Jump to:
Imam Tom Live
What Does Trump's Second Term Mean for Muslims? | Imam Tom Weekly
In a world where being visibly Muslim feels more challenging than ever, now is not the time to hide our identity. Imam Tom Facchine describes how, in the face of a shifting political climate, we can embrace the challenges of being Muslim much in the way the Prophet (s) did, and be able to strengthen our faith and inspire others anew.
This transcript was auto-generated using AI and may contain misspellings.
The golden age of America begins right now. From this day forward, our country will flourish and be respected again all over the world.
With a second Trump presidency coming towards us, a lot of Muslims in the United States are concerned and fearful for what is sure to be an attempt to target our institutions, target us individually with hate crimes and things of that nature.
And a lot of people are looking for guidance for how they should meet this.
Now, I want to set the stage by going back to what Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala told us in the Qur'an about setting our expectations, that this is life, that this is a part of history.
We are told directly from the creator of all the worlds, the entire universe, that we need to expect this type of thing. There's no running away from it.
He says in verse 186 of Surah Ali 'Imran that you're certainly going to be tested when it comes to your wealth and your personhood or your lives.
And you're going to hear from other people that are not Muslims, whether it's people from the book, meaning Christians and Jews, or whether it's other people who are outside of that.
You're going to hear nasty words. You're going to hear harsh comments. You're going to hear a lot of things. So Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is telling us that this is part of reality.
I believe we should not necessarily try to create a reality in which those types of things are regulated out of existence.
OK, now what I mean by that is imagine if we were to construct a government policy where you couldn't say anything negative about Islam. Anything that you said about Islam that's negative is hate speech and you're going to jail.
Would we want that as Muslims? I don't think that we would because Allah told us that we have to expect this. And this is part of our challenge.
And this is also part of honest dialogue that we don't want to criminalize necessarily a healthy amount of opposition. Now, obviously, we don't want anyone to get hurt.
But we do have to also understand that just how history works, people are going to get hurt. We are going to get hurt. We will be targeted. What's the orientation that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala wants us to have to it?
Is it one of fear? Is it one of hide in your homes? Is it one of don't go outside? Is it one of change your names and take off your hijabs and stop, you know, shave all your beards and and try to just blend in? That's not what Allah says.
That's not what the Prophet (ﷺ) explained to us. That we're people of da'wah. And when you're in a place where you're doing da'wah, you're trying to represent Islam. You're trying to spread Islam.
You're trying to clarify for people what Islam is about, both when it comes to explaining it with words or demonstrating it in your actions. Then you're going to have to expect to be treated like the Prophet (ﷺ) was treated.
And the Prophet (ﷺ) was beat up and he was pelted with stones and he was had trash thrown at him and he had thorns thrown at his feet and he had all of these things.
So what reality are we trying to construct where we want to live comfortably? And not experience some of the things that the Prophet (ﷺ) experienced.
We want to sanitize these things so we can be comfortable, so we can live in luxury, so that we can benefit from the fruits of this of this land and the opportunities and the freedoms that are afforded to us and not talk to anybody and not be afraid of anyone saying an uncomfortable word to us.
I don't feel like that's really, really where it's at. I feel like we have to prepare for these types of confrontations and to meet them with dignity and to meet them with an attitude of sacrifice.
That if you want to spread Islam in the United States, you want other people to see Islam in a positive light. You want Islam to grow. You want people to accept Islam. You want your own children to stay on Islam.
Are you ready to sacrifice for that? Are you ready to suffer for that? Are you ready to make the unpopular decisions, put your foot down when you're pushed to when you're pushed to do something that's against your principles?
Are you ready to bear what the Prophet (ﷺ) bore when it comes to this thing that we call da'wah? I think that personally, and I could be wrong, that this is the attitude that we have to have. That this is nothing new.
It might wax and wane. It might be better or worse from administration to administration, from period to period. But we have to know that that's what we're here for.
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala told us that that's what we're here for, that that's what we can expect.
And towards the end of the ayah, he doesn't say about trying to regulate it out of existence or trying to criminalize every uncomfortable word that anybody says against you.
He says, and whoever is able to be patient and fear Allah, then that is truly an impressive feat.

















































