[Music]
to
[Music]
any religion that tells us that a man is
God or that God became a man or that God
is everywhere in everything I am God you
are God the tree is God the sun is God
the Moon is God everything in the
creation is God I say what's the proof
where's your evidence bring me evidence
to make to support your claim give me a
reasoned argument why we should believe
that so there I was walking along in
Saudi Arabia and there in the middle of
the desert I found this mobile phone a
product of billions and billions of
years of random
events yeah the oil bubbled the Earth
moved the wind blew the sand shifted the
sun Shone the lightning struck the rain
fell the wind blew a bit more the camel
trod and after billions of years this
mobile phone formed Itself by a process
of random events I turn it on hi Mom
[Music]
sorry
sorry oh okay okay I heard you the third
time I shouldn't have to ask a Muslim
three times to give me Salam should
I oh my goodness what was
that okay okay there's this guy his name
is
uh oh yeah uh Anthony um green Anthony
Green no no his name is ABD Rim green
ABD green and I we go back probably
about uh something like 15 years maybe
something like that we actually were
born in the same year
1981 who believes that right um many a
true thing was said in just eh
1964 actually uh so you know we were
born and in UK well he was born in
Tanzania or
Tanzania can you believe it yeah uh his
father was a colonial Governor okay and
you know once the colonies
returned to the people who really owned
the countries you know so when the Brits
left and the French left and I don't
know if the Norwegians actually had any
colonies I can't remember but you know
when they left then Abdul Rahim he came
back to the UK he went to ample forth
College which is uh sort of uh Catholic
Monastery and he studied there and then
he went to the city of London cuz that's
what you do when you study ample forth
and whilst he was at the city of uh
London he started to delve into the
questions what is the purpose of life
Who Am I who are you what is this
universe for and somebody gave him a
copy of the Quran and he realized it was
by all intents and purposes the uh
revelation of God and he accepted Islam
and ever since he's been telling other
people about Islam all over the world in
fact you know there's never really been
a day when I've known Abdul Rahim not to
have passed the message on to at least
one person during that day and it's
quite a
remarkable way of introducing a person
because he truly speaking does believe
and the person who believes he goes out
and he really loves for himself as as
others you know that we should love for
others as we love for ourselves and none
of you have truly believed until you do
this so neighbors friends colleagues
he's always called them to understand
the true Message of Islam away from the
ugly headlines of the media that we have
in the west today away from the
controversial statements that the the
media tends to uh you know hang around
the term Islam Muslim Etc so without
further Ado I would like therefore to
introduce one of my great Pals ABD green
Begin by praising Allah we praise him we
seek his help and we ask for his
forgiveness and we take refuge with
Allah from the evil of ourselves and
from the evil consequence of our evil
actions whomsoever Allah guides no one
can misguide and whomsoever Allah leaves
to go astray no one can guide and I
testify that Allah alone is worthy of
worship and that Muhammad sallah
wasam is the last and final messenger
I've been asked to today talk about is
Islam the True Religion um and so what I
want to talk about is how can we know
can we in fact know that Islam is the
true
religion and uh before we can even talk
therefore about the subject of how can
we know Islam is the True
Religion it might be worth spending a
bit of time discussing the ISS of how
can we know
something how can you know
something that's that's a good question
right how do you know that you how do we
know that what's happening today is
real how do you know that we're not all
plugged into a computer like in The
Matrix and this is all an illusion that
someone's going to come and do some
amazing Kung Fu no seriously how how do
how do we actually
know how do I know this is not a
dream well you
know you don't you can never be
absolutely
sure but there are some reasons and
there are a lot of good reasons why you
might think that that's not the
case apart from anything else what I
want to dwell upon is what
faculty do you
use in order to make sense of the world
around you well let's put it this
way if a man do do you have gas meters
here in
Norway do you have gas when you cook you
have gas you don't cook with gas I
thought in Norway you had lots of
natural gas and stuff like
that goes to Britain yeah
okay so you all cook with electricity
then you have an electricity meter you
get free
electricity oh okay so you have a meter
right do you have a meter and does some
guy come and read the electricity
meter so how do you know how much you're
going to you're using they just send it
you use this much electricity no proof
no evidence no
nothing it's going to be easy to
convince you guys
then in
England okay we have gas meters
electricity meters and water meters you
can see it there how much you are using
and how much you are consuming and a guy
comes around and he knocks on your door
okay and he says I've come to read the
gas
meter all right that's how it happens in
England
Norway is strange I don't know you just
maybe you just trust people a lot that's
good okay so here's a
question right here's a question if some
guy comes knocking on your door imagine
you have electricity meters yeah can you
imagine that
yeah
alhamdulillah right thanks thanks be to
God and some guy comes knocking on your
door rest in nothing except a pair of
red
Underpants yeah you you don't have to
imagine that if you don't want to okay
and he comes knocking on the door and he
says I've come to read the gas
meter what's your reaction to that going
to be what are you going to say
seriously what are you going to say to
this
guy huh in Norway probably nothing you
probably say oh
welcome I don't know I mean you know we
we just give you the money we don't even
just tell us how much I've used and I'll
pay you you know
but seriously what are you going to say
are you crazy okay what did what did you
say Okay you you because you know this
is a
challenge someone is coming to your
house and he's making a claim he's
making a claim on you on your money on
your
wealth
right and so as the brother said he said
ask for some
ID cuz usually when someone comes to
read the meter or something like
that you know you expect him to wear a
certain
uniform he will in UK they will come
with a certain uniform British gas
London
electricity yeah and he have he has a
little computer you know he puts the
data in and he has some
ID okay what is that process that we are
using in order to make sense of what is
going on here is this guy he's making a
claim what process are we using to
determine whether we should accept his
claim or not
what process are we using what what what
are we
doing yeah proving involves
what huh L it
involves logic
reason you use logic and reason and
Common Sense yes true or not you accept
that do you accept that generally in our
life human
beings we see the world around us we see
it we hear it we hear it we feel
it yeah we taste it we experience it
through our senses and that information
that comes to us we process that through
our
brain and we call that process
reasoning yes true or
not
okay so let's use this
process of reasoning and of common sense
in order to understand the world around
us now there are some principles that we
could call Universal principles there
are some things that human beings
everywhere they accept to be
true they're truisms universals and it's
something we call Common Sense common
because it's common everybody accepts
these things I'll give you an example
would we all accept that part of
something is less than the whole of a
thing part of something is less than the
whole yes there you go yeah Common
Sense okay would we also accept
generally from our Human Experience you
don't see something coming from nothing
true or
not yeah except in Norway when you get
your
electricity but no you don't find
something coming from nothing right do
you find order spontaneously arising out
of chaos do we find that no our human
experience in our human experience we
don't find that where we see order where
we see patterns where we see laws our
Human Experience our reason and our
Common Sense tells us that someone or
something has imposed those laws made
those systems made those forms through
which and by which things
function so let's look at our world and
let's look at our universe and let's
look at everything around us and apply
these simple basic reasonable
assumptions to try and make sense of the
world around us well when we do that we
see that also in our human life in the
world around
us in the universe we find laws we find
order we find things existing according
to
patterns we find form we find systems we
find
order therefore it's only reasonable as
a human being to presume
that an ordered systemized universe that
this order and this systemization and
these
forms did not come from nothing nor did
they spontaneously arise out of
chaos because there is very little if
anything in human
experience that would make that a
reasonable
assumption rather it's reasonable to
assume where we see things working
according to laws and according to
patterns that someone or something
something with intelligence something
with power something with Will has
imposed those laws and those patterns
and those orders upon that thing that's
why if I was walking in the
desert excuse
me is that you you got a mobile phone
there have you got a mobile phone
can I borrow it
please
thanks I don't need to use it yet okay
see I was walking along well you know
this is not true but anyway I was
walking
along does anyone know what this mobile
phone is made of right two basic
components three it's got
plastic it's got glass it's got a
silicon chip right and it's got a few
precious Metals but mostly its major
components are
plastic yeah and glass and silicon okay
where does plastic come
from does anyone know what plastic is
from oil oil thank you and glass and
silicon sand sand good tell me the name
of a place with lots of oil and
sand Saudi Arabia so there I was walking
along in Saudi Arabia and there in the
middle of the desert I found this mobile
phone a product of billions and billions
of years of random
events yeah the oil bubbled the Earth
moved the wind blew the sand shifted the
sun Shone the lightning struck the rain
fell the wind blew a bit more the camel
trod and after billions of years this
mobile phone formed Itself by a process
of random events I turn it on hi
Mom I'm asking you a simple question is
that reasonable to make a claim like
that it's not it's it's it's it's more
crazy than the guy with the red
Underpants asking to read your
electricity meter right that's not
reasonable that's not a reasonable
claim that's not a reasonable assumption
to come to
yet that's exactly what we are being
asked to believe by some people some
people are claiming that our
universe that our solar system that the
life that exists in this planet is a
product of random events a big explosion
leading
to ordered systemized forms of
existence and by the way the most
primitive cell the most primitive
cell the most primitive life form is
much more complex than this mobile
phone much more complex than this mobile
phone but the reality is what we find
when we look at the world around us and
we think about it look at the
alternation of the night and the day
think about it what if the Earth was
spinning okay this the Earth spins on
its axis once every 24 hours what if the
Earth was spinning really really really
really
slowly imagine a
day right was 30 years long and a night
is 30 years long so the sun is shining
on one part of the earth for 30 years
the other is in darkness for 30 years
what's going to
happen one part of the Earth surface
will be super heated the other will
become super cooled very hard to imagine
how life would exist we just happen to
have the right composition of gases in
the atmosphere of oxygen nitrogen and
carbon
dioxide this balance is essential for
life to exist ozone we have a layer of
gas called ozone that just happens to
filter out the harmful effects of the
sun's radiation if the ozone layer by
the way was too thick it would have a
detrimental effect if it was too thin
then the radiation would exterminate
life on the earth the crust of the
Earth's
surface happens to be just of the right
consistency for life in order to be able
to exist if it was too thick it would be
a problem if it was too thin it would
also be a problem the distance of the
Earth from the
Sun the same thing about being too hot
or too cold in cosmological terms in
terms of the whole size of the whole
universe you can see how fly
tuned this planet is for the existence
of life and that doesn't only apply to
our planet in fact it applies to the
very
conditions that b this universe into
existence in the first place the nature
of gravity the force of gravity if it
was if it was much stronger I mean
Stronger by something like a trillionth
of a percentage I mean a
huge tin tiny tiny tiny amount If
gravity had been stronger then the
universe would not have expanded
if it had been weaker then the same e
either if it had been weaker it would
have just gone on and expanded too fast
and stars and galaxies would not have
formed if it had been too strong then
the universe would never have
expanded this is this is just some of
the fine-tuning that we see in this
universe the laws through which and by
which the universe exists and life is
allowed to exist and we could mention
many many more for example the stronger
and weaker electromagnetic force and
other things the point is some of these
things of course are speculation some of
them are Theory but what does it show is
that we live in an ordered systemized
Universe what is there why is it
reasonable to assume anything except
that this universe must have been
brought into existence by by a power and
intelligence now many atheists they will
say well the only thing they can they
can't deny this fact they can't so what
do they say they say things like well
okay if the universe has a Creator then
who created the
Creator okay so if that's your argument
can we just take a step back and say are
you admitting at least therefore the
universe needs a creator
are you agreeing to that are you saying
design compels us to believe in the
existence of a
designer okay if you agree with that
let's go from
there there is a very logical and
reasonable assumption to make the nature
and this is very
important the
nature of the intelligence and the power
that has brought the universe into
existence the nature of it must be
different from the universe itself why
simple if the nature of this Force this
power whatever we're not going to give
it a name
yet is the same as the universe then in
fact if you think about it all you have
is more
Universe if the nature is the same then
it is the same then all you have is more
of the
same right and that's a problem
because you'll say well if the nature is
the same if the nature of this
intelligent force is the same then you
will ask well who created or what
created
that and if that is not different you'll
say who created or what created that and
if that is not and you can imagine you
go on and on you you have this idea of a
Creator creating a Creator creating a
Creator forever which is a problem and
I'll tell you why it's a problem simple
analogy imagine there is a
sniper he has his Target in sight he
radios back to the HQ I've got my Target
in sight HQ says wait a minute I have to
check higher up and higher up says wait
a sec I have to check higher up and
higher up says wait a sec I have to
check higher up yeah so if they keep
saying and what's going to what's this
guy is he ever going to fire the gun no
there has to be somewhere where it stops
right there has to be a place who is who
where it's higher up and there is no
more higher
up or else the trigger will never be
pulled it's the same thing if you have a
Creator creating a Creator creating
creators creating creators creating
creators you never get anything created
you never get any creation but here we
are it's right
here that's why it's logical rational to
presume common
sense that the nature of the Creator
must be different from the creation so
if the creation is
temporary the Creator must be
Eternal if the creation is finite the
Creator must be
infinite if the creation is limited by
space and time the Creator must be
unlimited by space and time if the
creation is needy the Creator must be
self-sufficient now tell me reasonably
and logically how can you have have two
infinite Eternal self-sufficient beings
that are unconfined by space and time
you can't doesn't make any logical sense
there could only be one such
being all of this just goes to show that
how we can rationally come to an
understanding what is the most rational
explanation for our universe is it must
have a Creator who is one who is
infinite who is eternal and
self-sufficient and who is not not like
anything in the creation I introduce all
of this
simply why because that is my
first that is the first thing I
offer is
ID the first thing I offer to show that
Islam is the true religion is what Islam
teaches about God
because
Islam is the only
religion except Judaism but it is the
only religion that teaches such a
concept of God without confusing and
compromising this
concept Christianity for example has a
similar concept but then Christianity
tells us that Jesus is God
what does that
mean the whole way that because we agree
that the nature of God must be different
from the
creation did Jesus eat food yes did he
breathe air yes was he born yes
according to Christians he's going to
die he did die right and even Muslims we
believe he will die yeah so that means
he's needy he's mortal he's
temporary he was confined by space and
time
time so that means Jesus is like the
creation he's part of the
creation so by definition how do we even
know there's a God we ask the Christian
well they will give the same arguments
that we gave so what do you mean then
how can something be temporary and
eternal mortal and Immortal needy and
not
needy at the same time it's impossible
doesn't make any sense so any religion
that tells us that a man is God or that
God became a man or that God is
everywhere in everything I am God you
are God the tree is God the sun is God
the Moon is God everything in the
creation is God I say what's the proof
where's your evidence bring me evidence
to make to support your claim give me a
reasoned argument why we should believe
that otherwise oh man in the red
Underpants go away you ain't coming in
my
house all right where's your
evidence but human beings were left with
many questions the many questions we
have are for
example why is there so much suffering
on
Earth you heard that one before right
why is there so much suffering why is
there so much pain if there's a God how
come babies die and there's disease and
earthquakes and volcanoes and and men in
red Underpants coming to read the gas me
I shouldn't make put the things together
right but seriously why is there so much
suffering in the world
why think about
this is this a logical argument or is it
an emotional
argument because if you think about it
the issue of why is their suffering
actually has got nothing to do
with the question of whether the
universe has a Creator or
not the universe having a Creator is
logically consistent that's what it's a
rational explanation for an organized
Universe why there is suffering is a
different question the only issue here
is why does this Creator let suffering
happen it has nothing to do as to
whether God exists or not it's a
question as to why does God let these
things happen
why and then the big
one what is the purpose of
life why are we here what is life for
what is the reason for my
existence how how can we know the answer
to this
question how can we
know and then the other question what's
going to happen when I die is there life
after death
is there life after death what will
happen to me when I die how do I know
the answer to these
questions you see my brothers and
sisters behind this curtain over
here there is a
room and in that
room there is a
door can anyone tell me
what is behind that door in that
room who can tell
me come on hands up who can tell me
what's behind that door in that room you
know do you
know do you know
what how do you
know how do you
know how can you
see you can't see
it's over there how can you see it with
your eyes in fact you're wrong by the
way you're actually
wrong so what you said is
wrong you can't see it with your eyes so
can anyone tell
me
what yeah but I'm asking you can you
tell me what's in that room yes or no no
okay the point here my brothers and
sisters is to illustrate a very
important animportant point this is the
limit of
reason you can think well
maybe this maybe that it could be this
it could be that maybe through some
thinking and something you could come to
an understanding but this is what is
called it's knowledge of the it's
unseen what is the purpose of
life it's the same
[Music]
thing is their life after death death
when we die is something going to happen
to us it's the same thing you can't see
that you can't perceive
it so this is the Unseen the point being
here is that how can I know I want to
know I think everyone wants to know this
whether they admit it or not everyone
ask this question what's the purpose of
life why am I
here what's it all for is there life
after death why is there suffering in
the world why why why what are the
answers to these questions now really
the only way we can reach
certainty we can reach
certainty about the answers to these
questions is when the one who created
this universe this
God this one infinite Eternal
self-sufficient being who created this
universe brought it into into existence
created us if he tells us this is the
reason for which I exist for for which
you exist this is the reason this is
what is going to happen when you
die okay
then we can reach some certainty then we
can reach some type of complete and
comprehensive understanding but then
there's another
question how do I
know how do I
know something is from God
how can I know that this information is
from God we go back to our hidden
room right let's give an example this
hidden
room now if I tell
you okay I can tell you what's in that
room you say how it's a similar to The
Man in the red Underpants
right I'm telling you I know what's in
this room you say how do you know you
say well I work here how do I know you
work here well here's my
ID right here's my ID I'm the you know
I'm the engineer and I know every single
nook and cranny and I can tell you well
you know this and I can tell you that
and I can tell you so many and I can
give you more and more things until you
will say yes I now I believe
you right and so I tell you okay what is
behind that door is
you don't really want to know
right there's two doors
actually one's the toilet and the
other's the exit as the brother said you
know so and there might be another door
as well but the point being is forget
the details the point being is that I
need to give you some information to
convince you so the point being here is
uh something that is from God something
that is from the all knowing all wise
all seeing all hearing creator of the
heavens and the Earth and we're
presuming some things about God I know
that may not logically or be logically
necessary but we would expect some
information that is from the
Creator we would expect some certain
things from that Creator we would expect
some idea we would expect some
qualities no so let's first of all
look at what Islam
says Islam is
saying actually before we look at Islam
let's look we've got a a we've got a
group of guys
standing okay let's not imagine there's
not one now here's the real situation
you have in this life you have four or
five
guys one guy is
saying he's saying there is no
door there is no room
and how did you come to be here in this
Auditorium it's just chance and
coincidence this whole place just put
itself together by random events and
you're here by random event and don't
worry about it just have a good time and
enjoy your
life
right so that's obviously the
atheist right the
materialist the another one is saying
well what you do is when you go through
the door you go out and then you come
back in and you sit here for a bit and
you go through the door and you go out
and you come back in right this is
reincarnation you know it's the idea but
they're saying something as well you
need to be a good person you know if you
want to keep coming back and you know
eventually of
course if you are a good person you'll
go to a better place than this one
you'll you'll be better so there are
other ideas people ideas of
reincarnation and then of course we have
Judaism they say okay there is a door
and it leads to a really nice beautiful
place and there's also a terrible
punishment waiting for you and God is
going to judge you who made this place
is going to judge you but you know what
you can only get to that nice place if
you are already Born Into the Jewish
race right you have to be born a Jew to
get there this is by the way actually
what a friend of mine went to the chief
Rabbi in England and asked him if you're
a non-jew how can you get to Paradise he
said you
can't you there's no hope for
you
right so it may it may be true right it
it might be I mean you know uh just cuz
I don't like it it doesn't mean it's not
true right but it it's a bit helpless
for the rest of us right uh and still we
still want to ask the question well why
should I believe
you you know why did God put me here why
am I here why then
okay the Christian will tell you
something different of
course and we have
Islam but at least three of these
religions Judaism Islam and Christianity
have a very similar story they are
saying that God the Creator this creator
has revealed a message he has
chosen certain human
beings and he has chosen these human
beings because of some
reasons he chose them because they're
truthful honest trustworthy and sincere
so very
important and God chose them to be the
ones to whom he gave the
message and that message from God is for
all the human beings and also these
Messengers these prophets these people
who God has chosen they're not only
delivering the message they also live
the message so they are practical
examples of how to follow this message
from God
if
you believe in God and you thank God and
praise God and worship God and you
follow this
guidance which includes many things we
will talk about very
briefly then you will go to
paradise there will be a day of judgment
God will question you about all you have
done if you believe in God and you do
righteous Deeds you'll go to paradise if
not you will go to hell
three religions pretty much say very
very similar
things but still we want to know how do
we know how can we
decide well
certainly when we look at the prophets
when we look at the messengers and
definitely we can look at Muhammad
sallallah alaihi wasallam one of the big
differences between
Islam and Judaism and Christianity and
even Buddhism and much of Hinduism is
that Islam took place in the whole
Viewpoint of history in other
words Islam what
happened what the Quran says what
happened in the life of the Prophet
Muhammad is
historical it's not really shrouded that
much in myth and Legend it took place in
the full spotlight of history in a time
when human beings had begun in an
unprecedented way to write down and
collect in a systematic way the
experiences that were happening around
them and that is something we don't find
even in ancient
civilizations so this is history Islam
is taking place within the view of
History so when we talk about the things
the prophet Muhammad said and the
prophet Muhammad
did actually we're talking about
something that is pretty much agreed
upon as being historical of course
there's differences of opinion but by
and large much of what we have about the
life of the Prophet Muhammad is agreed
to be
historical in a way that's not true
about the life of Moses or the life of
Jesus and there are things that took
place
in the life of the Prophet Muhammad that
would lead a reasonable person to assume
that what he was speaking is the truth
so this is the first
thing Muhammad may God's peace and
blessings be upon Him is believable he's
believable because why he's proven
himself to be truthful he's proven
himself to be trustworthy he's proven
his sincerity he's proven his honesty
and that is proven in his
life and you can see many many examples
of
that what is very important here to
understand and this is important for
Muslims as well as people who are not
yet
Muslim is that you can't
judge the prophet Muhammad or Islam or
any religion based upon
oh I just don't like that I don't like
that law I don't like that rule I don't
like that punishment it doesn't sound
very nice to
me yeah well you know I have a really
bad tooth
AE and the dentist needs to give me an
injection the last time by the way I
went to the dentist this is a personal
thing you know uh the dentist tried to
inject me I nearly bit her finger off
okay cuz I'm so terrified of inje
right uh but the point being here is
that the fact that I don't like it
doesn't mean it's not a necessity to
have my tooth pulled out right it's
illogical there's no rational basis to
say oh I don't like your religion
because it has some laws that just sound
a bit bloody to me or you know I or
maybe they're too soft other people may
complain oh your laws are too soft you
don't just kill everybody for everything
that's what we do just you know someone
steals kill him someone looks at me in a
bad way kill him you know in some
societies that may be exactly what
happens right so if you think about it
that's not the right way to judge no
let's look at the
man let's look at the man
himself the man who B the message was he
truthful was he Sincere was he
trustworthy how did he behave throughout
his life and with Muhammad we can do
that we can look at his life I just want
to give a couple of incidents because
obviously we don't have time to go
through the whole of the life of the
Prophet but there's a just two incidents
I want to
mention number one this is very early on
in the mission of the Prophet Muhammad
of course his mission was to call people
to believe in the one Creator who is
unlike anything in this universe that
people should not worship the creation
but they should worship the Creator and
that they should follow the guidance
that God had given the Creator had given
through the prophets and of course
through him being the final messenger so
this is his
message so this is his message so the
people uh they are really resisting this
of course because the prophet is saying
a whole lot of things that they don't
like he's saying a whole load of things
that they don't like like for example
you shouldn't bury your baby daughters
alive in the
sand which was one of their Customs they
used to follow I mean not everyone used
to do it but that was one of their
Customs this is what Islam was saying
don't kill your children because you're
afraid how am I going to feed them and
the first ones they killed were girls
because they were considered weak and
not very
valuable so the prophet was saying you
shouldn't do that and the prophet was
also saying that the rich and the strong
should not take advantage of and oppress
the poor and the weak well the rich and
the strong didn't really like that very
much and of course they were in control
of the propaganda Machinery of the time
it was conflicting with their
self-interest just rather like the world
it is today with the press as we will
perhaps see
over the course of this
conference so the prophet Muhammad was
also saying that why are you worshiping
Idols of stone and
wood why do you pray to them why do you
put your faith in
them they didn't like that because they
thought that well we have these 360
Idols in Mecca around the Caba and if we
get rid of all these Gods who's going to
come to Mecca and how are we going to
make money
yeah so they didn't like what he was
saying doesn't make mean that it wasn't
true though does
it so anyway however what they did
realize is that this
message of Islam or this message that
the prophet Muhammad was bringing was
being accepted by quite a lot of people
and by the way problematically most of
the early Muslims were women and slaves
and poor poor
people the very people that they were
exploiting and
oppressing so they decided to make the
prophet Muhammad an
offer this is the offer they made him
they said if you want to be our King now
he was of course from a very very Noble
and important family so they said if you
want to be our King we'll make you our
King if you want money we will make you
the richest man amongst us
if it's women that you
desire you just tell us which women you
want and they will be
[Music]
yours and if you know you are sick and
you know this this Spirit that's coming
to you and telling you things you know
we will spend any amount of money until
we get a cure for you just stop
preaching this
religion now think about it if if you're
a con man if you're a
liar if you're a
trickster
yeah you're going to say whoa which
office should I take now King money
women yeah that sounds
good right yeah I I think I'll go for
the king yeah I mean do you
understand everything is offered
okay but what does he say he says in one
in one report in one some of the books
of s it very eloquently says that the
prophet replied if you give me the son
in one hand and you give me the moon in
the other hand I will still not leave
off preaching this
message now think about it is that the
words of a liar is that the words of a
con
man is that the words even of a deluded
person because that's what some people
say well yeah he thought he was a
prophet of God he really believed it of
course he wasn't a liar he wasn't really
purposefully Miss but he just thought
that this Angel Gabriel was coming to
him and so on and so forth so he
imagined it but you know it's very hard
to
explain if the Prophet Muhammad
was may God's peace and blessings be
upon Him deluded how how do we explain
the information in the
Quran how do we explain the detailed
legal injunctions in the Quran how do we
explain how does a man living in the
desert
1,400 years ago how does he come with a
book that describes the lives and
histories of the prophets that came
before
how does it describe the laws through
which people should
live how from where even many Christians
and Jews they've realized this problem
and they said well M even some of the
Christians they said you know what the
extent they went to they said Muhammad
was actually a Christian
Bishop a heretic Christian Bishop who
escaped to Arabia this is they have to
because they said it's the only way you
can explain all of this knowledge and
information
but where did and there's even more
amazing stuff in the
Quran for example let me just turn to
Surah which is the 21st Surah and let's
turn to Ayah 30 okay
soah 2130 and let's just read this quite
remarkable few verses of the Quran and
and let's ask this
question from where does this
information come come this book is
1,400 years old let's remember that
1,400 years old okay and I'm just going
to read the English translation of it
okay have not those who
disbelieved known that the heavens and
earth were joined together as one United
piece then we parted them and we made
from water every living thing will they
not then believe
now what is
remarkable is the Quran is talking about
the heavens and the Earth being one
United
peace then we parted
them right I mean today that's we all
know it's you know it's p Secondary
School science the Big Bang the common
origin of the
universe but how does someone know that
1,400 years ago where did someone even
get the idea about this
1,400 years
ago what does this information
come it's it's amazing and we we and
there's many many things I just want to
turn to the next chapter amazingly and
that's
called the Surah of the Believers and if
we look at um verse 14 this is
amazing it says the Quran now the
problem is we really miss a lot out in
the English translation but here it goes
all right it says we created man out of
an extract of clay this is talking about
Adam and then it says and then and and
the word here is th thumma doesn't
necessarily mean and then next it means
and moreover and on top of that all or
in addition to that we made him as a n
meaning the man we made man as a n a
nuta in Arabic means a small drop in
another verse of the Quran
inan in the second Ayah it
mentions which means mixed n of the male
and the female nuta means a small drop
so the human being is Created from it
means of here it's talking about the
sperm the nuta is referring to here the
sperm and the from the the male and the
female n so although it doesn't say the
egg but that's what we know it to be now
a small drop of fluid from the man and
from the woman it says and then it goes
on to say then we made then we made this
n into an alak the word alak in Arabic
has
three meanings it means a clot of blood
it means a thing that clings and it
means a leech like object by the way
each of these terms is
accurate when it comes to the first
stage of human embolic development and
this by the way is microscopic you can't
see this with the naked eye yet the
Quran 1,400 years ago is describing this
stage of human EMB embryonic development
as an alak which means a leak leech like
object and then it says and then we made
out of that a lump of Flesh mud means
like a chewed piece of meat and that's
exactly what the next stage of embryonic
development looks like and then we made
out of that bones and then we clothe the
bones with flesh this is amazing because
that's exactly what from this piece of
chew piece of meat the bones grow and
then almost and the word the Quran uses
is f which also means then but here it
means quickly F in Arabic means then and
it happened quickly after not like Thum
Thum could mean after some time or
moreover but f means and then quickly we
and that's exactly what happens and
again by the way this is all happening
at a level that cannot be seen with a
naked eye and then we brought forth the
human being and it it took this form is
it of the human being so the Quran is
describing
1,400 years ago information that we have
only
discovered in the last 80 40 50 60 70 80
years where does information like that
come
[Music]
from well isn't that the sort of ID
isn't that the ID you would would expect
in a book that is from God isn't that
the sort of person truthful and honest
and
trustworthy who is whose word is
believed who shows in his life his
truthfulness his trustworthy and his
honesty and there is another many
remarkable things about the
Quran another remarkable thing is the
language of the Quran the Arabs at the
time of the Prophet Muhammad were
masters of their language masters of
their language in fact they had a
Marketplace for
poetry they had a Marketplace for
poems yet the Quran challenged these
people if you believe that this book is
from anyone other than God than the
Creator just make one chapter one
chapter like it one chapter you know how
big the smallest chapter of the Quran is
three lines
three
lines that's the smallest chapter of the
Quran yet these Masters these people who
could stand up and recite poems from the
top of their head for
hours they could not produce and they
admitted it they were totally unable to
bring anything like the Quran because
the Quran was not like anything the
Arabs had it wasn't poetry they know
what's poetry and it wasn't poetry it
wasn't normal speech it wasn't rhymed
Pros it wasn't anything that they had
experienced before yet they were Arabic
words the language they understood
it they understood the words yet they
could not make anything like
it they knew when they heard this this
could not be the product of a human
being and there's another thing a really
truly extraordinary thing and I know a
lot of Muslims you know you don't think
much of
this but you know it is truly
remarkable that this book the Quran you
can go anywhere in the
world you can go anywhere in the world
here in
Norway you can go to Timbuktu you can go
to South Africa you you can go to
Malaysia you can go to China you can go
to Siberia you can go to the USFA you
can go to Chile and you can find the
Quran from all of those different places
in fact you know what you can go back
100 200 500 600 you can go back
1,3 400 years in fact we can find
manuscripts dated from very very soon
after the death of the Prophet Muhammad
and you can compare them with the Quran
that we have today and you know what you
will not find a difference between them
in a single
letter there is only one
Quran yes the style of writing the font
if you like has
changed there have been the vowel marks
to help people who are not Arab
pronounce the Quran correctly but the
words the actual words the same a book
that has not changed for 1,400
years and another amazing
thing another amazing thing there are
kids as young as 4 years old and many of
the age of seven and hundreds of
thousands if not millions of Muslims
living today and throughout the whole of
our history who have memorized this
entire book from cover to cover have
memorized it and can recite it from
memory
how is that
possible how is that
possible these are the
signs these are the
indicators these are the things that
could lead a reasonable rational
thinking
person to look at the prophet
Muhammad to look at his life to look at
the
Quran and to conclude and to understand
that but this must really be what it
claims to be the true religion of
God having said
that what does the religion of Islam
teach it teaches you what to speak the
truth and not lie to make your prom to
to keep your promises and don't break
them when someone trusts you with
something you keep the trust be good to
your neighbors obey your parents and
treat them
respectfully look after the poor and the
weak and the needy enjoying what is
right and forbid what is
wrong live chaste moral decent
lives that you should pray to God five
times a day at regular times you should
discipline yourself
spiritually train your mind
to be aware of
God train your
Consciousness through
prayer through charity to cure you of
stinginess and through fasting not
eating and drinking in the month of
Ramadan from dawn until sunset because
if you can control your appetites you
can control your eating your drinking it
proves you can control yourself you have
self-control
you learn
patience and that once in your lifetime
if you can afford it you should make
pilgrimage to Mecca where you will stand
with people of every race of every color
of every Creed and it doesn't matter
whether you're a king you're a
millionaire whether you're famous or not
whether you're people think you're
beautiful or not none of that matters
because you're just wearing two pieces
of cloth
because God does not look to your
outward appearance God does not look to
what car you are driving God does not
look to what house you live in God does
not look to whether you have design or
clothes or not God is looking in your
heart to see whether you are sincere
whether you are a person who loves him
and worships him whether you are a
truthful and honest person or not that
is what is important to God and that is
what you know at Haj it doesn't matter
whether you're black or white Arab or
non-arab it makes no difference to God
what is important to
God is your piety do you fear Him Do you
love him do you obey him have you
surrendered yourself and followed the
guidance that he has sent down with his
final messenger Muhammad may God's peace
and blessings be upon
him these are the ways and the means
through which a person who thinks the
person who Ponders the person who
reflects can know that Islam truly is
the religion that has been revealed by
God for the guidance of all of humanity
my brothers and sisters may Allah guide
you may Allah guide me all of us upon
the path of truth may Allah bless all of
youal
[Music]
now the object of the exercise is to get
people who are not yet
Muslims people who don't understand
maybe you know the purpose maybe they're
a bit confused maybe they don't know
what enough about Islam maybe they'd
like to clear up misconception to ask
the question
first okay so preference will be given
to those people to come to the mic first
and foremost if on the other hand like
me a few years ago and even today you
feel a little bit embarrassed a bit shy
you know maybe you're thinking that a
lot of Muslims are going to come and
blow you up afterwards you know you know
you I mean because that's what the media
says you know I mean a bunch of
terrorist
why wearing white hats kissing you know
black box in the desert you know horns
growing out of our heads if you are like
that why don't you write that's the
Vikings Yousef oh that's the Vikings
okay but you look like a viking Greenie
he doesn't he look like a viking I need
one of those helmets okay natural fact
there's quite a few uh air hostesses
yesterday speaking to him in the native
language and suddenly realize they don't
he's English right very English anyway
so if you can't you know come to the
front please write your questions down
okay now don't give any lectures we
don't want any lectures guys or sisters
no lectures okay around 30 to 40 seconds
is enough for a question inshallah and
also please refrain from attacking
abdurahim because we love him too
much but if you said anything which is
really awful
then no question should be too difficult
for him to answer because if it's the
truth and Islam is the truth then surely
he should have an answer right okay so
we're going to start off with the
sisters are we do we have a sister we do
and guess what the sisters have done it
again they've beaten you
guys ladies
firstam Alum H this question is from a
non-muslim and the question is is this
is death penalty wrong according to the
Quran or can the government judge a
murder to death if they follow the Quran
like the
government I I think after my whole
lecture yeah and I think
even uh either you know my English was
too
complicated or someone didn't quite get
the message but you know when I said
that you can't
judge whether the religion is true or
not because the religion happens to have
some rules that you don't like the sound
of remember I said that yeah I think you
all know what I was getting at
right okay so the point is is that the
point I want to make here is whether
Islam has the death penalty or not for a
crime or not what has that got to
do with the Quran and Islam being from
Allah or
not
right I I don't understand the
importance of the question you see if I
if I said to you and if I say to you yes
it does or no it doesn't what what's the
issue I'm not really sure what's the
point of even discussing it because from
the point of view of a Muslim
if you are a
Muslim if you are a Muslim then you
believe that the Quran is from God and
that whatever God says is from his
knowledge yes so whose knowledge is
better your knowledge or God's
knowledge God's knowledge you don't even
have to be a Muslim to understand the
logic of
that right even someone who's not a
Muslim can understand the compelling
logic of the knowledge of God being far
superior to
even any collection of
human individuals knowledge so the
important thing here is that we have to
assess is the Quran from God or not if
you are a
Muslim and I when I say a Muslim if
you're actually a person who understands
that being a Muslim means submitting
yourself to God as opposed to a person
who happens to be originally from
Pakistan or Bangladesh or Somali or
Morocco or wherever and Islam happens to
be the religion of your people and Islam
for you is just you know a bit of your
culture like you eat Samos as Sosa okay
that you know you you're a Muslim right
and you know you you may think that
female genital mutilation forced
marriage marrying your cousin is part of
Islam even though those things have got
nothing to do with Islam you may think
it is because you don't know the
difference between Islam and culture and
then you may think that when you come to
Norway uh that you can just sort of fit
Islam and sort of have a sort of
Norwegian version of Islam right and
just fit That Into You know I mean as a
Muslim of course we're going to always
respect the laws of any society in which
we live that's part of what Islam
demands from us as Muslims living in a
land that's not the Islamic land there's
a difference between that and what I
actually say no if I'm a Muslim What God
Says I accept it now if this is
strange I would like to refer everybody
even if you're not Muslim I'm sure the
story of
Abraham or ibraim is very familiar to
you
yes now ibraim is given in the Quran or
Abraham is given in the Quran as a
paradigm or as an
example for every True
Believer and the Quran says who turns
away from the dean or the way of life or
from the understanding of ibraim except
a fool
now Abraham was ordered by
God to kill his own
son true or
not I think everyone knows that story
right so what did Abraham
do does he obey God or disobey
God okay he obeys God
now I'll ask you to logically justify
that for me please give me the logic
what's the logic behind killing your
son huh yeah there is no
logic except that that's what God told
me to do that's the only logic there
is and in fact by the way that is the
Supreme
logical
conclusion it's the most logical
conclusion if the one who created the
whole universe the one who is going to
determine what is going to happen to me
for the eternity of forever for The
Eternity of the life after as well as
the one who has complete control of
every single thing that is going to
happen to me in my life a sensible
logical person would do whatever it
takes to seek the pleasure of this
Creator and and not to displease this
Creator right so that is the
basis um so I really unless the one who
actually wants to ask the question will
come and ask and discuss that's my
answer my answer is let's not get caught
up in whether the Quran says this and I
could give a whole long list right
chopping the hands of Thieves stoning
adulterers and adulterers to death the
punishment for uh adulter for
homosexuality for uh for highway robbery
for drunkenness for taking drugs for
dealing in drugs um you know and a whole
range of other things that Islam has the
question is okay all of these things all
of these issues that people have about
Islam but my question is what has that
got to do with the issue of whether the
Quran is from God or not what's he got
to do with
it because you know what I will tell you
if this book is not from God if Muhammad
sallallah alaihi wasallam is not the
prophet of God why do I want to follow
it why why do I want to pray five times
a day and fast Ramadan and not eat and
drink anything from do into I mean there
may be some I'm sure there are lots of
good reasons why it might not be might
be a good discipline right but why why
do I want to not have fun and enjoy my
life and have as many girlfriends as I
like and you know just have four WI wies
instead of hundreds of girlfriends oops
okay and uh or just have one wife
because I'm afraid I might do Injustice
why would I want to restrict myself in
my life amazingly they accuse us but who
has an unrestricted life who can do
anything they like drink and fornicate
and whatever why for
what well what just because I don't know
it's my culture it's not my
culture i i it's not my culture
no I I follow this for one reason
because I believe this is from God if
this is not from God I have no interest
in okay then I would say Muhammad you
know he was a nice guy he was a clever
guy he was whatever I'm sure the Quran
has some interesting things today say
and so do lots of other books but why
would I follow
Islam I follow it because I believe it's
from God that is the important question
is this book from God or not that's the
issue we need to address that's the
issue we addressed today that is what I
thought I gave some pretty conclusive
rational reasons for a intelligent
person to believe that the Quran is from
Allah okay thank you very much
ABD I think that probably wraps that
question up now who what about the
brothers where are you bro where are you
Brothers I thought is there any
questions from the brothers oh would you
like to come forward sir excellent
that's brilliant I think we should give
him a round of applause for
that yes thank you very
[Applause]
much my first tell it in norian and then
English
in
English I think it's impossible to
understand the things from God the
behind the reality I studying physics
theoretical physics and it's not even
impossible it's impossible to understand
the material world how can that by
Logic uh even if you speak very
convincing so my question is where is
the heart for me this the heart who is
give the connection and give the proof
of God or the connection to God okay
that's a very very good point I really
appreciate that point um you know
however
right um I always go back to the man in
the red
Underpants yeah I mean the guy is
knocking on your door and you say let me
feel in my heart you know let me see you
know let me feel yeah I think uh no
right I mean at the end of the day my
point was that's why I started why what
again give me the funny thing is even to
say that where's the heart you need to
bring some reasoned explanation as to
why you should use the heart to make
this decision why is it this is a a
completely you know it's very strange to
me that when it comes to God when it
comes to religion suddenly logic and
reason goes out of the window it does at
a certain stage I
agree right it it does at a certain
stage I agree but when we understand the
basics is there a god is there a
God okay but you see this issue of is
there a god does is there actually a
Creator I agree with the gentleman from
one angle I agree with one angle I don't
I don't believe I can prove
conclusively
philosophically through reason that God
exists I didn't even claim that in fact
I began by saying how do we even
know how do we even know that we exist
right now how do we know this is not a
dream I I just did that to illustrate
that what can we prove through logic and
reason okay we can only prove so much
but what I tried to show was that the
most reasonable and rational
conclusion of the rational mind is that
number one the universe has a
Creator number two the Creator is not
like the creation the Creator is
different from the creation and number
three there are things that we can
examine the character of the Prophet we
can examine that through reason we can
look at the book itself isn't it
reasonable to assume that a book that is
from God would not contradict itself all
the
time well isn't that reasonable to
assume that yes or no a book that's from
God should not be full of
contradictions yeah would you expect a
book that is from God to say the Earth
is resting on an elephant
which is standing on a tortoise which is
swimming in a sea would you expect a
book that's from God to say that would
you would say the one who wrote that
does not know much about the universe
right that's just using our reason and
our
logic so we have to use our reason and
logic to understand some
things and I was presenting those things
that we could use our reason and logic
in order to see how much we could know
about God and how much we could know
about the claims that people make about
God and about what they have being from
God so I do believe and I still stay
that we have to use reason I think after
that the issue of the heart comes in
because I agree I agree
that a person may say Okay Islam makes
logical sense it's rational that there
is a God it's rational that God is
different from the creation it makes
sense that Muhammad is a prophet from
what you tell me and it seems like well
the Quran must be from God I can't think
of a decent explanation of how there are
statements that we've only discovered
things in the last 80 years in a book
1,400 years old I can't think of another
logical reason Reon why the Arabs were
totally unable despite their Brilliance
in poetry to produce one chapter like
the
Quran i i i that you say
but how do I know how do I still really
know then I would say look I'd say there
has to be a
stage
where the issue of logic can only get
you so
far then you have to take another stage
the next step that you have to take
Beyond
logic is experiential
knowledge you have to
experience
Islam and that is why I don't want to
talk about you know punishments in Islam
and this and that and whatever you know
what it's irrelevant what's the point in
talking about those things because
unless you can
experience living Islam the the brothers
and sisters in this room
those people who get so upset and
sometimes it's not right the levels to
which they go but they get so upset when
people insult the prophet Muhammad why
why do Muslims get so upset I tell you
why because a
Muslim experiences Islam that's the
heart that you want to know about the
heart that's the heart when I live Islam
every day when I experience the profound
Beauty and pleasure and
Bliss of worshiping Allah alone and
living my life according to the guidance
of
God when I experience that that that's
the heart this is where the heart comes
in this is my experiential knowledge I
am so grateful to Allah and I love the
prophet Muhammad so much because he is
the one who is it's through him that I
got this information he lived this life
of Islam that's why we love the prophet
Muhammad sallallahu alaihi wasallam so
much that's to do with our heart and
that's to do with our experience so I
give the example Yousef thank you okay
no no no yeah yeah okay I know what
you're trying to do but the more you try
and hurry me on the more I'm going to
take time to answer my question okay
anyway and I I nearly finished you know
someone asked me can you make your
question your answer short I said
no you know why it's a trust it's a
trust when someone asks you a question
it's a trust right giving a an answer
that I don't feel happy about is
betraying my trust yeah so I'd rather
give two long answers than 20 short ones
that I don't feel I really explain
myself so finally uh
yeah um finally the thing I want to say
and you've probably heard this example
before I think my favorite fruit on
Earth is
mango yeah I
think I it is and inshallah I'm sure
there'll be lots in Jenna inshah even
more delicious okay alhamdulillah mango
I don't know that has to be this for me
the Supreme fruit now imagine someone
who'd never saw a mango before and never
tasted a mango before and you're trying
to persuade that person to eat a mango
all right and they feel nervous and you
say look it's orange and orange is
Orange right so don't worry the color is
not too bad and you know what it's its
taste is it's so sweet it's so succulent
I've been eating it all my life it
didn't do me any harm you know look how
handsome I am you know and uh and and
you're and you're trying to persuade
them about and you even cut it and look
smell
right but will a person ever know what
the mango is like unless they actually
taste
it do you understand you'll never know
what Islam is like until you actually
live Islam your logic will get you so
far then you have to experience it then
you have to taste it then you have to
feel it right okay and and to live Islam
means to know God and to know God means
to love God that's where the heart comes
in my friend thank you very much for
your beautiful
question uh have you have you finished
now abdurahim please go on okay now I
mean I don't want to you know beautiful
answer mashallah very beautiful
alhamdulillah when I turn look when I
turn and look at you at smile and pause
for like 5 Seconds that generally means
I've finished Yousef you have never
finished Mr Green
inshallah right we've got some other
questions got one should we are there
any sisters over there yes okay any yet
to be Muslims it yes go
ahead asalam
alaykum this question is from a
non-muslim you were first a Christian
then a Buddhist for three years ago okay
what made you change your mind so
radically from to be a Buddhist to a
Muslim what happened and the second
question is what do you think about Sufi
isn't that a part of
Islam wow I mean don't ask me to give a
short answer to that one I mean that's
that that that that's two separate
lectures but I will try I will try to
keep it uh reasonable okay okay it's
very interesting I was just talking to a
gentleman about this issue of uh
Buddhism
okay the the my main problem with
Buddhism was my main problems are number
one I don't agree with the premise of
Buddha the premise of Buddha is that
life is suffering okay and in order to
escape from sorry life is suffering
suffering is caused by the
ego the me me me me yeah so that's the
problem the problems the suffering in
life is caused by the ego so therefore
the way to escape suffering is by
annihilating the
ego that means the word nana actually
means Annihilation it means annihilation
of
yourself you are no longer identifiable
as a you you are just you are just
that's why I remember Yousef talking
about his journey to Islam had a similar
experience and he went asked a Buddhist
what's the purpose of life and the
Buddhist replied to him contemplating
the Supreme
nothingness right contemp and really
that's what it is because as the idea of
Buddha is to annihilate
yourself to self Annihilation you no
longer have the the concept for a
Westerner is so hard to even begin to
comprehend yeah
so the the issue I have is number one my
first issue is
this there is suffering in life but is
life
suffering that's wrong from the
beginning to say life is suffering there
is suffering in life but there is joy in
life there is happiness in
life it's the same as the fallacious
approach of the atheist there is so much
evil in the world but yet there's almost
so much good in the world as well right
how come you only see the evil how come
you only see the suffering so this is
the first thing the claim that there is
suffering in life as if that's all of it
no there's suffering in life and there
is joy and Bliss in life also number two
I don't believe that the answer is in
annihilating the self the answer is in
controlling and being in control of
yourself right that is what is
important the self in essence
is what motivates you to eat to drink to
procreate to live you know these are
actually not only healthy but essential
instincts the problem is is when we go
over the top when we go too far when we
go beyond the bounds of course for us
the Quran gives us God gives us the
bounds God gives us the limits and the
religion of Islam teaches us the system
through which we can control ourself
that's why partly we pray five times a
day that's why we give the charity
that's why we fast it helps to teach us
self-control to be in control of
Consciousness and to live a god-
centered life not a self-centered life
so the other problem with Buddhism for
me is that it ignores the issue the
whole issue and the question of God and
the existence of God this is highly
problematic so those are some of the
issues that I would say I had
philosophic ly with Buddhism and what
was the other part of the question
sorry sufis okay sufis okay that's a big
big subject you know the problem with
Sufism is the term
Sufism covers a broad range of things
there are some sufis who are not Muslim
they actually say that Sufism was before
Islam and that's actually true it's
actually true
okay so Sufism is really a form of
mysticism and mysticism claims that the
way to know God is experiened through
experience right is that you don't know
God through studying and so on and
reading but you know God through
experience so Muslim sufis would claim
that what is important is to do lots of
worship lots of prayers lots of fasting
okay uh lots of you know uh be live a
very aesthetic simple life that is free
from uh you know worldly trappings to
make a lot of Vick a lot of remembrance
of God okay so this is what by and large
sufis would claim okay however
actually what the prophet Muhammad
taught and what Jesus taught and what
you can find in the Quran is that no
knowledge is very very important indeed
the Quran says Be You Rani Rani means
Scholars and it's an appeal to everybody
everyone to have knowledge those who
know are not like those who do not know
and knowledge as the prophet sallallah
alaihi wasallam said comes from studying
so there are two extremes here there's
the extreme of the people who study and
seek knowledge just for the sake of
information that is not right knowledge
in Islam is studied so that one can act
upon it but how do we worship God how do
we remember God how should we behave as
Believers in God this is only going to
come through knowledge and the deeper
your knowledge the deeper your study of
the Quran than the more and the greater
your appreciation of that that is also
therefore matched by worship prayer
fasting remembrance of God and so on and
so forth so there is a balance here
Sufism Unfortunately today has gone to
an extreme it's gone to an extreme and
that's the problem with many things just
like there are some people who
concentrate on fighting fighting
fighting you know yes Islam has some
rules about fighting yes the early
Muslims did have to fight in order to
fight for their survival and and defend
themselves and defend their land but
then some people imagine that this is
all that Islam is about this is the most
important thing and then they start end
up doing crazy things like you know
killing women and children and all sorts
of things that are forbidden by the
religion and they think this is
something the religion is teaching this
is the problem this is extremism much of
what is Sufism is also a type of
extremism okay it's but it's in another
Direction okay where they have gone to
extremes in asceticism in you know
making VI and even inventing things and
doing crazy things like you know dancing
around and twirling and you know getting
to ecstatic States and you know like if
you could imagine the prophet Muhammad
and his companions right twirling around
in the Masjid and getting to you know
ecstatic States and this is not the
religion the religion is the beautiful
middle way you see so we should avoid we
should not be extremists at all in fact
the prophet Muhammad may God's peace and
blessings be upon Him avoided that so if
by Sufism we mean to remember God to
leave a simple life to do worship alhamd
there's nothing wrong with that but we
do have to be aware of people who call
themselves sufis but they sell another
extreme version of Islam we really need
to tread the middle path and that is
the and that is the way that leads to
Allah subhah waala
ABD and we have another question from
yet to be Muslim here now oh I'm already
Muslim oh you're that's not what they
told me bro sorry I recently turned
Muslim 3 months ago oh
excellent uh I don't know whether I can
go ahead and ask you three question
brief question okay one you said you had
a friend in the UK and asked the chief
Rabbi
y whether he would go to paradise since
he was a non Jew so the reason the
question is why would me and you
practice Islam and Christianity yet you
already know we're not Jews and wouldn't
go to paradise
yes the differen is here is that being
the difference here is um of course as
Muslims we we look at Judaism from the
point of view of a religious belief no
the Jew does not look at it from the
point of the view of a religious belief
yeah being a Jew is not only a religion
it's also me you can't really
technically not all Jews by the way say
this I have to say not all Jews say this
yeah but there are Orthodox Jews I mean
an orthodox means they claim that this
is the proper way to understand the
religion yeah they claim that being a
Jew necessitates that you your mother is
Jewish you can't be a Jew unless you're
born of a Jewish woman yeah so it's not
only and even in England by the way
Judaism being a Jew is not a religious
definition it's a race Jews are defined
as a race do you understand okay so and
this corresponds to what with what many
Jews believe yeah so do you see how it's
highly problematic it means that you
have to be born of a particular
you know from a particular race not
depending on your Deeds or your actions
or your belief yeah so that's that's the
problem with it that I said yeah okay
thank you very much second question okay
the Middle East yes and the rest of the
world okay we today live in this world
because of the Middle East it changed
the entire course of history yes Islam
and the Bible straight to my
question the Quran talks about
Brotherhood yes the
Bible pretty much talks about
Brotherhood yes why is it that we don't
see Brotherhood being practiced in the
Middle
East
[Applause]
yeah no I I to be honest yeah some of
the actually many of the best Muslims I
know many of the best Muslims I know
personally are people from the Middle
East when they are
good mashallah they are so good yeah
because they have the language they have
the culture you know there is I don't
know maybe even something in the desert
air or something I don't know you
understand so when they are good they
are really good and when they are bad
they are very very
bad okay and and sadly at the moment
yeah the bad is be you know really is
probably uh overtaking the good yeah
that's the real problem yeah so um you
know this is really what you find you
can find mashallah really really
beautiful and good Muslims in the Middle
East you know uh but like I said the
problem here is because when people
don't follow the religion you see I give
the example of you know a a barrel of
water you can take a barrel of water and
you can take that barrel of water and
you can give people who are dying of
thirst drink or you can take the same
barrel of water and you can drown
someone in the barrel of water is that
the fault of the
water is that the fault is the water's
fault no the religion of Islam has been
sent as guidance from Allah to give life
to the hearts and the
lives of human beings
if we follow this guidance properly
alhamdulillah we will experience that
life and that beauty but just like the
water you can take the religion you can
abuse it you can misuse it you can
misapply it it can become a tool of
Oppression yeah so that that's the case
the religion can be used properly or it
can be abused and misused so that's the
case with uh the Middle East or anywhere
else and the is we're not following our
religion in anyway brother I want to say
you know to everyone in this room it's
always very easy to point your finger
and to look you know my mom used to
teach me my mom used to say don't look
at your brother's plates look at your
own plates you know you ever see that
you know you got your plate of food but
you're always eyeing up what everyone
else has got right it's like you got
your plate of food eat your plate of f
food the the thing is yeah if I look at
myself if I look at myself I will surely
say I have so many sins I have so many
problems I'm so far from Allah I'm so
far from being a good Muslim how can I
have time to look at the faults of
others that's why there's a saying
blessed is the one who is so busy with
their own faults they don't have time to
look at the faults of others
eye contact 5 seconds or more right um
look you know there's so many sisters up
there and I feel so sorry for them don't
you Brothers is it okay brother I know
you had a
third what okay brother one one from the
sisters we don't want to make them way
sisters on the topic please not away
from the topic much you know Islam the
true religion of
God uh asalam alaykum
I want to ask a question on behalf of
non-muslim and Muslims okay uh it is
said that Muhammad saham was the L
prophet and other prophets came as long
as With Him to guide us and show us the
right way so and the Quran was completed
on the prophet Muhammad sallallahu
alaihi wasallam on the time of his
period on that time so I ask why is it
necessary and where is where in it is
mentioned that Jesus will return which
is the major signs of Judgment Day and
why is it a new Prophet or Jesus came
will come after Muhammad s wasallam
completed the Quran and completed his
prophetism he was the last prophet why
is it why is Jesus coming again okay
that's wow okay first of all yes it is
true Muhammad sallallah alaihi wasallam
is the first first prophet where does it
say in the Quran that Jesus will return
it
huh did I mashah good you're listening
alhamdulillah okay re correction
brothers that Muhammad s. wasallam is
the last prophet that is
true and there is no more religion there
is no new religion there is no new book
going to be revealed after the Quran
this is what the prophet sallallah alai
wasallam said as for the return of Jesus
it is not mentioned directly in the
Quran however it is hinted at it is
hinted at in the Quran however
Muslims do not consider the Quran to be
the only source of information about
religion this is very important to
understand there is not only the Quran
but as the prophet sallallah wasallam
said I have been given the Quran and
something like it along with
it so knowledge was also given to the
prophet Muhammad S.I wasallam other than
what is contained in the Quran and that
knowledge has been preserved in those
sayings of the Prophet which have been
rigorously
authenticated this is a big subject we
don't have time to go into it now so
most of the information that we have
about the return of Jesus is based upon
the information in the rigorously
authenticated Hadith which the details
of which
inshallah
Dr they know he's coming I'm going to
spoil it okay Dr Abu Amina I thought you
didn't know yet you know so Dr Abu Amina
Philips will be covering on Monday on
his talk the signs of the last day ofal
so he will talk about definitely he will
talk about Isa in that talk however why
first of all I want to mention
Isa is not coming as a
prophet Jesus is not coming again as a
prophet he is coming as a follower of
the prophet Muhammad s. wasallam that is
why when he comes and he descends with
his hands on the the the shoulders of
the angels in the white minet in
Damascus and then he travels to alud he
will pray behind the leader of the
Muslims he will pray behind the leader
of the Muslims he is coming as a
follower of the Sharia that is given to
the prophet Muhammad sallallah alaihi
wasallam and even when he breaks the
cross and kills the the swine and
abolishes the gy
J okay which it's not you know the the
jiz of course is part of the Sharia but
he but the prophet said he will abolish
it so the fact that Isa will come and
abolish it it's part of our Dean so he
does not come as a
prophet he comes in the capacity of a
follower of the Prophet Muhammad
sallallah alaihi wasallam now why why
why does Jesus have to come back again
anyway the reason for this is quite
important from the point of view of
Jewish and Christian theology especially
from the point of Jew from the point of
view of Judaism very briefly no Jew
could accept Jesus as the Messiah one of
the main reasons is because if
Christians claim that Jesus was killed
and crucified that is sufficient proof
that Jesus from the Jewish point of view
can't be the
Messiah because the Jews know from their
books what their books prophesy what God
prophesied to them is that the Messiah
would
come and he would
establish the kingdom of God on Earth
that means that he would
establish the Sharia the law of God and
the worship of the one God on the face
of the whole earth and that's what the
Messiah would
do right so God sent Jesus but however
the people many of them were treacherous
to
Jesus okay so they did not fulfill their
destiny that is why Allah raised Jesus
up he would not let him be killed so
this the point here is Jesus was not
killed and he was not crucified because
he is the Messiah and those things that
God said would happen that he would rule
the Messiah would rule the Earth and he
would rule the Earth and the King of God
will happen because Jesus will return
and as we know as Muslims he will rule
on the earth as a just ruler for 40
years and there will be no other
religion except the religion of the
worship of the one God which is the
religion of Islam so that is why Jesus
needs to return to fulfill those
prophecies that were there that were
given to the Jews and God does never God
never breaks his promise that is why my
brothers and sisters that's going to
happen
okay ABD Rim you know ABD Rim another
question which is sort of related to
that topic okay um really essentially
can you be uh this is a written question
as you may have guessed it's not from me
can you be a a Christian practicing
monotheism yeah yes you uh you can
because the early Christians certainly
uh the early Christians were monotheists
in fact throughout the whole of the
history of Christianity there have been
uh Unitarian monotheistic Christians who
did not believe that Jesus is God uh
they do not believe that Jesus in any
literal sense is the Son of God until
today for example or maybe it's not a
good example but until today you have
the Jehovah's Witnesses who who reject
the idea of the Trinity who claim quite
rightly that it's essentially a pagan
concept that Jesus that God became a man
so they reject this concept but there
have been Christians and there are other
Christians unarian Christians as well
who are not Jehovah's Witnesses so this
idea or this belief system has been
existing historically throughout the
history of Christianity at certain times
now I mean perhaps it's not really my
place to comment of course a Christian a
trinitarian Christian would by and large
generally claim that if you don't
believe that Jesus is God in flesh and
that God is is a a a Triune God or a
trinity then you're not a Christian it
doesn't matter what you can call
yourself whatever you like but you're
not a Christian that's what Orthodox
generally Orthodox Christians would
claim uh but historically as I said the
the idea of uh you know and in fact by
the way before Islam there were large
numbers maybe even a
majority of Christians who were
unitarians but the fact is that many
many of them if not most of them when
Islam came they became Muslim that is
why you don't find so many of them today
because most of the Unitarian Christians
realized that the prophet Muhammad
sallallah alai wasallam was indeed what
he claimed to be the final messenger of
Allah and so if you are a unarian
Christian I would very very uh I would
encourage you so much to study the Quran
to study the life of the Prophet
Muhammad sallallahu alai am and to see
for yourself that he is the natural
successor to the true message of
Jesus
unfortunately well fortunately we're
going to pray MB so it's fortunate but
it's unfortunate because of course we
can't we don't have time to answer the
numerous questions that I'm sure that
you guys have all got on your tongues
over there um on pieces of paper here
Etc it's always the case so we'll be
returning brothers and sisters for the
sh Hussein ye salamu alaykum
[Music]
uh