Ali Hammuda – The True Meaning of Freedom

Ali Hammuda
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AI: Summary ©

The speakers discuss the concept of freedom, which is the ability to achieve a living status without limitations. They explore the importance of Islam's understanding of freedom and its supposed negative impact on human behavior. The concept of freedom is linked to past experiences and past generations, and is seen as a war of desire. The importance of freedom is emphasized, and individuals and groups can be controlled and medicated through actions. The importance of showing one's values and beliefs to support activism is emphasized, as it can lead to the realization of one's values and beliefs.

AI: Summary ©

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			Alhamdulillah,
		
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			the modern man today
		
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			has an obsession
		
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			in his pursuit
		
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			for this ideal that people call hariyah
		
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			or freedom,
		
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			liberty.
		
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			In every aspect of society,
		
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			in recent times at least,
		
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			there has been revolutions,
		
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			upheavals,
		
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			uprisals
		
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			that have affected every aspect of society,
		
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			starting with governments
		
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			and civic life,
		
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			permeating to arts,
		
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			culture,
		
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			literature.
		
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			You've heard of the enlightenment
		
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			movement. You've heard of rationalist ideas. You've studied
		
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			it in school.
		
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			You've heard of modern philosophical
		
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			thought. All of this is in pursuit of
		
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			what?
		
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			Is
		
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			in pursuit of this ideal that people call
		
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			freedom,
		
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			to be at liberty,
		
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			to not be constrained or limited by any
		
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			aspect of life, to be free.
		
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			But we find ourselves asking the questions, particularly
		
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			as Muslims, to what extent has the modern
		
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			man achieved this goal, this ideal
		
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			of of being horror, of being free?
		
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			Is he truly a free man today in
		
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			the 21st century?
		
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			When you hand when you had Jean Jacques
		
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			Rousseau, the Geneva philosopher whose ideas and political
		
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			science and philosophy
		
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			affected the west a lot in their ideas.
		
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			When he was lighting the torches of freedom,
		
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			His ideas and his theorizing was affecting every
		
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			aspect of western society.
		
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			During the same time,
		
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			the same societies
		
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			were ravaging other communities across the globe in
		
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			the name of freedom.
		
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			At a time when here in the West,
		
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			we were talking about freedom, other societies
		
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			were being turned upside down.
		
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			Africans were being hunted in certain parts of
		
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			the world
		
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			by the very same communities who were talking
		
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			at home about freedom and equality.
		
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			During that time, they were being hunted.
		
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			Colonies built in their ruins.
		
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			And those who remained alive amongst them were
		
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			brought back in cages to serve the colonizer
		
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			in North America and other parts of the
		
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			west.
		
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			And amazingly,
		
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			all of this was happening in the name
		
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			of what?
		
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			It was happening in the name of freedom.
		
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			With this backdrop and this short introduction, I
		
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			shift your attention to a story that I
		
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			think most of you have come across at
		
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			one point or another.
		
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			When Amr ibn al Aas, the companion of
		
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			the prophet Muhammad sallallahu alaihi wasallam, was governor
		
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			of Egypt,
		
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			His son, the son of the authority,
		
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			took part in a horse race
		
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			against another,
		
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			meaning a Coptic boy of Egypt.
		
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			The son of the governor won the race.
		
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			So he was upset, so he picked up
		
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			a whip, and he hit the boy.
		
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			Relying on his father's authority knowing that the
		
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			kid would not be able to hit back.
		
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			So the young Coptic boy complained to his
		
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			dad, and his dad was aggrieved and he
		
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			traveled where? To the city of Medina in
		
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			search of who? Amirul Mumineena, Umar
		
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			the caliph of the Muslims
		
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			in search for justice.
		
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			Umar was devastated when he heard this news
		
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			that a Muslim had assaulted a Coptic because
		
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			he was relying on his dad's power.
		
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			So
		
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			Umar Abu Khattab wrote a letter to
		
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			Amr ibn Al Aas saying to him as
		
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			per what follows the moment you read this
		
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			letter, you come to me, you and your
		
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			son to the city of Madinah.
		
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			Amr ibn Aas packs his bag, he arrives
		
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			in Madinah.
		
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			And when all of them were now in
		
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			front of Amir ul Momineen Umar,
		
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			his son, the Coptic boy, and his father,
		
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			Umar hands over a whip
		
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			to the Coptic boy,
		
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			and he says to him, if you wish,
		
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			you can hit
		
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			the child or the kid that hit you.
		
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			And so he,
		
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			he cashed that check
		
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			and he took the whip and he began
		
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			to hit the boy, hit the boy until
		
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			he felt as if retribution had been delivered.
		
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			He felt good.
		
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			Then Umar al Khabab said
		
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			to the boy,
		
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			Omar said to him, young man, if you
		
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			wanted to hit his father,
		
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			if you wanted to hit to whip his
		
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			dad, Amr ibn Allahas, the companion of the
		
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			prophet
		
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			I wouldn't have stopped you
		
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			because his son only hit you relying on
		
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			his authority.
		
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			And then Umar, he turns to the governor
		
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			of Egypt, Amritullah, and he said to him
		
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			those phenomenal words that you have come across.
		
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			He said to him,
		
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			Since
		
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			when have you taken people as slaves when
		
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			their mothers bore them as free?
		
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			The famous statement that we've all come across.
		
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			When have you taken people? Since when have
		
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			you decided to take people as slaves?
		
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			When their mothers bore them free.
		
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			The events in Palestine
		
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			and specifically in Gaza
		
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			since 2023,
		
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			late 2023 till this day have sharpened the
		
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			distinctions between
		
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			things that were already separate.
		
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			The events in Philistines
		
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			have drawn clear lines between the worlds of
		
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			dunya and the akhira,
		
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			those who pursue this material world and those
		
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			who are pursuing the hereafter. It's made it
		
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			clearer than ever before.
		
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			They've drawn clear lines between the realms of
		
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			injustice
		
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			and adil justice.
		
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			They have drawn clear lines between the worlds
		
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			of cowardice
		
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			and courage
		
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			and truth and hypocrisy.
		
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			And they've also drawn very clear lines between
		
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			the worlds of focus on this one,
		
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			the worlds of enslavement
		
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			and what it means to truly be free.
		
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			Do you agree?
		
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			When the Arabs speak of the word,
		
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			freedom, which is used a lot especially today,
		
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			And they describe someone as being,
		
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			meaning free. What do they mean?
		
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			There are 2 usages.
		
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			The first usage, memorize it,
		
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			is the idea of being free from physical
		
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			bondage.
		
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			When they say that such and such person
		
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			is holy, this person is free, it means
		
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			that they are not in physical captivity.
		
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			Their status is that of a free person,
		
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			his status is not a slave, he is
		
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			hhur, they say.
		
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			And this is a goal, of course, that
		
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			Islam
		
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			aspires towards.
		
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			The jurors, the fuqaha, they say,
		
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			Islam
		
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			inclines
		
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			towards freedom.
		
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			It aspires towards freedom. It incentivizes
		
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			freedom.
		
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			In fact, Islam considers slavery
		
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			as tantamount to death
		
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			and it considers
		
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			freedom as tantamount to life.
		
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			And that is why the atonement, the kafara,
		
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			the expiation of accidental killing is what?
		
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			The freeing of a slave.
		
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			Allah, he
		
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			said,
		
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			Whoever kills a believing soul accidentally,
		
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			the nikafara,
		
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			the atonement is to free a believing slave.
		
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			What's the relationship? You will say.
		
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			And nesafi, the Quran interpreter
		
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			said, the relationship is clear
		
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			Because the killer had accidentally
		
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			transferred somebody from the realms of the living
		
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			to the realms of the dead,
		
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			the kafarah, the expiation is to reintegrate
		
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			into life someone who is dead, to bring
		
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			someone from the dead back into the life.
		
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			How do you do that?
		
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			By taking someone who doesn't have his freedom
		
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			or her freedom and bring them back into
		
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			the living, I e give them freedom. So
		
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			this is how Islam sees what?
		
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			The idea
		
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			of freedom. And which meaning are we referring
		
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			to here?
		
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			The freedom from
		
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			physical bondage,
		
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			captivity, your status as a slave or as
		
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			a free person. Islam aspires to create freedom.
		
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			That is meaning number 1. Usage number 2.
		
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			When the Arabs, they say so and so
		
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			is hor or free,
		
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			they mean
		
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			that this is a person who is honored
		
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			with lofty characteristics
		
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			and high and noble values.
		
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			When they see a person who has elevated
		
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			himself or herself from the base traits,
		
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			the lowly characteristics,
		
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			and they become men or women of bravery,
		
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			courage,
		
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			generosity,
		
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			feeding of the guest, honoring of the family,
		
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			people of virtue who stay away from what
		
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			is prohibited
		
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			and despicable.
		
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			They look at that person, and they say
		
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			that person is free.
		
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			That's a new concept. That's a new understanding.
		
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			So do you see how the Islamic or
		
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			the Arabic understanding of freedom is quite different
		
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			to how we understand it here in the
		
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			west? Do whatever you want.
		
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			Our understanding
		
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			of freedom is very much connected with the
		
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			idea of duty,
		
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			connected with the idea of responsibility,
		
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			connected with the idea of morality, adab akhlaq,
		
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			generosity.
		
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			They say that is a person who is
		
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			free, and that is why the Arabic linguist,
		
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			ibn Nafoor al Afriqi, he said, Alhurruh
		
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			who al fayalul Hasan.
		
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			Alhurr meaning something that is free, it refers
		
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			to doing what is fine.
		
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			Doing what is fine, they say that is
		
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			free.
		
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			And in the feminine form,
		
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			with a in
		
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			the feminine form, they say it means
		
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			the honorable woman.
		
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			So when the Arab looks at a woman
		
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			who is honorable, they say she is hurrah.
		
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			She is truly free.
		
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			It's a paradigm shift.
		
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			Which type of freedom does Islam aspire to
		
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			achieve? This one or this one that I
		
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			have defined? Both. Islam aspires to achieve them
		
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			both.
		
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			I want to take you now on a
		
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			very quick tour of the book of Allah,
		
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			and I would like to show you how
		
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			the Quran
		
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			endeavors to
		
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			free humanity
		
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			from the constraints of life,
		
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			and to make them only accountable ultimately to
		
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			Allah,
		
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			To understand
		
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			freedom through the light
		
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			of
		
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			To understand freedom, liberty
		
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			through the light of being a had, a
		
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			worshipper of Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala.
		
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			How does the Quran seek to remove the
		
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			shackles from our wrists and our necks and
		
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			the yokes from our body? Number 1, the
		
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			Quran
		
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			seeks to liberate man. This is an example.
		
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			From untamed desires.
		
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			Desires that have no
		
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			limitations. The Quran wants to free you from
		
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			that.
		
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			The Quran acknowledges
		
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			that the constant
		
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			tug of war between you and desire, myself
		
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			and desire, this is endless till the day
		
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			we die. That doesn't leave us.
		
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			We're constantly being pulled left, right, and center
		
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			by our urges and our quirks and our
		
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			yearnings.
		
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			The Quran acknowledges this.
		
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			But what the Quran will not tolerate is
		
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			that for man to be enslaved to these
		
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			things, forever craving, forever yearning,
		
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			forever wanting more, always wanting to see what's
		
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			on the other side of the fence, wanting
		
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			to explore, never satisfied,
		
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			never content. The Quran does not want to
		
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			see a person enslaved in this way, so
		
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			it liberates him. How does the Quran liberate
		
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			man from untamed desires?
		
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			The Quran will say,
		
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			anything that you've been given,
		
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			today,
		
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			it's just the temporary enjoyment of this world.
		
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			But what is with Allah is better and
		
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			far more enduring.
		
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			Will you not reason?
		
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			The Quran will say,
		
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			the enjoyment of life
		
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			is little.
		
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			And the hereafter is better for those who
		
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			have piety.
		
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			So the Quran does not want you to
		
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			be conquered by your desires. It wants you
		
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			to conquer them. It doesn't want you to
		
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			be controlled by your desires. It wants you
		
00:13:44 --> 00:13:46
			to be free, so that you are the
		
00:13:46 --> 00:13:49
			one who controls them. The Quran seeks to
		
00:13:49 --> 00:13:51
			liberate you and I from untamed desires. Number
		
00:13:51 --> 00:13:54
			2. The Quran seeks to liberate man
		
00:13:55 --> 00:13:56
			from being
		
00:13:56 --> 00:13:57
			a blind follower.
		
00:13:59 --> 00:14:03
			The Quran does not accept to see man
		
00:14:03 --> 00:14:05
			behaving like a sheep, a mu'min behaving like
		
00:14:05 --> 00:14:06
			sheep,
		
00:14:07 --> 00:14:08
			following the latest trend,
		
00:14:09 --> 00:14:11
			following the latest dictates of society,
		
00:14:12 --> 00:14:15
			handing over your mind and your personality to
		
00:14:15 --> 00:14:15
			a friend
		
00:14:16 --> 00:14:18
			or a lobby or even a government or
		
00:14:18 --> 00:14:19
			a family member,
		
00:14:20 --> 00:14:22
			a blind follower. The Quran does not accept
		
00:14:22 --> 00:14:23
			that you are enslaved
		
00:14:23 --> 00:14:26
			to blind conformity. It wants you to have
		
00:14:26 --> 00:14:27
			a mind of your own,
		
00:14:28 --> 00:14:29
			to have some autonomy,
		
00:14:30 --> 00:14:32
			to be an independent believer who was steered
		
00:14:32 --> 00:14:34
			by way of revelation,
		
00:14:34 --> 00:14:37
			not controlled by the revelations of men.
		
00:14:38 --> 00:14:39
			And you see it today,
		
00:14:40 --> 00:14:41
			especially perhaps some of the teenagers
		
00:14:42 --> 00:14:45
			who have an absolute obsession with being liked.
		
00:14:47 --> 00:14:49
			A constant desire to be
		
00:14:49 --> 00:14:52
			in the good books of everyone, to please
		
00:14:52 --> 00:14:55
			everyone, to make everyone happy, the fear of
		
00:14:55 --> 00:14:56
			falling out of grace with anyone.
		
00:14:57 --> 00:14:59
			And And what you end up seeing with
		
00:14:59 --> 00:15:00
			a lot of our young ones particularly is
		
00:15:00 --> 00:15:02
			that with the passage of time, because of
		
00:15:02 --> 00:15:05
			their obsession of being liked, they end up
		
00:15:05 --> 00:15:06
			developing multiple personalities.
		
00:15:08 --> 00:15:10
			Personality for mom and dad, a personality for
		
00:15:10 --> 00:15:10
			Allah,
		
00:15:11 --> 00:15:13
			a a personality for the boyfriend or the
		
00:15:13 --> 00:15:16
			girlfriend, a personality for the street, personality for
		
00:15:16 --> 00:15:16
			the business,
		
00:15:17 --> 00:15:19
			personality for the Internet.
		
00:15:20 --> 00:15:22
			And then with the passage of time, because
		
00:15:22 --> 00:15:23
			you're you're now lost in all of these
		
00:15:23 --> 00:15:25
			personalities, you end up forgetting who you are.
		
00:15:25 --> 00:15:27
			You lose your own personality.
		
00:15:29 --> 00:15:31
			So the Quran wants man to be liberated
		
00:15:32 --> 00:15:34
			from being a blind follower
		
00:15:35 --> 00:15:37
			and to stand his or her ground.
		
00:15:39 --> 00:15:41
			The Quran said, liberating you and I from
		
00:15:41 --> 00:15:42
			this,
		
00:15:51 --> 00:15:53
			On the day when their faces will be
		
00:15:53 --> 00:15:54
			turned
		
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			upside down, left and right in the hellfire,
		
00:15:57 --> 00:15:59
			as they roast, and they will say, oh,
		
00:15:59 --> 00:16:02
			we wish that we had followed Allah, his
		
00:16:02 --> 00:16:02
			messenger.
		
00:16:04 --> 00:16:05
			And then they will say,
		
00:16:11 --> 00:16:13
			Oh, our Lord. They will cry in the
		
00:16:13 --> 00:16:16
			fire. Oh, our lord. We followed our masters
		
00:16:16 --> 00:16:19
			and we followed our dignitaries, but they misled
		
00:16:19 --> 00:16:20
			us.
		
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			So, oh Allah, give them double the punishment
		
00:16:28 --> 00:16:30
			and curse them a great cursing.
		
00:16:31 --> 00:16:32
			Allahu Akbar.
		
00:16:33 --> 00:16:35
			There they are roasting in the fire complaining,
		
00:16:35 --> 00:16:37
			oh Allah, we had followed them. We were
		
00:16:37 --> 00:16:40
			blind followers. We wish we didn't do that.
		
00:16:41 --> 00:16:43
			So beware my brother, my sister, of being
		
00:16:43 --> 00:16:45
			a person who today is so obsessed
		
00:16:46 --> 00:16:48
			in the approval of others,
		
00:16:48 --> 00:16:50
			even though it may come at the expense
		
00:16:50 --> 00:16:52
			of your deen, then the same people who
		
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			you had sold your hereafter for, you end
		
00:16:55 --> 00:16:58
			up cursing them in Jahannam and asking Allah
		
00:16:58 --> 00:17:00
			to multiply the punishment upon them.
		
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			So what have we said so far? The
		
00:17:03 --> 00:17:06
			Quran seeks to liberate man from being controlled
		
00:17:06 --> 00:17:07
			and enslaved
		
00:17:07 --> 00:17:09
			by haram desire.
		
00:17:09 --> 00:17:11
			The Quran seeks to liberate man from what?
		
00:17:11 --> 00:17:12
			Being a
		
00:17:13 --> 00:17:13
			blind follower.
		
00:17:14 --> 00:17:17
			Number 3, the Quran seeks to liberate man
		
00:17:20 --> 00:17:21
			from poverty anxiety.
		
00:17:24 --> 00:17:25
			There are very few things out there that
		
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			cause a person to stay up at night
		
00:17:30 --> 00:17:32
			more than the fear of job insecurity,
		
00:17:33 --> 00:17:34
			and how you're going to provide for your
		
00:17:34 --> 00:17:36
			family or for yourself tomorrow.
		
00:17:38 --> 00:17:39
			And perhaps one of the quickest ways of
		
00:17:39 --> 00:17:42
			being able to subjugate a community and control
		
00:17:42 --> 00:17:43
			them is by threatening them. By way of
		
00:17:43 --> 00:17:44
			what?
		
00:17:45 --> 00:17:47
			By way of their provisions, their risk.
		
00:17:48 --> 00:17:50
			So poverty, anxiety is real,
		
00:17:50 --> 00:17:51
			and the Quran
		
00:17:52 --> 00:17:55
			does not tolerate man to be a slave
		
00:17:55 --> 00:17:55
			to money
		
00:17:56 --> 00:17:58
			and reminds him
		
00:17:59 --> 00:18:01
			that your rizq, your provisions is not controlled
		
00:18:01 --> 00:18:03
			by any mortal on the face of the
		
00:18:03 --> 00:18:04
			earth.
		
00:18:05 --> 00:18:06
			How does the Quran liberate you from this
		
00:18:06 --> 00:18:07
			fear?
		
00:18:08 --> 00:18:09
			Read with me. Allah
		
00:18:09 --> 00:18:10
			said,
		
00:18:15 --> 00:18:18
			Say to them, who is the one who
		
00:18:18 --> 00:18:20
			provides you from the heavens and the earth?
		
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			Who is the one who controls your hearing
		
00:18:26 --> 00:18:27
			and your singing?
		
00:18:32 --> 00:18:34
			And who is the one who brings that
		
00:18:34 --> 00:18:36
			living from the dead and brings the dead
		
00:18:36 --> 00:18:37
			from the living?
		
00:18:39 --> 00:18:41
			Who is the one who controls the entire
		
00:18:41 --> 00:18:42
			affair?
		
00:18:42 --> 00:18:43
			Fasayakurun
		
00:18:43 --> 00:18:46
			Allah. They will say, it is Allah.
		
00:18:48 --> 00:18:50
			So reply to them, will you therefore not
		
00:18:50 --> 00:18:51
			fear Him?
		
00:18:53 --> 00:18:56
			So the Quran demolishes this idea that any
		
00:18:56 --> 00:18:58
			man or any government or any employer or
		
00:18:58 --> 00:18:59
			any supplier
		
00:19:01 --> 00:19:03
			is the one who controls your provisions.
		
00:19:04 --> 00:19:06
			The Quran liberates you from the fear of
		
00:19:06 --> 00:19:07
			poverty and reminds you,
		
00:19:09 --> 00:19:10
			never has bravery
		
00:19:11 --> 00:19:12
			shortened the life of a person
		
00:19:14 --> 00:19:15
			and never has cowardice
		
00:19:16 --> 00:19:17
			extended his life.
		
00:19:18 --> 00:19:20
			That's number 3. The Quran seeks to liberate
		
00:19:20 --> 00:19:21
			you from poverty and anxiety.
		
00:19:22 --> 00:19:25
			And number 4, the Quran seeks to liberate
		
00:19:25 --> 00:19:27
			you and I from the fear of death.
		
00:19:30 --> 00:19:32
			What is there a greater pressure? What more
		
00:19:32 --> 00:19:35
			of a pressure is there in life than
		
00:19:35 --> 00:19:36
			the dread of dying
		
00:19:36 --> 00:19:38
			or the dread of being killed and the
		
00:19:38 --> 00:19:39
			cling to life.
		
00:19:40 --> 00:19:42
			One of the easiest ways of manipulating a
		
00:19:42 --> 00:19:45
			person, or a family, or a society is
		
00:19:45 --> 00:19:48
			by threatening them. We will drop bombs on
		
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			you. You will die, either through the air,
		
00:19:51 --> 00:19:53
			or through hunger or by the closing of
		
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			the borders or whatever it may be.
		
00:19:55 --> 00:19:57
			The quickest and easiest ways
		
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			usually to extract the concession from a people
		
00:20:02 --> 00:20:04
			and to cause them to just toe the
		
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			line,
		
00:20:05 --> 00:20:07
			just to threaten them with what?
		
00:20:08 --> 00:20:09
			With death.
		
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			And the Quran does not accept that man
		
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			should be enslaved by the fear of death.
		
00:20:16 --> 00:20:18
			And how does the Quran liberate you from
		
00:20:18 --> 00:20:18
			this fear?
		
00:20:19 --> 00:20:20
			By saying,
		
00:20:26 --> 00:20:29
			It is not for any soul to die
		
00:20:30 --> 00:20:32
			except by the permission of Allah.
		
00:20:33 --> 00:20:34
			At a time
		
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			decreed by Him,
		
00:20:37 --> 00:20:39
			no man could bring that forward or push
		
00:20:39 --> 00:20:40
			it back.
		
00:20:41 --> 00:20:43
			So do you see through this very quick
		
00:20:43 --> 00:20:45
			tour how the Quran there are many examples
		
00:20:45 --> 00:20:46
			we could have given.
		
00:20:47 --> 00:20:48
			It makes
		
00:20:49 --> 00:20:51
			with the understanding that we defined earlier
		
00:20:51 --> 00:20:53
			through your worship to Allah
		
00:20:54 --> 00:20:56
			how the Quran seeks to make the objective
		
00:20:56 --> 00:20:57
			of freedom
		
00:20:58 --> 00:20:59
			central in its ayaat.
		
00:20:59 --> 00:21:02
			And this is why with this understanding of
		
00:21:02 --> 00:21:03
			freedom,
		
00:21:04 --> 00:21:06
			our prophet Muhammad sallallahu
		
00:21:06 --> 00:21:07
			alaihi wasallam
		
00:21:08 --> 00:21:10
			was the freest of all of Allah's creation
		
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			on earth.
		
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			A man who would carry himself with immense
		
00:21:16 --> 00:21:17
			self respect
		
00:21:17 --> 00:21:18
			and dignity
		
00:21:18 --> 00:21:20
			even before he became a prophet.
		
00:21:22 --> 00:21:23
			A man
		
00:21:23 --> 00:21:25
			who was who had a mind of his
		
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			own,
		
00:21:27 --> 00:21:30
			who never allowed a lobby or a government
		
00:21:30 --> 00:21:31
			or a tribe or a society or a
		
00:21:31 --> 00:21:34
			friend or a family member to dictate his
		
00:21:34 --> 00:21:36
			mind, to govern his personality,
		
00:21:36 --> 00:21:37
			to control
		
00:21:38 --> 00:21:40
			him. He was a man who was independent
		
00:21:40 --> 00:21:43
			in his thought, independent in his personality and
		
00:21:43 --> 00:21:45
			character. It wasn't an open check for people
		
00:21:45 --> 00:21:48
			to write in whatever they want. He was
		
00:21:48 --> 00:21:49
			not a man who would take the color
		
00:21:49 --> 00:21:52
			of whatever friend he would walk with. He
		
00:21:52 --> 00:21:54
			was a man who was truly free,
		
00:21:55 --> 00:21:57
			and that is why he wasn't afraid to
		
00:21:57 --> 00:22:00
			draw a line between himself and the prevalent
		
00:22:00 --> 00:22:03
			practices in Mecca. He wasn't afraid to say,
		
00:22:03 --> 00:22:05
			no. I don't do this. Though all of
		
00:22:05 --> 00:22:07
			society were against him at one point.
		
00:22:08 --> 00:22:12
			Bowing to idols was commonplace. Drinking alcohol was
		
00:22:12 --> 00:22:14
			commonplace. Using interest, riba was commonplace.
		
00:22:16 --> 00:22:17
			Female infanticide,
		
00:22:17 --> 00:22:20
			burying your daughter alive was to some extent
		
00:22:20 --> 00:22:21
			commonplace.
		
00:22:21 --> 00:22:24
			He wasn't afraid to say, I don't do
		
00:22:24 --> 00:22:26
			any of this stuff, though it is the
		
00:22:26 --> 00:22:28
			status quo of my community. Why? Because he
		
00:22:28 --> 00:22:29
			was free.
		
00:22:31 --> 00:22:32
			Then when Allah
		
00:22:32 --> 00:22:33
			who gave him prophethood
		
00:22:34 --> 00:22:36
			and he became a true Abd of Allah,
		
00:22:36 --> 00:22:37
			a true worshipper of Allah
		
00:22:38 --> 00:22:39
			through his
		
00:22:39 --> 00:22:43
			through his worship of Allah, his freedom reached
		
00:22:43 --> 00:22:44
			a whole new level.
		
00:22:46 --> 00:22:48
			And he wanted to impart these meanings of
		
00:22:48 --> 00:22:49
			freedom
		
00:22:49 --> 00:22:50
			through Islam
		
00:22:51 --> 00:22:52
			onto the hearts of the men and women
		
00:22:52 --> 00:22:53
			who were around him.
		
00:22:54 --> 00:22:56
			Why? So that they could never be conquered.
		
00:22:58 --> 00:23:00
			So that they were immovable in their faith.
		
00:23:01 --> 00:23:02
			So that they could never be bought with
		
00:23:02 --> 00:23:05
			money. They couldn't be purchased with assets. They
		
00:23:05 --> 00:23:07
			couldn't be tempted with the opposite gender.
		
00:23:07 --> 00:23:10
			Men and women who are free, what steered
		
00:23:10 --> 00:23:12
			them, what controlled them, what guided them was
		
00:23:12 --> 00:23:13
			revelation
		
00:23:13 --> 00:23:16
			and revelation alone. That is the true meaning
		
00:23:16 --> 00:23:16
			of freedom.
		
00:23:17 --> 00:23:18
			And I'm gonna share with you 3 or
		
00:23:18 --> 00:23:21
			4 very quick stories that beautifully demonstrate
		
00:23:23 --> 00:23:24
			the signs of a person
		
00:23:25 --> 00:23:26
			who is truly free
		
00:23:26 --> 00:23:27
			through their behavior.
		
00:23:29 --> 00:23:30
			Example number 1
		
00:23:32 --> 00:23:35
			belongs to a young boy called Abdullah ibn
		
00:23:35 --> 00:23:38
			Zubayr ibn Awam. Abdullah, son of Zubayr. Zubayr,
		
00:23:38 --> 00:23:39
			of course, his father, who was one of
		
00:23:39 --> 00:23:41
			the 10 promised Jannah, and his mother Asma,
		
00:23:41 --> 00:23:44
			daughter of Abu Bakr. So no it's no
		
00:23:44 --> 00:23:46
			surprise that Abdullah would be the the fruit
		
00:23:46 --> 00:23:47
			of this beautiful marriage.
		
00:23:49 --> 00:23:51
			Abdullah ibn Zubair as a child was playing
		
00:23:51 --> 00:23:52
			with a group of his friends in street
		
00:23:52 --> 00:23:54
			when Amir ul Momineen Umar
		
00:23:54 --> 00:23:55
			walks past.
		
00:23:55 --> 00:23:57
			And you know Umar
		
00:23:58 --> 00:24:00
			and his haybah, his awe, even before he
		
00:24:00 --> 00:24:02
			became a caliph, Khalifa. So imagine what happened
		
00:24:02 --> 00:24:03
			when he became Khalifa.
		
00:24:04 --> 00:24:06
			Umrah, he passes by and the kids just
		
00:24:06 --> 00:24:09
			rush. They scurry. They go into hiding.
		
00:24:10 --> 00:24:12
			With the exception to this one kid, Abdullahi
		
00:24:13 --> 00:24:14
			ibn Zubair,
		
00:24:14 --> 00:24:16
			he stands his ground.
		
00:24:16 --> 00:24:19
			So Umar is fascinated by this. So he
		
00:24:19 --> 00:24:20
			goes to the young boy and he says
		
00:24:20 --> 00:24:21
			to him,
		
00:24:21 --> 00:24:24
			how come you didn't run away with the
		
00:24:24 --> 00:24:25
			rest of your friends?
		
00:24:26 --> 00:24:28
			Abdullah ibn Zubair, he said to him the
		
00:24:28 --> 00:24:29
			following words. He said,
		
00:24:30 --> 00:24:31
			meaning, oh, leader of the believers.
		
00:24:39 --> 00:24:40
			He said, leader of the believers,
		
00:24:41 --> 00:24:43
			I haven't done anything wrong such that I
		
00:24:43 --> 00:24:44
			should fear you,
		
00:24:45 --> 00:24:48
			And the path is quite wide. I don't
		
00:24:48 --> 00:24:49
			think I need to make space for you.
		
00:24:51 --> 00:24:52
			Umar
		
00:24:54 --> 00:24:56
			was amazed when he saw this
		
00:24:56 --> 00:24:58
			because in front of him in front of
		
00:24:58 --> 00:25:00
			him was a young man who was not
		
00:25:00 --> 00:25:01
			afraid of authority,
		
00:25:02 --> 00:25:03
			particularly when his conscience
		
00:25:04 --> 00:25:05
			was clear.
		
00:25:05 --> 00:25:07
			In other words, you had a child who
		
00:25:07 --> 00:25:11
			was not enslaved by fear. Omar was impressed.
		
00:25:13 --> 00:25:16
			That's example number 1. Story number 2,
		
00:25:17 --> 00:25:18
			Hakim
		
00:25:19 --> 00:25:20
			ibn Khizam is the name of the nephew
		
00:25:20 --> 00:25:21
			of our mother Khadija
		
00:25:23 --> 00:25:25
			And once when he was walking through the
		
00:25:25 --> 00:25:27
			marketplaces, he stumbled across
		
00:25:27 --> 00:25:29
			the robe of the king of Yemen that
		
00:25:29 --> 00:25:30
			was being
		
00:25:31 --> 00:25:31
			sold.
		
00:25:32 --> 00:25:34
			The king of Yemen who was known as
		
00:25:34 --> 00:25:34
			Zuoyazin.
		
00:25:36 --> 00:25:38
			And so he offered a few dinars of
		
00:25:38 --> 00:25:41
			gold. He purchased the royal robe. He came
		
00:25:41 --> 00:25:43
			to the city of Medina, and he gifted
		
00:25:43 --> 00:25:43
			it to
		
00:25:44 --> 00:25:47
			the prophet Muhammad sallallahu alaihi wasallam. So he
		
00:25:47 --> 00:25:50
			wore it and he delivered a sermon like
		
00:25:50 --> 00:25:52
			this wearing the robe of the king Dhruyaazim,
		
00:25:53 --> 00:25:54
			and then he came down from the pulpit,
		
00:25:54 --> 00:25:56
			and he took it off because this not
		
00:25:56 --> 00:25:58
			really the dress of the prophet alayhis salatu
		
00:25:58 --> 00:26:01
			wa sallam. And he clothed it to a
		
00:26:01 --> 00:26:03
			young man called Usama Tabluzayd.
		
00:26:04 --> 00:26:06
			Usama, son of Zayd. Who was he? The
		
00:26:06 --> 00:26:08
			ex adopted son of the prophet sallallahu
		
00:26:09 --> 00:26:12
			alaihi wasallam who unfortunately occupied quite a low
		
00:26:12 --> 00:26:15
			position in the social hierarchy. He gave him
		
00:26:15 --> 00:26:16
			the robe of Dhuyazin.
		
00:26:19 --> 00:26:21
			And so Hakim ibn Hazam, who bought the
		
00:26:21 --> 00:26:22
			robe originally,
		
00:26:22 --> 00:26:24
			he saw this young boy wearing the robe
		
00:26:24 --> 00:26:26
			of the king of Yemen, and he said
		
00:26:26 --> 00:26:28
			to him, Usama Tugnuzayd
		
00:26:29 --> 00:26:31
			wearing the robe of the king of Yemen?
		
00:26:33 --> 00:26:35
			And Usama took Nuzayd, he said,
		
00:26:42 --> 00:26:44
			He said, yeah. I am wearing the robe
		
00:26:44 --> 00:26:45
			of the king of Yemen because I am
		
00:26:45 --> 00:26:47
			better than the king of Yemen.
		
00:26:48 --> 00:26:50
			He said, and my dad is better than
		
00:26:50 --> 00:26:52
			the dad of the king of Yemen.
		
00:26:52 --> 00:26:53
			Allahu Akbar.
		
00:26:54 --> 00:26:57
			Hakim ibn Hazam was amazed when he had
		
00:26:57 --> 00:26:57
			this.
		
00:26:58 --> 00:26:59
			Why was he amazed?
		
00:27:00 --> 00:27:02
			Because in front of him was a young
		
00:27:02 --> 00:27:03
			man who was free.
		
00:27:04 --> 00:27:06
			Free from all of the metrics that you
		
00:27:06 --> 00:27:09
			and I use to measure people. Clothes and
		
00:27:09 --> 00:27:12
			cars and homes and money and women and
		
00:27:12 --> 00:27:14
			the rest of it. A boy who didn't
		
00:27:14 --> 00:27:17
			believe in any of that stuff, that my
		
00:27:17 --> 00:27:19
			value comes through my piety,
		
00:27:19 --> 00:27:21
			my taqwa, my worship to Allah, and it
		
00:27:21 --> 00:27:24
			doesn't matter what society thinks. I am better
		
00:27:24 --> 00:27:26
			than the king of the way as in,
		
00:27:26 --> 00:27:27
			and my dad is better than his dad.
		
00:27:29 --> 00:27:30
			Example number 3,
		
00:27:31 --> 00:27:33
			and I think you've also come across this
		
00:27:33 --> 00:27:34
			example at least,
		
00:27:35 --> 00:27:36
			an event
		
00:27:36 --> 00:27:39
			that took place just before the Persian Empire
		
00:27:40 --> 00:27:42
			collapsed at the hands of the Muslims.
		
00:27:44 --> 00:27:46
			The battle of al Qadisiyah was about to
		
00:27:46 --> 00:27:46
			take place,
		
00:27:47 --> 00:27:49
			led, of course, by Sa'd ibn Abi Waqqas
		
00:27:49 --> 00:27:51
			during the time of Amiral Mu'minin Umar.
		
00:27:52 --> 00:27:55
			And the general of the Persian armies by
		
00:27:55 --> 00:27:57
			the name of Rustum wanted to speak to
		
00:27:57 --> 00:28:00
			a delegate of the Muslims to understand
		
00:28:01 --> 00:28:02
			what are they doing?
		
00:28:02 --> 00:28:04
			What are they trying to achieve?
		
00:28:05 --> 00:28:06
			These are the people who we used to
		
00:28:06 --> 00:28:08
			give them peas and pennies.
		
00:28:09 --> 00:28:11
			Right? And they would go away as Arabs
		
00:28:11 --> 00:28:14
			before Islam. And now they're coming to take
		
00:28:14 --> 00:28:15
			my throne.
		
00:28:17 --> 00:28:19
			So he says, send me a delegate to
		
00:28:19 --> 00:28:20
			speak to.
		
00:28:21 --> 00:28:22
			So who did they nominate?
		
00:28:23 --> 00:28:24
			They nominated
		
00:28:24 --> 00:28:25
			what's his name?
		
00:28:26 --> 00:28:27
			What's his name?
		
00:28:30 --> 00:28:30
			Rebayi?
		
00:28:31 --> 00:28:35
			Rebayi ibn Uaamer. A man who was described
		
00:28:35 --> 00:28:36
			in the books of history as being quite
		
00:28:36 --> 00:28:37
			short.
		
00:28:38 --> 00:28:39
			There was nothing grand about him.
		
00:28:40 --> 00:28:42
			He wore the simplest of clothes,
		
00:28:42 --> 00:28:44
			and he had no very impressive he didn't
		
00:28:44 --> 00:28:46
			have an impressive physique either. He was quite
		
00:28:46 --> 00:28:46
			thin.
		
00:28:48 --> 00:28:49
			But guess what?
		
00:28:50 --> 00:28:52
			He was a mumin who was free,
		
00:28:52 --> 00:28:54
			that's why they nominated him.
		
00:28:55 --> 00:28:57
			So Ibrahim ibn Aamer, he comes on his
		
00:28:57 --> 00:29:00
			mule, his donkey, and the guards of Rustam,
		
00:29:00 --> 00:29:01
			they say you can't speak to the, leader
		
00:29:01 --> 00:29:03
			in on the mule. Get off. He said,
		
00:29:03 --> 00:29:05
			I'm not gonna get off my mule because
		
00:29:05 --> 00:29:07
			you asked to speak to us. We didn't
		
00:29:07 --> 00:29:08
			ask to speak to you.
		
00:29:09 --> 00:29:11
			So Rustam said, let him in.
		
00:29:12 --> 00:29:13
			So he's coming in now to the into
		
00:29:13 --> 00:29:15
			the royal court of Rustem,
		
00:29:16 --> 00:29:18
			and he has with him his spear, and
		
00:29:18 --> 00:29:21
			he's he's stabbing at the expensive Persian carpets
		
00:29:22 --> 00:29:24
			in front of Rustom as if to say
		
00:29:24 --> 00:29:26
			none of this means anything to us. Trying
		
00:29:26 --> 00:29:27
			to impress us?
		
00:29:27 --> 00:29:29
			He's ripping it apart.
		
00:29:31 --> 00:29:33
			And Rostom looks at and he says to
		
00:29:33 --> 00:29:34
			him,
		
00:29:37 --> 00:29:38
			Who are you?
		
00:29:39 --> 00:29:41
			Who are the Muslims? What brings you here
		
00:29:41 --> 00:29:42
			to our land?
		
00:29:43 --> 00:29:44
			What does Rebbe say?
		
00:29:45 --> 00:29:47
			And link it to the topic of
		
00:29:47 --> 00:29:49
			our talk this afternoon.
		
00:29:49 --> 00:29:52
			He said to him, nahnu qaumun, we are
		
00:29:52 --> 00:29:52
			a people.
		
00:29:54 --> 00:29:56
			Yeah. What is your bio? This is your
		
00:29:56 --> 00:29:57
			bio.
		
00:29:57 --> 00:29:58
			He said,
		
00:29:58 --> 00:29:59
			we are a people.
		
00:30:01 --> 00:30:02
			Sent
		
00:30:05 --> 00:30:06
			by
		
00:30:18 --> 00:30:21
			Islam, and to remove people from the injustices
		
00:30:21 --> 00:30:24
			of religions to the justice of Islam.
		
00:30:29 --> 00:30:31
			And to remove people from the limitations
		
00:30:31 --> 00:30:32
			of life
		
00:30:33 --> 00:30:35
			to the expanse of the hereafter.
		
00:30:37 --> 00:30:39
			By the end of the conversation, and it
		
00:30:39 --> 00:30:40
			was a long dialogue,
		
00:30:42 --> 00:30:44
			Rostom was amazed
		
00:30:44 --> 00:30:46
			and he said to Rebbe,
		
00:30:48 --> 00:30:49
			Are you the leader of the Muslims? Like
		
00:30:49 --> 00:30:51
			are you their prophet and messenger?
		
00:30:52 --> 00:30:53
			Are you their master?
		
00:30:54 --> 00:30:56
			And he said to him essentially, no. I'm
		
00:30:56 --> 00:30:58
			not their master, but as Muslims,
		
00:30:59 --> 00:31:01
			we can speak for one another at any
		
00:31:01 --> 00:31:02
			level of the society.
		
00:31:04 --> 00:31:06
			So Rustum was amazed at the sight of
		
00:31:06 --> 00:31:08
			a man who was free.
		
00:31:10 --> 00:31:12
			And the last story I share with
		
00:31:12 --> 00:31:14
			you pertains to a judge
		
00:31:15 --> 00:31:17
			by the name of Abu Bakr al Baqilani.
		
00:31:17 --> 00:31:19
			He is a Ash'ari scholar scholar who lived
		
00:31:19 --> 00:31:21
			around 950 years after the hijra of the
		
00:31:21 --> 00:31:23
			prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam to Medina.
		
00:31:24 --> 00:31:27
			And he was summoned to engage in
		
00:31:28 --> 00:31:30
			emperors of Rome
		
00:31:30 --> 00:31:31
			who was a Christian.
		
00:31:33 --> 00:31:35
			The emperor of Rome is thinking to himself,
		
00:31:35 --> 00:31:37
			how am I gonna get this man to
		
00:31:37 --> 00:31:39
			bow to me? Because it was the custom
		
00:31:39 --> 00:31:40
			of the emperors of Rome that when you
		
00:31:40 --> 00:31:43
			come into their royal space, you prostrate, you
		
00:31:43 --> 00:31:44
			kiss the floor, and then you speak to
		
00:31:44 --> 00:31:46
			the emperor. He knows that he's not gonna
		
00:31:46 --> 00:31:48
			get this from judge Abu Bakr.
		
00:31:49 --> 00:31:50
			So what is he to do?
		
00:31:51 --> 00:31:52
			He said to his men,
		
00:31:52 --> 00:31:54
			bring down the height of the door.
		
00:31:55 --> 00:31:57
			So instead of it being 7 foot high,
		
00:31:57 --> 00:31:59
			bring it down to say, 4 foot high,
		
00:32:00 --> 00:32:01
			which means that when he comes into my
		
00:32:01 --> 00:32:04
			space, he has to bow down, and so
		
00:32:04 --> 00:32:05
			we get it out of him that way.
		
00:32:07 --> 00:32:09
			So judge Abu Bakr albaqilani
		
00:32:09 --> 00:32:10
			arrives
		
00:32:10 --> 00:32:12
			at the palace of the emperor.
		
00:32:12 --> 00:32:15
			The emperor is told the judge has arrived,
		
00:32:15 --> 00:32:17
			and so he establishes his throne in front
		
00:32:17 --> 00:32:21
			of this shortened door. Judge Abu Bakr arrives,
		
00:32:21 --> 00:32:23
			and he sees that the door has been
		
00:32:23 --> 00:32:23
			shortened,
		
00:32:24 --> 00:32:25
			and he understands the ploy.
		
00:32:26 --> 00:32:28
			So what does he do?
		
00:32:29 --> 00:32:31
			Well, he only turns 180
		
00:32:31 --> 00:32:33
			degrees, and I'm not going to demonstrate out
		
00:32:33 --> 00:32:34
			of respect to you.
		
00:32:35 --> 00:32:36
			He turns
		
00:32:36 --> 00:32:39
			180 degrees and gives the door his back,
		
00:32:39 --> 00:32:40
			and then he bows down,
		
00:32:41 --> 00:32:43
			and then he comes in in reverse
		
00:32:43 --> 00:32:45
			giving the king his backside,
		
00:32:46 --> 00:32:48
			and then he stands back up facing the
		
00:32:48 --> 00:32:50
			wall, adjust his headgear
		
00:32:50 --> 00:32:52
			and his clothes, and then he turns and
		
00:32:52 --> 00:32:54
			he speaks to the king. And the king
		
00:32:54 --> 00:32:56
			was amazed when he saw this, And he
		
00:32:56 --> 00:32:57
			realized
		
00:32:57 --> 00:32:58
			that these Muslims
		
00:32:59 --> 00:33:01
			can never be enslaved.
		
00:33:04 --> 00:33:08
			These three stories are images and narrations. I
		
00:33:08 --> 00:33:10
			want you to remember the next time a
		
00:33:10 --> 00:33:11
			friend
		
00:33:12 --> 00:33:13
			or a trend
		
00:33:13 --> 00:33:14
			or society
		
00:33:15 --> 00:33:16
			ex expectation
		
00:33:17 --> 00:33:20
			suggests that you should be lesser of a
		
00:33:20 --> 00:33:23
			practicing Muslim. Be a slave of us rather
		
00:33:23 --> 00:33:24
			being a.
		
00:33:25 --> 00:33:27
			Remember these stories. Load them up in your
		
00:33:27 --> 00:33:28
			mind.
		
00:33:28 --> 00:33:31
			So this image of Abu Bakr al Baqilani
		
00:33:32 --> 00:33:35
			giving the emperor essentially his backside
		
00:33:36 --> 00:33:37
			because he was a man who wanted to
		
00:33:37 --> 00:33:40
			detract from his freedom as a mukmin, as
		
00:33:40 --> 00:33:42
			a believer in Allah. That's the image I
		
00:33:42 --> 00:33:43
			want you to load up in your mind
		
00:33:43 --> 00:33:45
			every time you come across a situation in
		
00:33:45 --> 00:33:47
			your life when someone wants to take you
		
00:33:47 --> 00:33:50
			down their path and detract from your freedom,
		
00:33:50 --> 00:33:53
			I. E. Your to Allah Almighty and make
		
00:33:53 --> 00:33:55
			them a slave to them and their way.
		
00:33:55 --> 00:33:57
			That's the image you should think about.
		
00:33:58 --> 00:34:00
			At the family level or the social level,
		
00:34:01 --> 00:34:04
			the financial level, any pressure that comes your
		
00:34:04 --> 00:34:06
			way to detract from who you are as
		
00:34:06 --> 00:34:06
			a Mu'min,
		
00:34:07 --> 00:34:09
			load up this image of Abu Bakr al
		
00:34:09 --> 00:34:09
			Baghdillani
		
00:34:10 --> 00:34:12
			because they don't deserve anything
		
00:34:13 --> 00:34:14
			more than this.
		
00:34:15 --> 00:34:17
			So with that said, I come to the
		
00:34:17 --> 00:34:19
			latter parts of this,
		
00:34:19 --> 00:34:22
			talk, and we ask the question, what are
		
00:34:22 --> 00:34:24
			the signs of the people who are free?
		
00:34:24 --> 00:34:27
			We've defined freedom according to our understanding
		
00:34:28 --> 00:34:30
			and how it is linked to duty and
		
00:34:30 --> 00:34:32
			and worship to Allah.
		
00:34:33 --> 00:34:35
			I've given you examples from the people of
		
00:34:35 --> 00:34:36
			the past who behaved
		
00:34:36 --> 00:34:38
			in a way of true freedom.
		
00:34:39 --> 00:34:40
			And now we come to the theory, and
		
00:34:40 --> 00:34:42
			we ask the question, what are the marks
		
00:34:42 --> 00:34:44
			of the people of Horeya? What are their
		
00:34:44 --> 00:34:45
			signs? So that when you see them, you
		
00:34:45 --> 00:34:46
			recognize them,
		
00:34:47 --> 00:34:49
			and so that you can act upon these
		
00:34:49 --> 00:34:50
			principles as well.
		
00:34:51 --> 00:34:53
			And so that when somebody says, I'm free
		
00:34:53 --> 00:34:55
			to do what I want, you understand whether
		
00:34:55 --> 00:34:57
			they are truly a free person or just
		
00:34:57 --> 00:34:59
			another slave to yet another idol.
		
00:35:00 --> 00:35:03
			What are the signs? What are the hallmarks?
		
00:35:03 --> 00:35:06
			What are the defining features of people, individuals
		
00:35:06 --> 00:35:09
			or communities who are truly free?
		
00:35:09 --> 00:35:10
			Number 1,
		
00:35:13 --> 00:35:15
			a free person is an individual or a
		
00:35:15 --> 00:35:18
			people who never hand over their minds or
		
00:35:18 --> 00:35:18
			their personalities
		
00:35:19 --> 00:35:22
			to be governed and dictated to by others.
		
00:35:23 --> 00:35:24
			They have a mind of an own of
		
00:35:24 --> 00:35:25
			their own,
		
00:35:26 --> 00:35:28
			There is some autonomy in their behavior
		
00:35:31 --> 00:35:33
			and they know how to say no,
		
00:35:34 --> 00:35:37
			though everyone around them may be saying yes.
		
00:35:37 --> 00:35:39
			They know how to say no. These are
		
00:35:39 --> 00:35:40
			my limits.
		
00:35:41 --> 00:35:43
			Not as an act of defiance
		
00:35:43 --> 00:35:44
			or stubbornness,
		
00:35:45 --> 00:35:47
			but to declare their autonomy that as a
		
00:35:47 --> 00:35:49
			Mu'min, as a believer in Allah, I have
		
00:35:49 --> 00:35:51
			my independence to worship Him. He's freed me
		
00:35:51 --> 00:35:53
			from all of these dictates.
		
00:35:54 --> 00:35:56
			You know how to say no. You know
		
00:35:56 --> 00:35:58
			how to draw the line, though the pressures
		
00:35:58 --> 00:35:59
			may be phenomenal.
		
00:36:00 --> 00:36:02
			And when you stay away as a free
		
00:36:02 --> 00:36:04
			person, when you stay away from what is
		
00:36:04 --> 00:36:05
			prohibited, haram,
		
00:36:06 --> 00:36:08
			it's not just because it is haram that
		
00:36:08 --> 00:36:10
			you stay away from it. It's not just
		
00:36:10 --> 00:36:12
			because it's going to bring you sin.
		
00:36:13 --> 00:36:16
			It's because you as a free person fundamentally
		
00:36:17 --> 00:36:19
			feel that the sin is beneath you.
		
00:36:20 --> 00:36:22
			You are above it.
		
00:36:23 --> 00:36:24
			This sin that you're asking me to do,
		
00:36:24 --> 00:36:27
			this dress that you're requiring of me,
		
00:36:28 --> 00:36:30
			this product you want me to sell, this
		
00:36:30 --> 00:36:32
			financial entanglement that I don't agree with, this
		
00:36:32 --> 00:36:34
			thing doesn't suit me.
		
00:36:35 --> 00:36:37
			May suit you or may suit them. It
		
00:36:37 --> 00:36:39
			doesn't fit who I am as a believer
		
00:36:39 --> 00:36:41
			who has been liberated through Islam.
		
00:36:42 --> 00:36:43
			It it doesn't work for me.
		
00:36:44 --> 00:36:46
			That's sign number 1. They don't hand over
		
00:36:46 --> 00:36:48
			their minds and their personalities to be governed
		
00:36:48 --> 00:36:50
			and dictated to by others.
		
00:36:51 --> 00:36:53
			Take note of sign number 2 of a
		
00:36:53 --> 00:36:53
			people
		
00:36:54 --> 00:36:55
			who are truly
		
00:36:55 --> 00:36:56
			ahar,
		
00:36:56 --> 00:36:57
			truly free.
		
00:36:58 --> 00:37:00
			They don't allow
		
00:37:01 --> 00:37:05
			fallout between them and another Muslim to extend
		
00:37:05 --> 00:37:05
			unnecessarily
		
00:37:06 --> 00:37:06
			long.
		
00:37:08 --> 00:37:10
			Whether it's between you and a cousin, you
		
00:37:10 --> 00:37:12
			and an ex spouse, or you and an
		
00:37:12 --> 00:37:16
			ex business partner, you or a relative, you
		
00:37:16 --> 00:37:18
			don't allow a fallout to prolong a period
		
00:37:18 --> 00:37:21
			of silence that drags. You don't allow our
		
00:37:21 --> 00:37:24
			relationship to be strained for so long because
		
00:37:24 --> 00:37:26
			you're free from all of these impulses.
		
00:37:28 --> 00:37:31
			You don't arrogantly say, he must apologize to
		
00:37:31 --> 00:37:34
			me before I give them the apology. They
		
00:37:34 --> 00:37:35
			must extend
		
00:37:35 --> 00:37:37
			the olive branch before I do. You don't
		
00:37:37 --> 00:37:38
			do that.
		
00:37:39 --> 00:37:43
			My sister, my brother, you don't deprive an
		
00:37:43 --> 00:37:46
			ex spouse from access to their children
		
00:37:46 --> 00:37:48
			and custody to their children.
		
00:37:49 --> 00:37:49
			Why?
		
00:37:50 --> 00:37:51
			Because you are free.
		
00:37:52 --> 00:37:54
			You are above these impulses.
		
00:37:54 --> 00:37:56
			You are above egoism
		
00:37:56 --> 00:37:57
			and impatience
		
00:37:58 --> 00:37:58
			and recklessness.
		
00:37:59 --> 00:38:02
			You're not steered and governed by recklessness and
		
00:38:02 --> 00:38:05
			anger and rage and pettiness and bitterness.
		
00:38:06 --> 00:38:08
			You're free from all of that. That is
		
00:38:08 --> 00:38:10
			a sign of a person who is free.
		
00:38:10 --> 00:38:11
			Sign number 2.
		
00:38:12 --> 00:38:13
			Sign number 3,
		
00:38:14 --> 00:38:16
			a person who is
		
00:38:16 --> 00:38:18
			truly free will never
		
00:38:19 --> 00:38:21
			opt to make an income from that which
		
00:38:21 --> 00:38:22
			is haram.
		
00:38:23 --> 00:38:26
			They are not enslaved to the lobby, whatever
		
00:38:26 --> 00:38:27
			it may be, or the supplier,
		
00:38:28 --> 00:38:29
			or the employer.
		
00:38:31 --> 00:38:33
			I will never make an income as a
		
00:38:33 --> 00:38:34
			free believer
		
00:38:35 --> 00:38:36
			through that which is prohibited,
		
00:38:37 --> 00:38:38
			because you know through your,
		
00:38:39 --> 00:38:39
			your belief,
		
00:38:40 --> 00:38:42
			that what is meant for you will come
		
00:38:42 --> 00:38:43
			your way. No one can stop it. And
		
00:38:43 --> 00:38:45
			what is not meant to be on your
		
00:38:45 --> 00:38:47
			plate can never come to you, though the
		
00:38:47 --> 00:38:49
			world may try to bring it to you.
		
00:38:50 --> 00:38:52
			So you're at rest, you're at peace.
		
00:38:53 --> 00:38:56
			Never will you add to your capital through
		
00:38:56 --> 00:38:58
			that which is prohibited or doubtful.
		
00:39:01 --> 00:39:02
			That is another sign of those
		
00:39:03 --> 00:39:04
			who are free.
		
00:39:04 --> 00:39:06
			And though they may see people driving high
		
00:39:06 --> 00:39:09
			end cars and living in luxurious homes,
		
00:39:09 --> 00:39:11
			if that money was sourced from haram,
		
00:39:12 --> 00:39:14
			you see it for what it is. That's
		
00:39:14 --> 00:39:16
			a slave in that car. That's a slave
		
00:39:16 --> 00:39:18
			in that apartment or house.
		
00:39:18 --> 00:39:20
			And though you may be living in a
		
00:39:20 --> 00:39:21
			very small property
		
00:39:21 --> 00:39:24
			and driving a very basic car, if that
		
00:39:24 --> 00:39:25
			money has come from the halal, that is
		
00:39:25 --> 00:39:28
			the image of a man who is free,
		
00:39:28 --> 00:39:30
			who is truly at liberty.
		
00:39:30 --> 00:39:33
			Sign number 3 of those who are truly
		
00:39:33 --> 00:39:33
			free
		
00:39:34 --> 00:39:36
			is that they
		
00:39:37 --> 00:39:37
			inspire
		
00:39:38 --> 00:39:39
			an immense
		
00:39:39 --> 00:39:41
			level of all.
		
00:39:44 --> 00:39:45
			Their character,
		
00:39:46 --> 00:39:47
			their personalities,
		
00:39:48 --> 00:39:48
			their behavior,
		
00:39:49 --> 00:39:50
			their decisions,
		
00:39:51 --> 00:39:51
			their talk,
		
00:39:52 --> 00:39:53
			their silence
		
00:39:53 --> 00:39:54
			is magnetic.
		
00:39:54 --> 00:39:56
			There is an enchanting
		
00:39:56 --> 00:39:58
			charm to their behavior.
		
00:40:00 --> 00:40:03
			Because Allah Almighty created you and I as
		
00:40:03 --> 00:40:06
			free and honorable people, we recognize honor when
		
00:40:06 --> 00:40:08
			we see it. That is sign number
		
00:40:08 --> 00:40:11
			3. When you see those who are truly
		
00:40:11 --> 00:40:12
			free,
		
00:40:12 --> 00:40:13
			you are amazed.
		
00:40:14 --> 00:40:16
			There is an irresistible
		
00:40:16 --> 00:40:19
			pull towards them, and you can't explain it,
		
00:40:19 --> 00:40:21
			but I explain it to you my brother,
		
00:40:21 --> 00:40:24
			my sister. You are witnessing a man or
		
00:40:24 --> 00:40:25
			a woman or a community
		
00:40:26 --> 00:40:28
			who are truly free. Though it may cost
		
00:40:28 --> 00:40:31
			them their lives, they stand by their principles,
		
00:40:31 --> 00:40:33
			and that is a spectacle that we admire.
		
00:40:36 --> 00:40:39
			Perhaps this explains why the events in Philistine
		
00:40:39 --> 00:40:41
			and Gaza specifically have captured the attention of
		
00:40:41 --> 00:40:42
			the world.
		
00:40:45 --> 00:40:46
			Maybe it was their patience. I don't think
		
00:40:46 --> 00:40:49
			it's their patience. We've seen patience before.
		
00:40:50 --> 00:40:53
			Maybe it's their resilience, their stubbornness, their optimism.
		
00:40:54 --> 00:40:56
			We've seen optimism elsewhere.
		
00:40:57 --> 00:41:00
			Maybe it's their bravery and their courage. We've
		
00:41:00 --> 00:41:01
			seen courage elsewhere.
		
00:41:02 --> 00:41:03
			I argue, and Allah knows best,
		
00:41:04 --> 00:41:05
			that the secret
		
00:41:05 --> 00:41:06
			behind
		
00:41:06 --> 00:41:07
			how the world
		
00:41:09 --> 00:41:12
			has been enchanted by the behavior of those
		
00:41:12 --> 00:41:13
			patient Muslims. They are in Philistine,
		
00:41:14 --> 00:41:16
			goes back to this element that we're speaking
		
00:41:16 --> 00:41:17
			of this evening.
		
00:41:17 --> 00:41:20
			We admire freedom when we see it,
		
00:41:20 --> 00:41:21
			and we recognize
		
00:41:21 --> 00:41:23
			freedom when we see it, and we are
		
00:41:23 --> 00:41:26
			drawn and pulled towards freedom when we see
		
00:41:26 --> 00:41:28
			it, And that is what we have seen
		
00:41:28 --> 00:41:29
			there, and that is what the world has
		
00:41:29 --> 00:41:30
			seen.
		
00:41:31 --> 00:41:33
			And perhaps you have come across the article
		
00:41:33 --> 00:41:36
			in The Guardian newspaper that was titled, and
		
00:41:36 --> 00:41:37
			I quote word for word,
		
00:41:38 --> 00:41:39
			young
		
00:41:39 --> 00:41:40
			Americans
		
00:41:40 --> 00:41:44
			picking up copies of the Quran to understand
		
00:41:44 --> 00:41:46
			Muslim Palestinian resilience.
		
00:41:47 --> 00:41:48
			Try to understand
		
00:41:50 --> 00:41:51
			how is it that they behave in this
		
00:41:51 --> 00:41:52
			way.
		
00:41:52 --> 00:41:55
			It's costing them everything that you and I
		
00:41:55 --> 00:41:56
			consider dear,
		
00:41:56 --> 00:41:59
			yet it's nothing is too much to sacrifice
		
00:41:59 --> 00:42:01
			for Allah almighty. In short,
		
00:42:02 --> 00:42:04
			sign number 3, you will recognize a person
		
00:42:04 --> 00:42:07
			or a community who are truly free because
		
00:42:07 --> 00:42:08
			you are innately
		
00:42:09 --> 00:42:11
			drawn to their behavior. Why?
		
00:42:12 --> 00:42:15
			Because their freedom is anchored upon something very
		
00:42:15 --> 00:42:16
			high.
		
00:42:17 --> 00:42:19
			Their freedom is not anchored upon desire,
		
00:42:20 --> 00:42:20
			fetishes,
		
00:42:21 --> 00:42:22
			urges,
		
00:42:22 --> 00:42:23
			impulses.
		
00:42:23 --> 00:42:26
			Their freedom is anchored upon the most high
		
00:42:26 --> 00:42:26
			Allah,
		
00:42:27 --> 00:42:29
			and for them nothing is too much to
		
00:42:29 --> 00:42:31
			sacrifice for him.
		
00:42:33 --> 00:42:34
			Sean King,
		
00:42:35 --> 00:42:36
			American journalist,
		
00:42:37 --> 00:42:39
			another man who recognized the freedom of the
		
00:42:39 --> 00:42:41
			people of Palestine, and he decided
		
00:42:42 --> 00:42:44
			he decided to become like them and to
		
00:42:44 --> 00:42:45
			embrace their religion.
		
00:42:45 --> 00:42:46
			He
		
00:42:46 --> 00:42:48
			credited on the 1st day of the month
		
00:42:48 --> 00:42:50
			of Ramadan when he took his shahada there
		
00:42:50 --> 00:42:50
			in America.
		
00:42:53 --> 00:42:54
			He categorically
		
00:42:54 --> 00:42:57
			credited his reversion to Islam to the last
		
00:42:58 --> 00:43:00
			6 months of scenes that he has seen
		
00:43:00 --> 00:43:02
			unfolding in Gaza and the resilience of the
		
00:43:02 --> 00:43:04
			Muslims there. He said if it wasn't for
		
00:43:04 --> 00:43:06
			those last 6 months, I don't think I
		
00:43:06 --> 00:43:08
			would be here today. He said not only
		
00:43:08 --> 00:43:11
			have they opened my eyes and the eyes
		
00:43:11 --> 00:43:12
			of my wife who are here to become
		
00:43:12 --> 00:43:15
			Muslims, but they have opened the eyes of
		
00:43:15 --> 00:43:17
			1,000,000 across the world as well.
		
00:43:17 --> 00:43:19
			That is sign number 3 when you see
		
00:43:19 --> 00:43:22
			a person who is free. They garner an
		
00:43:22 --> 00:43:23
			immense sense of awe in your heart and
		
00:43:23 --> 00:43:26
			respect. You want to be like them. All
		
00:43:26 --> 00:43:27
			of the dawah that we've been giving and
		
00:43:27 --> 00:43:29
			all of the information we've been showing about
		
00:43:29 --> 00:43:31
			Islam, Alhamdulillah, I mean, this is great. It
		
00:43:31 --> 00:43:33
			it mustn't stop. Don't get me wrong. This
		
00:43:33 --> 00:43:34
			is part of our religion.
		
00:43:35 --> 00:43:37
			But the paradigm shift happened where?
		
00:43:37 --> 00:43:39
			When did the trajectory do this?
		
00:43:40 --> 00:43:43
			When freedom was displayed, when the Quran was
		
00:43:43 --> 00:43:45
			put on show, though it may cost me
		
00:43:45 --> 00:43:47
			my life, I have principles that I live
		
00:43:47 --> 00:43:48
			and die upon.
		
00:43:49 --> 00:43:50
			You can achieve the same results in the
		
00:43:50 --> 00:43:53
			people you work with, your family, your children,
		
00:43:53 --> 00:43:55
			community who rub shoulders with you. You're gonna
		
00:43:55 --> 00:43:57
			have the exact same effect on them.
		
00:43:58 --> 00:43:59
			Though you may not memorize a lot of
		
00:43:59 --> 00:44:01
			Quran and Hadith and maybe you're not very
		
00:44:01 --> 00:44:03
			clear in your talk, maybe you don't have
		
00:44:03 --> 00:44:05
			a vast vocab.
		
00:44:08 --> 00:44:10
			But just you demonstrating Islam,
		
00:44:11 --> 00:44:13
			just you showing how your values,
		
00:44:14 --> 00:44:16
			you believe them to reign supreme whenever there
		
00:44:16 --> 00:44:17
			is a conflict,
		
00:44:18 --> 00:44:20
			standing to your principles when there is a
		
00:44:20 --> 00:44:21
			attention,
		
00:44:21 --> 00:44:24
			that in of itself is to draw is
		
00:44:24 --> 00:44:26
			enough to draw the awe of the people
		
00:44:26 --> 00:44:28
			who you mix with towards the religion that
		
00:44:28 --> 00:44:29
			you profess.
		
00:44:31 --> 00:44:33
			Brothers and sisters, I want to also say
		
00:44:33 --> 00:44:35
			to you something very important as we come
		
00:44:35 --> 00:44:36
			to the end now of the lecture and
		
00:44:36 --> 00:44:37
			that is
		
00:44:37 --> 00:44:40
			Alhamdulillah, all of us are going around saying
		
00:44:40 --> 00:44:40
			free Palestine.
		
00:44:41 --> 00:44:42
			Free Palestine.
		
00:44:42 --> 00:44:44
			The the word free Palestine has now reverberated
		
00:44:44 --> 00:44:46
			across the entire globe.
		
00:44:46 --> 00:44:47
			Great.
		
00:44:47 --> 00:44:50
			Noble statement. I'm not there to bash it.
		
00:44:51 --> 00:44:53
			We all want to free Palestine.
		
00:44:54 --> 00:44:56
			But it's key for us to realize
		
00:44:58 --> 00:44:59
			that in order for our activism
		
00:45:00 --> 00:45:01
			to free Palestine
		
00:45:02 --> 00:45:02
			to flourish,
		
00:45:04 --> 00:45:06
			we need to be people who are free
		
00:45:06 --> 00:45:06
			ourselves.
		
00:45:08 --> 00:45:09
			Fakhidu Shay'ilayu'otrihi,
		
00:45:10 --> 00:45:11
			the Arabs say,
		
00:45:11 --> 00:45:13
			one who doesn't possess something
		
00:45:14 --> 00:45:15
			can't offer it to others.
		
00:45:16 --> 00:45:19
			I can't go to a people and remove
		
00:45:19 --> 00:45:21
			the shackles from their wrists
		
00:45:22 --> 00:45:24
			if there are shackles restraining me.
		
00:45:26 --> 00:45:28
			I cannot take the straight jacket off the
		
00:45:28 --> 00:45:29
			body of a person if there is a
		
00:45:29 --> 00:45:31
			straight jacket on me.
		
00:45:32 --> 00:45:33
			If I am enslaved
		
00:45:34 --> 00:45:34
			by something,
		
00:45:36 --> 00:45:38
			then I cannot deliver freedom to others though
		
00:45:38 --> 00:45:40
			I may chant free free Palestine all day
		
00:45:40 --> 00:45:41
			and all night.
		
00:45:43 --> 00:45:44
			And that is why we have the story
		
00:45:44 --> 00:45:47
			of Antarab Nusaddad, the famous Arab African
		
00:45:48 --> 00:45:51
			pre Islamic poet and knight who we have
		
00:45:51 --> 00:45:53
			immortalized in our books of literature in the
		
00:45:53 --> 00:45:55
			Arab world. Aantar Abnusaddad
		
00:45:56 --> 00:45:57
			was born a child
		
00:45:58 --> 00:46:00
			who had a color that his father didn't
		
00:46:00 --> 00:46:01
			appreciate, unfortunately.
		
00:46:04 --> 00:46:06
			So his father decided to not give him
		
00:46:06 --> 00:46:09
			his surname and to deprive him from paternity.
		
00:46:11 --> 00:46:13
			And this broke the heart of heart of
		
00:46:13 --> 00:46:14
			young Antara.
		
00:46:15 --> 00:46:16
			Until
		
00:46:18 --> 00:46:19
			a
		
00:46:20 --> 00:46:21
			tribe came and invaded
		
00:46:22 --> 00:46:24
			the tribe of Antara on one evening, the
		
00:46:24 --> 00:46:25
			tribe of Abs,
		
00:46:26 --> 00:46:28
			and they stole all of the camels. So
		
00:46:28 --> 00:46:30
			the father of Antara Abu Shaddad, he said
		
00:46:30 --> 00:46:32
			to his son, Yeah,
		
00:46:32 --> 00:46:33
			Antar.
		
00:46:34 --> 00:46:37
			Go and proceed. Charge at them. Charge. Go
		
00:46:37 --> 00:46:38
			and fight Antar.
		
00:46:38 --> 00:46:40
			Antar said to his dad,
		
00:46:46 --> 00:46:49
			He said, dad, slaves like us don't know
		
00:46:49 --> 00:46:50
			how to charge and fight.
		
00:46:51 --> 00:46:53
			We only know how to milk animals and
		
00:46:53 --> 00:46:54
			herd
		
00:46:54 --> 00:46:55
			sheep.
		
00:46:56 --> 00:46:57
			So his father realized,
		
00:46:58 --> 00:46:59
			I was the one who made him into
		
00:46:59 --> 00:47:01
			a coward. I have deprived him from his
		
00:47:01 --> 00:47:02
			right of paternity.
		
00:47:03 --> 00:47:05
			I have not given him my surname, so
		
00:47:05 --> 00:47:07
			his father knew what he needed to do.
		
00:47:07 --> 00:47:07
			He said,
		
00:47:09 --> 00:47:12
			charge Antara, and I will give you your
		
00:47:12 --> 00:47:12
			freedom.
		
00:47:13 --> 00:47:16
			So Antara charged, and he fought them single
		
00:47:16 --> 00:47:19
			handedly in a ferocious battle. And he retrieved
		
00:47:19 --> 00:47:21
			the camels, and he became Antara al Lusaddad,
		
00:47:21 --> 00:47:23
			whom we celebrate till this day.
		
00:47:24 --> 00:47:26
			What is the point of mentioning this story?
		
00:47:26 --> 00:47:28
			Antara was only able to do what he
		
00:47:28 --> 00:47:30
			did. When what? He was free himself.
		
00:47:33 --> 00:47:35
			So you look into the mirror of your
		
00:47:35 --> 00:47:37
			life, my brother, my sister, very carefully and
		
00:47:37 --> 00:47:39
			be honest with yourself.
		
00:47:40 --> 00:47:42
			I know you want to free Palestine, jazakallahu
		
00:47:43 --> 00:47:44
			khairan. I don't doubt that, alhamdulillah.
		
00:47:45 --> 00:47:47
			And I know that you want to give
		
00:47:47 --> 00:47:48
			everything that you possess
		
00:47:49 --> 00:47:50
			for the cause,
		
00:47:50 --> 00:47:52
			and you feel that you wish you could
		
00:47:52 --> 00:47:53
			do a lot more than you're doing today.
		
00:47:55 --> 00:47:57
			But before your efforts can be truly effective,
		
00:47:57 --> 00:48:00
			let's not deceive ourselves. Let's not kid ourselves.
		
00:48:00 --> 00:48:01
			Let's be real.
		
00:48:02 --> 00:48:04
			I have to be free before I can
		
00:48:04 --> 00:48:05
			free anyone else.
		
00:48:05 --> 00:48:07
			Look into the mirror of your life. What
		
00:48:07 --> 00:48:10
			are the shackles that exist on your limbs?
		
00:48:12 --> 00:48:13
			Is it, for example,
		
00:48:14 --> 00:48:18
			an enslavement to prohibited types of browsing on
		
00:48:18 --> 00:48:20
			the Internet that you're still struggling with till
		
00:48:20 --> 00:48:22
			this day in the month of Ramadan?
		
00:48:23 --> 00:48:24
			Those shackles need to come off before you
		
00:48:24 --> 00:48:26
			can help others shake off theirs.
		
00:48:27 --> 00:48:29
			Is it my sister, A hijab,
		
00:48:30 --> 00:48:32
			that you have been embattled with for so
		
00:48:32 --> 00:48:33
			many years?
		
00:48:34 --> 00:48:35
			This is the time now to
		
00:48:35 --> 00:48:38
			don the perfect hijab as described by the
		
00:48:38 --> 00:48:39
			legislator
		
00:48:40 --> 00:48:42
			to shake off those shackles
		
00:48:42 --> 00:48:44
			before you can help others do the same?
		
00:48:47 --> 00:48:49
			Is it perhaps an obsession with what people
		
00:48:49 --> 00:48:50
			think of you?
		
00:48:51 --> 00:48:54
			An obsession with being liked by others regardless
		
00:48:54 --> 00:48:57
			of what it cost you? Friends, family, nieces,
		
00:48:57 --> 00:48:58
			nephews,
		
00:48:58 --> 00:49:01
			parents, and above all Allah Almighty and your
		
00:49:01 --> 00:49:01
			religion.
		
00:49:02 --> 00:49:04
			Shake off those shackles, my brother, my sister,
		
00:49:05 --> 00:49:07
			before you can help others do the same.
		
00:49:07 --> 00:49:10
			What are your shackles? You think about it.
		
00:49:10 --> 00:49:12
			You think about your life, and I do
		
00:49:12 --> 00:49:14
			the same. Is it a financial dealing that
		
00:49:14 --> 00:49:15
			you know is shady, to say the least?
		
00:49:15 --> 00:49:16
			Though my brother
		
00:49:17 --> 00:49:18
			and my sister,
		
00:49:19 --> 00:49:21
			I know that perhaps this is a bit
		
00:49:21 --> 00:49:23
			of a daunting way to end the talk.
		
00:49:24 --> 00:49:26
			This is the way to support our brothers
		
00:49:26 --> 00:49:27
			and sisters in Palestine.
		
00:49:27 --> 00:49:30
			Let me say, this is a way of
		
00:49:30 --> 00:49:33
			supporting our brothers and sisters in Palestine
		
00:49:33 --> 00:49:35
			by engaging in introspection
		
00:49:36 --> 00:49:37
			and beginning with yourself
		
00:49:38 --> 00:49:40
			before your activism can become effective.
		
00:49:41 --> 00:49:42
			And a lot of us will ask the
		
00:49:42 --> 00:49:45
			question, what is what is Ramadan? What was
		
00:49:45 --> 00:49:47
			Ramadan with the backdrop of Gaza?
		
00:49:48 --> 00:49:49
			It was so difficult
		
00:49:49 --> 00:49:52
			seeing all that brutality and cruelty every day
		
00:49:52 --> 00:49:54
			coming through our feet.
		
00:49:54 --> 00:49:57
			What was Ramadan? And what is Ramadan with
		
00:49:57 --> 00:49:59
			all of this happening in the background? I
		
00:49:59 --> 00:49:59
			say to you,
		
00:50:00 --> 00:50:02
			this is the best Ramadan of your life.
		
00:50:03 --> 00:50:05
			It must be the best Ramadan of your
		
00:50:05 --> 00:50:06
			life.
		
00:50:07 --> 00:50:10
			When your process to individual freedom started with
		
00:50:10 --> 00:50:11
			Gaza,
		
00:50:11 --> 00:50:12
			6 months ago,
		
00:50:12 --> 00:50:14
			and Insha'Allah will be completed by the end
		
00:50:14 --> 00:50:16
			of the month of Ramadan. Say Insha'Allah.
		
00:50:17 --> 00:50:18
			Inshallah.
		
00:50:18 --> 00:50:20
			It started, then it will end
		
00:50:20 --> 00:50:22
			in 2, 3 days. On the day of
		
00:50:22 --> 00:50:24
			Eid, we declare to Allah
		
00:50:24 --> 00:50:25
			that we have been freed.
		
00:50:26 --> 00:50:28
			We have been freed from every pressure,
		
00:50:29 --> 00:50:29
			every constraint,
		
00:50:30 --> 00:50:31
			every limitation,
		
00:50:31 --> 00:50:33
			and we are only accountable
		
00:50:34 --> 00:50:34
			and governed
		
00:50:35 --> 00:50:36
			by wahi,
		
00:50:36 --> 00:50:37
			by
		
00:50:37 --> 00:50:38
			our worship to Allah