UK, March 2013
Mufti Menk – What is Islam all about
AI: Summary ©
The importance of Islam is emphasized, including its dual meaning and the need for finding the right person to represent culture. Prayer Five pillars include belief, acceptance, belief, acceptance, and belief. The importance of praying five times a day for peace and finding the right person to represent culture is emphasized. The Sharia is viewed as a strength and safety instrument and viewers are encouraged to continue sharing their thoughts and knowledge on the topic.
AI: Summary ©
Salam aleikum wa Rahmatullahi wa barakaatuh
smilla rahmanir rahim al hamdu Lillahi Rabbil alameen wa
salatu salam O Allah
The Bina Muhammad wa ala alihi wa sahbihi wa Vina woman to be on the sun in Isla Medina.
We commenced by praising Allah subhanho wa Taala sending complete blessings and salutations upon all the messengers who were sent from the time of Adam May peace be upon him. Going down through to the Prophet Abraham May peace be upon him is how can you smile May peace be upon them? The Prophet, the apo, Jacob, Joseph and all the messengers who had come, including Moses and Jesus Moosa, la salatu salam, Jesus May peace be upon him, he Salah is Salatu was set up,
and the Prophet Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wa sallam the final of all these messengers.
And we asked the almighty to bless all their companions and those who sacrificed with them
in a way that the goodness was preserved and delivered to us. And we asked the almighty to bless every single one of us and to grant us goodness, and to keep us on the pure path and to keep us from those who have contentment in this world, and who shall be from amongst those who have happiness in the life of the death.
Beloved brothers and sisters in Islam, it is indeed an honor to be here this evening, the topic of discussion that I was given, is what is Islam all about? And I will dive straight into the topic,
speaking about the Pillars of Islam, and the man, but firstly, to tell you what is the meaning of Islam, Islam has a dual meaning. The first is submission, and the second is peace. The idea is when you submit you attain peace, submit to what? submit to Revelation of your maker. We believe that we were created the first of our species was known as Adam May peace be upon him, and the second was known as Eve or Hawa May peace be upon her.
And we believe that the Almighty created us with a purpose What is this purpose? He says it in the Quran.
I have not created mankind or humankind except so that they may worship me.
One may misunderstand this and think that worship Me refers to constant prayer or refers to constantly being in the remembrance of the Almighty as in verbal remembrance. That is not what is meant here that is part and parcel of it, but
constantly being conscious of the fact that you are returning to your maker and whatever you do, should be within what makes the maker happy, someone made me
and what do I call him? Very interesting, very important. He is my maker, I owe him my worship.
And I owe him my existence, I owe him everything. So what should I call him I need to call him something.
So in the Hebrew language, he is referred to as ello him or Aloha.
In the Arabic language Allah, derived from Allah Hi, yah hoo, which means to worship. So Allah means the worshiped one. So when we say Allahu Akbar, we are saying the worshipped, one is the greatest, one might ask you who is the worshipped one? The answer is in the first verse of the Quran Alhamdulillah Allah Allah me.
Maliki homie D All praise is due to Allah, Who is he Lord of the worlds the term used is a boon
is a very short Arabic term, but it refers to something very large, very big, it has a deep meaning. It means created nareesha cherishes. sustainer provider protector kiora, one who is in absolute control of every aspect of existence, we call him a boon and he is the worshipped one. So the one whom I'm going to return to I call him Allah, the worship one. I have noticed in worship, I don't worship a stick or a stone, or a tree or a grave, or a saint or a prophet. acts of worship are only rendered to whoever made you Hence, I will put my head on the ground five times a day several times during those five times. For who for the one who made the same hit in the face, the one who gave me
a unique identity
At the one who has given me my thumbprint and my Iris Allahu Akbar, so I put my head on the ground for him alone. That which is the highest part of my body. I will drop it right to the ground for the one who made it saying Subhana Allah Glory be to You, my maker nareesha cherisher sustainer provider protector cura, the one whom I'm going to return to the one who is an absolute control of every aspect of my existence for indeed you are the highest that's what I say. That's the meaning of the term Super hanabi Allah Allah when I put my head on the ground, it's the plugin direct me and my maker. That's it. And this is the beauty of Islam. This is what we need to know who is Allah Some
people say well you know he must be one of the idols that was left on the cabinet No way. Not at all. Some might say why do you face the black box? We don't worship it at all my brothers and sisters not at all We respect it solely because it is there for direction nothing else so that a dispute may not arise amongst the members of the nation. Where do we face a rich man might say my home I have gold plates there by the way we're not allowed to use gold and silver utensils.
I have gold plates in my home I think I better build the mosque facing my home and the other say no, no, no we have a country further down Indonesia has the most number of Muslim in Mashallah. So let's face Indonesia, no, in order to solve the matter, resolve it, Allah decides you will face maccha there we are prior to that you would face Jerusalem. So it is not because we worship Jerusalem or Mecca or were shipped it No, it is solely to create uniformity. And so that there will be no dispute amongst the oma May Allah subhanho wa Taala. Grant us goodness. And this is why, if you're not sure where maca is, and you happen to be somewhere, Your duty is to try. And if you have played facing in
the opposite direction by mistake, your prayer is still valid for as long as it was an error. And that goes to show we don't worship the box. May Allah subhanho wa Taala grant us goodness, one might ask, why do you circumambulate that box in an anti clockwise motion, we will say we join the rest of the creatures of the Almighty the planets and everything else which move in that rotation. And we become one of those who do what the almighty instructs us May Allah subhanho wa Taala grant us acceptance we need to be in sync with the rest of the creatures of the Almighty. So Islam to submit when you submit you achieve contentment. Naturally, you will have to have many rules and regulations
to achieve contentment. One of the biggest issues that are raised today or the issues that have been raised today, the issue of a woman covering herself modestly. Islam has defined what modesty is. And at the same time, it is for a reason you will achieve greater happiness and contentment in your home. Your life. Those who are attracted to you will be attracted for the right reasons, not for the wrong reasons. It won't take you half an hour to talk before you greet someone at your door. I know you're a Muslim man, you get up and people will judge you not because of the shape you have a figure like a trigger. No.
That's what what people will judge you for. Because tomorrow when you give birth, the trigger might be blue love.
true beauty to our sisters, I mean.
So this is why my brothers and sisters Islam asked you to bless in a way that those who are attracted to you would be attracted for the right reason for who you are what you stand for the sacrifice, the sincerity, the heart that lies within. Because if people love you for what you look like they have loved you for what is on you what is on you may depart, then they will look for someone else who has what you had. And then the marriage breaks. And if they married you for your wealth or your car, or your accessories or your watch or your phone. And if that was cool, and that's why they were attracted to you. They are the most foolish people because they've been
attracted to that which was not on you, but which was around you. So they've married your surroundings. That's what has happened. And the day that disappears while they're looking for another guy with a Ferrari. Allahu Akbar. Allah protect us. I come from a city known as Harare. But there's no Ferraris they don't want to miss.
My brothers and sisters, what we need to realize you marry someone for what lies within character and conduct develops. Spirituality also develops as you become older, you become a better person. Does your spouse realize that? Consider that recognize that acknowledge that and appreciate that. If the answer is yes, 50 years later, he says oh my darling, even the moon looks ugly when you are
around.
I think some of us will say, it's just a joke. It could be serious, believe me Don't take for granted the statements of your spouse's. So in Islam, there is a reason why you need to be dressed in a specific way. We believe we should be dressing similar to the mother Mary, may Allah peace be upon her. I did not see her in hipsters, and tighties. Not at all. And the images of her were not made by the Muslims. They were made by others. The same applies to the beard that is grown by the menfolk. We are following the example of all the messengers, not a single messenger, Moses, Aaron, Abraham, lat whoever else, David Solomon, all of them who are the top of the notch meaning good
people, really brilliant people shining examples, including Jesus May peace be upon him. All of them had beards, none of them were shaved, not one. So we try to emulate that, to the degree that I have been looked at in rural Zimbabwe, and they say, Has Jesus come?
May Allah grant us goodness, these images were not drawn by us, but it's a reality. So we are living. The living example of all the messengers, including the Prophet Muhammad May peace be upon him. And in Islam, we firmly believe the more you submit, the more contentment you will taste, may Allah grant us contentment, happiness in this world and the next.
So this is the meaning of the term. And I'm sure we would all have learned that Islam has five pillars, it is built on five pillars. So to put you into the picture, when we talk of the pillars of Islam, we are talking of things that can be seen with the eye, I can tell if people have followed the five pillars of Islam, but there is something known as a man which has six pillars, and some have taken it to seven I will mention them in a few moments. Those pillars cannot be seen. A man means belief, that's the meaning of a man and Islam means submission. So if you have submitted, I can see that if a person is praying five times a day one of the pillars of Islam, I can see that if
a person is giving arms to the poor, it's something physical, it can be seen, the poor person knows, or at least they would know the people around me know. If someone is uttering the declaration of the faith, people would be able Subhan Allah to know that this person has uttered the declaration whether they believe it in their hearts or not, is between them and the maker that is known as a man and belief. So this is why the first pillar, the Shahada, I bear witness that there is none worthy of worship besides the worship one who is he we call him Allah. Now do you know what it means? The worshiped one, one who made me nourish the one who is in control nourriture cherishes, sustainer,
provider protector, cura and so on. And I bear witness that all the messengers who have come, who are upright men, unlike what others believe that, you know, lat committed this sin. And Solomon did that. And David did this in Islam, we believe no, the ambassadors of the Almighty were the most upright in their nation. So we believe they were those who are rightly guided the Quran says to Muhammad, peace be upon him.
La fabbi mucho de los messengers, were guided by the Almighty. So you follow the example of their guidance. Amazing. So these were powerful people, Jesus, a powerful man, he was given the miracle of the Almighty, so many miracles. The first was his birth, amazing. He was born through a female without the involvement of a male, by the miracle of the Almighty. That's what we believe, just like Adam May peace be upon him was born or should I say sorry, was created without the involvement of a male female. Eve was created through a male without the involvement of a female, Jesus was created through the involvement of a female, without that of a male, and all of us male and female. So these
are the five, the four probabilities and possibilities that have all been shown to us by the Almighty, may the almighty grant us understanding. And we believe that we are all part and parcel of the creatures of the Almighty. And we have a role to play as human beings and as creatures of the Almighty, the non Muslims on the globe today, our brothers and sisters of ours in humanity, that is something which means
on compassionate grounds, humanitarian grounds, and as human beings who share the ecosystem and who share the globe, we reach out to them and we stand together with them in whatever is required to live on this particular globe. And this is the teaching of Islam. The Prophet May Allah subhanho wa Taala as peace be upon him has taught this to us, and he has lived by it and he has shown that this is the point
Every non Muslim is looked at by true Islam as a potential Muslim SubhanAllah. Every non Muslim is looked at by true Islam as a potential Muslim. So these are some of the miracles that Islam has taught. Amazing. And this is why we say when a person accepts the faith and they understand the five pillars, we see them uttering, I bear witness that there is none worthy of worship besides the worship one Allah and I bear witness that Muhammad May peace be upon him is the final messenger and he is the worship of Allah subhanho wa Taala.
So they've attended, that's one thing, the second they would pray five times a day that's a pillar of Islam. One might ask, why do you have to pray five times a day? Well, that's the Almighty He decided you will get up and breathe fresh oxygen before it's contaminated by the breeding of the others of the same A lot of you thought of that. Amazing. If you get up the doctors will tell you that early morning a so fresh, well the Hadith says Bashir in Masha ina biloela may even massage our philomela massage at the new return to multi Amma, the good news to those who walk out to the mosques in the dark hours of the night, have a shining * or a light on the Day of Judgment.
Believe me whenever there is benefit of the life after death, there is firstly benefit in this particular worldly life. So if you were to breathe that air whilst you're going to the mosque, or even if you've opened the window, and you're actually breathing, the early morning air, you will have a much better day than those who have got up late, perhaps from the other side of the bed as they would say and you know, groggy and they don't even know the right from their left sometimes May Allah protect us. So what a great gift The timing is perfect. Just before you sleep, there is a prayer. As you get up there is a prayer. midday there is a prayer. Once you you know, late afternoon
there is a prayer. And as the sun sets, there is a prayer very short, one might ask, is that the real word that you use prayer, the answer is no. That's just the English. What can I say the English word that is used in order to translate the Arabic known as Salah, Salah is actually what we would term in the English language, prayer. But prayer includes supplication as well. So when we say the five daily prayers, we are talking of a specific type of movement with actions and words that are uttered for the almighty in a specific language. One might ask why Arabic? I can give you a quick answer.
The scriptures that have come from the beginning, we believe in all of them. But where are they? That's the question I want to see the original manuscript, I had a few people, the Jehovah's witnesses who had visited me, and they were, you know, preaching the Bible to me. And I asked one question, because obviously, you know, I would salute them for the dedication of trying to go out and preach the faith. And I said, Look, is there just one manuscript? They said, No, there are more than 36 different versions of the Bible. So I said, Well, if all the Christians can get together upon one version, then I'm sure all the Muslims would accept that version.
And they looked at me and said, but that won't happen. I said, Well, then you preaching to me, I have a more powerful book that all the Muslims have agreed upon the word of Allah, how did we not lose it? Allah says, in
our
own, we have reviewed the book, and we are the ones who will protect it. So in order to pray the five daily prayers, what is required for me and you and even the new Muslim, you need to memorize at least a little portion of the book,
at least a little portion, so that you can be from amongst those who say, I memorized part of the book, even though I may not have understood the Arabic language. So I have contributed towards the protection of the word of the Almighty in the language, it was revealed in Panama. So every one of you seated here, you would be knowing at least a short passage made up of perhaps five lines, 10 lines maximum, perhaps that is the minimum that we would know by the will of Allah subhanho wa Taala. Congratulations, you have contributed towards the protection of the word of the Almighty in the language it was revealing, even though you may not have understood that particular language to
Panama. And this is why
the word of Allah is memorized by so many people across the globe. It is known by so many people, if I were to make an error, I'm sure there would be so many people here who would be able to correctly and they would say no, this is a mistake. And if I were to read the verse,
We will all be able to know where exactly it is. May Allah subhanho wa Taala, grant us goodness. So when you accept Islam or when a person is a Muslim, when we are praying, we stand up facing a specific direction. And we would say, the worship one is the greatest, and we would stand folding our hands and at the same time, we would be declaring the praise of the Almighty and reading passages of the Quran in a specific language because we need to contribute towards the protection of that book. So Panama, amazing. So the Quran is the book.
And these five prayers if we take a look at them,
they are a gift of the Almighty to discipline us we stand in a specific place, we need to be clean, we need to be wearing a dress code that is covering specific organs and parts of the body. And at the same time, we look at a specific place. So if I can look at one plays five times a day without moving my eyes, and I don't eat whilst I'm praying, and so on, and I can control myself in that, then I can discipline myself outside the prayer and protect my eyes from looking at where I'm not supposed to be looking because I could do this. I've been trained five times a day for the sake of the Almighty looking at one spot, for example, why then, outside those five prayers, can I not for
the sake of the same Almighty be controlling my gaze Subhana Allah May Allah subhanahu wa taala help us to understand the broader benefit of this prayer. Let's move on.
If we take a look at supplication, which is to call out to the Almighty, we have no restriction you can supplicate in any language. In fact, before you utter your words, the Almighty already knows what you want to say. Yeah, if a suit level had Taco Bell, and
he knows what you want to say, even before you've uttered it, sometimes you want something you need something you want to call out to the Almighty. But your words do not really make do justice to what you want. And the Almighty says I know what you want, don't worry. And this is why you could say Almighty, every single one of us sitting here has different needs, different difficulties, different issues, you know, what each one of us once granted to us, I mean,
amazing, the Almighty to call out to Him in terms of supplication, there is no language restrictions before you eat after you eat. As you're embarking on a journey when you come back, there may be a preferred set of words because they were uttered by the messengers and so on. But it's not restricted to that it's not prohibited to say it in English in the name of the Almighty, and to pray to ask and so on, by means of supplication no restriction May Allah subhanho wa Taala accept from us, and maybe make it easy for us.
So that is the second pillar of Islam. And as I said, if you were to pray, people would see if you will not to pray, people would see this person is not submitting. Thirdly, to give out arms to the poor arms to the poor, a specific percentage, two and a half percent of your savings and perhaps what you have in gold and silver, and perhaps what you have saved as I said, under the cash, you may be holding two and a half percent of it, I'm sure we would know the details. But in a nutshell, there is a small percentage of charity you need to give out on an annual basis for the sake of the Almighty what he does, he does not want you to cling to materialism. He says, I've given you what
you have two and a half percent of that belongs to me, I would like to give you I would like you to give it on my behalf to the poor. So that amount does not belong to you, it belongs to him, all you are doing is offsetting it on his behalf. And you don't owe it to the church or the Moscow anyone No, you owe it yourself, you can go out to the poor and you can hand it to them yourself or you can give any one of your choice who is reliable. That amount is between you and your maker. Unlike other faiths, sometimes you owe it to the you know, the priest or the rabbi or whoever else it is in Islam, it's your duty you and your maker. And on top of that voluntary charities no limit to that
may the almighty accept our charities and may accept from us that which we give for his cause. Bearing in mind that a charity in Islam does not stop at what is monitoring no but even to smile is a charity smile Mashallah show you're dangerous. I'm sorry. So show your deal.
Now Allah subhanho wa Taala grantors goodness even if you're showing your dentures, it's an act of worship. My brothers and sisters Mashallah We thank the almighty
should I be more realistic? Mashallah.
Even if you didn't have to, to smile is a challenge la Aqua la Akbar. May Allah subhanho wa Taala grant a strong teeth, and may He make us to the right food. I mean,
so my brothers and sisters, this is the charity then we have a pillar of Islam known as fasting. We fast for many reasons. Do you know today the medical, the medical benefits of all these pillars of Islam are being researched. Amazing how when you put your head down in frustration in Salah, you're actually curing yourself of heart disease. Do you know that it's the only position you can comfortably get into as a human being
Whereby your brain is lower than your heart low and the gravity would actually make it easier for it to pump and now the oxygenated blood getting to your mind and your brain you feel fresh and you're okay and if you used to praying like that and spending time in frustration for your maker, you find yourself a very healthy person. And if you're not used to it you hit begins to probe initially Don't worry, get used to it, the throbbing will go now Allah grant us goodness, may he make us more used to putting our heads on the ground, and not just dotting ourselves down as though we are chickens pecking the ground for grains, Allah protect us. So if you look at fasting, we fast for the month of
Ramadan, sometimes non Muslims look at us real fast with a man I'll be dead by them. No, it's from dawn to dusk every day. So it has a lot of goodness for your health. And spiritually as soon as the month of Ramadan enters, ask the Muslims, they will tell you there is a difference spirituality, it is so elevated that you would need to be submitted in order to feel it. So Panama amazing. And thereafter, you would have compassion because when you're hungry, you reach out to the poor, you have food you're staying away from. For one month, you staying away from food and permissible sexual desires, and so on within from dawn to dusk, that should help you protect your chastity outside that
month. If I could do it for one month. Why can I not do it for the rest of the 11 months? number one number two is if you can protect yourself from eating what is otherwise permissible for one month of the calendar. Why can you not protect yourself from eating that which is prohibited for the rest of the 11 months amazing. And thereafter? You would also be able to reach out to the poor I have food but I'm not eating it. What about those who don't have the food so this is why a lot of people tend to give out the charities in the month of Ramadan. The Hadith says kinda Giada Maya kunafa Ramadan Hina tahu gibreel
the Prophet Muhammad May peace be upon him was a very generous man. He was more generous than the wind that would blow when wind blows. It's generosity is such that everyone feels it. So the Prophet Muhammad May peace be upon him his generosity was immense. And in the month of Ramadan, it was even more because the angel Gabriel used to come to him and they used to learn the Quran. They used to read the Quran to one another amazing what a beautiful saying of Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wa sallam thereafter we have the Hajj, if you can manage and you are able, it's a pillar of Islam. Why go on the Hajj. The reason is the Prophet Abraham was the father of all the prophets who came after
him, he sacrificed after he knew his maker, he worshipped his maker, if you were to read the verses of the Quran, he identified his maker. And he said, I worship whoever created the sun, the moon, the stars, myself and every other aspect of creation. I worship whoever made everything, and I know that he is one because if there was more than one, they would have had a dispute at least once no dispute, there is one supreme maker and Deputy and that is whom I worship, and I will put my head on the ground for him. And then Allah spoke to him. And Allah says, oh, Abraham, we love you. We have taken you as a family as a very close friend.
And then he was given instructions, the Bible makes mention of some of these, the Quran makes mention of some of these. And he was instructed to sacrifice his son. Did that make sense? Listen very carefully. The answer is no. Doesn't make sense to anyone sacrifice your son. For what?
But because he knew where it came from, and the source was my maker, I'm going to do it.
And Allah knew that I'm not going to let something of this nature actually happened. But it's just a test. Why was that a test he went for his son said, Look, if the source of this instruction is the maker than that, go ahead, you will find me from amongst those who are patient.
And his dad really with tears in his eyes went forth. And he was trying to fulfill the sacrifice and the almighty really substituted the child with a ram from heaven. Hence, we have the Hutch and we would like we go to Makkah we fulfill what the prophet Abraham did, in a slightly different way in order to commemorate the great sacrifice. But do you know what one of the biggest lessons is? He was ready to fulfill that which did not make sense to him because he knew the source of it. We at times are not ready to fulfill what makes sense to us. And we still know the source of it. How can we still call ourselves submitters? Sometimes people might argue, why do I need to cover up Why do I
need to do this? Why do I only need to eat halal? Why do I need to do this and that? Well the answer is sometimes you may know why and sometimes you may
Have to go out and learn why but in the interim, it doesn't mean that you should just abandon it start fulfilling it. See, you may start achieving the contentment that you are really searching for after fulfilling that which may not have made 100% sense initially. But as gradually you worshiped and you followed you, it would start making so much sense to you, you would feel the comfort, you would realize the greatness of it and then you would say super heroine, Allah all praises due to Allah. Look at that the beauty of Islam.
So this is the Hajj we go and we parent where the devil was at the time of the Prophet Abraham May peace be upon him. He's not there right now. So what is the significance of pelting? I when I've been I've seen people taking slippers and umbrellas and sticks and whacking the pillar saying, hey, you say to come to my life every other day today, I'm knocking you out and they start beating. What's the point you don't take a rock and hit it. Islam teaches you that every one of us has bad habits, bad quality, some really some sins that we might be hooked on to an addiction and so on. So as you are pelting the significance is you say Allahu Akbar, the greatness of Allah is declared and
you say whether shavon likes it or not, here goes, here goes What? The biggest bad habit I have one gone. So what is that? Say for example, adultery, never again, I leave it in minutes gone. The next bad habit, jealousy I have out, it's gone. The next bad habit, something else, perhaps people who are hooked on to *, and that is a scourge of the age gone. What else? Perhaps your envy and maybe you might be a person who might have done something bad, so many bad qualities, we will put out at least 49 little pebbles within a space of three days 49 of your major habits out in Mena when you come back, you're as pure as the day you were born. Amazing. Amazing. So what was the
significance of that I purified myself I've come back. I spent a 90 minute I pondered over all my weaknesses. I might have jotted them down. And when I came back after arafa, I left them in minute and I came home as clean as the day I was born man.
What am your father, the addict continues to say Raja
a person who goes through the Hajj and he has not engaged in immorality or vulgarity and so on. He's fulfilled it properly, would return as pure as the day his mother gave birth to him. Amazing. So this is the hatch. So the five pillars of Islam I've spoken about these are things that you can actually see, when someone utters the Shahada, the declaration of faith you can see people are praying five times a day you can see people are giving arms to the poor, you can see people fasting in the month of Ramadan, you can notice people going on the heart You can see something is higher than all this what is higher than Islam. That which is known as he man, he man meaning belief. Now
to believe what you've uttered, I believe that Allah is one and Muhammad peace be upon him is the final messenger that is now a higher level. So if you believe Allah is your maker, and he alone deserves worship, you will search your life to make sure that nothing that you do within your life is in transgression to what the Almighty has taught me, Allah subhanho wa Taala God's goodness. And if you believe that Mohammed was the messenger, may peace be upon him,
you would understand that what he brought was a completion of what Jesus came with what Moses came with May peace be upon them all. And you would understand the idea of Islam is obedience submission. And Mohammed May peace be upon him has come with that which is very, very similar. In fact, it is a completion, as I said, and he has come to teach us how the almighty wants to be worshipped. This is why there is something known as an innovation. Innovation means something the messenger did not teach. And it is an act of worship. So if you were to look tight, and the roof and the paint and the ceiling and the buildings, that's not a direct act of worship, so innovation does not enter that
territory. But if I were to worship the almighty by saying, okay, I'd like to worship the Almighty, I'll raise my right hand, and I'll hold it up towards the sun for 15 minutes, and I'll say, God, bless me, God bless me, God.
As a Muslim, I'm not allowed to do that. Because you do not create an act of worship on your own. The messengers job was to teach me and you how to worship the Almighty. So just go and see what he said. He said, You make so many units, you do this, you do that, yes. When you want to supplicate you can raise your hands and supplicate you can call out to the almighty at certain times and at any time amazing. But to do an act of worship, he didn't teach that is part and parcel of believing in the fact that he was the messenger May Allah subhanho wa Taala grant us goodness. Thereafter you have belief in the angels are meant to be lahoma equity. They are angels, the angel Gabriel Mika l
Mashallah friend of mine visiting from Malaysia Mashallah for this function. Mika is Mashallah, and we said, Wow, at least it wasn't. You know, the Angel of De La Hoya
Under goodness, Allah bless us all. So Mika in an angel gibreel the angel certain angels mentioned we know Leia soon Allah Hama.
Mo the Quran has a great description of who the angels are, they do not disobey they are there for reasons every human being is born, they have a soul. The soul is given a uniform the uniform is known as a body, you will remove the uniform when you go into the life after death. Your uniform is left back and you continue. So the what I'm what I have right now we call it a body, it's actually a uniform given to the soul in order to test it during its life. At this big school known as my life, school, I will graduate one day and what will happen, I need to inshallah get my certificate, I'll remove my uniform and I'll come for the graduation and I'll be given my book that's what it is. So
what you are holding now this body is a trust entrusted to you I cannot take to it as a Muslim. I cannot cause harm to eat, I cannot do whatever I want to eat I can do whatever the Almighty has permitted me to do on this particular body. This is why we need to look after our bodies we do not consume that which is harmful to the body. People ask about cigarettes What if it's harmful? Don't do it. You're a Muslim. People ask about shisha Well, the Indian the shisha lounge. You know, we meet that Yeah, not a problem. It's becoming a big thing. Believe me if it's harmful to your body. A Muslim should not be there. That's the best way of wording it
notice I'm not saying it's haram haram because we know what it is but at the same time I'd rather tell you you're a Muslim don't go there. Come on, you know you're harming this uniform of yours you're burning imagine a few days ago we were here though he did Islam Girls High School top schools Mashallah. And look at them dressed speaking Spanish imagine uniform, and each one is making holes in the uniform and pick up the next day at school. Now I got a whole I got I drew, I drew a little cartoon on my uniform, they'll kick them straight out of the school, come back with a better uniform, and we tattoo our bodies. Hello, aka Muslim, don't do that. May Allah protect us? May He
forgive those who may have done it. Remember, you just ask the almighty for forgiveness and he will forgive you. I need to pause there for a moment.
The issue of forgiveness. One of the most powerful gifts of a Muslim, your sin is your secret between you and your maker. You don't even confess it to your spouse. Did you hear that?
That's Islam.
Your sin is your secret. It's between you and your maker. In the darkest corners of the night, you have four conditions. If you meet them, you're as pure as the day you were born. Any day anytime.
One of the four conditions admit that you are wrong, regretted, say I'm sorry. I asked your forgiveness. And promised not to do it again, wiped out between who you are and you're making no confession to anyone else. That's Islam. This is the beauty of the faith. So no matter what I've done in the past, even if I've done things that are irreversible, you get people who've tattooed we were talking about it, I'm just going to make mention of it. And sometimes they would regret it later on and they cannot reverse it for whatever reason it is when you're going to have to live with that but who knows the almighty would have forgiven you because you regretted it and you really
don't like what you did. So never lose hope in the mercy of Allah. Allah iva De La La Nina Sana for
LA
mochila. In
Jamia in,
Mohammed peace be upon him tell my worship is whoever has transgressed against themselves beyond the limits that Allah is most forgiving, Most Merciful. He will forgive
the sins that human beings have engaged in, let them turn for indeed they need to turn before it is too late. So turn to the almighty I always say you have a sin turn now here and now you're Allah. I'm going to leave this habit, that habit, I regret it. I feel I've done wrong. I don't want to do it again. I promise you from this day I'm going to improve and you see yourself feeling so good. Within an instant.
Never ever does the almighty reject your repentance. If the four conditions are met, no, he was rejected. So don't think he's rejecting the devil comes to you and makes you think
there's no mercy for you. That's the devil.
There is always miss. So this is the beauty of Islam. This is what Islam is all about. And this is how we are different from other faiths. You do not confess to anyone you confess to your maker. If you have told someone a sin, you may regret it. You may regret it. Now Allah subhanho wa Taala opened our doors. And May He grant us goodness. So we were speaking about belief in the in the angels. You have a man to believe I believe in Allah believe in the angels. What could you be I believe in all the previous scriptures that were revealed to all of them, David, the Psalms.
The scriptures of Abraham and Moses, the Torah and so on, I believe in the energy of the Bible that was revealed to Jesus, all these books, we believe in them. If the original manuscripts were here today, we would have to submit to them, because they would conform to what has come in the Quran, we believe they've been lost, they've been changed. That's what we believe. So we are not allowed to base our whole life on something that is
debated, something that people are not sure whether it's authentic or not, I live once.
If I live once, I cannot risk that life. I need to make sure it's based on something real. So I will worship my maker alone. I will never put my head down on the ground for the Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him or the Prophet Jesus May peace be upon him, but I will put my head on the ground for the maker of Jesus and Muhammad May peace be upon them all.
Allah Subhana Allah to Allah, and Muhammad May peace be upon him never, ever said we should mean we believe the Quran says Jesus May peace be upon him never ever said worship me. He said, worship my maker, worship God above worship my make the one and only that's what we believe the Quran has said it. May Allah subhanho wa Taala grant us goodness. So we believe in all the scriptures could to be the scriptures of Allah. And we believe the Quran is the only authentic scripture. And it is the final book. And in it, there is a Sharia there is a set of code, or should I say, conduct and rules and regulations that we will abide by? So one might ask, Well, your laws are slightly different from
the Jewish laws. Let me explain to you very briefly.
When it comes to rules and regulations of how to live your life, it changes with the changing of time. And each messenger came with something slightly different. But when it comes to belief, it was always the same. Every messenger taught that there is one God, and the angels and the books, good and bad fate comes from the Almighty, you're going to die, there's going to be resurrection, there is heaven and *, every single messenger taught the same message in terms of belief. So don't think that the message is different between Jesus and Moses and Aaron and Abraham, and the others and Adam and Noah, no, it was all the same. They all taught there is a life after death,
responsibility answerability to the Almighty, there will be a day of resurrection, you're going to die one day, and so on and so forth. All this belief was the same, completely the same when it comes to matters of leading life, how to pray different with the different times and so on different prophets and messengers, some of the rules and regulations regarding dietary restrictions and so on change with the changing of time, it is known as Sherry, Sherry a meaning the law that will govern how you lead your life that will change with the changing of time. So Muhammad Sallallahu Sallam was sent the Quran which has two things in it. In this regard, one is belief, and one is the Sharia in
terms of law rules and regulations. So the rules and regulations are there. And the belief is exactly the same. That you will find from the time of the beginning of creation, may the almighty grant us a deep understanding. So these are the books, the Quran being the final book, and we believe it is not being changed at all, at all. It's the word of Allah read it, understand it, it is your gift. It is the most powerful word in existence at the moment, believe me, try it out. Listen to it, read it, and open your heart and mind as a Muslim, as non Muslim, you will find much comfort in this heavenly book. It is the word of your maker, Allahu Akbar. And he talks to you he speaks to
you. It is totally different from the Bible and the other books, because the way it is put forth, you will see very clearly this is the speech of the Almighty talking to myself and yourself. May He grant the strength.
Then you have the messengers, as I said, we believe in all of them. Every single one of them. We believe in Jesus May peace be upon him, he had a miraculous birth. As I said, we believe he was not known as the son of the Almighty, but rather the messenger created miraculously without the interference or involvement of a male. And at the same time, we believe he was not crucified. We believe he was taken up to heaven before he was harmed by the Romans. And we believe that the trenta, who wanted to hand him in to the Romans was the one whose face was changed to his face, and he was the one crucified Jesus May peace be upon him, was protected by the almighty raised up to the
heavens in his form and life that he had in the world and he is alive today and he shall return towards the end of time, that is Jesus May peace be upon him.
And this is what we believe about him amazing. And we believe he had miracles the Quran makes mention of how
By the will of the Almighty the almighty gives this power to stew his messages, he could cure those who are sick and Ill by merely passing a hand over them. He could create a little bird like structure made of clay, and he would blow on it, and it would begin to fly. A little bit of food would be sufficient for a lot of people. That's a miracle of the Prophet Jesus. These are mentioned in the Quran. And guess what they mentioned in the Bible as well. Amazing. So we also believe of the miracles of Jesus, but we say we worship the Lord of Jesus. We don't say, Lord Jesus, we say the lord of Jesus. So Panama, may Allah subhanahu wa taala, grant us goodness, if I were to say, oh,
Moses, kill me, do I know that Moses owns cure? It's a risk. Some might say, Yes, he does. And the Muslims will say no. So there is a debate about it. If I were to say, Oh, Jesus kill me, some people would say yes, he would. And others will say No, he won't. So there is a question mark. Why? If I say Oh, Mohammed amin Some might say he will and some will say he won't risk Why do that?
owner of Kill Kill me? Can anyone say you're wrong?
owner of Kill Kill me? Can anyone say you're wrong? Oh, you who made me? Oh, you whom I'm going to return to have mercy upon me? The day I returned to you, that is Islam. Allahu Akbar. Are you who is going to be in control of my existence in the grave and thereafter Have mercy on me the day I die, and help me through getting through the other side. Allahu Akbar, that is Islam.
This is why we have so many names and qualities of the Almighty. It's a gift of Allah subhanho wa Taala amazing how many of us don't even know the power of the religion, the power of the deed, we worship Allah alone. And we should understand and realize when we say Allah, we're talking of the worshipped one, the one who made me the one in whose hands your allies so I say, Oh, no. Oh, you who hears my prayer? Hear my prayer? Oh, you who answers the call? Answer me. Allahu Akbar. Notice involve I'm living once not prepared to risk anything. I'm not going to say Oh, Mohammed, kill me. Oh, Jesus, kill me. Oh, Moses, kill me because I believe or owner of cure cure me, oh, you made me,
God, me and so on. May Allah subhanho wa Taala, grant us goodness and may make us from those who understand and realize.
Now if we move further, we will notice when we speak of the messengers of the Almighty, there is a fine line between worship and respect.
We respect them right to the limit of respect, but we do not render a single act of worship for any messenger. So we will send blessings and salutations upon the messenger and the messengers, and we will pray for them and we will, there are so many words of praise we may utter regarding them and so on. But we will never ever render an act of worship for anyone besides me who made me because that's why he made me
he would like to see who has better deeds. He says in the Quran surah
Allah azza wa jal hyah.
To come at San Juan Allah He has created death and life in order to test you who has better deeds. So I'm in competition with you, and you are in competition with me. But the reality is, all of us can achieve the same rank.
I need to do good deeds. Allah says Joaquin Valley cafe laietana for cinematography, so you want to compete about something instead of competing who has a greater salary and who has a better car and a better home and you know, much more in terms of material enjoyment in this world instead of competing for that compete for the pleasure of the Almighty and you see what you will get because money does not buy everything. Money will never buy you contentment, it won't even buy you your sleep, let alone contentment, may Allah grant us good sleep, and May He grant us contentment. I don't mean full have to sleep here and now but inshallah later on this evening.
So
we believe there is a fine line between worship and respect. So we will respect and we know that worship is only for the Almighty. May Allah subhanho wa Taala grant His goodness. Let's move to the next pillar of Eman. So we said what melodica de Vaca to be he we believe in the books the angels, the prophets, while Yeoman acid we believe there is a last day a day when everything will come to an end besides what the almighty wants, and we believe there is a judgment after that resurrection after that, and the Almighty will judge between us so let's not be very judgmental between ourselves. The Almighty has set aside a whole day, which is equivalent to five to 50,000
years of this life
amazing
He has set aside that long day
to judge between people. Why do we then assume his role and start saying, heaven? *, Heaven, *, for what does it belong to you? It doesn't even belong to you. So who are you to judge and to decide where people are going to come on, you might have a weakness that is apparent to everyone. Or that person might have a weakness apparent to everyone. And you might have 10 weaknesses that are hidden, far worse. Allah alone knows. So learn to love one another for the pleasure of the maker. That's Islam. And one thing that's important to know about Islam,
never judge a book by its cover. Islam is one of those books that people judge just by the cover. We, who are Muslims are very guilty of not portraying the correct image of Islam. So people think it's a religion of fanaticism, it's a religion of terrorism. It's a religion of this and that sometimes, because of our own deeds and the way we operate, we couldn't even bother to help a person just because they're not a Muslim. And we did not go and search the life of the messenger, his character was such that he left a deep impact in the lives of those who interacted with him, to the degree that the bulk of them turned to the faith.
Amazing with us, people who want to come towards Islam turn away from it. This is why I say sometimes we need to ask ourselves, you have not been used to attract people to Islam. But what's worse than that is when you've been used to distract people from Islam. May Allah not make us from amongst those, think about it carefully. If someone preaches to you and says, You need to foreign when you see a non Muslim ally, they are talking nonsense. They don't know what they're saying. That's not Islam.
Every non Muslim is a potential Muslim. As I said, they are our brothers and sisters in humanity.
and thereafter, perhaps in faith as well, may the almighty grant us really the true understanding of this Deen of Islam, the religion, beautiful faith.
So we believe that there will be a day of resurrection when we will get our books, a book of deeds, each one of us, I can explain to you in a nutshell, we have a soul, the uniform is the body with that Allah has appointed one angel who guides us and there is a Satan that comes to misguide us. So every time as you attend puberty, every time there is something bad to be done, the angelic force within you will tell you don't do it. And the satanic force will tell you do it, the soul then makes a decision either this way or that way. Whatever decision is made, that particular force wins. So if I have chosen not to do something bad, following the angelic force within me, in that case, I have
become spiritual, I am turning closer, the next time it becomes easier and easier for me to obey for me to do that, which pleases the Almighty, until I am known as a spiritual person, until my spirituality can be felt. Because I am actually a person whom it's so easy for me to get up for my prayers, perhaps to be an honest person, good character, because I'm used to it, to abstain from anger and temper, which is an Islamic teaching to abstain from.
So if I forced myself to abstain from it the first time, second time, 20 times, by the time I get to 25 times, I won't need to really force myself It will be my nature, it becomes your nature. But if you've allowed the devilish force or the satanic force to when once so when there was alcohol to be consumed, what happened? You just went ahead and drank it the first time you might have regretted it or doubting, wow, I don't know what I can do that.
The second time, felt it again. Get that time no guilt. So Stanton time, well, it was nothing to you. It was just like saying, hello, Allah protect us. Why because the devil has overtaken you. Initially, the Almighty gave you that help and assistance and you chose not to do that. You chose to throw the * away the guidance away. This is why we say it's up to you to fight off the devilish force that is the battle. And then when you die, when your uniform is put aside and you go and meet your maker, you will then be able to see the results. But I tell you, it is to the mercy of the maker that we will all enter Paradise May Allah grant that to us. It's the mercy of the maker. No
matter what I've done, sometimes my deeds may not be pure enough good enough for me to enter Paradise perhaps maybe who knows.
But the mercy of the maker can make me get there by the will of Allah subhanho wa Taala. So we believe there is a day of resurrection. And then there is a pillar of Eman and belief where we believe as muslimeen in faith, good and bad faith comes from the almighty destiny from the Almighty. Whatever I want to achieve I must try my best within the capacity and means given to me
By the Almighty, if I want to get good results, I need to work hard. If I was lazy, and then I fail, I'm to blame. But if I work very hard and I still fail, I put my hands down and say the almighty decreed that
if I was traveling at 200 miles an hour, and then I made an accident, whoa, I'm to blame. But if I was going through, upon the speed limits, and still someone knocked into me and something happened, well, that was decreed destiny. May the almighty grinders, goodness, me, he opened our doors. So we believe good and bad faith comes from the Almighty, you've lost a loved one. Well, you need to surrender to the fact that that has to happen, you will lose your loved one, or they will lose you. Or both of you may go together, one day you will meet them again, somewhere by the will of Allah subhanho wa Taala. So this is Islam. This is a man, these are the pillars of Islam and the man.
Moments ago, I said, some take it to Seven Pillars of man and belief, because some separate the last day and the and the judgment, two separate points, but we can bring it to one because it's referring to that which is after death. May the almighty grant us goodness, a few more points is important to make mention of
Islam teaches development of character and conduct and gives preference to the degree that the messenger says, one of the biggest points that will drive the people of heaven into heaven, would have been their character and conduct. So if a person is holy,
if a person is holy, in the wrong way, which means they pray all day, they read the Quran, they like to, you know, be found in the mosque, they dress appropriately, they are always making mention of good things, but they treat people very, very badly and their character and conduct is unacceptable. In that case, they are minimizing their chances of salvation and goodness.
That's what Islam teaches.
Because their good deeds will be given as payment to those whom they've wronged. That's what Islam teaches. And yet when you develop your character and conduct, and you've become a good person with a clean heart, the development of the interior, the removal of qualities like jealousy, hatred, envy, and so on, and development of selflessness, development of love of one another love of the creature of the creatures of the Almighty, all creation and so on. That is what makes a Muslim.
And sometimes we become oblivious of this. Sometimes we are guilty, really, we've developed ourselves outwardly, but we've forgotten the inside. So that makes a great chunk of a Muslim. May Allah subhanho wa Taala grant us the ability to develop ourselves internally, as well as externally.
Then we have the Sharia, I made mention of moments ago, people say, oh, barbaric, you know what it cut hands, man.
And you know what, they do this and they do that? Believe me, the Sharia is a set of laws, that is divine, there's no loopholes in it. It's not as barbaric as the media makes it out to be not at all no ways.
In fact, it is there to protect five elements to the highest degree, your brain to be protected. And under that what would be prohibited is anything that knocks your head, like alcohol, intoxicants and so on even oppression, you oppress someone to the degree that they are suffering, you know, get into insanity, and all that totally prohibited because I don't play with the brains of people. Moments ago, I was saying, a lot of people tell.
You know, sometimes nowadays, you have people who fake that they love me. Because the most simplest words, I love you, oh, that's just three sentences. You know, before we used to see a Rolex, you know, watch a very expensive watch, say a Swiss watch. And the guy comes to and says, I can sell you this Rolex for 10 pounds. You Say what? Rolex, what? 10 pounds. And then he says, Yeah, this one is made in China, you know, say but but it says here, Swiss made in Switzerland, Swiss. The guy looks at me and says, if they can make the whole thing in China, the easiest path is to write a made in Switzerland.
easiest part is to write a made in Switzerland, the more difficult part was to imitate the whole thing. So with us, sometimes may Allah subhanho wa Taala, grant us protection.
We have issues that we need to deal with. See the Sharia, it protects the human brain.
Anything that has to do with
taking away the brain is considered unacceptable. Why? That's what makes you different from animals. What makes me different from an animal, the cow, my brain is far more superior. Allah has given this to me. And this is why I need to answer to Allah. So no drinking, no alcohol, no oppression and so on.
We're not supposed to be engaged in all of this point number one, point number two, the protection of your lineage. lineage is sacred. The Almighty chooses your father for a reason. You have rights to fulfill and he has rights to fulfill and it is a
Test. Your father can be a Muslim or a non Muslim, they have rights.
The Almighty chooses your mother, your mother has rights and you have rights over her. She can be a Muslim or non Muslim, the Almighty chose for you and me, nobody applied. None of us know application forms were filled Not at all. Perhaps they may have prayed for you. This is why I always say, your parents, you owe them a lot. You never prayed for him, but they may have prayed to have you. Allahu Akbar. You ever thought of that?
If you take a careful look at this lineage is sacred. So what does it prohibit under that it prohibits adultery, fornication, you know, sperm banks and so on. All this is prohibited to have IVF donations of other people prohibited because it tampers with your lineage. Yes, if it is husband and wife, we need to know clearly Whose child is this? Where do they belong, and so on. May the almighty help us to fulfill the rights of our parents.
And then you have the Sharia coming to protect.
The Sharia of Allah subhanho wa Taala protects your wealth. So anything to do with
you sapping your wealth and mind will be prohibited no stealing, and no cheating, deceiving the business ethics and everything come into play. Interest makes the rich richer and the poor, poorer, prohibited, anything that is detrimental to you. The Almighty knows about it, he prohibits it. This is the Sharia, it will protect your wealth fairly.
At the same time. It protects your dignity. The sheriff has come to protect your dignity. People who want to accuse you of adultery, they need to be dealt with people who want to swipe at you, defame you, they will be dealt with. And the Sharia comes to protect faith and religion. Nobody forces you to enter the fold of Islam. You enter it on your own.
The Sharia comes to protect faith. You have freedom of religion. In Islam, we believe that come Dino komali? Yeah. Do you have your faith? I have mine. You're different. I'm different. You follow? I follow? Don't trample I won't trample amazing. That's the law. May Allah subhanho wa Taala. Grant us goodness.
So this is the Sherry is not barbaric. I'd like to pause on one point, you see the cutting of the hand, people say well, if they steal, they cut hands. So it's very barbaric. Let me tell you, it's not like that. There are a lot of the laws are determined, very much determined than a penalty penalisation. Because
if a person steals, they need to have stolen from a specific place, a specific more than a specific amount, we need to be saying and witnesses need to have witnessed what they did. And thereafter. If all these rules or if all these conditions have been met, the judge may decide what to do with that person, the highest penalty would be to cut the right hand at the risks that Sharia,
Allah knows why that will happen. But in a lot of cases, it doesn't get right to the highest point because there is something within the conditions that may not be met 100% I can give you an example of the stoning to death. People say wow, barbaric. To this day, I don't know of a single case, reality of a person who's been stoned to death by witnesses with the conditions. If anything has ever happened in Islamic history. It's because of confession and reiteration of that confession throughout. Because there is a difference. If one confesses, and if one is napped, for example, you need four brilliant Muslim men who are who pray their prayers and who are dedicated Muslims to have
witnessed the act of adultery. It has not happened. Because at the same time, Islam teaches you when you see something bad look down.
So imagine four bearded guys, you know, who are sitting in the front of the mosque saying, we saw this woman, and we saw this man. And we saw and we all went and I said, Come, come, come see. So to be honest with you,
it's more of a determine than anything else. Allah gives you time he is showing you how bad he is showing you how bad it is. It's a crime. And if you've committed it, you have the door of repentance, you repent, and I've given you the conditions of that. And this is what Islam says. So it's teaching you purity, chastity, cleanliness, morality. And this is why we say when you cover your body, my sisters, do you know what happens? You are appreciated and valued in the true sense. You don't have to be enslaved by the male eye. So you walk and you just the * tool, and you just this point of attraction, everyone looks at you. Wow. And when you become a mother, they don't look
at you anymore. But somehow the law if you were dressed appropriately, then men would get along with their business and so would you and you know what, neck and everyone else would go bust
Hello.
Hello.
Granted, the new May Allah grant is the light that he gives on our skins. And I tell people, you know what Allah gives, you know, Allah gives you a light that shines on your skin. Why do you make it up?
It's a fact you blocking it, you close it, you burning your skin, such that when you wash it off, you look at yourself without makeup and you say, Oh, I can't even see my husband anymore.
Allah protect us you have a beauty that needs to be appreciated internally and externally. Allah gives you a light that shines from your face on your skin. May Allah subhanho wa Taala beautify our sisters.
So imagine if all women just say a scenario Sharia implemented for example, and all women were dressed in a specific way modestly. What would a man have to compare? When he gets married? Whoa, that's his queen. Because when he looks left, someone is covered. He looks right, someone is covered. So he's so happy with what he has, because he doesn't compare. But the reality is you're married, you married your wife or her legs. Wow. And guess what happened? You went to the mall, and so better legs.
So you come home and you're upset, and you're busy on your phone who you tweeting, trying to find out? Who was that? Why I need those legs needed rather going to have chicken legs from the closest restaurant. That's better for you.
My brothers and sisters, do you see the logic. So if you are covered, you are appreciated by who's supposed to appreciate you, not the rest of the world marriages are breaking because of this if a person has married you, because you display the figure in public. Remember my sister, there are 1000 others who will have a better future. Even if yours was Miss World. At one stage, there is something known as Miss Universe,
you need to know that.
So it doesn't stop. Allah says, Don't follow the rat race and become a mouse or one of the mice know what you need to do is cover yourself decently modestly so that the male can appreciate you. And he, he really won't have much to compare you with and you are the Queen because when he looks as I said, left or right, he sees covered up women. And that's what it is. This is the beauty of the Sharia. But people don't understand No, it is barbaric. You know, you are actually
blocking this woman to be Believe me, if you take a careful look at it. It is liberation. It liberates you, it makes you independent of the male, it makes you independent, you are yourself. And you are judged based on what your heart is all about the sacrifice you've made at home, the love that you show and you have a family that is so happy. We have lost values today. Look at the world. It's screaming and crying. Sometimes because we as Muslims have stopped dressing the way we're supposed to then we worried. But you know what? He's a womanizer. My sister, where did you meet him? What happened? How did you meet? It's interesting, be honest. And you will find out that you know
what, while he liked the way head and shoulders looked on my head.
Now that you have, you know you had delivered after pregnancy and so on. And you know, you might have lost a little bit of hair, things happen and you might be still working on it. Well head and shoulders works on somebody else's head.
Is that what a woman is all about? Just to look at and say I want that one. And this one? No, a woman is to be respected. This is what Islam says. So if the world is portraying it differently and says that you know what? This is barbaric. And we're lucky we look at it differently. And we say my sisters, I'm sure those who are in Egypt today. I don't think anyone's forcing me to do that. And this is something the West has misunderstood. People think we are forcing no force.
If anyone is forcing a lie,
to be honest with you, in this particular country, it's a free country. It's one of the most free countries, the freedom extends beyond what I would even turn freedom somehow to law. So we are so free, so free, and you're trying to tell me that people are being forced, and yet there are so many people who covered from head to toe in this country, Allahu Akbar, they know the feeling of that liberation they have within
unmatched you need to first feel it, you need to know it. Once you have it. You will not trade it for anything else. Amazing. So in a nutshell, this is Islam. Obviously, we've only spoken of a few aspects of it. I haven't looked at the clock yet. It says one hour and nine minutes and 21 seconds, but amazing. I've touched on just a few aspects.
What is Islam all about? You will still have to go and research much deeper and deeper. Remember, Islam is a knowledge based religion. The more you know, the more you will love it. You need to know the pure faith, the less you know.
Don't blame anyone but yourself if you were to turn away, may Allah subhanho wa Taala purify us, grant us goodness makers from those who can develop their character and conduct. In fact, a point comes to my mind before I close extremely close.
Two point.
What is halali? I'm sure we need to know. People say, wow, these people chant their magical slogans on the meat. So when we eat it, we want to be Muslims. That's not true. I've heard that in Africa. They say these people chant their witchcraft on all our animals, why should we eat halal? That is the most foolish statement I've ever heard. All the creatures have been given life by the Almighty Who is the giver of life, the Almighty, what gives me the right to take the life of a cow away? I don't have the right. So the Almighty says, well, under certain conditions, you may be granted permission to take that life away in a specific way. What is that if you really would like to eat
consumption, certain animals we've made for consumption, so I'm not allowed to destroy the creatures of the Almighty, for no purpose. I cannot even destroying the ecosystem without purpose. If I want to cut trees down, I need to ask myself, why am I doing it? If there's no purpose for it, leave the tree. It has life of a different nature. You're a Muslim, you need to be at peace with it with everything else. But yes, if there is a need for firewood or there is a need to clear the past, I may say in the name of the Almighty, the giver of the life and I begin to cut that tree.
So what about insects? Before you spray your mosquito repellent? mosquito?
mosquito? Well, if it's making that little sound irritating sound, I'm talking of Africa. I don't know about here. But I'm sure you get mosquitoes here. That little sound that irritates you, before you spray your doom, you say in the name of the Almighty Bismillah you spell your doom. What happened? They were doomed.
But that was fought for a purpose. You don't just go and destroy.
Evil reptile is harming you, you may by the name of the Almighty, you, you need to take his name because he is the giver of that life Who are you to take it away. So when it comes to the animals, there are certain animals that are permissible to eat. You cannot just be barbaric. The way you have treated the animal, from the point of its birth to the point of its slaughter is extremely important. You need to be completely humane even with animals, you need to treat them. Give them that life that they deserve, feed them properly. Give them that air and the space. If you were to look at abbatoirs that belong to non Muslims, they are very barbarically run. To be honest with you
I've visited I've seen we are so shocked, nauseating, and people say yeah, you guys are doing something that's very barbaric. Oh, come and see, we'll show you show you how it's done.
So now when we get to the cow, for example, or the sheep that has been fed properly, and it has not been forced, fed and kept in a pen, like the ducks of the world, and the chickens that don't even grow feathers anymore, because they are modified their sole purpose of being given life is to grow until they are killed brutally in order to be saved on the table, not Allah, we don't want that.
It must be a code of its life, it must be treated as a proper chicken, it must be treated as an animal a bird whatever it is, it must be fed properly. And at the same time you bring it to the pen, you slaughter it in a way that it does not witness the others and at the same time, such a sharp blade and why is it that the throat is used because of the central nervous system? powerful statement? Sometimes people hack these animals to death. People say you need to stand these animals Did you know that there is research that proves that stunning an animal actually creates greater pain than if you don't stand the animal? People say how go and check you confusing the animal
totally killing it unconscious. What are you talking about? Amazing. If you were to get cut with a blade as you're shaving,
you won't even know that your cut until water goes on it why razor was very sharp, very sharp. So we are to use a sharp blade quick slice.
When I bend my fingers what happens a message goes from the sensory nerves to my brain central nervous system that you know what something has happened here the brain comes back and the message goes through the bloodstream central nervous system it says you are hurt lift your hand up and I do this it happens within a split second. But if the central nervous system is ruptured from the jugglers, the pain, the message goes up it gets stuck there because it cannot go up anymore blood system bloodstream out. So what happens? It numbs to a halt.
That is halaal. If you were to slice it,
the message will not go from the bottom to the top nor from the top to the bottom because the jugglers have gone windpipe and food pipe and you have to take the permission of the giver of life when you are slaughtering If not, we don't want to eat that. You've stolen it from the property of God.
Hello, how can you just cut an animal? Who are you? Who are you to take that life away, you need to save in the name of the giver of the life here, I'm taking this by your permission,
such a humane way beautiful, that is 10 halaal you are taking the life away. And this is the original system of the Jews and the Christians. It is the original system that was taught by all the messengers, Islam adopted quite strictly, and so does Judaism.
And I'd like to think Judaism adopts it even more strictly go and study you will find the same system.
So why do people pick on Hello, it in fact is the most humane way. In fact it is the way of being protected from horsemeat.
Allah protect us Yes. And the supervisors will ensure that things are happening, they will tell you we guarantee you that this thing was done properly. And guess what, it's not a horse, my brother.
Amazing. That is halaal May Allah subhanahu wa taala grant my explanation, the understanding in your minds, it is a privilege and honor to eat something that was slaughtered by the name of the giver of the life to say, only for eating purposes consumption, we took into consideration every rule that you have put, and we have actually fulfilled everything. So we hope we will now get the blessing of the food that we put into our mouth. If not, I'd rather eat the vegetables. Now Allah protect us, really,
my brothers and sisters.
It is really been an honor to be here this evening, I hope and I pray the few words I have said, have been very educational, and have given you a better picture of what Islam is. And as I said, You continue swimming knowledge is an ocean that has no coast. So continue swimming in Sharla until you meet your maker. May the almighty have mercy upon myself and yourself and entire creation. And may we live in a happier world, a globe that sees peace and tolerance, a globe that sees justice, a globe that see deviation of suffering, a globe that sees humanitarianism and the globe that sees us all reaching out to one another. And until we meet again on any other occasion if not in Paradise,
we say sallallahu wasallam obala Karolina Vina Mohammed Subhan Allah Subhana Allah homovanillic shadow Allah Allah elantas tofu Kona to LA a salaam aleikum wa rahmatullah warahmatullahi wabarakatuh.