Top 5 Misconceptions People Have About Islam
AI: Summary ©
The speakers discuss the importance of acceptance of Islam as a means to achieve peace and happiness, rather than focusing on one thing. They emphasize the need for individuals to verify their beliefs and receive guidance in order to achieve their desired outcomes. The speakers also stress the importance of accepting the larger picture of life and not just focusing on one aspect.
AI: Summary ©
He
is His Messenger.
Jesus was his messenger.
Maybe it's just maybe it's just to break the ice.
Welcome to another episode of the deen show. We are here trying to help you understand Islam and Muslims. And you have done a very important step you've come to the source to learn about
the most misunderstood way of life in the world today yet, it is still the fastest growing way of life in the world today.
There's a lot of junk that's being thrown out there. So before we get to explaining what Islam is, and this perfect way of life, that is from the Creator of the heavens and earth, we got to move some junk out of the way.
So to help clear some of these misconceptions is the doctor of Dawa, Dr. Seville. How you doing a salaam aleikum? Everyone, I'm doing great. Nice to be on this show. Thank you for being back with us again, Dr. Seville, you got a lot of junk out there. People are some people claiming to be experts. Some people are just deliberately, they're misinforming the people about Islam, we want to give them the correct information. So we're going to be talking about some of the misconceptions people have. And we're going to talk about the five that you've seen that are the most common. So let's start with number five, and then we'll work our way down. All right, it's very good that we are doing this
show. Because unfortunately, because of the explosion of knowledge, on the internet, on the radio, magazines and newspapers, there are so many people saying so many things about you know, so many ideologies, and one of those ideologies is Islam.
And unfortunately, Islam is a very misunderstood religion, because of you know, many things which happen in the history of religion, things which are happening now. So it's the obligation of Muslims that we should be clearing up this misunderstanding. And 100 a lot of praise be to Allah, we are here to provide you with that. So inshallah God willingly we'll go with the very first top five misconceptions. All right, so let's start with number five. Some people claim that her arm has been borrowed from the Old Testament or the New Testament.
All right, so this is an allegation that people make. So how do Muslims respond to it? What Muslims say is that the higher end, which is the word of Allah, the creator, is revealed directly from God, and its souls is God Himself. It's not the Old Testament. It's not the New Testament, it is not even Prophet Muhammad peace be upon him.
It is not his writing.
So how can we prove that? Number one, her on has lots of information, which is not present in the Bible.
And historically, that information was not present in the time of Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him.
All right.
couple of examples.
They are some stories in the Bible which are similar to the stories of the heart of the harangue. Number one.
The Bible says in the Gospel in the, in the book of Genesis, chapter number seven, it says that there was a universal flood in the time of Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him.
If you look into her, and if we're on borrowed from the Bible, the Quran would have extracted the same story and would have said there was a universal flood in the time of Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him. But guess what the Quran says her and says in chapter number 10,
that there was a flood, but that flood was a local flood. It was limited to the unbelievers in the time of Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him. What does history say?
So now we have two accounts. You have account from the Bible, and the account from the Quran.
But to be fair, let's examine what does the history say?
History historical fact, says that it was a local flood. According to the Christian scholar who wrote the book, the Bible as history is there
archaeologist. In the book he mentioned that even though the Bible mentions that it was a universal flood history says history or archaeology account set, it was only a local flood. We have not yet proved it was a universal flood.
So you have two versions of the flood history supports the Quranic version. If Quran was borrowed from the Bible, why didn't the Quran extracted the biblical version of it?
That's number one.
Number two, the story of Pharaoh is present in the Bible. In the Old Testament, it is also present in the Koran.
In the Old Testament, it says that Pharaoh and his army that they were drowned, okay, indicating that they disappeared in the sea, the bodies are in the sea. What is the Koran says? The Quran says that, yes, Pharaoh in initially, he was drowned in the sea, but God saved his body. And he would be assigned for people.
All right, so Quran indicates set of law took the body out of body of Pharaoh out from the sea.
All right, amazing. Amazing. So what they discovered in the year 1898, they discovered the party of Pharaoh, not in the sea, but in the land. Okay. So if you're on borrowed from the Bible, that means for Ron would have extracted the same incorrect, factual
things which are not factual from the Bible would have been in the Koran too. But haoran corrected, and history testifies to it. Those are just two instances. And there are hundreds of those instances where haoran corrects the Bible. Yes. So we're talking about, we're going from five, and on our way down, that this misconception that Mohammed, who's the last and final messenger that people say that he took from biblical sources, and he wrote the Bible.
We'll touch upon this just a little bit more, then we'll go to number four, motive. When someone commits a crime or he does something that detectives, the police, they look for a motive. If we study this man's life,
is there a motive that he's calling the people away from idol worship? He's praying in the middle of the night. He's praying throughout the day, he's fasting giving charity? I mean, what's his motive for doing this? Did he attain some status of wealth, kingship? Was he given abundance of money and power women? was the motive. That's a very good question. For anyone to claim Prophethood there have been many people who create who claimed profit in our times david koresh, Reverend moon in many people. So most of the time when people when they claim Prophethood, there is a motive, motive for power, fame, money for women, motive for wealth, more default status, any one of those motives, but
when you look at the life of Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him who is a mercy to mankind.
People during his time, they wanted him to stop spreading the message of Islam, calling people to oneness of Allah. Okay? That so they bribed him by saying that we will make you the head of state. If you give up preaching Islam, we will give you all the wealth that we have, if you stop preaching Islam, they will give you the most beautiful women, if you stop preaching Islam, but guess what?
Prophet Muhammad peace be upon him who was a true prophet, just like Prophet Abraham and Prophet Moses and Prophet Jesus and all the prophets peace be upon all of them. He rejected their bribery, and he hold on to preaching monotheism. If he very false prophet, God forbid, he would have accepted those bribes.
He would have got caught up, he would have got caught up with those things, number four of the top five misconceptions that people have. Let's go to number four, Dr. Seville. All right, let's go to number four.
Some people say that the word Allah is referring to the God of the Arabs or a moon God. All right, so let's let's deal with that misconception. First of all, the word of law is an Arabic word for the Creator.
So Allah is the Creator that created the whole universe which is out there, things that we see things that we do not see.
Allah has shown us to us by His attributes,
allies, all knowing allies
Just he's the first he's the last. He's all knowing. He is the Sustainer. He is the one who is commanding the whole universe. So the same word Allah is also used by the Arab Christians and the Arab Jews. In their Bible, which is in the translation in Arabic language, from the book of Genesis up until the book of Revelation for the word God, guess what word they use the word Allah.
If they have to mention if they have to pray to God to one God,
they use the word Allah.
So Allah is the universal God. So what is the connection of Allah with moon? allies, the creator of the moon? Yes, Allah is the Creator of the sun. Allah is the Creator of all the prophets, Prophet Jesus, Moses, Prophet, Muhammad, peace be upon all of them. Allah is the Creator of the whole universe.
Tell us before we go on to number three, what did Jesus call God? By what name? Very, very, very good question. According to Encyclopedia Britannica, Jesus Christ peace be upon him his language was our mic. He did not spoke English and call his creator, his God. His language was Aramaic and he called God s. Aloha, Aloha, Aloha.
So much similar to the word Allah in Arabic language.
Because Aramaic, Hebrew, and Arabic, these are Semitic languages. There are so many words in common between all these languages. So Jesus, is Allah, his God was Allah. He just want to call God Allah. Yes, very simple. All right, so it doesn't take a theology degree or a bachelor's degree or doctorate degree. This is something very simple. Let's go on to number three.
All right, number three is
people think that jihad is holy war.
Well,
jihad, the word itself, it means to struggle and to strive.
Me coming here this late at night, away from my family, away from the luxuries of my home, away with my friends.
I'm here doing jihad? Do I have a sword in my hand? Am I coming after you? No, I'm not right. So struggling to be the best that I could be? Is Jihad
to fight my innate nature, to fight my desires, to submit to one God, to follow the guidance of God, that is jihad.
Alright, so Jihad could be on my own self, number one, to see that I don't speak a bad word to people to see that I control my tongue, my eyes, my years, that is jihad.
A second form of jihad is that if I see evil in the society, I make sure that I joined with people who are good hearted and fight that evil.
An example. If I see drug pushers out there on the street corner, either I could call police. The police do not come. I could make sure that they don't harm the society that that they are not going after the kids. What am I doing? I'm doing jihad. Yes, I'm fighting evil in the society. That's Yeah, yeah. Number three form of jihad is that Islam says, to use up all the diplomatic means of fighting evil, sit down with them, talk to them, reason out with them, give them better option, better guidance. Even if they don't comply with that, that Islam says as a last resort, pick up arms to fight the evil in this society is a last resort. After you've exhausted all the diplomatic means
as an exception, okay?
Even in that just war, we're supposed to go by certain guidelines. We cannot Islam says do not kill innocent human beings, no killing of non combatants, no killing of women, no killing of children. Do not destroy the infrastructure. Do not go after the people who are praying, do not kill animals. Do not destroy the land. That is the beauty of Islam.
So, Islam says to fight evil, the best way possible by diplomacy by showing by your example, if they don't comply, fight with them in a just war, even in a just war. All of these beautiful guidelines
On the top of it, if the enemy says,
I'm going to lay down my weapons, Muslims are supposed to lay down their weapons and try to mend.
So this is what jihad is, it is not holy war. There is not a single reference of holy war in the horror and the holy war. The word does not occur in the Quran.
I'm sure for a lot of people, this is a surprise, but you have done something good. You're coming to Muslims to learn about Islam and we're covering the five top misconceptions with Dr. Seville. We are number two.
Let's go back to Sybil. All right.
The second most common misconception is
that women in Islam, they are oppressed because they are wearing the hijab, the veil, the scarf.
The reason that women are covering themselves is because number one, Allah has commanded him.
Allah who is our Creator, he knows what is good for us what is dead for us. So he has commanded women to dress modestly.
So they are obeying their Creator. They're not obeying the fashion industry. They're not obeying. Some men out there in the street. They're not obeying their own personal desire, but they are submitting to the creator because Allah says, to cover themselves.
Now modesty in Islam is not limited to women. It is also for males, me and you and all the males out there.
So Allah says in the Quran, Chapter 24, verse number 30, it is addressing to men first, all of you men, this is for you. Okay? So Allah says in the Quran, Chapter 24, verse number 30,
that all men, lower your gaze and guard your modesty.
So that modesty concept is initially for men, then the following words, is for women, it says the same to the women, lower your gaze and guard your modesty and cover yourself in a modest way.
So modesty is for both males and females in Islam. Okay. Number two, very important.
The concept of modesty is a very comprehensive word, it is not limited to the way that we dress ourselves. It has to do with the modesty of our eyes, modesty of our heart, modesty of our tongue, modesty of our years, modesty of what we touch and who we touch.
So the reason that the hijab, the scarf is there is because Allah has commanded, and it preserved chastity for the person. And it preserved chastity and peace and harmony in the society.
Beautiful. So we're covering the five top misconceptions with Dr. Seville we've covered for so far. And we're going on to the number one misconception that people have that you've run across.
The number one misconception if you pick a person on the street, and if they ask that person, what do you think about Islam? They may say, Islam is synonymous with violence and terrorism.
In fact, that took a survey
in 2007, last year, according to 45% of the population, that was their number one attachment of Islam with terrorism, unfortunately,
part of that has to do with the media. Part of part of it has to do with Muslims not explaining ourselves Muslims not living what Allah has mentioned to us to live in the land. Okay.
So the top misconception is Islam is synonymous with terrorism. So the way to dispel this misconception, or to dismantle this false notion is
Islam is perfect. Allah has given a perfect guidance in the end. However, Muslims are human beings, we are fallible, just like Christians are human beings. They are fallible, they are not living according to what Jesus Christ has mentioned in the Bible, of what Moses peace be upon him, as mentioned in the Old Testament.
So we are not going to judge the Christianity faith just because Christians are fallible, because Christians are doing some things that they're not supposed to do. The Crusades, the Inquisition.
The Bosnian War, the Iraq War, of one Eastern war, the wiping away of the American Indians, the colonization of the land for centuries, started by Christians, but we Muslims, we are faced with
You're not going to attach the stigma to Christianity, the faith.
So likewise, any Christian or any person have open heart and open mind, they should not attach the actions of a few misguided Muslims with the beautiful teachings of the harangue. Okay, number one.
Number two, if you are going to judge Islam by a human being, the best human being was Prophet Muhammad peace be upon him. If we examine his life, we could find out that he prohibited killing of women and children, that he used to treat nicely to both Muslims and non Muslims, that he was called the most honest, and the most trustworthy. Yes, even non Muslims, they used to trust him so much. They used to keep their safe the goods with him.
So he was the best example. And we see that he never ever raised any soda or anything against innocent human beings.
And in the Koran, for on it mentions chapter five, first number 32. That killing off an innocent human being. It is as if killing all of humanity and saving the life of an innocent human being It is as if saving the life of all of humanity. So that is how much Islam respects the sanctity of life. So this is a very beautiful guidance. If anyone would like to get a free copy of the harangue, the telephone number is very simple. One 800 662 Islam is Li m, one 806 to Islam. I am Dr. Seville now that we've gotten the junk
out from in front of the house, we've cleared some of these misconceptions out of the brains of people, hopefully, there's some people who are watching who are sincere. And they're not happy with the life they're living, they don't have peace, they want to gain peace. Tell us briefly, what Islam is calling the people to what their Creator wants them to do, and the system this way of life, that they can be living today that they can strive to get to know even further.
All right, we all know that we are we all exist, and there is a purpose for our existence. We are created by God, and God is a loving God. God wants to guide us, God did not left us alone on our own whims on instincts. So God has started sending guidance to Prophet Adam peace be upon him
to Prophet Abraham, and no ha, and Moses and Jesus and Muhammad peace be upon all of them.
And when God sent His guidance, he did he does not want to confuse humanity by sending different religions to different prophets. So God by His mercy, he sent only one faith. And that faith was submit to only one God, do not submit to a human being, or a saint, or a prophet or an idol.
submission to only one God the Creator. If you convert that concept into Arabic language, it becomes the word Islam. Okay. So Islam was the only faith which was given to all of these prophets. So if a person accepts Islam, they're not accepting a new faith, very important, that indeed accepting the same fate. And the only fate which was given to Prophet Adam, and all the 1000s of prophets, until the last prophet, Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him.
Number two important thing is that all human beings when we were born, we were born pure and innocent. Because Allah, God is a just God, it does not want to have a stigma of sin to a newborn baby. What did the newborn baby do did.
So that newborn baby was implanted within spiritual chip to recognize and worship one God. If you leave the newborn baby alone without any outside influence, that person is going to grow, to recognize and submit to only one God. So to recognize and submit only one God in Arabic language is called Islam.
So each human being is born in the faith of Islam as Muslim. Later on their parents and teachers and environment, we change them into some other faith. So once a person converts to Islam or comes to Islam, there again, going back to the same fate as they're born with, yes. Isn't that wonderful? Yes, yes. So God has mentioned that anyone who comes
to Islam, and follows the guidance, the beautiful guidance in the Koran, along with the example of Prophet Muhammad peace be upon him, God is going to make the road of Paradise, easy for that person.
And the life of the person in this world would be at peace, because now he has a direct connection with God, without any intermediary. Islam says to directly connect with God, and God is close to you in his knowledge.
Okay. So, by a person coming to Islam, you're having a direct connection with God, number one. Number two, you are following the guidance which is coming from God Himself, not from a prophet, not from a saint, not from an idol, but your Creator. Okay, number three, the guidance which is found in the Koran is very practical. It makes the person's life better, and the life of a society better and enhanced.
An example of that would be drinking.
Alcohol is a very big problem in this country, and in the world. It's a big medical problem. It's a big problem out there and people are having accidents, people are having divorces. People are you know, killing each other because of alcohol and * and all of those.
So, we are debating, should we lower the limit? Should we raised the limit for alcohol? Guess what currencies are an ally sing in the Quran, chapter five, verse number 90, that do not come close to alcohol, zero tolerance for alcohol. Islam prohibits alcohol, the problem solve the problem, you're cutting the cause of the problem. So similarly, gambling causes many problems. Similarly, you know, adultery, fornication, and all of those things. So Islam provides a perfect solution to many of the problems or all the problems that our society is going through. The biggest problem right now, according to the society, is the economy. Guess what Islam says, do away with the interest, do not
exploit the poor.
That's what interest is, we're exploiting a person because he or she does not have enough money to buy a car or to buy a house. Right? So Islam solves the problem by saying, do not charge or take any interest.
So Islam is practical, it solves the problems on the top of it, Islam, the way to salvation, is very pure and simple.
have the right belief in one God, and do good deeds which are found in the heart. And by doing that, your road to paradise will be made easy by God.
So that's the first thing that someone has to do is accept that there is one God and that you worship Him alone on his terms. Indeed, indeed, yes. And they have to accept the Mohammed is the last and final messenger now when they accept Muhammad peace be upon him as the last and final messenger. Now, are they accepting all the other messengers that came before him? Yes, because if somebody has an attachment to Jesus now, I mean, do we just negate Jesus when you accept Islam? Yeah. So what Islam says Islam makes it easy for people to come to the religion of Islam, because it is the truth and God wants to make it easy for people to come to the truth. So what God says is that
obey what a lie sink means believe in one God submit to only one God and obey. Prophet Muhammad peace be upon him His commandments, what he brought, which is the Quran, from God, and the sayings of Prophet Muhammad peace be upon him. So once a person accepts Islam, they are having a direct connection with God, they're submitting to no creation, but to God Himself, number one, number two, they're accepting Prophet Muhammad peace be upon him as the last prophet and the last messenger. Along with that, they are accepting all the prophets of God, Prophet Jesus, Prophet Moses, Prophet David, Prophet, Solomon, Prophet, no ha, and Prophet, Adam, peace be upon all the prophets. So you
are taking the best that you already have in Christianity, and you are compiling your piling much more of what Islam has to offer.
So now somebody is watching this. They have watched some of our previous shows. They believe that God is the one that should be a worship, along with our partners, that God is unique. He's not a man. He's not a statue, an icon. He's a
Someone that should be obeyed. They believe that from studying the history of the Prophet from the authentic sources, that this man could not have been someone other than a prophet, a messenger of God. And you know what? They're ready? What do they got to do? Okay, so someone who believes that there is only one God and Prophet Muhammad peace be upon him who brought the four and by the only one God. All they have to do is give us a call number 118 100 662 Islam, okay, once you give us a call, along with us on the telephone, you could do the testimony of faith. the testimony of faith simply goes like this in English, the translation, that I bear witness, that there is no other God
besides one God, Allah. And I bear witness that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah. Once a person recites that from his heart, without any pressure from anybody, then that person becomes a Muslim.
Now a person who becomes a Muslim, now they're following the fate of Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, the fate of Prophet Jesus peace be upon him, fate of Prophet Moses, peace be upon him, going
to all the prophets. So they're in connection with all the prophets, they are going back to the same fate as they're born with, and ultimately, their road to paradise will be made easy for them.
Nice. We got a few more minutes, we're going to cover a few more points. Now that somebody
you got we got their attention, and they agree with everything and makes sense. You know what, some people are dragging their feet? Why is this something that's so important? Somebody might have been flicking through the channels, they have listened to it, they see that, you know, Islam is something logical, it makes sense. It's not something weird, something mystical. That's, you know, what, only a select few can understand. This is something that is meant for the layman. For the for the carpenter for the scientists, a doctorate has to make sense. It's coming from the Creator. It makes sense. But you know what, there's people that are still procrastinating. Why is this so important
that someone has to be firm on what they believe in, they have to believe the right thing. Why is it so important? How do you get somebody to take this seriously? Yes, very important that this live is a very short life. No one knows when I'm going to die on the law knows it. No one knows anyone who's going to die when they are going to pass away. Once we pass away, there will be a day of judgment. And Allah God is going to judge based upon what we are what we believe on earth, and our deeds. If our belief was good, if we submit it to one God and do good deeds, Allah by His mercy is going to place us into paradise. So it's very important that what we believed in this Earth right now should
be the way that Allah approves of it. Okay? So since we don't know when we are going to die, and when you are going to die, once you know that this is the truth that Allah has sent, that there is only one God and Muhammad peace be upon him is the messenger of God. They should embrace Islam.
4200 people they pass away each day 4200 4200 each day, so no one knows when would be my turn your turn, or the turn of the viewers of their right. So what I would request for people who are ready to accept Islam, but they still have that hesitancy they want to study more. My example would be this an analogy. All right.
So brother, Eddie, suppose if you go to buy a car, you have certain things that you want in a car, right? Maybe the price range, maybe the color, the model, the make some of the big things that you look, when you go and buy a car, once you're satisfied that the salesperson is okay with your price, and the color and the model and the make and all of those things of the car. If you accept the bigger picture of the car, you bring the car home, right? You don't open the hood and look at each nut and bolt. You don't spend like many years in the parking lot of that, you know, the dealership, lifting and looking at under each seat, and smelling all the seats and the cars and the hood in the
trunk. If you accept the bigger picture of the car, you purchase the car. In the same way. Islam provides you the best guidance. don't submit to anyone else except one God.
This is the book of guidance. It has practical advice to bring peace to you and peace to the world. It has guidance for you how to attain salvation and the best reward would be parent
dice, there is the bigger picture in Islam.
Once a person accepts the bigger picture, then they should go ahead and embrace Islam. They should go ahead and recite the testimony of faith.
Thank you, Dr. Seville for being with us again on the deen show. Thank you very much people can visit you at gain peace calm also. Yes. And you have the one 800 number one 800 662 Islam.
Do the right thing. Know that this life is short.
And as Dr. Seville has given a great analogy, you look at the bigger picture. you investigate. Before you do that, ask God to guide you.
Life is short.
We have to really contemplate and think
why am I here? Why have I been created.
Look at the other ways of life. You will not see something as pure. Something that goes with your very nature with your mind
that cause you to submit to the Creator, not his creation. In every other way of life. You'll see them in one way or another, calling you to worship something in the creation. Islam is calling you to worship god alone, and accept all the messengers of God. But the messenger ship had to come to an end with the last and final messenger the Prophet Muhammad peace and blessings be upon him. I'm going to cut out with this. If you don't know this man get to know this man. But I'll tell you because I started off talking about all the garbage that's out there. A lady used to throw garbage in front of the messengers house.
And this went on time and time again. Can you imagine someone throwing garbage in front of your house? What would you do? You'd be pretty upset when did he throw a fit? No. Was he patient Yes. That he snapped No. And went on and on. And one day he came out of his house to expect what he usually sees the garbage. The garbage was in there. What did he do? He went to this lady's house, knocked on the door.
As for the lady, so what do you want? said I didn't see the garbage in front of my house. I came to see if you're okay.
She was dumbfounded struck. She said a Chateau. ilaha illAllah Muhammad Rasulullah she took this testimony of faith that there's no deity worthy of worship except Allah, the Creator of the heavens and earth. And the Mohammed
is indeed a messenger of God. This is one beautiful teaching story of this messenger. Get to know who he is. Come back every week to the deen show, and learn more. Ask God to guide you. That's the first thing you got to do. And we'll go from there. We'll see you again. One 800 662 Islam if you're ready to do it now.
Salaam Alaikum. Peace be unto you.
See the rain fall from the sky? zz because
they are from your heart worship below and you see
See?
See the existence surrounding me.