Nouman Ali Khan – Cult vs Community

			But basically suddenly we assumed the MD Wagner the rock that I mean listen if grupo de la sabitha
endl motiva La ilaha illallah wa la Miranda Miranda, Tina solly, hot water, wasabi whatever so the
sub Manila Manila mean.
		

			In today's clip I'd like to share with you some reflections from two IR that belong to Silicon
bacara. But before I talk about those IR I'd like to share some basic definitions with you and some
concepts that are not often talked about. I have spoken about these things before but not in this
way. And like many of them are of our past. And students of the Quran over the past whenever they
pass by is that they have studied before Allah azza wa jal even describes it himself. Let me ask him
why they have so many omiana they don't trip over them, you know, mute, you know, deaf and blind.
What that means is they don't ever say I already know this, like, you know, when you read some other
		

			book, and you've already read it, you read this chapter already. You see, I could skip this part
because I already know this part, I'll go to another part. But that is just not the attitude of a
believer towards the Quran. They go back to the CMI art that they read hundreds, if not 1000s of
times, and a lot opens wisdom upon them. And he opens up guidance and counsel upon them, as even the
Sahaba would experience this a new like, there are instances in the life of the Prophet sallallahu
Sallam where, you know, the ayah was recited that was revealed a long time ago, but it was recited
again. And Sahaba would say, I felt like it just came down. I felt like it was just revealed. So the
		

			idea of going back and reviewing and pondering again. And you know, engaging the book of Allah
repeatedly and continuously is just one of the gifts that Allah has given this book Latin for big
boo, it's wonders don't ever cease. And that's hopefully a relationship you and I will always have
the rest of our lives that will keep going back to the book of a lot. And we will never
underestimate what it has to offer you and I will never think to ourselves, I already know that I
can read something else. Now I already know Bukhara I already know this. I already know this surah I
already know what it means I've already read the translation. This year, this kind of under
		

			estimating you can do with any other book, you can't do it with the book of Allah. Because it's it's
wisdom is far beyond even the wisdom of one is far beyond what any one human being can fully
internalize ever. In any case, what I wanted to share with you today was a basic distinction, a
difference between two English terms first. And those two terms in English are a cult, versus a
community, a cult versus a community. And a cult obviously. So those of you that are familiar with
the term is not a good word. It's a it's an ancient word of the English language. Its its origins
from the 1600s. Back in the day, it actually was used for worship itself. But in the modern usage of
		

			the word cult, it's used for a group of people that are cut off, and they do their own weird ritual
practices. You have devil worshipping cults, or you have heavy metal cults or you have all these
different kinds of groups, strange groups, that are kind of on the fringes of society, and they form
cults. But there are some things that I wanted to highlight that make a coat different from a
community, let's first talk about what they have in common cold is when a group of people come
together. And a community is also when a group of people come together. So what makes them
different, here's the first of all differences. A code sees itself as against the rest of the world.
		

			They want to see themselves as one thing, and everybody else is out to get them. And they are at
war, if not physically, at least ideologically with everyone else. So they are a closed group that
is antagonistic and aggressive as compared to that a community is actually something that keeps its
doors open all the time. A community actually wants to learn about other communities, like a local
Selita out of food, so you can get to know one another. it welcomes people from other communities,
it opens doors, it makes cooperation happen. It does business with other communities. It has trade
agreements, and all kinds of things. So cults are closed and aggressive. And communities are open,
		

			and welcoming. That's the first difference between the two. Another thing about a cult is that it
wants uniformity, it wants everybody to be exactly the same, they should dress the same, they should
look the same, they should talk the same, they should behave the same. And if you see even a little
bit of variation, they'll catch you right away, you might get kicked out of the cult, if you don't
follow along. They are very, very specific about how you have to behave. Right. And in a community
you have by opposite in a community, you have diversity, you can have people that are dressed
differently, that talk differently, they have different habits, you know, and that's fine. It's okay
		

			to have people of different backgrounds and different ethnicities, and different languages and
different eating habits. All of It's fine, but a cult, there's no tolerance for these kinds of
things. You have to stick to this thing. And if you don't, then you're in trouble you're gonna get
kicked out. And then from here, you get the next difference between these two in the the way the
best way to keep people inside a cult is to scare them and to make them feel guilty or to instill
anger in them towards others. cults feed off of negative emotions, they need it. They need to make
you angry to stay in the cult so they'll come
		

			Constantly curse some other group or some other community, and they'll fire you up against them. And
that's how they stay together, their anger keeps them united, or they will guilt you for not being
good enough a member of the cult, and they'll constantly shame you and guilt you. And that's how you
can keep stay inside. On the flip side of it is a community, which actually, when people make a
mistake, they don't shame them and guilt them, they help pick them up. And they say, Well, you know,
if I was, if I had fallen, and I had made a mistake, my brother would be there for me, these
families would be their fault for me. So they're, they're there to support each other, not guilt
		

			each other. And our community thrives off of encouragement, instead of building anger and hatred.
Instead of building suspicion towards others, a community is supposed to build, you know, good
relations, better understanding, giving each other benefit of the doubt, building trust among each
other. These are the kinds of things that communities build. Then, of course, inside of a cult,
there is absolutely no room for asking questions. You can't say why do we do this this way? How can
we do that? Even if you know some culture, religion, so you can even ask how can we pray this way?
Or how can we believe this? You can't ask questions, because if you ask questions, you're basically
		

			gonna get kicked out, you might lose your membership, for asking you just shut up and follow. That's
what you got to do. If you want to stay in the cult. On the other hand, you have a community where
questions are welcome. If you don't understand something, ask, and you're not gonna get in trouble
for asking. We can have an open conversation, we can share ideas, there's room for suggestion,
there's room for questioning and better understanding, and people are going to be at different
levels, nobody's going to be made to feel guilty because they don't know something, or they don't
understand something. That's the point of a community. And of course, then the last part that I
		

			wanted to share with you as a difference between cults and communities, is that cults, they have
habits, they form certain practices, and they do them and they don't even know why they do them over
time. They don't even know why they're doing it. But everybody's got to do it. Everybody's got to do
it. And if you come along and say, maybe this is not the best practice, maybe there's a better way
of doing things. Have we even ever asked the question, why do we do this stuff? Why are we following
it like this, because it's it's harming our next generation, it's harming our families, it's harming
this or that of the other. When you raise these questions, you can get, you know, not only kicked
		

			out, you can become the enemy, you can be labeled and become the enemy. On the other hand, in the
community, there's constantly open Surely, there's constantly open suggestions. And if there are
certain practices that used to be working 10 years ago, somebody comes along and says, this was
pretty good 10 years ago, but I think we need a change, we need an update to society has changed,
times have changed, our needs have changed, and we need to adapt. And so a community is willing to
do that a code is not willing to do that. A code says this is how we did things before, that's how
we're gonna do them. Now. Now you shut up, unless you want to get kicked out. Now, I wanted to make
		

			this distinction between these two, because a lot of times in churches, in synagogues and temples
and even in masajid. In Muslim communities, we like to think of ourselves as a community. But more
often than not, we turn these places into coats. And if not one coat, there are several cults within
a community, one group getting together, aggressive towards everybody else, they're the ones that
are right, everybody else is wrong. There are in the history of Islam, for example, there's a
diversity of there's a diversity in the schools of thought, when you make belong to a particular
school, if you come from some part of the world, where there's a tradition and the heritage the
		

			Malaysians have a several century heritage of the Shafi school of thought, for example, people from
India, Pakistan, a good number of them, a huge majority of them are from the Hanafi school of
thought, etc. So you come from a particular school of thought, but then you come with this idea that
your school of thought is it that's it, anybody else who does anything else, there, I don't even
know if they're actually real Muslims or not. This kind of thinking is cult thinking. This is not
community thinking. This is not community thinking. So that's the first thing that I wanted to
highlight that cults By the way, cuz the only way they survive, I told you is negative. That's the
		

			only way they can survive. And when they see a community growing and diversity growing, they feel
threatened, because they want everybody to be like them. They want everybody to be in uniform,
exactly the same. So when they see that changing, they go on the attack, cultural go on the attack.
Now this is within the religious framework, but there aren't just religious cults. Again, I started
with the example of massage it but that's not the only place social circles form cults. You have
people that are listed that aren't even religious, you know, there's their, you know, their their
families that come from a particular background, they have a certain socio economic class, when they
		

			have a party, all those same families are invited now at this place is house not that one, when the
thought season is going to start soon. Now, you're gonna see the same faces over and over again, and
that's a nice thing. These are all good things. But you know what happens sometimes within those
circles, certain values are imposed. So if one
		

			That, if all of them have a house and one of them has an apartment, then the one who has an
apartment feels pressure, I feel left out of this circle unless I get into a mortgage. Because I
don't believe I can even invite them for a thought. Because they'll they'll look at and just the way
they look, just the way they look at the apartment and say, oh, okay, just two bedrooms, just that
much. It'll eat me alive inside. That's a cult, because you're putting pressure on this person to
get into a, an economic transaction they can't afford. And they're feeling pressure, even if nothing
has been said to them. And they have to conform to a standard That doesn't even make sense for them.
		

			Every family has their own situation, Every family has their own background, their own problems. But
you know, what we do, a lot of times a lot of the pressure you put on yourself. And a lot of the
pressure your family puts on you, and you put on your family doesn't even have to do with you, it
has to do with this cult pressure that's on you. And you don't want to lose membership from that
cult. And as a result, you harm yourself, you harm your family, you harm you, you know, all it
produces is harm, it does nothing good. This, these kinds of cults are formed inside offices, you're
the only Muslim in the office, everybody goes and has, you know, you know, goes to the happy hour or
		

			something. And they invite you every time you feel the pressure. And if you if you're not going to
go you're not going to be disgusted when the promotion comes, you have to play this game. And you
have to join them in their rituals, if you want to be part of this thing. And there's kind of a
unspoken membership. And if you don't play along, you're not considered a member, you're not going
to be considered an equal. And you have to you have to, you know, get your hands dirty and lose some
of your principles. This is what a cult is not not just in the setting of a machine in the setting
of a family. But even in the setting of an office in colleges in neighborhoods. You know, there you
		

			could see cult followings in neighborhoods where you know, when Christmas season one family will go
out of their way and put Christmas lights. And the other time was Oh, yeah. Now we can't afford it.
But I think I can take a loan and put better Christmas lights in them. And nobody knows why they're
doing it. They have no idea. Their primary reason is My Neighbor did it. I have to defeat them.
That's their primary reason. If you're in a neighborhood of Muslims, and somebody did an F star,
somebody did a party and you're like, Oh, yeah, I'm gonna give a better party. And you're feeling
competition.
		

			This is this is cult mentality that eats away at a community. It creates competition antagonism,
that's what it builds. And so what I wanted to get at, especially when it comes to our families and
big decisions we have to make for our families like marriage. A lot of times the reasons for
choosing a partner, the reasons for building family ties. The reasons come from cults, they don't
come from reason, they don't come from the idea of a community. This oma the basis for which this
oma was formed was taqwa the basis for which this these people, you people are sitting together, and
I'm standing in front of you. The only basis for it is not in a hurry, Lola, that is it. That is it.
		

			The you know the one the one figure that defines our not our cult, but our culture. And our
community is Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam who had an incredible task in front of him. I
mean, you have to understand, you know, we're not traditional people anymore. We live in modern
times, even if you're the most traditional, a lot of things you do are not traditional. But the
Arabs of that time were extremely, extremely traditional people forget thinking about foreigners as
different. They thought of the next tribe as aliens. They were so hung up within their own
identities and to take those people and to build who are between them. brotherhood between them, is
		

			an incredible thing. Ocean houselogic Medina, they themselves didn't get along. They themselves had
fights and their Medina imagine them versus the people of Macau. You know, this was not something
easy to overcome. But this kind of mentality has been there and will be there and are one of the
functions of our Dean, one of the purposes of our Dean is to destroy this kind of thinking. Now, I
want to share the IOD with you that socata law in one this description of the Day of Judgment, in
one beautiful description of the Day of Judgment. Allah azza wa jal gives us the value of these fake
standards that so many people put them put on themselves, because they want to belong to a
		

			particular cult. And they don't even realize they're there. They're suffering from it. Allah azza wa
jal describes the day of judgment and one of the first remarkable things about this ayah is that
it's set entirely in the past tense. It begins if Latina to be rude, when those who used to be
followed when those who used to be followed have set themselves apart.
		

			Who in Arabic means basically in Simple English, I have nothing to do with you. I have no
responsibility for what you have done. I don't know what you did what you did. You go your way Mind
your own business outline my own business. The the ayah begins describing there were a group of
people who you
		

			Used to be followed. And when judgment day comes, they stand before Allah and they say, I have
nothing to do with these followers. I don't care about I don't know who these people are, I don't
care about them. Let me bring this a little closer to home. There are today musicians, actors, there
are athletes, you know, and they, they'll come in commercials, and they'll wear a certain brand of
sneakers. Or they'll put a certain kind of Cologne on, and then the sales will go up as a result of
their product placement. You understand? Or people will dress like them and talk like them and want
to be like them. Do these people know their fans? No, they don't. And they don't even care. All they
		

			care about is money. They don't care about you. You can get these screaming fans can go over to the
guy who's singing the song and say, You speak to my heart man. Like Yeah, he All he cares about is
whether you paid for Did you download a bootleg? Or did you pay for it? That's all he cares about.
He doesn't care about whether you spoke to your heart or not. That's not what it's about. So on
judgment day, that will become very clear. All the people that we followed all the people that set
the standards for us that influenced the way we're going to speak the way we're going to dress, the
way we're going to live. The way we're going to conduct our families, all of it, all of those things
		

			are gonna fall apart. And those people will say I have nothing to do with you. You know, for those
of you that speak or do one of the this if you understand it when you understand this one phrase, lo
kacang
		

			What are people gonna say? You know, those people that you're so worried worried about what they're
gonna say, when you're about to make a decision? Let's do the niqab in the machine? No, no, no. What
are people gonna say? We have to get a home? No, no, no, let's just get this car. No, no, we have to
get a newer car. What are people gonna say? Let's get an apartment. No, we have to get a big house.
What are people gonna say? What are people gonna say is like your car kuliah. It's the principle
that defines your life. And it is those very people that stand on judgment day and say, I have
nothing to do with these guys. Whether I see or not, I don't care about them. is Tamara and Marina
		

			to do Mina la Vina tomorrow, they'll cut themselves off from those who used to follow them. Allah
mentioned it in the past tense for a particular reason many of them I'm sure one of them with you.
You have to imagine the next time you're following someone mindlessly, you have to imagine that this
separation has already happened as far as allies concerned. Not even it will happen. It's already
happened. These are the same people that are going to be saying they don't care a dimes worth about
you. They don't care anything about you. What Takata atvi mozzarella says what I own, and we'll all
be looking at the punishment, we will do wrong deeds, because we follow people like this. We will do
		

			wrong deeds because we follow trends, because we belong in cults mindlessly. And then punishment
will come not just to those who are trendsetters, but also to the followers. They're both second up
what I own either. What Takata xv humulus. Bob, what a remarkable phrase in the ayah and all of the
ASVAB I won't translate ASVAB yet, all of the ASVAB will be cut. Now what is what in the world is
Bob one of the meanings originally in the Arabic language as subduing Heaven, it's a rope. The ropes
will be cut. It is as though you felt like you're tied to these people with a rope and Allah will
chop all those ropes up.
		

			All of them will be severed, like you have no connection with them. Others say let me do a lotta
sneezy and fusi him while at bury him suburban like grandma's he says that they are not some of also
means means judgment, they will come and they will have no way of saving themselves. Because the
people they should have connected themselves to they didn't and the people that they shouldn't have
connected themselves to they were blindly following. So now they have no way of getting out of
trouble with the Katara to be humorless Bob Underhill masala tea can can be a tawassul una la Ha.
It's also said that as Bob are the relationships that they used to have, that were built on fake
		

			things, there are relationships that are real, like family relations, there are relationships that
are built on sincerity people actually caring about you. And then there are relationships that are
just fake social acquaintances, and you just want to impress them and they just want to impress you
and nobody knows why they're doing anything.
		

			Those are the kinds of relationships that are just going to get chopped up, they will have no value
whatsoever almonacid and that he cannot loan for dunia as Bob also means status. So panela the
status that they used to have judgment they will come so many things people do for status. So many
people, things people do for reputation. So many decisions we make for that. I met an accounting
student not too long ago, who said I will you know what, I asked him, What's your major? He said
accounting. I said, Where are you going to school? I'm going to the school. What's the tuition
40,000 a year? I said, so after four years, you get you're gonna owe 160,000? Yeah. On top of that
		

			student loan interest, all this stuff. I was like, after four years, you have a bachelor's degree.
Are you going to be a CPA? No, no, that's another two years. What's the fee for that? About 75,000 a
year. Okay, that's another 150,000 on top of that. So now you're you're
		

			You're in debt about half a million dollars already. And you haven't even gotten the job yet. And
who's gonna pay you high paying paying salary? By the time you come out of accounting school and
hire you? And you know, and even if you do get paid a lot of money, you're you can't even start your
life because you're still paying off debts from the school you went to that's just bad accounting,
bro.
		

			Why are you going to that school? Well, it's a it's a pretty reputable school and reputable in whose
eyes I don't understand. Like we like this is a person who understands accounting, except when it
applies to themselves. Because status image that took over and their mind got shut off. They
couldn't think anything straight. And the only concern was, well, if I go to a community college or
if I go to a city school, or if I go, what are people gonna say? What are my parents gonna say?
Nobody cares. No one when the time will come, nobody will care. You have to make sound decisions in
your life, financial decisions, religious decisions, family decisions, and you have to let go of
		

			these unreasonable pressures that you put on yourself, because those people will not care about you
when the time comes, especially when judgment day comes. And so as Babu jata is also an adjunct has
also been said that they're the any way of them being saved is going to be cut, then there is no way
to save yourself. People people worry so much they have so much depression, so much stress, because
they have to keep up like the American phrase keeping up with the Joneses, right? You're this old
you have to have this much money, you have to have this much status, you have to have this much
disposition, disposition disposition. None of this should matter. Especially when it comes to your
		

			own your own person, make the right choices, make the right decisions, and don't let fake pressure
from others come on to you. Even I'll end where I started within the religious community, within
religious communities. When cults are formed, then people are made to feel guilty because they
overthink that even Ally's messenger, sallallahu alayhi wasallam and the book of Allah never
condemned and they're being condemned. They start even wrong, but in that cult, it's wrong. In that
cult, it's unacceptable. You know, we create uniforms. We create uniformity and the way people have
to look and behave even in things that in which the dean always had diversity. There was always
		

			multiple ways of looking at it, but no, is this way or no way at all. This way or no way at all. And
this this is the kind of thing that makes people run because when someone comes out of a cult, they
never want to go back. When they when they're in it. They're hypnotized, but when they run away from
a cult, they look back and they get scared, man, I don't want to go back into that crazy stuff
again. So when people get burnt out, religiously burnt out because of cult behavior, and they run
away from Islam. It's very hard to bring them back. Because they think of all of the religion not as
a community now as a cult. And that's our fault. That we didn't understand the openness and the
		

			vastness of our Deen the mercy of our Deen the forgiveness of our Deen the positive nature of our
Deen and we turned it into something ugly for people. May Allah azza wa jal forgive our
shortcomings. McAllen Latina todo I end with this Ricardo Medina terbaru another Nika Ratan Tata
Baba amin home Kamata, Baba Amina the people who used to follow them the fan base, the people who
did end up in those coats. Now they're talking and they're saying lo another NACA rotten if we only
had another chance, if we only got to go back again. Find out about ramen home Kamata Baba Amina,
then we will cut ourselves off from them the same way they're cutting themselves off from us. While
		

			thought we will move Raja immediately I won't even think about it. I won't even consider it. If I
were to go back. I wouldn't even look towards that guy. That same person who influenced so many of
my decisions. That same culpa dictated so much of my behavior will mean nothing to me. I will want
nothing to do with them the way they've cut themselves off from me now, and unless has done Casali
coup de Mola Hama Hama Salatin, Allah him,
		

			that is Allah will show them their behavior. Now this is what's called Han has threatened it him.
But Allah said hasard in it him regrets on top of regrets on top of regrets on top of regrets is
what Allah is going to show them. They're going to think back and say, Man, I made that horrible
decision. Because of this. I made this other horrible decision because of that they're gonna make a
list in their head of all the horrible decisions they made based on this unreasonable pressure that
they put on themselves and one hustler one regret on top of regret on top of regret and that's part
of the the pain of judgment thing. You don't feel don't think of Hellfire and judgment as physical
		

			pain only. It's emotional pain. It's just looking over back at your life and saying Why did I do
this? How could I do this? How can I live my life like this? One decision after another Hassan
Denali him well MMA won't be hot enough enough and they're not going to be the ones coming out of
the fire May Allah make us not of those of the fire me allows me to enter all of us without any
punishment into his gender. Monica lohani Welcome, Anil Hakeem when a fire
		

			We are coming at once again Hakeem
		

			al hamdu lillahi wa kafa wa salatu salam, wa
		

			salam
		

			ala nabina Muhammad Al Ameen wa aalihi wa sahbihi edgebanding yaku Mahajan. vikita became Kenny
Nakula rubella he managed a Pandora gene in De La Hoya mela Nikita who you saw Luna Island maybe?
Yeah, you had an Athena amanu sallu alayhi wa sallam Ooh, Taslima Allahumma salli ala Muhammad Anwar
Allah Allah Muhammad kamasan. Later Allah Ebrahim Avada and Ibrahim al al amin in Dhaka homido
Majeed Allahumma barik ala Muhammad Anwar Ali Mohammed Chroma Baraka Ibrahim Ali Ibrahim al al amin
in naka homina Majeed de la rahima como la Tacoma in the La Jolla, San Juan Ito is imperva Vienna
and in fact, he will mooncup what are the crolla he Akbar? Allahu Allah Matos neurone, Optimus sala
		

			insalata kanatal Mini Nikita makuta