First Things First
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Channel: Bilal Philips
File Size: 84.84MB
AI Generated Summary ©
The "front things first" program aims to encourage people to pursue a spiritual concept, with the use of the analogy of a roadmap to guide people through the process. The importance of planning, eating meat, praying, fasting, and prioritizing Islam is emphasized, along with the use of the analogy of a roadmap to guide people through the process. The pandemic's impact on the education sector and the potential for students to return to work is also discussed.AI Generated Transcript ©
Bismillah R Rahman learning
brothers and sisters,
with the line Greg on 200 Nights, we have
an hour talk by Dr. Phillips and
before he will return
the phone call. So the topic today is First things first, and the show will be about 40 minutes talk followed by about 10 minutes of question answer, and then we'll have a short prayer Inshallah, downstairs on the floor. So well, there'll be a long introduction for both Dr. Phillips, but how give us a brief version of that in order to well save time and leave more time for the talk of what Dr. Phillips and Phillips is a Jamaican, Canadian Islamic scholar who converted to Islam in the early 70s After journeying politically and intellectually from Christianity to communism. Shortly after his reversion to Islam, he embarked on a spiritual academic journey to the other side of the
world seeking some knowledge. This journey took him to Saudi Arabia, where he completed a BA in Islamic studies in Medina and an MA in Islamic theology in Riyadh, then to the University of Wales, UK, where he completed a PhD in Islamic theology, the early 90s But Phillips has written translated a comment on over 50 published books on various Islamic topics. He has also edited and published the 35 block demand reading series for children and presented Islamic programs for a number of years on channel two TV, etc.
And, in 2007, he founder and head of the Islamic Studies Academy, Doha, Qatar, while simultaneously launching Islamic online university and probably before you sit down you will see a pamphlet is about
an accredited tuition free BA in Islamic Studies degree also offered by the Islamic online university. So without further ado, I would like to invite Dr. Phillips to give us a talk on First things first.
The
crisis
hamdu Lillahi Rabbil Alameen wa salatu salam ala Rasulillah Karim, Allah Allah was hobby womanist then personality he Ryoma Deen all praises due to align well as peace and blessings be on the last prophet muhammad sallallahu alayhi wa sallam and and all those who follow the path of righteousness until the last day.
The topic first things first
is a phrase which was coined by Stephen Covey.
This phrase addresses a reality well known in all societies.
When we say don't put the cart before the horse,
what do we mean by that? It means that the horse has to come first, then the cart.
So what belongs in front should be in front?
What belongs after should be after. So that's what First things first means very simply.
And this principle is applicable in all walks of our lives. It's one of the universal principles which you will find enshrined in Islamic teachings in one way or another.
When we say
law salata, lemon law will do Allah
there is no prayer for one who doesn't have wudu
that's exactly what we're saying. We'll do comes first and then come Salah if you make Salah first and make we'll do afterwards, it's not acceptable.
So, this principle, as I said, is one known to all nations.
Each nation may coin it in a different way. Each culture may use what is
known in that culture and the custom and they express the same thing in different words, but the idea is one ideas one and the same idea that
There needs to be
things, objects, ideas, concepts, they need to follow
an order
there is a correct order and there is an incorrect order.
So, what this principle is,
is that it is a part of a greater concept, the concept of planning,
because when you're putting things in order, you are planning
you have decided that this should come first So, you put it first.
So, it is
a minor principle of a bigger concept that bigger concept is planning should we plan or shouldn't we plan
some people say
some mistakes and others say we shouldn't plan
because planning belongs to Allah.
Allah is Allah moudaber udev Biddle amor,
Allah is described as the planner, he plans the affairs. So, if we think we are going to go and plan now, it seems as if we are trying to take on the role of Allah.
So, instead, we should be spontaneous.
Go with the flow,
take things as they come, roll with the punches, they have different ways of expressing it. But basically, don't plan, leave the planning to Allah. This is part of our belief. In other, Allah knows best he's made the plan, we just follow whatever comes, no need to plan.
But in practical life, this idea doesn't work. If we have to go shopping, and we don't make a shopping list, we're likely to go and come back without the things that we really needed to get, will have gotten things, but they wouldn't have been the things we needed to get to sit down and plan it out and identify all that we need to get this is the most practical way to shop.
If you want to build a bridge, and you don't get the architects to lay the plan for the bridge, etc, you just start get all the cranes and the you know the pylons and all the different bits and pieces that we just put it together as we go along. What kind of bridge are we going to end up with without a plan.
So in our practical life, we can see the necessity for planning.
And which is the reason why people in management, they developed a planning slogan, if you fail to plan, you plan to fail.
If you fail to plan, you plan to fail. Okay? So, and they've shown from their research that
where we have a planned environment 20% of the effort will produce 80% of the results. But in an unplanned environment 80% of the efforts will only produce 20% of the results.
So all of these practical studies, etc. Point to the need for planning. However, as we said, there are some mistakes, philosophers who have philosophize on this concept and said, No, we shouldn't plan. So what should we do?
Well, whenever we are faced with dilemmas like this,
what we're supposed to do
is to take it back
to Allah and His messenger. We need to go back and see how did Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wasallam understand this issue. Did he plan was Muhammad Sallallahu wasallam, a planner, a meticulous planner planning this planning that planning the other or did he just go with the flow? Whatever happened? He just dealt with? put his trust in Allah. However it is he just handled the situations as they came.
How many people here think he was spontaneous? He just handled things as they came. Put your hand up. He didn't
nobody's
nobody agrees with that idea.
Well, you're right.
Prophet Muhammad wa sallam was a meticulous planner.
We can see it in his Hedra. When he made when he emigrated from Mecca to Medina, he didn't just take the first camel and head off. No, he planned it out, he went to Abu Bakar they got a guide, they got food together his wives collected a food he had Allison his bed, you know, all kinds of things, the whole thing was planned, he planned.
So, from the process, LMS example and we can see it in the all of the back battle of, of a herd, you know, he sat with the Companions, he discussed the issues, and what they were going to be faced with and he told them how to, you know, to be on the battlefield, keep or hide behind you put the people up on the the archers on the archers mount, you know, planning, all of this planning, we see him continuously consistently planning things.
That was the life of problems as he did.
But it doesn't mean that every time he planned things happened according to the plan.
This is reality also, we can do all the planning we want. But in the end, is that guarantee? Is it a guarantee that what we plan for will happen? No. There's no guarantee.
But we do the best we can and we leave the rest of Allah. So when problems are Salam in the Battle of Bader, he planned and got them together, you know, to set out to catch the caravan. That was the plan. But instead he ended up fighting the army of Quraysh. Okay, that wasn't the plan. But still, when he found himself in a situation now he had to fight the courage, then he started to plan, where should we be in the valley? Let's control the water, you know, this plan. He had to change the plan to adjust to the new circumstance.
And the classical example, when we speak about planning, from the Islamic perspective, is the well known incident, which took place in the time of Prophet Muhammad Sallallahu Sallam where he was sitting with his companions in the masjid, teaching them and one of the companions came in.
And, as he was about to sit down with the Prophet Muhammad, Salah, remembered he had not tied up his camel,
he had forgotten to tie his camel. And now, for people who don't know camels, they may not understand how significant this is. Because horses, when you raise a horse, from the time it is born, till it becomes an animal that you can ride, etc. That horse becomes your best friend.
He will never leave you
attached to you.
You don't tie him he'll wait there for you.
That's the way the horses are other animals like that. However, the camel has a different nature.
There is something about the nature of the camel on on those best. Because when the Companions asked, the Prophet SAW Salem, can we play pray in the pen of the capital, the cow pen where the cows are held? Can we pray there? Meaning they defecate, they urinate in this area? Can we pray there if it's dry and dry? He said yes. I said well, can we pray in the pen of the sheep and the goats?
He said yes. Say Can we pray in the pen of the camel? He said no.
They didn't ask why? He said no. They said okay. We don't pray in the pan of the camel. End of story. He also said Whoever eats camels meat, you want to pray, go make will do. If you had will do the eating of camels meat breaks your will do
in the beginning, eating of any meat which is cooked, used to break will do then that rule was relaxed. And the law remained for the camel's meat and relaxed for the others all other meats you can eat. We don't have to remake your will do but if you eat camels meat, you do have to make will do now some people say actually you do
Don't
process I'm said you do, but some people fill us off. Philosophically, we have philosophers who come in and say, No, actually you don't. Because they cannot see any logical reason why you should have to make wudu after eating camels meat.
And you don't have to eating cow's meat. I can't see beef. Why? What's the difference between beef and camels? Me?
There is no evident difference. So why they say we really know what really happened was that when the Prophet SAW Selim sat with one of the the group of companions, one of them passed wind. They were sitting there together, and one of them passed wind. Right. They farted.
And that man had just finished eating some Campbell's meat. So he said, whoever ate Campbell's meat go and make will do. He didn't want to embarrass him by calling him out by name. So he said, whoever ate Campbell's meat go make will do.
It's a nice story. But it's not true.
It's nonsense. Yeah, you may find a dividend books or fix today from Shafiq. You will find it in there some other books, but it's not true. There is no story like this authentically narrated from Prophet Moses, Allah, what we have is that he said, If you eat camels meat, he didn't not just this individual other circumstances, if you eat camels, meat, go make will do.
So
our deen is very logical, very reasonable, about most things.
But we don't
take this idea that we must understand everything before you do it.
That everything must follow a logical pattern. know
if God has commanded it, that is enough for us. Revelation takes precedence over reason. When we go to apply the revelation, we use our reason. But we don't use reason first and say unless we can understand this revelation, we're not following it. No, that is misguidance. That is Satan.
That was Satan's logic.
Allah told him to bow before Adam, logically is I'm greater than other men better than him. He created me from fire and he created it from clay. Logically, it is Adam who should be bowing before me.
That was the logic. But that was false logic.
Allah commanded prostration before Adam, not of worship
prostration of honor, not a worship.
So
this
issue concerning the camel is that
the camels nature is different from other animals, in that if you take that camel from the time of birth, you feed it with a bottle. You play with it, you hug it
till it grows up, then you can ride it. Now you should expect like the horse that it is attached to you, not the camel, the camel doesn't attach.
So if you let him go, scan, like he never met you before.
That's the nature of the camel. So the issue of tying the camel now was a critical issue. Not just a simple issue that we might have thought, why is what's the big deal about Clinton? No, this is a big issue. This is why the Arabs developed the ecall which is used to tie the foot of the camel.
When they go out on the desert, right?
There are no trees.
You want to tie up your camel, well, you're going to time.
No place to time. So they had to develop a way of tying the camel.
Even though there were no trees. So they devised this hoop of
cord right made from camels here. A hoop
and they put it over they would bend the knee of the camel backwards and put the hoop over the knee. So to keep that knee bent so the camel is now standing on three feet. He can't run.
You've got him.
Let's call hobbling the camel. So this hobbling cord
When you when when they finish tying the camel, they had to put it somewhere I didn't want to lose it very important chord. So they twisted it circle. They twisted it. So it makes now an eight. Put the two
halves together and they put it on the head. That was the call.
That's where it came from. Most Arabs don't even know where it came from. If you ask most Arabs, where does this call come from which they're wearing on their, on the Gotra on the scarf that they wear on the head. You see this cord with two stripes on it right seems like two hoops is not tubes. It's one hoop which is twisted, put together. It looks like two from the front. You it's called a call.
And if as I said if you ask most Arabs 99% of Arabs, you ask them, Where did that come from? They have no idea.
That's where it came from? The hobbling cord of the camo.
So of course, because they don't know they're only wearing it for style.
It's only style now it's custom tradition. Right? So anyway, the point is, this Sahabi is about to sit down. He remembered that he didn't tie his camel.
Now this is a serious issue. But then he thought
shouldn't I trust in Allah?
Shouldn't I put my trust in Allah and just sit down and learn from Azula salaam when we're finished the darts I'll go out if it's Allah's Will, the camel will still be there if it is not to be God.
But he had a doubt. So he said, O Messenger of Allah.
I forgot to tie my camel.
Should I go out and tie him or should I trust in Allah Baba sallam said in her
tie the camel then just in Allah.
Tie the camel, then trust in Allah. Right? This is the proper order. We don't forget trust in a lot. Because even after you attack the camera, you can still run away, something can happen, it might fall off, you thought you put it on properly, it fell off. You know, some camels might be smarter and they nudge this thing of their foot and run away. Maybe
whatever. The point is that
tie your camel, then trust in Allah. So the principle then, of planning is a part and parcel of Islam important part.
Now, planning in general, consists of four basic principles.
The first of which is setting our goals.
The second of which is determining what is necessary to reach those goals.
Thirdly, to prioritize, because after we determine the things that are necessary, we need to put them in the proper order. And then finally, we need to know the timeframe in which we get these things done. Those are the four basic principles of planning US university.
Now setting the goals
for a Muslim.
The goal of a Muslim is what?
Jana, the goal of the Muslim is Jana.
That's our goal.
Allah created Adam and Eve in Jannah.
That's where we belong.
And he has made a place in Jannah for everyone.
That's why Prophet SAW Solomon said, the people in hell will be shown their place in Jannah. There was a place for them.
But they chose hell.
But Allah created hell
and gave us a choice. So he also made a place in hell for everyone to
and he will show the people in paradise the place that they would have been in hell.
Of course for the people in hell seeing that place. It just makes them regret even more.
Its punishment further punishment for them. For the people in paradise, it will increase their joy their hamdulillah
truly.
So, Jenna, is the goal.
Jana refers basically to
the hereafter we're talking about the hereafter as opposed to the dunya we have to
abodes. We live in this world we call the dunya.
The world, worldly life. And the our Hera, the life to come is where heaven and hell is with the goal in the Hara. Being that of heaven.
That is the goal.
So,
what does that mean?
If
it's paradise,
the dunya is what we're living in.
What should be our priority?
Paradise,
that should be
our greatest concern.
How to get to Paradise.
That should be our greatest concern, in all matters.
How to get to Paradise dunya, we're here already. We don't need to figure out how to get to dunya. We're already here. So our main focus, our main goal should be how to get to Paradise.
That should be our intention.
Now, we might all say yes, that's our goal. That's that's what we intend this will be one. But if we stop and think for a minute,
how many times today? Did the word paradise come from our lips?
Jannah.
Paradise? Heaven, how many times?
I think if we stop and ask ourselves, maybe we'll say zero. That never came from our lips. One even one time.
What does that mean?
What does that mean?
If we're planning to go to America, right? We finally got sit down. You know, for us as foreigners here, whatever. You don't have citizenship for Chinese. Okay, you're Chinese here? Fine. But for people who are not Chinese, you know, the plan is America or the plan is Canada.
How many times a day are you going to mention Canada?
At least 30 times, okay. It's gonna be on your lips, it's gonna be you know, you're writing about it, you're talking about it, you're reading about it continuously. Throughout the day, it's going to be reoccurring.
That's real. That's real, that is our concern. So therefore it is on our lips. So it means that if Jenna is not on our lips,
then it means it is not our main goal.
We say it should be.
We all agree it really is.
But in reality, it is not.
That's the reality. It's not.
And we have to correct that.
We have to correct it. Otherwise, we are focused on the wrong goal. Because if paradise is not on our lips, then guess what's on our lips dunya.
The dunya is on our lips. This is what we will speak about 24 724 hours a day, seven days a week we're talking about the things of the dunya
no problem.
Okay, we live in the dunya.
It's understandable that we will talk about things from the dunya.
But
if it is not our true goal,
it is not our priority.
The first thing which is supposed to come first. And we have made a big mistake.
We're off track. Exactly. We're off track. We're not on Serato Mr. Team, because Serato monster team ends where Jenna
that's where Serato must have demons.
So if we're answer author must have came, then it is going to come up time and time again. On our lips.
That's the bottom line. We have a means to judge ourselves. We don't need
chef Molana you know, philosopher to come
philosophic philosophize for us, you know as No, no very simple criterion
very simple.
If it's our goal, then it's on our lips. If it's not on our goal, then it's not analysis. It's not our goal, it's not analysis.
And Prophet Muhammad wa sallam had addressed this, warning us saying, mankind at dunya Hama ferok Allahu alayhi wa jalla fakra who by now na wala Mia T Mina dunya Illa makuti Bella, whoever is greatest concern is this world. Allah will scatter his affairs and place poverty between his eyes, and nothing of this world will come to him, except what was already written for him.
But on the other hand, well, man kanatal accurate oneota Jah Jama Allahu Allahu amre wa Jalla He now houfy kalbi,
well attached to Dunia while he around him.
But whoever makes the next world his or her intention, Allah will gather his or her affairs and place richness in his or her heart and the world will come to him or her submissively
that is the promise
of Rasulullah sallallahu and Ava's.
reality that if we make this world our goal, we will never be happy in this world.
The grass is always greener. On the other side.
problems are solved and said if the child of Adam were given a value of gold, they would want another one.
Nothing will fill their eyes except the dirt of their graves.
This is the reality of Hakuna Matata for
this gathering of the things of this world.
The
wealth
will
misguide us will block us from understanding our true goal and how Kamata Gatto had does or tomorrow macabre, until we reach the graves
when we reach the grave 1000 macabre Kela sofa Allah moon so Michaela's oferta Allah Moon at that time, we will know
but it will be too late.
It will be at that point too late. So, it is critical for us
here and now.
To reset our focus to get back on Serato Mr. Kane
Serato monster team is Islam.
That's what Serato Mr. Kamath, it is Islam.
But it is Islam, which was brought by Prophet Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, and not Islam that we practice in our various societies, our communities, our countries, customary traditional Islam. It is true Islam brought by Prophet Muhammad Sallallahu wasallam.
This is what will take us to paradise
Islam.
Now, Islam has many aspects. We have the five pillars of Islam, six pillars of Eman, halal haram, we have so many things there because Islam governs all aspects of our lives.
But
if we are to prioritize First things first.
The easiest way to know where to begin
is, as Steven Covey also said, begin with the end in mind
Begin with the end in mind,
where's the end? The grave.
So we begin
our Islam, rediscovering Islam
by looking at what we will be asked about in the grave.
As Prophet Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wa sallam informed us, we'll be asked three questions.
Three questions
by two angels who will come to us, when we are in the grave in the state of the grave, whether your body is burnt, dumped at sea, buried in the ground, everybody will be in the same state, the state of the grave.
At that time, the angels will ask each and every one of us, man Robin,
Who is your Lord?
If we didn't really know who our Lord was in this life, will not be able to answer that question. In the next today we can ask everybody who is your Lord Allah?
Simple Allah.
But
what does that really mean? Do you understand who Allah is? Or it's just the name, just the word.
If a non Muslim asked you.
If Allah is Able to do all things
most powerful is all powerful. He is Able to do all things. Can he create a rock, which is too heavy for him to lift?
If we scratch our heads and say, maybe
we don't know Allah.
We really don't know Allah.
Or if the Christian says to us, we believe Allah is Able to do our things, then why can't you have a son?
Our answer is, he could but he didn't.
We really don't know who Allah is.
This is the starting point. We need to know who Allah is.
We need to know that when we say Allah is Able to do all things. This means all things which are befitting for him as Allah, not things which will make him no longer Allah.
If he made a stone which is too heavy for him to lift means the stone is greater than he is we said Allah Akbar. But now we said the stone and Elijah Akbar.
So once we understood Allahu Akbar, then that excludes anything that could possibly be greater than Him.
So to ask, Can Allah
who is greater than all things make something greater than himself? This is ludicrous. Because to be Allah, He is greater than all things. So you're asking him to make something which is greater than himself.
So he's no longer Allah. So when we say Allah is Able to do all things, it means all things which are godly things, the things that do not contradict him being God.
Because once you open that door,
then where do you end up? Allah? Couldn't? Couldn't Allah be born?
Jesus, kidney die, Jesus.
So no, no, to say that Allah was born. Means there was a time when he didn't exist. But we already said Allah is our will is a cobbler who Shea he always was. There was no time when he didn't exist. So to ask, can the one who has no beginning have a beginning?
That is nonsense. This is ludicrous. This is an absurdity. You don't ask don't you see? It doesn't make sense. If you say it doesn't have a beginning can you ask
Can you have a beginning?
Then if he had a beginning, it was no longer the one without beginning. Simple as that.
So
Allah doesn't have a son because to have a son is to make himself like his creatures. It is creatures that have sons. If we had a son,
then how many gods would we have to?
If he had a son, then there will be two gods.
A big God and the little God
is where you end up. So no, that's the creatures. Human beings have children. cows have calves. Cats have kittens, dogs have puppies. Allah doesn't have an offspring.
It would make him like his creatures. So we have to know who Allah is. We are clear who Ally's. So we begin with the end in mind. So we need to know Allah we need to know Allah without doubt.
We don't have a doubt about is there really Allah?
Is there really Allah? Second question is
Medina
and what was your religion?
Again, in this life, we can say Islam is Islam.
But at that time, if if Islam was not our religion in this life, province, Arsalan was said, we will only say, Ah,
it will be in our mind, but it will not come out our mouth will be humiliated at that time, will not be able to say Islam, because we didn't live Islam.
It's only words that we said.
So we do need to know, What is Islam?
What truly constitutes Islam.
And we need to practice Islam, to know it, and to practice it, and also to convey it, to teach it to others. And the third question,
well, my name is Luke, And who was the prophet sent to you?
Of course, now we can say Muhammad
Sallallahu salah. But then, if he wasn't our messenger,
meaning
we didn't follow his instructions.
He is the one who carried the message from Allah to us. The message of Islam. If we didn't follow his instructions, then
will not be able to answer that question.
And nothing will help us.
Of course, in our communities today, people have invented a variety of shortcuts.
Shortcuts,
those people who follow an individual by the name of
Chef na vim al Koperasi,
who is the leader, or the head of one of the branches of the Naqshbandi Sufi, sect,
very popular.
The ruler of Brunei is one of His followers. A number of the doctors of Malaysia his followers, he has followers all around the world. Millions.
He tells them
that if they are true followers of his
the status is called married.
When the time for them to die comes, the angel of death will not take their soul.
He will be there to take their soul and pass it on to the angels of the Hereafter.
And when we are sat up in our grave, and asked
man Robach, he will be there to whisper in our ears, Allah
What is your religion, Islam? Who was your Prophet Muhammad sallahu wa sallam, he will be there to whisper it in your ears. So what does that mean? He will guarantee you Paradise
because whoever passes the test of the grave from him said after that thing will be made easy for them.
The grave will be turned into a garden from the gardens of Paradise. Whoever fails that it becomes a pit from the pits of hell.
This is a shortcut.
The Christians had the same thing.
Back in the eighth ninth century, the pope in order to increase his coffers his
money, his wealth. He used to issue what were called papal indulgences.
These were like an IOU note, right? It was prepared it said,
a certificate with his stamp seal everything it says they're
the owner of this certificate and they put your name
has a place a seat in paradise.
You pay so much money, you got your certificate. Life was good.
papal indulgences.
They had it. And now we have it.
This is the sad story.
The same thing. We were talking some of us here we're talking about toughies. The memorization of Quran. It is the tradition in some communities where people heard that the half is one who has memorized the Quran will be able to take 10 members of his family into paradise with him. So everybody wants to have the half if they put their kids in schools that have the madrasahs get them to memorize grant why? Because they will be taking us to paradise. We just have to make them happy with everything is alright.
Free admittance? Yes. That we have done with cheapened it. We've made it so cheap, you know, getting a ticket to paradise easy,
very easy.
But it is falsehood. And this is from Satan. This is how Satan tricked people in the past and other nations etc. And he has tricked many Muslims today into thinking simply because our name is Muhammad and Fatima. We have a place in paradise. Prophet Muhammad wa salam had said Kulu Mati coluna Jana, all of my nation will enter Paradisus and look, Prophesy Salam said that hamdulillah
all of my nation will enter paradise. Everybody was named Mohammed Fatima guaranteed. But the Prophet SAW Selim didn't stop there. He said, Ilam and above except for the one who refused, and the Companions us who would refuse a messenger of Allah, He said, Man or any woman Asani for
whoever obeys me will enter Paradise, and Whoever disobeys me has refused.
So, reality
cold reality is that there will be many people in the Hellfire with the name Muhammad Abdullah Abdul Hafiz Abdul Karim. There'll be 40 MERS or Asia's Khadija jazz Sofia's on of these in hell.
That is reality.
The Prophet Muhammad SAW Solomon Sahih Muslim said there will be people who will do the deeds of the people of paradise as it appears to
the masses. They will fast gives aka Ramadan, pray all these different things, but they will be from the people of hell.
Because they were only doing it externally.
Why did you pray because my parents said to pray.
They all prayed. My grandparents prayed the great great grandpa they all were praying so I pray
is that going to get us to paradise? No. It's not.
Why do you fast? Well because our whole family or community or society they all fast I fasted like they are
is that going to get us to paradise?
It will not for sure.
ritual will not take anyone to Paradise be sure rituals of Islam will not take anyone to paradise.
The only thing that will take
Take a person to paradise prophesied, Silva said
that only the believers will enter paradise.
There was a companion who accepted Islam as the province or Salaam and his companions were going off to the Battle of better.
He made the shahada, he joined the group
fought and died without making a single Salah without fasting a single day without giving any Zakah without making Hajj. And the Prophet SAW Salah said he will be in paradise.
Why? Because he sincerely accepted Islam.
He accepted it with his heart, he submitted Himself to Allah.
And he gave his life for the sake of Allah.
He had no chance to make a lot. Of course, if you had a chance to make, as Laurie said, I don't feel like doing it. It's another situation had a chance to finally say, oh, I can handle it. No, we had money. No, I know the card, I need this money for this and that hijo I'm busy with. If he did that, it's a different story. He had no opportunity to do these things.
So naturally, he is judged according to what he was able to do. And he did the ultimate thing.
As Allah said in the Quran that Allah has purchased from the believers, their will their lives and their wealth.
For what? For Jana?
So this man, he sold his life to Allah. And Allah promised him through his messenger Jana.
So, this is what is in front of us as Muslims, we need to come back,
do a reality check.
Ask ourselves, where is our focus? What is the most important thing in our lives?
And why isn't it on our lips?
Then, of course, when we start back with our Islam,
knowing Allah, knowing the Messenger of Allah, what He said what he did, and knowing Islam,
knowing what Islam calls us to this way of life,
and that way of life begins with salah.
It begins with salah
and the prophesy Solomon said the first thing we'll be asked about on the Day of Judgment is Salah.
And this
question that were asked about, it's not like the examinations of this world, where if you got 50% in biology, and 40% in maths, but you got 80% in English, your average is 70% so you pass
your okay
it doesn't work like that.
If you fail in Salah everything else is gone.
That's it. If we fail in Salah, everything else is lost.
That is the foundation
and this is what prioritizing means. We put that first. So so a lot of Fudger we get up religiously and make it every day.
Promise ourselves Solomon said that the distinction between the believer and the hypocrite is Salatin Fajr and salata, Lhasa,
Salatin Fajr
we have terms used in some cultures they will say so and so is the Namazi is they pray five times but maybe they pray all five times in Asia.
Before going to bed at night they lump them all together and yella they do the five
this is not praying this is not Salah is not how Salah is to be prayed in the salata can Allah look menina kita Nakata
It's what Allah told us. That Salah is for the believer at set times. So it is before sunrise. We know what time is sunrise
Fajr comes in 546 the sunrise is that
704704 is sunrise.
If we're praying after sunrise,
then know that that Salah is not accepted unless we have a legitimate excuse. A legitimate excuse.
Being either we overslept.
Or we forgot. This is it.
We overslept, or we forgot.
If we overslept, because we didn't even set the alarm.
Meaning we went to sleep with no plans to get up.
Then of course, that doesn't count. For us to say I'm getting up and making cada there is no color.
No, there is no color, this is not powder anymore, not accepted to Allah.
So this is our beginning point. And this is putting first things first, as we said.
And,
of course, the timeframe that we spoke about
is the short life in which we live. We will be asked about this time that we spent here.
When we are resurrected, will be asked about the knowledge we had.
The wealth we got where we got it from how we spent it, our youth, how we lived it, the time that we had, that Allah gave us will be asked about every aspect of it. So brothers and sisters.
In summary, we need to keep First things first.
We need to ask ourselves,
is what we're doing. pleasing to Allah?
Is the knowledge that we have been given
correct knowledge?
Have we made an effort to learn the religion?
Have we tried to practice what we learned?
Have we conveyed this knowledge to others? The wealth that we have? Where did we get it from?
From halal or haram?
Did we spend it for the pleasure of Allah?
Did we sit on it?
allowed it to pile up
in organizations
where the Muslims cannot access it and benefit from it.
But we were the custodians. We looked after it.
People didn't access it. They didn't benefit from it. Allah will ask us, for every Muslim who needed to access that. Whether it is wealth, whether it is property, Allah will ask us why we didn't use it. As we were responsible to use it.
Each and every one of us is responsible. colloquium Ryan, or colloquium Master must own anre at Uppsala said every one of you is a shepherd responsible for his or her flock. We've been put over different aspects of our lives in the wealth in the means, property etc.
We have been put over it like shepherds, and we will be asked how we looked after the flock. How we utilize that.
We need to keep that in mind. Remember the Acura? Remember, Jenna, Jenna is not cheap. We have to work for it.
So I'll ask Allah Subhana Allah to help us to get back on track to refocus and reprioritize identify our goals properly, and work sincerely to achieving them. And I asked the
Put all of us in paradise and forgive our sins. And that we work together in this community, as Muslims, brothers and sisters, one structure, each part supporting each other, as the Prophet SAW salem said, helping those in need
and supporting those when they are trying to do something for the sake of Allah, rather than hindering them. All the stories that I've been hearing since I've been here are disappointing stories, how Muslim associations and organizations etc, can hardly work together.
The Brotherhood of Islam
is only lip service, not implemented.
Not working together, not pooling our resources to benefit the Muslim community and to promote Islam in this society. We have lost our way. And I ask Allah to help us to find our way back.
I mean, Serravalle library
does.
So I think we still have a little bit of time focus on answer. And the might the well okay, but it's not very long. So but those who can speak loud, just speak it out. Unless you have a soft voice, then please come out, then use them. Okay. And
I would like to hear from you and advice for the people who are newly converted to Islam, on how to set their priorities, what is the most important thing that you should learn? And because what happens is a person embraces Islam, then he starts hearing so many things, this is the thing that you need to know first, and someone else will totally say something else. And the same advice or the same advice to the Muslims.
What should they do as a first step?
Well, the first step for the new Muslim is Salah.
In fact, when that person takes shahada,
the prayer that is obligatory at that time, they should pray. I know some people delay this to say okay, they have to learn Fatiha and a surah after, and people are only coming to the center once a week, and you know, months go by a year goes by the person still hasn't learned fatty Hana surah. So they haven't made any salah is a huge mistake, a huge mistake. In fact, if somebody accepted Islam like now, then they should pray. So a lot of Asia with some scholars say not only Asia, but Maghrib and Isha. Because this is considered a combined time as the traveler can join mega elimination prayed in this time, right? So they should pray both Muslim and Asia. They took shahada to take them
to the masjid or you take them to the prayer area. You set them up, show that they pray, how just doing the movements that you're doing?
What do they need to say just for them, tell them just think about Allah. Allah Akbar, Allah is greater than everything so behind Allah, they know that all hamdulillah thanks all thanks me to Allah, just like this, they think say and they just do the movements with you. That's the very first thing that the Muslim when they accept Islam, that's the next thing that they need to do. So you have to show them who do show them how to make wudu and you take them to Salah let them understand that this is the most important act for you.
The Hijab and the other things, this comes in time, of course, for the Salah, they need to cover themselves, etc. But if they haven't learned about, you know, they don't have the strength because of the pressure of their jobs or whatever. They're not wearing hijab, okay, so right, they can work on that. That's something Allah can forgive. But the Salah is critical prophesy, Solomon said the distinction between the believers and the disbelievers is Salah. Whoever abandons this allowed doesn't pray
has disbelieved. So Salah is so critical. So that is far the same thing with a person who reverts back comes back wakes up to Islam, and that's what they have to tighten up first and foremost, their salah.
Establish that
and establishing the Salah means not only doing the actions correctly, but internally
The internal spiritual side of the Salah also has to be focused on in fact, it has to be more focused on
because we know that those actions if you're not feeling well you can only lie on your back wherever you can make Salah with just your eyelids
we know that so it means the actions are not most critical, but the salah itself, which are the things that we say
in the prayer that we should do with consciousness. So even the person the new Muslim who's learning the Fatiha, you don't just focus on learning how to say these things.
But to understand what is saying, what is being said,
understanding of the Salah
because the Salah is supposed to be reminding us of Allah. On one hand, as Allah said Aquino salah the decree established a prayer to remember me
and also it is supposed to train us spiritually to control what we say and what we do.
In the salah Tana And in fascia, Salah prevents evil speech and evil deeds that those are the words of Allah.
So if it is not preventing evil speech and evil deeds, then it means what we're not making the Salah, which was prescribed, we're making our own Salah
and of course, the salah should be done properly not only internally, but externally to because prophesy Salam said Salo Kamara, I Tonio Sally pray as you saw me pray.
So the kind of prayer that has become common in communities today, where people are making the prayer, like the way people do Tai Chi,
flowing movements, but everything
without
pausing and reflection, okay, let me just demonstrate here, okay.
We learned in Tai Chi, that all the movements are supposed to be connected, you don't stop whatever movements you're going through. It's just a continual flow. So what happens is for people when they get up to pray,
they raise their hands up, Allahu Akbar.
Lord
this is not prayer. This is not prayer.
I mean, how a person can go from Allahu Akbar and you know, how fast to have said Fatiha.
You know, the speed of lightning. Right? But this is what is happening today. I mean, I see people making prostration they go down, they go down one and before even straightening their backs, they're doing another one, you know, one to
common
efficiency.
So,
the Salah is both external and internal. Rasha Solomon said you stand until all of the bones fall into place of your back. Meaning you don't stand and you just straightening up on your body. Because your back didn't string is supposed to stand stop.
When you go into records everything you stop when you come out of record, especially Hanafis.
Especially on TVs, when they come out of record they're going down. Same time. This is not correct. When you come out of recording stand back up send me Allah holy man amateur whether you raise your hand if you don't raise your hand. I promise I'll sell them did both. Semi Allahu leemon Hamada Rabbana la Cal Hamed used to make dua ham then Kathira Antalya ban Mubarak and fee How could you do that when is going down?
No way.
You're supposed to stand back up until all the bones settle there.
And then you go into
each of the movements. We're supposed to stop pause in between. This is the way of the prayer of the Prophet
sallallahu wasallam. So
this is the beginning point. And this is what we should focus on first and foremost.
Can you shed some light on the congregational recitation of the Quran, this is referring to the common practice in India and Pakistan, when somebody someone passes away at congregation
reading Quran in congregation
is not wrong in and of itself.
If you want to read Quran together, it's possible.
Now reading the Quran and then asking that the reward for the Quran go for somebody who has died. Now that is the one which is questionable. Because we didn't have Prophet Muhammad SAW Salaam and his companions doing this.
We didn't we don't have any evidence for this.
And the promise or sentiment said whatever new is brought into the religion, which doesn't have my approval, it will not be acceptable to Allah. Man is the umbrella my laser men who for what simple as that is not acceptable to Allah.
about recycling as one voice is very common in North Africa.
Like in a circle and the oversight, if you're reciting the Quran together in one voice, I don't see anything wrong with it. It may not have been the norm or the practice of the early generation but recitation of the Quran. You may do it with children, when we're teaching kids to memorize you have a group of kids, they're discipled together. You know, nobody says this is Buddha. So that point is
okay. May not be preferable, but it's okay. It helps people whose recitation is poor to helps them to correct themselves or whatever, it's okay. But the problem is now when it comes now to give that reward.
So, people believe that that reward will benefit those who have died. And they pick a particular Surah from the Quran, like your scene.
And they refer to your scene as being the heart of the Quran. And all of this is not authentic. There is no authentic hadith which says that you are seen as the heart chakra and there's a fabricated IDF which says everything has a heart and the heart of the Quran was your sins complicated, not authentic.
The hadith about reading the scene for your dead This is not authentic. There's no authentic hadith concerning Yacine not a single authentic idea. Your scene is like any other chapter in the Quran.
There are some
chapters of the Quran the prophesy Salim said special things about likes who are left laughs right that it is equivalent to 1/3 of the Quran.
It's true. But again, people don't mistakenly think that when the prompts are said and said
sorry, loss is equivalent to a third of the Quran. You can read it three times and think you read the Quran.
Again, this is not a numbers thing.
It's 1/3 of the Quran, meaning that it contains 1/3 of the concepts of the Quran. What is your class about?
About Tao hate about Allah, about who is Allah?
So 1/3 of the crime, that's what he talks about from beginning from fatty hotness. It's Who is Allah?
It's interwoven in every chapter there. So yeah, sorry, class, which is dedicated to explaining who Allah is represents 1/3 of the
related question. Also, let's take a
asked question from the sisters.
Okay, great. It's related to the also the other question when somebody passes away, it's also common practice in some households, that the family would hire a home office, and he would come and eat and thinking that the reward goes to that person.
This is version two, the same thing I mean, it comes under the same category as the papal indulgences.
You have more
money you can pay for more Hafiz, who will recite more Quran and it will benefit you.
As long as you have the money you can pay for somebody to read the Quran and make the reward given to you, you are better off than anybody else. No.
This is not a last criterion is prophesied. Solomon said
Allah does not look at your external body wealth, etc, he looks at the hearts
baby have been listening to you about the need for a school in Hong Kong for Muslims. And there's been for the last few decades, you know, debate ongoing about whether we need a school for Muslims, we need to integrate, we don't need the school. We don't want this Muslim school is not good enough for our children. Could you elaborate on that?
Well, I could say in simple terms,
that it is haram.
For a Muslim,
to put their children to learn to study in the hands of non Muslims.
This is haram.
Yes.
If they're at this is it this is the sum total of their education. I'm not saying a subject or, you know, further studies, etc. Where you may end up studying under, I'm talking about your basic primary education,
your foundational education to put our children to be taught in non Muslim schools, meaning the administration, the teachers, the environment, the culture, is the culture of Cofer,
a culture of this belief, then to put our Muslims in such an institution is haram.
No doubt,
no doubt. It is the right of every Muslim child to be educated by Muslims.
That is the right.
And Allah will ask us about every child who went into the non Muslim system and came out confused about who they were
confused, they don't know what Islam
Yes, where Muslims may be technically, but internally and spiritually, they have been hijacked.
Because education is not just conveyance of facts and figures,
words and sentences, it is
the process of conveying culture, from one generation to the next. So that non Muslim school is a cultural melting pot, where any Muslim put in their will become acculturated. Yes, at home, you may tell them Salah and these other things, but what they are getting the most of the time they're spending is in school, the books that they're reading our books written by
non Muslims conveying their culture on both sides. That will be the greatest exposure of the children from the beginning of their education to the latter part of their education.
And that is criminal.
It is the responsibility of the Muslim community to establish if we are going to justify our presence here before Allah's Madala then we must have Muslim schools for our children. We must have Muslim medical facilities for our men for men and women. Where we teach our women who job
Cover yourselves and then when the time comes to deliver a baby. She goes to a male gynecologist who says Take off your clothes.
She goes to a male dentist when she has a bad tooth. And he is she stretched out on the table. He is over her with his nose in her mouth.
This is haram.
Now, if you have no choice you've got no you know, of course that's another issue.
But it is the duty of the Muslim community
To provide alternatives to preserve their dignity, and their honor, their position before a law that respect in the community, this is the duty of the Muslim community.
And what I've heard, to some degree where there is even a possible
threat
that the existing high school for Muslims here in Hong Kong,
because the number of students are dropping
in all the schools.
And if the number of new students coming in
is less than 61,
then they will stop that first level class. And that is the beginning of the end for this school, because the next year they will stop the second level, then the third level, by the sixth year, you will no longer have
a high school or junior high in High School finished.
And for those parents who chose to put their children in non Muslim schools, instead of putting their children in this Muslim school,
and the school gets shut down, then they will be accountable before Allah because the damage they will have done is not just for this school, but it's for generations. Because getting another school
is not going to be easy. Replacing the school it is the duty of the community to come behind the Muslim school.
Give it its full support.
Know that it is better that your child go to this school with other Muslim kids
hearing other than praying salata Lord together doing the things being exposed to Islamic teachings, Quran as well as the teachings of the Sunnah, etc. It is better for them to go through this school,
even if the academics is not as high as certain other schools. So they come through spiritually protected, but academically weaker, academically weaker, we can fix, we can get a tutor, we can get others who can help them, academics, we can fix, but if they go to that other school, and they come through top in their academics, but spiritually destroyed,
that you can't fix once the children have reached that age 1718. If they are spiritually
in a vacuum, they don't know who they are. They don't really believe in Islam, they have doubts about even Allah's existence, and that you can fix
that a tutor will not be able to help, you might put them in the hands of a madressa teacher Molana will whip them and read them and everything else. But you will not be able to change what has happened to their hearts.
So we need to have our priorities straight.
If we want the best for our children, then the best for them is to graduate conscious Muslims. That is the best for them.
It's good if we can also make them top academics.
But most important, is conscious Muslims.
Oh, just to clarify this point you just mentioned, even we have seen examples in Muslim countries where the kids go to the Muslim schools, and they are taught all according to the Muslim ways. But still, some of them they and maybe a lot of them end up. They are Muslims, but by heart they're not. But let's say even in this country like Hong Kong, where we don't have much of a choice of Muslim schools, and we send our kids to the non Muslim schools where they respect your religion. They don't. Let's say they don't push you to go other ways. You teach your kids at home, all the Muslim ways to make sure that they stick to Islam and they follow the paths but they're studying in a non
Muslim school. What do you say about that? If like for example, we have no choice. If we have
have no choice of sending your kids to non
Muslim schools. What do you say about that?
You know, you talked about a lot of things, right?
Education back home in the Muslim countries, and what's happening there in the schools, et cetera. What you have to understand is that even in the Muslim countries, though the school may have a Muslim administration, there are Muslims, administrators, teachers, staff, etc, all the children are Muslims.
But in most of the Muslim countries, if not all, the books that they study from our books created by Kuffar
from England, from America from who are conveying the culture, so you still have it being undermined, but because it is a Muslim environment, the damage is less
in a non Muslim environment, when you have that combined with everything else, then the damage is way more.
So I mean, I know personally, from you know, observing and seeing schools in the West, in the US and Canada, UK.
And it's clear
that one out of 20 kids who graduates Muslim kids who go into these schools from grade one to grade 12, one out of 20 will come out with their Islam intact.
An exception the majority are messed up and I'm sure that's the same thing.
Majority so some people say well look at me I'm okay.
Well, yeah, you're okay Masha Allah, but what about the other 10 or 20, others who are studying at the same time with you began and ended up where are they?
We have to know we are the minority.
The small minority, and Allah will ask the parents what they did,
why they did it,
we will be asked.
So if we have come here for the dunya, because most of us did not come here, for the sake of Allah.
Those of us who are foreigners not born here, raised here, Chinese, etc. We have emigrated here, we've come here for the dunya for business.
That's not haram. We can come here for business. But if, as a consequence, we destroy our children.
Then it became haram.
It became haram. We come here for business, we have to ensure at the same time that our children do not suffer as a result of it. If we see we have no opportunity to get our children properly educated, etc, then we need to leave.
Either we change the circumstance here, or leave
one or the other.
Is it
acceptable for somebody to say?
Yes, you can say I'm Hanafy. I'm following the Hanafi madhhab. No problem. I'm Shafi no problem. But
if when you say it, you mean that even if the shore words of Rasulullah sallallahu Sallam comes to me, which says something different? I'm not going to follow it. Because I'm Hanafy then we have a problem.
To say I'm a Hanafi because that is the scholarship that taught me the school. Scholars came from this school of Islamic law.
No problem.
But if we have clear evidence, Rasulullah sallallahu Sallam did not do this, or here was what the Prophet SAW, Selim said, and our answer is, I'm Hanafy. Then we have a real problem, because it is important for us to know. While there is no harm to say Hanafi or Shafi, we must know that Abu Hanifa wasn't a Hanafy
we have to be sure about this. Abu Hanifa
was not a Hanafy
Imam Malik was not a Maliki
Imam Shafi wasn't a Shafi Imam Ahmed, no humble was not a humbly
what we are calling the mother hub humbly Chavez also, this is a compilation of the works of many, many scholars. So you have opinions in these math hubs now, which were not held by the people who they're ascribed to. That's reality. These were efforts to try to follow Islam.
If,
if Abu Hanifa wasn't the Hanafi then what was he
a Muslim
or was it
a Mohammed? Yes.
It was a Muhammad he, you know, his madhhab was the man hub of Rasulullah sallallahu wasallam. That's what his same thing with Imam Malik the assay Mama was the mother.
That's the reality. So all of the mothers hubs are there to try to help us to follow the madhhab of Rasulullah Swaziland, that is what the goal is. This is the goal. The madhhab is only a means to the goal, but people got lost in the means.
So it's not surprising to find, as I mentioned before, people going for Hajj, who are shafa is telling, telling the people make the intention to be a Hanafy
when you go for hikes, but as soon as you get back off the plane, you make your attention back to be Shafi. Why? Because shafa is believe that if you accidentally touch a woman, or a woman touches a man, you don't have to do was Hanafis don't believe that.
So hard will be very difficult for you as a
nonsense,
nonsense.
Sharla Baraka