Shadee Elmasry – Islam in China Peter Sanders NBF 351
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AI: Transcript ©
We're ready to go straight to bed.
Yeah just.
Right
Ramona Rahim Al hamdu lillah wa Salatu was Salam ala Rasulillah.
Early will be here, woman Wella welcome everybody to the Sabine
side in nothing but facts live stream, on a warm, Thursday and
sunny Thursday, we have a full house full studio here. And we
also have a wonderful guest, we're going to bring a guest on, we're
going to be showing pictures, we're gonna be showing movies,
we're going to have an interview. So hop over from Instagram, over
to YouTube, so you can get the full screen. If you're on
Instagram,
you're not gonna get the full screen because Instagram is only a
vertical platform, they actually do have horizontal, but it's
mainly we only use it as a vertical platform. So hop over to
YouTube Safina Sadie channel on YouTube. And today, we had
really been blessed that this book that we have been reading right
here that I recommend everyone go to Mecca books.com. And scoop one
up for your house for your kids to read to look at the shoe. Didn't
we used to have in the past? Not to make a silly example. But
baseball cards, basketball cards, football cards, hockey cards, it
makes you love the sport. And that's a waste of time
essentially. Right? Yes, you will love we had a little bit of Allah
who was okay. But
shouldn't we be in love with the idea and our kids should love the
idea? They should know who the if they're if this is a true
religion? Shouldn't there be odia in every generation? There should
be out today.
And as I said many times before, when we say that we're saying
based on what we see because only Allah knows the hearts and
someone's going to criticize and say only Allah knows the hearts.
Yes, we agreed to that. We know that. But from what we see, this
is the Willie. Why would Allah tell us be with the solder clean
if we can identify who they are. We have to be able to identify who
they are, especially those who have passed away and today we're
going to bring on a guest who has met many people that we have
passed away. And this almost like their near history, almost like
sharing artifacts. And so that'll be the first part of that
interview. Let's Allman. Are we ready? All right, let's introduce
our guests. Peter Sanders see to Abdol theme Sanders, well known to
those who are in certain circles.
In terms of studying Islam, at least starting from the way back
maybe 20 years ago, Sita Abdullah theme was always in the circles
and really giving life through his work through his photography
through his artistry. So welcome to the Safina siding nothing but
facts live stream. It's an honor to have you on.
Thank you.
We're also with Waseem, who is
one of the associates one of your associates Welcome on Waseem.
Can we raise the volume of Belmar? I want to start by saying that
between yourself between Abdullatif white men, a lot of
beauty came out? Where did these artists come from? How did they
end up entering Islam? And, you know, we know that you entered
Islam probably in the 60s 70s. But then all this art really started
coming to the next generation maybe in the late 90s. So could
you tell us a little bit about the context of when you came about and
entered Islam and where do all these artists come from?
That's an interesting question.
I accepted Islam in 1971
after having been in India for seven months and then coming back
to the UK to
discover
some of my old friends, as you mentioned, Abdullatif and many
others musicians had while I'd been in India, looking for path,
they have accepted Islam in London.
So I think we were, you know, we were from that generation of
musicians and artists that sort of began their careers in the late
60s. So you just happen to be a group of friends who are artists
that entered Islam. Yeah. And the when you did enter Islam, was it?
Was it promoted for you to continue in the arts? Or was it
just from yourselves?
That's an interesting question. I think we were in with a group for
a while that it was kind of
not really encouraged. Yeah.
But I always, you know, I mean, that was my passion photography.
And so I always kept to it. It's what motivated me. And wherever I
traveled, I always took pictures.
Was
Morocco part of this too? Because I know that your association with
Morocco and they're completely
into the arts, their history is amazing.
Absolutely. And, you know, within three weeks of accepting Islam, I
went to Morocco.
And met city more than happy the first person in meetings with
mountains Subhan Allah subhanaw taala.
All right, what was seeing? How do you help co opted out them with
his work
smuggler him? So hamdulillah for the last best part of the last
eight, nine years, I've had the honor to work alongside so the
other theme, because just telling the story of his stories is very
important. And like you mentioned, that meeting with mountains book
that you have, I think every household should have one of them
because it truly is a way to connect to those sentient beings
and those people that we all aspire that we all want to
hopefully attain in our life, Inshallah, or trying to reach as
close as we can, or be like them, and encourage our families in our
household. And as I've seen, in part, the books of the medium and
mountains and exemplars, a lot of times, have heard, and then at
home that I was honored to be with us the other day, a few weeks ago,
where I knew that he'd be working on this special work about China.
But when I got to actually sit with them and share some of the
stories that he mentioned about the unique places that he visited
in China, which we're going to listen to, later in this podcast,
it really brought to life about how the narration of our Prophet
sallallahu Sallam about attaining knowledge and going as far as
China, many people in our history took that literally and just
listening to some of those stories, many things I wasn't even
aware of. It just was inspiring to myself and I've been humbled,
blessed to work alongside him to help to then connect the
communities up and down the UK and internationally inshallah and work
with the likes of Arthur and Mecca books to also get them across to
us. So 100 working alongside him on this massive project for the
Islam in China. And I'm just encouraging as many people to help
to tell the story of China through the through the lens and the life
and the visits that they have, that has been hard and inshallah
I'm just asking everybody to share this campaign share this actual
YouTube podcast, and get as many people to be behind this project,
because that's another book Inshallah, that we all need to
have in our homes very, very soon. Very good. Very good. Before we
get to the specific work, and specifically China, let's talk a
little bit of philosophy because art is never separated from
thought and artists are reflections of essentially
philosophers, they are philosophers is the best ones
always have a lot.
A lot more under like the iceberg a lot more under the water than is
above.
We find that the wherever to sow wolf has been, there has been an
aesthetic. Is it a coincidence? Or is it intentional? Or is it a
natural byproduct? Like look at the Ottomans? How amazing were
they even? Let's go way back. The the conception of the Dome of the
Rock until today is one of the most elegant, simple, the color
scheme, the geometry right of it. It's one of the most amazing
pieces until today. So wherever Muslims have gone and have tapped
into their spiritual tradition,
and of course blessed with some wealth.
There has been a wonderful aesthetic. So could you my first
question is going to be is it a link or is
Is it a coincidence? The second follow up question is going to be
if it's actually a link, what are some of the themes that are
beliefs? And regarding the cosmos? How do they manifest in art?
Is that to me? Yes.
Yes. That's a really good question to ask. I just, I just been to his
Pakistan and I waited to go to Pakistan, longer than I waited to
get to China.
But it's really interesting in in Bukhara, there are seven
Naqshbandi shacks. And it's era, you can visit that. And the last
one is checking our span, the famous check match band, but each
one of them was ahead of a guild of one of the arts. So one was in
charge of ceramics. One was embroidery. And from them, those
all those arts flowered incredibly, and that's why was
Becca Stan is so rich today, you know, it's phenomenal. And I think
it's, I don't know, just from a personal point of view, I think
someone that's an an artist is, is tapping into their creative
energy. And it's very important, we need to be creative people. And
it's very easy in modern life to become negative. But I think, you
know, and I don't think everybody should be an artist, but even if
you do something, for a hobby, that enables you to be creative,
that's that's a great thing. And it's all it's all connected to
spirituality, because creativity comes from the Creator, and his,
you know, influence. You know, we have to recognize where it comes
from creativity is not from us. It come through us. So that's a huge
philosophical point right there, that creativity is not something
that you that you come up with, it's actually you position
yourself to be able to receive, it's almost like an in him in a
sense, yes, you have to get out of the way almost, you have to get
yourself out of the way and you have to be submitted to the race.
And that makes sense. Because when you look at some of the geometrics
of the Marvel movies, like that's not something anyone sat there
thought of, there must have been some kind of, and if for those who
are wondering, are you serious? You're saying the arts? Have a
lamb to them? Yes, there did not the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa
salam tell. The poet has said Ben sabots, recite, in other words, to
give victory to Allah and his messenger recite, and your aidid
with the Holy Spirit, which is Djibouti, la Santa Barbara goods.
And that's too. So when the intention is to aggrandized as
Allah says, In the Quran, aggrandized the symbols of Allah
masajid like, what are these artists aggrandizing their
aggrandizing massage, they're not doing this in their homes, their
grandmother, masajid schools, books, the illuminations around
books. So let me let me ask this question. Now. That's an amazing,
that's an amazing point, that creativity is from the Creator.
And the Muslim artists views himself as somebody who has
purification allows that
creative power from Allah to reflect off of him. He's not the
founder of it, or the inventor of it.
When that actually occurs, there have to be certain actual themes.
One of the themes I noticed in Islamic art is that there's a
centrality to every piece.
Whereas when I go to when you look at some of the more modern art,
when atheism started taking over, you lose centrality. It's as if
they believe they live in a floating universe that has no
central position. And sometimes nothing there is not there's
there's the intentional opposition to thematic anything such as
Dolly, Omar, why don't you get us a picture of Dolly here because
contrast is very important. Right? Dolly? Is someone
Dolly?
Not doll II that this is this this open AI generation? Dolly is he's
an artist, who, if you look at his stuff, to me, it reflects the
reality of atheism. Right? What do you think of this concept that the
centrality themes you know, human faces are?
Even
are those some of the themes that you notice that Islamic art
possesses?
I think if you think about art, turned in 50 years ago, it was
celebrating God.
Very much in a time where it's all about the ego and the self. It's
all in doing with celebrating yourself. Subhan Allah Subhan
Allah
I mean, I get this, this image of
dollar here and it's it really is a great reflection of nihilism
a lack of meaning and a lack of any theme.
And it makes you a little bit dizzy, even looking at it like you
don't know what you're looking at when it comes to Islamic art what
is what is some of your favorite themes or some of your favorite
civilizations?
I think I was very influenced by the pre-raphaelite movement which
was in the Victorian period that it was it was at the point that
painting was transferring into photography and so it was very
light photography. But those that pre alpha lights traveled to the
Middle East and went to Jerusalem and they were very influenced by
what what they saw there so I think that had an effect on me
when you produce something is there
the is the Moroccan
aesthetic dominant or is the Ottoman aesthetic dominant in your
mind?
It's interesting question
probably the Moroccan I've kind of because Moroccan was but I grew up
learning my Islam and you know, those experiences that you've read
about and meetings and mountains happened in and in Morocco, I did
have I did meet incredible people from Turkey as well. And they were
in as many of them were, and in fact, a lot of them I couldn't
photograph during that time.
So Rocco was more easily for me to document and I think around city
mon Habib there was such a spectrum of people, rich and poor,
and he knows scholars, fuck years.
tradesmen, you know?
Yeah, there was amazing variety of people around him, it was very, it
was a very interesting thing for me to observe.
We've been reading your book for a while now, on this live stream,
and imagining what it would be like to meet some of these odia
who lived and we know that there are only
there will always be only up but pre modern Alia
the pre modern Muslim period is somebody is something that you
experienced that many of us did not.
Everyone that we meet today has known what a cell phone is knows
the garbage that we live in. It's a different feeling to go to
travel from the modern from modern Europe, to Morocco, Algeria, these
places and meet people who have never been touched by the
corruption. Could you tell us how does it feel when you sit in front
of such people and talk to such people?
You have to remember I went to Morocco after being in India for
seven months. And I arrived that Zoey of cinnamon happy is very
stark place. And I met the fucker and they were very majestic, not
what I was used to in India. And I remember thinking, I think I made
a mistake. But then when I got to know them, and really, their
hearts opened up, just Majesty was all on the outside inwardly they
were beautiful souls really and it was really a different experience
than I had in India.
Spirituality as I've often said, on this live stream is not only
one way there, we believe there is there there's a spirituality of
light, and there's a spirituality of darkness. And but there's
they're both rejecters of the material side and are trying to
tap into something spiritual. So just because something spiritual
does not necessarily mean that it's, it's correct, or innocent.
So what I'd like to ask you is what did you notice as an
objective you know, you're someone who's not a Muslim yet and you've
seen Hindus spiritualists then you see Muslim spiritualist. Well,
what were some of the major contrasts in your mind at that
time?
I mean, I'm not I'm not denying that I didn't meet genuine people
in India, but I think
meeting city mom had been because he's the reference point really
was that it was very different. I was not sure what, you know,
people spoke about him as being in Santa Clara was the perfect human
being. So I really didn't know what to expect when I ascended
those stairs to meet him
But as soon as I entered that room was very, it's kind of beyond
words, really. I mean, it was like stepping into an ocean. And
I felt nothing but compassion and mercy from him. There was no
judgment going on zero judgment. He accepted me for who I was. And
I mentioned in the book, he's one of the things after we were
introduced to one another, he said to me, now you have two Imams or
two guides, Satan, Isa, Jesus and Muhammad salah.
You know, the more I think about that he didn't separate me from
what I came from he joined in. And that's really important. Subhan
Allah was inside as a continuation.
At this point in your life, were you a photographer at this point?
Yes, I've been a photographer for
over 36 years. Okay, so your, your, your entire life, your
entire career essentially, has been a photographer, there's not
something that you just merely picked up
later on. So can if we can shift a little bit to the technical career
of the photographer, okay. You, you, you've been through
one of the most important period periods of photography. And now
you're entering, we're entering now into a war for photographers,
right? So first, the photographer was somebody who was a very unique
person in the society knew how to develop these pictures, buy
expensive cameras go out to these places that were risky to go to.
Yeah, time passes. And now everyone has a phone and is taking
their own photography, more time passes, everyone's correcting
their pictures, more time passes. And AI is now challenging the
whole field.
So can you talk about your life as a photographer and your career as
a photographer? notable moments challenges, etc. Yeah, I mean,
it's a known fact that I started my career in the music business,
the, you know, the 1960s. With all those kinds of people were now
icons in, in that kind of genre. At that time, it was just what was
happening. And I was part of the Cultural Revolution, at that time,
was very anti war movement. People were
there was a lot of material, materialism, growing in that
period of time, people very shellshock from World War Two in
the west and was expecting World War Three any minute. So you know,
I grew up in that environment, the P or they call the peace and love
movement grew out of that, as a kind of reaction against it. And a
way of people coming together like minded people. And so that, that
culture in that period had a big effect on me. And eventually,
towards the end of the 60s,
I became interested to
go deeper into myself and find out what was the purpose? Why was I
here? Who am I, you know, these questions that you need to ask
yourself, and I think that's what took me on my journey to India.
And I spent seven months in India, traveling around taking pictures,
but also looking at different religions and understanding,
trying to understand them,
as well as I could. And I read a bit about Islam when I was there.
And I, you know, I came across mosques, in my travels, I visited
them. So it was just kind of it was part of what I was looking at,
as an angel, as I said, as it came back to England, and reconnected
with my own life. And then suddenly I met, you know,
musicians who become Muslim. So, what did this mean to my journey?
So really, it was a kind of leap of faith. In the end, various
things happen, various dreams and things, and I just, it was purely
a leap of faith. I didn't know that much about Islam, other than
Islam accepted, all the prophets believed in one God, this is what
I always believed in. So my photography just carried on really
following my own interests. And, you know, I took the cameras to
India, and took pictures for seven months and then became a Muslim
went to Morocco. It just continued, and I would just
photograph the people that I met in the Zarya there.
I didn't, there wasn't a kind of intention, and the idea of about
the book wasn't even there. Then
I was documenting them. And I still was learning photography. I
mean, I've now I'm a self taught photographer, I never studied it.
So it's
in between these trips,
To the Elia what kind of photography were you involved in
more like nature? Obviously not war photography, but
what kind of photography Did you did you do in travel really just
traveled documenting bases I went to, and I was fortunate enough and
those early days to sell my pictures to publishers and stuff,
and that's how I survive. Very good. Very good. So let's now
shift over to the current project, you traveled over to China. And
tell us first of all, how would a Muslim What was your connection?
Did you know people? Fish, practically? How did how did that
happen?
So if I go back, way over 50 years 1971 becoming a muslim and then
discovering that there were Muslims in China and Russia. Like,
at that time? How is that possible? At that time, everyone
just thought Muslims came from the Middle East. If you're a bit more
knowledgeable, you know, they came from the Far East, but China. And
so I became kind of really I wanted to know them. I wanted,
what was their Islam was like, and that stayed with me. And he
couldn't go to China at that time. And it took me until
2000 2000, when China was just starting to open up. And there was
a Muslim lady doing tours to China, Muslim China. So I went,
and I had an incredible taster of what what was there. And then I
met
100 in my, I'm sure many of your listeners know him. He's very
famous he. He's a Chinese calligrapher. And he's one of the
few Chinese calligraphy to actually study Arabic.
So the some of the Chinese photographer, sorry,
calligraphers, they haven't actually studied Arabic. So
sometimes you might find mistakes in them, but he knows Arabic
really well. And he's Yes. And we met in England. And I told him
about that he wanted to do a project about Muslims in China.
And he said, if you get yourself to China, I will look after you
and take you to meet them. And we did
three trips together, one of which we went from Beijing, all the way
to Cashcall. And back again, so we went from one side of China, and
all the way back again, now went right into western China, which,
unfortunately, you couldn't do now. But I went right into that
area. So that is the Uighur Easter. Hey, Omar, can we get
to see where we're at here? So you did have experience with the
Uyghurs? Yeah, I met a lot of them. And you know, that they're
Muslims everywhere in China.
A lot of them don't have Muslim names because of during Chairman
Mao's time they were persecuted. So a lot of them kept their Islam
but they went underground. So often you meet somebody who's very
Chinese, and then when he knows you're Muslim, so I'm a Muslim. I
don't have a Muslim name.
And so this whole journey began to unfold. And we went into to search
how Islam came there so long ago in the seventh century, which is
fascinating. You know, I mean, they they say, the first person to
go there was sight, even Abby was one of the 10, who was guaranteed
paradise. Why was he chosen to go I mean, he is an extraordinary
person, if you find out about him, incredible. And he was respected
for who He was. And he was given permission from the tang emperor
to build their places of worship, and dress as they wish and use
their own language. They were so clever, those people, they didn't
create an alien culture. They built places of worship that look
like the Confucian temples or the Taoist temples. So they integrated
very easily, very quickly. And this is what is really I find
important because I do feel the whole approach to the Western
world, which is what Islam has always been seemed very alien.
Yeah, it's not embraced. Whereas in China, they were so clever, it
was embraced. Even we understand even the Ming Emperor embraced
Islam, and he wrote this incredible 100 word poem in
praise, province, Islam, and it's in my book, I had it re
translated, because I wasn't happy with the translation and Dr.
Murata very kindly read translated it for us, and it's beautiful. I
learned so much just from that poem.
So, when you went to China, you said you went to is it pronounced
Zhang Jiang
St. Xiang province.
Yeah.
I went to the west. Yes. And on the east side, where did you go?
So I started in Beijing in Xiang. All the places I went down the
southeastern coast, which is where se W. Walker says, well, that's
quite a hike. That's what a seven hour flight.
No, we, we went by Boston train, I described it or it took me 10 days
to get there 10 days, so you got to see the whole country, which
makes sense. If you're gonna go to China and you have time, you want
to be able to see the entire landscape, you're not gonna see
the whole thing, but at least you go. You want to cross from East
all the way to west, to go to down south east coast, where the first
Masdar, then we went right across within planes and cars and right
all the way to Kashkari. And that must be excited though, it must
have been exciting. And, you know, when something point that wherever
Muslims have gone, the traditional culture just stayed as it is,
right. And one, one thing I think about is that, more likely that
this wasn't necessarily something planned and plotted Alright, let's
make Islam in their culture. Rather, what it is, is probably
the fact that Islam is a religion of common people. And those people
who then built the mosques and the clothes, they didn't know anything
else.
Right? So they said, Alright, we're gonna would build a mosque,
let's just build it looking the only way we know how to build.
Yeah, right, which is one of the beauties of Islam is that more
likely than not, and I'm like, 90% Confident.
There's very few big master plans. Just Islam spreads and the regular
people do their thing. Yeah. Right. There's no master plan. And
when you look at the Prophet sallallahu, it was Sunday, where
is the master plan to spread Islam? There isn't. It's just
advice to regular people. And because it's true, it settles in
the hearts of normal people. And so it's they were going to
dominate and there is more normal people then, you know, big
planners and thinkers? Yes. So in the end, at the end of the day, it
just takes on the form that they're accustomed to. Right. And
that's why it settles in these lands.
Do we want to now start looking at some of these pictures or
let's, let's take a look at this video first. Bismillah.
Okay, no problem.
In the pre modern world, China represented the furthest frontier,
and through the prophetic saying became a symbol for Muslims of the
search for knowledge. I grew up as a child fascinated by Chinese
culture. It just seems such an amazing place so far away the
Great Wall of China, everything about it really fascinated me. And
then in very early 1970s, I heard there were Chinese Muslims and
this like, how is it possible? How can there be Muslims in China and
Russia was just so curious and I really wanted to meet them. But at
that time, you couldn't go to China, and it took me 30 years
until China has started to open up. For over half a century
celebrated photographer Peter Sanders has traveled the length
and breadth of the Muslim world to capture its rich and variegated
civilization unified by faith. Between the year 2020 12 Peter
made four journeys to photograph Islam in China, three with the
famed calligrapher * nurudeen Knee one Jian
it out when a woman geocache Allah tiga days are only an insane year
round today don't allow me to join your lecture Mr Daniela.
China was still opening up at that period, so it wasn't very
modernized in the last 25 years it's changed for recognition
were terrible through our Tom, shall we? Shall we the bar, Qi Lu
Hoppel draw drum voice and I'm Ha Jin ping result. I believe that
this book is really important. Because the way that Islam went to
China, such a long time ago, they were judged by them moral code,
their honesty, their incredible good nature. And I think that
taught me a lot about the way Islam is presented in the western
world is always seen as something alien and not something that
should be embraced. And I think that really is the big lesson from
this project and what I learned there.
Heaven, Earth and the 10,000 things, is an astonishing work of
art by our greatest living photographer, he has put his heart
and soul into this work, making great sacrifices, physically and
financially, crossing the vastness of this ancient land, to leave a
record for posterity of the Muslim people of China. But he needs your
help now, to bring this project home, to your home's and to the
rest of the world. Please help us complete the design, printing and
publication of this photographic masterpiece.
Hello, beautiful imagery there. Let's talk about the title, Heaven
Earth and 10,000 things. What was the inspiration behind that?
You know, the Chinese have this conception that 10,000 Things is
every created thing. And so it's like as if the largest number
was really to
adopt their kind of philosophy. What I didn't say earlier was
during during the Ming Dynasty, there were two giant, great
Chinese Muslim scholars,
Wang Daiyu and Leos Z. And they got together and they decided
there was no way they could teach Islam to the Chinese unless they
studied Buddhism, Confucianism and Taoism.
And then they said the Chinese don't understand Arabic. So then
they develop this kind of language based on the Confucian way of
describing the ultimate reality. So they would they use,
God was the most high and most real.
Prophets were referred to as sages to the Prophet says lamb was the
great sage around was called the great classic.
They didn't they didn't. They didn't have a word for Eman. So it
was called, like a clear light.
Jeep. They developed this whole language and then so the Chinese
didn't see Islam as a threat was a question of what they already
believe. And during that period, that's when Islam really grounded
and spread. Yeah, I saw some of the pictures there. There are some
ancient masajid too. Yes, the oldest one is in Guangzhou. And
it was first called the lion temple. Now why was it called the
lion temple? The descriptions of say, I'd be workers was that he
was dark skinned, they are a flat nose and he had a halo of hair
like a lion. Subhanallah they used to refer to him as the lion in the
den.
Originally called the lion, Temple, subhanAllah, Jeep, Jeep.
And do they is that community from when that Masjid was established?
Islam has always been in that area, right? Yeah. So that's a
community that's transmitted. And probably we could say with more
confidence than not that it's a full transmission of lineage down
because that area is not a place of migration, right? No, it was it
was during that period, it was one of the maritime ports.
And so that's been how they came
in mind, they either came across land or they came by boat
Subhanallah it's a problem. What about those children? Yeah, what
were they singing there are theirs were they singing something that
was like poetry written by Chinese Muslims or were they singing
something from it was singing Quran this was on my first trip, I
got taken to this Madras and she and one of the ancient cities in
China, one of the key cities and they went to this Madras and they
said, Just be patient, the children were getting ready. And
they appeared as you see them in that photo. And then they started
to recite Quran.
Okay, so part Allah, and then singing the songs. And
I remember thinking at a time, this must have been the spirit of
Medina.
Islam so thinking that I can go Now I've seen everything this is
this.
So far subhanaw taala. That was that was an amazing picture that
there firstly, that the fact that it's still alive teaching children
Quran is still alive. Right. And I wonder what the status is now is
continuing in mainland China. Are they still allowed to do this?
Yes, I think I think it's just in western China. It's, it's, it's a
problem. And I think
St. Chang always wanted autonomy, which of course the Chinese won't
give them. Yeah, they're all their gas reserves there and things. And
I think there's always been a tension there. And I think
extremists went in there. And it's my understanding, they stir things
up and caused a big problem for them, for the Muslims, but we need
to pray that things will calm down. And for those who aren't
aware, Western China was known as Western China was actually an
independent country, and called East Turkestan. And their flag is
the crescent moon on a Carolina blue flag. Those are the Uighur
people, there are not even Chinese. Yeah. And their country
has been like brutally taken over. Yeah. And their people have been
brutally treated.
You can imagine some of the things that come out of there such as
forced eating and Ramadan. Sometimes prisoners, political
prisoners are used for
or for their organs. Right.
All sorts of
really like crimes against humanity that are occurring to the
people out to the Uyghurs. And again, it's East Turkistan. It's a
whole nother country by itself. They have their whole history,
tradition, everything. And this started to happen, what, just
maybe, what, 3040 years ago that
that their country has been taken over and essentially used in
whatever way they have been not just not sweatshops, but they have
what are they even worse than that? happening over there.
And you have to remember when I went to that I haven't been back
since all this person. I have no firsthand witness. But yeah, good
when I when was was incredible. You see from the photos on the
other side, it was like, like, captured. And that's what I fell
in love with. And really, I mean, to find all these historical
places really
incredible and
but they are very different to the way Muslims with the central
Chinese Muslims are different in nature. The we, Muslims from
Central China have very calm and different energy. Tell us about
sorry, go ahead. But I'm just saying they're all Muslims. And no
one knows the true number. How many SubhanAllah? Because like 200
million 50 million. I mean, we just
are Muslims mainly centered in one area? Or did they get east?
They're all over really, all over? That's a false idea that they're
just in the West. They're all over this
province in central China connect Shia, very, very wealthy, full of
Muslims who actually, you know, businesses and quiet in desperate
and not so poor as a lot of Chinese Muslims. Do you do look at
it the way people some people look at America, like after 911 In
America, the Iraq War, Afghan war, people think that going to
America, you could be arrested at any time just for being a Muslim.
We have that conception of China because of the Uyghur crisis.
Yeah. And the communism too. Yeah. No, it's nice. You know, and even
in the next year, the government is helping restore old mosques and
things so it is primarily linked to Asiana. So
The communism didn't cancel out faith across the board. It didn't
succeed in doing that. Well, I don't think it's I think it makes
Muslims stronger. I saw that.
So let's can hold on to that faith, even when we're under a lot
of
you know, even Jerome, Chairman Mao's time they really suffered in
credit credible during that time. But God is wise, you know, I mean,
they will move into this really sparse place.
They discovered there was this thing that Chinese love called
Chinese moss and it grew in that area as the Muslims favorite
veggie, because this is wisdom, you know, and when did they use
what do they use Chinese most for? I don't know. I think it's a
delicacy and China's
the cover of your book? Yeah, these what? Masjid is that on the
right. Yeah, so that's in Ningxia province. That was you know, I
would say that's one of my favorites. So beautiful. I just, I
spent hours in there and it was just as green and blue and gold
and you can see the imam in Islam
is just so Chinese and that's the point about that then not Chinese
became Arabs, their Chinese became Muslims Subhan Allah, some project
and the calligraphy they did merge also the Arabic into using the
Chinese brush. Exactly. Yeah. So that's how much Snowden does all
his work. Yeah. And you know, he does. He does like six foot pieces
using a giant brush somehow muslin cloth wrapped and he stands over
it and he does like ya Rahim is one continuous stroke Subhan
Allah.
So for those who aren't very familiar with calligraphy the
Arabs use a they Westerners you could say they use a slit read a
cut read with a slipknot. Yeah, the Moroccans they don't use a
slit cut read they use a ballpoint read. Right, they don't have a
slant on the read. The Chinese are using a brush, right? And that's
what gives that now I also know that they also use the bamboo they
use a bamboo burrito. Why pens? Yeah, a very wide slit
wraps it in Maslin. So solve a lot of ink so you can do this. That's
what that's what it is. The book is funded this work. I mean, when
you see the book is
Tony, with his his beautiful work. And this.
So this the cover of the book here.
Is that the one picture all the way across? Yeah. Okay, because I
thought there was actually a cut picture that was one portion on
the right, one portion on the left, so that's a
that's it front of the mosque. Subhanallah so in comparison to
you, we could see the Imam standing there, that piece of
calligraphy on the left is probably five foot four, five by
five. Yeah, right. Subhanallah
their mosques are so beautiful, really their works of art. Yeah.
Keep them meticulously clean. They're always polishing moments
sweeping.
And there that
is that's the main rub when he gives a football. Yes. Is Member
actually the nephron is actually further on. Sean
I know this not necessarily related to the visual arts, but
what about the culinary arts?
Islamic the Sharia and the Chinese tradition of eating, you know, the
foods are very much more limited. So when you spent time there
did you find a lot of you know, Muslim restaurants Did you just
eat vegetarian? What? What did you do? I'm a vegetarian anyway. And
Chinese food was really a shock for me.
Well traveled but China was real shock for me. But the thing is the
Muslims, because the food Hello food is so important for them.
They've gone into the whole business. So you'll find a lot of
products that have halau symbols on so as long as you find the
Muslims, you can find a lot of food and
you might have to indulge in some of the more Stranger Things that
the Chinese eats. It's interesting because
China and India are polar opposites in their cuisines right.
Near the end, it's probably easier to go to a permissive country and
limit your diet than to go to a country where you
I think beef is a crime. slaughtering a cow. I believe in
some of the states is a crime actually slaughter a cow. So
probably easier in that respect. Yeah, sure Allah, masha Allah. Now
tell us about the the nature of the project itself. There was a,
there was a call for it. Are we is there a link? Is there a launch?
Good LinkedIn you could share? Yeah.
Now it looks like the content is all there the graphic designs are
there the Yeah, the guts are all done. Just been planning on this,
which is, we're actually at the first steps of going to press even
though I haven't raised all the money, but I just I need to do it.
I need to get this book out now. Because the next step is to do a
Chinese version of it. Oh, wow. That'd be great. That'd be great.
So for everybody that's watching and benefit go to
launchcode.com/muslims in China.
Okay, we have we're seeing why don't we you come on and tell us
about the physical logistics of getting this book out. The
artists, they do their think that they need the seams of the world
to get it to trickle down to the to the world in a physically so it
will seem tell us about this.
So I don't know about yourselves. But for every time I listen to a
city of zoom, tell about this story about China. It really helps
me motivates me, firstly,
thinking that this needs to be told to as many places as
possible. So that helps to ignite the fuel when I'm trying to
connect to as many communities as possible. So as I said, as you
mentioned, we are in Sharla.
When I've trusted Alice mattala And we've got the terracotta
Inshallah, we will be launching the book at the profit Literature
Festival, we are currently in the middle of pushing our logical
campaign out. So we need as many people to listen to this campaign,
listen to the message in the stories and why so the zine, spent
his time out in China and why it's so important and having looked at
that particular region, it's all about timing, I think that we had
this conversation with the house, where the story of the Chinese
Muslims and Islamic China will have a huge impact, especially on
us Muslims in the West, when you look at how they were really
indigenized in their culture, and how do we fused into the original
culture or that land, and really became one with that. And so
there's so many lessons that we can take from the Chinese Muslims
and the history. And so just by sitting for a couple of hours and
listening to him, help to shape my better understanding of Islamic
China. So now, what's our responsibility as communities
around the world, we need to connect this message to as many
communities, schools, madrasahs universities, so we start telling
the story and owning the narrative, especially when it
comes to Islamic China. And I think this book is really going to
be one of the key words that's going to help to shape the
understanding in the West, about Islam in China, especially with
someone who's traveled for a number of occasions, and actually
seen the country firsthand. And we obviously know the track record of
symbolism and the work in the standard that he his output is in
this field of photography. So we're not going to expect anything
but excellence in that so and some of the pictures that we've seen,
I'm sure that Omar will share afterwards, you saw in the video,
they are absolutely tremendous. When you see the actual details of
the Chinese Muslim, and how they put together the Masters in
architecture, it's really all inspiring, I will look back and we
think that this was 678 900 years ago, and look at the level of
sophistication and coach that they were operating at now. It's very
difficult, especially in the last couple of years first to be able
to replicate something of that nature. So I think this is untold
story. And I think with this unique opportunity through again,
the journey of self love Jean Valjean out in China. And so we
are going to launch the book at the literary festival. And then we
aim to get this book out to as many other communities across the
UK thereafter, as well. But like I said, we're not holding back, we
want to then produce this book, also in Chinese. So we've raised
up to nearly 58,000 pounds at the moment, we need to get to 100,000
Ideally as soon as possible, so that we can print, publish and get
the work out as soon as possible in the communities. And then the
intention would be to once we've launched it so then people who've
studied that, who spend time in China, then educate within their
homes, black communities, and get the message of Islam in China
other so that's the aim is a grassroots project where we as a
community need to come together and help our dear elder to raise
the funds so that we can print, publish the book and get it out to
as many people as possible. And this platform again, thank you Dr.
Shadi and the team for hosting us and has given us a platform to
come here and share a little bit about this project. But I think
once you have more of the stories from the team, and some of the app
So the journey that they went through personally and the
sacrifices that they've made to produce this book, I think it's
really important as the best minimum that we have to support
with our donations with our charity with our support
financially, and then to also amplify inequities. And so that's
my ask everybody. Inshallah, I'm inspired by that. And I'm just
asking as many of my friends and friends and people who are
watching this stream afterwards to please, to share in your
platforms, on your social media in your networks, and just get as
many people to support us and help us get this project over the line,
so that we can launch it at the festival and then get as many
communities as possible. Remember, what sagen what festival was it at
the Bradford Literature Festival this summer. So this is a 10 year
celebration. And we've had the honor to have a few programs with
city ability in the past and with a meeting with mountain, an
example of exemplars of our time. So this can be a unique
opportunity, again, for us to get the book launched at the festival.
And we're going to encourage as many people to sign up to the
event was to do with a theme to reach out to myself if they're not
sure about the event and to attend, participate, and then also
be able to purchase the book at the event this summer, inshallah.
Very good, very good. And then are you going to do a US tour?
In Sharla?
Welcome, I'm ready to come. I mean, California has a lot of
Chinese converts. I mean, the highest concentration of Chinese
immigrants came was always to California, for obvious reasons,
right? They came east.
Now, all right, let's get the lunch. Good on here. It says here
73 out of 95k. So what's the math on that? 22 is the difference.
22k. That's, that's that could be done today.
So you have to match that's in dollars we're doing is pounds in
the UK? pounds. So it's in the UK, it's pounds and launch good. I
guess, whatever. When they discover your IP, they translate
it for you. So that would be 22. US dollar 20,000. US dollar
difference. And but you said that the British pound difference was a
lot more so yeah. Yeah, the math here isn't my thing, as they say.
Yeah. So I mean, I think in I think in UK is like 56, or
whatever people give is, yeah, when we did meetings with
mountains, people gave like $1. And I was so the point for me was
it touch people's hearts, they got behind that project, I could never
have published it, you know, meetings around and I took it to
publishers. They liked it, but they just couldn't understand it.
And it comes down to us. We believe in these projects, we need
to make them happen.
You know, confusion, confusion says a great saying it's in my
book confusion said, if your aim is for two years, plant rice, if
your aim is for 10 years, plant trees, your aim is for 100 years
educate children, so Ha ha, gee, that's powerful. It's you know, we
have to think about the next generation, that's powerful world
that is really much worse than where we are now. So
I'll tell you what would be a great tour.
Go into the Muslim schools.
Like this is something for them, you know, it's like a cultural
went. And it's not just cultural. When you see that your religion
that you believe in has spread halfway across the world. People
have nothing to do with you. They don't share Arab culture, nothing
to do with it.
That's got to tell you that there's truth there. It's one of
those sources of truth, not going to be the only source. But it's
really powerful in the psyche of people, when you see the Dean go
to all these different cultures, right? And I was like to put it
like this, if you go to your own culture, and you find that your
people do something odd.
But you travel around the world. Like in Egypt, I saw the meeting
tongues, they eat the tongue of the cow.
Said, unfortunately, I come from a weird culture. That's what I said,
right?
You travel across the world. Native Americans, they all eat
junk, right? So you're as Okay, no, I just didn't know. Right? I
was ignorant one. Now if you find your culture doing something, and
nobody in the world does it, then you can say you're weird, right?
People are essentially the same. Yeah. And so when you're the
belief in this book and this prophet, and these this Deen you
find it halfway across the world. It gives a young person a sense of
Oh, okay. Everyone's doing this. And everyone's been doing this
because this some of these pictures are hundreds of years if
not, past 1000 is sad to maybe walk us. So some of these
artifacts could have been possibly over 1000 years old. Yeah, right
from the
Get go. Yeah. Subhan Allah. So let's Almara let me see what the
launch good is because we want immediate results folks. immediate
results hat. Let's see what that launch good says.
All right, so there's a trickle, a trickle. And hopefully the more
people hear this live stream and hear and see the imagery, hear the
story behind it. We can have the honor of saying that we helped out
in spreading this book because these visuals I'm telling you are
extremely important. Let me tell you what else got me when I was 18
years old, 17, maybe 1617 years old. You grew up Egyptians,
Palestinians. That's all you see.
There's Pakistanis over there. Right? And it wasn't like today a
lot of Pakistanis know just a Pakistani Masjid. The food is
really spicy. don't know anything about them. We just don't go
there. Right?
I'll tell you what it was the book understanding Islam and Muslims,
which I believe is all your photography, right? And I'm like,
Muslims in Africa. Turn the page on Muslims in the these countries
that we now know as like the Turkic people.
Tajikistan and those what, then you flip the page, and Muslims in
Bosnia, or you don't even know what Bosnia, we heard the name
Bosnia. I didn't know
that Muslims have been there for hundreds of years. Right. This
education, it really transforms a person and he's like, Okay, we got
something that nobody else has. Right? You Salah anywhere in the
world is the same salah? Yeah, there are Christians everywhere.
Is it the same church service? I don't think so. Totally different
language. I want to know, take a couple of questions. This will
close out with this. That came from users on Facebook. And I
asked them, What would you like me to ask, see to absolve them. And
here are some of the questions that they brought forth.
Okay, this first question states and asks, What is your process?
What is your artistic process? She's a writer, Nadia Benedicta.
Just so so I'd like to know, what is your process? How do you make
the time? How do you outline? Do you go in stages systematically?
And I'm assuming maybe she's saying like, Do you have a system?
Or are you free flowing, whatever's going
and producing your art? I follow my instinct all the time. I mean,
I think that's photography taught me that, you know, it's all about
just trusting your instincts. As I said, I'm self taught. And so I
rely on my instincts a lot. And particularly with meetings and
mountains, I wasn't, it wasn't, I'm not saying this is, you know,
I'm saying these are all the earlier this is my own personal
journey, and anybody could have their own personal journey. But
these were people that really affected my life when I met them
and changed me in a certain direction. And I wanted to to
share it, because I think if you have a visual reference, it's
easier to connect with them. And there's been so many people have
told me parents, they find that children just looking at the
pictures of their Alia, and what is it? What did they see? I mean,
what the children see, that we don't see somehow.
And it's very interesting to me the whole process.
Here's a question from Mohammed Abdullah, Hassan,
how did you change? What change? Did you notice in yourself? After
meeting
these odia?
I think
I'm still processing it, I think, you know, many of them agreed to
let me photograph them, many of them had never been photographed
before. And that
helped me with what I was doing. Because in some way, it's a
contradiction. You know, I'm, I'm kind of raising them up by
photographing them. These are people who do want to be thought
of as anything. So it's a kind of contradiction. But I think the
time that we live in, needed it. So I think that's why it was
allowed an hour to happen. And it took me 50 years that project, but
really, that that project brought so much blessings into my life.
And I could do a whole book about all the things that have come from
that book, you know,
it's amazing, I still get emails, people that have read the book and
something haven't. It's such a great blessing really anything to
do with those people and I just wanted to give something back
because I've met them all through my whole journey and like
just helped me on my own personal journey in such many, many ways.
Yeah. So it was a way of me giving back. And
well, this book be available in Australia
will send it my wife and I do our own distribution, we will ship it
anywhere. Great code book, take someone to take it. Great.
Final question says,
You have won, most of them land to visit, after all your travels,
Morocco excluded because Morocco has a special place with you. What
is that country? Well,
because I've done the book about Muslims in China, and I am now
starting to work on something in was Pakistan. I've always been
fascinated by Japan. And I have an old friend of mine, Englishman who
has lived in Japan for 40 years. And I did a visit there. And I saw
him for a few mosques there. And
he said to me, the Japanese will never accept Islam, because
they've been programmed, but that's changing. And now I met an
incredible Aikido master, who studied with a Japanese master.
And I learned so much from him really just his understanding is
very deep. And I think
if we can see Islam through the Japanese eye eyes, we will get a
different understanding of Islam, because there's a certain clarity
that they had with Zen Buddhism, that in this time of chaos, and
madness is going on in the world, we need that clarity. And I think
and I already heard that there are Muslims building a wooden mosque
on the traditional Japanese traditional style. I think that
will be very interesting model. I can tell if God gives me time, I
will do that as my next book. And that would be amazing. And the
Japanese have a way of living with etiquettes and discipline that's
very unique to so I would love to see what what what it would look
like if that traditional discipline is still alive.
Hopefully modernity doesn't destroy that. Yeah, what would
happen if you poured a slam on that discipline? And you probably
get some great results. Yeah, they have incredible, the Japanese
people.
Yeah, I think it'd be very interesting to picture that. Yeah.
Hey, Omar for the thumbnail, it would be nice to put, leave that
box out and leave the highlights out and just put the cover of the
book behind it. That'd be really nice. Just that forget the box and
the inset picture.
We're seeing would you like to close off with anything?
You know, you're muted. Okay.
Yeah, just I would encourage everyone to share this podcast to
everyone. Try to attend the brand Literature Festival event with the
city of zoom. So you get to see this in person, I'm sure there's
going to be a beautiful presentation from him there. And
we'll be there. And as you noted, they will also be there. So it's a
unique opportunity to spend time with them and ask questions to
resume and has renewed in person and purchase the book. And I also
encourage as many people that not only just purchase the book and
put it on your bookshelves, or please teach this to your family,
to your children within the schools. And I think that the idea
that you mentioned about getting this within schools and in the
education circles and getting into the youth is huge, important
because there's a huge cultural impact that we can have. So
there's a there's a lot more to be told about the study of Islam in
China than just the book itself. So I think it's a unique
opportunity for us to all connect to the untold story and to share
that notice all hands on just encouraging everyone to give, give
generously and to support this cause for this campaign by sharing
in their networks each other. Wonderful, thank you for seeing
for taking the initiative and bringing us sit Abdulhadi and
Peter Sanders it's an honor to have you on and you came to our
Masjid before and I hope that you know we can arrange some East
Coast trip Imran Khan is here. Our resident Britisher and he will
inshallah to Allah arrange for the Islamic schools the masajid and be
very busy very very busy here insha Allah surface whatever I
just co located and thank you very much for coming on.
All right, Omar. Do try put that book the book cover as the whole
background.
Try it just try
not expand it. No, they couldn't do just expand. Let's
So I want to see what it's going to look like yeah there look at
look at that now Senate move it over a little bit
centered a little more so that there's no white. You see the
white curtains at the on the right there. Yeah center enlarge it even
more enlarge it even more. There you go. Even more ticked all that
white out all the white area go look at that now put the faces on
top of that.
But the two faces on top of that guy get rid of that green box and
make the text all white. Oh, that is nice. That's a good thing.
That's okay, but but let's just see where you're experimenting
it's all trial and error doesn't mean you have to stick with it
yeah, make the faces smaller make the body yeah, there you go. Make
them smaller. Yes. Chinese Chinese New Year where's that
we could we could we could actually who see who runs the
so called Chinatown you know these festivals there. I like to make
the text white. Muslim and China make that white. We could all
white
are making the thumbnail here folks. I know your people are
watching. They're like what? And they're listening like I like this
but his head is cut off.
Fixed.
Alright, so lift his head up again.
Okay, so fix that. But keep that as the cover. I like it. I really
like it's good. Keep it just fix the the cut off parts. Put a nice
background. Not we need to move away from the green box thing.
colorless, cancel green box. I'm tired of it. I don't like the
green boxes anywhere. Right? It's repetitive. It's repetitive. We
got to change. We got to change.
Not No, no, forget that. We got to change it art is about changing
constantly. You got to try something different. And the green
box how many green box thumbnails? It wouldn't have hulless. Right.
Let's ask the audience here. Who is we're gonna get clicks either
way, right?
I don't want your clicks. How's that to the people? People don't
click
alright. But I like you know what his box is at least or not
fluorescent green. You got to admit and if he does change, it is
true.
You do make it red. And I like his rounded corners. But let's try
some different stuff to do something different. Right? It's
time to make a different style of thumbnail because and let's test
it
Yeah, the old
Yeah.
All right. Yeah, keep keep the thumbnail like this to see what
happens. I guarantee you it's not gonna have any much of a
difference. But
Jennifer's asking what imagery rewind a little bit and you'll see
the video that he has. And some of the pictures that are scrolled
through.
Let's go to the questions. She said my son's obsessed with China.
Is there a reason for that?
That's a unique hobby but I get
but check out the book he'll love the book then Right.
In China, are allowed to live in central China the way they
wouldn't. Well, the the only the weekers are being oppressed. He
said
regular Muslims in mainland China are fine.
We can have a live stream without somebody asking are we sad?
metodi.
Yes, we are.
That's what we teach here. And we also teach somebody Victor we have
somebody for courses at ARC v dot orgy.
Can't have a live stream. Talk about any subject. You got to have
a question about the beard.
Yeah, it's an only in medically fit. Is it forbidden to shave the
mustache and the soul patch because none of this had done
that. And it was considered a deformation.
You know that? They forbid that. Forbid shaving the mustache and
keeping the beard.
And what is the beard? It's this jaw line because if an Ottawa he
deemed the cheek not to be considered part of the beard. Or
you have that too. And Shafi fit grunt
shaving is my crew in the Shafik but not how to small crew.
Listen, I just take whatever comes at me in the q&a, because that's
what they need. Right? It's not about what I want to say. All the
time. First half is that it's what the people are asking for. You
know, there's a guy who won he won Teacher of the Year 30 years in a
row.
Like he was like an honorable mention one time wins the whole
thing in a huge district. i Sorry, it was a it was a female. She she
was like always getting some accolade. 30 years running. She
got some accolade or other.
So they asked her like, what's your secret? And she said the
secret is that I it may something may be the 30th time that I do it,
but it's the first time for the student. So people may have heard
oh my gosh, we talked about this 1000 times. Yeah. But for Adam Bo
amiah. It's his first time.
And that's who you're here serving here to serve yourself and talk
about what you want to talk about. That's the first half of the live
stream. Second half is what the people bring. Right what they
want, what they want to know.
Tyler Brazi says that the next Monday
to catch a cold in China as their liquid is more silent, like their
meditation.
Know it's interesting that there Hanafy there. And it's maybe
perhaps if the medical school had gotten to China is more permissive
in the foods, it would have been an easier transition. Right? A lot
of the foods that they eat would be deemed mcru. So if someone were
to convert to Islam, they don't have to make too many changes
because you can keep doing them. No problem. Like if that's not
going to be a barrier to entry to enter Islam to do mcru. So for
example,
animals with canines, it's mcru in Malaga.
Horses. That's haram. Right? horses, mules and donkeys haram
and medica.
But they but they eat that more in the Mongol areas, right? They eat
horse.
They eat horse.
Jeep.
AK player says Can we use a 68 of Pseudotsuga? Oh Allah, give them
double the punishment and curse them.
A big curse? Can we use that on the Zinus?
Yes, it isn't a of the Hellfire. That's number one. Good
observation there by Sohaib. This is an eye of the Hellfire it's not
an area of the dunya. And
in general, the the calf at a volume you can make dua against
him. A Muslim a volume or you can say May Allah guide him or remove
his oppression. That's what we say. Right? However, when there is
a volume, the Prophet did make Mushrik the Prophet didn't make
dua against them. That's a fact. And he made
he did.
A dua, Allah Clute
outside of fetch, and outside of which he did collude against them
for 40 days.
For the people who said, Send us Muslim teachers and the prophets I
send them sent them Muslim teachers when they got far away
from Medina.
They then surrounded them and killed them all.
What do you have to say about what you just heard today?
It's good to finally see
in the spirit of Sandra's talk about his own work. Yeah, I've
read the book last year, I picked up a copy. I was visiting him.
In the China ideas, definitely.
It's very different, right? This is my Canon.
I'm not too familiar with like Islam in China. My only exposure
is
this one talk that Dr. Omar Farooq Abdullah gave a number of years
ago about
basically how Islam spread and like different cultures and how it
manifests. And you mentioned some of the same points that you
see the Peter Sanders mission. Yeah. So, for example,
architecture not
being done in a Chinese way, rather than some sort of Middle
Eastern way. Yeah.
So I mean,
it's a beautiful idea. The key is have you know what they say? They
say that.
They say that there must be some people who always preserve the
exact dress of the Prophet sallallahu, alayhi wasallam, there
was some Alama must always preserve that.
Beyond that, the barrier to entry must be made very low.
In other words, try to to not make things more difficult than needed.
And they're very, you know, keep that barrier very low and just
bring people into Islam in that fashion. So there's a balance of
two it's not going to be complete abandonment of What is the
Prophetic sunnah, and it's not
even like a sunnah like as in Santa Monica that's almost just
like the attribute of the physical
death of the Prophet slicin customs and hey et, and they fall
as nephila. There's obligations, highly recommended to Sunon. And
then there's hay add or no effort, which is under the category of
nephila lightly recommended. So how the Prophet ate, how he
walked, how he dressed all that. And if you notice Hebei, East
Africa, West everywhere, they kept it every West, India, East Africa,
Indonesia, they kept it. And then the people, then they, they, but
they didn't push it on the people. They kept it themselves. And they
did push it on the people. That was very important.
Now,
here's a couple of random questions here. We're just going
to take a random rapid fire questions. Can we work for a
company that deals in Bitcoin? Is it generally haram? For most?
There's no indramat That is haram for Muslims. Shafi ruling on
Bitcoin? I'm not too sure. I mean, have you ever heard
he commented on electronic currencies a number of years ago?
What do you say? It's a scam? Basically, because the plots of
the shelter? Yeah, because the chef a I need drama, said that
this is
it's it's a gamble, because you can never get your rights in
court. And therefore, in a sense, it's not like an intentional
gamble, but you just don't know. And in buying and selling and
chutiya you must be able to know
and be able to get your rights. So he said that
he deemed that I don't know if he's using Sheffield. So but
he said It's haram.
Yeah. I don't know if he's using the Shafi base, but suited for
that. But he's it says How long
can we work for a company that so that's the answer on Bitcoin? So
there's no HTML on this prohibition? There is a quote it
left. What are your thoughts on the Khilafah says, Sophia and Ben
100% on fortify upon the Muslims established and I just put it,
there's an article go to go to.
It's on Maliki for QA and it's on. Now, what's that other one called?
automatics?
Go to a medics, and get it from aromatics, all the med hubs
Knossos from all the methods and the summary short brief, very
brief summary of it at Maliki fic. qa.com. It's right up there at the
top. Okay.
What was important so Sedna mooses hand coming out white in the
miracle? The point is to show Satana Musa that there is an order
above the known causes and effects that we perceive. And that is
Allah sanquin faecal Simple as that. It's a reminder that
naturalism in our minds must be broken. Naturalism, in our minds
is that these laws of nature are absolute cannot be changed, or
they're permanently.
Miracles are meant to break that to remind us who made these rules.
And if you notice, one of the most amazing things in physics is that
the laws of physics, the emergence of the laws of physics contradict
the laws of physics, right? These laws of physics emerged, their
emergence is not consistent with the laws. Therefore, there must be
something above these laws.
Anything that can be said how or cave has to have an origin can
never be infinite.
For example, gravity, there's an amount of gravity, right? There's
an amount there's a cave, anything that has a cave, there's a
direction cave is how anything that has a house has an origin
number nine, yeah.
I guess you
said the reason I was asking this question of practice and Lauren
Davis, it was almost
it was almost rhetorical like he was saying,
Do you think that the signs that were telling you what do you think
those are was wonderous. When I was pregnant that breaks the
reality? Yeah, in reality, the natural order that was passed that
has the most that's an amazing observation. You didn't hear that
but he said, the Allah says efficitur Do you think that the US
hobble calf living all this time this story they slept for three on
genetic Do you think that's
amazing?
And he's basically saying no, that's not what's amazing. The
fact that the natural order is as consistent as it is, that's what's
amazing. Because also you can imagine like fo Atia fri eight is
Have you not seen
I mean, that's for it is directing your attention. But EFA has
symptom Do you think that's amazing? No the fact that every
day you can predict how many hours it needs for you to sleep and when
to get rested every day I can predict how much food for me to
eat. They'll feel good. Astronomers can predict and tell
us not predict they can forecasts I should say it's better if they
can forecast when is the next lunar eclipse when is the next
moon solar eclipse to the time.
And the location you in California will see it at 3pm. In Indiana,
you'll see it at 2pm. In Ohio, you'll see it at 1pm to the minute
that's what's wonderous. Subhanallah, the natural order of
thing not the breaking of the order, somehow
it's a great observation.
Can you react to Sofia on the SF Kazi and Musa I call debate? No, I
didn't watch it. I didn't even know they had a debate. I didn't
watch it. But
you know, that shook so Cody's good friend and we just met last
week, and
he's probably more tolerant to him than me. Right?
He probably isn't not kidding, he's probably more
open to dialogue with someone like him than than I am. I wouldn't
even be open to dialogue with this guy. I mean, he's a very polite
guy, most of a cool, but I'm not going to be fooled. I don't not
going to judge a doctrine by its person being polite. Right? is
irrelevant to me, right? A set of ideas is not going to be we can't
treat it like that. Right? You can't treat it that because he's
very polite.
So, yeah, he's very nice. But some of these ideas, I would say are
not just blasphemous.
That would make you a heretic in the religion. I think someone will
put you outside the religion. Some of these ideas if you examine
carefully, right.
But nonetheless, I guess I'll watch it until everyone else is
watching it.
And then we'll see what how it went.
All right.
And you please make dua that I have a major exam on the Day of
Arafah
says March, Allah grant us TOEFL and your exam.
What do you do if a non Muharram falls asleep on your shoulder on a
train?
Or you lost your muscle by that phase? The touch loses the will do
she sleeps on you what happens
what do you do? Do I nudged her off Get off me This is haram while
there could be a jihad to that by the way, there could be a possible
reason to do that to excuse yourself in a polite kind way. Oh
sorry, I have to go to the bathroom and not make them feel
offended. But at the same time, you have to also we have something
called the Murat a superhet You got to be very, you know careful
of the ship Shobha here. What happens if a man comes by and sees
you like that? Right? With this woman sleeping on your shoulder.
Then a year later you propose to a woman and you go to her house and
it's that guy.
That's a Sherpa. And so, it took the MO Alton Schubert's or
McGlothlin at To Him
be stay away from area where you could be accused of something. So
from that angle, yeah, we may have an issue.
But I would only do it in a way that's not offensive. Like that's,
it wouldn't be right to say you know, just get off me or whatever
like that. I would I would personally feel a little bit
embarrassed to do that. I would say
here's here's a pillow, right? I need to go to the bathroom. Right?
So I would say it also depends on the age it depends on the person
you know.
Almar well done. Really good. Really good. Thumbnail.
Really show everyone the thumbnail
let's see the shot the thumbnail that show everyone that thumbnail
Can you they'll see it
very nice, very nice.
Is this so not too fast? All nine of those hedger Well, the first
eight is nephila The ninth, so no mercado Zaman Shafi right, can not
miss the night Yamato
Do you fasted even if you have
I'm actually both
combined son and forth.
Fasting we make the intention to pass
Some
of the Sun he shared you
saw him only. Okay.
You all heard that if someone would love to for you to visit the
masjid, they need to email Safina Satya invites if he decided that
orgy so we hear that folks chef a FIP you can combine the Kaaba and
the the fort and the Sunnah
in some not in Salah not in Salam
Malik effect we don't combine further and Sunnah in anything.
It could be Kedah, you're fasting on the same day.
But it will,
Your knee is going to be only
called up yet at the simultaneously the whole day is
blessed. And the dog will be accepted. So it's not like that
person who's doing a cuddle up on your modified it's as if he's
missed, you modify, know the dog is still accepted and, and it will
be high fodder to superior to some leave. Right?
You have to choose one intention
is crocodile hull in the Maliki school not only it's hot out, it
doesn't have to be slaughtered. Because it's a sea creature. Chef
AASA. If the animal spends 50% of the time or more in the water,
then it's a sea creature. So you have to ask, right? You would have
to ask somebody who knows about this animal? Right How much time
it spends in the water, right?
We say if it's spent if it can exist in water. It's a sea
creature. So the crocodile doesn't even have to be slaughtered. So
you go to a Florida Gators game.
And they're eating Gator. And they're grilling it right.
Actually, you're right. So when the Gators are playing, like the
the Seminoles and they you know to bother the Gators they they grill
gators fool alligator on a grill. Right? You can eat with them. You
don't have to ask if it's the visa or not. There's no the visa of a
or hunting of a crocodile necessary.
Alligator crocodile any creature that lives in the sea turtle now I
don't know if anyone eats turtle but
they Florida they eat turtle. Okay.
Any of these animals? Frog Legs?
Eating?
Oh my gosh. Yes. Yep.
Chef
makuuchi frog great. I think it's makuuchi frog in the Shafi school
because the frog helped is narrated that the frog helped the
Prophet Ibrahim tried to put out the fire of the of Nimrod. So the
prophesy is setting them. It's another said avoid the frog.
Right?
Yeah, yeah, we don't kill frogs.
We don't even if it's dead, we can eat. We don't have to do that we
have.
Yeah, we shouldn't kill it. Yeah.
Just having firm boundaries involve having negative or angry
emotions towards the situation or person. Or simply use logic and
reasoning regarding your personal goals or intentions. Having firm
boundaries, sometimes anger is a motivation to change, anger, all
these natural things Allah put in you sexual drive, anger, jealousy,
envy.
All these things have a place. They all have a place hunger,
exhaustion,
they all have a place.
You just have to find out what's the right place. And you what our
religion teaches us is to put a
flip a switch, or
like a light switch that has a gradient. I know exactly when to
push it up and when to pull it down. What is mesmo blameworthy in
our spiritual development
is when
is thank you is when
we are out of control. And that feeling controls us. So for
example, the anger can be used in the right way to make you get up
sometimes you get so angry at something. You get up out of bed
at 11 o'clock, to take care of it when you're supposed to sleep.
Sometimes, like you can't sleep, you're so upset about something
but
we also have to know when to turn it off. You can send off a
destructive message and destroy everything right? So you have to
know when to turn it down. So it's it's a great initiator, right?
It's a wonderful initiator, but it's not a good finisher. You
Don't want it in the finished product.
When is anger okay to be in the finished product in the football
of drama that's not directed to a specific person. In general, I'm
angry at drinking amongst the Shut up.
Right? Yeah, of course, he gotta be angry at that he can't be
accepting of that. So
that's where the use of the emotion to kickstart something,
but you don't want to burn the whole the whole thing.
Logic and reasoning should be used to tell us when is anger useful?
When is this emotion useful? When is this emotion not useful? That
boredom is one of the Ginola, boredom and Maillol.
Right. And oftentimes, some say that boredom is a sign that you
fulfilled what you need.
Some say that, and some say that exhaustion is a sign that you
fulfilled what you knew, where did they get that from? Sedna, Musa
they Salam, when he passed where he was supposed to stop, Allah
made him tired and exhausted, whereas before he was marching,
but when he passed where he needed to be, then Allah bestowed
exhaustion upon him, forced him to stop, that's Rama. So sometimes
you feel burnout, right? That exhaustion is a sign that this
thing that I'm doing, I fulfilled it, now I can take a break, do
something else, then go back to it later. And that's where I would
note that said that everyday, he needs a little bit of low.
In the evening, remember, her dad says that a person can take a
break from things so that he comes back with more in the shots later.
And there's no harm somebody to say, I'm going to take a break
from hips.
I'm done hips for today. Right? Why? Because your intellect says
you can burn out.
And the intellect tells you this neffs needs a little breather.
Alright, do something different, and then go back to you'll be even
stronger when you go back to it.
So the marathon runners always they get further than the
sprinters. And the intellect is what will tell us. knowledge and
intellect will tell us sorry, stop here, stop this motion has to be
stopped here.
And this motion needs to be turned on here.
We're the only creatures I think that does this. That has like a
CPU that says enough of this. Add this to its own self. So so self
aware. And that's what differentiates humans from other
creatures.
What do you have to add to that?
I think that's something which is like, especially very useful for
like the level of you know, it's very easy to or people like in
university. Yeah. Especially myself. I mean, it's very easy to
have,
like false expectations for yourself. So accepting the fact
that you're going to burn out at some point. Yeah. And making use
of that and like, do your own advantage. It's something which is
very, I'll tell you that youth learn from trial and error.
They learn from trial. No, they don't necessarily learn from their
elders. Because if someone tells you, you need to put the brakes on
here, take a breather, but he feels so good doing what he's
doing. He's not gonna listen, right? Until then he's going to
hit a wall. Then 10 years later, he's okay. Now I understand what
you were saying. Right. So some people learn only by experience.
If that's the case, let them learn by experience, but it's better if
there are some elders to decrease their debt right writing right
into a wall. That's why when you have communities that have shown
you I can go to Damascus when the past so you go to Teddy him today.
There's so many elders to you, that you will not get some point
you can't just ignore them like your parents. You'll be better off
better guided. Because though when you see many Sheoak are saying,
okay, ease up on this, do a little this, then you believe them, then
those people will end up with a more
stable spiritual life.
You know, there's 15 Messiah that you read, but you never like it's
never gonna happen. Yeah, guy in the chat. He's saying maybe a
woman
we're gonna go
no saying that. Yeah, he's saying like, just remember an emergency
or loss eat any meat, for example, in an emergency wants to have to
eat human meat. Whoa.
I think you were actually die instead, in Melaka. You'd never
eat it. Unless the person was already.
If the person is dead already.
Already. I think you don't it's one of those things that that also
doesn't apply.
Maybe a lot of I have to double check that would be dead and Xena
there's no dosa for kittens. No. But what about the rocks of eating
a human if a mother died? Like he's dead already. Mehta of a
human.
I remember seeing that that's not at
That's exempted from the roof so you don't need that. Here. Alma,
could you check the camera thing is slightly slanted. Somebody's
slanted is it
like, look the plants should be falling this way, right or no this
way.
What's the Shafi ruling on? I'm about to die. Can I go to the
morgue and cook someone?
No.
Yeah. You probably already ate humans so that you lived in Egypt.
You probably ate everything. Yeah, it's called. It's called ground
beef. But as you're probably it's probably or as Donkey dog. You
know that one time, the Egyptian Minister of Health. He was under
fire. They discovered a lot of ground beef was Donkey. Right? It
was Donkey. So guess what? He stood up and said he before there
was ever Donald Trump. Right? doubling down. You know what he
said? You said you're lucky. For 20 years you'd be in dog. Oh my
gosh.
That's true story, too.
So why are you even worried about the dog even in dark? Right? I
mean, is that not just just
Alright, let's go to realistic. Realistic is back with her
question.
Following up on the long loving non Muslim boy and Muslim girl,
they wanted to live the American life where they move in together
before they get legally married. That haram Of course, since the
girl's Muslim parents don't approve this. The girl convinced
the boy to become a Muslim and Ducat picked up as a cover. So in
front of Muslim she's married and not doing haram.
When you say the shahada, as long as you didn't say, No, I'm just
lying, then it's not a lie. Right? As long as you didn't say that.
When you marry somebody, as long as you don't say, I don't really
mean it. Even if you do say I don't mean it, you're married.
Right?
But the boy wants to live together before marrying thus perceives her
as a girlfriend. There's no proof the boy is practicing any Islam?
Is this marriage? Hello. What can the father do? Well, well, when
you when you say it that way, then we can't trust anything that he
does. If he's telling you that, then the father should just simply
not allow the daughter to engage with it depends also, how old is
the daughter is she like 1920, then he has a little bit more
influence. If she's already 30, and she's a nurse or a doctor on
her own, then he may have less influence, right. But he is the
one he should be able to essentially he has to disallow
this. Simple as that. Because the boy already told her, this is just
a cover. Therefore, I'm not sincere about the Shahada.
And even if we're married, I'm going to treat it like it's just a
boyfriend girlfriend thing, then no.
I'm sorry, the what? He cannot stand for that. And he is
responsible in the sight of Allah, even if she's 40 years old. And
she's a brain surgeon. As long as she's never been married before,
and she lives under your roof, you're responsible
for what he is responsible in the city. That's how it works.
I know we're supposed to soften everything and say you have to do
it with love. But sometimes it's just the laws, the law. That's it.
Right. Sometimes the law is the law. Right? That's it.
But of course, you know, this situation didn't happen for no
reason. How is she in the environment that she's falling in
love with another guy in the first place? And where were the parents
when they saw that they see signs of this in the first place? Right?
So sometimes there could possibly be you know,
absentee parenting, or weak parenting or failed parenting
altogether, then you reach a crisis point. And you realize
like, wait a second, this crisis didn't happen for no reason. What
was happening in the past me a cholesterol level does not hit an
alarming number right away. You have eating habits way
before that.
So we can only tell you the rules. I can't tell you the solution. I
don't know the solution. I just tell you what the rule is what you
have to do as a Muslim. You cannot allow for this to happen.
Can you bite back bite non Muslims?
You mean like talking about their breath their face? It's not the
click of a Muslim to do that. No, but you can hate on the bad things
that they do. We can hate on the bad things of that.
sectors, you know, they see that Mr. Brooks said, whoa to the day
that Muslims covered the flaws of the public sector. He himself
doesn't have higher so why are you covering up for him rather you
should be shaming him. The public Senate should be shamed into what
is the Sunnah of wearing a shawl How did the Prophet wear the shawl
the prophets I seldom wore his saw in a couple of different ways but
I'll show you one of them
is to wear it like this
and then put this side
up like that
with some room here so it's not choked up on the neck and then
throw it back you know what else is so no medical school
is when you wear a turban to bring the tail down like this and
they're actually in some of our books I read that it's actually my
crew to just wear a turban the way like we usually wear it even the
more attendees wear it like that they actually consider that not to
be any separation from the way yeah almost a great job get us a
picture that
that the prophets I seldom used to dress
yeah
yeah
they used to cover there bring it down like this
okay
all right let's go to the next question. Anytime you want to
pitch it I'm sitting next to a graduate of data center in Chicago
oh you're from there only
Oh data center missus local master move to Z Modine and Mufti
min hago. Dean min head with Dean is a great fucky Masha Allah, he
is so knowledgeable with him in hygiene. And one of the best
people to keep company with this shipment hygiene with terminology.
And he is the Sheikh of Dar salaam, and they're many shoe but
he He's a chef, they're mostly Ozzie Medina is the dahlia who
goes around the country and bring the students in. And he's
concerned with the affairs of the youth. And he sent me a message to
about we were talking about the third spaces, and he said, You
know what? His biggest grievance against the third space concept is
that they take
the these these students of knowledge, 567 and eight years,
students and knowledge, and they now go hang out in those some of
those third spaces.
We're not talking about roots here, because roots is obviously
in another's in Dallas, not Chicago. And, and he says that,
like they pull him down, almost the hem of the youth goes down. So
that is what he says is his grievance on the third space
aspect. So it's, it's again, it's a misuse, sometimes the third
space is meant for somebody that we said last episode. And I just
posited three possible reasons why third space is needed. Some
people, they do have some issue with the question.
I would say
there have some humility, right? But what do you do with the person
when they're not there yet, they're carrying so much baggage,
and they have some arrogance. You can't just you can just let them
go crash into the wall, or you could decrease his situation a
little bit. So that's one second one is somebody who's feel so
guilty because their life is so sinful. And they can't come to the
gym or go to my gym, my little jabra.com website, the founder of
the website, by the way, it's for adults to the founder of the
website or the the guy in the pictures, put them up on he
probably gets attacked every message he goes to
look at the model Brother, look at the model, right.
Let me tell you something, the website, my little Jabba, you can
custom make your soap, but the model has tattoos everywhere.
Here's a guy who promised like, every time I go to mustard, it's a
big headache. Some uncle who doesn't have the etiquette of
dealing with converts is gonna give him a headache. There's no
doubt about that. Right? And he may be 2010 years Muslim.
Half is
right. But you also cannot undo those tattoos, you would severely
injure your face your skin, it's already injured by the tattoo. Now
you undo it, you're severely injure yourself. So he may be in a
permanent position that not removing these tattoos is lawful
for him. But are you he it's fathomable that a person has so
much on Islamic baggage. Entering a masjid is a huge hassle and an
embarrassment. Right? And every time someone's gonna get in his
face. So that's the second reason that someone may that a third
space has a function A third reason that a third space
As a function is
people whose culture is so different. And that's to take an
example here, the brothers and sisters from Honduras, Ecuador,
Mexico, they are foreigners in the United States. If they come into
mbyc now, or any mustard, that's now another culture. So you know,
squared foreigner squared, right? You're a foreigner in America, and
you're double foreigner in the western world now makes more sense
to create a space that is Hispanic dominated from the start. In other
words, it's in Spanish is in their locality, right? And the dominant
attendees are Hispanic people like them. Right? Similar, similar to
what he said just now. Right? So that's exactly those are three
reasons I just thought of from myself that a third space will be
justified to have. So now what's, what is justified in terms of the
practice there is to allow to keep the barrier at the least that any
of the four methods would accept.
At the least of any of the four methods would accept
and what is unjustifiable, intentionally doing what's
forbidden?
Right. Now, what are you not responsible for? You're not
responsible for the behavior of the people who enter it.
In arm in any Masjid right now, regular traditional mosque. If a
guy and a girl go and see each other in the masjid, then in the
parking lot exchanged numbers, is the man responsible for that? I
don't know if he's not the judge on them. Or he's not. I mean, he
could judge if it's right and wrong, but he's not in control of
them. Nobody could say, Hey, man, look what they're doing. Yeah, if
it's persisting, and he's saying nothing, that's one thing that's
different. But if it's something that just happened without him
knowing, or one time that's different, if it's persistently
there's a scene in the parking lot, yeah, then he has to say
something. But if it's something that just happened one time, or
out of his control, just even know what's happening.
Where there's limited space, if I owned a coffee shop,
what's my intention? My intention there is to go and sell as much
coffee as possible put money in my family's bank account.
When people come in, am I obligated to now ask, are you
married? What is your intensive being here?
It's 10pm 11pm. That's sometimes the most I'm going to make is from
8pm to 11pm more than the rest of the whole day. Right? If it's if
it's a city coffee shop, if it's a suburban coffee shop, you're going
to be done by like, Yeah, six, you don't need to open anymore. Your
morning. And the daytime workers, you know, the employees who meet
have meetings and work from home. They close at eight and nine, but
the city and the campus coffee shop, that's that's a lot it is
coming in right here. Now, we cannot share he does not ask him
to ensure that the patrons are well dressed that the patrons are
married. Law. Sharia doesn't require that from him, they've
been asking too much. Right.
Now, there could be I can fathom somebody saying Hold on a second.
But if it becomes there, if there's a reaches a point of
access, and it's almost like a club, maybe, right? Is it
analogous to marketplace?
A marketplace? If you're
like a marketplace? What's the Islamic dominant perspective on
marketplaces in general No, in a Muslim world land with men and
women? Both going to the US how would they go shopping? What's the
technical did they send people out? Is it just men who
know the the the busy packed soup was not the place for Muslim woman
to go? In the old days they consider that to be not a place
for a Muslim woman and if she did she covered she weren't niqab. She
just put their her hijab over her face like this. And walk through
the rabble of men. And sis today so it is today to like our family
when we go in there's a rabble of men Muslim or not Muslim. Like a
rabble like wild people. You just take your typical your hijab, and
do what say she did and she did it in front of Sahaba at hedge.
Right. She did it in front of Sahaba at hedge. Right. So all
those people who think that that last
discussion on niqab was like an anti niqab science and if I was
just saying that to wear it without in the Maliki school from
the UK Well, there's two awkward one that said more than the other
is cut out here. Because you're you're adding without a law
without a reason. But I'll call the outset as men do all that all
count.
Something there is not going to be dismissed. We don't dismiss
Claudia yet. But the the Sookie is what the method is built upon. And
Khalil is what the massive is built upon. Right? And there, this
book is very clear about Cara here when it's for no Ella. But the ALA
is even bigger than what our Muslim woman today can do, which
is her face should always be covered in front of kofod. Because
they don't have the obligation of lowering their gaze. Most of the
men has to lower his gaze, right? And that's what the books say. But
the book says that she doesn't have to cover in front of Muslim
men he has to lower his gaze. Otherwise, what is the point of
the Quran telling the men lower your gaze? And how many Hadith do
we have when a Sahabi notes the coming or going of a certain
woman? How did he know? Her face? Her face was not covered. But the
calf does not have to lower his gaze? He's not he doesn't believe
it. Not that he didn't sorry, he doesn't have to. He doesn't
believe it.
So therefore, now we enter different ruling.
Facial coverage. So now why don't why doesn't anyone do it? Because
they may be, like mocked so badly, that now you bring another harm.
So our shakes and fix she weighs the harms, what is more harmful to
be looked at or to be mocked, and she weighs and she's more clear at
that point between the above when
she makes a decision. And I like what the Hanafi say. The McDowell
is the one who chooses the one who's tested by it is the one who
chooses.
So
that's regarding the marketplace and going to these places of these
jammed up places with all sorts of strangers is one of the advices
that I get that we gave to Satan to Musa when you is avoid the
rabble. It's in
one of the books on the biographies and one of the
toughest here on Sudafed cough, they go into what else did get
their teacher musante Sinha and from one of the upwell is that
could their said avoid the places with Rabel lot of people because
people the more the people, the more corrupt they be. They feel
that they can get away with things like industrialization destroyed
o'clock, because now you have all these strangers living in cities.
He's a complete stranger in the village and in the town. Like
Sohaib can't walk around we all know so Hape, right. He can't walk
around, do what he wants. We all know him you can walk around do
it. I can't walk around, do it. I want
people are gonna know me. Right? People are going to know you.
People who call your dad call your mom, right? If you're a youth,
well, the city now go for industrialization, you go work in
the factory all day. Nobody knows you at night. Do what you want.
Right? That's for set. So the rabble of the people is the issue.
Airport to
the airport. You're not building an airport? Yeah.
People mingle, you're there to transport people, but invariably,
they're going to good point. So there's places where we have to be
in the rivals such as airports. You know, a lot of people feel so
uncomfortable in the airports.
You know, there's just too many strangers around. There's no
There's no There's
the route other necessity.
So,
what would you say is the love it for the lot like free mixing? How
do we define that mixing has been discussed as following. There is a
Muharram that which is haram that which is mcru.
And that which is permitted, the Muharram? Absolutely Muharram is
in the LT circle up then
when the it's so jammed, that the bodies are touching.
What's also Haram
is the engaging with one another without a need. So to the point
that you will be looking at them, and may be influenced to look at
them for pleasure. So now you've created an environment that has no
need.
Right? No need a Hangout session. There's no need for this, right?
It's not a meeting, there's absolutely no need. And it could
we're so close for a long period of time to the point that a person
may start they may start becoming attracted to one another.
Now what's the kata here, the kata here is
having a need for an extended period of time where it could
possibly become that but there is a need. Right? The origin is a
need. So therefore that removes the cutter here but it's extended
and it's very close to the point that you can see. So Joe, there's
so much that could enter into Cara here at that point. And what is
permitted when there is a need, and you try to lower your gaze.
And so the road almost you go to
man, for example, just to give an example goes to a doctor, and he
goes it's a Muslim doctor.
are a male doctor have to battle some male doctor. And he goes, and
then all of a sudden he gets in. And all of a sudden, a nurse comes
in to get his blood pressure and height and weight and all that
stuff.
At that point, it's not something he put himself in. And it's
something that he should hate it in his heart and as the door to be
kept open, right? For
the that's, that's the debates that our teachers teach in Maliki
FIP.
And they say that the hijab, the sutra, the pada is not a
necessity, it's not necessary.
Second Marini answered that question, we actually need to get
those Q and A's out. It's been too long. I'm gonna do it myself.
He said, it's not necessary. Of course, obviously, we know that
other mothers do feel that it's better and necess necessary, maybe
even. And I'll tell you the honest truth, though, when I go to data
set, I'm in Chicago, and I spend the whole day there, let's say
doing talks and everything sometimes, like two days.
The environment is all men, there's not a single time that you
interact or have any
gaze that's forbidden. You actually come out you feel clean.
You feel pure. It's not to say that they know like,
that's that's not a knock that someone says, oh my gosh, you feel
dirty when you look at a woman. No, it's not saying that. It's
saying that I'm just telling you what I observed. Right? There's no
way that it's an observation. You leave there you feel like
Subhanallah like my heart's like a mirror No, like no dust on it. You
can sense it you can feel it same wonder your way back when I went
to Teddy and Yemen as soon as I came into the US the Emirates
airport I was like it was a shock it was literally a shock because
Teddy me I mean, you will not back then at least I don't know how it
is now. You will literally not even see a face all the women are
wearing the club.
And full new club like this. Like it's dead. The club shows the eyes
right? It's dead over the head is dead as they sometimes people wear
hijab that has a cap and then a cloth comes down that's what the
status
or said Lilla a cetera cetera through istead
can you be sure I did my 3d at the same time?
I don't think that if somebody would some mix and match those
matters of color if it would be as big a deal as matching matching
and flip because these are just beliefs not just beliefs but their
footwear.
So I personally don't see that it's there's anything in saying
that yeah, some maturity but on this and this and this, I tend
towards the Ashley's belief. These are furore.
For me in secondary issues.
It's kind of how I remembered that says no, he was this he was
Mahathat. So even till today, it's the silky left like was he meant
to read he was shouting.
In others like you don't eg in the later months, can you?
I can't personally confirm this. But someone told me about another
person who dreamed of the Prophet sallallahu it was said himself
that he won't intercede for those who are dealing with those who are
boycotted. Should I trust such a dream? A lot? I don't know. But
I believe that if there is somebody openly complicit in
supporting the Zionists, and you as a Muslim know this as a fact
not hearsay. You know Allah subida Liukin now Allah Sabina scheck
and you still engage with such people, then you are an enemy to
the OMA. Without this dream, we can say very stern words
in our law about people who engage with enemies of Muslims,
and Allah knows best.
What are what's a Shabbat? A Shabbat is a doubt, when I said,
Muslims should not engage in a Shabbat, meaning should not put
yourself in a position of doubt. Such as
what would we say? We said, oh, a woman falls asleep on your
shoulder on the train. Right? Could you imagine you're in
Chicago, going to data set, I'm on the rail, right or on the bus and
a woman falls asleep on your shoulder? That's going to be a big
problem. Because everyone there knows you. And they're gonna say,
what did he learn in Sydney?
If your sleep is disturbed when waking up for fetch every night,
resulting in some mental health problems later, is it permissible
to pray fetch later on?
Within the time, yes, within federal time, you can delay it,
but not outside of federal time rather what you should do asleep
earlier.
Sleep earlier.
Why do I say that? Because
feeling a little bit off, would not be a valid excuse to skip the
prayer. It's not a valid excuse, so sleep earlier, or pray later on
in the time. So if it's four to six, you can pray at 545.
Well, the main difference between SATs and SATs that we differ upon
says Mark Yeah, bro.
When was the ALMA that we went on, we talked about that.
And there was like a whole segment of four or five minutes I
discussed those. I can't read discuss here because it's take a
long time. But for the for Mark, go back
and
go to the previous maybe three or four episodes and go into the
timestamps, and we talked extensively, what was the purpose?
Why did the sad School of Theology come into existence? And there's a
lot of people who simply say if the Companions never did it, we
don't do what what how was that on? Azulon? Anything? No. The
Companions solved problems that Muslims suffered. That's the
theme.
If a Muslim suffered a problem in their Deen, physically, such as
enemies, or
administrative administratively, such as the administration of the
OMA, or the Quran was being was possibly the whole foods were all
being killed in wars. Then they gathered the Quran. And even when
sects like the coloriage came, Sayed Ali appointed Abdullah bin
our best to respond to them. Is that not scholastic theology?
Right, debating back and refuting heresies.
So when a different color of heresy comes around, a different
type of heresy comes around after the death of Saba, we look at the
principle of how the Sahaba acted, they refuted what harms and puts
doubts in the minds of Muslims. So that's exactly what the shaido
did.
And in order to do that, they established these principles,
right. So that's essentially what that shadow did. And there's a lot
now, every time that there's a new wave of people entering into
religiosity in Islam, the easy thing to do, and the easy thing
says, The Companions never did it, therefore, we don't do it. Yeah,
that sounds nice, right? But in fact, no, the Sahaba did, in fact,
repel and refute heresies. So are we going to now say we only repel
and refute those heresies, but all other heresies?
Come, we're not going to refute you.
Because the combat is in the future. Okay, so now, when the
Mongols come, Sahaba never fought the Mongols, we're not going to
fight them. What logic is, is, people will come around to see the
wisdom. And if all of the HANA fees predominantly, and I know
someone's gonna find me a Hanafy, somewhere who wasn't a metro DD,
right? All of the magic is, and I know someone's gonna say it, but
I'm there. But by the way, when I was at a bar, it was almost non
committal either way, because you can find him quoting SATs.
And you can find him quoting, like 10 G positions, and you can find
him quoting, like authority types of position. He's not a Hoja. On
what the medic is felt on nakida.
Yeah, he was almost like making his own decision. But that's one
person. What about all the other medica? Why did they come to say,
No, this is what our shake was teaching. This is what medic was
teaching. This is what he intended with those statements. Okay, so
are you telling me the whole method went astray?
How about the chef, are you?
Aren't they all
held that this is sound to this is accurate to? So we're going to say
that 99% or 90% of the Alama of Islam?
They want to stray? So here's where my position is. And you
know, Jake talks about this in an article coming out this and many
people don't realize we're friends. Right? Jacob lives only
25 minutes away. And I was one of the first Muslims that he met in
his life, right? When he after he entered Islam, so we have a bunt,
even if he says stuff about that shot, but it's honestly been an
empty laugh, not a tech field with tibia. Right. That's where I'm
fine with that. If you say okay, no, no, I defer. Fine, defer all
you want. There's no tub deontic fear, right or mockery, like that
Saudi shift that I quoted the other day, mocking and making fun
of the opinion.
That seems like not accepted. It does seem like people are shifting
towards accepting Kadem I mean, really, if you look at it, they
just have a problem with the word itself. Yeah, like I'm like, You
guys are all doing collab. You just don't realize it. Like it
looks like a dog.
Okay, what was this thing? It looks like a dog, it's a dog. You
guys are all doing Kadem just because you don't call it good
engineering.
Hamza sources and all his work was kind of 100% How many jobs all his
what he did with the Christians and atheists kinda like a lot of
you said if you guys there aren't like they're very known for their
dollar right and like debating Christians, what do you think
you're doing in those debates with Christian God because you know,
three in one contradiction, that's all cut down like and the thing is
that
it's these these little slogans statements, you know, that are
actually misunderstood like all four Imams were against Kedah.
Okay, yes, they were against the kind of the Morteza lights,
not the kalam that is in accord, not the Scholastic debating with
atheists or against atheists that is not in contradiction to our our
theta. They were against the condemn that was in contradiction
with a mortise, the Cunnamulla Wartsila. That's a difference just
scholars were intelligent enough to know to defeat these persuasive
Yeah, erroneous positions was to meet them on their own ground,
correct. Their own, well, you have no other choice, right, then then
meeting your opponent on his grounds. You can say that you're
wrong, because the Quran says so when he does not accept revelation
in the first place. So you have to meet him on the account of logic.
How Satan Brahim did He say, Don't worship the stars and the moon in
the sun? Because Allah said not to, well, he doesn't believe in
Allah in the first place. He actually came, brought them an
argument, the star goes away. How does your God not present in the
daytime? Alright.
Let's also look at how he even broke the idol.
He broke the idol and said the big one did it. And they say how can
I? Oh,
that's literally what they were. So he showed them by your own
logic, you know that your idol can't even break another idol
literally of worship. Now, here's the thing I really I want to be
able to, to do this and to talk about these things. Without it
ever falling it collapsing into Muslims.
And Muslims arguing and fighting because this just doesn't seem
like it's the right path, Even though they all come in swinging
in the comment sections, but I don't want to go that route. That
doesn't mean I'm going to stop saying what I'm saying. But just
add another point. It seems like when you really look at it from
like, higher lens. The difference is that you know all these
arguments about Kalam and to solve has nothing to do with actual
like, you may have done it Madhu the word and then what it's
pointing to Yeah, everything is about the dead like yeah, it is
this word.
But you believe in test. Yeah, that's
that's a great point. I know. You don't like admitting to them,
okay. You're doing the same thing just because you use a different
word. Right? Let's let's discuss the actual thing. Scrap the word,
scrap the word any philosopher that comes in any kid that read
some philosophy website that goes into any masjid and starts arguing
and posed positing questions that make the youth start doubting
Islam guarantee every single dad will research and every single
Imam there will research a response so you did the same exact
thing right
all right, let's now continue on rapid fire can I do silhouettes
while driving and other activities? Yes, inshallah you
can. Especially cooking they used to do a lot while cooking
recently became it could you give the main difference? Okay, we
answered this one. Why said no Musashi Sam Han Kim. Wait, we said
that
what if a person didn't pray for 15 years after tech leaf for so
for the next 15 years, he prays twice a day, twice every Salah his
foot and
and for us, but either way, it's fine. You can pray but not after
awesome because you just can't do nothing left us. Same thing. You
pray for edge. If you're praying in the masjid prayer called up
first
and then the foot so that because if you pray the vote and you get
up again, someone's going to stop you and say there is no nephila.
And then you don't have to say I'm praying, because you don't want to
expose that you have missed prayers. So that's how you do it.
If you're very ambitious, you can cut it and to half's three times
every Salah in seven and a half years but that I think that's too
much. That's a lot of how much and you don't pray any Sunon except
for the Sunnah of fetch, records and fetch and stuff on which you
don't pray any other Sunon the daily sunnah. You can of course
pray the other son and waka is just got our aid Kossuth Kosuth
okay, you can pray those of course.
All right.
Adam Bow Bow me
really need to get the book out this is the third time somebody's
asked what is the starter book for studying I shut it up data
and I don't have an answer what is the starter starter book for that
look up just type in the name
of the disease Soraka type in the name Abdulaziz Soraka just by all
his theology books. He's translated some of them are heart,
but you can learn the fundamentals from
have to produce it properly. I took it off the market yeah
by whom?
Who
basically
made it in English really? Gee,
you know what I, in the end of at the back of my, my book kita
paradise. I took permission from ship I mean,
Mohammed from Jersey, from Atlantic City to actually
reorganize the to how we buy section because some of the things
belong in another section. And he gave me greenlight to do that.
Or how do we pray with it as Matt he's to rock has done one. And you
could pray even in it Federer then goes off
Can I shave the sides of my and leave a mustache and a goatee?
I think the sharpies allow for that.
The chef is allowed for that. Yeah, right. To have his love for
that and tell him they many of the Sheoak just have a go just the
chin.
Bar really MOBAs sometimes it's you could tell it's completed.
This part right here for the according to the Shafi school is I
want to say in one of their opinions just to be safe, is what
the beard is this bone right here. The
dotted line or not? They're not okay.
Colorful Lola
eating snails. Is snail a water creature or is it a land creature?
In the Maliki school if it's deemed as a land creature, you
have to intend to kill it for food. And you could kill it in any
way shape and form. Right? You don't slaughter it. You just
intend to kill it. But if it's a water creature, you don't have to
intend to kill it.
There's water snails. Yep.
All right.
All right. Let's skip down a little bit and take some questions
is the uncreated eternal Quran separate from a low Hilma fools?
The uncreated speech of Allah is the terminology there is not a
concept of uncreated eternal Quran unless you mean the uncreated
eternal word of Allah, all the word of Allah subhanaw taala in
himself, before the creation of things, of course is eternal. It's
his attribute. It's called that Kadem enough see?
general advice to stop sinning keep yourself busy. Sleep early,
go around good people always make Toba and nobody's ever going to be
we you could attain the level of hip. Hopefully ask Allah to grant
you the MACOM of health where he protects you from falling into
sins. That is possible. Is it haram to castrate a cat? No, I
never heard It's haram to do that. Also is haram to keep him indoors.
If he wants to roam outside. No, I didn't see that. It's haram to
keep the cat indoors. Provided that he has food, provided he has
placed some water to drink and also enough room to walk. He's not
like jailed. He's like a whole house he can stay. And
I never saw that it's forbidden to do that. It is forbidden though.
For that's one of the reasons for being skip a dog as a pet. His
dogs are meant to be outside the house.
If a girl has been seeing someone for a year, and now the men wishes
to meet the girl's father, should they go ahead with the marriage?
If Yeah, the what would be doing something that's possibly not that
great, depending how they're seeing each other for a year.
Right now the guy has been with the girl for a year and now he's
asking to see the dead. But alas, it happens but now he either stops
seeing her or he talks to the dead and marries her properly.
How do we how do we help our press brothers in Palestine?
He changed it with you
hands if not then with your tongue if not within with your heart then
that is the weakest of faith right now we're in the very weakest of
it all we could do is change it with our tongues and with our
keyboards
we could change with our money let's let's put that up we're
collecting money for quarterback money for Gaza and now and Rafa
almost gonna put it up right now
Yeah, go ahead play
everybody use it. So you guys
but on the people who have been watching us they know but I really
use it. Mashallah. He's the one on behalf of gr T's like on the
ground. He's the one doing all the distribution there and it was a
Philistine. So, you know, the money that you guys have been
donating. He's the one that's actually he sends pictures and
stuff and show them show some pictures. But first we have this.
We have this voice message from him.
And it looks like he's in a scene right now. So let's see what he
says. Okay.
Salam aleikum wa rahmatullah wa barakato. They are my brothers. I
hope that you are all of you shout out okay, inshallah
and Imani Shama
updating about what about what is happening in the South because
they have targeted
the displaced tents for the people in the south of Gaza borders. And
they have killed at least 35 of the people and the injured 10s of
them killed now there is investigation from the Israeli
about about what what was happening, which is a joke for the
world. That is interesting question.
To us situation in Gaza is the same. They are targeting many
places they are targeting specific places for some of the people. But
there is no ceasefire for for 14 now.
Are we playing something or not?
Were you playing it? On the stream?
Oh, but it's not shifted over.
Oh, they could hear it. Okay. Oh, okay. I thought you're playing the
thing.
Alright, so you could donate to GRT. Let's put the pictures up the
flyers maybe. There we go. Yeah, there we go. There's a video.
Let's look at that. And then we'll wrap up. Realistic while he's
doing that realistic, says, boy and the girl didn't utter that
they're doing this as a cover. But the parents the way he said it and
makes the parents feel that way. Look, you just take him out.
At his word if the dad trusts him, that's the key. If the dad trusts
him, he trusts that he's actually entering Islam and trust that he
understands that this is going to be a Sharia marriage first, then
they could do the legal marriage after that. I don't recommend that
but it would be valid for them to be alone after that.
All right, let's see this.
Salam aleikum wa rahmatullah wa barakato. This is your brother
from Reza on behalf of secular society.
Media, we are delivering the flower bags for the needy.
Many thanks for starting society for continuous and you know,
donation for the people who
accept data from you and give you the agenda.
Today is the 24th of may and Hamdulillah. But I mean, your
videos and couturiers donation is still doing here in the summertime
for you.
All right, very good. Very good, everyone. So look at all that
wheat. Love as our logo is there. Um, dilla we're very happy to be
part of this initiative. You guys it's not like your money's just
going in there. See the logos you can see that the culture a proof
got a picture's
worth it all that.
Think about it, like the stuff you have spent a few bucks on pizza,
right? But you don't need that and look, that's that's a much
better place.
So I'm gonna send him links soon, but very good. Very good. Do this.
Put the links up for the donations. Okay.
Look, man is wondering how is aid getting in? I think what they do
is the businesses are in Jordan.
The bank account sorry, are in Jordan. And how was the food
getting in? A lot? Good question. Can he answer that? How are they
getting all this wheat in there?
She didn't even tell us how to do I don't know why maybe if we say
that no sort of down.
Ladies, gentlemen,
we had a nice long good stream and keep in mind the night of the
hedger begins tonight
Saudi has seen the moon but don't they always right?
So call us we'll, we'll take it from them this time around and
we'll treat it as if it had Joe has begun tonight Maga. So what do
we do is the night that before mark it up, clip your nails, trim
your beard as much as you want your mustache because from here
on, it's a light sunnah to not trim your nails or your hair, any
hair on your body. So remove it all today before
then for the next nine days won't do that. And for the next nine
days, we're going to double and triple our recitation of Quran and
a better that means you may sacrifice something else.
sacrifice other times wastes or waste of time, so that you double
and triple your time in a bed. And then on the ninth, of course,
fasting, if not the first eight days of that Elijah, starting from
tomorrow, definitely, definitely then the ninth. Your modified and
that's the day take off from work. When was that Saturday? Saturday?
Yeah, take off from work take off everything. All right. Subhanak
Allahu mobilehome Michelle
Isla illa Anta Stofer going into the lake what else in in Santa Fe
Occulus illAllah. Deena ammonoid Minnesota HURT What was overhyped
Courtois so a suburb was salam aleikum wa rahmatullah?
To see Joe
boom
got eBay see
you