Muhammad West – Islam from Scratch #1

			Somebody in Wired early, he was like, ah, marine. Maybe those brothers and sisters sit down while
they come Rahmatullahi Wa Barakatuh I hope you're all well. And I welcome you to insha Allah the
very, very first lecture of a series that we hope Allah puts a lot of Baraka in. And it's Lesson
number one will series Islam from scratch, where we try to understand the basics of Islam. And we
try to make it very simple and very accessible to everyone in sha Allah
		

			Alhamdulillah I must begin by saying that Praise be to Allah, that we were overwhelmed by the amount
of responses when we think that the advert amount of people that actually signed up and wanted to
join this course, and people that isn't even really, you know, heard about Bronto, I really thought
that this was just going to be, you know, 1015 people, a nice weekly clause that we can talk but
it's become something, you know, a lot more people have signed up Alhamdulillah. And so I thought
it's important for us to have a bit of word of welcome. Some of you, many of you, maybe not familiar
with machine, Ron Islam, and myself. So by way of introduction, this is Majid Ronald Islam. It is,
		

			you're in Cape Town, and I'm delighted see, we have people from all over the world, Cape Town in
South Africa, it is one of the oldest Masjid in South Africa, and first Majid in South Africa to
have a minute and Hamdulillah, the Masjid spot, a much larger organization. And you can find all our
information on our website. And if you'd like to join and participate in the lectures that we've
done before and the other programs that is going through the mandatory thing, you know, you're
welcome to do so. As for me, I am Hamid whist like the direction. And?
		

			Yeah, I am.
		

			So, yes, so and if, you know, I'm from Cape Town, I have studied Islamic Studies from the University
of Medina, I have a degree in theology, and but I'm an accountant by profession. Alhamdulillah. So
like many of you, this is tailored for people that, that work and study and, you know, have kids and
have a very busy life, and you just trying to find a place to learn, that is convenient. So I'm with
you, you know, in on that boat,
		

			trying to fit in, you know, learning where we can, and Alhamdulillah been with the masjid for for a
number of years. And may Allah grant us much more time together. I mean, what Hamdulillah?
		

			We begin this course in terms of before we get into the nitty gritty, and the, you know, the actual
subject matter of the course. And what's it all about Islam from scratch? You know, how, how basic
are we going to go?
		

			You know, a lot of people, you know, you joining up, and you're not sure? Is this the right course,
for me? What is going to be expected of me? Is there a fee? All those questions, shall I think it's
important for us to clarify.
		

			So this course, you know, it really came out after, you know, it was the beginning of the, of the
academic term here in South Africa. So the summer holidays, ended in December, and you know, my kids
and all the other kids got ready to go back to school. And, you know, we give talks about
encouraging our kids to make the most of the academic year and study and learn, and, you know,
encouraging them that, you know, knowledge is power. And through learning, you can change the world,
all of that, that Hamdulillah. And then we realized, but we forgot about ourselves, many of us. We
haven't opened a book for many, many years. And even worse when it comes to Islamic knowledge, we
		

			haven't really studied Islam, if you went to what we call the Enter Africa slump school, or part
time address, or often on madrasa, you basically stopped when you got to high school, and you never
really studied Islam again. And so many people would lament that I'd like to learn more about Islam,
but I don't have the time. And I don't know where to begin. Where do I start? Where do I should I
learn Arabic? Should I go sit in the Arabic class? Should I go to a recitation class and learn how
to recite the Quran? Should I sit studying, you know, we become overwhelmed. You know, we have a lot
of seed and Hadith and fiqh. And it's all fake. And I don't know what all this is, and you sort of
		

			become despondent. So what this course really looks to, to, to give over is to say, what is required
of me as a Muslim to know what should I know about Islam? Islam doesn't require everyone to be a
shareholder and Mufti but it requires every single Muslim to have a basic understanding about the
deen and in certain areas we need to focus and spend time and get a good understanding other areas
we will go very quickly over time.
		

			Also, many of us when we studied Islam, or Islamic studies, we were kids, and it was all about the
rituals, you know, how to make Salah how to read the Quran? And it wasn't the pre knowledge about
why do we do these things, the bigger questions and those are the questions which are, which are
being challenged now. So if you want to know is this course right for you? You know, for example,
this course is not going to go into depth in terms of how to recite the Quran. So if you want to
learn how to read the Quran, this is not the course for you, we're not going to do much Arabic. So
this is not an Arabic course either. What this course is, it is about giving you those basic
		

			the basic tools, those basic and basic, essential fundamentals of Islam, that everyone should know.
People ask me, is the age limit parameter open to anyone you know, young or old? You're welcome to
participate? Is it open to non Muslims? I think it's a very good course for anyone who'd like to
learn about Islam. And we'll go into and I, you know, yes, it is tailored for a Muslim audience.
Some terminologies might be a bit difficult if you if you are non Muslim, but I think if you're a
non Muslim, and you want to have a good understanding about Islam, is this for me? Do I not want to,
you know, am I interested in this religion, and this is the kind of course that will give you a good
		

			introduction into what this religion is about. And so those are my expectations. My expectations in
sha Allah is that, you know, I can give, give over in a few weeks, a very, very simplistic form of
the religion, and, you know, convenient and so that inshallah we can, we can all understand, we will
make, because this is an online platform sitting in front of a camera is very awkward.
		

			And I would like to hear from those who are on the team's platform. And we'll talk more about the
ways of working. Let me just quickly jump out of my presentation. Anyone? I'll give the floor to
anyone who's willing to be brave enough to answer what is your expectation? Why have you signed up?
Why have you joined? What do you wish to learn from the schools? And so that I can also assist in
that in that regard? anyone brave enough to give a to go on? You'll be the first person to go on.
		

			Anybody?
		

			Nadia,
		

			that doesn't look like Nadia.
		

			Can I ask these let me go through quickly the first name on the list with up to some
		

			MUFE said I want to get there we go. You're gonna stay away.
		

			From that I'm well yourself.
		

			Thanks for getting us to this. I'm really looking forward to Alhamdulillah Yes, I think I think one
expectation, I enjoyed that it's online, it's convenient. So I can log in from anywhere. But just in
terms of the course itself. So I've attended something similar last year, who's been hacking on
		

			the Bucha
		

			I must be honest, Dr. six sessions have attended four of them, we've already discussed them. So a
little bit of the laws would be you know, that is important. But our towards the end of the course
even if it's just the key things, and obviously we're not going to learn to read the Quran, but what
is important? Absolutely.
		

			The calendar itself Ramadan is coming up as to what to do or how to prepare for that. Absolutely.
Thank you so much, Brother Kobus
		

			you're the first person to to comment I see you now you've got your hand up Simona
		

			you would like to make a comment? What is your expectations?
		

			Kids are out here and Satan wants to say something Well, it comes Hello
		

			my name Satan.
		

			Islam, excellent. They mashallah psychologically to learn a bit more about Islam. So, a diverse
crowd is one that I see a lot of people that you know, might not even you know, the the your names
appear to be in a non Muslim or, and we welcome you Yeah, this is a open platform. And that, it is
it is it is a place where we can discuss things, we are all on the path of learning, we are all
looking for the truth we are looking for, for guidance. And so in sha Allah,
		

			we think that Allah subhanaw taala will guide us to that. So, as I said, you know, my expectation is
that I can give over the principles of Islam, the broad, you know, essentials, so that you have a
good understanding of this Deen ways of working. I think it's important because we are virtual. So
the class will be live obviously. And if we have a team's meeting, then those obviously we're on the
team's platform will be able to comment and interact with me. There is a YouTube link going out if
you need to ask a question. They will have to be typed out. Be patient with glitches and
		

			It unforeseen it, you know, problems, this always happens. And so, so far, so good, well,
Hamdulillah, but please be patient with us. For those of you who are not able to see this live, then
we will send out the audio and the, the audio and the slides. So just the text and the audio, and
that's through our WhatsApp line, you can send a message to our WhatsApp line and they will guys
send you out the information and of course the video will be on YouTube. I'm diligently and I'm
being told by obeyed the it Gaya you know, the youth department head that we need to be strict with
time, 30 minutes maximum of the 30 minutes, that's it, you know, people are not going to be paying
		

			attention. So I'm gonna try and keep these sessions between 30 and 45 minutes, including q&a. And
it's very informal. This is not a you're not gonna have an exam or anything like that. And so
someone might ask a really good question. And we would be we would digress and talk about that I
think it's important that we can talk openly. And write and I will indicate when we have time to
talk. So because online, if there are certain times we will mute everybody. And other times we will
obviously make it public and people can voice the the comments. And if you have a private question,
you can email me directly with [email protected]. That's my private email, and I will do my best to
		

			get back to you. And if I can't, if you have emailed me and I haven't gotten back to you, maybe I
missed your email, just please send me a reminder. Right? So the course objectives. As I said, you
know, we live on this, this planet, you know, and we go to work, we have our kids we, and the years
go by, you know, this is 2022. And you back in the routine back in the wrath of things. And I'm sure
many of us, we wake up and we think am I living the life I'm supposed to live? Am I doing what I'm
meant to do? Was I even put here for a reason? Why am I here by accident? Is there a higher purpose?
These kinds of questions we, you know, maybe while we sitting in traffic, maybe you know, we laying
		

			up at night, and these questions come to mind, we only have a finite time year on this beautiful
planet. And it's important to ask that question and really religion tries to answer that, you know,
you know, business doesn't answer that, you know, science doesn't answer that. What answers these
big questions is, is religion. And so we want to unpack that I want obviously, this is a course
about Islam. And so you need to know the basic tenets about what Islam is all about, and the
fundamentals of this religion. I want to also highlight the evidences of Islam very important, many
of us were born Muslim, and we never swing searching for it. He was given to us, you know, by our
		

			parents. And if we were to be really asked, Are you comfortable? That this is the, you know, the
religion that is is a correct religion, it's truthful, can you put your trust and reliance in the
Quran? How would you answer? And so I think it's very important that we address that question in
here. We will also be open to you know, if people as I said, there are people that are maybe not
from the, from from the Islamic community, Muslim community, you might have certain questions, you
might be a Muslim, and you might have certain very, very difficult questions. And I want this to be
an open class and open forum, where we are all looking for the truth, we're all looking for
		

			guidance, and through interaction and discussion. In sha Allah, we can resolve any any burning
questions that you have, they are always they are answers. And if I'm not capable of answering it,
I'll do my best to research and find out the answer. Then, of course, for those who are, you know, I
want to actually, as the brother mentioned, Ramadan is coming up, I actually want to practice living
as a Muslim. You know, I understood the broad fundamentals of Islam, but I want to get into
performing my salah, Am I doing it correctly? How do I fast correctly, how do I purify myself
correctly, this is a maybe level two of this course, we will go into those very, very basic rituals,
		

			and making sure we do the basics right. And ultimately, the ultimate objective of this course is
that we have a greater and deeper love and relationship for our Creator. And for every aspect in
every aspect of our lives. That, you know, it's all comes down to when we jumping the gun. Really,
the objective of Islam is that you live a life in connection with your Creator in everything that
you do. When you go to work. It's an act of worship, when you eat, it's an act of worship, when you
sit in traffic or queue in the in the bank, it is part of how you worship your Creator through those
daily rituals and of course, the very, very deeper specific rituals between you and your Creator.
		

			And so, that is really the objective and we ask Allah subhanaw taala for for for Tofik for success.
Whenever a course begins whenever there is a beginning of a lecture whenever you start an Islamic
Studies lecture, two things are always highlighted before you actually get into the content. And the
first being the sincerity in one's Nia Nia meaning your intention. Look, you guys are busy, I'm
busy. I had a very very busy day at work. You know, I had a meeting up until five o'clock you know,
it's terrible when someone schedules a meeting up until five o'clock, but that's how it is. And you
know, kids rushing out what rushing to be on time.
		

			time, but we are here for a reason. And I want every single person, you know, before we proceed to
look to yourself, and what do I want to achieve from the scope of this course? What am I going to
commit to it, that is your promise to yourself into Allah subhanaw taala, that my near my intention
is sincere, I'm doing this, I'm sacrificing this half an hour or this 45 minutes every week for the
sake of of learning my religion. And we know and we believe one of the principles of Islam, in
normal Armenia, that the Almighty Allah will judge you and He will reward you based on the sincerity
of Unia. So yes, as I always say, you know, the journey of 1000 steps begins with one. And that
		

			first step is always the most important one, because the rest of it is built on that foundation. And
so make your intention pure, that I'm sacrificing this time for, for my own personal development,
and that I will commit myself to the speed and the lamp sometimes will be a bit dry, sometimes, you
know, you would have a lot more exciting things. Sometimes, you know, the course might not go the
way you want to but make that near. And in sha Allah, we ask Allah to grant us Tofik the second
point that is about being having sincerity in your, in your commitment in this, the second point is
really important is of course, the the significance of knowledge and the importance of learning. We
		

			all know that the very, very first, you know, commandment, or the first instruction of the Quran is
equal to learn, before Allah even commanded us to worship Him to bow before him to believe in Him to
even affirm that he exists. He said, Go go off, and learn. Go off and read and get to equip yourself
with knowledge. And through that, you will come back to me that we have this capacity to elevate
ourselves through learning through knowledge, the very first story of the Quran, and we'll get into
the story of, of Adam, Adam, peace be upon him in a lot of detail. But the very first story that we
learn is that Allah subhanaw taala honored us as a creation, not through our physical form, we are
		

			very weak physically.
		

			We are very weak physically, we are not the most beautiful of creations, we have the mountains that
are much bigger than us. We have huge, you know, planets and stars. There's nothing really special
about us physically. But what elevates us above all of creation, is that we have the capacity to
learn. And we know that the angels when they asked Allah subhanaw taala why will you create this
creature? Why will you create Adam, who commit sin, who, you know, will shed blood will cause
mischief, and all of us do that we all have this capacity in us. And Allah says responds to the
angels, who was that I know of them something which you don't know, meaning that within this very
		

			faulty, this very flawed, there's very human, this creature that has all these weaknesses, he has
the capacity to be even elevated above you are angels. And that's when Allah tested the angels with
knowledge. And it was Adam that was able to excel over them. And so then Allah commanded them, to
bow before him, that all of creation basically prostrated and identify the superiority of this
creation, this creature, but that is not through your form, not through what we are made of it is
through the ability to learn. And so that's why the Prophet peace be upon him says that if Allah
wishes good for you, if he wants to bless you, if he really desires that you should have goodness
		

			and blessings, then he grants you an understanding of his religion, that through this learning,
whatever, then another narration, and there'll be some said, Whoever embarks on a path of learning,
and he makes it you know, he puts it part of your routine, then the path to Jannah, the path to
Paradise is made easy, that knowledge will lead you to success, knowledge will lead you to paradise
knowledge will elevate you in this world, and knowledge will get you to the Creator. It is only
through learning that you can transform yourself. And that is why it is part of the obligations for
us to always be be learning. And I've said this many, many times, for those of you who've listened
		

			to other lectures before, you must never be so bored hearing this over. I always marvel at the fact
that knowledge is the one blessing that Allah does not give for free. You cannot learn anything,
whether it's the Religious Sciences, or the worldly sciences, except through effort. You can't put a
USB in and download information. If you want to learn something, you're gonna have to open a book,
you're gonna have to listen to a lecture you're gonna have to sit in the class, but you will not be
able to learn free of charge. Whereas Allah gives you your health he gives you money he gives you
reign, he gives you everything that you want without any effort. You don't have to lift the finger
		

			and he gives you your health but he will not give knowledge for free you must inconvenience yourself
you must sacrifice something to learn and so that is your sacrifice and I hope inshallah that we
have this this half an hour every week to sacrifice and remember the results and I'm also says that
the most in the most in the dearest you know deed
		

			Switch, Allah loves the most of those which are done regularly, even when they are even if they are
small. And so the 30 minutes a week in sha Allah, hopefully we can manage that. So getting into our
course Alhamdulillah, it was all p course. And this is to inspire us once again, why we're here and
we make two alpha for the success, we now into our course. Let's start off a little bit about Islam,
this religion of Islam, this faith, why should you learn about it, if you're a non Muslim, as a
Muslim, of course, this is your, your faith that you've chosen your way of life that you've chosen,
so you have to learn about it. But it's important for us to know that every human being should know
		

			something about this religion. It is one of the great faiths of the world. It is one of the faiths
said, that has stood the test of time, it's been here for a while from, you know, from a secular
perspective, more than 1500 years, and we'll go we'll talk about Masonic perspective how old Islam
is. We also know that it is one of the great civilizations that the world was transformed through
this religion, and it continues to transform the world
		

			that
		

			will ask everyone to mute the mics.
		

			We will ask everyone to mute their mic.
		

			There. Okay, we will ask him to just mute their mics.
		

			Okay, right. So, we also have between 20 and 25% of the world's population, subscribe to this fight.
And so, you know, up to 1/5 or quarter of the world. You know, even depending on, you know, even
nominally just ticking a box, you subscribe to this faith, which means it is one of the big, you
know, one in every five people you meet is going to be a Muslim. So it's important to understand a
little bit about these people about the religion, we, you know, over 50 countries in the world, or
what 50 countries in the world have Muslim majority countries, and many of them actually openly say
that we are an Islamic country, it is also the fastest growing faith in the world or are the fastest
		

			not fasted. For studies coming later on in Ramadan. It is the fastest growing faith in the world.
And all other other say fastest growing structured faith, we might talk about certain philosophies
that are actually going faster than Islam. So this is, you know, it's one of the the important, you
know, it's one of the leading philosophies and theologies of humanity. And it is so important that
we know about it. And so what is Islam? And we ask this question, What is Islam? What does it mean?
What does it mean to be a Muslim? Well, linguistically, if you're the word Islam is an Arabic word,
okay? And, and we, you know, that the Quran was revealed in the Arabic language, and so the
		

			terminologies, Islam, Muslim, Quran, Surah, all these terms Eid, Mubarak, Allahu Akbar, these are
all Arabic terms. And so we have to go back to the Arabic language to understand what these terms
mean. So the word Islam in the Arabic language, if you open the dictionary, what does it mean? Islam
means is the slam. It comes from the root word of surrender, or to submit. Usually people will say,
Islam means peace. It's not technically true. The actual meaning of the word Islam is to submit. It
means submission, it means to surrender. And I was speaking to a young person this weekend, and also
going through the sort of presentation. And I said to her, when you hear the word surrender, what
		

			does it make you think of. And so she said, you know, surrender is to stop fighting. There's no more
fighting. Surrender is like in a war we want gives up, surrender is where there is no more
opposition. And so I sit to like in the context of a war, if you surrender, what happens after
surrender, the war ends, the fighting ends, and the is peace. And so Islam basically, is about you,
surrendering yourself, submitting yourself to something greater than you. And in that you will find
Salam, you would find peace. You would find peace in your life, you would find meaning in your life,
you would find peace. Of course, in the afterlife, we believe this is to answer that very big
		

			question. What happens after I die? That is what Islam is. So first thing that we've learned from
this course is that Islam literally what the word means it means to surrender. And when you
surrender, it is to surrender to a higher power and in that you would find peace. So that's what the
word Islam means in the dictionary. From a from a theological perspective, we of course, that Islam
is not only a religion, but it is a way of life. It is a way to live your life in complete obedience
to the the to the Creator who please do Yeah. So Islam, at the outset, from the from its name
already establishes a relationship between you and the one who made you and that you will live your
		

			life in accordance in submission in surrender to Him. And through that you will find purpose and
peace
		

			But he is giving you guidance in terms of how you should buy, sell love, be your husband, your wife,
a parent, everything is part of your submission to Him. And therefore the one who submits the one
who surrenders the one who's not fighting with his Creator, the one who is no longer hostile to his
creator, he is a Muslim. A Muslim literally means the one who has surrendered. The one who has
submitted the one who has followed the, the way of life as dictated to him by his or by his or by
her Creator. Okay, so Islam means to surrender. Islam is to submit yourself to your Creator, and the
Muslim is the one who submits, we have freewill and we'll get more into the detail about freewill
		

			and purpose and choice. Inshallah, that will come up in our course is one of the big questions
within all religions. What is the we have freewill? And, you know, what about destiny, we'll talk
about that in detail. But we all know that as people we have freewill. And therefore, you choose to
submit or you choose not to submit, you choose to surrender yourself, or you choose to oppose your
Creator. And that is basically the beginning of what this religion is all about.
		

			Now, very interestingly, the term Islam and the term Muslim is mentioned in the Quran. And this is
very, very important. Many people don't understand that many Muslims don't actually realize how
significant this is, because you will not find the word Christian. In the Bible, you will not find
the word Christianity in the Bible, you will not find the word Buddhism, or Hinduism In the sacred
texts. These are terms that were added later on as labels and you know, the, usually it's labeled
after the founder, it's often the the person who originated the faith, or after a people Judaism,
for example, is off to Judea, it's off to a group of people or a certain land to a certain place
		

			Buddhism of the Buddha, Christianity of the Christ, Jesus peace be upon him. And so it is named
after you know, the followers of Jesus and the followers of Buddha. That's basically what the names
of these fights off, and you won't find it, you know,
		

			in the sacred texts, rather, it was a term that was added later on, where as the words Islam and
Muslim are labels that we didn't give ourselves. These are labels which the Creator Himself gave, so
he chose the term the name for the religion, and he chose the name for the followers the adherence
of the religion. So Allah says, Aloma Kemal Tula calm Dena come today. Allah says, in one of the
closing verses of the Quran, we'll talk a bit more about how the Quran was revealed over time. How
can we trust that revelation? What is the beginning of it? In the end, we already said the beginning
was the first first verse. So if you've never heard this before, the very first verse of the Quran
		

			was the Quran read. And one of the last verses when the Quran came to sort of the end of Revelation,
Allah says Aloma Kemal Tula Campina come today, I have completed your religion will attempt to
allocate it, and I have completed my favor and perfected my favor upon you or mankind. What are the
two, and I am pleased Lakmal Islam dienen and I am I am pleased. Allah says the creator says, and I
am I am pleased and I have approved that your religion, your way of life should be Islam. So Allah
gave the name to this religion and he called it the religion of submission.
		

			He also says,
		

			the Muslim as we said, he's the one who accepts and follows the religion of Islam. He says militare
Abiko Ibrahim, but this is the same faith that this is the same religion of your forefathers, your
ancestor, Abraham, Ibrahim, most of them who were that, that Allah says some Malcolm al Muslimeen, I
mean, Kabbalah, Wolfie, and Vihara Allah says that I gave the people of old Ibrahim and the people
before him and his followers, I call them Muslim. And I'm also calling you muslim. So this term
Muslim and Islam transcends Arabia. It transcends the Arabs, it transcends, you know, even people
and we'll talk about, you know, every single person who lives in submission to Allah is a Muslim.
		

			Allah subhanaw taala mentions that this is the religion which he has chosen for mankind, and he
termed it Islam. And so again, just to summarize very quickly, Islam is the act of submitting and
surrendering. And a Muslim is the one who has submitted and surrendered himself submitting to whom,
of course it is to submit to the Creator. Now a question and you know, it's a pretty I love having
interactions, and maybe we can quickly give another opportunity for the audience who, who invented
Islam? When did Islam commence? who founded it? Who is the first Muslim? So how old is Islam? If you
log on to Wikipedia, for example, it will say Islam is about 1500 years ago, it began by Muhammad in
		

			Arabia, right. That's the Wikipedia definition. So if we were to ask though, from an Islam
		

			Make perspective. When did Islam originate? When did Islam begin as a way of life Western as a
religion? Does anyone? Would anyone like to answer this question?
		

			Sly misstating Adam was the first prophet, a prophet Muhammad was the last one and he sort of
formalized the Quran. So, brother Kobus is saying that Adam, maybe Adam was the first Muslim of the
first adherence to this faith. And then later on, you know, Prophet Muhammad peace be upon him
formalize it. And we'll talk more about prophets who they are a little bit about the stories. So, in
a nutshell, brother Kobus, is saying that maybe Adam or Adam, the first man, was the first Muslim,
is there anyone who has a different opinion to that?
		

			Anyone wants to counter that?
		

			So let me ask you a Kobus. What is the sun? And the moon? Does the sun the moon, the Earth, the
planets? Do they fulfill? Do they fulfill the design? Do they fulfill the obligation? Do they do
what they were created to do?
		

			Yes, they do. But they're not human. Right? The angels?
		

			The angels, do they fulfill the job to the Creator. So we believe Of course, in the concept of the
creatures called Angels, do they fulfill the function? Yes. Now the definition, the definition of a
Muslim is somebody or a creature who submits his himself or herself to the Creator that made it and
they follow the lifestyle or the the function that it was given. So you find in the Quran that Allah
says, When Niger mu or shedule, your student, that the trees and the stars, prostrate to him, that
the sun and the moon, they make us we hand the angel and the and the and the mountains, they praise
the Creator. So we believe
		

			that every creature in existence is a Muslim,
		

			besides human beings, that everything in nature is a Muslim, because it fulfills its function. It
fulfills its function that was created and it submits to the will of his Creator. Now, of course,
angels, the mountains, the moon, these things cannot choose to disobey.
		

			They surrender by you know, through compulsion, we say oh, there are other they surrender through
obligation. The sun will always rise. In fact, it is so precise its its submission to Allah is so
perfect, that we can do calendars where we can tell you 1000 years from now, what time we will the
sunrise and what time would it sit because it follows its its course, as Allah dictated. We as
people, we have the luxury of, or the burden of freewill, where we can choose to submit or not to
submit. And that is really the purpose of life comes down to that.
		

			That every single creature submits to its creator. And in that submission, and in that submission,
we find perfect harmony and peace. So we find peace in the universe, we find nature in harmony,
because it follows the commandments it follows the system of its creator, we as people, we choose to
obey or disobey. And when we disobey, we find, you know, we find problems, we find conflict, we find
bloodshed, we find mischief. And that's why the angels will talk about the story when the angels
asked Allah, why will you create a creature that has the ability to disobey you, but as the ability
to reject you, that has the ability to cause so much mischief. And Allah's response to the angels
		

			was, with all of the weakness and all of the shortcomings, I know something very special about them,
and that they have the ability to transcend above all of other other creation, when they choose to
submit, because we have the ability to choose. Our Islam comes by choice, our surrender comes
through obedience. This is a higher level of submission. And so Islam is the religion of the
universe, and is the religion of all creation. It began Not by Adam, it did not even begin by the
angels. It began the moment Allah the Creator, brought creation into being. When Allah created
something, that first thing was a Muslim, it submitted to its well into the LORD that created it,
		

			and it fulfilled its function. And therefore, the message of this religion is for every human, to
follow the religion of the universe and to be in submission in harmony with with all of creation.
Okay, so
		

			as we said, and we conclude your Islam is to submit to Allah, our Creator,
		

			but we've maybe should take a step back and see who who told us so how do we know we are even
created or placed here? How do we even know there is a Creator?
		

			This entire religion is premised of you submitting to a higher power, who said this higher power?
Who said
		

			And then we will made that we have a purpose. And inshallah next week we'll talk about how do we
know that there is a Creator? How do we, you know, respond to certain questions of atheism, which is
really perhaps the religion that is the fastest growing religion, the religion of atheism? And how
do we how do we know that he exists? And what does he want from us? And so inshallah that is our
topic for next week. Open Shabbat, this was beneficial. Before we conclude, as I said, once again,
you can
		

			email me directly with [email protected]. The question relates to the course or anything else, and
we'll answer the best of our abilities you can send as
		

			well, that's my whatsapp number. And in sha Allah, if anything more about what I handle, you can
visit our website and join our soup kitchen and our YouTube channel as well. And before we conclude
in sha Allah,
		

			anyone would like to ask a question or two and then we can close off. Does anybody have a question?
Yes.
		

			Or no? Thank you very much. I enjoyed decision. Question. Yes. In the Quran, it makes quite a few
references Allah speaking through the Quran, and he references what why is it we are not just
himself? Okay. That's a very, very good question. So if you read the Arabic, when Allah speaks about
himself, he would say, Nana's and we revealed and we created and why is it in plural form? You know,
what is Why did Allah speaking through? Well, this is a function of the Arabic language and many of
the Eastern languages the Semitic languages, when when someone of power and grandeur and status
speaks, and I think I think even the queen, the Queen of England, for example, when she speaks
		

			shouldn't say I did this and I decreed that say, We decreed that it's a form of it's the royal we
call it the royal we, it is not to symbol, it is not to signify a plural, in terms of the multiple
Allah's but rather it is to simplify Allah in His Majesty and in his power. And in his might, he has
decreed that so you find this in the Arabic language in in other Asian languages, that it is a
function of the language that it is the quote we call the royal week. And that is really an answer.
Allah also says in the Quran, Kulu Allahu Ahad say that He is Allah the one the only the unique that
there is no partner with him. Okay.
		

			I was yeah, I will also just I was asked to remind everyone for those who you know, miss the class,
so we will, you know, came late, the class will be on our YouTube channel. And so the recording is
on there. And of course, the WhatsApp will send out the slides that we had and the audio is anyone
else who has a question before we conclude.
		

			I thank you, Kobus. For for being brave enough to talk. I think a lot of people are bit shy when it
comes to two online
		

			courses, but Zach Lafave for getting the ball rolling.
		

			So, you know, from the sisters, you know, it's always good to hear from a brother and a sister. Does
anyone have the sisters are the first person on your sister a FIFA?
		

			Sir.
		

			Okay, cool. Let's go.
		

			Okay, women guide to Haven do women go to heaven? Yes, of course.
		

			So, yes, women go to heaven, and you know, gender and perhaps as a Christian, we can talk more in
detail because it's not one of the one of the criticisms of Islam is of course, that it is appears
to be patriarchal and, you know, it discriminates against women. I think in time, we can talk about
those, those, you know, different topics. But when it comes down to spirituality, Allah's pantalla
very clearly says that, you know, gender has no role in terms of reward or punishment. You can be a
good person and a bad person, whether you're male or female. And that you're, you know, when we talk
about the purpose of life, it's about submitting to Allah and choosing in every single decision to
		

			choose the path which he which he is happy with. So whenever you choose, should I take this road or
that road? Should I phone this person that job? Anything that you choose, you ask in the back of
your mind? What does Allah want me to do? And if you don't, if you're a man or woman doesn't make
make a difference, it doesn't matter, so long as you choose for his sake. And so that is the
		

			very clearly that yes, women will go to Jannah Insha Allah, men will go to gender Inshallah, and
invite invite and you know, you know, men and women as well, those who don't fulfill the purpose,
the consequences, Shakira, you raise your hand
		

			Assalamu alaikum. Just wanted to talk really a question relating to the lecture, any chance of
assaulting me but later?
		

			It's possible. It's fine. I will. We will try for now the time to sit. I have a usually I haven't I
have a Thursday meet a Thursday, meeting with the International online university a half past seven,
every Thursday. So unfortunately, October 7 Is my cutoff. And that's a very coastal very late in the
evening. But as of course market shifts and things like that we'll try and accommodate them but I
mean,
		

			For those who are not able to attend online, the recordings will be available but we'll try our best
to accommodate but for now the time is Thursday evenings of course six to about opera seven will in
before possible Inshallah, but you can so much. Any other questions
		

			so just psychologically thank you so much for the beginning and getting the ball rolling and just
ironing out a few nitty gritties for next week, so same time, same place, inshallah. And so next
week we're going to talk about and if you have and, you know, this is very important topic to have
your kids you know, kids or mature and they ask these questions. I want you to ask your kids this
week, how do you know that isn't law? How do you know that you will create it? Because the
philosophy the the religion, the dominant religion of the world is a Christianity it is a Western
secularism. And it is premised one of the premises is that no one you don't have to submit to anyone
		

			but yourself, and that there is no higher power you decide and you make what you want of life. And
so if your kids were to ask you, how do we know that isn't Allah? How do I prove it? How do I
discuss it? So then in sha Allah, those are the kinds of questions that we want to look at next week
but Allah sugar and so much for your time for joining us. If you have any questions again, you can
message me just like the height or said Allah say Mohammed Ali, you're so happy Islam was stunning.
When handover datamine have a wonderful week. May Allah bless you, so don't worry come Rahmatullahi
Wa Barakatuh