Jeffrey Lang – Pillars of Islam The Spiritual Dimension 281
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AI: Transcript ©
Assalamu
alaikum.
Inshallah, I will be moderating this session.
Our guest speaker today is brother Jeffrey Lang.
He's a professor of math at the University
of Kansas.
He he has 3 beautiful daughters, and he
he wanted me to say that he misses
them and his wife very, very much. So
inshallah, that message will get to them. Yeah.
The tape will reach them.
The tape will reach them. Okay.
This topic for tonight is pillars of Islam,
the spiritual dimension.
So brother Jeffrey, go ahead.
These
these microphones are are
low. Oh, good.
See, my head is about to go here.
Good.
Yeah. I think the can you hear me?
Should I do the same, please? No. Those
are just really bad. Okay.
Alright.
Ismela'i Rahmani Rahim.
In the name of God the merciful, the
compassionate.
Well they gave me 2 hours.
The program is supposed to last till 9.
I don't think it will.
What I have to say is
brief. It shouldn't take me more than 30,
35 minutes. Of course.
And then there'll be some question and answers.
And hopefully, you'll all get out of here
at least by 8 o'clock.
When brother Hamid Hamid Azale, vice president of
ISNA,
invited me to this conference,
I told him I have run out of
things to talk about.
So he asked me,
what are you writing about lately?
I told him I'm writing a book called
Even the Angels Asked. I'm coming up towards
the end of it.
And right now I'm writing about the pillars
of Islam.
And he said, well then, talk about that.
And I said, but, Hamid,
the audience has heard this subject time and
time again,
and I have nothing new to say.
And they know as much about this subject
as I do.
So he said, well,
come anyway. We need a speaker.
And, just make it breathe.
So here I am.
In the book,
I'm trying to take a new angle, or
at least what I perceive to be a
new angle in discussing the 5 pillars of
Islam.
When I was studying Islam
as a non Muslim,
and I came across
books that dealt with this subject,
I inevitably found that it was covered in
a very dry and sort of mechanical
fashion.
The pillars were described in detail as far
as how to perform them.
Several hadith
about their merits were quoted
and that was the extent of it.
And
as a non Muslim, as an atheist as
a matter of fact,
considering this religion,
out of curiosity mostly,
I found that this subject was perhaps
one of the least inspiring
as it's often
covered in text on Islam.
It was inevitably the least inspiring
chapter.
The reason being because
as an American,
when I think thought of faith back in
those days, I thought of the spiritual side
of faith. To me as an American,
faith
meant something spiritual.
So when I came upon the Islamic rituals,
I explained I expected
to find something deeply spiritual and profound.
And I, inevitably, I found it to be
very dry
and matter of fact.
And I was greatly disappointed.
So
today, I would like you to sit there
for a while and think about how you
would take a fellow like me back in
those days, and how you would explain to
him
your experience of the pillars of Islam.
What do they mean to you? What do
they do for you? What do you get
out of them?
What
do you accomplish by doing them?
And remember that you're talking to somebody that
didn't didn't grow up in your tradition.
So even though I know this subject that
I'm about to discuss is well known to
all of you, I want this to be
an exercise for all of us. An exercise
in trying to communicate
one of the most important elements of our
religion
to those who are not of our religion.
This is my own my own attempt.
And
I hope you will formulate your own. Because
when you do
communicate
your belief, your faith,
experience to non Muslims,
you do have to do it, I believe,
in a way that's personal.
So that they that is what will move
them. That will that will be what will
make them appreciate your faith experience.
So in other words, I don't want you
to mimic what I'm saying here today. I
want you to internalize these questions yourself
and hopefully,
and to communicate
that personal experience of faith to others.
It's important to remember that when when I'm
about to give this lecture that I was
a atheist for many many years. From the
time I was about 16 to the time
I was 28.
Because that'll help you to understand
the first story I'm gonna begin with this
lecture with.
Because when you're an atheist, you reject God
outright.
And when you do such a thing, you're
committing a grave
and dangerous wrong.
Grave and dangerous because you are harming yourself,
your soul, your person
in very profound ways.
And when
you convert to Islam,
there's a lot of repair work to do.
Because you've done such damage to yourself.
You've built up so much pride,
so much vanity,
so many
harmful qualities. But it's gonna take some time
to break them down and to build all
over again and to construct your character.
The account I'm about to begin this story
with is not flattering to
me. It's actually very embarrassing.
And I have a difficult time sharing it
with you because it doesn't put me in
a very good light.
But I do think it says something about
the mercy and the glory and the grandeur
of God, of Allah, the Almighty and the
Merciful.
And for that reason, I share it with
you. Before I begin it, I would that
story, I would just like to tell you
something, a quote that, imam of a masjid
in San Francisco once said to me when
I asked him about his experience of prayer.
He said, and when we pray
and put our nose to the ground,
we feel a joy,
a rest,
a strength
that is outside this world
and no words could ever
truly describe.
You just have to experience it to know.
Of all the words I ever heard in
my life,
those words were the words that unlocked
the key in my soul that got me
to the stage where I was ready to
become a Muslim.
On the day I converted to Islam,
the imam of the student Masjid gave me
a manual
on how to perform salat,
the Islamic prayer rituals.
Take it easy,
the Muslim students told me.
Don't push yourself too hard.
It's better to take your time.
You
know, slowly, slowly.
First time I heard that expression. Slowly, slowly.
Slowly, slowly. I'd
hear it a lot after that.
I was
dumbfounded. I was surprised by their concern.
How hard could it be to pray? I
wondered.
When I was, back in my childhood, I
prayed all the time. It didn't seem pretty
effortless effortless.
In any case, that same night, I decided
to ignore their advice,
which I typically do, and I decided to
start performing the 5 prayers at their appointed
scheduled
times. So I sat for a long time
on my couch in the small, dimly lit
living room of my Diamond Heights apartment in
San Francisco,
studying and rehearsing
the prayer postures.
I also studied and rehearsed the verses of
the Quran that I needed to recite,
and the supplications that I would have to
make.
Now much of what I had to say
would be in Arabic. So I had not
only to memorize the meaning, but I had
to memorize the Arabic transliterations
and their interpretations
that the manual provided.
So I poured over this manual for a
couple of hours at least, maybe 3 and
even 4,
before I felt confident enough to attempt
my first Islamic prayer.
And it was close to midnight,
so I decided to perform the Asha prayer.
Well, I walked into the bathroom,
where the vanity is,
placed the manual on the sink counter, and
with it open to the section that described
how to perform,
the washing for the prayer,
I opened it up and I started to
follow the instructions very meticulously.
I was like a cook trying a recipe
for the first time. I was sort of
following the instructions and looking over here and
doing this, and they gave pictures.
When I was done, I shut off the
faucet and returned to my living room.
And with water still dripping from various parts
of my body,
for the instructions stated that it's preferable not
to dry oneself with a towel
after who washed for the prayer. I stood
there dripping
and trying to find
the right direction.
So I stood in the center of the
room,
aimed myself in the direction of what I
hoped was Mecca,
although I had never been there before.
I glanced back over my shoulder then to
make sure that the apartment door was secured
and locked.
As frankly, I was a little bit embarrassed
and nervous. I didn't want any neighbors passing
by or knocking on the door, pushing it
open and saying, what's Jeff doing that?
Turned around, looked at the door. It was
locked. It was bolted. Checked again just the
second time, making sure again, definitely, it was
locked and bolted. And then I looked straight
ahead,
raised my
raised my hands to the side of my
face with my palms open and my thumbs
touching my earlobes.
And then in a very hushed voice, I
pronounced.
And I hoped no one heard me.
I felt a little bit anxious,
a little bit embarrassed,
even a little bit humiliated.
I couldn't read rid myself of the the
feeling that someone was out there somewhere spying
on
me. Then I suddenly realized,
and I was seized with panic,
that I had left the curtains to my
living room open.
What if a neighbor should look in and
see me? I thought.
I stopped what I was doing,
went to the window,
flashed the light outside,
looked around the backyard.
Thank god it was empty.
K. So I drew the curtains carefully to
a close,
made sure that they overlapped so nobody could
pursue peek through any crack,
turned to my position
in the middle of the room.
Once again,
approximated the direction of Mecca.
Stood straight, raised my hands to where my
thumbs were touching my earlobes
and whispered, this time even more quiet than
I did the first time, Allahu Akbar.
In a barely audible tone,
I slowly and clumsily
recited the first Surah of the Quran,
and then another short Surah after that in
Arabic.
Although I'm sure that any Arabs, if they
had heard me that night, wouldn't have understood
a word I said.
I then quietly said another,
a long leg,
buck, and bowed with my back perpendicular to
my legs and with my hands grasping my
knees.
I had never bowed to anyone or anything
before,
and I felt embarrassed.
I was glad that I was alone.
And while still in bowing
position, I repeated several times the phrase,
glory
be to my lord the great.
I then stood up and recited as best
I could.
God hears those who praise him, and then,
Our lord, and to you belongs all praise.
And at that moment,
I felt my pulse racing and my heart
pounding
and my anxiety mount mounting as I meekly
called out another.
I arrived at the moment when I had
to perform
a,
test, a prostration.
And I stood there frozen.
I was petrified.
I stared at the area in front of
me on the carpet where I was supposed
to be down on all fours and with
my face to the ground.
And I couldn't do
it. I just could not do it.
I must have stood there 30 seconds.
I could not get myself to lower myself
to the floor,
to humble myself
with my nose to the ground,
like a slave
groveling before his master.
It was as if my legs and back
had braces on them that would not let
me bend.
I felt too ashamed and humiliated.
I could imagine the snickers and cackles of
friends and acquaintances
watching me make a fool of myself.
I envisioned how ridiculous and pitiable I would
look to them.
Poor Jeff, I could hear them all say.
He really went Arab crazy in San Francisco,
didn't he?
Please,
please, please help me do this, I pray.
I took a deep breath and then I
forced myself to that floor.
Now on my hands and knees, I hesitated
for a brief moment. My neck was stiff.
I couldn't put it down.
I then pushed my face to that carpet.
Ridding my mind of all other thoughts, I
mechanically
pronounced 3 times. I didn't think about what
I was saying. I just didn't allow even
a whisper to enter my mind.
Robotically, I said it 3 times. Glory be
to my lord in the
highest. A lot like bar, I called out
and sat back on my heels. I had
memorized this part. I knew what to say,
and I wasn't gonna do anything else but
just get through it. I kept my mind
blank, refusing to allow any distractions to enter
it. A lot of that part, I pronounced
again and stuck my face once again onto
that carpet.
With my nose touching the ground, I called
out mechanically.
Glory be to my lord in the highest.
I just wasn't going to stop myself. I
was gonna get through this even if it
killed me.
I called and lifted myself from the floor
and stood up straight. 3 cycles I go
to go, I told myself, reassuring myself as
if I was swallowing some bitter and difficult
medicine.
I had to wrestle with my emotions and
pride the entire rest of the prayer.
But it did get a little easier with
each cycle.
I was even almost calm
during the last prostration.
While in the final sitting posture, I recited
the tesh teshahud,
and then entered ended prayer by saying, Assalamu
alaikum, Urahmatullah.
Calling it over my right shoulder. Assalamu alaikum,
Urahmatullah.
Peace be upon you in the mercy of
God, calling it over my left.
And I sat there spent
completely exhausted.
And I remained there on the floor
reviewing the battle
I had just been through.
I was extremely embarrassed
that I had to struggle so hard to
get through but a single prayer.
And my head lowered in shame,
very much in shame, I prayed,
please forgive me for my arrogance, for my
vanity,
for my stupidity.
I have come from very, very far,
and I still have very far to go.
At that moment, I experienced something which I
had never felt before.
And which is therefore
very difficult for me to put into words.
A wave of what I could only describe
as coldness
swept through me,
which seemed to radiate from some point within
my chest.
It was rather intense and I was initially
startled and I remember shuttering.
However, it was much more than a physical
sensation.
It affected my emotions as well in a
strange way.
It was if mercy had taken on some
kind of objective form. It was now penetrating
and enveloping me and flowing through me.
I cannot say exactly why,
but I began to cry.
Tears began to run down my face and
I found found myself weeping
uncontrollably.
And the harder I cried, the more I
felt the embrace of the most powerful kindness
and compassion.
I was not crying out of guilt,
although I probably should have,
nor was I crying out of shame or
joy.
It was as if this huge dam
of pain,
this huge dam of anger
had been unblocked.
And all that pain and anger and suffering
was pouring out of me and being released.
As I say these words to you, I
cannot help but wonder
if God's forgiveness
is more than his mere absolution of our
sins.
If his forgiveness is not also
soothing and repairing,
curative and assuaging as well.
I remained on my knees, crouched to the
floor with my head in my hands,
sobbing for some time.
When I finally stopped crying,
I was completely
exhausted.
The experience I just had
was for me too unfamiliar and overwhelming
to try to rationalize at that moment. And
I also thought it was too definitely too
strange to tell anyone about right away.
Although in the months years to come,
I had other intense spiritual experience during prayers
and I'm sure you all have as well.
And with conversations with Muslims, I came to
realize that there was nothing unusual or bizarre
about that prayer experience.
However, at that moment, I did realize this
much,
that I needed Allah, that I needed God,
and I needed prayer for the rest of
my life
desperately.
Before getting up from my knees, I made
one last supplication.
Oh, God.
If I ever gravitate towards disbelief again,
please
please kill me first.
Take this life from me.
It's hard enough to live with my imperfections
and weaknesses,
but I cannot live another day denying you.
Hasten to salah.
Hasten to prayer. Hasten to falah. Hasten to
success.
Our adhan urges us.
If our main purpose in life is to
grow ever nearer to Allah, to God,
then towards this end, prayer
has to be essential.
For Muslims, salat
is one of the most important ways to
pursue and experience this goal of growing ever
nearer to Allah, to God almighty.
Salat is a Muslim spiritual compass by which
he or she repeatedly checks
his or her progress and direction in life.
And it is his or her lifeline
to paradise in the hereafter. Because through that
experience,
they could almost
feel God's mercy in an intimate and powerful
way.
In a way that no other thing on
earth could provide.
Through the experience of salat, a Muslim tries
to stay alert to the fluctuations
of his faith. A Muslim will ask himself
or herself,
am I becoming lazy about my prayers lately?
Am I rushing through them without feeling any
benefit?
Are my experiences of prayer weaker or stronger
than they used to be? Do I feel
closer or farther from God in my prayers
these days? Although each of the 5 pillars
helps a Muslim gauge his growth in faith,
the salat is the principle day to day
measure of a believer's submission to Allah Almighty.
To perform the Islamic ritual prayer
5 times every day, day in day out,
at the appointed times, requires considerable commitment to
Islam.
A single salah,
ritual prayer
is not very taxing. It takes but just
a few minutes.
But to rise out of bed before dawn,
every day of the year,
weekday or weekend,
workday or holiday,
no matter what kind of day it is,
every day of the year, day in, day
out, for the rest of one's life,
to make the Fajr prayer on time,
before the crack of dawn,
already demands considerable commitment to Islam
and considerable determination.
All of Islam's rituals
test and challenge and help to build a
Muslim's will power and self control
in various ways.
And in so doing,
these rituals help to build those qualities in
us.
Determination,
self control,
stick to it
iveness, persistence,
will power,
strength.
The shahada test a person's allegiances.
Are you a is your main allegiance to
Allah
or is it to something else? Is your
main allegiance to this community or is it
to some other community? Is your allegiance to
the Muslims or to another nation?
Is your allegiance to God or is your
allegiance to your boss at work?
Which comes first?
The shahada is continuous and persistent test of
that allegiance.
The fast of Ramadan
test to control our control over our physical
needs. The zakat
tests our ability to discipline our material desires
and to extend the bounty that had God
given us and to share it with our
fellow man.
The pilgrimage to Mecca, in some ways, tests
all of the three things I just mentioned.
But
this a lot may not be as emotionally
demanding
as a convert's first shahada.
And it might not be as physically and
materially demanding
as the other three pillars of Islam.
But the ritual prayer, more than any other
ritual in Islam, tests constancy
and perseverance.
Test our ability to stick to it.
I have known many Muslims
who fast every Ramadan
and don't miss a day,
and do it right.
I have known many Muslims who not only
do that, but pays a cut every year
and pay what they owe and even more.
I have known Muslims who do not only
those 2, but who have made the Hajj
and have followed the sunnah and followed it
to the tea when it comes to making
the Hajj. And I've known those same Muslims.
And among them, I've known a considerable number
of them who can't make the 5 prayers
every day, day in and day out.
Most of us
most of us are capable
of great moments
of virtue
or religiosity
on occasion.
We can rise to the occasion
on rare
occasions. Almost all of it all of us
have it within us.
But very few of us, only a minority
of mankind
could be consistently
religious,
could be consistently virtuous.
In terms of our moral and spiritual growth,
we are too often
like persons who decide that they're gonna go
and get physically fit
by going out and run a
20 kilometer marathon.
We say, oh, my goodness. I'm getting out
of shape.
The stomach.
Or as the Arabs say, the kersh. Is
it kersh?
Getting a little flabby. I I gotta get
in shape. So the guy goes and puts
on his jogging suit, sweatshirt,
jeans, goes out and buys new sneakers, new
socks, sunglasses,
headband,
gets all ready, watch,
glass of water, goes out and tries to
run 20 kilometers,
comes back exhausted,
dead, falls in the bed, blisters all over
his feet, can't get up the next day,
lies in bed for 10 more days, puts
on £16
cause he hasn't moved. It does sound ridiculous,
but many of us approach faith in the
same way.
Everyone knows that in order to get physically
fit, you have to find a follow a
regular and steady program of exercise.
But somehow, we feel that to become religious,
we're just gonna get out the beads and
we're gonna recite Quran all day and we're
gonna make supplications and do extra prayers and
fast all day and we get really religious
for 2 or 3 days and then we
get so burnt out that we just give
it up and take it easy for a
while and think, oh, I'll get religious later.
That type of attitude, whether in the physical
sphere or the spiritual sphere, is damaging
because it teaches us
failure.
It teaches us that we can't.
It helps to encourage us to be lazy.
Failure
continual failure
produces a failure.
Continued success
produces a success.
So in the physical sphere, we understand that
we need a regular program to follow.
When you go to your high school football
coach I played high school football.
No pain, no gain. Boys, get out there
every day.
Gotta run this. You gotta do these exercises
every day.
No pain, no gain. Gotta stick to this
program. Don't stick to this program. You're not
gonna make it. And we understand him. This
is plain as rain. We know he's right.
We walk into the classroom. Our teachers, gotta
do your homework every day. Gotta work hard
every day.
Brain will atrophy.
Work hard. Keep studying.
You're gonna be a failure. You wanna be
a success. Gotta work hard. We know he's
right.
But somehow we think that there's a whole
different law that comes with our spiritual development.
We think it's like magic.
But Islam teaches us that we have to
find a regular follow this regular program
which begins with the 5 pillars of Islam.
And we can't forget that most important pillar,
the Islamic prayer.
The Quran repeatedly,
repeatedly exhorts the believer to develop
Sabr.
The Arabic word that con connotes patience,
perseverance,
fortitude,
stick to itiveness,
a quality that is essential to spiritual development.
It's not it's essential to any kind of
development.
Very often, these exhortations
that talk about summer
occur with exhortations to do what?
Establish the regular prayer.
Those are the believers who established
prayer and are patient in adversity.
How many times we see those that connection
made throughout the Quran?
Because the 2 obviously
complement each
other.
Yet the rewards of salat
far outweigh the demands.
Just wanna check if I'm running over time.
No.
Yet the role rewards of salat far outweigh
the demands.
A Muslim student once informed me,
as I mentioned in the beginning of this
lecture, that the power of salat
is indescribable.
You'll let me quote him again.
He said that when we pray and put
our nose to the ground, we feel a
joy,
a rest, a strength
that is outside this this world and no
words could ever describe.
You have to experience it to know.
But you, my brothers and sisters, are not
ignorant of that experience or at least you
shouldn't be.
You should know.
The day he told me this was the
day I became a Muslim. It was not
long before I began to understand
begin to understand what he meant.
For there are moments during salat,
moments of truth,
of true honesty,
sincerity,
and humility.
When a Muslim
perceives
the infinite presence
of god's most merciful
and compassionate
light.
These are not moments that can be anticipated.
For you. As you all know, they almost
always come unexpectedly.
But when those moments come, and they do,
a Muslim feels the caress
of the most tender
and most overpowering
kindness.
This is an utterly humbling experience
because a Muslim knows that it's too infinitely
beautiful
to be deserved.
It is a tremendously
intoxicating
experience
because with their hands, feet, and face firmly
to the ground,
you feel like you're suddenly lifted into heaven,
into paradise
and you could breathe its air and smell
its fragrances and soil and feel its gentle
breezes.
It feels as if as if you're about
to be raised off the ground
and to be placed in the arms
of the most benevolent benevolent
and affectionate love.
These moments of divine intimacy
create in the worshiper
an overpowering longing
to be near to God.
And the hereafter,
and growing nearer and nearer to God becomes
the focus
of that person's living
and striving
and dying.
This helps us understand why devout Muslims
are so zealous about their prayers, why they're
so strict about them.
Why they could seemingly prefer death to missing
but a single
ritual prayer.
So you could and that is why you
these Muslims,
these pious Muslims
who know the power and the beauty of
prayer, you could see them. You could see
them at airports
and you could see them on city sidewalks
and in city parks and public buildings,
alone or in congregation,
standing, bowing, sitting,
and prostrating,
paying no attention to the hustle and bustle
around them as if they were in a
world all their own.
This is because they have come to need
the salat so desperately.
It has become their main
source of spiritual sustenance
and their most personal and powerful means
of relating to Allah,
to God almighty.
A devout Muslim cannot risk missing a single
salat.
For he knows that his spiritual center,
what people refer to symbolic
symbolically as one's heart. He knows that that
is real and that it grows in its
ability to receive and experience the the divine
with the continual and steadfast
performance of the ritual prayer.
This is conviction
born
of study as he finds in the Quran.
Statements in the Quran and also statements in
the sunnah to that effect. But more than
that is a conviction that is also born
of experience. Receptivity.
Receptivity.
Receptivity
receptivity. Receptivity increases
with and depends on the persistent exercise of
prayer.
But as I have stated on many occasions,
and the Quran makes perfectly clear.
And so does the prophet's teachings, peace be
upon it.
A Muslim growth is also tied to his
deeds and his relationship with others.
Perform prayer
and do righteous deeds.
A fact that is also reinforced by the
form of the congregational
prayer.
Because even in the congregational prayer, our dependence,
not only on Allah, but our commitment to
our fellow man is
emphasized by the very form in which we
pray.
As you all know, we stand shoulder to
shoulder, foot to foot in tight formation, leaving
no gaps in between us.
The visual beauty and gracefulness
of our ritual prayer depends
on our obeying the instructions of the imam
in unison
and moving as one.
Have you ever seen the pilgrims pray in
Mecca during Hajj?
They're all bowing and coming up at one
time, that beautiful sea of white
where all the pilgrims bow and come up
and prostrate as one. It's a beautiful confluence
you see before you.
Especially if you see it from up high.
As if you travel to the Middle East
and seen the cameras come down on that
beautiful site.
All of that depends on the believers living
and acting in that moment as one
and following each other's anticipating each other's movement
and following the instructions of the imam.
A Muslim student once informed me that he
could not understand why the prophet ordered his
companions, peace be upon,
prophet Mohammed,
to pray in such close contact with each
other
when they're trying to devote all their attention
to Allah.
He said to me, how can I concentrate
on Allah
when I have this person rubbing against me
on my right and rubbing against me on
my left and kneeling and sitting against me
on my right and left,
squeezed in there like sardines?
Then he said, please don't say this to
any of the other brothers.
You know, you're a convert. I can talk
about these.
I told him
that perhaps he had confirmed with his question
an important Islamic theme.
That even in our most intense worship,
we should not forget that our relationship to
Allah Almighty
is tied to our relationship with our fellow
human beings. That we should never forget
our brother on our right and our brother
on our left nor our sister on our
right or left as well. That our future
in the hereafter
depends on our relationship to them.
There's a well known saying of a prophet,
peace be upon
him. We insist that a Muslim should not
leave a gap between him,
herself, and his her neighbor
during the prayer.
Otherwise, they will leave an opening for, as
you all know,
shaitan, for Satan.
Another Muslim student also had the courage to
come up to me, and I don't blame
him. I wish more would do this. We
learned by
it. Come up to me and he said
that, that sounded so silly to him.
He said, how could Satan come up? You
know, you leave a door by leaving a
little space.
He said you creep in there and reach
over.
You know?
And he got very animated about it. He
said, you know, that always sounded very ridiculous
to him.
So I asked him. I said,
when you were performing a congregational prayer, did
it so happen that the person you were
praying with ever intentionally or at least you
thought intentionally left a space between you and
him? And he thought about it for a
minute. He said, yes.
That's happened to me several times.
And I said, how did you feel?
Very angry.
What? Did he think he was too good
for me?
He could not pray beside me?
If I come from some great family or
something,
he was somehow a superior believer to me.
Believe me, I've seen him walking around campus.
He looks at all the ladies I've seen.
I come from a big family. He comes
from a small family. My ancestors are so
great. His are nothing. I come from this
country.
I looked at him and I said, see?
A door to Satan was open.
A door to temptation
was left open.
As time passed,
I grew more and more to appreciate the
student imam statement.
That the beauty of
Salat
cannot be truly described.
Its beauty seems to have no upper bound.
And it increases
over time with the consistent performance
of the 5 daily prayers.
And as it does,
the believer comes to see with ever greater
clarity
just how much is at stake in this
life.
How much there is to gain?
Because he gets a hint of it
through the beauty of that prayer
and how much there is to lose.
A pious Muslim parent
can certainly understand the urgency
behave behind prophet Abraham's prayer, peace be upon
him, as described in the Quran.
When he said, oh my lord,
make me one who establishes
salat
and of my descendants, our lord.
My lord, was a desperate plea and prayer.
I came to appreciate that in a very
real way one day when I was
praying the noon prayer with my daughter, my
oldest daughter, Jamila.
We had just finished the noon prayer.
And then she said something that just sort
of wasn't anticipated.
She said, the kids ask the simplest questions,
and yet they're the most poignant sometimes. She
said, daddy,
why do we pray?
And her question caught me off guard.
I didn't expect it from an 8 year
old, though I know she's
quite clever.
I knew, of course, the most obvious answer
that as Muslims are obligated to.
But I did I didn't wanna waste the
opportunity to share with her
the beauty
and the power of the experience of prayer.
Because if you miss those type of opportunities
with your children and you just give them
a dry answer,
that doesn't really come to the
depth of that question they ask.
We as parents are blowing an opportunity.
We have an experience of prayer.
But just to
give them just
a current response,
well, we have to.
Means that we're not willing to take the
effort
to con really deeply consider that questions, those
questions they ask, and share with them the
experience we've gained
of practicing this faith over time.
Nevertheless,
before answering her, I tried to buy a
little time
by giving the usual response.
Well, hon, we pray because God wants us
to.
But I knew that wouldn't do. I still
said that to me, this could become a
lawyer someday.
She never lets a question remain half answered.
But why, daddy?
What does praying do for us? She asked.
I told her it's
hard to explain to a young person.
I told her that someday,
she performs 5 prayers every day.
I'm sure she'll begin to understand.
But I told her, nonetheless,
that I'll try to do the best I
can
to describe her to answer her question
from a personal point of view.
I told her, you see, Jamila,
God is the source
of all the love,
mercy,
kindness,
wisdom
of all the beauty
that we experience and and feel
in this life.
You know how the sun is the source
of the light we see in the daytime,
I told her.
God is a source of all these beautiful
things I just described
and so much more.
So that the love I feel for you
and your sisters
and your mommy
is given to me
by God
to feel.
The mercy
that I feel in my heart
towards you and towards others is a tiny
fraction.
The tiniest fraction of the mercy that God
has imparted
on this world,
which represents only a tiniest fraction
of his great mercy.
For he is a source of all of
the mercy that exists
everywhere.
And in his kindness
and his generosity,
he allows that mercy
to
flourish inside of us, to grow inside of
us, to fill our hearts so that we
could know his mercy
approximately,
but so beautifully.
Because in his kindness,
he shares that with us.
I said, for example,
I told him that I told her this.
When we pray, we could feel God's love
and kindness and mercy
in a very special way,
in the most powerful way.
I told her, think about this example.
You know that mommy and I love you,
I told her. By the way we care
for you, but but and the things we
give you. But when we hug and kiss
you, when we embrace
you, you could feel that love,
that mercy,
that feeling we have for you
flow through us to you.
I told her it's not something you can
measure.
It's not something you could calculate.
It's It's not something you could even describe
to your friend. But when you feel it,
you know.
I said, when you feel it, it is
more to you than the ground you walk
on.
And you could identify it.
And you respond by telling us, mommy, daddy,
I love you.
Because you've just received ours.
I said in a similar way, we know
that God loves us by all that he
has given to us and all the beautiful
things that we have and that he bestows
upon us and he protects us.
But when we pray,
we can feel his love, his mercy,
his kindness
in a unique and very special way.
Does praying make you a better daddy?
She asked.
I said, I hope so.
And I told her I would like to
think so.
Because once you are touched by God's love
and kindness in the prayer,
it is so beautiful
and so powerful
that you cannot but want to share it
with others.
When you experience something that's so beautiful,
that's so powerful,
that fills you to such an extent,
You have this we in humans have this
natural
desire to communicate that to others.
On the simplest level, think about it when
you're walking around in life and you look
at walking around, you're walking down the street,
and suddenly you look up and you see
this beautiful cloud formation
or a beautiful sunset.
And it strikes you as so beautiful and
you sit there looking at it, what's the
natural thing you do? You look to your
right and left to see if anyone else
is enjoying it.
It. Maybe you'll even say to another person
standing there, gazing at the same same scene
you are. Isn't that beautiful?
Because you want to share that with others.
When God touches us with his love and
mercy and salah,
In a way,
it is the prophet used to always say,
peace be upon him, that is more beautiful
and greater than this world and all it
contains.
You naturally wanna share that with others.
And those especially those most closest to you,
which mean your family and your loved ones
and your children.
And so that is what I
told
you.
I said,
you know, when I come home from work,
I said a lot of times I'm tired,
I'm exhausted.
I put up with that department head all
day and those goofy colleagues.
And I come home and I am frustrated
and I'm angry and I'm tired. And I
just wanna come in this house and I
don't wanna hear a sound. And I just
wanna go to my room and be left
alone and to just be quiet for a
half hour.
But I told her when I make that
salat,
then I suddenly look around.
And because of beauty that God allows us
to feel,
I look around and I see the gifts
that he has given me.
And you, Jamila,
and your sisters, and your mommy.
And it just makes me feel
how much he has given to me
and how much I owe him. And you,
as my daughter
and your mom,
as my as my wife.
I asked her, am I making any sense
to you at all?
Because I got sort of into it.
And she looked at me and I don't
know if she got a 100% of what
I said, but she did say this. She
said, and Lumina is very honest.
And she said, I kind of understand what
you mean.
And then she hugged me and said, and
I love you, daddy.
And I told her, I love you too,
sweetie pie.
And I love you too.
And
and the peace and mercy of Allah be
upon you all. Assalamu alaikum.
The first question is it
is sent by a sister who's 9 years
old.
It says, what did you tell people when
you became Muslim and how did they act?
I told them I became a Muslim.
No.
When I became a Muslim, I hardly had
to tell anybody.
Strange thing happened. I was working at a
Catholic
university.
Christian university,
run by the Society of Jesus.
And,
I was an atheist at the time, but
I didn't tell then.
Just wanted the job.
Well, and I have a Catholic name and
Catholic background so,
you know, let them assume what they will.
I got the job.
Well,
I was not on a job but 3
months,
the University of San Francisco,
and I became a Muslim.
And there were only 2 or 3 people
in the mosque that day, about 4, That
day I became a Muslim, student run ma
Masjid, so I didn't assume that the news
would travel very fast or far.
Well, the next day I'm walking on campus
and all these Muslim students are coming up
to me saying,
are you the professor who became a Muslim?
And I'm looking around and thinking,
are they gonna kill me or what?
I looked at them, yes.
And then a big smile would come on
their face, and they'd say, congratulations.
Congratulations. All day long. Congratulations. Congratulations. Everywhere I
go, congratulate well, some students who walked by
me, Middle Eastern looking students would just walk
by me, smile and say, congratulations.
So I started to get nervous.
And I swear if I walked into class
and a professor said congratulations,
I was gonna really get scared.
But in any case, it didn't quite work
out that way.
With all this news about the Muslim community,
that very same day, one of the professors
on campus found out that I had become
a Muslim.
Have. And he was another professor. I had
was hired a tenure track job. He was
just hired as a temporary, but he thought
if I got fired, he could get my
job.
So he went around the entire campus telling
the administration,
every professor he saw, every secretary, any person
he could run into that Jeff Lang became
a Muslim.
No sooner or not, I within
honest, this was in from the beginning of
day to the end of day, I had
professors walking by me saying, is it true?
Did you become a Muslim?
So my start in Islam was I didn't
have to tell anybody anything.
Within a couple of weeks, I was probably
the most famous Muslim in San Francisco.
Believe me, I didn't wanna be.
I just wanted to
just relax somewhere, you know, just be like
everybody else. But I was immediately in the
spotlight.
So I didn't have to tell anybody. I
had to sort of defend the decision I
made right from the start. But my reasons
for becoming a Muslim were essentially this, I
was an atheist with very strong objections to
the idea of God. Very strong rational objections.
At least I thought I had.
Through the process of reading the Quran, not
only did I find a solution for those
objections
but I discovered
God in the process.
And I became a Muslim.
So it was easy for me to defend
my choice.
I told them I was not as an
atheist for these reasons, I became a Muslim
because these were the answers I got for
my religion.
And they would just stand there and say,
not bad.
Makes sense.
If I ever become a religious person someday,
I'll think about it. And also,
I had no difficulty defending what I had
done.
So right from the moment I became a
Muslim, I was put in a position of
having to defend myself. The only difficulty I
really had was telling my mother that I
had
become a Muslim
because
she was a very devout Christian.
And then, I became an atheist. That was
a big shock in her life. But when
I became a Muslim, that was even worse
as far as she was concerned.
And, I had a difficult time telling her.
A couple days after I became a Muslim,
I called her on the phone. And she
was the first person that I personally notified
about what I had done.
And,
it was
a very
emotionally charged
3 weeks that that semester break when I
went home and I had to defend what
I had done to my parents
because,
I had to explain Islam to them from
a to z.
And,
we spent we were up till 5 in
the morning every night, my mother and I,
discussing religion
for, like, 2 weeks straight,
exhausting each other.
But in the end, she came to have
a healthy respect for my religion. At one
point she said, I understand why you became
a Muslim.
A person who thinks the way you do
I wasn't quite sure what that meant. But
a person who thinks the way you do,
I can understand why that religion would definitely
appeal to them. And then she said to
me,
but I'm sorry, son, but I could never
become a Muslim.
And I told her, I never even suggested
the idea.
And,
after that, we agreed to discuss it for
a long time, and we did. But finally,
she asked me at one stage not to
discuss it anymore.
And so we just
hardly ever discuss it anymore. Unless she brings
it up, then I'll discuss it with her.
But I'll never bring it up first because
she immediately becomes defensive and has a very
difficult time on it.
So thank you.
Okay. It's,
Michelle, the next question is,
when people tell you I want to learn
about Islam,
but because of my studies
or that moment cannot find time, how should
we respond? Is it because
of their fear or they or can't they
truly not find the time? I don't understand.
So they say they want to learn about
Islam, but they said they don't have the
time?
They they say, like, they are studying but
they're not they can't find the time to
pray or Oh. So they want to know
what they should do. So they want to
learn but they can't find the time. Right.
It could be they missed their prayers because
they asked too much today. Oh. Well, I
don't know. If you're talking about a non
Muslim who says he's interested in learning about
Islam,
this is not a good time for him.
You know,
I always say to people, Well, I mean,
you've got it's your choice. I'm gonna run
my religion down your throat. And I and
I never will.
But, you know, I I tell them that
I think that
I'll usually reinforce them. I'll tell them that
the search for one for truth and the
search for
a relationship with God
is very important. I don't see how it
can be more important than anything else in
the world.
And I usually tell them to start learning
about Islam, you don't have to look very
far.
All you have to do
is pick up a,
pretty good interpretation of the Quran in English
and just read a few pages a night.
Takes 4 or 5 minutes.
I said, it's really no
great commitment of time. And no time at
all, I told him. By the time you
finish,
even the second surah of the Quran, you'll
have a pretty good summary knowledge of Islam.
What happened to the man? Oh,
well, that's sort of how and the reason
why I said that is that's how I
sort of started.
I had received a copy of the Quran
from some friends,
And I decided I
would just read a few pages a night
just to get an idea.
And I
read the opening surah of the Koran.
And when I got done, it dawned on
me that I had just read a prayer
for guidance.
And I felt like I would almost tricked
into it.
So I got to the end and I
said, hey, I just read a prayer for
guidance.
I'm not a Muslim.
I'm an atheist. I don't believe in God.
I just read a prayer for guidance.
So you could imagine
my reaction
when I open, went on to the next
page
which began the 2nd Surah of the Quran
entitled the cow
and it began Alef, Lam, Meen.
That is the book we're in no doubt
is guidance
for those
who have fear.
At Taqwa.
I was shocked.
It was just a voice from heaven was
calling down to me. I had no sooner
just prayed for guidance,
semi consciously,
and now the next surah was answering my
prayer.
That.
They translated it this, but this author happened
to translate it as that. And I'm glad
he did because that's the literal inter translation.
That. What? That? This? This book? Bad book.
What book? This book? That book is the
book we're in no doubt. It's guidance for
those
who have fear.
Religious consciousness.
I was stunned.
And so as I read through the Quran,
I was intrigued immediately. What does it say?
So I started reading through the Quran.
And in the beginning, it describes the people
who will be guided by this revelation.
It's as if it was written for a
non believer.
I'm only surprised when Muslims think that it's
read for believers and you shouldn't share it
with non believers.
Its principal audience originally were mostly non believers.
They're the ones that heard it.
When I read it, I felt it was
definitely read for a non believer. I'm not
saying it is only written for everyone.
It's revealed for everyone.
But I could feel it talking to me.
Because it begins by describing its audience. Who
will benefit most by this? Who will benefit
least by this?
Who will be in sort of the middle?
Describes the believers and their qualities.
3 or 4 verses. Talks about the people
of completely closed mind. They won't even consider
this.
They won't even think about it. They don't
wanna be bothered. Talks about them in about
a line and a half.
They won't consider it.
No use wasting time on it.
Then it talks for about 12 lines, verse
8 through 20 of the 2nd Sura, 13
lines about all those people in between,
which was me.
I may have been an atheist,
but I was willing to listen.
I may have been an atheist,
but I was curious.
It wasn't an outright rejector.
It just couldn't satisfy my doubts.
But here I was
in the middle,
and that was me, and I knew it.
As you read through that second Surah, it
summarizes
Islam's major themes.
And then from there on out, you're sort
of hooked. Right?
What's your first question?
Well, your first question is what's the purpose
of life?
Why did God create us? Did he put
us here just to punish us? You start
reading the 2nd sword and it begins to
answer that question.
The angels ask, why create this being?
Who
creates suffering and sheds blood
when we celebrate your praises and glorify your
holy name?
You know what reaction was when I read
that? Wait a minute. That's my question.
Why put us here on earth to suffer?
Why make this creature who could commit terrible
wrongs and put him in this environment
where he could
exercise his most negative and destructive tendencies.
Why didn't you make us angels and just
put us up into heaven
if It was within your power.
That was my question.
I had asked of the priest, I had
asked of the rabbis, I had asked of
asked of the Buddhist monks, I had asked
it of Hindus. I had asked it of
Hare Krishnas on campus. I had asked it
of everybody.
Everybody said, I don't know.
Just gotta fade.
Here I was, not but several lines into
the Quran. Verse 30 of the second Surah,
and my question is put there in the
mouth of the angels.
Slowly but surely, the Quran begins to unravel
and answer.
And as it does, it takes you through
so many different facets and angles of light.
It interjects different parts of its message as
it lures you into its design.
So as I read the Quran
and proceeded along, I was trapped. It was
written. I felt it was written perfectly for
a non believer. And so I would very
much encourage you if you have somebody,
and he is honestly interested in Islam but
feels he doesn't have the time, point him
in the direction of the ground.
A good interpretation,
one that you found that you trust in
English,
and get him in that direction. Nothing
is more powerful
in showing people the way to Islam than
the Quran.
Mister Zaklakir,
next question is pretty brief. It says, the
speech you just gave was taken from your
latest book. If so, when will it be
published?
I don't know. You have to talk to
a man of publishers. No.
I'm I am right now on page 170
on my
computer.
I'm just finishing the 4th chapter. It's called
the pillars of Islam. I have 2 more
chapters to write. They're sort of brief.
One is about the trials and tribulations a
typical Muslim convert faces when they enter the
Muslim community.
The things I think that we Muslims do
to dissuade people from staying in the community
and the positive things we do that I
think help people
to find comfort and peace within that community.
So I discussed the Muslim community.
And then in the 5th Surah, 5th,
the last chapter, very briefly, I discuss what
I my hopes and dreams for my children
as, Muslims in America
and my hopes for the future of Muslims
in America
and the problems I think we'll have to
face. So I think I have about 40
pages left.
So it should not be about 210 pages
long. Sorry. I have to talk about it
in these terms, but I'm envisioning it as
my head in the typewriter as I'm talking
to you.
Yeah. A mathematician.
Forty pages usually takes me about
40 days to write.
So I think in about 2 months, I'll
be done, and I'll send it off to
the publishers. And they'll start editing it, and
we'll start communicating back and forth maybe about
a year and a half from now.
Well, you know, it takes time.
Then they gotta print it. They gotta manufacture
it. They gotta publish it. Once it get
once I send it to them, it's out
of my hands, though. I have nothing to
do with it except for checking.
You know?
Okay. Sorry.
Okay, mister Zagalakhead.
The next question, is regarding prayer. If you
guys could keep the the question topics according
about prayer, that would be very helpful because
we have so many questions.
The question says, how do you put all
your concentration into your prayers?
Well, you do the best you can.
You know, when I'm praying,
and I think you probably found this useful
as well,
when you pray, it's very difficult, I mean,
to have total concentration
during your prayer.
But I think it's good that while you're
performing your prayer, to interrupt yourself at times
and think about
genuinely think about
something that you're grateful
to a lot for.
Think about a deep concern you have
for someone close to you and you communicate
that a lot during your prayer.
Think about something that
you feel you may not have done quite
right.
A doubt you have about yourself.
And ask God to forgive you for that
and to help you with that.
Most importantly,
try to adopt
an attitude
of humility
during your prayer.
I think this is just my personal advice.
The more I find the more humble,
sincerely
humble you are in your prayer.
The more when you turn to prayer,
you acknowledge
and admit to Allah
your dependence upon Him.
The more
you turn your heart totally
over to Him
and concentrate on that,
the more you try to envision his greatness
compared to your smallness,
His kindness
compared to your humanity.
The more you concentrate on his beautiful attributes,
most powerful names,
I find the more beautiful is the experience
of your prayer. So as you recite the
Quran,
interrupt yourself at stages.
Just don't recite your prayers as a formula.
Stop yourself at moments.
And whenever you feel so during your prayers,
stop yourself at a verse and
communicate, Allah,
your deepest feelings about
you. And be thankful for what he has
given you.
And ask for his help sincerely
from the depths of your heart.
And tell Him,
although He already knows
how much
you need
him and you want to grow near to
him.
Because when you do that, you are opening
your heart
to his light.
And, like I said, those most beautiful moments
almost never come as in when anticipated. Sometimes
they come and you're not even trying.
When you're not you're just standing there in
your prayer and you're reciting and all of
a sudden you'll feel this
beauty take take over you. But
still,
I think it's the attitude with which you
approach that prayer. If you approach it just
as a burden that you wanna get out
of the way, then it's probably gonna be
a burden that you just get out of
the way.
And you will receive a reward for it
because it'll develop your steadfastness, persistence, etcetera.
But if you approach it as a humble
servant
of God Almighty, as one who depends on
him, totally, that has total trust in him.
I think it'll enhance
the beauty of your prayer all the more.
And God knows best. But I will say
this,
to all of us, we need to remember
this. And we have to remind ourselves of
this.
Don't miss the prayers.
Don't skip the prayers.
Skip the prayers,
You're taking a step backwards.
And then you have a difficult time getting
back to where you were before.
Pray day in, day out
as prescribed,
and you will slowly but surely notice
a progress in your spirituality.
You will notice that the beauty of the
prayers increases
with that performance of prayer. You will notice
that if you compare your experience of prayer
to the way it was 3 years ago,
there is something greater about it now than
it was then. Provided that you're also trying
to live the life of a Muslim.
Sincerely trying to be humble and compassionate to
others, to be truthful,
to be clear to your neighbor, to be
just, to be honest, etcetera, etcetera.
But most of all, with all that,
don't miss a prayer
Because you take a huge step backwards
and you gotta start again.
I'm not saying you go back to step
1.
I frankly, I don't know. But you do
go back,
and you gotta bring yourself forward again.
Least as I am as I perceive it.
Mister Zakal Akhir, there's one question they asked
about which, translation of the Quran do you
think was more beneficial for non Muslims?
Well, depends on the non Muslim.
You know, the one that moved me the
most,
strangely enough,
was one that and I'm not recommending it.
I'm just saying for me personally,
was one that came with
no commentary
and was done by a non Muslim.
His name was Arthur Arbery, an English
professor a professor, an English professor, but he
wasn't a professor of English. He was an
Englishman, a professor, scholar
of Arabic
who worked at in,
I forget the university. Oxford or I'm not
quite sure.
In in England. And he did this translation
and that was the first one I stumbled
on, his his interpretation.
It didn't move me great. After that, I
stumbled on what's his name? Dawood,
no. Not Yussevali.
Marmaduke. Marmaduke pick fall.
And I found his very enlightening. Also, I
like the fact that he didn't provide so
much commentary. For somehow, that was a distraction
for me in the beginning.
After that I read,
Yusuf Ali's.
I found it enjoyable.
I found that I got things out of
it. I didn't get out of others. I
didn't agree with him on all the points.
He's exercising his opinion very frequently.
But still I found it valuable. You have
to realize that these are men and they
are providing their opinions on so many things.
They don't tend to be perfect.
After that, I read, Mohammed Assad.
He had some interesting ideas in it.
I found some of the things he said
very enlightening. I took some, I discarded others.
After that,
I read, Muhammad Ali's.
It seemed that he was one of the
earliest interpreters of the Quran into English. He
did a fair good a fairly good job.
I had a lot of respect for that
interpretation.
Let's see. Who else did I read? I
read,
who?
Ahmed. Yeah. Ahmed Asad.
I read,
oh, lots of people. I just read about
everyone I could find.
Recently I've read the one that the Saudi's,
Saudi Arabian,
Organization for the Propagation of Islam put out.
I like that very much. That one I
think is very nice. Almost any of those
are
are suitable.
Pardon? T. V. Irving. T. V. Irving had
a very nice
did a very nice job. I like that.
He did it for people who don't like
Shakespearean English. For some reason, most Muslim
interpreters
inevitably
use Shakespearean English.
I don't know why.
So a lot of people have difficulty with
it. I happen to like Shakespeare so I
enjoyed it. But, T. B. Irving, a lot
of people prefer
his work.
I would suggest
that
you use the interpretation of a sincere Muslim.
Because that sincerity will show forth the intensity
of his faith will also come out in
his work. And that I think will be
very inspiring and helpful as well.
Any other questions? Okay, Zakiya. A large portion
of these questions are about,
the atheist and how what did you what
would you tell an atheist
that would spark interest in Islam? Or how
would you discuss Islam with them or prove
the existence of God, sir?
I
don't really try to prove the existence of
God
to an atheist. An atheist doesn't really come
at you and said, prove God exists to
me. Most people don't expect that much. They
most atheists believed in God at one point
in their life.
And because of various
rational or emotional
things,
rejected that belief at one stage. So they
have to see the belief in them at
one stage in their life. But because of
the bitter experience within that the religion of
their birth,
they reject religion altogether.
So usually, I wouldn't suggest for you to
come to an atheist and say, I'm going
to prove the existence of God. If there
were empirical proof of God,
a proof that we could use simply with
the 5 senses that would be convincing to
everyone
no matter what,
then we everybody on earth would automatically believe.
But that's there I I there is no
such
simply and purely
empirical
proof. And I've studied them all. I've even
studied the ones by and
others. And you'll have to make certain very
strong assumptions for them to work, those arguments.
And an atheist might not accept those assumptions.
What I am saying is this,
that with an atheist you're taking the wrong
approach if you say I am going to
prove to you that god exists. Because you
get in a circle. Circle, circle. Let him
start. His starting position is this, that I
have reasons
why I do not believe in God.
And then he'll start to explain them to
you. I don't believe in God because I
can't explain the suffering and this is why
we're here to suffer. I don't believe in
God because if there's a God, can he
make a rock that's too heavy for himself
to lift?
You know, let's say goofy things sometimes.
If God is omnipotent,
can he kill himself?
You know, and things like that. You know,
or,
I don't believe in God because he could
have made us angels to start with. And
he made us men, inferior.
I don't believe in God because this world
is imperfect. And a perfect God, if he
creates an imperfect world, means he's somewhat imperfect.
So he'll start giving you various arguments that
he's invented over the years for why there
is not a God.
And then,
if you study the Quran carefully and study
your faith carefully, I think you'll be begin
to point him in the right direction.
I'm not saying you'll be able to answer
all those questions for him But you should
think about what the Quran says about those
issues. And say, Oh, you know, the Quran
says this. And the Quran does talk about
that.
I personally don't quite understand it but I
know that there are atheists who converted to
Islam who found their answers in the Quran.
I know this one in particular.
This blonde guy.
Professor from the University of Kansas.
He became a Muslim
through the Quran. He was an atheist.
You know, just and then let him go
from there. You know, and he might say,
What did he say? What did he do?
Do you have a tape? Do you have
a leg? Not I wouldn't suggest that I'm
the one that do the trick, but I'm
just saying.
He might say, you know, he might get
something out of seeing what another atheist went
through.
But most importantly, get them in the right
direction.
Yeah.
But don't you come into walk up to
him like you have a suit of armor
and say, I am going to prove to
you that there is a God. No.
No.
Say, I believe in God very much and
because of my religion, I do this and
I do that. He'll say he or she
will say, well, I respect your
faith,
but I I personally don't believe in that.
And these are the reasons why. And then
you could get into a good discussion.
Shoot,
please.
She is a Muslim. I met her through,
Muslim families in San Francisco.
And I went about it in sort of
the semi traditional way.
You know, they had me over for dinner.
They had me over for outings and picnics
and stuff like that. They realized I was
an Enrique and, you know.
Most
most of the families that introduced me to
their
daughters
or
aunts or relatives,
They were a little bit flexible with me.
I mean, they allowed me some
maybe I noticed that among Arabs they're very
strict with each other. You know, decide right
now.
You're sorry. You had 30 seconds. You know?
With me, they allowed me many, many visits
and lots of discussion,
telephone conversations,
and dinners. Lots of dinners. Food is very
good.
I gained about £15
looking for a wife.
Okay. Is that Now we have 3
beautiful children.
Okay. And you miss them very much. Right?
Yes. And I miss them very
much. Okay. The next, there's a whole bunch
of questions that deal with,
what exactly led you
to becoming a Muslim, and have you ever
had any second thoughts about any other religions?
2nd after I became a Muslim or After
you became a Muslim.
After I became a Muslim, I never had
any,
I mean, you have to remember, I had
so much
anger inside me.
And so what I felt was such strong
objections
to Islam to religion in general.
And I had searched
really, every other religion,
major world religion
before come even considering Islam.
Because Islam has such a negative reputation
in the west
that I thought, well, this one
this this religion of the terrorists I definitely
don't wanna
consider. Any religion that fosters terrorism.
You know? I don't know why I was
felt so easily into that prejudice. I know
that western authors could be very prejudiced but
somehow I believed it when they spoke about
Islam.
Because they were also unanimously
prejudiced against hated it. But in any case,
so that was the last one I considered.
So I considered others
and then I came up empty.
My feelings against religion were so strong. By
the time I became a Muslim, I
began looking into Islam researching it I had
lost all hope in ever believing in God,
really.
So you can imagine that after I became
a Muslim,
there was no real reason to have second
thoughts about whether another religion could do the
job.
First of all, I knew they couldn't because
I had already
tackled those. And the second thing is
is that
once you felt
the power of this religion,
it's that power
that becomes your confirmation.
I mean, suddenly,
it was the rational it's the Quran's irrational
approach to faith
that made helped me to become a Muslim.
It was the answers that provided to my
questions that helped me to become a Muslim.
But once you've tasted
faith,
once you've felt
Islam,
that becomes
your justification.
I saw I can't even remember all the
rational arguments I had anymore
because once I felt the power of this
religion, they seemed insignificant.
I'm not saying they weren't important. They were
important. They stood as roadblocks.
Put on smash those roadblocks.
But once it did,
and once I felt
the beauty and power of this religion,
there was no turning back.
Why would I want to?
Wouldn't make sense.
You know, it's as if I was blind
and I was looking for something and people
were trying, no, go here and go here
and go here. You get if you go
here, you'll get your sight. Another one says,
you go here, you get your sight. If
you go here, you get your site. See
this doctor, he could get you your site.
Go to this clinic, it'll get you your
site. And you're looking around, you try one
and it doesn't work. You try another, it
doesn't work. You look into this, it doesn't
work. You don't look into that. And finally
you come to this institution
and you get your sight.
Well, after that,
you don't need any more proof you're gonna
get your sight. You've gotten it.
I hope I'm making sense.
And like my daughter you're saying, I think
so.
Okay.
Okay. The next question is the next question
says, why did Allah make this world if
He already knew what would happen?
Yeah. That's always an interesting question. It's like,
predestination.
Right?
And, you this is a very ancient question.
This is typically Christian question. Also, typically, Zoroastrian
question.
The idea of predestination. If God determines everything
in advance, if in the past, he determined
everything that's gonna happen in the future,
Then what's the purpose of all of this?
But
I think if we approach this, we have
to stick very close to the Quran, that
type of question. I'm just gonna touch upon
it briefly.
One thing for sure that Quran maintains
is that God transcends
this very space time environment he has created
for us to live in.
He is not bound by the limitations of
space
that this space time environment, this creation contains.
And he is not bound by the limitations
of time.
The spatial The fact that he is infinite
in relation to space, we could readily appreciate.
None of us in this audience would say
that God could possibly be on a bus
between Chicago and Toledo at 4 o'clock in
the afternoon.
The reason being because we understand that God
transcends space.
He's not bound by limitations.
We do not think of God as finite
in space.
In the same way, we do not think
of God as finite in time
like we are. We are bound by the
limitations of time. He transcends time. He is
outside of time and outside of this space
space time environment we live in. He is
not limited by it in any way.
The reason why I say this is because
the question you just posed
situates God in time as we are.
If you say that, how could if God
in the past knew what was happening in
the future,
we assume that somehow God
was is bound in time as we are.
And at some point in the past, he
was looking forward to the future.
It situates God in time as we are.
But that's erroneous assumption. That's, I believe, a
weak and false assumption that god is finite
in time, that he is sometime in the
past looking forward to the future. He transcends
time.
That's the wrong question. We should say, if
God's knowledge encompasses
all time and space,
this entire space time creation that we exist
in.
If it is all that knowledge, it's like
a single speck for him, like a moment,
a single atom,
wisdom.
Of everything that happens in space, and everything
that happens in time is encompassed by God's
knowledge.
Then why did he make this happen?
Suddenly, the question loses its force.
He made it happen. Even though God controls
all,
that all space and time is one for
him, that he is not bound by its
limitations,
that doesn't mean that god
does not allow us to make choices. That
as far as we're concerned, we progress in
space and time.
Doesn't negate that at all. So the point
I'm trying to make is is that the
question that you ask assumes a false
makes a false assumption to begin with.
That God is limited in time.
The notion of other, God's infinite power, that
God's power encompasses all in space and time
should not be framed
as the ancient
Greek philosophers framed it. That God is somehow
finite in time looking forward to the future
as we humans are.
The notion of other is that God's power
and His knowledge encompasses all.
Oops, I got loud. Everything.
And as far as we are concerned, we
make choices etcetera and he responds to that.
But we just should not assume that God
is finite in time. We could readily appreciate
that God transcends times cause a little bit
we have the notion that if we get
up really high,
transcend means sort of get up high,
it's what the root comes from. If we
get up high enough, we could see many
things happening below in different spaces
at once. And so we could somehow appreciate
what it means to transcend time.
Our knowledge, space. Our knowledge could encompass what's
happening at different points in space simultaneously.
But God's being also transcends
time. This is philosophy. I hope I'm not
boring you all today.
But God's knowledge
transcends time. So for him,
all things that happen, even though they appear
at different points of time are as one.
And he is not limited by that in
any way, shape or form. So I must
have no difficulty answering that question. He would
just tell the person who asked it that
you're asking it in a way that naturally
leads to a contradiction because your question contains
a false assumption to begin with.
And anytime you begin an argument with a
false assumption, you're gonna be led to a
contradiction.
Here's a simple example that's analogous to the
question that was just asked me. And I
don't blame the person for asking it. It
was a beautiful question and an important question.
And I know you're all probably thinking, what
is he saying?
But here's another example of how if you
begin a question with 2 with a false
assumption with a contradiction, it'll naturally lead to
contradictions.
Assume a circle is a square.
And I ask you, does a circle have
corners?
Well, let me see. If I concentrate on
the properties of a square, then the answer
is yes.
But if I pro concentrate on the roundness
of a circle, then the answer is no.
Oh, my God. A molecular contradiction.
And then a typical
foolish person will then say, Oh, well, I
don't know what's going on and get frazzled.
What that person should do is go back
to the question. Does the assumption make sense?
Assume a circle is a square.
And similarly, if you begin a question and
say,
if God in the past
predestined the future,
go back to the original question.
Is God stuck in the past?
Is God finite in time?
Is he limited by time as we humans
are? Does he sit in relation to time
as we do?
No.
And the Quran makes us perfectly clear.
A day for God is like 50 1000
years of your time.
A day for God is like a 1000
years of your time, showing that time for
God is nothing like time for us.
The day of judgment.
What was this life on earth?
I'll say to you, oh, boy. I lived
65
years. You'll say, I live 70 years. How
will it appear on the day of judgement
when we when the reality something comes to
us? Our notion of time will suddenly seem
confused
like it wasn't objectively real.
You'll say,
let's see. Was it an hour?
Was it less than that? Was it a
day? Was it 10 days?
So, like, suddenly, our we're confused because
time as we perceived this is no longer
an objective reality.
Finally, when the Quran talks about the day
of judgement,
talks about it in the past tense,
future tense, think even the present tense.
Which shows that this happens in a whole
another order of creation that is not limited
by our space time concepts.
The long and the short of what I'm
trying to say is be careful when you
answer questions.
Think about the premises of which those questions
are asked. If you seem to be running
yourself in circles and contradictions,
go back to the premises and analyze them.
There may be a contradiction subtly
placed there.
Sorry about the long
discussion,
but I have these with my daughter all
the time.
I really do. And we get into for
hours. Daddy, what does suddenly mean? What does
sorry about that.
K. We had we had a lot of
questions that dealt with the cut with, hijab
and asks some. When you were before you
became Muslim, what did you what did you
think or what did you feel when you
saw Muslim women with hijab? And what do
you think about it now?
I can't wear one.
I tried.
Got people taunted me. I gave it up.
No.
When I saw,
Muslims before I
let's see. Before I became a Muslim.
I didn't know who those people were.
I frankly thought they were either nuns or
Seventh Day Adventists or
I didn't really know. Nowadays, I think people
know better. Because back when I became a
Muslim, you just didn't see ladies wearing that
in America.
Nowadays, I think it's clearer to people.
Now what do I think when I see
them? But to be frank, I'm kinda
happy. You know? I I know it's very
difficult for a lot of the sisters.
And I realized that,
a lot of them face tremendous hardship, which
we men
seem to be completely insensitive about.
But
most of them face terrible difficulties, tremendous hardship,
put up with terrible sacrifices
that many of us
males would fail to do.
Could wouldn't be strong enough to do.
So I have a tremendous amount of respect
for the sisters that do. For those that
don't or can't or are struggling with it,
I understand it's very difficult.
And I certainly
realize
that the hardship and the difficulties they're facing.
And I, could definitely appreciate
it, especially here in America.
That I understand.
But still, what I see personally, when I
see a Muslim sister walking down the street,
I feel and I can identify her as
such. It's a very pleasant
feeling. And because they are upholding an alternative
to the
to the style, to the morals, to the
mores,
to the,
direction
that the Western culture is pointing women.
And I think that takes a tremendous amount
of courage especially when there's such a tiny
minority of this society.
So I have a tremendous amount of respect
for them. The only thing is I wish
when I would pass them on the street
and I say, Assalamu Alaikum. They would respond
to me and say, Assalamu Alaikum Salam.
I don't know if it's because I look
very American or what, but they always look
at me
like and or maybe they just don't like
saying hello to fellow Muslims. I don't know.
But the prophet, peace be upon him, used
to say, salaam alaikum. And he saw all
the ladies passing on the street, and they
would spro respond, alaikum.
But nowadays, I think some of the sisters
get offended when I say that. And I,
don't understand why. Maybe it's, something that, I
don't
a cultural thing maybe. I don't know. But
What did you say with the brothers?
Oh, it's the brothers? Yeah.
Thank you. Thank you. You're, uptight about it.
Probably.
Yeah. I find that most of the problems
in our community begin with a man, of
course.
Okay.
Here's an interesting question. It says that I
know people who are kind and good and
they're not hurting anyone.
And they're wondering if having they're not fulfilling
their Islamic objections,
obligations.
And they're wondering if it's if is it
merely enough to have good
character.
Well, let me ask answer that question in
extreme form. The question is, if someone is
kind, good, humanitarian,
merciful towards his fellow human beings, helps his
friends, his neighbors,
is, compassionate to others,
Is he from the Islamic point of
view? What,
gonna achieve success in this life and the
hereafter? Something to that effect.
And let me take the extreme. Let's let's
say the person is an atheist.
Well, god knows best.
And God it depends on what that person
knows.
It depends on so many things that are
beyond
my knowledge.
How God will how that person will stand
on the day of judgement.
Maybe
he was no one ever explained him the
truth. Maybe he,
was incapable of perceiving the truth. Maybe his
circumstances I really don't know. I do know
this, that god
never holds a person
to account for something until that person has
had a true warning. True warning.
But
I will say
this, that the Quran does not so much
deal with these sort of gray cases.
It deals with
real
practical cases because when the Quran approaches the
reader, if he's gotten to that stage where
he's approaching the Quran, he's ready for the
message of that revelation.
And once that revelation starts calling to him,
it presents things in very stark terms.
And the message seems to be essentially this,
if
you're a good person
and
you refuse
to have a relationship with God,
you refuse to even acknowledge God.
You free refuse to have anything to do
with the idea of
God. I think, generally,
that person is in a lot of trouble.
And the reason why I say this, I'll
give you an analogy.
Because that person is not cultivating the most
important relationship
in his life.
We are here to come to know and
grow nearer to God.
That person might be a fine human being.
He might be a great humanitarian.
He might be making himself feel very good
inside by everything he does. He might be
getting a lot of peace and well-being for
it. But the only real relationship that matters
really in that person's life is not being
developed at all.
God's love is there for him to turn
to. But if he doesn't turn to it,
he's never
gonna
receive
it.
Because
love is a two way street.
God's love and mercy is there to shower
on all, but you have to enter into
that loving relationship with God.
You have to turn to Him in love.
Let me give you the following example.
Let's say I have 3 daughters,
hypothetically.
And let's say one of them for some
reason or another chooses not to acknowledge that
I exist.
To such an extent that she never even
knows that I exist. Never even cares whether
I exist. Never does anything to even observe
the fact that I exist.
And so no matter how much love I
shower in that daughter's direction,
my heart how much mercy I pour on
that daughter, no matter how many gifts I
bestow on that child,
and no matter how good he is or
she is to all the other people in
this earth,
that daughter will never experience my parental love.
That daughter will never know
my parental mercy and caring.
Will never develop a relationship to receive that
and experience that.
So it'll go throughout life having totally missed
that.
I see the situation of an atheist who
does good deeds towards others and is a
great humanitarian in a similar light.
No, I am not God to judge that
person's ultimate
fate.
But frankly,
if it was my friend and erase this
question with me, I would say that you
have something very serious to consider.
And I don't have much hope for such
a person.
You know, life is full of choices.
Nobody simply is born to disbelieve in God.
Disbelieve in God is a choice and it
is made at a point in a person's
life. And we're responsible for the choices we
make.
And believe me, as an atheist, I'll tell
you this. I'm not an atheist anymore but
I was for many years.
You're presented many opportunities
to think about God.
I'll give you one last example.
I had a friend,
an atheist,
very good friend, still a very good friend.
Colleague, as a matter of fact.
Came down with cancer.
Pancreas cancer. They said the cancer was as
big as a football
almost. The doctors gave her no hope.
Went to the hospital.
Called from the hospital.
Said I don't know what to do. Would
you pray for me? He said I can't
pray for you.
I said of course I could pray for
you. But I said what's the point of
me praying for you if you don't pray
for you?
Nobody could do anything for you unless you
want to have it done yourself. Like an
alcoholic that has to give up drinking, I
can't do it for you. You gotta turn
yourself.
In any case,
I don't know what happened,
but she said that if I ever get
cured from this disease, I will definitely
strongly consider that religion that you adhere to.
Lo and behold,
it deformed the operation,
and she's alive today.
Now I'm not saying it was because of
that statement of hers.
God's mercy encompasses all things and he does
what he wills according to his design.
I'm not trying to presume that I know
why things turned out the way they did.
But I do know this,
that today,
when I talk about my religion, she mocks
it.
When I talk about my religion, she says,
oh my god. I don't believe in that.
The point is is that she has already
gone back on her promise to God.
She was given the opportunity
and the choice and now she rejects it.
And believe me, aside from her obstinate and
rebellious rejection of God,
she's a nice person to people.
She helps neighbors, gives gifts to friends,
etcetera.
And she's miserable.
And she's miserable because there's something empty and
missing in her life.
But she was given that choice and I
know as an atheist you're given many.
God makes
them come to
you. And so I don't see where I
don't having lived that life, I don't see
where many people have many have an excuse.
You know, we have a brain to think
with.
God gave us hearing, sight,
and senses to proceed with.
Learn.
And we either reject them or take them.
We're a creature of choice.
Any other I got over I got too
long into that. Sorry. Go ahead. Okay. The
next question says,
what do you say to an atheist when
he she asks who created God?
I say no one.
No. I you know, this
it's obvious. You know, I mean, I I
just tell them that
one of the attributes of God is he
is the creator. If you don't wanna accept
that, I mean, that's up up to you.
If You don't wanna believe that there is
a creator, you know. But we believe that
God is the creator. There's some things that
are silly to argue about.
You know? Who created God? What are the
attributes of God is the creator. Obviously, from
our point religious point of view, he's not
created.
You know?
And that's it. There's nothing, yeah, there's nothing
to there's nothing to argue. You know, sometimes
you just have points of difference.
I know how the argument usually goes. You
say God is the creator of all things.
That's why I say it's silly to say
that try to prove to somebody there's a
God by saying, well, who created all this?
Cause then he'll say, well, who created god?
That argument simply will not work with an
atheist. They've already rejected the idea of a
creator.
And so you're getting yourself in a pointless
argument. You need to know the mindset of
the person you're arguing with.
But remember this,
at some stage in every atheist life, that
person consciously rejects belief in god.
And so when you present your belief in
God, they're gonna give you rational objections to
that belief.
But that's the rational objections. Don't try to
come at them with
a proof. Okay?
I'm tired. You guys wore me out.
Keep the questions simple
we're gonna we're gonna take all the questions
and give them to brother Jeffrey Lang. Maybe
he'll cover them. Can everybody please remain seated?
We have a lot of important announcements to
make. Inshallah, he'll cover them in his speech
tomorrow
or he can, you know, maybe incorporate them
in the last two chapters of his book.
And first of all, the first announcement to
make, I wanna reiterate what brother Amen
Heidea
had explained earlier today.
We have a new curfew system
because we've had a few problems.
So, inshallah, we'd like to we'd like to
enforce that today. But let me explain the
rules one more time. From 11:30 till Fajr,
nobody under the age of 18 is allowed
to be up, sitting around in the lobby
or roaming around. Everybody has to be
an adult who wants to be up or
they have to, you know, they have to
have a really, really good reason. And if
any of the staff, the hotel staff, or
any of the Maya staff asks you,
you must give them your name right
away and you'll you'll be given a warning
instantly. And then the second time, you'll be
asked to leave the conference.
And if any if nobody if you get
if you don't cooperate,
then a lot more extreme measures will be
taken.
Also,
I'd like to ask the brothers in the
back,
the brothers who are, coordinating.
Inshallah, we're gonna dismiss the sisters all first
when I say not right now. And the
vans will all be the sisters only until
all the sisters are gone. And then inshallah,
we'll let the brothers leave. So you guys
have quite a while to wait. Just please,
sit tight.
Okay. And one last announcement before we get
going.
Everybody, please listen up. There's been complaints that
there's a lot of children
that are in the hall that are crying
and making a lot of noise. So please
take them to the the Radisson Hotel where
they have services provided
for just about any age kid that you
have, and they'll take care of them for
you.
Yeah. I have I have important analogy too.
Well, concerning the curfew, I'd like just to
put it in a in another way. I
see it differently.
And no kids are allowed without their parents
after 11:30. So it it's as simple as
that. I hate the word curfew and make
an American, making us you know, I go
to other conferences with non Muslims sometimes in
professional conferences.
And, I've seen kids doing much worse than,
our kids do. So don't feel so bad
about it, though it's it's not good. But
at least, you know, it's it's something inshallah
we can handle. New kids are allowed up
to live
in 30 without their their parents.
The important announcement that I have is that
tomorrow's program
will be modified
than the form that you see and and
your notes here about the program.
This will change tomorrow
because
there were
some programs that were designed to be,
transmitted over satellite.
And unfortunately,
this is canceled. There is no satellite programs
that will be done tomorrow.
Accordingly,
inshallah, we'll have a change. There will be
a lecture
by a speaker from England,
who comes from England,
and, this will be in the morning. I'm
trying to coordinate with the,
Arabic program, the activities with them. So most
probably, that will be the first one in
the morning.
Doctor Jeffreys Lang lecture
will be given in the Arabic program,
and it will be short.
Short one.
It will be in the main
convention center.
And most probably, it will be at different
times. I'm not sure if you're gonna be
able to attend that one or not. And
then the one after that will change too.
We'll give you in writing. The first thing
in the morning, you will have the program
the detailed program for the day in writing
inshallah
tomorrow morning.
The tapes for this lecture
will be available, inshallah, first thing in the
morning or late tonight,
InshaAllah. The other lectures are available at Maya
desk,
if you need them. Also, doctor Jeffrey's book,
the first book,
Struggling to Surrender,
is available
in the bazaar.
And I'll have some copies here, Insha'Allah, tomorrow
morning, if you would like to get a
copy of his first book, Struggling to Surrender.
Thank you. Yes.
No. Thank you very much.
Brothers, could you please remain seated or stay
in your spot? Stretch if you wanna get
up and stretch. And wait for all the
sisters to leave
and be at the other hotel, and then
inshallah,
you guys can all go.