alhamdulillah peace be unto you welcome
to the dean show if you're in Chicago
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tune in to the Deen show.com of our
shows are there we like to help bring
out and help you understand Islam which
is the fastest growing way of life and
we bring on guests from all around the
globe we're at the Journey of Faith and
when we come back we're going to be
helping you giving you some techniques
talking about the importance of seeking
knowledge the benefits some of the
techniques so you do not want to go
anywhere we'll be right back with our
next guest shik wed Abdul Hakim here on
the dean show
Allah there's only one God and muhamad
is his messenger
Allah
Allah there's only one God and Jesus was
his messenger
Allah I don't know why I did that maybe
maybe it's just to break the ice
allum peace be unto you peace be onto
you too thank you very much you're
welcome for being with us thank you it's
my pleasure actually uh may Allah reward
you for coming all the way from Chicago
you too and you're welcome in Toronto
thank you very much it's a pleasure to
be here we want to talk about something
that's very important seeking knowledge
we want to be those who are on the
higher levels so we want to worship our
creator properly and you need the
knowledge yes
umul I start with the name of Allah
subhah waala the
glorified um people always ask about
what is the best way or how can I go to
the highest level of
paradise and if you think about it
logically if we think about it the
person could for example they could pray
all their lifelong they could fast every
day of their life they could uh go every
single year to the pilgrimage to Hajj
they could become rich and then spend
all their money but really again this is
limited because the person is limited by
the time of their death the average
person the prophet peace be upon him
told us that the average person's life
uh from among his nation is between 60
and 70 years so how within that lifetime
the person could go to the highest level
of
paradise uh our Prophet PE him taught us
that if
someone if someone who seek knowledge
taught someone else for example how to
pray then every single time this person
prays the the person whom he taught the
other person who taught him would get
the reward for it so if I teach 100
people how to pray and they're praying
all their life on the day of judgment in
my scale if Allah Wills I will have the
reward of all the prayers they did
combined so that that way I'm getting
several lifetimes of Deeds just by
teaching people knowledge and for that
reason the person one of the best ways
to go to the highest level of paradise
is the person seeks knowledge and
teaches it to people now you you
actually have an impressive resume I
mean you are somebody who's been
studying Islam for about 20 years is
that correct in Saudi Arabia some of it
was I was in an elementary school and it
was an Islamic school in Saudi Arabia
which has a little bit different
curriculum than the regular school uh
over there and then uh Al alah thanks to
Allah after that I graduated and I went
to study in in the university and also
as you know uh because it is mainly the
country where Islam started that there
are there are so many almost in every
mosque there is always lessons of
knowledge by what some of the best
scholars in the world so alhamdulillah
the poor slave of Allah that Allah
decreed for him to be there that uh I
was able to benefit and take advantage I
think I I did from over there Al we got
two poor slaves right here poor slaves
of the
all we're proud to be slaves of the
Creator and not slaves to the material
world that's a beautiful thing isn't it
absolutely we are all slaves of Allah
and and this is something we were taught
that the person uh would try to refrain
from the using the word I as much as
possible so they wouldn't be U bragging
it's it's more that everything good
happened to us is because Allah has
decreed it and has given it to us as um
a benefit and as as from His blessings
and we are here to learn and it's a
blessing to have individuals such as
yourself that we can learn from and then
we can put it out to the whole world
that they can benefit from this
knowledge that you have gained
alhamdulillah all praises to the creator
of heavens and earth now also tell us
you have a master's degree in Islamic
Studies I I'm still working on a
master's degree in Islamic Studies uh I
finished alhamdulillah thanks to Allah I
finished a master's degree in life
skills training great so we're going to
be getting some good advice inshallah
from somebody who knows this Dean this
way of life tell us now we have so many
people embracing Islam embracing that
way of total submission surrender not to
a man to a woman but the one who created
man and woman the creator of the heavens
and earth yes so
now it's very important that people
they've realized that I don't want to
worship anyone but the Creator and
Muhammad peace be upon Him is the last
and final messenger just like Jesus
Moses Noah and all the other the
prophets that preceded him they were
Messengers they were the ones they were
the way the truth and the light showing
us how to worship the Creator correctly
this way of life has been saved MH we
have everything that we need to learn we
don't have to invent things and make up
things on our own so tell us for that
person and even people who've
been in this way of life but now they've
been procrastinating a little bit we
want to create this enthusiasm and show
us the proper way how to start let's say
someone just took
yes they just took this testimony of
Faith they're a Muslim now yes what are
the steps cuz I see a lot of people they
come into it and they still haven't even
established the prayer yes so what are
the some of the te techniques because it
can be overwhelming at times it's so
much knowledge how much a day how much
do you take in so you don't overburden
yourself talk to us about this please
absolutely and if you allow me I would
rewind just a little bit before what
about someone before they accept Islam
or know about Islam seeking knowledge is
for everyone not just for Muslims and
what I want to say is the person first
of all you mentioned procrastination
this is something the person should not
procrastinate upon because if the time
of your death comes that's it for you
that's the end of it you're you're in
this life to be tested and how would I
know from all the religions around the
world we you have Islam Christianity
Judaism Buddhism all these religions and
and too many choices how could the
person know what is the right religion
and what and that comes by seeking
knowledge because we have to know that
Allah our creator is just and he
wouldn't just let people in confusion
about the different religions there must
be there has to be a religion that is
the correct religion among all of these
otherwise the people would not know how
to worship their creator and the the
only way the person would know what is
this religion is they have to go and
investigate they should take some part
of their life and do this as soon as
possible and try to learn as as much as
they can about different religions and
then they would make the choice and I
know that if a person sincerely does
this without any bias that they would
find the message of worshiping Allah
alone and submitting to him which we
call Islam and which was the same
religion for all for before the religion
of of of uh Prophet Muhammad the
religion of Jesus peace be upon him and
Moses and everyone now coming to your
question about the new Muslim who just
accepted Islam tell me one thing before
you go on tell us I want to just ask you
one question in relating to this we
don't have to rewind again yes does
Islam encourage someone who now might
have been brought up as a Christian as a
Hindu and you know what they're saying
that this whole man God thing that God
is a man God died for my sins or that
the multitude of gods it doesn't make
sense doesn't go with my nature does
Islam encourage that people investigate
that do we say Islam is it and that's it
I can't look at anything else or does
Islam encourage that go ahead look at
everything else and you'll find out by
looking at these things that that's not
the truth that this is what would be the
most rational logical and provides the
most most evidence can a person do that
the person Allah when he sent the Quran
yes the message the message there is is
is logical and at the same time it's
challenging the person it actually it
tells the person go and search oh yeah
go and search and go and see and and you
will find for yourself that for example
when God challenges them could you bring
even one verse by your own first he
challenges them to bring a book like the
Quran then could you bring one verse
like this so the person is being
challenged and in fact the person is is
ordered to reflect and to try to arrive
at the correct solution at the the the
uh solution that will save him on the
day of judgment which is worshiping God
Alone Now the person obviously if we
have several religions we can't say
they're all right at the same time it's
impossible because logically if someone
says something this piece of U paper is
white and someone else says it's black
and it only has one color it either it
it could be either be that color or this
color one is right one is wrong one is
right it can they can be so if if if one
religion tells me that uh a man was or
Jesus people upon him was was a
messenger another religion says it's God
and they're contradicting each other one
of them has to be right they can't be
both right we can't say all religions
are right so the question now is logic
if if we're going to speak logically
it's either um you they're either all
wrong or one of them has to be right
there is no other uh third argument so
in that case what is the right one the
person has to uh do a a search and learn
the knowledge of of several and then
they would as I said because God is just
they would if they are sincerely doing
this without any bias they would have to
find what is the correct religion now if
a person says you know what all
religions are the same what do you
respond to this with they say they're
all this is all man-made well one of the
claims that we hear often is that all
religions preach good so it doesn't
matter if I follow one or the other but
really upon examining the religions more
thoroughly we would see that yes all
religions maybe will tell you uh don't
lie don't steal but how what's the
correct
solution how could we achieve a society
that would not do all these wrongdoings
there has to be a system and this system
we have to take it as a whole We Can't
Break one part of it and do the other
so in this case uh if if someone tells
about uh for example uh Islam about the
punishment for for thieves someone might
say well this is Injustice but wait a
minute what about first the zaka which
was it is the the charity that the
person has to give it's an obligation on
him to give every year that is enough
they said it's enough to fulfill all the
the poverty in the world which was
calculated to be close to 22% the same
the same that is dictated in Islam so we
have to apply it as a system and Islam
is different because it gives you a
solution it doesn't just tell you this
thing is wrong stay away from it or this
thing is right it's a whole system that
works and it has worked it has been
tested it's not something we're going to
test and see if it works or not and we
see this when when Islam wanted to uh
make uh alcohol forbidden because it it
causes as you see it's the number one
cause of crime in in in the developed
country and in the world
so if the person uh they tried in the
United States in in close to the 30s
they tried for several years to ban it
and people protested and did all these
things and it didn't stop them but Islam
in a three-stage process it was able it
made people from within themselves stop
completely to drink yeah so that way
Islam shows us that it has the solutions
it doesn't just tell you this is wrong
or this is right it gives practical
solutions for practical problems that
are going on it makes sense yes and
there there is no problem except there
is a solution for it in either you find
it in the Quran or the book of the
Muslims or the the Sunnah the the
narrations of the Prophet or it is
derived from these two sources by
analogy now I was told you were actually
born in the US I was born yes in laning
Michigan laning Michigan and now you
live in Canada now I live in Canada I
moved recently to Canada I was in U uh
Ohio about uh two years ago and I just
moved to Canada recently okay tell us
now this is very interesting so if a
person goes out he's sincere he wants to
know the truth he asked the Creator
guide me I want to know my purpose in
life and he starts to investigate
eventually he'll be guided to Islam
surrender and submission to the creator
of the heavens and earth without any
Associates makes sense huh absolutely
because because once you compare and you
see this was the only religion in the
world that was preserved and in fact
look at any uh scripture and this is not
our sayings the people for who follow
those religions they say that the
scriptures has been modified in one way
or the other where the Quran we have it
in its entirety letter for letter word
for word dot for DOT it's saved it's not
corrupted it's not altered edited by man
it's not edited by man at all we do have
a translations is something different
where someone is translating their
thoughts but we have the original the
original was not lost like many other
religions we have the original in the
Arabic language in its entirety so when
the Muslims those who have submitted
themselves to their cre say that we have
a living Miracle yes give us another
point because you just told us about
this miraculous nature that people can
go and check the authenticity of this
book tell us something else that comes
to mind for someone who's maybe involved
in science or something tangible that he
can go test this with yes first if we
talk about a miracle notice that all
prophets and all Messengers sent by God
uh peace on them peace be upon them they
were they they they came with a miracle
so that people would know if they are
genuine Prophet or not now all those
Miracles we haven't witnessed any of
them and there is only one of them left
for example you could tell me about uh
the division of the sea that happened
that was the miracle of Moses peace be
upon him you could tell me about the
miracles of Jesus or someone else but I
didn't see them mhm so for me that's not
a proof because I didn't see them and
had the Quran did not tell me about it I
wouldn't believe it but this because the
Quran told may I believe it now for a
person who's living now and there is no
more prophets coming how would I know if
Islam was the genuine religion that's
why for that reason God the final
Miracle is is the Quran the word of God
it's preserved so that all the nations
that would come after would be able to
be guided to the correct religion so
this is a miracle that lives on forever
now now in terms of the Miracles in the
Quran there was so many types for so
many different people there is is
logical uh Miracles there is linguistic
Miracles there is even laws of society
miracles in the laws of society there is
scientific Miracles and the person could
easily search for for these Miracles
either through a book or through the
internet now there's no excuse for
anyone not to seek the knowledge
knowledge now is just a few clicks away
from you so go and SE it from authentic
sources and see where there's this is
going to guide you and and try to ask
put some questions that you have about
the purpose of life and all these things
and try to do maybe you could put it
even in in in a sheet or Excel file try
to compare this religion says this this
religion says this and then at the end
see which one is the one that is
compatible the one that is more logical
the one that is is has no mistakes here
and there you cannot find any mistake in
the Quran as God challenge can't have no
contradiction because has one mistake it
can be from the Creator yes if it has
even one mistake it's not from the
Creator absolutely people already are
benefiting from this knowledge God
willing and this is the importance of
gaining knowledge because now many
people if they're sincere they're going
to be enlightened and hopefully God
willing they're going to continue on
coming back every week and doing some
more investigating now tell us for those
who have we did a reverse now we're
going to come back to where we were
those that have acknowledged that there
is no deity worthy of worship except the
creator of the heavens and earth in
Arabic we say Allah yes and then
Muhammad is the last and final messenger
and then you accept when you make this
statement Jesus Moses and all the other
Messengers because God Almighty sent the
same message submit to him alone yes and
this is summed up with one word Islam
isn't it yes Islam means so now tell us
for that person who has taken the first
step some people they drift off there's
a lot of delights a lot of distractions
of this world and they don't continue on
seeking knowledge or sometimes we get
forgetful give us some advice for those
who have come to this
realization give us some practical tips
I'll give you exactly a narration
from the prophet peace be upon him that
this actually tells us exactly where the
person who newly became Muslim and
accepted the message how they would
start in their seeking knowledge the
prophet peace be upon Him sent the
companion mu Jael he sent him to at that
time the country of Yemen yes and he
wanted him they were recently becoming
Muslims and he wanted to give them a
guideline so he told him this is your
mission first go to them I'm just I'm
just translating or elaborating on on
the Hadith not doing a literal
translation he said go to the people of
Yemen and teach them and tell them the
first thing which is what we call the
shahada that there is no no true God
except Allah and that Muhammad is his
messenger and if and only if if they
follow you in this statement then the
next step is tell them that God has
decreed on them five prayers that they
must establish in the day and in the
night five times a day the Muslims pray
and this is what we call is is this is
uh the the pillar of Islam because this
is as they say this is the pass or fail
Criterion if you pray you will then
based on your other Deeds you may go to
paradise or go partially in hell for any
um sins that you did that were
Unforgiven or major sins and then you go
to paradise but if you didn't pray then
you you're not guaranteed the Salvation
yes and then if they follow you in this
then tell them that God has ordered you
to give a percentage of your money to
the poor not from your income of what
you make but the leftovers the end of
the year yes left over so I make 100,000
and I spent it all I don't have to give
anything but I made less than that
50,000 and and at the end of the year I
have 10,000 left so that means that's
spare money that I don't need so only 2
and half% of that amount I would give to
the poor which is very little very easy
and if they do this then tell them that
God has decreed on them to fast one
month a year which is the month of uh
Ramadan from uh down to Sunset which is
which puts there's a lot of benefits for
it that's not the focus of our talk but
it it's it's it's a training for
self-discipline for the person when the
person learns how to stop and do
something that is permissible which is
uh food and drink you learn for 30 days
stop go stop go this in the same way you
able to do this then you are even more
trained to do that with things that are
unlawful or unper permissible I could
easily stop myself from stealing from
doing adultery from doing anything else
because I trained for something that is
even permissible and then if they do
that then the the the last pillar which
is the pilgrimage once in your lifetime
you go to Mecca if you could afford it
and if you have the necessary uh
conditions to do it if if you can't
afford it it drops from you so it's a
very simple religion to follow these are
the five main pillars and you just have
to stay away from the unlawful anything
more than that is to increase your level
in Paradise now after this shahada the
testimony the swearing about no other
deity but the one true God Allah and
Muhammad is the last and final messenger
and the prayer comes next this is very
important what should a new mus
do as far as the prayer does he have to
instantly know everything the opening
chapter the what to say in prostration
or does he just have to go through the
movements give us some techniques on a
daily regimen how much time should he
spend learning the prayer should he
start learning the prayer right away
tell us how he should set it up so he
can have something more structured so
it's easier on him now to elaborate on
on what I just said the same steps in in
and that were mentioned in the narration
are the same steps for the person when
they start seeking knowledge once they
know the correct religion and the
correct concept of God they learn about
the prayer and Allah has told us in the
Quran that the person that Allah does
not decree on the person what they are
not able to do so there's no excuse now
I got work I got college that it's too
hard there's no excuse plus the person
could learn step by step if something
they can't learn or can't grasp now they
could learn it step by step there is
there is no force in this the person
just has to try their best they would
first learn how how to pray which is
something very simple they would learn
the movements they would learn just a
few words they could do it in in their
language until they learn how to recite
it in in Arabic very simple short
passages they would know the meaning of
it outside of their prayer their Salah
they could pray to God directly in
whatever language they want but inside
and also this is a symbol because this
is the religion uh the language of the
religion to be preserved that the person
has to know just just minimum just
enough so that they would be tied to the
original message the original language
this is not a language that died like
Latin or anything else this is a
language that is still alive and spoken
by Spoken as the first language by a
quarter uh billion people and spoken as
a second language by at least 1 billion
people so this is a miracle in itself
that you're learning the original
language that the message was revealed
in because we don't have the original
message that was revealed to Jesus peace
or Moses they didn't speak English did
they no no so now as soon as you
translate it over to another language
you lose the meaning and a lot of things
so you're learning the original language
that it was revealed in step by step and
we have to know when we read a
translation we're reading the
understanding of that translator that
person of the message which could be a
it could be accurate could be a little
bit inaccurate it could be they're
they're translating from one perspective
someone else translate from a different
perspective but when you have the
original anyone who challenges me about
uh or challenges the person about the
translation we could go back to the
original and see what did this language
mean and since people still speak Arabic
until today it's very easy to check this
so we would know how this message is
applied something that is very beautiful
about the Quran is God has made it so
that the religion is applicable in every
time in the place in the past now and in
the future we have fixed parts uh fixed
laws these will not change with time
stealing was was wrong and unlawful it
will always be unlawful it's not going
to change in the future and become
lawful however we also have flexible
parts of the religion
that that could be uh adapted to the in
to the place where people are and to the
time so for example the laws of buying
and selling now in the past we were
using gold and silver now we could use
uh papers we could use checks these are
are are very flexible because they are
applied within culture the clothing we
have General outline but also there is a
cultural element in it the person could
wear whatever is people were in their
region so that's why this is why this
religion is appliable in all times and
all places because you have the fixed
part which doesn't change and you have
the part that could be adaptable and how
do we adapt it not to our whs and
desires we go back to the original
message in Arabic and see could we take
that ruling out of that verse or that
Hadith or not this is amazing another
proof AB proof that this is the way of
life
that is left for all of mankind until
the day of judgment couple more points
yes before we come to an end the
benefits some of the benefits and some
of the good things the wisdom that comes
from establishing this prayer can you
talk about this quickly establishing
this prayer is this is the connection
with God and the person because they
have to face God they have to stand in
front of God five times a day so I know
I can't really do anything in between
that is unlawful how am I going to do
something that is wrong how am I going
to steal how am I going to look at
something I shouldn't look at or or do
adultery or anything when I know that
just a couple of hours I'm I'm going to
stand in front of God how am I even
going to have that face so so by
establishing the prayer on time uh I'm
having the self-discipline of time I'm
also having reminding myself always my
connection with God that I shouldn't do
something wrong I might fool people when
there is no cameras there is nothing I
could do whatever I want in a locked
room but God is watching me MH so I know
this because I'm going to stand in front
of him that's number one number two it's
also it's it's a way of uniting us all
we're all praying towards the same place
Mecca we're all we come five times and
we go to at least the the men they go to
the uh to the mosque to to the house of
worship and they meet meet each other
and they ask about each other how's your
family if someone is missing I would
know that this person uh might be sick I
have to go and visit them uh I I I would
establish those ties family community
the family and the community and then on
a bigger scale uh the Friday prayer
which is the special uh Friday prayer
prayer with the speech and then even on
a bigger scale in Haj and pilgrimage
people come from all over the world to
meet in this one place from all
different races so by establishing the
prayer this reflects on my whole life my
connection with God it also makes me
feel safe that whatever bad things
happen to me in this world I still have
my connection with God so I know that no
matter what happens I'm going to be
compensated on the day of judgment but
if I don't establish the prayer I don't
know I I've just cut my relationship
with God yeah and this is if I cut my
relationship with God how am I going to
feel safe I'm driving I'm going to be
scared all the time that you know I'm
fall into an accident and
die and I'm not guaranteed salvation so
that's the problem so salvation when you
establish the prayer when I say
salvation I have to Define it so so our
non-muslim uh audience would not
misunderstand
every Muslim who accepts Islam and
accepts that there is no God but the
true God will be guaranteed salvation
meaning they will go to paradise as long
as they don't associate or worship
someone else with God however going to
Paradise directly is another story if I
if I become Muslim and I'm still a bad
person doing all wrong things no I'll
have to get punished in Hell Fire
eventually I will go to paradise because
I accepted the message but I'm not
guaranteed to go directly unless I
become
a very good person in my whole life and
this is really different than when we
say that someone died for your sins all
your sins are forgiven automatically and
then I could do whatever I want yeah so
this is different being a Muslim makes
me want to reach perfection in every
single aspect of my life so establishing
the truth and then acting upon it doing
the good that the Creator told you to do
your whole life self-development yes a
self-development plus I'm not just it's
not one paradise fits all no I I want to
get there's different levels for
different if I work hard and someone
else is is procrastinating or lazy it
wouldn't I I can't say what's just and
what not to God but the person would
deserve to get something better on the
day of Jud so higher rankings so higher
rankings so that's why I want to reach
perfection in everything in my work with
my relationship with my wife and
children and parents and family and with
my brothers and sisters from Islam I
want to reach perfection in every single
uh part of my life to be able to deserve
to go to that highest level in Paradise
absolutely thank you very much tell us
where people can go to see some of your
lectures or to reach you if they need to
you have a website or you have cont
thank you very much we have uh Elm path
Elm is the Arabic word for for knowledge
I
LM paath P a.com one word and we are
launching this uh Institute here in
North America it's going to have both
courses on the spot in many major cities
and also online the courses of unath and
they will we have so far 18 8 courses
that will be offered within the next 3
years and this will be translated and
we're going to teach these courses all
over the world so I encourage you all to
come and learn from it and benefit from
it and you can find the lectures over
there as well may God Almighty Allah
reward you thank you very much thank you
very much thank you very much for being
with us for another episode of the dean
show you got to hear the Simplicity the
rationale behind this simple message
submit not to your desires not to a man
not to a monkey not to the Sun the moon
but the creator of the heavens and earth
establish a connection when you love
someone you want to talk to them talk to
your creator through the prayer tell
them your problems tell them your needs
because he's the only one that can
really bring Solace to the hearts and at
the end it's nothing less than Paradise
we hope to see you here next time again
on the dean show until then assalam
alaykum peace be unto
youal
name
and see what everyone's talking about
prove if you find one contradiction it
can't be from
God
but the rational idea the rational
explanation is you do your best give up
worshiping God as one I will never give
up spreading this message I hope that
you take that necessary step you don't
know if you're going to live till
tomorrow so you got to find that urgency
to do the right thing right
now the reality of Life usually doesn't
sink in until tragedy comes
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you get a few bad people the media grabs
a hold of that and Spins it the way they
want
to if you say that you do not believe in
Jesus you have stepped outside of Islam
you cannot be a Muslim is a tended our
faith
to it's cold it's
lame everybody
sleeping I
arise and ask Allah to forgive me oh
Allah you
see oh Allah you
know all the sins I
do I turn to you to forgive my sins in
my
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heart I'm your sinful
slave you're my Ling
Lord I'm the one who runs away
oh guide
me