al-Muqaddimah/Prelude
Gareth Bryant & Luqmān `Abd-ur-Rahmān had been discussing (for literally Years) to interview Muslim-American Shuyūkh (Ole-Timers)…to capture their Stories, Experiences, etc. prior to them being called-back to Allah via Death. Countless Muslim Ole-Timers have passed-on, without Others benefiting from their Ahādīth/Narratives detailing their:
Efforts
Triumphs
Setbacks
Failures
etc.
The Ahādīth of These-Shuyūkh help capture Moments-In-Time, never to be repeated. It represents Documentation/Preservation of a Byegone-Era of Muslim-America Pre-9/11, Pre Information-Age, Pre Social-Media, etc.
The Asbāb/Reasons it’s been so challenging for Gareth Bryant and Luqmān `Abd-ur-Rahmān to commit to the Muslim-American Storytelling Endeavor
Number-1
So many Shuyūkh had returned to Allah, prior to us jointly incepting the Idea to capture their Ahādīth.
To capture the Ahādīth we want/need for our Endeavor: we’d need Access to Shuyūkh whom’re Out-Of-Reach a lot of Times, via their own Lives, Schedules, etc. And, unfortunately, many of them had left NYC to live elsewhere…Places we don’t have the Time to just Get-Up&Go travel to them. And, when those amongst them died-off: it set our Ambitions back significantly.
Number-2
Sadly, Lots o Ole-Niggas b Cappin like Fat Joe.
We want/require Authentic-Ahādīth/Stories. We’re not interested in just interviewing Random Muslim Ole-Niggas. We know for a Fact, that much like the Rap-World: Lot o Niggas talk bout Shit they never personally experienced, lived, etc. It then became so arduous, as per Mustalah/Fact-Checking Ahādīth of the Ole-Timers we actually had Logistical-Access to.
This, more than anything, is actually the most important. It’s literally pointless to document Stories from Muslim Ole-Times which’re: falsified, fabricated, dishonest, etc. Visiting this, ironically, feminds me of the Required-Usūl/Principles to even be able to take anyone’s Word according to Islāmic-Protocol…this is especially referring to Revelatory-Knowledge:
The Person must be a Muslim.
The Person must be Sane.
The Person must be Pubescent.
The Person can’t be a Known-Liar.
The Person can’t be known to have Bad-Memory.
Number-3
We got Lives&Bills and Shit.
We gotta get to da Bag too. We’ve got our own Things goin:
Luq has their Family Fragrance-Business.
Gareth has their Chaplaincy-Career.
etc.
We do what it Humdoo. So, by virtue of this: it takes Lots of Sacrifice to capture such Ahādīth from These-Shuyūkh.
Since we were draggin our Feet for so long:
We decided with the Assistance of Story Corps to interview each other
Honestly, I really never expected for the Aforementioned-Videos to come out as fantastic as they did. Luqman & Gareth, ironically were capable to capture Glimpses of precisely what we originally were seeking. Don’t get me Wrong: we’re still going to need to document the Ahādīth of the Shuyūkh. However, what we ourselves capture via Audio (with the Help of Story Corps): we did acvomplish a Great-Deal. And, via the Nadr/Help-Of-Allah, this can additionally be a Springboard, Launchpad, Foundation, etc. for the two of us to truly capture those Authentic-Ahādīth from the Shuyūkh.
Now, as per the Future, I think the Release-Drop of these Interview-Videos will give Luqmān `Abd-ur-Rahmān and Gareth Bryant the Necessary-Motivation to restart our Quest to capture Muslim-American Stories. So, if you’d like to join or helps us: let us know ASAP.
Gareth Bryant
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