Imam Tahir Anwar (South Bay Islamic Center): Get to Know Your Local Imam

Imam Tahir Anwar. Mashallah, I'm 28 years old now. Uh and I don't know life without Imam Tahir. Alhamdulillah. So, it's uh you know, I remember being a little boy and Imam Tahir was our Imam and our teacher and now Alhamdulillah, this is a full circle moment. So, Imam Tahir Anwar is an American Muslim scholar and preacher born in London, England. He has lived in the San Francisco Bay Area since 1983. After completing his religious studies, Imam Tahir has served the Bay Area Muslim community since 2000. He also teaches Islamic law at the renowned Zaytuna College, America's first Muslim liberal arts college located in Berkeley, California. In addition, he is the founding board member of Averroes High School, the Bay Area's first Muslim high school. He is currently the chairman of the board of Nisa, uh the North American Islamic Shelter for the Abused, an organization that works towards alleviating issues related to domestic violence. He has a passion for community service. He served on the Human Rights Commission for the city of San Jose for over 5 years and on the Human Relations Commission for the county of Santa Clara for 1 year. He also leads a group for Hajj each year. Alhamdulillah. Uh we have uh we have next to us uh next to Imam Tahir. Oh, sorry. Imam Tahir is also, you know, serving at SBIA, South Bay Islamic Association. How did you end up in this position of community service? >> Um so, to answer the question and I'll try to keep my answers very brief. Um and I smiled that at the age of 10 or 12 did I see myself where I'm at today? Yes. Um and I'll be honest with you because um you know, I Uh Alhamdulillah, my grandfather, may Allah have mercy on him, was a Hafiz and Alim, a scholar of the sciences of Dean. My father uh was the same. In fact, that's how my father immigrated to the United States in the late '70s, early '80s as an Imam. Uh, his green card was processed by a masjid in Southern California. That's how uh, we moved from England to the United States of America. And so, uh, Islamic studies, uh, uh, um, you know, was, uh, was a very important element of our growing up, daily memorizing, daily lessons with my mom and my dad. Um, and memorizing portions of the Quran at home at a very early age. Um, and most importantly, I think, um, uh, when you have, when you have, uh, when you look up to your parents, um, um, it makes an impact on you. When you respect your parents and respect what they do and appreciate what they do, it makes an impact on you. I recently ran across a young uh, nurse at uh, the Stanford Hospital and uh, ended up spending, you know, being in his company for a few hours, um, a few shifts every day for a few days. And, um, you know, uh, I I asked him. I said, "Why at a young age, why did you become a nurse?" And his response was very simple. He said, "Because both of my parents are nurses." And it it kind of made me realize that that's probably one of the greatest reasons why uh, I am in the position that I happen to be in. And so, you know, um, you know, seeing our father and our grandfather, uh, it just kind of naturally went into this. Now, I will have to say that yes, our parents very softly encouraged us into this role, but we weren't forced into this role. And at every step along the way as we, you know, uh, transitioned from one thing to the other, uh, you know, there was clear communication, uh, questions as to, uh, is this something that you really want to do? And um if you do, then you would give it your heart and soul. And if it's something that you don't want to do, then we need to figure out, you know, how you would proceed with um you know, the rest of your studies. So, that's a simple answer, I'm hoping, inshallah. >> Jazakallah What is the main issue or problem you're seeing in the Muslim community in the Bay Area in the pastoral care that you are engaged in? >> Bismillah. Just to kind of uh go off your comment a little while ago, parents uh you know, children fighting parents. I think that uh a common theme and and I'm only stating this um because it's a reality and not for any other reason, is the fact that um it seems that alhamdulillah the panelists here come from families where deen was actually a priority. Like, that was it. That that came first before anything else. And nothing else mattered. Not I shouldn't say that. Not that nothing else mattered, but deen like as as uh Sheikh Bilal uh what's that Sheikh Sheikh Muslehuddin mentioned, like not going to sleep without having recited Surah al-Mulk. Like, that was just an expectation. That was you know, you just you just That was it. You just did it, you know? And so and or or or as Sheikh Bilal mentioned, going to someone like the the ta'alim or the reciting of Muntakhab Ahadith after Maghrib every day at home. You just did it. And when you And that was the norm. In fact, when you went to someone else's house and you didn't see it, you thought something was wrong with them. Not in a bad way, but so it's it was prioritizing faith. Um which will probably I'll And that'll help me segue into my response to your question. There's you know, there's numerous things uh masha Allah, there's there's a lot going on in our community. A lot of amazing things, and I know we're coming to that we we about a little while ago. Um, as far as, you know, uh um, concerns or challenges that we are seeing in our community, there's quite a few. I can probably, you know, pinpoint, um, at least two of them, but since you've only asked for one, I will mention I'll speak to one specifically. Um, I'm going to answer your second question first as well, so just bear with me. Uh, and I'll you'll understand why. Uh, um, there there is an immense increase of interest, uh, in the deen amongst the younger generation. And we're seeing that. It's it's so evident. Young Muslims want to be practicing Muslims, and their faith just comes first. We can speak more to that in a little while, but we're also seeing a large number of people having very little to no concern when it comes to their deen. We're seeing that as well. While there are other issues, I want to clarify that, I think this for me is at the top of the list. Not having concern for one's faith, uh, choosing to leave one's faith, choosing to marry, uh, someone who is outside of the faith, uh, where it's not even a valid marriage. Um, uh, and for me for me that's a it's a really big issue because the most important thing that we have is our faith in Allah and His Messenger Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam. And the moment you lose that, everything else comp- doesn't even come close to comparing to it. While there are other major issues that our community has, but losing your faith basically means um, you know loss of salvation in the afterlife, the eternal afterlife. So there's no bigger problem than that. And so you know, I'm we're seeing that it is it's a problem. It may it it may not seem like a you know, wide enough or a vast enough problem within the community, but for someone who sits in a position where families will come to us in times or in their darkest hour as we may call it that. It becomes very evident that there are a lot of families that are struggling with this. There's a lot of families that are struggling with this. Complete, you know, and and and the young men and women are not necessarily coming out out of just respect for their parents or you know, the dignity of their parents within their family and their community and they won't tell anyone that they're no longer Muslim, but in reality they've lost their faith, you know, they they don't care for Islam anymore. They don't they choose not to one is to not practice Islam. That's a different story. Someone chooses and says, you know, I'm a Muslim. I don't pray. I'm a Muslim. I'm not going to fast. I'm a Muslim. This is these are people who just outright denying the faith all together and says, I'm no longer a Muslim or I don't care for Islam anymore. >> So are we seeing a widening gap? So those who are practicing are really practicing and those who are not >> No, there's everything in between. But you know, when you say what is the great the biggest problem or something along the lines you that's kind of that's for me that that's a big that's one of the biggest problems because when you lose faith, you lose your eternal afterlife. And that's something that we can't afford. Everything else we can potentially not necessarily afford, but you know, there's there's amends to that. This is something and we would hope that Allah would guide these individuals inshallah. So I'm not necessarily saying that we're we're on two two different extremes, but this people losing faith and and one of the greatest ways that we're seeing people losing faith is and I'll close with this. Uh young young men and young women choosing to marry outside of their faith having no concern whatsoever that the individual that they're marrying is not a Muslim. There's no concern whatsoever. And when their parents will pose a question and say that how will you raise your children? The most common and a dumb answer is uh we will give our children a choice. All right? That's a very common answer, by the way, and I've seen it I I get to see a lot of it. In fact, I'm Okay. So, the point is that for me that's amongst numerous other issues uh this is this is a great one for me. >> Question is what is the most beautiful thing that you're seeing in the community in your pastoral pastoral work and care? >> Bismillah al-Rahman al-Rahim. I I'm going to seek your forgiveness, but um I'm going to go back to the previous question because some individuals on the stage took the uh liberty to mention two things and I only did one. So, I'm going to >> [snorts] >> Um and we're talking about problems in the community or things the breakdown of the family. The breakdown of the family, that's another really really big one. I'm not going to speak to it, but I just wanted to make sure that we have that on record that uh the breakdown of the family is a major one that we are dealing with, but it's just from numerous angles, not just one specific No no one There's you know, we're not pointing fingers at one individual or one problem. It's just just something that we need to collectively work on. Now, to your current question >> [laughter] >> I actually wanted to ask you a question on that. Um you know, mashallah, you've been an Imam here since 2000. It's 2026 now. Have you seen this problem get worse in the past 26 years? This breakdown of the family? >> Yes, absolutely. Yeah, I think the problem has gotten worse. You know, the community is growing. The community We're we're a large community where we Our community you know, has been here for a long time. And so, the many problems that we see in the community outside of the Muslim community, we're dealing with that within the community as well. And the community has been here for a number of years and we're maturing and we're growing. Uh and we're seeing a lot of those problems within our own families. People being uh people being heavily influenced by um just media, social media. Um the exchange of information so easily can be very positive, but it can be very negative as well. And you know, depending on the algorithms on your uh various different social media platforms, Sheikh Bilal will speak to this, inshallah. But, um what you'll end up seeing is that uh you'll you'll you'll hear and you'll see what you want to hear and what you want to see. And you will be convinced that you know, a certain way or a certain lifestyle, a certain way of living um is good for you and you can make it um and so on and so forth. So, the fam- the breakdown of the family is a topic in and of itself. But, the most beautiful thing that we're seeing in the community, I think that um the community is growing. The community is maturing. The community is confident. And we are now seeing various different types of institutions that are serving the community. Muslim institutions that are serving both the Muslim community and the general community. And the growth of schools, institutions of higher learning. I feel a little jealous. My colleagues on this panel all got to study in the United States. I had to go abroad. And it was very difficult. Someone once asked me and said, "What was the most difficult part of going abroad?" And I said it was the food. I just for the 7 years that I studied it despite being an Indian living with my Nana and Nani for a number of years, I just couldn't get used to the food. And I was just reminiscing that this morning. There's a very, very specific type of a Gujarati pastry um that we get. It's a very simple pastry. And my sister-in-law who came from England last week brought me a whole box. Um and I was having it with my I was I We have a lot of family at home these days, so we go to sleep late. We everyone goes to sleep after Fajr. Everyone's kind of, you know, slow. I I decided not to sleep after Fajr today and I was having my chai. I made my chai early in the morning after Fajr and I was dipping my pastry in my chai and I was pulling it out and I was remembering my Nana. May Allah have mercy on him. Um and my Nani. And I just remembered that they tried so hard to make our life there easy, but it the food just it just didn't work out. Now, coming back to what I was actually saying. >> No, no. I was just going to say my brother I mean is in Pakistan right now and he too always He's always >> So, it's not it's so so listen, you have to understand. It was the same food that was being cooked there. But it just just it was just I don't know, man. I just don't know. I But in any case, the community is growing. The institutions are growing. We have institutions There used to be a time when your local huffaz for tarawih would be imported. Then you'd have you know, uh just so many Now, masha'Allah, you have so many huffaz in the community because of these hifz schools that all the masajid are filled. You have young scholars where you we the Muslim American This is By the way, the non-Muslim uh community, especially the non-Muslim immigrant uh community uh many of the minorities they're very jealous jealous of the Muslim community. They are still needing to import their teachers and scholars from abroad to teach their children. That has changed for us in the United States. We now have young imams who are relatable to the community, to our children, and so on and so forth. And so, our community is really growing at that rate, and we're doing we're doing a good job. And so, in every city that you drive through, there's a masjid, a musalla, there's community activities and community centers. And so we, insha'Allah, despite our challenges in this country um are are in a place where Islam is here to live, insha'Allah. For many, many years to come. And it would it would take a lot uh in order for anyone to attempt to eradicate Islam from these lands. Um we're we're we're here. We're we're ingrained in the community, in the society. And insha'Allah, with the freedoms that are of uh available to us in this democracy uh or whatever we have here, insha'Allah. No, no, no, because we have to be grateful. We have a lot of freedoms as Muslims in America that many Muslims don't have in Muslim countries. So, we need to be grateful despite the challenges that because of I I'm just telling you again very quickly. I was just talking to my wife's uncle um who lives now in Cape Town. And he was telling me we were just reminiscing. He's He's just a few years older than me and he we we happened to be in a public park on Canada Day, on July 1st. I was in Canada and it was time for Maghrib as the fireworks were getting started. We were praying Maghrib. And subhanallah, this was in a city in east of Toronto, Pickering. Must have been about 3-400 Muslims there. I mean, it was very visibly Muslim, if you know what I'm trying to say. The And he was he was reminding me. He goes, "You know, we should be grateful that we're able to pray namaz publicly because in India now now, in a land where we used to be able to pray on the train stations, inside trains and other places, he goes, "It's not possible. You will be lynched." You will be lynched. So, we have to appreciate the freedoms that we have as Muslims um in the United States of America. And so, I I think that's that's that's the beautiful thing. Like, we're mashallah, we're really, really growing and maturing as a community and no longer praying Jummah inside the closet. You know, on a serious note, like we have our own struggles. Um be it our children, our spouses, just ev- everything like everyone else, you know? So, if you see us and you're like, "Oh my god, that's the Imam. His life is perfect." It's not. We have our own challenges. We have our own struggles. Um and we are we have our good days and we have our bad days and so, um you know, yeah. >> Hamdulillah. Continuing with the rapid-fire questions. Uh the next question is um uh Imams and boards notoriously have a very tough relationship. You guys have all made it work, alhamdulillah. I know, forgive me, 1 minute. What's the advice there to boards, to the community? How are you guys making it work? Bismillah. >> Knowing that we are all serving the deen of Allah subhana wa ta'ala. I can write a book. >> Um there's a lot of pressure being an Imam, right? Like, right rightly or wrongly, wrongly, people will walk into the mosque and they're not connected to the community and the Imam is the Dean, right? Imam Tahir is the Dean in that moment. So, if Imam Tahir has a bad day, it's like this person's faith is in crisis. Or if Imam Tahir has a good day, then they're on top of the world. Like, how do you How do Imams deal with this pressure? And can Imams have an off day? How How How do you deal with the pressure of being an Imam and this religious responsibility? >> You know, we just continuously reminding yourself that this is an amana and uh it's a trust that needs to be fulfilled. And when someone does knock on your door or comes your way, uh there's a certain responsibility that we have um to be on our best character, to be on our best behavior, to fulfill the need of that moment. And if it's something that you are one off, everyone is going to have a little bit of a difficult time, but if that's something that you're consistently struggling with, and most Imams don't, to be honest with you. But if it's something that you're consistently struggling with, then maybe you're in the wrong career, you know, it's that simple. And and recognizing that. But, you know, um other than that, um what was the second part of the question? Sorry about that. The last part. >> How do you deal with the pressure? >> Oh, how do you deal with the pressure? Uh you There What pressure? Um the No, I'll be honest with you because the thing is that as as Imams we're also supposed to be on a higher level of our own ibadah and worship. And um sometimes Imams struggle with that. And so, we we set the example for those around us, be it our families or our communities. And so, being mindful in our prayer, making our daily athkar. So, making time for yourself so that you are spiritually energized before you give back to the community. And so, um you know, um this is just this is just a core requirement. Waking up for tahajud. You can tell the community all you want to wake up for Tahajud, but what good is it if you're not waking up for Tahajud? You can tell the community all you want about reciting the Quran, but what good is what good is it if you don't have a daily weird of certain ajza of the Quran. So, you know, so that that's the way to go about it. At least that's the way I feel. That's what I've been taught by my teachers and my elders. I'm just going to keep it real here. >> [snorts] >> A good advice to the Imams is don't live too close to the masjid. Um and and live in a community where there's not a lot of Muslims so that you can be yourself on given days. You know what I'm saying? Like you could you could go out in your shorts and wash your driveway and mow your lawn and not have to worry about people saying, "Oh my god, look at you know, I saw Imam having my in his shorts." I'm being serious, okay? Um so this is I'm just keeping it real. And then just if you can just 1 second. And but on a more serious note, and again I'm keeping it real here. This is This is to my fellow Imams and they already know this, but this is for the community to know. Um we try to the best of our ability we don't take our problems home with us. So if you tell us anything, you can rest assured we're not talking about this with our spouses at home. We're not take because you are work for us. I'm just being honest. And so we don't take our work home with us. Because if we took our home with work home with us, we wouldn't have a life. And so, you know, we As soon as we get in our cars or as soon as we get off get out of our cars, we pretty much leave that behind and we go into our homes so that we can actually have some peace and solace. And most of us actually either put our phones away or we selectively respond to messages and calls once we get home. Because at some point we do have a life and we want Unless there's an emergency, we will always make time for that. But I hope you understand. The point I'm trying to make is that ultimately we're human beings as well. And we have we have our lives and so, you know, we live them. Jazakallah khair. Thank you so much. Okay, we're going to change So we want you to bring us home Imam Tarar. The question for you and and also please we want you to cook. We want the ball is yours fourth quarter one minute left we want you to cook. MCC will cut whatever they need to cut. We want you to cook for us inshallah. The question I'm I'm like layering three questions on you and you can just take it wherever you want. To Imam or not to Imam? So when a community thinks about having an Imam should they do it should they not do it? What is the discussion there? That's number part one. Part two is celebrity [snorts] Imams versus Imams doing the grassroots work. How does that dynamic work and what is it how does it affect our communities? And then the last part is where do you see the Imam role going in the next 30 years? You've been in the game for 30 years where do you see going in the next 30 years? Bismillah. >> Bismillah al-Rahman al-Rahim. This is actually very simple. I don't need to cook. >> [laughter] >> To Imam or not to Imam? Very simple. To Imam. The a a hospital a a doctor's office is not successful doesn't go anywhere without a good doctor without a good surgeon. People come to the institution to be cured. People go to a specific school because of certain types of professors and so on and so forth. And so we need an Imam an Imam who will not just lead us in our prayers but is also there consistently for guidance for khutbahs to get to know our children to develop a relationship with them to develop long-term relationships with families so that you know you can you can you can benefit the community. You can benefit you can fulfill the spiritual needs of the community. And to give you an example Uh, used to be a time when I would uh, deliver khutbahs at my own masjid maybe once or twice a month. Uh, and it was awesome because I got the other weeks off and I could do whatever I want and go wherever I want. Um, but this was during COVID and of course I had been in my career for a a significant amount of time during by the time COVID had happened. I came to realize and so during COVID I was doing the khutbah every Friday at the masjid outside, you know, we had the outdoors Jumu'ah and all of that, you remember that. And I came to realize that when you are there frequently, week after week after week, you're able to develop a certain type of a relationship with the community. And that relationship is not just a khutbah relationship. That relationship is before Jumu'ah. I walk in, I say salaam to the elders, to the young, to the sisters. Hey, salaam alaykum, I haven't seen you in a while, how are you? You know. Uh, hey Sheikh, you got 30 seconds for me? Absolutely. And then you finally make it up to the first row, you deliver the khutbah. Uh, you know, one one on on any given Friday you could be extremely humorous and give Dave Chappelle a run for his money. And on another given Friday you can go in so hard that if it was someone's first time listening to your khutbah, they'll be like, I'm never coming back here again, right? But the thing is that you don't have to perform every Friday, you know, you know you know your community, you know what they need. There is times when you will give them compassion and there's times when you will really break it down and and speak to the community with your heart. And so to Imam absolutely, you know, the we have we have young Bassel and you know, we have these young brothers here. I've known them for so many years. I've known them for almost 10 years. I've developed Sean, I've developed this relationship with a brotherly relationship. These are young boys, they're like, you know, young children. They're old enough to be my kids, well, not Bassel maybe, but but but like you know, Adil Rizwan will like hit me up and say, "Hey, Mumtaha, let's go grab a burger." You know what I'm saying? And I'm like, that's a relationship that we've built over the years that will that wouldn't have happened had you know, I had been a weekly, you know, just showed up once a week and just kind of prayed Jumu'ah celebrity and and left. Does that make sense? So, and but in in this case, thanks to MCC that has brought me here to teach Sunday school for so many years now, um that over the course of the years that I've been teaching Sunday school here, I've gotten to know all of these, you know, amazing youth that are sitting across the room. So, that's one. Celebrity Imam versus non-celebrity, definitely non-celebrity. Right? The celebrity shuyukh uh there's a there's a place for them. And they're amazing people. They do some amazing things. But if you really want to make an impact in your community, you need someone that is going to Again, what is what does celebrity mean? Right? You know, I think the term that we're looking for is traveling shaikh versus non-traveling, you know. Again, I've been in my career so long, been there, done that. There was a time in my career where I had I had premier status on three different airlines. I had premier status on American, United, and Delta, uh you know, at the same time. That's how much I was traveling. It took a toll on me. It took a toll on my family. It took a toll on my work. Uh it didn't last very long. This was maybe 1 or 2 years. But at the end of the day, you come to realize that um you know, my my primary responsibility is my community. And some of it will not come with a lot of fame. It it'll just be just be grassroots work that you're doing. And when I say grassroots work, I'm not even talking about teaching. Grassroots work where I show up to lead the prayers and after namaz, there's a group of six little kids waiting there for me to draw a little star on their hands. That's what I call grassroots work. Am I making sense to you? Like I'm not I'm not even talking about like teaching a class or doing a khatira. I'm talking about these little, you know, three, four-year-olds just standing in line after the prayer. And so, I've gotten a little creative now. I don't draw stars anymore. I just found a stamp that has a star on it. So, I don't have to draw cuz then they would be like, "Imam Tahir, green on this hand and purple on this hand and yesterday's star was better than today's." And I I you know, I'm like, I'm too old too old to deal with that. So, so the You get what I'm trying to say. When I say grassroots, I'm not just talking about teaching. I'm just talking about developing relationships with with families and the young children and the elders in the community that sometimes are made to feel invisible. The old people are invisible and no one cares for them anymore. Um they just kind of show up and sit on the chairs and leave. And like, I've been in my community a very long time and I know the sacrifices some of these elders have made, you know? They They come like a nobody. They're very old. Their clothes are kind of old. Um and and people just kind of look at them. And I'm like, "You know, this man single-handedly took care of the microphone and the sound of this masjid for 30 years. This uncle up until he was making money gave this masjid more money than you can ever imagine than you will ever give." This You know, so people have had their sacrifices. They've They've given. And so, you know, that's grassroots. Um where do we see So, I I I am a believer that our masjids need to have imams. I will tell you this, though, that the immigrant imam that most masajid and most boards hired some years ago, they're no longer existent. These young imams are coming in with their demands. They're not taking a weekday off. When I got hired, they gave me Monday off. You know what I'm saying? What am I supposed to do on a Monday? You know? These imams are very clearly coming in and saying, "I'm taking my weekend off." These imams are coming in and asking to say, "Where's my 401k?" Okay, these imams are coming in and asking for, you know, they're they're asking for, you know, a work schedule and a job description that actually makes sense. So, last Friday, my son happens to be an imam. And so, last Friday midnight, he just knocks on the door and walks in. I'm like, "What are you doing?" He goes, "Dad, it's the weekend." I'm like, "This life is awesome." I said, "Where are you Which masjid are you the imam at? Are they looking for an assistant imam? Cuz I'm willing to sign up at this point." You know, cuz my masjid expects me to be there on Saturday and Well, no, not necessarily, but you get what I'm Now, I understand that we have Sunday school responsibilities and other things, but like there needs to be So, these young imams are not just kind of coming in and and will will do whatever you tell them to do. They're going to make their demands. They are going to ask for certain things that the community is not ready for yet. Uh but, what I do see in the coming years, and this is I alluded to this In fact, I mentioned this earlier, that we now have institutions in the United States of America that are producing both male and female scholars, masha Allah. The males will do everything and lead the salah, but we also have female scholarship within our communities for our sisters, both young and old. And so, the masajid, in addition to all the other things that we spend money on, need to set aside a budget where we are hiring uh young female and male teachers and instructors full-time for our institutions, individuals that have been trained right here in the United States of America, born and raised here, lived here, understand the currents, understand the politics, understand the system, and getting these individuals to serve our communities, we are going to make a difference. Because many, many other faiths are actually most other faiths are a dying tradition in this in this country, especially the Christian denomination. The vast majority of them are dying, you know, dying faith. Look at the churches, look at the amount of people that are going to the churches in most parts of the country and the ages of the people that are attending. The minority the vast majority of the other minority faiths, be it the Hindus or the Buddhists or the Sikhs and we don't mean any disrespect. I'm just saying this as an example. The vast majority of their spiritual leadership, their religious leadership is still coming from abroad. And we as Muslims in America have completely changed that trend. And so going forth and going forward, we have a really bright future ahead of us. This is where the community needs to step in and say that, you know what, we are setting aside a quarter million dollars, a half a million dollars every year for um human resources, right? We are willing to pay where the money is actually needed to build the community because if we don't build and maintain the community, these buildings will be empty buildings. And history has taught us that so many masajid in different parts of the world where Islam has strived and thrived for hundreds of years, we now have masajid that are completely empty, void of any Muslims. That could happen right here. We're still too new. We're still too fresh. We, you know, we could go away in no time. And so we really need to make those [snorts] sacrifices and we really need to um um you know, um invest uh in these areas. Now, I will tell you this as someone who has, you know, a half a foot in Dallas, um where where the masajid I won't say one foot, but the masajid in Dallas, one of the reasons why they have um succeeded so well is because they have actually done each of their masajid have multiple hires. Um from the from the executive director or some sort of a paid office manager to a paid Imam. Actually, most masajid have two paid Imams. And most masajid the the the latest trend in the Dallas masajid happens to be hiring a female instructor for the sisters. So, the vast majority of the larger masajid in the Dallas area are actually doing this. Now, people will argue and say that it's cheaper to live in Dallas. They can pay them less. Trust me, they're not paying them that less. Uh Bay Area masajid the many of them are still struggling to keep up with Dallas salaries. I'll be honest with you, right? And so, we can real we real Now, again, we live in the Bay Area. If we're going to live here, then just as we invest, you know, our money into the kinds of homes that we live in and the lifestyle that we live and the expenses, this is a part of that expense and we really need to make that happen. And so, I think that the Bay Area Muslim community has generally struggled greatly when it comes to hiring Imams. Part of that is a different topic whole different discussion altogether. There are in in some masajid, right? They'll be a board a boards that will not want to hire Imams because they will have to give up some of their power, not the board of directors per se, but sometimes the board of trustees, right? They'll have to share some of their power with that Imam and they don't want to do that and there's a lot of politics there, but I'm not going to go into that right now. But, on a more positive note, the reality is that we need to we need to do our hires. We need to get out there. We need to take a risk. We need to take a risk. And I will tell you this and this is very very personal. 25 years ago, I was a fresh graduate right out right right 26 years ago, I was a fresh graduate right out right out of the madrasa system having studied abroad and the SBIA, the South Bay Islamic Association, one or two very specific individuals. May Allah have mercy on those who have passed away, and may Allah grant shifa to those who are ill, and I won't mention any names, but there was a group of about three or four uncles who took a risk on me and decided to say, "You know what? No matter what happens, we're going to hire this young kid." And they Now, I don't know whether it paid off or not, but they went out and they they made a hire. And SBIA has always had a history of having imams. From its inception, SBIA has always had an imam on their payroll. And the point is that again, you know, I'm not saying whether it paid off or not, probably not. But But that being said, like I I do think that masajid need to start thinking in that direction to have that leadership, especially with the with the talent that we have in our community. So, we don't have to we're not looking at making sacrifices anymore. We're not just hiring someone because we No, we need to For For Again, to teach our children Quran. You know, we brought this up. I'm sorry I'm making this long, but you did say take it away. So, I'm taking it away. You know, we mentioned There's There's There's young kids who don't know how to read the Quran. They can barely read one surah. You know, and like that's like the most basic thing in the world, being able to recite the Quran. It's like the most basic thing that you're supposed to do. And we've somehow been convinced that if you don't understand the Quran, there's no point in reading the Quran. Right? And so, you know, to teach our children the alif ba ta tha, to teach our children the tahara and salah, and so on and so forth. But also to be there for our communities, and trust me, trust me, there are young men and women and old men and women as well. I don't want to be, you know, discriminate, but we have we have individuals in our community who are willing to sacrifice to teach and be there for our communities. And the communities need to inshallah step up as well and make sure that we make it comfortable for them to be there to be with our community not just for a few years but longer periods of time so that we can build that relationship inshallah. I'm sorry for going on very long. >> No, no, thank you so much. Thank you so much and it has paid off. We love you Imam we all love you and it has paid off. Everyone can testify to that. Alhamdulillah. >> You have to ask the SCBI board. That's not for you to say. >> Alhamdulillah. [laughter] And then to keep my LeBron James analogy going he announced today that he's you know moving to Philadelphia and playing for two more years. Are you announcing that you're going to Dallas? >> [laughter] >> Is that was that a hint? What >> You know there's my son lives in Dallas. I love the Dallas Muslim community. It's a great place. If my son decides to live there and if and when Allah blesses him and his wife with children naturally you know grandkids are a magnet. So if my risk is destined if I move to Dallas it's not going to be I'm I'm going on record here by the way. If I move to Dallas it's not going for I won't be moving for work. It'll be for personal reasons but up until my risk is destined here and I can afford I'll be very honest with you. I'll be very honest with you up until I can afford to live in the Bay Area and if Allah has willed for everything to happen I will live here but I will tell you the Bay Area is an expensive place to live and at some point you know everyone thinks about their future and you know how long you know they want to be where they're at. So it's a real question. So no no hints. This is more probably for people with younger kids but a strong foundation strong deeni foundation will really keep them in check as they grow older. So for some of us that ship might have sailed and as a result just good company. I'm I'm telling you having raised uh two boys who are both adults now, one who is married, um that um just a you know, just good company. And encourage them to have good company, be in good company, and um you know, facilitate good This was my Both my kids and my brother's kids, they were in the high school age >> [clears throat] >> late high school during COVID. And um you know, believe it or not, my house our house became a hangout for like 15 youth every Friday [snorts] after Jumu'ah during COVID. Everyone else was scared. We weren't. And so um and so just it our house just became the hangout. And every Friday evening uh we were either, you know, picking up pizza or fried chicken, thanks to Crispy Crunchy when it used to be halal. I don't know if it still is or not, but and every Friday we'd be picking up like either pizza or chicken for the kids. And uh over the course of the, you know, months we had some of the parents saying, "Oh, Imam Sahab, you know, please let us pay for it one day." You know, and every week we're probably running up a, you know, a bill of maybe at least $100, you know, feeding 12 15 kids. Maybe not 15, but 10 12. And and I thought And my brother and I would always discuss this and we said, "You know what? We're we're not doing it for them. We're doing it for our own kids." So, we we're not we're not going to let anyone else contribute to this. This is an expense We're doing this for our own kids. And so, if we can allow facilitate as parents that company for them, no kids are perfect. Any parent that says, "My child will never do this" is is the parent whose child will be the first one to do it. I I'm telling you that. Uh a lot of times we look at other kids and say, "Oh my god, look at that that" Kids are going to be kids, you know what I'm saying? Just going to be up to no good, teenagers. Um you just have to figure out what that no good is, but the point is that as long as you can facilitate good company for them, and then have the Sheikh Bilals and the Sheikh Masihullah's and Imam No, I'm being serious. For them to hang out with and even if it's just you know, just I'm not talking about a formal youth halaqah. That's not what I'm talking about. I'm just talking about informally the kids are just showing up at the mosque and Sheikh Masih is there and Imam Sami is there and you know, there's hey, salaam alaykum Imam Bilal. We're just hey, salaam alaykum. How are you doing? What's up, man? You know, just that kind of going back and forth. Hey, I got a question for you. Just that those relationships those are awesome. >> Is there a How do you see like um possibility? Is there a need, let's say in California, for uh the idea of a Muslim village? Yes. You know what I mean? So, something like Epic maybe or I don't know. >> Yeah, you know, honestly, honestly, I think you know, different people have different opinions and different things will work for different people. I'm not necessarily saying it should happen or it shouldn't happen. I'm not necessarily saying that. We already have Fremont. Um No, seriously. Like shut Go to like the Apna Bazaar parking lot right now. Okay? You know what I'm saying? Like you can get bun and nihari and so what I mean and there's a masjid there right across the street. But but on a more serious note, different things will work for different people. I personally own a home in Dallas in a Muslim community of 190 90 homes, Muslim homes. The community beside it is all Muslim. The community beside it is all Muslim. Um and so now it just so hap- the the musallah, which is about the size of this well, maybe about half the size of this room is about a minute's walk away from my home in Dallas. Um there's pluses and minuses to that, you know, it's not always a perfect. Um as long as I I personally believe that as long as we can Islam has never we don't necessarily find like villages uh you know, as long as well maybe there are but as long as we can have a strong Islamic foundation at home and we can keep us parents, not just the children, us and our families connected to good community members, good people around us we have this is everything that you see here we're all I mean some of us were born abroad but we pretty much we were all raised here. I moved to California when I was in kindergarten. This is when there were no I've I've lived in California since there were two messages in the entire Bay Area, Santa Downtown San Jose and Crescent Street in San Francisco for you know, 400 Crescent. Um I think I turned out fine if you know what I'm saying. So as long as you can and and by the way my peers turned out fine. All the kids all the Muslim kids that I grew up with who are not Imams they're all most of them are engineers cuz their parents told them they had to be engineers. Um they they turned out fine. They're married to Muslims. They're raising good Muslim families. So it's possible, you know, it's not that it's impossible. I none of you lived in a you know, we all lived in you lived in the Midwest for God's sake, you know what I'm saying? Sorry? No, you. You lived in the Midwest. Yeah, yeah. What are you talking about? Middle East. I said Midwest. Okay. He's getting old. He needs a hearing aid. Okay. But yeah but you know, you grew up in the Midwest, you know, seriously, right? Um and so I think we can make it happen inshallah. Again, as I said I'm not different things will work for different people. Whatever works for individual