Bilal Philips – Islam And Modernism The Call
AI: Summary ©
The historic event organized by Jamia to symbolize the end of Islam's war with the United States is a series of educational events and talks about solutions for problems facing society. The importance of bringing together young people to deliver the message of Islam to their brother and sisters is emphasized, along with the need for guidance and guidance from schools, institutions, and society to achieve healthy marriages and loyalty. The trend of "immediate de" or "immediate de" in language language is discussed, and the use of words like "immediate" and "immediate de" in the language to describe men as "immediate" or "immediate de" is also discussed. The importance of smoking and drinking is also emphasized, along with the need for acceptance of Islam in society.
AI: Summary ©
smilla rahmanir rahim
al hamdu Lillah wa Salatu was Salam ala rasulillah while he was at the edge of my
praise to Allah subhanho wa Taala
peace and blessing to be upon the Messenger of Allah, his family and companions.
My dear brothers and sisters, I
welcome all of you for this historical event, which is named as the call with Islamic greetings. Assalamu alaykum warahmatullahi wabarakatuh
my peace, mercy and blessings of Allah subhanho wa Taala Almighty God beyond all of you.
Brothers and sisters,
what do you think this event, the call is all about?
Well, the call is an Islamic event organised by Jamia to salaf. In association with a prominent Islamic scholar Dr. Abu Amina Bilal Philips. Tonight Dr. Bill offices give a talk on a very important subject. So hope you will be waiting for that moment. This whole event the call
is the first of its kind. It's a type of Islamic given that is taking place in Maldivian soil for the first time a humbling lie.
This is the first episode of the call insha Allah, the second episode of the call will be held tomorrow night here at 845. So hope you'll be here.
You'll be present here.
Brothers and sisters, I think it's time for now, just to look at tonight's agenda. First item was introduction of historical event. I did that I perform that next is a speech by Jamia to solve General Secretary moment so bow about this event.
After there after the speech by Jamia to sell of General Secretary, a youngster or young child would give a speech that's what I would like to say or call for that. A speech there. His name is our call. That's what the young child will be delivering. And the end tonight's main item
is the talk by Dr. Bill Phillips. After that q&a session on tonight's subject. That's what we have got on tonight's agenda. I could not tell the subject Dr. Pillai should be talking about hope you'll be waiting for that moment.
So now, I would like to call for Brother Mohammed Sorbonne General Secretary of Jamia to sell off to deliver a speech about this event. People may be wondering why what's the reason
why it's taken what why the event is taking place. Why it's taking place in English. Why not in our native language, this should be something behind that.
Listen to the speech. General Secretary more matsubara brothers oh please come here.
In 100 in the middle who want to start wanna stop for one
minute.
One minute.
Wash. Mohammed, an actor who was all
about
I welcome you all, with the greetings of the people of Paradise, as salaam aleikum, wa Rahmatullahi wa barakaatuh.
Today, we are gathered here to witness this event, similar to which no other event has ever been recorded in the history of more deeds.
Surely, this is not from us, or not from ourselves. Indeed, this is a great blessing and mercy from Allah to the people of more deeds.
Alhamdulillah All Praise be to Allah.
Who made this event reality?
It is with his it is with his blessing and mercy that we are gathered here in this noble gathering.
First of all, I would like to thank Dr. Bill Phillips for accepting our invitation to share some of his experience and knowledge with us here in this evening.
Today, we marked the beginning of our long effort to bring internationally recognized speakers to our reach to bring English speaking scholars to address issues and challenges we face today. To offer brothers and sisters solutions, true solutions for their problems. We Jamia the seller, strive to deliver the true message of Islam to our brothers and sisters.
This event is one such even constructed in a different form.
At a time when Islam is tainted with false allegation and negative propaganda. We believe our obligation is heavier than heavier than ever before. We condemn all forms of violence and corruption. We condemn injustice and oppression
we call for peace and justice. We believe Islam is the only solution for the entire humanity.
We understand the responsibility that we have taken for ourselves. That is the responsibility to deliver the true understanding and teaching of Islam, to our beloved brothers and sisters of Maldives. We also understand that we have an obligation towards the society, that is to deliver this message in such a way it's clean, clear and attractive, clean from corruption, clear from misguidance attractive with beautiful manners,
or Allah, make our heart sincere towards you, and give us strength and give us wisdom.
hamdulillah I think the young children or the young people in our society can be no more stable than the foundation or individual family units upon which rests. There's no doubt about that. Our government, our institutions, our schools, indeed our way of life are dependent on healthy marriages and loyalty to the vulnerable little children
around our feet. Surely children expect something? What is it?
Do we really have an explicit idea? What the children does actually expect from us, from the elderly people, the children.
We all need care from the elderly people. They need the guidance from the schools. They need the guidance from the institution different institutions, they need guidance from their parents. And one main important thing you have to consider is that they need the right guidance. That's for sure. Unless they need
unless they got the right guidance. It's really difficult to follow the right path. Surely.
So please listen to a I would like to say a short speech by a youngster. The speech is named is our call
It's by ignosi mouse I would like
to come on stage. Evening Simone
smilla rahmanir rahim o salat wa salam ala rasulillah
Oh people
lent me an attentive ear. For what I'm going to speak tonight is what concerns each child born today.
Each youngster was looking upon his future.
each parent who is worried about their children, and each leader was responsible for the people under
Oh parents, know that you have to stand before a loved one day.
We follow your footsteps and guidance.
Unless you obey our law, we won't know whom to obey.
Unless you love and follow the Prophet, we won't know whom to love and follow.
Unless you give us proper guidance, we'll be left alone.
Our moms and dads give us love and caring and guide us according to the truth. There is the book of Allah, and the ways of the messenger.
Oh my dear brothers and sisters, don't be deceived by those who call for evil. They will destroy your life. Take as friends who feel alive and take not as friends doesn't spread mischief.
Oh, our beloved teachers. We spend most of our life with you.
Be a good example for us. We love you, deep within our hearts teach us
all leaders of our nation.
As the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam said, Every Shepherd is responsible for his flock.
So now that you have to stand before Allah, and you will be questioned about your flock.
So, spread justice and suppress corruption
is the solution for all our Colombians today and until the last day, so implement his command and what he has forbidden.
us create a better environment for us
and environment where we can learn and experience good things in life.
a safer environment where we can play and enjoy.
Where we can find find people whom we love.
Who loves us and protects us from those who intend to harm us
or nation wake up
so that we will not be deviated. We believe in Allah and His messenger and we believe that the solution for everything is in the book of Allah and the authentic Howdy.
Allah be a witness that I have conveyed this message in this novel gathering. salaam aleikum wa rahmatullah.
Speaking, just as an ordinary person, ordinary citizen of this country, I believe it nasima has just said, what a typical youngster would expect from elderly people, whether it's from the government or schools, whether it's from the parents.
So let's go back to the very important subject. Now. What is Islam and modernism?
Some people say that Islam is a very old religion. That's something we often hear these days, Islam
People say some people say Islam is not a religion for
this day and age. What do you think?
Can Islam and modernism affect us? Does it really affect us? How does it affect us?
How can we deal with modernism as Muslims?
Before I call Dr. Bilal Philips to do his talk on Islam and modernism,
I would like to give a brief introduction about Dr. Pillai Phillips.
Dr. Abu Amina Bilal Philips, is a Jamaican Canadian Islamic scholar who converted to Islam in the early 70s, after a journey from Christianity to communism. Shortly after his reversion to Islam, he embarked on another journey to the other side of the world seeking Islamic knowledge, which took him to Saudi Arabia, which he completed a BA in Medina,
an MA Riyadh,
then to the University of Wales, UK was completed a PhD in Islamic theology in the early 90s.
After graduation, Dr. Bella Phillips became a teacher of Islamic studies for 10 years in an Islamic High School
monitored Riyadh and a lecturer of Arabic and Islamic Studies in the American University in Dubai, UAE for another 10 years time. During this 10 years in the UAE, he
he also founded the Islamic Information Center in Dubai. And during his subsequent six years in Qatar, he was the Islamic consultant for the Islamic information wing of
Ed charity in Doha, and founder of the Islamic Studies Academy.
Brothers and sisters.
Dr. Bill Phillips,
has written and translated and commented on over 50 publish books on various Islamic topics. He has also edited and published the 56 book emaan reading series for children and presented Islamic programs for a number of years on Riyadh channel, two TV show Raja TV for 10 years, as well as the Stevie Stevie is quite known for the Maldivian people we often see I believe pstv many people are quite interested in peace TV they often watch
and also without TV, Islamic channel, UK and the deen show Chicago USA.
In 2000, Dr. belaz founded Islamic online university offering free courses to over 8000 registered students from over 120 different countries worldwide. He is also the founder and former head of the Islamic Studies Department of Preston University. That was
on 2002 Eichmann UAE, the founder and head of the Islamic Studies Academy, in 2007, Doha, Qatar, the current founder and head of the English, medium Islamic Studies, Department of knowledge, International University, Riyadh, and head of the College of Dawa Islamic sculpture, English section 2009, or modern Islamic University Sudan. Most recently, Dr. Pillai is the director of prgf Professional Education and Research Foundation and supervising director of the Preston International College and our future International School in Chennai, India.
So I believe that's a very brief introduction about Dr. Bill Phillips. So Dr. Bill Phillips, after a very short moment will be
given a speech about Islam and modernism, can Islam a religion that's for just 1400 years ago? Can we believe in that? Or is just that say, a complete false lie lay
that people against Islam are spreading and many answers to this topic, Islam and more in Islam and very important
Subject, my dear brothers and sisters after the speech or talk by Dr. Bill Phillips.
There will be a question and answer session. So please feel free to ask any questions whatsoever relation to that topic. We believe
Maldivian people will be taking the advantage I would like to say that
would be taken advantage of these kinds of meetings and gatherings May Allah Spano Dada
boo, Peace and mercy and blessings upon all of us, Dr. Pillai Phillips, please.
Come on watch the near the podium to give the talk on Islam and Mormonism. Dr. Bill Phillips
hamdu Lillah
wa Salatu was Salam ala rasulillah. All praise is due to a law and realize Peace and blessings beyond the last messenger of Allah.
Islam and modernism is a topic which I hear repeated in many parts of the world today.
It is a topic which
the Western media has
promoted or raised issues about.
questioning, in fact, is Islam outdated. This is what is at the root of the issues of Islam and modernism.
Before going into look at the essence of this issue, it is important for us to understand what actually is the meaning of modernism.
Since we hear this term used so often,
modernism, as defined in Wikipedia,
is a trend of thought that affirms the power of human beings to create, improve, and reshape their environment
with the aid of scientific knowledge, technology, and practical experimentation, and is, according to them, in its essence, both progressive and optimistic.
It is the power of human beings to create, improve, and reshape their environment.
How,
with the aid of scientific knowledge, technology, and practical experimentation,
in other words, there is no place for religious knowledge.
religious knowledge has no place in that formula. Therefore, whoever tries to promote anything on the basis of religious knowledge would then be backwards.
On progressive and pessimistic, the complete opposite of what modernism claims for itself.
Why did they go there? Why did they take this position?
Well,
when they look at their own systems, when the West looks at the best of its systems,
the American constitution for example, which was written back in the 18th century, by the best minds, most enlightened minds of that age, where they tried to establish principles of justice, brotherhood, equality, etc. In the middle of that constitution,
Article One, Section two, paragraph three is the statement that black people, non white people, would be considered equivalent to three fifths of
White man.
This is the Constitution of the United States of America.
The three fifths compromise.
So, of course, with the civil rights movement and, and other changes which took place, this article was amended. So I'm not saying that it's enforced today, but they saw a need to amend that constitution, because it contained in it injustice, racism was found was an integral part of that early constitution. So that constitution when the three fifths compromise was added, that was 222 years ago.
So if there was a need to make such radical changes,
after 2200 years, surely a constitution or a system, which was brought about by and there are a few human beings 1400 years ago, that must need even more change, it can't possibly stand as it is. So when they look at the Magna Carta,
this is the expression of
democracy and justice, etc. In the UK, or the French Revolution, the documents that they wrote, or other changes which took place.
They look back and say all of these efforts of human beings had to be changed. Therefore, Islam, in their view is no different because they look at it as not a revealed religion, not something revealed by God, but something that Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wa sallam made up in the sixth century.
So that is what is at the root of this call for modernism.
In other words, systems should change with the times, systems should change with the times otherwise they become outmoded.
So in the same way, for us to use transportation methods,
which were used 100 years ago, in the Maldives, for example,
how people got around
100 years ago, if we were to use those methods today,
it would not be effective, it would be backwards, we would lose a lot of time we lose a lot of energy. So modern means of transportation, that's the only way to go that is progressive.
However,
all of this is based, as I said, on the belief that Islam is a human product.
So what has happened today is that we have
modern trends,
three major trends.
The first is that Islam is irrelevant amongst Muslim,
those who have accepted that Islam, in fact, is irrelevant. Just as among Christians, among Jews and others. there arose among them those who rejected religion in its entirety.
Human rights are not preserved, oppression of women is
why widespread therefore, Islam is irrelevant today. Among Muslim leaders, we had Ataturk
at the Turk, who began after World War One began the secularists movement on a wide scale level in Turkey.
Ataturk tried his best to eradicate Islam as we know it. He instructed that
should be made in Turkish
that in the mosques, chairs, like what is found in the churches,
should be introduced.
The prayers should be done in Turkish. It was illegal for any man to wear a turban on his head, he had to wear a bowler cap, like what was worn in Europe at that time. So he tried his utmost. However, the will of the people overcome overcame his efforts he was he didn't succeed.
The second major trend is
the belief that parts of Islam are relevant. But parts are not
culture
cultural ties, family festivals, the Aedes etc. These are okay things they bow, they bind people together. It's a societal interaction. They're good. But
there are other parts of Islam which have to do with governance, legal systems, etc, which are not relevant.
The third trend is the trend that all of Islam is relevant. All of Islam is relevant, that trend is labeled as fundamentalist.
Those who say that all of Islam is relevant, then they are considered to be the fundamentalists. And fundamentalism is equivalent to terrorism. fundamentalists are terrorists, either they openly espouse terrorism, or they quietly hold it in their hearts.
In fact, after 911, in the US,
The New York Times had a list of
points by which one could identify a fundamentalist, a terrorist.
A secret terrorist, obviously, if he's blowing up the World Trade Center, you know, is definitely a terrorist. But if he's just walking around amongst you,
is a Muslim, how to distinguish between him and the moderate Muslims? Right.
They said they listed
number one on the list is he prays five times a day.
This is one of the signs to know a fundamentalist, he prays five times a day.
Number two, he fasts in the month of Ramadan the whole month.
Number three, he doesn't shake the hands of women.
He won't shake if a woman puts her hand out, he won't shake it. And the list went on to describe in fact, a practicing Muslim,
a practicing Muslim he became the fundamentalist the non practicing Muslim, what we call the Friday Muslim, you only shows up in the masjid on Fridays or the Ramadan Muslim, you will see a lot of them when Ramadan comes along. These are the moderates.
But those who seek to practice Islam on a daily basis regularly, they are the fundamentalists.
So, this
view, a view which is shared not only by the western analysts, but also by Muslims, who, not knowing Islam properly, were defeated by Western thought the globalized Western philosophy. So,
what we find today,
we have heard, we have seen a variety of attempts to reinterpret Islam
to reinterpret Islam.
So we hear for example, on some occasions, those who say that we need a feminine Tafseer of the Quran
a feminine Tafseer of the crown. Why? Because all of the great scholars of Tafseer the FSC rune they were all men
When they interpreted the Koran the interpreted according to male preferences, so we need some females to interpret the Quran for us.
Also, we have the the call for female Imams, why shouldn't there be female? Mr. Why should it always be male Mr.
This follows the general trend, which took place in Christianity were priests who weren't allowed to marry at first were then allowed to marry. When the Protestant movement arose in the 15th century.
Priests could then marry this was a change, modernism.
Then, in the 20th century, we had female priests with the rise of feminism, we had female priests, so now we are female priests.
And eventually, we even have homosexual priests.
This is the
latest trend.
We now have fun with sexual priests who perform homosexual marriages, men can marry men, women can marry women and be good Christians, no problem.
These are obvious corruptions. Sometimes the modernist movement is for the better.
In the case of Hinduism, for example, where the religion required that a woman whose husband dies, and he is burnt, his body is burnt to release his soul. They said that the woman who has no soul should climb on the funeral pyre and be burnt up along with her husband. This was called Sati.
Well, when the British colonized India, they said stop is not good. So Indians accepted and stopped it. So that was a an improvement. Later on, the Hindus themselves decided to abolish the caste system, which is a good thing.
They did it amongst themselves.
However, some of the modernist trends,
like what happened to Christianity are evil.
For example, starting past the practice of decriminalizing adult adultery and fornication,
this is an evil turn.
This is a new approach. It is modernist, and it is evil, because it creates
forces which would destroy the families break up homes and cause the root of the society to crumble.
And once you decriminalize adultery and fornication, and how did they do it? They did it following the same principle that we mentioned earlier. Using their scientific knowledge and technology and their practical experimentation. They concluded, since we have now removed religion from the picture,
how do we define what is wrong in terms of male female relationships? They came up with two principles.
We can say it is forbidden in the Bible, the Old Testament Deuteronomy that's out the door. It's not relevant. So they had to come up with some universal principles, according to them. So these were two
is expressed in the phrase consenting adults. They said, whatever takes place between consenting adults should not be interfered with by government.
Consent is there, meaning nobody's being forced. There are adults meaning adults are not abusing children
to adults.
With consent, it is their business.
What takes place amongst them? Government has no right. So on the basis of this, they decriminalized adultery and fornication, and they decriminalized homosexuality because it's consenting adults.
Furthermore, in Sweden, and much of Europe, * was decriminalized in Sweden, it is perfectly legitimate and okay for a man to have sexual relations with his mother, his sister or his daughter.
And that is modernism for you. That's where it takes, that's where it's taking society.
Is that an improvement? Of course not. That is a great evil,
destructive to the fabric of the society.
We have amongst us
some,
who in the name of Islam, have tried to promote some of these modernist values.
Among them,
are the cardia knees or the Ahmadis
Ghulam Mirza Ghulam,
who
claimed that he was a prophet of Allah in India, Pakistan.
He cancelled jihad, at a time when the nation was struggling against British colonialism. So he was an ally to the colonial powers and he was given knighthood and given status in the British Empire.
We also have an even more recent times, another false prophet, who claimed profit within America, Rashad Khalifa,
Rashad Khalifa, who claimed that he discovered the mathematical miracle of the God, the number 19.
And this was his miracle.
He instituted the practice of female Imam so his wife used to lead Salah in his temple. He called it a Masjid, I don't want to call it that we can only call it the temple in his temple in Tucson, Arizona, his wife used to lead salon when he was out of town, his wife used to leave the salon, and males and females would stand side by side in prayer, not women in the back because that is backwards. We need to be more progressive. So women would stand side by side with the men and he job
forget it not needed. That was ancient. We are in modern times, it's enough for a woman to wear what is considered moderate. Of course, moderate and modest, in American context, is a miniskirt.
So
he promoted
Prophethood for himself, and actually ended up attacking the both the Quran and the Sunnah after denying the Sunnah altogether, he then attacked the Quran claiming that there are some verses in the Quran which are false.
And in order to even support his claims of his 19 miracle, he went to the text of the Quran and changed it.
And this you can see in their translation of the Quran
the translation by Rashad Khalifa, if you go to Surah Al column, at the beginning of soil column, you find the letter noon
while call me Who am I? Yes. Okay begins with the letter noon. However, because his claim that all of these letters were multiples of 19 in their chapters, when he added up all of the Nunes in Surah column, he found that there were one short
so his 19 Miracle wasn't working. So in order to make it work, he went to the text of the Quran, and he rewrote noon. In the name of the letter, noon, wow, noon.
So of course, noon, while noon is read as noon, but that's not what the text of the Quran had it had just the letter noon. And he claimed that this was the way it was in the ancient manuscripts and that the Muslim world, they changed it to just noon. So he was taking it back to what it was, of course, this is a big light, you cannot find any manuscript in which noon is written out as noon while noon. This was a change he made in the text of the Quran, which proves clearly that he is a false prophet.
And one of his claims was that
he would die a natural death, he had received certain death threats. And he said, the proof that I am a prophet of Allah is that I would die in natural death, no one will be able to kill me. Shortly thereafter, he was assassinated, stabbed to death in his temple 1991 and that was the end of Rashad Khalifa.
However,
some of his followers, some of them left, realizing that in fact, he was a false prophet. Others continued, set up a website on the internet, which they called submitters International. So that is the new name that the Russia diets go under today. And they continue to promote their false teachings of the False Prophet under the heading of
submitters international submitters meaning from submission, Islam submission etc. And we should be clear that those who claim themselves to be a part of this organization this movement, submitters, international, they are not Muslims, as the Guardian is are not Muslims, because they believe in a false prophet, another prophet after Muhammad sallahu wa sallam, the submitters international are not Muslims.
They believe in a false prophet, whatever they want to call him, they believe and I've accepted the changes in the Quran, etc. So
don't be fooled by any of their claims.
We also have another trend which is the trend of the Quran.
The Quran is who claimed that we will only follow the Quran
we will only follow the Quran
and Prophet Muhammad wa sallam 1400 years ago warned about such people saying that a time would come when a man would lean on his couch and hold up the Quran and say whatever I find in the Quran, Allah Allah, Allah, Allah, whatever I find in it around mannakkara, nothing else beyond that, it said, but I, the Messenger of Allah have made certain things halau and certain things Haram. So those people following this Quranic
Quran, human tendency or trend,
who claim that the Sunnah is false we cannot rely on it based on orientalist or Western research,
or those among them who reject certain aspects of the Sunnah, saying that it doesn't make sense. This couldn't possibly have been from the Prophet sallahu wa sallam. Both of these trends are dangerous trends, one is gone into disbelief, that is those who deny the Sunnah altogether. And the other one is bordering on disbelief by denying parts of the sadhana which they don't like an affirming parts of the sadhana which they like.
The example that they commonly give
in defense of this practice, is the Hadith of the fly.
What is the Hadith of the fly? That is of the Flies Hadith in Sahih, Muslim sorry Buhari,
our most authentic texts of the Sunnah, in which the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam said, if a fly falls in your drink,
don't come in and throw him out. And
take your drink because under one wing of the fly
disease, and under the other wing is cure,
disease and cure. So the modernist says,
We are doctors or we know doctors and all the doctors say that the fly only brings disease. That's all we know from the flies disease. So this business about under one wing is disease and under one wing is cure this is nonsense. The Prophet could not possibly have said it.
This is the logic that they bring. They want to reject this hadith because it goes against their logic.
not stopping to think that imagine 1400 years ago, the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam identified the fly as a source of disease.
Only recently, did Western science come to that conclusion, that aside that the fly carries disease, but the profits are seldom identified that 1400 years ago, that part just missed them altogether.
The second part that in the fly, there is a cure.
This is not something unusual.
Think about the snake,
the poisonous snake, he carries with him poison that can kill you. And guess what? He also carries the cure for the poison.
If he didn't have the cure for the poison, the first time he beat anything, he would kill himself.
He has the cure for the poison. So the antidote for snake poison is taken from the snake itself.
The snake has both the disease, the disease and the cure.
And there are many other examples of that in nature in the plants as well as the animal kingdom. So what is the problem? Since you can't find a cure in the fly? Does that mean there is no cure?
No, it just means you don't know of any cure. That's all you can say. I don't know of any cure, you can't say there is no cure.
Because we have too many examples. The same one I just mentioned about
poison snake poison. 100 years ago, if you told somebody that in snake poison is a cure for heart disease.
They would look at you and say, Are you mad?
Because they know the snake bite stops the heart and you die from it. So how in the world could a snake bite or snake poison be a cure for heart disease, it stops the heart and kills the person. So today, we have farms snake farms, where Cobras and others are milked for their poison and from it is extracted
certain chemicals which are used for heart patients today
100 years ago, no one would believe it. Today, we're using it. So these kinds of approaches where we would reject the Quran, or the Sunnah, because we haven't found what is stated in there in real life. This is a false approach. The Quran consistently calls to what modern science has affirmed. The areas where the Quran addresses issues which modern science has not discovered. All we can say is it hasn't discovered it. We can say it's not true.
The Quran is consistently in agreement with what we know as modern science today. Similarly, in the Sunnah of the Prophet sallallahu wasallam. There is much.
For example, Prophet Muhammad wa sallam told his followers 1400 years ago.
Do not sleep on your stomachs.
Don't go to sleep on your stomachs,
instructed them not to sleep on their stomach at that time
His followers just accepted it. Don't sleep on your stomach. So they slept on the side as he did.
And Muslims have done it throughout the centuries who followed the Sunnah
recently,
relatively recently for me,
when I was traveling, I came across a magazine Newsweek magazine, in which it was discussing the various
medical operations which were done on the spine.
For people who have various ailments of the spine, crushed discs, slipped discs, a variety of other things. So they discussed the various new developments in spinal surgery. At the end of the article, was about four pages in the Newsweek, at the end of it, it had a list of doctor's recommendations. You know, what was number one on that list?
Don't sleep on your stomach.
That was number one, don't sleep on your stomach. And they explained why, because of the fact that the back heavy bony structure doesn't have any support. What's in front of it, when you lie in your stomach is all soft organs. So it sags downwards. And that's what causes people to have curvature of the spine and late age, when they get older. You see them walking with their back from it is from this
prophet Mohammed Salah salon spoke about that 1400 years ago. Furthermore, I noted that in 1989,
British medical researchers looking into causes of death, or sudden death syndrome s ds, where children are put to sleep at the age of one and two,
or less than one, and they never wake up. They just die in their beds for no apparent reason.
This was happening around the world. And they wanted to try to find out what was the cause what was behind it. So they sent out researchers across the UK, meeting with families who had children that died in this way, asking them a variety of questions to understand what was the circumstance in their home, which could possibly have led to it. And after they finished all of the questions about the type of mattress, the type of
bed that they put the child in the type of foods that they fed them and all kinds of information they asked them. In the end, this was all put into computer correlated. And guess what came out as number one
children put to sleep on their stomachs. So as a result of that, front page news, UK, Doctor's warning, do not put your children to sleep on their stomachs.
It was the common cause in those who had children that died in this way.
And nine years later, in 1998. When they did a further survey, they found that over 70%,
cut dress cut death had dropped by over 70%.
This information, of course went worldwide. And the common practice of putting children to sleep on their stomachs, putting them to rest on their stomachs because they had colic, etc. Nurses are doing that normally, this had to be revised.
But Prophet Muhammad SAW Salam warned about it 1400 years ago.
So
coming back
to Islam.
is Islam outmoded, outdated? can it not
adapt to the times?
One who doesn't understand Islam would say such a thing.
That statement is a clear indication of one's ignorance of Islam, and how Islamic law functions. Because
we have in Islam, two sources of law.
One source we call the shediac.
And the other source we call fic.
Normally these are both translated as Islamic law. So people don't understand that there is a difference between the two Filkins, Sharia are related, but they're not one and the same. Sharia is revelation from a law.
The laws which were revealed directly from God,
those laws came either in the Quran or in the Sunnah, in the Sunnah, in the Hadith, in the statements, the actions, the approvals of Prophet Mohammed says Allah, these were the two sources of Revelation. That is the Sharia.
And that revelation will never change, the laws which come from there will never change, they're fixed.
However, at the same time there is
when we try to apply those laws today, tomorrow, yesterday.
We apply them based on the knowledge that we have our given circumstances, we use our reasoning, and we deduce from the Sharia
principles which we then apply.
In our given time, place.
However,
our information may change.
So if the information changes, then the laws we have deduced by by understanding, these have to change, they don't remain the same as the laws of the Sharia, the revealed laws.
This is the point where Islam has a fixed foundation and it has a flexible, superstructure, which can mold with the times and according to the information and the and the need of the people in given places at given circumstances.
For example,
to illustrate this change,
smoking
tobacco,
when it first reached
the Ottoman Empire
in the 16th century.
Muslim scholars had to analyze it and put a ruling on it because according to Islamic law, there is a ruling for everything. Either that thing is wajib or formed, you must do it.
Or it is most also called Suna, meaning it's recommended for you to do it. Or it is MOBA neutral, do it, don't do it. No problem. Or it is mcru. Something disliked. It's better, you didn't do it, or it is haram. Forbidden
everything, every thought every action will fall into one of these five categories. So the scholars in the Ottoman Empire when they looked at tobacco, and its effects, and know that the it was the Ottomans who devised the cigarette rolling paper.
When they analyzed the effects, they concluded that it was mcru disliked better, you didn't do it. But if you did it, there was no sin.
Why did they come to it as being mcru? Why didn't they just say it was MOBA? No problem, do it or not do it? Well, when they look back in the Sharia.
To find out what is the ruling on substances which cause bad breath, because this was the noted results of smoking that they could see you smoke cigarettes, you develop the smokers breath, right, which is not a pleasant breath. So the West has developed all kinds of sprays, people spraying their mouths to kind of cloud and hide this smokers breath. So
they looked into the Sharia to see what was the ruling concerning substances which cause bad breath and they found there a statement from Rasulullah sallallahu wasallam in which he said
Any one of you
who eats raw garlic or raw onions should not come to our mosques.
Why? Because at the end of the prayer, we turn to each other saying Salam aleikum wa rahmatullah wa.
And of course, a person who is eating garlic or onions
to be very offensive, painful, harmful. So
we're they're told stay home. So since staying home means they will be deprived of the original or the additional blessings that one gets from praying in the mosque, in JAMA in the with the congregation. Then they said this is mcru. However, in 1979, when the Surgeon General of the United States of America announced to America and the world that it had been conclusively shown, proven that smoking causes cancer, and cancer, of course, we know cause death, cancer causes death. So, at this point, when that announcement was made,
then
Muslim scholars who are not fanatical, but who understood the fic, they went back and extracted from the Sharia, a new ruling, the ruling on substances which cause death,
and the ruling
is Hara.
As a law said, when I talk to you,
do not kill yourselves. And the prophet SAW Solomon said, Whoever kills himself will find themselves repeating that act eternally in *. So, smoking, the ruling now shifted from McGrew disliked to Hara.
That is the true ruling concerning smoking.
Of course, you still have some people say no, no, it's macro.
While smoking is going to defend it as much as
he wants to justify his act, but reality is, it is hot. So what we see here is that Islam is good,
effective, progressive,
and useful to all peoples in all places, at all times. That is the bottom line.
There is nothing backwards about Islam.
Sure, some people might say, you cut off people's hands,
if they still, in fact, there's a website, on the internet dedicated to the hand in which they show the hand and how it works, how the sinews and the muscles and the bones all work together to
a miraculous thing. And at the end of the
presentation on the website, it says, and Muslims hack it off.
They will destroy this miracle from God. Well, yes. Islamic law says that the person who steals under certain conditions and there are rules and regulations governing it.
Who is basically these rules and regulations confirm that this person is a thief by profession?
Not accidentally,
not
out of a need, because he's starving or something like this? No, this is a professional thief. Once that is established, then his hand will go if he's got.
Yes, that is hard. What about his human rights? Isn't he have a right to keep his hand? Well, we say what about the human rights of the society as a whole.
If by removing his hand, we will stop him from harming the society as a whole then we say the human rights of the society takes precedence over his human rights
and if in removing his
Hand, that is a message sent to the society as a whole beware.
If you're caught, that is the consequence. And as a result, you have a society which is secure.
where people can go to sleep at night, without locking up latching doors and windows and bars and all these different things, then we say it is worth it, it is worth depriving him of his human right to keep his hand in order to provide security for the society as a whole.
So
each and every one of the laws of Islam can be easily defended in this manner. They have practical benefit. When applied, we know the consequence in the countries that apply it to the degree that they apply it, we see the benefits to the degree that they don't apply it, we see the harm. So in concluding
Islam
is not opposed to modernism, in the sense of technological development. We put fans in our mosques, we put air conditioners in our mosques, we put rugs in our mosque, we don't have a problem with that. We can sleep on beds, we can drive cars, these are all technological developments, modern technology, we don't shun it, you have certain groups, like the Amish and others in America, that shun all of this. When they left Europe, persecuted by the other Christians and they fled to America. They came there, and they drove around like everybody else in buggies with horse and buggy. Later on, when cars came, they didn't go with the cars they stayed with horse and buggy. So till
today, you can go to the society, the community communities and see them driving around in horse and buggies. They don't use electricity, they use only candles and oil, etc. That's not us. We can benefit from modernism in technology. But in terms of the essential way of life, which guides society, then Islam covers the needs of human society. till the last day we'll cover till the last day of this world, that is the reality. That is what we are living, and it is for us as Muslims to come back to that truth and to apply Islam in our lives. The more we apply it, the more success will get, the less we apply it, the greater the failure we will fall into. With that I conclude my
presentation, Samaniego, mirandola he barakato
umana Bay