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Interview with Shaykh Hamza Yusuf - PBS

PBS recently published an interview with Shaykh Hamza Yusuf for their Frontline program. This interview was conducted in September 2006 and he talks about "tyranny" and "incompetence" on both sides and offers his prescription for creating more common ground.

Q: Linden MacIntyre: What are the roots of Muslim rage?

A: Hamza Yusuf: If you had one word to describe the root of all this rage, it's humiliation. Arabs in particular are extremely proud people. If you look at what happened in Lebanon recently, the Arabs kind of raised their head-- they think it's a big victory, the fact that their whole country was destroyed and over a thousand people were killed, many of them children. Why is it a victory? Because they fought back. That's all. "OK, you can crush us into the Earth, but you're not going to get us to submit." And I think that's deeply rooted in Muslim consciousness, the idea of not submitting to anything other than God. "You can abuse me, but you're not going to win me over. But if you treat me with respect and dignity, I'm going to fall in love with you. I'm going to sing your praises all over the world because you're powerful and you treated me with human dignity."

Q: Where do they see the proof of the humiliation?

A: It's everywhere. You don't think it's humiliating to have a foreign force come into your land? You see, Muslims don't have this nation state idea. There's a tribe called Bani Tamin. It's one of the biggest tribes in Saudi Arabia and in Iraq, and they're intermarried. The West doesn't seem to understand that. The Moroccans feel the Iraqi pain as their own. It's one pain. So when you see some American soldier banging down a door and coming into a house with all these women in utter fear who've done nothing, that's humiliation, and it's going to enrage people. And what are we doing there? There are no weapons of mass destruction. They were never a threat to us. You know, Shakespeare wrote a play called Julius Caesar, and it was all about the danger of pre-emptive strikes. Brutus is convinced by Cassius to kill Caesar. Why? Because Caesar's ambitious, because he might declare himself king. And the end of that play, everybody dies; it's just disaster. That's the tragedy of pre-emptive strikes.

To read the complete interview, click here .



Technorati Tags: hamza yusuf, pbs, interview, frontline, muslim, islam

Interview with Shaykh Hamza Yusuf - PBS

PBS recently published an interview with Shaykh Hamza Yusuf for their Frontline program. This interview was conducted in September 2006 and he talks about "tyranny" and "incompetence" on both sides and offers his prescription for creating more common ground.

Q: Linden MacIntyre: What are the roots of Muslim rage?

A: Hamza Yusuf: If you had one word to describe the root of all this rage, it's humiliation. Arabs in particular are extremely proud people. If you look at what happened in Lebanon recently, the Arabs kind of raised their head-- they think it's a big victory, the fact that their whole country was destroyed and over a thousand people were killed, many of them children. Why is it a victory? Because they fought back. That's all. "OK, you can crush us into the Earth, but you're not going to get us to submit." And I think that's deeply rooted in Muslim consciousness, the idea of not submitting to anything other than God. "You can abuse me, but you're not going to win me over. But if you treat me with respect and dignity, I'm going to fall in love with you. I'm going to sing your praises all over the world because you're powerful and you treated me with human dignity."

Q: Where do they see the proof of the humiliation?

A: It's everywhere. You don't think it's humiliating to have a foreign force come into your land? You see, Muslims don't have this nation state idea. There's a tribe called Bani Tamin. It's one of the biggest tribes in Saudi Arabia and in Iraq, and they're intermarried. The West doesn't seem to understand that. The Moroccans feel the Iraqi pain as their own. It's one pain. So when you see some American soldier banging down a door and coming into a house with all these women in utter fear who've done nothing, that's humiliation, and it's going to enrage people. And what are we doing there? There are no weapons of mass destruction. They were never a threat to us. You know, Shakespeare wrote a play called Julius Caesar, and it was all about the danger of pre-emptive strikes. Brutus is convinced by Cassius to kill Caesar. Why? Because Caesar's ambitious, because he might declare himself king. And the end of that play, everybody dies; it's just disaster. That's the tragedy of pre-emptive strikes.

To read the complete interview, click here .



Technorati Tags: hamza yusuf, pbs, interview, frontline, muslim, islam

Eid il Fitr Celebrations with Shaykh Hamza and Shaykh Salek

Shaykh Salek ibn Siddina and Shaykh Hamza Yusuf

Shaykh Hamza Yusuf sharing his thoughts on the blessed day of 'Eid il Fitr 2006 at the Zaytuna Institute. Alhambra Productions staff was in attendance with the wonderful community. For more photos, please click of this wonderful event, please click here.

Ramadan Night of Advice and Reflection

On Saturday, October 21, 2006, Shaykh Hamza Yusuf and Ustadh Yahya Rhodus sat with the brothers and sisters who had gathered at the Zaytuna Institute. This was the 29th night of Ramadan. Both of the teachers provided words of advice and encouragement. Shaykh Hamza Yusuf continued his reflections of Surah Al Hujaraat. He also discussed the tragic death of Sister Alia Ansari. May Allah s.w.t. protect us all.

Please click here to see more photos

Eid Greetings from Alhambra Productions

All of us at Alhambra Productions would like to wish all of our viewers, friends and supporters a blessed 'Eid celebration. May Allah s.w.t. shower you with abundant blessings and mercy! Please remember us in your prayers.

Imam Zaid - Balancing Between Faith, Family & Community

A new podcast by Imam Zaid has been uploaded. Imam Zaid Shakir reminds us of maintaining balance within ourselves, our families and our communities. Imam Zaid discusses the benefits of having balance as we move forward in our lives.

Please click here to listen or to download this podcast.

A visit from Shaykh Faraz Rabbani

 

On October 4, 2006, the staff of Alhambra Productions was blessed with a visit from Shaykh Faraz Rabbani and Sidi Zaheer Razack of SunniPath. Shaykh Faraz was in the Bay Area for the SunniPath North American Study Tour. Alhamdulillah, both of them came to the Alhambra Bookstore and the Zaytuna Institute to visit us and meet Imam Zaid. Please visit Shaykh Faraz Rabbani's blog here: www.seekersdigest.org