Shadee Elmasry – Sh Mikaeel Ahmed Smith The Emotional Intelligence of the Prophet Part 1
AI: Summary ©
AI: Transcript ©
Hours today beneficial, and a means for us to know Him the
beloved Mohammed sigh send them a bit better.
It is only through studying him closely looking at his life
closely that one is able to appreciate the immense blessing
that he sallallahu alayhi wa Salam is for us.
And the more we become detached from studying his life, from
knowing who he was,
the more difficult it becomes for us to truly appreciate the
blessing of Islam in general, and specifically, Islam with a capital
I and specifically, being a part of the home of Muhammad sallallahu
alayhi wa sallam.
So
we really, really overestimated the impact of the potential storm
on your potential love for the prophesy center. So me in doc
tour, we were at Staples. And we were just talking about, let's
print out these sheets that I've prepared for everyone. And we were
like, You know what, you know, this weather channel really hyped
it up. Everything's about ratings now. So the Weather Channel really
hyped up the storm. You know what, we'll go for 35.
And immediately, we said, you know, I think their love for the
prophesies the land, has truly truly
should have rectified are thinking Subhan Allah. So we sent someone
right now for those of you who don't have a handout, we do have a
PowerPoint as well. That goes along with the handout, but I
really would like everyone to have a copy of the handout, because the
handout is basically a summary of a book that I've been writing for
the last two years on this topic of the intellect of the prophets
of Allah who it was Saddam so even though you have this handout, I
have to you have to make a promise with me. You'll still buy the book
because I was taking parts of the book and I'm like, and they're not
gonna buy the book no more. Right and shall you buy it you don't buy
it inshallah today will be beneficial in sha Allah Tiana. I'm
just waiting for that to clean inshallah wounds. So if you don't
have a handout, just sit tight inshallah you will have one, very
soon.
Hey, Inshallah, as he's getting that set up, I just want to tell
you how this class kind of came about. As you know, in your
workplaces, emotional intelligence has been in school and in
workplaces. Emotional Intelligence has been a big buzzword from the
last maybe five years or so even six years or so. And it's been
something that has been discussed more and more in the professional
corporate web world, along with schooling and education as well,
that as we spend more time behind screens, we lose the ability to
kind of connect with people and understand people's feelings on a
deeper level. So we realized that this one how to connect with other
human beings. And Daniel Goldman, he wrote is phenomenal work, which
was considered the pioneer work in this new type of intelligence.
And,
and that work is emotional intelligence. He wrote that work,
some years back on this topic of emotional intelligence, and the
impetus for me starting this book, I begin with a question I want you
guys to look up there.
Who is the most intelligent person you know of? When you think of the
word intelligence? When you think of intellect? When you think of
rationality, what comes to mind? What do you what do you think of
who is the most intelligent person that you know? Now what's
interesting is that what had been will not be what had been will not
bear. He was a tabby eight. So someone who saw Sahaba someone who
saw the companions and he has an interesting statement that I want
to
share with you guys.
And for those who have notes
it's section two. For those who have notes look at section two
please.
If you don't have notes, you'll just have to bear with me and
listen for a bit
what have been Managua he says, Karatu Saba our southern inner
Kitab
he says for Wadjet to feed Jimmy hardest rock another wire, forget
to feed Jimmy ha.
And then Assmann budget a dunya Illa and Kiba Lam ut che immunol
applepie Jumbie actually he saw while salam ala cohabitee rom
Letson beta Rama
Under dunya, he says I've studied over 70 different books.
And after studying all of those books, I have come to the
conclusion
that from the first man to the last man from Adam, until the last
man
that no one was given intellect compared to the intellect of the
prophesy Salam, except that it was like one grain of sand compared to
the sand of the entire world.
So what he's saying is that when I as I studied and learn more and
more and more, I began to see the the intelligence of the prophesy
Saddam when compared to the rest of the creation, as their
intelligence was so minuscule compared to his intelligence. Now,
I read this statement way back in the beginning years of being a
student of knowledge. And it always it's stuck with me because
it's so profound. And it's so strong. And I couldn't quite wrap
my mind around. How did he see? How was he qualifying
intelligence? So, what's what's interesting here is Imam Ghazali,
similarly says the same thing, that without doubt, our
understanding is that the prophets of Allah and he was salam was the
most intelligent of Allah Subhana Allah to Allah's creation. And the
word they use for that is a word, you're going to have to write this
word down. It's called Acha.
Acha.
Acha.
Acha is the intellect. Uncle is the intellect. Now.
When we talk about AKA, or intelligence, and I go back to
this question here, who is the most intelligent person when you
think of intelligence? Does Stephen Hawking's come to mind?
Do it does a What's the other dudes name?
Huh? Yeah, someone like that. Right? Do those people come to
mind? And if they come to mind, how is it that normally, we've
detached intelligence from religion. So if you look at your
notes that I've provided provided you
in the same section two, there's a study done in 2013, at the
University of Rochester titled, the relationship or the relation
between intelligence, and religiosity. Now, the summary of
this study, as you can read here, the study the summary of the
study, is that as someone becomes more intelligent,
they shy away from religion. And as a person becomes more
religious, they become less intelligent. That is the summary
the conclusion of this study.
And I want to take it back, take us back through history. Before we
get into emotional intelligence, I actually have to just talk about
intelligence for a while, and then we'll go more deeper into
emotional intelligence, we have to take a step back and actually
look at how the human being classically was understood, and
how the modern man understands the human composition. And this is in
your Notes section one.
Note section one.
Okay, in the note section one, if we look at a verse in Surah, Bani
Israel, verse number 70, Allah subhanaw taala in this verse says,
While Kedah Kolomna Danny Adam, indeed we have given preference,
or honored or lifted up Benny Adam, the children of add the
menu, over the rest of the creation will follow the noun or
like a theta amendment Halaqaat of de la and we have given many Adam,
a press a step above the rest of the creation. Now, if you read
classical tafsir on this verse, it basically explains that Imam Razi,
for example, I've given you here in your notes, Imam Razi, for
example, he explains, that the primary thing that human beings
have, which separates us from the rest of Allah's creation, is the
is the internet is the rational soul, the archon, the rational
soul, this is very important to understand that what we have, that
the rest of the creation of Allah subhanaw taala does not have is
this rational soul.
And this was the classical understanding. And you see these
takeaway here is number one, rational Intel intellect
distinguishes man from the rest of the creation. Number two, it
reaches the reality of things, the purpose of the intellect that
Allah subhanaw taala gave us the person the purpose of the, the,
the octal, that Allah subhanaw taala gave us is to be able to
reach the reality of things, the deeper meaning of what things
mean. And number three, it is the means by which we know
Allah. This is very important as we discuss this in more detail.
The Ockel is the primary faculty that allows us to recognize Allah
Subhana Allah to Allah
and throughout the Quran and this is why,
if we look here, this is a very important aspect here, that it is
by the ACO which the proof of accountability regarding the
orders and prohibitions of Allah are erected. What this means is,
there's this concept and Sharia, that when a person doesn't have
any offence, like a child, or certain types of mental illnesses,
these people are not legally responsible. They aren't held
accountable before Allah Subhana Allah, they aren't responsible.
And the reason is because they they lack that primary thing,
which this thing wishes us from everything else, which is the tool
by which we recognize Allah subhana, Allah to Allah. Now, what
I mean by that is, for example,
if a person was to grow up on an island, away from all humanity,
all, you know, all types of people just by themselves, what does our
religion say about the responsibility of that person?
When it comes to Allah? subhanho wa taala? Who knows this one?
What's the responsibility? What's incumbent on upon that person?
So a person growing up on an island, cut off from all types of
humanity. Is it incumbent upon this person from the shittier
perspective for them to believe in Mohammed Seisen?
No, it's not. How would they? They have no means to that.
Is it incumbent upon this person to believe in the Koran?
No, it isn't.
Is it incumbent upon this person? If you don't know don't answer to
recognize Allah?
Yes, it is. And the reason we say that is because the faculty of the
Archon recognizes Allah subhanaw taala on its own, it's the it's
the thing that Allah has placed in us, which is for recognition of
Allah Subhana Allah to Allah, which distinguishes us from the
rest of Allah subhanho wa Taala audits creation. So it is that
primary thing by which we know Allah Subhana Allah, can I give
you a few more proofs to support this? Throughout the Quran? You'll
see that Allah Subhana Allah to Allah says, A fella attack Pilon,
do they not use their intellect. And throughout the Quran, Allah
addresses the aka speaks to the Ockel because it is the Ockel
which is responsible for responding to Allah subhanaw taala
and recognizing Allah Subhana Allah to Allah. So for this
reason, the classical understanding of all theist, not
just us as Muslims, but all theists was that the human being
was looking at this in your notes here the Islamic understanding of
the human being what does it say there?
What does it say there? What's the
what is it?
Yes, the rational soul, which is an immaterial thing, the rational
soul was this immaterial rule that is placed inside of us, plus the
physical body. This is what the human composition is. Now, this
was the classical theists understanding of a human being. I
mean, if we go back, Thomas Aquinas, if we go back to St.
Augustine, if we even go back to Aristotle, the understanding of a
rational soul, and a human body that immaterial coming with the
material, this is what the human being is. Now,
when we ask this question now, in 2018, we have to understand the
context within which we live today. And starting with John
Locke, in 1689, I believe it was, John Locke, again, I have to go
into the history of it. So we can as just a premise into what we're
going to be studying, we have to kind of understand why we think
the way we think today, and how that lines up next to the
classical Islamic understanding of how we should look at the world.
Okay, so John Locke, who knows one of the main things that John Locke
did, he wrote a major essay. Alright, this class guys is not a
monologue, it will only work if it's a dialogue.
Okay, the next three hours are not going to just be me. I'm going to
if you're in the front row, I'm going to pick on you Inshallah,
and you right in the front Sr. So you're gonna get it. Okay, so John
Locke, is that ring a bell from anyone? Anyone want to take? Yes.
Okay, yeah, his political views were preceded by what we're going
to talk about now, but yes, definitely. When we normally study
John Locke, we look at it from a political perspective on what were
his views on governance and government and, and society but
there's something
that comes before that, which is actually how he viewed the human
being. It's in your notes anyway. So I mean, you could just look at
the notes. What he did was this in 1980. And at
the 16, what was it 1689 John Locke wrote what's called an Essay
Concerning Human Understanding.
And in this work, what he does is he separates from the rational
soul, the mind,
the mind, he says, No, we don't no longer have to look at the human
being. As the ancients looked at the human being, we don't have to
look at the human being as a rational soul and a physical body.
But rather, we can look at three parts that make up the human
being, what are they? Sister,
mind,
soul and the physical body? What do you effectively did was
separate mind from so now I'm gonna say a word. And I want you
to tell me the first thing that comes to your mind psyche? First
thing, what do you think of?
Mind Mind, anyone else? First thing, what is the classical word
actually come from, in Greek soul.
So now, this shows you the shift of how the classics understood us
as human beings, versus what John Locke did. And it was, it was, it
was made it cause major problems to say, nonetheless, in the
society that he lived in, he separated this, you're gonna have
to write this one down basical mind from the rational soul. He
took out the mind and made it a physical thing, a biological
phenomenon, that through MRIs, eventually, we will be able to
understand everything about the mind.
Now, what was one of the good repercussions? What were one of
the good outcomes of him separating the mind from the soul?
Before John Locke, if you had depression? Who would you go to?
Who would you go to?
On the chair? Yes.
If you if you got depression, if you were feeling
exactly. After John Locke, who do you think you're going to?
Well, that wasn't there yet a doctor,
a doctor, someone who can deal with the material aspects
of sicknesses and health inside of you.
Everyone with me understand what it where we're going with this. So
now, what happens as a result of this, and George Makari, on this
is on page.
On the next page, he writes, it's a very good read called Soul
machine. I highly recommend this read for everyone. George McCurry
writes a book called Soul machine. And in that he writes, lock strip,
the rational soul of its greatest attribute, the rational soul,
remember that word? The rational soul? How do we see it? Allah gave
me an icon, the Ockel is part of my rule. And that rule is what
recognizes Allah Subhana Allah and it's by means of rationality that
I arrived that Allah
because Allah tells us to look at the creation, look at how you came
into the world. Look at the sun, look at the moon, look at the
stars and deduce from that Allah subhanaw taala is existence. So it
is the Ockel itself that recognizes ALLAH SubhanA wa Tada.
And it is atheism itself, which is the epitome of irrationality.
Because it says that this rational faculty came from a bunch of non
rational processes before it.
But ration the, what was truly rational. What was truly
intelligent
was that you recognize Allah by looking at the creation. Hence
when Allah addresses us in the Quran, he talks to the uncle, look
at this, think about this. Don't you use your mind because your
mind should lead you to Allah?
Questions. Questions at this point?
Yes.
Yes, let's read up all of George McCarthy's quaint George McCarthy
says lock strip the rational soul of its greatest attribute,
forcefully reposition the faculties of thought memory and
consciousness into the into a rational faculty and thereby wish
to distinguish passions ruled and superstition ruled fanatics from
Rational gentleman so you know what he did Sr. He's saying that
through Locke, you got religious fanatics and rational gentleman.
You got religious people who just believed in religious superstition
and Revelation and things like that. And then you had rational
people that were positivists and empiricist, and so on and so
forth.
But prior to him, some of the greatest philosopher some of the
greatest thinker that humanity has ever experienced, all understood
that the soul was a rational soul. It was a rational thing. Now, let
me tell you one of the positives, though,
one of the positives is what I was mentioning here, that this that
previously people who were going through serious mental illness,
serious mental illness, it was something wrong with their soul.
There was some shake chip on there was some possession. And they
would go to you know, Rukia, Rokia, right? Like some of the
youth you go through depression in your mom's like coming out
reflecting on you. Right? Like, but Mom, I may need a little bit
more than Fatiha. Right and we'll talk about that soon in sha Allah.
But the point being, is that after lock, they started to, to treat
mental illness as an illness, which is a very good thing. They
started to, to use cognitive therapy methods to treat mental
illness instead of just chained people up and locked them up in
places.
But let me tell you something. There's a really good book I want
you to buy on Kindle. It's only $2.50 on Kindle, okay. It's called
sustenance of the soul.
Malik Bedini is the translation masala who have done well and for
us.
It's a manual and cognitive therapy and how to treat mental
illness, sustenance of the soul. The author's name is Abu Zaid al
Bal he, Abu Zaid, Abu Zaid
Belfry
it's right above section two I wrote the name I didn't write the
all the details. It's translated by Matic al buddy who's a leading
Sudanese psychologist one of the leading Islamic Sakai
psychologists still living from the previous generation mashallah
genius. This book is almost verbatim,
the DSM four standards right now.
Verbatim when this book was submitted to the University of
Chicago mental health department. They were shocked at the
information found in this book because of how congruent it is
with the DSM five for were we four or five,
five DSM five standards right now.
But guess what? When do you think he wrote this book?
When was John Locke? When was John Locke
17th century right? When do you think this book was authored?
Let's take some just random guests.
Come on, man. Have you been in any of my classes before?
It was ninth century
19th century, Muslim, Phyllis, physicians were treating mental
health.
Maintaining that the rational soul existed, we were still treating
mental health. So we did not die Voris rationality from the rule
from the soul in order to treat mental health, we understood that
be Kulu be him Mehraban hearts can get sick.
And the same way your body gets sick, your soul your heart can get
sick, and you need help for that. And I'm going to digress for a few
moments because this is important. Many times we have stigma in our
community from going to get mental health, mental health. That is if
you get if you have an aching knee, are you ashamed that you're
going to the doctor? Do you hide the fact that I'm going to go to
the doctor and get someone to look at this pain in my knee? So why
are we so ashamed when it comes to issues on mental health?
I will say Belkin says it's perfectly normal for your body and
your mind to go through different stages of health and non health.
It's normal. So you got to get that treated and what our
communities for some reason this is a it's such a bad thing for my
son to be going through depression.
Question sometimes we see that mental health is jumbled together
with the spiritual aspect, right the spiritual aspect as we were
talking about this book that I am asking all of you to purchase, you
will realize that in ninth century