Americans Are Homeless: Islam, Identity, and the Tribal Role of Western Converts

Americans are homeless as a people. I mean, in the world, Americans are homeless. They're homeless. You know? America's a a bus terminal.

It has the culture of a bus terminal. Everybody is from elsewhere. You know. My great great grandfather and his two brothers decided to up stakes during the the forced starvation by the British in Ireland, it was called the potato famine. They left County Galway in Ireland and moved to The United States, never to return to Ireland again.

Not them and not any of their descendants, none of us, you know. And it's the same on on the the other side of my family. My great grandfather moved from Germany, never went back home, nor did any of his descendants, none of us. And so from both sides in my family, these men in my lineage decided to leave the lands of their birth, the lands of their heritage, where their people had probably been for centuries, you know, for reasons of survival, reasons of opportunity, or what have you. They uprooted and resettled in this big bus terminal of America.

And now we have no connection, no link, no experience, no memory, of the actual lands that our families came from. I mean, I'm sure it seemed like a good idea at the time, but what it amounted to was deciding that they and their progeny would be homeless, ruthless, with with cultural heritage only something to be imagined. But I mean, none of us today would belong in the countries that our family came from, you know. I'm not Irish, not really. I'm not German, You know?

Like every other American, I have a hyphenated identity. Irish American, German American, you know, Italian American, Japanese American, whatever the case may be. And American here is just a synonym for displaced, for hollowed out, you know. What follows the hyphen is like a stamp confirming that what precedes the hyphen has been nullified, has been emptied out. It means no longer.

You know, Irish American equals Irish no longer. You were born and raised in a bus terminal. Americans are homeless. And this really crystallizes for you when you're an American. It really crystallizes for you when you travel around the world.

Like, say, you're in Turkey, for example, and you realize that the Turks that you see, walking around in Istanbul praying in Masjid Al Fateh and so on, you know that they know that their lineage traces all the way back to the first Turks who ever prayed at Masjid Al Fateh. You understand? Their lineage goes back not just four generations, three or four generations, you know, but dozens of generations, if not hundreds of generations. Their people have not only walked those streets for generations, their people laid those streets, those cobblestones. That's their place.

That's their home. In every way that you can understand the word, that's their home. Or or or say the Malays, for example, in Malaysia. You know, someone walking around today in Kuala Lumpur can know that their family tree literally goes all the way back to the migration of the human race out of Africa. It's breathtaking.

You understand? They have been in Malaysia as long as there's been trees in Malaysia. If you had a time machine, you could literally go back, you know, ten thousand years, forty thousand years. If you're Malay and you could find your blood ancestor right in the same land where you're living right now, where you're living today. That's astonishing.

You're talking about something like 1,500, 2,000 generations of your same lineage walking on the same land that's under your feet right now. No. America is a bus terminal by comparison. You don't have roots there. You don't have roots, you just have familiarity.

And this is the same for almost any people, you know, who are actually living in the land that their family comes from. You know, like Khalejis, they can trace their family trees back to the time of Rasulullah and even further back, you know. Russians, Chinese, anyone whose nationality is not hyphenated. You know that you are where your ancestors were, you know. And just like with a tree being connected to those deep roots, being connected to roots that go that deep, well, that makes you stronger.

It makes you more solid. It makes you, more still, more certain, more secure in who you are because you exist in a continuum, a familial continuum, you know. You are in context. This isn't the case for Americans. And I don't care if you come from the, you know, one of the the Mayflower families.

It doesn't matter. It doesn't matter who you are. You just got there. And you don't have roots there, and you never will. It's a bus terminal.

Of course, I'm not even talking about the fact that, for example, my family, my ancestors, my, great grandfather and my great great grandfather, they came to America, they came to Illinois to be farmers, farming land that did not belong to them. Farming land that belonged to the people who had been erased. You know. And of course, I'm not talking about the fact that the the the African American population cannot generally trace their lineage back to any ancestor who came to America by choice, not by chains. I mean, not only is it a bus terminal, it's a haunted one.

That's what America is. And as a so called nation, they are the homeless of the earth. Some chose to leave their homes and some were abducted from their homes, but all of them either way are not from there. The roots that are there are not yours, And you chop down the trees that those roots actually belong to, that those roots were connected to, you know, the roots of the native Americans. So it's a country full of phantom trees, short sighted immigrants like my ancestors, maybe for good reason at the time, you imposed permanent consequences upon your descendants when you decided to leave your homeland and decided to pretend that you can fabricate roots in someone else's homeland.

There's no two ways about it. That's what happened. And then, of course, for Muslims in America, you know, really Muslims in the West generally, but especially for reverts, for converts to Islam, whatever term you wanna use, know, Americans or westerners who have come to Islam. Well, obviously, you're even more of a misfit in those lands in America, you know, in that bus terminal. Now, everyone who's in that bus terminal is looking at you differently, if you came to Islam, you became a Muslim.

They look at you differently. You see them differently as well. They deal with you differently and you deal with them differently, you know. You actually deal with them better but they deal with you worse. So now you even you you even fit in less.

But of course, when you become a Muslim at least part of your American problem is solved when you come to Islam. Because now you become a part of the ummah. You become attached to that spiritual heritage, to that continuum of belief, that continuum of belief. You're part of the lineage of the ummah, of all Muslims, in terms of your, well you can say your more more profound cultural heritage and identity. You know, you become attached to the history of Islam, the history of the Muslims, and now you're a part of that history.

Like, an American non Muslim has been taken out of the Irish story, the Italian story, the German story, you know, whatever the case may be. And now they're no longer a part of any coherent continuous story anymore. But an American Muslim does become a part of the Muslim story, the story of Islam. So you have a place in those terms. In in that way, you have a place, but you still don't have a land.

You know, you're welcome in any Muslim land, yes, but it's not your land. You can fit in, you can belong, you can get along, you can feel familiar, you can recognize your brothers and sisters in Islam in any land, but no land is your land. That remains the same. I think we need some kind of a framework for processing this reality, you know. I've lived in or spent time in about 10 different Muslim countries in my life.

But I am and I always will be a guest in those countries. They'll never be my country. In that regard, I'm still American. I'm still homeless. I don't belong in the countries where my family came from, Ireland and Germany.

And as a Muslim, I don't really even belong in the country that I came from, the country that I was born in, you know. I was born in that bus terminal, and and I'm not gonna be accepted there now. So American Muslims do not have a place, they do not have a land, and they never will. We are, you know, western Muslim converts reverts, we're like the Bedouin of this ummah, the nomads of Islam. We're just as rootless as any American but we are rooted in Islam.

We have no roots in any land but we have roots in the deen, and that's our identity. And I think that that's our function. Like for example, I have no personal stake in the success or the prosperity of any particular Muslim country, you know. If Malaysia does well, if Indonesia does well, or Egypt, or Libya, or wherever, if any particular Muslim country thrives, it does not personally affect me or impact me in any way because I don't belong to any of those lands. And those lands don't belong to me.

But for me, all I have is the general desire to see prosper that in which I have my roots. You understand? My roots are in Islam. My roots are in the global ummah. And that's what I want to see thrive.

That's what I want to see prosper. That's what I want to see succeed. You know? I wanna see your country do well because I wanna see the Muslims generally do well. But when your country does well, you know, I'm just a guest, I'm a witness to your success and I always will be, nothing more than that.

Even if I contributed to that success, we have a support function primarily, and yes that is a subordinate function, you know. That might offend the sort of inherent American arrogance that most of us have, that western main character syndrome, but it's true. And you have to be honest about that. If you're an American Muslim or western Muslim or whatever. Malaysians have more at stake in the success of Malaysia than you do.

Jordanians have more of a stake in the success of Jordan than you do. Saudi's have more at stake in Saudi Arabia than you do, and so on. We have no landed routes. We have no landed stake anywhere. And that fact should make us understand our role.

It's not a commanding role, it's not a supervisory role, it's a support role, you know. How are gonna be homeless but not humble? You have to be humble. We are here to support our brothers and sisters, that's it. Not to give orders, we're backup, you know.

But I'm saying I'm not I'm not I'm not belittling or diminishing the importance of the role that we can play. We are perpetual outsiders. Okay? That's not to say strangers, but outsiders. Like I said, because we don't come from any of what you can call the legacy Muslim land.

We're welcome, we're guests, we're respected, but we are outsiders, that's fact. Now the most valuable thing about an outsider, the most valuable thing that an outsider can bring to a situation is objectivity. It's a detached, non subjective, non personal motive driven perspective. Someone who is sincerely only interested in the general upliftment of Muslims overall, Muslims everywhere. So you can look at things from that perspective, you can advise from that perspective, You can work from that perspective.

You can support from that perspective, you know, aligned to the general, interests of the ummah. The helicopter view, you can call it. Seeing the forest, not just the trees. That's potentially a very useful vantage point. It's potentially a very useful, role, a useful function that you can have.

But we do have to recognize, and we do have to respect the fact that like Bedouins, like nomads, no matter how things do go in a country, we can and most likely will keep moving. You know, the people of that land, they're the ones who are gonna have to live with the consequences, who are gonna have to live in the conditions that result from their decisions. We'll pack up our tents and move on down the line. That's a fact. That's the nature of it.

And the only way for us to interact with our people in the Muslim world, the only way for us to behave in the Muslim world and not be acting like colonizers is to respect and to acknowledge the reality that we do not have a stake in it the way that they do. And that we're there to support, that we're there to advise not to dictate, and certainly not to disrupt. Our role must be an exclusively positive role. And I mean perpetually positive, always positive. Like, if you're a guest at someone's house, you're a guest at someone's home, and a family squabble breaks out, what do you do?

You don't take sides. You're a guest. Your role is to try to mend things, to try to be positive, try to reconcile, try to calm everyone down, you know, speak good. You don't involve yourself in the family dispute of your host, you compliment the Hamas. That's what you do.

And if you're asked, then you will try to see all sides. You'll try to bring some objectivity. You see what I mean? That's our role. I don't see that we can really have any other role besides that.

I mean, it's the role of every Muslim to be an impartial witness. Yes. But homeless western Muslims, which is what we are, American converts and so on. I think that we are very specifically well suited for this function. So in my opinion you should try to be that.

You should try to hone that ability, hone those skills so that you can fulfill that role properly. Rather than, for example, trying to assume any kind of other role that you really don't have a right to assume. Because the reality is we are distinct. We are a distinct group within the ummah. Now understand I said distinct, I didn't say better, didn't say superior, I didn't say more special or anything like that, no.

But we are distinct, that's a fact. We have a distinct situation, we have a distinct history and experience. And I think that we have to know what that status means for us and our place in the ummah and our role in the ummah. And I think that we need to try to understand ourselves like a tribe, like I said, a Bedouin nomadic tribe, but a tribe in every meaningful way. That's who we are, American Muslims, reverts and so on.

That doesn't separate us from the rest of the ummah, no. Unless you don't understand properly where and how you fit in. But if you understand yourself as being a tribe, then in my opinion you can have a better chance at cohesion, and at solidifying your identity. And I'll say something else specifically here about about us as a specific particular segment of the Ummah, Us western converts, western reverts. Like I said, I think that we're a nomadic tribe within the Ummah, You know, we have things in common, just like a tribe does, that we don't have in common with Muslims in the Muslim world that's unique to us.

We have things in common, both as diaspora Muslims and as converts, as reverts. So we're like a tribe and you should think of yourself that way. And every tribe has a Muqtar. They have a chief and unquestionably the chief of our tribe, the Muqtar of the American western reverts without a doubt is Malcolm x. And I don't say this casually.

I I I I really want you to understand what I mean by this. Because you do have to understand what a Muqtar is to his tribe, you know. In traditional societies, tribal societies, the is not just an administrator of the tribe, he's the living embodiment of the tribe's identity, their values, their collective spirit. He's the moral compass. He's the cultural standard bearer, the archetype that all his people, all his tribe will emulate.

The doesn't just rule his people, he shapes the soul of his tribe. Do you understand? He is the cultural architect of his people. And for us, that's Malcolm. Every tribe has their ethos, they have an unwritten code that sort of defines their honor, dignity, their way of life and so forth.

The Mukhtar sets this code through his own conduct, through his decisions, through his speech, even through his demeanor. That becomes the reference point for the tribe for what's respected or what's condemned. You understand? You follow what I'm saying? You know, this is for all those people who in my comment section make references to Malcolm x when they see my videos.

Well, that's my chief. That's my mukhtar. And if you're an American or a western revert, he's your mukhtar as well. But you have to understand what your tribe is, you know. If the values courage, then the tribe will glorify warriors.

If he prioritizes wisdom, then elders and scholars will have prestige. If he's generous, then hospitality becomes sacred to the tribe. This is how the characteristics of a tribe are determined by their Muqtar. So understand that the Muqtar's personal behavior directly molds the tribe's cultural DNA. You know, if the mokhtar is someone who speaks with dignity and with courage, then his people will adopt a refined language and fearless language because they wanna live up to their chief.

They wanna do justice to the reputation of their tribe that he established. If the is disciplined then laziness becomes shameful to his tribe. His qualities become the qualities that the whole tribe respects, that they adhere to, and that they aspire to and emulate. The is the tribe's soul personified. His virtues become their virtues.

His flaws become their flaws, as you have to be careful. The Muqtaq's influence is immediate, visceral and transformative. That's why in tribal cultures they have a saying that goes, and it holds true. The Muqtaq's as the Muqtaq is so will the people be. So, you know, with all due respect to the and the and so forth that you have over there in the West, including the ones who are converts.

Our chief, is is Malcolm x. That's who our chief is. I don't know if I even know any reverts who were not either directly or indirectly inspired to come to Islam because of Malcolm x. There's no there there is no single individual in the West through whom more people came to Islam than Malik Esheba's. And he set the tone.

He modeled the culture. He modeled the approach and he created the ethos of exactly how western and specifically American converts should be in America, in the West. You know, he was fearless in his convictions, he was uncompromising in his indictment of the western power structure, but he was also pragmatic in his approach, you know. He worked to build bridges with the Muslim world and with Africa. And he went there seeking help in the Muslim world and in Africa for the conditions of so called black people in America.

He didn't go there trying to tell them how to run their affairs. No. He understood that both African Americans and Muslims in America, in the West need to connect themselves with the global majority. He never sought acceptance from the power structure, western power structure. He never believed a word that came out their mouths.

And he was teaching you and I, teaching our tribe how we are supposed to engage or how we're not supposed to engage with these people. You know, gave a talk one time about being raised in Pharaoh's palace, meaning being raised in The United States Of America and therefore understanding that country because of being raised there, being born and raised there. Understanding that culture and that pharaonic power structure. Well Malcolm x showed us exactly how to behave and how to engage and how to confront that power structure because he was raised there too. Our whole tribe was raised there.

This is a distinction we have just like Nabi Musa And there are two things, by the way, that you will not find our ever having done in his life. One is participating in a protest, and the other is criticizing the leaders of the Muslims. These are two things he never did. His dawah was prosecution of American hypocrisy, prosecution of American double talk, prosecution of American brutality, and obviously prosecution of American racism. That was his dawah.

And that's our Muqtar, that's our chief, that's our model. Yes, epistemological sovereignty. You have to understand yourselves as American Muslims, as western Muslims, as reverts, as converts, whatever word you wanna use, according to our definitions and our understanding. And if you do that, well then I think that you'll see that you are a tribe within the ummah, and that you do have a Muqtar who embodied the ethics and the standards of your tribe, or that your tribe should emulate. And those ethics did not include, for example, compromising on but strictly upholding it.

It means understanding that our role in the West is prosecution and our role with the Muslim world is connection, it's learning, it's support, it's bridge building. And then within the West our role with each other in the West is upliftment, it's discipline, it's advocacy, it's defense, and it's economic empowerment. And you never utter a word in public that you know will give comfort or give satisfaction to your enemies. I mean, me say something about that too because there are some people who think that being impartial, being objective is supposed to mean leveling equal criticism across the board. That's a western trick, you know.

They say, you criticize the West, but if you're fair, then you'll criticize the Muslims too. You know, criticize the Arabs and what have you. No. What you think if I call falsehood falsehood, then I should also call truth falsehood too, just to be fair. No.

There's no equivalence. It isn't bias to put the blame where it belongs. You're attacking my people, you're attacking my ummah morning, noon and night. You think I'm supposed to join you in that just so that the people who are attacking my ummah morning, noon and night unfairly, just so that those people will think I'm fair? I haven't made a single unfair criticism of the West, not one.

And just because there's no equivalent criticism against the Muslims that can be justified, that doesn't mean I'm biased. You know, if Jeffrey Dahmer was my neighbor, okay, and I complained about him murdering and eating people, you'd say that I was biased, for not also complaining about my other neighbor who plays his music too loud. Why you gotta pick on Jeffrey Dahmer? This is a western trick. Listen, the beginning of clarity is first understanding which team you're on.

You know, understanding that there are teams, whether you like it or not, there are teams. And you can't be on all of them. So you have to know what team you're on, what side you're on, and what your function is on that team, and do your job. You have to understand that Allah has organized the affairs of this world. And then you have to try to recognize and identify where you fit in that organization.

And if you're having some kind of an identity crisis as a revert, as an American Muslim, as a Muslim in the West, then I think this is because you have lost your sense of what you can call tribal cohesion. And I think that you've neglected the memory of your Muqtar. And you need to reconnect with that. If you reconnect with that, then you will better understand your role. You will better understand your identity.

And then you'll start to have some clarity.