Thread by @RuthAliceOR

To address the lies about @IlhanMN's speech to @CAIRNational I transcribed the entire speech. It is a patriotic speech that celebrates the best of American and Muslim values.

Salaam alaikum, everyone. I also want the light so I could see your beautiful faces

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@IlhanMN @CAIRNational I am truly, truly, truly honored for the opportunity to be here with all of you. It's been a really hard week for the Muslim community.

@IlhanMN @CAIRNational

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@IlhanMN @CAIRNational And I feel extremely lucky to to be here in California with all of you–fighting for justice, for equality, for the right for us to equally exist in this country.

@IlhanMN @CAIRNational

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@IlhanMN @CAIRNational Many people, many people expect, expect our community to feel like it needs to hide every time something happens. But, repeatedly, we have shown them that we are not to be bullied. We are not to be threatened. We are not to be terrorized.
@IlhanMN @CAIRNational
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@IlhanMN @CAIRNational We are strong and resilient and we will always show up to be ourselves because we know we have a right to a dignified existence and a dignified life.
@IlhanMN @CAIRNational
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@IlhanMN @CAIRNational The other thing that is exciting to me to be in this room is that there are very fascinating people outside, who, for so many years, have spoken about an Islam that is oppressive, an Islam that lessens and isolates its women

@IlhanMN @CALCLane
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@IlhanMN @CAIRNational @CALCLane ...and today they are here outside to protest that Muslim woman who is in Congress.

I mean the irony, the irony, in that. It's very entertaining to me.

@IlhanMN @CAIRNational

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@IlhanMN @CAIRNational @CALCLane I know, I know many of them drove miles to get here, spent a lot of energy and resources and money to purchase the signs that they have but I don't think any of them realize that people like myself...

@IlhanMN @CAIRNational

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@IlhanMN @CAIRNational @CALCLane and many of the people in this room can care less about what they have to say because we know who we are and where we belong and what we stand for.

@IlhanMN @CAIRNational

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@IlhanMN @CAIRNational @CALCLane So we are coming off a tragic, tragic nightmare that has happened to Muslims in New Zealand. Many of us know that this is not a one-off incident. Many of us were not shocked or surprised.

@AngryBlackLady @CAIRNational

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@IlhanMN @CAIRNational @CALCLane @AngryBlackLady Many of us were kind of holding our breath for a really long time thinking when will something like this happen. Because many of us have experienced threats in our mosques, in our schools, even for our individual leaders.

@IlhanMN @CAIRNational

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@IlhanMN @CAIRNational @CALCLane @AngryBlackLady Many of us have witnessed bombings of mosques. Many of us have seen mosques set on fire. Many people, a few years ago, watched in horror as gunmen showed up to Irving, Texas, at a mosque threatening Muslims.

@IlhanMN @CAIRNational

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@IlhanMN @CAIRNational @CALCLane @AngryBlackLady Oops, sorry, @AngryBlackLady, I meant @IlhanMN

Most of the time autocomplete chooses you first.

@IlhanMN @CAIRNational @CALCLane @AngryBlackLady So, we all, we all kind of knew that this was happening, but the reason I think that many of us knew that this was going to get worse is that we finally have a leader, a world leader, in the White House, who publicly says Islam hates us,

@IlhanMN @CAIRNational

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@IlhanMN @CAIRNational @CALCLane @AngryBlackLady who fuels hate against Muslims, who thinks it is okay...it is okay to speak about a faith and a whole community in a way that is dehumanizing, vilifying, and doesn't understand...

@IlhanMN @CAIRNational

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@IlhanMN @CAIRNational @CALCLane @AngryBlackLady or at least makes us want to think that he doesn't understand, the consequences that his words might have.

Some people like me know that he understands the consequences.

@IlhanMN @CAIRNational

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@IlhanMN @CAIRNational @CALCLane @AngryBlackLady He knows that there are people that he can influence to threaten our lives, to diminish our presence, nut what we know, and what Islam teaches us, and what I always say, is that love trumps hate.

@IlhanMN @CAIRNational

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@IlhanMN @CAIRNational @CALCLane @AngryBlackLady Every time we feel threatened, we show up, with love, and others stand with us in solidarity. We have seen that with the Muslim ban, a very hateful policy that has now been fully implemented,

@IlhanMN @CAIRNational

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@IlhanMN @CAIRNational @CALCLane @AngryBlackLady ...one that is going to leave a stain in our nation's history. When the ban was first announced Muslims across this country rushed out to stand against it and everyone else in all of our communities showed up alongside us.

@IlhanMN @CAIRNational

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@IlhanMN @CAIRNational @CALCLane @AngryBlackLady We also know that when this last shooting happened, even though leaders, non-Muslim leaders, said people should not go to jummah prayers, people should not show up at their mosque,

@IlhanMN @CAIRNational

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@IlhanMN @CAIRNational @CALCLane @AngryBlackLady we knew...we knew that the only way we will continue is for all of us to show up. And even if you were not planning on going to jummah prayer that Friday, you were going to jummah prayer.

@IlhanMN @CAIRNational

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@IlhanMN @CAIRNational @CALCLane @AngryBlackLady And we knew that others within our communities will also show up. Because that is how it works. Once you are willing to stand up for yourself, once you recognize what your rights are, what you should be entitled to, then others will show up for you.

@IlhanMN @CAIRNational

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@IlhanMN @CAIRNational @CALCLane @AngryBlackLady Liberation, it's not an external thing. It's an internal thing.

@IlhanMN @CAIRNational

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@IlhanMN @CAIRNational @CALCLane @AngryBlackLady People always say to me how have you gotten empowered and I say I was born this way. It is not about how others make us feel; it is what we tell ourselves–that we are worthy.

@IlhanMN @CAIRNational

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@IlhanMN @CAIRNational @CALCLane @AngryBlackLady So when you know, as a Muslim, that advancing justice is very inherent in you; when you know as a Muslim our faith’s initial foundations were built by a prophet who was vilified and had stones and fruit and all kind of things thrown at him,

@IlhanMN @CAIRNational

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@IlhanMN @CAIRNational @CALCLane @AngryBlackLady a prophet who had to make a pilgrimage and leave his home; then you know that when Ilhan is facing some controversy, that–that is not something to be afraid of.

@IlhanMN @CAIRNational

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@IlhanMN @CAIRNational @CALCLane @AngryBlackLady We might be headed to the promised land of speaking the truth and finding our external liberty once we internally liberate ourselves.

@IlhanMN @CAIRNational

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@IlhanMN @CAIRNational @CALCLane @AngryBlackLady Muslims for a really long time in this country have been told that there is a privilege, that there's a privilege that we are given and it might be taken away. We are told that we should be appropriate.

@IlhanMN @CAIRNational

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@IlhanMN @CAIRNational @CALCLane @AngryBlackLady We should go to school, get an education, raise our children, and not bother anyone, not make any kind of noise. Don't make anyone comfortable. Be a good Muslim.

@IlhanMN @CAIRNational

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@IlhanMN @CAIRNational @CALCLane @AngryBlackLady But no matter how much we have tried to be the best neighbor, people have always worked on finding a way to not allow for every single civil liberty to be extended to us. [Aside: You can stop for that.]

@IlhanMN @CAIRNational

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@IlhanMN @CAIRNational @CALCLane @AngryBlackLady So the truth is you can go to school and be a good student. You can listen to your dad and mom and become a doctor. You can have that beautiful wedding that makes Mom and Dad happy. You can buy that beautiful house.

@IlhanMN @CAIRNational

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@IlhanMN @CAIRNational @CALCLane @AngryBlackLady But none of that stuff matters if you one day show up to the hospital and your wife, or maybe yourself, is having a baby and you can't have the access that you need because someone doesn’t recognize you as fully human.

@IlhanMN @CAIRNational

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@IlhanMN @CAIRNational @CALCLane @AngryBlackLady It doesn't matter how good you were if you can't have your prayer mat and take your 15-minute break to go pray in a country that was founded on religious liberty.

@IlhanMN @CAIRNational

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@IlhanMN @CAIRNational @CALCLane @AngryBlackLady No matter how good you are if you one day find yourself in a school where other religions are talked about but when Islam is mentioned, we are only talking about terrorists and if you say something you are sent to the principal's office.

@IlhanMN @CAIRNational

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@IlhanMN @CAIRNational @CALCLane @AngryBlackLady So to me, I say raise hell. Make people uncomfortable because, here's the truth, here's the truth, for too long we have lived with the discomfort of being a second-class citizen and

@IlhanMN @CAIRNational

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@IlhanMN @CAIRNational @CALCLane @AngryBlackLady frankly, I'm tired of it and every single Muslim in this country should be tired of it.

@IlhanMN @CAIRNational

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@IlhanMN @CAIRNational @CALCLane @AngryBlackLady CAIR was founded after 9/11 because they recognized that some people did something and that all of us were starting to lose access to our civil liberties.

@IlhanMN @CAIRNational

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@IlhanMN @CAIRNational @CALCLane @AngryBlackLady So you can't just say that today someone is looking at me strange, that I am going to try to make myself look pleasant.

@IlhanMN @CAIRNational

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@IlhanMN @CAIRNational @CALCLane @AngryBlackLady You have to say this person is looking at me strange, I am not comfortable with it, I am going to go talk to them and ask them why, because that is a right you have.

@IlhanMN @CAIRNational

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@IlhanMN @CAIRNational @CALCLane @AngryBlackLady So there are, there are people, and Hassan [Hassan Shibly, President of CAIR] is is on the right track, it is-it's always good, right? I say you can't hate up close. You can't hate up close.

@IlhanMN @CAIRNational

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@IlhanMN @CAIRNational @CALCLane @AngryBlackLady Anytime you have an opportunity to go talk to someone, the chances of them hating you lessens. So that is a practice we should all adopt.

@IlhanMN @CAIRNational

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@IlhanMN @CAIRNational @CALCLane @AngryBlackLady But the one thing that is always been very fascinating to me–and Hassan and I were talking about this before I came down here–is that there are always these folks who have aayats (Quranic verses) prepared in their head, as part of their talking points

@IlhanMN @CAIRNational

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@IlhanMN @CAIRNational @CALCLane @AngryBlackLady and I don't think, I mean I'm not a hafiz (someone who has memorized the Quran) I don't, I don't know. I don't know what, you know, chapter 4:135 says in the Quran. Any Muslim in here know what that is? Okay, I found out that's expected,

@IlhanMN @CAIRNational

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@IlhanMN @CAIRNational @CALCLane @AngryBlackLady I suppose, but it goes right into they’re, they're always quoting these aayat numbers and I'm like, I don't, I really don't know, let me get back to you. I don't even know how to google that yet.

@IlhanMN @CAIRNational

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@IlhanMN @CAIRNational @CALCLane @AngryBlackLady But there was a woman–again we're not going to mention–and she was talking to Hassan outside. He went to go talk to her because Hassan is brave like that. And so, so in their conversation she's like saying all of these chapter numbers,

@IlhanMN @CAIRNational

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@IlhanMN @CAIRNational @CALCLane @AngryBlackLady aayat numbers, verse numbers, and chapter numbers and I thought about. I said, you know we should like just kind of do that. I started a practice that I'm and I'm hoping you know Muslims who were elected around the country would just do this .

@IlhanMN @CAIRNational

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@IlhanMN @CAIRNational @CALCLane @AngryBlackLady I tweet out verses of the Quran. I say assalamualaikum, and Alhamdulillah and you know I'll tweet back at people astaghfirullah. I mean, I'm trying to make sure that people are googling these words.

@IlhanMN @CAIRNational

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@IlhanMN @CAIRNational @CALCLane @AngryBlackLady I never really put the definition there because I want them to get comfortable as they google what what they mean.

@IlhanMN @CAIRNational

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@IlhanMN @CAIRNational @CALCLane @AngryBlackLady So, I was thinking that you know I shouldn't I should think about maybe some aayats that kind of explain why someone like me exists.

@IlhanMN @CAIRNational

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@IlhanMN @CAIRNational @CALCLane @AngryBlackLady To me it is really important because there is not enough conversation rooted in the fact that advocacy, fighting for justice, standing up for what is right, is very inherently Islamic.

@IlhanMN @CAIRNational

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@IlhanMN @CAIRNational @CALCLane @AngryBlackLady So for those of you who want to google this desire it's in chapter 4:135 and I'll paraphrase it,

[Laughter because she just mentioned it talking about Muslims not knowing very verse]

@IlhanMN @CAIRNational

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@IlhanMN @CAIRNational @CALCLane @AngryBlackLady this aayat says that as Muslims we are called on, right, to stand up for justice and to speak the truth even if it is against ourselves, our parents, and our close relatives.

@IlhanMN @CAIRNational

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@IlhanMN @CAIRNational @CALCLane @AngryBlackLady If Hassan was up here, he would probably say in Arabic but I'm I'm a work in progress so that's all I’ve got.

@IlhanMN @CAIRNational

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@IlhanMN @CAIRNational @CALCLane @AngryBlackLady And so when people you know are are having these conversations with me and they say you know Ilhan, why do you criticize Muslims who were doing something.

@IlhanMN @CAIRNational

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@IlhanMN @CAIRNational @CALCLane @AngryBlackLady What is your problem with that countries why are you always talking about, you know, this particular country and you're not talking about that particular country?

@IlhanMN @CAIRNational

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@IlhanMN @CAIRNational @CALCLane @AngryBlackLady My choice of a country to talk about, it's not my preference of country, it is based on what country is violating basic human rights.

@IlhanMN @CAIRNational

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@IlhanMN @CAIRNational @CALCLane @AngryBlackLady So it doesn't matter if that country is being run by my father, my brother, my sister, I will still criticize that country because I know every country is capable of living up to their best.

@IlhanMN @CAIRNational

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@IlhanMN @CAIRNational @CALCLane @AngryBlackLady Every leader has the ability to lead with compassion, to lead with justice. So it is important for us to recognize that and to make sure that we're not only holding people that we don't like accountable.

@IlhanMN @CAIRNational

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@IlhanMN @CAIRNational @CALCLane @AngryBlackLady We must also hold those that we love, have shared values with, accountable.

@IlhanMN @CAIRNational

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@IlhanMN @CAIRNational @CALCLane @AngryBlackLady And so I am again very grateful to have the opportunity to be in a room like this, with all of you. As an elected Muslim in Congress

@IlhanMN @CAIRNational

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@IlhanMN @CAIRNational @CALCLane @AngryBlackLady I feel the weight of responsibility that I have to not live up to the name of being a Muslim but live up to the ideals of what it means to be a Muslim.

@IlhanMN @CAIRNational

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@IlhanMN @CAIRNational @CALCLane @AngryBlackLady And I know as an American, as an American member of Congress, I have to make sure that I am living up to the ideals of fighting for liberty.

@IlhanMN @CAIRNational

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@IlhanMN @CAIRNational @CALCLane @AngryBlackLady Those are very much rooted in the reason why my family came here. And so, regardless of how hard Washington might get for me, or your neighborhoods might get for you,

@IlhanMN @CAIRNational

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@IlhanMN @CAIRNational @CALCLane @AngryBlackLady you have to always remember that we have a mission as humans to love one another, to care for our neighbors, to raise compassionate children, and to fully every single day show up and make sure that we are furthering justice.

@IlhanMN @CAIRNational

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@IlhanMN @CAIRNational @CALCLane @AngryBlackLady Thank you so much for having me and have a great night

@IlhanMN @CAIRNational

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