Yasir Qadhi – The Need for Religion

			hamdulillah All praise is due to Allah subhanho wa Taala we praise Him and we seek His help. And we
seek refuge in Allah from the evil of our souls and the consequences of our actions. Whomever Allah
guides, none can misguide. And whoever is misguided cannot be guided except by him. I bear witness
and I testify that there is no God except for Allah. And I bear witness and I testify that the
Prophet Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wa sallam is his final prophet, and his most perfect worshipper.
As to what follows know that the best speech is the speech of Allah. And the best guidance is the
guidance of the Prophet Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, and the worst of all affairs is a
		

			change in the religion for every change in the religion is misguidance and every misguidance leads
to the fire of *. Dear Muslims, Allah subhanho wa Taala has reminded us to be conscious of him in
the Quran, when he says yeah, you hola dena. Amenhotep Allah Allah to otter. Wala Templeton illa
Anta Muslim moon,
		

			when we look at the trajectory of the Western world that we live in, one of the most obvious changes
in the last century is the decline of religion, and specifically the decline of Christianity as a
viable force in the Western world. In fact, if you look at Europe in particular, the majority of
Europeans do not believe in Christianity. They themselves might have been baptized in the
60s 70s 80s, but they are not even baptizing their children. Church attendance has plummeted. And
the number of Muslims going to the masjid on Friday in England is more than the number of Anglicans
going to church on Sunday in the same country. Think about that. Even though Muslims are 6% of
		

			England, the percentage of Muslims who go to the masjid is more. The quantity of Muslims who go to
the masjid is more in England than the quantity of Christians and of Anglicans who go to the church.
Europe is already lost in its rejection of Christianity. In this country of ours, America, still a
majority of people claim to be Christian. But according to Pew surveys, according to every statistic
study done, it is very likely within our own lifetimes, the young amongst us, by the time they're
elderly, it is very likely that Christianity will no longer be a majority faith tradition, even in
this country. The New York Times had an article recently, in which it's telling it told us that the
		

			fastest growing religion is no religion. The fastest growing religion is no religion, there is a
phenomenon they call it the rise of the nuns, not n u n, none like the Christian Catholic Church,
none, no, none, no N E none. The rise of the nuns, the rise of the unaffiliated, the millennial
generation, our children's generation, the millennial generation 35% of them say they don't believe
in a higher power, they don't believe an organized religion. If this is the case, now, what is going
to happen when this millennial generation comes of age. And all of this is new, barely 100 years
ago, literally barely 100 years ago, a person who publicly denied there is a God a person who
		

			publicly said that he's an atheist would face social ramifications, not they wouldn't go to jail,
but social society would ostracize them, they might even lose their jobs. People would not like this
person, how can you not believe in God 100 years ago, so in 100 years, we see this radical shift
where not only can you publicly deny God in our times, the fact of the matter is that it is socially
acceptable, it is the norm. It is what scientists publicly do, and to mock religion is becoming more
and more mainstream.
		

			There, therefore, all Muslims, it is imperative that we speak frankly to our next generation. We
explain to them the purpose of religion, the need of religion. Why do we need a dean a religion and
today's brief hotspot? Well, as usual, there's only so much we can do. We'll begin the conversation.
The goal is just to start the conversation. 125 minutes. I cannot answer everything, but we must be
frank
		

			And we must acknowledge that the society we live in, it is going to impact and it is impacting our
own youth. And we do have somewhat of a crises beginning now it is true Al Hamdulillah Al
Hamdulillah. By and large, the Muslim community is faring much better than any other faith community
and our what we call retention rate. Our observance of Islam from father to son from mother to
daughter is much higher than any other faith tradition. This is a fact it is much higher than any
other faith tradition. But still, it is not 100%. And we need to be frank and acknowledge. What do
you expect our children are being raised in this land in the western society, so they will absorb
		

			some of the issues some of the doubts some of the criticisms? Therefore, in today's brief chutzpah,
I want to remind our young men and women, why do we need religion? What is the goal of religion?
What is the necessity of religion? And we begin answering this question by simply examining the
world around us and acknowledging the perfection of how Allah created us whatever the Huracan
insanity is, and when we created man in the best of all images and forms, Allah azza wa jal mentions
in the Quran, the perfect symmetry with which every aspect of creation fits together, Allah
challenges us look at the creation, helter Amin photo, do you see a flop Do you see a break in the
		

			design, Allah challenges us again, continue looking continue examining your eyes will become tired,
but the perfection of nature is going to astound you. So our scholars mentioned when it is self
evident, that the creation is in such perfect harmony, harmony, and that all of our needs have been
taken care of. Everything we need, Allah has provided for us we need air to breathe, we need a
certain percentage of oxygen, we need water, we need food, we need shelter, we need companionship,
every single need that the human body has, the creation has provided for us by Allah's permission,
we see this and by the way, even Taymiyah mentions this, the more we need something, the easier
		

			access we have to it, I'll repeat, the more we need something, the easier we have access to it, what
we need the most is air without air for two three minutes we will die, air is free everywhere nobody
is everybody has air, then we need water, water is everywhere in every society, every city, then we
need food then we need so the more we need something, the easier Allah has created access to that
thing. Then our scholars say, if this observed physical reality, if this tangible truth you can see
it, it is self evident, what you need has been provided for you this is very clear. So the question
arises, what is more important, the functioning of life? Or the cause of life?
		

			What is more important, sustaining life or questioning? Why is there life? And obviously the more
important question is the question of the origins of life itself, and of the meaning of life and of
the value of life. And this is where religion comes in the one who provided our physical needs, the
one who took care of every single aspect of our existence, down to the most minut realities, the
proportion of nitrogen and oxygen is absolutely perfect. The distance of the Earth to the Sun is
precisely calculated the alternation of the night and the day and the moon is something that our
bodies are biologically in tune with. It didn't just come about accidentally, Allah azza wa jal
		

			created this so the one who took care of our physical needs must also take care of our intellectual
and spiritual needs. The one who takes care of the body must also take care of the soul. When Musa
went to frown, and Musa challenged for around an hour and said, I am God I am telling you everything
you need to know for now and said who is your God? Musa said, or Buddha Allah the outer Kula che and
halacha Hawthorne Muda, surah Taha, verse 50, my Lord is the one who created every creation and
perfection. And then he taught us guidance, beautiful verse, My Lord is the one who created
everything. I'll talk Kula che in Hulka, who He created everything in perfect harmony. And then
		

			after creating everything he didn't just leave us to be he didn't just create us and disappear,
vanish.
		

			without a trace on the contrary, he then provided us with guidance through Maha he told us how to
live, why to live? What is the purpose of life? What will happen after death. This hedaya is what
religion is all about. Brothers and sisters, my dear youth, science can only go so far in explaining
life. I agree, science has done amazing research and understanding down to the most minut issues of
how life exists how procreation occurs, how the cells function, science can explain how but science
can never explain why. The why is beyond science that is metaphysics. physics tells you how
metaphysics tells you why. Why is everything in such perfection and harmony? Why is our body so
		

			perfectly in sync? Why is the creation the way that it is? Science doesn't have any answers? We must
have a higher purpose than mere existence, and that higher purpose will only come from religion. In
fact, Allah challenges us did you think we would create you and then leave you alone? Did you think
we will create you as a just as a joke as a waste of time? Did man think we created him to waste our
time? Allah says in another verse, yes, I will in sound and Yutaka. Sudha did man think we would
create him and then let him be without any further guidance of what to use is a Creator, who doesn't
tell you why you have been created? What type of creator is this? Allah is saying, Did you think we
		

			would create you so perfectly, so harmoniously? And then let you be without telling you why you're
here? Yeah, so I went inside to a new tracker Sudha. So the one who takes care of our physical needs
will also take care of our spiritual needs. And this is where religion comes in. This is where
guidance from Allah comes in. This is where revelation comes in. This is where prophecy comes in.
Because it is true. It is true. Allah gifted us with intellect, Allah gifted us with mind, it is
true. We are the most intelligent species on Earth. By leaps and bounds there is no competition. No
other species comes close to us when it comes to cognition and our cognitive faculties when it comes
		

			to our understanding of the world. When it comes to even what is called metacognition. Metacognition
is to know why you know, and to know how you know, we can go not just one deed, 2d and 3d, we can
think about why we're thinking we can think about how we are thinking, and even more amazingly, we
can record our thoughts for posterity. We can write, we can speak and other people can benefit from
our knowledge. No other species can record its history, its language, its architecture, its
philosophy, its poetry, no other species can do this. And of course, by the way, the Quran tells us
this is a gift Allah has given us this is a gift only we have been given. Allah says why lemma Adam
		

			a smart Allah taught Adam how to speak no other creation was taught a Rahman holla Collinson, I
lemma who will buy yarn I lemma, who will buy an Allah taught man, what is it what it is to have
eloquent speech? So it is true we have higher intellect than any species on this earth. But our
intellect alone is only going to take us so far, our intellect alone will never be able to give us
definitive answers. In order to get those definitive answers. We need to go beyond our own
existence. We need to go to the creator of existence to tell us those definitive answers. Because
here's the point, if all of us think that our minds can achieve ultimate truth, who is going to
		

			judge between all of our minds which mind is there that is going to judge between all of our other
minds in the end of the day, we are all human and all fallible? We need guidance from the
infallible, we need guidance from the One who created us. And this is why the Quran tells us the
greatest human being who ever came our Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam before the revelation
began. He knew a lot. He did not worship idols. He was a righteous person. He did not drink he did
not womanizer do not gamble. He knew many things by the intellect by the purity of his heart, but he
didn't know the details. He couldn't go beyond the generics. And that's why and he would go to Adi
		

			Hara and he would think and he would contemplate, but thought processes can only take you 1020 30%
And that's it. You can never get to the 100% simply by thinking alone. And that's why Allah reminds
him and through him, all of us. What we're Jellicle Ball and for hada we found you you were
		

			upon guidance and we guided you, the one who is the most blessed good human being the most noble
human being the one who was sent as Metallian Alameen. Without Allah's guidance, he didn't have
hedaya. Well, we're Jeddah call bon lanpher hada. Allah says in the Quran in the end of Surah Assura
verse 52.
		

			What can I do? Oh Haley, Kuru Herman and Medina. This is how we have inspired you with Revelation.
This is why and how we have inspired you with Revelation. Ma Quinta, Teddy melki, taboo and Eman.
You had no idea what is the revelation and what is Iman in Allah you didn't know the details. Allah
is negating the reality of Eman from the one who was sent to guide us he didn't have that before the
coming of the Quran only after the coming of the Quran only after the revelation. Did he have that
knowledge? Mark Quinta de Mille Kitab Warland. Eman you didn't know what was the Kitab you didn't
know what was Iman until Jana who neuron We sent down the note of the Quran into your heart when
		

			that nor when that he died. When that she fog comes down, then everything changes. Our knowledge can
only go so far, our knowledge is limited. And so we need religion and Revelation, we need higher
guidance from Allah subhanho wa taala. Another reason why we need religion is that not only does
religion answered the biggest questions of life, why are we here? Who created us? What is going to
happen after death? These questions what are called the metaphysical questions. As I said, science
has nothing to do with them. Science has no experiment it can do about death and the meaning of
death. How can it how can you study a person after death? Science can't even judge the soul? It
		

			can't even prove the soul all the scientific instruments on Earth cannot even prove that there is a
soul inside of our body. Science is materialistic. It is not metaphysical. So yes, you science for
its role. But religion is needed for that which is beyond science. Another reason why we need
religion is not only to answer, why we are here, and what's going to happen after death, but also to
answer other big questions. How should we live our lives? What is the best way to live? What is the
reality of right and wrong of virtue and of sin and a vise, the the reality of ethics of morality,
it will only come when it is revealed from beyond from above, from the One who created us, we
		

			ourselves can never arrive at the truth of the reality of ethics and virtue, why? Imagine a bunch of
schoolchildren imagine a bunch of kids without any teacher without any principal without any system
and you tell the children, okay, you teach yourselves and you have your own exams, and you grade
yourselves. How can children do this? You need somebody who has gone through that stage and is now
beyond that stage. So when it comes to ethics, when it comes to laws, when it comes to what is good,
what is pure, what is impure? We human beings can never be fully objective. We're always going to be
subjective. How can we judge ourselves? How can we judge the efficacy of an ethical virtue of even a
		

			substance? Allah says in the Quran about alcohol? Allah says common wine, Allah says, there's some
good in it, I'm telling you, there's good in it, but the evil is more than the good. Now, how can we
judge alcohol, if those who drink it, they love it, and they're gonna say, Oh, this is better. We
love this, this intoxication, more than any harm, who's going to judge when human beings themselves
are the doers and the actors, when human beings are the judge and the jury and the executioner,
humans cannot achieve ultimate ethical values amongst themselves. And that is why we need a higher
power. Allah says in the Quran, explicitly, in Surah, Menon, whether whatever I'll help him the
		

			first set that is somewhat to allow the woman fee him If truth, how, if ethical values of virtue
were subject to their devices, if truth were relative, if the hawk were up for a majority vote, then
Allah says, all that is in the heavens and earth would go corrupt. Truth is beyond what the majority
saying. The majority can say something and the truth is not going to be affected by it. Who's going
to tell us truth? Who's going to tell us right from wrong? Who's going to tell us pure from impure?
Allah says in the Quran, it is the Prophet Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wa sallam Allah DNA a tabula
rasa Nabil oh me a lady yet you do know who Maktoum an endo feta article in Julie Yeah, Morrow whom
		

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			While you're in her home, I need a moon car while you do the homework per year but while you heard
him or ally him will cover it, this profit has come to them and he commands them to do good and He
forbids them to do evil and he encourages them to embrace the pure and he warns them from that which
is impure. Notice the Prophet sallallahu I sent him has come the Quran has come the Sunnah has come
to teach us alcohol this bad comet is bad open, Zina is bad, how will we know this without the
higher guidance from Allah. And this is what we see in the society around us when truth becomes
subject to popular vote. When truth becomes subject to our desires, then morality changes every 510
		

			years, morality constantly changes. And clearly, morality is not something that should change. So
another major benefit of religion, it teaches us truth from falsehood. There are many other benefits
as well, time is limited. I'm quickly going to list some of the benefits of religion of the benefits
of religion and faith is that good faith promotes psychological sanity. Good Faith gives you a
ground a solid ground to stand on it gives meaning to your life. It motivates you to live beyond
your physical existence to live the best lives that you can. faith and religion allows you to cope
with the negativity with the stress with the grief with the tensions of life. Faith provides us a
		

			community, a broader family than our biological family. Faith gives us history Faith gives us
identity religion gives us self esteem. Religion is the greatest unifying force for righteous people
because it transcends ethnicity. It transcends culture, it transcends the fake divisions of the
nation state religion brings together all of diverse people in humanity under the banner of piety
the benefits of religion, my dear brothers and sisters are too many to numerous. But to summarize in
one simple sentence, religion and belief in Allah subhanho wa Taala is really the only thing that
makes life worth living. No other aspect will make life noble, no other belief no other system will
		

			give actual meaning to your existence. Religion comes and tells you you are not just a bunch of
atomic part of particles randomly put together you're not just an animal with the most basis of
desires. No, you're not just an accident or a fluke and in the cosmic history of the universe, no
religion comes and gives nobility and purpose and meaning to your very existence without religion
will Allah He me and you are nothing it is with religion that we get the dignity and the nobility
that comes with belief in Allah subhana wa Tada May Allah subhana wa Tada bless me and you within
through the Quran. And May He make us of those who is versus they understand and applies halal, and
		

			how long throughout our lifespan, ask Allah for forgiveness, US will ask him for his liver for and
the Rockman.
		

			Alhamdulillah all praises due to Allah, the One and the unique hate is when we worship, and it is
his aid that we seek. He is the Lord of the oppressed, and he hears the prayer of the week as to
what follows dear Muslims, realizes that Western society as a whole, prominent philosophers,
scientist, prominent people that we look up to as a society, by and large, the default in our time
and era, they have left religion, and they criticize religion. But I want you to understand a
fundamental point. Their criticism of religion should not be called a criticism of religion. It
should be called a criticism of European Christianity. The fact of the matter is, if you listen to
		

			their criticisms, if you listen to the scientists and the philosophers of our times when they say
religion does this and religion does this and religion does this, what they are talking about is
their own experience, Europe's experience, the West's experience with the Catholic Church and the
medieval ages. And they then extrapolate from that one trajectory of human history, they extrapolate
and they pretend or they believe that all of religion is exactly the same. And this is Wallahi an
injustice of the highest magnitude, again, much can be said, I want to give you three common
examples very prevalent in the discourse of the criticism of religion. Number one, they say,
		

			religion is backward, and religion has kept you know, society away from science and religion is the
cause of our being on literate and illiterate and and not advancing in the science. It's only when
we get
		

			gave up religion that we had enlightenment and post enlightenment that we discovered all that we
discovered. And again, the most basic understanding of Islamic history will show this is not
religion. This is the history of the Catholic Church with Europe to extrapolate this and say
religion does this, on the contrary, and again, I'm not sugarcoating I'm not painting a romantic
picture. The fact of the matter is, we never had a problem with science and religion we never had
the clash of science and religion. Our Golden Age was when we had the greatest aroma and the
greatest scientists together hand in hand. We never had a Galileo or Copernicus, Copernicus, whom
		

			the church threatened with execution, we never had the ODA ma saying to the scientists don't look at
it. As astronomy don't look at chemistry, don't look at mathematics. No. So this is a weakness of
the Catholic Church. This is a problem of the Middle Ages that they had to overcome. And then they
think all of religion is backward, no, talk about your own experiences, don't throw it and project
it onto us. Another thing they're going to say is that oh, religion is the source of so many wars,
as so much discord of so much division, religion brings people to fight together and causes
intolerance. And once again, it shows that they haven't studied beyond their own tradition and their
		

			own history. Yes, it is true Wallahi it is true. Their religion was the highest form of bigotry and
intolerance. This country was founded by people who were Christians, but were being persecuted by
another flavor of Christianity. They could not even tolerate different flavors, they were killing
people burning them alive, burning them alive, because they had a different belief about how is
Jesus God, they would literally kill hundreds of people. What is European history of the 16th and
17th century, every high school students know this. Everybody who's done AP history knows this. What
is European history except one religious war after another, but look at Islam. Look at our faith
		

			tradition, we didn't have anywhere near anything close, no equivalent. On the contrary, our religion
preaches tolerance, you don't have to agree non Muslims can live under our laws. And that is why
many times in human history when other societies had a civil war or religious war, those minorities
fled to Muslim lands because they could live under Islamic law, they could flourish and Islamic
civilizations before the creation of the apartheid state in 1948. So many Jewish people who were
persecuted in Europe, they fled to Muslim lands. This is why before 1948, the largest population of
Jewish people was in Baghdad, in Tunisia in Yemen. Why? Because Europe could not stand them. Europe
		

			was persecuting them, and they fled to Muslim lands, and they were allowed to flourish. The greatest
minds of that tradition, were actually born and raised in Muslim lands, Moses Maimonides, Mussolini,
Mamoon, Rambam, all of these great figures, they were from Muslim land spoke Arabic. So once again,
don't tell us intolerance, and bigotry and civil war. And then say all religions, say your own faith
tradition, don't throw it on us. And the last point, we'll mention it again, much more can be said.
One of the main causes of people giving up religion. And unfortunately, this is also true in our in
our civilization as well, is because they have a bad experience with a person who is supposed to be
		

			a person of religion. So because of that experience, they say, Oh, if this is what religion is, then
I don't want to be a part of religion. Recently, the Catholic Church had a scandal of the priests as
you're aware, and many Catholics, they lost faith in this like, Oh, if this is the priest, then why
should we be a believer in this faith tradition? In fact, the fact of the matter is that the Western
trajectory of history is that they overthrew their religion, because they couldn't stand the
corruption of the medieval Catholic Church, the corruption of the Pope's, the corruption of the
priests and clergy, they were just sick and tired of it. So the Protestant Reformation came about,
		

			and then the rest, as they say, is history. So their perception is, if religion were true, then you
wouldn't have all of these people doing bad things in the name of religion. The response to this is
actually very simple brothers and sisters, and our faith tradition in Islam. We don't have a pope.
We don't have an ordained clergy. There is no body that says this item this share is speaking on
behalf of God no, no, no, no, no. Yes, the Catholics believe the Pope is infallible that they have
to deal with that. We don't in our tradition, we separate the religion from the people. The religion
is perfect. The people are not the Quran is perfect. Not every half of this perfect. The Sunnah is
		

			perfect. Not everybody who teaches the Sunnah is perfect. I am a human being. I have studied the
religion but I am imperfect imperfect. If you see a fault in me if you see a flaw in me
		

			If you see a mistake in me, you need to be wise enough to separate my humanity from the religion. We
do not have ordained clergy, we do not have an infallible pope. We do not have a person who we
believe is divinely guided and representative of religion on earth. No, anybody can become a chef
and Adam, every one of you can become a Shere Khan out of them. And when you do, that doesn't change
your humanity. Collectively, yes, there are inheritors of the profits collectively, but no one no
one share is speaking on behalf of the religion. If you come across one bad apple, one corrupt
person, one share who made a mistake, one person who did something wrong against You, you need to be
		

			mature and separate the religion from the humanity of the person who did this to you. Now the
Catholic church could not do that. Because in their tradition, the Pope is speaking on behalf of God
and the clergy is ordained. That is a problem they have but once again, we as Muslims don't have
that problem because we don't have such a figure. And for us, we have a very clear distinction that
perfection is with Allah and with the Sunnah of the messenger. The Sierra is our perfect role model.
Nobody who preaches the Sierra is a perfect role model. The Quran is the perfect book, nobody who
has memorized the book is perfect. So we teach our youth this separate the perfection separate the
		

			Quran and the prophets of Salaam in the Sierra, from the people who are preaching and teaching from
amongst the people who are preaching and teaching you will find good, but you will also find bad
when you find the bad overlook them, turn them away and go to those that are good and separate the
religion from the people of the religion. The bottom line brothers and sisters, the bulk of
objections that our modern society has against religion, it is not against religion, it is against
their version of religion and it is in light of their history with religion. So my dear young
brothers and sisters, my dear youth, Study, Learn ask be in be inquisitive. Ask the people of
		

			knowledge and wallah, you will come to the same conclusion. without religion without belief in God
without having a purpose in life, life becomes meaningless. It is religion that gives us nobility.
It is religion that gives life meaning it is religion that makes life worth living. May Allah
subhana wa Tada make us all of the great people of religion Allama and Edina aminu Allama data that
it has to do with them when you love a Fatah whether Hammond Illa for Raja whether they need a lot
of data while I'm live on Elysia, feta Allahumma fildena. One and Olivia Saba, Pune, Bill Iman What
a pleasure I feel Peruvian Alhamdulillah Latina I'm an Robina in Nakuru for Rahim, Allah Houma is
		

			Islam our Muslim in Allahumma is Islam and Muslim in Allah Muhammad Aradhana Allah are the Islam and
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