We Begin by praising Allah we praise him
and we seek his help and we ask for his
forgiveness we seek Refuge with
Allah from the evil of ourselves and
from the evil consequences of our evil
actions
whomsoever Allah guides there is none to
misguide and whomsoever he leaves to go
astray there is none to
guide and I bear witness that Allah God
Alone is worthy of being woried and that
Muhammad May Allah's peace and blessings
be upon him he is the servant of God and
he is his final
messenger many people in the world
today view Islam and imagine that
Islam is a religion that
Advocates violence
terrorism many people imagine that Islam
is a
religion that
denies basic human
rights many people in the world
today have a very negative image of
Islam and the fact is that this negative
image is not greatly
helped by the behavior of Muslims which
very
often is not in accordance with the
teachings of
Islam however every reasonable
person every reasonable
person would realize that a
religion should not be
judged by the people or some people who
profess to be its
followers a religion should be
judged by its
teachings a religion should be judged
according to the actions and the
teachings of its
founder if some people who Pro profess
to be the followers of that religion
after many years and after a later time
have changed and
corrupted and diverted themselves away
from the true teachings of that religion
it is not fair to say therefore that
religion is bad therefore that religion
is
wrong no
reasonable sensible or rational person
would judge Christianity based upon the
actions
of the
IRA
or the
Conquistadors or the Spanish
Inquisition or Adolf
Hitler or any other person or any other
group of people who claim directly or
indirectly to belong to the Christian
faith
rather if you wanted to judge
Christianity you would go back and you
would see what are the teachings of its
founder what did the founding fathers of
that religion say and what did they
teach and then you would have to
criticize the religion if you wanted to
based upon
that this is the sensible rational
approach
sometimes when I hear people talking
about Islam on the news and in the
media when they accuse Islam of being a
religion that Advocates terrorism and
teaches
violence and we have many
images of
Muslims and in fact sometimes interviews
with Muslims sometimes they are people
who do not even have knowledge of the
religion
and I think to myself and I even say
this that I don't recognize this
religion which they are portraying as
being
Islam it doesn't seem to me that this is
the same religion that I am following it
seems to me as if they're talking about
something quite
different you and would imagine that the
basic teachings of Islam were about
killing and murdering and so on and so
on and so forth but what are the basic
teachings of
Islam what are they one might imagine
that Islam was a religion of Fanatics
and
fanaticism that it was not based in any
way or had no connection with reason
rationality and I think this is a view
that sometimes is purposely portrayed by
the
media but what are the basic teachings
of
Islam what are the basic fundamental
teachings of this religion let us
examine them and let us
see what re what Islam really teaches
what Islam really says the first and the
most important teaching in
Islam is its teaching about God
what does Islam teach about
God the Quran tells us and tells the
human
beings to observe to look at the world
around you to look at the universe
around you to look within
yourselves and in these things you will
find
signs clear signs for people who
reflect for people who have wisdom and
for people who
understand in the alternation of the
night and the
day in the ships which
Sail on the
ocean carried by the
winds in the rain that
falls in the crops and the different
fruits and the different food foods
which we
eat in these things and other things
there are
signs for those who are wise for those
who understand for those who
reflect signs of
what they are signs to show that there
is a Creator there is a lord there is a
sustainer that these things could not
have come into existence by
themselves because we don't
find in The Human
Experience something just coming from
nothing we don't find things just coming
from nothing we don't find order
spontaneously arising out of chaos
rather our Human Experience tells us us
that when we see something
ordered working
according to
laws working according to
patterns working in a system then our
Human Experience tells us again and
again and again that someone or
something has ordered it and systemized
it and made it work according to these
laws and
patterns
this is why an archaeologist can go into
the
desert and this archaeologist could find
a small piece of pottery a small piece
of
pottery but from this small piece of
pottery the archaeologist will tell us
so many
things he'll be able to tell us the
state of technological ability of the
society
and the people who made that Pottery why
because he will say in order to be able
to make the clay and to bake the clay
they must have been able to build ovens
and in order for the ovens to reach
sufficient sufficient temperature for
that clay to be baked they must have
been able to have this level of
technological ability and then he may
say and this clay we don't find it in
this area in fact this clay only comes
from a such and such place so many
hundreds of miles so we know they must
have some system of transportation and
then maybe the person could look at the
artwork or the writing and then more
things they could tell us about those
people who built this piece of pottery
who
made this clay and shaped it and
fashioned it so for this archaeologist
the existence of this piece of pottery
is a conclus clusive
proof of the existence of the people who
made it he doesn't need to see
them he doesn't need to see their town
he doesn't need to see their ovens he
doesn't need to see any of those things
the piece of pottery proves to him the
existence of these people and also
proves to him the state of their
knowledge and
intelligence that's why we look at
things
today
pieces of
incredible technologically complexed
machinery and that makes us understand
something about the level of scientific
knowledge and achievement of the society
that has made
them and
then if these things also not only are
functional but they are also
beautiful that they H they are
aesthetically
pleasing then we have a higher state of
appreciation of that
Society because not only do they have
technological
ability they have
qualities that appreciate Beauty and art
and so on and so on and so forth for to
us all of this is a
proof of the ex existence of the people
who made it of their knowledge and their
intelligence why because we don't find
something coming from nothing none of us
would believe that this glass
spontaneously came into existence
through a processes of chance and
coincidence even if we believed that for
example we claimed that this glass was
found in a volcanic area where there was
a volcano surrounded by sand and the
volcanic explosion heated up the sand
and a piece of glass which was formed
from the sand flew up into the air and
it came down and it landed and then the
rain fell and then the waves washed it
until eventually we had this glass
formed
here even no one will believe that it's
not
possible did anyone see a glass
perfectly formed by process of
coincidences or a motorc car or a
bicycle or even an ink
pen or a handkerchief
no rather when we see things ordered we
know that someone or something has
ordered them so then the Quran tells us
the Quran tells the human being look at
the world around you and you will see
everywhere order you will see things
working according to precise mechanisms
and the degree and the
sophistication of that
ordering is illustrative of the wisdom
and the knowledge and the power of the
one who made
it if we look to the
universe with its
galaxies its Stars its solar
systems how stars come into existence
how galaxies are formed how the universe
itself was
created if we look at our
Earth if we look at the alternation of
the night and the
day that we have a day which goes
through a period of 24 hours 24 hours
imagine for example just for imagine
that a day instead of being a day and a
night instead of being 24 hours was 30
years imagine the Earth spun so slowly
on its axis that it didn't take 24 hours
to go around that it in fact took 30
years to go around or 40 years or even
100 years so the Earth is moving very
very slowly what would happen the sun
would be constantly beating down for 15
years on one part of the Earth's surface
and it would become super heated another
part would become super cooled because
it would not be exposed to the Sun
therefore you would probably almost
definitely life could not
exist the composition of the gases in
our atmosphere oxygen nitrogen and
carbon
dioxide if there was not oxygen life
could not exist if it was pure oxygen
still life could not exist because pure
oxy oxygen is poisonous we need carbon
dioxide we also need nitrogen we need
the other gases there is a perfect
balance of gases there happens to be a
gas ozone very important gas we're all
learning about it now especially in
Australia they tell us about skin
cancer and the ozone layer is being
depleted the the ozone has an extremely
important role it filters out the
harmful effects of the sun's radiation
if there was no ozone layer what would
happen we would be bombarded with
harmful radiation life would not exist
imagine if the Earth was much closer to
the Sun or much further from the Sun
again too hot too cold in fact what we
find that our planet is a perfectly
balanced
mechanism more
intricate and more
delicate than the most sophisticated
mechanical
watches if we look at the human brain
the eyes the ears the lungs the the
heart the kidneys each of these things
are incredibly complex machines if we go
deeper and look on the microbiological
level we find that even the cell which
is the most basic building block of life
is incredibly complex it has been
compared to a mega City a huge
City a huge
City in fact if you were compare if you
were to compare the cell to a city that
human beings built the cell would
actually be more complex and more
sophisticated this cell has incredibly
complex mechanisms that allow nutrients
in and that allow waste products out but
does not allow harmful products in and
that keeps the beneficial products out
it has the means of reproducing
itself it has
factories that produce certain
substances because each cell has a
special task
and within the cell is a factory that
produces these substances breaking down
chemicals and reconstructing them this
is a cell the simplest building block of
life is incredibly
complexed what is there in the whole
totality of Human Experience to allow us
to believe that such a thing could be a
product of random
events the fact is that asking us to
believe that is not reasonable it is
irrational it does not fit with human
experience it is not reasonable it is
not rational rather it is rational and
reasonable to believe that there
is an intelligence a
power behind all of
this so it could not have created
itself this universe could not have
brought itself into
existence nor did it create create
itself the universe is not its own
Creator because we cannot attribute to
the universe and the things of the
Universe the power to create it is only
a collection of what stars and
galaxies and stars and galaxies do not
have the ability to bring things into
existence and to organize so it couldn't
have created itself nor could we be the
creators of it because we ourselves are
in need of a creator
and these are the rational arguments you
will find in the
Quran the Quran is the essential book
that is the
foundation of the religion of Islam so
in the Quran you find these beautiful
rational arguments observe look
think contemplate in the these things
you will find signs evidences for those
people who reflect for those people who
are wise for those people who
understand and if you think and you
reflect then you will realize that yes
this universe this universe it did not
create itself and it did not come from
nothing so it must have a Creator there
must be one that has brought this
universe into
existence
and the you and the creator of this
universe cannot be of the same nature as
the
universe the creator of the universe
must be
different because if the creator of the
universe was of the same nature as the
universe then it would also need a
Creator and then that Creator would also
need a Creator and you'll have creators
creating creators at infinum in fact you
would never get anything
created it is not reasonably possible so
the Creator must be different so as the
universe is temporary the Creator is
eternal as the universe is needy it's
needy it means it needs a Creator it
needs one to bring it into existence and
to make the laws through which and by
which it exists then the Creator must be
self-sufficient without any
needs and you could only have one such
Eternal self-sufficient Creator you
could not have two Eternal
self-sufficient
creators therefore what the Quran
teaches and this is what you will find
the Quran teaches fundamentally about
God that there is one God who is eternal
who is
self-sufficient who has bought this
universe into existence who has created
it and who sustains it and who maintains
it that this universe is not
God and God is not part of this universe
God is the creator of it nor does God
become something inside this universe
because that would contradict reason
that is an unreasonable and an
irrational claim that could never ever
be proven if anyone says God became a
man that is a claim that you can never
prove you can claim it you can say I
believe it but you can never prove it
because by
definition by definition the belief that
God became a man is something that
contradicts
reason because man is temporary man is
needy man breathes man man
eats man is born and man
dies but God is
eternal God does not need to eat God
does not need to drink God does not
breathe because God is self-sufficient
God does not have a beginning and God
does not have an
end so to say something is eternal and
temporary both at the same
time that something is infinite and
finite both at the same time that
something is Immortal and Mortal that is
self-sufficient and needy it's an
impossibility you are asking or the
person is claiming that two completely
opposite contradictory things exist at
the same
time and if you claim that then on what
basis can you ask people to even believe
in God in the first
place if you claim that then what is
your argument and what basis can you say
to people believe in
God because if you say believe in God
because it's rational then you demand
that they believe in something
irrational
then they will then question the very
belief in God in the first
place so it's not something that can
ever be proven it is only something that
can be
claimed and so therefore the first
Beauty and the first wonderful thing
about Islam is exactly this what Islam
teaches about God it is a belief that is
so pure it is so free from irrational
beliefs it is so completely in
accordance with reason and with the
natural disposition and the natural
inclination of the human
being we are not thought rather the
Quran
refutes any concept that God is a
trinity that God is three and God is one
know the Quran clearly
says do not say three do not say trinity
your God is one
God do not say
trinity
desist that will be better for you your
God is one God the Quran says about
those people who believe that for
example that Jesus Is God then the Quran
gives a beautiful rational argument to
appeal to the common sense and to the
nature of the human being it
says if God wanted to destroy Jesus and
Mary and everything in the heavens and
the Earth who could stop
him meaning Jesus and Mary and
everything in fact in the heavens and
the Earth is under the power and the
control of God and that that which is
under the power and the control of God
cannot be
God they ate food the Quran says they
walked on the streets the Quran says see
how we make our signs clear to them and
see how they are turned away from the
truth the Quran calls people away from
worshiping the things of this world
don't worship the son don't worship the
moon don't worship the Stars worship the
one who created the sun and the moon and
the stars all of these things have no
power and no strength of their own
rather all of their power and their
ability comes from God so worship the
one to whom all power and strength and
ability
lies why do you bow down and worship
idols that you yourself fashion with
your
hands and then you call upon them and
you seek their help but these things
could not even help
themselves if they fell down they
couldn't pick themselves
up if you smashed it they could not even
prevent you so how can you worship this
thing that has no power no ability it
cannot hear you it cannot benefit you it
cannot harm you it has no ability
whatsoever why do you worship these
things why do we worship each
other other human
beings that we allow other human
beings to forbid things for us which God
who is all wise and all knowing has
allowed and to allow for us things which
God who is all wise and all knowing has
has
forbidden where it is Allah God the
Creator he is the one who knows all
things and what the human beings know is
very very
little so the Quran is
appealing with beautiful wonderful
reasonable
arguments calling to something also not
only the mind but something that is deep
within the the human being a deep
knowledge a deep recognization a deep
recognition of this truth that it is God
alone the Creator alone that is worthy
of being worshiped that he is the Lord
the provider the
sustainer and this my dear listeners is
the first of the great wonders and the
beauty of Islam what Islam teaches about
God is there anything
irrational
fanatical unreasonable about
that is there anything unreasonable in
anything of that is there anything
irrational in anything of that no
rather the honest and sincere person
must admit that this is a very rational
and very reasonable
belief and this belief in fact is the
foundation of the teachings of Islam in
fact Islam is all about the human
being's relationship with
God what we should believe about God
what we should say about God and what we
should not say about God what we should
attribute to him and what we should not
attribute to him how should we worship
Him how should we seek his pleasure and
how should we a avoid his
wuth and then the Quran tells us
also that this life is not the only
life that there is another life to
come there is a time when every human
being will be recreated by God
physically as well as spiritually but
physically and that human beings from
the first to the last will be assembled
in front of God and he will judge them
he will judge them according to what
they believed and according to what they
did that every atom's weight of good
that we have done we will know about it
and every atoms weight of evil that we
have done we will know about
it you know it is one of the deepest and
most natural things within the human
human being is the desire for
justice one of the deepest and most
natural things within the human being is
the desire for justice to the extent
that to the extent that if a small
child a small child has something taken
away from
it it will
cry it will
cry if a small child has some injustice
done to it it will
complain even though this child has not
reached the age or the ability to
reason but something deep within the
Natural Instinct of the human being
craves for
justice but we look at this world in
which we live and we see very often it
seems as
if Justice is not
done that the powerful and the
rich get away with many evil criminal
acts and the poor and the weak and the
defenseless seem to
suffer that there are people who steal
and murder and commit the most atrocious
crimes in they seem to be living a life
of
luxury yet someone lives an honest
life yet they at the end of it seem to
get
nothing but if we look to this universe
and we go back as we began we will see
that in reality we have a world that is
so finely
balanced a universe that is clearly
working according to such precise laws
therefore it is something deep
deeply acceptable to the human mind and
to the human
nature that Justice will be done that
those people who committed crimes will
not
escape and those people who led good and
righteous lives will be rewarded
therefore the belief in the day of
judgment the day of accounting when the
guilty criminals will be punished and
the
righteous will be re
wed it is something that is deeply
attractive and satisfying to the human
mind and the human
instinct so the Quran
teaches the belief in the day of
judgment the place of punishment which
is the Hellfire for the
transgresses and the place of
reward for
the True Believers and righteous
people this is the fundamental teachings
of
Islam that in order to teach us how to
worship God in order in order that we
could know more about our
creator that we could know how to
worship Him how to thank him how to pray
to him how to praise him how to glorify
him what are the actions that God loves
from
us what is the way what is the purpose
of our
life this is one of the wonderful things
about
Islam and believe me I searched before I
became Muslim through many different
religions and I read about many
different philosophies
but one of the wonders of Islam is its
clear unequivocal
teaching about the purpose of the
existence of the human being and the
knowledge that has come from the Creator
the knowledge that has come from the
Creator think about this as an an
analogy imagine I
spend a great deal of money and I buy
myself myself a overhead projector or I
buy myself a new computer but I'm I'm
unfamiliar to this technology it's very
new it's very expensive I don't know how
to work
it or for example let me borrow your
mobile
phone this is a good example this mobile
phone now this is the brother's Abu
bakr's mobile phone phone but a friend
of mine he gave me a mobile phone he
wanted to keep in touch with me because
I'm hardly ever in the house he gave me
a mobile phone but he just gave me the
phone he didn't give me he just gave me
the phone I could figure out how to turn
it on and I could just about figure how
to dial a number imagine you spend what
how many dollars you going to spend for
this how many dollars he going to
spend 400 400
bucks
so imagine $400 it's a lot of money
right that's quite a lot of money 400
bucks so you buy this phone 400 bucks
and you get it it's made by you see
Ericson so you get the box and you open
it up okay maybe you switch it on and
you fiddle around with it and you said
there's supposed to be some games on
this and some stuff and so what do you
look for what are you looking for in the
package huh the
instructions the in so you pull out the
instructions and on the instruction
manual it's got
Sony wait a minute it's Erikson this is
an Ericson R
3110s you can drop it I know you told me
it still works but my instruction is for
a Sony 5217
Z I said that's no good I want the
instruction by the people who made this
phone for this
phone
yes isn't that what we
need you
see then this is the point we human
beings we are much more sophisticated
than a mobile
phone individually and
socially we are extremely
sophisticated if you ask most people
what is the purpose of your life they
won't even be able to tell you you they
will look blank they don't even know why
do they exist what is the purpose of
their
life many of them in reality what are
they if you ask them what's your mobile
phone they'll tell you what's your
camera for they'll tell you what are
your eyes for I know what my eyes are
for what are your ears for I
know what are you for why do you exist
what is the purpose of your
existence oh I don't know it's a good
question
very strange so really this is more
worth it has more worth than you because
you know what this is for but you don't
know what you are
for
yes
really so we need to know and this is a
very very deep desire the human being
really everybody is asking themselves
this
question everybody at different times in
their life asked himself why am I here
what is the purpose of my life what is
it all for most people they ask
themselves when things start to go wrong
you know the things that they really
attached themselves to their house their
girlfriend their whatever it was their
religion they find it was a false
religion or whatever the their their
party that their
government and they find they're so
corrupt and then they start asking what
is it all for why what's it all about
why am I
here
then from who do we want the answer do
we want the
answer from George
Bush did he create
us did
America create
us did the United Nations create
us did they create us did they make us
and bring us into
existence did Tony Blair and the house
of Parliament did they are they our
creators are they the ones who made us
but they all of them they write the
instructions they say you should do this
and you should do that and you shouldn't
do this and you shouldn't do that and
this is the way you should live and this
is what is good and this is what is evil
this is what is right and this is what
is wrong they are writing the
instructions but they themselves are in
need of
instruction I'm not
interested in their instructions I want
to know from the one who made
me I want the instruction manual from
the one who created me and brought me
into existence everything else is
worthless that's why God sent
prophets God sent prophets to teach us
how to
live according to the
way that is
God's way from his
knowledge God sent with these prophets
instruction manuals
books these books taught human beings
and gave the human beings the basic
outlines through which and by which not
only the basic outlines but in many
respects
details how to live in a manner that is
pleasing to
God
it makes sense that if we have a
Creator and we don't know what is the
purpose of our
life that God will send us
instructions prophets and these prophets
were who Ordinary People just anybody no
the prophets were special people people
who were themselves type of proof and
evidence but they were messengers of God
why because of their character because
of their personality because of their
truthfulness their
trustworthiness they were the people of
the most outstanding Noble
characteristics truthfulness and
trustworthiness as someone said for
example if the man used to be a thief he
said I know you used to be a thief and
now you're trying to steal my soul as
well
you know even if everything he says is
right the person will go I know what you
you're like that's how you are but the
prophets therefore were not like that
they were people of the most excellent
if you examine the character of the
prophets itself will be a type of means
for you to be
convinced that they are messengers from
God indeed this is one of the wonders of
Islam that Allah sent a messenger
Muhammad May Allah's peace and blessings
be upon him sallallahu alaihi wasallam
this man if you were to read and
Research into his life and his teachings
and his morals and his conduct you will
find that there is a human being of the
most outstanding
integrity and
dedication and good character and good
morals and good manners in fact there
are so many incidents where people
became Muslim merely by observing the
character of prophet
Muhammad just by observing his
behavior there was a there's a famous
incident where there was a Jews who used
to live on the same street in Mecca as
the prophet Muhammad sallallahu alaihi
wasallam and she used to throw
rubbish you know the waste from her
house and she used to wait for the
prophet Muhammad to come and then she
would throw it out onto the street so he
would get dirty and to just to
inconvenience
him and this used to happen regularly
every day and then one day the prophet
Muhammad walked past the house and then
he
realized I didn't get my usual delivery
today
so if it was one of us we would have
saidh hope the cow's
dead you know I'm sure most of us that's
even the best of us we'll be thinking
like that but the prophet Muhammad what
did he do he went back and he knocked on
the door and he asked the servant is
your mistress well is she sick is there
anything I can do for her when this
woman heard about it she
said I testify that there is no God but
Allah and that Muhammad is his messenger
no one except the prophets have
character like
this this is one incident out of so many
that illustrates the character and the
personality and the truthfulness and the
Integrity of the Prophet
Muhammad he indeed is one of the wonders
of Islam that Allah has sent us a man
who is such a perfect example in so many
spheres of life if one of us was just to
be for example a perfect example of how
to be a husband I'm for example say that
I managed to achieve being a good
example of being a husband or you manag
to achieve a good example of being a
wife or you manage to achieve a good
example of being a businessman or a
business
woman or you manag to achieve a good
example of being a teacher or a good
example of being a General a leader a
judge if one human being was to achieve
just that in their life and they were to
fall short in others still you would say
this person is someone whose character
is admirable take for example the judge
that has now been accused in the
Australian parliament of having involved
himself in child prostitution and
homosexual Acts he although he's openly
a homosexual of course as Muslims we
find that something that is how can we
say it is displeasing to Allah it's not
something we find that we like
it however the man everyone amongst his
peers recognizes that he is very good at
his job he is a good judge he is honest
he has integrity and that they say all
of these things are going to blow away
because he is a person who is good at
what he does he works hard and he has
Integrity so you see that his good
quality in just one
field allows people to overlook his
shortcomings in
others how about therefore if someone is
able to be an excellent example in every
single field of
activity that he is the best example of
being a
husband an an example unfortunately that
many or even most Muslim men miserably
fail to match up
to the prophet Muhammad May Allah's
peace and blessings be upon Him used to
sew his own
clothes he used to look after his own
Affairs he used to milk the goat he used
to clean the house when he was not busy
he would come home and serve his
family this is how the prophet Muhammad
used used to
be but he was also an example of a
leader one only needs to look and see
how his companions revered him and
respected him in fact one of the pagans
when they saw how the companions treated
the prophet they said I have been to the
court of Caesar and I have been to the
court of HRA Who is the leader of the
Persians but I have never seen people
who have respected and loved their
leader as the Muslims love
Muhammad s
Al his example as a general his example
as a judge his example in as a
teacher they used to say and one of the
companions said I never found anyone who
used to be
so kind and so good in the way he
corrected as the prophet
Muhammad really we could give a lecture
on the manners and the method that the
prophet muhammmad used to use in
teaching his
companions but I just want to give one
beautiful beautiful story there was one
day when a bedwin a bedwin there are
very rough people from the desert he
came into the mosque and he started Ed
to urinate in the
mosque he started to urinate in the
mosque so the companions jumped up and
they were going to grab him and throw
him out of the mosque and the prophet
Muhammad said leave him
alone and let him
finish yes leave him alone and let him
finish so when the man finished the
prophet spoke to him he
said this place is not the place for
that the mosque meaning the mosque is
not the place to do that this is not the
place to do
that he said pour water on it and that
will clean it pour water on it and that
will clean
it when this bedwin saw this he accepted
Islam and he said may Allah have mercy
on me and Muhammad and no one
else
cuz he was I said the beduins were rough
and then the prophet said and then the
prophet said no he said Allah is much
more merciful than that Allah is much
more merciful this is just one incident
how the prophet Muhammad sallallahu
alaihi wasallam how he used to teach
people his kindness and his
gentleness really if you found one
person could have one of the qualities
in in one field you will admire that
person how about someone who is an
example in everything that he
does this is one of the wonders of Islam
that Allah he sent this messenger and
indeed Allah said about him that he is
on an exalted level of
character so
Allah he sent books the instruction
manual and then he sent the messenger
who in their life and through their
example taught people how to implement
that instruction manual so not only did
God say here's the instructions but I'm
also sending you someone who will show
you exactly how
to fulfill those
instructions so imagine Ericson they
send not only a little book they send
someone along to come and teach you
everything H so Allah not only did he
send Messengers books he sent a
messenger to teach you exactly how to
fulfill those
instructions and what are those
fundamental
instructions what are those fundamental
teachings of Islam what is it kill
murder blow people
up read look and learn see what are the
fundamental teachings the fundamental
teachings are number one what you
believe very simple we've already
covered most of it that you believe that
there is only one
God that he alone is worthy of being
woried he is not
born nor does he beget and there is
nothing which is like unto
him that you should worship him alone
that Muhammad is his
messenger that you
believe in the
Angels you believe in the books all of
them you believe in the
prophets and you believe in the last day
the day of
judgment and the paradise and the
Hellfire and you believe that God has
the complete knowledge of all
things and that that knowledge he has
written
down from the beginning of the creation
to the end everything that will happen
nothing happens except that God knows
about it and nothing happens except with
the permission of God nothing can happen
unless God allows it to
happen this is the Divine decree this is
the belief what a
Muslim what all in fact human beings are
required by God to
believe that is what we believe
essentially very briefly and the
practices of Islam are first of all that
you should
pray to God at least five times a day
the at a very absolute minimum that you
must be in a state of
Purity that you should wear clean
clothes free from
filth that you yourself should be free
from filth because you are going to
stand in front of the creator of the
heavens and the
Earth and that you must present yourself
before him and there is no intercessor
and no intermediat and there is nothing
between you and him you are standing in
front of
God you don't need to pray through
anyone in fact it is for forbidden
absolutely to intercede or seek the
intercession of everyone God wants you
to talk to him to pray to him to worship
him alone and to direct your prayer to
him five times a
day once in the morning before Sunrise
between the Dawn and the sunrise so
think about
that the first thing you do when you
wake up is you think about your God
your creator the lord of the heavens and
the Earth and you thank him and you
praise him and you seek his help and ask
for his forgiveness and then the day
goes and it moves on until about
lunchtime and you've been working or
whatever you've been
doing and then it reaches the middle of
the day and then again you must present
yourself in front of your lord and your
Creator and then in the afternoon maybe
it's just about the time when you're
heading home from work or you've just
got back from work again you have to
present yourself in front of Allah
thanking him and praising him and
seeking his
forgiveness and then when the sun goes
down and the sun sets once again you
present yourself in front of your
Creator and just at the end of the day
the end of the the the night when the
night begins to come and it is done dark
and maybe just before you go to bed
again that you present yourself in front
of God to remember him so throughout all
the day you are constantly reminding
yourself that you have a lord a creator
that you should praise him and thank him
you should seek his help and ask for his
forgiveness this is what a Muslim is
required to
do at the minimum at the minimum you
must do that to be a Muslim you must at
least do
that that you must give 2 and a
half% of your excess wealth minimum if
you want to give more you can give more
but as a minimum you must give 2 and a
half% of your excess wealth meaning
after you have paid your bills and so on
and so forth then what you have
left as excess wealth you must pay a
minimum of 2 and a half% and that is to
be given to the poor and to the needy
people who are worthy of receiving
it as a
minimum that one month in a year you
will Fast you will not eat you will not
drink and you will not have sexual
intercourse from dawn to Sunset from
dawn to Sunset after the sun has set you
may eat and you may drink and you may
enjoy the company of the H the husband
with the wife and the wife with the
husband that the intimate company that
is and you should also
abstain from Evil Deeds from loose talk
from backbiting and slandering because
as the prophet Muhammad said Allah has
no interest in the fast of the person
who abstains from food and drink but
does not abstain from evil deeds and
evil
speech so it is not just a physical fast
it is a fast in your manners also from
the evil behavior and all of this is to
teach the Muslim patience to remind them
of those people who are less fortunate
than
themselves that they abstain from their
worldly desires and their worldly
needs just to please God and it is
something that only God knows
about only God knows whether you are
fasting cuz you can go in there go to
the L and you can drink some water no
one will know only you and your creator
knows that's why Allah said fasting is
for me it's one such a special deed it
is for Allah and Allah he will give a
special God will give a special reward
for
it and the other thing that you must do
is that at least once in your life if
you can afford it you should make
pilgrimage you should make pilgrimage
and perform the Hajj which is the
pilgrimage and you should go to visit
the first house that was ever built for
the worship of the one true
God Thea which was built by the friend
of Allah the prophet of Allah ibraim or
Abraham that you should go there and in
this
Haj you will worship your lord call upon
him and seek his help and you will
stand with all your pretensions taken
from
you for all you will wear is two pieces
of
cloth one that you wrap around your
waist that is it has no stitches it is
an unstitched piece of cloth one around
your waist and one around your body it
doesn't matter whether you are a king a
millionaire or a pper you will be
dressed the
same and you will go and you will
worship your lord and you will go to the
plane of arafa and you will call upon
your lord and your
creator that you should try to do this
at least once and you must do it at
least once in your life life if you have
the ability and you can afford
it those are the
basic acts of
worship and apart from that what does
Islam
teach from its fundamental teachings
from its fundamental teachings these are
the real fundamental teachings of Islam
number one that you speak the truth and
you don't
lie you speak the truth and you don't
lie the prophet Muhammad May Allah's
peace and blessings be upon him said the
believer could be a miser the believer
could be a coward the believer could
drink alcohol and the believer could
even steal but the believer could never
be a
liar speaking the truth and not lying is
one of the fundamental teachings of
Islam keeping your
promises when you promise to do
something you do it because the person
who fails to keep their promises is a
person who has a very clear quality of
hypocrisy what is hypocrisy a hypocrite
is someone who says I believe they say
it with their tongue but in their heart
there is no
belief that's a hypocrite I believe I
believe I'm a Muslim I'm a Muslim but
really there is no belief in the heart
it is just something they say on their
tongue this is the prophet Muhammad said
sallallahu alaihi wasallam there are
three or four
signs of a hypocrite Whoever has all of
them is a complete hypocrite meaning
this person is completely a hypocrite
meaning they have no faith at
all even though they claim it Whoever
has one of these things has one branch
of
hypocrisy when when he speaks he lies
when he makes a promise he breaks it
when he is entrusted with something he
betrays it and when he argues he does so
in an insulting and lenti
manner these are the basic teachings of
Islam amongst the basic teachings of
Islam is the treatment and the kind
treatment of your
parents in fact Allah has mentioned in
the Quran the kind treatment of the
parents along with reverence of
him Allah has mentioned that in the
Quran Allah said reverence Allah and the
wombs that bore you the prophet Muhammad
taught that
paradise Paradise lies at the feet of
your
mother Paradise lies meaning at serving
your mother being kind to your mother
and OB obeying her as long as she does
not order you to do something that is
against
Islam then Paradise is in serving your
mother the amongst the greatest crimes
that a human being can commit is
disobeying their
parents this is the fundamental
teachings of
Islam amongst the fundamental teachings
of Islam is kind to the
neighbors it's kindness to the neighbors
the prophet said s
was which means he is taking an oath by
God he is making God testify meaning God
a
witness by God
W he is not a Believer W he is not a
Believer wall he is not a
Believer the person
whose neighbor is not safe from his
Mischief the person who is mischievous
and annoys his
neighbor cannot be a
believer in fact the prophet Muhammad
said that the angel Gabriel jib jiel the
angel Gabriel used to come down and tell
him so much about the rights of the
neighbors that the prophet Muhammad
thought that it was going to be revealed
to him that the neighbors would share in
The
Inheritance the prophet said a Believer
is not the one whose stomach is full
while his neighbor is
hungry these are the fundamental
teachings of
Islam
Justice to be just even against yourself
even against your family even against
your tribe or your nation be
just Justice in fact is one of the
foundation pillars of Islamic Society to
the extent that if the people are
Muslim they're Muslim but they are not
just Allah will not support
them and if the disbelievers the people
who are not Muslim they are just even if
they are disbelievers God will support
them because Allah favors the people who
are just even if they are disbelieving
over the nation that is unjust even if
they are believing because the Sunnah of
God in this
respect in the establishment of strength
in the land is upon
justice so from amongst the fundamental
teachings of Islam is to be
just I will want to tell you one
story about to give you an example of
the justice and please I don't think
anyone could
find in the history of the world today
or from before an example like
this there was an
Egyptian who was whipped
by the general who entered the Muslim
armies entered into Egypt and they
opened Egypt for
Islam there was one General his name was
Amar he was from a high and Noble family
of the Arabs as he was riding on his
horse there was an Egyptian Christian
who stood in his way and he whipped him
with his crop you know with this the
horse the stick they used to make the he
whipped him with
it
so
this person this Egyptian
Christian he
said I have heard of the justice of Omar
Al the kth the leader of the Muslims
Omar was one of the close Companions of
prophet
Muhammad and he was the second rightly
guided Cale the Muslims so this man he
said I have heard the stories of the
justice of Omar so I will go and I will
seek justice so he
traveled from Egypt to
Mecca and at the
time the same Egypt the same general was
actually had returned and he was making
ta around the Kaba and Omar was sitting
near by so this Egyptian came to him he
said oh oh leader of the
Believers this general of yours whipped
me with his crop and I did nothing
wrong I want
justice so Omar alab he called this man
he's a general of the Muslim Army who
has liberated Egypt for
Islam he is a noble man from amongst the
nobility of the Arabs
so he calls him he says
ohar is this
true that you whipped this
man so Amar looked at him he said yes I
whipped him so
what
so so Omar took his stick he gave it to
this Egyptian he said whip him as he
whipped
you and the man said no
I testify there is no God but Allah and
Muhammad is his
messenger and he became
Muslim this was the type of justice that
was to be found amongst the
Muslims this was the type of Justice to
be found amongst the True
Believers could we find a story like
that today could we find an incident
like that today it would be very very
very
difficult I think it would be
impossible these are the fundamental
teachings of
Islam now I ask you honestly and I could
talk about many other things that we
find in Islam but I ask any person who
is reasonable any person who is sane any
person who has wisdom and understanding
is there anything in what I have
described today that a reasonable person
could find an objection
to does not these things do not these
things illustrate and
show that really Islam far from being
some
irrational
misguided and barbaric way of life is
indeed light wonderful light and
guidance from the creator of of the
heavens and the
Earth
ald
mall we got lots of nice
questions
so okay the first
one you mentioned about the purpose of
human life the meaning of human life but
you evaded the answer it seemed to me
sometimes I believe I know the purpose
of my life and other times I'm not sure
100%
okay that's the F the first part of the
question
okay we have to make a distinction now
between the actual purpose of God
creating human
beings
and those things that some human beings
think they want to do with their lives
it's two completely different
things sometimes if you ask somebody
what's the purpose of your life they say
the purpose of my life is to make money
to have a nice house to have a nice car
and to retire and to be able to enjoy it
so they say that's the purpose of their
life some other people may say that the
purpose of my life is to be a doctor or
someone else says the purpose of my life
is you know my wife or my boyfriend or
my girlfriend or
whatever so really these people they
reply that the the purpose of their life
is not something that is the purpose of
the existence or why human beings exist
and what God created them for all
they're saying is these are the things
that I want to do and Achieve with my
life in fact the interesting thing is
that these self- same people who say
this is the purpose of my life when they
don't make that that money and they
don't get that retirement home or when
their wife leaves them or when their
boyfriend leaves them or
when your wife sleeps with your best
mate and he happens to be a famous
football player right and then you go
into Hospital right and then you start
asking yourself what's the purpose of
life what's it all for because that
thing which I thought was my life's
purpose now I realize that's not what
the purpose of my life was at all so
sometimes people make some
things their life's purpose but this is
not what we
mean the point is what is the reason for
our
existence and there are many things that
we could guess or we could philosophize
and we could say well maybe it's this
and maybe it's that and it could be such
and such and it could be this and some
people may say to do good and some
people say to do bad and some people say
to spread peace and some people to say
you know different people will give
different answers some people have
thought about it and they've come to
some sort of philosophical understanding
but the point is at the end of the day
all of that really is just speculation
it's just guesswork as the gentleman
said sometimes I think I know but I'm
not
100% so the only way you could actually
really
know
100% the
purpose of your
life is when the one who gave you life
when the one who created you tells you I
created you for this
purpose so the Quran tells
us exactly what is the purpose of life
the Quran tells us exactly why God
created us in the Quran it
[Music]
says
that that we did not
create the
gin and the human being
except to worship us this is what God is
saying
when God uses in the
Quran the plural the we it does not mean
as some people say oh there's a proof of
the Trinity there or it proves that God
is more than one or something no this is
anyway well known in the Arabic language
that it is a plurality of respect just
as the queen some sometimes says we did
this and we did that you know this is a
type of plurality of respect even in
French and in in fact in every language
you have that plurality of
respect so when Allah says we created it
means Allah God but he is using he is
the plurality of respect which is just a
Convention of language so we we did not
create the human beings except to
worship God created the human being to
worship him that is the actual purpose
for which we exist what does does it
mean worship what does I mean it you
know worship is as as we explained this
last night if you were last there last
night to my talk last night you will I'm
sorry I'm repeating it but the term
worship is very very inadequate in
describing what is I the best way to
describe it is with a definition I means
I is or Worship in Islam the term IBA
the purpose for which we were
created is everything which which God
loves and is pleased
with everything which God loves and
everything which God is pleased with
whether it is the actions of the heart
or the actions of the limbs this is
worship so the purpose of life is to try
to make everything that you do and
everything that you say and everything
that you feel and believe you try to do
it and say it and believe in it and
feeling it in a way that God
loves and in a way that God is pleased
with how do we know what God loves and
how do we know what God is pleased
with in Islam the answer is
clear we know what God loves and is
pleased with because God has revealed
that
knowledge in the Quran and he sent a
messenger to explain it and to clarify
it and to F complete its teachings so we
know what God loves and we know what God
is pleased with through the Revelation
that he sent to his
Messengers that's how we know how to
make I to
Allah so that's the purpose of life and
as you can understand therefore this is
something very comprehensive it covers
everything it covers it covers how you
pray how you fast how you give charity
how you perform pilgrimage it covers as
we've already mentioned manners morals
treatment of the neighbor treatment of
the
parents the relationship between the
ruler and the
ruled international relations it even
teaches manners of cleanliness how to go
to the toilet how to walk how to dress
all of these things can be done in a
manner that is pleasing to God or in a
manner that is displeasing to God so our
aim is to try and make everything in our
life to try and make everything that we
do pleasing to God by obeying him and
submitting to his will and his
knowledge so that's the purpose of
life also Al you mentioned Adolf Hitler
in connection with the Catholic church I
don't understand Hitler didn't approve
of the church as far as I know that's
true um Hitler was not a
Christian no no sensible person will say
that Hitler was a Christian in fact
Hitler was a great admirer of the occult
and
paganism however what I meant to
illustrate by that was that if someone
is living not in the West W but if
someone was living in another country
they think that everything in Europe
they think of it as Christendom that the
people there are
Christians so they might point to
someone like Adolf Hitler and say look
he was a Christian look what he
did so of course the Christian quite
rightly would say Adolf Hitler was not a
Christian he didn't even believe in
Christianity that's a perfectly good
defense but the thing is that people say
the same things about Muslims they say
look at that person in this country and
look at that leader of that country and
look at this one who does that I don't
want to mention any names but many of
these people are not Muslims they don't
even profess belief in
Islam in fact they attack
Islam so therefore it's not right to say
that this is
Islam anymore than it's right to say
Hitler represents Christianity that's
the point I was trying to make by
that this is a very good question here
Islam does not seem to be able to
recognize God as a trinity Father Son
and Holy Spirit aren't you limiting the
prerogative and power of God to manifest
himself as he
chooses that's a very very good
question
now the point this is a you know this is
quite a big
topic but let let's try and deal with it
in a very simple
manner it's a big topic it's an
important topic you see the issue is
this as
Muslims it is not a question
of can God do it or can God not do it
that's not the issue the issue is is
this worthy and is this befitting the
dignity and the power power and the
nature and the attributes and the
perfect attributes of God the most
simple way to illustrate It Is by giving
another example let's forget the issue
now of incarnation whether God can
become a man or whether God does become
a man let's talk about an issue that for
example every Muslim and Christian will
agree about
this can God do something evil can God
do something something
evil can God do something
stupid can God be
ignorant these
questions are something that almost
unanimously whoever I ask will give me
the same
response they will say some will say no
God can't do evil things God can't do
stupid
things God God can't be ignorant why not
because God is good a good God doesn't
do evil
things an all knowing god and an all
wise God does not do stupid
things and an all- knowing God does not
do ignorant things so it is not in the
nature of God who is good to do evil and
it is not in the nature of God who is
all wise to do stupid things and it is
not in the nature of God who is all
knowing to be
ignorant God is good and he does what is
good God is wise and he does what is
wise we don't even ask the question
about God can he do something stupid can
he do something ignorant can he do
something evil because it's not in the
nature of God to do those things because
God is God what makes God God is that he
is good that he is wise
that he is all knowing if God was evil
and God was stupid and God was ignorant
then we wouldn't worship him he wouldn't
be someone that we praised and thanked
and worshiped he wouldn't be worthy of
it because he would possess attributes
not of perfection but he would possess
attributes that are bad attributes evil
attributes if we use exactly the same
example we just think about it
God therefore as God is good God is
eternal God is good he doesn't do
something evil God is eternal he doesn't
become something that is
temporary God is as God is wise God is
also
self-sufficient so as a wise God does
not become or do stupid things a
self-sufficient God does also not become
needy and
temporary why the answer is exactly the
same because that is not the nature of
God that is not befitting the Majesty of
God if God becomes a temporary needy
human being who is born and who grows up
and who gets killed then that being is
not worthy of being worshiped because
this being possesses the
attributes that are imperfect that are
temporary that are not things that we
admire or not things that are worthy of
admiration or being worship we worship
God and we praise him because he is
infinite he is the one before whom there
is none he is the one after whom there
is none we worship God because he is
self-sufficient because he is good
because he is wise because he is and so
on and so forth so Allah God the Creator
is the one who possesses all the
attributes of
perfection now someone may say
ah but
if you're saying and this is now getting
a bit into philosophy I think the issue
is pretty clear after that but just you
know just to cover this issue someone
may say this a bit philosophical now but
people will say but if you're saying God
can't or God doesn't have the capability
or he wouldn't become a man aren't you
limiting God aren't you actually saying
he's not really perfect the best way I
answer this I have the the best answer I
have for this is to
say since when is it an attribute of
perfection to
say that you are someone or that someone
is some someone who has the ability to
do
evil is it an attribute of
perfection to say that this person has
the ability not to be perfect
no no one will say this is an attribute
of perfection this is an attribute that
makes something praiseworthy and good
that it has the ability to do this or to
be evil or to be bad or to be
no so therefore we say that God is the
possessor of the perfect
attributes we don't as Muslims say it's
not a question to us of whether God can
or God can't God doesn't become a man
because God is God because if God became
a man he would negate those attributes
of being Eternal and infinite and
self-sufficient just as if God
became a real human being he would also
be
ignorant and he would be temporary and
he would do foolish things and I think
one of the best things I would like to
illustrate this was is in respect to
Jesus specifically here is an incident
in the
gospel of Matthew as far as I remember
we can check the reference later but in
the go in the gospel of Matthew and this
this is a very an a Very insightful
event Jesus is riding on a donkey back
to
Jerusalem and he sees a fig
tree and he's hungry and he wants to eat
some
figs so he goes to the Fig Tree and he
finds that there are no figs on the tree
and as I far as I remember Matthew says
and he says and it was not the season
for fig
so when Jesus finds that the tree has no
figs he actually then curses the tree
and they come back at another time and
they find that the tree is withered and
died now here we have uh we here we have
a perfect illustration of somebody who
does not possess Godlike qualities
number one he is riding on a
donkey God does not ride ride on a
donkey number two number two number
two number two Jesus feels hungry Jesus
feels hungry but God is not one who
feels
hunger then Jesus finds that there are
no figs on the tree now that means that
Jesus didn't know that there were no
figs on the tree if he was God and he
knew everything he would have known that
there were no figs on the tree and he
would not have bothered going over to
that tree in the first place meaning he
was ignorant he was lacking in knowledge
he had a shortcoming in information God
is not ignorant or lacking or has a
shortcoming in
information so this illustrates
perfectly the attributes of somebody or
something that is not
God that is human that has imperfect
qualities that is the nature of the
human being by
necessity so therefore this matter is
answered very
simply God does not become a man because
first of all God does not need to become
a man there is no need for God to become
a man nor is it
befitting that God should become a man
this is something that
contradicts his attributes of perfection
so that's uh the answer to that very
good
question
okay this is okay it's not that this
is okay for non-muslim Neighbors can we
mix with them socially I.E can we invite
them for lunch or dinner or just uh the
relation should only give them services
and that is it and no
more no absolutely you should have good
relations with your neighbors you should
have good relations with your neighbors
you can invite them for lunch you can
invite them for dinner you should send
them food if you cook something it is
from the manners of Islam to send them
something what you have cooked and this
is the way that the Muslim should behave
with a
neighbor in fact one of the interesting
things is is what is the neighbor who
are your
neighbors is it the person next to you
or the two people next to
you this is very interesting topic some
Scholars said that your neighbor who is
your neighbor they are the 40 nearest
houses in each
Direction the 40 nearest houses in each
Direction some Scholars said they are
all considered to be your neighbors I
don't know exactly where they got that
number from
4 but this is what they
said and some said less and some said
they the people on your street or so
anyway your neighbor really I think the
best answer that I came across is your
neighbor is the person whom it is
considered in the custom of that land to
be your
neighbor so in some places your neighbor
was literally considered to be the 40
people nearest around you they were
considered by custom to be your
neighbors they would know all of their
neighbors but in this Society usually
your neighbor is the person the two
people who live next door to you or some
other places it may be the person on
your street so it's according to the
custom if people are more friendly here
in Australia than they are in England
right your neighbor is really the guy
next door and that's it you know those
are your neighbors so alhamd it's a bit
easier at well inshallah but if
Australia Australians are a bit more
friendly then you know it might be you
know like the people on your street or
it just depends on the custom of the
people who are your neighbors but
certainly you should have uh good
relations with them and you know invite
them around and send them stuff and this
is and really to be concern because what
the Hadith of the Prophet shows is the
concern when the prophet said a Believer
does not have their stomach full while
the neighbor is hungry meaning that you
know the condition of your neighbor you
know whether your neighbor is hungry or
not you know whether your neighbor is
poor or not meaning you're concerned
about your neighbor and their condition
that's this is the very important thing
to understand from that Hadith of the
Prophet sallallah wasam that you should
be so concerned about your neighbor it's
not that you will have your stomach full
and they are hungry you're enjoying your
life while they are in a miserable
condition this is a very good question
question here we sort of really talked
about this whole issue
yesterday is if Islam is such a
beautiful religion then why are the
Believers of Islam not honest and why do
they cheat each
other okay we did sort of answer that
question yesterday in my talk the
Coca-Cola Muslim
generation so if you really want to look
into that a bit more you could get a
hold of that tape
it really goes back to what I said is
that you can't judge a religion by the
people who claim to be its followers you
have to judge it by the book and by the
messenger I think many Muslims today
they are Muslim not because this is the
religion that they have
chosen because it's the religion that
they were born into for many for many
people Islam is just a type of culture
for them
maybe they have some good things like
Hospitality if we take the Lebanese for
example I'm always picking on the
Lebanese especially in Australia they
have a good tradition of hospitality but
when it comes to arguments you'll see
they take out the swords and they take
out the knives and that's it
and
so and the prophet
said if the prophet said sallallah
alaihi wasallam that it's a sign of
hypocrisy it's a sign of hypocrisy that
when you are arue you are
licentious then how about if you
actually fight and attack each other I
mean that's worse yes if you're just
rude and you say you this and you that
and blah blah blah and you you're
shouting and being rude and if you do
that that's a sign of hypocrisy but how
about if you try to actually injure
someone and you attack them what's
that so that shows me that people are
their it's their culture
they're brought up to be hospitable and
that's part of their culture it's good
alhamdulillah but it's not really that
they thought about Islam and they
studied it and they wanted to go back
and see how was the prophet what did he
teach let me try and emulate his
teachings and try and imitate him be a
good husband how many Muslim men follow
the example of the prophet in in being a
husband tell
me I think generally the women are
better at being wives than the husbands
are at being husbands I'm not totally
but I think
generally okay maybe not I don't know
inshallah how many Muslims imitate that
but what do you find the Muslim is Big
you know the Muslim man is big and Macho
and he's I'm in charge and you do what I
say and this and that and you cook this
and do that and you know I did the work
and that's it you know and again when
you look this is culture this is not
Islam this is not the way the prophet
sallallah alai am was with his
wives so we are Muslims culturally it's
a type of cultural thing it's not
something that we are Muslim because we
studied the Quran and we studied Islam
and we tried to emulate the prophet
Muhammad sallallahu alaihi wasallam so
this is part of our problem we need to
go back to the pure teachings of Islam
to see really how the prophet Muhammad
sallallahu alaihi wasallam was and tried
to imitate him because as I said Allah
sent the book and he sent a messenger to
show us how to live that book The
Prophet Muhammad is the Practical
example of how to implement
Islam that's why we try to imitate him
and follow him because he was made the
Practical
example so that's what's
lacking lacking of returning to the
Sunnah and too much uh cultural Islam so
I think that's one of the reasons why we
find that we have gone really far away
from
the pure
religion when a non-muslim asks about
general information on Islam what would
you recommend as a preliminary
introduction without bombarding the
person with information overload maybe
you could buy this vide tape inshallah
and give that to them
inshallah
um but I think myself perhaps the best
introduction to Islam in my opinion is
to give them translation of the
Quran that's what I think it's the best
and that leads right on to the next
question there is a friend of mine who
is interested in Islam I gave him a few
books about the fundamentals of Islam
and he's currently reading them further
to that I intend to give him the English
translation of the Holy Quran but there
is this verse in the Quran which I
translate to the Quran should only be
touched by the clean ones or the clean
the clean ones I believe that it it will
help him a lot if I give him the Quran
should I or shouldn't
I by far thanks
Farah okay um first of all the Quran is
only Quran in the Arabic language the
moment the Quran is translated it is not
anymore Quran it is only a translation
of the meanings of the Quran Allah
revealed the Quran in Arabic it is only
the Quran in
Arabic once it has been translated it is
only really an interpretation of the
meanings so first of all there is
absolutely no harm in giving
somebody a translation of the
Quran how about if you wanted to give
someone the Quran
itself then this verse is not a proof
because this verse actually means is
this verse is actually not talking about
the Quran at
all
this verse says that only the purified
ones will touch it so first of all that
is a statement that contradicts reality
because there are people who are not
pure who have touched the Quran there
are people who are not pure who have
touched the Quran anyway this verse does
not is not talking about the Quran this
verse is talking about
the the preserved tablet this is the in
which everything that is from the
beginning of the creation to the end has
been written down okay this means the it
does not mean the
Quran okay so uh this verse that is been
quoted is not any way referring to the
Quran as for giving the Arabic Quran to
non-muslims then Allah that's something
the scholars they differ about some say
that you can and some say that you can't
however it seems to me that the opinion
that you can is stronger because we have
evidence that the prophet Muhammad May
Allah's peace and blessings be upon Him
sallallahu alaihi wasallam sent letters
he sent letters to various Kings and
various leaders around the world and in
those letters he included verses of the
Quran and of course they were going to
be touched by people who were not Muslim
so in that is an evidence that it is
permissible to give at least things that
contain Quran to people who are not
Muslims but Allah he knows best Allah
Allah knows
best I was just wondering if long hair
is allowed for males
because because many people say it is
Haram for
males I think that I think that I have
to be myself an example or an Ever what
at least the way I am shows what my
opinion is okay if I thought it was
Haram I would not let my hair grow long
but the fact is there is no evidence at
all to say that men cannot grow their
hair long the only thing that we could
say and the only possible thing that
could be used is the prophet Muhammad
sallallah alaihi wasallam said that
Allah has cursed The Men Who imitate
women and the women who imitate men but
you would have to establish that growing
the hair long is something that is
definitely an imitation of the women if
it is common for men in society or it is
considered normal in men for society to
leave their hair long then that would
not be considered imitating the women
okay and nor is it prohibited for women
to cut their hair short it is not Haram
it depends on the custom of the people
if for example as in some cultures
cutting the hair of the for the woman to
cut her hair is considered to be a sign
of a disreputable person in some
cultures that is for example I don't
know about now but it used to be that
for example in the Indian subcontinent
if a woman cut her hair short she was it
was considered to be something really
disreputable so if that's the case all
we can say is it is not right for a
believing Muslim woman to represent
herself as a disreputable person
person and this for example the prophet
Muhammad sallallahu alaihi wasallam he
used to leave his th undone he used to
leave it
undone he used to leave it undone but in
some cultures if you leave your thob
undone and you show your chest it's only
considered that rough people and bad
mannered people do that so therefore
it's not considered right in that
Society to have your shirt
undone okay because it's not good for a
Muslim to present themselves as being
like the people of Bad Manners or bad
qualities that's all but to say
absolutely is Haram you can't say that
you need some evidence to say something
is Haram you need something that Allah
said or something that the prophet
Muhammad sallallahu alaihi wasallam said
okay to prohibit it so anyway even the
prophet sallallah alaihi wasallam
himself used to let his hair grow down
to his shoulders we know from authentic
narrations that that the prophet
sallallah alaihi wasallam used to let
his hair grow down to his
shoulders the one of the things that is
not encouraged is to constantly have
your hair
shaved for the men and for the women as
far as I know it's not allowed to shave
your hair it's actually not allowed
except if you have lice as far as I know
but I'm pretty sure there is Hadith
prohibiting the women from shaving their
hair and why the men except you can cut
your hair but you have it all the time
shaved why because this is the one of
the signs of a deviant sect in Islam
which the prophet Muhammad warned about
and one of the things he said is one of
their Hallmarks is that they are always
keeping their head
shaved okay so then it's not considered
good to do
that okay there's a question about
briefly how I accepted Islam
um very briefly uh it's because really I
came uh I came across across a
translation of the meaning of the Quran
and I read that and that is what uh
convinced me that it was in fact the
word of God uh if you really want to
know the story more deeply uh I'm not
going to go through the whole story the
brothers are selling a tape out there
about how I became Muslim so uh you
could look to that
inshallah um there's a question about
insurance and I covered that pretty much
comprehensively yesterday I covered the
whole issue of insurance yesterday and
it's not fair to go through it all over
again this is a very good question
here okay the question is this could you
please just briefly mention that the
prophet Muhammed S.I wasallam said that
there will be 71 second in Judaism 72 in
Christianity and 73 in Islam this is
true there's a Hadith of the Prophet
sallallah alai wasallam that mentions
that the Jews split up into 71 sex and
the Christians split into 72 sects and
he said my umah will split into 73 sects
in fact in the Hadith he said the Jews
split up into
71 70 in the Hellfire and one in
paradise and the Christians split up
into 72 71 in the Hellfire and one in
Paradise my um was split into 73 sex was
it
7 73 73 sex all of them in the Hellfire
except one so 72 in the Hell Fire and
one in Paradise so the companions
asked oh messenger of
Allah which is that one which is that
one meaning which is the one that is
saved they didn't want to know about the
ones in hell they wanted to wanted to
know about the one that saved we want to
be from the saved sect and the prophet
sallallah alai wasallam he said that to
which I and my companions
belong in another narration he
said though that which I and my
companions are upon this day Al this day
that which I and my companions are upon
this day and there are other narrations
that state similar things but the broad
meaning of all of these various sayings
of the Prophet about the Muslims
splitting up into sects is that first of
all the Muslims will split into
72 different groups 73 Al together but
72 will be astray only one will be
guided they will be the the saved sect
and what is their quality how do we know
who is the saved sect they are the ones
who follow the teachings of Islam am the
way they were in the time of the Prophet
Muhammad sallallahu alaihi wasallam as
the prophet said they are the ones that
which I and my companions are upon this
day Al this day okay so this is
something in fact which really is just
agreeing with everything I've been
saying today and what I mentioned that
the Islam the true Islam is the one that
was followed by the prophet and his
companions people have distorted and
corrupted and followed different sects
and different groups what is upon us if
we want to be from the saved sect is to
go back
to the original teachings of
Islam which alhamdulillah we have
intact Allah has preserved this religion
Allah has preserved the Quran from
corruption and Distortion Allah has
preserved the teachings and the sayings
of the Prophet Muhammad may Allah peace
and blessings be upon
him so that we know what is authentic
from what is not authentic from what the
prophet Muhammad truly said and truly
did from the lies and the false things
that have been attributed to him and
this is one of the great blessings and
one of the wonders of Islam that the
Muslims have the same book today that
was revealed to Muhammad 1,400 years ago
in fact you can go anywhere in the world
and you will not find two different
qurans you'll find everywhere in every
country in every place the Muslims have
the same
Quran not like other religions they say
we have the same book but our version
has 15 books or 16 books more than yours
and our has less than yours and we've
taken this bit out and according to the
newest edition we have taken these bits
out and we've put those bit
in you know all of these things we find
that they don't agree about what is in
their book this is not the case
alhamdulillah with the Muslims and this
is one of the Miracles and one of the
signs that Islam alhamdulillah is the
true religion of
God for
that okay I think we'll make it now uh
the last
question another question about having
long
hair okay there lots of good questions l
so many okay I think we'll just leave it
with this one it's a simple question but
in a way it's quite a nice question why
do we pray five times why is the number
five not
25 a little smiley
face so actually it's not a bad question
really why Subhan Allah if you really
think about it don't you think if we
thought deeply about our Lord about
Allah about how great he is about the
bounties and the mercies and the
blessings and the favors that he has
bestowed upon us that are so countless
if we thought about the smallest favor
that God has given to us the smallest
the ones we take for granted Vision
hearing speak
if we just thought about it we will not
be able to count the benefits and the
blessings of the smallest of Allah's
bounties and his bounties are countless
to us so maybe we would think we only
pray five times a day shouldn't we pray
25 times a day or 50 times a day or 100
times a day that would be more
worthy but as I said anyway Muslims are
supposed to be people who try to make
their Whole Life Worship for Allah it's
not just a prayer the prayer is not the
only time you're supposed to remember
Allah you're supposed to remember Allah
the whole
time but why five then five this is
something that is a wisdom from Allah
this is from his
knowledge this is what he has ordered us
with therefore we hear and we obey there
are some things that you cannot
understand with the intellect there are
some things that you cannot you cannot
achieve with the intellect knowledge of
the Unseen if I asked you what is taking
place behind me in the room behind me
there maybe some of you will say I think
there's a man standing there selling
videos cuz you could take a guess maybe
you could think and you could take a
guess in approximation but if I ask you
no tell me in detail you'll not be able
cuz you can't see it and you have no way
to hear it the intellect is not capable
of perceiving that this is why one of
the things the Muslims believe is in the
Unseen we can't see the Hellfire we
can't see the
paradise but we believe in it and we
know it's there because God has told us
about
it we may not know why we pray five
times a day exactly we could think and
we could understand something as I
explained in my talk in the beginning of
the day in the middle of the day in the
middle of the afternoon when it begins
to get dark and when it's dark you can
actually think that these are very
important times in the life of the human
being in the day of the human being and
each time God is bringing us and telling
us to remember him but we can never
really know absolutely for sure we can
just take an approximation but at the
end of the day this is what Allah has
ordered us with and because we are
Muslim we submit ourselves to God's will
to his
knowledge and we are his worshippers and
we we worship him the way he wants us to
worship him not the way that we want to
invent for
ourselves this is really the essence of
what Islam is all about may
Allah guide you all and may He guide me
and all of us closer to the truth thank
you for coming today and listening I
hope inshallah that you benefit yourself
in this life and inshallah you will
benefit in the next as well
inshallah
[Music]
alayum