 Amongst the greatest crises that the Muslim community in the West has to face is combating the problem of Islamophobia. Today we see that millions of people have this irrational fear and that's how the term phobia is defined, the irrational fear of the religion of Islam and Muslims. When we take a look and we present the word Islam or we present the word Quran or we present the word Sharia or we present the word Muhammed we see that often times an image has been created in the minds of a large number of people that is formed with a negative connotation. We as Muslims in the West have responsibility to repair this image of the religion of Islam. Before we get there we have to understand exactly what are the causes of this type of racism and this type of phobia in the communities that often times we find ourselves living in. Number one we have to understand that the problem of racism is something that is racially constructed meaning or socially constructed meaning what? That in the religion of Islam in the practice of true humanity and true morality that no one segregates themselves or names others on the basis of where they are coming from, what language they speak or the color of their skin and certainly not what practice that they are faithful toward. Let me give you an example Allah SWT states that shortly we have honored the sons of Adam. Every single human being comes from the progeny of Adam and Eve. Thus every single human being is honored in their own way and thus we as human beings need to honor one another on the basis of humanity, on the basis of morality, on the basis that Allah SWT has offered us all the blessing of being human beings with great potential to move closer toward him and at the same time progressing humanity, progressing society and progressing community. But nonetheless we see that colonization, oppression, wealth, power have all been driving forces in creating, conquering and dividing. We see that for instance as recent as the times of colonialism fifty hundred years ago that race was a major sector, major dimension that allowed for colonization to take place. That as the famous poet Rapyard Kipling he states in that famous text White Man's Burden they state that the Europeans had a responsibility to civilize the uncivilized meaning that every individual who was not of a white construct coming from Europe that they themselves were uncivilized people. We see that this particular trend though slavery has become abolished in the majority of the world and this problem of racism has openly been declared by the political elite and by nations across the world today that something like racism or segregation is outlawed in many of these nations. What we find is that though the practice outwardly has been abolished this practice or this idea or this concept or this belief in words as present in the hearts and in the minds and in the souls of many different types of people. We as followers of the religion and Islam of the holy prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wara are now encountering this trial and tribulation and this particular obstacle living in the West. Due to the minority group of Muslims, the far minority Muslims, if we consider them to be Muslims in the first place, we see that they have been a means to speak for the entirety of the religion of Islam and thus this phobia, this irrational fear of Muslims and the religion of Islam has been created in the hearts and in the minds of many people. But though this is an irrational fear, we as Muslims also have responsibilities to reconcile and to cure this disease that is in the hearts and in the minds of people. We take a look at three very important steps and just to put this in perspective, this particular phobia, according to a report, a survey that was taken in the USA Today magazine in February 11th, the year 2015, it states that 27% of Americans believe that ISIS and these other groups of treachery and of vice and of terrorism and of violence speak for true Islam and true Muslims. 27%, when you see a number as large and as staggering and as dominant as that and this was one year ago, imagine what the numbers of the polls are today in light of certain political candidates speaking and bashing the religion of Islam and the Muslim community. Imagine what the number is. What are we doing in order to decrease that number? What are we doing in order to improve our image as a Muslim community living in the West? We take a look and we see that we can do a number of things. Number one, we have to take advice from the Holy Qur'an, from the teachings of the Holy Prophet, Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam, and we have to make our very best effort to change the narrative. Changing the narrative means exactly what? We come and we see that we have to understand that every single Muslim man, every single Muslim woman, every senior citizen and every child has to be an ambassador of the religion of Islam. To put this in perspective, Imam Al-Sadiq, Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam, he tells his companion, Mufabbal, Mufabbal ibn Omar, this great honorable companion of the Imam, Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam. The Imam tells him, Ya Mufabbal, Inna al-Qabih, min kulli ahad al-Qabih, Wa min al-Aqbah, bi makanatika minna, O Mufabbal, that whenever someone performs a bad deed, whenever someone performs something not appropriate, people just consider it something not appropriate and a bad deed. Wa min qa'aqbah bi makanatika minna, But O Mufabbal, but when you perform a bad deed, when you perform something inappropriate, it's even more inappropriate and it's the worst deed because of your relationship with me. He's telling him basically, O Mufabbal, that you are an ambassador of me, you are my representative. Thus make sure every single action that you do, it's a reflection of my actions. And then the Imam, A.S. continues, Ya Mufabbal, Inna al-Hasan, min kulli ahad al-Hasan, Wa min qa'aqsan bi makanatika minna, And O Mufabbal, that a good deed is a good deed from anyone. But when you perform a good deed, it's an even greater deed because of your relationship with me. Meaning, O Mufabbal, that being an ambassador for me, when someone sees you performing a good deed, they state that that is because he is the Shia of Imam Jafar, Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam. And when someone sees a bad deed, they state, look, he is the Shia of Imam Jafar, Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam. So what are you doing to represent Imam Alaihi Wasallam? We need to become among those who shift the narrative by performing more positive than negative, by doing more good than bad, by being a reflection of the reflection of the mercy of Allah SWT, and that is the Holy Prophet Muhammad, Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam, when Allah ta'zum wa ma'ar salli naka, illa rahmatun dil alameen, that we do not send you, O Muhammad, except to be a mercy to mankind. And we see that the religion of Islam and Muslims have often been advised to make sure that they be careful of their actions, be careful of their words, be smart in the way that we speak, which is why the second most important step that we can do in order to change this narrative, or in order to change the structure or this phobia that people have in their hearts and in their minds, specifically in the West, toward us as Muslims and the religion of Islam is to use good language. We see that oftentimes when an individual has his back against the wall, he responds with anger, he responds with aggression. This is not the custom that has been prescribed toward us by the Holy Quran. Allah SWT, for instance, states in the Holy Quran, Odu'u ila sabila rabbika bil hikmati wal mou'idahil hasana wajadil hum bil latihi ahsan, Odu'u ila sabila rabbika, bring people to the way of your Lord, bil hikmati, number one, be wise when you're bringing people to the way of your Lord, when you're bringing people toward the religion of Islam, when you're allowing them the opportunity to learn and be exposed about the religion of Islam, about the legacy of the Prophet, and his family, alayhim as-salam, we have to make sure that we do it wisely, be smart, know when to speak, know how to speak, understand your circumstances before going out. Don't always be aggressive, but don't always be passive at the same time as well. Find a balance, understand where you're dealing with, who you're dealing with, when to speak, how to speak, in which gathering you're speaking at, number one. Number two, Odu'u ila sabila rabbika bil hikmati, be wise wal mou'idahil hasana, and in doing so when you're bringing people to remove this phobia that they have about the religion of Islam, use beautiful words, give good examples, be polite when someone responds to you with anger, respond to them with politeness as the famous story goes when that man, he comes to Imam al-Hassan, alayhim as-salam, he leaves Syria to come all the way toward Medina, he knocks the door of Imam al-Hassan, he opens the door, he tells him, are you the son of Ali ibn Abi Talib? He says, I'm the son of Ali ibn Abi Talib. At this moment the man, he curses him, he begins to scream at him, he curses Amir al-Mu'mineen, he curses Sayyid al-Zahra, he speaks ill about the Holy Prophet, salallahu alayhi wa alaikum. Imam al-Hassan smiles at him, he responds toward him by asking, are you hungry, are you thirsty, how can I help you? When you act like this with someone who's antagonizing you, who's being aggressive with you, we see that their entire perspective has completely changed and shifted, that they will state, wait a minute, is this what the religion of Islam is about? In order to combat Islamophobia, we need to be smart and we need to use good language. And number three, and extremely important, in light of what we're dealing with today, we need to speak on commonalities before we speak on differences. Allah SWT instructs the Holy Prophet, salallahu alayhi wa alaikum in chapter three, verse 64, quliyya ahl al-kitab, ta'alaw ila kalimatun ila kalimatin sawa'in baynana wa dainakum. That all people of the book, all Jewish community, all Christian community, ta'alaw ila kalimatin sawa'a. Let us speak on that, which we have similarities. And let's not speak about those differences that we have, the fact that we all believe in God, the fact that we all believe in morality, the fact that we all believe in justice, the fact that we all believe in mercy. These are all common values and themes that every one of us have today. We need to make sure that we are of those who follow these three very important steps. And fourthly, and perhaps most importantly, is to expose them toward the true essence of the religion of Islam. Expose them to values that are Islamic, and not values that are being practiced by the so-called Islamic state, for instance. We see that in the religion of Islam, we take a look at the example of Amir al-Muneen, Mama Ali al-Salam in the famous narration states, if someone harms a believer in the Bible, then he harms me. Amir al-Muneen offering advice to all of us to respect the Christian brethren, no wrong, nothing wrong with that. In fact, it's extremely encouraged. In the religion of Islam, for instance, it is not appropriate for a butcher to sacrifice or to perform the labiha of an animal in front of his family members. You shouldn't sacrifice the sheep in front of his other family from amongst the sheep. You shouldn't do that because it's immoral. Take a look at the mercy of the religion of Islam. Let me conclude with this last point in order to demonstrate to all of you, and perhaps we can share this knowledge with others about the mercy of the religion of Islam and the values put to us by the Holy Prophet, sallallahu alaihi wa alaihi sallam. We come forth and we see that a hadith tells us that we should make sure that we clean the noses of our sheep, meaning even our herd, that we have the respect. Imam al-Sadiq alaihi sallatu wa sallam in the narration, he states that there are six rights that the animals have over us. If the imams of Ahl al-Bayt speak about the rights of the animal over the human being, then imagine what the rights of the human being are over the human being. Imagine what the right are of the atheist. Imagine what the right is over of the agnostic, that everyone deserves respect in the religion of Islam no matter who you are, unlike what is often being practiced. We take a look at these six rights, or these five rights. Number one, the Imam alaihi sallatu wa sallam states, do not use the back of the animal as a place to sit and talk, meaning don't ride the animal as a place to converse. Use it as a means to take you from point A to point B. Number two, when you take a break, of course today we don't use animals to transport ourselves, we drive, but at the same token we need to understand these moral and ethical lessons of the Imam. Number two, the Imam alaihi sallatu wa sallam states, that when you take a break for instance, we're from riding upon your animal, offer drinks and food to your animal before you take it yourself. The mercy of the religion of Islam. Number three, to not place a mark on the face of the animal, oftentimes in the olden days, we used to place a mark in order to demonstrate that this animal is mine, this animal is yours. Number four, do not strike it on the face. Yet what do they do to human beings? What do they do to moral individuals who just may not be followers of the religion of Islam? Or even we come forth and we take a look at these individuals, what do they do to the followers of Ahlul Bayt al-Bayt al-Arayim al-Salam? They burn them, they butcher them, they behead them. Over here we see that the Imam al-Sadaq al-Arayim al-Sallatu wa sallam says, do not even strike your animals on the face. Number five, the animal drink water every time you cross the body of water. Every time you cross the body of water, offer it to your animal. Yet we take a look and we see the number of people starving in the Muslim world today, the number of people who are being oppressed. What we have to do is demonstrate to word non-Muslims specifically living in the West, we as Muslims living in the West, we have to make sure that we expose them to the true teachings of the religion of Islam. We have to become amongst those who use modern technologies for instance, distributing water bottles with the hadith of the Holy Prophet, sallallahu alayhi wa alaq, speaking about mercy, speaking about justice, speaking about the treatment of mothers, speaking about the rights of women in the religion of Islam, for instance. All of these have a small effect in terms of shifting the narrative about people. When we as a Muslim, for instance, living in this country, we hold the door open. We say please and thank you to those around us. These all have the opportunity to so-called shift the narrative, to change people's perspective about Muslims. When you are at the workplace, when you are at school, you don't have to speak about religion and try to preach toward your friends and toward your colleagues about the religion of Islam. But by means of your actions, you have the opportunity to bring people toward respecting you as a Muslim and at the same time, respecting the religion of Islam, the hadith that states. From Imam Sadaq, alayhi sallam, very important, he states, then bring people toward us quietly or without using your tongues. We pray to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala that we will be able to become amongst those who are the ambassadors of the religion of Islam. And we pray to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala that we will have this divine help for us to change the narrative in regards to what people think about the religion of Islam, to what they think about the holy Prophet, sallallahu alayhi wa ta'ala, and remove this negative irrational fear that they have about our most beautiful religion and about our personalities, specifically the holy Prophet, sallallahu alayhi wa ta'ala.