Bilal Philips – The Best In Islam #27

			Salam alaykum Warahmatullahi Wabarakatuh May Allah's peace and blessings beyond each and every one
of you would like to welcome you to our segment of the program, the best in Islam.
		

			This program, we look at all that is considered best from an Islamic perspective.
		

			We have guidance in the texts of the Quran. And we have guidance in the texts of the Sunnah. The
explanations of the Prophet Muhammad, may God's peace and blessings be upon him.
		

			And we have been looking at previously the best in Islam, in terms of the practice of Islam.
		

			We're now going to look at
		

			what is the best with regards to the controversial topic?
		

			Jihad. The Prophet may God's peace and blessings be upon him
		

			had said, as Narrated by Abu side, I will mama taught it when she had of the Lord jihadi Kennametal
hawk. And this will turn in Jaya.
		

			The best form of jihad
		

			is a truthful word in the presence of a tyrannical ruler.
		

			So this, again, helps to clarify the concept of jihad as we have explained in previous episode, that
it is not simply about picking up a gun and flying a plane and dropping bombs or whatever, you know,
in war and battle. That is an aspect
		

			it may reach that level. But Jihad fundamentally, is a struggle to promote what is correct what is
truthful, over what is false.
		

			And incorrect Jihad
		

			can involve
		

			writing,
		

			in defense of the truth, it could involve speaking,
		

			it could involve building
		

			it could involve so many different things that are connected with life jihad is a part and parcel of
it, that we should never think that jihad is purely fighting, involving violence, bloodletting,
		

			destruction, etc. That may occur in some instances, etc. But that is not primarily jihad, as the
prophet may God's peace be upon him clarified here, that the best form of jihad is a truthful word
in the presence of a tyrannical ruler, a ruler who is a tyrant is oppressing, and hurting, harming
society, and somebody stands up
		

			and speaks the truth to him, stops them in his tracks.
		

			Or he's just killed simply because he spoke the truth, but to stand up at that time, when you have a
tyrant one who is killing if anybody resists him, or jailing or harming in one way or another,
families, etc, people are afraid for that person to stand up then that is the
		

			best form of jihad, the truthful word, this is the words of Prophet Muhammad, peace and blessings be
upon him. So we need to put this concept of jihad in its proper context. In fact, there is a
narration that the Prophet told us that when the Antichrist comes as one of the signs of the last
day,
		

			when the Antichrist is forcing people to accept Him as God, a young man
		

			will come.
		

			And he will be called by the Antichrist, the JAL mercy and the gel will be called
		

			and told to accept Him as God and He will reject Him and say, No,
		

			I know you are the false Christ, the Antichrist.
		

			So
		

			the jail will cut him in half,
		

			walk between his heart, his bodies, to the right and to the left, he will walk in between them. Then
he'll turn and call the body to come back. The halves will come together, he'll come back alive
again. And he will say to him now do you accept me as God? And He will say, I'm now even more
certain that you are not.
		

			So the Jol will take him and try to cut off his head, he's not able to do so. But he grabs him and
throws him into the fire that he has with him, because the job will have with him what looks like a
river from paradise.
		

			Cool, sweet, fragrant.
		

			And he will have with him a river which will look like a river from *. Lava,
		

			stinking
		

			hot, he will take him and throw him into that lava, and it will be burnt up.
		

			That's what the people will see. The Prophet Muhammad Salah had said he will be the greatest martyr
that ever lived. It will be the greatest Martin that ever lived. He
		

			stood up.
		

			He made the jihad by speaking the truth. Before the job, he could have saved himself. By accepting,
though he didn't believe it in his heart, accepting it ultimately, he chose not to.
		

			And the province was salam had explained to us that what happened to him when he was thrown into the
fire when he was burnt up, it looked like he was burnt into cinders. You know, we couldn't see him
anymore. disappeared, that actually
		

			that was his route to paradise.
		

			And he said that if we find ourselves in that situation, where we're between what appears to be that
river from Paradise, and the river from * jumping the one that looks like *, because the
antichrists * is Paradise, and his paradise is helpless. So, just reiterating the concept that
Jihad at its peak, as the Prophet Muhammad Salem has said, is speaking the truth before a tyrannical
ruler. Another example, which the Prophet may God's peace and blessings be upon him gave, which
helps to show further that jihad is not merely picking up guns and fighting. There was a narration
from Amber, even armor, which he quoted the Prophet Muhammad Salama saying, of the Lord jihad. Man,
		

			Jah had enough Sahu fee that Allah azza wa jal, the best jihad is that one of you strives against
the evil temptations of his soul, for the sake of Allah, Most Great and Glorious, is an authentic
narration.
		

			The Prophet here clarifies for us that jihad is not merely with guns, bombs, etc.
		

			The best jihad is one who strives against the evil temptations of his own soul for the sake of
Allah. Because in the end, if jihad is to uphold the truth, it is to establish what is right and
prohibit or stop what is harmful and wrong,
		

			then, that has to begin with the individual, because the one on the battlefield, if he has not
tackled what is wrong within himself, then on the battlefield, he will commit all kinds of
atrocities. And that's why it's not surprising when we find the army, supposedly, to police, the
Muslim world and to ensure that, you know, justice, and goodness prevails, we find so many cases of
		

			members of the military being prosecuted for all kinds of atrocities. So though they went in,
proudly, you know, upholding what's supposed to be a righteous cause. When they got into that
society, they were just, they went wild. So many people
		

			people were hurt, you know, were harmed in the most evil of ways.
		

			Because they themselves, were not good people. They're not
		

			chosen struggle of the fight, because they really believed in right over wrong, etc. It was a job.
You're in the military, you do whatever you're told to do, and atrocities came along with it. With
that. We're going to take a break, and I will see you shortly after the break.
		

			Salam aleikum, wa rahmatullah wa barakato. May Allah's peace and blessings beyond each and every one
of you would like to welcome you to our segment of the program, the best in Islam.
		

			This program, we look at all that is considered best from an Islamic perspective.
		

			Prior to the break, we were looking at other forms of jihad, which most people are not familiar
with, they think of jihad and the jihadists, you know, as terrorists blowing up things blowing up
people, cutting throats and all kinds of things which have been attributed to jihad. The name jihad
is us. So jihad is like a bad word. But really, from the Islamic perspective, no, jihad is a very
noble struggle, struggle for the truth.
		

			And it begins within the individual himself, so much so that the Prophet may not be seamless be upon
him, had said that the greatest Jihad was the struggle against the evil temptations of the soul. The
Prophet also went on to define jihad in another way with regards to women. Because from the Islamic
perspective, women don't fight on the battlefield in general, there were some exceptions made, but
in general, women
		

			would help the sick or the wounded, etc. From a nursing type perspective, or when the people were
brought home back to Medina, they were looked after, etcetera, or they maintain they looked after
the children and the city, you know, when those were engaged in struggle had to leave the city where
the majority, because really, in the time of the Prophet make us peace and blessings be upon him.
They didn't have a standing army. There was no army that okay, the Battle of come send the army out.
No. When the battle came, everybody went. There was no special army, everybody fought, who was able,
every able bodied person went out and fought. So because of the fact that, you know, Jihad was
		

			referred to, in so many different narrations as, you know, among the greatest deeds. We have, for
example, in the narration of Anna's, and even Massoud, in which he quotes the Prophet Hamza Salam,
as saying that among the best of deeds, is jihad feasable Allah, so and this is in reference to the
actual fight, going out and fighting in defense of the Muslim ummah, protecting the Muslim ummah,
protecting Islam, protecting the spread of Islam, protecting the practice of Islam, all of that,
where people will put their lives on the line for it. This is called Jihad feasability law.
		

			However, though, the reward was so great.
		

			The women question What about us? You know, I Isha Allahu Ana, wife of the Prophet SAW Salem. She
asked the Prophet Jana Sula, not Al jihad of the Lula Hamel. AlFalah Naja hit, O Messenger of Allah
We consider Jihad the best of deeds, so shouldn't we make jihad? He replied, LA, lacking of the
Jihad hodgen abroad
		

			for the women, he told him that you shouldn't go out to fight instead, the best jihad for women is
the blessed Hajj
		

			halogen abroad.
		

			So he is referring to hajima Breuer as jihad for women. Because of course, when people make the
pilgrimage
		

			the pilgrimage involves struggle
		

			on strike difficulty for men, it is easier for them to handle that situation for women, having
children or having had children. The struggle of pilgrimage is far greater on them far more great.
		

			So Allah, in His mercy, he designated that for the women as their jihad. That is their struggle to
make Hajj to make a correct Hajj not just to make any hedge, but to make a correct Hajj, Hajj, which
is accepted by a law, wherein the one who does it, all of his or her sins are erased, as the Prophet
Solomon said, the person would return back home, like a newborn child free from sin. So we have the
Prophet may God's peace and blessings be upon him, referring to Hajj as being jihad. So this further
strengthens the argument
		

			that one should not merely use the term jihad to refer to a military struggle.
		

			I know that those who have been painting this ugly picture of Islam, suicide bombers, you know,
killing in the sense, decapitating, *, * all these other kinds of things going on, and
attributed to those who they call jihadist. This is the common image. And they don't really allow
the Muslim scholarship or Muslim speakers to convey this other picture. The picture that that is not
jihad, but those people are doing in the name of Islam and in the name of jihad. What they're doing
is not from Islam, Islam prohibits, you know, the slaughter of prisoners. It prohibits the massacre
of innocence. It prohibits * a woman these kinds of things which may go on Islam is against all
		

			of this. This is not from Islam at all. This is not jihad. This is just war, a war over territory,
seeking to control resources to build a state for its own purposes. This is what you're dealing
with. This is not jihad. And when Muslims try to explain that No, jihad is actually this other way,
which doesn't involve necessarily military this No, no, no, they're just making up excuses. But here
are the clear statements of Prophet Muhammad may God's peace and blessings be upon him, wherein he
is referred to jihad in a variety of different ways. We're now going to look at another aspect of
the best in Islam. And that is with regards to journeys, where we should take journeys to what is
		

			the best place to journey to as a religious journey. We have the statement of the Prophet as
narrated by Javed even Abdullah Hey Roma rookie but la he aroa Hill, Masjid the Heather will be to
lotic the best places to ride camels, to our this Masjid of mine, and the ancient house, that is the
Kaaba Mecca, that if we are to set out on journeys, and we're making journeys all the time we have
vacation, etc. Then the best place is to go to Makkah and Medina, rather than going for holidays,
Turkey and Malaysia, or other countries for the scenery for the entertainment whatever, better if we
have the funds to go there. We have the funds to go to Mecca and Medina better to go to Mecca and
		

			Medina, the reward for prayer there is so much greater than anywhere else in the world. It's not
worth missing. So we should be conscious of what we plan in terms of our journeys. Um, that's not to
say that these are the only place we can go we can go to any place else. But at least we should try
to go there. I find people you know, in Malaysia who have flown over Mecca
		

			and Medina
		

			to get to Malaysia
		

			and they have not been to Mecca and Medina. So this is something that we shouldn't let happen.
		

			Our first journeys that we're able to make, we should try to make them to Mecca and Medina.
		

			Having done that, having fulfilled our responsibility, then you want to go elsewhere, no problem.
But priority should be given to these two masjids. These two mosques, where prayer in them is worth
1000s of times more than prayer elsewhere. Also, for our families, when we're going on vacations, we
should try to bring our families to these areas, rather than taking them simply for entertainment to
Disneyland or to the value that comes from Disneyland. Zero, just playing entertainment, maybe a
good portion of it is not really even Halal entertainment. So we should strive to use our resources
in ways which are pleasing to Allah, going to places which are pleasing to Allah as much as we
		

			possibly can. And that doesn't mean that Islam doesn't allow us to enjoy ourselves. We can still
enjoy ourselves, but always we have to think, is this really halal? Is this an acceptable way to
enjoy ourselves? Is this pleasing to Allah subhanaw taala we always have this perspective. So the
best will always be what is most pleasing to Allah. And we try to do that at all time. Okay, we've
come to the end now of our program, our episode on the best in Islam. And in it, we have looked at
what is best in terms of where we travel,
		

			as well as looking at other aspects of jihad, which clarify for us that jihad is not merely on the
battlefield, but that the biggest battlefield for jihad is in our own hearts. And with that, we're
going to bid you farewell and hope to see you in our upcoming episodes of the best in Islam Salaam
Alaikum Warahmatullahi wabarakatuh.