♪♪ [hair clippers buzzing] Lantigua: All right, everybody have a seat.
All: Yes, sir.
Lantigua: I'm Chaplain Lantigua.
Chaplain Lantigua.
Can you say that?
All: Chaplain Lantigua.
- Wow, there's like 700 of you in here.
That's the best you got?
What's my name?
[all shouting] Chaplain Lantigua.
- Thumbs up?
Mm.
Felt that.
Did you feel it?
- Yes, sir.
- Yeah, Mufasa.
[soft laughter] All right.
This title, Chaplain, I would assume that a number of you have heard it before, yes?
All: Yes, sir.
- But probably in different contexts.
For example, you may have heard about a chaplain who serves at the university.
Who's heard of those kinds of chaplains before, right?
Very good.
Who's heard about chaplains at hospitals and hospices?
Yes, indeed.
What about chaplains at the prison?
Mm-hmm.
I hope it's not from personal experience.
[soft laughter] OK.
So, yes, so you see that a chaplain is an individual who is a clergy person that works at an institution and, obviously, the military, right?
All: Yes, sir.
- Exactly.
So each of you are going to have in your squadron a chaplain.
And no matter what tradition they may come from, we all follow the Air Force Policy Directive.
I want everybody to read that together, loud and proud.
All: "The Chaplain Corps ensures "the free exercise of religion for Air Force personnel and their families."
- Everybody got it?
All: Yes, sir.
- So you will see us journeying with you as you go through ba sic military training.
[trainees grunting] - Let's go!
We got too many people on this hill.
Come on.
Get up and touch that log.
Come on.
Dig deep.
You're almost done.
- Let's go.
Lantigua: What's happening out here?
Getting your workout on?
- Yes, sir.
- Let me get down there with you.
- [grunts] - All right, you ready?
You good?
[laughs] You had lunch yet?
All right.
You know that beautiful DFAC food, right?
- Little Rock.
- Mm-hmm.
Did you enjoy that assignment?
- I did.
Lantigua: I haven't heard much about it.
All right.
Fantastic.
So how you been?
This is a space, a sanctuary, in which we are able to make salah, to make our daily prayers, all right?
So any time that you're able to get away from the training and you're afforded that two hours per week, all right, to come to this location, to the interfaith chapel, in which you're able to study, you're able to make prayer, you're able to have conversations with the Imam, et cetera.
Everybody understand?
All: Yes, sir.
- All right.
- OK. - Yes, yeah.
Let me get that for you, yes.
All right, so here we have two English translations of the Quran.
- Thank you, sir.
- All right, there you go.
[reciting Islamic prayer] When I decided to become a Muslim chaplain, I knew that there were gonna be associated dangers with that because of just the nature of what's going on in the world.
The news footage continues to propagate this idea that Muslims are terrorists, Muslims are the bad guy, the boogeyman, you know, they're coming to get you.
[reciting Islamic prayer] [soft dramatic music] ♪ ♪ - The United States military is recruiting a new batch of Muslim chaplains.
Only problem, we're recruiting them from a group with ties to terror.
Could our federal government and our Commander in Chief be putting America's bravest in danger?
Lantigua: A national news broadcast on Fox News, the Air Force has just hired a Muslim chaplain.
And this Muslim chaplain is gonna preach terrorism and questionable as far as wh at his intentions are.
Are our sons and daughters in danger?
- Well, who needs to infiltrate the military now?
Have the military hire you.
- Right.
And it's much bigger than just this group.
Lantigua: No mention of my military history, no mention of my service, no mention of my background, just an accusation, my face, and my name.
- So what are you suggesting they do about the two they've just hired from this group?
Guest: Well, you're certainly go ing to have to watch them very closely.
- What if somebody takes this literally and seriously and say, "Wow, you know, this person poses a threat to national security."
"We need to do something about this."
I mean, we have people out there that feel like it would be patriotic of them to take my life.
[solemn music] All: ♪ Proud of all we have done ♪ ♪ Fighting till the battle's won ♪ ♪ And the Army goes ro lling along ♪ ♪ And it's hi, hi, hey, the Army's on its way ♪ ♪ ♪ Shabazz: I'm asked quite often by non-Muslims and, surprisingly, by a lot of Muslims, what the Muslims believe.
The Quran says, in chapter 49:13, "I have made you into many tribes and families, not that you despise one another," what?
"That you get to know one another."
Whether they're Christian, wh ether they're Jewish, whether they're pagan, wh ether they're Sabians, whether they're Zoroastrians, it does not matter.
Our obligation is to other human beings.
Why is that important?
Allah says, "Who is more wrong than a person who blocks people from the path of God?"
[soft determined music] ♪ ♪ - Welcome back.
Good job.
Good job, Lee.
♪ ♪ Shabazz: The work that I do is behind the scenes.
I do the stuff that nobody knows about.
- He was in the hospital for about two and 1/2 months.
- Wow.
- Went through a hard, overwhelming, tough time.
- Yeah.
People come to me and just let off steam about their weaknesses, or their family, or anything.
- Hardest thing for me has been assimilating to the culture, especially coming out of a different... Shabazz: Sometimes I don't even have to say anything 'cause they're just wo rking through things.
I think it's imperative to have somebody to listen and not judge them, to be able to have somebody to just say, "I see--I see where you're coming from.
I have some of the same issues."
Your faith is not gonna stop me from coming to help you.
Your gender is not gonna st op me.
I don't care what you call yourself.
- Sir.
- Sergeant Major.
It's in my DNA to help you.
Thank you, brother.
- We'll cross paths in the future.
- We will.
- I hope so.
- We will.
[instrumental martial music] ♪ ♪ [notification dings] [notification chimes ] [notification dings] [notification chimes] [notification dings] [helicopter blades whirring] reporter: Fort Hood is the largest military installation in the United States of America.
50,000 soldiers live an d train here.
They send troops to Afghanistan.
They send troops to Iraq.
And this is the headline in "The Killeen Daily Herald," "Massacre on Post."
news anchor: The enemy, one of their own, an officer who burst into a waiting area in the building, opening fire with a handgun and semi-automatic weapon.
woman: I couldn't believe that this was another soldier.
This is one of their brothers.
This is people that they trust down there to protect them with their lives.
- We turn now to Major Khallid Shabazz.
Up until just a few months ago, he was the Muslim chaplain at Fort Hood.
He met with Major Malik Hasan on a few occasions, even talking to him about helping run the Islamic services.
Did you see any signs of depression?
Did he talk to you about feeling harassed?
- Well, good morning.
First of all, let me say that I was mortified when I heard the news.
I lived at Fort Hood for four years.
I trained with these soldiers.
I lived with them.
I deployed to war with them.
So my heart goes out to their families, and may God be with them in their times of trouble.
After the Fort Hood shooting, I was brung in for questioning for six hours.
So they were pulling me in, trying to find out what ties I had to him, like I had the same ideology.
And I was dead angry with people questioning who I was and my level of commitment and loyalty.
What did that have to do with me?
♪ Mama, mama, can't you see ♪ ♪ What this Army's done to me ♪ - Najala gave me this cup for Mother's Day last year.
And it says, "I love how we don't have to say that I'm your favorite child.
Najala."
[laughter] - I'm always in this-- this quagmire, where you got to prove yourself that you're not what people think.
It's a weight that's ever present, that after a while, it subsides, and then it subsides, and it subsides.
But I do come home and say, "Oh, my God," it really just irks me for every time somebody had introduced me to say that I'm the Muslim chaplain.
Like, nobody says, "This is the Catholic chaplain," you know, "This is the Protestant chaplain."
It's always us and the Jewish chaplain, "This is the Jewish chaplain," or "This is the--" I'll tell you that 'cause it drives me nuts.
It categorizes me.
It puts me in a box.
It's like being African American.
"Oh, here's my Black friend."
No, you wouldn't do that.
You'd say, "Hey, here's Khallid," right?
So now, why do you have to introduce me by my religion?
- So being a Muslim is lonely... - It's very lonely.
- In the military world.
- It's very lonely.
- Like, it is a lonely, lonely place.
- That's true.
[soft music] ♪ ♪ We still look young.
We still look the same.
♪ ♪ Seven Muslim chaplains in this shot.
That's historic.
There are four Muslim chaplains now.
And there have been at least 16 throughout the time in the Army.
So we're down to four, all of us are over 25 years.
So, relatively speaking, in the next five years, you could have no Muslim chaplains in the Army.
[plucky determined music] ♪ ♪ - Just as much as our Christian, Jewish, you know, any other counterparts, we also have a piece of the puzzle.
We are also a part of the fabric.
We cannot suppress our feelings, our identity as Muslims, you know?
We should be open.
And we should be OK to wear the kufi, the beard, you know, whatever else.
- No matter how many ribbons, no matter how many awards and medals we have, no matter what rank or how many years we've been in-- in serving this country, it's still not good enough.
We still have to justify our right to be here, our right to practice our religion.
♪ ♪ Muhammad: 'Cause people come to us for all kinds of things.
And, oftentimes, people who are not of our profession think that people only come to us for religious reasons.
People come to us with th e things that normally burden their soul.
Because they sense that there's something about us that's sacred.
- Congratulations.
[crowd speaking Arabic] Allahu Akbar!
-Takbir!
-Allahu Akbar!
Muhammad: But as a chaplain, we have to be sensitive to the public square and all the many people that are represented.
And some of us will not have the will or the desire to pray in a way that meets the needs of the majority of the people at that time of that prayer.
And, therefore, they don't end up being good chaplains.
Jabeen: I'm an immigrant from India.
I came to America to study MBA.
After taking prerequisites and having conversations on campus with seminarians, I prayed, and I was really guided.
So I approached my parents and I said, "I don't think I can do MBA.
I want to do Islamic Studies.
I would like to be a chaplain in the military."
I've always followed my heart, and they raised me like that.
Oh, my God.
I can't believe that she's doing this.
But my parents want me to get married and just have a nice, comfortable, relaxed life.
[laughs] That's all they want me to do.
OK, that's good.
That's good.
"Have a safe life," I think that's what they're trying to say.
Oh, yeah, it's right here.
It's right here.
- Right.
I met you last year, right?
- Yes, I'm glad you remember.
- Yeah, I do remember.
I remember you were trying to become the first... - Female-- - Female Muslim chaplain, and it didn't work out for you in the Army?
- [chuckles] I'm a Muslim woman.
And if I'm gonna be in the military, I would also need spiritual support.
I want to step up to the plate and say, "Hey, there is a void here.
We need that."
We have female Muslim se rvice members, and this need is not be ing fulfilled.
[determined music] ♪ ♪ In the military, the requirements to be a chaplain is to be able to lead a religious service.
- [reciting Islamic prayer] Jabeen: However, in the Islamic tradition, as a Muslim woman, you cannot lead a prayer.
prayer leader: [speaking Arabic] Jabeen: It basically all comes down to gender.
And it's not like I cannot lead a prayer, period.
I mean, I can lead women in prayer.
So my first step is going to be that I apply.
But I still had to put in a waiver.
That's one thing I have learned in America.
If you want to do something, you go ask.
prayer leader: [speaking Arabic] [train bell ringing] [engine revving] - Like that sound?
It's a beautiful sound, man.
- That's beautiful.
Yes, yes.
- Loud pipes save lives, man.
- Oh, yes, they do.
- Yeah.
Lantigua: Matter of fact, I might have to buy this from you.
- Uh, I'm not selling it.
- [laughs] Lantigua Sr.: I was with th e 18th Airborne Corps.
'Cause you can tell that the insignia--the emblem.
- On the beret.
- Yeah, it's not 82nd, 'cause I switched.
Lantigua: Sergeant First Class, E-7.
My father is from Dominican Republic and my mother is African American, born and raised in Columbia, South Carolina.
So I'm raised with a Roman Catholic tradition by way of my father, and I'm raised with a Protestant Baptist tradition by way of my mother.
Most kids my age were out playing ball.
I just was not that kid.
My nose was in the books, books on theology, mythology, just trying to figure myself out in terms of my spirituality.
And so, eventually, I came across the Quran.
So I was curious about it.
I opened it up, and I saw names that I was familiar with.
I saw Adam, and Noah, and Jesus.
And I was like, "Wow, OK, what is this about?"
And that summer, I decided to begin reading it.
And it was resonating with me.
One week prior to enlisting in the United States Air Force, I made the decision that I wanted to be a Muslim.
[indistinct chanting] Lantigua: There's a lot of people, they have questions about Islam, about Muslims, but they have not felt comfortable enough to ask those pertinent questions that may come up for them, right?
You need to ask.
The only way that we can deal and manage ignorance, meaning lack of knowledge, right, is to create an environment in which people feel free to ask whatever is on their hearts or their minds.
I'm sure there's a number of you that have heard that we, as Muslims, do n't believe in Jesus.
Who's heard that before?
Raise your hand.
Ye ah, that's all right.
Yes.
Yeah, I know that's a popular teaching.
"Yeah, those Muslims, they don't believe in Jesus."
That is not true.
He is mentioned more in the Quran than even the prophet Muhammad.
Peace and blessings of God be upon them both.
By name, Jesus is mentioned 25 times.
Who has heard that there are Muslims in the world that force people to convert?
Who's heard that before?
Yeah, I've heard it before as well.
Is that true?
Does it happen?
Yes, it does.
It does happen.
Now, is that in alignment with what God says in the Quran?
students: No, sir.
- No, it does not.
It clearly says, there is no compulsion in the deen.
In the religion, you cannot compel.
You can't compel people.
You can't force people.
God has given us the freedom of choice, the free will to either believe in him or not to believe in him, to either adhere to his commands or to rebel against him.
That is our choice.
In other words, yo u do you, and I do me.
♪ ♪ - [singing prayer] ♪ ♪ - [indistinct] All: ♪ To my knees will I-- ♪ ♪ I can only imagine ♪ - Buried with Christ in baptism, raised to walk in newness of life.
[applause] - Go ahead.
Go ahead and gather, gather this way.
Gather this way, please.
So trainee Slaton has been here at basic military training for how long now?
- A month, sir.
- He's been here for a month, all right?
He's going into his fifth week of training.
And he's been coming to the religious education classes where we teach about what is it that Muslims believe and practice, and he's informed me that he would like to become a Muslim.
Now, traditionally, this is something that we do before the community so that, basically, it's a transition.
It allows the community to embrace the new brother or the new sister.
And in order to become a Muslim, it consists of two statements.
The first statement being that "I testify that there is none to be worshiped but God."
And "I testify that Muhammad is the messenger of God."
By making those two statements, this enters you into the fold of Islam and this fold of submitting unto God, right?
And then, the obligation is to follow the Quran and the prophetic example.
Because when a person becomes a Muslim, that enters that individual into a state of duty and responsibilities.
You have duties and responsibilities to almighty God.
You have duties and responsibilities to your fellow human beings.
You ready to repeat after me?
- Yes, sir.
- All right.
- [reciting Shahada] - [reciting Shahada] - [reciting Shahada] - [reciting Shahada] - [reciting Shahada] - [reciting Shahada] - [reciting Shahada] - [reciting Shahada] - [reciting Shahada] - [reciting Shahada] - [reciting Shahada] - [reciting Shahada] - Takbir!
crowd: Allahu Akbar!
- Takbir!
crowd: Allahu Akbar!
- Takbir.
All: Allahu Akbar.
- Takbir.
All: Allahu Akbar.
- Takbir.
All: Allahu Akbar.
- Permission to touch?
- Yes, sir.
- All right.
Welcome to the community.
Welcome.
Permission to touch?
- Yes, sir.
- All right.
[laughter] [soft instrumental music] ♪ ♪ Most people, they send them kids to basic military training, and they're thinking that they're just there to learn about military operations and military culture.
And they're not considering the reality that part of being in that development of becoming an airman is also a matter of being grounded spiritually.
So we have individuals who go to Christian services, they get baptized.
I mean, today we had about 30 individuals or so who were baptized into the Protestant Christian faith.
You know, so, I mean, this happens across the board.
We have individuals who become Buddhists.
We have individuals who become Wiccan.
People are finding a means by which to grab on to see them through this challenge that they're faced with.
[birds chirping softly] Shabazz: From the time I was a little boy in Louisiana, my mom taught us certain principles to be good Christians.
Every night, my mom and my sisters and me, we read the "Daily Bread," we prayed.
And so, when I started studying Malcolm X, and I started reading the Quran, I went into a tailspin because I knew I had been lied to.
I knew people had not given me th e full truth.
[tense string music] ♪ ♪ My sister, my aunts, we re very angry.
They lashed out saying very vicious stuff because I was saying vicious stuff.
And we both could have handled it a little better.
I moderated my message because I started reading the Quran.
And it says, when we're dealing with People of the Book or Christians, it says, let us come to common terms and say that God is one.
And everything else, we can work out.
Then I could go back to my family and say I'm sorry.
- Hey!
[laughter] - Hey!
All grown up!
[hair clippers buzzing] Shabazz: I am very attracted to people who are strong in their faith because I' m very strong in mine.
Without question, my family would probably consider me going to hell.
I mean, if they didn't believe that... [chuckles] I would question their faith, right?
But I have great relationships with them.
[laughter] [woman vocalizing] ♪ Mud bugs ♪ - Mud bugs.
- Oh, my God.
- It don't stop it.
You know, I see people from different faiths, you know, being inspired, and they not talking religion, but just talking the purity of love.
That's the Gospel for everybody, whether you a chaplain, whether you preachers, real people know real.
So they know if you faking and they know if you playing the game.
So if you real with them, they gonna give it back to you.
[spirited drumming and clapping] ♪ ♪ Shabazz: Brother Bishop.
- What's going on, man?
Shabazz: I came in my battle dress uniform to bring some heat.
- You come to go to war, Doc.
- I'm going to war.
[laughter] - What's up, man?
- How you doing?
You all right?
[choir singing] ♪ ♪ - My subject is born from my own pain, my own insecurities, and my own lack of self worth.
My story began in a bedroom as a young boy of ten years old where I was molested by a family friend.
Oh, we gonna talk today.
congregation: Talk, talk!
- It was that molestation that set off a sequence of events that would hover over my life for the next 15 years.
And it almost ended with me taking my own life.
Then I show up to your institution, angry, no self esteem, no self worth beyond dunking a basketball.
You see, I was so good at basketball, they called me "Prime Time."
But what they didn't know, when I wasn't dunking that basketball, I was drinking myself to sleep every night.
I was fighting every week anybody that I could find to release this rage that was inside of me.
It was the only way that I could feel some fulfillment, because I wanted people to see me as a man.
And one night at the social, it all came to a head.
I was shot in the back, beat with a shovel, and airlifted out to Tyler Medical Center, where I almost lost my life.
I decided that night while looking up at the pitch black sky and the stars that I needed to do something to change my life.
I then decided that night that I was gonna do better.
I was gonna be better.
It just turns out, it ain't that easy.
- Yes, sir.
[drumming] ♪ Hallelujah ♪ ♪ Hallelujah ♪ ♪ Hallelujah ♪ [train horn] - Spot right here where I almost lost my life.
Praise God, won't he do it?
Won't he do it?
Woo!
Rose me up, baby!
Resurrected me.
That joker, he had been shooting three or four times, hit me with the fifth one, and tried to unload that thing, tried to unload it in my face, right here.
But I decided that day, if I survive this that I was gonna try somehow to change my life.
And people always ask me, "why you convert?"
That's part of the reason.
I started studying the religion after that.
Bishop: Yes, sir.
[choir singing] Commander: Company!
Staff sergeant: Platoon!
Commander: Attention!
Soldiers: Sustain the Force!
Commander: Stand at!
Staff sergeant: Stand at!
Commander: Ease.
Soldiers: Hah!
[whiteboard marker squeaking] Jabeen: OK, this is gonna be controversial at the beginning.
Th e word "Jihad" itself, all you can think about is, like, bad stuff.
But Jihad is a very, very spiritual struggle and battle.
There is a physical form of struggle, but it has its own code of conduct.
There are rules you need to follow.
Once you break those rules, you're not doing a Jihad anymore.
The greatest form of Jihad is to speak truth to a tyrant, knowing that this is gonna hurt you but you're gonna step up to what's right and you will voice it.
Me trying to get an exception for hijab, that's Jihad.
You're trying to pass the APFT, that's a Jihad.
You know.
When you're running, you feel it.
[laughter] I mean, literally, that's what it is.
- And so, my last question is-- Jabeen: Yes, sir.
- You had mentioned, like, a follower of Islam versus a Muslim.
Is "Muslim," is that not the correct term to use?
Jabeen: I'm a Muslim.
The religion I follow is Islam.
- So what's the difference?
- Islam is a religion.
Christianity is a religion, right?
Followers are Muslim.
Submission, the one who submits.
Christianity is a religion.
Christians are followers.
Did that answer?
- Yeah, it did.
- All right.
Thanks for asking, sir.
Yes, Sergeant?
- I'm glad he asked that question because I was wondering the same thing.
I'm like.
"that makes total sense!"
- I was thinking about having the next session on terminology.
[soft instrumental music] ♪ ♪ Hosein: People would come up to me and say, "Thank you for serving your country."
I felt proud wearing my uniform.
When they see me in this uniform, it's like, "Go back to your country where you came from.
You're not American."
They don't know who I am from looking at me dressed as a Muslim woman.
♪ ♪ I wasn't successful in becoming a Muslim chaplain because of timing.
It was 2004, 2005, when I petitioned the military and we had just invaded Iraq.
People were seeing the war as against Islam.
But I am so happy that you've answered the call, because you're number two that I'm mentoring to break that barrier.
- The little bit of experience I have with my unit and just being in the culture and meeting our seniors in the field who are Muslims, I've only realized that all the core beliefs as a Muslim of doing the right thing always, whether somebody is watching or not, that is the core of my religion and that is what military operates on.
So I think there's a much more reason-- even more reason for Muslims to be serving, 'cause we are doing the right thing.
We uphold the values of life.
We uphold the value of serving humanity, regardless of any affiliation as Muslims.
And that's what military does.
We are there to protect and serve.
- I appreciate that and I understand it.
But, um, having retired now and having been through this longest war that our nation has been in, there's been a lot of horrible actions by our military personnel.
And I just say, see the glass half full sometimes.
And it's also-- it's important to see it half empty and not be so idealistic.
I give you that piece of advice after having been through 35 years of military service.
I don't think I would join the military today.
And so, it is hard for me to say that to you.
But, at the same time, I'm so happy that you've answered the call to break that barrier.
Because when you break it, you break it for all of us.
So, um, Inshallah.
[soft determined music] ♪ ♪ Jabeen: When I first signed the contract and I talked to my-- some of my close female Muslim friends, and the questions I was asked was, "Why do you want to join force with a system that is hell-bent on destroying your own Muslim sisters and brothers?"
That was one of the first things I was thrown at in my face.
Where in our religion, in Islam, does it say that you're not supposed to work for your own country?
♪ ♪ Hosein: Islam isn't a pacifist religion, and I'm not a pacifist.
I believe that each citizen should stand up and defend the rights of its country.
And I didn't have an issue of being in the military or going off to war as needed.
But the one part that really tripped me up was when the reports from Abu Ghraib came out... ♪ ♪ Because I felt like we went against the Geneva Convention.
It haunted me.
I think it continued even till this day.
♪ ♪ And then learning about drone attacks, so many civilians die.
♪ ♪ Couldn't we do this an y differently?
(tearfully) I feel we've gotten to a point as Americans that there's no returning and we need to stop it.
Or else we--I think we've almost lost our soul.
♪ ♪ [sighs deeply] - You guys survived the walk.
- [chuckles] - Nice.
Lantigua: This is nothing to be afraid of.
We're here to overcome our fears, our concerns, our worries, right?
The zip line just represents some challenges we have in life, that's all, to overcome.
We got this.
[whoops] Oh, yeah!
instructor: Nice!
Nice.
Lantigua: Very nice.
Good job.
Good job.
Had your heart pumping there, didn't it?
Yes, yes.
radio announcer: Today, shock and mourning in Christchurch, New Zealand, and lots of questions about the terrorist attack that killed 49 people an d injured dozens more at two mosques in the city.
- According to the police commissioner, one man, a white male in his late 20s, as he was described to the media, has been charged with murder.
male reporter: They were on their knees during prayer when this gunman came in and started shooting them.
reporter: Warnings have been issued to members of the Muslim community in the wake of these attacks when worshippers gather for Friday prayers.
[solemn music] ♪ ♪ - [reciting Islamic prayer] [sniffles softly] It is a difficult and heavy si tuation to deal with.
This is not something that is limited to New Zealand or some foreign country outside of our borders.
We're talking about things that happen here in the United States of America that we face collectively as a community.
We've got to not hesitate to seek out help from one another and from others as far as professional help.
This has an effect upon our mental health, and we cannot deny that.
[crowd chattering indistinctly] Phillips: There's something that is connecting these events that I think challenge us, who are people of faith, that we have to recognize that it is our faith that is under attack, what you and I believe in.
And I need to pause right there, because, unfortunately, in our religious history, we have been taught to fight against each other, one faith vying against another.
But when we really whittle this down, we are the people that believe there is a better life.
And for us, who are people of faith, somebody does not want that message to be heard.
Hate is not just after one religion or one denomination.
Do I need to remind us, Mother Bethel, Tree of Life?
And we've seen this too often in many mosques, and temples, and synagogues, and churches all across our nation.
It's time for the people of faith to turn up our volume and not to be ashamed of what we believe in, not to be ashamed of what we stand for, and not to fight against each other.
We need Christians, we need Jews, we need Muslims, we need every man and woman to turn up your volume and let your voice be heard.
[applause] [determined martial music] ♪ ♪ [notification dings] [notification chimes] [notification dings] chant leader: Power to the people.
crowd: People power.
chant leader: Power to the people.
crowd: People power.
chant leader: Whose lives matter?
crowd: Black lives matter!
chant leader: What lives matter?
Crowd: Black lives matter!
- I'm an American Muslim who identifies as Afro-Latino.
168 hours in th e course of the week, 50 of those hours I wear the uniform of this country.
And wherever I go, "Thank you, sir, for your service.
"You're amazing.
"My kids want to shake your hand.
We salute you."
But for the rest of those hours during the course of the week, I'm either a light-skinned brother, or I'm a undocumented worker from across the Southern border, or I'm a terrorist from the Middle East.
It's one of those or a combination thereof.
I don't know what I'm dealing with when I'm being profiled.
But isn't that sad?
Isn't that unfortunate?
That I'm treated one way when I'm wearing one uniform, but when I wear this uniform, oh, it's a whole different experience, believe me.
Believe that.
[applause] - [shouts command] - Stand, present!
Huh!
[indistinct chatter] Lantigua: I was looking in the mirror and going through my normal morning routine of shaving and I was having a challenge.
I don't know how much longer I can continue to go against what it was a growing conviction of my understanding of the obligation of wearing a beard.
I feel like if I don't get the support, then I may have to hang up the uniform.
It's time to retire.
[soft instrumental music] ♪ ♪ I went to my leadership, and I expressed my concerns and the struggle that I was having.
They said, "We understand.
"You know, you have this conviction.
"Go through the process of "submitting a religious accommodation request, and we will back you up on 100%."
When's the next time you're gonna see him?
- Thanksgiving.
Lantigua: When it comes to the Muslim cadets, seeing that support, they felt courageous enough as well to come forward and submit their requests to do the same.
Inshallah.
- See you tomorrow.
- Yeah.
Assalamu Alaikum.
All right, brother, are you gonna be there tomorrow?
Fact of the matter is, we have a document in place, the US Constitution.
And we can interpret that document in various ways, I understand that.
But there are some things that are just a given.
Equality is a given, equal opportunities and equal treatment under the law, plain and simple.
That's not lived out.
And that is a problem.
It continues to be a problem.
We continue to address it.
And I will do as much as I can in my capacity to continue to fight the good fight.
Um... but there have been moments I'm like, you know, it would be so much easier to live somewhere else and not have to deal with this.
♪ ♪ If it ever came to that point and I felt like I needed to leave the country, I wouldn't feel like a failure.
I feel like I've done my part.
And so long as I can look at myself in the mirror and say that, and I reflect on the lives that I've touched in a positive way along the way, along the journey, then I would be qu ite satisfied.
Hello.
All right.
All right.
All right.
Good to see you.
Good to see you.
Hello, everyone.
How you doing?
How you doing?
♪ ♪ Shabazz: Colin Powell said, "Leadership is about solving problems."
He said, "The day soldiers stop bringing you their problems "is the day you stop leading them.
"They have either lost confidence in you, or they concluded that you just don't care."
He said, "In either case, there's a failure of leadership."
You see, leaders, you have been given charge of a human being, to nurture, to care for, to dream for.
Leaders, I hope in some small way that I have motivated you to take time with those people who some other people may think are not worthy of your time, your rank, and your stature.
♪ ♪ The Quran says, "Don't let the hatred of a people move you to deal unjustly."
Racism, Islamophobia, sexism, prejudice, it has a way of making you hate yourself.
♪ ♪ These type of injustices ma kes you not be who you are supposed to be.
♪ ♪ - As a humanity, collectively, we are ailing.
There's a lot of healing that needs to happen, psychological and emotional level.
People on the outside ar e doing that, being community organizers, being social justice advocates.
I find myself being called to do the same thing from another perspective, from inside the military.
Hair is coming out, no?
- Mm-mm.
Just a little bit.
- Yeah?
We're looking good?
- Mm-hmm.
- All right.
Let's go.
We need to start on time, people.
[soft laughter] Schaick: We in the United States military do not assign allegiance to a king, to an emperor, or even a president.
We promise allegiance to an idea, and, quite frankly, an ideal, an experiment that began more than 230 years ago, that experiment we know of as the US Constitution.
Raise your right hand and repeat after me.
I, state your name... - I, Saleha Jabeen... - Having been appointed a lieutenant in the United States Air Force... - Having been appointed a lieutenant in the United States Air Force... - Do solemnly swear... - Do solemnly swear... - That I will support and defend... - That I will support and defend... - The Constitution of the United States... - The Constitution of the United States... - Against all enemies, foreign and domestic... - Against all enemies, foreign and domestic... - So help me God.
- So help me God.
Please welcome.
[cheers and applause] - Thank you, sir.
Thank you so much, everyone, for just being present here and bless me on this journey as I start.
It's a little emotional.
To all the girls and young women witnessing this moment, and to everybody who feels inspired at this feat, I want you to know that God has a plan for you and is always with you.
Go be the best version of yourself and accomplish the mission you were specifically designed to fulfill.
Don't let anyone or anything stop you.
And when they do, be kind, be generous, be resilient, but don't you quit.
Please, do not give in to self-doubt.
You got this.
Victory is sweeter with all the salt in your tear.
Assalamu Alaikum.
Peace.
Shalom.
[applause] [determined music] ♪ ♪ announcer: We also have with us tonight First Lieutenant Saleha Jabeen, the US military's first female Muslim chaplain.
[cheers and applause] - God, we thank you for the love in our hearts to do community.
We thank you for bringing us yet again together, so we may be increased in our love for you.
♪ ♪ announcer: Attention to orders.
The President of the United States has reposed special trust and confidence in the patriotism, valor, fidelity, and abilities of Lieutenant Colonel Kh allid Shabazz.
He is therefore promoted in the United States Army to the rank of colonel.
- So help me God.
- So help me God.
[applause] Shabazz: I just wanted to give this message to my friends that will ne ver step in a mosque, and I'm OK with that.
Because religion is not in a building.
Religion is not in a book.
Religion is your very essence of who you are.
♪ ♪ Lantigua: All right, family and friends.
Took 10 days to get here from the Air Force Academy in Colorado.
I'm looking forward to the next three years, being assigned here as the Branch Chief Chaplain.
And I've been informed that I've been selected to be promoted to the rank of major.
I'm ready to serve my country.
So thank you for following me on this adventure.
All right.
Love y'all.
[soft music] ♪ ♪ Lantigua: As chaplains, we have an obligation to defend every citizen of this nation.
Whether you're Muslim, Christian, Jew, Buddhist, it doesn't matter.
Everybody has the rights of religious freedom.
[reciting Islamic prayer] If I want those rights, then I ha ve to be able to support an d defend those rights for everybody else in this country, regardless of wh at position they hold.
We're in this together.
♪ ♪ [martial music] ♪ ♪ ♪♪
