Moutasem al-Hameedy – Trial 1 – What Is Muslim Identity
AI: Summary ©
The conference is about the Muslim identity and the use of "identify" in the Bible. The speakers discuss the definition of identity and how it relates to the human mind, as it is used to describe the "we" of the culture. They also touch on the importance of understanding one's values and values in order to fix actions and deeds. The segment emphasizes the importance of the heart and the natural state of the mind to develop love for Islam.
AI: Summary ©
Salam Alaikum Warahmatullahi Wabarakatuh Al hamdu Lillahi Rabbil Alameen wa salatu salam ala Sayidina Muhammad Ali he was heavy as my in battle. So,
welcome to this conference, I hope you guys will chala be able to grab some benefit from the topics that we will discuss.
Inshallah, we will open the platform for some questions towards the end. So, we'll see Inshallah, if there is any points that you need more clarification on Inshallah, this will, we'll try to address them in the letter.
So the topic that I was given,
and I think it's good to start with
is what is we're trying to answer a question, which is, what is the Muslim identity? What is the Muslim identity and the whole conference really revolves around this concept of identity. Now we're going to approach it one step at a time, so bear with me.
First, we want to understand what identity means. What identity means. And we can ask a question here is identity, an Islamic concept?
This word identity, the concept itself? Is it Islamic? Do we find it in the Quran? Do we do we find the word identity in the Quran or something identical to it? In the Quran? Do we find it in the Hadith of the Prophet? salAllahu alayhi wasallam? Actually, not.
Not, we don't find the word identity. And again, here, let's look at the Arabic language what is the Arabic equivalent to the word identity? We have a few words in the Arabic language, we have who we are.
Okay, who we are, who we are comes from the pronoun of Damir Hua, or here
he or she, meaning the reality of that person.
Okay, so it's a noun from
from the beaumier from the pronoun which is who he or here she
we have another word as well that is used by the scholars and you will find it.
I saw when I noticed a monopoly in Ramallah Anna's mentioned that a couple of times.
He said he used the word in Nia
in Nia in New Year to insert
in the sense that it is his identity or her identity, the person's identity, which is the reality.
Okay, so we don't find the word in the Quran, or the Sunnah. So why why are we talking about Muslim identity then?
Why are we talking about Muslim identity if it's not in the Quran? If it's not in the Sunnah, why do we talk about identity? Isn't that crucial? Is that Is it important? Is it helpful? If so, why don't we find it in the Quran? Why don't we find it in the Hadith of the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam?
And that's a good question.
And the answer is
this question is based on a misunderstanding of the function of the Quran and the function of the Sunnah of the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam.
The Quran is not a book of classifications, is not necessarily a book of contents.
And the Hadith of the Prophet SAW Selim as well, there are many concepts that became central in the Islamic tradition that were not mentioned or coined in the Quran, or the Sunnah.
Many of them, just the concept of faith,
which is extremely central in Islam, right? We talk about jurisprudence, the word folk that is mentioned in the Quran. And in the words of the Prophet SAW, Selim does not mean
or does not carry the same sense that we use the word for today.
As we use it today as the set of laws and jurisprudence that we have in Islam, that is called fic. This was developed later on, and it was applied later on.
So why are we using this word that is mentioned in the Quran and the Sunnah, in a different sense, than what it was used at the time of the Prophet Solomon the companions the prophets of salaam said in Hadith
about all the problems and maturity level behind the whole
Then whoever Allah was good for Allah will give them understanding and comprehension of the religion. The prophets of Allah made for Abdullah and Bess. He said Allahumma COVID deeN wildermuth Will Allah give him fill in the deen and teach him interpretation that we, but the problem he said Give him felt it didn't mean fair because we mean it today that we have, for example, four schools of thought, right for color Hanafi, Maliki Shafi Henneberry or that we have the book of foot that starts with Bihar with purification, then second was salah, right? So it's important to understand how to deal with the Quran and the Sunnah. Sometimes we have we we, we sometimes we try to enforce a
very limited and rigid approach to the Quran and the Sunnah. There are many things that the Muslims developed concepts that you don't find them as they are, as they have been, they have become, they have come to be used, you don't find them the same in the Quran and the Sunnah. So the word who we are the word, identity is a very useful term. It's a very useful term. And then when you look at the Quran and the Sunnah, you can find the ingredients of what we can call a Muslim identity present there. So we can develop that kind of concept. Why? Because it's a helpful concept. It's a useful concept.
So some people think that adherence to the Quran and the Sunnah means Oh no, you cannot adopt these concepts. That's not true. Because if you follow this approach, you're going to cancel the majority of the heritage of the Islamic Ummah in terms of knowledge science, whole fields of knowledge, they have to be cancelled out. Okay. So, this is a methodological thing, but it was important to clarify it at the outset, since we the whole conference is about the concept of Muslim identity. So, let's look at this concept identity, what does it mean identity?
What does it mean? How is it helpful?
Identity even the English language and this is close to the Arabic language, if you look at the root of the word, identity comes from the same root as the verb identify,
you identify when I say identify something is sort of like asking a definition, what is the definition? Tell me what is this thing when you get when you identify something, you give it a definition, you sort of give me an idea what this thing is. So instead of me having to learn everything about this or having to experience it myself, through language and communication, you are giving me a summary of what this thing is what this person is, identify.
And subhanAllah This is how the brain functions. And here we come across the first sort of
I would say connection between identity and the Quran.
Surah Al Baqarah. Allah subhanaw taala tells us the story of the creation of Adam Alayhis Salam.
Right Allah says to the angels, so the mullah AKA, we'll call her Abu Khalil mela in Niger. Fill out the Khalifa and remember or mentioned when your Lord said to the angels I'm going to place on earth Khalifa Palo Alto geography Hama UCOP Highways we could do our one who said behind the cover naka de Sulak color in the Alamo man at the angel said are you going to place on earth those who will bring corruption and shed blood when we celebrate your names and praise you?
Allah said I know what you don't know
where Allah them as SMA
SMA one lemme Adam and a SMA Akula from Alba humanity Mela, equity for Paula MB own EB SMA Allah in quantum soggetti Allah to add them all the names, the word a smell, names
and then Allah
displayed these things to the angels. And Allah said to the angels name these things and they said Glory be to You We only know what You have taught us.
There are Mallanna in Ireland to enact until Halima Hakeem, you are the you are the All Knowing and you are the all wise
Allah Adam and be humble smile. Was it to Adam, inform them have the names of these things?
For them, ambience mayhem, call it LM Apple look them in the earlier movie, but somehow it will match what we do in our quantum tech tomorrow. When Adam
inform them, oh, he named these things Allah said to the angels didn't I tell you that I know what is hidden in the heavens and the earth. And I know what you can see. And I know what you reveal.
So this is something very special about Adam. And he said that Allah taught him the names. And some of the scholars of Tafseer, they say that Allah told Adam the capacity to give names and labels to things, to categorize them to recognize them.
And this is very close to the concept of identity.
It's very close to the concept of identity. So this is a connection between the word identity and what we find in the Quran. Let's take something else or another angle into the word identity. And here we might use a little bit of,
you know, social sciences, and social sciences are not what we have
today in the universities, so social sciences started way before, way before in human history from the days of the philosophers.
In the time of Islamic, I would say advancement, it was there. There's a lot of writings from Muslim scholars about the about psychology about sociology and about anthropology. This is there's a lot of contribution, but we are not aware of them. And we don't appreciate them. And the Muslim scholars have used them and have you have put them to good use, even in religious matters.
So we'll find for example, able to hold on until now he is called the father of sociology.
They will hold on a Muslim scholar from Al Andalus
is the father of sociology, and his no Kadima. And it's actually even now, until recently, it was taught in universities.
Anyone who would study psychology or sociology or anthropology, they actually one of the readings, main readings on the list was the macaque demand, why even hold on?
So, the concept of identity is very important to use or to refer to in to refer to how humans have come to relate to the concept of identity, why identity is important.
The concept of identity, and what is it? What does identity mean? How do we relate to it? So in a sense, the human mind relates to things by creating definitions.
Mmm nucleon.
He says Elmo knockaloe Salatin mineralogy in a veiny. And we'll call him says learning knowledge is forming an image of something outside in the world and internalizing it in your mind. So you make a mental image of something that exists out there.
He says, This is what learning is. And this is what knowledge is.
When I'm Aluna, colossal rotten, how they rot in the knee in an image, an action is transforming a mental image that you have within and externalizing it, bringing it outside making it an external reality. So in a sense,
knowledge and action work in reverse ways.
Knowledge is taking an image from outside and external reality and internalizing it, making a mental forming a mental image of it.
And action is taking a mental image and then acting on it materializing it externally.
How does this help us, it helps us to understand how the human mind works. The human the way the human mind thinks, and the way it processes the worlds that it takes snapshots, or it forms images of things or concepts of things. So we understand Trust. Trust, is the name of smart one of the ESMA
is a name.
And it stands for something for a meaning. So in your mind, the word Trust has a meaning. And this meaning has external manifestations. You can tell if someone is trustworthy or not. This is someone I can trust or not. This is a situation where there is trust, or there is no trust. This is how your mind works with reality.
And we have a spirit a specific category for humans, including ourselves. You have to form a mental image for anything before you are able to deal with it. That's what we call learning.
We cannot deal with anything until we understand it. What does it mean to understand it
You form a mental image,
the more accurate, the more useful this image is.
And one of the most important things in life that you will form a mental image of is yourself.
You form a mental image of yourself. And in human behavior, this is central to all of your functioning.
It is central to all of your function, it's at the center of how your mind thinks of how you relate to the world and how you deal with everything.
And what do they call it? Today in, in modern social sciences, they call it self image.
And it has extensions of it. There's the word identity, the word self, is used.
Self esteem is an extension of it.
sense of self.
And then it branches out.
It branches out into
the present self, future self. All of these are studied in the social sciences. Why? Because we humans, your brain, what your brain does, it reduces the complexity of the world into concepts. And it creates a simulator in your brain. This is how you deal with the world you expect. You play these concepts that you know together, and you will, and then you you project, how they're going to interact. So you have some kind of predictability on the world.
And when your expectations do not match reality, you start to adjust your concepts and the relationship between the concepts. That's how we humans function, there's always a conversation happening between your perception, your understanding of the world, your inner map, the map that you create for the world, and how the world really is, there's always a conversation, you're always improving and refining this map that you have. And you also trying to create an influence from your mental image to the things outside in the world when you try to influence the surroundings.
So the word identity is actually a definition, specifically, of human beings. So you have a definition, this is how we deal with the world, we define things we have a mental image isn't a smell, we form an estimate. These names are these images, mental images,
and we put labels on them.
And then we create a simulator.
That's how we process the world. And that's how we act on the world. And that's how we interact with the world.
This is our experience. So when we talk about humans, the definition that we give we humans to humans, we call it identity. And the most important identity you're dealing with is your own identity is your own self image, who you are to yourself.
What do you think you are? Who do you think you are?
That's your identity.
And it's not only thought
it's not only thought and this is why, today in modern social sciences, there's a huge amount of research on the self or the identity, what is it made off Some theories say the self or is human identity is the person's identity is made primarily of memories, you are a collection of memories.
Some other theories, they say no, the identity of a human being is actually a collection of potential.
And motivations, what a person aspires to do or to get, there is a descriptive approach to identity
which is a person starts to identify themselves after their physical composition.
The primary component of their self image is their physique.
With some, another descriptive way is people's social image achievements, how people view you your social status, some people start to develop their identity around that. Another approach to identity would be possessions.
And this is identify identification with possessions.
So these are approaches this is how the human mind tries to understand but is there a specific is there like a complete theory of self or identity and social sciences? No
Each one takes one aspect of humans. And then, and it has some truth to it, because we start to identify ourselves with something.
So for some people like their self image, social image, the reputation is everything for them is the most valuable thing for them. And that's how they are they identify themselves, this is what their identity is based on. So if this gets tarnished, they're ruined.
And people in this case, most likely, would withdraw, would actually prefer even to commit suicide than stay alive. And this shows that they have primarily
built their identity, on the social image of their reputation.
For some people, its possessions, some people, when they lose their wealth, what happens, they end up killing themselves.
Why? Because they lost themselves. And that's very interesting. The sense of self that we have, we humans, our identity,
can latch on anything,
you can actually create a definition for yourself, based on your possessions, based on your physic based on other people's opinions, based on your achievements in this life, or based on your memories,
or based on your motivations and goals, the things you want to achieve in life.
And this is why there are people who are willing to put their life on the line to achieve their goals. Why? Because you can tell these people have identified themselves primarily around what their aspirations. And that's a very interesting thing about humans. That's a beautiful secret about humans.
So now we took this linguistic, social definition or approach to the concept of identity, we're speaking about Muslim identity. So what is the Muslim identity?
Is there something called Muslim identity?
And is that helpful or useful?
The Prophet sallallahu Sallam tells us in the Hadith, and being a Muslim, meaning being submissive to Allah, subhanho, wa taala, being submissive to ALLAH SubhanA, WA Tada.
The way humans approach identity is either informed by their upbringing, by the cultural society, by the norms, by external influence, or maybe when they become teenagers, and they get more independence, they became become more autonomous.
They start changing their identity, right, people start choosing different identities, some people start to identify themselves, again, around their aspirations, around their goals, around how people deal with them, how people view them, how people see them.
So people will still have or develop these different approaches to themselves that allow these things to define who they are, their sense of self starts to come from these things.
So people
with volition, meaning with choice, whether it's conscious, or unconscious, people choose what their identity is, who they really are, what is their true definition, and by the way, this is consequential. Because whatever you wrap your identity around, becomes your highest value
comes your highest value.
This is why there are people who are willing to put everything on the line, so that their physical beauty never gets lost, right? People spend sometimes 1000s millions on plastic surgery why?
And put their life at risk with all of these surgeries. Why? Because these people have wrapped their identity, the core of their identity is their image, physical image, what they consider to be their beauty, and if that's taken away, life has no value for them. That's the most valuable thing everything else even life itself has less value. So we see do you see the dynamic of identity? How do we form it listed say this is the structure of our identity. The there is something about us humans, that we can choose to be who we are
to be our identity to define us
And this becomes the most important thing in our lives.
We sort of lose ourselves in this thing. We literally lose ourselves in this thing. So we become this thing, whether it's wealth, possessions, whether it's beauty, whether it's self image, whether it's achievements, whether its goals, future goals, whatever that is, or his past in history, some people attach themselves to history to their memories.
And try to question any of those memories, when it comes to this person, what's going to happen?
You'll have a you'll have a fight with them, they're not going to accommodate that. Okay?
So
Muslim identity.
What is Muslim identity about?
Are Muslims allowed to choose their identity?
Or does Allah choose for them? How can we build a Muslim identity that we can call Muslim identity? Really?
And that means how do we relate to ourselves? How we define ourselves? And what are the highest values that really constitute?
You know, what our life is about? And this becomes our sense of self. How do we do that? Where do we get that from? The prophets, Allah Salam says, in the Hadith, I know as a Muslim, you are someone who surrenders to Allah subhanaw taala. So while people, most people end up choosing for themselves, again, based on external influence, based on whatever, like factors are most Muslim is supposed to let ALLAH SubhanA wa Sahana define them.
A Muslim is supposed to
build their sense of self, around what matters most to Allah.
So what matters most to you is what matters most to Allah.
And if you look at Islam itself, in a sense, all the instructions in Islam, all of the information that we have in Islam,
all of the knowledge that the Quran gives us, that the Prophet SAW, Selim teaches us, all of that, if you put it together, it works towards one thing,
that you will build the Muslim identity, because that's a central theme in your life, once your identity is really Muslim.
It's gonna just play out in your life.
So if you work on identity, and you get it right, you have to, you have to do less management, with all of the external actions.
Your external actions will naturally flow in the right direction, if you've got this central, right, everything else is going to fall in place, instead of you managing every nitty gritty detail here and there and try to fix which is way beyond your capacity to manage. That's not the approach, you take a central approach, when you fix identity, if you get identity, right, then that expression, all of the expression of your identity, or at least most of it is going to be right. So you don't have to manage all the nitty gritty details. You don't have to remind yourself, oh, I have to be kind in this situation. No, but if your identity is right, the way your identity relates to the
situation, it would relate with kindness and kindness as required. Without you having to manage that it becomes more natural to you. So what is the Muslim identity? And we just identified a couple of things we said, let's just sort of bring these points together. So identity is the way we define ourselves. The definition self definition that I give for myself, the mental image I have of who I am, like if I say to you,
justice, you have a mental image of justice, you have a definition. If I say,
a cup of tea,
you have a difference. If I say food, you have you have a mental concept, mental image of that. And it's switch. It's not just a simple image, it's switch with detail as well. And when I say you, and you say I, there's a mental image there that you refer to that you call I
and that's what we want to fix.
And really, if you look at Islam, it serves to fix this.
So it's a definite it's the definition you have for yourself. Number two.
It has to do with your value with your values.
Whatever you build your definition, your identity on is actually the most value
The blue thing in your life experience, you're willing to sacrifice everything else once it's in competition with this supreme value
and
number three, is that this identity is just going to play itself out in our day to day behavior. So let's look at what Allah subhanaw taala values most about humans.
The Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam
says in the authentic hadith from Abu Hurayrah, probably Allah collected by a Muslim in Allah Alejandro isla.
So what Willa and Sami
Allah does not look at
Allah says everything, there is not Allah sees Allah looks.
Allah looks and that means there is something there.
That means this is what matters to Allah. But Allah looks are lacking Yunbo Isla Kulu become, what are Manickam Allah looks at your hearts and your deeds.
There is a consensus among Muslim scholars that every time the word man mentioned in the Quran, and the Sunnah, it primarily means the actions of the heart.
And by extension, it means external actions, opposite to how we process things today. Today, once you say our man, people think of external actions, that's not how the early generations related to the word karma or man was Emanuel, the actions of the heart, what are the actions of the heart, love of Allah, fear, hope in Allah, trust in Allah.
generosity, forgiveness
these are the actions of the heart.
This is really what matters. So what matters what it what does what does what has the highest value in humans to with Allah subhanaw taala? What is the most valuable thing, our hearts and their actions and the actions that follow from these actions, the external actions that follow from these, that's what matters to Allah.
So as a Muslim, what should our identity be built upon? Our ethnicity,
our language,
culture,
social status,
finances and possessions.
Titles,
achievements,
goals and aspirations, connections, et cetera, you name it, none of that. None of that.
None of that
it's part of our experience, but it's not our identity. So what is the Muslim identity the Muslim identity is that the heart
is like is what Allah wants it to be.
So what should the heart be? So we can build our identity around that
I want to take you
take a little bit of a digression just to help us understand one point
and and then it will help us inshallah to carry on.
In languages
there are ways to give names and names as we said a smell have a lot to do with identity. So the names we give things have a lot to do with the definition we have for these things. So the way we give names to things
in in languages in the Arabic language for those who have a little bit of the Arabic language, especially here we talk about morphology, sort of. We have two types of names.
We have someone German
What is this one? Anyone knows? Jam it and
we're stuck. Jam a dumpster could we item is a completely different category we're talking about jam it and mush duck jam, it means solid. It's like
it's a name that doesn't have any linguistic background. Just it's like an arbitrary name. It's an arbitrary name.
Okay, it's an arbitrary name. It doesn't signify any meaning it's just a title that is given to this thing for no proper occasion is just given to it for the functionality of a name. Okay.
But there is derived name is a mush duck
Most of the names in any language are derived in the sense for example, I'll give you something in the Arabic language again, morphology is small Allah.
The name of a tool,
the name of a tool.
You have, for example, in the Arabic language,
refrigerator, the same in English.
Or let's call it cooler.
It's called an Arabic language, Ledger, right? It's not an arbitrary name, we just gave it a title. It comes from a description of what is cold and what's freezing, filled, filled from filled with derived for larger, it does the action of freezing things. It's a freezer.
Just like freezer in English freezer is not just a title. Like it's not like against all an acronym we just give to something, but it's actually it signifies and a meaning behind it. There's a function there is a function
right freezer.
And you look at many things in languages they have derived names, why because they signify a meaning specifically a function. A function a lot of the names in the Arabic language are actually derived Prophet Muhammad Sallallahu sallam, his name is Mohammed and is it is derived from what Hammond praise is praiseworthy
is praiseworthy, the names of Allah subhanaw taala. Are they jam it almost stuck? Are they arbitrary? Or are they derived from meanings?
They're derived from meanings
are derived from meanings. What does this tell us? And here's my point. That's why we took this digression.
One of the most important principles in this world in this life is functionality.
functionality, Allah subhanaw taala. When he talks about the creation of the heavens and the earth, Allah emphasizes functionality. Allah talks about the stars, he talks about their functionality. He talks about the skies, talks about the functionality, Allah talks about the land, why sometimes you have plains and sometimes you have mountains, you have valleys, functionality, why rain functionality, vegetation functionality, why Allah sent messengers functionality?
Why because Allah creates with purpose.
Allah creates nothing. This is why the meaning is at the end of Surah le Emraan. Those who remember Allah in all of their efforts, they say Rob bene, ma Nikita, hadda bout leela, or our Lord, You have not created any of this for no purpose. Everything in this life that Allah created, has functioned to fulfill.
And most of the names that these things are given are derived from their function.
That's their identity.
Humans are no exception.
Humans are no exception. So the identity of humans should be derived from what the purpose of their existence.
So you want to know the Muslim identity, you want to build a Muslim identity? What is it built on your functionality,
your functionality, and who chooses this function? Allah subhanaw taala.
Allah subhanaw taala chooses this function, and Allah already specified this function even before our creation. And Allah said and sorted that yet one o'clock till June now we'll insert in earlier abou when
I have not created the jinn and mankind except
to worship me to worship me, that means Muslim identity is based on functionality.
And what is this function? It is the worship of Allah subhanho wa Taala alone. That is the foundation of Muslim identity. It's not colored. It's not ethnicity. It's not language. It's not social status, status. It's not physical image. It's not social image. It's not any of that is one thing.
Is the purpose for which you were created. And this is how humans choose their identity. Either they choose their identity based on what Allah subhanaw taala chose for them, or they end up choosing another function.
Another function and that's why
It's very common for people to identify themselves after their career, because career is a function at the end of the day. But we're looking for the ultimate function because you can still have a career and serve a function, but it's part of a bigger frame, a bigger function, and that's to worship Allah subhanaw taala.
So Muslim identity is based on what and this is how we should do this consciously. Because really, a lot of us if you think everything about within Muslim identity is just, yeah, I'm just a Muslim, and that's Muslim identity. But that's just a label.
Identity is a very functional concept. It shapes you.
So you need to actively engage with defining yourself.
That's who I am. That's what I stand for. That's what I live for. That's what my life is about, that's the highest value that I have that everything else comes second to it. You have to proactively shape yourself internally in this way.
Otherwise, you say, Oh, I'm a Muslim, that's my identity, that's just a label. That's a slogan. It doesn't necessarily have a reality.
So how do I build a Muslim identity?
I need to understand my function, my purpose. So this is why the concept of purpose is very important. When you say, Oh Allah, not for any empty reason you have created all of this, you know, that Allah creates for a purpose. Everything serves a function.
There's nothing that was created for nothing in this life.
Everything serves a function, whether we know it or not. That's how Allah creates. And this is what hikma means, wisdom. That's what it means.
It means that you actually do things for a wise purpose, for a good purpose. And that's the name of Allah Hakim. So Allah does not create anything just like that, for the sake of creating it, no, there is a wise purpose behind it.
And the wise person purpose behind creating you is actually to worship Allah. Now, we arrived, I think it becomes clear now we arrived at the conclusion that Muslim identity is based on the worship of Allah subhanaw taala alone.
But what does worship mean?
So we need to understand our identity ourselves. So we can actually sort of, in a sense, play a role in crafting this identity consciously crafting this identity that we are actually that we are actually our existence is about worshipping Allah would this worshiping Allah mean?
All means just praying, and we Ramadan comes you fast, right? And you occasionally come to the masjid. And
you use a few Arbic words here, like in sha, Allah, Al Hamdulillah, etc. And now become like, oh, yeah, I'm serving my purpose.
Is this what it is?
This is just like saying, you know, being a Muslim,
is about for example, wearing a folk. That's it, or wearing a hijab.
Now, that's an expression of something deeper of a deeper reality.
So what does worship mean? That this is our identity.
And we said, once you get this right, it informs everything else. Because all of your behavior, by the way, is an expression of your identity.
Every human behavior you have in every moment is actually an outcome of how your identity responds to circumstances you find yourself in.
That's it. That's why your actions usually are a reflection of what's in your heart. Unless you're just working so hard to come off large, what's in your heart, like the hypocrites.
Your external behavior is an extension or reflection of what's in you and how it responds to circumstances. And that's what we're talking about your identity. So we want to build our identity around the worship of Allah. So that becomes the highest value, it identifies us, it becomes us. And then we live our lives from that core. So what does worship mean? If we understand worship, as Hey, pray five times a day, fast Ramadan, dress up from every now and then like an Arab or a Pakistani or Somali or whatever, and say a few Arabic words and associate with Muslims. That's what worship is.
Oh, that's the surface of worship.
That's the X
They're not part of our worship. But what is worship? Well, what worship really is, that's what we're trying to know.
So
I'm going to quote a verse
or two verses from the Quran and show you just how Muslim scholars
took meaning from these verses. So Allah Subhana Allah says in surah to the Bukhara woman and nurse immediately looming dunya Allah here and then you have Munna home to home. Billa.
Will, Lina M and o should humbly law. And among humans there are those who take rivals with Allah. partners with Allah in worship. They love them as they love Allah.
Or another interpretation they love them as they should love Allah. When Allah says will Lavina am and what should have been the law and the believers love our law more than those people love their idols or their partners.
Another verse In surah Allah ADA Allah Spandana says the other you under the arm and me your domain command Dini for Sophia de la hoga woman, you hit boom or your head bone.
As a Latina, me, Nina is that an adult cafeteria?
Or you who believe whoever turns back on their heels
and sort of don't support this religion, don't stand up for this religion. Allah will bring
up people
whom he loves, and they love him.
He loves them, they love him.
They're humble and merciful to the believers. And they are full of honor and dignity in front of the disbelievers.
And they fear no blame for the sake of Allah.
So the scope is derived from that.
What is the essence of worship?
What is Allah want from us? If we don't stand up for Islam, Allah is gonna replace us and bring the people and the first description he Allah says, He loves them, they love him.
And Allah says, Those who take partners with Allah and worship they love them as they should love Allah but the believers of Allah more. What is the conversation about here? It's about love.
It's about love.
And this is why the scholars said the essence of the concept of worship is love Allahabad
I mean, Timmy has said it many times. Many times he said the mayor he had a bad he had a bad man hobo with humility.
What's muhabba it's love.
We are created to love Allah. That's why we are created and love is not only an emotion, love shapes everything because if you truly love will continue to hipbone Allah, feta beone with Kamala, if you truly love Allah, then you should follow me. Right? Because love has consequences. If it's if the heart of the of the love is genuine in the heart is gonna play out how does it play out?
Obedience
and seeking Allah. That's how enough is when you see someone who loves something or love someone, what do they do? They're obsessed.
They love a person, they're obsessed with that person. They want to get near to this person close to this person, be with this person all the time and earn their pleasure and admiration and love and acceptance, right?
You will have something you're going to spend your life chasing it, serving it. That's what love is. So love is not an idle concept is not just a passing emotion.
It is the most powerful human emotion.
So the essence of why Allah created us for
to love him for love. And that's very interesting about human nature. So what is the foundation and the basis of the Muslim identity? It's Love,
Love of Allah subhanaw taala and love definitely, if it's true, brings about obedience, they are the Arabic poet says, Locanda humbucker so I define the upper Tahoe in Belgium and you hit boom or Tokyo.
If you love were true. You would have obeyed the one that you love. Because the one who loves obeys the one obeys the their loved one.
It's a rule of thumb. That's what love is. So if there is no obedience, there is no sacrifice
If there is no pursuit, there's no love. It's just a claim to love but it's not a real love.
So that's the foundation of the Muslim identity. We are created to worship Allah. And guess what? The name of Allah subhanaw taala.
Again, this is a name, right? And it's a small MOSHTARAK. Actually, this was a debate, but hamdulillah the Muslim scholars by majority vast majority, their opinion is that the name Allah is a small MOSHTARAK
and not a small German, it's not an arbitrary name. It's derived
Allah meaning
and Lu, the one who is worshipped, that's the meaning of Allah.
And the essence of worship is love. So the main name of Allah subhanaw taala, Allah means the loved one.
The only worshipped one is the only one who deserves our ultimate love and devotion.
So that's the foundation of our Muslim identity. So,
does the Muslim identify after their possessions, physique, ethnicity, language, color, race, social status, memories, history, accolades, achievements, degrees.
So connections,
after the clothing, none of that none of that what defines us as a Muslim is your love of Allah subhanaw taala. And whether this love is true, so plays out as humility before Allah and obedience to Him.
And this is the linguistic meaning of Obadiah or a better
linguistic meaning of a better is bringing something down you bring yourself down to Allah in obedience. And what is the engine of this, your love of Allah
your love of Allah subhanho wa taala.
And that's why the prophets of salaam used to ask Allah subhanaw taala along mania Luca who back while Burma new book, or Allah I asked you your love.
And I asked you the love of those that love you as well.
That means you put Allah before everything else before everyone else, even before yourself. And and that's that's, and that's the pinnacle of love, the pinnacle of love is that you lose your sense of self.
In the one you love.
You lose your sense of self in the one you love in Milan immunoblotting, Rama Allah to Allah and his book, political Hydretain the path of the two migrations, he says the highest level of a badass
and to read them around Allah, that you only want what Allah wants, that, that you lose all of your desires and ambitions and you only want what Allah wants whatever that is.
He says this is the highest level of a bad
so in a sense, what really identifies you is what Allah wants.
What Allah wins. Now, I believe the rest of the conference is going to be about this. I'm not sure if the other speakers will adopt
my conclusions, I doubt I doubt, but at least I think I have two other talks in this conference. So I am going to carry on this conversation based on this kind of definition, this kind of conclusion. So we build on this insha Allah Who
insha Allah Who Tada one just want to show one incident as even Tamia by the way, this is not my stuff, just in case somebody thinks and I know like in the past, and today, I feel like ranting so put up please bear with me.
In the past, I would say things like that, and some people would say, you know, this is not Islam, this is Psychology.
Right? Or why don't we just studied the Quran instead of you know, dealing with all of this nonsense.
You know, the problem sometimes is that, you know,
before we learn, we open our mouth.
Really before we learn, we open our mouth and we start giving judgments. And we think we're following the Sunnah when if you follow the Sunnah, you should actually just keep this shut until you learn.
Why am I saying this is just because what I've shown
with you is the jest of what even Tamia and his students MLK em, talk about when they discuss the concept of worship, oh, this is some of what they say.
None of this is my stuff. By the way, literally none of this is my personal conclusions, these things, and you'll find them from other than them, but they were just, I like the way they approached it. But other scholars pretty much said many things along the same lines. So this is why there's a beautiful story that even Taymiyah mentions about this when he talks about the concept of love. And I believe this was in his there's a small, like treaties have his, what's called, which is called reseller filmhub, a treaties on love. And he talks about this, specifically, in Arabic, it's about 100. And
it's just above 150 pages, and some of the editions,
it goes a little bit more than that.
Even Taymiyah shows how the one who loves truly loves, they lose their sense of self, in their beloved one.
So he says, And he talks about worshipers and this is what happens sometimes with mystics, some people who go to extremes with mysticism and Sufism, they actually ended up to a point where they, it could be close to worshipping their share sometimes.
So he talks about a che, and he has a marine or a follower who loved his shape to the point of almost worshipped and he lost himself in his shirt chair. That's how much he loved him. So they were walking in his shed, they were walking by a pond, his chair slipped and fell in the pond. So the student jumped to the pond as well. So the chef looks at him. And so I'm going to narrate it in Arabic, then translated, the chef looks at me says an hour to filmer, and turmeric. Like I fill in the in the pond. So like what's wrong with you? Why did you fall? Where did you fall to? So the response of his student was
the crib to be Kenny, for Vaughn, to Anika and me.
Like I was so lost in you that I thought you were me.
Literally, and by the way, you think this act of jumping into the, into the pond after his che was involuntary
was involuntary. That's the power of love.
actually mean to me, you mentioned this to emphasize the story to emphasize this point.
So So again,
let's just recap and take a few questions.
So the Muslim identity, identity is again, it's just a human concept, you don't find it as it is because the Quran is not a book of like academic study, or concepts or classifications. It's a book of guidance.
But a very useful concept is identity. It's been there for a long time, and it's been approached from many angles, it's a very helpful thing. But because the mind thinks in concepts, in names, in titles in categories, we need to create a mental image of everything, so we can process it. And one of these things is yourself, you need to create an identity for yourself. And that's consequential that this definition that you have for yourself, if it is made by society or by external influence, then you are at the mercy of external forces, you have to take care of that you actually have to take a proactive approach to it. So you sort of build it, consciously engage in it.
Because that informs all of your actions and informs all of your emotions by the way. It really influences your emotions, your responses, and the shapes your experiences. And there are many ways or approaches to identity you could identify in a descriptive way, after possessions, after physic, after things that already exist exist,
or memories and history. But there's another approach to the self or the identity and that this has to do with either future projections, goals, aspirations,
or with other things, but in Islam.
Identity is about the most important value in your life, what you value the most what your life is about what defines your life, because your life is like an empty concept and needs to be filled.
So we need to fill it with what means the most to Allah.
And what means the most to Allah is the purpose for which he created us
that we fulfill that and that's worshiping Allah subhanaw taala and worshiping Allah subhanaw taala boils down in its essence to loving las manos Allah and love is the most powerful human passion is
The deepest human emotion and experience.
So that's what we need to understand about identity. And this is how we build a Muslim identity. Inshallah, in the upcoming talks, we're going to talk about, I believe, obstacles to forming a human identity. And then the third one, although it's not exactly about identity, but we'll try to, like sort of give some action points on how,
how this helps us be a better Muslim. And maybe in your questions as well. We'll find some points. So I say we'll take 10 minutes to questions then we'll give you five minutes to get ready for so lobbied Nila heater. Is that right what's
cool. Okay, so, questions? Yes. Yeah.
You need to speak up
can you put that down?
Yes. Yeah. What's Allah what Allah wants from us what Allah loves? That's all the same? Yeah, it's all the same. What Allah instructs us, is the same
person the same?
No, because your circumstances are different. Your physical mental, emotional compositions are different, but it creates a fair amount of unity. Right, but still has space for individual differences. Good question area. Questions
Yes.
No, I said it's built on that. Yeah, that's the core of it. Yeah.
Speak up, I didn't catch.
How to get you to a point where love of Allah is not fading. Do you mean as always there?
Okay, first, we need to understand why it like. Okay, so if Allah created us to love him that he must have equipped us with that. Actually, the natural state of the heart is loving the last one. Oh, tada. And if someone um, because I know this is a common question, how do I love Allah? How do I develop love of Allah? Well, you are born with the love of Allah, you're born to worship, you weren't born to love it. So that's your, that's your natural state. So if you're not experiencing love, then there is a contingent state that is blocking you.
So it's not like I need to acquire love a lot. No, you need to remove the things that are holding you from it that are blocking your way. Because it's there is like, there is gold. In this mind.
You don't need to create gold, it's already there, all you need to do is remove in all the layers of dirt or whatever same thing. The treasures that you're looking for Allah has given them to us already. This is the footrot. But
what we need if someone fails to feel the love of Allah Subhana Allah then that's because the heart is occupied with the love of someone or something else, period. And they are in a state of ruffler. And Allah is inevitable roughly means you're not always like in the clear state of mind and connected to Allah subhanaw taala, some clouds will come and sort of block your way. But that's fine. That happens. As long as it's not a continuous state.
So what I would say, when we sin, that takes away the desire is a bit of love, there is a flavor of love and desire, it takes us away takes away from our love of Allah and that's why the man goes down.
When you act on sins, that means you have given preference Flavor of Love there, you've compromised a little bit of your love of Allah with the sin. So that decreases your Eman which is decreases your love of Allah. Okay, so what we need to do is this is why remembrance is their remembrance helps you align focus and not get distracted. So that's what I would say. Everything in Islam is meant to put you in that state of clarity, experience, engaging with the love of Allah acting upon the love of Allah.
reminding yourself of it.
Yeah, and that's what Islam really works towards. And pretty much you will find a lot of Muslim scholars talk about a man the concept of muhabba love is always mentioned. Yeah.
Other questions?
Yeah.
Can you ask what?
Oh, yeah, go ahead.
Build up the s
Sure
okay, I get you actually very good question.
Yeah, where's my mic?
What happened
Okay, so
not yet
yes. Okay, good question from the sister here she says, Love for one's children. Is it considered to be Shrek? Let me put it this way in more of a milder way. Does love of one's parents, siblings, children, does that take away from the love of Allah? Very good question. Very good question. Actually, it could.
It could.
But this why how right there's a hierarchy.
If a person builds their identity on Love of Allah,
love of Allah
acts out, how does it play out? In you, obeying Allah subhanaw taala, right, doing what Allah loves, does Allah love that you love your children, he loves that.
He actually built it in you, does Allah love that you will love your parents, and be dutiful to them. Of course he loves and he built it in you.
Right. So if you work towards making the love of Allah, the ultimate thing in your life, your identity, then your love for your children will be an extension of your love of Allah. It will be its it will not be a competition, it will fall under it. It will be a branch from it. But
if you start with loving your parents, siblings, spouse, children, anyone, you start with that first and then then you say okay, then I'm gonna consider loving Allah subhanaw taala, you put them at the same level, that's not a natural state.
That's not a natural state. So any legitimate Healthy Love in the human experience could potentially fall under the umbrella of loving Allah subhanaw taala. And it becomes an expression of it and it feeds into it. But if it's taken from its natural place and put at a higher level where it doesn't belong, it could compete with the love of Allah. And this is where we thought we might
either border it Schilke or fall into it.
And how do we know it's when your love for your parents love for your spouse, siblings, children. When this comes in a state of competition with doing something Allah loves.
You'll give preference to one of those relationships over Allah. Then now you need to work it out again, because there's something wrong with the hierarchy. Okay.
Questions Yes?
Give an example.
Okay,
so
I have to
I have to make up a story to give an example so,
okay, yeah.
I'll give you a real example. Allah subhanaw taala says we'll encounter that como Abner Okamoto Juana como as well as your Kamala Sheila to come. One more I don't have to know how to gelatin Shona casa da wa Misaki knotel Donna had been a co minim la he was a SUTI would you hand in visability for Tom, bustle, hedayati Allah we embrace. If
your father's your children, your spouses, and your relations and your business and your houses are more valuable to you than Allah and then the Command of Allah Allah Allah and His Messenger Sol Salam, then wait until Allah brings his punishment. What was when was this revealed? This has to do with
with two occasions first, prior to that, it was the Muslims in Mecca who were commanded to make his daughter Medina and they couldn't leave their families, their non Muslim family.
And they did not go on Hijra because they couldn't leave their family out of love for their family.
So they put the love of their family first. That's an example. Second example is when Allah commanded the Muslims to take part in warfare.
And they said, Well, if I get killed in the battlefield, then my children my, my wife, I'm not going to spend time with them and I'm going to be with them who's gonna take care of them etc. If that and that that specific Jihad was an obligation at the time.
So these are examples. Okay. Any other questions? We can take one before we close?
Nothing but Zakum love Oh, okay.
No out of this topic, I apologize. Let's keep it on this topic.
Okay.
Yes.
Sorry.
Just to add
on maintaining
I think assumptions
are
definitely any any good engagement with Allah worship etcetera. Learning the names and attributes of Allah having taught called trust in Allah, etc. All of these are acts of worship, they come from love and they feed into love. So that's why every instruction in Islam is actually meant to feed into that love to come from that love and feed into it. It's a cycle.
It's a closed cycle. Okay, I think that's enough just for your time for coming out. And joining this and hope Inshallah, in the next couple of days, Saturday and Sunday, you will find the talks helpful, beneficial, please ask questions to the speakers. It helps sometimes you know, broaden the concepts dig deeper and help you understand believe me later Allah wa salatu salam ala Muhammad Ali he also be yourself