450 --> 00:13:34.590 not them. Exactly. Those guys had nothing to 00:13:34.590 --> 00:13:36.870 do with us. The focus was on proving that Muslims 00:13:36.870 --> 00:13:39.169 could be good citizens. It was about identity 00:13:39.169 --> 00:13:41.690 formation, solidifying this idea of an American 00:13:41.690 --> 00:13:44.649 Islam that was financially independent, indigenous, 00:13:44.929 --> 00:13:47.929 and culturally. Integrated. And the source gives 00:13:47.929 --> 00:13:51.029 a really specific example of this practical theology 00:13:51.029 --> 00:13:53.769 in action during those post 9 -11 years. It brings 00:13:53.769 --> 00:13:56.450 up the Innocence of Muslims film. Do you remember 00:13:56.450 --> 00:13:59.299 that whole fiasco? Vaguely. It was around 2012, 00:13:59.480 --> 00:14:02.120 right? Yeah. It was a really low budget, frankly, 00:14:02.299 --> 00:14:05.200 garbage, blasphemous film that mocked the prophet 00:14:05.200 --> 00:14:08.259 Muhammad in the most crude ways. And it caused 00:14:08.259 --> 00:14:11.279 riots and protests worldwide. Embassies were 00:14:11.279 --> 00:14:13.720 attacked. It was ugly. Right. And a lot of the 00:14:13.720 --> 00:14:16.399 anger was visceral. It was pure rage. Pure rage. 00:14:16.580 --> 00:14:18.759 And Qadi's response here is key to understanding 00:14:18.759 --> 00:14:21.519 his mindset at the time. He didn't say go protest 00:14:21.519 --> 00:14:24.210 or burn things down. He said. Don't just get 00:14:24.210 --> 00:14:27.389 angry. Use the insult as a catalyst. First, for 00:14:27.389 --> 00:14:29.490 spiritual devotion, get closer to God. Learn 00:14:29.490 --> 00:14:31.269 more about your prophet to defend him better. 00:14:31.470 --> 00:14:34.470 But secondly, for social engagement. And this 00:14:34.470 --> 00:14:36.370 is where he brings up the Hilf al -Fugl, right? 00:14:36.549 --> 00:14:38.350 This part of the article I found really cool, 00:14:38.409 --> 00:14:40.009 but I need you to break it down. It seems so 00:14:40.009 --> 00:14:43.070 strategic. It is a brilliant bit of theological 00:14:43.070 --> 00:14:46.029 maneuvering. Hilf Afudu, or the League of the 00:14:46.029 --> 00:14:48.970 Virtuous, was a pact of chivalry that the prophet 00:14:48.970 --> 00:14:51.809 Muhammad was a part of in Mecca before he became 00:14:51.809 --> 00:14:53.830 a prophet. Wait, wait, before he was a prophet? 00:14:53.970 --> 00:14:57.129 So it's a pagan pact? Technically, yes. That's 00:14:57.129 --> 00:14:59.710 the genius of it. It was a civic alliance between 00:14:59.710 --> 00:15:02.549 various tribes in Mecca to protect the weak and 00:15:02.549 --> 00:15:04.730 ensure justice for anyone who was wronged in 00:15:04.730 --> 00:15:07.149 the city, regardless of their status or tribe. 00:15:07.330 --> 00:15:09.990 The prophet was part of it as a young man. And 00:15:09.990 --> 00:15:12.309 later, after he became the prophet, he looked 00:15:12.309 --> 00:15:15.750 back on it and said, I witnessed a pact that 00:15:15.750 --> 00:15:18.370 I would not exchange for a herd of red camels. 00:15:18.470 --> 00:15:21.129 And if I were invited to it in Islam, I would 00:15:21.129 --> 00:15:23.529 respond. You would still join it today. That 00:15:23.529 --> 00:15:26.570 is a very specific strategic pull from history. 00:15:26.919 --> 00:15:30.179 It's genius. Qadi uses this pre -Islamic precedent 00:15:30.179 --> 00:15:33.159 to argue that American Muslims shouldn't just 00:15:33.159 --> 00:15:36.139 do Islamic things. He says that fighting for 00:15:36.139 --> 00:15:38.620 general social justice, civil rights, feeding 00:15:38.620 --> 00:15:41.120 the hungry, protecting the weak gives you moral 00:15:41.120 --> 00:15:43.419 credibility in the West. It's a religious duty. 00:15:43.639 --> 00:15:45.220 So he's basically saying you don't just have 00:15:45.220 --> 00:15:48.399 to join Muslim charities. You can join the ACLU. 00:15:48.419 --> 00:15:50.480 You can fight for Black Lives Matter. You could 00:15:50.480 --> 00:15:53.629 volunteer at a soup kitchen. Exactly. He framed 00:15:53.629 --> 00:15:56.230 civil rights and social justice as fundamentally 00:15:56.230 --> 00:15:59.789 Islamic duties, using a pre -Islamic source to 00:15:59.789 --> 00:16:02.909 prove it. This allowed Muslims to integrate into 00:16:02.909 --> 00:16:05.070 American civic life without feeling like they 00:16:05.070 --> 00:16:06.690 were selling out their religion. They weren't 00:16:06.690 --> 00:16:08.490 assimilating, they were practicing the Hilfal 00:16:08.490 --> 00:16:11.289 Fudul. Precisely. That makes so much sense for 00:16:11.289 --> 00:16:13.450 that era. It's a way to say, hey, being a good 00:16:13.450 --> 00:16:15.610 American citizen is actually part of our sunnah, 00:16:15.649 --> 00:16:17.629 our tradition. It's a way to integrate without 00:16:17.629 --> 00:16:20.409 losing your soul. It is. It was the perfect theology 00:16:20.409 --> 00:16:23.269 for its time. Yeah. But then comes October 7, 00:16:23.409 --> 00:16:26.210 2023, and the source argues that everything, 00:16:26.610 --> 00:16:29.350 and I mean everything, changes. The shift is 00:16:29.350 --> 00:16:32.690 palpable. If the post -911 era was about defense 00:16:32.690 --> 00:16:35.070 and apologetics. Bridge building. Bridge building. 00:16:35.169 --> 00:16:38.730 Then the post -October 7 era is about. assertiveness 00:16:38.730 --> 00:16:41.110 and political agency. The catalyst, obviously, 00:16:41.210 --> 00:16:44.370 is the Hamas attack on October 7th and the subsequent 00:16:44.370 --> 00:16:47.649 devastating war in Gaza. The sheer scale of the 00:16:47.649 --> 00:16:49.809 destruction, the fact that it was all being live 00:16:49.809 --> 00:16:53.570 streamed on our phones 24 -7. It sparked a profound 00:16:53.570 --> 00:16:56.970 moral and political crisis, not just globally, 00:16:57.090 --> 00:16:59.669 but specifically here in the U .S. And this is 00:16:59.669 --> 00:17:02.330 where the source introduces a psychological concept 00:17:02.330 --> 00:17:04.869 that I think is really, really important. Moral 00:17:04.869 --> 00:17:07.410 injury. Moral injury. We usually hear that term. 00:17:07.470 --> 00:17:09.769 associated with soldiers, right? Like doing something 00:17:09.769 --> 00:17:11.750 in combat that goes against your deepest moral 00:17:11.750 --> 00:17:14.630 code. Right. The classic example is I shot a 00:17:14.630 --> 00:17:16.769 civilian and now I can't live with myself. It's 00:17:16.769 --> 00:17:19.490 an injury to your soul. Yes. And the source cites 00:17:19.490 --> 00:17:22.130 Sharida Hussain's study on Muslim military personnel. 00:17:22.369 --> 00:17:24.849 But here it's applied to the broader American 00:17:24.849 --> 00:17:27.630 Muslim community. The injury doesn't come from 00:17:27.630 --> 00:17:29.470 holding a gun yourself. It comes from paying 00:17:29.470 --> 00:17:32.490 taxes. It comes from living in a country whose 00:17:32.490 --> 00:17:34.529 government is supporting actions that you find 00:17:34.529 --> 00:17:37.319 morally abhorrent. It's the... Feeling of betrayal. 00:17:37.640 --> 00:17:40.940 Yeah. Incomplicity. You spent 20 years doing 00:17:40.940 --> 00:17:42.500 the Hillfell food rule, proving you're a good 00:17:42.500 --> 00:17:44.940 American, building bridges, and then you watch 00:17:44.940 --> 00:17:47.960 as your own government funds and arms a war that 00:17:47.960 --> 00:17:49.980 is killing people who look like you, who pray 00:17:49.980 --> 00:17:52.640 like you. Exactly. Seeing the images from Gaza 00:17:52.640 --> 00:17:55.460 day after day and knowing that your tax dollars 00:17:55.460 --> 00:17:59.019 are in some small way connected to it, that causes 00:17:59.019 --> 00:18:01.980 a deep moral injury. It makes you question your 00:18:01.980 --> 00:18:04.079 place in the country. It makes you ask, what 00:18:04.079 --> 00:18:07.200 is my citizenship worth? So Cotty's job, as a 00:18:07.200 --> 00:18:09.819 practical theologian, is to heal this injury. 00:18:10.279 --> 00:18:12.779 Because if he doesn't, people might radicalize 00:18:12.779 --> 00:18:14.380 in one direction, or they might just leave the 00:18:14.380 --> 00:18:16.380 faith entirely in another, or they might just 00:18:16.380 --> 00:18:18.740 fall into a deep, crippling depression. He has 00:18:18.740 --> 00:18:20.799 to give them a path forward. So how does he do 00:18:20.799 --> 00:18:23.200 it? He starts with a spiritual response. The 00:18:23.200 --> 00:18:25.900 source calls it faith born of suffering. Which 00:18:25.900 --> 00:18:27.960 sounds poetic, but how does it work practically? 00:18:28.500 --> 00:18:31.019 Because people are angry. They're asking the 00:18:31.019 --> 00:18:33.730 classic question. Why is God letting this happen? 00:18:33.910 --> 00:18:36.950 It's the problem of evil front and center. And 00:18:36.950 --> 00:18:40.849 Qadi reframes the entire narrative. He leans 00:18:40.849 --> 00:18:43.609 heavily on the Islamic concept of Ibtila, which 00:18:43.609 --> 00:18:47.289 means a test or a trial from God. He argues that 00:18:47.289 --> 00:18:49.890 this crisis isn't random chaos. It's a divine 00:18:49.890 --> 00:18:53.089 trial. And the proper response to a trial is 00:18:53.089 --> 00:18:57.069 Sabra. Now, people often translate Sab as patience. 00:18:57.829 --> 00:18:59.950 Which can sound very passive, like just sit there, 00:18:59.970 --> 00:19:02.309 grin and bear it. God wills it, so just be quiet. 00:19:02.509 --> 00:19:05.009 Right. And that's not what he's advocating. Qadi 00:19:05.009 --> 00:19:07.490 redefines it here as patient perseverance or 00:19:07.490 --> 00:19:09.990 spiritual resilience. It's active. It's endurance. 00:19:10.329 --> 00:19:12.509 And he does this by connecting Gaza directly 00:19:12.509 --> 00:19:15.349 to the Sira, the biography of the prophet. This 00:19:15.349 --> 00:19:17.230 is where he brings up the story of Sumayya and 00:19:17.230 --> 00:19:19.569 Ammar. Break that down for us. Who were they? 00:19:19.569 --> 00:19:21.490 It's such a powerful story. They were some of 00:19:21.490 --> 00:19:24.569 the very first converts to Islam in Mecca. We're 00:19:24.569 --> 00:19:26.609 talking about the very, very beginning when Muslims 00:19:26.609 --> 00:19:29.230 were a tiny, powerless, persecuted minority. 00:19:29.950 --> 00:19:32.789 Sumayya was a slave woman. She, her husband Yasir, 00:19:32.809 --> 00:19:35.190 and her son Ammar were tortured horribly in public 00:19:35.190 --> 00:19:37.349 by the Meccan elites for their faith. And the 00:19:37.349 --> 00:19:40.170 prophet, what could he do? Nothing. The prophet 00:19:40.170 --> 00:19:42.569 Muhammad at that time had no political power. 00:19:42.690 --> 00:19:45.430 He had no army. He couldn't physically save them. 00:19:45.799 --> 00:19:47.819 The tradition says he walked by while they were 00:19:47.819 --> 00:19:50.359 being tortured. Sumayya was eventually martyred, 00:19:50.380 --> 00:19:53.079 becoming the first martyr in Islam. And he could 00:19:53.079 --> 00:19:55.819 only say, Patience, family of Yasir, for your 00:19:55.819 --> 00:19:58.539 destination is paradise. He could only offer 00:19:58.539 --> 00:20:02.119 dua, or prayer. Wow. So he's drawing a direct 00:20:02.119 --> 00:20:04.380 parallel. He's telling American Muslims, we are 00:20:04.380 --> 00:20:06.690 in the Mecca phase again. We are powerless to 00:20:06.690 --> 00:20:10.009 stop the physical suffering. Exactly. He argues 00:20:10.009 --> 00:20:12.490 that just as that early persecution led to the 00:20:12.490 --> 00:20:14.750 eventual victory of the Muslims, the current 00:20:14.750 --> 00:20:17.869 suffering is part of a divine trajectory. It's 00:20:17.869 --> 00:20:20.509 not random cruelty. It's a precursor to something 00:20:20.509 --> 00:20:23.609 greater. It frames the Gazans not just as helpless 00:20:23.609 --> 00:20:26.490 victims, but as martyrs in a grand cosmic narrative, 00:20:26.750 --> 00:20:29.309 just like Sumaya. That's an incredibly powerful 00:20:29.309 --> 00:20:32.119 reframing. It doesn't take the pain away. but 00:20:32.119 --> 00:20:34.079 it takes the hopelessness out of it. It gives 00:20:34.079 --> 00:20:36.420 the suffering a purpose, a meaning. It does. 00:20:36.619 --> 00:20:39.359 And from that, he issues a direct challenge to 00:20:39.359 --> 00:20:41.819 his audience. He calls it a spiritual upgrade. 00:20:42.079 --> 00:20:45.559 He tells his listeners in his sermons, you cannot 00:20:45.559 --> 00:20:47.819 be the same person today that you were last year. 00:20:47.859 --> 00:20:50.269 You cannot be the same Muslim. What does he mean 00:20:50.269 --> 00:20:52.910 by that? A spiritual upgrade. He uses the freedom 00:20:52.910 --> 00:20:55.670 and comfort American Muslims have as a gratitude 00:20:55.670 --> 00:20:58.829 exercise, but also as a responsibility. He says 00:20:58.829 --> 00:21:01.329 your brothers and sisters in Gaza don't have 00:21:01.329 --> 00:21:04.529 clean water to make voodoo, to wash for prayer. 00:21:04.710 --> 00:21:06.710 They don't have safety. They don't have food. 00:21:06.789 --> 00:21:08.869 You have all of this. How dare you waste it? 00:21:08.910 --> 00:21:11.289 How dare you miss your prayers? So he's I mean, 00:21:11.289 --> 00:21:13.849 it sounds a little like he's guilt tripping them 00:21:13.849 --> 00:21:16.440 into piety. In a way, yes, but it's constructive 00:21:16.440 --> 00:21:18.839 guilt. It's not meant to paralyze them. It's 00:21:18.839 --> 00:21:21.180 meant to channel their grief and anger into piety 00:21:21.180 --> 00:21:23.640 instead of despair. He's saying, honor their 00:21:23.640 --> 00:21:25.920 sacrifice by being better Muslims. That is the 00:21:25.920 --> 00:21:28.119 only thing you can control right now. And the 00:21:28.119 --> 00:21:29.839 source notes that this actually had a ripple 00:21:29.839 --> 00:21:32.579 effect beyond the Muslim community. There was 00:21:32.579 --> 00:21:35.480 this surge of interest in Islam among Western 00:21:35.480 --> 00:21:38.400 youth. The source calls it faith born of suffering. 00:21:38.779 --> 00:21:41.539 Yeah, it was a phenomenon. The article mentions 00:21:41.539 --> 00:21:44.559 some specific examples. The activist Sean King 00:21:44.559 --> 00:21:47.779 converting during Ramadan in 2024. Right. And 00:21:47.779 --> 00:21:50.180 a story about a young Texan man who converted 00:21:50.180 --> 00:21:53.200 at Qadi's own mosque. Apparently, he had started 00:21:53.200 --> 00:21:56.480 attending pro -Palestine protests and was just 00:21:56.480 --> 00:21:58.960 so struck by the faith of the protesters and 00:21:58.960 --> 00:22:01.539 the people in Gaza. So the argument is that. 00:22:01.980 --> 00:22:03.900 Seeing the spiritual resilience of the Palestinian 00:22:03.900 --> 00:22:07.259 people, literally thanking God amidst the rubble 00:22:07.259 --> 00:22:09.680 of their homes, inspired people in the West to 00:22:09.680 --> 00:22:11.900 ask, what kind of faith gives someone that kind 00:22:11.900 --> 00:22:14.299 of strength? Exactly. It became the most powerful 00:22:14.299 --> 00:22:17.039 form of dawah without anyone even trying. So 00:22:17.039 --> 00:22:19.299 that's the spiritual side. Get right with God. 00:22:19.500 --> 00:22:22.609 Use this pain to become a better Muslim. But 00:22:22.609 --> 00:22:24.750 Qadi isn't just a spiritual leader. He's becoming 00:22:24.750 --> 00:22:27.269 a political firebrand. And this is where the 00:22:27.269 --> 00:22:29.569 assertiveness really comes in. This is part six 00:22:29.569 --> 00:22:32.730 of our outline. And it's where things get very 00:22:32.730 --> 00:22:34.630 heated. Oh, it gets very heated. This is where 00:22:34.630 --> 00:22:37.269 Qadi moves completely beyond the good PR and 00:22:37.269 --> 00:22:40.450 bridge building of the post 9 -11 years. He starts 00:22:40.450 --> 00:22:42.349 holding power accountable. And interestingly, 00:22:42.509 --> 00:22:44.670 he starts with his own. He starts by going after 00:22:44.670 --> 00:22:47.230 Muslim leaders. The naming and shaming. He is 00:22:47.230 --> 00:22:50.250 incredibly harsh on the leaders of Muslim -majority 00:22:50.250 --> 00:22:52.650 countries in the Middle East. He labels leaders 00:22:52.650 --> 00:22:55.890 who normalized relations with Israel, specifically 00:22:55.890 --> 00:22:59.089 referencing the Abraham Accords as munafiqun, 00:22:59.190 --> 00:23:03.089 hypocrites. Ouch. That is a theologically loaded 00:23:03.089 --> 00:23:06.670 term. A munafiq in the Quran isn't just a liar. 00:23:06.809 --> 00:23:09.049 It's someone who pretends to be a Muslim on the 00:23:09.049 --> 00:23:11.569 outside but is secretly working against the faith. 00:23:11.950 --> 00:23:14.819 It's an enemy from within. It's one of the worst 00:23:14.819 --> 00:23:16.500 things that can be called in Islamic theology. 00:23:16.819 --> 00:23:19.119 It implies you are destined for the lowest depths 00:23:19.119 --> 00:23:21.759 of hell. It's a spiritual death sentence. And 00:23:21.759 --> 00:23:24.460 he uses it to critique Egypt, Jordan, Turkey, 00:23:24.720 --> 00:23:27.940 Saudi Arabia, the UAE. He asked, where are your 00:23:27.940 --> 00:23:30.220 armies? Where is your diplomatic pressure? Why 00:23:30.220 --> 00:23:32.200 are you letting this happen on your watch? And 00:23:32.200 --> 00:23:34.759 he uses another historical analogy here to really 00:23:34.759 --> 00:23:37.140 drive the point home, right? The boycott of Banu 00:23:37.140 --> 00:23:39.730 Hashim. Yes. Another story from the Meccan period. 00:23:39.970 --> 00:23:42.990 The powerful Quraysh tribe decided to boycott 00:23:42.990 --> 00:23:45.430 the Prophet's clan, the Banu Hashim. They cut 00:23:45.430 --> 00:23:47.650 off all food and trade. They literally tried 00:23:47.650 --> 00:23:50.170 to starve them into submission for years. A brutal 00:23:50.170 --> 00:23:53.029 siege. A brutal siege. But there was a pagan 00:23:53.029 --> 00:23:55.869 man, Zuhar ibn Abi Umayyah, who was related to 00:23:55.869 --> 00:23:58.490 them. And he eventually stood up in public and 00:23:58.490 --> 00:24:00.970 said, Are we to eat and drink while the Banu 00:24:00.970 --> 00:24:03.890 Hashim are perishing? I will not rest until this 00:24:03.890 --> 00:24:06.579 unjust boycott is torn up. And he physically 00:24:06.579 --> 00:24:09.339 went and broke the boycott document. A pagan 00:24:09.339 --> 00:24:13.119 man. A pagan man. Qadi uses this story to shame 00:24:13.119 --> 00:24:16.500 modern Muslim leaders. He's saying even a pagan 00:24:16.500 --> 00:24:19.039 in the 7th century had more humanity and tribal 00:24:19.039 --> 00:24:21.440 loyalty than you, the leaders of Muslim nations, 00:24:21.640 --> 00:24:25.099 do today. That is a s**t. scorching burn. I mean, 00:24:25.119 --> 00:24:26.980 he is burning bridges with those governments. 00:24:27.200 --> 00:24:29.980 He's making himself persona non grata. He is. 00:24:30.140 --> 00:24:32.099 And that shows his independence. He's not on 00:24:32.099 --> 00:24:34.319 anyone's payroll. He's an American cleric. And 00:24:34.319 --> 00:24:36.400 he's using that freedom to speak his mind. But 00:24:36.400 --> 00:24:38.720 OK, so he's yelling at foreign leaders. What 00:24:38.720 --> 00:24:40.880 does he tell American Muslims to do? Because 00:24:40.880 --> 00:24:43.599 he admits we can't send an army. We can't break 00:24:43.599 --> 00:24:45.920 the blockade ourselves. It feels hopeless. Right. 00:24:46.059 --> 00:24:47.720 He acknowledges what he calls the impossible 00:24:47.720 --> 00:24:50.460 American context. American Muslims cannot offer 00:24:50.460 --> 00:24:52.900 military aid. So he pivots. He pivots to civic 00:24:52.900 --> 00:24:57.240 action. lobbying, voting, media work, protesting. 00:24:57.640 --> 00:25:00.059 He calls it the logic of speech. Exactly. The 00:25:00.059 --> 00:25:02.859 argument is, if you cannot fight injustice with 00:25:02.859 --> 00:25:04.400 your hands, you must fight it with your tongue. 00:25:04.500 --> 00:25:06.619 And if you can't even do that, you must hate 00:25:06.619 --> 00:25:08.839 it in your heart, which is the weakest form of 00:25:08.839 --> 00:25:12.079 faith. He argues that for American Muslims who 00:25:12.079 --> 00:25:15.119 have freedom of speech, silence is a religious 00:25:15.119 --> 00:25:18.240 failure. If you have a voice and you don't use 00:25:18.240 --> 00:25:21.400 it, you are complicit. And he invokes American 00:25:21.400 --> 00:25:23.960 heroes to make this point relatable to his audience. 00:25:24.259 --> 00:25:26.460 He does. He brings up Muhammad Ali. Of course. 00:25:26.559 --> 00:25:29.500 Muhammad Ali refusing the Vietnam draft on moral 00:25:29.500 --> 00:25:31.799 and religious grounds. He brings up Malcolm X. 00:25:31.960 --> 00:25:34.380 He frames them as models of righteous resistance 00:25:34.380 --> 00:25:36.460 within the American system. He's telling his 00:25:36.460 --> 00:25:38.640 followers, you don't have to choose between being 00:25:38.640 --> 00:25:41.579 Muslim and being American. You be a good American 00:25:41.579 --> 00:25:44.359 by resisting injustice, just like Ali and Malcolm 00:25:44.359 --> 00:25:46.359 did. It's the most American thing you can do. 00:25:46.599 --> 00:25:48.819 That is such a fascinating flip from the post 00:25:48.819 --> 00:25:51.559 9 -11 Please like us. We're good citizens energy. 00:25:52.299 --> 00:25:56.039 It's now we are going to use our American rights 00:25:56.039 --> 00:25:59.619 to change America from within. It's a shift from 00:25:59.619 --> 00:26:02.119 seeking acceptance to demanding accountability. 00:26:02.440 --> 00:26:05.140 It's moving from may I please have a seat at 00:26:05.140 --> 00:26:07.839 the table to this table is unjust and I'm flipping 00:26:07.839 --> 00:26:11.019 it over. This brings us to the coalition building 00:26:11.019 --> 00:26:14.299 because you can't change America alone. You need 00:26:14.299 --> 00:26:16.940 allies. And this is where the article gets into 00:26:16.940 --> 00:26:19.960 some really nuanced and, frankly, controversial 00:26:19.960 --> 00:26:22.819 territory, especially regarding Jewish -Muslim 00:26:22.819 --> 00:26:25.380 relations. This is critical, and it's where Kadi 00:26:25.380 --> 00:26:27.799 has to walk a very, very fine line. He makes 00:26:27.799 --> 00:26:30.880 a very specific, repeated distinction. Anti -Zionism 00:26:30.880 --> 00:26:33.299 is not the same as anti -Semitism. Which is a 00:26:33.299 --> 00:26:35.740 distinction that is, to put it mildly, hotly 00:26:35.740 --> 00:26:38.000 debated in the public sphere right now. It is 00:26:38.000 --> 00:26:40.640 the debate of the decade. But Kadi doubles down 00:26:40.640 --> 00:26:43.630 on it. And he uses history to make his case. 00:26:43.690 --> 00:26:47.049 He cites the golden age of Muslim Spain, Al -Andalus, 00:26:47.130 --> 00:26:49.190 where Jews and Muslims flourished together. He 00:26:49.190 --> 00:26:51.390 talks about Muslims protecting Jews during the 00:26:51.390 --> 00:26:53.410 Holocaust, bringing up examples like Sultan Mohammed 00:26:53.410 --> 00:26:56.769 V of Morocco or Muslims in France and Albania 00:26:56.769 --> 00:26:59.230 who hid Jews from the Nazis. So he's trying to 00:26:59.230 --> 00:27:01.450 establish that there is no inherent eternal war 00:27:01.450 --> 00:27:03.430 between the two faiths. He's saying the conflict 00:27:03.430 --> 00:27:06.180 is modern and political. Exactly. He's saying, 00:27:06.259 --> 00:27:09.759 we don't hate Jews. We oppose this specific political 00:27:09.759 --> 00:27:12.460 project of Zionism. And he's very strategic about 00:27:12.460 --> 00:27:14.920 it. He goes out of his way to praise groups like 00:27:14.920 --> 00:27:17.720 Jewish Voice for Peace and the ultra -Orthodox 00:27:17.720 --> 00:27:20.759 anti -Zionist rabbis from Neturei Karta. He says, 00:27:20.839 --> 00:27:22.920 these are our allies. We need to team up with 00:27:22.920 --> 00:27:25.839 them. The source compares his approach to that 00:27:25.839 --> 00:27:28.279 of another major American cleric here, Hamza 00:27:28.279 --> 00:27:30.819 Youssef. How do they differ on this point? It's 00:27:30.819 --> 00:27:33.289 a real study in contrast. The source notes that 00:27:33.289 --> 00:27:35.569 Hamza Youssef has historically been more conciliatory 00:27:35.569 --> 00:27:39.049 toward Israel and Zionism. His focus is on Abrahamic 00:27:39.049 --> 00:27:41.690 ethical frameworks, highlighting the shared heritage 00:27:41.690 --> 00:27:44.349 of the religions, the common ground. It's a let's 00:27:44.349 --> 00:27:46.589 all get along approach. A kind of interfaith 00:27:46.589 --> 00:27:49.970 kumbaya. A bit, yes. And it has its place. But 00:27:49.970 --> 00:27:51.750 Qadi's approach is different. The source says 00:27:51.750 --> 00:27:53.470 he's more confrontational toward the political 00:27:53.470 --> 00:27:56.769 ideology of Zionism, but more explicitly conciliatory 00:27:56.769 --> 00:27:59.470 toward Jews specifically as potential allies 00:27:59.470 --> 00:28:02.269 against Zionism. That's a key distinction. One 00:28:02.269 --> 00:28:04.849 seeks peace through broad shared commonality. 00:28:04.950 --> 00:28:07.589 The other seeks a specific political alliance 00:28:07.589 --> 00:28:10.789 against a specific policy. It's much more targeted. 00:28:10.970 --> 00:28:14.549 Exactly. And this pragmatic and some would say 00:28:14.549 --> 00:28:17.789 ruthless alliance building gets even more surprising 00:28:17.789 --> 00:28:21.970 in the next section. The LGBTQ protest controversy. 00:28:22.329 --> 00:28:24.450 Oh, right. This is where the practical theology. 00:28:25.170 --> 00:28:27.769 Really, really gets tested because traditionally 00:28:27.769 --> 00:28:31.009 conservative Islam and especially the Salafi 00:28:31.009 --> 00:28:33.609 background that Qadi comes from is not exactly 00:28:33.609 --> 00:28:36.529 LGBTQ friendly. Not friendly is putting it very 00:28:36.529 --> 00:28:39.630 mildly. Theologically, Qadi's position is that 00:28:39.630 --> 00:28:42.369 homosexual acts are major sins. That hasn't changed. 00:28:42.569 --> 00:28:44.430 The article is clear on that. He hasn't become 00:28:44.430 --> 00:28:46.849 a progressive liberal on social issues. OK, so 00:28:46.849 --> 00:28:48.710 that's his baseline. That's his baseline. But 00:28:48.710 --> 00:28:51.490 here's the conflict. You go to a pro -Palestine 00:28:51.490 --> 00:28:54.190 protest in New York or London or on a college 00:28:54.190 --> 00:28:56.349 campus, and who do you see? You see everyone. 00:28:56.589 --> 00:28:58.549 You see the socialists, you see the students, 00:28:58.630 --> 00:29:00.130 you see environmental groups, and you definitely 00:29:00.130 --> 00:29:02.930 see pride flags. You see signs that say, queers 00:29:02.930 --> 00:29:05.789 for Palestine. Right. And for a traditional conservative 00:29:05.789 --> 00:29:08.730 Muslim, standing under a pride flag is problematic. 00:29:09.210 --> 00:29:11.730 To say the very least. And some conservative 00:29:11.730 --> 00:29:14.650 clerics, the article mentions a Salafi preacher 00:29:14.650 --> 00:29:18.089 named Uthman ibn Farouk basically said, We can't 00:29:18.089 --> 00:29:20.369 be there. We can't march with them. Yes. Ibn 00:29:20.369 --> 00:29:23.589 Farouk argued for ideological purity. He said, 00:29:23.710 --> 00:29:26.509 I cannot dilute my faith or be seen to endorse 00:29:26.509 --> 00:29:28.869 something that God forbids by standing shoulder 00:29:28.869 --> 00:29:31.529 to shoulder with it. He told Muslims to stay 00:29:31.529 --> 00:29:33.990 away from those protests. So what does Qadi say? 00:29:34.269 --> 00:29:36.849 Because he can't just suddenly say. It's fine, 00:29:36.970 --> 00:29:38.970 right? That would destroy his credibility with 00:29:38.970 --> 00:29:41.549 his entire conservative base. No, he doesn't 00:29:41.549 --> 00:29:43.789 change the theology. He changes the priority. 00:29:44.069 --> 00:29:46.609 This is the practical, impractical theology in 00:29:46.609 --> 00:29:49.690 its purest form. He issues a ruling, a fatwa, 00:29:49.730 --> 00:29:52.650 that says, look at the scale of the crisis. We 00:29:52.650 --> 00:29:54.750 are talking about what he and many others describe 00:29:54.750 --> 00:29:57.230 as a genocide in Gaza. So it's a triage situation. 00:29:57.529 --> 00:29:59.289 Save the dying patient first, worry about everything 00:29:59.289 --> 00:30:02.460 else later. Perfect word for it, triage. He argues 00:30:02.460 --> 00:30:04.799 that the primary cause justice for Gaza, saving 00:30:04.799 --> 00:30:07.980 lives, is halal, permissible, and it takes precedence 00:30:07.980 --> 00:30:10.180 over the secondary issues. He says, don't lose 00:30:10.180 --> 00:30:12.240 the forest for the trees. So he's essentially 00:30:12.240 --> 00:30:14.759 telling his followers, the enemy of injustice 00:30:14.759 --> 00:30:17.359 is my ally, even if we disagree on literally 00:30:17.359 --> 00:30:20.940 everything else. Yes. He argues that unity for 00:30:20.940 --> 00:30:23.339 the Palestinian cause overrides the need for 00:30:23.339 --> 00:30:26.299 ideological purity in the protest lines. He says, 00:30:26.359 --> 00:30:29.000 you aren't endorsing their lifestyle by walking 00:30:29.000 --> 00:30:31.720 next to them. You are both walking for the same 00:30:31.720 --> 00:30:34.859 child who is under the rubble in Gaza. That is 00:30:34.859 --> 00:30:37.829 a massive pragmatic leap. It is the definition 00:30:37.829 --> 00:30:40.430 of real politic in a theological context. It 00:30:40.430 --> 00:30:42.829 is. He's essentially using an intersectionality 00:30:42.829 --> 00:30:45.589 strategy, even if he would never, ever use that 00:30:45.589 --> 00:30:48.609 word himself. He realizes that to leverage American 00:30:48.609 --> 00:30:51.430 civic power, Muslims need numbers. They need 00:30:51.430 --> 00:30:53.529 to be part of a broader coalition. And if you 00:30:53.529 --> 00:30:56.049 start excluding potential allies because of theological 00:30:56.049 --> 00:30:59.250 disagreements, you lose political efficacy. You 00:30:59.250 --> 00:31:01.869 become pure. But you become irrelevant. That 00:31:01.869 --> 00:31:03.890 is the core tension right there, isn't it? Purity 00:31:03.890 --> 00:31:06.329 versus relevance. Exactly. And he chose relevance. 00:31:06.650 --> 00:31:09.670 So let's zoom out. We've gone from the defensive 00:31:09.670 --> 00:31:14.230 Hilfal Fadul Bridge building of 2001 to the assertive 00:31:14.230 --> 00:31:18.289 name and shame coalition building of 2025. We've 00:31:18.289 --> 00:31:21.289 seen Qadi navigate the spiritual crisis and the 00:31:21.289 --> 00:31:24.210 political reality. What does the source say this 00:31:24.210 --> 00:31:27.349 all adds up to? What is this new American Muslim 00:31:27.349 --> 00:31:30.380 identity that he's helping to shape? The conclusion 00:31:30.380 --> 00:31:32.720 of the article synthesizes this shift beautifully. 00:31:32.960 --> 00:31:34.960 It says we have moved from a community that was 00:31:34.960 --> 00:31:38.140 trying to be American in the sense of fitting 00:31:38.140 --> 00:31:40.799 in, being accepted, proving their loyalty to 00:31:40.799 --> 00:31:42.839 a community that is now trying to change America. 00:31:43.160 --> 00:31:45.200 That's a powerful line from seeking approval 00:31:45.200 --> 00:31:47.599 to seeking influence. And Cotty's practical theology 00:31:47.599 --> 00:31:50.359 has three dimensions that enable this. First, 00:31:50.460 --> 00:31:52.759 the spiritual dimension. Grief isn't allowed 00:31:52.759 --> 00:31:54.960 to become despair. It's channeled into piety. 00:31:55.180 --> 00:31:58.299 I am sad, so I will pray more. It's a coping 00:31:58.299 --> 00:32:00.660 mechanism, but also a source of strength. Second, 00:32:01.059 --> 00:32:04.000 the communal dimension. The global ummah is strengthened 00:32:04.000 --> 00:32:07.019 through the shared moral outrage. American Muslims 00:32:07.019 --> 00:32:09.279 feel more connected to the global body of Muslims 00:32:09.279 --> 00:32:11.779 than ever before. The borders have dissolved 00:32:11.779 --> 00:32:13.960 in their hearts. It's a powerful sense of solidarity. 00:32:14.400 --> 00:32:17.839 And third, the political dimension. This is where 00:32:17.839 --> 00:32:19.759 religious obligation is converted into civic 00:32:19.759 --> 00:32:22.839 repertoires. Voting isn't just a civic duty anymore. 00:32:22.940 --> 00:32:25.920 It's a religious act of resistance. Protesting 00:32:25.920 --> 00:32:29.079 is a form of dawah. Speaking truth to power becomes 00:32:29.079 --> 00:32:31.599 a form of worship. But the source also notes 00:32:31.599 --> 00:32:33.900 a limitation here, doesn't it? It's not all victory 00:32:33.900 --> 00:32:36.579 laps and triumphalism. No, it's not. And this 00:32:36.579 --> 00:32:39.559 is a really crucial, sobering point. The source 00:32:39.559 --> 00:32:42.460 is very clear. While this theology is incredibly 00:32:42.460 --> 00:32:44.559 effective at building resilience and spiritual 00:32:44.559 --> 00:32:48.039 strength and communal bonds, it has a very limited 00:32:48.039 --> 00:32:50.380 ability to actually change the material reality 00:32:50.380 --> 00:32:53.940 on the ground in Gaza. Right. A sermon in Texas, 00:32:54.000 --> 00:32:57.420 no matter how eloquent or powerful. doesn't stop 00:32:57.420 --> 00:32:59.720 a bomb in Rafah. Exactly. The bombs are still 00:32:59.720 --> 00:33:02.500 falling. The blockade is still there. Kadi's 00:33:02.500 --> 00:33:04.640 theology is one of endurance and fostering a 00:33:04.640 --> 00:33:07.160 long -term political shift. It's not a magic 00:33:07.160 --> 00:33:09.599 wand. It helps the community survive the trauma 00:33:09.599 --> 00:33:11.680 and organize for the future, but it hasn't yet 00:33:11.680 --> 00:33:14.180 stopped the source of the trauma. So it's a theology 00:33:14.180 --> 00:33:15.900 for the long haul. It's building the spiritual 00:33:15.900 --> 00:33:18.000 and political muscles for a fight that might 00:33:18.000 --> 00:33:20.079 take a generation. That's the feeling you get 00:33:20.079 --> 00:33:22.059 from the article, yes. This has been such a journey. 00:33:22.200 --> 00:33:24.039 I mean, we started with a chemical engineer in 00:33:24.039 --> 00:33:26.420 Texas, and we've ended with a global theological 00:33:26.420 --> 00:33:29.460 shift. Yasir Qadhi really is the perfect case 00:33:29.460 --> 00:33:32.220 study for this learner mindset. He's constantly 00:33:32.220 --> 00:33:35.160 adapting his theology to fit the crisis at hand. 00:33:35.279 --> 00:33:38.460 He's not static. He shows that theology isn't 00:33:38.460 --> 00:33:41.019 just some static thing sitting in a dusty book. 00:33:41.180 --> 00:33:44.700 It's alive. It breathes. It has to react to the 00:33:44.700 --> 00:33:47.700 news cycle. It has to provide answers for the 00:33:47.700 --> 00:33:51.569 moment. It has to or it dies and becomes irrelevant. 00:33:52.089 --> 00:33:54.089 So here is the provocative thought I want to 00:33:54.089 --> 00:33:56.730 leave our listeners with today. The source suggests 00:33:56.730 --> 00:33:58.910 that this isn't just about Yasser Qadhi. He's 00:33:58.910 --> 00:34:01.210 just the lens through which we can see this bigger 00:34:01.210 --> 00:34:04.029 change. What we're seeing is a sign that Western 00:34:04.029 --> 00:34:06.890 Muslims are no longer afraid that political dissent 00:34:06.890 --> 00:34:08.869 will cost them their citizenship. They're not 00:34:08.869 --> 00:34:11.199 afraid of being told to. go back where you came 00:34:11.199 --> 00:34:13.539 from. Exactly. They are moving from being guests 00:34:13.539 --> 00:34:15.739 in America who have to be polite and grateful 00:34:15.739 --> 00:34:18.260 to being owners of their narrative who have a 00:34:18.260 --> 00:34:20.300 right to be angry and a right to demand change. 00:34:20.579 --> 00:34:23.840 And that raises a huge question, a question for 00:34:23.840 --> 00:34:26.800 all of us. If this assertive, politically engaged 00:34:26.800 --> 00:34:30.539 theology continues to grow, what does the future 00:34:30.539 --> 00:34:32.699 of the American political landscape look like? 00:34:33.079 --> 00:34:35.679 We are seeing a voting bloc that is religiously 00:34:35.679 --> 00:34:38.940 motivated, highly educated, young, increasingly 00:34:38.940 --> 00:34:41.519 affluent, and no longer willing to settle for 00:34:41.519 --> 00:34:44.659 just being tolerated. They want a seat at the 00:34:44.659 --> 00:34:47.300 head of the table. That is a massive new variable 00:34:47.300 --> 00:34:49.900 for the next decade of U .S. politics. It's not 00:34:49.900 --> 00:34:52.119 just a religious story anymore. It's a political 00:34:52.119 --> 00:34:54.219 earthquake happening in slow motion. Indeed. 00:34:54.300 --> 00:34:56.320 It's something every political strategist from 00:34:56.320 --> 00:34:58.699 every party should be watching very, very closely. 00:34:59.429 --> 00:35:01.250 Something for all of us to mull over. Thanks 00:35:01.250 --> 00:35:02.730 for diving deep with us today. We'll see you 00:35:02.730 --> 00:35:03.090 in the next one.