Islam from Scratch #2

Smilla Rahmanir Rahim Al hamdu Lillahi Rabbil Alameen wa Salatu was Salam ala should have been able to study in Sedna, Muhammad Ali, he also have you had your mind, I will have brothers and sisters Salam Alaikum Warahmatullahi Wabarakatuh to Sokoloff here. Thank you so much for joining us. This is lecture number two of our series, Islam from scratch and Alhamdulillah. Last week, went really well. And looking forward to Inshallah, continuing with you on this journey. Once again, we'd like to thank you for taking the time out to be with us. And we really appreciate the the support. For those of you who missed like show, listen, one last week, we're going to do a quick summary. But it's also

worth noting that these lectures are on YouTube. And you can go and watch episode one or lecture number one. And then obviously, continue on with lesson number two. For those who are joining a bit late, you can always go to YouTube and watch those things, you know, the lecture from the beginning, we obviously also have a group of you that are on teams with me. And that allows you to answer questions are asked, you know, kindly that you have your mics on mute. And I will try and give a certain part of the lecture dedicate a part of the lecture for a q&a. And then with allow mics to be unmuted, she can so much. So without further ado, we continue. So just a bit of a summary. Last

week, we began the series and we introduced the course we basically said what it's about, what do we hope to achieve from the schools? What are the objectives? Is this right for you? And we said, it's really open to Muslims, non Muslims, it's to give a really foundational understanding about Islam, but pitched at a level that for people that are of my age younger, you know, people that are, you know, your high school or older, and we discussing religion, really from a perspective of is this right for me? Does this work for me? Is this the truth? asking those very, very big, big questions? What is the purpose of life? What does Islam even mean? And what do we do I as a Muslim? Where do I

go in terms of my continuous Islamic learning? Where do I start, we also spent a little bit of a part of the lecture before we actually got into the course, speaking about the importance of learning that really learning is what sets us apart from any other creature in the universe. What makes humanity special is our ability to comprehend and learn. And knowledge is that thing which transcends a person from a state of ignorance to a state of enlightenment. And so learning is a continuous journey. And we also they mentioned the sincerity of your heart, when you start this is a more than just an academic exercise. This is about you, learning about your creator, learning about

yourself, and that relationship between you and your Creator. And if we can try and answer those very, very big questions, often hour every week, then I'll come to, you know, we dedicate this half an hour for the sake of my relationship with Allah subhanaw taala. We then

spoke about the the terms we started off by saying, What does Islam actually mean the word in the Arabic language and we said Islam means to submit to to surrender. And a Muslim is the one who submits or one who surrenders, you have no opposition, you have no more hostility, there's no more fighting, there is only peace after submission. And so, we then ask the question, If Islam is is is the name of the religion, and Muslims are the, the adherence of this religion, a Muslim is the one who submits. We also then mentioned that Islam is not a title which we gave ourselves, unlike any other religion. The religious book, the Quran, mentions the actual the name Islam, and the title of

the you know, the title of it's the label of its faithful was given to it by the Creator. Most religions, the title comes later, as I said, you won't find the word Christianity or Christian in the Bible, you would find most religions are named after the founder of that religion. Islam basically says that this lifestyle or this way, and this title is given to a person by the creator of the universe. And we also then ask the very important question, that if Islam is the title given to us by God, basically, and it wasn't only given to Muhammad and his followers, it was to all the people before him that submitted it even trans

Since it goes beyond humanity, that everything in the universe really subscribes to this way of life, every atom, every

particle in the universe is in submission to the natural law that was given to it by its creator, and therefore everything is a Muslim. The sun is a Muslim, the moon is a Muslim, the heavens and the earth are Muslims, every grain of sand, you know, on any planet is a Muslim. And it's that that submission to its creator is of course one of of compulsion. Whereas we have the ability to choose, Allah says in the Quran, to somebody who Allah who are similar to several while out that Allah says that the seven heavens and the earth and everything in them and whoever is inside of them, praise him continues to exalt Him. We're immune Shane Illa, your sub Jacobi Hamdi, and there is not a

single thing in existence, except that it praises and glorifies its creator, without work in light of Coronavirus. Be home, and however you owe people, you don't understand the praise and the supplication you don't understand the birds, when they praise the almighty the wind the mountains, you can't understand it. But every creature, every particle in creation, glorifies its creator in the whole kind of Halima. Hoorah. Really, the Creator Allah is Most Loving, most merciful, most forbidding for his for his creation. And another verse, Allah says that when Niger moon were shattered, we a student, that every tree, every star, everything, prostrates and boughs, to its

creator.

So the consequences This is not just about a definition. When you ask, you know, why do I even mention what does Islam mean linguistically, the fact that Islam means to submit, as an implication, there's a consequence to it, it implies that we as humans, are not the be all and end all that there is something bigger than us, that there is something more profound than us, that when we look at the universe around us, we don't see anything, you know, you know, superior to two men, that we are the top of the food chain, but Islam tells you you're not on top of the food chain, that or other, you are subservient to a greater power, and that there is a higher purpose to your life, that there is a

a responsibility upon you to do something, that you have the choice to submit or not submit that your life has meaning and consequences, that the is meaning that there is a higher purpose. And that is really what Islam the by, by extension, the word Islam and Muslim implies. So let's unpack this, if Islam is you submitting to a higher power, you surrendering yourself to someone something bigger than you and fulfilling whatever that higher power wants, then who is this higher power? How do we even know there is such a thing as a higher power? Or surely as I said, if you look at the universe, we have telescopes, microscopes, and we have not seen anything superior to us in the in the cosmos,

at the moment we are at the top of the food chain. And what evidence is there that there is a higher power or there is a higher

you know, there is there is a higher entity than us. And I deliberately, I'm not going to use the word God. Because God is a very subjective term. And God is a very human you can have if you say I worship God and you answer the question is which God there are many gods and in every many cultures, they have a plethora many a pantheon of gods many different gods that are worshipped.

For our purposes, we're going to talk about the Creator. Because I think when we speak about a creator, we talk about the Creator who made the sun the moon, the stars is the same one that made you and me the the sand, everything has a creator. When we're talking about creator, I think most religions will agree that the when we're talking about the Creator, we're talking about the same, the same person, the same entity, and we don't mention, so I won't use the term Allah or God for full time being but we're gonna get into that as we go along. So who is this higher power? Now from the Quranic perspective, and from an Islamic perspective, one of the most beautiful passages which

really explains who the God who the creator is, and who we worship is given by Nabi Brahim Abraham Elisa Salam, for those of you who are not Muslim and there are few non Muslims here we welcome you when I say Alaikum salaam, peace and blessings be upon him, so anyone that is in a praiseworthy character. The prophets like Abraham, Moses, Noah, or Mary, for example, will say peace and blessings be upon them because they are deserving of praise. So Allah says in the Quran, what Lu Allah him never Ibrahim, let's recite to them the story of Abraham Ali Salam, if Colin Lee abhi he called me he Marta Boone when he asked his people what is it that you're worshiping? Now he's people

worship idols, so he's asking them, What are these things the statues that you are praying, sacrificing begging, they said, Now Buddha cinema, we worship idols. For another Lola her Aki Fein and we are devoted we remain diva.

To the statues. Allah Abraham asked him at least Monaco to these statues? Are they able to hear you? If their own when you speak to them? Can the statues actually hear you and understand what you're saying? When you supplicate them? Oh, oh, yeah. And I'm gonna come Oh, yeah, the room. Yeah, do rune. Are these statues able to even help you or harm you? Do they have any power to do anything, these statues? All the people said, well, we're just an academic, if we don't know what not to do, we haven't really thought about it. Our dads, our forefathers, our ancestors, that's what they did. So we basically are doing the same

color or authority to Malcolm to the aboon. And two more about

the moon. So Ibrahim says, Have you not even pondered over what you're doing and what you are worshiping. And then a profound point Ibrahim is making we get so engrossed in our lifestyles, whether you're Muslim, or non Muslim, whatever it is going to work, you know, going into mosque on Friday going to church on Sunday, and you've never took a moment and stop and ask, Am I what is what I'm doing? Does it make sense? Is it the right ways is going to end? Is it is it what I believe to be true? Is it really true? And that's why even as Muslims to not question your faith, but to ask these questions, you know, is the can I trust the Quran is the message of Islam, something I can

rely on? Don't go through your life living on autopilot blindly, just going from one week to the next, the highlight being a holiday that you can get once a year, ask the big questions. So Ibrahim is asking his people, have you ever for a moment stop to think what is this that I'm worshiping? What are these things I'm asking for in the home, I don't want li Illa rubble element. So it's as for me, I don't worship these things. I'm against the sign of things. The only one I turned to is the Lord of the universe. So Ibrahim is explaining who this higher power is. And he was still a boy, which means he didn't have revelation yet. He didn't know what to call his, you know, this higher

power. He didn't know what this higher power looked like, the attributes, but he explains who this person who is the one that I believe that I believe in and I worship, he says, Robert Alameen, the Lord of the universe, He is the one under the holler funny, for jolla Dean, he is the one who made me I know someone made me. So that person, that entity who made me and guides me and is with me, he is the one I worship will love you Who are you turning money or your skin, and he is the one that feeds me and gives me drink while either married to him or either married to for widescreen, and he is the one that I turned to when I'm sick, and he will give me back my health. He kills me when I'm

sick. What what led up to me, and he's the one that will make me die, I'm gonna die and you will cause me to die for my Yohane and I will be resurrected again.

While the Atmel Filoli hottie at yo Medina, and he is the one that I hope when I meet him, he will be merciful and forgive my faults. And so Ibrahim Ali Salam

puts God who puts this higher power in a very, very simplistic term, he is the one that made me but is with me, that washes over me that when I die, will cause me to die. And when I am resurrected, because I believe that I'm going to live again, I don't believe that this life ends when I die, I believe is another chapter. And the one that I will return to that is this higher power that I submit to. And he's the same one that made you that made me you find people in a very strange way. So I don't believe in the God of the Christians or I don't believe in the God of the Muslims. We're not talking about names. We're talking about the creator of the universe, the same one that made you

made the stars made me made all things. That is the one we're talking about it is to him that we submit. Right. So now, you know Islam, we're going to talk today about atheism. And just to give you the flavor of what we're going to discuss in this lecture, maybe the next two lectures is a bit about atheism.

The vast majority of humanity believes in a creator. And it is only in modern times that you have a phenomenon of atheism and atheism is really on the rise. If you were to take a census, in most Western countries, they will. Many people do not associate with an organized religion anymore. Churches are empty, synagogues are empty. Even before COVID A mosques you still find it full on Fridays. But you know, besides besides for Friday Juma you're not going to find a mosque reform. So people don't ascribe to organized religions anymore. And in fact, many would go to the point who will actually say I don't identify that there is a Creator. So atheism is a new phenomenon never in

the history of mankind, when you have find a society that is actually predominantly atheistic. Some countries in the West are getting towards that numbers of being predominantly atheistic. And so it's important therefore to discuss this theology or this religion of atheism. And and not to go into depth in in a back and forth tennis match, but just to ask certain questions. So Islam, the Quran, rather, does not spend too much time discussing atheism because it almost takes it for

granted that most people believe in a creator, it's common sense. But there are a few verses. And these verses are very profound. Allah asked the question, okay, if you don't believe in me, then ponder over this. I'm Hulagu minarelli. Che in, um, who will Harlequin? So he says, if it wasn't for me, then were they created without being anything? Did they come out of nothing? Or are they the creators if I don't exist, if Allah is not the creator, then either they created themselves, or they spontaneously came out of out of nothing. And really, you know, having listened to a number of debates of atheists, and scientists and all these things, you really come down to, it's in this

little verse, you really have this, these are the only options that you have. Either the universe came from absolutely nothing, it was there was just complete emptiness, a vacuum, and poof, out of nowhere, you know, everything sprang out, or the universe has always been the, it has no beginning it has no end and it creates itself, or it has an external creator, that made it from nothing, those are your three options. There's nothing, there's no other option besides that. And so you'd find that and this should give you a sense of, you know, the way you know, we are a, a species that is intelligent, we are a species that is the most intelligent creature on this planet, and for the best

of our knowledge at the moment throughout the universe. And yet every nation, every society, every culture, as isolated to the off, whether it's in the middle of the Amazon jungle, or you know, in the Aborigines in south in Australia, that every culture gravitated towards that they must be a Creator, that we came to the conclusion as a collective, that they shouldn't be some creator, some form of being that originated the universe. And this is the first and most and I'm going to talk about the evidences for the being a god if you're asked how what evidence do we have, that there is a Creator. The first and perhaps the most powerful one is something which the Quran calls the

fitrah. That the is a natural inclination, in every person, that when you really lay down at night, and you ponder over the big things, something inside of you tells you that there must be something more out there, that there is a Creator, that there is something that puts that something put me here, and is watching over me, and that this is not all by chance and from nothing. So this thing is called the fitrah. It is what Islam calls the your pre you know, your your the primordial link between you and your Creator, and it's always there. It's always there. Yes, you can turn from it, you can deny it, you can reject it, you can disobey it, but ultimately, ingrained in our DNA is this

link between our Creator, the fitrah analysis, so direct yourself towards this faith inclining towards the truth, the fitrah fitrah to Allah, the fitrah of Allah, Allah, the fatness, Allah, that this fitrah this natural disposition, which he has placed in every person, it also, you know, we'll talk more about the nature of man, you know, in the sidenote in the Christian faith, there's a lot of discussion about sin and the nature of man, whether we are born good or wanting to sin, Islam basically says, every person is born pure, and born with a natural inclination towards its creator. And all it says that this is the way of the way he made all people, and you will not find a change

in his creation. And that is why every single society, you know, without exception, has this yearning for has asked this question, looking for something bigger than us searching, even the atheists Subhanallah those who don't believe in a creator, you find him searching the universe, looking for more things, looking for more out there, this is part of that, that fitrah calling out to Allah, the fact that you are here. The fact that you have these questions is this need to link up with your with your Creator. So that's the most profound evidence that there is a Creator, but let's get more. It's more spiritual. Let's get more to the nitty gritty, the most profound and before

philosophers and psychologists and scientists have debated, you know, where did where did the universe come from? We know we exist in a very famous saying, I think, therefore, I am the fact that I can think I know I exist. And so the question is also where did I come from? One of the strongest evidences from a scientific and this may be a bit dry and a bit deep. One of the strongest scientific and philosophical arguments for the existence of a creator is something called the Kalam Cosmological Argument. Kalam, Columbia's actually Arabic word, which means philosophy. And it was really the Muslim philosophers were able to challenge the Greek philosophers of old to prove

philosophy philosophically, that there is a creation that there is a Creator. And in modern times, this has only been backed up by science. If anything, science corroborates that there is a Creator. So for example, this this argument is very simple. The argument says, Whatever begins, whatever has a beginning must have had

cause something caused it to begin. And you can't really deny this because we don't find anything in the universe popping out of nothing, you will not find if you went into the desert, and you found like, you know, a watch lying on the floor, nothing will tell you that this watch popped out of nothing. Rather, someone put it there or something made it. And the same that we see throughout the universe, we do not find an occurrence where something comes out of nothing. Therefore, everything that's out there, which has a beginning, is caused. So then we say, well, the universe has a beginning and this point here, the universe, having a beginning was the most controversial point on

this argument. Because no one could scientifically prove that the universe had a beginning, or it is pre eternal, that was there forever. There was the from the beginning of time, it'll be there forever. Of course, now we know with absolute certainty that the universe had a point in time when it didn't exist, and what we call the Big Bang, it existed. So the universe we know for sure, factually, scientifically, we know has a beginning. Therefore the universe was caused, I say that, again, this argument really simple. Anything which has a beginning was caused, because it to begin, the universe has a beginning, we know that scientifically, therefore it was caused. So if the

universe is caused, by whom, by what it has to be caused by something outside of the universe, that is not bound by time and space, is not bound by

particles and energy. It is beyond the realm of this universe, by definition, that is God. And so, and this, this being has to be uncaused, you know, it can't be some he could not have been caused, because something before him would have caused that, eventually, you will get an an original cause that has no beginning. And that, by definition is God. Now let me talk about the scientific, the scientific side of this discussion. Because we live in an age of science, philosophy is not such a big issue anymore. But the big bang, and the second law of thermodynamics, these are two scientific, you know, science related principles. Really, they prove scientifically, that the universe has a

beginning. And it has an end.

The Big Bang, you know, it's only been around about less than 100 years, a very famous scientist,

about the Belgian scientist, who was a Catholic priest, you know, he studied the universe, and he discovered that the universe is expanding. Before Hubble, he discovered the universe was expanding. And so he said, wonder the universe is expanding. If you reverse the clock, it actually contracts to a point in time, when he presented this hypothesis to Albert Einstein, Albert Einstein was alive. Albert Einstein said, your mathematics is correct. But your science is atrocious. I can't believe this, this physics that the universe has a beginning is unacceptable, of course, with more time and study Hubble and all those kinds of things. You know, it was proven that the universe actually has a

beginning, 14 billion years ago, the universe had a point in time where it came into being it was created. And that has to have come from something external to the universe, scientists can't explain why or why or how, you know, obviously, from a theory, from a theistic position, we believe that there was an originator of the universe a creator. The second law of thermodynamics is that every in a closed system,

with time we move to a state of entropy, entropy basically means like decay, it means chaos, it means that, you know, if you have a cup of hot coffee, eventually, the energy of that coffee will dissipate, and it will sort of move into the environment, and then eventually everything will be neutral. And that's it, meaning you can't move from a state of chaos, to a state of building and structure. In other words, the universe could not have come out of nothing, it could not have come from a state of having no energy, and then, you know, a cup of coffee, spontaneously being heated. We don't see that anyway. So the fact that the universe had a point in time, way it was formed. And

now as time progresses, we see the universe slowly, dying, or decaying, the fact that it had a point in time where it was formed, asks, we will cause it to be formed in the beginning, we actually began the system. And this is part of the scientific proof that if there is a beginning, it must have a cause. And if it's caused, then it must have an original originator of that cause, but heavy but deep. We'll move on a little bit. But let's let's just pause for a second and take some questions. So if there's anyone that wants to ask a question, it's just open up the conversation.

Anyone can go ahead and raise their hand or want to ask a question at this point.

So everybody

can sit down

and my name is cash River. Question and

I wanted to ask somebody asked me this question and I couldn't answer. The question is if a couple

became pretty birds, so they were Christian, they got married in court. And later on, they decided to become Muslim.

Should they get married,

have a nica as well.

So this is a question well beyond where we are in terms of our discussion. Okay, so Inshallah, I'll entertain questions beyond the scope of the talk so far. But the question is to ask if two events become Muslim, should they form a new Nikka? The standing position is the original marriage stance, but if they wish to, and it's recommended for them to Anika, because Anika is a contract illegal, right. And so, they might like a dowry, for example, maybe you got married in like, let's say two Hindus got married in the Hindu faith, the woman pays the man a dowry. So when you get married as a Muslim, the lady deserves a dowry. So if she's happy to continue as it was, it's fine. But it's

encouraged that they do have a new Nica. But if they, if so, let's say they got they both reverted, and they were living together, we're not saying that they lived in sun, they still have a marriage, but we would recommend them have a new car as well. So that the rights the duties may be specified in terms of the Sharia sokola discussion about any other questions? Before we continue?

Right. So

we mentioned that

the evidences for the creation is number one, the fitrah is this thing that you and I feel and you know, it, you feel it, I feel it, that there's a link between us and this higher power. The second thing is, we know from the creation, that the is that, you know, it has a beginning. And the fact that it has a beginning, we know it had to be caused by something external.

We also see in the universe design, we see in the universe system order intelligence, we know that there are certain mathematical principles, the speed of light, for example, as a set, you know, set speed that cannot be the Congo, that you can't break the speed of light, you know, that there are laws and rules that if you, if you do something, you will, you can, you can almost observe these things. So we put these systems in place, who put these rules and lows down, who designed the universe, because we definitely see intelligence in the design of the universe, the fact that there is

an, you know, a universe that has been designed by a plan or by rationality, this gives you a sense that whoever designed it has rationality and knowledge and power. Okay, this a very, you know, deep, profound area of morality. And I don't think we don't go too much into detail. It's a simple question.

How does it how do you feel as a person, if I told you, I mean, Adolf Hitler, one of the worst people that even lived in human history, he killed 6 million men, women and children,

in a terrible way,

loved his life. And then towards the end of the Second World War, you got married, and then committed suicide, the thing the same day or the day after, and that's it, you know, took a shot to the head, and that was it. There's something inside of you tell you that feels that he needs to pay for his crimes. He couldn't get away that easily. You know, exterminating, you know, massacring committing a genocide 6 million people, do we really feel that he gets away with it, he just got away with it. Because the concept of there not being a god, there is no morality, there's no right or wrong, there is no consequences. There is no judgment, there is no purpose to life, all of those

things come with atheism, that whatever you do doesn't matter. And so, you know, one atheist, you know what, he became a Christian. You know, he said, when the question was asked, Do you really believe Hitler got away with it? Is it you know, I can't except that he got away with his crimes. But if you genuinely an atheist, you would believe that, yes, he got away with it, because there is no consequence to your actions. And so there is a much more profound question of good and bad, right and wrong. You cannot have objective morality. Now what is objective morality? I know we're getting a bit deep and philosophical. Your objective morality means that there are things which are good at

all times in all places, and there are things that are bad at all times, in all places. That's objective moral, doesn't matter who you are. It is always good. It's always bad. Subjective morality is good is dependent on what you feel is good. It's like your favorite flavor of ice of ice cream. For you. Strawberry is good. For me, chocolate is good. So

either you believe that good and bad right now, so long as you feel it's good, then that's right. That's okay. Or do you believe that? No, there are laws like there are laws in the universe. There are laws to morality, that there is something which is good and bad, and there are consequences to it. And if you believe that

And then you asked who put those, those loads down? Who decided what is right and wrong? If not, it's not us, we didn't do it, there must be a higher power that determined right and wrong, that made models of good and bad. And that by definition is God because God is the model authority. God determines what is right and wrong. And we also on top of that, we believe in consequences.

With that comes this whole notion of a purpose to your life. I mean, honestly, if you knew, and we believe that there was really no purpose to your life, when you die, that's it, you become worm food, and nothing else, you're so there is no such thing as a soul. That is such thing as an afterlife. Really, I think I would, you know, spending five days a week in your office panela. What is, you know, I don't know what I would do. Because then you realize it doesn't matter what you do, it doesn't matter how much charity you give, it's all meaningless. It doesn't matter how much

how much sin you do, how much evil you do, it's all meaningless. At the end of the day, the universe doesn't care. Your life is just a snapshot in time, and you are like a dust, you know, like an atom on a board of wall of sand. In a massive universe, it doesn't really care about you, you are a fluke and accident, your trauma, your suffering, your pain, it means nothing, there is no one out there listening. And so it really brings your life to meaningless, meaninglessness. Whereas, you know, with the concept that we were created, some higher power made you some higher power put you here for a reason, your life has a meaning, your life has purpose, and you are supposed to achieve a certain

objective in your life. And also the fact that, you know, if you believe if you want to believe in an afterlife, that there is more to this universe, then again, you need to buy into this concept of a god because as an author, like so do we really believe our ancestors, our parents are like random Jana, your grandparents have passed away, do you didn't believe they're gone, there's nothing else that's their life came to an end. And that's it. Most people would believe that there is something as a soul, and it transcends this world, it goes to another reality, there's an afterlife. And the life that you play here, the life you lead here has consequences in an afterlife. This by definition

really buys into this concept of a creator and you being caused. The next point is personal experience, I think most of you would be able to tell a story with you know, things were very difficult. We, you you felt through your through our through your play. And they were some kind of external intervention, when the doctor said, there's no hope, when something completely unexpected happened to you, every one of us has this little story where we, you know, we the facts, don't explain the outcome. just coincidence, upon coincidence, we all experienced that. And it's to the point where you realize it's not possible that all these coincidences could line up. And in this,

this happened at the end, you know, people will tell me about I was, you know, in a real problem in my life, and I just sit in it, I raised my hand, and I called out to my Creator, and miraculously out of nowhere, you know, something opened up, something helped me and all of us have these experiences in life. And so that is, that is the are enough of these personal experiences, to, to say that these credibility, it's like each one of us are eyewitness to a personal creator, that intervenes in our lives through our praise. The last point, really, this is not really an argument for the existence of a creator. It's a very simplistic way. And I asked this to a bunch of high

school kids, and they said, well, when the plane crashes, and I asked the person who doesn't believe in God, what's he going to do? You know, most of people in the plane will pray, and you will really see then who's gonna what's gonna happen when you know, that plane is about to crash. And so we say at the end of the day, guys, okay, fine. If there is no God, and we all die, you won't live to regret it. That's it, your life has come to an end, and you are basically Oblivion, you're nothing. But if I'm right, and you're wrong, you die. And there is a God on the other side, well, then you have got a problem. And so it makes logical sense to, as we say, hedge your bets, to take the time

to think about things, what is going to be the most advantageous to you. This is the human kind of, it's not the most, I would say, the most

beautiful way of talking about the Creator. But it is it is a logical, it's logical point to make. It's logical to believe in a God to say look out of my logic and my reason, my rationality, I think it's safe to say that there is a God and to actually look for a purpose to my life, and to hopefully find that purpose and then live according to that and hope for a a wonderful afterlife. That makes logical sense, you know? And so,

for most people, as I said, this conversation about the Creator, not having a creator, these questions might have popped in you

Mind, but you carry on and you love your life, you know, believing, and that's an important point to mention belief.

The reason why Allah does not show himself the Creator doesn't come to you and me and speak to us directly, because he is, in some ways, testing our belief. He wants to, he wants to see if we will submit willingly, it will use the tools, the intellect, the guidance he gave us to make the right choice. I was listening to a lecture about morality. This is just something to think about that, you know, if you programmed a robot to save people's lives, and do all the right things, would you say this robot is morally good? We'll say No, we just following its programming, because you could change the program to kill people and to do exactly that. And so part of being a good person is you

choose to be good, you're not forced to be good. And that is why really, the only beings in this creation that can truly be good, is humans. Because we have the pattern, the capacity to choose, the angels can choose, they do the right thing, because that's the programming, the sun, the moon, the stars, they do what they're supposed to do all the time, we have the ability to choose. And so in choosing the right thing all the time, that is what makes us superior. And so and so these are just some of the, you know, the points that we've made about the good is minimal. And I said this, this can be a long discussion. Of course, they are questions and some very profound questions atheists

ask, and I think, in our next lecture, we will discuss some of these arguments that atheism makes, which already be profound. But I will say this, atheism asks very good questions, very difficult questions. And in reality, we can't answer all of them. But there's nothing wrong with that. Because the scientists, the smartest people in the world can't answer themselves. Why is the universe expanding? We started, where did the universe begin from, you know, what have, you know, what is dark energy, dark matter? All these things that we know, even the smartest mind con on? So we don't have an answer. And so to really think that we will have all the answers about the Creator, external

to the universe, really is, you know, over exaggerating our, our, our intelligence, and that is why it is called faith. And it's called belief that you don't have all the pictures of the puzzle, the piece of the puzzle, you don't have all the evidences. But when you sit down and you look at it, and you bring your intuition, and this is where the spirit, the heart, you know, your soul comes into play, you believe that there is something more, and that is really that belief. It's not something you can tangibly prove it is something in your heart. And you know, it's a famous saying in the Arabic language, other Islamic saying that the only eye or the only organ that can truly perceive

God is the heart. So the eyes or the ears, can you can see Allah, you can hear him, but the heart is the only organ that can really perceive him, the soul can perceive him, that's the only organ that can perceive him. So we'll talk a little bit about questions of the atheists. And then we will discuss this maybe in detail in the next next lecture. Argument number one.

You know, the same way I don't believe in Father Christmas and the tooth fairy, if you ask, Why don't you believe in him, so I can't see him. If I saw for the Christmas, I believe in him if I saw the tooth fairy, I believe in him. So I don't believe in him because I only believe in the things which I can prove exists. I prove it through seeing, touching, tasting, smelling, or hearing my senses, if I can, if it can be perceived through those things, then I'll believe in it. But if I can't, then I can't believe in it. Because then it's sort of believing in in nonsense.

But a very important question. How can I believe in a God when so much evil happens in the world? When little kids die? You know, well, when wars happened when this genocide, if there is a God, and he's all powerful, and we say he's merciful? Why does he get involved? Why doesn't he do the right thing he's sitting by and watching the world burn, and he's not doing anything about it. So how can I believe in a God like that?

You telling me to believe in religion, I think there's a difference between really believing in God and religion. And I think we need to talk about that disconnect. But let's say for argument's sake, that to believe in God implies believing in a religion, then how can I believe in religion when religion causes so much evil in the world, most of the wars and the violence and the judgment between groups of people has been because of religion. Religion is the cause of so much misery in the world. So surely, without religion, we are better. You know, the world is a better place without religion. Europe, for example, was going through the dark ages. And once they sort of got rid of

religion, they became enlightened and things became better. So, you know, that argument that was when I took God out of my life, the world is actually a better place.

There are many contradictions between religion and science. Surely something which is scientifically incorrect, could not come from an all knowing God. So we need to look at some of those scientific arguments. And, again, the moral argument, perhaps a deeper one. Well, I want to do what is right for me what feels good for me, and religion stops me from living the life that I want. So how can I believe in the religion

that, you know, controls my life in a negative way. So we'll talk about these kinds of arguments and other arguments that I'm sure you had. And we'll discuss that in lecture two. As I said, atheism is not really the subject matter of the Quran, the Quran does not really focus on atheism, because it presupposes it assumes that most people in the world, subscribe to the belief in a creator. And through that the actually begins of the Islam actually begins after the assumption that you believe in a God. So we'll talk about that in the next couple of weeks in sha Allah. So I open the floor once again to any questions.

If there's anyone that has any questions,

the next five minutes or so, I see you shaking your hands up.

Go ahead, chain.

100 I can Yes, I can hear you.

Speaking about earlier on about the, you know, when we look at our purpose in life, and we're not looking at the purpose of life, through speaking through evil, and also suppose these many times in life, it means a lot of things that happen that are perceived to be evil at the time. But that person change at the end of the day, and within a change that person becomes but evil was the

the purpose of life? How do we find from an Islamic point of view that, you know, we're not doing something wrong. But then later on at the end?

Something comes out of that, because yesterday was a decent medical today. But

you know, at the end of the day, we are Muslims. And sometimes we don't understand certain things. So we as Muslims, and as human beings, we criticize the wrong people that's done. How will you look at that we will look at it from a point we know there is a purpose to life. So that had to happen within we find the purpose in life.

So Okay.

In a way, and let me see if I can answer it. So the first thing is, let's first define what is the purpose of life from an Islamic perspective, Islam basically, and I think we jumping to maybe lecture four or five, Islams fundamental basis is that you have a creator. And your purpose is to have a relationship with a creator, to worship Him in everything you do. Worship Him through, pray, worship Him through your business, worship Him through, you know, how you walk, how you play sports, how you sit in traffic, everything you do, is to please Him, and you journeying towards him in this world, so that you can actually be with him in the afterlife, that you can actually be in his

company in His presence and see him in the afterlife. That is the purpose of life. Now, when obstacles are put in your way. So let's talk about calamities, certainly a cut, you know, being sick, and you know, losing something is not a good thing, a nice thing, but it might be that calamity caused you to turn back to him. And so in that it was a blessing. You know, with the pain that came with it, it was a blessing if it brought you closer to Him. And so let's talk about sin. For example, someone says, or what about sin? Can I say that sin is a blessing, even, you know, it was a bad thing I did. But it made me a better Muslim. So for example, someone would say, look, I

committed murder, I was a bad person, or went to jail. And in jail, I found Islam, or someone could say I, you know, committed some kind of it now, you know, whatever. But from that act, I had a child, and that child caused me to be a good parent and that reformed my life, what we learned from it, that every sin also has in it, the ability to bring you close to the Creator. You know, as one scholar says, Many people will enter Paradise because of the sins What do you mean through my sins, because that sin led you to feel regret and remorse, and led you to reform your life. And so you actually went and through that sin and through reforming yourself and making Toba making, you know,

asking for forgiveness, you actually became a better person. And that is the is the story of Adam and Eve, you know, they come into the sun, but through that sin,

the way they approached the sin was through remorse and repentance. And so they were elevated. Satan shaytan also made a sin, but his sin led him further astray. And so what I also want you to learn from this lecture, no one should feel that my sins or my lifestyle prevents me from being closer to my Creator. Islam is not only for the ultra pious Islam is for every single person to have a relationship with a creator. Islam is this personal bond between you and your Creator. So it doesn't matter how far away you are. One of the names of Allah is the One who returns to you at all times, no matter how far away you are, he comes back to you. And so that calamity or that sin can actually

become a blessing, depending on how you act after it, how you respond to that to be a better person. And there's a very famous Hadith and the responses that if we were a creature that never come with its sin, then Allah would actually have replaced us with a creature that had the capacity to sin, because it is only through sin that we can actually repent. And that actually brings about

a deeper relationship with Him. Allah grants us all forgiveness I mean, any other questions before we conclude

but have any comments on the YouTube feed

then JazakAllah to all of you, I thank you so much for your time. If you feel any questions or concerns or comments, you can you can email us or you can WhatsApp us as well. This is our well that's my email address and inshallah you can leave a comment on our on the Facebook and the YouTube channel as well. And just go ahead Have a wonderful weekend and you Mobarak Okay, see a question later the last minutes a question. And actually, I think

Russia in February

Go ahead.

You might ask the question, okay.

Just like a law, or some law said no Muhammad Ali. Oh, Sofia Salam mysoline noteable Onomichi grants and Allahu obrigado.