one levy
[Music]
you
we begin by praising Allah we praise him
we seek his help and we asked for his
forgiveness and we take refuge with
Allah from the evil of ourselves and
from the evil consequence of our evil
actions and serve Allah guides there is
none to misguide and whomsoever Allah
leaves to go astray there is none to
guide and I testify that indeed Allah
alone is worthy of worship and that
Muhammad may Allah's peace and blessings
be upon him is the servant of Allah and
his final messenger before we actually
answer the question of today's lecture
is there a god it's the question is
there a god it might be useful to
explore the meaning of some words so the
first thing that we would like to ask is
what is a god actually I'd like to ask
you that question
what is a god I'm not asking you what is
the god I'm asking what is a god what
makes something Oh God so there you go
that's a question question needs an
answer you can sit here all night so you
can try and answer my question what is
if you don't answer me I'll just pick on
people and say you give me something so
either you can volunteer right and you
can put your hand up and give me yeah go
on sister yes
okay I specifically said although
jazakallah fell for that and very
courageous for you know being the first
person but I did specifically say I
didn't want to know what is the god yeah
didn't I say that I want to know what is
a god so for example did did Ganesh
create the universe did do Hindus
believe that Ganesh created the universe
huh no no I mean he didn't they don't
right or you know Aphrodite
yeah the goddess of love do they believe
that she created the universe no okay
but she's still a goddess and he Krishna
or whoever or Ganesh is thought of God
so I'm not asking for a definition of
the creator I'm asking what is a God not
the God yes sister
okay something that you worship or
something that is worshiped okay that's
a good start
that's a very good start still or not
enough though we want something else
what we want to know okay is why do
people worship things then it's very
important why do people worship things
why do they worship these gods come on
everyone good first brother amazing yeah
go on
okay so they believe in a higher being
than themselves right
some people may imagine that David
Beckham is a being than themselves
actually some people might worship David
Beckham but certainly they might believe
his superior some things but it's still
okay so okay all you've made now is you
we've gone back a bit and we've answered
or we've gone back to what is a God it's
something that people believe is a
higher being but we've moved on a bit
because the sister hamed Allah Masha
Allah she said something which quite
rightly it's something that people
worship so now we want to explore why do
people worship things
what's worship all
about what does it involve worship good
that's very good okay excellent people
worship these gods because they think
that those gods can give them something
they think that by worshiping these
things they can get something from those
gods
so they imagined that by worshipping
this thing or they believed that this
God can give them what they want and
what they need so a God a God is
something that people believe can give
them what they want and what they need
that's what a God is right okay
now often in religions people have
different gods for different things all
right
so in some religions you will find that
they have a particular God that if you
you know if you're fighting a war and
you want to win then you worship the God
of War
right like Mars for example originally
was a God of War right Mars is one of
the gods of war of the ancient Greeks
okay and any you by the way could
everyone please turn their mobile phones
off or put them on silent the brother
forgot to mention yeah
or for example if you want the rain to
fall they worship the rain God if they
you know want to someone to love them
they might worship the god or goddess of
love right so people often in some
religions they have different gods for
different things they worship this God
and they think that by worshipping it
they're going to get what they want and
get what they need
I used to be a Roman Catholic in the in
in the Roman Catholic faith
they had different saints for different
things the patron saint of travel the
painter in saint of art if you lost
something they used to tell us if you've
lost something pray to Saint Anthony and
he'll help you find it he was the saint
of lost things okay so it's the same
really there's no difference from
praying to Saints or praying to because
at the end of the day when they pray
whatever you pray to whatever you
worship you think that that thing by
worshipping and praying and sacrificing
and serving that God that's how you will
get what you want on what you need and
usually there is a set of rituals a set
of functions it may be prayer it may be
sacrifice it may be giving offerings you
know and these things can reach extremes
including for example human sacrifice in
some religions you know humans were
sacrificed to these gods like the Aztecs
for example they used to practice human
sacrifice so this is the religion this
is the religion the worship of these
gods is the ritualized behavior the
things that people do in order to get
what they want from those gods yeah okay
so this is these are the gods and this
is the religion this is the worship of
those gods right okay so this is what a
God is if God is what people believe is
going to give them what they want and
what they need and so people worship
those gods and they pray to them
sacrifice to them and so on and so forth
so if we think now let's go back and
answer our question is there a god right
well no one could deny that there's not
only a guard
there are actually probably countless
millions of gods because whatever people
put their faith in and they hope in and
their trust in whatever people believe
is gonna give them what they want and
what they need that's their God so
everybody has a God of some degree or
another because everybody puts their
faith and these gods are not always
idols they're not always Saints they're
not always you know people or things
often these gods can also be ideas they
can be concepts because people put their
faith and trust in many different things
not only idols and saints and prophets
and so on and so forth no they also put
their faith and trust in ideologies
communism you know science right so
these also can be gods let me give you
an example you see I'm myself by myself
as you've heard I was brought up in you
know although you might not know that
now but if you met me 20 years ago you'd
have no doubt from what sort of
background I came from so as the brother
mentioned in the introduction I was sent
to a Roman Catholic monastic boarding
school at a place called ample fourth
college ample fourth colleges like the
Catholic version of Eton is the top
Roman Catholic boarding school my mother
had actually you know written me down to
go there even before I was born you know
so she had no doubt about where I was
gonna go until fourth college no Kane it
was a monastic boarding school so it's
run by monks now my mother my parents my
dad to tell you the truth my dad's
pretty chilled out but I mean you know
my dad his family have for generations
been in the colonial service so my dad
himself was a colonial administrator in
Tanzania which is where I was born
my grandfather was a High Court judge in
Bombay and that's as far back as I know
but so we you know my my dad's family
have been in the colonial service and my
mum actually is polish but she was
brought up in Kenya and she's more
English than English people and she's
very very you know concerned with the
etiquettes and the manners of being very
correct and so I was brought up very
strictly not just as a Catholic but you
know my mum was not very strict about
her Catholicism I suppose she expected
that I would get that from the school
but she was very strict about our
manners how we should behave that we
should use the right words okay my dad
taught me the etiquettes of how to dress
for example very specific rules about
dress and you know I can look at someone
straightaway until today and I could
know how well brought up that person is
or badly brought up they are by looking
at the way they're dressed by looking at
the type of shoes that they were you
know for example my dad would teach me
you never wear brown shoes with black
you never wear brown shoes that you
don't you know it's just he said and you
just don't do that it's just just not
done you know how do you what's the
correct way to wear your tie what was
the correct way to put your handkerchief
in your pocket you never fold your
handkerchief in the pocket never that's
that you know that was you will they say
they used to say it's none you it's just
a meaning it is not a the right way to
do things these are the type of details
and as for eating you know that dinner
was a you know sort of major ritual and
even down to how do you eat your bread
rock even to how you eat your bread roll
you know everything had to be correct
you had to take a bit of butter from
the butter dish with the knife that was
the butter dish knife and then put it on
your side plate and then returned that
knife to the butter dish and then take
your own personal butter knife which is
you know that's because it's the small
one right and then you break your bread
roll not in the air but on the plate and
you take a piece of butter that piece of
bread roll on the plate and then lift it
to your mouth and eat it Walbert I'd the
one who gets a bit of butter you know
but butter you know and and so this you
know the and and what is all of this
about it's because they believe that by
following these rituals and that's what
it is their type of rituals it's a type
of in fact a type of religion because
they believe that by following these
rituals you will be identified as being
a member of the upper middle classes and
when people know that you're a member of
the upper middle classes doors open for
you that would never open otherwise in
other words they believe that this is
the way and this is the thing that will
get you what you want and what you need
so therefore it becomes a a cup of God
right becomes a type of God because
people put their faith in it and their
trust in it and they're hoping it and
they imagine that these are the things
that will make them successful in life
and of course like any God that people
worship if you ask Hindus or Buddhists
or any people who worship idols they
will tell you stories about how they
pray to their God and this thing
happened and how they offer things to
that God and the God drank from the you
know
Ganesh drinking milk do you remember
that when Ganesha all around the world
started drinking milk yeah well those
miracles and you must have heard of the
Virgin Mary crying and you know and and
the crucified Jesus dripping with blood
you must have heard about all of these
things right so all of these things you
know they say these are the miracles and
these show that our gods are real
it's the same it's the same with
belonging to the upper-middle class
people say well our experience tells us
that you know and it's true in some
cases it's true that you will get a job
just by virtue of what school you went
to there are certain newspapers in this
country and this is very telling by the
way if you think about the whole idea of
so-called the Free Press and free speech
that they talk about no the people who
write for newspapers are a very
carefully selected bunch of people by
and large who belong to a particular
elite who have most of them studied in a
particular group of schools and who
conform to a particular way of thinking
about how the world should be so it's
very important to understand this people
have gods
everybody has a God most people have
many gods so the real question we need
to be asking today is not is there a God
but rather because the answer to that
simply is there are millions of gods
countless millions of gods but actually
the real question is out of all the
things that people worship and put their
faith in and put their trust in are any
of these things truly worthy of it in
other words are they really capable of
giving people what they want and what
they need and so what I'm gonna do today
is I am going to use the Quran to
analyze all the different things that
people worship now you may say okay
could we have a cup of coffee now it's
gonna be quite a long time to go through
the millions and millions of and of
course I'm not gonna go through every
individual God that people worship or
have worships of course not
but what we can do is we can divide
these gods in two broad categories we
can categorize them and this is what the
Koran we can see the Koran does the
Koran uses certain examples Allah God
uses certain examples in the Koran to
identify certain types of religion
certain types of worship certain types
of gods and then the Quran shows us why
these things are not worthy of worship
and what method does the Quran use you
know it's very beautiful the Quran
really appeals to something that all
human beings have it now not every human
being is a philosopher or has the
capability of being a philosopher not
every human being is a theologian and
nor are they all capable of being a
theologian not every human being is
capable of becoming a mystic and an
ascetic in order to become enlightened
with spiritual truths because most human
beings have to just get on with their
life in order to survive Buddhism for
example if you look at the teachings of
Buddha and you look at the life of
Buddha Buddha teaches there in order to
achieve enlightenment you have to
abandon the world and live in a
monastery now if everybody abandoned the
world and lived in a monastery the
people even in the monastery would have
no way to live so it's not a very
inclusive type of religion although some
Buddhist countries are sort of worked at
a rota that everyone spends a couple of
years in the monastery you know like you
have military service they have a couple
of years in the monastery but it's not
really that's not what enlightenment
really is supposed to be about however
so what we find is that these are not
really practical solutions if you want
to appeal to someone how can we know the
truth from the falsehood you can't
expect every
to be a philosopher or theologian a
mystic or whatever so we find that the
Koran which is a book for everybody it's
a book for the philosopher the
theologian the mystic and the ordinary
people because this is a book that we
believe who that is from the creator of
ordinary people which appeals to
ordinary people and so we're not really
concerned whether these arguments
impress the Philosopher's or the
theologians or the Mystics because at
the end of the day at the end of the day
the Koran appeals to something that is
common to humanity and what is common to
humanity actually something we call
common sense not logic because logic is
a systemized way of thinking so we're
gonna call it logic we could call it
reason but even reason is not
necessarily what we're talking about
what we are talking about is something
even more fundamental and that is common
sense and common sense is called common
sense because it's common every single
human being agrees about those things
there are certain there are certain
things that every human being agrees
about the only people who don't agree
with it are people who are either insane
and that's why we call them insane yeah
or perhaps philosophers I'm not
suggesting that philosophers are insane
or someone's some people might but you
know but they don't agree with these
things because they're just you know
contentious they think it's their job to
argue about everything but otherwise no
these are things that people will let me
give you an example let me give you an
example isn't it a universal truth that
every human being agrees about that part
of something is less than the whole yeah
a part of something is less than
the whole of that thing true isn't that
a universal truth so there's an example
of a universal type of truth let me give
you another example of the universal
truth you don't get something coming
from nothing true not do you get
something just spontaneously coming from
nothing
do we have you ever in the totality of
human experience heard of something
spontaneously appearing out of nothing
no that goes against common sense
I mean oK we've all seen a magician pull
rabbits out of hats and stuff like that
but we know it's a trick we know he's
not really doing we go oh you know
because he's made us believe for a
moment that he's done something
impossible because our common sense and
our common experience tells us that
that's not possible but we do know that
you can't get something from nothing we
know it's a trick right okay so we have
these types of things and we could list
other ones you could argue about
something but you know other ones that
you know the shortest distance between
two points is a straight line and so on
and so forth there are collective things
that that are common experiences of
human beings that wherever we are as
long as we call ourselves human we
experience these things and we can agree
about these things yes now I want to
make an important point this is very
important one of the things that human
beings actually don't agree about a lot
of things to do with ethics and morals
in fact one of the things that is
extraordinary diverse amongst human
beings are things to do with ethics and
morality how we should behave the things
that we shouldn't and shouldn't do the
type of punishments that we should have
okay so for one society to say oh this
society is backward and primitive or
this religion is wrong because it
practices polygamy whereas the right way
to behave is monogamy right actually
this is not a valid means through which
and by which to judge anyone or anything
because upon what basis is monogamy
right and polygamy wrong having one wife
only became the normal mode of behavior
to tell you the truth in the northern
hemisphere and these were only based
upon survival strategies in cold
countries it was just a lot easier to
survive as human beings in cold
countries with one wife and a few
children so the idea of just having a
few kids and having one wife and a few
kids was actually something that became
established as part of the culture in
this part of the world mostly due to
geography and climates not to do with
any moral superiority and because it's
more moral it's just about that it was
easier to survive like that but due to
the conditions in hot countries okay the
survival strategies employed there were
very very different so it is fallacious
to say that we should make judgments
about another culture or another
religion based upon some aspects of
their morality and I'm not saying this
absolutely because actually there are
some things that are very common human
beings universally almost always agree
that it's wrong to murder it's wrong to
steal it's wrong to cheat it's wrong to
lie so on and so forth I mean these
things are pretty universally agreed
upon but you know apart from some basic
moral structures actually human beings
have pretty diverse ideas about what
should be the norms of a society and I'm
only saying that
because you know what what you will find
is that most people who criticize Islam
don't criticize Islam on the basis of
the fundamentals of what our religion
teaches and the reason simply is as I
hope by the end of today I will show you
is that the fundamentals of what islam
teaches are so firmly rooted in reason
and common sense that it is really
virtually impossible to produce any type
of effective argument against it so
therefore the only manner or means in
which they can try and make some capital
out of criticizing Islam is about us
some aspects of its morality but it's a
false way to make a criticism because
it's not really a valid means it's not
based upon universal principles so let's
go back let's use our common sense and
let's look at some of the stories and
the examples that the Quran uses and
just lets see how very much based upon
common sense these things are so let's
take the first category of people the
first category of people are those
people who and these are very few by the
way historically even until today the
amount of people who actually say I
believe there is not a God that there is
not a creator that there is no being
that has bought this universe into
existence that it's just a product of
random events or whatever it's just time
that destroys us there were people in
the time of the Prophet who made claims
like that and there are people today who
make claims like that but historically
amongst humanity they have been very
very few and societies that have
actually made such claims have either
not existed at all or have lasted such a
short time that they have evaporated in
history like for example Soviet the
Soviet Union
the Soviet Union was a self-declared
atheist Society in other words the
belief system of the Soviet Union was
that there is not a God and this is what
they attempted to force upon people and
you can see how long that society lasted
a mere you know what you know 80 years
something like that
that's not very long in terms of human
history right it's barely a bleep so
similarly you will find that all
cultures even though most primitive
cultures so-called primitive cultures
have this concept of a transcendent
being that has created the universe and
has brought it into existence the abner
Aborigines of Australia
the Zulus you can go and look at
different cultures and you will find the
idea of this creating this being that is
different from the creation that is
transcendent this idea of this
transcendent creator is universal in
human culture and the reason is is
because it is so fundamentally rooted in
common sense it's a common human
experience and so these things are not
difficult to understand the Koran for
example poses a series of rhetorical
questions a rhetorical question is a
question that is not supposed to have an
answer when someone asks a rhetorical
question they're not expecting you to
answer it in fact the question in itself
has an answer for example the Quran says
concerning or to those people who claim
that there is not a god that there is
not a creator being who has bought this
universe into existence the Quran asks
the rhetorical question did it come from
nothing this universe did the universe
come from nothing that is a rhetorical
question because it's obvious that you
can't get
think coming from nothing as I've
already stated there is nothing in the
totality of human experience that leads
us to believe that you get something
coming from nothing or that you get
order spontaneously arising out of chaos
rather human experience tells us that
where we see things working according to
laws according to patterns according to
systems laws and patterns and systems
have been imposed upon that thing right
that's why if you are walking in the
desert in Saudi Arabia right and you
found a mobile phone what are the
essential components of a mobile phone
the essential components of a mobile
phone are plastic does anyone know what
is the base material from which plastic
is made no it's not sand
it's petroleum it's oil however there is
something else that comes from sand and
that's the silicon chip silicon is in
fact sand silicon chip it's base
material is sand so two important things
a mobile phone is made out of sand and
oil but no one picks up a mobile phone
in the desert and says look a product of
billions of years of chance and
coincidence
yeah the oil bubbled yeah the wind blew
the Sun Sean the lightning struck the
camel Trodd yeah and after billions and
billions of years of these things
happening by an amazing coincidence this
mobile phone formed itself plant oil and
sand and I pressed it and oh hi mum what
a chance and coincidence let alone that
these all these mobile phones talk to
each other and you can send a signal and
you see how ridiculous is so common
human experience tells us even something
more simple a piece of pottery a piece
of pottery
which is clay when an archaeologist
finds a little piece of pottery
he doesn't say oh my gosh chance and
coincidence he knows someone has made
this someone has heated it someone has
treated it someone has painted it and in
fact this archaeologist could tell you
so many things about that civilization
from this one piece of pottery he could
theorize so many things he could tell
you about their state of knowledge their
technology so many things he could
understand from one piece of pottery
that is why the Quran keeps asking us
look at the alternation of the night and
the day look at the Sun the Moon the
Stars the winds the ships in which you
sail the animals that you ride and there
you eat look at yourselves travel
through the earth see how Allah brought
about the creation in all of these
things are signs for those who are wise
and for those who understand they point
us to one very very obvious conclusion
that this incredibly organized
systemized universe and world in which
we live with so many intricately
coordinated mechanisms we find this
symbiosis we find how one thing relies
and depends upon another and we can
think of so many examples we can think
of so many examples you know I remember
seeing until this day when I was a
little kid David Attenborough going down
a termite mound now termites are little
creatures rather like ants and they
build they build these incredible mounds
of mud so you can imagine in the equator
in Africa extremely hot and even in the
nighttime by the way it gets really cold
yet an amazing thing these termites
build at the base of this mound a series
of rings out of mud they build a series
of rings and also they have vents and
what this does is it keeps the heat it
keeps the temperature of this mound
constant it only fluctuates between a
few degrees and this is also includes
the body heat of the termites and they
actually have a certain place in the
termite mound where they grow a certain
fungus which they live on they farm a
fungus
these are termites now these termites
are not intelligent beings they don't
have brains from where did they get this
knowledge and this information to build
such a perfectly amazingly intricately
working mechanism and they cooperate all
together in order to do this and we find
these type of systems existing even
between anima and inanimate objects we
look at our earth is it just coincidence
that the earth is at her optimal
distance from the Sun if we were in
astronomical terms and I'm not talking
about three or four miles okay in
astronomical terms by the way our our
galaxy is 100 the Milky Way the galaxy
in which we live is 100,000 light years
across that means if you lived for a
hundred thousand years and you travelled
non-stop at the speed of light that's
how long it would take to cross our
galaxy and our galaxy is one of millions
in the known universe which is I think
10 billion light years across right so
can you imagine the type of distances
involved in the in the universe
right so therefore understand that our
earth when I say it's in an optimal I'm
not talking about a couple of miles when
something is within a couple of thousand
or hundred thousand miles in terms of
the size of the universe that's precise
try and shrink that down in human terms
imagine if you put that in two terms how
precise I don't think we could think of
a mechanism in existence built by human
beings that has the precision of the
distance of the earth being from the Sun
if we were much closer to the Sun then
the our planet would be too hot if it
was much further it would be too cold so
in terms of the distance from the Sun
the site and the earth is at an optimal
distance for life to exist the size of
the earth also is important if the earth
was much bigger the gravitational forces
would be too overwhelming if it was much
smaller there would be not not enough
gravity this is another point how about
the combination of gases on our planet
not only oxygen vital for the existence
of life but also carbon dioxide and
nitrogen it is this combination of gases
pure oxygen is poisonous if you breathe
just pure oxygen for long enough it will
poison you you need a balance of gases
we need carbon dioxide plants need
carbon dioxide nitrogen is important for
fertilizing the soil ozone another gas
the ozone layer actually filters out the
harmful rays of the sun's radiation
that's why they've been making a big
fuss about the depletion of the ozone
layer and the increase in skin cancer in
Australia and other places weather ozone
layers become depleted because the sun's
rays are not being blocked anymore and
they're starting to cause cancers so
does life exist without an ozone layer
it would not
it would be radiated out of existence
look at these optimal conditions the
earth spins on its axis once every 24
hours
imagine that Earth is going really
really really really slow right really
slow so the sun is shining on one part
of the Earth's surface for say 20 years
that's how slowly the earth is spinning
what would happen one part of the
Earth's surface would be superheated
another part of the Earth's surface
would be supercooled and I could go on
and on we could talk about water how
water has an incredible quality if water
did not have the quality that it did
life would not exist so what we find is
a super precise mechanism I invite
anyone to find me an example made by
human beings of such a precise mechanism
you'll not find it how could such if we
saw such a precise mechanism and we
found one we would automatically presume
that some super intelligent person or
group of people had managed to make this
thing it is therefore only common sense
that when we look around us when we see
these things that we conclude there must
be some intelligence some power behind
us and this power must be very powerful
very wise very intelligent and it's also
common sense to realize that this being
cannot be like the creation this being
cannot be like the creation because if
this being was like the creation then
that being would not be the creator that
being would just be another creation and
that would need another creator and we
only end up with the same dilemma we
have creators creating creators forever
and that's actually not possible and the
reason it's not possible just to tell
you briefly why it's not possible and
I'll give you an example I'll give you
an analogy if I said to someone oh can
you help me
lift up this podium I can't do it by
myself and you say sure I will help you
lift up the podium but I need someone
else to help me and that person says
well I'll help you only if you help me
and so if everyone makes the condition
that I will only help if someone ever
helps will this podium ever be lifted
huh
we'll never be lifted right so if you
have creators creating creators creating
creators ad infinitum you never get
anything created right okay so it makes
sense that the creator is infinite
eternal without beginning without end
that the creator is self-sufficient we
we summarize all of this by saying
transcendent that the Creator is not
like anything in this universe and that
how could you have more than one
transcendent being and even again common
sense tells us that the precision the
precision that we find and the unity
that we find in the creation he'll
process makes us understand that could
only be one mastermind behind this if
there are different creators in fact
what we would find would be chaos and
disunity not this type of consistent
precision throughout our universe and
this is why really it makes so much
sense to believe it's common sense to
believe that there is one god that there
is one wise powerful intelligent creator
that is unique who has bought this
universe into existence
this is common sense this is reason this
is why human beings as I said everywhere
historically you will find in every
culture there is this belief in the
transcendent creator you see the Quran
says that in fact the real problem with
the human beings it's not that they
don't believe in God most human beings
believe in God and they believe that
there is one God meaning they believe
that there is one creator but what they
do is they actually give to the created
things some of the powers or the
knowledge that in fact only rightly
belongs to God
so they attribute to the creation they
imagine that some things in the creation
have powers that only God has or
sometimes they also attribute to God
some of the deficiencies and the
shortcomings in the creation and the
reason they do this is because they
speak about God without knowledge they
invent things because actually the truth
is that what we can know about God
through reason and common sense is in
fact severely limited now some people
when they are faced with that limitation
they've come up with different ideas if
you look at the philosophical tradition
and the Western philosophical tradition
okay you have a group of people who
lived and they were very influential in
the last last 200 years they were called
deists deists believed that there was a
creator they believed that it was
extremely logical to believe that this
universe had a creator but they did not
believe in a personal God in other words
they didn't believe that God actually
really cared about human beings
so is this God created the universe but
about us and and the idea that we could
have some sort of contact and
relationship with this God
they consider that to be you know they
didn't believe that okay they dismiss
this but philosophically they understood
the power of this belief in this idea
that there was this Supreme Being other
many other people came to this same type
of conclusion but what they believed is
that no we could communicate with God
but not directly God is so different
from us there you know you can't have
any direct communication with God and
then what they obviously did is they
began to imagine and this is where they
begin to start thinking that God has
some of the deficiencies of the creation
and they start to imagine that God is
like a created thing which actually
contradicts their original premise they
end up contradicting themselves but for
example idol worshippers most
intelligent idol worshipers don't
actually claim that the idol itself that
they are worshiping actually has any
power they believe that somehow these
idols represent spirits or powers or
beings that can be intermediate trees or
intercessors between them and God and
they give an example they say for
example look if you want to go and see
Tony Blair yeah I'm not saying this is
exactly the example they give but you
know if you want to go and see Tony
Blair you don't just go out and say hey
Tony you know can I have a chat with you
something oh my god it's one of those
Muslims run okay no I mean you know they
will say no you have to go through
Tony's cronies yeah you have to go
through the cronies of Tony right if you
want to get to him
so you have to go to those people who he
knows or even you have to go through the
cronies of the cronies or the cronies of
the cronies of the cronies depending
yeah you know if you're really like just
a nobody but of course if you're rich
and middle-class you know you could
probably get to see them straightaway if
you have enough money you might even
come to visit you yeah but for you
ordinary
people Moslems yeah especially those
veiled women it could take your veil off
then maybe we'll talk to you yeah okay
no no you know you have to go through
special channels and they say well it's
like that with God you see you can't
just talk straight to God you have to go
through those people who are close to
God you have to go to the priest who
will then talk to you know this super
sort of semi God who will pass on the
message bit by bit you have to go
through so the imagined God is like a
king or a prime minister or something
you know surrounded by all these cronies
and these sort of demigods and these
things knew how that's how you have to
get to God that's how they portray it
okay of course the problem with this is
that immediately these people have
pursued presumed that God suffers from
the limitations and the deficiencies of
the human beings right because why does
Tony need cronies can anyone tell me why
does Tony need cronies
because he's a human being
he's afraid of being assassinated he's
afraid of terrorists he's also afraid
he's not also not afraid he just simply
doesn't have enough time to deal with
the complaint of every single individual
person right he has to eat his dinner he
has to spend time with cherry and his
family right he has to go on holiday
usually at the expense of some rich
friend of his you know nothing wrong
with that actually I think there's
anything more personally I think there's
nothing with that tool how could I my
parents were was you know helping me go
on holiday and visit them and stuff like
that but anyway that's I you know so he
has to have people see is this really
worth me dealing with if every single
person wanted to personally complain to
the Prime Minister about every single
little problem that they had would he be
able to deal with that of course he
wouldn't because he's human he has 24
hours in a day he's limited you see but
God is not limited like that Allah God
the Creator who has created this whole
universe can hear the complaints of
every single human being and not only
that an incredible thing if every single
human being complained to God all at the
same time God could hear every voice of
every human being and God could give
every one of them what they wanted and
that would be easy for God right now how
about the human beings if you all start
talking to me at the same time could I
understand what you're going on about
could I could I no I can't and the
reason I can't is because I'm human
let's think about what that means in
respect to those people who pray to
saints and prophets there are even some
Muslims who do this and now we can see
people start to make others equal with
Allah so now let's say that I am praying
to Saint Anthony or some Muslim is
praying to Abdul Kadir al-jilani or
Prophet Muhammad or prophet Jesus okay
or whatever right so Allahu alayhi wa
sallam alayhis-salam are you telling me
that's not just me by the way oh let's
just say that 1 million Muslims all at
the same time are asking and cooling
upon the Prophet Muhammad or 1 million
Catholics all at the same time are
calling upon Saint Anthony are you
telling me that Saint Anthony can hear 1
million voices all at the same time if
you're telling me that he can then
actually you are not describing a human
being anymore you are saying that he has
powers that are actually divine powers
you are now beginning to make that
person equal with Allah with God whether
it's the Prophet Muhammad sallallahu
alayhi wa sallam or prophet ASA or Saint
Anthony or abdulqadir Gilani if you
first of all put aside the argument of
whether the dead can even hear the
living ok let's put that aside although
I believe that the dead cannot hear the
living that's why it's called buzick
calling upon a dead person is like
calling upon a brick but let's put that
aside let's say they can hear are you
saying they can hear these multiple
voices all at the same time you're not
really saying they're human anymore and
they could deal with all these prayers
and all of these supplications hmm
that's a divine attribute and this is
how people either they imagined that God
Allah is limited
see they've they've given to a lot
limitations and they've given to human
beings exaggerations this is how people
start to make and worship things and
they put and listen if I pray to st.
Anthony don't I hope that he's gonna
hear me don't I trust that he's gonna
answer my prayers don't I don't I put
then faith and hope and trust and I
believe that he's gonna give me what I
want and what I need or if I pray to
Prophet Muhammad or Jesus or whoever it
may be
isn't that therefore doesn't it
therefore become a God an object of
worship it does of course it does and
the Quran deals with this actually
there's something more foolish about
idolatry and the basic reason why it's
foolish is because of simple common
sense any human being who spends some
time thinking about it would realize
this is foolishness and again the Quran
appeals to human sense a beautiful story
is the story of Abraham see Prophet
Abraham he is well known for smashing
idols bit of a radical can you imagine
that these days Prophet Abraham tried so
hard to convince his people you see from
a young age he was bought up his
father's house he was watching his
father used to make idols so he used to
see his dad get a piece of wood chuck
Huck the piece of wood and make an idol
use the you know the chippings
to heat the fire to cook their food yeah
and then this Idol which he made he
would see his dad give it to the people
and the people would pray to it and he
realized this is the same thing we were
cooking our dinner with right and now
that people are worshipping it he's
brought up realizing that what is this
and then he noticed the people that
worshipping the Sun the moon and the
stars but he's looking he's seeing
well the stars are there and then the
moon comes out and outshines the stars
and then the Sun comes and that
outshines everything and then the Sun
sets and why are we worshiping things
that obviously are controlled by
something else it doesn't make any sense
to worship then
they don't have the power they're under
the power of something else and he
realizes that these things are not true
gods they shouldn't be worshiped why
should we worship these things that come
and go and temporary because if they can
go that means they can let us down the
time we really need them is when they're
not there so why should I worship that
why should I put my faith in that why
should I put my trust in that so one day
he's determined he says to his people
I'm gonna show you I'm gonna prove to
you that your worship of the idols is
false so when his people have gone you
know it's their festivity and it's their
religious festival he doesn't want to
participate in it because he doesn't
want to be involved in the idol worship
at all so he says to them I'm sick
he says I'm sick meaning actually he was
sick of what they're doing so when they
were doing this he went into the temple
and he smashed all the idols except the
chief idol he took his axe and he hung
it round the neck of the chief Idol now
when the people came back they were
outraged who has committed this
blasphemy who has done this to our gods
and they some people say was you
remember that young man Abraham he was
saying that he was going to prove our
idols are false so the king he brings
Abraham in front of the people he says
Abraham did you do this to our gods
so Abraham says ask the big one I ask
him so then they look at each other and
they say to Abraham you know Abraham you
know that our gods can't talk to us he
says why do you worship something that
can bring you no benefit and no harm and
this this Idol can't even protect itself
how is it going to protect you
isn't that common sense isn't that just
common sense isn't it our common
everyday experience you who are students
here in Buckinghamshire and Chilton
University yeah
when when you want to
université night these days you need
loans right you need money because you
have to pay for some of it right okay
where did you go to get the money did
you go to the guy begging on the street
sitting outside the railway station
excuse me may you know I need to go to
university can I borrow a couple of
thousand quid did you do that
did anyone do that I don't think so
because if this guy can't help himself
how is it going to help you when Kuwait
was invaded by Iraq who did they appeal
to for help
Bangladesh Bangladesh with one
helicopter and nothing against
Bangladesh but you know if you want
military aid Bangladesh had one at the
time I remember reading they had one
helicopter right
they couldn't cope with the floods in
their own country how would they
possibly be able to supply military aid
to Kuwait and nothing against Bangladesh
nothing else the guy begging in the
street it's just common sense you don't
ask someone who can't help themselves
right common sense that's all it is
common sense so if the Idol cannot do
anything for itself how is it going to
be able to do something for you I mean
it's an extraordinary you go to the shop
excuse me I'd like that Idol over there
okay he brings the Idol down and this
Idol can't you might think it might fly
down itself right no he he brings it
down and he pays money for the Idol he
actually pays money to get the idol and
then he carries it home not the idol
doesn't carry him so that's it now I'm
your God you I'll carry you up no he
carries the Idol home and he puts it up
on the shelf you know and if it fell
down again you have to put it up again
right and then he says o such-and-such
help me give me this give me that does
that make any sense
same thing Muslims do it a person dies
they wash him he can't wash himself
they shroud him he can't shroud himself
they carry him to the grave and they
bury him in the grave and they said o
such-and-such do
this and that for us it's true ordinary
does this makes any sense and online is
just appealing to common sense so this
is one broad category these are false
gods these are things that we should not
worship they cannot give you what you
need and what you want
they can't even help themselves here is
the argument whatever things you could
say oh sometimes my prayers were
answered it's just coincidence and there
are many reasons to explain okay
why they amazing things could happen to
these idols but nothing could go against
this common sense okay let's look at
another category the other category is
the category of the man God there are
many religions throughout history who
have believed that some human being is
actually God now the example the Koran
uses is the example of Christianity
there are Christians who claim that
Jesus is Allah that he is not just the
Son of Allah but he is Allah he is one
and part and the same as God and the
Quran appeals to such beautiful
commonsensical things the Quran says
didn't Jesus and his mother because some
people also worship Mary and there were
some Christians who used to believe also
Mary was God even Catholics say that
Mary is the mother of God the mother of
God God had a mommy I said God mama mama
right changing God's nappy yeah cleaning
God's bum when he's done a poo this is
what's that mother of God feeding God
what is this
to say that some human being is equal
with God didn't he walk on the earth and
breathe air and eat food and they went
to the marketplace you know they needed
to buy things they went to the
marketplace see how Allah makes things
clear see how people are deluded away
from the truth
what is this Allah asks us in the Koran
if God wanted to destroy Jesus and Mary
and everything in the whole earth who
could stop it of course no one that
means that Allah has power over Jesus
and Mary if God has power over them and
they are under the authority of God they
can't be the same as God they can't be
and what does that mean anyway to say
that something is man and God at the
same time it's an impossibility to say
that something by definition God is
infinite self-sufficient and eternal
human beings by definition are temporary
mortal and needy how can something be
eternal and temporary both at the same
time how can something be
self-sufficient and needy both at the
same time how can something be eternal
and finite both at the same time it's an
it's not a paradox a paradox means
something that seems impossible but it's
not
no it is an impossibility by definition
now there are things that Christians say
God can do anything well I mean this
raises a whole lot of cresst questions
God can do anything I would say well do
you believe God can do something evil I
either they will say no God can't do
something evil well they'll say well he
can if he wanted to but he would never
do something evil I say why not they say
because God is good God only does good
things I say exactly it is the nature of
God the nature of God is that God
is good and a good God does not do evil
things it is also the nature of God that
God is eternal so an eternal God doesn't
become temporary it's the nature of God
that he is self-sufficient free of any
wants and needs so God does not become
needy because that contradicts the
nature of God it's that simple
doesn't that make sense isn't that just
common sense now you know the whole idea
that God becomes a man okay you see the
problem is this if you have a speii
sub-string yeah and the piece of string
is in the shape of a square yeah let's
say the square represents that the the
attributes of God right I'm not saying
that God is like you I'm just saying it
represents so the square we replace
infinite eternal self-sufficient and we
just instead of all of those words we
just have a square yeah and the circle
represents the qualities of a human
being needy temporary finite mortal you
know we're born we die we forget we need
to eat we need to breathe so these are
alkyl and let's say all of these we
forget those words we just use it as a
circle now just theoretically what we
could do perhaps is we could get the
piece of string and change the shape of
the piece of string from a square to a
circle so perhaps you could make the
square into a circle and you could make
the circle into a square but what you
can't do is make the square into a
circle and it's still a square at the
same time right something can't be blue
and red and still be blue it can't you
can't make blue red and it's still blue
the circle can't be made a square and
still be a circle but that's what
they're trying to say God
but was still God doesn't make any sense
it's an impossibility and wait a minute
these Christians are telling everybody
in the world that you're gonna go to
hell forever if you don't believe
something impossible
if God is telling us according to their
religion if we don't believe something
absolutely impossible you'll go to hell
forever so I have to believe something
impossible without any proof because by
definition you can never prove an
impossibility how can you prove
something impossible you can't so I have
to believe something impossible without
proof it's simple I'll tell you
something and it's what I would say to
every Christian I say you're telling me
there on the day of judgment I stand in
front of God and God says to me why
didn't you believe that I became a man I
will say how could I believe that you
Allah the eternal self-sufficient
creator of the heavens and the earth was
a temporary mortal needy man how could I
believe such a thing you are far above
that if God then puts me in hell forever
I will never feel for one moment of
eternity that God has treated me fairly
or justly but if a Christian is asked by
God how did you could you say that
I was equal that this human being was me
this human being that ate my food this
human being that breathe my air this
human that depended upon me for my
entire for his entire existence you're
saying that this human being was equal
to me if that person goes to hell
forever they will know that they deserve
to be there they all know it that's
justice that is justice there's one
other thing I want us to think about and
I'd like to give this as an example
right modern science has made us
appreciate something really remarkable
and that remarkable thing is exactly how
mind you we are actually 1400 years ago
the Prophet Muhammad
okay was also in reflection of the words
of the Quran reminding us of our humble
origins the Quran reminds us that you
came from a sperm-drop a despised fluid
the Quran reminds us of our base origins
the Prophet Muhammad even mentioned that
the universe compared to the koozie was
circle co-hosts summer were tea will art
and Allah scusi his pedestal extends
over the heavens in the earth al the
Prophet Muhammad said the universe is
like a ring in the desert compared to
the courtesy a ring in the desert think
about that think about a ring in the
desert how big is the desert and how
small is the ring and the courtesy
compared to the Irish and the arsh means
the throne of God is also like a ring in
the desert our universe is like a speck
like a speck now we are on an earth
which is a speck in a GATT solar system
which is a speck on the outer spiral of
our galaxy which itself is a speck in
the universe which is a speck before the
courtesy which is aspect before the ushe
now if I said to anyone or a speck even
if I said it nicely Oh beloved speck Oh
noble speck oh good speck but if I call
you a speck it doesn't matter how many
nice things I put with it calling per a
person a speck is not a nice thing but
you know what we are specks I wouldn't
be lying if I called you a speck and you
wouldn't be lying if you called me a
speck but still we don't like it how
about then if we said that God is like a
speck who's kursi extends over the
heavens and the earth which is like a
ring before his throne so how about God
you say that God is like a speck in fact
you said God became a speck on a speck
in a speck in a speck
that's equal with God that is insulting
God common sense that is common sense
now some people say no we don't believe
that Jesus is God we believe he's the
son of God but that's not any better
that's not any better saying that God
has a son is not much better that's
still insulting God that's still saying
that the child of God the Son of God is
what some insignificant creature some
speck on the earth and I don't mean here
to belittle Jesus alayhis-salam
okay of course with Allah he is an
honoured slave but that's what we are we
are creatures of God we are the creation
of God we are the slaves of God the only
difference is what sort of person are
you do you believe in God do you insult
God or do you honor God do you obey God
or you disobey God that is the only
difference between the human beings not
your caste not your color not whether
you're middle class upper class lower
class okay none of those things matter
to Allah at all what matters is are you
faithful do you honor God do you praise
God do you obey God that's it if you do
that God loves you if you don't he
doesn't it's that simple it's that
simple so you're either one or the other
all the other things are artificial and
of no concern to God so this is what is
important so we are all creatures of God
but what does it mean son of God think
about that I mean I remember there was a
anglican priest who came to the same
conclusion he was saying what on earth
is this supposed to mean son of god
he thought about it him
and he realized that what is that
supposed to mean you see when we use the
term son what do we mean by that
my son right so first meaning is the
literal meaning begotten son the word
begotten means born of the act of sexual
intercourse are we saying that God had
sex with a woman and had sons Allah does
not God does not have sons and daughters
God does not have intimate relations
with and and this is why the Quran asks
if God had a son who is God's wife
because presumably God would not make
fornication and adultery illegal for us
and then practice it himself does God
but of course they even the concept of
God having intercourse is absurd so
obviously God did not have a literal son
God did not have beget a son right
because my son is human like me by the
way if you have any doubts you can study
early Christian theology some early
Christians one of the evidences they
actually bought to claim that Jesus was
God is exactly this argument they said
my son is human like me therefore God's
son must be divine like God that's
exactly the argument they bought meaning
they actually had this idea that God
must have literally begotten literally
begotten a son which is ascribing a
calamity Allah refutes this time and
time and time in fact one of the reasons
that the Quran has been revealed is to
refute those people who say that Allah
has a son this is actually mentioned
Allah mentions this insulative calf
there one of the reasons why allah has
revealed the quran is to refute those
people and by the way this is something
that many pagans had this idea many
pagans had this idea Zeus for example
Zeus had mistresses and wives and son
gods and you know so for example
Hercules was the son of Zeus so they had
this idea that their sons would marry
and you know have mistresses from
amongst women of the earth and these
half gods would be born and so on and so
forth this was their idea so pagan idea
it's not a monotheistic idea which by
the way indicates that really
Christianity is so much of it taken from
paganism anyway I want to get cuz I get
I could go quite far into talking about
that but it's another topic so the son
of God okay so we say most Christians
you're actually sitting on honor we
don't believe that god of course we
don't believe God is you know that Jesus
literally is the actual but you know
literally begotten Son of God so we say
well what do you mean do you mean God
adopted Jesus as a son again it doesn't
make any sense let me give you an
example
right if I brought with me today a
goldfish
yeah I have a little thing and I bring
with me a goldfish and I say everybody
this is Jonah my son so this it's a
goldfish oh this my son he eats with me
at the table the that he has a bedroom
in the house and according to the new
adoption laws that they've just passed
in England very liberal he coming
through next week he's my son now you
would say look that's a fish you're a
human being you can't have the fish as
your son because the fish is not like
you but let me ask another question then
how is a human being like God the human
beings who are specks on an earth that
is a speck in fact isn't it true that I
am actually more like a fish than I'm
like God isn't it true that any human
being has
more similarity to a fish than they have
to God you see the fish is born and the
fish dies human beings are born and
human beings die the fish need to eat
and they need to get rid of what they
eat human beings need to eat and they
get rid of what they eat right the limit
the vision of the fish is limited
my vision is limited the fish can only
remember so much I can only remember so
much my knowledge is limited
my powers are limited my ability is
limited this is what I share in common
with the fish whereas God his seeing is
without limits his knowledge is perfect
God is never born and God never ties God
is eternal how am I like God in what way
am I like God even a fish maybe not a
fish but certainly an animal can even
show compassion to its child I don't
know I saw the most remarkable program
nature program I can't even remember
where I saw it and I was absolutely
transfixed it was about the with the
crossing in the Serengeti so you have
two parts you have Masai Mara and you
have it's the plains where all animals
are in Kenya and Tanzania and there's
this famous place where there wildebeest
and all if that not just a Willoughby's
all the animals the zebras their
wildebeest they cross the river and the
crocodiles get them you must have seen
that amazing thing
there was one and they were following
this one baby wildebeest was crossing
with its mother and we know how the
prophet salallahu alayhi wasalam said
that you know that Allah has divided his
mercy into 100 parts one part he put on
this earth now the one part of Allah's
mercy is even so that the love that the
the mother has for the child right and
and I saw in this thing how this baby
wildebeest couldn't climb up to the
other side
he couldn't this baby wildebeest could
not reach to the other side of the river
and in fact climbing it fell down and it
ended up being washed down the street
somehow
get out didn't eat it and it ended up
going right back to the other side the
mother had made it you know what this
mother did you know what the mother
wildebeest did she went back across the
river she went back across the river
facing the hippopotamuses right which
were attacking them the crocodiles which
were eating them did she care no she
went right back across to go after her
little baby that is the compassion in an
animal in a creature so even animals can
have compassion doesn't make them divine
so what do we mean son of God what does
this mean again no we are creatures of
God we are the creatures of God we are
the servants of God these all of this is
to show us look at the things that
people worship look at the things they
put their faith in there so these are
the false gods none of these things are
truly worthy of us worshipping them now
I've got two more things that I want to
mention only two more things and I won't
dwell on them for long but two more
categories
the next category I want to deal with is
race tribalism this is a full spot as
well and the people that are used in the
Quran as an example they're not the only
people who have this quality but the
ones the who are used in as example for
this are the Jews because amongst them
are many who think that they are better
purely because of being a Jew it's
racism they think they are God's chosen
favored people purely by virtue of their
ancestry and God refused this utterly
and completely in the Koran and it has
been completely and utterly refuted by
the Prophet Muhammad
no human-being is better than another
human being based upon who they are
descended from and of course the Jews
are not the only people who suffer this
delusion and of course I mean to say by
the way not all the Jews because a true
pious Jew would never believe such a
thing but in fact the Prophet Muhammad
said that you Muslims the ones that you
Muslims you resemble mostly you have the
closest resemblance to are the children
of Israel you are most like them and you
find unfortunately many Muslims have the
same idea I am better because my
ancestors were Muslim not because of me
and that what sort of Muslim I am and
how I follow my religion no - what do
you know you're a new Muslim I mean this
is what I've seen it myself firsthand
twenty years I've been a Muslim and I
experienced a lot of it from the Muslim
community what do you know you're a new
Muslim my ancestors were Muslims my
great great great whatever as if so what
what's that got to do with anything
subhanAllah the prophet muhammad
sallallahu alayhi wasalam he said the
first time he publicly called people to
islam he called the different tribes
these tribes who he was related to he
called his own tribe even his own
daughter his own daughter fatima he said
I cannot help you at all against Allah
meaning you being my daughter will not
help you one single little bit against
Allah when you meet Allah the fact that
you're my daughter is not going to help
you if that's Fatima the daughter of
Prophet Muhammad how about everybody
else sallallahoalyhiwasallam
but this is a delusion many people
suffer this delusion racism we're better
because we're British get rid of the
pakis get rid of their get them
out
yeah Britain will be great again yeah
you've heard all of that haven't you I
think I could just imagine them cutting
I'm cutting and pasting that
yeah racist Muslim BNP Muslim you know
oh you heard that
as if what being white makes you better
why what is better about being white or
being brown or being anything why would
a color of your skin have anything to do
with making you a better person but
there are many people who suffer this
delusion and it is a type of idolatry
it's a type of it's a type of false
God because that's what they think
you see these BMP nazi people imagine
right that when we get rid of such and
such undesirable people everyone who's
not white who's not British
when we get rid of them we will be great
and we will be successful so they
imagine that being British is the way
that you get what you want and get what
you need it's a god becomes a religion
think about that when they call us to
Britishness and most of what they say is
perfectly acceptable hamdulillah
you know tolerance and you know and
decency and you know Fairplay and those
are the things that you know the good
qualities we think and cueing you know
being polite Oh seriously those are good
qualities you know there's a few other
qualities though however we could say
are not such good qualities and there's
the ones that Muslims tend to have
problems with you know emerging at two
o'clock in the morning from pubs and
nightclubs and puking up and fighting
and you know and a whole bunch of other
things that really are not really
desirable even from the point of view of
being a policeman those things are not
very desirable and that's quite
widespread unfortunately even in Europe
British people have got the reputation
of being jobs and it's not me it's not
what I said it's what they said in the
British newspapers even so the point
being that your race has got nothing to
do with it okay it's not only of course
the Bene Israel or the Jews who have
that attitude lots of people have it
okay and it's a full Scott now the final
thing is the biggest false god of all
the longest-running
the biggest one the most worshipped one
and that is the god of materialism the
idea that science power wealth
technology these are the things that are
going to make you successful in life I
wonder do I I didn't bring it with me
did anyone see the newspaper today the
the London paper or whatever is oh you
know it was High Wycombe of course but
right the faux you'll read about it
tomorrow I'm sure
Robbie Williams yeah how much does that
money is that guy earn thirty million a
year or a day and he is on anti
depressants he's just gone into a clinic
and we are being told every day we need
to be wealthier as this country we need
to be richer money money money work
harder make more money
what it do for him his thirty million a
year
does wealth equal happiness put that on
a broad scale because we are being told
you know we can all live the American
dream no we can't if every human being
on this planet lived the way an American
the average American the average
American if every human being lived the
way an average American lived we would
need something like three and a half
planets in order to be able to provide
all the resources for that
that's the footprint of your average
American they say you he is consuming
that you would need three and a half
planets for every human being to live
the way you live
you'd need three and a half planets you
can't all live the American dream to
claim that we can all enjoy our lives
materialistically is a lie
and that and the claim that it is that
way to success is a falsehood the idea
that science will produce the solutions
Tony Blair right here we can
with global warming the biggest
catastrophe the chief scientists in this
country said forget terrorism the worst
disaster that is going to hit the world
is global warming it's gonna make
terrorism look like nothing I don't
notice any war on global warming
a few little cries Hill we need to
reduce a few carbon emissions but not on
my holiday yeah right yes but we're
ready to send soldiers to die in Iraq to
fight terrorism which isn't even there
anyway in the first place
you know doesn't that make you think
just a little bit the really dangerous
things in the world okay
global warming chief scientist that's
what he's saying but how much effort are
we ready to expend upon that we're ready
to spend a lot of effort fighting a few
let's be honest a few crazed individuals
because that's really what they are I'm
not saying they haven't got reasons to
be mad but they're not good enough
reasons to go around blowing up with
many children so they are crazed sorry
but that's the fact yet all of this
effort all of these laws being passed so
many laws restricting our freedoms
indefinite detention because you might
be suspected somehow of encouraging
somebody in some particular way of you
know and so on and so forth stripping
away our freedoms in the name of
protecting our freedoms ok you know we
should think about this what's it all
really about but you know what the truth
is science is not going to find the
answer and if you think we're the first
people who thought that we're not
believe me every civilization you can
look the Romans the Greeks the
Babylonians the Byzantines the Chaldeans
you've ever heard of the Chaldeans by
the way anyone who does anyone speak
today do you know child Ian used to be
spoken virtually across the world did
you know that rather like English is
today they used to have schools across
the world too so people could learn
child ear this was in ancient times this
is how influential the Chaldeans were
and now you haven't even heard of them
you haven't even heard of them you know
one day I'll you know what I suggest
you'll have to go far go up drive up to
the north of England and go and stand on
Hadrian's Wall still there little bits
of it Hadrian's Wall I used to do that
quite often and then I would stand
Hadrian's Wall I wouldn't look north up
to Scotland I'd look south and I think
you know what once upon a time a Roman
Legionnaire stood right here and he
probably thought to himself as far as I
can travel and as far as I can go is
Rome the Empire of Rome was left of the
Empire of Rome what's left of Greece of
Babylon of ancient Egypt Allah says in
the Quran traveled the earth and see
what happened to those people see what
happened to those civilizations and
believe me you study they thought they
had all the answers they thought their
technology their science their industry
they thought that they were masters of
everything but what is left that is the
pipe dream of materialism it is the pipe
dream the full Scot the biggest false
god of all the idea that in money and
wealth and science and technology is the
true answer to all of our problems in it
we put our faith in our trust see on the
dollar bill in god we trust' should be
in this dollar bill we trust this is the
god wall be the prophet said to the
worshipper of the dinar and the Derham
because you can worship money just like
anything else
that's really the end of my talk except
for one final and very important thing
that I want you to think about and this
I hope is the conclusion okay the final
thing is when we talk about knowledge
when we talk about knowing something
okay
most of us think and imagine it means
the thinking process but let me give you
an example imagine this is very hot red
hot yeah if I pick it
what do I do do do I have to think about
dropping that thing do I think about it
or do I just
what is it cool when I just go like that
what do we call it it's a instincts it's
an instinct an instinctive reaction but
isn't that a type of knowledge also
imagine if we didn't have those
instinctive reactions imagine if we have
to actually think wait a minute
this is hot oh you know the by the time
we'd actually thought about it there's a
reason why it happens instinctively and
there's a type of knowledge an essential
type of knowledge for our survival
scientists would say we have evolved it
but you know there's another very
interesting type of instinctive
knowledge and you only find the people
who really talk about it are Muslims
it's the same like when you pick up
something very hot when human beings are
in a condition of extreme distress I
don't mean like a little bit warm but
extreme distress and the Quran gives the
example of a boat that is on the sea and
imagine the waves are crashing over this
boat like the roof of a tent this is how
the waves are this storm and the people
know that they are about to be doomed so
now what you know the captain is not
gonna save them the captain's been
washed overboard the technology is not
going to save them but boat itself is
breaking up do people think their money
is going to help them
their British passport is that going to
help them their caste the color of their
skin the tribe they're from all those
gods all those things that they put
their faith and they put their hope and
they put their trust in they forget them
and what do they do they start calling
upon that one being that they know
instinctively they know it is knowledge
from inside themselves that there is one
being this being is not anything in this
universe nor this being has power over
everything in the universe it's not the
name here that is important but the one
they are calling to is truly Allah it's
truly the Creator the one who has power
over all things and then Allah asks them
and you know that that's true every
human being they know in their heart
that that is true then why in that
moment when you have complete faith in
Allah why then do you put your faith in
your trust in your hope in other than
Allah why do you worship other than your
Lord because ultimately all those things
they Awful's because at that moment the
one that you rely upon and hope in
completely and utterly is Allah the
Creator alone this is the beautiful
simple message of Islam this is the
beautiful simple message of Muhammad
sallallahu alayhi wasallam of Jesus the
true message of Jesus alayhis-salam of
Musa the true message of Moses
alayhis-salam of Abraham and they his
Salam this is the true message of all
the prophets that we should abandon the
worship the false gods and in fact we
should worship the one true God which is
allah subhana wa ta'ala brothers and
sisters jazakallah khair the talk went
on really quite long inshallah physical
affair for listening I hope we
benefited from it assalamualaikum
warahmatullahi wabarakatu may god's
peace and blessings be upon you all and
may Allah guide all of us closer to the
truth