[Music]
Alam
bar
uh firstly to um bear patience with this
discussion because I wasn't scheduled to
deliver this session um so basically
we're going to talk about
um the character characteristics of the
the one calling to the way of Allah
subhana who is the best of those in
speech or who believes in Allah
and calls to the way of Allah subhana wa
ta'ala that is the best one in front of
Allah subhana wa ta'ala so you find
that is the plural
of of character and is the
characteristics that everyone needs to
have in their life and so we're going to
twist it around today we're going to
talk about those characteristics which
are specific to the the one who is
calling to Allah subhana tala and then
tomorrow which was the original lecture
about the importance of the Muslim
character in one's life and in
relationship to the five pillars of
Islam how they encourage one to behave
morally upright that all of the pillars
if we look at them we study them in
great
detail and Etc and even the
Shah shows that there's an importance a
strong link between the characteristics
or the pillars of Islam and one to
rectify one's character one's Behavior
today's discussion will be the more
spefic specific um characteristics of
the one who is calling to the way of
Allah subhana wa tala and that's how we
find many Hadith of the Prophet Muhammad
talking about rectifying one's character
and one's Behavior so we
find Allah guide me to the best of
character it's something which the
prophet Muhammad sallu alaihi wasallam
would pray for and this Hadith has been
narrated by IM Muslim likewise find in
aith narrated
by
I seek Refuge from you Allah subh from
the evil characteristics to behave in an
ill Manner and bad actions while and to
follow one's false desires likewise you
find another famous Hadith narrated by
IM Ahmed Allah
beautify just like you beautified my my
creation or my my body and my my looks
Etc so likewise beauti y my character
and that's why we find that there's a
strong link between character and one
the way the one has been created as we
will mention tomorrow inshallah and
likewise find other such Hadith talking
about perfecting of one's character the
most famous Hadith which has been
collected by imik in his in his famous
collection of Hadith we find and third
narrations as
well that really have been sent to
perfect the noble character and behavior
that the whole sending of the the
prophet Muhammad was to perfect one's
character and one's behavior and we will
Analyze This Hadith tomorrow as well
inshallah in comparison to the ayat
inside the Quran as well talking about
that he has been sent down to the
Believers to make tusia of them so we
find that the Muslim he's not just a
Muslim but he's a or he's a Muslim and
one who is calling to the way of Allah
subhana tala so character is something
which concerns all of us but certain
characteristics concerns those people
who are specific to calling to the way
of Allah subhana they need to adopt
these characteristics in their life
especially if they're preaching to other
people to be that you a shining example
to other people that they are ones
who've understood the dean of Allah subh
and they are excelling in that because
many people today they believe and the
rectification of one's one's belief and
that is sufficient and you could be a
person who
has evil character and evil Behavior
this is incorrect many of the have
written or
a person of strong belief and and good
charact is a person of is a person of
Great Character and
behavior Allah subh shown goodness to
you so you should show goodness to other
people the more you understand the the
role or the theat of Allah subhana the
more you understand about and and his
names and his attributes and that what
he has told us to do and abstain from
the more you should be showing the
compassion some of the have written that
the names and the attributes of Allah
should be reflected meaning that he is
the most merciful and some of that Mercy
should be shown by the creation towards
amongst the rest of human beings and
Mankind as well so we find that uh da is
firstly according to
one's according to your condition or
your state before your statements so
this is something very very important
that people need to bear in mind that
sometimes many of us are are screaming
and shouting about many important things
whether political issues or economic
issues anything that there may be that's
concerning the Muslim at the moment but
our condition is separate from our
statements we don't live up to the words
ourself and we're busy indulging and
telling other people what to do and what
not to do and this is something very
dangerous for for a to have to be
especially to be any known to be a
person whose actions go against one
statement and we find that many of the
they wrote Works about talking about the
importance of like
find a famous some of these books may
concern you if you study the Arabic
language likewise
find as well the same
book Perfection of one's
character a famous scholar he wrote a
work about that as
well and a whole compilation about how
to behave
likewise good character that a person
needs to adopt in their life as well
amongst these characteristics that are
specific to the the one who is calling
to Allah is is truthfulness in what you
are
doing all you who believe Allah
subhana and be with those who are
truthful the 9th chapter verse
119 so Sid truthfulness begins with what
begins
with they're carrying of this religion
because we find that verily this was G
given to to the mountains but they
refused to carry it and like what insan
carried it but he is
verely he's forever oppressive and
arrogant in what he does so this a great
trust am Mana trust was given to the
heavens but they could not bear the
trust they could not take over this
trust but insan decided to take this
trust so that's why we have to think
about the trust of of being the of or
being the vice jant of Allah subh Upon
This Land of conveying the dean of Allah
subh tala to Mankind and that's why we
find that the Muslim that the first s
comes in h is regarding belief to
rectify one's belief and to have strong
belief in the day of judgment the belief
in Allah the the Angels the books Etc
and the prophets it's all as we know the
the Hadith about IM of jam is something
that all of us need to study in great
detail to know what a Muslim believe in
before he or she preaches it to other
people likewise we
find you truthfulness in one's
statements that the statements that the
way that you conduct this of the way
that you speak to other people is very
very important that a can never be
attributed as being a as being a liar as
we find in the Hadith of the Prophet
Muhammad that can can a m or can a
Muslim be a can he be stingy and he said
yes can a m be any a a a a person who is
scared who feels scared of maybe natural
things or some other fear that they may
have and he said yes can a Muslim be a
liar he said no a Muslim can never ever
be attributed to be a liar so let alone
how can a be called a liar how can you
be attributed in society that you lie
where it be and the greatest lie can be
to attribute a lie to Allah
subh to say about Allah that which you
do not know or that which is not
authorized so people need to be careful
about the dean of Allah subh to say that
which is true and likewise theith of the
Prophet
Muhammad whoever tributes a lie to me
then let him take his seat in the
Hellfire so every
single or Hadith that one quotes one
should be careful that it has a strong
narration and it's been authenticated by
the where a person is in doubt then the
person should leave that Hadith or say
I'm not sure about this narration
forever we find people who mention ayat
from the Quran and they don't even exist
inside the Quran and say this is a verse
inside the Quran it's not even a verse
inside the Quran this is a Hadith of the
Prophet Muhammad it's not the Hadith of
the Prophet Muhammad sallam it's very
dangerous so a or one calling needs to
know what are the aats of the Quran and
what are thei of the Prophet Muhammad
sallallah alaihi wasallam and that's why
we find that when the discuss the SE of
the Prophet Muhammad they find that in
the beginning of his Revelation they
never ever called him a liar they called
him kah a sser majon whatever they call
him all these names it wasn't towards
the end that they began to call him that
he's a liar because in the beginning
they knew that he was Al he is the
honest and he's the trustworthy so they
could not attribute him as being a liar
it wasn't until a latest stage they
began to attribute that he was a liar in
what he was saying but in the beginning
he was known to be the truthful and
likewise if we read the s in great
detail people like Abu sufyan when he
wasn't when he was a disbeliever when he
had to stand in front of the king the
leader and he and he could have lied he
could have clearly lied but he did not
lie in that position he said behind me
were people who standing there they
would test testify whether I was telling
the truth or whether I was lying so he
at that stage spoke the truth as well so
here the has to be one who speaks the
truth wherever he is whether it's for
friend or fo that you have to stand for
the truth and testify to the truth
whether it be these disbelievers whether
we call them filthy disbeliefs whatever
we call them at the moment but to be to
be
just be just and fair because that is
closer to tawa to consciousness of Allah
subhana tala so if this is that we
should be just to these people how about
to the Muslims around us that we should
forever be just to everybody that that
we deal with especially one calling to
the way of Allah subhah waala like we
find any truthfulness in the actions
that we do that all of our actions here
truthfulness means that it should
be sincerity every single action that
you do should be dedicated to Allah
subhana tala seeking reward from him all
alone and seeking his
face
the end of you find verse number the end
of to not 110 is whoever hopes to meet
Allah subhana tala then let him do
righteous deeds and not commit any shik
don't associate any Partners in the
actions that you do and do it sincerely
for Allah subhana tala
likewise he's the one that created life
and death to see who of you is going to
be best in action the beginning of the
second verse here you find that the have
discussed that what does it
mean to see which of you does best in
actions Allah didn't say who does the
most actions he
said whoever does the best actions not
the most and here
IM in in
his as he mentions what does it mean
that it is that it is good action that
it
is that it is correct and it is sincere
sincere sincere for
Allah sallallahu alaihi wasallam and to
correct to be upon the Sunnah of the
Prophet Muhammad sallallahu alhi
wasallam so here you find that is
important you are sincere in your action
that you're doing and secondly is upon
the Sunnah of the Prophet Muhammad
sallallah alaihi wasallam so that is
what im B mentioned about this verse the
verse that I mentioned
about mentions the same two condition
every single action that you do is
sincerely for Allah and secondly it is
upon the of the Prophet Muhammad Al
wasam so here's two great IMS IM or IM
and IM at two separate times both of
them are laying down the same two
conditions every single thing that you
do sincerely for Allah subhana tala and
the action is upon the Sunnah of the
Prophet Muhammad sallallah alaihi
wasallam we find secondly any something
the of the the one calling to way of
Allah subh is a to have patience and we
find that patience is something any very
difficult in this in this day and
age in verse number 24 that sa is close
to certainty that both of these go
together that we made these people
leaders and they were Guided by a
command when they had patience
and they believed in our sence so strong
belief and patience brings you to become
leaders or brings you to develop people
to guide people to the correct way and
that's why he
wrote with patience and with um
certainty you will gain leadership in
religion or being in Authority so we
find that sa if you don't have patience
then it becomes very easy for you to
waver the small amount of problem the
small amount of fitner inside your Dean
small amount of Temptation you begin to
waver and you lose
everything lose the world and the and
the Hereafter as well because of a lack
of patience and that's how we
find have patience about what these
people are
saying and abstain from them in a
beautiful manner make hij abstain from
these people so hey the prophet Muhammad
has been ordered to have sa upon what
they saying to him what they're
attributing to him what lies they're
saying about him and about the dean of
Allah subhana tala and that's how we
find that this is something for us to
reflect upon look
atam that he called his people for 950
years call them day and night you in the
open and secret and reflect told him to
look upon the signs of
Allah why is it that you don't seem to
have have any fear of Allah subhana tala
and he created you in stages talked
about everything to bring them closer to
Allah subhana but these people refuse
950 years this is what you call the real
sa of a the one calling to the way of
Allah subhana tala as for our patience
maybe a day or two days or a week or
maximum for a year is the maximum amount
of patience that we have and this is not
the man that is not the methodology of
the prophets to follow that we lose
patience quickly but patience should be
kept for a very very long long time
until we meet Allah subhanahu wa
taala and that's why we find that some
people have begin to say that to
distract the the one calling to way of
Allah subh by saying what is it that
you're going to
achieve what is it that you're going to
achieve no matter what you say how much
you preach the essence is still there
you the the essence of riba of Usery
still exists so a few people of of your
nature standing up and telling people
that this is Haram to abstain from it
what does it mean and this is something
that these people are trying to wav
people away from the dean of Allah
subhana tala what was Haram yesterday is
Haram today and is upon the to Forever
have sa and to continue and not to waver
when people begin to believe in the
mixing of of the Sexes of co-education
of removal of hijab of removal of those
things which are known from the de that
there's no upon them but people begin to
introduce this and then the begins to
waver thinking that if everybody is
calling to this then maybe I should drop
my stance and accept this in society as
well and this is a lack of sa what is
clearly visibly Haram then a person
should remain on God and stick as what
they say stick to the guns that this is
something incorrect and have S that you
are upon the truth and this is from the
aat of Allah subh from the vers inside
the Quran and the sunah of the Prophet
Muhammad sallallah alaihi
wasallam
likewise that these people they say that
what are you going to achieve in this
one day and one night what are you going
to ever do that forever that your
preaching is not going to get you
anywhere and that's why the Arab poet he
wrote when will you ever reach the
Perfection of that building that every
time you get to the top another person
comes and destroys the building from the
bottom but it doesn't put the off it
doesn't put the one calling to way of
Allah subhana off even if he gets to the
top and it's about to be destroyed He
Will Carry On or she will carry on
preaching the dean of Allah subhana tala
that those fruits may be seen in this
world or may be seen later on and that's
why we find that many times that we
begin to lose sa and we're told to have
a a beautiful patience that many times
we may walk out of many things that
we're doing or from refraining from
talking to an individual thinking that
this person is D this person is
misguided and this person is is lost and
even the companions they showed a lack
of patience on certain occasions in the
famous Hadith that we find that a
companion came to him and the prophet M
was resting against the and said to
him will you not pray for
us will you not call for the help of
Allah to come upon us and then he said
to him you his face became red and
angered and he said that what is the
matter with you that before you there
was a people that they were placed in
front and they were cut in half and then
the flesh was taken away and only the
bones were left but you are
people but you are people who are in a
state of hastiness that very there will
come up a time that there will there
will be peace
from that these two cities in Yemen that
the ra The Traveler will be able to
travel from one PL one city to another
city without any fear without any fear
except for the wild animals that may be
there that the person may fear and many
of the have written why did the prophet
choose and why did he choose these two
cities because these two cities were
known for the rebellious nature of these
Arabs who lived in this country of Yemen
of you robbing people and taking away
their wealth you'll be able to travel in
between these two cities and not fear
anyone except for
the except for the the the animal the
wild animal upon that attacks you the
Beast the Sheep
Etc likewise you
find humbleness is also another
characteristic of the the one calling to
the way of Allah subhana taala because
we find that to be to Humble oneself the
person begins to know one's limitations
likewise you find that that's why some
people they
wrote the more I increase in knowledge
the more I increase in my in ignorance
and here ignorance carries the meaning
of one understands one's limitations
that the more you increase in the
knowledge of Allah subh the more you
notice that you are ignorant
you are truly
ignorant the amount of knowledge and
understanding you've been given is only
is a small amount so this brings about
this brings about humbleness and if
knowledge doesn't bring about humbleness
because the wrote
that knowledge is the fear of Allah
subhana tala if that is not developed
within you then there's no point in
studying knowledge It all becomes
Academia or becomes academic knowledge
of memorizing textual things but is
is the fear of Allah subh which should
be recognized inside
the those people who fear Allah subhana
tala are the here carrying a general
meaning of those people who are those
people have good understanding of the
knowledge of the dean of Allah subhana
that is the first attribute that should
be seen in the person who's calling to
the way of Allah subhana
tala fear of Allah
subh in the open and even especially in
the secret when Secret in alone when one
is alone with Allah subhana tala so
likewise we
find know your limitations know where
you can go and where you cannot
go and don't place it in in another
location where it should not be placed
meaning you should know that when to
speak and when not to speak and when to
present yourself and when not to present
yourself and that's why we find that
many of the the Sal they wrote this
story about Abdullah muak that one he
went to see a person who was known for Z
for abstinence or following any Tazia of
remaining in his home making Adar making
so he had a certain form of arrogance
within him that he wouldn't really let
people come and see him or he would
brush them aside so abdah Mubarak went
to see him one day and the man didn't
pay any attention to him and Abdullah
Mubarak he just walked out so the man he
just thought he was just another person
there's no need to pay any attention to
him and they told him do you know who
that person was he said said I don't
know and he
said this is the leader of Hadith of of
the Believers in Hadith this man he then
got up himself and he went up to abdah
muak and he apologized for not
recognizing him thinking that I'm better
than him thinking I'm better than him or
I don't know who this individual is look
just look down upon him and this is
incorrect what is pride and
arrogance is to look down upon people
and to reject the truth you Hess and
pride to be proud is not to wear good
clothing and good shoes to eat well and
to dress well but Pride or being proud
is to look down to despise other people
to think you're better than them and
this is the way
of when Allah said to him and what
prevented
you that which I created with my own two
hands I'm better than
him you created me from fire and you
created him from clay this is the first
races this which is spread in front the
Muslim um to look down upon other people
to despise people look down upon them is
is being proud and being arrogant so
when his man he noticed that abdah this
is the
famous he's a great leader of Hadith he
came up to him to apologize to him that
I did not recognize who you was Abdullah
muak gave him some advice recognizing
the man's deficiency and he gave him
some advice and he said to
him if you leave your house and and your
eyes fall upon anyone don't think that
you're better than them that was the
advice that he gave to this man that
whenever you leave your home or whenever
somebody approaches you don't think
you're better than them and this is the
best advice that can be given to any
that whenever you are when you preaching
to people or anybody else or you're
speaking even you see their even you see
their sins in front of you first you
should thank Allah subh you are not
committing those sins and you're not
following that path and you're not
behaving like this individual and
secondly you should be thinking within
yourself that there may be some goodness
in this person that because of his sin
he may feel so ashamed of or she may
feel so ashamed that they are getting
close to Allah subhana tala
that's he wrote these lines which should
be written with gold ink he
wrote Obed may take you to
Disobedience and maybe some form of
Disobedience may take you to obedience
what does that mean that Obedience of
Allah might take you to Disobedience
what it means that you begin to despise
people and look down upon people and you
think you are proud and arrogant and
better than other
people and perhaps an evil sin that you
do will take you to obedience that's why
you find that the they wrote that when
Adam that was he better before after he
committed the sin was Dam better after
he made his mistake and many of the who
write about Tus To The purification of
Soul they're right that a person is
better when they have repented to Allah
subhana tala when you make a mistake and
then you repent you are in a better
position than you was before this
is this is the wisdom of Allah subhana
tala that a person has a stronger AA a
stronger dedication to become a better
person when they've committed a sin and
like if find many Hadith that if you not
to commit sins then Allah subh would
destroy you and bring about people who
would commit sins and then repent back
to him and so that's why this is some
form of hikma wisdom that we find that a
person should not despise other people
even if they commit sins in front of
them but rather reflect upon it that
alhamdulillah I have not been Tri in
this form of fitna or this tribulation I
not behaving this manner and I should
thank Allah that I'm not following this
path and that's why we find that it
becomes a great shame that people ofah
people who don't respect the that you
find that people who are who are deviant
that you find that forever they respect
their their clerics and their leaders
and show great respect for them and we
amongst ourselves show no respect for
the for
the and you can see clearly even amongst
the non-muslims how their priests how
their rabbis how their leaders are
respected and given Authority and
position in the society as for amongst
ourselves we find no position or
authority given amongst ourselves and
this is also something against giving
them their rights and like we find this
famous
statement we are men and they are men
that you find this forever time they are
men and we are men and this is incorrect
even according to the Sunnah of the
Quran you find there's a great
difference between men some men and
other men those men where he Allah has
mentioned there are men inside the Masid
who want to be
purified and then likewise you find that
this is likewise you find there are
these are men who are not distracted
from the remebrance of Allah subhana
tala and then you find another place
inside the
Quran that there was some men amongst
the Jin so the word Ral is used here but
one meaning ofal is those me those men
who are not distracted from anything who
are dedicated to Allah subhana tala and
here you find another type of men who
are dealing with and dealing with the
Jin both are men but great difference
between the two if you read these verses
in great detail and likewise we are men
and they are men is an incorrect
statement physically we may look like
men and they may look like men but that
which is inside them far you overrides
what we may think is manhood that the
understanding of Allah
subhana Allah subh testified that none
has the right to be worshiped except for
Allah subhana tala and the
angels and Men of understanding and
knowledge so how can you say that we are
men and they are men our understanding
and their understanding is the same
it is like the East and the West that
the understanding they have of the dean
of Allah subhana tala is greater and
vast than the understanding that we
think or We complain or we think that we
have so once again this is against in
humbleness in in our understanding and
that's why we find that to take is also
to take to take advice from fellow
people especially the when he's
preaching in the way of Allah subhana
tala many times we have any uh slip of
the tongue in the words that we may use
the way that we may behave and likewise
somebody may come up in a good manner
and advises look it's not befitting for
you CU some people they feel to maybe
give da outside a nightclub is is
adequate but um Others May disagree the
music the nudity the whole atmosphere
may become a very great big Temptation
for some people to stand outside there
and preach the dean of Allah subhana
tala so all of somebody advises this not
something adequate for you to be seen
and many of the D were never seen in
immoral places they were never seen
standing outside immoral places speaking
to people or even going inside such
places so this new form of concept of
dawa as well how can you be talking to a
person who is half drunk in a state of
nudity intoxicated taking drugs Etc
either they could be mocking you which
is possibly true or they may be paying
attention so we need to choose the
correct times of P to Mankind and the
locations as well to visualize or get
the best form of dawa portrayed to these
people and that's why D can never be
represented that he hangs about in such
places or he moves with such people or
he sits with such people likewise the
way that we use our tongue and the
speech that we use just to give da to
become more Street wise and to use the
slogans and the terminologies that they
use it's sometimes not befitting for to
use the language that is common amongst
the people even if at times it may make
the people laugh and it may be required
but a should Excel beyond that because
the power lies inside the Quran and in
the words of the Prophet Muhammad sallah
am they will forever move people that is
a a natural phenomenon that which has
been placed in the words of Allah
subhana tala that if these words have
been placed on on upon a mountain it
would rip the mountain as that is the
power the magnitude and these words have
changed Millions before and will forever
change Millions until the Quran is
lifted from us so sometimes these modern
forms of techniques that people may use
are sometimes incorrect In visualizing
and giving da to people and that's why
we find that
the were forever ready to take and take
advice that's why
mentioned may Allah subh show Mercy to
that individual who show highlighted our
mistakes who showed us what we were
doing wrong so we become rectified so
the is willing to take criticism good
criticism which is presented to him or
her in a good manner to rectify the call
to Allah subhana tala no one should feel
that this is a battle between me and you
or me to get the upper hand or or
yourself to get the upper hand it is
rather to present the message of Allah
in a good manner and a manner that is
acceptable and that is also just a very
basic
Hadith and you truly believes until he
loves for his brother what he loves for
himself so you see your brother making a
mistake committing a sin in front of you
especially if he's a a caller or the
sister is a caller then to highlight
these points yes you may be talking to
this to this man what or to this
non-muslim person you spoken to him
sufficiently you need guide him to
someone another brother in the Islamic
somebody else no need to continue the
conversation fair enough in the
beginning you may have met and may have
discussed with a person a few minutes
guide him to somebody else to God
likewise the brothers in the Zeal of
preaching the dean of Allah subhana that
sometimes they begin to forget the
conduct and the etiquette just because
it's da it doesn't mean that you can now
look at the woman in the face or it's a
non-muslim woman it doesn't make a
difference now the rules are there that
need to be applied throughout and so it
should be ch CH towards the right
regulations and that's how we find that
sometimes we cannot understand the hi of
Allah subhana tala just before coming I
was reading a story about a a new Imam
in a certain Masid he got on a bus and
the bus conductor gave him 20 P extra
and as he sat down he began to think
I've been given 20 P extra what should I
do doesn't matter the the bus they earn
enough money anyway these drivers or the
government earns enough money I'll just
keep 20p the other side is saying look
it's 20p Allah knows that you owe the
money to him he's giving you extra money
money when it came to his stop and he
was about to get off he took the 20p and
he said to the conductor or the bus
driver look you gave me 20 P extra he
took it and he goes are you the new IM
of the Masid he goes yes I am he goes I
was just thinking about you cuz I want
you to come and pray inside your Masid
but I just wanted to see what type of
person you are and as he got up the off
the bus his legs began to shake and he
said you I thank you Allah subh I was
about to se your sell your Dean for 20
P I was about to to sell your Dean for
20 P the man wanted to test him
intentionally gave him 20 P extra to see
is he really trustworthy in the dean of
Allah subhana
tala and then he realized he realized
alhamdulillah he realized that he never
made that mistake and never kept the 20
p and that is likewise the the DI should
forever be conscious if you read the of
many of the of the great people like IM
bukari and such people some people
question authenticity about never even
being attributed of being called a liar
or a thief in their life as Imam bukari
was traveling on a voyage and you find
that he was carrying some 20,000 gold
coins Etc and he began to talk to a
person who's a thief and in out of
discussion being so truthfully he said
to him I'm carrying x amount of gold
coins so in the journey the thief shouts
out somebody stolen my money somebody's
stolen my money so the captain of the
ship begins to search everyone and
doesn't find the money when they get to
the to the end of The Voyage they get to
land the thief goes to IM bukari I know
you're honest person and you told me you
had had x amount of money in in in a
sack where is that money he goes I threw
it aboard he goes are you crazy is there
something wrong with you you just threw
these gold coins away he go the reason
why I threw it away is L somebody writes
in the future that Imam bukari was
attributed of being a
thief that ever anybody says we all know
you're not a thief but somebody may come
along and write that IM bukari was a
great M but he he was accused of being a
thief once and that will remain in
people's mind
that's the same likewise a has to think
that even you have to sacrifice your
wealth you have to sacrifice something
to remove something away from you you
should do that not never to be
attributed as we mentioned the theat of
being called a liar being attributed of
stealing of being immoral and and any
form of misconduct should never be
attribut to all of us make sins all of
us commit mistakes but these major sins
and these major mistakes that we find
should not be attributed to one who is
calling to the dean of Allah subhana wa
ta'ala and then we find any another
attribute of the one who's a is is to be
just to be
just with the the enemy and to be
truthful to the to the enemy and to
oneself as
well because many many times we find
that we don't be fear to other
people and do not be amongst those
people who go to one side and don't be
fair be fair and just because that is
closer to the consciousness of Allah
subhana tala the fth chapter verse
number eight so that's why we find that
many times we find that we may pick on
person's mistakes and highlight their
mistakes and leave out their leave out
their good points and this is not the
way of the the is fair and just and
highlights you that with those which are
the good points and then may highlight
any discrepancies that may be there in
the person likewise we
find especially is forever involved in
research and studying and looking at
various material and you may have to
read various books and various material
some people may say you abstain from
such works and material but if the
doesn't Research into these matters then
how can you tell other people especially
books which are currently available
inside the English language which may
have discrepancy inside them so should
be reading through this material
obviously once they have a good
understanding of the belief and the sun
of the Prophet muham to highlight that
these are the discrepancies in this book
but to be fair and just not to go to one
extreme and to go to The Other Extreme
to say that everything in the book is
marvelous or to go to The Other Extreme
that everything in this book is palava
or contains no benefit at all but is the
one that takes the middle course and
highlights the good points and
highlights those Point discrepancies
that may be inside there likewise you
find to give a regulation about the fa
various movements are in front of us at
the moment various organizations various
people are there in front of us so we
cannot just paint everybody with the
same brush and say all of them are
misguided all of them are incorrect
there's no goodness in any of them there
is some goodness in some of them and
there's some maybe some great
discrepancies in some of them but to be
fair and just that where there's some
goodness being done the person should
alleviate or show goodness to these
people for example some people may stand
up for human rights of Muslims in this
country maybe you may not agree upon
them on some points but those people may
be defending you tomorrow if you don't
show some affection and some trust with
these people so who would you rather
trust would you rather trust that this
believers or you trust this person who
may have some discrepancy in their
character some discrepancy in their
belief and that's how you find that even
the people of bid people of innovation
that people should trust them over the
disbelievers that even if a person comes
to Islam and they come become an
innovating in what they are doing they
are still more beloved should be more
beloved to you than the person who is a
clear-cut disbeliever yes some people
must say that the person is hiding what
they're doing Etc but the general form
is that you should accept them and show
more trust and and just justification
towards such
people like we
find in what people are striving to do
that people should be fair and just that
some people may have spent day and night
preaching to the dean of Allah subhana
tala and a person says that there's no
in this person there's no good in this
person there's nothing good that they
are talking about and this is also being
not fair to many people there may be
many people excelling in what the
activities that we may think that we are
doing is a forever calling to the way of
Allah subhana tala writing about the
dean of Allah subh defending the dean of
Allah subh tala and we should show
justness towards these people as well is
the way of the as
well any for example you find just a
small point for example afani the war in
Afghanistan previously that some people
they wrote that these
people they incorrect in everything that
they done
that these people are incorrect and
everything that they done there's no
good inside there to this extent they
wrot these people are polytheist
fighting against the atheist and this is
incorrect incorrect to say this this is
total ignorance to say that those people
yes there may have been some people who
may have been committing some aspects of
shik but to write words of such nature
that these are polytheist these are who
are fighting the AAS it's totally unfair
it's not the way of the to weigh up
things in such nature to call people in
a general label these people are
polytheist and they are fighting against
the people who are
atheists because we find from the proof
of that this is not against the way of
the is the prophet Muhammad said
about he is a king and no one is
oppressed in his authority and this was
said before he became a Muslim this
before Nashi became a Muslim that go to
him that he is a king that does not
oppress anyone so what is the the
prophet mamm doing about this person if
he's not praising him what else is he
doing he's praising a disbeliever here
at that stage Nashi was a disbeliever go
to him because he's under his kingdom is
a kingdom that no one will be oppressed
so here this is amongst showing a an
aspect about being fair and just to
people when it is due to
them likewise you find in dealing
with Justice in dealing with the law
dealing with the rules and regul ation
of the de of Allah subhana tala because
many times we find that many actions
that we
do that we begin to
become very harsh upon people we read
some some
basic that the one who cuts off the ties
and relationship will not enter Jenna oh
the one who talks about um who says
certain things or whoever does does this
action that the action of kufur people
begin to say that you have become a
disbeliever or you you you have come
left the fold of Islam or you you're a
very bad person this is incorrect
because on the other side we find many
Hadith highlighting about the
person Allah has made it haram upon an
individual to go in the
fire whoever says since seeking the face
of Allah subh is made it haram for the
individual to go to the Hellfire so this
is being just now yes a person may have
made a mistake don't label them that
that you are that you are forever going
in the hell fire this is not the way of
the you don't have a control of sending
people to the Hell Fire and then
bringing them out and sending on to Jen
and then bringing them out that only
belongs to Allah subhana tala even when
you label somebody as action or maybe
action of disbeliever is an act it's an
action of kufur and every single action
of kufur does not make you a disbeliever
it may look like he he's behaving even
like a disbeliever but action is kufur
the action is disbelief but to label him
as a disbeliever is something against
the way ofah to quickly label people as
disbelievers which has become common
amongst us as well so we find that also
to look at the aspect of Hope and mercy
of Allah subhana tala that yes a person
maybe make a mistake but at the same
time the da should be one highlighting
that to have hopeing Allah subh that he
will be forgiven or she will be forgiven
and to come closer to Allah subhana
tala likewise defined to place the sunah
of the Prophet Muhammad in its correct
order that many people in their Zeal of
of of Love of Islam love of the sun of
the Prophet Muhammad they begin to go
beyond the bounds and so example we find
that a person may for example wearing
the shoes and praying now a person may
feel that this is such a strong I
highlight the word Sunnah that we need
to teach to people list and they need to
do it when a person doesn't know how to
perform W doesn't know how to perform
ablution doesn't know how to pray but in
the Zeal and their love to to highlight
this point they want everybody to do
that and this is once again not
justification this is not just that to
know the limitation of people and not
the understandings of the people to
teach them that which is correct and
that does not mean that we belittle the
Sunnah in any way because the love of
the sunna should be forever in one's
heart but is a time to highlight certain
points and a time not to highlight them
looking at the state of of mankind for
examp has to be be aware of these things
a himself or a female person who called
way of Allah should be trying their best
to adopt all of the sun of the sunas of
the Prophet Muhammad in their life and
likewise to maybe to enforce them upon
people but to take the limitations for
example some people in enforcing about
the way the lower garment to what what
degree should it be raised these are
very very important issues but at the
same time you know that somebody doesn't
know anything about Allah doesn't know
the prophet muham what is the point in
telling them about this they don't even
know about Allah they don't know the sun
of the Prophet mam they develop no love
for it so it just go in one ear go out
the other ear or even it is adopted just
be because to be with the crowd just to
fulfill the regulation that everybody is
dressing in such a manner and this is an
incorrect form of cultiv cultivation of
of of the youth but to begin with those
things which are a the important things
and without doubt no one will differ
that the most important thing is the
belief in Allah subhana tala and then
the belief in the prophet Muhammad s
alaihi wasallam and to follow his Sunnah
in our
life so here we find the
to know what things to place in front
for example many people may talk about
champing the Islamic empire the coming
again of the Islamic law how it be
governed in this country in quite a sad
State of Affairs that if we don't even
understand the British law we don't
understand Islamic law and then we're
going to Champion the whole re rewrite
Islamic law for this country and for the
people people should know once again the
limitations where they stand and where
they belong and you really be truthful
to their own selves before they begin to
Champion the cause of Allah subhana
tala now so here we find to be just I
mean the example here that's given is of
that some people when they think of they
think you when he made made his famous
statement that if there was a there was
a there was a donkey in Iraq and it was
just walking around it didn't have a
path to travel on then I would be
questioned about that so that's what
some people would think that the
political aspects of Islam is talking
about
other people would think about Omar when
they see him that he was a person with a
short garment and with a long beard so
that's the concept that they will get of
Omar however the concept of should be
that he was both he was worried about
the situation in Iraq of a donkey
walking in the path and there's not a
proper road to travel on and he was
worried about his be and he was worried
about his th as well that is the full
picture you should get of Omar not the
one picture of his political
contributions and the other
contributions of him adopting the Sunnah
but both should be developed inside
one's life that is the vision that one
should get of great companions
like and likewise we find to take the
whole of Islam and to pay attention to
the whole of Islam and try to try One's
best to develop it in one's
life and with that there a few words
that I wanted to share like I said that
was not my topic today to discuss but
tomorrow we'll go into more detail about
the or the characteristic of
characteristics of the believer
of the Muslim in general may Allah
accept these words
[Music]
in the next headings referred to as
women's
issues
um are in
fact mostly women's issues that's Pages
38
through uh
48 the first of
them is the issue of polygamy how to
deal with this one of the most common
issues that non-muslims raise why you
Muslims are polygamist
well to explain it to people it is it's
good to clarify to them that Islam did
not invent
polygamy in fact when the prophet if
they're looking at Islam as
being coming into existence with Prophet
Muhammad wasallam because of course it's
good in our da to clarify to people that
we don't believe that that was the
beginning of Islam Islam didn't first
show up when Prophet mhammad wasallam
showed up it showed up from the time of
Adam when Allah created the first human
being he gave him a way of Life how to
live so Islam was there from then but if
the person looking at it from the
perspective of Muhammad Sall alaihi
wasallam we explained to them that when
Prophet Muhammad Sall alaihi wasallam
came and the Quran was revealed polygamy
was uh
endorsed it was not invented it was
endorsed it already existed in the world
it was everywhere and Islam just limited
it gave it rules and regulations to
protect the interests of those involved
that's what Islam
did so we can't accuse Muslims of
being uh the introducers of polygamy and
that's that's although this is what we
are sort of identified as you know the
polygamous Nation but the reality as we
said is that
monogamy as I explained before is only a
word it didn't exist in the early Greek
and the Romans who are the ones who
promoted monogamy officially as the
law early Christianity didn't have
anything to say against polygamy because
the prophets of the Old Testament were
polygamus right and early Christians
practiced it all the way up until the
15th 16th up even until the 18th century
people still practiced
it in different parts of Europe
so it was really from Greece and Rome
that the idea of monogamy was promoted
however in both Greece and
Rome
men were permitted to have
concubines men were permitted to have
concubines meaning they had slaves who
they could have relations
with so what what was the meaning of
monogamy
then if the official law was one
wife but you could
have as many concubines as you wished
what is the meaning of that polygam of
that
monogamy you understand that principle
that monogamy really never
existed it it was it was something on
the law book
in Greece and Rome but it was not
implemented it meant you could not have
more than one Legal Wife and that's
basically the principle that the West is
following today in America Canada UK Etc
adultery and fornication is not a
crime it's not a crime so what does that
mean it means then that
monogamy is not the
rule people can fornicate they can
commit adultery having Mistresses
girlfriends or all these other things
they can go to prostitutes Etc and still
say I'm
monogamous so what we point out is that
really this being the nature of
males
historically every society in the world
without
exception has had
polygamy what Islam has done is
recognizing that nature has regulated it
and this is why you find amongst
Muslims uh though
polygamy is permitted the number of
Muslims who practice it are quite few in
fact uh the survey done in
India amongst Hindus and Muslims
indicated that the percentage of Muslims
practicing polygamy were less than the
Hindus practicing it though it is
illegal for the
Hindus Dr zachar Niki has the statistics
and the report Etc showing clearly it
was more practiced amongst Hindus though
it was illegal for them than amongst
Muslims themselves so Muslims because of
the responsibilities involved you know
uh it would and they recognize that it's
an issue of responsibility they practice
it on a much lower scale
furthermore if we look at monogamy and
polygamy we have to look at it from a
logical
perspective if a person says you look at
the law the monogamous
law if a man has a wife and he has a
girlfriend it's
legal if he decides to marry that
girlfriend and treat her just like his
wife that's illegal that's a crime for
which he's punished it can be jailed
it's called
bamy what is the logic in
that it is
illogical because you're permitting
extra relations but when a person wants
to take responsibility for the relations
ensuring that the child is you know
carries the name and is not considered
to be IL legitimate etc etc then you're
saying no punish this person it's a
criminal this is illogical
right
also there's a survey which was
done amongst Mistresses
girlfriends whose hus whose uh mates
were married and they were asked if you
have the choice
between uh becoming a second wife or
remaining a girlfriend what would you
prefer
unanimous second wife
this is amongst non-muslims unanimous
second wife because what there's there
is honor there's some honor here you
know because your relationship has been
legitimized also you know there are
variety of other points that can be
made and they're mentioned here in in
detail if the if the um non-muslims
sometimes raise the issue of well if men
can have four wives why can't women also
have four husbands you
know well that's coming from a
perspective that men and women are equal
that the the relationship in marriage
isn't equal a relationship of
equals well from the Islamic perspective
it is complimentary but not necessarily
equal a woman the the woman's threshold
of
pain is far
higher than that of a
man
so she is the one who delivers the
babies if a man had to go through that
pain that a woman had to go through he
wouldn't be able to deal with it so
Allah gave it to
women at the same
time a man not getting pregnant is in a
position to look after the woman in her
times of weakness so there are
complimentary roles so Allah gave him
certain abilities whether it is the
greater strength or whatever to look
after the family as the one responsible
to look after the family
so uh we
don't look at the issue of well if a man
can why can't a woman you
know we know that Allah has created man
and wom differently so I mean also the
issue of you know who is the father of
the baby if the woman has multiple
husbands to just tell the child will I
think it so and
so I mean no child is going to be
satisfied and happy with that and DNA
tests Etc do not uh rule out absolutely
who and and identify clearly who the
father is they only suggest that it is
likely Etc it's not
100% um arrange marriages you know which
is a major issue here in the
UK where there have been headlines about
you know Muslim families forcing their
daughters into
marriages back
home Pakistan or India
whatever uh
and Islam is then presented as one in
which the children especially the girls
are forced to marry people who are not
of their choice
of course we have to clarify that this
is not the case uh as a rule in Islam
though it may be in practice we can't
deny what is happening you know what is
happening in the community where people
are being forced so one cannot deny that
people may do this but this is not what
Islam teaches the right of the woman to
choose the person who she's going to
marry is established in Islam and the
parents are only supposed to help
her help her find a husband and help the
son find a wife this is only to help in
the process so that they're not left on
their own to go searching around for
themselves you know which in general
Society leads to ultimately to
corruption so it is to protect the
society protect them from the harm that
comes from it and especially the young
women are the ones who suffer so this is
only a guideline to help in the choice
but the ultimate Choice is still up to
the young woman you know from the
Islamic perspective so we just need to
clarify that we don't judge two things
one we should look at the context that
this is within a context where family
and decisions of family you know uh are
taken into account that uh children
young people within a family don't look
at themselves as being independent that
their choices have rep repercussions on
the family Etc so they do take counsel
from their parents etc etc etc so family
is involved you know and this is a
different perspective from a society
where the family is broken down family
is just a man wife and
kids so they don't feel when a young
person reaches a certain age they have
to get out and look after themselves
they don't feel a need to involve family
anymore so this is an important point
you know for us to show them the
difference between family in Islam and
family in other
societies and then again we point out
that the role of the Guardian to help
her and not to force her this is the
true teachings that if we find Muslims
doing things we don't judge Islam by
what they do and that's natural for
people to want to do that but we tell
them that Islam is not what Muslims do
but what Muslims should
do alhamdulillah
all praise due to Allah and may Allah's
peace and blessings be on the last
prophet Muhammad sallallahu alaihi
wasallam and on all those who follow the
path of righteousness until the last
day we
began the general topics which were
called uh women's issues uh yesterday
covered the issue concerning polygamy
and
um the concept of forced
marriage um the the third major topic
related to that is that of the double
standard in marriage in that Muslim
males can marry non-muslim
females whereas Muslim females are not
allowed to
marry non-muslim males so there is an
apparent a double standard uh
um we explained to them that on one hand
Muslim males it's not that they can
marry any non-muslim female there are
certain conditions she can she has to be
from the people of the book the people
who are either Christians or Jews and
furthermore she has to be chased was
Allah uses the
term right so the to those who are
chased meaning they hadn't had any
relations sexual relations outside of
marriage either they are virgins or
there are um divorces or widows like
this but the person who has engaged in
uh extramarital sexual relations such a
person a Muslim man is not allowed to
marry
right uh so it is limit there's a
limitation then the issue
that remains is the relationship between
the husband and the wife you know from
the Muslim perspective the husband tends
to dominate or will dominate a family
relationship what he says what he
desires will happen in the family
generally so in such a case if a Muslim
man married a Christian or Jewish woman
any of the things that he would require
of
her to maintain what is an acceptable
Islamic home would not interfere with
her practicing her
religious beliefs meaning if he said I
don't want any alcohol in my
home I don't want you to wear a
miniskirt if the Neighbors come over to
visit I don't want you kissing their the
husbands you know all of the different
practices and Customs which may be
common in the society which are against
Islamic teachings none of them are
religious requirements for Christians
and
Jews so a Christian woman if she had to
give up alcohol and give up Min skirts
and not kiss the neighbors uh husband
you know or not eat pork not cook pork
in the home none of these things are are
against her religious beliefs so her
religion is intact and of course he as a
Muslim husband cannot stop her from
praying to whomsoever she wishes to pray
to if her idea of Christianity is I pray
through Jesus Etc he cannot tell her you
can't pray through
Jesus because he marries her as a
Christian he marries her with her belief
as a
Christian whereas a Muslim woman under a
n a non-muslim husband she would be in a
compromising compromise position because
if he
desired pork he wanted to drink some
alcohol all the different things which
are normal for him and he asked her to
do these things she would be going
against the principles of her religion
in order to fulfill the requirements of
her husband so from that perspective
Islam doesn't allow the Muslim woman to
marry a non-muslim man to protect her
religion it's in order to guard her
religion
from uh compromise from her giving up
and and practicing things which are
against the principles of our religion
also the issue of
children that children who are raised in
the home will likely follow the religion
of the
father will follow the religion of the
father meaning meaning that the father
being the dominant influence you know uh
will likely want the child to be raised
according to his own set of beliefs it's
not to say that they're not exceptions
but again when we look at laws laws
don't are not made for exceptions
they're made for the general case right
so also in order to preserve the
religion of the children that they be
raised in fact as Muslims again this is
one of the requirements of Islamic law
that Muslim women not marry non-muslim
Muslim
males and this is one of the reasons why
in general though Muslim males are
allowed to marry Christian females or
Jewish females it is not recommended in
Muslim minority situations like here in
the
UK it's not recommended that a Muslim
man marry a Christian woman not here
back in Pakistan or in Egypt or in
Bangladesh these countries were they are
Muslim
majorities no problem but here where
Muslims are
minorities you know that it is
problematic because uh the environment
is not going to support the raising of
the child as a Muslim one two if you are
divorced and divorce is something real
it's happening all around us if you're
divorced generally speaking the courts
will give the children to their mothers
so the chances of your child being
raised as a Muslim become very small so
it's a dangerous situation and as such
it would not be recommended nobody can
say Haram you cannot because Allah has
made it Halal so no one can say it is
Haram but it's a question of
recommendation is it something
recommended is it something you know or
something discouraged given this circum
Circumstance the other issue that is
often raised concerning Muslim women and
marriage is the issue of divorce itself
that divorce the right to pronounce
divorce is in the hands of men and women
uh can't pronounce divorce that is the
general perception of course again we
have to
clarify that it is not only in the hand
of the man it is possible for a woman to
pronounce divorce also if at the time of
her marriage she has in her marriage
contract that
she has or can have the right to
pronounce divorce like her husband he
agrees to it that's a condition in the
marriage then she has that
right she can pronounce divorce as the
man can pronounce divorce if he agrees
to do that or if at any time in the
marriage she requests it and he gives
her permission she can do it also and it
happened in the time of the Prophet
Salli wasallam where a man came to him
and complained that his wife pronounced
divorce on him you know and he he asked
him how was that he said she requested
that you know right to pronounce divorce
I gave it and she pronounced divorce he
said well you gave her the right you
know so uh that is that is another route
also we have the court initiated divorce
known as where she approaches the court
and requests that they intercede and and
uh proceed with divorce for her so it is
not it's not that divorce is only in the
hands of men men women don't have the
right to divorce at all but there are
some conditions it's not an automatic
right as it is in the case of
males and the other thing which um uh
related to the issue of the divorce is
the the issue of it being uh
easy you know in the case of Muslim
males the general impression which is
given that the man just has to say
you're divorced you're divorced you're
divorced that's
it she's divorced so
easy whereas fact of the matter is that
it is not so easy I mean there are
conditions he cannot pronounce divorce
if she is uh in hermanis for example uh
and these conditions that are there are
to prevent uh misuse or a person uh
resorting to divorce when it is not
really uh necessary but only a temporary
kind of change in the situation you know
where women due to the biological
changes that are associated with
menstration you know this can affect and
they do affect women's personalities
many women's personalities around the
time of menstration so uh the males are
told not to pronounce divorce at that
point in time also they're not allowed
to pronounce divorce in a period between
menes in which they've had sexual
relations with their wives meaning
basically Islam uh is looking at it from
the perspective that if a man has enough
desire for his wife that he was have
will have relations with her sexual
relations then he shouldn't be divorcing
her he should be thinking about it you
know he should think it over some more
so he would not be allowed to pronounce
divorce in that period and even when the
divorce is
pronounced it is uh one pronouncement if
he says it three times or if it says it
10 times it's still consider considered
to be one pronouncement that is the that
was the methodology of the Prophet M
wasallam and that is the most accurate
way now we know uh from a legal
perspective that Omar had uh ruled that
three pronouncements of divorce would be
considered one I considered three you
know in order to discourage people from
doing it for a period of time but the
general rule is according to the
methodology of the Prophet wasallam
which was no many no matter how many
pronouncements you make at in one
sitting Etc it should only be considered
as one pronouncement and when that
pronouncement is given then there is a
waiting period of 3 months it's not
again just an automatic situation
there's a three month or three menstrual
cycles that have to take place and the
woman is supposed to live in the home
with her husband during that period of
time because she is still his
husband uh yeah she's still his wife not
husband she's still his wife so
um uh you know the practice of kicking
the wife out the home when she when the
man pronounces divorce this is of course
not uh Islamic the people may do it it's
a cultural thing but uh it's not
acceptable
islamically uh or the man leaving the
home as it may be in the West in the
west when the divorce happens the man is
told to leave uh this is of course
against Islamic principles they're
supposed to remain together because
you're still husband and wife he still
required to m contain or look after Etc
right up until the completion of the
divorce so it is not so easy as it is
portrayed you know in the movies or in
in novels or whatever it has its own
complexities and it requires time and uh
there is encouragement for uh resolution
of whatever problems that are there uh
further
more uh we could note here
that in the case of the West though they
speak about well our divorce is much
more complicated you have to go to court
but you know what's happening in the
courts you know it becomes a a battle a
war where the man is trying to make the
woman look as bad as possible he will
mention all kinds of things that are
happening in the home and what she's
done and and then she will say the same
about him you know it's as we say
washing your laundry in public you know
exposing the the secrets of the home you
know which a it's something
evil H furthermore you know it is um
people are driven to lying to try to
maintain this property and to get that
property and you know there's a whole
fit a battle that as I said takes place
causing economic you know distress
because both parties get lawyers they
have to pay these people huge amounts of
money and everybody's going for the
throat you know it's I mean it's a it's
it's a horrible situation and in spite
of all of that if you have enough money
I know in America anyway I don't know
what happens here in the UK but whether
they recognize it or not but they have
what is called a quicky divorce right
the Mexican Divorce where you can fly
down to Mexico City you know you make
your Arrangements ahead of time you know
over the telephone you fly in you sign
papers and you fly back out you're
divorced you know so for the West who
like to say well no you know ours takes
time no if you have money you can afford
it then you can arrange Quicky divorces
right so that accusation against Muslims
is not in fact
correct um the other
issue concerning divorce related to
divorce is the issue of
alimony uh in the west when a woman is
divorced she gets money paid to her from
her husband's income or from his wealth
or whatever to sustain her they say well
a Muslim woman when she's divorced she
gets
nothing you know after the divorce is
complete you know during the period of
the ID she does get maintenance Etc but
after that then she's not she does not
receive anything so where's where's the
fairness here from the Islamic
perspective of course uh we can
understand how in the west a woman would
feel that need to have that alimony
because the woman is on her
own she's on her own that's the context
the society a man is on his own a woman
is on her own so when they split up then
she's now on her own there's nobody to
support or anything she has to look to
see how am I going to get support all
these years that we were married I was
taking care of the home I was not
working and earning my own money I was
taken care of the home while you were
out working so I you know I help to
contribute to whatever money you have so
therefore if we're splitting up then I
want half of it or whatever right so
this is the rationale whereas from the
Islamic
perspective because of the fact that the
father is responsible for his daughter
or the brother for his sister or the son
for his mother that a woman is not on
her own in the case of divorce she goes
back to her father there somebody who's
responsible to look after her and uh
from that perspective then the issue of
alimony is not an issue anymore she's
looked after by her father by her
brother or by her son and um the man has
his own responsibility if he has a
mother who's divorced or a mother who's
widowed if he has a sister if he has a
daughter you know he is responsible for
them throughout their lives you know
Sister until she's married daughter
until she's married you know mother
until she Remar he's
responsible so uh recognizing those
family respons responsibilities and
Islam doesn't have an alimon
requirement in terms of the dress code
the hijab and this is one of the big
issues that is commonly raised in the um
course of
dawa um we have to clarify for people
that the wearing of the hijab for Muslim
women is something which which is not
imposed by men on women but something
which God has prescribed and God has
explain the reason for its prescription
it is not just I mean we do have certain
Islamic laws and principles where no
reason is
given no specific reason is given and we
accept that it is for the best and Allah
knows best much of the Islamic laws do
have reasons given that we can
understand we can perceive we can
identify for
example prohibition of
pork exactly why is not so clear as the
prohibition of alcohol prohibition of
alcohol is very clear crystal
clear the
prohibition
um of animals of prey the lion the tiger
the Falcon the eagle
but non uh Carn carnivorous
animals permissible I mean the
difference between the two is very
subtle why exactly have they been
prohibited we're not certain but the
prohibition of other harmful substances
something which we know can take your
life
smoking uh poison things like this it's
obvious why why it is
prohibited so in the case of uh if we go
into actually IAT the uh five times
daily prayer uh why five and not six or
four we believe that five is most
appropriate because God knows best we
may not be able to explain to people why
five we said God has prescribed five and
that's it we accept
that why prayer regularly of course we
can give some explanation for that but
why that number we just accept God has
prescribed five and we do it in the case
of wearing the you know Allah states
there in the
Quran let them cast their outer garments
over their bodies Allah gives this
instruction so it's a command that is
best in order that they be known and not
harmed he's given the two principles for
why covering the hijab has been
prescribed that they be known and not be
harmed that they be known known in what
sense known as chased
women women who are not uh interested in
extramarital Affairs or relations
boyfriend girlfriend you know knowing
men outside of a marriage
context that's that's what they're known
for just as in the west a person sees a
nun uh here you know wearing her full
habit or outfit you know they know this
is a woman that you don't approach you
don't go over to her and say we'd like
to come to a party with me you know like
to go out for a drink no understood the
nun in her dress this is not the type of
person that you come and try to talk
that type of talk to so similarly when
the Muslim woman wears that Garb that's
what she's she's telling because you
know dresses dress codes they have
meanings they they they portray or they
give some information to the public when
you see a policeman in his uniform that
uniform is telling you something you
know you see a doctor in his coat Etc in
the hospital that's telling you
something you know you go in the
hospital you look for people wearing
those coats you don't go to you know
somebody who's wearing overalls you know
he cleans the floor in you don't go and
ask him for an operation no you see he's
not dressed according to that particular
uh code for the doctor so the dress
tells you something right it lets them
be known similarly the Muslim woman's
dress lets her be known in the society
for that particular
quality the other um uh factor is that
she not be harmed she not be harmed
harmed meaning that uh when a woman
exposes
herself physically she exposes herself
to
harm when she exposes herself physically
she exposes herself to harm meaning if
we look at the rate of
rape in the west from the turn of the
century the 20th century till the end of
that Century 100 years and you plot it
on a graph you'll see it going from a
very low point to a very high point
I don't know what the statistics here
are in UK but in the US in the early 90s
it had crossed the 100,000
Mark 100,000 women raped yearly reported
rapes and they said the actual number is
probably seven to 10 times that amount
so you're talking someplace around a
million women raped
yearly and that statist those statistics
that was in the '90s if you went back to
the 40s and you went back to the 30s and
the 20s you'll see it going
down and now if you look at the dress of
women in America at the the turn of the
century the same thing here in the UK
when women would go swimming in the
1900s if you ever seen any old pictures
you know from the 1900s when the people
went to the beach they went swimming how
were they dressed the way they're
dressed now of course not there they
were covered up from head to
toe the long dresses all the way
covering down to their wrists and ankles
you know like dresses they were swimming
with dresses on today if you want to go
to swimming pool a woman want to go to
swimming pool with a dress on they say
Hey you know no we have we have special
dress codes you're not allowed to go
swimming soone you know wearing this
kind of clothing and of course for
Muslim woman if she's swimming even
amongst other Muslim women she has to
wear some garment which is going to be
loose enough to cover her at least
between her neck and her and her knee
you know she can't go swimming like
Muslim non-muslim women you know wearing
bathing
suits is not permissible that's exposing
her bodies to another woman not allowed
right so uh the point is that the
beginning of the century that's how
people were dressing by the middle of
the century towards the end of the
century the 70s 60s 70s ' 80s I mean you
could see the clothing was taken off
until they wearing you know just little
pits of string which uh referred to as
bikinis Etc you know they're virtually
naked and the consequence in the society
is that there's been a rising
rape there is a relationship people want
to say no no it's not that you know
people maybe they're more open now to
talk about no please
realities that human beings you know
function according to discernable
principles in a society if a man sees a
woman walk walking in the full habit of
the nun he may look at her and watch her
and he sees another woman wearing a
bikini going to the beach he would look
at her and watch her but is he looking
and watching the same way what's going
on in his mind when he sees the woman in
the Bikini his mind when he sees the
woman in the habit two different things
Al
together and the
consequence consequence is the harm that
comes to the woman she's the one who
suffers so it's Islam says protect
her protect her we could say yeah
protect her from
males from the danger of males who when
aroused by the exposure of the female
body will go ac across the laws will
will break the
laws given enough uh of a circumstance
that would drive them to it if every
time you're looking in the newspaper
you're watching the television whatever
you see that uh they want to sell the
Jaguar when they're selling the Jaguar
instead of just telling you how big the
engine is you know how powerful how fast
it goes from zero to 100
whatever they put a woman lying on top
of it in a bikini red bikini and that's
how they sell the
car you
know really if you just stop to think
why what is the con ction between the
Jaguar you know or the Corvette or
whatever big sports car and a woman
lying on a bikini on the car but that is
the sales pitch I mean just coming here
I was just look reading the newspaper I
don't know what what newspaper was
exactly one of the British dailies and
as I was flipping through you know there
are ads for couches these are just
couches every single one of those ads
had a woman lying on the couch why what
is the connection with the woman lying
on the couch and selling the couch
you're selling a leather couch or you're
selling a material cloth couch or you
know that's what you should be talking
about the materials and the but no every
one of them have you know some
provocative woman model in you know so
what is happening the society the
exposed woman is used to sell all the
products the main products and of course
that arouses for the man his desires and
if it is not fulfilled even though in
the societ you know extramarital Affairs
is now accepted etc etc but
still the rate of rape is
rising so what we can say is that Common
Sense tells us here that there is a
connection there is harm and this is
what Islam seeks to provide for the
woman protection from that harm not that
men are inherently evil you know because
that's you say look at this men the men
are the ones who should be you know
punished and of course usually the
feminists when they hear how severe the
punishment is for for men for rape you
know execution if it's uh done with uh
some kind of weapon or whatever it's
execution it's death death penalty for
rape they they love that so wonderful we
should Implement that they don't like
anything else about Islam but yeah kill
these rapists right you know but the
point is that but you want to maintain
your dress yes we'll kill the rapist but
I still can go out and wear a bikini if
I want
to this is this is not fair Islam says
no
uh on one hand we have a severe
punishment for males and on the other
hand we have to have some cooperation on
the part of the females they're not
going to encourage and then we bring the
full force of the law down on the
individual No it should be a balance a
balance here so the uh garment Muslim
women's dress you know we can say If
This Were something imposed on women
then we would not find the the kind of
numbers coming into Islam of women that
we find today you know they estimate in
the US I don't know about the stats for
here in the UK but in the US they
estimate about 400 between three and 400
people accepting Islam every
day every day every day across the US
every day across the
US between 3 and 400 people
and 60% of those to 70% are women
majority who are converting to Islam are
women these are women who have grown up
in the west with all of the things that
are connected to it and have rejected
that way and have chosen to cover
themselves so we can say that hey if one
understands the principles of the
religion Etc one understands that this
is a choice really in the on the parts
of women to obey Allah's command which
they know is for their betterment their
benefit of course you know to be honest
of course course in many parts of the
Muslim world today the wearing of hijab
you know is become sort of symbolic you
know they're not wearing it properly or
they may be wearing it provocatively you
know these kind of things exist but what
when we're talking about the concept of
hijab we talk about hijab as prescribed
by Islam not hijab as may be used or
applied by cultural Muslims
today the other area of
um of contention that is commonly raised
is the issue of the uh inheritance that
inheritance for uh males is twice that
of
females a 2:1 ratio in general of course
we can point out to them that this is
not in all cases there are some cases as
Allah law states if a man or woman died
and left neither descendants nor
ascendants
but left behind a brother or sister each
gets a
sixth it's equal there right so it's not
in all cases and Allah Knows Why best
why in that case he has done it but in
most of the other cases it is 2: one but
as a general principle we explain it in
the context of Muslim Society again many
of these issues have to do with the
context of the society in the west again
where a man and woman they're on their
own when they reach a certain age they
have responsibility to take care of
themselves so naturally if you're
talking about a division of inheritance
then the man should get the same as the
woman why should the man get more than
the woman that man is not responsible
for the
woman for his sister for
example or a husb yeah first sister uh
so why should he get anymore in the
Islamic system a female always has a
male responsible for
her so that male and female when they're
when The Inheritance are dividing
there's a portion which is equal that
they both receive then there's an
additional portion given to the male
because of the fact that he's
responsible for his sister for his
mother for his daughter for his aunt you
know depend if she if her husband is not
there so there's always some male who is
responsible for the female so when the
division takes place it takes into
account that additional responsibility
on
males furthermore when we get into the
issues of inheritance it's also good to
point out to people that before you
raise an objection about the division of
inheritance in Islam it is good for you
to reflect on the concept of female
inheritance of property in
general just the general concept of
females inheriting property having their
own property in their own names able to
dispose of that property as they
desire when did females in western
civilization get that
right I know in the US they didn't get
it until the 20th
century till the
19 10s 15s something like this it was
finally in law that they were able to
own and dispose of property
themselves in Western Law in the past
women were themselves
property properties of their
husbands and that's why when a woman
married a man his name was put on
her just as whatever property he had he
would put his name on it he had a villa
he put his name on The Villa he had a
chariot he put his name on The Chariot
he had a slave he put his name on the
slave he had a wife he put his name on
the wife these are all his properties to
dispose of as he wished this was Roman
law that's what is at the base of much
of Western Law Roman law so that's how
women were considered in fact in the
Middle Ages in in Europe Christian
Scholars monks and others were debating
whether women had
Souls whether women had souls or not
they were debating it I mean were they
human beings in the sense of
males so when we consider that Islam
gave women the right to own property and
dispose of that property 1,400 years
ago that was that is a miracle in itself
that was a
revolution something which went against
the norm for societies throughout the
world and continued against the norm for
another 1,400
years so keep that in mind before you
attack that system secondly second thing
to keep in mind is that in Islam if a
man dies and leaves wealth behind he is
not free to dispose of that wealth