Omar Suleiman – AI and ChatGPT Spiritual Resilience and Ethics

			To begin by praising Allah Subhan Allah to Allah and bearing witness that none has the right to be
worshipped or unconditionally obeyed except for him. And we bear witness that Muhammad Sallallahu it
was synonymous as final messenger, we ask Allah to send his peace and blessings upon him, the
prophets and messengers that came before him, his family and companions that served alongside him
and those that follow in his lesson path until the day of judgment, and we ask Allah to make us
amongst them Allah, I mean, their brothers and sisters, the following hutzpah was not prepared using
chat GBT or any artificial intelligence. I'm going to start off with that for a reason. Because as
		

			ridiculous as that sounded, for me to say it,
		

			there may come a time where that is actually the case that people prepare their entire husbands that
people prepare their entire lectures. Allah knows best people will try to replace Imams and hot
leaves with some sort of artificial intelligence and the tools and the technology that has become
made available to us today. Now I'm going to start off by saying as well that this hutzpah is
relevant to each and every single person that is in this messenger today, even if you have not yet
engaged a single one of the new tools and technologies that have become made available to us and
count me amongst them who have yet to even touch chat GBT or many of these other things that have
		

			become available to us that we pray Allah azza wa jal allows us to use for benefits, and allows us
to curtail the harm of Allah Amin. But in these 15 minutes, I actually wanted to speak about the
advent of these technologies, and how as Muslims, we can approach this from a spiritual framework,
really not knowing much about what is to come in the years that are ahead. And what these
technologies are actually going to look like for us. How do we as Muslims deal with this unraveling
new reality for us, not from a place of paranoia, but from a place of preparedness, and fit it into
our entire framework and our entire existence of herbal idea of being in a state of worship to Allah
		

			subhana wa Tada, and in the state of constant benefits. And I want to begin that as Muslims, we have
always been able to see the benefit in things that are around us, especially when they become more
and more inevitable. And our scholars of the past have been at the pioneering front of making
technologies that would have otherwise been entirely harmful, or even producing technologies that
would be to the benefit of people, whether it's in science, or medicine, or math, or what it may be.
But we've also been able to spiritually frame everything, no matter how material, it seems, we're a
people will Hamdulillah that have guidance from our Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, on
		

			everything from how we eat our food to how we use the restroom. And so certainly, we have an ethical
framework by which we approach the things that ALLAH SubhanA, which Allah is putting around us
today. And as we look at these technologies, that at the very least become relevant to you, because
maybe your kids or maybe someone that you know, is using them. And as a whole, the output of
humanity is more and more dependent upon these technologies. I want us to first and foremost
appreciate that there is a difference between tools that are for the benefit of people, and tools
that are for the destruction of people. And we have to understand that what Allah subhanaw taala has
		

			given to us, almost always has the potential to be a gift. So when we talk about tools that arise
amongst us, Allah azza wa jal has given us the ability to see the difference between tools that
become more precise, with medical technology to the benefit of people. If anyone has had surgery
recently, or anyone works in the medical force, as many Muslims, do, you see the way that these
things are evolving. And that is something to say Alhamdulillah for the difference between a more
precise medical technology and a more precise military technology that makes killing people so much
easier and so much more automatic. And usually, unfortunately, at the other side of that our poor
		

			Muslim populations disproportionately and it's a tragedy if it's any innocent life or any innocent
casualty, we see the difference between those two things, a medical technology, that saving more
lives, and a military technology that's killing more people. And Muslim pioneers have always been at
the forefront of taking the beneficial of something and removing the harmful and they also did not
let their suspicion of what Allah subhanaw taala has gifted them with lead to stagnation of human
progress. What do I mean by that? When they heard allimand In Santa marlim Yarlung allimand. in
Sanibel column, Allah subhanaw taala has taught man by the pen. He's taught man that which man did
		

			not know
		

			All Muslims did not treat knowledge with suspicion. They used that knowledge and they saw that all
as coming from Allah Subhana Allah to Allah. And they thanked Allah subhanaw taala for it with their
tongues, and they thanked Allah subhanho wa Taala by using and producing that which was beneficial
to mankind. And so when we enter into this maze now of artificial intelligence, and all of these
different tools and technologies, I wanted us to look at it first and foremost from the macro, and
then from the micro as individuals. What does this mean for me as a Muslim, as things start to arise
in my life, that seemingly are just tools for convenience? How do I have the spiritual resilience to
		

			not fall for something that can actually be harmful, and start to contribute, in a way inshallah to
Allah, that is beneficial. And you'll find journal after journal now Professor after Professor
people that even worked within the sectors that are writing about the danger of these tools and the
need to produce ethics around them, that perhaps as human beings, we're moving too fast, we're
making things and then because of consumerism, we're releasing them without putting any type of
guardrails on them. And then it just becomes a competition, a competition, a competition, and
SubhanAllah. First and foremost, we recalibrate and we say that when tech vision has no god vision,
		

			then it becomes destructive, just like everything else, because a godless vision for humanity cannot
possibly put guardrails on anything that is produced for humanity. Because at the end of the day,
anything that enables convenience is going to be deemed inherently good. Anything that makes life
easier, is going to be looked at as inherently good. And so we should do whatever we can do. And
that's progress. How do you define progress from a secular perspective, we should do whatever it is
we become capable of. And we define our progress as humanity because we're now able to do this and
we weren't able to do this before. And so it becomes about maximizing profit, maximizing efficiency,
		

			maximizing happiness. And eventually what ends up happening is you eliminate the workforce
altogether. Subhanallah, who would have thought that within just these few months of these
technologies becoming available to us, a 14 year old could do something on their phone, and say,
Make me the visuals for this and this and that, that would replace an entire industry, or at least
experts and the hard work of labor, and creativity. So you're going to have workers unions, and what
do we do because now these technologies are making the workforce irrelevant as well. And it's all in
the name of what maximizing, maximizing, maximizing make the most of it, make the most of it, make
		

			the most of it. And I want to remind you that ALLAH SubhanA wa Tada speaks to spiritual diseases,
that underlying all sorts of evolving realities. And how can we to Catholic, you've been destroyed
by the pursuit of more, more, more more and more destroys you as a human being at the individual
level, and destroys a society as well, when it becomes the pursuit of abundance, I want more of
this, I want more of that. And more doesn't always just mean more money, it could mean, I want more
done in as little time as possible, productivity is good. But when the more becomes the definition,
then that's a problem. I want more done for me with as little effort on my part as possible. Of
		

			course, we want to make use of tools for benefit. But what happens when I don't know how to do for
myself anything anymore, because I've been focused on the production of more and more and more and
more. And so eventually, in the name of productivity, you end up eliminating the purpose of your own
existence altogether. If that's all that you exist for. More and more and more and more in
SubhanAllah. You think about the emptiness of people, and the words how true they ring and how come
went to Kapha. You've been destroyed by this pursuit of abundance, you're not happy, not as
individuals or societies, despite your ability to seemingly do more, gain more, enjoy more, because
		

			that's not the void that Allah has put in your human heart that can only be filled with to hate.
That can only be filled by your belief and your service to God. There is nothing else that's going
to fill that void and you'll destroy yourself with that. And you think about the prophesy someone he
spoke about this OMA when he said what Allah He meant for Accra, malfa Croc chalet come he said I
don't fear poverty for you. Well, can you actually come and tube salted dunya Alikum camera belsito
tournament can a cobbler come 13th for Su command center for Su ha what's a leaker comb camera Allah
Catrin prophesy someone said I don't fear poverty for you. I don't fear a lack of resources.
		

			For you, I don't fear your inability to take that next step when it comes to your production. What I
fear for you is something far greater than that I actually fear for you that the resources become
plentiful for you, that the dunya opens its doors to you, and destroys you the way that it destroyed
those that came before you. Because even if their own did not have the same technologies, for their
own, had the same spiritual diseases that drive much of the production and tyrannical uses of
technology today. And so you take a step back and again, you don't treat the whole thing, haram
haram haram but you look back at your heart, you look back at your spiritual disease, and what the
		

			Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam was speaking to us about, and Subhanallah, as you read into
these works of people that are familiar with the evolving of these technologies and things that are
becoming aware to us, one of the things that I that really struck me Subhanallah in in some of these
writings, is that the only thing that is going to be able to sort of Curb ourselves curb our usage
of these things and not falling victim to them is a cultural resistance to dependency. I'm gonna say
that, again, a cultural resistance to dependency. Now, when you think of that, from a worldly
framework, what people will speak about is this idea of human beings not becoming so dependent on
		

			technology, that they no longer know how to do basic functions. You know, how many of you can
remember a phone number over the last 10 years? Right? The GPS, the, you know, even things that are
very beneficial to us. But we become so dependent that we lose basic functions in our brains. And so
usually, when cultural dependency is spoken about from a worldly perspective, it's, we don't want to
have people that don't know how to put on their clothes that don't know how to brush their teeth
that don't know how to do basic things anymore, because they've become so dependent on technology.
And so there has to be a cultural resistance to this where people still know how to do things.
		

			People still know how to change a tire right? People you know, that ship has long sailed, people
still know how to do the basic things for themselves, because they have become so dependent on these
technologies. And so they'll stress the value of knowledge acquisition and skill acquisition, purely
from what from a dunya we perspective and Subhan Allah you look at what Allah has given to us, and
the prophets lysozyme has given to us with an athlete oriented mindset in this regard, a cultural
resistance to dependency. On the prophets lie, some taught us to seek refuge in what Allahumma inni
Ooby Kameena at z will castle. Oh Allah, I seek refuge in You from laziness and incapacity. It's not
		

			a good thing for a Muslim to be lazy. It's one of the worst things that you could have otherwise you
wouldn't seek refuge in Allah subhanaw taala from it no matter how convenient things are to you.
Allah minea Rosa becoming an Adze will kiss her when ALLAH SubhanA wa Tada tells us in the Quran,
sir neck tube uma cut demo, what a thorough that we will write everything that they have produced,
as well as their Athol. And I'm purposely not translating a thought because it has two meanings in
this area. One of them the scholars mentioned is their legacy, their legacy, the footprints, the
effect, there are people that do things, and even if they're not responsible for the final product,
		

			they're they're in the process and Allah rewards them for that. So Allah azza wa jal rewards people
in the process of doing good that make things happen behind the scenes in their present or in their
future. But some of the scholars also say that another meaning of this is not so nuts and Hessonite
is not a good legacy. But it's literally their footsteps. As has an embassy Rahim Allah Azza a
Hooper home be on duty him their footsteps, towards good everything that they put forth and effort
towards Allah will reward the effort. And so there is there is a connection between the actual
effort itself and the reward, not just the final product, but what you do and getting away from that
		

			dependency upon things that are outside of your own production. So selectable Malka demo I thought
at home we will write down their footsteps put our home on the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam
said to the people that would walk to the masjid the outcome took to Earth outcome. Stay in your
homes and walk to the masjid Allah will write down every single footstep for you here to salata
Jumeirah wherever you parked and however you walked to the messages can Allahu be coolly hotwater in
Amman husana tiene Adderall crme ha Kiyomi ha the prophets lie some said with every
		

			footsteps that you take towards Jumeirah. Allah subhanaw taala writes down for you, a year of
fasting and a year of PM. May Allah azza wa jal accepted from each one of us Allah Allah I mean,
every footstep that you take, incentivizing the footstep itself, that you have to work, you have to
put in those extra things so that you can stay connected to that edge is when the Prophet sallallahu
alayhi wa sallam talks about a person who reads the Quran and struggles and Allah giving them
epsilon to rewards as they struggle with every single letter and Allah writes down 10 Hessonite for
every single letter that you pronounce, you can't capture that. Otherwise, what can I say your call
		

			mascara, and your efforts have been rewarded by Allah, you can't capture that otherwise, when the
Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam says allegedly Allah Kudrin, machaca. And this has a context to
it. That reward is in accordance with how much effort you put in the hardship, the struggle, you
can't capture that with just the outputs, you're getting away from things being done for you and
wanting to do more for the sake of Allah subhanho wa taala. And actually, looking forward to every
single moment of effort that you put forth for the sake of Allah Subhana Allah to Allah. And when we
talk about the transition, of scholarship, and
		

			I don't care how intelligent these things become, we will always have the Senate we will always have
the chain amongst us, where we narrate from this person from that person from that person, where
people memorize the Quran, because the Quran is meant to be stored in our hearts in our minds, where
knowledge acquisition is through that proper transfer. And so as Muslims, we look at how Allah
subhanaw taala rewards us for the effort itself. And so when people talk about resisting a culture
of dependence, so you have to get into Boy Scouts, and go out and know how to do things for
yourself. And they talk about it purely from a worldly framework. We look at it from the akhirah
		

			incentive, as well from the hereafter incentive as well, that we love to do for the sake of Allah
Subhana Allah to Allah, and we understand that the process itself is rewardable. And that ALLAH
SubhanA, Allah to Allah will bless us for every moment that we struggle in his path, not incurring
unnecessary hardship, but still doing the deeds that are necessary for our salvation, and finding
joy in everything that we do for the sake of Allah subhanaw taala. So the scholar has mentioned
here, this Ibadah of swimming, this Ibadah of horseback riding this a bada of archery, there's a
body of this act of worship, of taking care of yourself with knowing how to do, and knowing how to
		

			acquire all so that you can use those things for the benefit of mankind and for the sake of Allah
subhanho wa taala. So clearly, when we talk about this from an ethical perspective, their brothers
and sisters, Do not substitute a gem for convenience always. Sometimes, you need to do these things
so that you can find it in the light out of the reward from Allah subhanho to Allah. And that's
going to give us Bismillah, the spiritual resilience and who knows, you know, when you read about
the day of judgments and the signs of the Day of Judgment, and you read about the way that things
are reduced back to a very rudimentary way of living, that the technologies that people have
		

			developed failed them. And ultimately, people go back to their fundamentals. It may be that the
spiritual resilience that Allah has put inside of us as Muslims and our Ummah, that we still insist
on doing the manual things for the sake of Allah subhanaw taala actually gives us a trajectory of
success in the future, while still learning the beneficial technologies and finding ways to put
guardrails on them and develop inshallah Tada our future within. Because we are an ummah of literacy
and illiteracy. At the same time. We're an ummah, that promotes literacy that promotes knowledge,
but also finds benefit in each and every single person and an each and every single deed that is
		

			done for the sake of Allah subhanho wa taala. And I'm gonna end with two things here in sha Allah
Tala as well, when we're talking about AI, and we're talking about robots, and you're seeing these
videos of things that are dancing around in these factories that are so much superior, or so much
more superior seems superior to human beings. So let me actually put this out there, the world is
not going to end by robots. As Muslims, we believe in anima to Sara as the prophets like some gave
it to us, the stages of the unfolding of the Day of Judgment. And so the day of judgment will come
as Allah and the messenger sallallahu alayhi wa sallam has said, and so all of the signs that happen
		

			will still come to pass. But Allah can happen from now until then. And so we have to have that
constant ethical framework to where
		

			We're approaching these things and saying how do I make the most of the situation? And how do I
insist on still being a human being in this world, as it is today, so insisting upon righteousness,
and I don't believe for a moment that the job is a robot. But I do believe that Allah mercy had the
job will use all forms of data and deception that are available to him and Allah knows what tactics
of deception are going to be available to him at the time. I don't believe that. Yeah, George and
George are being produced in Silicon Valley. I believe in it as Allah and the messenger sallallahu
alayhi wa sallam spoke about it. That's how we are as Muslim. So I understand the doom and gloom as
		

			well. But Allah has given us something to ground ourselves. Bismillah heeta Allah. And the last
thing I'll say here is your Lord is precise. Your Lord is precise Subhan Allah was reflecting on how
these permanent values exist in the Quran, even with worlds that are so unfamiliar to the companions
of the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam worlds that are so unfamiliar. You know, one of the
greatest fears that they're talking about with this technology is fake news. You can impose voices
on people, you could literally take a person and make them say something that they're not saying at
all. And so bad faith actors are going to use these technologies to promote promote more chaos, more
		

			turmoil, and even the psychological effect even if you know that what you're looking at, is not
real, but even the psychological effect of seeing a trusted person saying something so horrible, of
seeing images and videos put together it erodes you psychologically, and emotionally and
spiritually.
		

			And you think about what that is even today. Subhanallah even today, the deception that exists,
right of the fake news industry outside of the Muslim community and inside the Muslim community,
putting images out of context words out of context, pasting videos and words so that you can create
things. What does Allah subhana wa Tada say? First Tobiano verify your information. Go to the
source, always go to the source. And what does Allah say until Siebel Coleman Bucha Hala because
otherwise you might hurt someone unknowingly. That's just me who add another item now demean and
then you will end up regretting what you have done going back to the source. So not trusting the
		

			technologies or the information as it arises going to the source of that information and verifying
it. May Allah subhanaw taala protect us from hurting ourselves or from hurting others may Allah
subhanaw taala allow us to make the most of what is around us and may Allah azza wa jal reward us
for our efforts and make our outputs beneficial to us in this dunya and the next Allah I mean, a
Hulu called jihad or stuff like that only certain Muslim infrastructure we don't know what Allah for
Rahim.
		

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center of Patna, Robina Allah Tamela Adina Islam Kemah Hamilton who Allah Levine and copper you know
what I'm gonna Willa to Herman Nirmala Takata and OB wife one we're thrilled and our Hana Antimo
Lana one sadhana adult calm and Catherine wa Salam wa salam Baraka Nabina Muhammad wa ala alihi wa
sahbihi Ultramarine worthley masala