before the time of Islam the culture of
the Arab they call it J ignorance the
wild crazy times you take your
5-year-old daughter into the desert and
you push her into this hole that you
have dug and you bury her
alive you can't get lower as a human
being much lower than that this was
their culture if you know they have made
a mistake WIll you follow their mistake
if you know they have done something
something wrong will you keep following
them in wrong make your choice do you
submit to Allah or do you submit your
[Applause]
culture lanky
blonde Greene eyed 333 year old man man
who instantly evokes comparison with the
character straight out of Hollywood
portraying the imagery of European
Christians of prophet Jesus peace be
upon him he was born to British parents
in darus Salam in Tanzania in
1964 he was educated at a famous Roman
Catholic monastic school called ample
forth college and went on to study
history in London University however he
left his education unfinished since the
age
of8 his troubled mind was never
satisfied with Christianity he practiced
Buddhism for nearly 3 years though he
never forly embraced it his study of the
noble Quran immediately attracted him to
Islam and he embraced Islam in
1988 he has been a dawa activist and
present ing the truth of Islam since
then he has two on cornered at Hy Park
he also delivers talks and lectures for
Muslims and concentrates on the pure
teachings of the saying of prophet
Muhammad peace be upon him to deliver
his speech on a very contemporary topic
before all of us today namely culture
confusion brothers and sisters please
welcome brother Abdul Rahim green
and alhamdulillah
[Music]
we must begin by praising Allah we
praise him and we seek his help and we
ask for his forgiveness we we take
refuge in Allah from the evil of our own
selves and from the evil consequence of
our evil actions whomsoever Allah guides
none can misguide and whomsoever Allah
leaves to go astray there is none to
guide and I testify that Allah alone is
worthy of worship and that Muhammed s.
wasallam may God's peace and blessings
be upon Him is the servant of Allah and
his final messenger most certainly my
dear brothers and sisters may Allah have
mercy upon you the best
speech is the book of Allah the Quran
and the best way the best way the best
way to live your
life the best way to be and in fact the
only way to follow the religion of Islam
is the way of Muhammad Sall Al wasam and
of all the things in the
religion the worst of them are those
matters that people newly introduce into
the
religion matters that have not been
taught to us by the prophet Muhammad S.I
wasallam but people have introduced
those things into the religion these are
the worst things in religion and these
new things that have been bought into
the
religion
practices attitudes and
beliefs that were
not
practiced and believed in by the prophet
sallallah wasam and his companions it is
called in Arabic
B this is what the prophet s. wasam
called it
B Innovations religious
Innovations and all
all all of these newly invented matters
in the religion they are Dal which means
they are
misguidance they are going away from the
straight path
the and everything my dear brothers and
sisters that goes away from the straight
path that Allah subhah wa ta'ala has set
for us it is only leading in one other
direction it is not leading to the
direction of of paradise it is not
leading to the direction of Eternal
success it is leading to the direction
of the
Hellfire and thus today's topic my
brothers and sisters is so important it
is so important to our situation as
Muslims today we have called it culture
confusion because most Muslims
today it seems to
me what they are following is not so
much
Islam as their
culture and this is particularly evident
in a place like England where of course
I live and I
work where most of the Muslims are
immigrants they're not
natives in the sense that like I in in a
although I was born in Tanzania but I
suppose I'm a native in a sense my
ancestors came forth for many
generations from that land most of the
Muslims in the United Kingdom and of
course most of the Muslims in the United
States of America are immigrants and
this culture
confusion is particularly pronounced in
a place like
England but it exists everywhere else as
well but the
environment of the United Kingdom and
the United States of America really
allows us it magnifies it it highlights
the issue and the problems with Muslims
who are Muslim because of culture not
because of
conviction they're Muslim because of
tradition not because of learning and
studying and reading and understanding
and comprehending
Islam is not a family heirloom that you
pass down from generation to generation
it is not that
Islam is a
guidance that has been revealed by Allah
the all knowing and most wise the
creator of the heavens and the Earth the
creator of you and the creator of me he
subhanahu wa ta'ala the most high knows
us better than we even know
ourselves and in his Mercy in his Mercy
in his kindness to us he has sent down
guidance in the form of the
Quran and he gave us a messenger a human
being like
us a man who ate food and breathed air
and who was born and who died and who
had desires and who forgot things and
who made mistakes a human
being but a very special human being the
most honest and the most truthful and
the most trustworthy and the most
sincere and the one with the most high
and Noble character this of course was
Muhammad sallai wasam and all of the
messengers are human beings
as the Quran quite clearly tells us if
there were Angels walking and living on
the earth then Allah would have sent to
them an angel but it is humans so Allah
gives us a messenger who is a human
being why there is an important wisdom
behind this the reason is my brothers
and sisters is because
psychologically and Allah understands
the mind because he is the creator of it
subhah wa tala
psychologically the human being will say
oh well you are an angel and you are
telling me not to do this and not to do
that and that I should do this and I
should do that that is very easy for you
to say because you are an angel you
don't have desires like me you don't
need to eat like me you don't change in
wisdom and understanding like me so
therefore we would have so many excuses
not to follow what that angel is
teaching us because he will never
represent a living example but because
Allah has chosen and made the prophets
human beings The Messengers are human
beings that means we human beings can
follow their example we don't have an
excuse we have a physical example in
front of us of a human being who is
behaving in a certain way that means
that we knowy logically that we can also
follow that example maybe not to the
same degree but certainly we can follow
that example this is the wisdom of Allah
sending the messengers as human beings
and Muhammad
s. was one such human being and he is
the physical example he is the Practical
example for us of how we should worship
Allah he is
and his example is and his life is in
reality Islam it is the
sun the way the
teachings the approvals of Muhammad
s. that
constitutes the basis of our worship and
our life as
Muslims this is very important to
understand because to be a
Muslim
means that we are submitting ourself we
have surrendered ourself to Allah
subhanahu wa ta'ala not to my
desires not to my culture not to my
parents not to My Tribe not to the ideas
prevailing in society no being Muslim
means I willingly choose to obey Allah
and submit myself to God and how do I do
that by following the example of the
Prophet Muhammad s. wasam May Allah's
peace and blessings be upon him this is
the essence of Islam brothers and
sisters this means Islam is what we can
call it is based upon guidance from
Allah subhah wa ta'ala we cannot invent
for
ourselves and imagine for
ourselves how to worship Allah you can't
do that it is not permissible worshiping
Allah is based upon the guidance of the
Quran and the example
of s. wasallam and this is the case with
every other prophet and every other
guidance that Allah gave that is the
case with the guidance that Allah gave
to ISA
IAM to whom Allah sent the
inil but the religion of Isa
was Islam the same religion as the
religion of Muhammad S.I wasallam and
the guidance that Allah gave to MSA to
Moses was in the form of the Torah this
was the book that Allah gave to MSA but
the religion that Musa followed and the
religion that he taught his people to
follow was not different in its Essence
it was also
Islam willing submission to the will of
God so the guidance of all the prophets
was based upon this and Allah also sent
guidance to
ibraim and Allah mentions prophet
Abraham Prophet ibraim a lot in the
Quran in fact he has mentioned my dear
brothers and sisters as an great example
and a very important example for us to
follow in fact the Quran tells us who
abandons the way of ibraim except a
person who has lost their mind who would
abandon the way of ibraim ibraim hanifan
the one who surrendered himself to God
and who followed the natural religion
submission to God in fact the prophet s.
was am told us that every child is born
upon
the naturally inclined to worship Allah
alone it is only their
environment their
environment that takes them away from
that it is the influences from outside
that take them away from that nature
upon which they were born and that's why
I want to go back now to culture what is
culture when we say culture what do we
mean actually from my research there is
no easy definition of culture culture is
the things that people do the things
that people believe the Customs that
people follow it is in fact the social
and physical environment in which people
live this is culture
culture can be good and culture can be
bad the
Criterion or the means that we should
judge our Behavior therefore is not as
Muslims based upon culture it is not
based upon what the people around us do
it is not based upon what my mother and
father and my grandfather it is not
based upon what the people happen to be
doing around us and what is normative
Behavior amongst them no that is not
what our religion is based
upon the religion of Islam and being a
Muslim is based upon what we have
already said the guidance from Allah in
the Quran and the example of the Prophet
s.
wasam this is the basis of being Muslim
and this is the basis of
Islam now some people will say are you
telling me that my ancestors are
misguided are you telling me that my
father and my grandfathers are wrong
well in response to this I will ask you
are you telling me that your father and
your grandfathers are infallible that
they could make no mistake that they
could not possibly in any way fail to
misunderstand Islam are you telling me
it is impossible that have misunderstood
or misrepresented something from the
religion by mistake if you know they
have made a mistake WIll you follow
their mistake if you know they have done
something wrong will you keep following
them in wrong if that is your choice how
can you claim to be Muslim if you know
that what your ancestors are doing if
you know that what your culture teaches
is against the teaching of the Quran and
is against the teaching of the the
prophet sallallah alai wasallam what
does it mean Muslim what does the word
mean Muslim do you submit to Allah or do
you submit to your culture make your
choice because believe me brothers and
sisters no Prophet came to his people
except they said exactly this we are
following the way of our ancestors read
the Quran I invite you read it but you
see that's the problem no one bothers to
read the Quran no one bothers to study
the Quran Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala the
first word that Allah revealed to
Prophet Muhammad s.
wasam read read in the name of your lord
who created you from a thing that clings
read and your lord is most generous he
taught mankind by the use of the pen
that which they did not know yes the pen
colum writing reading and yet how many
people have read the Quran how many
Muslims have read the Quran and I don't
mean and of course I want to make an
important Point here reading the Quran
in Arabic is an act of virtue for which
you will be rewarded even if you do not
understand it I in no way sh shape or
form am in am discouraging or intend to
discourage anybody from learning to read
the Quran in Arabic it is in fact only
the Quran in Arabic once it is
translated it is not technically the
Quran anymore it is the speech of Allah
in Arabic however in the Quran Allah
subhah waala he tells us inah Bak
this is the
book without
doubt it is
guidance for the pious people it is
guidance but you know people have a
habit I think it's a habit they have in
India they wrap the Quran in
cloth and they put the Quran high high
high high up on the highest shelf that
they can
find this is what they
do and they say we are honoring the
Quran yet in the
house there is the TV low low down but
what is on the TV there it is there's
the K it's not Mecca there's the K the
TV Bollywood the movies the music the
Haram is taking place in the house and
the Quran is high up what is in the
Quran they have no idea what does the
Quran say they don't know they never
read it they never studied it and these
by the way I'm not talking only here
about illiterate people we're not only
talking about people in the countryside
who are farmers who can't read or write
if there are any of those people who
cannot read and write left some of these
are people who are engineers
it
Consultants
professionals they spent years and years
three four five years in University in
college studying stuff that even if I
look at the title Java 1.3 this and that
language I don't know what and I even
looking at the title gets my head
confused yet they can open it and tell
you what it's about yet the Quran they
have not even read the Quran from cover
to cover and they calls Muslim they do
not understand and when I say they read
it they didn't read it in a language
they could
understand they have not even read the
Quran in a language that they can
understand and what they know of Islam
is the few things that their parents
have taught them and so they look at
Islam as something that is part of their
culture like they eat a certain type of
food for example you see that's culture
culture what is it really if you look at
it in its original form culture is
usually a type of systemized way that
human beings develop in order to cope
with their
environment that's why the food for
example the food we eat is usually
associated with our cult culture and
originally of course the food is based
upon what we could get from the land
around us so the flavor of the food the
taste of the food the style of the food
is based upon what is available in other
words our culture is influenced by our
geography whether it is the physical
geography the trees the plants the
amount of water so on and so forth or it
may be the political or social
geography for example many people's
culture is something that is a product
of one group of people or one cast of
people imposing their Authority on
another cast of people their culture may
be based upon that a system of
control it may be based on control
system like
feudalism in Europe or for example like
the cast system in India is a form of
control it is how the
Aryans who invaded India controlled the
natives they did this through their
culture through their
religion it is a control
system similarly we find this is the
case in many cases a type of control
system so our culture develops from that
how do I behave what is my
attitudes if I am for example an
Untouchable I have to behave in a
certain way if I'm a peasant in fudal
Europe there is a certain attitude I
have a certain culture so this
originally of course these things have
changed in Europe and in India they of
course they have changed as well but
these are things that stay with people
these ideas they are very hard to remove
some of them are survival mechanisms
it's
they are things that people develop in
order to be able to survive in their
environment but other things from
culture are not to do with that some of
those things are you could say really
misguided things they are wrong things
they are things very detrimental and
harmful to the human Affairs and I want
to give as an example of culture
confusion and let's see how this relates
to us as Muslims please let's look at
ourselves we need to be honest we
Muslims need to look at
ourselves sometimes it's very nice we go
to a talk and we love to hear someone
give a talk where we are attacking
another religion you know maybe it makes
it feel we feel better about ourselves
but being Muslims we should look at
ourselves let's take an honest look at
myself let you take an honest look at
yourself at your life at your
attitudes and see if maybe comparison
between ourselves today as Muslims and
another group of people to whom Allah
sent a
messenger the Arabs let's look at the
Arabs the Arabs before Islam most
certainly the Arabs before Islam were
amongst the most barbaric and backward
and primitive people in fact in one
Hadith the prophet sallallah alai
wasallam mentioned that Allah looked
upon the people of the world the Arab
and the non-arab and he hated them all
except a few people from the a few
people from the Jews and the Christians
because the world was in such a state of
corruption such a state of Disobedience
to God they were so far from the
guidance that God had revealed this was
their condition Arab and non-arab and
the Arabs when as I say when they are
bad they are really really bad and when
they are good they are really really
good and in the time before the prophet
sallallah alai wasallam came they had
sunk about as low as the human beings
could go I mean low this is how low you
can get how about if you think it's a
good thing to take your 5-year-old
daughter 5y old I mean 5y old
that's when they are the
sweetest the cutest they love you the
most they show you the most affection
you take a 5-year-old
girl the night before you went to the
desert and you dug a hole in the sand
and you take your daughter and say we're
going for a picnic where are we going
daddy we're going for a picnic my
daughter you take your 5-year-old
daughter into the desert and you push
her into this hole that you have dug and
you bury her
alive and you go back to your people and
you boast about it you can't get lower
as a human being much lower than that
you can't get more perverted than that
you can't get something more degenerate
than that these were the people to whom
the prophet sallallah was was sent this
is the stage that they had reached this
is the evil of their religion and this
was their culture this was their culture
along with a worship of
idols and drinking and fighting and
feuding this was their culture the
culture of the Arab before the time of
Islam they call it J J ignorance J
ignorance the wild crazy
times
J this was the jahia this was their
culture but you know something brothers
and sisters they claimed they were
following the religion of Abraham you
know the Arabs they used to make ta
around Thea when they made Hajj you know
they
said they used to say that they used to
pray to Allah the Arabs in the time of
the Prophet sallallah alaihi wasam they
did not disbelieve in Allah in the sense
it's not that they denied his existence
they believed Allah was the creator they
believed he was
Al the Quran
says say oh ask of Muhammad ask these
Pagan Arabs who's the lord of the seven
heavens and the lord of the Glorious
Throne they will say it's Allah they
believed there was one God they did not
ever have an idol of of Allah they
believed he was the creator they
believed he sent down the rain he caused
the crops to grow he believed that he
caused the people to die and he will
bring them back to life they believed
Allah had an AR they believed all of
this about Allah but that did not save
them they were people who were far from
Allah's guidance they were people who
used to worship things besides Allah
they used to believe that their Idols
will go between and intercessors between
them and Allah and some of these Idols
were actually Pious people who had died
near the ca were buried near the Caba
and they used to pray to them thinking
that they would be intercessors between
them and Allah and because of this this
was their disbelief and they attributed
they
attributed their culture their Customs
that they had invented for themselves
they attributed it to Allah
how did it happen how did it happen did
not ibraim build AA yes or no yes was
not also is Ish is ishma was he also not
a prophet of Allah yes or no yes so was
not the religion of the Arabs at the
time of ibraim and
is is was it not also
Islam yes but look what happened to them
look how how they
changed and when the prophet sallallah
alaihi wasallam came to them what did
they say are you criticizing our
ancestors are you insulting our
forefathers this is the religion of our
ancestors and we're going to keep on
doing what they're doing this is our
culture this is our way my dear brothers
and sisters what I'm asking you to look
at today look at your life look at what
you follow look at your what you call
Islam I wonder how much of your Islam is
really based upon the Quran how much of
your Islam is really based upon
following the Sunnah of the Prophet S.I
wasam how much of it there are so many
things Muslims do today and we are
famous all throughout the
world the whole people of this world
they know
Muslims forced marriages I don't mean
arranged Mar forced
marriages forcing a woman to marry
someone she doesn't want to forcing your
daughter to marry someone she doesn't
want to marry it is not even in Islam
for anyone listening in Islam it is not
even valid as a marriage contract in
Sharia it is not valid it is a condition
of the validity of the marriage that the
two people who are getting married agree
yet Muslims are famous famous for forced
marriages in certain parts of the Muslim
world we are famous for female genital
mutilation even though the prophet
sallallah alaihi wasallam warned against
this but people are so addicted to it
because it's their culture it's not the
dean it's their
culture we can find so many examples
amongst the Muslims and these are some
examples but even more dangerous
even more dangerous than this my
brothers and sisters are the things that
we do thinking it is Islam thinking that
it's part of the guidance thinking that
it's the Sunnah and this is where Shan
the devil has really taken us for a ride
he's really F this he's so happy because
you know what if you do something
thinking it's religion you'll never ever
make Toba why would you repent if you
think you're getting close to Allah
you'll never think to repent you'll
never think to say forgive me Allah if
you make Zena or you drink alcohol or
you steal you all know that's Haram
believe me even the people who are not
Muslim they know these things are
forbidden yes true or not okay so if you
do these things surely you will feel bad
you will feel guilty but how about when
you are doing something and you think
this is from the
religion you you think the religion
teaches you this but in fact if you
search in the Quran and you look in the
actual Sunnah of the Prophet sallallah
wasam you will not find that they did
this and even if you look at the sahaba
even if you look at the sahaba you will
not find they ever did these
things in India and Pakistan and in Iraq
and in Morocco and all over the Muslim
world you find one of the things that
people do is they visit the graves of
the Dead Pious people they not only do
they visit their graves first of all
they build huge edifices over their
graves even though the prophet
sallallah he said
to and he ordered him with two things if
you see any grave higher than a handspan
level it flatten it this is an authentic
command of
s. wasam if you know the Sunnah and you
study it you will find it there if
you're not interested in the Sunnah and
you only want to follow your
culture well that's up to you you're
going to meet Allah on the day of
judgment and you will find out so this
is what the prophet said but don't you
find the Muslims everywhere visiting
these Graves and making ta around them
going around them circum relating them
and even subh all this is what I myself
witnessed this I witnessed this myself
when I was in
Chennai we were in a Hall giving a
lecture the aan
went in the Masid and next to the
lecture hall behind the lecture hall was
a d a grave and there was lights and
there was music and there was saying
what's this oh it's the grave of such
and such Saint the aan
went and none of those people
went to the Masid not one of them they
were so busy around the
grave Subhan Allah is this Islam is this
Islam and then they call upon those
people thinking that they will be
intercessors between them and Allah
subhana wa tala what is different
between that and what the Pagan Arabs
used to do to some of their Idols in the
ca which were dead people is this not
the same sh that the people were doing
in the time of the Prophet sallallahu
alaihi wasallam but you know what you'll
never think to give it up you'll never
think to give it up why cuz you think
it's Islam you think it's the guidance
but find it for me find me where the
Prophet sallallah Al wasam ever taught
any of his companions where Abu Bakr or
Omar or or any of the sahaba used to do
these
things if it wasn't religion for them
how is it religion for us
if it wasn't religion for them how is it
religion for us there is another thing
we find that people do they gather
together it's our culture you see they
gather together on the 40th Day after a
person dies and they read the Quran
together in a
Jama now I won't go into the issue of
whether it is permissible to read the
Quran with the intention of the reward
going to the dead person or not
in my point of view it's not my point of
view there is some difference amongst
some Scholars from the earliest days
about this I follow the scholars for
example the Sha's opinion it's not
permissible to do that this is a bid
however some said but this is only they
said a son for example could read it
quietly alone for his parents they don't
say that you should gather together in a
jam and you should have one man reading
Quran and you do this 40 days and then
after one year and then another 40 days
and like this and like this no one said
this is part of the dean no one said we
should do this but this is something we
have invented I ask anyone I challenge
anyone please find me where Abu Bakr
Omar Ali Abdullah Abbas abdah any of
them did these things show me because if
they didn't how have you made it part of
the religion from where did you get the
information did jel come to you and tell
you to do this did he come to you and
say Yes Allah now wants you to do this
as a way to worship Allah please
brothers and sisters please you have to
think and the problem is this if you
don't study and you don't read and you
don't study the Quran even there are
people who are alims or they've gone
through this course and that course but
all they know is what their maab says
maybe they never read the Hadith really
they never o opened bukari and read it
and sah Muslim and read it this is the
basis upon which our religion is the
Sunnah the purified and authentic Sunnah
so we have to ask ourselves it is very
important because where are we going to
go as Muslims where are we going to be
as Muslims in this dun and in the we are
going to be before Allah and Allah is
going to ask us and before that the
angels will question Us in the grave we
are going to be questioned about what we
did now some people are ignorant and
Allah knows who are the people who have
an excuse yes some people really they
are ignorant they don't know they don't
even know how to know they wouldn't even
know where to start looking in order to
know who's a person of knowledge and
who's not CU they don't even have enough
knowledge to know who's a scholar they
just find the guy with the long beard
and the big turban and you know mallah
he prays to ha and he looks like you
know his dad was a scholar you know
inshallah he's a scholar I don't know so
they follow him maybe this person
inshallah they have an excuse they can't
read they can't write nothing they don't
know they're just doing their best Allah
knows they are doing their best to
follow the right
way but how about the person who has a
degree how about the person who is
educated how about the person who can
study complex subjects biology chemistry
Information Technology yet no but the
Quran we can't we can't understand the
Quran we can understand computer
languages but the Quran no no it's too
complicated the Sunnah is too
complicated Subhan Allah too
complicated this religion complicated
believe me brothers and sisters
alhamdulillah this religion is not
complicated this religion is beautiful
this religion is easy
yes maybe if you want to study the laws
of inheritance it's a bit complicated if
you want to know fully the all the
details of applying the rules of zaka
okay the mathematics may be a little bit
more than what you can handle it's more
than what I can handle sometimes but the
religion the basics what is Allah do you
believe made it difficult to understand
the basics to understand the essential
aspects of this religion and that's why
I have to say brothers and so some
people they don't want you to read when
we say to you read the Quran in a
language you can understand they say no
ST you mustn't do that it's dangerous
you know who the people who are saying
that to you the very ones who know that
once you start reading it you say to
them what are you doing it's not in the
Quran it's not done by the prophet
sallallah alaihi wasallam just like the
Christian
priests just like the
rabbis when is came to them ah you see
now he's is challenging our Authority
he's questioning our interpretation of
the law the same thing when Islam came
do you think the Christian priest the
one who has knowledge you think he
doesn't know Islam is the truth you
think he doesn't know Allah he says in
the Quran the meaning of which is Allah
says in the Quran those people of
Knowledge from the people of the book
they know Muhammad
s is a messenger from Allah in the same
way they know their son is their son
that's how they know that is how they
know believe me no person who has
knowledge of the Bible will pick up the
Quran and read the S of the Prophet
sallallah alaihi wasallam except they
will know definitely he is a messenger
of
Allah yet they are defending their
position of
authority their
privileges their control over the people
so they slander Islam they lie against
against Islam and I'm saying these are
the people of knowledge some of them
they are ignorant and they just say
whatever they just say whatever people
say and you know they pick up this and
that no I mean these Scholars they know
why they don't
change culture confusion because they're
hanging on to their culture it is maybe
their arrogance maybe their
pride so this is something my brothers
and sisters is very important I want to
say something also that we should not
misunder understand cuz people after the
last lecture someone came to me and said
oh you should have said this I said but
I said that how many times you want me
to say it so I will say it so I hope you
all understand what I'm saying
alhamdulillah in Islam it is considered
everything from the world the D is good
is halal the general rule is everything
from the worldly things is halal except
what Allah and his messenger have
forbidden so the general rule is halal
what you eat the food you eat how much
chili you put into your food the spices
you use the way you dress the way you
talk the language you use it's Halal the
type of business that you do it's Halal
the type of car transport you use it's
Halal generally the rule is it's Halal
EX except when Allah subhanahu wa taala
he has made something and mentioned it
is Haram or the prophet sallai wasallam
has made it haram the general rule is
therefore in the things of the life in
the world our culture it's fine Islam
did not come to take away the good
things and the Arabs they had some good
qualities for example they were very
hospitable very hospitable ible so
friendly Subhan Allah I have been really
a recipient of some fantastic Arab
Hospitality in my life including my dear
friend Salim al-amri you know he's a
good person to be a friend of especially
if you like
seafood especially if you I went to
visit him oh my god I've never seen such
a big plate of seafood in my life it was
so big and he made me eat most of it
Subhan Allah the hospitality mashallah
the Arabs they haven't lost that yet or
at least some of them alhamdulillah
haven't lost it so the prophet didn't
say give this up no the prophet
sallallah alaihi wasallam he told them
to keep it and encouraged it in them and
the sense of Honor in some things he
encouraged that so Islam Islam is not
saying give up everything the British
they have a sense of punctuality and
being at on time and
queuing you see orderly being orderly is
this a bad thing no this is a good thing
this is part of our culture does Islam
say give this up
no so in general these things are not a
problem alhamdulillah what you eat what
you think but you have a filter you see
you have a filter brothers and sisters
you have a filter you know like the
strainer in the kitchen when you're
doing the vegetables you pour the you
put it in the strainer to filter out the
water and keep what you
want the filter for
us is the
Quran the
Sunnah the guidance that Allah has given
this is what we have to leave so we use
this filter what what is Left Behind
alhamdulillah we keep it and what the
Quran and Sunnah tells us to leave we
leave it but brothers and sisters in
order to do that you have to know you
have to know what's in the
Quran you have to study it and read it
and think about it deeply contemplate
its
meanings understand its meanings and
then apply that in action in your life
apply what the Quran apply what the
prophet sallallah alai wasallam is
teaching if you don't know then ask
somebody who does know but in general
alhamdulillah the religion is not
confusing using it is not difficult to
understand of course we need Scholars
and I am not saying for an instant that
we do not need
Scholars but we need true Scholars true
Scholars who themselves apply the Quran
and the authentic teachings of the
Prophet sallallah alai wasam my brothers
and sisters I am only calling you
inshallah to what Allah subh and his
Mercy has made it clear to my mind from
the first day when I became Muslim I
remember I went to the London central
mosque where I now work Subhan Allah I
went there and I started to pray and
someone said to me no no no you don't
pray like this you pray like that okay
cuz I'm a new Muslim you know I said oh
thank you oh thank you oh gosh I I I
won't do this I'll do this and then he
says no no no you you don't do this you
do this there's another person and then
another one says no you mustn't wave
your hands like this the only reason
that was done in the beginning cuz the
companions used to hide Idols underneath
their armpits they were so addicted to
idols and the prophet told them to you
know I could still do it and hide the
idol underneath my you know so I said to
myself okay everyone is telling me
something different I am sure Islam is
not like Christianity
confusing so what do I know I know Allah
he revealed the Quran and I know that
the most authentic Hadith have been
preserved in bukari and Muslim so you
know what I did I went to the library in
the Masid and I sat down I didn't stop I
went through every Ayah of the Quran
about Salah I went through every Hadith
that I could find about Salah then when
someone came to me and said oh you
should do this and you should do that I
said really cuz I read the whole Quran
and I read the whole of bukari and I
read the whole of Muslim I didn't see
what you said anywhere can you show me
what's your
Ence thank you you see I didn't become
Muslim just to follow some culture I
didn't become Muslim to become a
Pakistani or an Indian or an Arab or you
know a Moroccan or I didn't become
Muslim I became Muslim to worship Allah
according to the Sunnah of the Prophet
Sall wasam that's why I became
Muslim alhamdulillah
and that's my brothers and sisters what
tonight I invite you to do the same
thing and it's only going to happen when
you yourselves learn and study this
religion so brothers and sisters please
do that that's my great advice to you
and then you will know and you will not
have a culture confusion
ald thank you brother abdurahim green
for
your very elucidative talk on the topic
culture confusion now we start our
question answer session I
repeat for your
questions kindly follow these rules let
your questions be on the topic be brief
and ask only one question at a time
non-muslims would be given preference if
they come on to the mic over Muslims
standing in the queue
asalam alaykum wum asalam my name is AA
and I'm a bank professional sir my
question to you is that basically I
would like to tell you that I personally
I don't go to Dara that is Tom but some
people around me go there so if possible
can you please give me a verse from the
Quran which says that the to shouldn't
be higher than half of her hand so that
I can uh you know the support my
statement from this
bar it is not an Ayah of the Quran it is
a Hadith it's a Hadith of the Prophet s.
wasam it's a Hadith so that that's where
you will find it but also I have to tell
you something very
important some people will say well
prove to me that I can't do this they
say prove to me that I can't do this in
Islam the person who says that has only
with their words confessed their
complete ignorance about what being a
musl Muslim means because in Islam you
have to prove that you should do this
not prove that you can't do it it's the
other way around if you do an act of I
you must be able to provide a proof not
only that that act of worship is
sanctioned in general but it should be
done in this specific way yes not only
the act of I in general but that it
should be done in this specific way for
example let's go back to the example
before no doubt it is an act of I to
love and honor the prophet sallallah
alai
wasallam but we have been given specific
ways to love and honor The Prophet
sallallah alaihi wasallam by the prophet
sallallahu alaihi wasallam also for
example Allah has told us to establish
the
prayer but I will ask anyone here
tonight bring me from the Quran the
details of how to
pray the beginning time and the end time
how many Raa each prayer is what is the
order of the standing bowing and SJ of
what you should say in the tah bring me
the details of any of these things from
the Quran you will not be able to do
it true or not yes we only know this
from the Sunnah of the Prophet sallallah
Ali wasallam but if someone said to me
look the Quran says establish the prayer
and I dance around like this there I'm
praying
now that's Salah this is Salah I said no
that's not Salah this is is the Quran
says make Salah this is what I call
Salah will this be accepted of course
not because you have to prove that Salah
is doing this you can't say prove to me
where the Quran says I can't do this
actually it's the opposite you have to
prove that what you're doing is
something that is that's something that
is acceptable to Allah subhah wa ta'ala
this is the system that Allah has given
us so I hope that answers your question
inshallah
sister next question on the mic yes
brother you can put forward your next
question assalam alaykum waum my name is
Ain I'm a mechanical engineer by
profession my question is how can the
Indian Muslims be freed from the
strangle of age-old culture what
remedies do you suggest my suggestion
first of all is we do have to understand
that not everything from culture is
bad we do have to see what is good and
what is bad what we should accept and
what we should reject the only way we
can realistically do that is when we
really
understand the Quran and we really fully
understand the teachings of the Prophet
s. so as a simple start for people like
you my brother for people like you A
Simple Start is literally simply pick up
a copy of the Quran in English or Hindi
or whatever language you find most easy
and read through it not because you can
read the Quran and become a scholar and
make fatwa I am not saying
that it's not up to us to make fatwa we
need Scholars for that of
course but what I am saying is only when
you do that you will begin to understand
what is the culture and what is the
Islam then also to read a good s of the
Prophet s. wasam like for
example is a good s marah authentic of
the Prophet sallallah alai wasallam to
go through the Hadith of bukari and
Muslim when you do that I believe you'll
begin to see the
scholars and you'll begin to understand
which Scholars are basing their Islam
upon the Quran and the Sunnah and which
Scholars are just people who are not
really Scholars they are just continuing
the culture and sometimes even
continuing and propagating the evil and
wrong
practices these are the ones
unfortunately who they do not like the
Quran and Sunnah to be propagated
because it means their position and
their things will be challenged for
example I when I am driving to the hotel
and back some of the brothers told me
that by the road there are
kids with
incense and they put the incense in the
car like this and they said this these
people are from the graves they come
from the graves and they sell this as a
type of it's a Baraka or something like
that and you give them money now if you
say to this one this is Haram he will
say to you this is my livelihood we make
our money from this will he accept it
very easily I don't think so the person
who has vested interest and financial
interest in maintaining the graves for
example and all the thousands and
thousands of people who come to the
graves and give him money and pay him
and you know he is going to be between
you know you ask him and he will ask the
saint and the saint will ask Allah
that's a big chain look at this and bit
of money in between he is most of the
time he's not going to be ready to
accept do you say no I'm sorry we have
to knock this grave down now cuz this is
what the prophet said he said what you
talking this is you know you wahhabi
that's it that's the answer
wahhabi he's not interested you could
bring him evidences like this you know
from here to to here up there on the
right they thing
wahabi that's the only answer wahabi no
who cares what all I'm saying look at
the evidence look what we Muslim let's
follow Islam if I'm wrong what I say I
will
change that's it believe me if you prove
me wrong I will change bring me the
evidence show me so this is all we are
saying so we have to get used to
studying the religion this is the
solution knowledge is the
solution read this has to be our culture
we have to be have the culture of being
readers of being studiers so much better
than watching Indian movies and you know
and all that type of stuff so much
better if we read the
Quran we study the Hadith we read the we
sit with the good we listen to theas
this is what we need to do my brother we
need to have a culture of learning we
need and if you look in your history if
we look in our history Subhan Allah if
you study the history of the Muslims of
India the history of the Muslims in the
Arab world anywhere in Spain you will
find when the Muslims their Scholars
were many and the culture was one of
learning and knowledge then the Muslims
were very strong they were very strong
and very respected and they had a
fantastic
civilization but when we left this and
we just begin to to enjoy the Dy and
that's what we spend all our time then
we become weak and we follow all strange
things and we become divided so my
brother this is my suggestion to to you
and everybody inshallah to study the
religion inshallah this is the way we
will revive
itd first of all I just wanted to thank
Mr Zakir Nik and the people over here
all the speakers
uh brother Abdul Rahim just now you have
mentioned in your speech culture
confusion that all prophets were human
beings that's a wisdom of Allah so that
a common people can understand Allah's
rules and regulations this is Essence in
Islam I just wanted to know that Quran
was revealed by Prophet Muhammad and tat
was revealed to mam so also Dam zubur
and what about Isa Alam he was not a
common man as do I think because he did
not have a father and uh was he buried
uh according to uh the Christians he was
crucified can you shed light what Allah
wants to show us till the end of this uh
world that one of the Prophet was born
born without a father and in the end
there was some problem about the burying
and crucification can you share light
about it I very briefly although there
is going to be a a lecture in these days
about the crucifixion of Jesus so I
don't want to go into that subject but
concerning the issue the specific issue
Allah subhah wa ta'ala has showed us his
power to do whatever he wills and to
create in whatever way he Wills first of
all yes it is true that
Isa may God's peace be upon him had no
Father Allah created him miraculously in
the womb of
maram he said be and Isa was however
Allah subhana wa ta'ala also created
Adam with no mother and no
father
Yes and he also created howah
Eve from a man but not from a woman yes
so in these things Allah subhana wa
ta'ala is showing his complete power and
control over the creation it does not
make Adam or how or Isa any less a human
being they are still human beings with
all the attributes and the qualities of
human beings despite the fact that they
have been created in a very special way
they are still human beings
thank you brother ABD Rim green
[Music]