What does it take for a minority community in the West to live with dignity?

In this episode of Focal Point, Imam Tom Facchine examines the Nation of Islam within the broader history of state surveillance and the struggle for communal self-determination in America.

The episode does not present the NOI as a model of orthodox Islam. Instead, it distinguishes its theological errors from the serious historical questions it raised: how communities build institutions, resist criminalization, protect dignity, and construct power on their own terms.

How did a leaked, Israel-commissioned poll end up calling Israel a “genocidal, apartheid country” in the eyes of the world? Why are billion-dollar media empires, Big Tech cloud contracts, and paid influencer networks all converging to sell you one story on Gaza? Who really pushed for the detention of Sami Hamdi—and what does that tell us about the future of dissent and citizenship in the West? In his latest Focal Point, Imam Tom maps the money, the media, and the smear machine—and what it means for your rights moving forward.

Islam offers guidance for every aspect of our lives, but where does it fit in a political world shaped by capitalism and socialism? Can we navigate politics as Muslims when neither system reflects our values? Imam Tom takes a deep dive into both ideologies and explains Islam’s stance on them.