Subscribe Today
Request a Clip
On June 2, 2020 Philadelphia Islamic scholar Nafis Abu Zayd Sparrow uploaded a video to the Maktabah Ibn Taymiyyah YouTube channel in which he shared his thoughts about the protests surrounding the death of George Floyd. He said that there is no basis in the Quran for demonstrations, for "spitting in the faces" of people in power, or for saying bad things about President Trump. Comparing the black community to the Children of Israel, whom he said would kill their own prophets, he said that one must fight in order to attain freedom and that this is what had been advocated and spoken about by Malcolm X, whom he said had been the leader that had adhered most closely to the Quran and the Sunnah. Sparrow said that if people who are fed up with the system want to make a difference, they must become a formidable and respected foe. He explained that it takes some "real fighting" to stand up, that revolution requires bloodshed, and that America's indigenous blacks should fight for their own land, similar to how Asians have Chinatown and how the Jews in New York have their own "police state." Sparrow elaborated that he is "all for" doing what Malcolm X had advocated, and he said that since people are not ready for any form of Jihad, they should be quiet, supplicate to Allah, and inspire others. Sparrow was formerly an imam of Masjid Tawbah in Philadelphia but was dismissed due to "attacks and slandering of known Salafis," according to the mosque's Twitter account. He currently runs the Maktabah Ibn Taymiyyah Islamic library and learning center and he is also affiliated with the 5:2 Initiative. For more about Nafis Abu Zayd Sparrow see MEMRITV clip #8661.
Nafis Abu Zayd Sparrow: "Even scholars of the past, they mention clearly that there is nothing found - no basis whatsoever - in the Quran or the Sunnah for demonstrations or protests.
[...]
"When Allah told [Moses] to go back to deal with this tyrannical ruler, to deal with this tyrannical system - did He tell him to spit in their faces? Did He tell him to stand outside and do public demonstrations? Did He tell him to behave a certain way - to clown the President, make up all types of memes, say this about the president because it is the way you feel? Did He say to do all of that, and talk bad about Pharaoh?
[...]
"So all of this Tweeting, speaking, celebrities - don't follow them. 'F Trump,' that sounds good... Don't follow them.
[...]
"To get freedom, brothers, it takes fighting, I'm sorry, unless you have got divine intervention.
[...]
"Moses didn't need an army to fight. But go to Muhammad. Didn't Muhammad have to fight? Go to all the prophets before - get your verses at the verses - did they not have to fight?
[...]
"I challenge you, show me where your power to vote ever changed anything. 'Oh, we got Obama into office' - and what did Obama do? Show me! People are not listening. We, as Muslims, have to use our insight. Show me!
[...]
"I am saying that if you want to separate from the racism, from those people that are embedded with racism - then you have to remove yourself from the system itself and you have to create your system within the system. That is what I am saying. And you have to become a formidable foe. And since we are not going to do that, we have yet to do that, and we have not shown to do that - then can you please stop with these senseless causing-more-harm-than-benefit demonstrations and being somebody's guinea pig. That's what I mean - a public demonstration within a public demonstration. They set you up and they put you there and use your call, your outcry and your outrage to make their own agenda. Then they bring other people, anarchists, Antifa, whatever you want to call them - different people came out and they all exploited the George Floyd situation.
[...]
"But if you truly want to stand up then it's going to take some real fighting, and that is what Malcolm X was saying. It's going to take some blood-shedding - that is what Malcolm X was saying. Because revolution is land and that is what it is about. You are fighting for land. That is what you are fighting for. And if you really want that, that is what you are going to have to do. Power respects power.
[...]
"We have a protocol in Islam already for how this is supposed to be done.
[...]
"You gave Chinatown [sic] a Chinatown. You gave the Jews a whole police state in New York - think about it. All these other different minorities - you gave them things that they can do within their respective lands - you just didn't give it to the indigenous black person.
[...]
"Where are you on the frontline? What skill are you utilizing to put forth to fight against this oppressive regime? You are not even talking about that. You haven't... You are probably out of shape. You haven't even put yourself in shape. You are probably not ready for any form of Jihad - period.
[...]
"You really want to do it? Then go back, listen to what Malcolm X said, and let's do it - and I am all for it, if you want to do that. But if you are not, and I know we are not - and we are nowhere near that - then what we need to do is be quiet, inshallah, offer supplications and be an inspiration to others."
Latest Clips
