E we started it was basically an idea in my head in 2013 by that time um I mean that’s how it started and today without bragging I would actually claim that it is probably the most important Muslim English language news platform in the world um and we’ve achieved that in about 10
Years I started Five Pillars with Dilly hin having already been a working journalist for many organizations for around 15 years at that time but I was the frustrated working journalist having felt that I wasn’t really serving my community or my faith to the journalism that I was doing I’d worked in local newspapers
Then the mainstream media then the Muslim media here in the UK and also International uh State media in the Middle East and then back in the UK but I still felt that I wasn’t really serving my faith or my community I was always implementing someone else’s agenda whether that be an individual a
Media Mogul or um a state or perhaps even a sectarian interest and that’s basically why I decided to launch Five Pillars I felt the community was under attack from warmongers from the zionists from the Liberals that were trying to change our Dean and make the Haram Halal and also from the government but
Nobody was effectively defending the Muslims or Islam so my vision I guess was for a quality platform that would do what I call Islamic journalism now what do I mean by that I mean a platform whose red line is not the whims of a state or a media Mogul with an
Agenda or a sectarian interest the red line for Five Pillars is Quran and Sunnah and I wanted to adopt the journalistic techniques that I had learned over the years to tell stories through print medium and through words but also through images and videos and pictures I wanted to adopt those
Techniques and literally put them in service of Allah asael and his Messenger s alai wasallam and of course the um my dear brothers and sisters and friends from around the world joining us tonight for many of whom tonight is the first odd night of Ramadan a night which Allah subhana wa tala
Tells us in is better than a thousand months and I know we’re going to hear this throughout now till the end of Ramadan that each one of these nights especially the odd nights where we are seeking the night of power that if we happen to find it it is better than a
Thousand months not the same as a thousand months better than a thousand months and why is that often repeated every time in the latter third of Ramadan is because Muslims are a people of action we are a people who seek goodness we are a people who seek Allah’s pleasure and what better night
Than a night which is better than a thousand months for us to excel in our good deeds in our in our in our and in all the good rituals and acts of worship that we do may Allah subhana wa tala accept it a mean and it is on this night the 21st of
Ramadan that we have opened our first Ramadan live appeal entitled Five Pillars past present and future now before I kick off I want to remind everyone that the donation link to support the work of Five Pillars is pinned in the YouTube comments you will find at the bottom
Ticker our donation link as well as our PayPal link as well as our UK bank d dets for those of you who want to use super chats to make a donation by all means please do so but it is important to highlight that the donation that you make van about 30% is unfortunately
Taken by YouTube and Google however that said if the only means in which you can support the work of Five Pillars is through super chats I will not discourage you I will not dissuade you we will not dissuade you or discourage you because if it’s a case where you can
Make a donation right now and support us right now and the only way is via super chats then by all means do it if it’s a case that if you don’t do super chats you may forget to do it later then do it otherwise you have the donation link
Which is pinned at the bot at the top of the YouTube comments as well as other banking details at the bottom of the screen my dear brothers and sisters for those of you who are joining us for the first time for a live appeal of this
Nature with five pillars or for those of you who have come back since last year you will remember that the theme for last year was based on the following verses of the Quran from Surah TBA where Allah subhah wa ta’ala tells us they want to extinguish the light of Allah
With their mouths but Allah refuses except to perfect his light although the disbelievers dislike it that was the theme the quranic theme throughout the entirety of Ramadan last year for five pillars’ campaign that Five Pillars sees itself as the Bastion as a vehicle as a Vanguard of upholding Allah’s Dean and
Ensuring that it does not come to harm with Allah’s permission I remind everyone that Allah protects his Dean Allah will protect this Dean of Al Islam from now until however it is for us it is for us to excel to seek to propel to be that
Vanguard to be the protectors to be the Defenders to be those who would be an obstacle for the enemies of Islam and Muslims to extinguish the light of Islam to the light of Allah now some of the MU have said that the light of Allah could
Even mean Islam as a whole or the Quran either way Five Pillars finds itself and and grounds itself in ensur in that the light of Allah is not extinguished even though Allah will perfect it even though Allah promises that he will protect it and the disbelievers dislike it however
It is a duty upon us to not just convey The Message of Islam but to defend The Message of Islam to defend its beliefs its values its morals its tenents its laws and everything that pertains to it however this year this Ramadan 11 years five pillars have been around
11 years many believe we would not have made it this far there have been media Outlets I’m sure I will discuss with rashan when he comes on have come and gone brothers and sisters W they have come and gone some are still here but you won’t even know them because they’ve
Not made any impact for whatever reason alhamdulillah with the permission of Allah Asel and with your generous support and duas Five Pillars has steadily slowly but surely has only gone from strength to strength even with the attacks that we have faced whether it be from the islamophobes whether it be from
The zionists whether it be from the hinda whether it be from the UK government whether it be from reformists and deforms who are lackes and lap dogs for the establishment and those who seek to harm this community and to deform this Dean so it is assimilated and palatable and pangus and actually stands
For nothing my dear brothers and sisters this Ramadan we have based our campaign on the following verses from Surah Al Bak where Allah subhah tells us very clearly so whoever attacks you then attack them in the same way that they have attacked you and fear Allah and
Allah is with those whom fear Him and do not throw yourselves into destruction by not spending your wealth in the cause of Allah and do good truly Allah loves the the doers of good I’m going to say the verses of Quran again and I want you all
To listen to it attentively Allah tells us inah Al Bak so whoever has attacked you the Muslims then attack them back in the same way and fear Allah that and Allah is with those who fear Him and do not throw yourselves into destruction by not spending in the cause
Of Allah and do good truly Allah loves those who do good now many would be thinking hold on Dilly those verses of the Quran that you’ve just uh translated there from Surah Al Bak 190 to 196 those are very specific verses to do with Warfare and battle and Jihad like physical
Battle five pillars isn’t fighting anyone here physically and nor are we physically getting beaten up collectively as a community you’re correct you’re absolutely correct that is because the Jihad of the Muslims in the UK and broadly speaking in the west is not a physical one it is not a
Physical one this is not our remit it is not our right it is not an obligation on us because that is not our reality rather the Jihad of the Muslim Muslims in the west is an ideological one it is an ideological one it is one grounded on the preservation of the
Islamic identity and the advancement of our morals and our ethics and our values for the betterment of society why do I say this since the war on terror the last 23 years there has been an ideological Onslaught against Muslims in the west grounded and centered around around countering violent extremism
Centered around through the lens of counterterrorism where the Muslims are perceived as a suspect Community a surveilled community whose beliefs and tenets all of which are normative whether it is Shar whether it is the caliphate whether is the notion of whether it is whether it is whatever it may be for
Anything from circumcision to Halal to Halal meat to polygyny um to what is being taught in madrasas to our Pro Palestine stances whatever it may be whatever it may be these things in various forms and ways have been labeled and targeted as problematic a threat a conveyor belt to something more
Sinister when this is Way Beyond what is actually the truth and the reality the fact of the matter is the reason why the Muslims are seen as a suspect Community it’s not because we have islamist extremists amongst our ranks labels which we unequivocally reject labels that we don’t even
Attribute to ourselves or have coined ourselves but rather have been applied to us rather what we have seen in the last 23 years is a military Onslaught in the Muslim majority World Iraq Afghanistan Syria Somalia Yemen the ongoing illegal apar Zionist occupation of philistine and mid
Ala the situation of the UR in occupied East turkistan more recently in Sudan the list is endless whether it is open Warfare or a clear strategy to destabilize Muslim countries even in those countries where the people have rose up to want positive change to better themselves yes the Arab Spring
May not have yielded the results and the outcome that we had all hoped but that’s not on our limited Vision to dictate what is right and wrong or what is Victory and defeat whether it be the destabilization and the subversion of democracy in Egypt whether it be the destabilization and the uh
Interference in the war in Syria whether it be everything else that we’ve seen across the breath of the Muslim world my dear brothers and sisters when Muslims speak up against these issues when Muslims speak up in solidarity with their brothers and sisters in the Muslim majority world who are occupied and
Oppressed when we as Muslims in the west say that this issue of Muslims in the west is not to do with loyalty or disloyalty to our countries of birth it has nothing to do with hating the countries where we reside rather I believe the establishment the echelons of power
And those who wish to harm this community know very well that that’s not actually their issue rather the issue here the issue here is this as Muslims we have a concept a concept that is grounded in Quran and Sunnah and that is umah we believe that we are a part of a
Wider and broader fraternity of Brotherhood granted on Islam Allah tells us in the Quran the Muslims are but Brothers the prophet tells us in the famous Hadith that the parable of the Believers in their Mutual compan passion and mercy is that of a body that when
One limb is in pain the rest of the body responds in fever and restlessness how is it that lying is a major sin in nearly every circumstance but the one circumstance where lying is allowed is to reconcile two Muslims who are disputing so what it is whether it be in
Britain or in France or the United States or in Australia or in Canada or anywhere else in the Western World when Muslims speak up when we want to be the eyes the ears and the mouths of our brothers and sisters elsewhere we are immediately criminalized we immediately demonized we immediately questioned
About our loyalty and so forth this is utter nonsense for the islamophobes and zionists we going to be tuning into every single one of our life peels waiting to get the sound bite that they want to say gotcha gotcha this is what we mean utter nonsense BS to
You we are here many of us were born here many of our forefathers came here to rebuild these countries after world wars that were not waged by us for which our forefathers and our grandfathers and our great-grandparents fought for to rebuild these countries and we contribute in every facet of
Life like any other community and like any other commun community of any other subscribers of any other World Views we believe we have something that will be of benefit to wider society and that’s Islam if you don’t like it then refute us if you don’t like it engage with us if you
Don’t like it debate us if you don’t like it tell us where we’re going wrong but we’re not here to cause harm we’re not here plotting a takeover rather we’re here as Muslims as doers of good to do good and to say that we believe in Allah so my dear brothers and sisters
That is from which we have launched our Ramadan live appeal and the whole Ramadan campaign has been based on those verses from Surah Al Bak fight those who fight you in the same way and do not transgress and do good Allah loves those who do good and do not destroy
Yourselves by refraining and not spending in the path of Allah so my dear brothers and sisters support Five Pillars support us in whatever way you can W these concluding nights of Ramadan and if anything that the ongoing genocide in Gaza has proven to us in the last six months more now
Than ever before it is that we need a strong independent Muslim media now before I bring on our first guest I want russan to play a video from our brother Hamza zores who recently gave a speech at our inaugural estar event russan can you please play the video from our brother
Hamza W brothers and sisters and I mean this we should be collectively ashamed of ourselves full stop we should be ashamed of ourselves that Five Pillars is not 10 times the size honestly and and the reason this is happening is because we haven’t revived a prophetic Sunnah we always talk about
Doing the Sunnah doing this and doing that but let me tell you one Sun that we don’t do Reviving Jihad and I’m not talking about physical Jihad I’m talking about one of the superior forms of jihad which is strategic thinking in times of danger I ham in his
Book he makes a very interesting point when he comments on Jihad itself as has a noble concept and he makes a very interesting point and listen brothers and sisters this is Dean listen he says one of the greatest forms is Da sharing Islam defending Islam articulating Islam
If you look at Surah Alan chapter 25:52 what does Allah say Do not yield to the disbelievers but strive against them be with it meaning the Quran a great striving all all of the scholars majority of the scholars has said this is Da itself you have IB haam
You have IB T you have Ali you have Al ja you have Haba you have many others from different schools of creed say the primary form Superior form is Jihad with the Quran the second IAM talks about is strategic thinking at times of danger we don’t think about strategy we don’t
Think about benefiting the umah we don’t think about about what’s going to benefit Islam not just the organization or the brand or the individual or the YouTube channel but Islam success is our true success because the vision for Islam is greater than any organization and the organization is greater than any
Individual we must have an Allah Centric AR Centric mindset concerning this issue so brothers and sisters we’re not strategic thinkers because I I run a DA organization it’s the second one that Allah has given me the blessing and the honor of running and let me tell you
Something I would rather you give money to Five Pillars than to sapen Institute listen to me I would rather you give money to Five Pillars than Sapient Institute why am I saying this because to have an organization a media organization with qualified journalists that are articulating Islam defending Islam defending Islamic causes
For the sake of Allah and their Orthodox it is much worth more than a thousand those were some very very powerful words by our brother ham zores uh the former CEO of AA one of the largest da organizations in the world and now the CEO and founder of sap
Institute and I want you all to take heed of what he said before I bring on my next guest um our first guest for tonight and that is whilst I wouldn’t describe ourselves in such lofty ways but the point remains that Five Pillars is the only independent Muslim English
Language media Outlet in the western world and possibly in the whole world qualified and competent and experienced journalists who are doing what we’re doing now both of our guests are on tonight so I’m going to bring them both on our first guest is our dear brother Jamal J Richards from nightcap
Productions who has been with us Subhan Allah since 2015 our second guest is Baba M Manan the creative editor of Blood Brothers podcast Salam my brothers what’s going on let me just get my phone set up Salam bro how you doing I’m good alhamdulillah how you can hear me okay
Yeah yeah I can hear you clearly my brother um let me first begin with you Jamal because our stories are special ones yeah in two in 2015 Ramadan we had like a window of 20 minutes and we had just prayed Sal in Ramadan and I said Jamal please can you
Make me a fundraising video do you remember um that was a yeah that was a really interesting time dly because um back then as with now I’ve always been like a really big um fan and suppor of Five Pillars I’ve always loved um uh what you do uh and um so any opportunity
To help you know I would have jumped on it so yes when you um you know say you need to make this video I was all about you know making it happen no matter what uh and obviously working with you um as I did at that time there was always
Going to it was always going to come to it that we’re going to make this happen inshallah by hooker by crook so it was quite interesting times now I couldn’t find the video right but I definitely remember it so I was there I was a bit overweight at the
Time I wasn’t even smartly dressed I had my barber jacket on and we did this whole kind of like we we were aiming for monthly donations right and we had pennies dropping from the sky and we were breaking up what5 pound means in a month and in a week and what 10 pounds
Means in a week and what 20 pounds means in a week and it was proper like the thing is I wouldn’t even criticize it because the time that we had and the the way in which it was done alhamdulillah that was our first fundraising video and you were a part of
It my dear brother may Allah bless you and alhamdulillah alhamdulillah bro and yeah as you said it was very short notice um we didn’t have a studio set up um so we just went regular we went upstairs to the ninth floor and there was just like
A a basic sort of plain white wall behind you um you know but I think as you said like you know given the you know what we had to work with I think I think it you know it was all right I think it wasn’t too bad to be
Honest okay um a few I want to ask you something right and I want to paint a chronological Journey with you Jamal yeah 2015 you made that first fundraising video 2015 was also quiz a Muslim in Bedford 2016 was the normative Islam report launch um then we had more kind of
Modern events as years went on we had um the good fight documentary from 2022 we had the recent Bedford Gaza event What’s the progress you’ve seen because I know you’ve always given us mates rates and it’s not I mean I can’t even call it mates rates it was rates which I’m not
Even allowed to tell anyone because that was your to Five Pillars from in the very formative inceptive years where have you seen five pillars Dev over the years that’s a really good question Subhan Allah because I think the quality of the content um from Five Pillars has always been on point from day
One uh the only thing that was really missing was the resources um you know and stuff like that but you know the content has always just been like you know obviously which is the reason why you know the main news networks at that time were calling upon you right because
You were on point from day one um so in terms of like where you know you started off with the humble beginnings um always making things happen which is like very key that very essential Point always you make things happen no matter what whether you filmed it on professional
Cameras which you didn’t have at the time or on your phone but you know you would still deliver it in such a way that you know you were more than credible I mean obviously like you know you were essential to the um even at that point so you know listening to uh
You know the content from that time so those events for example what we filmed on at the Time quiz Muslim for example I think it was just might have just been one camera perhaps I can’t remember maybe two cameras yeah two cameras one speak yeah yeah but the
Coverage that we got from that it was enough that um you know inshah there you know that that that a very sort of a key um event Subhan Allah with did the lineup and stuff like that and it was it was you know was amazing so yeah I mean
That’s what I’d say like the content was always on point but it’s just the resources M let me bring you in my dear brother now for those of you who do not know MOS mustan AKA D digital is a very dear brother of minds of our organization someone who’s been working very closely
With us uh since 2019 and before I opened the floor up to him russan can you please play The Blood Brothers podcast uh trailers from the very first season to the most current season please Blood brother’s podcast a fire pit is a mad mon Production Blood Bar’s podcast production those were the three trailers to the to the three seasons of Blood Brothers podcast the first trailer was made by Jamal in 2019 and the other two were done by Mosin M took over the Blood Brothers project late 2019 from round about episodes 15 16 17 onwards and it’s
Basically been our baby ever since MIM welcome to the live appeal my brother how are you alhamdulillah bro how are you doing and you Jamal bro myia I learned everything I know about videography from Jamal I just want to put that out there first in you can’t get away from it put
Out it’s not true but I like it when you say it let me ask you something brother you’ve been working with us for five years now mainly on the Blood Brothers project but you’ve done other bits and Bobs but that’s kind of been our Focus how important has the podcast been in
Terms of growing Five Pillars but as well as contributing towards the wider daa uh cause oh wow that’s a that’s a good question man I mean I remember when I joined five how many subscribers I think it was like 4 3,000 or three and a half thousand subscribers something like that
Well episode one was 1300 when you came on we were on 3,000 yeah and alhamdulillah like and I put this I say this because the content the podcast is so good you had such a v wide diverse range your guest from anything from Scholars to influencers to even sometimes rappers and stuff right
And you always got the guests at the right times I think as well so you you know your reach is good alhamdulillah M and I think that’s the main thing that grew the podcast is the consistency because consistency pays right if people are used to seeing a
Podcast coming out every two weeks if it doesn’t come out for like 8 weeks 10 weeks people forget he hav’t existed and the algorithm changes and and whatnot but yeah alhamdulillah like I’ve seen Spy peelers grow from 3,000 subscribers when I join and I just checked before I
Join now and I think you’re on 146k or we’re on 146k allahar I’ve noticed recently you posted the YouTube pla the 100,000 subscriber plaque you know you know the crazy thing is I just want to put this out there as well there was talk I’m not sure if I can mention this
But I’m G to mention it there was talk last year or maybe a year and a half ago about maybe buying my channel to make you Brothers right yes there’s no danger of that happening anymore is there no so basically so basically me and M had some very very like emotional conversations
Brothers and sisters and it wasn’t that we had any desire to be YouTubers because Muslim journalism isn’t just restricted to one platform um but I was getting frustrated that the channel wasn’t growing and I say this with humility W I say this with humility if you want a Muslim podcast that covers
The breadth of the diversity of the the practicing the Nots of practicing um salfi suii whatever it may be um social media influences health and fitness Combat Sports du activist academics all of it you will find In The Blood Brothers podcast and I say that there is no one
Else out there that has that and it was frustrating at the time because that journey to 50K Subs was grueling bro it was wasn’t it yeah man and I was like and I was like M listen your Channel’s on about 70,000 let me just buy the channel of you or give me
The channel and let’s just make it into the blood brothers Channel and maybe we can blow up but alhamdulillah Allah has something better in plan the hard work paid off because from January 2023 to November 2023 which was 10 and a half months we got 50,000 subscribers amazing and from end
Of Allah from end of November last year to now which is four and a half months we’ve basically got another 50,000 subscribers and now whilst we appreciate that YouTube like any other platform is here today and gone tomorrow I say that much it’s here today it’s gone tomorrow
Because s that’s the unfortunate nature of censorship on platforms that don’t belong to Muslims are actually owned and run by zionists and those who ideologically are actually opposed to Islam up until that point where they think you’re becoming an issue and we have had some issues like that so
Alhamdulillah my brothers and sisters super chats was disabled I was unaware I’ve just uh enabled it and activated it I repeat that whatever donation you make via Super Chat 30% of it sadly goes towards Google and YouTube however if that is the only way in which you’re
Going to give today I will not discourage you so please give give give for the sake of Allah Jamal let me ask you this brother we’ve had so many of these conversations budget our favorite budg whenever me and Jamal Embark and me and M as well but most I’ve had these conversations with
Jamal whenever there’s been a project so let’s take the good fight the good fight documentary which we did it was an MMA documentary uh with a DA angle all to do with my self-reformation giving up bad habits and my journey to go to Hajj you
Had a budget in mind and there was the budget that we ended up getting approved it was nearly what you wanted and what we got approved was nearly half right yeah less than less just a bit under half right just a bit under half
But we made it happen and it was still a quality production do you want to see a time where budget is not an issue or so much of a big issue that we’ve always had 100% 100% vote um I do because you know five pillar is important uh Network you know it’s it’s
A very important medium and the same way with mainstream and even some of the sort of uh Islamic news networks the ones that exist and they have money back behind them uh you know there isn’t a limit when it comes to budget and and I think it’s very very
Important for people to be informed in the way that Five Pillars informs uh you know we shouldn’t be thinking about um you know cutting costs you know and and I think that we’ve done all right dly I mean obviously like as I said before I mean obviously because just because the
Content is so good it doesn’t mean the money should shouldn’t not go behind it right you know obviously um we could do so much more with larger budgets right um how you know how you sort of um uh disseminate the news how you know you for example traveling things like this
The good fight documentary had there be more money behind it uh it perhaps might have even generated some income as well because we might have been able to approach I mean that was the whole thing wasn’t it like we know my company we have um equipment that for example if
You want to film for Netflix we can film for Netflix if you want to film for web we can film for web sometimes you know it’s nice to you know we have directors we have the whole sort of shebang behind it um but I was always going to deliver
For you no matter what right I was always going to deliver but it was just a case of had we been able to go with the whole hog then I think it would have been even better but it was amazing amazing documentary I loved working on that
100% alhamdulillah let me just give a shout out to our brother Shan who has just donated €450 my dear brothers and sister this brother Bal who just dropped me a message as well mallah last Ramadan live appeals and the year before that the brother gives he gives every live appeal
And he gives in a big way there is no amount that is too big or too small in the eyes of Allah and I want to go back to the verse of the Quran which I started and kicked off today’s live appeal with from Surah Al Bak where
Allah says to us to fight those who fight you in the same way and then Allah says and do not throw yourselves into destruction by not spending in the cause of Allah in another English translation by refraining from spending in the cause of Allah my dear brother Bal never
Refrains from spending in the cause of Allah because I know he supports other work other projects other initiatives and he gives in a big way to Five Pillars my dear brothers and sisters spend in the path of Allah spend in the cause of Allah spend in the defense of
Islam and Muslims in the media I will repeat this if there is anything that the god genocide has shown us and the duplicity and the hypocritical genocidal nature of the corporate Zionist media is that we need funding the media which we always complain about the media which defames
US and witch hunts us and criminalizes us and and demonizes us is a multi-billion dollar funded industry yet with the little limited budget that we have we have made the impact that we have so may Allah subhana wa tala bless dear brother B with the
Best in this life and the next I mean and made that donation way heavy on his miss m let me come to you bro how many times have we uh negotiated to and fro 50 and look brothers and sisters we’re gonna be very exactly we’re g be we’re g
Be very open here right and people might think that sounds really Petty that sounds really like you know it seems very minuscule well there you go that’s the reality I I have negotiated with M over 50 pounds And1 pounds and 80 pounds when it comes when he does block edits
Because he so we have two setups at the moment the current setup is that we go to the five pillar Studio which is owned and run by Jamal and then is hand it’s it’s live edited and then it’s handed over to Mosen to then do all his quote
Unquote creative magic and then you get the the product the final end product which is The Blood Brothers podcast traditionally speaking it used to be a three camera setup with M um coming to either Bedford or recently we have been traveling we went to Paris to film uh
Episode one of season 3 with um Professor we also went to Belfast to uh film two episodes with Jim dson the founder of Britain first and the F and and one of the Key Senior guys behind the Knights Templar the Crusader organization we also filmed on the same
Day in Belfast an organization podcast with sha Murray who was the son of one of the IRA leaders so we’re now traveling to film podcasts but how many times have me and you negotiated over 50 60 70 80 pounds bro oh I’ve lost count bro I’ve lost count I really have SP but
I mean this is the thing isn’t it I mean we you shouldn’t have to be in a position five pillar should not have to be in a position to be negotiating in your own words in those Petty ways because way I see is Five Pillars is the only englishspeaking Muslim News Network
Which is not beholden to anyone except for Allah is the only one all the other ones out there they’re beholding to some agency or the other they got some sort of agency out there right something you know this is what we need guys we need five pillars without Five Pillars we
Don’t have no representation and we’re Muslims we’re we’re the biggest one of the biggest you know groups in the world we count for we are the biggest group in the world we’re the biggest you know we count for about what almost one billion just over one billion people now are you
Crazy bro we’re we’re nearing two billion and we’re like way off right always has that’s here’s the thing that representation the only representation we’re getting in the West in the english- speaking West is Five Pillars there’s no other there’s no other news network or you know news
Agency out there that’s doing this and we don’t have the funding it’s crazy where why are the Muslims backing it I don’t understand like is this how weak the um has become that we’re afraid to donate to something that’s beneficial to us that gives us representation you know
We we we we we we constantly demand our our rights but we don’t fulfill our obligations and I find that’s really as a Muslim Community in large and I think that’s a big crying shame that we demand our rights but don’t fulfill our obligations we’re expecting magic to
Happen come on donate to Five Pillars and see the work come out get the team larger have more journalists on board more people in international places other other countries etc etc make it a real thing make it not that is a real thing but make it a bigger thing a
Larger thing this is what we need I mean when when I speak to my friends about it you know that alhamdulillah they donate now aldah they donate but they they I remember about 3 four years ago when I mentioned the Five Pillars they said yeah we know about Five Pillars thinking
It’s five pillars of Islam not Five Pillars the news you know now Five Pillars is becoming in a house alhamdulillah slowly slowly starting to become a household name among the people that I I know you know including my own father he sends me sometimes videos of Five Pillars or articles of Five Pillars
Not knowing that I do work for Five Pillars bless and Pres Uncle Jamal I know you Jamal I know you have to shoot because I know you’ve got busy evening yourself I want to ask you one final question abat for your donation whether it’s one figure two figure three figure four
Figures there is no figure that is too big or too small in the eyes of Allah to support this cause my dear brothers and sisters do not destroy yourself do not destruct yourselves do not throw yourselves Into the Fire by withholding in the cause and not spending in the
Cause of Allah Jamal final question to you bro what do you want to see in the next five years in terms of filming production uh content projects that you’ve worked on in the previous years in the last nine years what kind of stuff do you want to see in the future
And what type of costs are associated to it to get it done professionally to a proper um level the level that you want because I know the level you the level you want and the level I will settle for sometimes there’s a disparity and that disparity is need
Always to do with funding so tell me bro what it what it what is it that you want us to do more of and what type of costs are associate to get that type of stuff done properly last question to you before you yeah okay okay well what I
Want to see is um I want to see Five Pillars where it deserves to be and where it needs to be um representing the umah right and um this means that it needs to have the full backing of the um if there were attacks that were you know
Um allowed to pay towards five um Five Pillars to ensure that the um you know it’s up and running in the way that it should be then I would be the first one to endorse that tax right um that yearly tax because again we know that in the
Med in the media um you know we’re we’re kind of blinded by um you know misrepresentation um you know misdirection all of these things we’re blinded by this and it’s so refreshing to know that Five Pillars are there to ensure that we are getting the news as
They as they happen and exactly as they are truthful um down to the point so what I really want to see is I want to see the um back in five pillars so everyone watching now for example um if they haven’t donated um I want them to have
Feel a sense of of um obligation to ensure that Five Pillars is running at Max Capacity In Bitcoin will you accept Bitcoin yes we will we will accept Bitcoin we will accept ethereum allahar will send you the wallet key at the end you’re already texting me may Allah bless you and preserve you my dear sisters please keep our brother B Shaban in your duas that
Classic BMW that he’s got may Allah subhana tala give you thousands of those old and new and the best of steeds in this life and the next I mean my dear brother you are in the the sake of Allah for the cause of Allah may Allah reward
You for every goodness and that the work of Five Pillars does a mean Yan my dear brothers and sisters we can we can accept cryptocurrency donations just contact us in the comments if you have my number message me if you want to message Five Pillars info@ 5pillars uk.com we do accept cryptocurrency
Donations it’s just something we don’t necessarily advertise because not many people want to do it but if that’s your thing if that’s Hal hustle we’re not going to say no may Allah bless and reward my dear brother Shaban Allah bless I’m send I’m sending my Bitcoin address now allahar Jamal
Allah bless you and preserve you my bro and we’ve got we got we got busy filming schedule after Ramadan but before I go um can I show the viewers the studio what it looks like right now yeah of course show the people the studio show people studio all right here’s a shock
That’s the studio wa hold on hold on hold on if if we’re doing that if we’re doing that then I might as well show you the studio for the season one and season two which M will know oh man it’s now occupied by my two daughters uh
Toys the the front room of my home was the home of the Blood Brothers podcast I’ve spent so many beautiful memories with M here over the course of three four years Jamal’s been here we even filmed some early fundraising videos in my passage way remember I did the Press
Up video brothers and sisters donate for the sake of Allah we’ve had some we’ve had some crazy memories that was before I became a dad uh now that I’ve become a dad these spaces are now occupied by my daughters I hope you’re paying them rent your daughters being in there
Tonight keep that their mom might take you’re going one more thing as well Muslims uncensored in uh oh yeah musl I’m sitting on at the moment yeah okay make sure make sure robt Russian don’t start charging you for using that space either bro yeah exactly yeah
Listen I just want to say before I go like I said Subhan Allah I really really say it with the full um sincerity of how um much I am behind um you know Five Pillars I’m really really behind Five Pillars 100% and inshallah I really hope
That um you know we’re going to get a lot of success tonight and continued success inshallah where you smiling at Jam where you smiling at Sak sat look I G to show you him who’s here where is he in the doorway com in Sak we’re live brother brother brother Sak sat for
Those of you who don’t know him is a dear brother and supporter of Five Pillars he’s someone who all you need to know is keep him in your duas may Allah bless him and preserve him and that’s enough how are you my brother you okay I’m good I’m
Good alhamdulillah I’m uh been watching the appeal Mah good to see M as well M and Jamal in theh how’s things alham it’s going well we’ve just had a brother who’s donated $5,000 uh in cry in cryptocurrency and just I saw that message in the comments um it said bch I’m not
Really Bitcoin sorry so this brother’s donated 6,000 about £6,000 tonight alone mallah and Shaban is someone who’s donated Raman before so everyone keep our brother B Shaban and everyone who’s donated thus far in your duas please a mean a me may Allah make it way heavy on his Misan and give him
The best in this life and the next I mean I think all the people that are giving to Five Pillars um inshallah keep on giving keep on supporting because you know we need a shield uh uh as as as an um as a community and Five Pillars is fulfilling that very important
Obligation and uh this is the first odd night it could be a night that is better than a thousand months and Subhan Allah um a lot of messages are going out lot of number crunching but Subhan Allah um it’s been calculated £1 pound could be the equivalent of donating three million
Pound imagine if tonight is your1 could be worth3 million and not only will you be giving towards something that will benefit you now in terms of your a this will help the community so brothers and sisters please do donate all of us are not just supporters we’re actually
Supporters financially in some sh way or form we have to be so inshallah do dig deep do support I known Dilly I’ve known the brothers Russian for a long time and they’re sincere people and they are there doing the work that needs to be done so carry on the good work my
Brother inshah and um inshallah I tell you what why don’t we set a challenge we like challenges don’t we Jamal we do Jamal’s had plenty of challenges doing live okay by the way the other stream went down just now really okay so the challenge is if we can get another 500 pounds
Donated tonight then inshah tal I will match fun that wow that means me that if you donate £500 it will be as if you donated 1,000 and if tonight is and you’ve helped donate £1,000 it is if you donated wait for the math here 30 million who knows so brothers and
Sisters here’s a challenge in front of you 500 make it a, insh tal my dear brothers and sisters brother brother Sak has just set out that challenge who out loads of challenges in last Ramadan every single one of them were fulfilled Jamal I have to love you and leave you
Hab take care bless you good to see you as well take care all the success tonight I’m gonna ask you a question my brothers and S while I’m speaking to M I don’t want you to ignore the challenge that brother Sak has just set out he
Said that if we can raise 500 pounds he will match that and make it into a thousand so please get donating because we have our two guests waiting for us uh before I let MIM go I want to ask you a question bro and it’s exactly the same
Question I want to I asked Jamal but from a more of a kind of podcast perspect perspective because he’s played such a key role in the growth of Five Pillars at least on YouTube Bro roughly speaking if you put together Jamal’s cost and your post edit
Costs or let’s say if I’ve taken you out for the day or half a day each podcast costs somewhere round roundabouts 320 to 380 right that’s right in those in those days we’re like I need to edited within a day or two then it’s about 400 but an average episode cost about
350 right my brother what do you want to see in the future of Five Pillars in the very near future in terms of podcast and in terms of production and what does it mean in terms of costings how important is costings and budget in terms of making your life easier to have the
Creative freedom to take not just a podcast but more filming projects that you’re going to do inshallah to the next level oh help mly I mean I’m still using the same cameras that I used that I bought seven years ago you know in the world of cameras that’s ancient you know
I can’t afford to buy new cameras because you know in in the da game that I’m in you know I basically film for the da organizations yourself other organizations we don’t get paid the kind of money that get paid if you’re working for non-muslims right and I know these
People probably thinking I’m shooting myself in the foot but you know um I refuse to work for non-muslim organizations I only work for Muslim organizations that’s it kalas even if it means I have to take a cut in my paycheck because there’s Baraka in here and I get to meet the amazing Brothers
Like Dilly and others and you know if I’m in that company it’s like with what Hamza said in one of his lectures he said if you’re are in a company of four Pious men and you’re the fifth you’re the fifth Pious person I don’t have great qualities I’m a I’m I’m a very
Flawed person so for me that Financial hit and being around the good Brothers means more to me than having a you know the the the money but the money helps I mean I want to show you something right look remember this case oh god of course I remember that
Case bro that’s the case of course I remember that back bro remember remember this kit remember there’s more here look bro there the the cameras are here lighting it’s all basically just lying around here right waiting for me to get get back on it right and film but I’m filming in
1080P I’m sure you guys want to see 4K 8K cameras are coming out now and I’m want to move to 4K you know if you’re if you can increase the budgets because the donations are coming in it means production values go higher it means the time frames of getting editing done even
My PC people don’t know this just to buy a PC for editing like this it’s going to set you back you know if if you’re using multi multiple cameras at you know High bit rates it set you back about five grand that’s a £5,000 PC I’m not even
Joking if you want the statistic if you want the stats message me privately I’ll let you know what it is because I love this thing but you know these are the sort of costs that are attached not to mention travel not to mention staying overnight etc etc in some of the places
We’ve been to if people don’t donate towards Five Pillars then you know it’s a bit of a crying shame because we we’re willing to give our money to humanitarian char ities which is great I’m not saying don’t do that do that but at the same time we as Muslims we need
Representation and the only real representation we’re getting the only true honest no Hol B reputation representation that we’re getting is from fire pillers I don’t see it from I’m not going to name the other channels because they are proper media channels you know they have TV stations
And stuff like that they run sky and whatnot I’m not going to mention them you know who they are you know who they are and you know that they report the news with a bit of salt attached to it because there’s somebody else looking over their shoulder right with five
Pillars is regulated by impress they got 100 out of 100 score 100 out of 100 score regulated by impress right and we and Five Pillars is still representing Muslims accurately wonderfully beautifully and makes us proud to have an organization like like like five pillars I mean in the words of Hamza
When Hamza said you know Hamza this is when we when I filmed the inaugural ifar event right and I remember him saying this very clearly he says I’m telling you don’t even donate to sapience it’s more important that we donate to Five Pillars don’t even donate to sapience Institute and that’s his
Organization that’s Ham’s organization he’s telling us forget sapience donate to Five Pillars you don’t understand how much we need this right now Muslims take a bashing left right and Center whether it’s in the west whether it’s in the Middle East whether it’s in some Far flung corner of the world where Muslims
We don’t even know know there’s Muslims there like the weer we had to find that out that was a that was such a blow to us when we found out what was happening to the weers what was happened to the ringas what’s happening in aam what’s
Happening in you name it the list goes on and on and on if not for five P list and who who you waiting for who’s going to do this work these are brothers who are passionate about the work I’ve seen I’ve seen I’ve seen emotions I’m not
Going to mention what where when why how but I’ve seen emotions right and if you I I don’t even have words de honestly because it’s something that means means a lot to me you know from day one I always said to you you know that five pillar needs to be International not
Just an english- speaking platform it needs to have representation in other languages all languages in fact in Five Pillars Arabic Five Pillars French we want that we’re aiming to do that in my brother Allah bless you and preserve you I love you for the sake of Allah we’ve got a very very busy
Schedule after Ramadan get ready and insh T the funds will be raised to take the B Brothers podcast and any other projects that you’re going to be working to the next level bro in care my brother you take care take care my dear brother my dear brothers
And sisters you heard from the Jamal Richards from nightcap Productions a brother who has been working with us since 2015 for the for nine years he made our very first fundraising video super low budget and mates rates wouldn’t even be fair to describe that
Uh um his s to Five Pillars has been you know practically charging us things which you know he he he’s at a loss himself but he he that’s him giving to Five Pillars is a dear brother who has taken the blood podcast um to the next level may Allah subhana wa tala
Bless our dear brother mmud allahar if this is brother mmud from Bedford then this is a brother who has supported Five Pillars from the Inception I’m talking about since 2013 14 15 16 17 every year this brother if it is the Mamud from Bedford who is a
Dear brother of of my my older brother he has supported Five Pillars every year without fail if this is not Mamud from Bedford then equally your rank and your honor is the same may Allah subhana T bless you for your very generous donation uh please let us know how you
Want to give that,s you’ve got the bank details there if you if you are brother mmud from Bedford come see me may Allah bless you and preserve you and may Allah increase supporters like you for five pillars ran can you please ran can you please bring Ona very quickly Shak is
Our it developer marketing o representing today great hoodie lovely hoodie obey the shid I don’t know what title to give him he just makes up his own titles he smiled and then he’s we have we’ll have a hack and a breakdown and an outage on our website Anda Just
Smiles at me and then everything’s okay I’m gonna I know you’re only here for like five 10 minutes I’m gonna ask you two questions question number one you’ve been with us since 2015 you took over from the brother who previously made our website you rebranded the website you deal with very
Regular attacks on the website um what are the challenges in your line of work in terms of Five Pillars that you’ve had to face with primarily to do with maintaining and up and upkeeping the kind of data and and and the we s so like you mentioned obviously the work
That you do obviously you get enemies right and these enemies they’re sophisticated so they attacks become sophisticated and uh we have to likewise have a sophisticated uh Armory we have to have firewalls we have to have good hosting we have to have good backup all of these things they they they cost
Money uh they cost time they cost energy uh alhamdulillah we’ve got to a good level right now by the very beginning uh you know the site would go down sometimes the site would be attacked uh we all night and all morning trying to solve these issues alhamdulillah Al
These things they do happen but we have to ensure that we also have a good level of Technology sophisticated uh yes how go on you have been giving to Five Pillars I know it’s not something I mention you don’t like it when I mention it but it’s the truth you’ve been supporting Five
Pillars financially every month for good amount of years now why is that bro so finally off actually I think if I’m not mistaken when we when we had this new uh uh Payment Processing system uh I did the initial test right and I left it
Since then so I I didn’t it wasn’t no no there’s not the reason but obviously uh you know been uh that’s been ongoing for a good few years now uh obviously like I think you’ve mentioned many many times before you’ll mention again you know the Muslims are the most most demonized disempowered disenfranchised
Misrepresented Muslims or group shall I say you know in media and we’ve seen over the last maybe six months just how or to what level this has got to uh and we’ve seen alhamdulillah we’ve seen the tides change somewhat we’ve seen the narratives being kind of uh broken down
We’ve seen uh media Outlets being exposed uh you know narratives kind of um being exposed as well so where where this kind of work that you’re doing is working now it’s taken a while of course and it will continue to take um you know take need a lot of effort
Need a lot of money need backing but we’ seeing we’re seeing it working we’re see we’re seeing the change happening um you know people do need to support this whether it’s financially or otherwise but it needs to be supported it needs to be supported uh constantly consistently
And not just now but you know for for years and decades to come insh before you go can you just give us a kind of a bit more of an elaborated example of of the attacks that we do face whether it be on the website or our emails being
Hacked or give us something that you’ve dealt with recently so recently we had uh we had a massive um denial of service attack so what happens is they send in a huge amount of traffic to the website uh that causes it to slow down it causes
The service to degrade so we’ve had to kind of uh get some additional support in order to uh ensure that it’s up and running some additional security uh just to ensure that the site is live so people can view it and this happens regularly which usually happens
When you have a very specific article discussing a very specific group of people uh um and Finny enough it’s that group it is that group whoever may be that is the ones we attack because we can see we can see where the attacks coming from which country you know
Through IP addresses and whatnot okay I love you for the sake of Allah you you have the most beautiful smile yeah you need that smile every time every time every time the Poo hit it’s a sh take my make the other live appe that
You on a I mean I mean all of us all of us I mean my dear brothers and sisters so far we’ve had $5,000 donated via Bitcoin by Brother Bilal Shaban it has just landed Allah Akbar the same brother donated €450 allahar brother Mahmud who I believe is from Bedford a longtime
Supporter has donated ,000 allahar and there’s been other donations in the course of tonight may Allah subhana wa tala bless you and preserve you all a mean forgive all your major and your minor sins a mean elevate your ranks in this life and the next aan and may your
S not just for Five Pillars but every cause every Islamic cause for the cause of Islam or Muslim that you’ve given towards may we heavy on your Misan why do we keep saying weigh heavy on your Misan because we know on every atom weight of good and bad will have its
Weight on our scales and these donations we are given especially when we’re seeking for it to be we want it to weigh heavy on our on our Misan on the day of judgment insh now before I bring on our kind of final guest me and russan are
Going to wrap up towards the end but I’m kind of saving him till the end um I want to remind you all the kind of challenges that Five Pillars has faced over the course of 11 years I want you all to understand the work that we do
The challenges that we have faced the things that we have achieved and the labels that have been attributed to us Russian can you please play my little segment from our event never rarely if ever do I hear that we need to be more like the Zionist Jews when it comes to the
Media because the Zionist Jews are the most unified when it comes to supporting their media good bad or ugly they put their differences aside and they are unified upon the cause of Zion ISM defending every single act of is and they are willing to put their differences aside
Whether it’s over Styles and means and language and tone let’s compare them to Five Pillars in 11 years wall we have never had to pay a single penny to a single entity who have bought a defamation claim against us not a single penny not a single apology to the enemies of Islam
And Muslims when we have reported about them and in addition to that we have a 100% grading by the internationally renowned journalism reviewer News Guard even then over the years even amongst some Muslim critics we’ve had some labels attribute to us the Muslim Daily Mail the Muslim tabloid press the
Muslim media mercenaries and I say this to you all today W I embrace those labels with chest I’m happy to be the Muslim Daily Mail I’m happy to be the Muslim tabloid press I’m happy to be a Muslim media mercenary if it’s for the sake of Allah and for this
Dean because it is the same tabloid press like the Daily Mail and the sun who are the who are the most R Publications in this country they are the biggest opinion makers in this country in 1997 the Sun newspaper under Rebecca Brooks won Tony Blair the elections the same in 2010
When David Cameron and the Tories at the time made a deal with the Daily Mail and the same the same two newspapers the same trash tabloid press not that we see ourselves as such but I’m just saying the impact of the Tabloid style press is what gives the Muslim communities a hard
Time it’s not the telegraph or the Sunday Times of the Guardian that’s weighing outside Imam shail’s Masjid waiting to do a hit job on him it’s the Tabloid press it’s the Tabloid press that launches investigations into our Charities it’s the Tabloid press that gives our mid and m a hard time so why
Not fight them the way they fight us my dear brothers and sisters I hope you all attentively listen to what I said there it is not that Five Pillars sees itself or Likens itself or even wants to be like the Daily Mail the Daily Mirror The Daily Express um the Sun
Newspaper but the fact of the matter is this it is that that style of Journalism which on a daily basis attacks Islam and Muslims it is that style of Journalism it is those newspapers that have institutionally embedded islamophobia within their editorial policies and for over 20 years
Over 20 years have found the Flames of islamophobia and anti-muslim hatred in the UK and Beyond and they have their equivalents uh in other parts of the western world it is these newspapers and their Styles which gives the Muslim Community a hard time unjustifiably it is they who
Misrepresent Islam it is they who malign the Muslims it is they who perpetuate racism against Muslims and Muslim stereotypes so when Allah tells us in Surah Al bakar fight those who fight you attack them like the way they attack you but be just and do not transgress
For Allah loves the doers of good what I’m saying here is that over the years five pillars has been labeled by some Muslims oh you guys are the Muslim daily maale oh you guys are the the Muslim mercenary Muslim media mercenaries and you guys are you know the Muslim tabloid
Press and what so what alhamdulillah allahar I take these labels with chest I Shed from the rooftops and you know why that is is because when we employ the same Styles the same mannerism the same Vigor the same passion the same methodology but with a consciousness of
Allah subh tala that we are not unjust that we do not transgress that we do not lie that we do not malign that we also get the results that they do my dear brothers and sisters there’s been many inferences and references to other Muslim media outlets and there are
Many Fantastic Muslim media Outlets out there but they don’t do journalism our dear brothers and beloved Brothers at one paath network at IL feed at Islam 21c at doam to name but a few I love all of them I give to all of them I know all of their Founders Muslim are
Dear friends of M we’re in communication with them and even they will say we don’t do what you guys do we don’t do what you guys do it’s not our remake we don’t have qualified journalist amongst our ranks to know how to do court reporting to know how to
Pursue a story to know how to uh uh chase a tail to convert something that seems like a story into a breaking story we don’t have what you guys have in terms of sticking it yes sticking it on the enemies of Islam and Muslims who want to make our lives hard just because
We believe in Islam and say so in that regard in that regard I’m happy russan is happy the entire editorial board and the team and our supporters and all our staff members we are happy there was a time where these labels used to make us you know not
Dishearten us but used to make us why are you calling us these but then we realized these very newspapers are the most read newspapers in the UK they are they are the opinion makers they are the ones that influence and shift opinion whether it be the 1997 general election when Tony Blair came
Into Power whether it was the 2010 general election when David Cameron came into Power whether it was the brexit referendum or whatever it may be it is those specific tabloid presses newspapers that are so influential in changing the opinion of the masses and similarly Five Pillars
Has been at the Forefront of not just defending Islam and Muslims in the media but also influencing the opinion and shaping the opinion of the Grassroots Muslims do you know why not because we sit in high towers and Ivory Towers and look down upon the Muslims it’s because we are from the
Community we are from you and you are from us we are from you and you are from us we don’t speak at the community we speak with the community we don’t advise and do our stuff away from the community we are close to the community not just in the UK and
Beyond last year to bring on our next guest we had a dear brother who had contributed to Five Pillars as an individual capacity as a freelancer he himself is a qualified and a competent and a very talented journalist he joined us mid last year and W he has only added to our Armory
And that is none other than our dear brother Robert Carter aka Muhammad Ali all the other way around Robert alikum wum Salam thanks for having me uh thanks for having me part of the team I was going to say thanks for having me on but uh yeah I’m still getting used to things
Being a proper Five Pillars man so yeah alhamdulillah it’s great to be here look bro before we get into the gist of today’s conversation with you I want our people our followers our listeners our supporters our donors those who are watching live now and those who are
Going to watch this later to just get a bit of an insight into your story so rashan please play uh Robert’s uh uh Speech from the event uh let me just start off by saying that uh you know for some of you who may
Know me in the audience it may come as a bit of a surprise but this confident uh masculine Muslim Mighty Muslim that you see before you today it wasn’t always the case there was a time uh many years ago when I was a teenager that I was plagued with many issues that
Affect my generation and other Generations too I was uh a lost soul you could say uh vulnerable to radical right-wing ideologies my understanding of Islam was certainly islamophobic I uh would have had a right-wing worldview British values whatever that is whatever that means would have been the value
System that I would have adhered to uh still to this day I don’t quite know what British values are are they uh holding the door open like a gentleman for a woman or is it waving a Union Jack in the face of a foreigner I don’t know
But uh probably the latter would have been where I was sitting at around about the time of 14 or 15 years of age I was from a broken family I didn’t have proper male role models I didn’t know what I wanted to be when I was older I
Didn’t know what it meant to be a man or a decent human being in fact I was bombarded with all of the uh ideologies that uh mix and mingle in the west uh turning me to the point where we’re now at perhaps where we’re so confused we don’t even know what gender
We are in schools anymore as you saw from the video it’s a massive problem but alhamdulillah something happened which changed the course of my life and I would never look back that was the day that I was introduced to Islam the day where I picked up a copy of the Quran
For the first time and began to learn about what this beautiful religion of Islam is what it really is behind the propaganda behind the hate and the vile poisonous islamophobic narratives and conspiracy theories that dominate the headlines and have even gone as far as to infect our political culture here in this country
And alhamdulillah the day I took my shahada for me was a life saving experience I feel as if that day was the day that my life truly began alhamdulillah I was reborn started again and it led me onto the path a path towards a brighter future that was a very powerful H
Segment from uh our dear brother Robert who has joined Five Pillars has been part of the five his team for the last 8 to nine months um how’s it been how’s it been being part of the team not not as a freelancer not as a contributor not as
Someone who comes on as a guest how’s it been how’s it been being part of the five pillar Squad yeah alhamdulillah really good so you have to part with Roan that’s Downer I suppose you have to get used to that um but no alhamdulillah apart from that absolutely brilliant um I’m really
Really pleased because obviously you know I’ve been a fan of theight brand ever since I was introduced to it and I think one of the stresses that I had before joining was can I actually do something meaningful that will actually help Five Pillars to to to you know step
Up a an extra level uh do I have what it takes because you know it’s such an important brand uh the work that you guys have done for many many years uh you know is is comparable to none you have a very very loyal and supportive uh
Fan base and uh obviously you know the pressure was there simply because I I wanted to hit the ground running and actually do something uh inshah of real benefit but alhamdulillah I actually have some confidence because um in a short space of time and with so much
Going on like in Gaza for example and elsewhere the uh persecution that Muslims are facing in this country right now the political persecution and the way the authorities are behaving towards Muslims right now alhamdulillah I’ve covered some really big stories in a short space of time they’ve gone viral
They’ve made a real impact online uh I’m not always even in front of the camera you know it’s not just me trying to promote myself or get myself out there I’ve covered stories and uh I’ve just been filming other individuals who are doing great great work and uh getting
Their story out there uh so that’s why it’s a real uh pleasure to be at Five Pillars because you know Five Pillars is that uh brand that’s platform in these really important stories and individuals that wouldn’t get platformed anywhere else and I mean we’ve even debunked some stories we’ve gone to places and
Reported on the the the truth which the mainstream media is misrepresenting or hiding away from uh The Wider public and uh I have to say there’s a lot of I’ve got a lot of trolls on X at the moment uh and I think that’s because of the
Work we’re doing is fantastic to the battlefield isn’t it war zone yeah you got have thick skin for X but no alhamdulillah just it’s it’s proof that what we’re doing is is fantastic work you know we’re really winding up the people who deserve to be wound up you
Know the bad guys uh are literally trolling me they’re trolling you they’re trolling Roan they’re trolling Five Pillars and that’s because the work we do makes that real impact uh so yeah alhamdulillah I’m I’m pleased but like I said in my speech at the ifar event uh if you just
Give me a chance to keep going keep doing what I’m doing I promise and pledge that I’m going to give it everything I’ve got to keep doing more of the same and to keep making an impact and just unapologetically defend Islam defend Gaza defend Palestine defend the
The Muslims as best as I can in my humble capacity inshallah a couple of things m is tired brothers and sisters that’s why his maths isn’t great tonight he’s just donated 50 pounds and he’s looking for 10 people to match his donation which will take it to £500 so my dear brothers
And sisters please donate generously match uh M’s 50 pounds if we can get 10 people that would be fantastic I think uh brother sakib’s um challenge has been matched because he put A500 pound challenge and brother mmud came and doubled that by giving a thousand I just
Want to confirm that brother Bal Shan’s donation of uh$ 5,000 is in transit I can confirm that it is in transit uh via Bitcoin may Allah subhana T accept it from him and everyone else who has been donating Vi PayPal and super chats and everything else Allah accept it from you all Robert
I want to highlight this couple of stories which I they stood out for me um Imam Shaquille’s story that was a fantastic story bro because you know you know Imam Shaquille is someone who’s been a well-wisher a supporter and adviser uh and one of the most leading
Imams uh in the UK in fact if all M kab Islamic Center I wish they were um but for whatever reasons I I hope that that that is a standard we should look towards would you agree leam Islamic Center 100% if I if I lived close I’d be
There every day it was such an amazing uh mid a beautiful atmosphere it there’s something special going on in Le there’s no doubt about it it felt like they were really follow the Sunnah of the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam when it focuses on you know just building a
Masid which becomes the center of a community and then you’re just there were people converting in huge numbers his congregation was full of people of all backgrounds young old black white uh Arab non-arab it was just beautiful I really felt for the first time and I’ve
Been to the Middle East by the way but I actually felt like I was sitting in a a proper Islamic environment you know really it was it’s beautiful it’s a beautiful beautiful mess mid and the work they’re doing down there saan Allah is powerful that’s that’s why they hate
What Imam Shaquil beg represents because he represents the true beauty of of Islam as it’s meant to be you know he’s spreading it uh they can’t stop him you know so Subhan Allah what he’s doing I inshallah I pray Allah rewards him for all of his efforts and gives him the the
Best type of reward that that’s available in charotte Marshal that they beautiful beautiful team down there what made you want to do that specific story though on Imam Shiki because because I’ve had him on the podcast he’s always been in touch with me and rashan but
We’ve never gone out of our way to do like a specific package on him you did why was that I think because I am a convert myself and I know how important da is from that from being the convert uh obviously every Muslim recognizes the importance of Da and there’s a massive
Da industry uh with some really amazing guys out there spread in the dean but um I think as someone who has literally benefited from conveying to you know it saved my life that’s how I see it I literally see it saving lives and any person who is converted and introduced
To Islam and takes their shahada that’s a life saved that’s the way I see it that’s the way many converts see it so that’s why I knew I wanted to get down there and investigate more because I’d heard amazing things and leam has a fantastic social media um effort where
They actually upload a lot of their shahad as they film it and then publish it um so I knew there was something amazing going on here because there was shahad every week boom boom boom going viral as well some really interesting stories like a sister who embraced Islam
Because of what she saw in Gaza uh and that inspired her to learn about this religion which is behind the the steadfastness The Bravery the honor of the Palestinians amid a genocide you know so Subhan Allah there’s I knew there was something special going on
There I had to go down there and see it it was my first time to leish him and subh I just it was an amazing amazing story and inshah I’ll be back to leam for sure there’s a lot more stories that we can cover uh but obviously you know
It’s just been difficult this Ramadan obviously the focus has been on what’s going on in Gaza it’s hard to kind of celebrate Ramadan in the way we usually do um so obviously our Focus has been there but inshah we’ll be back to lewisham definitely there’s no doubt
About that inshah and that was I think your first video that hit 50,000 I think it’s on about 60 or 70,000 at the moment and that done very well on all platforms mallah uh next story I want to ask you about and you kind of covered this very
Comprehensively like you had your pulse on it bro the Russell byelection tell me tell us about the Russia byelection and how you even got your own little cheer and like it was as if you were part of the victory team now I just want to clarify I just want to clarify brothers
And sisters that there’s been some a bit of confusion about the Rocher byelection the Rocher byelection victory wasn’t us being cheerleaders for George Galloway let’s just make that very clear you know rather what it was it was a an outcome which proved that when Muslims organize and mobilize we can break the two-p
Party system especially the labor stronghold in constituencies like rochell and I think there was some confusion about oh you know you know Five Pillars were based out the media mouth pieces of Galloway no that wasn’t the case rather Robert was there and he was basically reporting on something
Which was a national story but we were the only ones that were covering from a Muslim perspective tell us a bit about the Rell byelection BR yeah it was uh it was it was great uh obviously I enjoyed my time up there in Rochdale uh spending time with the local Muslims there
There’s a significant Muslim Community in Rochdale and uh of course they were really passionate about basically taking the uh fight for for Gaza uh to Westminster uh in this byelection and um what we were doing was the consensus among local rochan Muslims was to get behind Galloway so again just to
Reemphasize the point you were making I was there to platform and report on the direction and the voting uh decisions of rochdale’s Muslims basically so I was there for rochdale’s Muslims amid attacks you know obviously rdale has a reputation for for certain things and Muslims there get a really hard time in
The press and uh you know I was just there simply to see how this byelection was going to go because obviously it was the first opportunity for Muslims in this country to throw a real spanner in the works and basically cause a humongous political upset amid widespread anger and fury over the
Establishment including the labor party’s position on Gaza and alh it was a historic win it was a historic win the two Outsider candidates including a local independent beat the three main political parties in this country by a significant thumping majority uh and it was the Muslims who won Galloway the seat in Rochdale
There’s no doubt about that and just just on that because I know you and russan and even myself to a lesser degree we faced a bit of criticisms from some Muslims but also like some non-muslims like why are you guys making this a Muslim issue why are you making a sectarian issue it
Wasn’t the Muslims who won it yada yada y when Chris Williamson his second in command in a podcast with me said that the Muslim vote in Russ was pivotal and that George would Galloway wouldn’t have won if the Muslims didn’t mobilize the way they did how true is it did Muslims
Win Galloway the election 100% this was a win because of the musl Muslim mobilization Muslims came out in significant numbers um Galloway was was literally trying to get as many Muslim votes as he could uh that’s why every week he was outside a Masjid for for
Zuma he was he he had a large number of Muslims in his team up there supporting him uh I think I think anyone who suggests that it wasn’t the Muslims of Rochdale who won the byelection there I just think they’re kidding themselves and I assume it’s a bunch of people who
Wouldn’t have actually bothered to make the drive up to Rochdale or get involved I think anyone who actually went there and got involved and researched what was going on uh would would clearly agree that it was local Muslims that uh that got Galloway his win but obviously you
Know where we’re still keeping an eye on Galloway we’re you know going to make sure that he does what he’s uh elected to do which is to speak for for Gaza I noticed in his Maiden speech uh after getting to Westminster he didn’t actually mention Gaza much all and we
Actually mentioned that on Five Pillars uh we also did question him about his past views and comments regarding Syria and Russia uh China as well uh so you know we didn’t just give him a a free easy ride we still did our job as journalists but the fact of the matter
Is that the Muslims in Rochdale had formed a consensus that their best chance of getting a guy in Westminster who was going to you know prove that Muslims have serious political power in this country and push the Gaza issue was going to be Galloway so for that reason
Of course we reported on that and went along with their consensus so we followed the direction of rochdale’s Muslims and marah they did a fantastic job they won out and you know that that we’ve actually got they’ve got someone in that they hope is going to push the
Gaza issue and Gaza uh is of course something which Galloway uh has spoken about uh consistently for many many years so obviously we are going to keep an eye on him as well because we have the community in Rochdale the Muslims in this country have demands don’t just get
Elected on a Muslim mandate and then uh do a Labour party dirty turn and uh a turn Co on us and then don’t bother to speak about musim misses at all Galloway is now under severe pressure to keep up the the the position on Gaza and keep it
Going strong uh Muslims in Rochdale of course are going to hopefully keep him on that track but yes fantastic I’m just very pleased for rochdale’s Muslim Community and I’m also hoping that Gaza it’s it’s a whn for Gaza I guess in one way but more needs to be done we need to
Keep this momentum into the general election inshallah um how were you received were you valued de by the community were you embraced were you well received was the work that you were doing valued and like I haven’t got the video at hand maybe we’ll play it in a
In a future live appeal but there was you walking out when the announcement was made and people were cheering you on and they were giving you handshakes and hugs was that like did you feel the love was was the work appreciated by the locals yeah absolutely the the the community up there is
Fantastic uh wonderful wonderful people up there and uh yeah they definitely appreciate it I mean wherever you go in this country this is something which I’ve noticed even before joining Five Pillars officially in October uh Five Pillars is loved across the board there’s no doubt about that wherever I
Go I went to Cornwall where there are practically Muslims it’s like a a tremendous minority in cornall I went right out into the countryside to the only Islamic Center that they have down there there’s only one in the whole region of cornall and uh they were telling me all about Five Pillars how
They love the the brand and they’re always watching the stuff so Five Pillars is loved across this country and I I would argue that you know if you want to talk about which organization represents most Muslim views in this country I mean the evidence for me is
That Five Pillars is probably one of the biggest groups that represents British Muslims to be honest with you simply because wherever I go they’re always telling me about Five Pillars how’s Five Pillars doing we watch your stuff we love you and then of course they’re always asking me how’s Dilly doing
Where’s Dilly do you hang out with Dilly do you speak to Dilly so yeah Dill’s like yeah he’s like King of the Muslims here man I’ve got be honest no one wants to talk to me they’re just like oh how’s dilly d where’s Dilly no I don’t say
That right listen before I ask you the third project and perhaps the biggest one that you’ve worked on russan can you please play the segment from the podcast that I did with Robert before he joined there are other uh Publications that are producing fantastic work um they’re creating content that’s
Definitely reaching wider audiences but it’s not journalism yes exactly so so I would always give respect Kudos I support them I donate to them with Brothers in Arms of these other Publications that exist but they themselves will admit we don’t we we don’t do what you do and we can’t do
What you do let’s get real here Dilly because the thing is this is really important this issue you know we need to Value journalism and we need to Value the work that Five Pillars does who produces these exclusive how many stories out there which went viral
Because Five Pillars put it out there no one else would even have known about it there are multiple stories which Five Pillars are doing documentary work now from India for example we’re talking about things that the mainstream media either ignores or actually takes an anti-islam stance when it covers the
Story pillars is there and always will be there to hit back against this anti-islam narrative which is not just in the the Western world but it’s it’s across the globe even in the Muslim world you find anti-islam positions from governments or states or uh propaganda platforms or whatever normalization
Which is spreading across the world things like that so Five Pillars is really important and it’s Unique in that sense and I hope that I can live up to the strong standard of Journalism and stuff because we have to be credible at the same time if we’re just copying and
Pasting stuff and sharing stories that aren’t true and conspiracies and this and that then obviously we’re actually doing harm to ourselves we need Muslims like you and Roshan and inshah will be me as well that have credibility that finding stories based on fact that we’re getting out there making a real impact
And I can see Five Pillars is making that impact and it’s doing a fantastic job and you only have to look at the haters of Five Pillars the ones who want to shut you down yeah to know just how good and successful Five Pillars actually is Allah um do you still stand
By those words do you do you do you still believe this to be the case everything that you said there yeah 100% I mean um you know I said in that talk months ago that you have to look at who’s trying to shut Five Pillars down
To to realize like what kind of job we’re doing here how effective we are as a force and I mean if you just look at the government like Michael gove’s speech government minister Michael Go’s recent speech on extremism and how he was going to uh name five pillars and
Then pulled out last minute I mean the government is literally like not happy with five pillars do you know what I mean and this is one of the most extremist governments that we’ve ever had one of the most Michael Go’s like uh a blatant islamophobe who’s been
Targeting Muslims for a very very long time so the fact of the matter is that if Michael Gove doesn’t like five pillars then that just shows that we are an amazing platform basically that’s doing brilliant brilliant work work alhamdulillah and uh inshallah you know we just keep keep going you know because
Uh literally literally I think Muslims right now lack not just a voice because Muslims are ignored and deplatformed and not provided uh free speech in this country like other groups are but we also lack uh Brave Unapologetic Muslim voices as well so the the the few Muslim
Voices that we have they’ll limit their speech or their their wording uh on certain topics in order not to you know be too controversial not to get too demonized in the mainstream but Five Pillars doesn’t care about that the will we’ll say what has to be said we’ll say what
Muslims really think and we’ll speak up for issues uh of of a must uh for the umah we’ll we’ll stand by our religious obligations as well inshallah and we we we don’t compromise on Islamic red lines and will’ll defend uh those Islamic principles even if they’re you know a
Bit controversial for Western audiences now we’ll stand by them and we’ll stand up and I think that that in itself is why Five Pillars needs the support uh very quickly I know obviously you know you don’t want to uh alienate some some supporters of ours you know you’ve said
Several times this evening uh whatever you can give big or small uh it doesn’t matter this is all this is all good but I think now with the exceptional circumstances that wherein British Muslims We’re All in This same boat and we’re facing very rough storms ahead
We’re already in it we need that support and I’m not just saying it because you know it goes to us uh we the Muslim Community in this country needs five pillars you guys need five pillars you need you need Dilly you need Roan you need the brand uh I’m not even going to
Say you need me per se we do we do we need you as well we need you we need Jamal we need Muslim we need OB we need all the brothers who are contributing abut editorially Tech technically in all aspects all the brothers and sisters that enable our work can make it
Possible everyone is a part of the squad is a part of the team and I remember at the inaugural I said look you’ve seen me in a Roan you’re GNA see Robert Mo but there’s so many of us we had brother zul B from occupied Kashmir who came to the
Subhan Allah you’ve got M and Jamal you got the Shak we have our brother F in India we uh Muhammad samul in Turkey we have so many brothers and sisters who contribute and and make our work happen and possible there is an entire team and a
Team that we want to grow and as Robert said we need your support more now than ever as we’re coming towards the end of today’s live appeal I don’t want the donations to slow down don’t just think that because brother Bal Shaban has given five and a half thousand um euros
And dollars and because brother mmud has given a th000 pounds and there’s another donation that you slow down no exceed and Excel and compete with one another because look brothers and sisters you know when we say the effectiveness the Strategic effectiveness of Five Pillars let me explain to you what that means
Right russan is a veteran journalist Veteran War zones Arab Spring natural disasters mainstream loc could he’s done it all he’s done it all myself I’ve worked in the local press in the Regional press I’ve had my stint with Al jazer and press tv before the Arab Spring you know Robert himself is an
Experienced journalist we have other experienced journalists we’re Trade union members of the national Union of journalists you know we are regulated by impress when I say we’re regulated by impress I don’t want anyone to think that anyone regulates the work that we do in terms of what we can and cannot
Say no they regulate the Professional Standards and ethics of our journalism we are so confident in our journalism in how we do it that we have put it forward for it to be scrutinized against the Professional Standards of an independent body that is a very balsy
Move to move make that is a very very big thing to do we don’t have to be signed up with impress we don’t have to afford ourselves to an external non-muslim body right to review scrutinize and you know sometimes raise investigations and and and and pursue complaints and stuff no but we’re that
Confident in our professional competency that we’re happy to do it news God internationally renowned reviewer gave us a 100 out of 100 grading that’s near perfection in terms of our financial transparency in our professional competency in the way we carry ourselves in terms of Journalism and all that kind of stuff that’s what
We mean and the Hostile um the Hostile enemies of Islam and Muslims that want to see us gone that want to shut us down they hate that they hate that we’re not just a rag tag blog site they hate that we’re not a Harry’s place they hate that we’re not
Some crappy Anonymous blog but we do our work with chest from the rooftops as professionally as we can with the limited resources that we have so we need you all to give give in a big way give in a small way give in whatever way you can but please brothers and sisters
Do not stop giving my last question you bro and I I save this little project till the end Muslims uncensored Muslims uncensored you’re about I think 17 or 18 episodes in mashallah it’s growing in views it’s become it’s got its own little fan base and it’s growing and it’s gr week by
Week every Wednesday it drops between 6 p.m. to 7 PM you and rashan tell me a bit about Muslims uncensored the show and how it is working that closely with rushan on camera I couldn’t do it in 11 years but you’ve managed to do it in about seven months
So so tell me yeah exactly I think um yeah there’s there’s very few people that could happily work with Roan directly for a long space of time but alhamdulillah I’m I’m the kai to do it so uh no it’s a great show really great show I’ve enjoyed it we’ve covered some
Really great topics on there I think it’s um it’s received a lot of very positive feedback um so I think on that basis I’ll judge it well simply because we’ve been in undated with positive supportive uh comments uh whenever we’ve uploaded an episode I think it still got
Uh a way to go we’re improving it what happened was because uh I joined in October after uh you know the the genocide on Gaza basically began uh it’s it’s been difficult to kind of you know bring in new projects and then you know get them to a level that we’re happy at
Because you know we’re busy elsewhere but inshallah uh the show will keep getting better and better it’s um it’s I think it’s going to be similar to The Blood Brothers podcast in the sense that it’s the place to be for uh English language Muslims uh to to be I mean
Where we’re you know we don’t censor ourselves uh Roan’s got some fantastic wisdom and opinions uh but it’s also fun as well and we cover a variety of topics serious but also uh more fun topics as well and again we we’ve really started to up people online uh so talking about
Uh the holy month and how Islam is spreading in the UK uh and how that’s a good thing it might actually save this country morally speaking uh that’s created quite an impact online so yeah inshallah I think it’s it’s going to grow and it’s a great great show and if
You haven’t seen it already do check it out and uh yeah just keep sending us your comments and uh advice in the comment section below we do read them and we respond to them and a few of those comments have actually gone towards helping us make the show better
Uh so inshah I think going forward we’re going to be looking to spread it onto new platforms uh We’ve flirted with the idea of putting it on Rumble so yeah keep an eye keep an eye on Muslims uncensored because I think in the next year or so could become one of the big
Big main shows alongside Blood Brothers uh which gets watch watched across the English language Muslim World inshallah Robert it was an absolute pleasure having you on bro and I just want to say this to you I don’t want to blow your trumpet too much yeah because it’s not
Been a full year but it has truly been an honor having you on board um I know we’ve not necessarily worked properly closely because you you’re proper busy you’re on the field tomorrow you’re in Birmingham I think uh at an islamophobia demo uh in Birmingham you’re up and down
The country I just want to say bro that you ultimately are the future of Five Pillars today’s live appe was entitled past present and future and you are a key element of the future Five Pillars and I pray that Allah blesses you and preserves you a mean
And I look forward to seeing more great stories and reports from you bro inshallah yes just a reminder to everyone please pray for me I appreciate I need it and uh insh I’ll just keep doing the best I can to try and make an impact out there on behalf of the Muslim
Community here and globally and uh you know I’m not perfect I make mistakes sometimes but my heart’s always going to be there to try and just do the best I can for for for the OM inshah so thanks again it’s an absolute pleasure to be with five pillars and please please
Support these guys not for me um but honestly because the brand itself is so important and dillian rosan I think are starting to take the brand on to new heights uh but it can only be achieved through support from the community because fillis has always been a Grassroots organization and will remain
So uh but that means obviously uh if you guys give less support then obviously that limits the uh impact Five Pillars can have so really really give generously and uh inshah anything you give Five Pillars is going give back to you more in the future inshah with the
Work that they and I do inshah before I bring uh the Final Act for uh tonight tonight’s live appeal I’ve saved the best till last or maybe the second best till last um I want to remind you all that tonight could be uh I don’t want everyone to forget
That uh for many of us it is the first odd night Allah tells us in the Quran that this is a night that is better than a thousand months brother Sak came on early and he was given you the breakdown of what a 5 pound donation means what A1
Pound donation means what A1 pound donation means if it happens to be we’ve been inspired greatly by brother uh b b Shaban Bal Bal Shaban sorry brother mmud and others who have given very generously we’ve been inspired by those who have set challenges and those challenges have
Been met there is no donation there is no contribution there is no sod that is too big or too small in the eyes of Allah when I said that this Ramadan our quranic theme has been based on the quranic verse from Surah Al bakar where Allah tells us to fight them the
Way they fight you and do not transgress and do good for Allah loves those who do good and do not destroy yourselves by withholding from spending in the cause of Allah for verily Allah loves the my dear brothers and sisters I’ve already mentioned our struggle here in the west
It’s not a physical one it never has been a physical one to date it’s always and more recently has always been an ideological one not because we chose it not because the Muslims chose to be in an ideological Warfare no this was imposed upon us when we were forced to become a suspect
Community because of the actions of a few criminals or because we chose to speak up for our brothers and sisters who are being bombed and occupied and invaded elsewhere that for the course of two decades we are seen through the lens of count counterterrorism every everything that we do is surveilled everything that
We utter and and convey about our faith is questioned with suspicion and linked to something violent and Sinister when this couldn’t be further from the truth I have hosted some of the most ardently uh nationalist quote unquote farri uh leaders on my podcast whether it be Nick Griffin Jim dson Mark kette
I’ve got Jada Franson after as many others I plan on having to have this very Frank conversation I have a very Frank conversation that if Muslims are truly a violent suspicious community that if we are truly a fifth colum then we would have had a civil war in this country already there’s 4
Million Muslims here with the largest Faith Community minority Faith Community but no Muslims have lived here for longer than 50 years and the same applies to France Germany Holland Norway Denmark and maybe to less extent because the diaspora Community is a bit newer in the US and Canada unless you’re black
Americans then they’ve been there for much longer but the point is we didn’t choose this life we didn’t choose this environment we didn’t choose this reality we didn’t events abroad have influence policies at home has forced the Muslim Community to either fight or flight and we’ve chosen to
Fight because that’s what Allah and his messenger demand from us and command of us for us to defend this de when it is being defamed when it’s being distorted when it’s being attacked so my brothers and sisters please give for the sake of Allah give
For the sake of the defense of Islam and Muslims in the media there is no outfit like us we want there to be more outfits like us perhaps the time has come where we start talking about why isn’t there more Five Pillars why aren’t there more Muslim journalists pursuing independent journalism for the
Betterment of their Community which is grounded on their faith we’ve got Muslim journalists in the mainstream media we have M Hassan we have um we have fa Islam we have FAA mji we have um many many Muslim journalists in the mainstream many they don’t do what five pill
Does sure they do fantastic journalism and far-reaching but what is their legacy what is their legacy working in the mainstream before I bring on uh our final guest the editorinchief and the founder of Five Pillars Russ Muhammad I want to remind you all what your money goes towards it goes towards
Salaries it goes towards contractors fees Freelancers fees it goes towards Professional Services in creating content videos podcasts travel expenses related to journalism research um equipment that’s relevant for our work whether it be purchased or rent or rented for international assignments russan going to Afghanistan me going to
The UAE to do a with Tam Khan or with tck Ramadan in Paris or Jim dson and Shawn Murray in Belfast I myself will be going to Afghanistan inshallah at the beginning of May in the middle of May there’s many other um International assignments that we’re going to be doing
When Robert spends the best part of two weeks in Rochdale right when we’re going up and down the country to cover stories all of this stuff we’re a service based organization we don’t promise you food Parcels we don’t promise you Aid we don’t promise Aid trucks we don’t promise hundreds of
Shahad in the Amazonian jungles or in some remote place in Africa or in leester square that’s not what we’re promising you we’re promising you now for as long as we are alive for as long as we have good health for as long as Allah permits and honors us to do so
That we will continue defending Islam and Muslims in the and put in our professional skills at that service so please brothers and sisters as we come to close this live appeal please give if you haven’t given already if you’ve given already please share this link with others the donation link is pinned
On the YouTube comment section you can donate via super chats our PayPal link is at the tick at the bottom and without any further delay I would like to invite my dear brother colleague Mentor the Editor in Chief and the found of Five Pillars russan Muhammad russan salum
Salum how you doing what was that what was that little snigger for before you came on no my wife was laughing at the intro that you gave me I know a lot a lot a lot of hot air and trumpet blowing wasn’t it yeah exactly exactly yeah well
You know 11 years you forgot to you forgot to say supreme leader she says no no I’m not ready to give you beta yet I’m ready to overthrow you at any point how are you my brother you okay yeah um it’s been obviously for us Ramadan is a very busy time obviously I
Think for um for the ordinary Muslim it’s a time where you focus on your I we can’t do that 100% uh because we’re fundraising we’re trying to keep the fight pters going and sometimes it feels as though we’re trying to fit our I IB around all
That uh to be honest so um uh yeah mixed feelings but alhamdulillah we’ve had a good Ramadan um in terms of you know people giving uh and supporting us uh it’s been amazing in fact uh we had an amazing event a few weeks back and even
This you know um live stream has gone really well I think brother Bal has has you know cracked it for us tonight quite frankly and uh so it’s been a very successful night so alhamdulillah and we just got to power ahead for the next nine days um let me ask you this we’ve
Kind of moved like backwards this this live appeal in terms of the story of Five Pillars we kind of should have started with you but ended up we we’re going from the future to the back even though it’s like past present future we’ve gone future present and past now
Um 133 11 years ago um you started this you approached me um I’ll be honest with you at the time I was working at a taxi rank as a controller as a controller 20 22 maybe 22 23 yeah 22 23 I was yeah um
I had just I was at the B sh on Sunday and loting on Sunday for two years I did six months at press tv and six months mon at Al jazer as a documentary researcher yeah um you refused me a job twice um here we go and then and then alhamdulillah you
Came with this idea of Five Pillars with a zed at the end yeah no that wasn’t it wasn’t my idea just we couldn’t find a um URL with five pillars at the time so we were forced into that Zed you forc into that Z so it wasn’t you trying to
Be cool or like 20 years younger people still calling us five pillars even now I can see in the comments I think ran might have rayan who’s one of our moderators tonight I think he even might have used the Zed well our Australian supports do it purely to wind us up by
The way so if any if any of the Aussies are in the comments they don’t they’re not serious but listen what was the thinking behind it I I know you said it in the Inaugural Speech but elaborate a bit what was the thinking behind it because you had been at Islam Channel
You had been at Al jazer yeah you were at press tv at the time yes so you’ve already had a feel of Muslim SL ethnic SL Islam State related media that was it I mean I’d worked in um local newspapers and it was just so small time that I
Felt you know I was covering summer Fates and school fairs and that what am I doing here you know uh I was learning the tricks of the trade but in a kind of you know wasn’t making any impact then I went into the mainstream media uh and
Had some huge audiences but for shows like fat club and uh you know things like beware bad food and all these kind of things and then we’re getting like 10 million audiences but I was thinking like what am I doing here you know what
What what am I doing why am I working on these these documentaries that don’t Ser you know kind of serve my faith or community so I decided right I’m going to move into the Muslim media and then I moved to Al jazer and yes Al jazer I
Mean I must admit now uh I feel bad about saying some of the nasty things I’ve said about Al over the years given that the job that they’ve done in Gaza over the last six months I mean if it wasn’t for Al jaer and especially Al jaaz Arabic I they’ve literally done
Everything they have given their lives their family their wealth their properties everything they given everything um you know for for the Palestinians they they couldn’t have done anymore so I think that alone uh prevents me from you know explaining some of the bad experiences I had while
I was at Al daer because they’ve done an amazing job but yeah I just felt that ultimately Al jazer is you know kind of I worked with them for two or three years out in the Middle East and I just felt their their kind of Allegiance was
To the state of Q rather than Allah and his messenger you know and therefore the the the state of Q could change from one day to the next and it does sometimes I remember you know quite recently uh Q was criticizing Egypt every day then the
The the Amir cut Chang policy then Al jaaz changed policy and they started praising Egypt you know it’s crazy you know so I just didn’t want to be in that kind of situation and then I worked for press tv obviously an Iranian Channel good on Palestine not good on other
Stuff I worked at Islam Channel as well and again I felt that you know as regulated by ofcom it wasn’t really kind of doing the kind of Journalism that I felt that you know we needed to do so that that that’s why I thought I wanted
To to create a platform with you and now with Robert and with many others as well but it’s the framework was Quran and Sunnah the red line was Quran and Sunnah the umah and the only people that we would really be interested in in in terms of criticism would be kind of the
Umah if practicing Muslims who are knowledgeable about Islam were abrading us about this or that then we would listen to it if anyone else was we wouldn’t really care to be honest we would just wanted to kind of through our ve the vehicle of Journalism we wanted
To to to serve Allah and his messenger and it was an act of I basically um I know a lot of people may not know this you mentioned it in your book but you worked with methy Hassan right at Granada yes how long did you work with
Him I work with mey for about two years and we uh we got on well um Shia Muslim um meia Sunni so obviously we had some healthy debates but um he was a practicing Muslim and we um we we had lots of uh banter about football because
I wanted to I wanted England to lose especially to Argentina on penalties after a heroic performance uh that made it all the sweeter uh whereas he was a you know a big England fan so um yeah we we we bonded over football but over Politics as well he was obviously a very
High flyer Oxford graduate he was bound to go places in terms of intelligence he put us all you know kind of in the shadow but at the same time I’m not jealous of medy Hassen some people say oh you’re jealous uh even family members
Have said to me oh you has not you and honestly we’re not we’re not because alhamdulillah Allah has blessed us with something where we’re literally serving our community and our faith through the vehicle of Journalism whereas medy Hassen has gone through through a process where he’s kind of he supports
Same-sex marriage you know and he supports things which are blatantly Haram and his his his his audience is not really Muslims yes there are Muslims amongst his audience but his his audience are lefties basically you know or anti-imperialists etc etc uh whereas we are just doing this for Allah and his
Messenger and the um so yeah no jealousy there whatsoever um another thing which many people may not know and don’t have a go at me afterwards is that your you’re half Caucasian white aren’t you yes so yeah my my mother is Welsh and she’s a convert to Islam so she
Converted to Islam when she married my father so basically uh she was a Christian and now is a Muslim yeah aldah is that why you and Rober get on so well do a show well I I think that I am I mean obviously racially I’m half white
And people do say to me I I can’t see it myself but people say to me oh you you look white and stuff like that but um inside JY inside my heart I am as brown black you know as you can get that’s all I can say and uh there isn’t there isn’t
One bit of white in inside me it might be on the outside but not on the inside I can’t say that for many brown for a lot of brown and black people but but with a grow Mar with the growing number of white Muslims M you
Know one in 12 Muslims in the UK are white and that number is growing um do you like winding up the far right and Patriots and like nationalist there’s too I think now there’s a little bit too many of them um I mean to be honest they do help our algorithms they
Do help our videos go viral just by because they’re giving us engagement and people are commenting on their comments and stuff like that but I have started to ban more of them now than I used to simply because they’re quite irritating and there’s a lot and it looks like a
Coordinated attack as well because if you if you click on their profiles often it’s a non they have one follower no profile picture no you know basically they’re they’re not real they’re bots so um yeah I I do enjoy you know winding up the far right because they are our
Biggest enemies but at the same time they are being manipulated uh there’s a part of me which thinks that actually they’re not they’re not our biggest enemies uh simply because they’re the foot soldiers you know Tommy Robinson is I mean at the end of the day he’s pretty
Thick isn’t he he’s not an intelligent person you know there’s someone behind him you know who is more int intelligent and he’s just the uh the glove puppet so I I think these people’s are victims of you know people that are pulling the strings uh just like other Ordinary
People are um and you know that’s why a lot of far right convert to Islam because once you educate them then actually you know they do believe in a lot of the same stuff that we believe in like family values and you know conservative values and you know a lot
Of them don’t have any truck with this LGBT nonsense even Anti-Imperialist you know even Wars abroad stuff like that as you know from interviewing Mark KET and Nick Griffin so I think I think the far right actually could be rich pickings for da um on to more kind of like pressing
Issues and one which has dominated um the Muslim psyche and thoughts and attention and feelings um and that’s the ongoing genocide in Gaza um I think we’d be lying if we said that you know this Ramadan just hasn’t been the same that doesn’t mean that we don’t Accel in our worship that doesn’t
Mean we’ve slowed down in our work but it’s just there it’s just there knowing that for six months our brothers and sisters have been starved deprived of water food and basic necessities killed in ways in which we would never wish upon anyone something from dystopian end of times movies and
It’s being televised and showcased by the IDF themselves we’ve had politicians here who have enabled it who have supported it who have contributed towards ta with taxpayers money in the case of the US Administration as well as the UK where has five pillars found itself
In the last six months do you think that we’ve had the community support us in such a huge way yeah because of the leadership that we took and shown in the last I think so I think obviously we saw that at the event a few weeks ago didn’t
We I think if Gaza hadn’t happened we probably wouldn’t have got that much support to be honest um because a lot of the donors that were kind of approaching me were just saying rosan stay on Gaza just stay on Gaza that’s it that’s the message stay on Gaza you know after six
Months you know uh some of us I mean maybe all of us have got a little bit desensitized to what’s happening um simply because it’s so relentless but um I think we’ve taken them I mean unfortunately in times of Crisis Five Pillars does get more traction I mean
Honestly brothers and sisters we would prefer not to have crisis and get less traction then rather than have the crisis and get more traction but that is the reality when there is bad news then you know people like us we come to the Forefront because people look to us to
Take a leadership role and I think I think we have done that and I think I think we have a great respon it’s a great responsibility on our shoulders I was talking to this to to to Robert about this the other day about how you know people like us who’ve been thrust
Into this position we do have a great responsibility to to be islamically knowledgeable to be practicing Muslims as well and obviously we’re all going to be flawed and make many mistakes but to do our best to take that seriously I mean unfortunately there probably are
Some people in the da that may not pray five times a day for example uh so we have to constantly remind ourselves um you know to to be good human beings to the best of our abilities in order to carry out this work but yeah gaza’s uh
It is depressing and yeah I mean I don’t feel like I’m a big football fan you know and a big Liverpool fan and watch all their games and stuff like that but I’ve not felt like watching football for the last six months and um I’m not interested Liverpool probably they may
Win the league I couldn’t care less you know and um it’s it’s difficult to enjoy life you know I don’t really want to go on a holiday I really don’t want to um you know it’s difficult to enjoy the things that we used to take for granted before simply because of of what’s
Happening to our brothers and sisters in Gaza um just to kind of Wrap Up Before I Let You Go I mean you know there’s a whole conversation about why do people always excessively or disproportionately focus on Palestine and Gaza now obviously now obviously we know the the religious significance of
The Holy Land right Allah subhana wa tala explicitly mentioned m in various Hadith Prophet speaks about aam of Al and so forth so that makes it stand out immediately to any other place in the world but secondly there is a civilizational angle to it in the sense that Israel is a
Colonial Outpost of the Western imperialist Empire right it was founded by the UK in in essence by the balford Declaration it was handed over to them by the British mandate it’s been sustained and maintained by the US and its allies and so therefore and you hear it from the MS of the zionists
Themselves this is civilizational uh we represent the Western way of life and Western values and so forth but I want to ask you this right what kind of impact has the war on Gaza had on Muslims in the UK in terms of like policies and laws and in terms of
Censorship because I think that’s that’s something which people forget people forget that the occupation of Kashmir hasn’t affected policymaking here the issue of the UR hasn’t affected policym here Syria did for about a good couple of years Syria did we had laws that were coming out because there were people
Going from the west and Britain that were joining Isis and so forth but Palestine and Gaza specifically this time has had a huge impact on Muslim activism and agency in the UK can you just shed a bit of light on that and how it’s also affected Five Pillars in terms
Of gold and all of that well first of all I think when people say oh why are you guys going on about Palestine and you don’t talk about Syria or you know the weers this is a hasper talking point uh it’s it’s deliberately designed to divert attention away from the issue and
What they’re trying to say is that we’re anti-semites that’s why we’re focusing on Palestine because we hate the Jews um whereas we couldn’t care less about our brothers and sisters in Syria and Yemen and the weers ETC it’s just a hasper you talking point designed to divert us away
From you know from Palestine which is obviously the the main issue at the moment but the fact is that you and I know because we had arguments about it Syria has been the main issue for the last 12 13 years in the um 10 years easy
Yeah yeah it might have died down a little bit simply because I guess Bashar assid has got the upper hand now um uh but for for you know best part of a decade that’s that was the main thing we talked about to the extent that people were saying why aren’t you talking about
Palestine um but also there was a direct link between the UK and Palestine so for example no British Muslims weren’t in the streets talking about you know marching about Syria simply because I guess you know uh Britain didn’t create the problem in Syria to begin with I didn’t have that direct effect over
Syria that it has over Palestine literally literally Britain created the Palestine problem it just it was a key player in the dispossession of the Palestinian people giving that land to European zionists and Jews you know and Britain still supplies Israel with weapons and has business ties economic ties Financial ties political ties etc
Etc so us Marching In the Streets of London makes sense because it’s putting pressure on the the British government which is directly supporting this genocide in terms of How It’s affect affected Us in Britain I think I think we have seen an unprecedented level of activism not just from Hardcore
Activists but ordinary people who are willing to take risks that I’ve never seen before so I think you know now I think I think literally people are willing to go to jail they are willing to um lose their jobs they’re willing to get cancelled because they they just
Look at the Palestinians apply the Palestinians starving to death being killed their children being massacred and they think you know it’s nothing me me losing my job or getting kicked off Twitter is nothing compared to that so I think that we’ve come to a you know a turning point
I think our relations with you know the the um the zionists and zionists can be Jews or non-jews quite frankly um they can never be the same again I think it will never be acceptable for a supporter of Israel to to walk into an Islamic institution and to break bread with us
You know literally we have to completely separate from that Community um I think there’s a determination that a Zionism must end quite frankly as well you know that there can be no accommodation with this racist aarth warmongering entity that is responsible for the genocide of our brothers and sisters so I think
British Muslims also I think a lot of BR British Muslims are sickened by the attitude of many uh non-muslims in this country country alhamdulillah you know we’ve seen massive demonstrations especially in London millions of people have marched and quite frankly most of those people are non-muslims they’re not
They’re not it’s a minority that are Muslims um so that does give us some hope but the reality is after six months of genocide Israel still has considerable support amongst ordinary people in this country as well as power Brokers um and that is sickening I think
A lot of people have been talking about Hijra that um you know Britain is is not the place for us anymore because you know a country that can literally support the slaughter of our brothers and sisters is not a place where we want to live Others May disagree with that so
I think it’s yet to be played out unfortunately and I think this war has has um has some way to run final question to you before I let you leave and and I wrap up um in light of another thing I do want to just clarify uh
Brothers and sisters for those of you who have followed us for 11 years you would know that we covered Syria in depth some of you would even know that me and Russia had differences over Syria we even had an article should uh people go on fight in Syria or not do you
Remember that article yeah that one early ones yeah second year fire pillars yeah one one of the early ones you know we’ve had public disagreements on Syria we’ve covered Syria in depth Kashmir because of the big Kashmir support we diaspora here from aad Kashmir we cover Kashmir I myself committed at least two
Three years on the Ur issues I think Five Pillars and myself um other than Islam 21c we were given the most lectures uh on the UR situation so we have been on these issues without a shadow of a doubt we will continue speaking up and in we will be doing
Better and we should be doing better there’s no doubt but the issue of Palestine and the ongoing genocide in Gaza Russia why is it important that in the last six months what we’ve seen from politicians and policy makers and the corporate Zionist media why is it important from what we’ve seen in the
Last six months for our supporters and the community to support Five Pillars well I think we’re we’re leading the conversation aren’t we you know in terms of media activism uh in terms of the Muslim vote for example uh we’re literally doing stuff that I mean I
Think in in myself Robert and and you we have um activists come journalists who are Muslims first and foremost before we’re journalists and activists who are willing again to take risks and stick it on them you know to to go up to a politician and make that guy feel
Uncomfortable you know to make go up to an Israeli journalist and stick it on them I don’t see anyone else doing that and I think you know we are literally Robert said that you know Five Pillars we are representative of the Muslim Community to a greater extent than many
Other Muslim organizations and I I believe that because we’re Grassroots um so I think it’s important you know to supporters because the proof’s in the pudding everyone can see what we’re doing right you know for 11 years they know who we are we’re ordinary people uh
We’re not here in our Ivory Towers we we you will see us up and down the country in mosques not just you know asking for your support or giving speeches but worshiping you know just just being ordinary worshippers you know who we are and you know what we do and the proof is
In the pudding uh and we have 11-year track record and inshallah you know we’re only going to put our foot on the gas we’re we’re not afraid to take risks we’re not afraid to get cancelled um we will do this work for free if we have to
We will do this work if literally we’re doing it by carrier pigeon you know if we’re cancel from every single platform we’ll be sending out smoke signals and sending carrier pigeons out with the message so you know inshah brothers and sisters your support is humbling we take
It very seriously and when you’re giving us your your hard-earned money it’s an ammana for because you know we we we take it it’s an honor and we intend to give all we can using the skills that we’ve you know kind of um learned over the years to tell stories through print
Articles through videos through pictures we’ll put that you know in the ca of Allah as messenger in the um inah russan um look forward to seeing you on the next live OFW and um uh alikum wam see you in a few days insh inshallah my dear brothers and sisters you just
Heard from the founder of Five Pillars the editorinchief uh rash Muhammad s may Allah bless him and preserve him you know I mean it was his baby it was his idea and he introduced and brought me into this irrespective of where it is today irrespective of who people associate with five
Pillars ultimately this is Russ’s brainchild he is a veteran journalist who has spent the best part of I think 30 years um in journalism covered War zones and conflicts and natural disasters uh mainstream media Regional media uh ethnic media Islamic media and you know in 11 years we are where we are today
And you know when rashan said you know we’ll even do this work for free if we have to well the truth of the matter is for six years we did do the work for free w we did as Allah is our witness on this supicious oddd night that could be
Lat for five six years me and rashan did this work without taking a salary I think 2018 was the first year where we get gave ourselves an expense an expense to cover travel and stuff like this so in the case of rashan he put a
Lot of his own money in he invested a lot of his money into the business into five pillars with no monetary return we could have easily given up w we could have easily given up but let me tell you this never was there a conversation never was there a conversation between
Russian and I and anyone else that was close to the organization that were advising us that five pillers was ever going to shut down or let’s just give up or let’s just call it a day never never was that a conversation that was ever had so my dear brothers and sisters my
Final plea to you all tonight and it will be my plea to you for the remaining four live appeals on the odd nights from now until the 29th night is that Allah tells us in the Quran in Surah Al bak and fight them the way they fight you and do not
Transgress and Allah loves those who do good and do not destroy yourselves by withholding from spending in the cause of Allah for Allah loves the I’m going to repeat that to you again and please listen to it attentively and see how it applies to the work of Five
Pillars that those who have attacked you attack them in the same way or fight them in the same way and fear Allah and in another translation do not transgress but Allah tells us those who are attacking you in the media attacking your Dean articles videos social media fight them and
Attack them the way they are attacking you and fear Allah so you don’t transgress fear Allah Allah Allah loves those who fear Him and do not destroy yourselves by withholding from giving in the cause of Allah for verily Allah loves the the doers of good if you’re watching this live or you
Watch it later on and you acknowledge and accept that Islam and Muslims are attacked defamed Mal demonized witch hunted in the mainstream corporate Zionist media and it’s been the case for the last 23 years and has only worsened and heightened and we’ve seen the worst of
It and probably even worse to come with the ongoing genocide in Gaza why have you not supported Five Pillars yet if you’ve already supported us and continue to support us may Allah subhana wa tala bless you and preserve you in this life and the next I mean share this
Video share our links share our content but if you’re still withholding if you’re still thinking about it if you’re still thinking hold on you know is this still you know how do I justify paying the salary of a journalist how do I justify donating towards a podcast how do I justify the
Travel expense of a journalist how do I justify you know a media service because I’m used to giving to humanitarian causes Allah alhamdulillah I we also give we also give towards humanitarian causes our zaka goes towards humanitarian causes most of our s goes towards the Muslim majority world to the
Mskk but if you’re planning on staying in the UK for the foreseeable future and you’ve identified the problems and you see and youve and you and you deep inside know that these strategies of appeasing and assimilating and compromising and apologizing and condemning hasn’t got us anywhere it’s now not the time to
Support Five Pillars is now not the time to support Five Pillars brothers and sisters the only independent Grassroots journalistically regulated Muslim website and media Outlet in the English language in the world in the world what’s delaying you why are you withholding what is it that you want do you need further
Convincing no problem tune into our four live appeals on the next one is on Monday then that Wednesday then the Friday and then the Sunday before my dear brothers and sisters may Allah subhah wa ta’ala make it easy for all the Muslims that are suffering around the world a mean
May Allah subhana wa ta’ala give Victory and Liberation to the Muslims of philistine of Kashmir of Syria of east turkistan of Sudan all the Muslims that are suffering are being persecuted Ya Allah relieve them of their hardship remove the fear and death and destruction replace it with Liberation and victory over the
Occupi and the oppressors a mean Allah in these concluding nights of Ramadan Ya Allah accept our our our and all our Good Deeds a mean Ya Allah forgive all of us for our major and our minor sins a mean Ya Allah forgive us for our public and our private sins a
Mean Ya Allah Elevate our ranks in this life and the next a mean Ya Allah take us in a state of IM where we utter Thea before leaving this Earth a mean Ya Allah save us from the punishment of the Grave a mean Ya Allah give all the
Muslims all of those who believed in you and your messages and your scriptures from our Father Allah gr us one day brothers and sisters I will see you for our next live Appeal on Monday insh tal please donate and support us if you haven’t given already and may Allah
Bless everyone for those of you who have tuned in engaged and gave
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