Keynote by Mr. Khwaja Shamsuddin Azeemi

Assalamu Alaykum. Peace be upon you.

Adam Day has been established so that every single person, which ever religion they follow or don’t follow any religion at all, with relation to Adam and Eve we are all brothers, a brother does not oppress his brother, a brother does not torture his fellow brother, a brother does not  try to lessen the income of his brother. The discrimination that one is white, or black, or red; it doesn’t matter whatever they may be, they are the children of one father and one mother.

May God bestow us all with happiness, may we all live together as brothers, and may God end this hatred and prejudice in the world. May our efforts be successful. May God keep you all happy.

Click here to view keynote by Mr. Khwaja Shamsuddin Azeemi.

Summary of event

Adam Day 2015 California was celebrated on August 10, 2015 at an event center in city of Newark. The host of this event, Mr. Mudassir Azeemi welcomed and thanked everybody for coming.

The event started with the recitation of Quran’s verse 103 from the Chapter  Al-Imran. The honor went to Mrs. Iqra Azeemi.

Mrs. Huma Azeemi praised the All Mighty Allah by reading a Hamd written by Ayesha Abdul Rehman, it was titled “Allah’s Love”.

Mrs. Shumaila Kashif Azeemi read a Nasheed titled “The Beauty” to praise Prophet Mohammad (PBUH) written by Hamza Robertson.

Adam Day host Mr. Mohammad Mudassir Azeemi delivered the message of Mr. Khwaja Shamsuddin Azeemi patriarch of Sufi Order of Azeemia.

Adam is our ancestor. Eve is our mother. When we say one is a human, we mean that they are a descendant of Adam and Eve. Regardless of our geographic location, skin color or race we are the children of Adam and Eve. The great power of God is that He created Adam without a mother and father, He created Eve without a mother, He created Jesus without a father, but when Adam and the children of Adam are mentioned, the first ‘brick’ in this lineage is Adam and from him is Eve. This is God’s power, whatever God wants, whatever He wants, happens just as He wants it to.

If one father has four sons, one could be poor and one very wealthy; one could be an athlete and the other a scientist. There is freedom to be different, but they are still all the children of one father. All of the human beings born until the end of time, they are all brothers and sisters, there are maternal and paternal uncles, young and old, elderly.

Adam Day has been established so that every single person, which ever religion they follow or don’t follow any religion at all, with relation to Adam and Eve we are all brothers, a brother does not oppress his brother, a brother does not torture his fellow brother, a brother does not  try to lessen the income of his brother. The discrimination that one is white, or black, or red; it doesn’t matter whatever they may be, they are the children of one father and one mother.

May God keep you all happy, I am here to serve you, I am your friend, I am making an effort for all the people in the world to accept the different messengers of Go. They all said that a savior will come, a savior will come, a savior will come.

 Some named him Prophet Moses, Jesus, Farqaleet, some named him Ahmed, some gave him other names. This is a continuous message. Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) also said that he was repeating what other messengers of God have already said before him, that there is one God, worship Him alone, He gives life and brings death, do not lie, do not kill, fulfill the rights of your neighbors, give directions to elderly travelers, look after your brothers who are poor, orphaned or needy, every book contains this guidance. Worship no one but God.

These are the teachings of all of the prophets, and these are the teachings of Adam. All of the prophets that came drew people’s attention towards God, they preached, and invited all people to a brotherhood, to have love and respect towards one another.

May God bestow us all with happiness, may we all live together as brothers, and may God end this hatred and prejudice in the world. May our efforts be successful. May God keep you all happy.

The guest speakers now took the stage and shared their thoughts about Adam Day. Mr. Shane McGrath was first to express his views.

When Mr. Mudassir asked me to come speak to you, I was a bit confused because we do not share the same faith. He assured me that the event wasn’t about being Muslim, but rather it was about all of us learning to live together, secure in the belief that we all originate from the same place. He gave me some stuff to read and it did make sense.  This event is about celebrating diversity.  It is about understanding that we are all different, but yet we are all the same.  It is about finding the common good in each other instead of looking for differences that provide us an excuse to hate.  This that is important to me and I am honored to get to speak to you today.

Until 10 years ago I had no clue what Muslim people were like. I grew up in a small town in the Midwest.  My town only had 700 people all white and Christian.  We didn’t get exposed to a lot of other points of view where I lived.  We were all pressured to look the same, to speak the same, and to think the same. That all changed when I moved to San Francisco and met Mr. Mudassir at work. We used to talk about all kinds of subjects. I didn’t understand his faith and I had been conditioned by the American media to fear Muslim people, but Mr. Mudassir never seemed to care that I wasn’t a Muslim.  I remember when he taught me about Ramadan.  I remember thinking “this man is a crazy person, why would you want to fast for a whole month?”  I loved to eat, the concept of not eating just seemed insane to me.

There were many more moments like this, where I would learn something about Mr. Mudassir and go inside my head and be judgmental.  Over time I came to realize that the fact that he was a Muslim didn’t matter in the least.  He wasn’t out to get anyone, he was just a good man trying to make a better life in America.  The only one who had a problem was me, for being judgmental because he wasn’t the same as me.

At his core, Mr. Mudassir is a good person and that is the only thing that matters.  Mr. Mudassir cares about the people around him and making his community a better place.  If he wears different clothes, who cares?  If he looks different from me, who cares?  If he has different ideas, who cares?  The only thing that matters in the end is that he is a good person and that we are the same in wanting a better life for ourselves and our family and friends.  

Let me tell you about my kids. The school where they go to has a diverse multi cultural environment. There are Caucasian kids, Asian kids, Hispanic kids, Indian kids, and African American kids. There are kids whose families practice Hinduism, Christianity, kids who are Muslim, and kids who are Jewish. There are kids who don’t practice any religion at all.  Every kid in there class is unique and it is beautiful.

These kids don’t see the differences in each other, they don’t talk about whether someone has the same faith as them or whether the person has the same skin color.  All they care about was whether that person was nice to them on the playground or not.  Race, Religion, and Gender just blend together, these kids genuinely do not care about it.  It is beautiful to see.

These children have not learned to hate each other.  They haven’t learned to focus on what is different.  They haven’t learned that they are supposed to make the people around them believe the same things as they do.  Their minds are pure and unconstrained these types of ideas.  One of my greatest hopes is that they can retain that outlook on life.

 It is this hope that brings me to my final point. First, I must warn you, that if you don’t act, if you do nothing, your children will grow to have hatred in their hearts.  These wonderful children who only see other children and not labels will learn to hate.  Even if you don’t teach them to hate other cultures, the rest of the world will.  Remember, none of us were born hating anyone else, it is something we all learn.

We learn hatred from our family members.  We learn hatred from our friends.  We learn hatred from our religious leaders.  We learn hatred from our political leaders.  And, we learn hatred from the media.  We must accept the truth that the world will conspire to teach our children hatred.

It is because of you that I ask all of us to act.  I ask all of us to shepherd our children toward a lifetime of love. How do we do this?  We must first look within ourselves and erase hatred in our own hearts.  If our children see us with pure hearts as role models, they will learn to act the same.  Our children are a reflection of ourselves.  Just as we all grow to become like our parents, so too will our children grow to become like us.

Take yourself outside your comfort zone and understand other cultures. Break bread with people who are different and use the opportunity to train your heart to be open to different experiences. Attend a ceremony of a different religion.  You don’t have to participate or believe.  You don’t have to accept another god.  You just have to be able to see the other people and accept them as your brothers and sisters.

We are all on a constant journey to erase the hatred we have been taught.  It is our responsibility to constantly improve ourselves so that our children may improve as well.  There are many parents in the world who hope that their children will grow up to be just like them, but the great parents, the really truly great parents are those who hope that their children will grow up to be better than them.

Next, Mr. Baljit Gabhi took the stage and shared the views of Baba Guru Nanak Dev Ji with the audience.

The founder of Sikhism, Guru Nanak Dev Ji, was born in April of 1469 to Hindu parents in a town which is now located in Pakistan.  At the time of Guru Nanak Dev Ji, there were only Hindus and Muslims in the region where he lived.  Guru Nanak Dev Ji at a very young age refused to follow the rituals of Hinduism.  He stated that we should pray to God from the heart. He also stated that showing off or wearing certain things will not please God.  Guru Nanak Dev Ji stated a person’s religion should be to pray to God, make an honest living, and share with the needy while living as a householder.  Guru Nanak Dev Ji himself had a wife and two sons.  Guru Nanak Dev Ji also said to stay away from 5 vices: Lust, Anger, Greed, Attachment, and Ego.  He said a person’s pride is the biggest obstacle between him/her and God.   At the age of 30, Guru Nanak Dev Ji disappeared for 3 days while taking a bath in a River.  In those 3 days, Guru Nanak Dev Ji was supposed to be in the company of God.   After coming back, the first word spoken was “There is no Hindu, there is no Muslim”.

He said that there is only one God and he is beyond any caste, creed, race, or religion. He stated that since God is not a Hindu or a Muslim, he is not a Hindu or Muslim either.  God’s path is his path, God is his religion.  He did not say that Muslims are better than Hindus or vice versa and did not condemn anyone’s way of worshipping, as long as it is done with full devotion.  We all pray to the same God in our own way. It is very hard to give up selfishness and ego.  When one gives up selfishness and ego and surrenders himself to God, only then he can be called a true Hindu or Muslim.”  He also said that whenever you pray to God, you have to pray through your heart, and your mind should not be wandering someplace else.  If you are praying to God and your mind is wandering somewhere else, then that praying is of no use. 

Baba Guru Nanak Dev ji said that God resides in each and every heart of not only humans, but animals and plants too. In fact, the teachings of Guru Nanak Dev Ji are not that much different from teachings of Jesus Christ or Prophet Mohammad.  Guru Nanak Dev Ji said there is no second, God is the only one.  We should pray to the Creator, not to the creation.  

Today in all of the Sikh Temples, you will find free food called Langar.  A tradition started by Guru Nanak Dev Ji by sharing whatever he got with needy.   In the Sikh temple everyone sits together and pray and sing praises to God.  No one is barred from entering Sikh Temple regardless of whether they are rich or poor; belonging to any caste; or belong to any religion.   In fact the Golden Temple, the main Sikh Temple has four doors from all four directions signifying this.   All Sikhs are ordered to treat everyone as their brother and sister.

Up next was Mr. Kevin Pringle, who expressed his views.

God is truly Amazing. a group like this here, of people whose heart and intentions are to serve God with integrity and reverence for truth is very uncommon and should be recognized. The vast majority of the world is not this way. So many divisions, so many emotions, so much pride, and so much politics. That is why this event, and the spirit behind it is so important for the world.

My teacher wrote that many of us look at God as a punitive parent, who gets easily angered, punishes you, and withholds blessings from you because you are so sinful…but there is another way to look at it…to see God as an unconditionally loving parent who is compassionate, merciful, and just wants the best for you, and wants to give you a life that fulfills your highest potential.

I can be labeled as a Christian, you a Muslim, this person a buddhist….but there really is only one practice…one teaching that really is central to all paths…and that is to totally and completely surrender to the Will of God.

A group like this, that has a high spiritual intention can truly change the world, and we act as a counterbalance to the negative energy in the world…so it is important that we remain vigilant in our spiritual practice and continue to do the work.

The time we have here on Earth is the most valuable asset we have, therefore we should make it our top priority to dedicate ourselves to being servants of the Lord, and let Him lead us so we can make the most of our gifts. He will reveal the truth to us, and bless us more and more the more we allow him to take the wheel…No matter what religion or culture you are from, its still only one Truth, one God…and one family… Thank you to the Sufi order of Azeemia, you are doing a great service to mankind, and I am very grateful for you to invite me here and share my views with you all.

Next, was a performance Nida Azeemi and Hamza Azeemi who with the help of Mrs. Iqra Azeemi read a beautiful poem about unity. The background music was composed by Colin Connolly.

After the performance, Mr. Mudassir Azeemi, invited all the guest speakers along with the kids Nida and Hamza Azeemi to join him on the stage and presented them flowers.  

At the end Mr. Mudassir Azeemi thanked everybody for coming to the event and making it a success. He then invited everybody for the dinner.