Gaza Diaries with Dr. Omar Suleiman
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Microsoft Fired Her For Defending Palestine | Gaza Diaries | Ibtihal Aboussad and Dr. Omar Suleiman
April 9, 2025 • Dr. Omar Suleiman
“I’d spend my entire sujood du’a time praying for Gaza, only to wake up and go to work in a company that was contributing to that suffering.” In this one-on-one interview, Dr. Omar Suleiman sits down with Ibtihal Aboussad to talk about her decision to call out Microsoft during its 50th anniversary celebration for its complicity in the genocide in Gaza through its AI program. She breaks down what led up to that moment, how she prepared spiritually, and what it meant to take that public stand.
Transcript
This transcript was auto-generated using AI and may contain misspellings.So the question I wanted to address today is really simple. What does all this mean? Mustafa, shame on you! You say you claim that you care about using AI for good, but Microsoft sells AI weapons to the Israeli military. 50,000 people have died and Microsoft powers this genocide in our region. Thank you for your protest, I hear you. You\'re serious, and you know about this, Mustafa. I hear your protest, thank you. Shame on you! You are a war profiteer. Stop using AI for genocide, Mustafa. Stop using AI for genocide in our region. You have blood on your hands. All of Microsoft has blood on its hands. How do you all celebrate when Microsoft is killing children? Shame on you all! Thank you. I hear your protest, thank you. As-salamu alaykum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh. Sister Ibtihal, how are you? Wa alaykum as-salam. I\'m doing well, alhamdulillah. How are you, Shaykh? Alhamdulillah, Allah yubārik fīki. So alhamdulillah, we\'re blessed for those of you that are joining in. We have with us Sister Ibtihal Aboussad, alhamdulillah, who, mashallah, you made us all very proud with your stance. May Allah subhanahu wa ta\'ala bless you and keep you firm and steadfast. And may Allah azza wa jal elevate your rank in this life and the next. Allahumma ameen. We\'re blessed to have you with us, and we\'re again grateful to you as a community. May Allah subhanahu wa ta\'ala bless you. Ameen, jazakallah khair. It\'s adh\'af al-iman. Allah yubārik fīkum. So on that note, you\'re saying it\'s the weakest of iman, the weakest of faith. Actually, the weakest of faith is to hate it in your heart. You did something more than that, alhamdulillah, bi\'idhnillah ta\'ala, which is taking matters into your own hands. You spoke up, and I think that many people in these times are looking for someone to not just say what they\'re feeling, but to say what they\'re feeling in spaces where things are happening. So I actually want to start with that, bi\'idhnillah ta\'ala.
For the last 19 months or so, while Gaza is going through what it\'s going through, may Allah azza wa jal make it easy for them all, and may Allah subhanahu wa ta\'ala grant them patience and steadfastness and victory. Allahumma ameen. While that\'s happening, what\'s it like working at Microsoft? How long have you been at Microsoft? And seeing what\'s happening behind the scenes, you know, while this is all being generated, at the same time that destruction is filling your screen on the other side. What\'s happening in your world for the last 19 months before what we all saw happen a few days ago? So yeah, over the past year and a half, I imagine just like for many Muslims, it\'s been a lot of feelings of anguish, just watching all the destruction, all the murdering that\'s been occurring in Gaza. And I think for me, that was amplified by tons when it was exposed that Microsoft and other big tech companies during this time have been selling weapons to the Israeli military. Earlier in 2025, it was revealed that the usage of Microsoft cloud services multiplied by 200 since October 7. So there is a clear direction, a clear correlation between the start of the genocide escalation and then Microsoft\'s contracts with the Israeli military. And for me, it was just this insane cognitive dissonance between like using all my sujood, du\'a time to pray for Palestine, to pray for Gaza, and then wake up the next morning and work at a company that I have evidence is contributing to that suffering. Like it just, it did not feel right. It felt like a dissonance between my, you know, going to protests on weekends, making du\'a,
and then just having my 9 to 5 be at a place that enables this genocide. So it was a very, subhanAllah, like an immense dissonance that was just accompanied by a lot of anguish and guilt during my time at the company since the reports. How long have you been at Microsoft, if you don\'t mind me asking? Yeah, it was for three and a half years. And I would say in the last half year is when we fully uncovered the extent of the ties between Microsoft and the IOF. And I think that one of the things that, you know, we spoke about yesterday was the idea that it\'s often one person who becomes a symbol of many others. And there are others who have been fired by Microsoft, been fired, of course, by big tech companies, those that have quit out of conscience. But this is now a growing trend, right, of people that work in these companies that refuse to be silent, that refuse to be complicit by themselves writing the code, as you said, of genocide, or being a part of developing the machinery and closing their eyes to this reality. Can you tell me on the inside of Microsoft, on the inside of some of these companies, what are you sensing about that same dissonance that many other practicing Muslims or just people of principle are feeling right now? Yeah, I think I have prior to even the disruption that happened last week, a few weeks ago, I posted something in the Muslims group inside Microsoft about just this dissonance and this internal conflict, just asking people if others also feel that they cannot continue contributing to the company given its contributions to the genocide. And I received so many messages from people just sharing that they\'ve been feeling the same way.
But there\'s often sentiments of fear if you speak up, like just the repercussions on your job, on your future career. A lot of people have expressed that they also like every single day do not feel OK just doing their job at this company, but that at the same time, they\'re not sure what they can do because they feel hope that they can change things from the inside. So I realized that it is a very widespread sentiment after making that post and getting private messages. So, subhanAllah, it\'s definitely something that\'s been building up like this, this whole discontent with Microsoft\'s relationship. And inshallah, we\'re hoping that after this action and the way it went public, that we can all collectively as Muslims in Microsoft or Big Tech, use our voices to share this frustration and improve the state of the complicity of these companies. Inshallah. Also, what I\'d like to ask you in this regard, then, is that at what point did you spiritually make the decision, emotionally prepare yourself for the consequences? At what point did you decide you were going to do this? Tell me about like when and what\'s happening in the background for you. What are you listening to? What are you getting ready with? What duas are you reading? What\'s happening on the day of? Just kind of walk me through the lead up to that moment, inshallah, spiritually for you, if you don\'t mind me asking. For me, like a big trigger that that just meant, OK, this is right. This is the right thing to do was this event that that Vania and I disrupted was on a restricted basis.
Like you had to enter a raffle and like there were conditions to be able to access it. And like when I submitted my raffle entry to the event, during the like all the days between submitting the entries and then hearing back, I was just praying istikhara every night for Allah to just make this whole disruption plan and easy if it is the right thing. Like every single night I would just, after isha, pray istikhara. And then a few days later, out of like many, many people that had like submitted to get access to the event, I got I got access. And to me, that was that was just a sign that after like seven days of istikhara, you know that Allah is placing me in this position where I can speak for the oppressed. That for me was just the sign to go ahead with it. This is what this is what I must do to please Allah subhanahu wa ta\'ala and and use my voice for for justice as he instructed us. So that was that was like I would say the the main trigger that just set things on on that path. And then because the event was in Eid week, that meant that all the work for planning for it, doing all the email writing happened in the month of Ramadan. And throughout Ramadan as well, I like I want to say like more than half of my tahajjud duas, which was just for Allah to ease every step of the process. Like I would just pray Allahumma yassir kulla khatwa fi hadhi al-mudahara every single day. And just throughout the month of Ramadan, things kept lining up in a way that was incredible. Like we were not expecting to know like the setup, for example. And then we received that information.
There was I was connected with someone helping with like communications to Muslims of Big Tech, which is exactly something else that I wanted to like email within the company. Like things just kept lining up subhanAllah to make this planning for the action so smooth that I felt it in my heart that Allah was on our side and Allah was guiding us to to be put in this position of protest. Alhamdulillah. And can you so you then find yourself walking into the event. You know, when someone\'s about to speak, a lot of times they would say I can think of the nervousness about giving a khutba in a very large masjid or speaking to a large gathering or, you know, being at a protest, right? That maybe things are a bit unsettling around. But in your situation, I can imagine that it probably felt very lonely when you walked in. Right. And that was there any anxiety? Was there any anything that sort of came to mind? Did you feel a sudden sense of tranquility where you settled at some point? What happens then in those few minutes, which I\'m sure feel like an eternity right before you, you actually stand up and do what you did? Yeah, it was. Yeah, I can\'t lie and say it was not nerve wracking in the moment when I realized, OK, the speaker is on stage. I have five minutes to to get up and disrupt. But as you mentioned, just like the whole time I was just muttering rabbi shrahli sadri wa yassir li amri wahlul \'uqdatan min lisani yafqahu qawli just repeating that. And also, I think throughout Ramadan, like this past Ramadan has been horrendous in Gaza. Like, as we all know, like things have re-escalated.
We\'ve been seeing even more destruction than the months prior to that. And also just the fact that this Ramadan coincided with the Barzakh series being out and just constantly having that daily reminder of of the oppression that\'s that\'s been inflicted in Gaza. I think just having like grounding myself in the why, like, why am I here? Why am I why am I about to stand up and and do this and potentially face some repercussions? I think that grounding just limited that that barrier between the intention and then the execution. Like I think just and that week especially was we had been seeing like some horrible images coming out of Gaza. So just having that grounding in mind that this is this is for a purpose. It is necessary. And then just muttering like calling to Allah and who has been on our side for the past month. I think I did not even feel that I had stood up and that I was by the stage, honestly. Like it just happened. And it was not until I was escorted out that I I started like processing it like it. Yeah, truly like Allah just like gave that that energy to just get up and get get the words out there. Now, SubhanAllah, one of the things about the people of Gaza, when you\'re watching them on camera, whether holding their babies in pieces or they\'re facing their last moments of life, whatever the scene around them. It\'s always been SubhanAllah confounding to me like inspiring the fact that even in their pain, they\'re actually incredibly eloquent. Like they convey their emotions, they convey their sentiments with perfection.
Even in those moments, SubhanAllah, you have a few words to choose in a very difficult moment in your life. Even the fact that people say La ilaha illallah, the paramedic who\'s who\'s being murdered amongst those many paramedics. May Allah have mercy on them all and accept them as shuhada. He\'s still SubhanAllah, not just saying the shahada, but he\'s expressing the perfect words. And that to me was a sign or is a further sign of the fact that Allah azza wa jal is the one who moves the tongues if he moves the hearts properly. Did you have like a script prepared for those moments? Or did you feel like it was just, you know what, I\'m going to disrupt? Because there\'s so many things you can\'t account for. What\'s the security guard going to do? Is someone going to put hands on me? Am I going to get dragged out? Like there are so many things that in that moment you can\'t account for. Did you have it rehearsed already? Because the words that you chose were absolutely perfect for the moment. Yeah, Jazakallah Khair. So yeah, as you mentioned, it wasn\'t clear how many seconds I would even get to speak, right, given the security at the event. So I did like, again, like during the month of Ramadan when all this planning was happening, I spent a lot of time with other organizers as well, just trying to get to the point specifically, like having short targeted sentences that are possibly like six words, but can be a lot and can make an impact on the audience of the event and on the executives in front of us. So for sure, like I went in with specific talking points that I wanted to get out there. But obviously in the moment with all the hecticness, like some things just came out of the heart, like they were not specifically planned and especially seeing the like more dismissive reaction of just,
I hear you, which is what we keep and keep hearing from this company, like just getting that same reaction again. Just that was the moment where like I just threw the keffiyeh and I was just like, you have blood on your hands. Like some parts of it just occurred in the moment, but a big part, a big chunk of it was rehearsed to maximize the impact of the words. Yeah, it\'s very patronizing. SubhanAllah, and I think that one of the things that happened in the tail end of the Biden administration, you know, as opposed to when you have officials now that hate you and they say they hate you, were concerns. Statements of concern, statements of concern while still furthering the genocide. And that was something that I think American Muslims grew incredibly frustrated with throughout that year and a half, you know, of the outgoing administration. And of course now it\'s like the brute, just, you know, bigotry that we hear. What I would ask you then is that as you go through those moments and there\'s anger there, people can see you\'re upset. Is it like a culmination of like what\'s been bottled in, what you\'ve probably wanted to say for so many months and in so many meetings and then it all just comes out in those moments? Like just what\'s the emotional state in those moments? Yeah, it was precisely that. It was, as you said, like a built up resentment towards a company that I joined for the sake of social good and making an impact. That\'s how my AI organization was marketed, right? It was we help people with productivity and accessibility needs and just painting it as this great place to do good. And then finding out that, oh, our work is being used for genocide to enable targeted murdering.
I think those months of just feeling triggered into contributing to a company that is diametrically opposed to my values, it all just came out in the moment. That was the, like, I guess the cause for the tone. Like it was just like a lot of pain and a lot of resentment towards the silence and the complicity of Microsoft. SubhanAllah, that Friday, which is this previous Friday, my khutbah was about what do you fear more? I started off with the hadith, And I was talking about this idea that the scholars have mentioned that you replace the fear of loss in this world with the fear of loss in the hereafter. And then I watched your interview. I don\'t remember who caught you outside, but, you know, they asked you sort of about the fear of losing your job. I think every Muslim could understand what you were saying in the response that you were more afraid of writing the code that\'s killing people in Gaza than you were of losing your job. Can you lean into that a bit, inshallah? Like, I think all of us understood what you were talking about, but what were you really afraid of? Yeah, you put it eloquently, Shaykh. Like it was just, I knew that there were scary repercussions that could come out of it. Right. So besides just losing my job, which is at a complicit company, so you could argue that it\'s for the better. There were also fears of just getting blacklisted for the rest of my career, having visa issues. A lot of dunya concerns were present, were at the top of my mind. But when I realized that the company was complicit, like all my istighfar came with the niyya of... Sorry, I\'m getting emotional. No, it\'s okay.
I just did not... I just did not want to face Allah on the Day of Judgment and have to admit to any complicity in this genocide. And I knew that just staying at Microsoft and staying silent, just keeping my prestigious, comfortable job was going to lead to that outcome on the Day of Judgment. And that is the fear that, as you can tell, was overwhelming for me. It truly did not compare to the fear of, yeah, IS might come find me or any other major concerns that I had on a practical level. Like just that spiritual fear of admitting any complicity to Allah took over and it overshadowed any other fear towards any repercussions. And that\'s what just made it clearly the right choice, despite anything that might come out of it. The Prophet ﷺ said that Allah azza wa jal has said that I do not combine for my servants two feelings of fear or two feelings of safety. If he fears me in this world, then I will make him feel safe in the hereafter. And if he feels safe for me in this world, then I will cause him to fear me in the hereafter. And SubhanAllah, that idea of amnayn and khawfayn, it\'s not like Allah azza wa jal wants you to fear him to where he\'s not approachable to you. Rather, he introduces himself to us, Subhanahu wa ta\'ala, through multiple names of mercy and compassion. And at the same time, you know, al-adl, al-haqq, justice and truth. But it\'s the consequences, right? What would feeling safe from Allah Subhanahu wa ta\'ala mean?
It\'s embarking upon these different ways that are harmful and not feeling like you\'ll be held accountable. And I think that, you know, to hear you say that, I think that most of us, in fact, all of us should probably feel that fear that we haven\'t done enough. You know, that we haven\'t done our part for our brothers and sisters, that there\'s so much more that we could do. And there\'s a fear of Allah azza wa jal calling us to account. And it\'s actually a terrifying thought that these people are testifying against you on the Day of Judgment. May Allah protect us from their testimony against us. And may Allah azza wa jal allow us to be their voices in this world and to be on their side in the hereafter and to be with them in paradise. Allahumma ameen. I can\'t imagine, subhanAllah. And I\'ll say this, that it\'s very easy for me as an imam or, you know, in whatever capacity I\'m speaking in, because I\'m not afraid of losing my job for speaking out for Gaza. It\'s very easy for me. It\'s very easy for me to say that, you know, hey, you should work with your conscience here and you should think about what you\'re doing. To those who leave, to leave because they felt like they couldn\'t make a change from within, to those that stay within these companies to use whatever position they have to actually change things and to make a difference. It\'s very easy for me to put those marching orders forward. And I want to acknowledge that. But for you to actually manifest that and those brothers and sisters, again, that use those positions or that leave those positions, that put themselves at risk by doing that. And there are all sorts of considerations that you just mentioned that are beyond the job, right? You\'re talking about visa concerns. You\'re talking about all of these other things. May Allah bless you and may Allah Subhanahu wa ta\'ala give you better than everything that\'s been taken away from you. And may Allah azza wa jal grant you safety and security and happiness in this life and in the next.
Allahumma ameen. I\'m curious as well, like, what have you leaned on? Which ayat, which ahadith, which du\'as have you leaned on? In the days going into this and the days after, you know, I want people to see that spiritual preparation because that\'s not something they\'re going to get through a mainstream news interview. So what\'s been going through your mind? What\'s been on your heart before and after? In terms of that fear of, okay, I\'m blowing my career up or I am, you know, there are harmful consequences to this. I think the hadith that you, Shaykh, mentioned is something that just always was at the forefront of my mind. It was in my favorites on my camera roll of when the Prophet ﷺ said that you will not leave anything for the sake of Allah azza wa jal but that it will be replaced by something better for you. I think especially after the multiple days of istikhara that led to access to this event, for this disruption, just realizing Allah has facilitated this, He will not let me down inshallah. This, like, whether it takes some time or a lot of time, this will be, this position and this company with all its prestige but also all its complicity will be replaced with something that\'s better for my akhira and my dunya inshallah. So just leaning on that hadith just gave me like a boost of tawakkul that this is not, this is the right thing. This is not me setting myself up for failure.
I think that was a big one. The other thing that I mentioned earlier is just the barzakh series and the constant reminders of what we owe to the people of Gaza. Again, that grounding of, as a Muslim especially, and even just as a person of conscience, I have a moral responsibility towards Gaza. Like the scenario of not even contributing to attack that enables genocide, just the scenario of staying silent and not doing everything that I can to try to mitigate the harm and the oppression in Gaza, that is morally incompatible with what I was hearing in the barzakh series, all the stories that you were mentioning, Shaykh. So I think just, again, having that grounding of this is my moral responsibility, no matter what it takes, on the day of judgment, I need to be able to share that I tried. I did not just stand by the side and watch things unfold on my phone and just reposted a story and moved on. We do have an obligation and that series helped just instill that and having it on the daily was really helpful. And then also there\'s a verse in Surah An-Nisa where Allah calls upon us and asks, what is it for you that you do not fight for the oppressed? And the ayah continues and just having also that ayah at the forefront of my mind, it is explicitly mentioned in the best book that we have to fight for the oppressed.
That also just gave me the energy and my commitment to go through with this protest. Allah Subhanahu wa ta\'ala bless you. It\'s an honor, SubhanAllah, to even have been a part of that journey for you in any way. May Allah azza wa jal bless you. And again, you manifest what we can only say. And it\'s not lost on me that people like yourself and others that have taken a stand, some of them very quietly that are making a mark where they are, some of them getting fired in very loud ways. It\'s not lost on me that you all are the ones that SubhanAllah are actually standing up and doing this. May Allah azza wa jal bless you all for that. And it makes me think about like when the Prophet ﷺ often mentions like a moment that unlocks paradise, removing something harmful from the road. Imaatatul adha an-tariq, the man who is strolling in Jannah because he removed something harmful from the road or saying a word that\'s pleasing to Allah Subhanahu wa ta\'ala in a moment that can unlock so much. And the opposite is also true. May Allah protect us that a person can do or say something in a moment that completely dooms them and devastates them. There\'s something that the ulama always talk about that none of that is random. There\'s a buildup to that moment. It\'s not like Allah is unjust to where a person suddenly is snatched. There\'s a buildup to that moment. There is a rust that leads to that moment in the sense of the negative action. And there\'s a buildup of courage and sincerity and Allah is replacing you along the way to that moment of doing something that\'s righteous. One of the things that I think about and I\'ll say this, I hope your parents, I hope your family is very proud of you. You know when you go through these prestigious programs and you came to the United States, I mean this is a whole journey for you to go to the most prestigious of schools,
to get the most prestigious of degrees, to go to the most prestigious of companies, to work in this place like as a hijabi Muslim woman who\'s not even from the United States. But you know what, subhanAllah, that moment, I pray that that moment of yours, it was all worth it from that moment. I pray that that moment unlocked Jannah for you and for your parents and everyone that invested in you for that moment. But I hope that they\'re very proud of you. I hope that, I hope your family is very proud of you and they know that we\'re proud of you as well, for doing what you did. JazakAllah khair, Shaykh. I still truly believe it\'s the least of obligations and may Allah just allow us to have a large impact with those words inshallah and then in stopping the oppression of our brothers and sisters in Palestine, in any capacity possible. Did you expect the reaction to your action to be this way? Did you see these few days being like this? Not at all, no, because yeah, like the main purpose was, it was mostly focused on like internally within Microsoft, getting the message across to all employees that work in Palestine and then getting the message across to executives that we will not stay silent and just work here if you do not cancel these contracts. So the impact that we really were shooting for is just getting this out there in all of Microsoft. Like that was the best case scenario and then to see that subhanAllah just like travel globally and inspire like protests on Sunday
and just getting so many messages of people sharing that they also emailed their team at work or someone said that they also resigned on Monday at Microsoft. So just having this ripple effect, alhamdulillah, is beyond what I could imagine. But again, like I truly feel it\'s Allah\'s plan and it\'s like it was Allah\'s plan to just make everything happen so smoothly that it would have this impact. One anecdote about that is on the day of the disruption, when Vanya and I walked in, we were seated at the other extreme of the room, like the complete opposite side of the stage near where all the equipment is, which basically meant we would probably not even get heard by the people on stage. I sat down, I was like, Bismillah, I prayed so much for this to go to plan, Allah is going to allow this to unfold in the way that is best. And then, like, two or three minutes after I got seated, this random woman comes out of nowhere and she\'s like, Hi, I don\'t think this is a good seat, let me show you where to sit instead. And then leads me to the front row, next to the stage, right next to the speakers, which with no ask, with nothing. So subhanAllah, I\'ll say it again, I truly feel that Allah has just been placing me in a position to reach this final global impact that we\'ve had. Alhamdulillah for that, alhamdulillah, because it was a lot of tawakkul that resulted in it all. May Allah subhanahu wa ta\'ala bless you and keep you sincere and steadfast and continue to open up greater doors for you, bi\'idhnillah ta\'ala, through this. Indeed, it was facilitated, it\'s very clear that everything was facilitated.
And, you know, subhanAllah, the impact that you\'re having on young Muslims, you know, as a conversation that I\'m having with my own daughter, my eldest daughter about this, and not just about you, but other sisters that are valedictorians of universities, they work to that moment and then they use the platform, they use that moment for the sake of Allah subhanahu wa ta\'ala, to speak up for our brothers and sisters in Palestine. There are so many people that are inspired by you and I pray that that inspiration is all on your scale of good deeds. And I want to say something that, subhanAllah, one thing that always amazes me about our community is sometimes we\'re down on our ummah, we\'re down on our community, and there\'s definitely a lot of frustration, we could be doing more. I\'m always inspired by some of the people that I meet that otherwise, you know, would not be recognized in a gathering. And, you know, they don\'t look like heroes, and I say not all heroes wear capes. They don\'t look like heroes, they seem to be very ordinary Muslims that are just coming to the masjid, coming to a conference. And you had mentioned that you were at the Yaqeen Canada convention last year, subhanAllah, when this was all happening, right? Or in fact, October 2023, while this was all going down. And I would have never known, but you meet people every day in the masjid, you meet people every day in a conference and a convention, and perhaps Allah subhanahu wa ta\'ala is facilitating towards truly great things. And that\'s also something about, you know, every single person from this community, from this ummah, to look within and to say, like, what could be my moment? It doesn\'t have to be a public moment, it has to be a moment that\'s pleasing to Allah subhanahu wa ta\'ala, where I use the position that Allah has put me in to do something great, to do the right thing, and to seek His pleasure along the way. And to have that spiritual prep, the istikhara before, the tahajjud before, all of those are so important. It\'s not just showing up in the moment, it\'s preparing yourself for that moment. And then seeking forgiveness after the moment as well, that Allah accepted and that Allah forgive you for even the shortcoming in that.
And so that\'s something that\'s unique to the believer, and all of the believers have to heed that advice. May Allah reward you for giving that advice to everyone here. The last thing that I\'ll say is just a message, you know, to Muslims that work in these companies. You know, what would you say to them? What are some of the efforts that are happening right now that people should be aware of? Yeah, for sure. I would say, the first thing I would preface the message with is just know you are not alone. If you\'re feeling conflicted, if you\'re feeling like there\'s no way you can stay at that company, or you don\'t know what to do, you are not the only person in that position. And I can see that with certainty, again, because of all the responses that I\'ve received since sending an email to Muslims of Microsoft, most people are feeling the same way. So that is why I think we need to put our voices together and our ideas together to make a change or make an exit. This is a really tough change to make on your own. And specifically for Microsoft workers, for example, there are groups like No Azure for Apartheid, which are specifically there to help you, you know, depending on your risk tolerance, depending on the constraints in your life, just help you devise a plan that makes the most sense for you for how to either make a change on the inside or plan your exit to stop being associated with such a company. I know that they\'re less mentioned on the media, but there were some Muslim workers at Google, for example, that had a sit-in last year and that were fired. And they\'re also still continuing to help others do something within Google through the No Tech for Apartheid group.
Like there are there are collectives that can help you, you know, not navigate this on your own, because it\'s really overwhelming, as Shaykh mentioned, to, you know, work really hard to get like your university degree or get to this position and work really hard in it for promotions and whatnot. It can feel really overwhelming to then just not stay on that same path. And that\'s why I do encourage us to lean on each other and lean on the people in these organizations that can help you, you know, again, just work within your comfort zone and risk level and do something. And then the second thing is I will repeat for like the fourth time now, just the hadith on anything that you do for the sake of Allah, Allah will not let you down. If you have the sincere, I think you should make the sincere intention that I am trying to find another job or I am trying to speak up or I\'m trying to do anything within my company for the sake of Allah, because I know that Allah, azza wa jal, wants us to fight for the oppressed and be a voice that opposes any complicity in the genocide in Gaza. Like just having that sincere intention can give you the tranquility and just like help you have the tawakkul that\'s needed to act, to move from like those feelings of anguish or those feelings of hopelessness and do something with the faith that Allah subhanahu wa ta\'ala is on your side in this change. Allah bless you. And I think, you know, that\'s our message to the community, to people across the board is do something, right? Make sure that you\'re doing something. Make sure that you\'re not silent and complicit.
Make sure that you\'re taking a stand and there\'s something about leaving something for the sake of Allah subhanahu wa ta\'ala and Allah azza wa jal replacing it with something better or doing something for the sake of Allah and then suffering in the process or making a sacrifice in the process, a circumstance inflicted upon you and then you will be given something better. But it\'s important for people wherever you are. If you can\'t make the change, then leave or leave in a way that makes a change. Or if you are there, work with other people within your companies. Let\'s send strong messages from within and from outside that this will not be tolerated, that we won\'t sit around and let the same tech products that we use on a daily basis be used to kill our brothers and sisters on a daily basis, that there\'s strength in the collective and inshallah ta\'ala we\'re going to be working with multiple brothers and sisters that have left and those that are still on the inside of some of these companies to try to make tech accountable bi\'idhnillah ta\'ala, to try to stop this because that\'s something that we have to do. We have to use whatever position we have inside and outside to make that change bi\'idhnillah ta\'ala. We also want to send a message to those corporations that if they want Muslim talent, then they\'re going to have to change the way that they go about this thing. And so, we\'re going to work with other members inshallah ta\'ala within the community as well as those that aren\'t even Muslim, just people of principle. We had an interview with Paul Biggar recently as well, talking about tech and apartheid and how we can do our part inshallah ta\'ala to work with people of conscience. So we\'re going to work with people within the community and also that are not Muslim, but that are people of principle to make sure that these companies don\'t think they can get away with this. And do indeed see that people will not work for them if they continue to work for genocide and continue to work for apartheid. So we\'re going to do that part. We also need our community to step up and to offer support systems to those that do lose their jobs in the process.
We have to cover our own. So inshallah ta\'ala we\'re going to be putting forth some efforts in that regard, highlighting some of the efforts in the community. But if someone gets fired for doing the right thing, this is just a message to the community. If you\'re in a place where you can hire inshallah ta\'ala, step up and hire. You know, mashallah, Ibtihal, I know you\'ve gotten job offers from all over the world now. May Allah bless you and place you in the best position inshallah. As a community, we have to step up. Step up to the plate inshallah and make sure that when people are penalized for doing the right thing, that we reward them for doing the right thing. And that\'s part of our responsibility inshallah ta\'ala as well. So may Allah bless you and bless all of those that have taken a stand. May Allah inspire those who are on the fence about taking a stand. May Allah subhanahu wa ta\'ala allow our community to come together and to collectively do more for our brothers and sisters in Gaza. May Allah bless you, bless your family. Again, we\'re extremely proud of you. You have no idea how many people you inspired. And I pray that all of that is so much more than any salary that you have now foregone or any other position or career. May Allah subhanahu wa ta\'ala count you from the truthful ones on the day of judgment. Because indeed, that is the most noble of positions. Allahumma ameen. Any last words that you have for our community? Just anything you want to say to the community with any last words. JazakAllah khair, Shaykh. Just a note, really thankful to you for always speaking words of truth and justice when it comes to our complicity and what we should be doing. I\'m sure I don\'t only speak for myself. For certain, when I say that they really inspire me and others to not, as you said, just stay silent and do nothing. JazakAllah khair for always getting that message across. And yeah, I would say that\'s the final message I would like to leave.
A lot of us are feeling really sad and really frustrated, some hopeless about what\'s been going on in Gaza. And it is in everyone\'s power, whether at a less visible capacity, whether just through one conversation you have with someone, it is within everyone\'s power to do something, to act, come in the way of the genocidal entities. Like truly, no matter where you are and no matter what position you hold, try to find ways to speak up. Try, even if you\'re not necessarily in a position that\'s complicit, even just silence, even just inaction can be complicit. So reflect and collaborate with others and find ways to get your voice out there for the people of Gaza. JazakAllah khairan. Allah bless you. And I think for the community to know, look, these tools are being used against us. Let\'s find ways to build and use these tools for good. Not just for Gaza, for Palestine as a whole, for Sudan, for all of these different places in which our people are being devastated. Let\'s use these tools, build these tools for khair, for good. And that is a responsibility for each and every single one of us. والذين جاهدوا فينا لنهدينهم سبلنا Those who strive in our way, we will guide them to our ways. So all of us have to strive and Allah azza wa jal will unlock creativity through sincerity and we\'ll find our ways to intervene with good, bi\'idhnillah ta\'ala. And no one is making a greater sacrifice than our people in Gaza. At the end of the day, whatever sacrifice we\'re making here, what our people in Gaza are sacrificing is far greater. No one is suffering more than them and no one is feeling more pain than them. So whatever we do, we\'ll certainly be deficient.
But may Allah Subhanahu wa ta\'ala forgive us for that deficiency and find us worthy to be used for their support despite our deficiencies, despite our shortcomings. BarakAllahu fikum once again. JazakAllah khayran to everyone for tuning in. Assalamu alaikum warahmatullahi wabarakatuh Wa alaikum assalam. JazakAllah khayran.
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