Abdullah Hakim Quick – Living Islam #01 – Practical Guidelines for Protecting our Islam in Today’s Crises
AI: Summary ©
The COVID-19 crisis is causing physical and mental reactions, including physical and mental reactions, leading to physical and mental health issues. The importance of consciousness of Allah is discussed, as well as the loss of traditional values and the rise of online activities leading to mental health issues. The speakers stress the need to prepare oneself and bring forward solutions to improve one's life, including activities online and in person. The crisis is affecting many countries, leading to mental health struggles and the need for practical solutions.
AI: Summary ©
Bismillah R Rahman r Rahim al hamdu Lillahi Rabbil alameen wa sallahu wa sallam on assailant what they will have her in Nabina Muhammad. And while Halle him sahbihi rebetiko seldom, or praise the due to Allah, Lord of the worlds, and peace and blessings be upon our beloved Prophet Muhammad, the master of the first and the last, not his family, in his companions, and all those who call to his way to the Day of Judgment, my beloved brothers and sisters, to those who are viewing as salaam alaikum, wa rahmatullahi, or that acat
Alhamdulillah, we are at the beginning and the outset of a new semester. And we wanted to take a look at the situation that we are living in, in a practical sense. And then also to try to bring some of the solutions from the great scholars of Islam in relationship to the reality that we are facing on the ground.
And so, this course, this set of encounters is a type of opening,
to look at the struggle that we are involved in, and to find some solid solutions to come out of it. And we have to realize that in issues of life, there are always things which are open or die here. And there are things which are Inwood, Al Barton.
And many people look at the outward struggles in the world.
they base their movements and their decisions upon that, not understanding that there is an inward struggle. That's sometimes the battle for the heart. And the battle for the souls is actually the real struggle.
And so we want to look at the issues from the outside what is actually facing us as an oma these days, there are so many areas, but I want to really bring it down to a few basic challenges. And in looking at what is facing us, there are three real and present dangers. These are issues which are affecting us directly on the outside issues that are impacting our communities, and our nations. The first of those, of course, is the corona virus, pandemic COVID-19.
And this pandemic, which is spreading throughout the world, is something which is unprecedented in our lives. It is causing great consternation and Ill feeling throughout the planet. And it doesn't appear to be worse. We are one year in from when they first started talking about it. I can remember being actually out of the country. I was in Barbados at the time. And they were talking about this virus because there's a lot of boats that come in with visitors to the islands. And I was getting ready to come back to Canada. And but the virus was was starting to spread and people were talking about closing down the boards.
Now a year in to the onslaught of the Coronavirus. It's only getting worse. And today
the province of Ontario, you know has declared a state of emergency.
And this is something which in many countries, when a state of emergency is called the military comes out.
It is something which is a panic, you know for the lives of the people and usually has something to do with an external foe. But this state of emergency has something to do with the internal struggle.
Because we can't see the Coronavirus with our naked eyes. They make it appear to be this crown type virus floating around. But we can't really see it. But yet we see the results of people getting sick and to really deal with the issue. It is not an external foe that you can shoot missiles you can send your armies. Much of the solution to the problem has to do with human behavior.
It is how we are interacting as human beings
because those areas where people are not interacting freely, without the safeguards that are needed to stop the virus. They are not suffering as much as those who have broken
Down, there are safeguards, and you don't have any organization.
The Coronavirus is moving, it is turning into different strains. Now they say that there is the UK strain, which is now becoming dominant within Ontario itself. There are other strains, the Brazilians have recognized strains, South Africans, there are strains in China and other parts of the world. And this is an ongoing struggle. And so the COVID-19 is something that will probably be with us for the rest of our lives in one way or another. But it is how we deal with it as human beings.
It's something coming inside out. Because your behavior has something to do with your mindset. It is how you think it is how you organize your life, what are your goals, what are your values, and so these will be the issues that we will be focusing on, on occasion touching on some of the physical remedies that we can deal with. But we want to deal with the the internal person to try to understand what is going on
the second grade issue that we are looking at, and there are so many dangers, but these are the three that appear to be looming, really, really heavy on people is the economic recession.
This recession hit us from back in 2008. And we have been spiraling governments have been printing money. But we know that money itself is not based upon gold and silver, the original
monetary notes, the dollar, the pound, the RAND, the real, the original monetary notes, were basically a promise that if you had this note that said 100 Canadian dollars,
that you would have the equivalent of this note, it's promised to you in gold, or possibly silver in the bank. So you could travel from one city to another from one country to another. And you could take your promissory note to a banker who was connected to the bankers in the other countries, and he would give you the equivalent, but the paper itself, the promise is just a promise written on the paper. The bottom line was the gold, the wealth that is actually in the bank.
promissory notes have turned into computer impulses. There are other forms of monetary exchange. And what we realized that within the past few years and climaxing and we see it even happening right now, the government's, especially of the Western country, printing money, by the minute, that it is getting larger and larger, the debts are getting greater and greater, and that promissory note that is in front of you can change in the twinkling of the eye.
I remember when I was living in South Africa, doing Dawa, and living with the South African people and we were going to the frontline states. And so the intention was to go to Zimbabwe. And Zimbabwe, the famous country there in southern Africa, was considered to be the jewel of the British Empire in southern Africa and see some Cecil Rhodes himself settled there in Zimbabwe that was known as Rhodesia. And when they started printing their own wealth under Cecil Rhodes, their note, their pound note was equivalent to the British pound. And so it was a powerful
piece of paper. And the promise that you would get if you had a Zimbabwe dollar or a Zimbabwe pound, was a very struggle.
years went by, sanctioned happened. And when I traveled there in the 2000s, around 2007 when I traveled there, and I said I wanted to change 100 $100 bill. They said okay, and they came back with a bag of money. And they said now, brother, Abdullah, you're a millionaire.
Because that 100 US dollars were equivalent of millions of dollars in the Zimbabwe currency. But what I wanted to buy a cool drink. Then they were asking me for $100,000 so the paper was hardly even worth the fuel for a fire.
And that is the world that we are living in. And because of this inequality, this imbalance between the promises and the reality of wealth in the banking system, and implosion is about to happen again. And that is a recession, where wealth will be changed, again, where much of our currencies will be devalued, our jobs will be lost even more than what is happening now, we are going into spiraling into this recession, which in the 20th century led to a great depression
that is here within North America.
And so many of the economists and this was years ago, I remember one economist speaking about the United States in particular. And he said, by 2020 or so
the large cities in America would become like third world,
cities, the peoples would be surrounding the city's homelessness. And there will be people begging in the streets. They would be breadlines. And so patola, we see what is happening now in California, is a good example of this, the homeless people, the hundreds and 1000s of people that are living on the streets,
people who made up the middle class, losing their wealth, losing their jobs, and this is causing great tension amongst the people. That leads us to the third issue of real clear and present dangerous, and that is the
racial and religious violence.
And it is like a crusade. In the past, you would see people so worked up, that armies of people would just throw themselves at each other.
But now we see the tensions bubbling up and people. We have all been shocked over the past few days as to what is happening in the United States. And with President Trump and his minions and the group called the proud boys and the other right wing extremists coming to the surface and storming the capital of the United States, entering into an area that was considered to be the safest zone of existence on Earth, entering in it, and defacing it and defiling it in front of the eyes of the world.
And people in Canada looked in shock, but many people don't realize that the proud boys actually began in Canada.
And then they went to the United States. So this racial tension that is boiling up in the right wing extremists, especially amongst the European people, who who feel that their societies their * of Western societies is now going out of their hands. It is causing tension, it is causing, fighting in the streets. And, to to top that off, there is also religious violence. And we see that this is happening not only in North America, but around the world extremism coming out of the great religions of the world, and people in a state of tension.
These are clear and present dangerous, and there is an external version, but there is also an internal struggle that goes on.
And in order to actually deal with the external, we have to first deal with the internal struggle that is going on within ourselves. Now, these three clear and present dangers are also coupled with a number of other issues.
And I want to look at just a few of these issues with you to try to understand what is happening with
but as we go to these detailed issues I want to reflect because for many people, this looming recession, this COVID-19
it is causing physical reactions amongst them. But we have to remember that Allah subhanaw taala has given us the last revelation. And in these type of situations, I always remember the words of Allah subhanaw taala who has revealed to us and serve to Tilak Allah has revealed to us are all the Billahi min ash shaytani regime, will may tequila hajjaj Allahu Maharaja where you are zuckermann highschooler tasnim mejor tawakkol Allah Allah He for Hua Hospital in Allah Hidalgo.
ambree pajama long liquidly, Shay kodra and whoever is mindful of Allah, then Allah will make a way out for him and provide for him from where he knows not.
And whoever depends upon Allah, Allah will be sufficient for him.
Surely Allah will reach his purpose, and he has made a limit to all things.
And so, this is a very important section of certain Tilak. And many people go into this chapter, wanting to know about the rules of talaq and the rules of fasken and Hola. And all these issues. But Allah subhanaw taala
reminds people because marriage is such an important thing. Allah remains people, not only for this specifically, but generally
that whoever has the consciousness of Allah, when we are doing things, we have to develop taqwa. We have to have the consciousness of Allah, because that consciousness will provide a way out from us.
Think about the COVID-19.
Think about the racial violence, think about the economic recession.
Talk what provides Mark Ruch, it provides a way out and provisions. This is important for our hearts as we go into the economic recession, that Allah is the one or rasik is one of the descriptions of Allah azza wa jal, the one who provides risk and that is our provisions. That if you have Taqwa that Allah will provide a way out for you and provide for you from where you know not.
So maybe your promissory notes, your Canadian dollars or US dollars, will leave you but somehow you survive. That is the will of Allah subhanaw taala.
And if we depend on Allah, then Allah will be sufficient.
And Allah tells us clearly, in Allah ballyhoo humbly,
Allah will reach his purpose, there is a purpose for COVID-19
there is a purpose for the tension that we see happening on the streets and in the world. There is a purpose for this implosion in our economic life.
And Allah subhanaw taala has power over all things.
And this is important for our hearts in this very tense time that we are living in. And so looking at the struggle that we are going through,
we recognize that there are other issues facing the Muslims. And I want to look at these issues, so that we can touch on them as we go through. These are some of the points on the ground facing us. Some of them are our new ones for us in this particular age. Others have been there, but they have not been so much in the surface.
atheism.
atheism is the religion or the way of life where the people negate the creator completely. There is no God.
And that was something that we didn't even consider to be part of our struggle. I remember back in the 60s and 70s and 80s. It was an interfaith struggle. So the discussion was, is there one God is there three are there many gods what is coming now is godlessness. And many of our younger generation are struck with godlessness. And this is an issue which is important to face. It's important to come out of this and to have solutions from our way of life. What is happening to many of the youth and even our older generation is a loss of traditional values and our values and are based upon the Quran and the Sunnah. Our values are based upon Islamic way of life. This loss of
values is hitting everybody to Christians use Hindus it is hitting everybody and secularism
a value list system, or a system based on values that people make according to the circumstances, this is now taking the place of our traditional values. for Muslims. This is devastating because our traditional values
Use the Quran and the Sunnah. These are the two sources that Prophet Muhammad peace be upon him said, If you follow these, you will never go astray. And so when these sources are lost, we see people losing their faith, going astray, being confused, and doing things, which are unheard of. I was in a meeting just recently at a sister brought some statistics about the younger generation in Canada, shocking statistics, and it was talking about that young people today are you are sexually active, maybe 60% of the Muslim community. And this is outside of marriage.
So the traditional values only in a few decades, are being lost. I can remember seeing Muslims coming here in the 70s. And in the 80s. And young men coming and living 1020 years studying and working and then preparing their family. It wasn't on their mind to be committing fornication and adultery.
What is happening now, with the the rise of *, and the entrance of * images, and the lowering of morality, within society, it's impacting us. And because we don't have a society to really show living Islam, then we need to struggle with our hearts with the essence of our being as Muslims in order to try to deal with this issue from inside to take it out, and to be as practical as possible
for Muslims here in North America, but especially in other parts of parts of the world urbanization. And this is where people are leaving countrysides and settling in large cities. And this is a great challenge, especially in the time of pandemic. Because the people who live in more separated areas can the open air, in more natural lifestyles have a better chance to defeat the virus. They are living a more natural life, but crowded in urban complexes, crowded in buildings, is making us more susceptible to viruses, two pandemics, and two other issues. Along with this a great struggle. And we'll be looking at it through all of the different discussions that we have is Islamophobia.
And that is the illogical fear of Islam and Muslims. It is rising in the land, it is spreading, and it is not going away. And so it is an issue that we will have to tackle
and to put into our agenda.
It's shocking to see Muslims running out of the Muslim world. Muslims are putting themselves on boats, we see them leaving turkey leaving North Africa, going into the Mediterranean and leaving Muslim countries and going to places where the people do not want them. Going to godless societies where people are drinking alcohol, eating pork, and leaving the Muslims lands. I used to sit and read National Geographic as a young man, and dream about going to Syria and going into Morocco, and going to West Africa, and going to India and Pakistan and Afghanistan and Yemen and traveling the different famous parts of the world. Now we see people running away with dead children and their
families. It's a forced migration. That is something which is unprecedented in Islamic history, and it is facing us it is facing us today is not going to go away.
In this time of the migration and the time of the loss of traditional values. Within the secular society. People are trying to escape. They are taking on a new way of life, that in many countries basis, it's spirituality on drugs. And out alcohol is drugs in liquid form. And it's shocking to see
even here in Canada, and many of the Western countries that as they are closing our businesses, they are closing schools, there are certain institutions, certain buildings that must stay open. The Walmart, which has now become near the center of everything now, the wall
Math stay open. But shockingly,
the liquor stores where people are getting their alcohol is considered to be essential. It is essential for people to medicate.
It is drugs in liquid form.
And it's always shocking The other day I was walking, and it was cold outside minus seven degrees with the windchill factor. People were lined up around the corner. I thought it was a food store. But they were it was an alcohol liquor store.
And so illegal substance abuse, is now becoming a way of spirituality of medication, a way to escape the reality. This is causing our issues in our community mental health issues. And we need to try to be as practical as possible. Because we are surrounded with a wave of mental health issues. It's something which many people have put to the side. But we need to understand. And when we look at the solutions of mental health, we see that spirituality is right in the middle of
juvenile delinquency. Our young people leaving their homes carrying out in different acts. In some parts of the GTA, we see gangs made up of Muslims, street battles going on our lives being lost. It's a dangerous time for young people. What is happening now, and especially in this new wave of the pandemic is COVID-19 isolation. This is something which many people have never faced before.
They have never faced the fact that somebody is telling them, you can't go outside.
You can't enjoy yourself in a group. You can't visit your family. Even if somebody dies, you can't even have a group janazah for that person COVID isolation, which is leading to depression.
And this is an issue that we want to look at,
in the coming session
to try to look at some practical solutions to depression, and also the Islamic basis for dealing with depression itself. Because Muslims have dealt with this. There are some amazing psychiatric hospitals in the Muslim world. I remember visiting Turkey and traveling with a group studying the history of the Ottomans. And when we reached into the northern part of Turkey, we fought we went to Daraa Shiva. And this was a psychiatric hospital. We are Muslims over 600 years ago, we're curing people who had mental issues, using smell, using sound
using the court and using Islamic lifestyle, calming people down, giving solutions. And so within our texts, some of the great scholars of Islam, although people will consider them to be Islamic theologians like Imam Al ghazali, cdfs ruka, Morocco Chico's, Madden fodio. But when you look at their writings, they were providing psychiatric solutions, sociological solutions, psychological solutions, lifestyle, which was wrapped up within the teachings, because Allah subhanaw taala has given us a way out of everything.
And if we really depend upon Allah, which is not just sitting in the room, and hoping that food will come in the window,
if we really depend upon Allah, meaning following his commands, understanding the lifestyle that He has given to us, then inshallah, there is a way out.
And with this background in mind, with the looming challenges in front of us, we want to look as a theme for our solutions, because we should never leave ourself without solutions. And in this case, the example for us amongst the profits, one of the greatest examples, in terms of isolation, that we are going through COVID-19 isolation. We are going through changes within our self was Ibrahim alayhis salaam
The Great Prophet of Allah subhanho wa Taala and Ibrahim Alayhi Salaam, his life typifies humanity's spiritual journey. And that is from the primordial state being, you know, innocent as a young child. And the doubt that comes in the confusion with things that are around you that you see. And then the faith, holding on to the total heat the oneness of Allah, and then moving through life, to absolute certainty. Ibrahim Alayhi Salam is an amazing example of this. And Allah subhanaw taala chose him as a hollier and he is considered to be Kalia Lama, the intimate friend of Allah subhanaw taala. And Allah tells us in Surah to narrow the chapter of the B versus 120 to 121 are the Billahi min ash
shaytaan. The regime in Ibrahima Cana omata carnita lilla partiton lilla hanifa wollam Jaco middle mush Ricky Shakira on the homie hedger bajada, who will hada who Ella, Sarah, Tim was talking. Surely, Ibrahim was a model of excellence.
Other lead, he was utterly devoted to Allah,
perfectly upright, and he was not of the polytheists. He was utterly grateful, completely grateful for our laws famous. So a lot chose him and guided him to the straight path.
And so through the life of Ibrahim Alayhi, salam,
we see
the kalila
how to become a friend of Allah subhanaw taala. And when you look at these simple words that appear to be simple, but it's a divine formula, it's saying in Ibrahima, kana oma.
He was a model and the Vaseline tell us, he was immerman. They call the facade of hair. He was a leader, an example
of all the righteous qualities, and Alma is a nation to because in many times, Ibrahim alayhis salam was actually a nation unto himself. And so we need to tell ourself, in the example of Ibrahim Alayhi Salaam, who walked through the deserts, who felt within himself, if there's nobody in the world, who believes in a lot, I will believe in Allah.
That is the kind of individual that we need to follow. He was partly tunnel Illa
he was completely devoted to Allah subhanaw taala
and devoted in all the different actions and different aspects of his life, not just in ritual worship, but he was devoted in his economic life. He was devoted to his family. He was devoted in everything that he did.
And he was Haneef. He was a person who was upright.
He was a person who tried to do the best in every possible aspect of his life.
The key quality was that he was a strong, more hit a strong believer in one God, not just in theory, but an action and all the things that he did. And whenever Allah gave him or did not give, he was shocking. He was a person who was grateful to Allah subhanaw taala. And this Shakur, this gratitude is not only with the tongue, but it is with the heart and is with the actions that a person is supremely completely thankful to Allah subhanaw taala and with that, he gained guidance to the straight path. And so we keep him as a model. As Prophet Muhammad Sal Salah also looked at Ibrahim and was told, follow the Milla of Ibrahim, follow that. And then give us your example. We will see
how the profits are solid even benefited from this. We will see how that was exemplified through revenue loss or seller, and then through his companions and the people who came afterwards. By looking at this. We want to start from the inside. Because Ibrahim was an oma. He was an island. He was a nation unto himself, and then his qualities went out and the people who were around him
His wife hodja, may Allah be pleased with her, his son, his smile, may Allah be pleased with him. They showed in their life, also the qualities of complete submission to Allah subhanaw taala. And so
this is our approach to look at practical issues that we are facing.
We want to look at depression, go into that in the next session,
show some Islamic solutions. We want to work from the inside and go out, because we are all crying for change. And Allah told us clearly in spirit of rad
in Allah, Allah, you know, maybe Coleman had to tell you a little Bobby and fuzzy, Allah will not change the condition of a people until they change that which is in themself. So the first level of the change. The first pandemic, that we have to deal with is the spiritual pandemic. It's not just the external one. But it is the one that is happening inside of ourself. Because pandemics come and they go.
Viruses come and they go, viruses are around us. The flu is around the Spanish Flu back in 1918 or so killed millions of people I say 50 million people.
So flus have happened before. the companions of the Prophet sell, sell them went through unbelievable changes. The the major typhoon, this epidemic of unrest that that hit the Sahaba. And so many of the great companions have obeyed the evidence Zahra. Wow, it even Jebel radilla one who died in the pandemic, great, illustrious companions. So this is not something new to our oma. But it is something for us, for many of us, it is no having to go into isolation. Having to think more internally about ourselves, having to prepare ourself, come closer to our families come closer to each other in different ways. This is a great challenge that is in front of us. And we want to go
through some practical guidelines set by the great orlimar of Islam, those, especially the scholars who looked at the internal Muslims, those who looked at the solutions that would start on the inside, and then go out to affect the outward life of people.
So I want to
stop at this point. And to open up the floor. If there are any questions that have come through on the chat, you have to get used to asking the questions, and we'll try our best to to field these questions.
And to bring some solutions, if possible, as we are going through the different areas of these practical guidelines.
So I want to open up the floor to see if there are any questions that have come so far out from our students.
As you as you type, remember the chat room, you can put in your questions there.
And if you have a question that didn't come exactly right now and you want to bring it forward, that inshallah keep it in mind, and then put it forward in the chatter. And remember, this is not everyday phip.
So people are going to ask him the questions, How many times should I divorce my wife, or things like this is not an everyday fifth class. We want to deal with these guidelines dealing with the spirituality, dealing with the internal Muslim and weighs up. So again, are there any questions that we have had so far? So yes, there is an actual question has been asked. I don't know if you can see the q&a section of it, which is, is there any reading material for the cure of mental depression?
The there are people I mean, there are Muslims psychiatrists. And if we can, we'll we'll see next week, you know, when we try to handle this question, I mean, I looked at this from the point of view of some of the great scholars, because you will find that the teachings of Imam Al ghazali or Himalaya especially actually dealt with depression. And you know, I found this in the teachings of great scholars. So we will look at some of these sources. Next week. You know, some of the practical ones
Even in modern day, concepts, but to show, you know, how Islam, you know, actually incorporated these things already, and some practical solutions as to what we can do today to come out of this, you know, and to improve our lives.
That was the only question.
And so it's important for us to understand that this is a test. And Allah subhanaw taala has put us in this not by chance, it is the will of Allah.
And remember what Allah says in Surah, Allah in Allah hi balaguer Omri, caja Allah, Allah, holy cliche in Qatar, that Verily, surely Allah will reach his purpose, and he has made a limit to all things. And so there is a purpose for what is going on around us. And there is a limit. And we rejoice in the fact that Allah azza wa jal has preserved his book,
and through his companions, has preserved for us the ways of the prophets of Salaam, his his sayings and his Sunnah has been preserved, that we can bring this to life, and Allah has inspired scholars throughout the centuries to to bring this alive. And so we want to look at this and, and, and set guidelines for ourselves within our lives. To deal with this issue. Many people now are questioning themselves, they are questioning their marriage, they are questioning their relationships, they are even questioning their economic life,
their social life, their spiritual life. So this is a chance for us to reset
is a chance for us to have a type of awakening,
then we come out of this pandemic out of this isolation in a positive way. And we can run right into the open when it opens up insha Allah
has any other questions are came through so far?
So there is another question here about any specific things that can be done for the use or team there. So they are engaged with Islam and religion.
Yes, we need to be very practical with our Islam.
And we need to realize that they are being bombarded through cyberspace on their cell phones. And so we need to be very creative in how we are dealing with heal our Deen flexible as well.
And to look at our Islam as a fluid dynamic way of life. And once we understand the parameters of the society, you know what level we are in terms of lockdown and whatnot, we can actually develop ways for them to appreciate their faith. And it's amazing that Alhamdulillah online, there are a number of sources which are coming, there are courses online, there are interactions that are online. And I would suggest that whenever we get a chance exercises there, that that we can actually keep them moving. We can show them you know, the benefits, you know, of learning Tai Chi, and yoga and other internal exercises as well. The key thing is to be dynamic, because the younger
generation,
you know, appreciates moving things. They appreciate dynamic things. And if we're stagnated to think that our Islam is only practice in a particular way, if we don't go to the masjid is over, we're going to Gehenna
if we don't practice in a certain way, we're going to Gehenna No, this was faced by Muslims masjids were called close down in the past Mecca was even closed down in the past at the time of great epidemics. So, we need to be dynamic in how we are practicing and inshallah we hope to be able to go over some practical solutions to you to deal with the depression they're going through and the internal problems which are striking our families.
So, so if there are no questions left, we want to end this session, setting our background and showing our trajectory, how are we going to approach this and inshallah next week, we will continue on look
At some of the parameters set by the scholars, and looking at some practical issues as well, and how we can face these issues in an Islamic way, to take us from darkness into light. And I pray that Allah azza wa jal would protect you and your families and, and all of those who are listening and all of the Muslims in the oma, especially from these great, three, clear and present dangers that are facing us.
The COVID-19 the economic recession, the racial and religious violence that goes around around us, we Allah protect us from this terrible phenomenon that is happening in our streets and give us the best in this life. And then the hereafter. akula Kali how they were stuck for Lally. Well, welcome. We're after that webinar, and Al hamdu Lillahi Rabbil alameen wa Salaam wa Alaykum warahmatullahi wabarakatuh