The Purpose Of Life

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Allah He will occur to all of my Muslim brothers, sisters, and welcome to our guests and welcome to our at home viewers that one on one TV, where we are simply trying to get the message of Islam out to as many people who are wanting and willing to listen. We are broadcasting live tonight from College Station, Texas oggy land they call it correct.

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Broadcasting from ag land.

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Not far north from Houston, Texas, which more people are probably familiar with Houston, Texas and College Station, the home of Texas a&m University. And tonight we are

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going to discuss a very important topic, very important topic. And I'm not going to sit here and tell you I have all the answers, because I don't I'm one person I'm one human being. I don't have all the answers. But tonight we're going to discuss who does have all the answers? And what is the reason for everything that we see around us, including ourselves.

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What is the purpose of life? Now? That is a question that humanity has asked itself since the dawn of time itself? Why am I here? What is my reason? What is my purpose? And this is a question that everyone has to answer for themselves at some point in their life in order to accomplish anything of benefit of value on a bigger scale, they need to know why am I here? What What am I doing. And rather than discussing all of the viewpoints out there, and whether or not we disagree with them, whether we agree with them, or trying to debate this viewpoint of the purpose of life versus this point of view, viewpoint of the person life, I'm going to try to stick the majority of my talk to

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the Islamic perspective of the purpose of life with maybe putting in some other viewpoints here and there for reference, but the the the majority is going to be about disarming the point of the purpose of life.

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Now one thing I want to say that I have in common with almost everyone in this room, not only my Muslim brothers and sisters, but as well as our non Muslim guests is, number one, I have in common with everyone that I am part of this race of humanity that is crawling across the face of the globe. And even though now I'm sitting on one side of the fence as a Muslim, not very long ago, I was sitting on the other side of the fence as a non Muslim.

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13 years ago, in 1998, I would not have been sitting here on this side of the fence, I was sitting on that side of the fence. And if you would have asked me, What is the purpose of life, I don't really think I would have been able to answer that with any credible certainty with inside of myself, what is the purpose of my life? And that was an answer that I was looking for. And that was something that I was seeking. And it also led me to be here, where I am today.

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And one thing I'm going to ask everyone tonight is to have an open mind, have an open mind even if you have some

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conceived notion of what you believe the purpose of life is I also asked you to just open your mind for a moment. Because they say the mind is like a parachute. Can anyone tell me how the mind is like a parachute?

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How does a parachute work?

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If it's open, right? a parachute only works. If it's open, you jump out of an airplane and don't open a parachute. It's not going to do you very good. The parachute only works if it is open. So that open mind will let the mind work. Also the water in the glass analogy. If you take a glass and you turn it upside down, and you try to pour water into it, how far will you get?

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Will you be able to fill that glass never, you will never be able to fill the glass I don't care if you pour all day long, you're never going to feel not even a drop in the glass. The glass needs to be turned over into be a receptacle for receiving the water. So I'm asking you to at least have an open mind tonight to not accept the ideas. I'm not forcing you to accept ideas, but at least be open to receive them or at least be open to receive them.

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Now,

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this question the purpose of life?

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One of the reasons it's so important, and one of the reasons it is a question that has been been debated throughout the ages. And one thing that I think has prevented a lot of people from answering this question are the implications behind it. The implications behind answering this question, because if I answer the question for myself, what is the purpose of my life, then that would lead for me to have to do something about

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It, if I realized the purpose to my life, I have to do something about that, then then I would have to act upon that purpose. And what if I decide that the purpose of my life or if I find out the purpose of my life is something completely different than I have always known, or something that I've always held as a value, or something that my parents have taught me, or something maybe that my teachers have taught me or pastor has taught me or whoever has taught me? What if I find out by asking this question sincerely, something that different than I've ever known, that means that I would have to change, my ideas have to change, my life has to change, everything about me is going

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to change revolving around that purpose. And one thing, if human beings are afraid of anything, we're afraid of change, change is frightening. Change is very frightening, especially when it's major change, and there could be no more major change, than answering for yourself, what is the purpose of my life? And when it comes to purpose,

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purpose, what is the purpose in and of itself? purpose is a reason and reason for a reason to

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if you have no purpose in your life,

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then you have no reason to continue to get up every morning. Everyone lives their life with a purpose, whether or not they know it, whether or not they've answered that question for themselves, they are living their lives according to a purpose. You get out of the bed in the morning, right? Everyone who gets out of the bed in the morning, correct. If you get out of the bed in the morning, you have a reason for getting out of bed in the morning, correct. You don't just automatically jump and get out of bed and saying, I in voluntarily, you get it for a reason. Most of you, you get up and go to school, right? You're gonna have to go to school, you have to go to class, I have to go to

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work, I have to make a paycheck. Even if you get up like me, some mornings, I call it the bed. Sometimes I think just to get a good cup of coffee.

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Whatever it is, you're getting up for a reason. You go to work for a reason. You go to school for a reason, you continue to live your life for a reason. But maybe you have not pinpointed it yet. Maybe you haven't well defined that reason, maybe your reason is always changing. Right now, your reason may be to go to school later on your reason maybe to go get a job and to go to work later on your reason might change. So our reasons for getting up our reasons for living might change. But one thing that is very beautiful about Islam is that the Muslim is taught to fine tune that reason, fine tune that reason to a central point, to where everything I'm doing in my life, whether it's going to

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school, whether it's going to work, whether it's getting up just to pray, whatever it is, I'm getting up with one central focus, one central reason, one central purpose do I do everything in my life, and everything in my life revolves around that hub of purpose. And the Muslim is taught to fine tune that. And that starts at the age when we begin to understand the world around us. And that purpose, and that reason for doing things continues until the day we meet our death, the inevitable resting place of all human beings. You know, as they say, life is all about from the womb to the tomb. We're all racing towards death, every single day you are racing towards your death, every

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breath you take, every single moment that passes, you are racing towards your eventual end, none of us are immortal. We are finite beings.

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So when someone fine tunes their purpose and their reason, they become a much more productive individual. When you look at people who are ultimately successful in the world, let's just take the business world. If you look at people like the bill gates of the world, the Steve Jobs of the world, the Warren Buffett's of the world, if you ask them, what gets you out of bed in the morning, they will snap right immediately and tell you they'll give you a reason. What gets me out of bed in the morning. What made you continue to do what you were doing, even though your company almost tanked? What made you overcome this hurdle? What made you do this and all of these questions, you will get

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almost a similar response. Because these people have fine tuned the purpose for their life, even if that purpose was just to make technology

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to help people in their lives and to make communication better. Or maybe if it was just to make their wallets fatter, or whatever it was, those things drove them and they worked on it so much and they drove them so much that hurdles that were put in front of them didn't faze them, setbacks in their companies didn't faze them, people coming against them. Then it faze them. Other companies that would come and rival them or in competition did faze them because they had a purpose. And that purpose continued to be in front of them all the time.

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Let me give you an analogy to this purpose question.

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Let's say we went to run a race was the major highway wasn't one of the major highways new here.

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76 six highway 66. Let's say they set up they

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walk off highway six.

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And we go, and we all lined up for this race, you know, we're ready, we're pumped up, we get our everything going. And we asked, you know, how long is the race, and they say all the races 10 kilometers 26. If you want a marathon at 26.2, you know, they put the point two there, because anybody can run 26. It's those point two. Anyway, they say it's this long. Now, if it's 10 kilometers, and you begin to run, we're all running correct. And we get to the ninth kilometer, and we start to get tired, you start to get fatigued, or you get a cramp in your side or your leg starts to hurt or you get dehydrated. Now, you're almost there. Where are most people going to water most

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people going to do in this situation?

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They're going to push through the pain, they're going to push through it, they're going to make it to the end. Why? Because they know I'm trying to get to that 10th kilometer. I'm trying to get to that finish line. They have that finish line in mind, and they're going to get their cramp. No cramp. Thirsty, no thirsty, leg hurting, no leg hurting. We've been even you've even seen some runners just completely their body just fall apart. And they will drag themselves across the finish line. Because they know where they're wanting to go. The race has a purpose, correct? Yes or no? Now what if we go out and begin? And we ask, okay, how long is the race? I'm ready to go. They say? What

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do you mean? How long is it? There's no end? You just run?

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We're just running. All right. Most people right, then thank you very much. I'm going back home. Right now there's no point to this race. And for those who decide to run this race, if you get to that eight kilometer, nine kilometers, 10 kilometers, you get that cramp and pain and and thirst, what are you going to do?

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They're going to stop. Why? Because there's no point to continue to go on. There's no reason for me to push through this pain. There's no reason for me to continue to hurt myself. Because there is no end to this race.

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So in the race of life, if you have a purpose, then you have a reason to keep going on. If you have a bad day, you get up in the morning again, right? Even if I had a bad day yesterday, it doesn't mean I'm gonna not get up this morning. No, I'm gonna continue on. Because I have a reason for getting up in the morning. When you when you have class in the morning, if you have a headache, don't you go to class nine times out of 10 Yeah, you go to class, if you're tired, you gotta go to class. Even if you're sick, sometimes you gotta go to class, because you have a purpose for getting up, you gotta go to work. Gotta make that paycheck. paycheck, don't go Come with me laying in this

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bed. So you have a reason that you get push on. But for someone who has no purpose in life, they lose complete purpose of life. These are people who end up committing suicide. These are why people will commit suicide, people commit suicide, because they give up the pain or something becomes so unbearable, that they don't see a reason to push through it. There is nothing on the other side for me, I just give up on life, they lose focus of purpose, people become addicted to drugs, and alcohol and all other types of vices, because they have no real purpose in life. And their purpose becomes to find themselves at the bottom of a bottle, or their purpose becomes the down a bottle of pills,

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or to get high or whatever it is, that becomes their purpose. They want to give their life for a reason. And if they don't have a reason, they find the reason and normally those reasons are become vices, they become addictions, they become cancers upon society. So can all of you begin to see the difference between having a purpose in life and not having a purpose in life? Whatever it is, you must have a purpose in order for you to accomplish things. And if you haven't defined that purpose, I'm going to tell you, there's no better time than now to figure out what is your purpose in life?

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And what are you doing here?

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Now,

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if we look at the world around us,

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if we just stop for a moment, I know our lives are so hectic and busy that we don't really, you know, take the advantage of admiring what is around us anymore. And as a student of psychology, this is one of the things that I have come to very clearly see is that our lives have this fast pace, on the go lifestyle, our life of multitasking, I really think there should be a course on multitasking in college now. I mean, that really should be a beginner course, multitasking one on one, because you need to almost be able to do 10 things at once to accomplish anything in life anymore. I mean, we are we are so addicted to technology and things of that nature where text messaging or emailing

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or is a boom, boom, things are going and firing at such a rapid pace that studies have shown that people take very few deep thoughts anymore. Our minds are scrambled Our thoughts are jargons we think like we live multitasking things. If you ever want to find out how crazy Your mind is running. Just go out for a moment in a quiet room. Sit down, be quiet and be cognizant of your thoughts. Just be aware of what you

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mind is thinking about in voluntarily, you'll start to realize, oh my god, there's so many things going on up in here. I don't know how I get anything done. And that's just how society has become. People take very seldom chances and take very few occasions to sit down and reflect upon anything. One thing and just focus on it and reflect. If we were to take a moment, and reflect on the world around us, and the creation of the universe at large, and I am going to talk to you from a creationist perspective, creationist perspective. If we look at the world around us, everything has a purpose. Everything within the heavens and the earth has a purpose.

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This world has a purpose, air that we breathe, the way it comes to us, it's there for a purpose. If it wasn't there, we wouldn't be here, the sun has a purpose, the moon itself has a purpose. Without that noon, we're not here, the way the earth is positioned to rotate around the Sun has a purpose. Without that Earth being positioned right where it is, we wouldn't be here, nothing would be here. Everything has a purpose around it. And

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for someone to say that this entire system of the universe, and its greatness, and the things that we don't even understand of yet, but what we can grasp, and even what is around us what is in this earth, what is in the human body, for someone to say that is all a system of random chance, there is our system of random chance, or to put it technically a random set of coincidences, a random set of coincidences happened. So that everything that is could come into being that would basically mean that everything that exists right now exists for no purpose whatsoever. That is the equation of that statement. For me to stand here and say everything that exists right now is due to a random set of

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circumstances and coincidences is for me to say this earth, this world, this universe has no purpose whatsoever. And that really is a very pessimistic outlook on life.

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Because well, that to be the case,

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we are sitting on a great gambling scheme.

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Because for a random set of coincidence for happen, like this

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is just as easy. And this has been used many times before this equation, but I'm going to repeat it because of how beautiful it is. Anybody here gone through advanced calculus, there is a probability, raise your hands, okay, so you should be able to answer this for me. And you've probably heard this before. This, if you were to take a bag, a small bag, plastic bag, paper bag, whatever it is, we can look inside of it.

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And you put numbered balls, one through 10 1-234-567-8910, numbered balls, and you put them in that bag, shake the bag up, blindfold yourself, or just close your eyes, reach down in that bag, pull out number one, set it on the table, reach down in the bag, without looking pull out number two sit in the table, reach down in the bag plot number 345678 910, just like that. What is that probability?

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Can you might tell me the probability that we can pull those 10 balls out in order?

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No, no the chance the probability

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one in around 27,000,001 in 27 million. That's the probability that I have to be able to do that. And that's just 10 balls in a bag.

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So what kind of probability are we looking at, to say that this entire creation, the way it is set up right now for the earth to be exactly where it needs to be? for the sun to be exactly how it needs to be as hard as it needs to be as bright as it needs to be for the moon to be exactly where it needs to be for the amount of air in this atmosphere exactly what it needs to be the amount of water that evaporates and disposes of exactly the way it needs to be. Our bodies constructed exactly the way they need to be to be able to live on this earth. What type of property Do you think we're looking at? It's not quantifiable, right? That theory is not quantifiable. There is no calculus,

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there is no calculation, there is no math that you can do to put that probability forward. But people who will say this life is here by random chance and set of circumstances they are taking that risk. That is all here by that chance of probability.

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There are there was some bang at the beginning of I don't know how they can even say the beginning, because it was all just probably chance. But there was some bang and then all of a sudden molecules started floating around and they just happen to go where they needed to go for everything to be how it is today. Let me tell you something.

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If there was a big bang,

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the moment that bang happens, every single atom, every single particle, every single molecule knew its place. For this to be how it is right now, everything had to know its place, it had to know exactly where it needs to be, it had to know exactly where it needed to go.

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And that is only by design, that can only happen by design, you do not get this type of perfect harmony of the Universe by destruction, such as like a big bang, that just leads to nothing. And

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if you want to see that Marvel happening before your very eyes, how many of you if you could see the, if you could see the act of creation happening? How many of you would love to do so you can see the act of of the universe coming together? How many of you would like to do that?

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You can do that, can you not? How many of you here have taken astronomy, advanced astronomy, etc. are there not nebulous way or a space that we can look at that there are still remnants of that beginning, dust particles in smoke particles, where stars are still forming, galaxies are still forming, things are still falling into place, the creation process is still continuing to happen. And for you to take a look at that and say that's happening all by itself, randomly, probably, by probability by just some set of circumstances,

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is almost

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irrational for a intelligent human being to come up with. But unfortunately, this is a theory that has been put forward. But

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most people, most people, I will give them an all of you, I will give you the benefit of the doubt that your capacity, the capacity of your mind, to reflect, to analyze, to deduce logical conclusions, will lead you to see that there is something bigger than just some random chance, all of this that we see around us is bigger than just some random chance. The fact that

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the fact that birds can migrate great distances and travel, even on cloudy days just by seeing how the sun reflects and the way it angles off the clouds. Those birds know exactly where to go. That bees can travel from their hives, hundreds and hundreds of miles, hundreds and hundreds of miles and we know TomTom no GPS, no, nothing. No Google Maps, go exactly where they need to go to get what they need, and make it directly back to their hive. Even if there's 100 hives in the field, they'll go right back to theirs. And then they will tell everybody else look this stuff out there.

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To say that that happens by chance, the fact that salmon are able to at the end of their life, when they're ready to spawn, they can trace their lineage all the way back upstream, up river up waterfalls, all the way back to the place where they were born, by the sense of smell, in order to begin that reproduction process again.

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I think all of you I will give you the benefit of doubt, you can say that that is something bigger than some random set of coincidences. There is something bigger going on behind this. There's somebody behind the scenes with this if you were to walk out and let's say they built a brand new glorious bridge somewhere here in Texas or in Houston. I don't know if there's water here in College Station. But let's say in Houston, they built some new huge groys Bridge, biggest bridge in the world most luxurious bridge in the world. When you went and looked at that bridge.

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You would marvelous design, you would be like Wow, look at this great structure. You would think about the person who designed this, how amazing a mind of an architect must have been to make this your first thought wouldn't be Wow, I wonder how all of that just fell together. That's amazing. Steel just started you know, falling all over the place concrete was just flowing from the sky and you know, it just happens. That would not be your first thought your first thought would be how amazing is it that an individual like the human being could come up with something like this? Or the very famous watching the desert idea? If you're looking at a desert and you found a nice watch, you

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know, very fancy watch citizen Bolivar whatever you want to have you. You would pick it up and you would first think to yourself, How did this get here? How did this get here? Who left this here? You wouldn't think that Wow, that is amazing. Get over all of this time. Sam came together and started graining and forming glass and this is not what the human mind would start comprehending you would know someone left this here. Yes or no

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This is the logic of the rational human mind. So in that I'm talking about a watch a simple piece of glass and metal. What about this beautiful world that we live on this beautiful earth, this beautiful universe that's ever expanding. The theory goes that the world is that our universe is continuing to expand with beyond its borders, who knows. And then it will expand so much one day that they theorize that it will eventually implode in on itself, it will get so large that it will just overcome itself. To say that that all is just there by some random set of circumstances,

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is not logical OR rational, or befitting the human capacity to understand them to think, to understand them think.

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Now,

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let's just go down lists, let's boil it down a little bit more.

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Let us look at the human itself. Take a look at yourself for a moment. Just think about yourself for a moment. Think about the design of the human being. Think about the mind, the brain that is contained inside of this cranium of ours, how this brain is able to store so much information, how it is able to just fire off the snap this the snap nodes in the the the the

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the architecture that's going on firing information, at a millionth of a second, over and over every single moment of your life.

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Think about the capacity of the human brain to take in the world around it. The way it is able to dissect information that is being given to it and feed that information throughout the body, how it's able to receive information from the body and recalculate itself accordingly, how we're able to react to things up thinking how the mind controls, everything that we do. Think about that for a moment. Think about the human eye, just the simple human eye, the greatest camera that has ever existed, the way the human eye processes information, the way it knows how to filter, how much light in and out how to take the the the the light that is around it, the colors and all of the different

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things that are being fed into it and how it is able to translate that and send that information up to the brain to allow us to comprehend what is in front of us to comprehend what is around us. Think about the heart that is inside the human body. When does it start beating?

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Can anybody tell me when the heart starts beating? Come on some of you anatomy students, when does the human heart start beating?

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Around 40 days

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120. Getting some, some people will even say it begins almost right after conception.

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As soon as the heart forms, it begins to beat. As soon as the heart forms, it starts beating and it beats continuously non stop day in day out, it doesn't take a day off, it doesn't take a break, it doesn't take a minute off. What happens when it takes a minute off. You then

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it does not stop beating until you die. And it beats without the will of the one whom it's inside of. There's your heartbeat to your own will. If that were the case, a lot of us we would all be dead, you would have to continually think everyday, okay, be me.

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You will be able to do anything else. It beats without your own willpower. And it's continually fueling the body with blood continuing to pump that blood and send that blood through the body over and over and over and over and over and over again. that that happened by a set of random circumstances that that begin by a drop of bacteria in the ocean. And over millions of years. It just designed itself. Think about the liver, the liver for a moment. The liver is an amazing organ inside the body. Without it you can't live the liver every single moment is performing hundreds and hundreds of chemical analysis of what's going through your body and it is deciding what the level of

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toxicity of the body should be at and it is filtering and letting go through it and filtering what it needs to filter in let go through what it needs to let go through to make sure the level of toxicity in the body stays regulated. When the liver stops functioning. The toxicity increases in the body until one dies.

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Who designed that? That was another random set of circumstances. Look at the nervous system of the human body.

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The nervous system of the human body and the amount of of cords that are running out throughout our entire system to give us the feelings of Touch of Taste.

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Did that come by random

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set of circumstances to, we're building up a lot of random circumstances here. And again, you cannot even begin to quantify a theory of probability that could say that these things can happen on their own, on their own.

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So surely, surely,

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all of this has to be for a reason. All of this has to be for a reason. The universe has to be for a reason, the sun, the moon, the stars, the planets, the earth, the air, the water, you your brain, your eyes, your heart, your liver, it all has to be a reason. It's there for a purpose. So what is that purpose? Surely we have to say, my life has some meaning.

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We should be able to leave here tonight, every one of us to say My life has a meaning. It has a meaning. I live my life because of that meaning.

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And what is that meaning?

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Is the meaning of our life just to enjoy,

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live, eat, drink, sleep, be merry,

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as the hiddenness would say, is our life all about hedonism, where we're just enjoying everything we can get our hands on, at any moment, anything in any place. If that's the case, then life is for some and not others.

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If life is all about gaining, getting money, gaining wealth and property and things of that nature, then life is for some and not others. Do you think my five year old son cares if he has $500 in his bank account?

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Does he cares? He cares, he has one down his bank account $5,000 a bank account? No. long as he has his ice cream and cake and candies in his PSP is good to go. There isn't anything else, he could care less about that fancy car that I have in the driveway, he tell us about that big house doesn't make any difference to him.

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What about a person who is blind?

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Is just enjoying the luxuries of the beauty of around the world? Is that for him too?

00:32:02--> 00:32:41

So is it for some and not others? What about the paraplegic? If life is all about just eat, drink and be merry enjoying and all of these carnal pleasures? What about the person who's a paraplegic? Who can't move anything? So his life for some and not others? Is this the system that we're willing to accept? That life is for some and not others? It's for the haves and the have nots? Sorry, there's just once a year life just wasn't for you. Surely every single one of our lives have purpose. From the five year old child, to the paraplegic to the blind, to the Deaf, to the disabled, surely everyone's life has a purpose.

00:32:46--> 00:32:51

If we were to say that life is only about enjoying these pleasures, then for someone like the paraplegic,

00:32:53--> 00:32:55

the only recourse for them would be

00:32:56--> 00:33:06

we'll just we'll just euthanize them. Why not? Why not? There's no point just give up like this, just just drink. This is the end for yourself. Quit putting yourself through all of this misery.

00:33:07--> 00:33:36

For someone who can see, look, there's nothing left for you in this life, you know, just just just go ahead and end it. There's no there's no reason for you to continue this on. This would be the idea that we're presenting to the world. That if life is all about enjoying, when for those who can't enjoy, just give up. Just give up. But no one would logically say that this is rational. Matter of fact, you go around doing this, I guarantee you going to jail, you're going to jail. You start euthanizing people, you're going to jail.

00:33:39--> 00:33:56

So what does this lamb have to say about all of this to make the story somewhat short, because in 10 minutes, we're gonna have to break because it's going to be time for prayer. And then after prayer, we're going to simply discuss and continue about what is Islam? And what are, what does Islam really mean and say about this subject?

00:33:57--> 00:34:00

One thing that I want to be very clear about Islam.

00:34:01--> 00:34:02

Very, very clear.

00:34:06--> 00:34:08

Islam is not an abstract.

00:34:10--> 00:34:26

Again, Islam is not an abstract idea. What do I mean by abstract? Can you might tell me, come on. This is interactive. I don't like to just be lecturing interactive. What is an abstract, what is an abstract idea?

00:34:28--> 00:34:29

It's up to interpretation.

00:34:31--> 00:34:39

It's up to interpretation. It's up to the eye. It's in the eyes of the beholder as they say, Islam is not an abstract idea.

00:34:40--> 00:34:45

Islam is a way of life, a set

00:34:46--> 00:34:57

rule of principles that are given to us by the Creator of all of this grand design, through what he has given to his creation.

00:34:58--> 00:34:59

Islam is not

00:35:00--> 00:35:50

What you see on CNN, Islam is not what you will find on Fox News. Islam is not what we read in Times Magazine. Okay? Again, Islam is not an abstract idea, Islam as a way of life, based upon principles that the Creator has sent to us through His mini prophets and messengers. And we as Muslims believe in all the prophets and messengers, we believe that we came off from one human being, Adam, our forefather and his mate, Eve, we believe in Noah, we believe in Abraham, we believe in Moses, we believe in David, you believe in Zechariah, we believe in Jesus. And we believe in the last and final messenger Muhammad, peace be upon them all. We believe that God has given a set way of life to

00:35:50--> 00:36:03

human beings, and this way of life to human beings has always been the same. It has always been the same. And it is always defined human beings, not only way of life, but their purpose of life. And

00:36:05--> 00:36:12

I haven't even told you finite definite what the purpose of life is in Islam, we're getting to that that comes at the end.

00:36:15--> 00:36:33

Islam is something that is being talked about, almost on every single media outlet throughout the world, Islam is being talked about Islam is being talked about in the major magazines, the major newspapers, the periodicals, the blogs, the websites, Islam is on the forefront of

00:36:34--> 00:36:44

discussion and ideas and has been for over a decade now. Ever since 911, we all know since the tragedy of 911, Islam has been on the forefront of the world scene.

00:36:46--> 00:36:57

And one very sad fact about that, is that that narrative of what Islam is, has been in the hands of people who do not know what Islam is.

00:36:58--> 00:37:27

Islam, what Islam is, has been in the hands and that narrative has been in the hands of people who have no idea what Islam is. Because we've heard so many varying ideas about what Islam is, Islam is this Islam is that one day, it's this The next day, it's that the next day, this Islam is not an abstract, it doesn't change. It is not up to interpretation. It's not change according to the time and date and period in place. Islam is one thing, and that's what we're going to finish with tonight.

00:37:30--> 00:37:42

Islam is an Arabic word. It's an Arabic word coming from a root system. For those of you who know Semitic languages, Semitic languages come from a root system. The grammar comes from a root system.

00:37:44--> 00:38:02

Islam comes from a root word, Salah selama, s l. m, says, Man, Salah has many different meanings. It has different connotations. Now, a lot of people will tell you this lamb means peace. Islam means just peace.

00:38:03--> 00:38:25

Yes, and no. That's not the complete picture. That's not just because Islam doesn't mean peace. But that is an end idea. That is an end idea. Islam also means submission. submission, meaning that I submit myself to something I am being suburbia to something Salah map.

00:38:27--> 00:38:47

It also means sincerity, being sincere towards something, having sincerity towards something where there is an idea, whatever it is sincerity, it also means obedience, being obedient to something, I am obedient something. And then it also means peace.

00:38:48--> 00:38:52

Islam simply means if you want to put it in the English language.

00:38:56--> 00:38:58

Islam means that I submit myself

00:38:59--> 00:39:18

to the one who created to me, I submit myself to the one who created me with sincerity, with sincerity, in obedience to Him, so that I can have peace in my life, and I can have peace in the next life. This is Islam.

00:39:20--> 00:39:21

And this is all good Islam is.

00:39:23--> 00:39:27

Again, Islam means I submit myself to the one who created me.

00:39:29--> 00:39:36

in obedience to Him means I do what he wants me to do. I stay away from what he wants me to stay away from with with

00:39:37--> 00:39:48

great depth of obedience to obtain peace in this life and peace in the next that is Islam. Anything other than this is not Islam.

00:39:50--> 00:39:50

Now

00:39:53--> 00:39:55

did I bring up the word terrorism in that definition?

00:39:57--> 00:39:59

Did anybody hear me use the word terrorism

00:40:01--> 00:40:05

So question. No. Right? So is is Islam terrorism?

00:40:07--> 00:40:09

No. That's an oxymoron.

00:40:10--> 00:40:13

It's an oxymoron. You guys know what an oxymoron means, right?

00:40:14--> 00:40:18

Two famous that you try to put together, which are actually incomplete.

00:40:20--> 00:40:23

complete opposite or complete difference to one another.

00:40:26--> 00:40:31

That I say Islam is oppression, that I mentioned oppression in this definition

00:40:32--> 00:41:09

that I mentioned a portion of this definition, no. Islam is only submission to the Creator with sincerity in obedience to Him to obtain peace in this life in the next. That's it. And that is something that I'm trying to be very upfront about is that if we Muslims tell the world what Islam is, simply plainly, clearly, and we talk about the issues that are being talked about, what do we talk about them on our terms, from our narrative, from the revelation that God has given to humanity? And from what he has taught us, then we would get rid of a lot of these negative connotations and negative ideas.

00:41:10--> 00:41:11

So

00:41:12--> 00:41:24

within that definition, for someone to say, Islamic extremists, Islamic extremists that I mentioned extremism, and that idea in that definition, anyway.

00:41:26--> 00:41:30

No. So Islamic extremists is also an oxymoron.

00:41:31--> 00:41:33

Because you cannot be extreme in Islam.

00:41:34--> 00:41:43

You cannot be extreme in Islam, because it doesn't fit within the definition. Do you see what I'm trying to get you to grasp? You can't put inside that definition, what doesn't fit?

00:41:46--> 00:42:00

Islamic radical doesn't fit, it won't fit. It doesn't fit with the definition of someone who is submitting themselves with sincerity and obedience to the Creator, throughout peace in this life and the next, it won't fit. This is what Islam is.

00:42:03--> 00:42:08

What does a Muslim be all the time Muslims, Muslim, this Muslim that nobody knows what a Muslim means?

00:42:09--> 00:42:12

And let me tell you for the benefit of our non Muslim guests,

00:42:13--> 00:42:38

because even I find Muslims get the they tend to use this word a lot, because it's used and I want to get us away from this. You guys have heard it called Muslim before, right? Muslims are Muslims. Please don't use this word. I'm asking you. Please don't use this word. This word has very negative connotation. And it's for a reason. Can anybody tell me what the word Muslim means?

00:42:39--> 00:43:17

an oppressor. It means someone who oppresses people, someone who harms people. It also comes from a root word, but it's not SL M. It's the LM villum. Dola means to harm or to wrong or to oppress people. So when you say if I call myself Oh, yes, I'm a Muslim? I hope not. I hope not. I am a Muslim. Most limb Muslim means very simply. And I'm going to let you to find it for yourself. I'm going to little grammar lesson here. And honestly, I'm going to tell you I know more about Arabic grammar than I do about English grammar. It's just unfortunate, but it's the fact I'm from the south, our grammar is completely different.

00:43:19--> 00:43:37

English, we have something that you put at the end of a word to the no action correct. If you wanted to know action for a particular thing, like for instance, I'm talking right. If I wanted to know that I'm doing action I would be called a talk or what does that call it in grammar? The era The

00:43:40--> 00:43:40

man

00:43:44--> 00:43:47

is the suffix denotes action.

00:43:49--> 00:44:40

If I walk on a walk around correct you put it on the Enter denotes action correct. You take the verb you put the N on the Aeon in it denotes the doer of action correct. And other B there is a very similar rule, similar rule except it is a prefix that goes at the beginning of a word. For instance, that that prayer that call that you just heard for prayer, do you know what is that called? was it called the event the event and the one who calls it is called the more than the way you denote action in the Arabic language is you put a m n m at the beginning of the word just an M you put an M at the beginning of the word you put a little vowel you and you do no action mu denotes one who does

00:44:40--> 00:44:44

one who does correct come on you guys. Am I wrong? Right? Yes, no, give me something.

00:44:45--> 00:45:00

So they are then the one who calls it is called the moon oven oven. So if we take Islam, which means and it is a verb as well it means to submit myself to the Creator with sincerity in obedience.

00:45:00--> 00:45:37

To him to obtain peace in this life in the next. And I wanted to note, that action of a door, I put that in you at the beginning of it, what does it become new Islam? Have you put it together? Muslim? Muslim means someone who does Islam. Very simply someone who does Islam, a Muslim is someone who submits themselves to their Creator every single day of their lives, in sensitivity to him in obedience to Him to have peace in this life and the next. So muslim fundamentalists, can I mean, Muslim radical can exist, you can be fundamentally Muslim. Yes, absolutely.

00:45:39--> 00:45:44

Muslim extremists, Muslim, terrorist, Muslim, whatever you want to call it, if it doesn't fit in with the definition,

00:45:45--> 00:46:05

it will not work, it will not work. And I'm giving these things to you as gently as I can, so that you can see when you hear people talk about Islam, you can use your own barometer, whether they're telling the truth or not, whether they're being honest or not. Because a lot of the times, you're not being honest. This is what Islam means. And this is the purpose of life in Islam.

00:46:06--> 00:46:46

The purpose of the of life in Islam, the reason why we're here, the reason God created us, and placed us on this earth was to submit ourselves to Him every day of our lives with sincerity, in obedience to Him to have peace and this life, and in the next life. Does this sound familiar to any of our guests? Does this way of life sound familiar to any of you? This is the way of life God had for Adam. There's the way of life God had for Noah is the way of life God had for Moses. There's the way of life God had for Abraham. There's the way of life God had for David. This is the way of life Jesus lived. He lived the life,

00:46:47--> 00:46:51

being submissive to God, he lived the life trying to please

00:46:52--> 00:47:25

the Father who is in heaven, He lived the life to have peace and this one, and he tried to bring peace to humanity in the next life. This is simplistically the purpose of life in Islam. And does that mean I have to stand and pray all day? To fulfill that purpose? Does it brothers know? How do I fulfill that purpose in life, to please my Creator with every single thing that I do in obedience to Him with sincerity and worship Him? There's a verse in the Quran, that very clearly states the purpose of life sums it up.

00:47:27--> 00:47:29

And it comes in sort of 51

00:47:30--> 00:47:39

and in Arabic, which is the pristine language of the Quran, because even when I tell you a translation of the Quran, that's not the Quran, it's a translation of meanings.

00:47:40--> 00:47:58

It says very clearly, for masala dinner will ensue, in lovely boon, I did not create humanity. I did not create people with willpower to do right and wrong, except for one reason. And that is to worship me. That is to worship me.

00:47:59--> 00:48:35

That is simply to worship me. And doesn't mean I have to be standing in prayer all day long. Because even the Bible says to pray without ceasing. But that doesn't mean you have to sit in your room all day praying and praying and praying, but you have a life to live. What does it mean? It means that everything that I do in my life fits in with that purpose. It fits in with that purpose. I'm doing it in submission to my Creator, in obedience to Him with sensitivity to him. If I go to work in the morning, it's not to bring a paycheck home at the end of the week, brothers, from my Muslim brothers and sisters, I go to work in the morning. Why? Because it is pleasing to my Creator for me to go and

00:48:35--> 00:48:57

earn my living in a permissible way. And it is a good thing for me to do and God is pleased with it. When I do that, my word becomes worship. My word becomes worship of God, even if my work is sweeping streets. Even if it's picking up trash around the university, that word becomes worship to God because I'm doing it in submission to him trying to please him with my efforts.

00:48:58--> 00:49:39

That is what we mean by fine tuning your reason in life. dialing in that purpose that when I wake up in the morning, the reason I go to bed is because I want to please my Creator today. I want to make the one who created the happy with me. I go to school because I want to be educated because that pleases the one who created me that will help me to get a better job so that I can sustain myself better, which will please the one who created me so I can have my family have better than I had that is pleasing to my Creator. Do you understand what I mean? So brothers, when you think that you go to work just for a paycheck, and you go home, and things are not right in your house and you start I

00:49:39--> 00:49:52

put the food on the table in this and I pay the light bills and your wife should look at you and say you're out of your mind. If you think that the one who created me, cannot take care of me without you, then you're fooling only you.

00:49:53--> 00:49:59

If you think the creator can take care of your family without you then you're fooling no one but you

00:50:00--> 00:50:03

Because he created everything and he takes care of it.

00:50:04--> 00:50:15

The word Lord, the word Lord Adonai, whatever you want to call it, means the one who sustains the one who can take care of his creation.

00:50:17--> 00:50:32

He k takes his creation perfectly. And in gratitude to that we submit our wills to him. This is the beauty of Islam, to me, is how clearly defines life? How many of you in here have a free will?

00:50:34--> 00:50:35

You can do whatever you want.

00:50:36--> 00:50:47

If you don't, I'll put your hands up in the air that we're going to have to start scanning people to see if we have any sci fi robots with us. Because you all have a Free Will you can do whatever you want, you came here of your own volition. Right?

00:50:49--> 00:50:55

What Islam teaches us the meaning of life is that yes, the creator gave us a framework to do we wish.

00:50:57--> 00:51:02

But in order to be a Muslim, what I do is I take that free will that he gave me,

00:51:03--> 00:51:23

and I give it back, I give it back and say, I don't want to do my will anymore. Because when I tried to do it myself, I make a lot of mistakes. I can't figure it all out on my own. So we return that wheel to our Creator and say, Now I want you to tell me what to do. I want you to tell me what to do. You created me, you put me here, so will tell me what to do.

00:51:24--> 00:51:47

And in that God has sent His prophets and messengers to guide humanity the right way of life. And we submit to that, and that makes us Muslim. So Muslim doesn't mean somebody who was born in Saudi Arabia, Muslim doesn't mean somebody who was addressed every day was a big beard, a Muslim means someone who submits themselves to their Creator. So let me ask you a question. The sun that this this

00:51:48--> 00:51:51

solar system revolves around? Is that some doing what it's supposed to do?

00:51:53--> 00:52:13

Does it take a day off? Does it decide you know what, today I'm tired of this whole giving life thing? take a day off? There's no one is supposed to do? Does this submit itself to the one who created it? So it is a Muslim, according to definition, the sun as a Muslim, the moon is a Muslim.

00:52:16--> 00:52:18

Air is a Muslim.

00:52:19--> 00:52:24

It does what it is designed to do. It doesn't take a day off, it doesn't say you know what, God, I'm

00:52:26--> 00:52:46

not going to be helping these people out anymore. I'm going to go out and just void myself in space. Right? gravity, one of the laws of creation is a Muslim. Gravity is a Muslim, because it fits the definition of something that is submitting itself to its creator, and fulfilling its role.

00:52:47--> 00:52:57

This is the meaning of life in Islam, for us to fall in line for the line, for what go, what purpose? Why do I give my will back to my Creator.

00:52:58--> 00:53:03

Because I am making a transaction. And in that transaction, God says in the Quran,

00:53:04--> 00:53:46

translated to mean, rejoice in the transaction that you have made, what is that transaction, I returned that word to my Creator, so that I can have paradise in the next life. It's a very simple transaction, a very profitable transaction, to be honest with you, I don't have to figure out my life anymore. I don't have to try to make sense of it all. I take what God has given me, I accept that. And in exchange, in the next life forever and ever, I get paradise eternal bliss. That's a transaction. That's a deal. If you asked me, this is the purpose of life in Islam, very simply just to fall in line with the creation, do what we were created to do. And the most beautiful of that

00:53:46--> 00:53:58

creation is the human being. Because the human being is the only thing that the creator created, they can make a choice. The son doesn't make a choice, the moon doesn't make a choice. Animals don't make choices.

00:54:00--> 00:54:10

We make choices. And that was his that is what makes us the greatest of his creation, or we can become the worst of his creation. And there's everything along that spectrum.

00:54:12--> 00:54:17

Someone who turns back to their Creator and gives them back that will, they're called a Muslim.

00:54:18--> 00:54:45

And this is as simple as it gets. So how many people in here would agree with me? That everything here is for a purpose? If you don't agree with me, I'm fine with that. That everything that exists is there for a reason. Handsome few agree with that. You agree with that? I would say that's majority. How many of you would say that? rational logic would tell me that. If there is a purpose, I should know what it is.

00:54:47--> 00:54:48

I should know what it is.

00:54:50--> 00:54:56

Good. So I want you to leave here tonight. Thinking about the things you have heard tonight, that there is a reason your life has meaning.

00:54:57--> 00:54:59

I don't care who you are. I don't care what you've been through.

00:55:00--> 00:55:38

Your life has meaning. It has great meaning it has great importance. And the most beautiful gift that you can ever give yourself in your life is to figure out what that is to figure out what the meaning of your life is to figure out why you're here, what are you doing, and then live your life according to that meaning. That is the greatness of humanity. That is what can make humanity so great. But when we lose grasp of that, when we lose sense of that, we live in chaos. And we live in a world that is lost focus on why it's here. We live in a world where humanity has lost its reason. We've lost purpose. Because someone

00:55:39--> 00:55:51

who has another individual, they have lost their purpose, they've lost reason they've lost focus. Someone who will murder another person, they've lost for focus, they've lost purpose, they've lost reason.

00:55:52--> 00:56:09

We have to come back to this since all of us to decide why it is that we're here. And I want to finish because I want to give q&a before the time for hdslr. And then after the Asia the night prayer, I want us to be able to commune as they say you guys all in Texas, no commune means right? Right commune.

00:56:10--> 00:56:14

That means gather together and just enjoy one another's company.

00:56:15--> 00:56:19

There are a couple of things about Islam that I want to clear up very, very simply tonight,

00:56:20--> 00:56:29

without a shadow with leaving you with no thought in your mind. No thought in your mind as to any ambiguity about these ideas.

00:56:30--> 00:56:39

When you hear about Islam today, on the news media, what is one word that you hear associated with Islam more than anything else? for our guests, guests.

00:56:40--> 00:56:41

Al Qaeda?

00:56:42--> 00:56:43

What else?

00:56:44--> 00:56:46

for our guests in the back? I can see you.

00:56:47--> 00:56:51

When do you hear about Islam more than anything else? Tell me.

00:56:53--> 00:56:54

extremists.

00:56:55--> 00:57:09

Terrorism, terrorism, the big j word. Right? What's the big j word called? Jihad? Oh, my goodness, I said jihad. There's probably 1000 computers going off at NSA right now.

00:57:13--> 00:57:30

And the point that I'm trying to make, is that this I'm going to apologize to you for I guess I'm going to apologize that we have Muslims have let these words get out of hand. We've let these words given a hand j head. What is another word that starts with an S thing? You hear a lot on the news right now.

00:57:32--> 00:57:40

The S is coming sherea Oh, no, the boogeyman is coming. It's coming. But watch out.

00:57:41--> 00:57:49

We just heard they're gonna pretty soon they're gonna have NASA tracking shriya like they track Santa Claus. Whereas going all over the world.

00:57:51--> 00:57:53

These are two words I want to clear up for you tonight.

00:57:55--> 00:58:08

Because I don't want you to leave. You're thinking Yeah, well, he said this, but they you know, use these words, to muddle the purpose of life in Islam. They really really act like the our whole religion is revolved around these ideas, which they are.

00:58:09--> 00:58:10

And I'm going to tell you why they are.

00:58:12--> 00:58:15

The word jihad is not a bad word.

00:58:17--> 00:58:18

It is a beautiful word.

00:58:19--> 00:58:24

And for me to say it is a bad word. I have almost lost my entire religion.

00:58:25--> 00:58:31

I would have lost my entire religion to tell you that Jihad means bad negative in anything evil.

00:58:32--> 00:58:48

The word jihad is also an Arabic word. It's not jihad, even though I know that's the Texas translation. It's not jihad, it's called jihad. It also comes from a root system. j hat that what is J had me

00:58:49--> 00:58:53

come on you guys from all over the Middle East gehad that

00:58:54--> 00:58:56

means to make effort.

00:58:57--> 00:59:00

That means to make effort to struggle,

00:59:01--> 00:59:03

like if they build a big building, they will say they did.

00:59:05--> 00:59:09

They did to get on this building. That means they add they they worked hard to put it up.

00:59:10--> 00:59:13

They did Jihad on the building. They bring it down, they put it up

00:59:16--> 00:59:19

and then bring it down and put it up there still Jad.

00:59:20--> 00:59:22

What does Jihad mean in Islam?

00:59:24--> 00:59:25

I'm going to be clear with you.

00:59:27--> 00:59:56

And I'm not going to apologize for anything in Islam. Because Islam needs no apologies. No apologies, don't I don't need to do that. And Jihad doesn't mean only some struggle that I have with inside of my soul to overcome evil. There is a tip to that in Jihad but that's not the meaning. When you read the word jihad in the book of Allah, the Quran, in the Quran, the Muslim book, when you read the word Jad, or if you look in the statements of the Prophet Muhammad peace be upon him and you find the word Jihad they have a meaning. And that meaning

00:59:57--> 00:59:59

is a struggle against injustice.

01:00:01--> 01:00:09

struggle against injustice, no matter where it may be on the earth, a struggle against tyranny, no matter who's the one doing the tyrant,

01:00:10--> 01:00:42

a struggle against oppression, no matter who's doing the oppressing a struggle against evil, no matter where evil may lie on the earth, a struggle to put truth forward, a struggle to make sure that human beings are given a fair shake in life. You ever heard of the Declaration of Independence? That all human beings are created with an amiable rights? And the foremost of those rights are? What is life liberty, the pursuit of happiness? Do you know what that would be called an Islam?

01:00:43--> 01:00:43

jihad.

01:00:45--> 01:00:52

The struggle to make sure that every human being is given their inalienable right by their creator, to live a life of

01:00:53--> 01:00:56

liberty and the pursuit of happiness is called jihad in Islam.

01:00:58--> 01:01:00

If someone were oppressing another individual,

01:01:02--> 01:01:10

the prophet peace be upon him. He said, help your Muslim brother if he is oppressed, or if he is an oppressor.

01:01:11--> 01:01:26

The person said, Okay, I understand how to help him feel pressed. I just stopped the one who's oppressing him. How do you want me to help him if he's oppressor? If he's the one oppressing? What can I do to help him? What did the Prophet peace be upon him say,

01:01:28--> 01:01:31

stop him from his oppression, stop him from his oppression.

01:01:32--> 01:01:38

If someone is tired and Ising over others, Jihad mandates for me to put in into it.

01:01:39--> 01:01:43

Jihad mandates for me to stop it. If a woman is being abused,

01:01:45--> 01:01:50

if a woman is being abused, Jihad mandates that I free her from the abuse.

01:01:51--> 01:02:08

If the rich are absorbing the rights of the poor, Jihad mandates that I institute a system that makes sure that the poor are taken care of and the needy and the weak and the orphans, and everyone has their due rights. This is what Jihad means.

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If someone were going to strap a bomb on themselves, walk into a supermarket and blow themselves up and I found out about it. Jihad would mandate What?

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I stopped him. I stop him. Even if I have to take him out myself. I gotta stop him.

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Does that sound like the job that you hear about on CNN?

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Does that sound like the john deere button? CNN, Fox News? BBC Time Magazine. I don't I've never heard that definition come out. But this is what jihad is all about.

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So to say that Jihad equates terrorism is another oxymoron.

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Because Jihad mandates the eradication of terrorism.

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Yes or no? Anyone raised Come on Muslims. Raise your hand if you hear me saying something incorrect.

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To me saying something incorrect. Stop me. Jihad mandates that we in terrorism on the earth, no matter who's doing the terrorizing.

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for someone to assert the rights of another person. Jihad mandates that I stop it for someone to steal someone's land unjustly Jad mandates that I put it back in its right place.

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This is what Jihad means.

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Now, did anyone hear anything about that definition that they think is wrong?

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That is wrong, wrong as in an idea that we shouldn't do this. We shouldn't stop people from oppressing others. We should have stopped people from Tyron eyes and others. We shouldn't stop people from harming others killing others taking others wealth without right.

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Does anyone disagree with that idea? Then you all agree with me that jihad is a good thing?

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Right?

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This is why I say that Muslims need to be clear about these things we need to speak up. We need to stop letting these ideas become taboo.

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Sharia Lastly, sherea

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sherea also come from a root word.

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Sharia means what?

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Boogeyman? No no Boogeyman. Sharia means away a path,

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a path linguistically, it means like a path to water, like a route that's leading to watering or leading to some benefit, a path that leads to some benefit. This is what Sharia means. And Sharia in Islam is defined as a system of rules and regulations and laws that the Creator has designed for creation, that the Creator has the sun designed for his creation

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so that humanity can fulfill its ultimate role in life, to fulfill their purpose and that everyone's rights are taken care of.

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Every one is seen to their utmost needs, the poor, the weak, everything we just talked about Sharia mandates the laws and regulations of how to do that, of how to do that.

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Now, let me ask you, if you believe in a creator,

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if you believe in a creator, if you believe all of this has a reason and a purpose and a design, and you're here for a reason,

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who do you think is more

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qualified?

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To make up systems and laws and regulations and rulings and ways of human beings to conduct their affairs? The Creator? Who put it all together in the first place? Or the creation? Who is just wandering around on it?

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Who has the more qualifications?

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That is a question. The Creator has no qualifications. So what Sharia means in Islam is that I accept that idea that the creator look here, you have more rights to tell me how to do this thing than me.

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Therefore, I am going to accept what you have to say.

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The Sharia simply means a way of life, a set rules of systems of laws of regulations of societal norms, of crime and punishment, all of these things that are designed not by human beings, no human being came up with any law within the Sharia. They only interpret those laws to fit within cultural systems and within times and within different scenarios. But those laws were given to us by the Creator, in order for us to help us fulfill our role in life. Because it would also make no sense for the creator to put us on this earth.

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Tell us, I want you to worship Me, I want you to obey me, I want you to live righteously.

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But then not tell us how to do that. not give us any guidelines, just figure it out. Because if that were the case, then if I

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go out and do the wrong thing. I could stand before God and say, Look, you You didn't give me any there was no book, there was no guidelines, there was no you didn't give me anything to help me. I just figured it out. I made a mistake. So right so be it.

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Know that logic would lead us to believe that the creator would give us some guidelines, and all Prophets and Messengers gave their people guidelines. Moses gave his people guidelines from his creator. Jesus gave his people guidelines, he taught them things he told them what they should do, he taught them what they should not do.

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Not all of that is reached us. But we know he taught things.

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And as well, we believe the Prophet Muhammad peace be upon him taught things he taught the purpose of life was to worship the Creator, and to fulfill our role of creation in his life. And he gave us a set of system of rules and regulations from the Creator. The difference between the system that was given to us through the prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, and the system that was given to us through Jesus and David, and Moses, is this. The system that was given to us through Mohammed, we still have every single bit of it.

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Every single little tiny bit of it. It's in these shells right here you see them the book that is revealed by God, and the statements of the Prophet himself. We know everything that he did. We know how he told us to eat. We know he told us to sleep. We know how he told us to drink. We know how he told us to conduct ourselves with other human beings. We know how he told us to get married. We know how he told us to get divorced. We know how he told us to deal with crimes. We know how he told us to deal with our family relations. We know how he taught us to deal with rulers and governments. Everything is there. There is nothing for us to figure out. It is a complete system. This is what

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caused Michael Hart. Yeah. Michael Hart when he wrote his book, The ranking 100. himself as a professional Christian. He wrote in the introduction, I tried with my greatest capacity to put Jesus number one. But justice wouldn't let me do so because Jesus was not a husband. He was not a father. He was not a ruler.

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his religion didn't become a civilization.

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Therefore, I had to put no one but Mohammed first, I had to put him as the most influential human in history. And that is all we're simply saying tonight, is that we believe in one God.

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And we believe the purpose of our life is to worship that one God, and to live our life according to the laws and regulations that He has given us. And we take that law and ruling and regulations. Yes, we take them from the Prophet Mohammed. But that is not in the absence of all the other prophets. We take them also we believe they're the same rulings that God gave to Jesus, the same rulings that God gave to Moses. Were they tweaked? Yes, they were tweaked. Because the condition of the people of Moses in that light the condition of us the condition the people of Jesus, not like the condition of us. But in the year 600 ce II, humanity was at a place where it can contain information it could

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contain in

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formation, it could solidify rulings and preserve them for history. The proof is sitting right here on the books on the shelves with you today. The proof is sitting in the hearts of a lot of Muslims sitting right here. We've memorized these things by heart for 1400 years. So the proof is in the pudding, as they say that we still have that pure pristine system of life that was given by the Creator to the creation. Yes, the intermediary was Mohammed. But that does not mean that we don't believe in Jesus. We don't believe in Moses, we don't believe in daisies. No, we believe in every single one of them. And our purpose of life is well defined. And we are here tonight for that

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reason. All of these Muslims came here tonight to fulfill that purpose. And they get up every morning to fulfill that purpose. And I leave you with one final thought, as they say, it's not really a thought.

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It's a statement.

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being there, our purpose for life in Islam is to recognize our Creator and submit our will to him and live a life according to him.

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There's a very beautiful verse I decided to pick from the Quran, very beautiful verse I decided to pick from the Quran, from many verses in the Quran.

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And it is a verse that comes in chapter three. And in the Arabic language, it is a very, very beautiful verse, very beautiful verse, but even you will grasp it in the translation of the meaning and English. It says,

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And to Allah, which Allah means the gods, Allah is not the Muslim God, it means the Creator. It means the one who created us, same God that everyone else who believes in a creator believes in, we believe in the Creator, and the one who put us here, it says, and to the creator of all that exists, belongs the dominion of the heavens and the earth, meaning that he runs that God runs that.

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And he is over all things competent.

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And in, indeed, in the creation of the heavens and the earth, and in the alteration of the night in the day, are Signs for people who reflect.

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It says indeed, in the creation of the heavens, in the earth, and in the alteration of the night in the day, as we see it. These are indeed signs for anyone who can think

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those who remember their Creator, while they are standing, those who remember their Creator, while they're sitting. Those who remember their Creator, why they're lying down on their sides, showing the different postures, that we are always in the constant remembrance of the one who created us.

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And they give thought to the creation of the heavens and the earth, and they say something, and this is the statement I give to you tonight, this is my final statement to you, our Lord.

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Surely, you did not create this without purpose. Surely you did not create this without purpose.

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You are worthy of such an idea. You are both such an idea to create all of this without purpose. So please protect us from the punishment of the blazing fire. That is our final message to humanity. Our Lord, you did not create all of this without purpose. You are far above that you are far greater than that. So protect us from the punishment of the eternal fire. I thank you very much for your time tonight. Because I know your time is valuable. No one has a moment in life that they can waste. And I'm during all of you. I'm imploring all of you. Don't waste another moment of your life, not knowing where you're going, not knowing what you're doing, not knowing why you're here, figure it

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out, figure it out for yourself. Go sit and think about your own purpose, your own reasoning, your own creation, your own existence, and ask yourself why there has to be a reason. I'm here for a reason I was born for a reason I have my life has meaning. What is that meaning and that meaning is to give adoration to the one who created me, because God did not create human beings. Because he needed company. Let me tell you that right now. He didn't create human beings because he needed company didn't create the heavens and the earth because he was bored.

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God created everything that he created because he had the right to be glorified.

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He had the right to create things that would glorify himself. That would magnify His glory, so that we when we look at them, we could look at them and say Glory be to the one who created these things. That is our reason to be here to glorify the one who put us here. Thank you very much for your time and your patience and I have been pleasure being with you and our guests at home. If you want to ask any questions, you can send them over at info at one on one tv.com that website, Iran there's a little button at the bottom that says email us you can email and we'll come directly to me