Bilal Philips – The Core Values of Islam

Bilal Philips
AI: Summary ©
The importance of Islam is highlighted, including its five pillars of morality and its use of animals and air conditioning to communicate with people. The speakers emphasize the need for acceptance and privacy in Islam, as well as the importance of developing generosity and compassion in achieving morality. The segment also touches on the importance of fasting, the use of the "beast and leery" attitude, and patient and leery attitude in achieving success. Finally, the segment emphasizes the importance of enrolling children in Islam's teachers' classes.
AI: Transcript ©
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Wa Salatu was Salam ala rasulillah, Karim,

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Allah and he was hobby, many standard and be certain that he didn't appraise due to align the last piece investing as well the last prophet muhammad sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, and and all those who follow the path of righteousness until the last day.

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The topic which was chosen

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for this evening's meeting, presentation and gathering

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is the core values of Islam.

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And the reason why this topic was chosen was because oftentimes, Muslims miss out on the core key

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goals, which Islam has for its members, those who have accepted it here, brother, there's a seat here.

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By that, I mean to say that,

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oftentimes, people tend to get caught up in the

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external,

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traditional customary practices, which are part of Islam, no doubt.

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However, they are not, in and of themselves, the goals of Islam.

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We need to understand

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where the goals actually lie.

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So that we are not focused on

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the wrong aspects of Islam.

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Of course, as we said, the basic Pillars of Islam, whether it is prayer, sola, fasting, soul xhaka, had

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these represent the core principles,

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which every Muslim is supposed to do, but

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they are not in and of themselves goals.

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They are a means to take us to a particular goal.

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Because I'm sure you all understand that.

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Allah doesn't need our worship.

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These are all acts of worship.

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But Allah did not prescribe these acts of worship, out of a need. Normally, when we set principles, and requirements, obligations, they're out of needs that we have, but a law most great and glorious is beyond all need.

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So these principles are

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rituals, customs, traditions, these are ways and means of getting us to the actual goal that we should really be seeking.

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A lot of said, Well, my genuine insight in the afternoon, I didn't create the gym and humankind except to worship.

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So we know that worship is something required of us as human beings.

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However, if no one on the face of the earth worshiped the law, that would not affect it in any way. And if everyone on the face of the earth worshipped him, it would not benefit him in any way.

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So all of this is there for us.

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What Prophet Muhammad Sallallahu Sallam summarized

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all of the various requirements

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of Islam in

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one word,

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morality.

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He said in the mob rights to legal Jemima makara mana,

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I was only sent to perfect for you the highest of moral character traits.

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It is about morality.

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We, as Muslims

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don't have technology to offer the world today. There was a time in the past, when we were the leaders of technology, people came to our centers of learning and learn from us from Europe and other parts of the world they came and learn and we took from others.

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We were a means of bringing knowledge and skill from China, from India, from Africa, from Europe, bringing it together and repackaging it, advancing it and

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being the light at a time, when Europe for example, considers itself to be in the dark ages.

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And those dark ages, those were ages of light in the Muslim world.

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We never experienced the Dark Ages.

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But the point is that,

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as I said,

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what we have to offer the world is not technology.

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I don't have to convince you on that because we are going to America, we're going to England and other places to study their technology, what they have to offer when they're giving back to us that they got from us.

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So

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the greatness of Islam doesn't lie here.

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The greatness of Islam lies where the Prophet sallahu wa sallam put it

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in

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morality

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that Islam

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brought from the very beginning,

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morality to humankind, the principles and guidelines for morality, for humankind, we are all given a consciousness of right and wrong.

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A law said, I find

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that every soul has a consciousness of corruption and righteousness.

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We were created with that.

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But a law also gave us through the messengers were sent guidelines,

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which defined how these feelings or emotions are understandings that we have with regards to right and wrong, how it should be placed.

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We have the core

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internal experience

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built into every cell in our bodies.

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But when it is to be implemented, in our relationships with each other,

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and with the world we live in, and our relationship with God with a law

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without the guidelines, then it's easy to stumble.

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So Allah

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chose messengers from amongst us, who would be given those guidelines, and they would teach them in what we know as Islam.

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So, what it's saying is that the goal of these various pillars, the five pillars of Islam,

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are fundamentally moral goals.

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It is to create a morally sound human being

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who would live a life which is pleasing to Allah subhanho wa Taala

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in everything that he or she does,

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that morally solid human being

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in his relationship with God, for example,

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no knows that it is morally correct to worship god alone.

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And it's morally incorrect to worship others.

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Along with God,

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or to put anyone between themselves and God,

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they understand this is the morality with regards to our relationship with Allah

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with regards to our fellow human beings, how we interact with them, we know that stealing is wrong, it is bad.

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Giving in charity is good.

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These are the moral principles governing how we interact with each other. And also even with the environment around us, the world in which we live,

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Islam established the principles of

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protection of animals putnams or Sallam said that we should never make birds, our targets, animals should not be the targets for human beings to enjoy killing other animals, just for fun.

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From

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1400 years ago,

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recently, the world has finally caught up and said, yeah, we shouldn't kill after they've wiped out different species.

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But from 1400 years ago, it was stated by the prophet then, of course, this would have been in the teachings of the earlier prophet students not to say from bombs or send them in invented, this is not his invention. This is the law of the law. We have been put over these creatures

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who may be bigger than us stronger than us faster than us.

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Allah has given us an ability to control that, that elephant who if he stepped on us,

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were as flat as a pancake finished. That's it.

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In spite of that, we can get that elephant to stand on two feet, dance around, do all kinds of things. It's amazing.

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This creature which is so, so much stronger than us, you know, if he was able to just think for a minute, you know, what is this guy telling me to do? Step on him, Gary Well, my business,

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but a lot didn't give them that. He gave it to us, that we are able to do that. So a lot of submitted these creatures to us for our benefit.

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And we have a duty to use them in a way which is pleasing to Allah.

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Not to kill them for support, not to abuse them,

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not to harm them. You know, even Prophet told us, we should not even hit a dog in its face, we shouldn't hit anybody in their face, and a human being. But even a dog, an animal, a donkey, I know people like to hit in the face, but the process or sell them for betas even to hit an animal face.

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So, these moral principles were in place

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1400 years ago.

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And that is what is at the core of Islamic teachings

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that these practices, rituals and rites which we have been given, they are to develop in US certain moral characteristics,

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which would make each and every one of us a better human being.

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This is the purpose.

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Islam creates the best human beings morally, with a standard of morality, which doesn't change.

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So that what was bad yesterday, doesn't become good today.

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Nor what was good yesterday, becomes bad today.

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It is a standard.

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And Islam What is unique about Islam is that it defends that standard.

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It is a fixed standard.

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Some people say but times change.

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And many other religions they move along with the times.

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They change with

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modern technology and inventions, modern thinking we don't have a problem with the modern inventions. We use microphones. No problem. We use air conditioners in our messages, no problem.

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So no problem with the technology.

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Utilize

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it to the benefit,

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where it helps us to implement religious principles.

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But the problem comes when we are changing with the times. Now intellectually,

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morally.

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This is where the problem comes.

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Where in the past,

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for example,

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homosexuality in the West was an evil

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eye disease.

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psychiatrists used to treat people who are homosexual, to try to correct them.

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They were considered sick.

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But from the 17th

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from the 70s, mid late 70s, that was turned upside down.

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homosexuality was removed

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from the psychiatry Bible,

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no longer considered to be an illness.

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And it was replaced by another illness. This was called homophobia.

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So the homophobes, those people who despise homosexuality, who consider it to be nasty, wrong, evil, there are the people now who is considered by psychiatrists to be sick.

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They're the ones who need to go to the psychiatrists and have their heads turned around, so that they can accept and recognize and appreciate

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homosexuals.

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That kind of change, we don't eat.

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Because that kind of change is going against the nature of human beings when a law made homosexuality evil, punishable in the Old Testament, by death.

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When Allah made that commandment, it was based on his knowledge of human beings who weak he created.

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He knew that people were not born homosexuals, like homosexuals like to say today, homosexuals and lesbians transvestites and LBGT thing now it's not just homosexuals, you have to accept the whole range, you know.

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He knows that people weren't created that way.

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Because it would not make sense. But if law Allah actually made a person created a person a homosexual, and then declares that person to be evil and to be executed for his homosexuality, that doesn't make sense, that is unfair. And Allah is not unfair.

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A law is not unfair. As he said in the Quran, Allah illiberal. buka.

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Your Lord does not oppress anyone,

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is not unfair to anyone.

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So the person who is a homosexual, is a person who chooses to be more successful.

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That's the bottom line. And that's why they can be a Punisher, because it is a choice. So, what was evil human society, from the time of Adam to our time, till

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1000s of years in the future, human beings will not change. They are human beings.

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technology will change.

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But in terms of the basic makeup of the human being, there is no change.

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They will not change. And that's why the laws governing human society and morality, these laws which were been revealed by a law, they don't need to change.

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So unlike the

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churches in the West, for example, where now you have homosexual priests,

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administering to homosexual congregations, as well as heterosexual congregations, that's considered a norm now, only the Catholic Church remains, you know,

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opposing it.

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And it's just a matter of time before they will be overwhelmed and eventually have to accept it. Only in Islam. We don't accept it. We didn't accept it, and we will never accept it. Of course, it's not to say that somebody might say, oh, but in San Francisco, they have a homosexual Masjid.

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They have one in Toronto, also another one in the UK.

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We do have Muslims who are doing this.

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This is reality,

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because

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countries allow that they're free to do it.

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But Islam does not recognize it.

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It is still considered wrong.

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It doesn't mean that if you're a homosexual, you can't be a Muslim. No, Sam doesn't say that.

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Homosexuality

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is not that different in terms of the law, and how the law deals with deviation from adultery, punishment for adultery is death,

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punishment for homosexuality, if people are caught in the act.

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So

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this is not the issue.

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A person may commit a sin. There were Sahaba, who were companions of the Prophet Musa Salah who were executed for adultery.

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Does that make them non Muslims? No.

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They committed sin. In fact, they came to the Prophet mom's asylum, and asked the province of Mombasa to purify them by having the law applied to them.

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So the point here is that the values, the moral principles of Islam are timeless.

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A law has prescribed them

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based on

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human society and its need, and they will not change. And this is what we as Muslims have to offer the world

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a moral compass

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which is not turning according to how people feel.

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One which remains steady

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till the last day of this world.

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Now, that's the theory

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and practice.

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We have to say,

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Where are these moral principles in our Pillars of Islam?

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So normally, when we teach the Pillars of Islam, we teach them to our children, we learn them in terms of the technical issues that are concerned that are involved.

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So law, you have to have will do you press a law this way or that way.

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What breaks we'll do what breaks a law.

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We learn all these technicalities.

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It's a requirement five times a day the timings everything. But

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what are the moral principles behind the

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most often this is not too much.

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For those of you that have been to

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classes on

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fic have this basic tip Salas aka hatch.

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I'm sure you will agree with me that this area is not focused on

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maybe the teacher might mention a point or two. But this is not the focus. But if the profit margins are solid said

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that what he was sent with was morality, then surely That must be the most important core principle. This is the core value of Islam.

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So we need to rethink. We need to re analyze, we need a new approach in our teaching of Islam.

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wherein we focus on these issues while teaching people technicalities that we also teach them the goals. What are the core principles

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behind the ritual, the rights, the customs and the traditions? So this evening,

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what I'm going to share with you briefly is

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for you to reflect on

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and to look deeper into

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some of the

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principles behind the moral principle of behind the Pillars of Islam.

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So if we start with the first pillar of Islam, which is

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the Shahada,

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the declaration, the two declarations of faith, I shadow Allah, Allah Illallah

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Muhammadan.

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We all notice, I'm a witness, there's no God worthy of worship of Allah. And I bear witness that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah.

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We know that.

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And we know we should say it

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with knowledge.

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Because if you're just saying it

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as words,

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some people,

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man wants to marry a Muslim woman.

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And the family says no, was the woman has to marry a Muslim man.

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So the man says, No problem, I'll be coming.

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What do I need to do? You need to say,

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so he goes to the party says,

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but he told his wife already, listen to me. I'm gonna do this thing because I want to marry you. But don't expect me to be praying and fasting and all these other things that you guys do. I'm just doing this so I can marry.

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You have to say, what is the value of his Shahada?

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Zero.

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Nobody.

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In the courts, of course, the courts have no choice if somebody comes in because they face they have to accept them at face value.

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But in the sight of a law,

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he's not

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just words.

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So the goal are not the words. I mean, of course, we say the words. And people will teach us how to say if we're not Arabic, speaking, etc. Learn how to say it.

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But technically speaking, if you understood it, and you even said it wrong, stupid enough.

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As long as you've understood it, that's that's the key, that you didn't understand what you were saying.

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And for it to be acceptable to law, of course, you have to be sincere about it, you should know what it means then

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have an idea that you

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plan to live in accordance with that principle.

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But then nobody tells you how to live. They just say Say it.

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So

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one way we need to look at here, because this topic of just the shahana time could be a lecture. And then when I come back in another two months, we can then go on to sell out. But I'm just going to try to get through us this evening. Quickly.

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The basic principles just for your own reflection.

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One of the principles that govern the Shahada time is that we have to say it

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with witnesses. Other people have to witness us saying it. It's not enough for you to decide personally in your home, but

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I want to be able to say to yourself, I shall run.

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And then you just carry on.

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It's not enough.

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If you are in a place where you had no other choice, there were no Muslims around, you're the only was the only person who decided to become a Muslim. That's another situation. You have no way to say to witness it doesn't mean you can't become a Muslim.

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No,

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of course you can make a monster.

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So as long as there are people around who can do it, then it isn't a requirement for you to say it. With witnesses. That's the point. Islam is practical. It's flexible in the sense that if you are in a circumstance where you can save your life, it strengthens.

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thought about it.

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And you're in a country where people are very, very, you know,

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negative towards Muslims. So much so that your parents saw you with a few books on Islam, they say What was this?

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So I'm just reading, get rid of it.

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If you become a Muslim, you're dead meat.

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Or you're a young person, if you become a Muslim, you're kicked out of the house. You're on your own. You're only 14 years old. 15 years old.

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You don't have the means to look after yourself.

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So okay, those circumstances.

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You make a declaration of faith to yourself.

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Parents don't know about it. You're

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But in circumstances the general circumstance, the most common circumstances where people are available, you can say before other people, you are required to declare it publicly, because public declaration, it doesn't mean getting up here

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and declaring it

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before everybody, a whole group of people, no, but at least a couple of witnesses. It's a set.

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Now,

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why does Islam insist on that?

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Why is that a principle in the declaration of faith?

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That you should say it to witnesses?

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On one hand,

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on a external level, on one hand, you become known as a Muslim.

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You become known as a Muslim. We know now that your arms

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so if in your time of weakness shaytan comes to you,

00:31:04 --> 00:31:05

and suggest to you

00:31:07 --> 00:31:22

that you may console yourself, you're depressed, you're having some difficult times, you can sell yourself as you did before Islam by going to the bar, taking a couple of shots of whiskey or whatever.

00:31:23 --> 00:31:24

You feel better.

00:31:25 --> 00:31:29

And the Muslim sees you walking to the bar, they say, brother,

00:31:31 --> 00:31:32

Okay,

00:31:33 --> 00:31:39

can I help you, you're not gonna find out there, it's gonna make things worse.

00:31:40 --> 00:31:42

I mean, Muslims are looking out for you.

00:31:44 --> 00:31:46

They will try to help you because they know

00:31:47 --> 00:31:50

when they don't know you're Muslim, Ugandan by yourself. Nobody knew.

00:31:51 --> 00:31:53

And of course, that's the downward spiral.

00:31:56 --> 00:32:00

So there is practical benefits to be known as a Muslim.

00:32:01 --> 00:32:04

Also, the community can benefit from you.

00:32:05 --> 00:32:12

You may have some skills, some ability, which a community needs, they can call on you. As you can call it them, they can call on you.

00:32:13 --> 00:32:19

Because Islam is a brotherhood, sisterhood, a community, brothers and sisters in faith.

00:32:21 --> 00:32:24

But on another level,

00:32:25 --> 00:32:26

if we look at the moral level,

00:32:27 --> 00:32:31

we have to say that the moral principle

00:32:32 --> 00:32:37

which may be derived from the open declaration of faith, anybody

00:32:39 --> 00:32:40

have an idea?

00:32:41 --> 00:32:43

What this principle would be?

00:32:47 --> 00:32:47

No,

00:32:49 --> 00:32:51

nobody, not towards

00:32:52 --> 00:33:09

the like, you're gonna only worship allies. Is that a model point as well? to rally towards a lot? Yeah, but right here now this open declaration, what comes out of it, is what we call transparency.

00:33:11 --> 00:33:14

What you have inside, you're brought out

00:33:15 --> 00:33:35

you're not the type of person who hides what you have. People see you for who you are. The prophet SAW Solomon said, the believer is not two faced, he or she has one face, when they're talking to one, they have another face when they talk to somebody else. They're smiling in your face and stopping you in your back

00:33:37 --> 00:33:42

is not the way of the believer. The believer is open, transparent.

00:33:45 --> 00:34:00

So this characteristic of transparency, this is part of honesty, of being known for who you are you hiding things you're not planning plotting in secret, as the law said in the law.

00:34:03 --> 00:34:09

There is no good and most of their secret meetings, standards like secret meetings.

00:34:10 --> 00:34:17

Because when people plot and plan in secret, usually it is not for good. It may be for their good.

00:34:19 --> 00:34:24

They're good as the group that is plotting and planning, but it's not good for the society.

00:34:25 --> 00:34:28

So it's not this like this secret plan.

00:34:31 --> 00:34:36

And secret societies in general, most countries, they're opposed to them. We know that

00:34:37 --> 00:34:45

the mafia prosecutions masons, these groups, they disliked by society in general.

00:34:48 --> 00:34:53

But in Islam, we are supposed to be open and honest.

00:34:55 --> 00:34:57

We advise people we accept advice

00:35:00 --> 00:35:00

Furthermore,

00:35:03 --> 00:35:07

because of the fact that we have accepted Islam,

00:35:08 --> 00:35:13

and we know that Islam is the right way of life,

00:35:15 --> 00:35:30

we also in our open declaration, I would share that with others if because it was good for us, then surely it must be good for our parents, our brothers and sisters, our relatives.

00:35:31 --> 00:35:40

So, we are motivated to share that which we have inside with others. So we have what you may call a missionary personality.

00:35:43 --> 00:35:45

We are on a mission

00:35:46 --> 00:35:47

in this world.

00:35:48 --> 00:35:54

We have been given this truth. And as the last element said, Bella, who Annie, who allow,

00:35:55 --> 00:36:03

convey whatever you have learned from me, even if it is only a single verse from the ground,

00:36:04 --> 00:36:05

share it.

00:36:09 --> 00:36:10

salatu

00:36:13 --> 00:36:14

salam Sala.

00:36:16 --> 00:36:22

Its main moral message, the core moral

00:36:23 --> 00:36:25

principle is

00:36:30 --> 00:36:37

punctuality. Well, punctuality is taught and so on. Because our Salah is that fixed times.

00:36:41 --> 00:36:43

To worship Allah, Allah, Vicar.

00:36:45 --> 00:36:46

humbleness.

00:36:49 --> 00:37:01

Equality, yeah, all of these are good principles inside of it. But the core, the most important one a lot dollars in the Bible. It says after massala victory.

00:37:05 --> 00:37:16

The victory established the prayer in order to remember me the glue law, consciousness of Allah taqwa, same

00:37:17 --> 00:37:20

consciousness. That is the principle

00:37:21 --> 00:37:32

to remember online. And this is important. Why? Because oftentimes, non Muslims will say to us, you know, Muslims,

00:37:34 --> 00:37:41

you pray five times a day. That's nice. But it is mechanical.

00:37:42 --> 00:37:47

As if you all are like robots programmed, you know, you get up in the morning,

00:37:48 --> 00:37:54

midday, afternoon, sunset, night, day after day after day after day.

00:37:56 --> 00:38:02

As for us, we pray to God, worship God, when

00:38:03 --> 00:38:09

our hearts feel that connection, when our hearts

00:38:10 --> 00:38:13

are softened to God, this is when we worship.

00:38:16 --> 00:38:17

This is the real worship.

00:38:19 --> 00:38:20

And we might bar heads and say,

00:38:22 --> 00:38:29

Yeah, it's true. Sounds so much better than what we do. No, it isn't better.

00:38:30 --> 00:38:33

It sounds theoretically better.

00:38:34 --> 00:38:42

But in real life, what happens is that that person doesn't have that feeling today. So he doesn't worship a lot today.

00:38:43 --> 00:38:54

He doesn't have the feeling this week. So it doesn't worship a lot this week. This month, six months a year, years go by, and he never or she never gets that feeling so they never worship God.

00:38:56 --> 00:39:02

When did they worship God? When calamity strikes? That's when everybody worships God.

00:39:04 --> 00:39:05

calamity strikes

00:39:08 --> 00:39:10

tragedy in your life.

00:39:11 --> 00:39:12

So here's the story. Oh, god, yes.

00:39:14 --> 00:39:19

Raise your hands. Everybody knows. So that's when they do it. But what is the use of that?

00:39:20 --> 00:39:22

That kind of worship.

00:39:23 --> 00:39:26

I call the atheists worship.

00:39:28 --> 00:39:47

The atheists worship the atheist who denies there is no God. He says there is no God. This is all a fabrication of your minds. We are descendants of monkeys. And if you look around in the zoos of the rural Do you see any monkey brain?

00:39:48 --> 00:39:53

Do you see monkeys making mosques and synagogues and churches.

00:39:56 --> 00:39:59

So it must have been made up by people made it up.

00:40:02 --> 00:40:02

There's no guy.

00:40:04 --> 00:40:16

However that's a man's is when he or she finds themselves in a circumstance where the end is before their eyes.

00:40:18 --> 00:40:21

They're sitting in the Boeing 727.

00:40:22 --> 00:40:26

And they look out the window and they see an engine.

00:40:29 --> 00:40:36

And the plane starts to turn, go into that diet, a diet, which you know, there's no coming back.

00:40:37 --> 00:40:38

It's all over,

00:40:39 --> 00:40:43

that atheists doesn't sit there in his seat and say, tough luck.

00:40:46 --> 00:40:55

No, he will throw his hands up. Or he will, oh, god, oh, god, oh, god, screaming God, even louder than the believers around them.

00:40:59 --> 00:41:00

That's the atheist worship.

00:41:02 --> 00:41:05

So we said, that is not the relationship of God.

00:41:07 --> 00:41:11

The real worship of God is to be conscious of God.

00:41:12 --> 00:41:22

Think rule of law to be conscious of God throughout our daily life 24, seven, throughout our days in this world,

00:41:24 --> 00:41:44

to be conscious of what is pleasing to God and what is not pleasing to God. So that between those times of worship, we are conscious of God, it will affect our behavior. So when somebody says to non Muslim, you know, my earbuds my boss sees a Muslim,

00:41:45 --> 00:41:50

I see him going through the prayers, midday prayers, the word goes for us,

00:41:53 --> 00:41:55

is really always there in the mosque.

00:41:56 --> 00:41:58

But he cheats us.

00:42:01 --> 00:42:02

He doesn't give us our pay on time.

00:42:04 --> 00:42:11

When he hired us in our whole country, we signed the contract, when he got here, we change they change the contract on us.

00:42:12 --> 00:42:16

They were given the choice, either you take the contract or go back home, on your own

00:42:17 --> 00:42:17

choice.

00:42:19 --> 00:42:21

He lies to us all the time.

00:42:22 --> 00:42:23

So what is the value of his worship?

00:42:25 --> 00:42:29

We have to say, what is the value of his worship?

00:42:32 --> 00:42:41

Because the law also describe the impact that worship should have on the individual when he said, in the salon tonight, and

00:42:42 --> 00:42:46

so on, prevents evil speech and evil deeds.

00:42:49 --> 00:42:52

Our consciousness of a law should prevent us from these evils.

00:42:54 --> 00:42:59

So if we don't have that consciousness of a law, we're just going through the motions,

00:43:00 --> 00:43:03

then we are praying while not praying.

00:43:05 --> 00:43:14

We are going through the motions of what is called prayer. But we are not praying the prayer which was prescribed for us, this is the point.

00:43:15 --> 00:43:30

So So law, should develop that consciousness of rule of law, which would make us better people can how we communicate with others around us, and how we deal with them

00:43:31 --> 00:43:33

financially, otherwise.

00:43:36 --> 00:43:41

So we only speak what is good. We don't engage

00:43:42 --> 00:43:43

in gossip.

00:43:45 --> 00:43:54

This is one of the problems that we have in society today, isn't it? When we sit down and talk with our workmates, what do we talk about

00:43:57 --> 00:43:59

other people you know so and so

00:44:00 --> 00:44:01

they did this when they did that.

00:44:03 --> 00:44:08

I don't like them because of this and that and whatever just talking about other people, much of the time spans

00:44:10 --> 00:44:13

women are known for this but it's not just women.

00:44:14 --> 00:44:15

Mental

00:44:16 --> 00:44:20

although usually point to forget that women they're always gossipy, but the men two different versions.

00:44:22 --> 00:44:28

There's just a different version different way. But this we spend most of our time, our conversations.

00:44:32 --> 00:44:37

Talking about people backbiting, talking about people behind their backs, what they have,

00:44:38 --> 00:44:42

which we feel they don't deserve, were the ones we should have it etc.

00:44:44 --> 00:44:51

So, this ally should prevent us from that kind of conversation. Useless. detrimental to ourselves.

00:44:54 --> 00:44:59

Zakah of course is obvious. It teaches generosity generally

00:45:00 --> 00:45:03

in which all societies praise.

00:45:04 --> 00:45:13

People recognize the good in it, regardless of who Bill Gates is millions, billions given away.

00:45:15 --> 00:45:16

Well, they've been allowed to

00:45:18 --> 00:45:22

give away. Others, people respect that they say, wonderful.

00:45:24 --> 00:45:29

Most people aren't able to do that they have wealth, can't let it go, even though they can't spend it

00:45:32 --> 00:45:34

even though they don't have the means to spend it.

00:45:37 --> 00:45:41

Because there is this nature that we have also have read,

00:45:42 --> 00:45:43

not wanting to let go,

00:45:45 --> 00:45:53

the more we have, the more we want. So Zakah is to tell is to tell us and to make us

00:45:54 --> 00:45:56

be generous

00:45:58 --> 00:46:09

to help those who are needed in our societies, and to also decrease our level of greed, the greed which is in our hearts, to keep it down.

00:46:11 --> 00:46:13

It is also

00:46:14 --> 00:46:15

to develop

00:46:16 --> 00:46:18

compassion for others

00:46:20 --> 00:46:25

to recognize the need that's why when you have to get as a cop in a society

00:46:26 --> 00:46:27

you're able to

00:46:29 --> 00:46:36

look for the people who are needy and give them yourself it's better Yes, we have societies that will do it for you

00:46:37 --> 00:46:46

just give them money, they give you a slip and it's been done but the better way is to find those who are needy and help them

00:46:48 --> 00:46:49

It has more meaning

00:46:51 --> 00:46:55

has more of an impact when we see people in dire need

00:46:57 --> 00:47:01

so it's a guy is to develop generosity and compassion fasting

00:47:03 --> 00:47:04

Ramadan fasting

00:47:07 --> 00:47:16

primary primarily Ramadan is supposed to develop in us a sense of self control

00:47:19 --> 00:47:21

a sense of self control.

00:47:23 --> 00:47:24

Now

00:47:25 --> 00:47:27

what we are doing currently

00:47:28 --> 00:47:30

we call it fasting

00:47:31 --> 00:47:33

but in reality it's feasting

00:47:35 --> 00:47:37

we feast Ramadan

00:47:39 --> 00:47:42

instead of fasting Ramadan we're feasting Ramadan

00:47:43 --> 00:47:57

now that's why before every Ramadan here doctor's recommendations before we start Ramadan please don't overeat biggest problem that helped during Ramadan is people coming in with elements from overeating

00:48:00 --> 00:48:07

non Muslims are looking at us and say what how is that people are fasting 30 days and they're having elements for overeating

00:48:08 --> 00:48:09

it's kind of contradictory

00:48:11 --> 00:48:16

and we will proudly tell them we gain weight in Ramadan fasting is easy we gain weight

00:48:18 --> 00:48:21

is that the fast which was prescribed

00:48:22 --> 00:48:23

in Islam

00:48:24 --> 00:48:30

one in which you will gain weight women spend the whole of Ramadan just in the kitchen

00:48:31 --> 00:48:40

you have foods which are served in all the communities around the world I've been to so many different parts of the world and every community has special foods for Ramadan

00:48:42 --> 00:48:43

it's only eaten in Ramadan

00:48:45 --> 00:48:45

special foods

00:48:47 --> 00:48:52

what is that actually saying? That our focus is on food

00:48:54 --> 00:48:56

it's not about trying to think it's about the food

00:48:57 --> 00:49:01

so it's not surprising that the goals of fasting are lost

00:49:06 --> 00:49:07

we start the fast

00:49:08 --> 00:49:11

and end the fast the same way we started it

00:49:12 --> 00:49:19

the fastest suppose to me improving us making us better year after year or meaning you know

00:49:21 --> 00:49:26

developed it's a period of development but we don't develop

00:49:28 --> 00:49:31

this Ramadan will start just the way we started last Ramadan

00:49:32 --> 00:49:35

same way same place same space.

00:49:36 --> 00:49:47

So Ramadan has no impact on us. self control has no meaning. Oh yes we don't fast between the dawn and the sunset.

00:49:48 --> 00:49:58

But before the dawn we have eaten three course meals you know our biryani and our you know chicken this and fish that and

00:49:59 --> 00:49:59

till we

00:50:00 --> 00:50:03

completely full, we can't eat any more.

00:50:05 --> 00:50:07

And then we go into the fast.

00:50:08 --> 00:50:16

We spend the next how many hours just digesting the food. Our bodies are just

00:50:17 --> 00:50:21

slowly breaking it down and absorbing it till

00:50:23 --> 00:50:29

half an hour before sunset, finally it's finished tied to it.

00:50:30 --> 00:50:31

There comes if

00:50:33 --> 00:50:48

I want is if we have all these foods lined up again, you know. And when we when the alarm goes, we just dive in there and eat until we can't eat anymore. So what happened to control, self control

00:50:49 --> 00:50:52

is lost. There's no self control.

00:50:54 --> 00:50:55

We've turned the night into the day.

00:50:57 --> 00:51:04

The morning meal in English is called what? Breakfast breakfast is from break fast.

00:51:06 --> 00:51:09

We were fasting during the night receiving you can eat

00:51:10 --> 00:51:12

and you break the fast in the morning.

00:51:13 --> 00:51:14

It's called breakfast.

00:51:15 --> 00:51:24

So what we did before Ramadan at night, we just put it in the day. And we're doing breakfast as if

00:51:27 --> 00:51:36

we didn't eat during that period. But we ate so much before. We ate so much after it has no impact on us. We don't feel hungry.

00:51:38 --> 00:51:40

But actually the fast.

00:51:43 --> 00:51:50

We are supposed to feel hungry. If we're not feeling hungry in the fast, then we're not really fasting.

00:51:52 --> 00:52:01

Because if according to the sunlight performance, as we all know used to break fast was what? Three days in the water. Do you know he also started the fast with that too?

00:52:03 --> 00:52:05

Yes, it was sooner

00:52:06 --> 00:52:08

to begin with three dates and water.

00:52:10 --> 00:52:15

Now you try a fast with three dates and water for software.

00:52:16 --> 00:52:19

For sure you're going to feel hungry in that day.

00:52:20 --> 00:52:24

That day you will feel the pangs of hunger maybe for the first time in your life.

00:52:30 --> 00:52:34

To see a doctor No, no. That is the hunger time.

00:52:35 --> 00:52:38

The pangs of hunger, which

00:52:39 --> 00:52:41

a quarter of the world feels every day.

00:52:42 --> 00:52:45

Not because they chose to fast but because there's no food

00:52:46 --> 00:52:49

that is supposed to remind us of those people

00:52:51 --> 00:52:53

cause us to think about them and want to be

00:52:54 --> 00:52:58

sharing and generous the break the fast at the end of Ramadan with

00:53:00 --> 00:53:00

a new fitter

00:53:02 --> 00:53:04

feeding will feed the needy.

00:53:05 --> 00:53:13

That's what we are being driven to do. To develop the sense of care concern compassion for others,

00:53:15 --> 00:53:17

control for ourselves.

00:53:19 --> 00:53:23

And how much time is running out Hajj

00:53:25 --> 00:53:26

is patience,

00:53:28 --> 00:53:30

critical patience.

00:53:31 --> 00:53:35

We are impatient by nature of insanity. As

00:53:37 --> 00:53:42

human beings are created impatient, we have an impatient nature around us.

00:53:43 --> 00:53:47

But patience is the real virtue that we need.

00:53:48 --> 00:53:54

Because patience is what stops us from doing what is displeasing to our impatience.

00:53:55 --> 00:53:55

haste.

00:53:57 --> 00:54:07

The problem is I sat down and said Elijah mina shavon haste impatience is from Satan, satanic, it's an evil to be avoided.

00:54:09 --> 00:54:11

So patience

00:54:13 --> 00:54:33

is the most important principle in hajj because we are put into circumstances where it is easy for us to be impatient. No matter what kind of had you do. And there are just we have different levels right? We have one star Hodges we have no star

00:54:35 --> 00:54:37

and then we have five star hatches.

00:54:39 --> 00:54:49

But even the five star * he must or she must enter into the crowds of tawaf. You can't find a time when the place is empty.

00:54:50 --> 00:54:59

So you're going to get into the crowd. So somebody is going to elbow you, they're going to step on your foot, all kinds of things are going to happen to you inside.

00:55:00 --> 00:55:01

To what you've paid.

00:55:02 --> 00:55:04

And now how do you respond?

00:55:06 --> 00:55:09

If your response is the elbow do so you

00:55:11 --> 00:55:16

step on your foot, so you stomp on their foot. This is your this is your attitude.

00:55:17 --> 00:55:19

You've destroyed your hedge.

00:55:21 --> 00:55:27

Because hedge is really about patients that we suffer

00:55:29 --> 00:55:39

and are purified, knowing, as opposed to, like I said, the believer, whenever he or she suffers any harm,

00:55:41 --> 00:55:44

even a foreign sticking in the foot.

00:55:45 --> 00:55:46

It purifies them,

00:55:49 --> 00:55:50

it becomes purification.

00:55:51 --> 00:55:52

So whatever happens,

00:55:53 --> 00:56:14

even if the person did what they did deliberately, it doesn't matter. You're patient with it. Your sins are purified, you're purifying yourself of sin, and it's towards not that you can end up returning home. If your Hajj is accepted, pure from sin, as the prophet SAW, Selim said, like a newborn child,

00:56:15 --> 00:56:18

that's not going to happen. If you are reacting,

00:56:19 --> 00:56:24

where they're throwing the stone somebody throws that hits you in the head with a stone to pick it up. When you try to throw it back in depth.

00:56:27 --> 00:56:36

You have to believe it wasn't deliberate. You have to control yourself in those circumstances. So patience.

00:56:38 --> 00:56:44

As promised on Solomon said, the true believer, his and her affair is amazing.

00:56:46 --> 00:56:56

And it's only in the case of the true believers. When difficult times come to them, they are patient, and the law rewards them for it.

00:56:57 --> 00:57:02

When good times come, they're thankful. And a law rewards them for

00:57:03 --> 00:57:06

that patience is the challenge.

00:57:07 --> 00:57:11

And that is how much as well as also

00:57:12 --> 00:57:34

the moral, the universal moral, that we have an attitude towards human beings, all human beings as being our brothers and sisters. This is humanity. There are no races, people talk about races, there are no races, we're just human beings. There's just one race, the race of human beings.

00:57:37 --> 00:57:46

We're all children of Adam, the Hajj reminds us of that, because we come from countries where maybe we have never seen people looking like

00:57:49 --> 00:57:53

Hajj brings us together for us to experience that to know, all human beings.

00:57:54 --> 00:57:55

I want

00:57:56 --> 00:57:59

Islam is one ally is one.

00:58:02 --> 00:58:03

So those

00:58:04 --> 00:58:13

are just an introduction to the moral principles, the core values of Islam.

00:58:14 --> 00:58:42

And we need to rethink the pillars of Eman in a similar light. And in fact, all of the various other requirements that are put on us whether it's a job for women, whether the moral principles behind it, it's not just because Islam says you must cover you must cover. There are reasons and there is it's not just for the others, it's for ourselves,

00:58:43 --> 00:58:55

what are the moral principles behind it and seek those principles? So inshallah I hope that this brief introduction

00:58:56 --> 00:59:03

to the core values of Islam has fallen on open ears.

00:59:06 --> 00:59:08

everybody's eyes seem to be open.

00:59:09 --> 00:59:10

I hope your ears were also open

00:59:12 --> 00:59:21

and inshallah, that you would implement this in your lives, in passing on Islam to your children,

00:59:22 --> 00:59:42

that you help them to understand these principles. Let them know Islam, from the moral principles to the degree that we can, of course, be dealing with a three year old child, no point talking about moral principles here. Again, I've established that that stage but you know, again, once they reach the age,

00:59:43 --> 00:59:46

teacher, children solo by the time they're seven.

00:59:47 --> 00:59:59

Teaching them solo means teaching them some of our wisdom, moral principles, not just that they go through the movements, but that they live those moral principles but they say

01:00:00 --> 01:00:00

Do

01:00:02 --> 01:00:12

words of remembrance, be conscious of along? We tried to give them that by the time they were seven. That's what the prophet SAW someone was speaking about.

01:00:14 --> 01:00:18

I'll stop here shala our normal practice is to do

Oftentimes, Muslims miss out on the core/key goals which Islam has prescribed for its followers. People tend to get caught up in the external traditional customary practices which are not in and of themselves the goals of Islam. We need to understand where the goals actually lie, so we are not focused on the wrong aspects of Islam. What are these core values? Listen to this lecture to find out!

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