Shackles Of The Mind
Date:
Channel: Bilal Philips
File Size: 29.03MB
AI Generated Summary ©
The importance of understanding the path of one's faith and actions is crucial to avoiding confusion and false accusations. Understanding one's beliefs and actions is crucial to achieving Islam's status. It is crucial to practice fasting Ashura, gain knowledge and act on it, and to use one's own time for pursuing interests. It is crucial to break cycle of control and learn from one's generation to fulfill one's life and future goals.AI Generated Transcript ©
hamdu Lillah wa salatu salam ala rasulillah.
All Praise to Allah, Allah Peace and blessings beyond the last messenger of Allah.
The topic shackles of the mind
is one, which
most of us would find somewhat strange.
I'm sure you're probably wondering, what am I going to talk about under this topic?
And to be honest, when it was given to me, I was wondering myself, what is that going to be talking about? Normally, when we think of shackles of the mind, meaning shackles or chains, chains, on our minds, for what purpose? What is the point of these chains chains, which would prevent us from being true Muslims?
This is the take which I took from this title. What are the shackles? What are the obstacles, which would prevent us from actuating our faith, making our faith, a living faith, as opposed to
the typical understanding of religion? where people go through rituals, they do group festivals, and they socialize all in the name of religion. But are they really practicing that religion? No.
We can see it with the religions around us in the world today, one only has to look at Christmas, to see a classical case of religion turned into a social event besides the fact of truth or falsehood, in regards to Christmas, but just look at the event of Christmas, what is it have to do with religion, whereas religion there, and this is not something I'm saying as a Muslim, relative to Christianity, this is what Christians say themselves. Christmas has become so commercialized, that the religious element has been lost.
And that's why anybody
except Muslims can celebrate Christmas. It doesn't matter what you believe. You can celebrate it. We do also even find some Muslims doing it, but they shouldn't be. But
that's what it has become something and the religion in general has become something which is social.
to certain degree, this has happened for Muslims to
whether it is the event of Hajj, which is the major gathering of Muslims.
Or it is the event of the Aedes, the festivals, to a certain degree. We have ritualized them, so much so that anybody could participate. And that's why you will find
non Muslims participating in our IDs, and they don't have any problem with it, because to a large degree,
except for Salatin aid, the aid itself has lost its religious character, the fact that there is a law there, that is a reminder it for us that we begin the celebration of aid with salaat.
That is to keep us on track.
That aid is fundamentally a religious gathering, a gathering in which we worship a lot. And everything else that takes place should be an extension of that worship.
But is it? That's the question. So
going back to the shackles, the mental shackles which prevents us from
actualizing our faith
when I reflected on this topic,
what came to me
by Allah's mercy was Surah Al Fatiha.
Surah Al Fatiha
which we repeat 17 times every day.
If we are praying five times a day, which we are
supposed to be?
In that surah
Allah speaks about the shackles of the mind
which prevents the believers from
actuating their faith where you might ask, you have read the translation of soil Fatiha, and there's no mention of any shackles in it.
shackles of the mind. So where did I get that from?
Well, if we read the last verse Surah Fatiha we know begins with the praise of Allah.
Then
recognizing His mercy, recognizing our responsibility, Maliki Ahmed Deen that we are accountable to Allah,
then affirming the purity of our faith, he cannot
sustain you are alone do we worship and from you alone do we seek out
then we ask a lot teaches us to ask for the most important thing in our lives.
And that is in us that often most of them show us the straight path. And then we describe that path
serata Latina ram de la in the path of those who you have blessed,
because it is only with the blessings of Allah
that we find that path.
And what is that path, it is the path
which is not followed by those on whom is a loss, anger
Dubey I lay him nor those who have gone astray. One of the early two categories are people
who are prevented from the path,
the straight path,
the path of a law, two people, two groups of people, those on whom is a lot of anger. And those who have gone astray.
Prophet Mohammed Salam explained that those on whom is a loss, anger
refers primarily to the Jews.
And those who have lost their way who have gone astray, primarily are the Christians. Now,
what is it about the Jews and the Christians that a law would put them here and so in fact, the Jews when we see them described in the crime,
a lot described them describes them as those who do not act on their knowledge. And the Christians are described as those without true knowledge.
And we should keep in mind that whenever a law describes the people in the crime,
he is describing them to the believers, for them to understand the lesson. The lessons to be learned from these people.
And is not sure that we can say
allies angles on the Jews, the Christians are straight.
Well, that's true.
But a law wasn't clarifying these points for us to say that
he was clarifying and soil fire to have these points so that we be where we'd be aware of falling into the same pitfalls into the same traps. The same Titanic traps, which causes one to be of those who know and don't act
on the knowledge
or to be ignorant and to be acting on false knowledge.
And thus to be astray.
So the main two pitfalls,
the main two shackles,
which chain our minds
and in such a way as to prevent us from becoming true Muslims.
Muslims who have knowledge and who act on that knowledge.
The main two shackles are one, not acting on knowledge and to not having knowledge.
Now if we put them in order, starting with knowledge, first, we have to understand
that there is a difference between knowledge and faith.
We have to understand first and foremost, that there is a difference between knowledge and faith.
Well, this is an area that people become confused about. They mistake knowledge for faith.
They mistake knowledge for faith.
knowledge from the Islamic perspective must precede faith.
Knowledge must precede faith,
for faith to be correct, and real. Knowledge must precede it. If faith is preceded by emotion,
and we know that emotions blind,
as I say, love is blind. Love is a powerful emotion, it blinds us
to where we
address our faith, from an emotional perspective not preceded by knowledge, then it is likely that we are on the wrong path.
We're on the wrong path. We are very emotional and strong about something that we really have no knowledge of.
So
knowledge should precede faith, as the law said,
and no
law No.
That there is no god worthy of worship, but Allah,
we should know it.
Without that knowledge, if we're just repeating it, la la la la, we don't really know what it means. We are acting on something probably most probably in the wrong way. If we are to act on it, and we don't really know what it means, then the likelihood is that we will be acting on it in the wrong way. So knowledge,
Prophet Muhammad Sallallahu wasallam enshrined knowledge in Islam
following a laws instruction. First Allah Allah decree in kuntum, la kalamoon. As those who know if you don't know if you don't know, ask those who know.
When am I f shalamov? A by de la? Only the knowledge of all truly fear Allah.
Allah allies lay that foundation already, that without real knowledge, one cannot truly fear a lot.
And
the way to get knowledge is to ask those who know whenever you don't know. So Prophet Muhammad SAW Salam made it a pillar of faith.
a pillar of faith a pillar in Islam,
meaning a foundation one of the basic foundations for our Islam, to seek knowledge. It's not of the five pillars of Islam or the six pillars of the man. No, I'm not saying that of those, but
Under, underneath the five pillars of Islam, and the six pillars of the man as the pillar of knowledge. Prophet manzar Sallam said, tolerable enemy for a Muslim, seeking knowledge is compulsory for every Muslim. How can we implement the five pillars of Islam or the six pillars of a man without knowledge? So knowledge is the foundation.
So, Prophet Muhammad SAW Salah made it a furry dog, what is it for either
something obligatory? If you don't do it, you're in sin.
So the prophet SAW Salaam, in that Hadees made ignorance sin,
made it sinful. For those who have the opportunity to gain the knowledge and don't do it, it is sinful.
It is something displeasing to Allah, and is something which can lead us to hell destroy this life
very serious. That's why he made seeking knowledge and obligation for Allah, Muslim on every Muslim according to his or her ability, naturally.
what is required of a child is not required of an adult.
What is required if somebody's going to make it is not required if somebody's not going to make it.
So different circumstances, may demand of us knowledge, which other circumstances don't, but
we are obliged to have the knowledge of whatever is obligatory on us.
Whatever is obligatory on us, at this point in time right now, we are obliged to have the knowledge of
so if we are going to make Hajj
it we are obliged to have knowledge of Hajj before we go to make arch.
What do Muslims do commonly, they go and make Hajj and then they come back and they ask people well, Chef molana should I have done that?
No, not when you came back. That's not the time to find out what you were supposed to be doing. Everybody was doing this thing and I went and did that was that okay?
No, this is not the time to ask. The time to ask was before going.
The time to ask was before going. We had the fast of Ashura yesterday.
This was an opportunity which Allah gave us
to remove from us sins of the past one of fast Ashura
removed from himself.
Some of the sins of the past
depending on the level of is fast,
it may be many,
they may be major
or it may be few. And they may be minor. How many of us fasted yesterday? Put your hands up?
Okay, maybe in India,
you are going according to different calendar. So you've calculated Ashura to be today.
Today is Ashura.
Nine today,
your Tuesday days off.
You're always two days off, okay? We have a knowledge problem here. Anyway, those of you following the general understanding, based on your own calculations here,
for Ashura, being tomorrow,
inshallah you make the intention to fast tomorrow. And you should try make the intention to fast today. You should have known before today, that
fasting on the 10th alone is not sufficient. It's rewarded, you do get a reward for it, but the best fast is to combine the ninth along with the 10th.
Tasha and Ashura
the ninth and the 10th. Why because mom's as alum though he only fasted on the 10th
and then
Last year of his life said, If I live to the next year, then I will fast a day before along with it. Some narrations mentioned the day after, most commonly a day before
in order to go along another path, other than those who only fast on the 10th, who were the Jews, Yom Kippur, they fast on the 10th. So to clarify the difference, that Muslims are conscious of the difference, he said, fast another day along with it. And we should know, what is the significance of that day. And I won't go into it, because that's another lecture in and of itself, fasting Ashura,
and what it means really too fast, but that knowledge because of the fact that Ashura is before us that opportunity, which Allah has placed in the year for us to earn for ourselves,
additional blessings, it is obligatory on us to have that knowledge so as to get from that practice, the full benefits, if we don't have that knowledge, we will miss the ninth today, we won't be fasting today when we should have been. And tomorrow, the 10 we will do it in a fashion that we have always done it before, without really knowing why do we fast on assura? Or how should we really fast, you know, and we just make a star and we have a nice little gathering and
another Ashura passes without us getting from it, the benefit which our law has put in it.
So
Prophet Mohammed says Allah made the seeking of knowledge obligatory on every Muslim.
Of course, first and foremost, it is Islamic knowledge.
What
prevents us from achieving that?
Today, one of the biggest mental shackles which prevents us from realizing
knowledge of the religion, seeking that knowledge is cultural baggage. What do I mean by cultural baggage? tradition and custom,
tradition and custom which opposes the truth?
Traditional custom, which opposes the truth, what do I mean? I'm gonna go with this one, my fifth chapter of the grind verse 104.
Allah says to the prophets I send them
Allah home tolo in our minds Allah Allah.
Paulo
La Habana.
If you Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wa sallam
call the people to Allah
and to what
the prophets yourself
offers them. They will say to you, what are parents who are doing a sufficient for us
1400 years ago, when Prophet Muhammad Sallallahu wasallam called the people to tell him to Islam. The people said, What we found our parents doing has been on our agenda and
what we found our parents doing
was sufficient for us.
That is cultural baggage.
Custom and tradition, which prevented them from accepting the message of Islam.
preventing them from gaining the knowledge
and applying that knowledge.
I will call him
uncle of the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam on his deathbed, after having protected, defended supported the prophets wa sallam.
On his deathbed when Prophet Muhammad wa Salaam invited him to accept
Islam?
What prevented him from accepting Islam?
His brothers were around him saying, Are you going to give up the way of our forefathers? Are you going to dishonor our family? Are you going to disregard our parents, our grandparents traditions?
And he submitted a submitted
to the idol of mine culture.
Today, many Muslims submit to the idol of culture.
So they can't find out
true Islam
because they are prevented by the idol of custom and tradition.
So,
that topic,
the importance of seeking knowledge is a massive topic. But enough for us to know that in order for us to not be astray, we must seek knowledge. It is obligatory, not only is it obligatory, it is a bad idea. It is the foundation of worship, and it is in itself worship. Prophet Muhammad SAW Salam said, Man, Salah, Katara, Konya, Demi, Sufi, elmen, sallAllahu, ala watery Cannella Jana, whoever takes the path in which he or she seeks knowledge, along with will make the path to paradise easy for them. And believe me, whatever makes the path to paradise easy has to be a Bader has to be worshipped, doing what is pleasing to Allah, because that's the basic definition of worship, the
basic definition of worship is doing what is pleasing to Allah.
So that is one major shackle and its sub shackles. The other major shackle is that of not acting on knowledge.
And that is as much a problem perhaps even a bigger problem than the problem of not having knowledge. In some respects, it may be a bigger problem,
because a person
may be excused in their ignorance. Maybe
ignorance is not necessarily an excuse before a law,
if we had access and means to get the knowledge than ignorance is not acceptable.
But if we didn't have access, we didn't have opportunity. And Allah is the one who destines our
circumstances of life, then of course, he is not going to hold us accountable.
There is an excuse here.
Whereas acting on the knowledge once you have it,
the only excuse is your being unable to act. And 99.9% of the times when we don't do what we know we should be doing it is because
we have chosen not to do it.
Only 1%
or less than 1%. Are we truly unable to do it?
Truly,
if we look into ourselves, honestly, of course, we always say I can't. The circumstances, we make all kinds of excuses why this, you know, I'm forced.
But if we really stop and look at it, it is not about being forced.
It is not about being forced. It is about choices that we make.
And these choices
are very dangerous choices.
choices, which are in fact to do what is displeasing to Allah and preferring that overdoing what is pleasing to Allah.
And what does that say about faith?
What does that say about faith itself? When we choose to do what we know is displeasing to Allah over what is pleasing to Allah?
Yesterday in my talk,
I spoke about Muslim dress
when we see sisters who are not dressing according to Muslim dress,
and we asked them Sister, why don't you dress according to Muslim dress
after the knowledge has come to you,
she will say it's not pleasing to my husband.
It's not pleasing to my family. It's not pleasing to the society, my neighbors, my people at work, or at school, or whatever the society doesn't like when I dress that way. So I dress this other way, the traditional way.
And then same thing with the brothers when we asked them brothers you already know that Salam is not acceptable if you are our eyes exposed. The brothers say well, you know my job they require me to dress like this. Yeah, I know I shouldn't but it's my job.
Or you know, that kind of dress is looked down on in the society and our people look at the person as being backwards you know, the dressing like people dressed 25 years ago, 50 years ago, baggy pants and these kind of things, you know, it's it's not smart looking.
is very serious.
Because as I said yesterday, every school of thought
Hanafi Maliki, Shafi humbly all say that one of the conditions for the acceptability of Salah
after facing the Qibla praying in a clean place,
having a state of purity.
Tara is sat through our
covering the private parts and for a man that is between the navel and the knee and covering does not mean simply having cloth on it. Because if that cloth is see through, what if you wore a pair of pants or to see through and believe me a time is coming.
A time is coming. When that will be in fashion to walk around with see through pants.
If you want to see through pants, would your hour be considered covered? No.
You're our would not be considered covered. We all agree on that one.
If you wore pants, which are spandex pants, spandex is like what the bicycle the guys who ride bicycles and bicycle races and what people are wearing now in the Olympics. That's why we shouldn't be watching the Olympics. Because the runners, what are they wearing? What kind of shorts are they wearing now? These are shorts which are sprayed on spray on shorts
skintyte exposing the hour. Can you pray in such fans?
No.
Prayer would not be acceptable. And of course that requirement is not only in Salah it is whenever you're outside in the public.
When you're out I should be covered
so it's not just Salah because some brothers would say when the time for Salah comes at work I have a long game you know I put on my long game and I make my Salah, our covered
handler that's better than not
handler that is better than not because at least for your Salah you are protecting yourself to that degree.
But still after you take the longest half of his alarm, only watching you when you're in Salah
outside of Salah
you are still under the command to come
Are our This is part of the male he job. So what stops us? And no, Allah said
in Surah, a soft 61st chapter, verse three, the ioannina amanu limita coluna malata fallu?
Or you will believe. Why do you not do what you say?
Why do you say what you don't? Do? You say that Saturday the hour is compulsory, covering your privates is obligatory, but you don't do it. Camera mccurtain en de la he and Joe malata falou
It is a great sin in the sight of a law that you
say what you don't do
that you say what you don't do.
That was the curse, which fell on the Jews which made them have the dubious aim. And all of us that do that we fall under the same category of the Marvel movie LA. And no.
That the main shackle sub shackle which prevents us from acting on our knowledge is what desires our
and as I said, I've not seen the one who makes his desires his God.
Have you not seen the one who makes his desires his God?
That's what we have done?
How did Satan gets Adam and Eve to disobey a law?
They were in a garden filled with trees they could eat from any of the trees but one tree
a law said don't eat from it.
One Tree, how did Satan get them and along warn them about Satan? How did Satan get them to eat from that tree? He played on their desires? He said as is mentioned in Surah Al out off seventh chapter verse 24, mana ha Kumara bukhoma and Javi schelotto illa and takuna Molokini out. akuna Minal Holly de he said to them,
You are Lord
only prohibited you from eating from this tree, so that you would not become
like angels
or that you will be eternal.
That you would not become like the angels, completely good, free from any sin.
Or that you will be of the eternals you never die.
With that
Adam and Eve ate from the tree. He played on their desires. And that's what we do, isn't it? Satan plays on our desires, our desires to want to look good, our desires to want to please family, please friends, please our boss please this one please the other one. So in doing that we choose to please our human compatriots people in this life human beings we choose to please them over pleasing Allah.
And what is that?
But check?
What is that but sure?
It is sure.
So those Muslims who say we don't practice you, that's what the others do. In fact, we are committing Chirac in this act. I'm not saying that we've become mushriks right? Because not every act of shirk makes a person and we should make
it is an act of idolatry. But it doesn't mean you become an idol later so I'm gonna call you an idol worshipper. No.
But understand that in its essence it is
choosing to please human beings over pleasing Allah meaning choosing you to please human beings.
And displeasing a law
is shared.
And it is caused by our worship of our desires, our submission to our desires.
This is the challenge.
This is the challenge before us today.
For us to actuate Islam, to make it a living faith,
we must have knowledge of that faith, we must know Islam, not as it has been handed to us by our parents, because our parents were not Sahaba.
They did not learn Islam from Rasulullah, sallallahu alayhi wasallam. So that we can say, but that's what our parents told us. No,
we are obliged to follow Islam, which was brought by Muhammad Sallallahu wasallam. That's the Islam. So if our parents weren't Sahaba, then we can use the excuse. Well, that's what my parents taught me.
So we are obliged to seek the correct knowledge of Islam.
And secondly, when we acquire that knowledge, we are obliged to act on it, to earn the pleasure of Allah.
To make it worship, to turn that act of seeking knowledge into faith,
we have to act on it
to earn the pleasure of a law. The reward for practicing the dean, we have to break those shackles,
break the shackles of custom and tradition
and habits,
break the shackles of desire to please ourselves and to please others,
free our minds so that
we can become true Muslims. This is the challenge before us today, my brothers and sisters, it is a great challenge.
And it is what distinguishes between us and the first generation.
That generation, which Prophet Muhammad SAW seldom called the best of generations. Hire Nancy Courtney, the best of generations, the best of people are my generation, Samantha Deena Luna home, from Allah de Luna home, then those who follow them, then those who follow them. The first three generations were the best. Why? What made them the best, because they sought knowledge.
They sought knowledge from the sources.
They gained it from the pure source, and they acted on it.
They acted on that knowledge.
That was what distinguishes them from us. But
each and every one of us has the ability to rise to the level
that each and every one of us has the ability to rise to the level of the Sahaba
with regards to knowledge, and practice.
With regards to knowledge and practice, we cannot equal them in the sense of seeing Rasool Allah Azza wa sallam, maybe we might see him in a dream.
And the process also told us that if we see rasulillah in a dream, he sees him in a dream that he has seen us all along.
But there are issues concerning that.
Very few people are blessed with that.
So we can't equal them in that sense, in general, but we can equal them in the sense of seeking knowledge. In fact, the knowledge has been gathered for us in a way that it was not for them.
When you read about the lives of Imam Abu hanifa I've met him the humble and the early scholars. Those who gathered had eaten on Buhari and that they struggle they strove they traveled to get that knowledge. Now we have it all together in books, CDs, it's all there.
So it is much easier for us.
And then there is acting on that knowledge.
And everybody is equal in that regard. You can act or not that you can choose to act or choose not to act. So, in that sense, we are all in a position
to achieve the status of the Sahaba with regards to our faith
and that's why
scholars are agreement that though problems are Sallam said, the best of generations is my generation, the Sahaba. It doesn't mean that they were not individuals from the generation after better than those of his generation. He spoke about the generation as a whole,
but they were of different levels. So there can be in the generations after individuals who are greater
than those who are of that generation,
not greater than abubaker. Because the promises and and said about him that he was the that's the nation. But I'm the General Sahaba who are on a variety of different levels, it is possible
that you will find scholars living amongst us in this generation today who are on a level greater than them. It's possible as individuals.
So the challenge is there. The challenge of faith is there for us to break the shackles on our minds,
to free ourselves from the satanic chains, which prevent us from making our faith, a living, real faith barakallahu li walakum wa rahmatullahi.
Wa Alaykum warahmatullahi wabarakatuh.
Dr. Philips inshallah for the lecture,
ladies and gentlemen, and now, we'll go into the question and answer session.
There are a few rules which I will briefly mention, in order to do this in an in an orderly manner. We have two microphones placed in this hall, one here in the front for the brothers microphone number one. And in the front of the sisters section. Microphone number two, I asked that when you approach the microphone, you stand in one line, forming a cube and do not bunch up around the microphone. follow any instructions given to you by the microphone attendance, you may ask one question and one question only. Your question should be on the topic. If you have a second question, please go to the rear of the line. And if you come back to the microphone, you may ask your second
question. written questions will take second priority. So if you write down your question, it's better to try and find someone else to ask the question for you.
As always, in these events, we encourage the non Muslims to ask questions to make comments or to give some kind of comments, you know, criticisms that they may have heard in the top and may have misunderstood sometimes, I'm talking now to the non Muslims. What you think would be a criticism that we would object to it's sometimes it's something that we would actually agree with.
Anything that you say will be taken in a spirit of kindness and
mutual interfaith dialogue, and no one will become angry with you. We will not become angry with you because of something that you asked or said in order to gain clarification. That's what the purpose of inviting you to the microphone is.
Ladies and gentlemen, inshallah, we will begin now. I encourage anyone who's sitting next to a non Muslim to please try to motivate that non Muslim to ask a question. And for the non Muslims who are in the audience. If you have a question, simply go to any of the volunteers which you'll find in the aisles or in the center aisle and tell them you have a question. They will assist you in getting to the front of the line so that you may ask your question, okay, you don't have to wait in the line. Just make sure one of the volunteers helps you and you'll come to the front of the line and you may ask your question, with no further delays. inshallah, if our speaker is ready, we'll start
questioning. Could you please state your name and occupation sister? salaam aleikum wa rahmatullah wa barakato. My name is asthma, and I'm a teacher. How do I react to my friend who says that ignorance is better than gaining knowledge and not acting on it? Because gaining knowledge and not acting on it is the greatest sin
okay.
There is a famous saying in the West when I grew up, people would say ignorance is bliss.
That's how they put it. Ignorance is bliss. When you don't know what is required of you, then you're not required. So you can live an easy life. You don't know you have to pray five times a day don't have to pray makes life easy, doesn't it?
But this is a satanic statement. This is one of the ways that Satan deludes people into not seeking correct knowledge.
No, if you are able to seek knowledge and you choose not to, you carry the full sin. So don't think that because I didn't find out because that ever happened. Sometimes you want to tell somebody about something which is wrong. And I said, No, no, tell me Don't tell me. I don't want to know. Because if I don't know, then it's okay. I can keep on doing what I'm doing. Right? doesn't work like that. Right? If you are driving down the road,
beyond the speed limit,
and there were signposts they were posed with said what the speed limit was the police stop you. Can you say, I was ignorant. I didn't see the signpost you know, they say no, ignorance is not an excuse before the law
is what they tell you, and know that it's the same thing before a law. Ignorance is not an excuse before a law. If you had the means to get the knowledge, brother, could you please state your name and occupation? salaam aleikum wa rahmatullah wa barakato. I am SMS is Al Hamid. I'm doing my master's degree in Computer Applications. My question is, what kind of knowledge we need and what we do to get to perform our Salah with concentration. Okay.
We're sort of off the topic a little bit. But anyway, what kind of knowledge is should be given priority, it should be obviously, religious knowledge, because that is for both this life and the next.
Included in that knowledge that we need to seek is also knowledge of this world. As you're seeking computer studies, it is something that we need for the functioning of society functioning of life here today. So it is a valid area to seek knowledge and also
how to seek correct knowledge about Salah in order to make the Salah
the best way. Well, prophet SAW Selim said Son, Luca Mara, Timonium, Salah, pray, as you saw me pray. So we need to know how did the prophet SAW Selim pray externally? That's where we start from externally. How did he pray?
Now, it may involve some small things that we might say, well,
that's not so big. Now, some people when they're going to raise their hands, they raise it and touch their ears, right? As if they want to make sure that their ears are still on the head, right? You touch your ear, or something like this before? Of course, there is no mention in the description of the prophets prayer that he touched his ears. You know,
no mention. It just said he raised his hands to the level of his ears
or to the level of his shoulders.
And this just an example I'm giving right?
And one might say, but you know, what's the big deal? If you touch your air, say, put your hand here? What's the big deal?
Well, the prophet SAW Selim said, Pray, as you saw me pray. If it wasn't important, he wouldn't have said that.
Right. That's what we have to believe it is important, because he didn't say things which weren't important. He was sent by a law to tell us the important things. So if he said prayers, you saw me pray, then that's what we should do, isn't it? So we don't say this is not important. No, if he said, What prayers you saw me pray that we tried to do it as closely as possible, externally, and internally.
So he gave us advice in terms of when we're praying, if things happen, which might distract us from our prayer, what we should do and so we read about the prayer, we study the prayer, we should know the prophetic way of prayer. Because it was the best way to pray.
Okay. So, thank you for the question. Sister, your name and occupation? Yeah. My name is Sabrina. I'm doing mechanical engineering. I just wanted to ask, it's relating to the topic only that one of the biggest shackles that you face is being attached to this world and possessions of this world.
So anything that was
said in his Hadith regarding refraining from you know, what can we do not to be attached to this world, of course, it's personal Jihad but something else, you know with that, okay?
Prophet Muhammad wa sallam
had warned us
about how we use our time. He said, Now mahtani Malibu non fee mica funeral millionaires. There are two blessings about which people are diluted.
Most people are deluded as to how to hold for our good health and spare time.
So what we need to help the youth
is to get them involved to be involved in activities, which would make use of their health. While they're healthy, they can do things
and make use of their time. So they don't have so called spare time, time to kill.
You know, as I said that the idle mind is the devil's workshop, right? You have spare time than shaytaan will come and give you things to do, which are not good things. So we try to occupy get them involved in activities find ways and means to have them actively occupied in beneficial things. If we're able to do that, then we're able to help them along way.
But it's when we are too busy. We don't have time we leave them with the television, you know, we leave them with whatever hanging out with their friends just running out and playing outside wasting time. You know, in a bad environment. This is where they go astray, because that environment is calling to materialism, to be caught up in it, to love it, to sacrifice for it, you know, to make it very dear to the heart. So I would that's my advice in terms of utilizing time effectively. So we talked about time management for our children, we can't leave it up to them to manage their time, their children. And it is the nature of children to waste time in foolish pursuits, whatever pleases
them, they're young. So we have to guide them, we have to find for them alternatives, because it's not just don't do this. Don't do that. Don't do that don't do the other. No, we have to say, instead of doing this, let us do this. Instead of doing that, let's do the other.
Thank you, brother, could you please state your name and occupation? slowly come? My name is Mani Rama. I'm a tax consultant. My question is, the educated people can seek knowledge, as they know, from where to seek the knowledge. But for a common person, when I advise to a common person, as you say, they simply reject me. So how can I reach them? Well, now you're addressing an issue of power.
That is the issue of power. How do you give power to people? You know, how do you invite people to knowledge, there are a variety of different principles governing it. One very important principle is that you have to win over hearts. Because when you're dealing with ignorant people, then you have to win over their hearts, they have to feel confidence in you. They have to
have a love for you to be able to listen to you. If they don't know you from any place. They don't have any special concern etc for you, then your words are just words, they don't want to hear it. So you when you're working with people who are from not an educated level, then you have to work on an emotional level, you have to establish a bridge between yourself and them. And that is one of love that you treat them in a nice way. You speak to them in a nice way you build a relationship with them, and then you try to introduce that knowledge them gradually. But if you just come to them, no haram shell. So until then, of course, you will not be very successful.
Thank you for the question, sister, could you please state your question please?
This is a question from a non Muslim system. She asked when a man can get married to many women, why not a woman can do it. Okay. This is an issue of knowledge here.
Why a woman cannot marry many men.
Because it is the nature fundamentally
of men and women. That a law created them
in such a way that the woman attaches herself to one man
and
Men can have the attachment to more than one woman. That is a part of their nature that allows created them with. And that nature matches the reality of a surplus of women in the world, and a minority of men, which is the norm in the world. So it's, it is a characteristic, which matches a societal need.
Also, it addresses the basic need of a person desire of a person to want to know who his parents are. If a man has four wives, they all get pregnant, and they all have children. Every one of them can say, I'm your mother, and that is your father. But if a woman has four husbands, she gets pregnant, has a child, what does she say to the child? I'm your mother, and one of these four guys is your father.
Naturally, the child is not going to feel good with that. One of them How do I decide which one
people might tell we have DNA testing. DNA is for a very small proportion of people in this world, the vast majority of people have no opportunity to have DNA testing to see who could have been and who couldn't have been. So that's normal and natural.
So, polygamy was instituted by God to serve a need in the society
serve a need, which is basically to absorb surplus women into family halau family circumstances and to avoid them falling into corruption in order to fulfill their natural desires of wanting to have love and to have family to have husband etc.
Okay, so panicle Omar will be Ambika Machado. Allah, Allah, Allah and Mr. Federica.
We ask Allah to bless us with knowledge and the courage and faith to act on that knowledge.
Spread.
paradise must be
there must be one
each day
to the
spread